"A pint's a pound the world around."
Why quote a cooking maxim? Well, I have been losing weight these last few months. A lot of it was sweat and dirt, but some of it was water weight. Water weighs 1lbs per 16 fl oz (16 oz = 16 fl oz of water).
Two months ago, I weighed a consistent 263 lbs. My routine 11.5mile road ride took 41 minutes. As of Tuesday morning (day of OTH), I weighed 247lbs. 16 lbs loss. However, the same routine 11.5 mile ride actually dropped to 42:30. Consistently. I lost 16lbs of weight and recorded worse times? Something had to be wrong. I started weighing myself before and after every ride, tracking my food and water consumption, and determining how much water I lose per hour of riding. It turns out that I was dehydrated. I used to drink about 1.5 gallons of water per day, plus 1 liter per hour of cardio. My water consumption has been woefully low, so I've been drinking 6 more pints of water per day (read: 6lbs). I weighed in this morning at 253lbs and logged a 39:40 ride. That's more like it. So even though I can't look at my weight and congratulate myself, I'm feeling faster, stronger, and more energetic.
Moral of this post: Drink more water.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Crankbrothers Eggbeater 3
Here is what happens when a manufacturer supports the local races:
There are three words every clyde rider wants to hear. "No weight limit." I heard it on my Specialized Roubaix, and now I hear it on the Crankbrothers Eggbeater 3 pedals. During one of the Over the Hump races, Tim @ crankbrothers mentioned that there's no rider weight limit on any pedals except the 11s. At a published 278g, I couldn't resist the upgrade. Actual measured weight is 281, but ~1% variance is acceptable to me.
Review:
Compared to my previous pedals, I lost 80grams and tension adjustment. While I do miss the tension adjustment, it isn't really a big deal. I got used to the release fairly quickly, and the engagement is positive - once you get positioned correctly. I am having a bit of trouble finding the pedal cage, but a few more weeks and the pedals should be ubiquitous to my ride.
Highlights:
Cromoly steel spindle - I asked Tim @ crankbrothers about the change from stainless steel spindles on their SL line to the all cromoly in their current eggbeater lineup (except the 11s, which sport titanium spindles). He said the cromoly is stronger and the later productions of the "SL" were not stainless steel, but cromoly. Good enough for me!
Needle inner bearings - An upgrade over the eggbeater 1s and 2s. Should have higher load limits with smaller bearings.
Body and construction - The eggbeater 3s sport a full cast stainless steel body/wings over the stamped steel on the 2s and 1s. A slight weight penalty, but should be more durable in the long run.
There are three words every clyde rider wants to hear. "No weight limit." I heard it on my Specialized Roubaix, and now I hear it on the Crankbrothers Eggbeater 3 pedals. During one of the Over the Hump races, Tim @ crankbrothers mentioned that there's no rider weight limit on any pedals except the 11s. At a published 278g, I couldn't resist the upgrade. Actual measured weight is 281, but ~1% variance is acceptable to me.
Review:
Compared to my previous pedals, I lost 80grams and tension adjustment. While I do miss the tension adjustment, it isn't really a big deal. I got used to the release fairly quickly, and the engagement is positive - once you get positioned correctly. I am having a bit of trouble finding the pedal cage, but a few more weeks and the pedals should be ubiquitous to my ride.
Highlights:
Cromoly steel spindle - I asked Tim @ crankbrothers about the change from stainless steel spindles on their SL line to the all cromoly in their current eggbeater lineup (except the 11s, which sport titanium spindles). He said the cromoly is stronger and the later productions of the "SL" were not stainless steel, but cromoly. Good enough for me!
Needle inner bearings - An upgrade over the eggbeater 1s and 2s. Should have higher load limits with smaller bearings.
Body and construction - The eggbeater 3s sport a full cast stainless steel body/wings over the stamped steel on the 2s and 1s. A slight weight penalty, but should be more durable in the long run.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Clyde Causalties
Being 250lbs has it's strains on bicycles parts. Cranks, chains, and brakes are prone to faster wear. Seatposts, handlebars, stems, saddle rails, wheels, and frames are subject to snapping catastrophically. Yes, just about everything on a bicycle needs to be carefully picked out for a clyde. I will start cataloging parts that fail and fare well with clyde abuse.
So I posted about the first one...
Item in question: Hope aluminum freehub
Length of use: Jan 2009 to June 2010
Failure: Cracked freehub body
Cause of failure: Typical use
Analysis: It's fairly well understood that an aluminum freehub is prone to cracking under heavy load. This doesn't seem to be exclusive to clydes.
Result: Hope sent me a steel freehub body that's been rock solid so far. It's nearly 50% heavier and made of steel, so I doubt I'll have any problems with it.
So beyond the actual bike itself, I recently found another casualty of my clyde-ness. My shoes.
Item in question: Shimano M122 Clipless Mountain Shoes (2 bolt)
Length of use: November 2008 to July 2010
Failure: Torn sole. Loss of shoe stiffness. Walking with bike introduces gobs of sand in my shoe.
Cause of failure: Hike a bikes, typical use.
Analysis: I never thought of shoes as a consumable part. In the waning rides leading up to the failure, I noticed my shoes lost a lot of stiffness. I guess this is typical, but tearing the shoes apart is not a normal occurrence.
Result: I ended up with some Sidi Dominator 5 shoes. 1 year 8 months of use out of a pair of shoes is decent enough. I hope the Sidis will last at least 2 years. Still, upgraditis has me eying the Dragon 2 SRS already...
So I posted about the first one...
Item in question: Hope aluminum freehub
Length of use: Jan 2009 to June 2010
Failure: Cracked freehub body
Cause of failure: Typical use
Analysis: It's fairly well understood that an aluminum freehub is prone to cracking under heavy load. This doesn't seem to be exclusive to clydes.
Result: Hope sent me a steel freehub body that's been rock solid so far. It's nearly 50% heavier and made of steel, so I doubt I'll have any problems with it.
So beyond the actual bike itself, I recently found another casualty of my clyde-ness. My shoes.
Item in question: Shimano M122 Clipless Mountain Shoes (2 bolt)
Length of use: November 2008 to July 2010
Failure: Torn sole. Loss of shoe stiffness. Walking with bike introduces gobs of sand in my shoe.
Cause of failure: Hike a bikes, typical use.
Analysis: I never thought of shoes as a consumable part. In the waning rides leading up to the failure, I noticed my shoes lost a lot of stiffness. I guess this is typical, but tearing the shoes apart is not a normal occurrence.
Result: I ended up with some Sidi Dominator 5 shoes. 1 year 8 months of use out of a pair of shoes is decent enough. I hope the Sidis will last at least 2 years. Still, upgraditis has me eying the Dragon 2 SRS already...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)