Alaska to Mexico!

So there I was, mooning the wind. 

I know that sounds pretty rediculous, but there I was nonetheless with my butt-cheeks out flapping in the Canadian wind, red, white, black and blue  like a flag claiming a new land.  What exactly was I thinking when I up and decided to ride my bike from Anchorage down to Tijuana Mexico?  I mean seriously, I had just undergone major knee surgery just a year prior, and then I went and made hamburger out of my shoulder, but then there I was, in the middle of the Yukon, crippled, yelling and shaking my fist and the wind,  finally bearing my blessed behind in a final expression of disgust.

Meanwhile, my 15 year old brother watched from the side of the road–too tired to participate with my colorful display out in the middle of the desolate Canadian highway.  How had he been roped into this mess?  Oh, thats right.  I booked his ticket up to Anchorage without much more discussion than, “Hey!  You wanna ride bikes with me from Anchorage down to Mexico?”  So if he died out there, his blood was on my hands.  Dad would be PISSED.

Wait, HE’s the one to blame!   My dad wass the REAL reason for my grief.  He was going to meet us in Vancouver to join us the rest of the way to Mexico…  He’s the one who booked his ticket into Vancouver only 32 days after we would fly into Anchorage, thus making me and my brother have to average 75 miles per day to meet up with him!  75 miles per day!?  Through THIS terrain!?  You’ve gotta be nuts!  That is the same pace as the Panamerican Highway World record holders for speed!  We aren’t atheletes!  I was a cripple, and my brother was the official token “fat kid” at his school!  And somehow we’d found ourselves in the middle of the last great American frontier, completely unsupported, on our bikes.

After a week strait of brutal headwinds through the Alaskan and Canadian rockies, with freezing rain and miles of gravel roads, I couldn’t see how we could possibly make it to Vancouver in time.

So there I was in the middle of the Yukon.  With my 15 year old brother.  With two bikes full of camp-gear.  Mooning the wind.  And I was having the time of my life.

Take Me To The Promise Land

There are so many people around the world with the dream of moving to North America to start a new life full of tremendous opportunity.  Coming from a poorer nation or one at political unrest allows them the chance to do so much more and to provide the things they desire for their families.

When I hear about people who have moved here with nothing and built up an empire, it gives me a huge sense of inspiration and my applause go out to them in spades.  Heck, I know of a couple brothers who had to literally escape from Laos and somehow made it to Canada.  They arrived here with absolutely nothing and now own a majorly successful restaurant as well and several investment properties.  They are living the life.  I love stories like these, but they bring with them an inner feeling of disappointment…that I was born with all these opportunities and didn’t use them to their full advantage.

I also have grown up feeling a desire as strong as those dreaming the American Dream…..however, mine is quite different.  Growing up in Canada, I’ve lived most of my life yearning to live in a different environment.  One with a much warmer climate.  One that allows me to do the things I love year round.  My dream isn’t about the opportunities of money and career.  Mine is about lifestyle and core values.

Now, this Canadian hasn’t had to spend his entire life in the arctic north.  I’ve spent three years living and working in St. Kitts, West Indies and another two years in Austin, Texas.  St. Kitts is actually where I developed my love for road biking so obviously it was one of the best moves I’ve ever made.  Austin, of course, is a major cycling city and it only further increased my love for the bike.  But one thing led to another, and here we are back in Canada.

There are many reasons for my continuous chase….my search for the endless summer.  But one of the top reasons is my desire and passion to live my life on my bike.  I love the bike (and everything about it) so incredibly much, that a huge part of me is empty during these winter months when I can’t be outside on the road.

When I close my eyes and see it, I am living in a beautiful small community where my family and I ride our bikes as our main source of transportation.  I’m out on my road bike whenever I want, venturing out on great routes with varying terrain.  I follow my beliefs and am true to my core values.

We seriously looked into moving to Dominica recently, because it fit with most of the ingredients we desired and also was home to a great business opportunity.  Our choice to not move there honestly came down to the fact that the roads in Dominica are terrible and not road bikeable.  Enough said.

We are currently looking at a move to Grenada or Belize.  We were just in Grenada last month and found that it  contains many of the items on my wish list, but definitely not a location where my family and I can rely on bikes for daily transportation.  I can probably live with that, but the search continues in the hopes of finding the location that has it all.  I’ll be off to Belize very soon to check out how it rates on the checklist.  My research so far has been positive…cycling is definitely huge over there.  They even have a variety of races. I’m really hoping my list checks out over there.

Bike Shops and Bike Folks

Many of you have likely shared the experience of walking into a shop and having someone treat you like crap because you don’t fit into their idea of a worthy customer or cyclist or you just aren’t necessarily into spending a bunch of money for stuff you don’t want.  Some of you may have even ranted and raved about it to other folks, I’ve certainly heard it.  I’ve had the experience with a few shops around here but have also been lucky enough to find a couple where people actually seem excited to perform a service for you in exchange for money, or perhaps hand over a piece of merchandise for the same.

So I just thought it worth mentioning that this morning I sent an email to  just to make sure they didn’t mind if I used a picture of their 58mm Carbon Clinchers on my blog as I talked about the process of picking a wheelset.  I always figure that folks don’t mind if you are giving them free advertising, but I often check to make sure.

I got an email not fifteen minutes later from Keith Williams, the president and founder.  He said go right ahead with using the image and he also let me know that they are coming out with a different product soon that I might be interested in as well.

Obviously it is in his interest to share information about his products and likely to get pictures of and favorable descriptions of his products in as many places as possible.  But I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at someone taking the time to answer an email (just sent to the info@ address on their website) and it made me think that much more positively about the company.

So there’s hope out there yet that even if you aren’t a super star, or even that serious of a bike rider, that people who make really great stuff for bikes will still take you seriously!

Chapeau to you Mr. Williams.  And here’s to me someday rolling a pair of your sweet, sweet wheels really quickly down the road!

I made it! 54 miles…

This past saturday I got my butt in the car with all my gear in tow with every intention of riding from the bike store when I picked up my bike. I got my bike and headed out to the car and started dressing myself in my winter gear.

One of the riders came out and said “hey, you want to come on our group ride?”
Me…”how far you going?” knowing in my mind that it’s been a while since my last long ride (like 3 months).
He replied, “54 miles…” noticing my concern he added “…but it’s mostly flat with about 750 feet of climbing.”
Relief and as fast as my brain cells could decide I blurted out “yeah, I think I will come.”

So I followed him to the local sizzler where we met up with four other riders. Immediately intimidated but not an ounce of “back down” in me I geared up and made introductions. Also noted that there were no other girls other than the one I know we were picking up en route about 5 miles away.

When we were all ready we headed out. Luckily they were all staying at the “slow” speed of 20 mph. Remember that it’s been a few months since I rode seriously. So 2o mph is pushing me a bit. But we got to the pick up point for the other girl and then we were off.

This is my first group ride…ever. So drafting and all that stuff was foreign to me. But I got clued in real fast. I got a chance to ride side by side with all the riders and get to know them. At one point we spotted a lone rider up ahead so it was decided that we needed to race ahead and catch him. I couldn’t keep the pace up. I mean once they made the decision to do it it was like they hit the accelerator on the motorcycle. Just amazing how they could accelerate like that. The other girl, and I got left behind. I was more in the middle, but she was lagging badly. A couple of the other riders slowed down to make sure she was ok. We stopped at the stop sign and waited for everyone to regroup. She was about to turn back thinking that she was going to hold the group up, but this goes to show you how awesome these riders were, they said no and so we were off once more. We were about 15 miles out already.

