Asphalt Junkies Spring 2013 - Closed (Page 49)

Ok, I guess I'm going to stop feeling sorry for myself that I have to take the dog out 50 times a day no matter what the weather. We get to come right back in and get warm! Best wishes that you finish up faster than expected!

I've made a few recipes from the cook book I talked about last week and so far I really like it. I even tried beet juice which was really an adventure because I don't actually have a juicer. I did not read through the recipe before I bought the beets...... Personally I think beets are pretty gross and taste like dirt but the authors say they are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. Since I didn't have a juicer I had to grind the beats in my food grinder then push that pulp through a strainer. This was a very messy and long process just to get a glass of juice! It wasn't that bad but I cut it in half with orange juice.

Now I want a juicer! Does anyone have one they like?

My daughter had fun stamping and painting with the tops of the beets too so we got our money's worth I guess .

Dirk, sorry about the poles and the cold weather.  I'm hoping the storm didn't to to much damage for you.

Tony good w/o and glad you are getting better.

Will sorry about the cold

Jo, let us know about Margie, tell her good luck and she is in our prayers.

Congrats to everyone dieting and getting stronger.

Jo63 - 2013-01-31 7:06 AM

trigal38 - 2013-01-31 6:29 AM

I've made a few recipes from the cook book I talked about last week and so far I really like it. I even tried beet juice which was really an adventure because I don't actually have a juicer. I did not read through the recipe before I bought the beets...... Personally I think beets are pretty gross and taste like dirt but the authors say they are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. Since I didn't have a juicer I had to grind the beats in my food grinder then push that pulp through a strainer. This was a very messy and long process just to get a glass of juice! It wasn't that bad but I cut it in half with orange juice.

Now I want a juicer! Does anyone have one they like?

My daughter had fun stamping and painting with the tops of the beets too so we got our money's worth I guess .

We have an Oster 16 speed blender that works really well I throw everything in there including cut up beets it liquified just abut everything kale doesn't get completely liquid Anyway I got it on sale and had a 30 % off from kohls so I got it for 39.00 way cheaper than a juicer and I don't know that I have seen a juicer that doesn't separate the fiber from the liquid I think you need it all.

I totally forgot about my blender. I've only used it twice. I'll blow the dust off of it and see how it does before I get serious about a juicer.

Will sorry to hear it and I understand your fustration. I just want to move forward and get back to a normal week of training instead of struggling through it because of being sick. Feel better soon.

Dirk sorry to hear about the conditions you are working in, that sounds like a huge mess. I hope you guys get it taken care of safely and quickly.

Dina x2 on braving the elements with the dog. I know it doesn't compare at all to what Dirk is dealing with but I can relate.

Jo63 - 2013-01-31 6:43 AM Jackie: congrats on your weight loss. Dirk: good luck getting all the poles fixed it is supposed to be cold here today I assume the same for where you live, stay warm and I hope it goes quick Jeff: that makes sense on the nutrition. Will:take care Dina: swimming with catfish? No thank you. lol Iam actually up 3 lbs I am hoping it is muscle I was told my body will adjust now that Iam adding the amount of calories it needs, on the positive side I feel good and my cloths are fitting better. Margie's surgery is today it is actually an outpatient, I thought she would at least be in overnight. I have a trek road bike that I ride inside and when the weather warms up to about 80 I will go outside to ride and then I ride my trek tri bike, as far as my gearing I ask at the bike shop if Iam good for whatever race, I know I have asked here about it , but right now it's to much trouble to learn

JoAnne I hope everything goes well for Marge with the outpatient surgery today. I hope she has a full and quick recovery.

Jackie congrats on the weight loss and the C25K program, it's great to see you making great progress with both.

Karl, the gearing does not make a bike faster....as in the quality of the components.  They only move the chain around.  The differences between the higher end stuff and the lower end stuff will be the quality of the shift itself and the weight.

It's said that the better components shift more positively, or quickly when you move the lever and with less grinding or missed shifts.  I don't think I've ever had a bike or ridden a bike with anything less than Ultegra level stuff (and the equivalent for mtn bike stuff).

Oh, I take that back.  I've ridden Shimano 105 and it's pretty darn good too.

My impression is that once you step from Tiagra to 105 you now have top quality shifting.  From 105 up through Dura Ace you are only buying lighter weight.

I train with my road bike.  A Kestrel Talon.  it's considered a dual purpose bike because you can achieve either a road bike position or a tri bike position, but I've got it configured as a road bike.  It has Ultegra components.  And it has no name.

What makes a bike fast is a million little things, none of which make it fast on their own.  But weight is less of it than I used to think.  If the chain and cogs are in good repair and not stretched or worn and the drivetrain is clean then it comes down to:

1) tires 

2) wheels 

3) your position on the bike (wind resistance!)

4) the frame's properties of stiffness (transferring power to the chain)

5) weight

6) bike's aerodynamics (different from rider's aerodynamics)

7) how pretty it is (only half kidding, some of it comes down to how fast you FEEL)

I completely agree with the list above, and I'm pretty sure Jeff didn't mean it to be in any particular order.

