Dear Diary... (current entries) and past Diary entries from

11/09/00-11/31/01 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings, visit to TREK & LeMond factory, first ride up Diablo, Sonora Pass, French laundry lesson
01/01/02-07/15/02
Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings, riding in the snow, Gary Klein visit, Millennium Crows, Spooky Old Tree
07/18/02-07/31/02
Incredible trip to the 2002 Tour de France
08/01/02-12/31/02
Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings, 2nd 2002 trip to France, winning Lance-signed frameset, 5th-Annual TurkeyTrot ride, riding in the rain
01/01/03-03/31/03 Yet more ramblings about the regular Tues/Thur ride, Mr. J visits Washington DC
04/01/03-08/28/03
You take the guy with the gun, I'll handle the guy with the Gatorade!
09/03/03-12/31/03
My dinner with Zap, 75000 mile TREK OCLV, meeting Graham Watson

                            TOUR DE FRANCE 2003 TRIP, 2004
04/01/03-08/28/03 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings, Fast older guys, Sequoia Double-Metric, Grizzly Peak Century
09/03/03-12/31/03 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
01/01/04-07/31/04 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings

07/31/04-12/31/04 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
01/01/05-07/01/05 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
07/01/05-12/31/05 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings plus Tour de France ride-a-long in Team Car
11/22/06-07/16/06
07/28/06-12/28/06 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings, Sonora Pass, caught in a snowstorm
01/01/07-06/30/07 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
07/02/07-12/31/07 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
01/01/08-05/30/08 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
06/01/06-12/31/08 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
01/01/09-12/31/09 Endless Tues/Thur morning ride ramblings
THE DAY MOUNT HAMILTON ALMOST BLEW AWAY (with us on it)

TUESDAY/THURSDAY KINGS MOUNTAIN RIDE

Every Tuesday & Thursday morning, rain or shine, 7:45am at Olive Hill & Canada Road in Woodside. 26 miles, back by 9:25-9:40pm (a bit later when it rains). Hills, sprints & great roads. If you can make it up Kings in 30 minutes or less, try it!


The Tuesday/Thursday ride is now on YouTube! Broken up into three separate segments, about 10 minutes each. Filmed by Millo on 1/30/07
The regular cast of characters on the Tuesday/Thursday rides includes
Kevin the first regular on our ride, and the most regular regular. Has too much time to ride!
Karl (aka "Fast Karl"), super-nice-guy road racer who can really charge on the flats
Chris, one of the younger guys who thinks he can climb and sprint. He can.
(Karl now with is own page here, Karl's Korner)(but not updated in ages...)
Eric, who likes to torture me up Kings by riding just a bit ahead or behind me, waiting for me to blow up.
John, relative newcomer, another 50ish youngster who can climb way too fast.
Millo
, who complains that he's old & slow but somehow always there in the sprints.
George, always out on Tuesdays, nice guy, too fast on the climbs

 

12/31/02- THE IRON PIG RIDES AGAIN!  I should be nicer to my old Cinelli.  Heck, I should be nicer sometimes to my 5900!  But ride we must and, given the forecast for this morning and the wild winds & rain last night, it most definitely seemed like a ride for the rain bike.  Actually, I ended up rather severely over-dressing, as it only lightly rained on us a couple times, but the roads were a mess.  Todd & Kevin showed up, each doing their part to remind me that it's not the bike, it's not the rider, it's a combination of the two sometimes that holds you back.  What, blame things on the bike?  Why not?  With downtube shifting you find yourself often in a less-than-desirable gear and it's quite the hassle to change compared to STI.  Plus my rain bike's low gear is a 42/24 which is low enough for King's Mtn, but, for me, just barely.  It's just not so fun when you're in your lowest gear for most of the climb.  And then you're thinking hey, that gear used to be plenty low enough!  However, that thought necessarily includes a flashback to climbing the hill in 21 minutes as well.