Up ahead was West mountain. Not much of a mountain, but some climbing was definitely up ahead. The first part wasn’t too bad. We separated out a little. I was determined to catch up to the first three riders. Once I caught up we decided to stop to wait for the others. Apparently one got a flat. At this point we were about 20 miles into it. The landscape was beautiful. The lake was partially frozen with snow drifts all around. In hindsight I should’ve broken out my lone granola bar, but I just didn’t think of it. Also I took a few pictures, but again next time I’m going to take video with my phone.

So once we all regrouped we were off yet again. We had some more serious climbing ahead. I lagged behind this time. On the straight away one of the bikers hung back with me to make sure I was alright and all my brain was computing was “Chuck-a-rama”. I told him that my body was shutting down. (this is around mile 35ish) So he asked if I had eaten anything and if I had food with me. So I said that I was ill-prepared but I did have a granola bar. So three of them stopped with me as I scarfed down a granola bar.

I was informed that the steepest hill was ahead. That really didn’t do my heart any good. Once we got there I just about hopped off my bike, but my inner self said that I would rather die than get off that bike. I kept telling myself that I was almost to the top just a few more cranks out and we’d be at the top. Such tremendous focus for me. But once I was over that it was minor hills and then flat. The food was starting to hit my blood stream and I was starting to feel much better and able to crank out some better speeds.

By this time of day the wind had picked up in front of us. Drafting became very important. I couldn’t believe the difference. I got a gust with my open jacket and I sailed back about 40 yards from the last biker. This was disheartening. Finally one the riders came back for me and let me draft off them. We stopped at park for a bathroom break, but the bathrooms were locked. We were at mile 45ish at this point. I took a gel pack from one of the riders. (it was the chocolate gu and this was soooooo good).

We decided to get our bathroom break at the parents of the leader’s house. It was a great relief. We were off yet again battling the wind from the front and then to the side. We stayed mostly in two groups drafting each other. By this time most of us were dead legged and numb butts and with the wind our speed was around 15-17 mph sometimes slower.

We got to the drop off point for the girl then continued on our way just a few miles out to our end point. The first three bikers had a spur of energy and decided to do race speed til the end. Me and one other were left to tough it out to the end. We did fine, but it had been a while since either of us made a long trek.

I just remember the feeling of making such an accomplishment. There were points there in the middle where I was seriously wondering if I was going to make it another mile. I was so amazed at how they looked out for all of us. The comradery they had. Most came prepared some did not. Everybody shared what they had. I definitely have my list of things I want to invest in for my next 54 miles.

The other things I noticed is that no matter how tired I was my legs were pumping til the end and I was able to keep going. I was very impressed with my body’s stamina. Not in particular my body, but just the make-up of the body in general. I wonder how far I could’ve gone before I would’ve broken down for good.

I did hit the chuck-a-rama afterwards. I actaully only ate one plate and then a little dessert. I went home to think that I would just hit the hay and be so sore the next day and be in pain for a while. But to my surprise I felt like a million bucks the next day. I felt like I could pump out another 54. Well my crotch may not heh heh heh… I figure that in a couple of days when that area heals a little better I will crank it out to work and school and back. Which is no easy fete in itself considering that I will be cranking out the last 4 miles uphill.

I’m just so pumped up that I made it! So I’m going to sign up for my first century, Ulcer, in August.

Prague spring: Ten views (from a bike)

The weather in Prague was so beautiful on Friday that I took the afternoon off work and went for a bike ride. This time I set myself a specific goal - to photograph ten of my favourite panoramas of the city and post them here on the blog.

Prague - always photogenic - surpassed herself in the spring sunshine. Even with my meagre photographic abilities and facilities it wasn’t hard to take some decent shots. And it was a true joy to feel the warm sun on my back for the first time since last autumn.

So here are the results. These are all vistas I see regularly on my weekend spins around the city and they are all visible from or near to marked cycle paths. At the bottom of the post is a map indicating where each shot was taken. If I’ve whetted your appetite, why not take a look at the slideshow in the bottom left-hand corner of the blog?

