Crash test reviews.

The things I do for this blog and my readers.  For the benefit of everyone tonight I decided to crash test my new Scott Scale to see how it handled.  I decided to crash the new bike at Bear Creek Lake Park.  I got a good head of steam going on some flat single track (although I almost unintentionally crashed it numerous times on the freaking sand on the trails) and decided that going off the single track into a grass covered 8 inch deep rut  would provide a great tool in which to catapult my fat butt from the bike.

Out for a leisurely ride in 95degree tenmps

The rut worked excellent.  Not only did the grass covering it allow me to be completely surprised..but the depth and narrowness stopped the bike in its tracks.  The first thing I noticed while I was laying on the ground (after noticing I was laying on the ground) was how effortlessly my shoes became unclipped allowing me to land a good 5 feet in front of the bike.

I am riding with new Shimano XT spd pedals which I have not really tested.  I rode spd pedals about 15 years ago but hated the release point.  I was pleasantly surprised that while laying on the ground I did not have a bike still attached to one of my feet.

Xts with platform. I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like these.

I must say that I have been extremely impressed with the new pedals. There is a reasonable degree of float and getting into them is effortless. And now I know they also let go in crash situations.

The next thing I noticed is that even though my helmet impacted the ground it was still intact on my head.  I have a new Louis Garneau helmet and I love the easy adjusting knob on the back.  I had actually thought the chin strap was on a bit too tight before the ride but was too lazy to try and figure out how to loosen it.  I think this my have been a blessing since when I did finally stand up after about 5 minutes on the ground I noticed that the back adjusting knob was completely loose and the helmet was loose on my head.  Obviously the helmet did the job by absorbing the impact but I am concerned that the impact completely loosened the helmet up. (And no dad..it did not knock any sense into me)  The chin strap did keep it on my head though. 

As I lay on the ground I noticed that my hands were intact.  The reason being is that I was wearing my full fingered gloves (yes the ones I still have not washed) I almost did not wear them because it was so hot  today.  However, I have found that they really are not any warmer than regular cycling gloves and they have protected my hands on numerous falls.  In fact I no longer wear fingerless gloves and would recommend to everyone to invest in a nice pair of full gloves.  I wear them whether I am on my road bike or mountain bike. For some reason I usually don't wear any gloves on my tri bike.. I don't know why.

Invest in full fingered gloves if you haven't already.

I was also pleasantly surprised that my new sunglasses were still attached to my head. I recently got a pair of Oakley Racing Jackets from Kompetitive Edge . I was never a guy to buy in to high end sunglasses..but I really do love these. They completely cover my eyes while riding and are plenty dark. These also have the interchangeable lenses.  Plus I just look really cool in them.  Obviously I will be taking better care of them then the ones that found their home in the bottom of the outhouse. 

They look cool even not on

But obviously look much cooler on..or maybe I just add to the coolness factor

I checked my Scott Scale out and it did not seem any worse for the wear. The carbon frame had taken its first hit and seemed fine.  In fact the only item that gets low marks for the crash testing is my shoulder.  I noticed I could not pick it up without a ton of pain.  I was concerned that I was going to have a broken collar bone like all of those tour de france weenies..but apparently my actual muscle mass must have provided some sort to cushioning.  See there is an advantage to not being built like someone who had spent three years at Andersonville.  The pain in the shoulder was right on the top..where a person normally has one bump (bone) that protrudes a bit..in between the collar bone and shoulder. Unfortunately I apparently have two bumps there now...or did right after the crash..the pain is still there but the other bump doesn't seem to be.

So in summary.  Out of Five stars the items get the following rating for crash testing.

Pedals 5.0
Sunglasses  5.0
Gloves 5.0
Helmet 4.0 (I did not like the fact that the helmet loosened upon impact)
Bike 4.0 (It would have been a 5.0 but the bike was what crashed in the first place)
Shoulder 2.5 (Not happy with the pain)

I did continue riding and was increasingly impressed by the bike.  I was concerned that the 2x10 Sram gearing would not give me enough granny gears to get up the inclines but it provided plenty of options.  I was also impressed by the way the front tire stayed on the ground during climbs. In the past I have had issues with hardtails and the front pulling up on steeper inclines..something about the physics of a large amount of weight on the rear of a fulcrum and the lighter part coming up...I ain't a physics major..just suffice it to say the weight of my rear causes the front to go up.  With the Scott this did not happen.

In an attempt to be completely thorough I decided to crash the bike at low speed also.  To do this I found a parking lot with an incline, plenty of loose deep gravel, and attempted to make a tight turn doing about half a mile an hour.

What a wuss

I was successful in not getting my cleats out of the pedals and landing on my good shoulder.  Again, the gloves did their job and I had no marks or bruises.  The bike did not seem to be scratched and the helmets and glasses stayed on.  Some of my skin however did not stay on....and it hurt like an SOB..even though the picture does not do the actual wound justice.

So ended my ride.  I also noted when I got home that even though I was gone for about 1:15 of riding and took in about 40 ounces of water I was down 4.5 lbs when I got back. It was incredibly hot. And part of the sweat rate could be attributed to the fact that the air conditioning has gone out on my truck and I refuse to have it fixed. I kind of enjoy the whole sweat box aura the truck has going on. Although the stench that seems to be building is making my daughter more and more reluctant to get in the truck int he morning to go to school.  The money I would have to spend on the ac can be used for better purposes..like band aids and shoulder slings.  After all its just a dry heat.

If there are any items you would like me to crash test in the future please let me know. Tomorrow I am thinking about reviewing the urgent care, mri and xray facilities in Golden if I am unable to put my shirt on.

Also remember that if you order from Kompetitive Edge online you can use the code havn2013 to get 15% off.  You can use the code in store also or just mention me..although mentioning me may actually get 15% added on.  

Take care everyone and Happy Trails. 

Back in the saddle again..literally.

So..my doctor, psychologist, yogi, physical therapist, coach, nutritionist, wife, brother, personal surgeon and homeless guy on the corner of  Speer and Broadway have all ok'd me to start training and racing again. OK..they have not ok'd me .. they have ordered me to.  So really the first thing now is to assess the damage that a two month layoff, total physical, mental and emotional breakdown and fast food eating binge can have on my already less than fit body. (Turns out it was surprisingly similar to spending a week with the inlaws)

The first assessment was easy..the scale.  235.  Hmm.only about 25 lbs heavier than I want to be right now. Also did a blood test.. Apparently i have eaten a little too much grease since the results came back as "flammable".

So this first week Coach wants to make sure I can still walk fast and remember how to ride a bike and swim.   She also wanted to kick me in the butt about my diet...no more fast food or comfort food.  (And Mcdonald's is running their buy one get one free quarter pounder sale!!)

I have also revamped my race schedule to shorter distances.  One of the pros of this is I get to do more training workouts with my wife and daughter.  We had family track night on Monday.  My daughter actually taunted me as she ran around the track at a much quicker pace than her father.

So..back in the saddle and I have already learned three important lessons.

Number one.  When your wife is trying on a wetsuit for the first time it is not a smart idea to  be within ten feet of her and give advice on how to put it on.  As anyone who has worn a wetsuit knows the first time you put one on it takes about 15 or 20 minutes and you feel like you are trying to put 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag.  Further, you begin to feel and look like the Stay puff marshmallow man.  And even though my advice was extremely well intentioned and helpful.. it was apparently taken the wrong way..especially when I told her we needed to grease her up to fit her in.  (In my defense that is what all of us triathletes do!!. Use Pam or body glide or Slik to grease up a bit...)  Needless to say..lesson learned.  Also, taking pictures and laughing was not a good idea either. (my camera is now broke)  The only good thing is that once the suit was on she could neither chase me around the house or throw a good punch.

Number two.  Biking gloves need to be washed.  I found this out last night. First time I have been on my road bike in two months.  I have a container in the back of my truck that I keep clothes, tools, tires and nutrition in.  A container I haven't even looked at in those last two months.  My biking gloves..which I don't think I have ever washed..have been sitting in the back of my truck roasting in the heat along with a number of my other clothing items. (i.e. socks, shorts, wet towels..or possibly moldy at this point and underwear..again possibly moldy at this point) I also found two curdled boxes of chocolate milk..and what I think was a PBJ sandwich.  I put the gloves on yesterday and started my bike ride. About 30 minutes into the ride I went to wipe the sweat off of my forehead and face.  I almost crashed my bike the stench from the gloves was so horrific. What made it worse was I couldn't believe how bad the stench was so I had to smell the glove again..yep it was the glove.  I then of course had to see if the other glove stank that bad..which it did.  In hind sight I probably should not have had to test both gloves..or I should have stopped riding and taken them off.  However I finished my ride.. somehow surprised each and every time I went to wipe sweat away.  Now that I think about it..the gloves are in the back of the truck..probably should have brought them in last night.

Number three. White lycra is never a good idea..but especially on my enormous butt. As part of my ride on Tuesday night I decided to wear my brand spanking new UW Triathlon team bib shorts.  These bibs have a white and red panel..but somehow on me the white became opaque and the red a sickly pink.  I was hoping it was a defective pair..but when the bibs are off they actually return to white and red.  Luckily there were hardly any humans on the trail to witness this fashion faux pas. Worse yet I got grease on them.  A google search on white lycra and grease brought up a number of options..the most prevalent was Dawn Dish soap..which I will try this evening..but other more interesting ideas:

1. Goop or other similar grease cleaner
2. Simple Green (I have tried this and it did not work well)
3.WD-40 to loosen stain and then Dawn dish soap.
4. Brake parts cleaner. (As one person put.."this will amaze your friends and horrify your spouse".)

Supposedly these solutions work on chap stick also which somehow has ruined many of my dress shirts as well as my dri-fit shirts..which is amazing since I never wear chap stick yet it somehow gets into our wash.

And to show that the last eight weeks or so have not been a total loss I was able to rip out carpeting and lay new flooring in both the home office and our main bedroom..the laminate "wood" floor was actually pretty easy to install with the most aggravating part of the process being the tear out of the carpet and floor prep of taking out all of the carpet bars and staples...especially in the concrete floor downstairs.  It looks like I have at least 5% of my Dad's construction talent.

Lastly I was able to get out for a nice ride on my new Scott Scale 930.  I did not do any climbing but did do some cross country riding. I totally understand why people want a 29er..the bike went over everything flawlessly..the carbon frame ate up the bumps even though it is a hardtail and the 2 x10 sram shifting worked awesome.  I can't wait to take it back to Wisconsin and Minnesota and hit some of the woods.  I think it will be very at home there.  Thanks again to Ryan at Kompetitive Edge for hooking me up. I can't wait to race the bike in August at Xterra Lory.

Pure Awesome

Take care everyone..

And Happy Trails!!

MIA...but others picking up the slack.

Well. I have been missing in action for about six weeks now. I don't want to go into detail but suffice it to say the last six weeks have been terrible both physically and mentally and that I would not wish it on my worst enemy. Hopefully I will be coming out the other side soon and be able to salvage a season.

Luckily other members of my family have stepped up in the athletic department.  At the beginning of May the family went to Minnesota to visit my Brother and sister-in-law.  On our first night we were treated to some Wisconsin Softball in the the Twin Cities. The Wisconsin Alumni team taking on a team of players from Green Bay..at the University of Minnesota fields.  Go Bucky.

My bro with the proper follow through

Aunty Adrianne with the slap single

The importance of proper hydration for coaching

I really miss softball..especially when my brothers and brother in law and I used to play on the same teams.