Tomorrow morning is the annual ride up Mt. Hamilton!  Am I in shape for it?  Heck no.  Have I ever been?  Heck no.  So what?  It's still a great ride up the hill, never really all that steep, just long.  Speed?  What's that?  I have faint memories of having done the race with a time of 58 minutes to the top; tomorrow, something around 1:45 will be just fine.  I'll try to not think that's almost half-speed...

12/29/02- SQUEEZED IN A QUICK RIDE UP OLD LA HONDA
today, but had to ride my rain bike (the old Cinelli) because I've got the OCLV at the shop, getting it cleaned up a bit for Wednesday's New Year's Day assault on Mt. Hamilton.  Not a terribly fast ride up the hill at 24.58, but hey, I time from right where you turn onto Old LaHonda, not at the bridge like everybody else.  That 100 feet must be worth a least a couple minutes!  Almost skipped riding, since I had a few other things I had to get done, but the holidays haven't been too kind to me, as I noticed I was using a different notch on the belt.

And saw a great movie tonight too... the second Lord of the Rings installment.  Long, yes, but great story telling (even to someone who hasn't read the books, like me!).  So much more interesting than the last two Star Wars movies, where you found yourself paying more attention to the special effects than the story or characters.

12/26/02- NOTE TO SELF
be careful who you sell nice bikes to.  Ron D showed up on our ride this morning (along with Kevin).  Actually, he showed up late and caught us on the climb.  This would not have happened on Ron's older bike!  But someone made the mistake of talking him into replacing his 12-year-old 1000 with a new TREK 2300, and he kinda likes it.  Either that or he's in secret training.  Probably a combination of the two!

12/24/02- 38-42 DEGREES THIS MORNING
but it really didn't feel all that cold.  In fact, while I usually feel a bit sluggish when it's cold out (which is relative, since 38 degrees feels a lot warmer than the upper-20s we'll experience soon!), this morning I felt almost... perky?  Kevin, Todd, Richard B & Ted Z showed up, with Kevin & Todd taking off fast.  Surprisingly, after I spotted Kevin & Todd a pretty good lead, I was able to keep them in sight.  Richard drifted off the pace a bit, but it was Ted that I waited up for at Huddart Park.  He hasn't been putting in too many miles lately, so I had an excuse both to be social and to pull off three suicide intervals to bridge the gap up to Richard.  Ouch!

Normally we'd all do the secondary loop on the west side of Old LaHonda, but, since it was Christmas Eve, the shop opened up at 10am (instead of 11), not giving me quite enough time to get in the extra miles.  Darn, since I could have used those miles to get ready for Mt. Hamilton on New Years Day!

12/23/02- WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE A MECHANIC AND YOU BUILD A BIKE FIVE SIZES LARGER THAN WHAT YOU RIDE? 
I'm sure some mechanics would skip out on test-riding their masterpiece, or hand it off to someone taller.  But not at Chain Reaction!  Check out Bruno, our ace Service Manager in Redwood City, test-riding our largest stock bike, a 25" TREK 520.  They simply don't come any more dedicated.  When Bruno's on a bike, he's ten feet tall.  Well, this bike anyway!

12/22/02- THE SCIENCE OF SANTA CLAUS- Darn, should have gotten on this one sooner!  Check it out; we've had this on-line for a couple of years, and this is definitely the time to read it.  Don't remember where it came from, but it's a fun read.

