Not Quite Ready to Call it a Season

It's been an embarrassingly long while since my last blog post, and though my priorities have been necessarily elsewhere in the last few months, the cycling blog will undoubtedly continue. As the season wound down, I was seizing every last opportunity to squeeze in a ride, but the writing is on the wall—I have perhaps half a dozen rides left before road salt and ice will drive me to off-season activities. 

Last season I felt a certain amount of panic toward the end of the season that I didn't want to see end. This year, however the addition of some carefully selected winter cycling wear has led to a much more relaxed tail end of the year. I know now that I can comfortably go riding in the low 30s without getting too cold, and damn, do those cold weather trips feel great!

My goal for the year was 4500 miles, which I easily exceeded, thanks to my obsessive quest for yet another ride. What a satisfying season—lots to reflect on in the coming three off-season months. Hopefully I'll be back on the roads in early March, if next spring is anything like this spring. In the meantime, I'm off to Glenn Swan's to get my second chain of the year, and then in a month or so, I'll be upgrading to a Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset! I can't wait to see what happens when I lose close to 500 grams (.88 pounds) of rotational weight...

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.

Mid-Season Assessment

Yesterday we were blessed with perfect cycling conditions, with temperature in the upper 60s, low humidity, a nice breeze, and endless views for miles from the top of Ringwood Rd., unobstructed by the haze so prevalent during the summer months. I enjoyed a fun training ride with my friend Bruce, who is new to road biking. He's a remarkably quick study, and soon he'll be burning up all the glorious hills in the region.

As I was advising Bruce on his setup, adjusting seat height and handlebar angle, swapping saddles,  and cleaning the drivetrain, I was reminded of how much I have yet to learn in the realm of bike mechanics. I noticed that when I move the handlebars from left to right, my wheel locks into the middle position, which can't be good. After a little bit of online research, I found out that this problem is referred to as "indexed steering." The headset bearings tend to remain in one position (straight in line with the frame) much more than any other, and the bearings wear depressions in the bearing races. While I'm stressing a little about causing more damage or losing the ability to easily turn, I also welcome the opportunity to learn about headset bearing maintenance and replacement.

Now that I'm four months into the nine month cycling season, it's time for a mid-season assessment. My goal is to at least ride 4500 miles this season, but of late, vertical ascent stats have become even more important to me than mileage.

Overall Stats, March 6-June 29, 2010:
Mileage: 2180 miles
Vertical Ascent: 124,827 ft.
Calories Burned: 146,700 kcal

Here's where I've cycled so far this season:

Mileage per Month:

Vertical Ascent per Month:

I'm fairly pleased with these stats, and look forward to some longer summer rides. Tomorrow it'll either be Cayuga Lake or Keuka Lake, though Cayuga is the more likely choice. This is to fulfill my random goal of biking at least five of the finger lakes this season. Owasco is already crossed off the list, so now comes Cayuga, Keuka, Seneca and...to be determined.

Yesterday's ride with Bruce: