Change in plans

It's looking like Paris-Brest-Paris is going to be a no-go for me. I'm learning the hard way that at about the 300km mark my back begins to give out. 3ookm is only 1/4 of P-B-P so I can't imagine my back holding up to that. I still plan to do the rest of the shorter brevets this season and am thinking about new challenges. Perhaps I'll do the STP single day on my soon to arrive fixed gear? I'm not crazy about the crowd at STP so perhaps I'll do the ride solo on another date? Also thinking about a tour from Vancouver to Astoria on the Adventure Cycling route. That could be a good 4 day tour. There's also riding from Seattle to Vancouver on the fixed gear. The nice thing about a new bike is that it opens up new challenges.

The 80's Live!

Found these on the Razor Apple site (http://tinyurl.com/359ear) and absolutely love them! Never before has something so very wrong seemed so very right! Apparently the store that put them together is selling them for $2500 a pop (they're build off Bianchi Pista Concept track frames - not cheap).

Traditionalists and "steel is real" types will cringe in horror which is all the more reason I love them. Something about the combination of fixed gear minimalism and flashy color just appeals to me. I could never go for a geared road bike looking like this but for some reason fixies seem to a blank cavas that screams for adornment. Time for me to get a beater fixie frame and fire up the spray gun!

Customer Service (?)

Got my latest flyer from Performance. A lot of people really hate Performance/Nashbar but having worked at REI I know many of these people simply hate any big company. For what it's worth, Performance does a good job of offering products at good prices. The two stores of theirs I've been in were also well merchandised and well staffed. As I skimmed through the latest flyer I saw a pair of touring shoes that actually looked nice. They appeared to be honest to goodness touring shoes and not just mountainbike shoes. The soles were fairly thin and had a simple, toe clip friendly herringbone tread.

I went on-line to see if they had any in my size. Here's where things went wrong. The catalog lists the price as $34.99 but on-line the price is $49.99. Pricing mistakes such as this happen for a number of legitimate reasons - it's not a case of the shop trying to screw the consumer as some ranting lunatics always seem to insist (BTW, if you're one of those people let me be the first to congratulate you on being so damn perfect that YOU apparently never make a mistake!) I sent the following e-mail to their customer service addy:
"I received the flyer that lists the Forte Kingston shoe for $34.99 but the price on-line is $49.99. Is the flyer a typo?"

Less than 24 hours later I got my response:

"Dear Mr. Kingston,

What is on the cover of the flyer?

Regards,

Amber

Customer Service"

Not quite sure what to make of this response. For starters they confused my name with the name of the shoe. OK, we all have our moments. But the rest of the response is baffling. Am I supposed to be seeing some fine print? A secret code? Waldo? Am I missing something?

I decided to try their instant chat feature hoping for a less puzzling customer experience. Here's the transcript:
Josh Tech: On the website it is $49.99
Chris Lowe: But in the print flyer it's $34.99
Josh Tech: For the catalog price call the order in
Josh Tech: 800-727-2453
Chris Lowe: OK but the flyer says "Web & Phone orders only"
Josh Tech: Yup, the price was $29.99 on the web when that flyer was printed 2 months ago
Josh Tech: so to get the lower price on the flyer, call the order in
Josh Tech: err, $34.99 when it was printed
Chris Lowe: Uh-huh. Just kind of odd since I got the flyer last night. Professionally speaking, things like this create a negative customer experience. Someone higher up the food chain there should probably know.
Josh Tech: Yup. If it was up to use here in Technical Support, the catalogs would not have prices on them

First, kudos to Josh for his candor and honesty. Having worked for REI I understand all too well how decisions made in cubicles can often make life difficult for the people down at the pointy end of the spear who actually have to deal with the customers. Hopefully Josh will run this up the flagpole so Performance can get their various sales channels all on the same pricing plan.

Overall, the issue got resolved but the question is how many customers wouldn't make the effort? I bet most customers would simply walk away after seeing the pricing error. Worse yet, some of them would call customer service and berate some poor CS rep for an error they had nothing to do with it. Either way, it's likely to be a bad outcome for Performance.

Comedy of Errors

Saturday was the 300k qualifier for P-B-P. The ride started before dawn as we gathered for the 6:10am ferry crossing to Bainbridge Island. By the time we reached Bainbridge it was starting to rain. This was in stark contrast to the weather just 24 hours earlier when Seattle enjoyed a long over due and much needed Spring day. As I took my bike out of the truck and attached my front wheel I realized that I'd forgotten to attach a magnet to the wheel making my Cateye Mity 8 useless save for the clock feature. This was to be the first of many comical errors.

