Weird Little Day

Today was West Bend’s first look at 50° since December 30 and I was only too happy to hop aboard my Framed Gravier for another ride around town. We got up to 52° before the rain came and the temperature dropped back into the 40s. I now have done three outdoor rides in the last seven days, which is unusual for February. But it’s also unusual that I am continuing to struggle with a bike that, to me, still seems brand new. I’m having problems that I don’t think I should be having with fewer than 500 miles of service.

Today it was the crankset: single chainring SRAM Rival paired with an FSA BB30 bottom bracket. I noticed as I pedaled that the chainring wasn’t tracking in a consistent plane; it appeared to wobble. Shifting wasn’t affected—all of that takes place in back, of course—and there was no sensation that the chain was going to drop off the chainring. Things seemed fine but they looked odd. And looks were not deceiving. I stopped at Pedal Moraine and, with the bike on the workstand, it was obvious that the drive-side crankarm would not have held on much longer. I may have been only a minute away from a catastrophic failure and a humiliating walk home.

Once everything was taken apart, cleaned, and reassembled, I was ready to roll again. Critical to reassembly was ensuring the proper torque on the crankarms. That’s probably the root of the issue, and it’s something I didn’t even think to check when I took delivery of the bike last July. I wouldn’t doubt that the issue was present from my very first ride.

Today was also an opportunity for one more adjustment to the rear disc brakes, which have been extraordinarily hard to get dialed.

I had no trouble on the short ride home from the shop, so I’m looking forward to my next ride. I still think the Gravier will be a honey of a bike once I beat it into submission. Today’s ride was only our 17th adventure together, and on almost every one I have found something at least a little out of place. Is that just part of the deal when your bike is shipped to you from the manufacturer rather than handed to you at the local bike shop? Maybe.

The 2023 WEMS Schedule

Today the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series released its 2023 schedule, and it’s a head scratcher:

5/13 – Alpine Valley

6/03 – Jack Lake

6/17 – Wausau

7/08 – Rhinelander (Washburn Trails)

8/19 – Underdown

8/25 – Tomahawk (new, overnight race)

9/09 – Levis/Trow

Only the season opener and the season finale will run on dates that don’t conflict with the much more popular Wisconsin Off-Road Series. The pool of mountain bikers is only so large. Why does WEMS continue to schedule events on the same weekends as WORS?

Poor turnout was the reason behind Team Pedal Moraine’s decision not to bring back the Greenbush Grinder for 2023. You’ll also notice that New Fane is missing. I hate to say it, but I’m not sure how much longer WEMS can hang on if it continues in this direction.

First Outdoor Miles Of 2023

I think we topped out at 47° today, which is very nice for February 8 in West Bend and certainly nice enough to reduce cabin fever. I pulled out the Framed Gravier for a 1-hour ride around town, my first outdoor ride this year. As expected, there were places I couldn’t go because of lingering snow and ice, but it was fun simply to get outside.

The 2023 WORS Schedule

Putting Coke On Ice

A new month begins tomorrow and that means a new weigh-in. I haven’t weighed myself since January 1, but I can tell by the way my clothes fit that this was another month of weight gain. I didn’t do as much with Zwift as I would have liked—only 14.5 hours this month, down from 21.5 in December—and I didn’t make any meaningful changes to my diet until it was too late.

I ran out of Coca-Cola last Friday. When I went to the grocery store on Saturday morning, I made a very conscious decision not to buy more. My Coke consumption has gotten out of control: probably 5 cans a day on average, and that’s a massive 700 calories. Just to offset my Coke intake I need to do a solid hour on Zwift every day. But, of course, I don’t. So, I am giving up Coke for the entire month of February. The shortest month of the year is a good time for acts of contrition, because you don’t have to wait too long to start sinning again. In the meantime, I will have avoided 19,600 empty calories. That has to make a difference all by itself, but it’s part of a larger strategy that includes an increase in dietary fiber and a big reduction in refined sugars. The scale is going to mock me tomorrow and I will keep that humiliation to myself. On March 1, however, don’t be surprised if you see me with a Coke and a smile. One can a day wouldn’t kill me …

The 2023 Wisport Schedule

Plan Z

So, it's back to this.

I was about 2 minutes into my Zwift ride tonight when the program displayed a connection failure message. All of the other riders disappeared and I was left alone on the course. Everything seemed to be working OK, but the last time all of the other riders disappeared I was not able to save my stats at the end of the session. It’s like that ride never happened. I wasn’t about to continue tonight, only to lose another workout. This episode was the latest in a string of technical failures of varying severity. I have tried to improve Internet connectivity in the home gym, but that didn’t work. I have tried using my new, much more powerful laptop. That didn’t work either.

Last winter I used my old laptop to run Zwift in the home office. The laptop was connected by an Ethernet cable to my home network gateway, so the signal was as strong as it could be; I didn’t have to worry about WiFi. And until I started Zwifting in the home gym, I still wasn’t worrying about WiFi. I have other wireless devices that work fine in that location. But something about Zwift, whether it’s running on my old laptop or my new one, is unhappy in the home gym. I’m tired of fighting with it.

Tonight I moved my trainer back to the home office. I did three short Zwift sessions and they all worked flawlessly. (I wasn’t going to attempt a long ride, only to have the connection drop before I could complete the course.) I used the new laptop, which has twice the CPU speed and twice the RAM of the old laptop. As you should expect, Zwift runs noticeably better on the new laptop. And there didn’t appear to be any connectivity issues, though the new laptop has no Ethernet port and must connect to the Internet wirelessly. My wireless access point is only inches away from the laptop’s home on my desk, so signal strength is not a problem.

