Cascadilla Hill Climb

The annual Cascadilla Hill Climb was my last race of the year. Much like a tennis tournament, Glenn Swan paired up riders with similar abilities, and they faced off on the .35 mile, 204 vertical ft. climb up Cascadilla Park Place, the prettiest street in Ithaca, with plenty of switchbacks and steep bits. 


I won the first round, lost the second (against Peter Ozolins with an electric assist bike), won the third and fourth rounds, and finally lost my 5th round. By then I was just thankful that it was over. I love hills, but riding full bore on this ascent over and over was fairly brutal. I can't wait 'til next year, however!

8,000 Miles

It's official: I've logged 8,000 miles on my road bike since I bought it in April, '09. My bike has cost me 31 cents per mile, including accessories, upgrades, tires, tubes and repairs. Also, it comes to $48 for each pound I lost in the last 1 1/2 years. Pretty good economics, eh?

Where I've Been This Year

Comparing Data With Garmin Training Center

Yesterday was the 2010 AIDS Ride for Life century, and it was probably the best day I ever spent in the saddle. I'm savoring my memories and am waiting a few days for more photos before I post a complete report. In the meantime, I'm posting one photo of me at the finish at Cass Park with no explanations, other than to say that I'm not the guy in front. That's Hank and...wait, I told you I'm not sharing my report right now, so instead, I'll just string you along with some data analysis.

Not too long ago, Garmin came out with version 3 of its Garmin Training Center software, which I use to import data from my Garmin Edge, retrieve data, and export to the TCX format for subsequent import into RideWithGPS. Anyway, without getting too technical, I've been really appreciating a new feature of the Garmin Training Center software. Since I habitually take the same training routes frequently, now the software allows me to compare data from one ride to another to see where my speed increased or decreased along the route. This is very helpful when you're trying to improve your performance, since you can really pinpoint parts of the ride where you want to improve.

Here's what a comparison looks like. This is my latest workout/commute up Remington, Sunset, Oakcrest and Triphammer, then down Asbury to East Shore Drive. Notice that the elevation profile is virtually identical (discrepancies are caused by GPS margin of error), while the speeds in different sectors are clearly different. The blue line represents today's ride, while the red line represents my ride on September 8th. First of all, today I was .3 mph faster than on 9/8. I'm guessing that after a fantastic century followed by a relaxing rest day, I'm riding stronger. Also, you'll notice that my speeds on the East Shore Drive flats today were somewhat slower than on 9/8, and this is partly due to a generous tailwind last week that wasn't there today.

So there you have it—data analysis got even more fun. If I had a Garmin with heartrate, that would be even cooler. I still can't justify the the price, however.

Rolling With It

Today's route, created thanks to G-Maps Pedometer and the
Gmaps to GPX hack tool.

You know what they say about things happening in threes. Yesterday I had to replace my shifter, a pricey repair, and then today my trusty Garmin Edge 205 suffered from some strange form of digital arrhythmia. Finally, when I arrived at Myers Rd., where I have clocked 50 mph twice this season, I was most annoyed to discover that the perfectly smooth surface had been covered with a generous covering of gravel, making it impassible until the chip seal process is completed. Not that these are real issues or anything, it's just that I  love rituals and routines, so contending with surprises kind of messes with my cycling game plan. Nonetheless, I had a really strong ride today on my familiar King Ferry/Ledyard/Genoa/Lansing loop with delightful cooler temperatures and gusty winds and rain, foreshadowing the changing seasons. Too bad I didn't get the exact ride data, but I had enough info to suggest that it was a personal best on this route. Lately I've been racking up the miles in hopes of hitting the 4,000 mile mark during the AIDS Ride for Life next weekend, and it's looking like it will come to pass. 

The Garmin Edge 205. Could it really be discontinued?