After a the usual warnings we set off into the drizzle. Jan Heine (of Bicycle Quarterly fame) and a few others quickly soared off the front. Several of us decidedly slower riders formed a good sized group and began working our way to the Hood Canal bridge. Just after the bridge came the first real hill. I peeled off my shell and began climbing. I was feeling stronger than expected and was keeping pace with several riders who generally finish well ahead of me. We began to encounter some chip seal and my bike was making a terrific rattling racket. Something clearly was loose. I reached down and gave the bottle cages a wiggle but they both seemed solidly attached. I pulled out the multi-tool and reached down and began working my way around the chainring bolts. They were all snug. At this point I realized I'd have to pull over and stop and see what was wrong. I finally found the culprit: in my haste to swap out wheelsets I'd accidentally put in the wrong sized cassette spacer. As a result the cogs were sitting rather loosely on the hub and rattling. The lockring seemed tight so I hopped back on and kept going. There was quite a bit of chip seal which made for an annoying ride.

As we left Quilcene we began the ascent of Walker Pass. The more we climbed, the harder it seemed to rain. Part way up the hill I encountered a group of riders looking intently at the ground alongside the road. Naturally, I had to stop. Turns out a rider's crank had come detached from his bike and the bearing from the bottom bracket had fallen out. I helped look for a while but then got back on the bike and kept going. As I rode off I thought to myself "Well at least my loose cassette isn't keeping me from riding!" The cycling gods apparently didn't appreciate this and soon after my pedal body detached itself from the spindle. Fortunately, I was able to more or less fix it.

The descent down Walker Pass had me seriously regretting not bringing my rain shell. I had my Novara Conversion jacket. It's a splendid jacket but by no means a real rain jacket. Light rain perhaps but not the full on downpour I encountered on the descent. By the time I got to the bottom I was so cold I couldn't feel my brake levers. I only knew I was squeezing them because the bike was slowing. As the road leveled off so did the rain. At this point I began noticing my posterior wasn't as comfy as it could be. I hopped off the bike and noticed my Sella Anatomica saddle now resembled a hammock. Sadly, this saddle was proving to be only slightly more water resistant than a Brooks. I tightened the tension bolt as far as I could without having it come undone but clearly this was the end of the road for the saddle. It felt like I was sitting on just the metal frame the leather was bolted to - not comfortable! Too bad since prior to this the SA was the most comfortable saddle I'd ever ridden.

We soon rolled into the secret control. I was surprised to see Kent Peterson roll up after me. Kent is a super strong rider and I'm a really weak climber. This actually made me a bit nervous because Kent had warned me earlier in the week that the real climbing was in the final third of this ride and the key was to start conservatively. I was feeling pretty good (back and butt aside) but was now worrying that I'd gone out too hard. Kent offered me some Gummi worms and hit the road. The worms provided a much needed sugar boost and I was again reminded that Kent is a nutritional genius.

I headed out and began making my way to the next control in Hoodsport. I had no idea just how far I'd gone but I know we were past Walker Pass but not yet at Hoodsport which meant I'd covered somewhere between 98 and 148KM. I rolled past a country store and decided it was time for some Kent Peterson inspired nutrition in the form of a Starbuck's DoubleShot and some Gummi Worms. The sugar and caffeine did wonders for me but soon my back was starting to spasm. Soon even short hills were causing terrible shooting pains. I knew I was in serious trouble. I limped my way into Hoodsport and the local coffee shop. A couple other riders said they were heading into Bremerton and catching an early ferry home. That sounded like a very good idea. After some food the three of us set off. Within a couple of kilometers they were soon out of site and I began the long and lonely haul towards Belfair. Fortunately, the rain had stopped and I was treated to fantastic views of the Hood Canal. I stopped in Belfair and grabbed another DoubleShot and headed out down SR3 towards Bremerton.

I rolled into Bremerton and made my way along the waterfront. Apparently Bremerton is the final stop for decommissioned aircraft carriers as there were several anchored waiting their final out come. Joining them were a pair of Perry class frigates which looked like lifeboats alongside the hulking carriers. Up over one short hill and I was at the ferry terminal. I arrived just in time to see the ferry depart! Doh! At this point I began a quest for food. Eventually I found a place that carried Belgian inspired frites and beer. I ordered a big cone of fries with curry ketchup and a Chimay. The grease, curry, potato and alcohol worked wonders and I was once again a happy camper. I found the two other riders who took the Bremerton option and they said we'd covered over 150 miles. All setbacks aside it was still a good ride. I'd seen parts of Washington I'd never seen before, persevered through new levels of adversity, and ended the ride eating fried food and drinking good beer. How can this be considered anything less than a great day?