One of the reasons we were in Minnesota was to run the Maple Grove half marathon. I was already out of training for two weeks and thus did not have the conditioning..much less the energy to compete.  My wife had also signed up but her knee had been giving her troubles since she had knee surgery in December and had just had the knee drained and a cortisone shot. Thus I did not think anyone was going to do the run.  Especially since the temperatures race morning were in the low 40s with 20 to 30 mph gusts.   However,  my brother and his wife got up and set up their sponsor booth before dawn...(The weather actually turned out great for them since they own a coffee shop and the cold and wind made everyone drink coffee..even those that did not like it).  My wife followed determined to run her first half marathon and my sister Becky also braved the cold to do her very first 5k.

Braving the cold with coffee and muffins

Getting ready before the race

No where near as warm as it looks

Kristine ended up finishing the race in under 2:50.  Her goal was 2:45 but given the conditions and her knee she did an awesome job.  My sister also finished her first 5k and since then has done another.

Becky finishing her race

Happy but tired

Sponsor's Plug!

Finishing

 

 

 

Fun was had by all..even though it was COLD!!!   We finished our trip by hanging out at the Daily Dose coffee shop and picking up a Twins game.  Luckily we were back in the midwest with plenty of real baseball food.

Hanging at the Daily Dose

 

Yes! Cheese Curds at the game

Cold at the game too!

Yes..real baseball food (plenty of brats..polish and italian also)

When we got back to Colorado we had another athletic first. My daughter signed up for her first triathlon.  Luckily the weather was a lot warmer than in Minnesota. In fact it was a little too hot for this guy.

Before the Race

Coming out of transition

The Swim..

 

My daughter did awesome and more importantly really enjoyed herself. She is already signed up for another race at the end of the season and is looking forward to swim lessons. Hopefully I will be joining in with the training shortly.   I hope everyone is having a good start to their race season.  And remember to enjoy every day to its fullest.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hate it when real life is so real

So..I have not posted in a while..I'm going to use that excuse of real life getting in the way.  I haven't trained much either.  Triathlon and training is kind of a fun diversion and hobby..but in my life it definitely takes a back seat.

Three weeks ago I lost my Uncle.  It came as a complete surprise.  I received a call Monday morning that he was in the hospital. I flew out that afternoon and got to the hospital an hour before he passed away.  I was not ready for this..especially only two months after my mother's passing.  And especially since both him and my mother were so young.  Uncle Tim had always been  a big part of my life..especially when I was younger.  He is where I got some of my sense of humor (for good or bad)  He coined my nicknames..Leonard Lardass and melon head..which I use today with pride. And taught me how to be completely un PC.

Uncle Tim..We will miss him

Needless to say everyone was stunned but the family came together as always.  Three days later as I was about to head to the airport to return to Colorado we got the call that my parent's neighbor of 40 years had also just passed away.  2013 has been shaping up to be just a stellar year.


A week after I got back home my brother and his wife visited.  They had not been to Colroado in 8 years..and honeslty it was just super comforting to have family staying with us.  They actually convinced me to take a brewery tour..which you all know I hate beer..but it was actually fun. It was the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins. They make the classic Fat Tire.  I did not care for the standard beers but did like.. the Trippel and the Transatlantique Kriek ..yummy..cherry flavored.  No one else liked the Kriek except my sister in law.  She has good taste.  Of course my wife and Ben loved the hoppy beers..

Brewery Tour

Entertaining the tour people

Cool Chair..need to make this

Laila asking questions during tour..

 They ended their visit with a hike at one of our favorite local places..Lair o' the Bear.

Aunty Adrianne, Laila and Uncle Ben

That same week Ben and Adrianne were visiting I had my physical...Cholesterol...best the doctor had seen for me and well within good standards for anyone!! woo hoo. Uric Acid under control!!  Vitamin D close to normal.  Excellent physical..best in a while.  Oh..let me listen to your heart.  Umm.  we need you to come in for testing..What?  Apparently there are murmurs that have not been there in 14 years.  Of course the tests were a week away.  I completely freaked out.  I didn't want to train or raise my heart rate.  Even at night I would listen to my heart as I lay in bed..hearing the murmur and the elevated heart rate...at least in my head.  Based upon my family history as well as recent events all I could think about was the worst possible scenarios.  And of course my sister in law the surgeon tried to reassure me that it was probably nothing..but did detail the worst possible scenarios.  The test was on Thursday of last week and I will have the results next week sometime. I was able to get the tech to divulge what she saw..even though she was not supposed to.   According to her there was nothing of real concern..I am hoping she is right.  I also convinced her to run an additional test on my arteries that I was not scheduled for..don't know who is going to pay for it..but it is done.

