Totally Tubular Design

A great use for old tires and tubes.

Take Your Cycling Shoes Swimming

The Lunocet Fin is something you will just have to see to believe (h/t to the print version of Outside Magazine).

When It's Cold

This is how you dress when it's really cold out.

I remember one winter when I rode my $275.00 Gary Fisher Gitchee Gumee with a set of $400.00 Mavic wheels, slick tires, full fenders and ClimbMitts. This allowed me to keep warm and dry and nearly keep up with my usual road bike group who all rode on skinny tires and bikes that were at least 10 pounds lighter than mine. I'm not sure how I kept up. I think the coldest we rode was 8 degrees (F). On that day, if you include the cost of my light, I was wearing more $$ than I was riding. Now I wimp out if it's less than 20 degrees (F) out.

Such a Deal

Chainlove is like woot for cyclists! Except that unlike woot, which has only one deal per day, Chainlove continuously posts new deal throughout the day. WooHoo!

My Gruppo Goes to 11

The rumor mill has it that for 2009 Campy will have a "Super Record" gruppo with 11 speeds. Really, do we need 11 cogs? I used to enjoy ripping on my Shimano-equipped friends with their puny 9-speed cassettes while I had 10 on my Veloce-equipped rain bike. Yeah, that's right, Veloce had more speeds than Dura-Ace. Well, for a little while anyway. But now, I have lost all interest in cog-numerical superiority and the uniqueness of my carbon-fiber shift levers. Yes, the introduction of the 11-speed gruppo has made me reevaluate what is important. It's not the equipment, constantly upgrading in an effort to have the latest and greatest stuff. It's the beauty of the ride. The flow of a finely tuned paceline. The camaraderie.

Or, maybe it's the clothing.

More on the CycleSound

I put the CycleSound on my road bike for my morning ride. It's pretty easy to install, but if you are going to use it on more than one bike, it's probably worth it to get a second mount. The unit has a rear zippered access flap that encloses the battery compartment (6 AA). There is just enough room here for a spare tube (23c) and one CO2 cartridge. The bottom has a zippered pocket where your music player goes. In addition to my 2nd generation iPod Nano, I was able to fit a couple of tire levers and another CO2 cartridge. There wasn't enough room for my inflation pump, although there would be for one of the smaller inflation chucks. Under this zippered pocket is an open mesh pocket which might be convenient for small items, but it didn't seem very secure to me.

The sound quality is quite good and the volume is loud enough to hear, but is limited so that you can hear what's around you. I have no idea as to the unit's durability, but it seems pretty well designed and put together to me.

Here's my playlist from this morning.

Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Classical Gas - Mason Williams
Krafty - New Order
Beer - Reel Big Fish
Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
The House Is A Rockin' - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
My Back Pages - The Ramones
Here It Goes Again - OK Go
Lump - The Presidents Of The United States Of America
Who's That Girl (She's Got It) - A Flock Of Seagulls
The Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
Bicycle Race - Queen
My White Bicycle - Tomorrow
Pop Song 89 - R.E.M.
Nice Guys Finish Last - Green Day
David Watts - The Jam
Take On Me - Reel Big Fish
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Runaway - The Misfits
You And Me - The Moody Blues
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
Breakaway - The Producers
What Ever Happened To Saturday Night? - Rocky Horror Picture Show
Can't Get Enough Of You Baby - Smash Mouth

Some music to warm up to and then mostly upbeat stuff to keep it lively. I don't think I'll be riding with music on our morning rides--it's just not our style (although the spin instructor in the group thought it was a great idea). However, I think I'm going to keep the CycleSound on my commuter bike.

A couple of final thoughts. Having the iPod safely tucked away inside the zippered pocket gives a clean look and prevents getting a cord stuck in your dérailleur, but limits your control. I like the idea of a wireless remote control (like this one) for the iPod which would allow you to skip songs, and turn it off without having to take it out of the pocket. Another use would be to turn your CycleSound into a speaker phone with a bluetooth headset (would this work?). I wonder if an iPhone would give you both music and a speakerphone? The mind wanders...

Commuter Bike

My first bike commute of the year today made more enjoyable by the CycleSound system I won at Ride-Strong. First impression is that it is easy to set up and easy to use. The sound quality is quite good. In case you are wondering, today's playlist (round trip) was:
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Krafty - New Order
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Beer - Reel Big Fish
Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
The House Is A Rockin' - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
My Back Pages - The Ramones

It's a really short commute. Yeah, and Bowie doesn't belong there--I'm going to have to work on the playlist order a little.

Thanks to Tyler at Ride Strong for getting this to me so fast.

Threadless

Two of my favorite cycling-related shirts from Threadless:

Camera Problems Part 4

Camera Problems Part 4
Originally uploaded by frankshapiro

I have camera and customer service problems.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Distractions

While I'm assembling my thoughts on the race today, I came across some bike porn that distracted me. Should have something on the blog tomorrow.

Lights!

I really like my Light & Motion ARC light for illuminating my way when needed. Even when a friend just recently acquired a new Lupine Betty with its 1400 lumens (vs 675 for the L&M), I don't feel any light envy (or heavy jealousy). Of course, if you want style points, you can get one of these.

Accessories

Not sure how to complete that Campy Record-equipped Meivici with Lew wheels? How about one of these lights? And while you're at it, get one of these phones. My guess is that you'll be driving one of these.

Unattached Rider

Is this for racers without a team or riders without significant others? Either way, I like the 'tude of the copywriter. An interview with the originator is here.

Your Lunchtime Laugh

Every high-end carbon fiber bike review you will ever need to read. Wish I could write this good.

(h/t to Cyclelicious)

Ceramic Ball Bearings

Yup, ceramic ball bearings. They'll make me faster.

Pricey Bikes

Cool. My Local Bike Shop just happened to have the most expensive bike on the floor in a recent survey of local shops by the Lake County News-Sun. That earned them an article and photos in the paper.

Best New Training Aid Ever

With the Tour just days away, I need to alert my reader (or is it readers?) to the Greatest New Training Aid Ever.

Bring That Camera

I always promise myself that I will bring my camera along on all my rides. I'm always missing what I think are great pictures. Heck I miss pictures even when I bring the camera (more on that on a future post), but at least I'd like to take the shot. Sometimes it's just being lazy, not wanting to carry it in my jersey pocket. Other times I just forget.

Today, while commuting to work, I lost an opportunity for a shot that would have made a nice blog post. It was a father on a Cannondale with a Trail-a-bike (or something similar-not sure what the generic name is) attached to it. Attached to the Trail-a-bike was, not one, but two bike trailers in a row forming a train that would probably have voided three warranties. He said the ride was surprisingly stable and it was a great way to get in a workout with his kids.

Maybe I'll meet up with them again. If I do, you can be sure I will have my camera.

I Love This Jersey

Nice!

Of course, this one is fun, too (great slogan)!