The Garmin problem was odd and completely unexpected. I've been using the Edge 205 on every ride since getting my road bike with no technical problems, and then this morning I couldn't get it to power up. Fortunately I found the instructions online on resetting it, and it was working perfectly fine until King Ferry, when the speedo stopped responding and was stuck at a set speed. None of the buttons worked, and after repeatedly attempting to reboot, I finally got it working again. The device worked perfectly fine from Ledyard to Ithaca, but when I tried to stop it, once again no button responded and all data was lost after a forced reboot. It seems to be working fine right now, but it will take a few uneventful uses before I trust this pricey but very valued device. I'm so data-obsessed that I can't imagine riding without a GPS unit!

I'm wincing as I read through this post. Whatever happened to just riding without fancy gear or accessories? I remember when I stopped using a cyclocomputer on my touring bike and how liberating it was, but now it's very hard to imagine riding without the GPS data, which keeps me focused on improving performance on every ride, not to mention the cool mapping and metrics analysis aspects. I guess I'm just a data obsessed and fairly entrenched, but I guess that there are worse addictions.

Forced Upgrade...Dura Ace At Last

The timing is never good for a mechanical failure, and the end of the summer is perhaps the worst time for a teacher. Nonetheless, I had to get my latest problem resolved immediately, and fortunately the good people at Chenango Point Cycles came to my rescue and I'm back and working, with my first Dura Ace hardware to boot!

This morning I drove to Endwell, my old hometown, to take care of important familial duties at the old homestead. My plan to precede the lawn mowing with a ritualistic ride on the cycling roads of my childhood was immediately thwarted by an inability to control my front derailleur. I've been warned that contemporary Shimano shifters are near impossible to repair, so I prepared myself for the worst, which ultimately came to pass.

Finding a bike shop with the proper hardware on hand and the flexibility to do the repair while I waited was a tall order, but with the AIDS Ride for Life coming in a week, this was a necessity. While Swans likely could have taken care of my needs in time, the weekday schedule was very complicated and the risk was too great, so I headed out to Chenango Point Cycles' new location on Park Ave. in Binghamton (the web site is not yet updated). After learning that my shifter was not repairable by them, with likely damage to some of the small internal parts, I was greatly relieved to discover that they had a shifter on hand. This is one of the most expensive parts on a bike to replace and the fact that it was a Dura Ace shifter rather than an Ultegra boosted the price a bit, but it was such a relief to have this repair completed. The good folks at CPC went above and beyond, making some adjustments to my rear brakes and recommending some upgrades as well. So now I have my first Dura Ace component, and who knows, maybe I'll gradually upgrade my entire bike to Dura Ace as parts break. Reminds me a bit of that Johnny Cash song...one part at a time, though it will cost me more than a dime!

The bike mechanic was so efficient that I was able to squeeze in my ride anyway, which was a nostalgic adventure on my favorite route during my teenage years. From Endwell I cut through Highland Park to Farm to Market Road, which I took up to the airport. Then I took Knapp Rd. to Dunham Hill Rd., then returned by climbing East Maine Rd. until it met up with Farm to Market. I'll never forget the time my friend Ted and I returned from a trip to the Airport on Farm to Market and we had an unfortunate encounter with an angry dog. Ted was ahead of me, and after he yelled at the chasing dog, the old hound took a chunk out of my leg! My mom was in the hospital that day getting minor surgery, so we ended up reuniting sooner than either of us thought.

No canine incidents today, just some great climbing. Though I had no stats to compare with, I'm pretty happy with my ride today, and can't wait to return for more riding in these beautiful rolling hills, which are similarly challenging to my favorite terrain in the greater Ithaca area. I ended up averaging 19.4 mph on this 25 mile ride with 2100 ft. of climbing.

2010 Stats At Six Months

Back to the blog after a break, though I haven't taken a break from cycling. Now that August is past us, here is a month-by-month column chart of distance and vertical ascent data for the first six months of the year:

Due to our family vacation in August, I had a number of days off of the bike, so I tried hard to make up the miles and vertical feet. I'm pretty pleased with how August turned out, and now that I'm returning to work, the September stats will most likely look like April. I believe I'm still on target for my 4500 mile goal for the year.

Overall, I'm at 3787 miles and 221,686 vertical feet of climbing for the year.