Just an example of how freaked out I was by the upcoming tests..I bought a new 29 inch mountain bike on the day before my physical.  I have yet to even put the front tire on it and ride.

Ben and Adrianne got to go with me to pick it up at Kompetitive Edge. They even got to see the new Kompetitive Edge ride before it was made public.

By the way..the new bike is still a bit of a controversy..I have had experts weigh in on both sides regarding a fat ass like me riding a carbon frame. Ryan at KE says it is perfect for me..while others I know are taking bets on how long I have it before I snap the carbon.  My friends Jen and Scott Think it will be about the fifth ride.   I'll give a review of the bike when I actually ride it.

To add to the rest of the issues that have plagued me the last couple of weeks our basement/bedroom flooded necessitating that  I remove the carpet..drywall and wood burning stove.  I am still in the middle of this project.

half way through stove and brick demo

Demo mostly done..now to put it back together.

Like I said. 2013 has been a very hard year.  The challenges keep mounting.  However there is one thing I am thankful for..my friends and family.  No matter what the challenge there is someone standing with an outreached hand.  Obviously there is my wife and daughter who are there everyday through thick and thin as well as my immediate family.  My friends and extended family like all my great cousins who help mourn and remember the happy times.  Old friends like Trent who just reach out with a hello. Or others like Greg who sees I am back in Racine and extends an invitation to train with him or John to have a drink. Unfortunately I was unable to hang out with any of these guys due to my time constraints..but I will do so in the future..life is short.  Then there are old friends who comfort me..even though when I am training I tend to neglect them..thanks..Joel..Dawn Marie..Todd..August..but they were therefor me two minutes after I started freaking about my heart tests.  I think my brother Ben gave Joel the biggest compliment..saying he felt like he had known Joel for ten years even though he just met him.

Ben and Joel sipping some homemade whiskey as they try and talk me off the roof

  And other friends that are helping me piece my house back together like Todd, Steve and Lisa. I also have new friends that give me advice on everything from carbon bikes..to the best pedals to buy..and just listening to my bull crap whining..knowing when to say its ok..and also suck it up buttercup.  As well as all my facebook friends that comment at just right time to put a smile on my face. The last few weeks have also taught me to reach out to others I have not talked to and hopefully become someone they can rely on to talk about their trials and tribulations.

This week I am hoping to connect with some people I haven't in a few weeks..like my coach Jen and training partner Doreen.   

So I had to edit my post since I was reminded by somebody about the training injuries I sustained the last two weeks which I should probably update everyone on.  The first was to my left hand..I thought I actually broke a bone in the hand it hurt so bad and swelled up.  I was doing some over exuberant cardio and hit my hand on the door knob in my office.  My 5 year old had challenged me to a dance off on the xbox...Pump It..

Even though I was in excruciating pain I soldiered through and beat her..and then cried it hurt so bad.  However I do think I am over that injury.

I did also injure myself while doing doing a physics experiment.  Apparently if you exert great force upon an immovable object and that object then becomes movable..the force exerted will then find some place else to go.  For example..if you put a pick axe under a layer of brick and then pull that handle of that pick axe towards your jaw...the handle will actually hit your jaw with great forces once the brick comes loose..causing not only great pain to your jaw but also your fat ass to be propelled backwards up and over the rocking chair that you lazily did not move out of the room and onto the tool box and sawzall that you also did not move off the floor and out of the way..finally coming to rest in a heap with a look of astonishment and wondering if you are going to be able to eat solid foods for the next week.

I am still able to eat..which may not be a good thing..but the jaw is still a little sore.