SDGE vs Giant

Wednesday's ride was going well until this...

This is what happens when a 9000 lb truck rolls over a carbon frame...

At least I wasn't on it.

Recovery

Well, 2 and a half weeks on from the Thanksgiving Day disaster - my ribs feel much better (still hurts like hell when I sneeze) - but my back is still quite sore. I was able to get back onto the bike a few days later and push on through.

Most of the folks who ride on Wednesday were out braving the rain at Cycling Camp San Diego's Anza Borrego climbing camp, so it was a solo ride for me. Since I was free to go at my own speed, I decided stop by Cosmos Coffee for an espresso and a pecan roll... I was planning on burning it off anyway! I rode up 94 and Skyline as usual, and then took a detour up Lawson to the dirt road. It always a fun ride, a little taste of cyclo-cross. After stopping at the grocery I made another detour up Honey Springs and then, on a whim, made a left on to Deerhorn Valley... quite nice. At then end of the day I bagged 83 miles, 3100 kilojoules of work, and 6000' climbing.

A couple of trainer workout were thrown in for good measure, and then big mileage was on the plate for today. Up through Torey Pines, Encinitas, Elfin Forest, Lake Hodges, and then a climb up to Ramona and back home: 85 miles, 2800 kilojoules, and 3900' of climbing.

A good week.

Ouch...

Went out to ride Noble Canyon Thanksgiving morning w/ the guys from Bicycle Warehouse. It's been a long time since I was on a mountain bike - a year and a half. And the last time I wound up with a amazing case of poison oak, got it everywhere... everywhere. So I figured a year and a half was enough time to rid myself of the bad karma and was ready to rip.



Apparently a year and a half is enough time for me to lose all of my "mad bikin' skillz" because I lasted all of 10 minutes. Kai rolled up on me on my hands and knees gasping for breath - Robb managed to get the aftermath on his video camera. Not pretty, a bruised hip and some broken ribs... and 10 miles to go.



great way to begin the season.

Bike Review: TCR Advanced SL

So, I've spent the last few months on Giant's new TCR Advanced SL. It's the latest incarnation of Giants top end road bike, the frame that Denis Menchov rode to victory in the 2009 Giro d'italia. Not too shabby.

I've logged about 2000 miles on it so far. I am pretty impressed. The frame is simply one of the most comfortable and responsive one's I've ever had the chance to ride. Giant set out to create one of the best "all around" race bikes out there, and I think they have succeeded. They've tried to create a bike that balances light weight, stiffness, and comfort.

One of the ways in which they manage to do this is to use their top end T-800 carbon (read Trek's OCLV2 Red, Felt's UHC-Nano, Scott's HMX Net, blah, blah, blah...)... boring stuff really. The main way they do this is by controlling the manufacturing process; from designing their own frames, to weaving their own carbon sheets, to building their own resins, to molding their own frames to building their own bikes. But, every bike company does this right? Wrong. Most farm it out to, well... Giant. This includes several European brands as well as some marquis US lines. They know how to build bikes.

As for the ride, the bike feels very stable; descending the twisting roads of Lyons Valley the over sized headtube and rectangular downtube kept the bike planted while carving the turns.

When the road turns up the bike is no slouch either, it takes whatever power you can muster and turns it into forward momentum. Grinding up Palomar in your 39 x 27 almost becomes a pleasure.

I rode it with my Cosmic SL's and even though these are not the smoothest of wheelsets, the bike was comfortable even on 6 or 7 hour training rides. On the last few Wednesday rides we've taken to "the dirt" and the bike was remarkably stable; swallowing rock, gravel, and dirt as if it was on good ole tarmac.

I was also able to test out the new Shimano Ultegra 6700 groupo. This was very impressive as well. The new hoods and brake/shift levers are much more comfortable than last year's. A wider, flatter mech body deserve much of the credit. The new shape of the brake lever is much appreciated as well. The front derailleur shifting is smoother, due to a stiffer cage and the new hollow chainrings. The shifting is also improved through use of heavier springs and a more "positive" action. A hearty "Ka-Chunk" greets each downshift... a nod to Campy and SRAM. Performance is on par with most aspects of the new SRAM groupos and in some instances exceeds them. But at this level, it seems that any conversation of the benefits of Shimano over SRAM over Campy de-volves into a beer fueled Chevy vs. Ford argument - at the end of the day everyone makes a great groupo.

All in all it my favorite bike so far. Hmm, now how am I going to scrape enough green together to pick one up of my own?

Training Again

It was a hectic week, trying to fit bike riding in between the demands of work and life. Some exciting news on the equipment front as Bell Sports is sending me out a new helmet, Lake is sending out some new shoes, and Easton a few sets of demo wheels to try out!

Speaking of equipment, I wanted to thank Demany from Smith Optics for the new pair of Parallels! They are some of the best sunglasses I've ever tried. They fit my face perfectly, without any of the gaps in coverage that some of my others have. Lens clarity is great, and they stick to my face when things "hot up." Very impressed.

As for the 2010 Giant TCR Advanced SL I've been riding, it very well may be the best all around bike I've ever ridden. More on that later.

I rode my first SDBC ride this Saturday with Jon from SDBC and Rashaun from Swamis'. It was good to mix it up and definitely interesting to ride with such a large group. A different type of riding than I have been doing as most of the Cyclovet group rides are more individual training oriented and the SDBC was more "race" like - not necessarily race pace, but in terms of placement. I think I'll try to add it every now and then, I'll be good practice.

Wednesday

A bad day today. We had a smaller group for today's ride, strong riders - but all going at an easy pace, enjoying what passes for fall in San Diego. Half of us took to "the dirt," up to the four corners. A good day up to this point. On the way back, just before we entered Mexican Canyon. Brit's tire exploded, knocking himself and Gary to the pavement. Gary was pretty dazed and bruised up; Brit wound up getting a ride in an ambulance. That makes four crashes this year, two ending with a trip to the hospital.

Off Season

Okay, I finally burned out a few weeks ago. I'd been training for my last race of the season... the Everest Challenge; 29000' of climbing over 180 miles and 2 days... a worthy goal; and was getting more and more exhausted.

It was too much, that along with some drastic changes at work, threw the race out the window. So, I called it quits on 2009 and took some time off.

It was harder than I thought.

Seems like the guys out here really don't take time off, they simply train all year - and they seem always get stronger and stronger... so the group rides have been somewhat trying. Spinning small gears while everyone flies by in their 53's is a little hard on the ego. Fortunately (and by fortunately I mean unfortunately) work stepped in and demanded additional attention.

But 2010 beckons... base training begins Monday.