12/20/02- I COMPETED IN A RUDENESS COMPETITION,
but not sure if I won or not.  Normally, I'd say someone yakking on a cell phone (that would be me) at the checkout stand would win, hands-down.  But maybe not this time.  I was at the Best Buy in San Carlos, getting something for my daughter, and got a call from my brother regarding something about a bike in our Los Altos store.  Important enough that I couldn't just tell him to go away, as I normally would (not because it was my brother, but because I was in a checkout line).  So what could be worse?  How about a checkout clerk who just would not give up on trying to sell me their optional warranty.  I mean, I'm telling him no, I don't need it, please complete the sale.  But he insists on waiting so he can explain the benefits to me.  I tell him no.  And there are other people in line.  He continues.  Even after I get off the phone he continues.  Next time I go there (assuming there will be a next time?) I'll offer to exchange business cards, only mine will say "I don't do business with places that employ pushy salespeople selling extended warranties."  What a scam.  The place advertises non-commissioned salespeople, but I think that only applies to actually selling the item.  The warranty?  No way they'd be that pushy unless they had a strong incentive to do so.

12/19/02- IT ALL EVENS OUT IN THE END.  
Tuesday it was pretty nasty at times, but as the ride went on, the sun broke through and the day got nicer and nicer.  Nice enough so that, later in the day, it didn't seem like any big deal that you went out and rode in the wet.

Today was the flip side of that.  It started out nice and then, almost like clockwork, the storm moved in at 9am, just like the weather.com site said it would.  Kevin was the only other brave soul who came along for the fun.  Just wind and a few sprinkles until the last fifteen minutes of the ride, when it decided to dump on me.  But the good side of it is that the weather's going to get progressively nastier throughout the day and, somehow, the worse the weather gets, the more impressive it seems that I got out and rode this morning.  Even though it wasn't all that bad!

12/17/02- YOU COULD WAIT UNTIL IT STOPS RAINING,
or you could just ride anyway.  I'm in the latter camp.  If I start making excuses for not riding because it's raining, what's next?  Anybody who's known me very long knows never to schedule anything that would conflict with my Tues/Thurs morning rides, and that includes storms, parent-teacher conferences, visits to the dentist, you name it.  So why would anyone think I'd skip this morning's ride because it was raining?  Peter H didn't; in fact, I think he specifically came out because it was raining.  Perhaps a duel of the rain-bikes?  Of course, being a proper Brit, Peter quickly noted my rain bike is anything but proper, as it has no fenders, er, I mean, mud guards.  A nice ride, although we just rode up King's Mtn and back, since the roads were a bit of a mess, cars were flying a bit too fast, and the glare on the road from the sun shining through the occasional break in the clouds made it almost impossible to see things at times.

Of course, the other reason not to wait until it stops raining is because, well, it just might not stop!  Current forecast shows rain on through New Year's Eve.  That could create quite the epic New Year's Day ride up Mt. Hamilton, since it's most likely to be snowing there the whole time.  Brrrrr.

12/13/02- MEMORIES OF FRANCE.  
Once in awhile I check out the rec.travel.europe newsgroup, to see what people are saying about France, my adopted foreign country.  As many know, I've been there four times in the past three years, mostly to follow the Tour de France but on my last trip a visit to Paris with my wife.  Someone posted a message saying how rude the French were to Americans, which elicited a rather strong reaction from me, since I didn't experience this at all (and if the French could tolerate someone as culturally uncouth at myself, I figure they're pretty nice & tolerant people!).  Anyway, it reminded me of something that may not have ended up in one of my diary entries.  I was at the Gare d Lyon train station in Paris with my wife, buying a ticket on the TGV to Avignon.  I had studied what I should say (in French) and rehashed it immediately prior and, with some fear & trepidation, went up to the window to try and order the tickets.  The clerk, being very nice and trying to encourage me, actually lied and told me that I spoke French very well!  Once in awhile, a lie told with a sincere smile can be one of the nicest things to happen to you.  This was one of those times.

12/12/02- 48 DEGREES AND IT FEELS LIKE A PERFECT DAY ON A BIKE!  
48 degrees and many don't want to leave their house or heated car, yet at mile 28 on a ride it feels absolutely wonderful.  Ueyn and Kevin showed up this morning, but thankfully not the Ueyn who did 19 minutes on Old LaHonda last Saturday!  Pretty civilized pace, with Kevin feeling a bit stronger heading up Kings Mtn (no surprise there!), with me coming in half a minute behind at 29:02.  Yes, you do start thinking about where you lost those three seconds that would have given you a 28-something time!  No fog, just a bit of dampness on the ground.

