The Steel Horse Rides Strong!

Oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy!!!!!

I got my new bike! I ordered it on January 22nd, and was told it would take 7 buisiness days, which would have been around the end of this week, hopefully in time for the weekend's training ride.

To my surprise, I got a call on Friday that my bike was in, assembled, and ready to ride a week early!

When I called Mike's Bikes to order it last week, I dialed their 800 number which routed me to their store in San Rafael. Many shops don't carry SURLY bikes in their stores, but can special order them. I asked if they would apply the 10% ALC bicycle discount to a special order. I was told that was unusual, but he'd make an exception since I was buying it for the AIDS ride! Again, the support pours in from all directions. I asked if he could have it delivered to the San Francisco store, but realized that could created complications with regards to the unusual discount, etc. So, since I was talking to the service manager at that store, I just decided to zip my lip and said, "Great I'll see you up there when it comes in." It was the perfect arrangement. Not only did I get a great discount, but my trial ride was laid out for me.

I took the bus to San Rafael on Saturday afternoon, and went to Mike's Bikes. I found the sales manager, who rolled the bike out with a hearty, "This is a Long Haul Trucker!" It was beautiful to behold, but the looks are nothing compared to the ride.

I went west to Fairfax for a piece of pizza, before retracing the route of my first group training ride back to SF. Saturday was an unusual break in the rain we've been having lately, and provided an ideal window to be outside without rain gear. The reinforced steel frame is built for strength and durability, and has all the necessary pieces for attaching racks, fenders, and pannier bags for bicycle touring. That makes it a little bit heavier than a standard road bike. But the feel of the steel frame/fork was dreamy. I am used to bracing myself over potholes and debris. The steel frame felt amazingly cushy and comfortable. I rode all the way back to SF and hardly felt tired upon return. My back was a little sore, but the saddle and bars still need to be properly fit for my body.

Considering I had just rolled out of the store and put 30 miles into the frame, I can't wait to get it adjusted and just haul. I've bought maps of the North and South bay regions, and am ready to put on some miles! I didn't want to bring my camera on the ride Saturday, as rain was likely, but I'll put the Long Haul Trucker through a photo shoot soon. Pictures forthcoming!

**update 2/6/08**

The 'Trucker leads the pack on Caltrain:


Close up of the non-molten Steel Glory:

• Check out that gear cluster! Enough combinations to ride up (or down) a mountain with ease!
• Room for another (yes one more) water bottle under the downtube.
• Bar-end shifters!
• A lugged steel fork!
• Frame pump on the top tube. (So Euro!)
  

This summer the AIDS LifeCycle, tomorrow the world?

Man, this is a clever ad.
And I though my legs were getting big. Apparently I've got a long way to go.
Please donate to the cause. The fate of the spinning world may depend on it!
Sincere Thanks,
Alex

The Steed Rolls Forth!

If I haven't mentioned it already in any previous posts, I have been facing and overcoming some major long-term fears about my bodies capability to handle the experience of training for and executing a 545 mile ride in 7 days.

Coincidentally (or not), the organizers and ride leaders for the ALC have already heard about this problem from countless prior participants, and are prepared with a slew of remedies.

One of the most basic and helpful steps a participant can take is to have a professional full bike fit. Which I had done a couple of weekends ago. I went to a shop for a 2 1/2 hour full fit and evaluation of my riding style and ideal bike size. The pretense was that I was going to order a full custom frame and components. And at the time, I did believe that would be my best route to have a safe, properly fitting frame. Of course, after ordering, I ended up with a fabulously detailed sketch of my proper frame size. Using that, I was able to compare stock frames to my custom size, and realize that I had a lot more options than I had previously believed.

My custom bike frame was going to cost between 4 and 6 thousand dollars based on components. Yep, that's bike as in bicycle. Not motorcycle. I couldn't believe it, either.

Enter the Surly Longhaul Trucker:
I ordered it and it will be ready around weekend. I'll be picking it up in San Rafael and riding back to San Francisco for my first test ride. Can't wait!
I'll post more about it soon (the main point being, it's a killer complete bike package, and a lot lot lot less expensive.)

I ordered one in 'Utility Blue' as pictured below.



Here it is in the optional 'Olive Green' frame color.

It's not about the Gas Prices, it's about the Fuel.

Somewhere between ages 20 and 30, intense exercise started to hurt. It crept up slowly and gradually, seemingly overnight. But I can't deny it, my 60 training miles over the weekend took more out of me than I expected.

This weekend I stacked two consecutive training rides that totalled just under 60 miles. The shortest day of the actual AIDS LifeCycle ride will be around 60 miles, so that gives me some sort of gauge of what kind of toll the ride will take. I must admit that I still have some fears about not being up to speed when the actual ride comes around, but I simultaneously see that by June, I will have many more training miles under my saddle, and my body will adjust accordingly.

Since my last post, I started joining organized training rides. It has made an immense difference in my mental state towards the ride. For one thing, when riding in a group, the miles seem to roll by relatively effortlessly. I have taken it upon myself to chat with people about their bikes and equipment at every chance I get while riding.

The training rides also impart something thatsolo training never will, which is the etiquette and procedures for riding in the AIDS LifeCycle. That includes:

• Stopping at every stop sign (actually coming to a complete stop, touching a foot down).
• Stopping at every red light (regardless of cross-traffic).
• Riding single file (Regardless of road width).
• Using hand signals for every turn or stop, as well as pointing out road hazards.
• Yelling out "car back" every time a vehicle approaches from behind.
• And more . . .

If you don't think that's difficult, I'm guessing you may not have spent much time on a bike seat. But, I am very glad these guidelines are incorporated into the training, considering there will be 2000+ riders heading down towards LA on June 1st. With that kind of rolling mass, simple traffic transgressions magnified could become unwieldy, rendering the ride a dangerous ball of inertia.

According to a rider who has participated in the ALC (AIDS LifeCycle) before, there are safety monitors on the ride who hand out tickets to scofflaw bicyclists. Enough tickets equals ejection from the ride. I also heard this comes as a mandatory response to the CHP threatening to pull the permits for the ride after witnessing too many reckless, life endangering acts. Thus have I heard!