I do however disagree with the comment about 105 thru dura ace just being about weight.  I have ridden all of them (except for Sora) and fairly recently.  I would say that there is very little if any difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace...even weight really.  I will agree that if you have a brand new, perfectly adjusted bike with 105 components and the same with Ultegra components, you will be just as happy with both, but that's hardly ever the reality.  We go on long rides, we ride in the rain, salt, dirt, salt, etc.  Those elements take their toll over a long ride.  My bike with 105 just didn't hold up to the abuse and keep on shifting like my ultegra bike.  I take a lot of pride in caring for my bikes and I wouldn't buy 105 again if I could afford the ultegra.

We can also get into Shimano versus Sram if you want.  Although I built up my most recent bike with full sram Force, I would switch it out for ultegra if someone gave it to me (even though the Force groupo looks better in my opinion).

I am not as educated or experienced with mountain bike components and have only ridden Sram XO, but I would wager that it's not much better than X9.  I have heard however that SRAM mountain bike components are a bit better than Shimano's.

Congrats Jackie!  That's excellent.  Keep it up!

I just realized that the giant post I wrote up yesterday never actually posted.  I hate it when that happens!

My Wednesday weigh-in puts me 3 lbs from my goal....much of this is due to the juicing that I have been doing this week.  3 days of juicing has put me down 6 lbs.  Pretty significant.  Now I know exactly how everything I put into my stomach affects me.  It's very interesting.

That's a good list from Jeff and as Jonathan said it's not a particular order, and in fact I believe the order would change based on speed and well as terrain.

I'm surprised to hear Jonathan's comments on the 105 vs. Ultegra when not perfectly clean, and I'm even more surprised to hear that he had personally experienced the difference.  The few times I've ridden with Jonathan, or seen him at a race, I can vouch his components look better than mine did when new.

I am not much of a bike snob, but I did notice a difference shifting with ultegra after using 105 for so long.  didn't make me any faster, but the shifting was better.  And I've done a few minutes on a trainer with the electronic shifters, and all I can say is WOW!

OK....I'm just going to send you to my album to check out my shoes.  I couldn't get the other site to work correctly.

These shoes have 327 miles of running on them.  It's a combination of treadmill, road and trail.  I only used them for running.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Matt nice job that's great! Are you sticking with the bilateral breathing or did you do this breathing to one side or doing a combination of the two? Just wanted to see if you were making any progress there. I have been sort of mixing it up breathing to one side for one length and then bilateral breathing on the next.

Tracy nice color unfortunately I have to defer to the experts on your shoes but you can try use this site for the picture resizing if you still want to post here. This one works well for me. http://www.resizemypicture.com/

The pictures are very high res.  Nice view of the treadwear.  Ok, so here's the deal...there are no wear patterns that indicate ANY issues at all.  The shoes still look nearly pristine.  These are air sole shoes so there is going to be very little lost cushion, if any at all, due to the miles you have on them.

These shoes are ready for the next 300 miles if you still like them.  Honest.

You mentioned having a stride analysis done in the past and everything check out.  From what I see here I can confirm that you run perfectly at least from a foot mechanics standpoint.

Congrats Matt!!!  Awesome!!! on the swim!!!

Tracy, I'm with Jeff, I see no tread wear.

Jen, I heard that today is your birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hope you are feeling better!

Thanks for looking at them, Jeff.  These are the shoes I wore during the hill climb in August!  I've also done some other races in them, too.  Of the three pairs of shoes that I rotated, these were my favorite.  I have two pairs of these shoes and one pair of the newer model Pegasus.  I don't like the new model.  It's a bit too narrow and I suspect that they assisted in my foots' demise.  In all honesty, I really don't like the Pegasus.  They are just the best shoes I've found since Mizuno changed so drastically.

I will use these shoes when I get back to running.  The earliest will be at the 6 week mark.  I'm at 4 weeks of no running right now.  I am going to go to the LRS and try on everything in the store, though!

Again, thank you for checking them out.

My bike: Felt B12 w/ SRAM force.  I dont deserve it... yet.

I'm still getting workouts in regardless of all the sickness... maybe I need to rest more?  Since this is my 3rd sickness in 6 weeks...

Okay, need some help from anyone who has time... There's a local ride/race this saturday and I'm trying to figure out which distance to go for.  I just got back on my bike at the end of last year and my longest ride so far is 30 miles... I think I could pull off 50 miles, but 60 is the max and I'd love to go for it.  You guys have any advice?

Also, if you know how to read elevation charts, could you check the site maps out and tell me how bad the hills are???

http://www.freezeyourfanny.com/

Thanks guys!

Will, I say go for it!  A little bit of racing will likely whet your appetite for some more and it will serve as great fuel to keep you training.

Here's is one pic of what were doing tonight just before dark.  It was the only pic I had time to take today as things were ridiculously busy.  We were able to get all of the pole set today but nearly none of them are "clipped in," so I'll be working tomorrow for about half the day.

The weather today was pretty bad in some regard but still it was far better than yesterday.  Today the wind chills never got out of the single digits and we kept getting hit by snow squalls.  But all of these conditions were still much easier to deal with than the 12 inches of mud we had yesterday.  The ground got a decent amount of frost on it today that we could walk on the top of most of it, and that made for much more happy linemen.  It was still difficult working condition however.  The ground was so soft yesterday that the conductor in many places sunk into the ground and then froze in the muddy mire.  I spent about 2 hours with a 2lb double faced hammer beating the wire loose so it didn't get damaged before hanging it back in the air.