slowdad

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

May your Christmas be full of carbon and hills and trails covered in snow. 

 

Image by Majora88 on Flickr

Cold Weather Crashing

I hate this time of year.  It's not really winter, and it's definitely not fall or summer.  I'm more a fan of extremes.

And it's the holidays. I don't really like them either. When it comes to Christmas I'm a grinch.  Too much consumerism and too much "What's the true meaning of Christmas" BS.  I like Thanksgiving as a holiday concept much more.

Anyway, because of the Christmas break, I'll likely blog less between now and New Years, although I am working slowly on a couple of posts.  I've slowed down recently but will pick things back up in the new Year, when we can finally get out of the decade that's impossible to refer to by a name. 

The only thing of note to happen recently is that I managed to get out of the house for both a ski with the kids this past Saturday, when they skied with Santa, and I went for a nice, but not super intense, ride with Tom on Sunday.

The Kids really enjoyed Santa.  My oldest got a good workout keeping up with him for a couple km.

The bike ride was good, nice and easy at the start.  And somewhat more difficult, at the end, that is, I could barely hold on when the pace lifted.  It was cold, about -5 deg C but very bearable.

And then, turning down my street, I made the rookie mistake of firmly planting both my wheels into the streetcar tracks. My bruised hip is a testament to the lapse of my attention.

It was the first time I've ever crashed a bike.  Hopefully I'll go another long while without seeing my wheels higher than my cranium.

Standing Start - Youtube Track Cycling Video

I urge you.  If you're looking for winter inspiration.  Take 12 minutes of your life and watch this video.  (Click the image) You'll get those 12 minutes back during your next ride.

It makes me embarrassed that I haven't been to the gym this week.

Cool Pic of the Day - Mud

Check out Musumemiiyuki's all Japan Cyclo-Cross Championship 2009 set on Flickr.  Some nice motivational pictures, desktop ready.

Of course I didn't ride today... But that's another story.

Kids and Fitness - More Anecdotes

Recently I've been thwarted by my normally robust technology.  My desktop decided to ruin my record of never having a machine go down, thus depriving me of my proven method of manipulating photos I've taken to make them appear like I'm an awesome photographer.  Actually I caused the problem and this is why there are no pictures of my kids cross country skiing next to the paragraph below. 

This weekend, we managed to both get our flu shots, and get out on to some snow for the first time up at Hardwood Hills. I managed to get out for almost exactly 30 minutes myself and really put the hammer down.  This allowed my to pass at least 2 couples who were out for a leisurely afternoon in the forest.  

The kids seemed to have a lot more fun than they did last year.

Last year each of them couldn't really get up on their own on skis. Now both of them, 4 and 6, were just fine, and could manage the downhills without falling at the bottom of every one.  (Why is it that there must be a turn, even a gradual one, at the bottom of every downhill on a XC course?)  I'm not sure where this improvement came from, but it was welcome by everyone.

They both spent about 90 minutes or so, poking around the easy loop, and generally messing around. Cookies followed and all was well.

As time goes on I'm becoming more and more of a believer in getting kids active early in the morning.  As demonstrated by this weekend, and by watching their behavior this week and last, it's apparent that they are much better and paying attention, and not flying into furious fits, after they've done something physical.

It seems the activity doesn't have to be very stressful, just walking 10 minutes to the babysitters seems to do the trick, with some 30 second intervals thrown in of course. 

If the kids don't get some activity, meltdowns happen sooner, dinner time is more chaotic, and they fight with each other more.

It seems better if the activity is a bit longer making the effect last, but it makes me think that there would be some benefit to schools doing phys ed early in the mornings rather than the almost never that seems to happen.

Or parents could walk their kids to school.

Do kids who walk to school do better?  That's a google search for tomorrow.

But I'm guessing that many parents wouldn't buy in, as evidenced by the parent who, upon entering a store, that they had driven to, (as I had), looked at their young kid, and said to their spouse, "Lets be quick, I don't want her to have to walk much."

Cool Video "Of the Day"

RAPHA from Dave Christenson on Vimeo.

I just ran across this video whilst cruising the twitterverse. Today I was feeling very down about my training after my pathetic workout last night. But this video managed to respark the motivation.  First to ride, and secondly, to check out the HD video capabilities of my camera.

This is an old video.  But I'm glad I found it.

Exciting Times - Heating up the Trainer

After my whirlwind weekend, riding around on super fast kit, it's back to reality.  Somehow I've managed to get myself in the groove of getting on the mag/fluid trainer 2 or 3 times a week.

It actually surprises me that I manage to do it.  I've always much preferred getting outside and enjoying the fresh air but I've discovered that there are benefits to riding inside.

Last year I only managed to get on the trainer about once a week during the winter.  I was focused a lot more on running but it was a struggle, and the sessions only lasted about 40 minutes before I hopped off, and my heart rate stayed fairly low through out.

Maybe it's because I am actually stronger on the bike.  And by strong I mean that I can almost get to the point of needing to go to the big chain ring. 

Maybe it's because I now have a fan to cool me off instead of sweating buckets until I collapse.  L2Drink, as they say.

Or maybe it's the motivation of having a ski race coming up with roughly 700 m of climbing that I haven't done in about 15 years.  Or the fact that I am doing the same course, back to back on two consecutive days. 

I'm not known for my logic at times.  I really needed someone to prevent me doing the second one.  53km is enough.

Top 5 Reasons to Ride Indoors?

• You don't get passed - I get passed all the time when I ride in the presence of others. This, strangely, does not happen when I have the doors to my home locked.  This is great for the ego.
• Choice of Beverage - Open alcohol on the streets is illegal, or at least frowned upon, in most jurisdictions, except for Vegas for some reason, and if you ride indoors, theoretically you can pound back a few PBRs in preparation for your next cyclo-cross race, were, I am told, a lot of this happens. (Disclaimer - I have never done a CX race and have only watched one but it's on my to-do list)
• Family Time - Do you get hassled that your favorite hobby takes you away from the house and leaves your spouse with the kids for hours?  If you golf or ride, practice indoors and with some artful logic, it can count as you taking care of the kids and spending quality time with the spouse. And, you can pretend you can't hear her talking because the cheap trainer you bought is too loud to have a decent conversation.
• Movies - The 2 Terabytes of downloaded movies you have on your home server aren't going to watch themselves.
• Safety - You will not run into a tree while twittering if you are running or riding indoors.

Vitess Bike Review - A Ride to Remember

Sometimes life unexpectedly presents one with opportunity. And the general rule is that these opportunities are to be seized immediately, and ridden for all they are worth.  These opportunities must be taken even if it is 0 degrees Celsius.

And so, one of these opportunities presented itself to me.  The chance to take a shiny new Vitess demo bike for an extended ride.  Yes it was cold out, but the fire in my soul kept my toes plenty warm.

For those of you who are going to read this review, I would like to preface it by making one thing absolutely crystal clear.

I am in no way qualified to review a bike of any quality.  My knowledge of bikes is demonstrated by the fact I tried to screw my pedal on the wrong way when I picked the bike up.  If you gaze up to the top of this blog you'll notice that it's not called, SpeedMachine, or BigEngine, or CyclingFreak. It's Slowdad.  And that's what I am. 

I, in no way, shape or form, deserve to be riding on such a steed in the same way that my driving skills, and family commitments do not justify owning a Ferrari 599.  I drive a 1996 Subaru with 380,000 km on it.

Now lets move on.

Julien Papon, founder of Vitess, while being tremendously nice, is also a little bit crazy for letting just anyone take his bikes for a long ride.  I expected him to demand my first born as collateral, give me his lowest speced bike, and attach a GPS radio collar to my neck.  But no, he basically said lets adjust the seat and off you go.

But first I tried to screw the pedal on backwards, as previously mentioned.

Fortunately I had brought Tom along.  Tom is my go to guy for cycling knowledge, motivation, and a draft for every moment that there is not a severe tailwind. He's been riding since the '80s and I was sure he'd have something to say about the bike.

It was also going to be very windy and I needed his windshield abilities.

Ah, but what about the bike?  It was a: Size 60. Regular Seat-post. Dura-Ace 7900. 3T Ergosum Ltd. 3T ARX Ltd. 3T Doric Ltd. Fi'zi:k Arione CX Braided. Full-carbon Vitess wheels 50mm. Continental Competition.  MSRP $7300 CDN

Everything on this bike was a massive upgrade for me.

I have never ridden on a full carbon frame.

I have never used Dura-Ace or even Ultegra level components.

I have never ridden on carbon wheels.

I have never ridden on tubulars.

I have not had a bike properly fit in a long time, since I got sold my last bike from an local bike shop. I still resent them for it.

And so, when we first jumped out into traffic, all I could say was WOW!  The Vitess took off like a rocket.  It felt like I was riding on absolutely nothing.  I was riding on air.  Air that directly translated my pedal stroke to forward motion.

To those of you who ride high end bikes all the time, "big deal" you'll say. "Was it horizontally stiff and vertically compliant?"  "What was the co-efficient of drag on the frame with a wind angle of attack of 15 degrees?"

I know nothing of this.  All I know is how I felt.  How I felt for my 2.5 hour ride in 25 km/hour winds at the freezing point. 

I do know I felt nervous.  I didn't want to slam into one of Toronto's infamous potholes.  Or take a devastating crash in a corner covered in ice.  There were potholes, and there was ice, but fortunately for me I kept the rubber side down and didn't have to start considering how to flee the country.

As we picked the bike up, Tom and Julien started to talk about frame geometry, and the conversation quickly whistled in one ear and out the other.  All I do know is the frame did seem to fit me fairly well, and I was comfortable the entire ride.  Being 6'0 exactly, and reasonably long limbed, yet somewhat inflexible, it would seem to me that Julien at least had me riding the right size.

One topic did come up during our ride, regarding the somewhat short head tube length.  "If you can afford to spend $6000 on a bike, it's likely you can't afford a short head tube. Old rich guys have bad backs."

I'll leave the technical analysis to others more well versed in it than I.  I know enough to know that frames are like running shoes.  Different brands suit different people better than others. One has to experiment, and that's exactly why Vitess offers these demo rides.

I have to say, that for the rest of the ride I did a pretty good job of not gushing constantly about the sensations I was experiencing.  One of those sensations was not being able to feel my feet, having forgotten my booties at home, but that numbness paled in comparison to the pure joy of riding a bike that was light years ahead of my own.

To say that the bike had snappy acceleration would be like saying a 911 has some pickup.  It was remarkable. The experience never got old.

The ride at speed was smooth and steady.  Quiet, except for a spaceship like wooosh sound of the wheels cutting through the air.   Wooosh.  Best. Sound. Ever.

Cornering was great, likely because of the tubular tires and I never felt skittish like I normally do, especially while descending. 

The cross winds did take a bit of getting used to with the 50mm deep wheels.  After an hour or so I knew what to expect and became far less nervous while zipping past obstacles.

The Fi'zi:k Arione CX Saddle? It was something I was nervous about but it was more comfortable than my current saddle.  This may or may not be surprising considering I bought a second one for $5 off Ebay, but the only times I thought about it was to remark on how much better my rear end felt.

We also had some opportunities to ascend a couple of the steeper climbs around town.  No, nothing serious, but for me the difference was reasonable.  Yes the bike is super light. Dreamy light. But the biggest difference was made by riding a real groupo.  The Dura-Ace 7900 shifted quickly and quietly and clearly had more appropriate gearing for the riding around our route.

I managed to climb much more smoothly than I ever have and I have to think that the bike should get credit for at least 30% of that.

Initially I had been planning on taking the bike out for about an hour and then carefully bringing it back to it's stable.  But I couldn't resist.  I was having too much fun and it felt amazing.  1 hour turned into 2.5 hours and even the 25 km/hour headwind for 45 minutes on the way home was kinda fun... kinda.

The only thing I could find fault with is that internally routed cables sounded a bit rattly over bumpy road. While the ride felt like there was less vibration on the bumps and ridges, the sound did kind of make me wonder if there was something wrong until I figured out where it was coming from.*

Edit to above.  Actually I didn't have it figured out.  The issue turned out to be the headset spacer above the stem.  It was loose, and because of the way this headset works, is purely cosmetic.

As Tom and I checked out the Vitess at his place, prior to me heading home, we couldn't really find much to fault.  This is what you'd expect from a very good bike.  The frame, with it's oversized head tube, reminded Tom of a certain name brand, and the wheels appeared remarkably similar to a certain "value" wheel maker in the US. Both of which I'd ride in a heartbeat.

In the case of Vitess, what's really interesting is the business model.  Get a great frame and fork built to spec. Get a zippy, yet affordable wheelset built.  Spec only very good components.  Build to order.  Sell direct to the end user. And, finally, provide the awesome service that one expects, yet does not always get, when buying a high end bike.

I could gush all day about my ride.  The ride home was cold and wonderful. Do I know if this bike is as good as the next $7k bike?  No.  Do I think that you could spend more and get less with another brand.  LIkely. Do I think that Vitess deserves a very close look if you're in the market for a new ride and have some money to lay down?  Absolutely.

Who should look at this bike? 

If you're the type of person who wants to ride something that few other people own right now, then take a look.

If you want to ride a bike with some great components at a decent price, check it out.

If you want to buy direct from a manufacturer and not pay your money to a sales persons commission, check out the Vitess site.

If you'd like to get a high level of service from a really nice guy, give Julien a call.

And if you're a guy who wants to see what it's like to experience a kick ass bike... Take them up on the demo ride.

Interestingly, while plowing home through the wind, I got passed, as I usually do.  The guy recognized the bike and said that he had been visiting the Vitess website the other day and asked if I was part of the organization. He seemed disappointed about the fact I was not but nodded several times as I spewed superlatives about my current luck at being on one.  It's good to know that word is getting out.

I'm going to remember this ride for a very very long time, and, someday, if I can convince my wife and kids I should spend the money, you just might find me, toodling down Lakeshore, with a grin from ear to ear.

Visit the Vitess website at www.vitess.com

Disclosure: I got absolutely nothing for writing this overview of my ride.  I have nothing to do with the company. The reward was the ride itself.

Vitess - The New Name in Canadian Bikes

Today I had the chance to drop by a new store that recently opened up in my neighborhood. Not so much a store, but a showroom.

A showroom, elegant in it's simplicity, with 3 very very sexy looking bikes hanging from the ceiling.

No it isn't a new art gallery, although it could be mistaken for one, especially if you wear lycra often.  No, it's the showroom of Vitess, a new Canadian Bike Manufacturer.

I rolled in, with the two kids in tow, just to see what was going on inside.  My wife has spotted the sign go up a short while ago and I'd been meaning pop in.

The first thing that grabbed my attention, were the bikes.  Obviously.  And then... the lack of anything else, except that is, for pictures of the bikes.

This, clearly, was not just another bike shop run by people who don't know that much about bikes, who want to cram the shelves with junk to sell to the uneducated.  No, this is a place where it is... All about the bike.

And then I met Julien.  The founder of Vitess.

Julien was the friendliest person I've met in ages.  He exudes passion for serving riders and delivering a high end experience and a high end product.  He's also super smart.

Now, I'm not surprised that I got along with Julien. After all, he has an engineering degree and an MBA, as do I.  But, unlike me, he looks like he's pretty fast on a bike, and, he's got an impressive list of credentials that would seem to give him a leg up on the competition.

Julien has years of experience in the automotive industry.  And, he's got an MBA from one of the best schools in North America. Combine that with a passion for bikes and he's the right guy to shake up the Canadian bike scene.

Julien has a plan.  And for me the plan makes perfect sense.  Run a bike business like an automotive company.  Source only the best equipment and components.  Hold limited inventory.  Build to order. Focus on the rider, not customer.... RIDER.

The frames and forks are, I believe, exclusive Vitess designs. The Vitess carbon wheels are built in partnership with a high end wheel manufacturer in Asia. The "rider interface" is provided by 3T and Fi'zi:k.  The drivetrain, SRAM or Shimano... for now.

So what.  You can buy an Asian built carbon fiber wonderbike from a million different places.  You can buy a groupo from the UK and pick up some carbon wheels on Ebay.  What's new?

Well for one, the quality of the bikes looks very good. There's some engineering in them, combined with a healthy attention to detail.

Each bike is hand built for the rider who ordered it. No swapping of parts and paying a premium for it. Get the gear you have the budget for, the price varying based on your wheelset and groupo.

The frame and fork have 3 year transferable warranties.

If you accidentally break the frame or fork in a crash you can get a replacement at a heavily discounted rate.

The last thing that impresses me is that Julien hasn't just opened a show room.  It's a try it out for an afternoon room.  If you give him some notice he'll hook you up with a frame that fits and you can take it for a long ride and really feel what it's like.

And so... tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll be taking one of his wonderful toys for a spin, head on over to the local hill, and see what happens when I ride my first carbon bike.

Check out the site over at www.vitess.com. Over the winter you can enter his contest to win a set of carbon wheels.  Just tell him I sent you!  Sign up for a test ride.

If you're in Toronto and the GTA, head on down to my neighborhood and check out Vitess.  I have a feeling we might be looking at the start of a great brand. 

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Easy Week - May it be the last for a while

If I get in an hour run tomorrow I'll just have 4 hours of training time in this week. Barely enough to compensate for the extra cookies and Halloween "treats" I've managed to put back. I don't count the 2 hours in the gym over two lunch hours.

At least my knee is feeling better.

Today I took to the track to get in an hour of fairly easy rollerskiing. At this point my arms are very much my limiting factor.  Hopefully there'll be some significant snow in the snow belt next weekend and I can start blowing any discretionary income on trail passes and wax.

The kids were very well behaved out at the track, and played soccer for most of the hour, stopping only to stage an 800m race between my wife and I.  Please don't tell her how hard I had to work to beat her.

While I was skiing I was thinking that we, as parents need to get more creative to get our children entertained while we demonstrate an active lifestyle.  Skiing circles around them while they kicked around the ball was fine but I really admired the guy I saw the other day riding his road bike, with all the carbon he could muster, towing two kids in the trailer.

I'll need to do a top 10 list...