Chickpea Power

Monday, 16 June 2014

I got rained out on Friday and nothing happened over the weekend, so even though it looked a bit ugly, I went to get some speed laps in. It drizzled lightly early on, but the rain held until later that night long after I got home. The legs felt really good: It must have been the chana masala from Chutney I had for lunch!

D = 12.2 km, Vavr = 16.8 km/h, Vmax = 36.9 km/h, T = 44-minutes, A/D = 149m

Retuned and Recovered

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

After the long Sunday trail ride, I took Monday off to readjust the rear shock and resumed riding on Wednesday. I turned the boost chamber all the way in (it had been all the way out), and set that back at minimum pressure. I got the sag about right at a much lower main pressure, and didn’t have a problem with the shock bottoming. The weather was looking ominous on the way home, so I rushed to get suited up to beat the rain, but I got ambushed by my neighbor who was in a particularly talkative mood. Even with the late start, I got in about the normal distance and time, and even found a little hit off a water valve cover at the edge of a downslope that made for some fun, reasonably safe air. Several jumps and no bottoming! It was a bit dark when I got home though – I probably should have had my lights.

D = 10.6 km, Vavr = 15.0 km/h, Vmax = 32.7 km/h, T = 42-minutes, A/D = 135m

Long Day in the Hills

Sunday, 08 June 2014

Ckucke shuttled Chris, Root, and me out to Sunset Hills for the trail ride we had been longing for all week. We planned an early start to avoid the North Shore traffic, but discovered the parking area at the trailhead the most crowded we had ever seen it. A lot of people must have had the same idea as us! There had been some intermittent rain for the previous few days, so we figured we would find some damp sections, but in general, the trail was surprisingly dry except for the dark areas in the strawberry guava and Hawaiian holly below Lilikoi Junction.

D = 17.6 km, Vavr = 7.2 km/h, Vmax = 30.6 km/h, T = 2-hours, 26-minutes (total trail time about five-and-a-half hours), A/D = 706 m

Post Soju

Friday, 06 June 2014

Amazingly, after all the soju at Kyung’s the night before, I wasn’t feeling really off on Friday, so since there was time and daylight, I took a spin. Didn’t really push too hard.

D = 11.3 km, Vavr = 14.8 km/h, Vmax = 32.0 km/h, T = 46-minutes, A/D = 156 m

Back on It

Wednesday, 04 June 2014

After secret training the previous Friday, hitting Demon Trail with Ckucke and Root on Saturday, and washing, polishing, and waxing the car on Sunday, I wasn’t really feeling like riding on Monday, so I took a couple of days off. There were no good excuses on Wednesday since I got home in short order, and the weather was great.

D = 11.1 km, Vavr = 14.9 km/h, Vmax = 35.3 km/h, T = 44-minutes, A/D = 182 m

Another Ridge?

Saturday, 31 May 2014

The weather was nice at the end of the week, so the call to ride went out.  The day was narrowed to Saturday morning, but the crew dwindled to Ckucke, Root, and I.  We met out at the Ditch to climb Government Road and go as far into Demon as time allowed.  The graded road was just damp – enough for perfect, sticky traction with no picking up or packing.  There was one mud hole before the road turns rocky, but that was it.  After a rest at the top, where Ckucke and Root noticed what appeared to be a lot of traffic on the switchback cut directly down from the big trees, we headed up the Demon trail. Continue reading ‘Another Ridge?’

Nice Rack

The bike rack for the FR-S is finally done. What I did was buy some 1 1/4″ stainless steel rod from a local metal supply shop and then drew up some plans and handed it over to Fabio. From there it went to the mystery machinist. After making a large pile of shiny sharp metal curlicues I got two beautifully machined clubs. The tips were made to match the OEM tow loop and I threaded them in. Shoulders machined at the other end match the clamping areas of the Yakima rack. Put it together and here it is. Used it a few times already and it sure is convenient!

Gusty Friday

Friday, 30 May 2014

It wasn’t rainy when I got home, but it was overcast.  I figured I better give it a shot and get some saddle time.  I got a bit of a late start, and it was very windy, so the start of a light drizzle was enough to send me home prematurely.

D = 10.3 km, Vavr = 14.9 km/h, Vmax = 32.5 km/h, T = 41-minutes, A/D = 159 m

Still Feeling It

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

The traffic cams were frozen, probably from homeless copper thieves cutting the fiber optic cables somewhere, so I was happy to find the weather was actually nice when I got home, though not as nice as it looked on the frozen images from last week!  I was still in a fair amount of discomfort from the Memorial Day hike, but riding the bike did make the sore knee feel a lot better.  It didn’t do anything positive for the sore shoulders though.

D = 9.29 km, Vavr = 14.2 km/h, Vmax = 31.2 km/h, T = 39-minutes, A/D = 114 m

In Memoriam of My Knee

Monday, 26 May 2014

Like clockwork, rainy weather rolled in for the long weekend.  With the prospects for a ride all but gone, when Memorial Day Monday rolled around, a hike was decided on.  Chris and I met at Root’s then we headed over to Koko Head district park, then up past the rifle range to the entrance of Hanauma Bay.  We hiked the ridge road, following a large group of beachgoing visitors.  They turned down a side trail assumedly to a bus stop and we continued up to the turnoff to the point.  Descdending along the rim of the first explosion crater, we passed Mojo Dave’s best customer, all decked out in Vertx with an Eberlestock pack.  I asked him how long he had been out there, assuming from the size of his loadout he had been there at least overnight, but he said he was there only a couple of hours.  My knee was fine on the climb up. but this descent was starting to cause discomfort. Continue reading ‘In Memoriam of My Knee’