Memoir of a “Kampung (Village) boy”

Jeff - longing for Colorado (guest post)

Having done several MS150s, self-supported Katy Tail trip, a couple of Tour de Kota rides around eastern South Dakota, and thousands of miles around the country roads of eastern Kansas, last summer I found what road biking can be at it’s most spectacular. My bother-in-law from SD and I rode the 2nd annual Colorado Rocky Mountain Bicycle Tour. It was a loop from Gunnison to Hotchkiss to Glenwwod Springs to Leadville to Frisco for a rest day. Then on to Salida and back to Gunnison. The route included all the passes form the Copper Triangle, Monarch Pass, the Black Canyon, and Independence Pass, 12,095 feet. We camped in the cool mountain air, revelled in awe-inspiring scenery every day, and climbed more than a midwesterner might think possible.

  I’m hooked. This summer I’m in for the CRMBT again, including the Copper Triangle on the day before. And instead of doing a Kansas ride which I was debating, either BAK or Border Raiders (both of which sound like a load of fun), I took the plunge and signed up for the Tour of Colorado. This tour is celebrating their 15th year with a route of 555 miles and 40,000+ feet of climbing. I’m intent on losing a few pounds from the holidays, I’ve got a new bike ordered from Trek project one, and just to make it even more interesting, I’m looking at one more huge challenge for an old guy from low elevation. The plan at this point is to drive to Echo Lake Campground near Idaho Springs, CO a couple days before BTC, and riding to the top of Mt. Evans. It’s the highest paved road in the U.S. at over 14,000 feet. It’s not a pass, it’s up and back, but it’s there, and it’s calling my name.

See more at http://jeff-road.blogspot.com/

Mother Nature’s 2009 TOC Fit Means it is Time to Talk Fitness (guest post)

Instead of watching the boys ride their bikes up Tunitas Creek Rd, Mother Nature has forced me indoors to cook up my next workout. Being that is still February, it will be rooted in single leg movements to continue to increase my hip stability. This will be the ticket to laying down a lot more power in the saddle this season.

This is one of the largest factors to success on the bike for a lot riders: lack of joint stability. Since your body can only produce the amount of power your joint stability allows, you are firing a canon from a canoe if you don’t work on this, YEAR ROUND. I won’t get into the fact that power meters don’t actually measure power, they really measure hip stability because that is a long one!

Most riders engage in body builder type muscle isolation programs, which is great if you are building bulk to flex on stage, but not beneficial if you are trying to improve the way your body is actually designed to move: as an integrated unit in a 3-dimensional environment. Especially since endurance athletes produce ALL of their power from a single leg platform.

I’ve always found it funny how cycling strength workouts look just like old school body builder routines: sit down and press, sit down and curl, sit down and extend. Since riding a bike takes place in a supported seated environment in only one plane of motion (just like these exercises do), it is critical to do “anti-cycling” workouts that open up the hips and get you working while you stand up on a single leg.INTEGRATE Performance Fitness in the last year and a half. Out of that population, it is safe to say over 50% of them lacked the proper muscle firing sequences to take full advantage of their hips when they ride (not too mention causing joint pain of every variety). This drastically impacts your ability to sprint, climb and ride at tempo.

We have seen 100’s of riders at

Most of the time it is because the hip flexors and quads are too tight, and the glutes and lower abdomen are too weak. This can come from sitting down for long periods of time, or not addressing these issues off the bike.

This causes performance robbing muscle imbalances that WILL lessen your enjoyment of riding your bike. Not too mention what they do to your balance. Fortunately, a functional strength training program will prevent as well as correct this.

Up next week: Where muscle imbalances come from and the most effective strategies on how to prevent them.

SOMEONESTOLEMYBIKE.COM - Someone Stole My bike (guest post)

SOMEONESTOLEMYBIKE.COM
If riding a bike is a universal pastime, then having it stolen is a universal nuisance, and it is for this reason that we have created SOMEONESTOLEMYBIKE.COM; to give individuals a cathartic forum to share their own personal stories and express their distinct feelings and philosophies on the aggravating subject of bike theft. We’ll be updating the page weekly with new stories as well as soliciting new ones constantly. There’s no gimmick or money-making intentions here, just the hope that people will enjoy the videos and find a place to vent.