And yes, I'm still looking for that defining picture of the west side of Old LaHonda.  Seems to be a very elusive thing!

12/10/02- MISTREATMENT OR RESPECT?
In a perverse sort of way I look forward to riding in the rain, simply because I'm out there while everybody else decided to be rational and sleep in for a couple hours (OK, a few actually use trainers while watching a stage of the TDF on TV, but how can that compare to the excitement of sliding around in the rain?).  I did see one other guy out there, doing intervals up King's Mtn Road.  But, thankfully, Ueyn didn't show up.  Why thankfully?  Because he casually mentioned yesterday that he'd just gotten a time up Old LaHonda in the 19 minute range.

But the question about mistreatment or respect is all about the bike.  When it rains I leave the 5900 at home and take out my 1973 Cinelli.  Not the most fun thing to ride, since it doesn't have indexed shifting, it's not nearly as comfortable as my 5900, and only has one brake that works really well.  Still, it's kinda fun being retro once in a while, and it's not like you can avoid it being a yucky ride, so why not?

But what did my poor old racing bike do to deserve such a fate (only being brought out for nasty weather and special old-farts events)?  Nothing really, I only have fond old memories of it.  But isn't it better that it gets used now and then, even if in the rain, rather than rusting away under the house?

12/08/02- AN ALMOST-FLAT RIDE TODAY
as I got out for a short ride out Canada to 92 & back.  Didn't have much time, so it was just 15 miles in 45 minutes... but even a short ride is way better than no ride!  And it's nice, once in a while, to not ride up any nasty hills.  Met up with Deke on Canada Road, one of our customers on a big orange Klein Q-Pro.  Because my ride was so short I was able to push pretty hard, and I think he got the idea I'm a lot stronger than I really am!  But I did tell him the Blade Runner line, the one that goes "The candle that burns twice as bright lives half as long."

12/05/02- SPARED SOME HORSES
on this morning's ride.  Started out pretty strong; on the hill immediately outside my front door, it was clear that my bike really wanted to go.  Sometimes you have to tell yourself to put one foot down, then the other, now repeat, and eventually you (painfully) get underway.  But not today.  When I got to the start I found Kevin, Ueyn and Harry, the latter being a nice guy who shows up every once in awhile, but it more likely to be seen at 6:30am with lights.  As I've said, good thing there are morning people in the world, to balance people like me.  Getting on my bike at 7:35am is early enough!

But about those horses... I briefly considered a high-speed run up the hill, chasing Kevin.  But the social part of me thought hey, Ueyn's not looking to challenge people this morning, and Harry, while not the fastest up the hill, is very dependable, always there, never slowing down.  So I get to ride up the hill at a pace where conversation is just barely possible, which is kinda nice (except for the two time I unleash a heroic, for me, attempt to jet up to Kevin... made it the first time, when he had about a 20 second lead, but missed him by about 15 yards the second time, about a third of the way up the hill).  Anyway, finally found a use for those unused horses on my final climb back over Jefferson on my way home.  Felt good.  Nice day to be on a bike!

12/03/02- RELAXED PACE UP THE HILL THIS MORNING
but not really sure why.  Kevin must have had a pretty hard workout, because Ueyn & I were in cruise mode all the way up.  Normally Kevin would be hauling fast up the hill, with Ueyn close behind, and me?  My best chance is if one of them falters for some reason.  But today was an easy 31-minute cruise up the hill, including waiting for Kevin a couple times.  Usually they'd be waiting for me!  That definitely left quite a bit in Ueyn's legs on Skyline though, as I hung onto his wheel while as if he were motorpacing.  No colder than 40 degrees, but that will be changing, I'm sure.  Pretty amazing that you can be flying downhill with temps in the mid-40s and be perfectly comfortable, and yet if feels cold at home when the temp goes below 66.  What's up with that?

