Halloween Update

I decided to go easy on myself this year for Halloween. Last year was my first night ride - and it was up Harding. It was super cold and long and tough. It was memorable, but not all that fun at the time.

This year I strapped on my helmet again, but this time as a Mormon.



Anyways, back to real biking news ...

I rode Sunday and Tuesday this week for a combined total of 50 miles on singlespeed bikes. The first ride was on Matt's new 29er (gearing of 32-18) and it was pretty brutal. I struggled as there was a noticeable difference between my singlespeed (34-20) and his. His is just harder.

The 29er is called "Rita" so I nicknamed it "Rita the Vampire" because it's red and it sucks the life out of you when you ride it. Seriously. Those freaking 29 inch wheels can be really tough to get started. I did however clear the entire Coto Valley Loop. Not easy, but happy to get it done.

I'm not sure riding the SS always benefits me. Tuesday night on the Fullerton Loop I realized that even though I push really hard on the climbs (what climbs there are), I'm spinning and doing nothing on the flat sections.

I wonder how much energy is used on a route like that when you compare riding a SS to my normal geared bike. On the geared bike I'll gear way up on the flat sections so I can push a bit, but with the SS that's obviously not possible. It feels like I use _less_ energy on the SS for a route like the Fullerton Loop because of how spread out the climbing is.

The last note ...

By my calculations I have about 250 more miles left to reach my revised goal of 2,500 miles for the year. I started 2007 with a goal of 2,000, but I hit that a while ago. I'm really happy because last year around this time I felt horrible. I was tired and had to force myself to ride. This year I feel better and I've already passed my 2006 mileage total by 600 miles.

Awesome.