Team Two Wheel Blog - Dr. Spalm Answers your questions (guest post)

Dr. Spalm - I am an organizer of a local racing team. We have a bunch of riders and cover all categories, from first-time racers to experienced and fast folks. After an unfortunate and nauseating experience last year, I am interested in instituting a new rule that would limit the purchase of skin suits to those team members who are really skinny enough to not gross people out. Any suggestions?
Open-minded, but not THAT open-minded

Dear Mostly Open-Minded:
Thank you for the opportunity to address this issue. A few years ago Dr. Spalm was actively petioning Wal-Mart to stop selling white cotton/lycra stretch pants to women that should NOT, under any circumstances, be wearing such garments. These poor women apparently did not own mirrors, nor were they aware that to cut costs, these pants had a limited amount of fabric that was forced to stretch extraordinary distances to cover their subjects. As such, these pants became lattice-like and see-through and not movie star “how could I have not known that when the paparazzi took flash pictures these intimate body parts would be “accidentally” exposed” see through, but instead “Omar the Tent-Maker had 3-packs of these panties with teddy bears on them” see through. Let’s just say that Wal-Mart was steadfast in their stand that women of ALL sizes should be able to wear cotton/lycra stretch pants, but thankfully they have fallen out of fashion.

So, where does that leave us with skin suits. You might consider some simple objective tests, such as a percentage body-fat test or a BMI index rating. You might also consider pointing out to these large, or more likely, extra-large, riders that their speed on a bicycle is not being limited by the aerodynamics of their clothing as much as the extra weight being supported by their bike frame. However, these might all lead to uncomfortable conversations in which reality is unpleasantly imposed on the dreams of these undertrained and overfed riders. Instead, I suggest that you tell them the skinsuits are not made in their sizes and if they persist in finding factual information to the contrary, the best option is to lose their orders and ask them to wait until next year when team clothing is re-ordered.

Lastly, I would like to make it clear that Dr. Spalm is not opposed to extra large riders (Chapeau mon ami, Rider 3), but is merely opposed to skinsuits (or white cotton/lycra stretch pants) on these generously-proportioned and jolly riders.
Dr. Spalm

Dr. Spalm - After the usual middle-age process of having kids and getting ahead at work, I have put on a few pounds and need to get active again. I really want to do a triathlon, but the only bike I have is a mountain bike I bought at Costco. Do you suggest I ride that or buy another bike? I really like the looks of the time trial bikes.
Trying to Tri

Dear Very (Trying that is):
I am not sure how to answer you. It leads to a number of questions I have. Putting aside the question of why anyone would want to do a triathlon, my answer would be either a) Are you serious? (said ironically), or b) Are you serious? (said seriously).

The only thing sillier than trying to train for and complete a triathlon on a department-store style mountain bike would be buying a special purpose time trial bike before you have started riding or training for a triathlon. Actually, maybe the reverse is truer. I’m not sure.

Here is my suggestion. First, go ride the bike you have. Ride it as fast as you can for approximately the distance you plan to ride in the triathlon. Immediately after completing this distance, if you then feel the strong urge to hop off the bike as fast as you can and start running, preferably a marathon, then maybe you’re right that triathlons are appropriate for your future.

As a second test, I suggest that you sit down at a bar with some appropriate beverage in front of you. Briefly consider the distance the drink sits in front of you. Now, put the drink at least two bar seats away from you and then reach out to try to drink from it from this position. If you find that this new position is preferable to your starting position, then a time trial bike might be a good option for you.

Lastly, regardless of these tests, if you find that you can’t ride a bike in a straight line, you probably are a born triathlete. Good luck.
Dr. Spalm

Team Two Wheel Blog