Lessons Learned

I went for a 9 hour training ride on Saturday. It was a mostly flat spin along the Inter-Urban and Centennial trails here in the Seattle area. I love the fact that here in Seattle I can ride 200km with less than a quarter of that being on regular roads. Weather was chilly and overcast so I saw very few other riders and this gave me some time to think about what I've learned so far on my trek to PBP. A few observations:

• I have the best wife in the world. Between a 6 month old daughter and an 80 year old house it's a miracle I have the time to ride around the block let alone go out for 8+ hour rides. She's also been very tolerant of the numerous bike bits, entry fees, and mountains of junk food purchased at the various gas stations of Washington state.
  
• The Starbuck's DoubleShot is an almost magical elixir. When you only have 30-40km left to go this little can of sugar, cream and caffeine is just the ticket to get you carcass across the line. Many thanks to Kent Peterson for introducing me to this lifesaver.
  
• Clif Bars don't seem to work any better than Payday bars, Twix bars, fig newtons, etc. They just cost a lot more.
  
• The longer you're on the bike, the weirder your tastes get. Towards the end of my ride on Saturday I was riding a section of the Inter-Urban trail which passes behing numerous fast food joints. Eventually I caved to the pressure and ate 2 cheeseburgers that I normally wouldn't wish upon my enemies.
• When you get far enough into a ride you'll tell yourself the most amazing lies. Example: "It's not a hill....it's just flat in a different direction"
• If your cold you're not pedaling hard enough.
  
• It's not raining, it's just VERY humid.
  
• Cyclists who blow through red lights/stop signs also seem to be the same cyclists who bitch the most about how bad motorists are. Go figure.
  
• The littlest creak can become extremely annoying after a few hours. My Sella Anatomica is on its way out for this very reason. It might be comfortable but I can't handle 90 hours of creaking on P-B-P.
  

SIR 200K ride report

Saturday was St. Pat's day as well as the SIR 200K brevet. This was the first brevet to count towards my qualifying for PBP. Gathered in the pre-dawn darkness were roughly 100 riders. Myself and a few others were in the mood for St. Pat's and dressed accordingly. The forecast called for 80% chance of rain so we were prepared for the worse.

The ride started out heading west up Reith Rdd a stiff hill with which to start the day. We hauled ourselves up over the ridge before heading down towards the water. After the first control we headed back up over the ride and descended into the valley. A group of nearly a dozen of us had gathered as we headed inland towards Auburn. At the base of the ridge I spotted a sign which I found grimly amusing: it was a sign marking a volcano evacuation route. The amusing part is that the arrow pointed across the street at a funeral home. If (when?) Rainier does blow that's probably a realistic outcome.

As we neared Auburn we'd already complete 50km. The ride was a quarter over and I was feeling great. Our group plowed through Auburn and began heading out into the country side. A yellow Davidson tandem spearheaded our train as we blasted our way past farms and ranches. An ugly hill quickly broke apart our group and well ascended at our own pace. In my case this meant very slowly. I've been plagues by knee problems and installed a 30 tooth granny ring on my cranks the night before. The 30x27 gearing allowed me to get up the hill without blowing out my knees and soon we found ourselves at the Black Diamond Bakery. A local Team In Training ride had also descended upon the bakery and I suspect the owners were making a killing from all these lycra clad eating machines. I grabbed some water and peanut butter cookies and headed back out on the course. At this point I was on my own. Occasionally I'd hook up with a group but would usually find myself drifting off the back whenever the road pitched upwards.

Just past the 100K point we began heading out on Highway 410 towards Greenway. The road had a couple of climbs and some false flats and my body began to protest. The last 10km into Greenway became a bitter deathmarch. I staggered into the general store and immediately pulled a Kent Peterson: 1 Starbuck's Double Shot, a pack of chocolate Zingers, a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and a Twix bar. With only 60km left to go I knew I needed fast burning fuel. The temperature also dipped sharply and so I piled on my rain jacket for warmth. Not long after departing Greenway the rain began. Since it was St. Pat's day I began to channel my inner Sean Kelly and reached for the drops and began tapping out a steady tempo with a grim determination. The false flats that plagues me heading into Greenway were now propelling me out of it (that or it was the Double Shot!) We turned off 410 and headed down Mud Mountain Road. The descents were twisty, bumpy and wet. The sluggishness of the 650b tires had been bugging me at times during this ride but now I was happy I had them. I found another rider - Allison on a blue Romulus - and we began rolling our way through Enumclaw and farm country. We had one last major hill to climb and then found ourselves in Kent.