This is not the setup I wanted. Among other complaints, the monitor in my home office is much smaller than the one in my home gym. But I’ll live with it.

Ride on.

Presenting The 2023 Cheesehead Roubaix

Cheesehead Roubaix XII will begin at Newburg Fireman’s Park on Saturday, April 29, at 9 a.m. CDT. Inspired by Spring Classics like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, Cheesehead Roubaix is a 63-mile ride that features almost 10 miles of dirt and gravel. The ride will test your fitness with rough road conditions and about 2,000 feet of climbing.

Cheesehead Roubaix is free of charge, but please consider making a voluntary contribution to the Newburg Fire Department to show your appreciation for the use of its facility. Donations will be accepted at the concessions stand before and after the ride. NFD is a small, all-volunteer department. Your generosity will make a big difference!

Cedar Creek Outdoors again will provide technical support and a mid-ride rest stop in Belgium. Please let us know you plan to attend so that we can ensure there’s enough food & drink at the rest stop. Join the fun at the Facebook event page, send me email, or leave a comment below.

Cheesehead Roubaix is designed for self-sufficient cyclists. Be prepared to handle your own flat tires and other minor mechanical issues. The ride uses only open public roads and park paths. You are responsible for your own safety and conduct, and you are expressly not exempt from Wisconsin traffic laws. Represent the sport well. Please visit the Cheesehead Roubaix website and print out your own copy of the cuesheet and map. The website also offers data files for GPS devices.

See you on April 29!

Minooka’s Loss Is Regner’s Gain

The Hugh Jass Fat Bike Series first came to West Bend during the 2019-2020 season and ran three successful races at Regner Park (plus a bonus race at Riverside Park), but the series did not plan to return to West Bend for 2022-2023. GEARS, our local advocacy group for mountain biking, decided to hold a fat bike race at Regner anyway, part of West Bend’s annual Winter Warm-Up. But things have changed, and it’s a big win for West Bend.

Winter in southeastern Wisconsin is off to a warm start. A few very cold days have been more than offset by long periods above the freezing point, and the only snow you’ll find is in a few places where it was piled up by plows or shovels. Freeze-thaw cycles have resulted in soft trails that are extremely susceptible to damage from bike tires and foot traffic. Accordingly, tomorrow’s race at Minooka Park has been dropped from the calendar. At its website, the Hugh Jass series explains, “We regret to inform you that consistent warm weather has led the Hugh Jass Team and Waukesha County Parks to the decision to cancel this weekend’s race at Minooka Park. Respecting the trail systems we use, which are maintained by our cycling community, is something that is just as important to us as having a good time. Inevitably, hosting our normal race and party this weekend would cause major damage to the trails leading us to this decision.”

The January 7 race has been rescheduled for January 21 at Regner Park. Anyone who bought a series pass or who signed up expressly for the Minooka race is now registered for Regner. And being part of the series rather than a standalone event will boost overall registrations at Regner. With only 5 races in the series, everyone who aspires to a high overall ranking will have to come to West Bend.

The big question now is whether there will be snow. The current forecast doesn’t show any, but January 21 is still too far into the future for the forecast to be trustworthy. I suspect most Hugh Jass racers would prefer a snow-covered course, but the race at Regner could go on without it. While the Minooka course relies on singletrack—bare earth that is easily churned into a mess of mud and ruts—the Regner course runs mostly on grassy fields and asphalt paths. Series points and raceday podiums are reserved for fat bikes with tires that are at least 3.7 inches wide, but don’t be surprised if you see just-for-fun racers on standard mountain bikes or even on cyclocross bikes if the course is free of snow.

2022: A Statistical Review

Garmin Connect combines indoor and outdoor miles, but I don't.

How did I do in 2022, my 19th season as a cyclist? By the numbers, it was not an impressive year. I rode 4,190 miles outdoors, down from 4,704 in 2021. That decline came despite only a tiny reduction in frequency—143 rides this year versus 148 rides last year—but my average distance per ride dropped from 31.8 miles to 29.3 miles. I set no new monthly mileage records, and a metric century on October 22 was my longest ride of the season. My 4,190-mile total ranks 14th all-time and is my lowest output since I rode 4,100 miles in 2013, a season shortened by injury.

On the upside, I exceeded my goal of 3,612 miles in 2022 to surpass 85,000 lifetime miles. In 2023, my goal will be to reach 90,000 lifetime miles. I will need 4,422 miles to get there. I’m trying to stay on pace to reach 100,000 miles in 2025, the year in which I will turn 60. But obviously it would benefit me to exceed 4,422. I don’t want to rely on back-to-back seasons of 5,000 miles in 2024 and 2025.

I spent more than 53 hours on the turbo trainer in 2022, my biggest effort since 2008. That’s good news and bad news. I always would prefer to ride outside, but I have such an aversion to cold weather that riding inside is frequently the better choice. Having a smart trainer and a Zwift subscription has made indoor riding far less of a grind, so I’m doing it more consistently.

I missed my goal of 500 walking miles. Hurting my left leg in August put an end to that idea. I finished 2022 with 295 miles of fitness walking. I’m setting a goal of 260 miles in 2023. That’s 5 miles per week on average, and it’s enough. It is just cross-training, after all. I’m not trying to be a competitive walker.

June 10, 2023, will be the 40th Anniversary of my graduation from high school. I want to get back to my senior year weight: 185 pounds. That won’t be easy, but I was there as recently as September 2019.

Off the bike, 2022 was rewarding in many ways. I had a lot of success at my job and reaped the rewards from a grateful employer. I had a very enjoyable vacation in Pennsylvania. I read 28 books. I redecorated my dining room. Even if my cycling numbers were down a bit, 2022 was a good year.