11/29/02- NOT VERY THREATENING, AM I? 
If you recall from reading about my prior trips to France, there's something about me that encourages strangers to come up and ask me things.  The usual stuff, like directions, or how something works, that sort of thing.  Only trouble is that they're asking in French, and for whatever reason, think I do (which I don't, not past a few simple phrases needing for buying things at a deli or supermarket anyway).  Well, yesterday it happened here, at Safeway.  The lines are a bit long so I decide to be a bit daring and try the self-checkout stands.  Never done that before (and didn't occur to me that you couldn't do the entire transaction yourself if you're buying a bottle of wine).  So I get not one but a couple people coming up to me in a short period of time asking me how self-checkout works.  Strange.  But not entirely unpleasant, especially when life imitates art for just a few moments as this young French woman (did she follow me back?) asks something about the process and notices my (French) bottle of wine, and, well, you know in the commercial when that beautiful lady asks the guy in the car "You like art?"  Only my wife wasn't there to roll up the window (nor, hopefully, is she reading this!).

11/28/02- GREAT TURKEYTROT!  
Read all about our 5th-Annual TurkeyTrot, a moderately-challenging
and very enjoyable 55-mile ride.  Experience it almost first-hand, as I've included not only photos & descriptions, but also temperature, altitude and heartrate info from my Ciclomast HAC-4 bike computer.

The ride was definitely the high-point of the day, although dinner with some of the family over was nice too.  But seeing the new Harry Potter movie with my kids later in the evening?  That was hard.  Harder than the steepest parts of Tunitas Creek even!  I'm not sure I get this Harry Potter thing.  Maybe the books are better than the movies?  Whatever the case, I just don't come away with any sense of wonder from the Harry Potter movies, and I'm always conscious of the fact that I'm watching a movie.  Definitely looking forward to Star Trek Nemesis and the new Lord of the Rings movies!

11/26/02- I'M READY!  
After Thursday's ride, which didn't exactly fit the definition of a workout, and not being able to ride on Sunday, I approached this morning's ride up King's Mtn with some measure of fear & trepidation.  Turned out to be unnecessary.  Beautiful, crystal-clear morning, not as cold as it could have been (although it did touch 39 degrees briefly), great company (Ueyn, Bruce, Steve & Kevin) and a great road.  What more could you ask?  Well, there are times when all the ingredients are right, except for the engine.  But today the engine felt great.  I feel like there's hope for the TurkeyTrot ride on Thursday!

11/25/02- 5TH ANNUAL TURKEY TROT RIDE THIS THURSDAY!  
We've got the details up including a map and profile.  Yes, it will be hilly (isn't it always?).  Yes, you'll make room for all that food later in the day.  And yes, it will be fun!  Keep in mind this is a zero-support ride, so bring your own food & water.  Ride leaves from the usual Tuesday/Thursday meeting place, Olive Hill & Woodside Road, at 7:45am.  Details on the ride page.

11/20/02- WHERE DID WE GO??? 
Our biggest turnout of the year, don't even remember all the names, but Steve, Kevin, Bruce, Harry, Ueyn, Rolf, and one or two others.  Rolf?  What's a Rolf?  That would be Rolf Dietrich, the wheel guy, who cruised through the area an met up with us for the ride.  Even swapped out some wheels for me to try on my bike, his latest & greatest.  And therein lies the tale...

Wouldn't you think somebody trying to sell a killer wheel would make sure to put it in the best-possible light?  But what I end up with is a nice, light wheel, with a nice, skinny 20c Conti GP tire, but with maybe 80 pounds of air in it.  No floor pump around, and we were running a bit late, so by the time I'm looking for someone with a decent frame pump, people are off & running.  Me?  I'm not mashing my pedals, more like mushing.  There are so many reasons not to ride on under-inflated tires!  About 1/4 of the way up the hill I give up, pull off to the side and try to inflate the tire some more (while watching everyone ride off into the distance).  Only there's something funny about the valve on the tire, and maybe, just maybe, we eventually get it up to 100psi.  This on a tire that, due to its small size, is rated at 150psi.