My odometer read 201km but the cue sheet said I still had 10km to go. Unfortunately, my legs had decided that since this was supposed to be a 200km ride they were only going to last 200km. The final 10km were a surprisingly hard slog. I finally arrived at the finish with my computer giving a ride time of 9:31:32 and a distance of 212.13km. My time for the 100k was 5:40 so I was quite happy to have done better despite doubling the distance. Of course the computer shows only riding time - not total time. Will need to wait for the official result to post. The ride finished at Greg Cox's house and he had several pots of homemade chili waiting for us. Overall, it was a good ride. I felt much stronger on all of the climbs. My right knee hurt at points but nothing like the pain I had on the 100k. My shoulders also fared better though they were also still sore. I'll raise the stem up a couple of cm and see if that helps. I tried rotating the bars up at the secret control but that quickly caused my hands to go numb - not a good trade off. Also my Sella Anatomica saddle was creaking like an old rocking chair comfortable as it might be I can't live with that kind of racket so it's getting replaced by my Fizik Rondine.

Thanks again to everyone who manned the controls, Kent Peterson for the photo, and Greg Cox for hosting the ride.

650B Conversion Project

I finished (finally) the conversion of the SOMA into a 650B machine. For those of you not in the know, 650B is an obscure tire size once most popular among French touring bikes. Lately it's been seeing a resurgence in popularity in large part thanks to Rivendell Bicycle Works and Kogswell Cycles who both produce affordable frames made for 650B wheels. The wheels themselves are slightly larger than the 26" MTB standard and slightly smaller than the 700C standard. Those who have been around for a while might wonder if this doesn't sound a lot like GT's failed 700D experiment from the 90's. It is except that 650B was once popular among numerous builders. Even Raleigh USA made a 650B bike back in the 80's. The size has also maintained life in Japan and France unlike GT's effort which was largely proprietary.

The supposed advantages are a fatter tire running at lower air pressures. This results in a smoother ride and better handling. To listen to some people you'd think 650B will turn a Huffy into a magic carpet. You can put fatter 700C tires on a bike but few frames outside of touring and 'cross can handle much more than 28mm. 26" is often seen as too small a wheel size. 650B is according to the faithful a perfect mid point.

650B is also a nice way to take an old road frame and make it into a more versatile machine sporting fenders and cushy tires. This is the appeal for me and I decided to see if the hype was for real by converting my 700Cx28 SOMA Smoothie ES into a 650Bx38 SOMA Smoothie ESS (Extra Super Smooth!) Beyond the new wheels and tires I also needed new brakes. I've always been a fan of how centerpulls look and a fan of Paul Components so picking up a pair of their Racer brakes was a no brainer (other than the cost!) Everything went together pretty easily. The Pauls just barely had the reach for my new wheels and the existing Berthoud fenders just barely contain the 38mm tires.

My first ride on the new machine was a leisurely 1 hour shakedown ride. At first I really didn't notice much difference except on a short patch of dirt trail. The first real test would come with the 100k Populaire put on by the Seattle International Randonneurs. This ride featured a couple of climbs and some generally craptacular weather (light rain, temp in the 40's, snow slush on the roads). Starting out on the ride it was hard to discern much difference between the new wheels and the old ones. The ride was a bit smoother but that was about it. When we hit the first climb - a short but steep 1/2 miler - I rose up out of the saddle and could definitely feel the difference between the 650B and 700C wheels. The new wheels were noticeably slower to respond. My normal 700C wheels are Mavic Cosmos shod with 700x28 Conti GP folding bead tires. The Cosmos is Mavic's day-in, day-out workhorse riding wheel. By today's standards it hardly qualifies as lightweight though technophobic luddites would call it scary light since it was less than 36 spokes. By comparison, the 650B wheels are 32 spoke affairs laced to rims that are the same as MTB rims and shod with wire bead tires. Bottom line is they weigh quite a bit more and it was pretty noticeable on the ascent particularly when you try to change tempo. To be fair, the biggest shortcoming on that climb was still the rider.

On the downhill the extra traction provided by the 38mm tires was much appreciated, especially on the slick, wet roads. The Col de Vie tires cornered very nicely without any noticeable edge or squirming. The tires did make noticeably more noise than my usually slicks. Not the annoying chased-by-a-swarm-of-hornets noise one gets when riding a MTB on pavement but more of a soft whizzing sound. It didn't annoy me but it could drive other riders crazy.

In terms of handling the bike did feel a little more stable. While it's not as good as a bike with dedicated low trail geometry I did find it easier to stay in a straight line while fishing through my front bag. Low speed stability also seemed better.

So far I'm not convinced that 650B is the wave of the future. It seems to be better in certain niche applications (loaded touring, for example) but for normal day to day riding over average roads I don't see it offering any huge advantages over 700C. As for conversion projects, 650B is a great way to make an old road frame more versatile.