By the time we finally make it to the top it's probably 20-25 minutes after everyone else, and we're all alone.  Absolutely stunning day, by the way, can't complain about the California weather right now (not that we ever have a right to).  We turn around and head back down the hill and, on Albion, Rolf pinch flats.  Imagine that!

When we got to the shop a bit later, I donated a floor pump to the cause.  Wheels should be evaluated on their own merits, not on the basis of setting up one more optimally (tire-wise) than another. Sigh.  People just don't get it about tire inflation.  One more time- when talking road bikes, unless you weigh under, say, 130lbs or so, full rated pressure at all times, and don't check it by hand, top them off with a gauge before each ride.

11/19/02- SO I GET THIS PHONE CALL tonight around 6pm, from someone asking if I know anything about the lunar eclipse.  Yeah, that's pretty weird, a customer calling me for astronomical info.  But it gets weirder.  It's a call from a cell phone, on a plane.  Actually, it's the pilot.  Calling from the cockpit. 

Just another typical day at Chain Reaction!  We routinely go that extra mile for our customers.  Guess I should fill in the blanks and explain that the pilot was Kevin, the guy I ride with on Tuesday & Thursday mornings, and that the plane was on the ground, at the gate.

11/19/02- TOUGH DAY ON THE HILL.  
Maybe it was staying up late last night to see the Meteor shower (waste of time, too much moonlight to see anything), maybe it was the sore arm & shoulder from playing ball with my kids on Sunday, or maybe it was just simply an off day.  Whatever it was, it was slow and brutal this morning on the hill.  Kevin, Ueyn, Bruce & Steve in attendance, with nobody feeling particularly fast.  Doesn't stop people from the ritual sprints on Skyline though!

If you want to see an eBay auction in its closing moments, check out the action on our Zipp wheels this afternoon.  This is our first time doing anything like this, and have to admit it's fun, almost exciting to watch.

11/17/02- HORSEPOWER WITHOUT HILLS! 
Today I tried to prove to myself that it was possible to get a good workout without climbing to Skyline.  I don't think I could have done so without use of a heart monitor to keep my effort up though.  Actually had a pretty good time, and wore myself out a lot more than I thought I would for a ride just under 30 miles.  Almost didn't ride at all, as it was beginning to get late, but figured I'd feel pretty stupid if I spent most of the afternoon watching the 49er game.  As it turned out, I left at halftime and, because they went into overtime, made it back before the finish!  Unfortunately, it wasn't a finish worth watching, but it was definitely a ride worth riding.

If you're interested in looking at a printout from the HAC-4 computer, I've included on that you can click on that shows you the ride (temperature, altitude, speed and heartrate) in detail.  Kinda fun to look at; just click on the graphic for the full-sized version.

11/16/02- POOR GREEN TURBOSERVER. 
What?  Well, it's like this.  Took my kids to Fry's Electronics tonight to get some more paper for my printer, and, while there, some of those wild computer cases with clear side panels and fluorescent internal lights caught my eye.  The black, silver, blue & white versions were all $139.99.  But the green one was on sale for $89.99.  Only difference being that it was green.  My kids thought that was so sad, poor green Turboservers that nobody wants to buy just because they're green.  Almost bought one out of sympathy (but boy, they were ugly!).  So got me to thinking about a few bikes on the floor that we've had for a while, bikes that people don't like the color of.  Somehow I've got to go for the sympathy thing, promote them as orphans waiting for a home, somebody to ride them, etc.

11/14/02- WHERE WAS EVERYONE? 
I've been getting used to having a small crowd on the Tues/Thurs rides lately, but today it was just myself & Kevin.  Absolutely spectacular morning too, with the best views of the coast from the far side of Old LaHonda yet!  Unfortunately, when it's just the two of us, it means no resting at the top of Kings, just ride right on up to Skegg's without a break.  Probably good for me though, and gets that not-at-all-important average speed up. 

11/13/02- OUR FIRST EBAY AUCTION went online last night!
  No, this isn't a new direction for Chain Reaction, just an attempt to get rid of a few expensive items that haven't gone anywhere very fast.  In this case, a pair of 650c Zipp carbon sew-up wheels.  Why I brought them in in the first place is beyond me!  Next to go will be some Zipp carbon-fiber road cranks.

11/12/02- WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY (OR TWO) MAKES!  
The last few rides up King's Mtn had seemed especially tough, but this morning's ride (actually yesterday's, as I'm a day late here) was great!  Ueyn, Kevin, Steve & Bruce showed up on a nice morning with almost clear skies and a bit warmer temps.  And, finally, I felt like I showed up!  Instead of having trouble getting my heart rate up, my body responded exactly like it should have.  I really felt great!  Not super-fast or anything, but one of those rides where it seemed like everything fell into place, no weak links.  That feeling later in the day like you really accomplished something.  But do keep in mind that 28:30 up the hill isn't something most people would be inclined to brag about, but after a 35 minute ride last week... I ought to graph the HAC-4 computer data from the two rides and compare them!

11/11/02- AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.  
That would be me, on a mountain bike.  A rare sight indeed, but one that happened this morning at Stevens Creek park.  TREK was having a dealers-only demo of their 2002 bikes, where bike shop employees could drop in and take the latest cool bikes out for a ride.  I didn't have a whole lot of time, but any time I can ride a bike up a steep hill, how can I refuse?  So I grabbed a TREK Fuel 100 dual suspension and climbed up Coyote Ridge Trail.  Quite some climb!  The amazing thing was that, despite rather muddy conditions in places (it had rained nastily a few days before, and then again yesterday afternoon), I managed to ride up the entire thing without having to get off and push even once.  For the real mountain bikers out there, that won't seem like much of an accomplishment, I'm sure!  But for me, having to hang my weight way out over the front of the bike to keep the wheel down, it was pretty darned exciting.  The photo shows the top of the trail, overlooking Garrod Farms, just to prove I was there, on a mountain bike (the skeptics will assume that my 5900 is hidden out of sight!).

11/08/02- THE THINGS I LEARN FROM MY EXPERIENCES WITH OTHER RETAILERS
hopefully make Chain Reaction a better place.  I've been trying to buy a particular DVD-RAM (like a CD-writer only it writes DVDs), one that neither of the usual places (Frys or Best Buy) have in stock.  Finally located one on CompUSAs website, said it was in stock at their San Bruno store, with limited availability in their SF store.  Silly me, I figure that limited availability probably means only one in stock, and the San Bruno location might have a few.  So I call the San Bruno store, only it's one of those things where you can't get through to a live person, but instead have to navigate an automated system that, if you know the part number, will let you find out if they have it in stock.  After getting past the ridiculous prompts where you have to say "yes" or "no" into your phone (and quite loudly too; it frequently told me I had to try again, only louder, really making you look like an idiot to anyone within earshot), it told me that yes, they had it in stock.

Dummy me, I thought that meant they had it in stock!  But when I get to the store, it takes them maybe 20 minutes to figure out what I'm looking for (which took me about two minutes on their website), and then another five minutes to decide that they sold their last one earlier in the day.

Things like this help me to understand why it's so important to make sure you're on the same wavelength as the customer on the phone, and try to reduce mistakes as much as possible.  We'll never be perfect, we'll never stop making the occasional mistake and perhaps seriously inconvenience somebody due to a misunderstanding.  But we'll do what we can to get it right, and it helps that I know, first hand, how it feels when things go wrong.

11/07/02- FIRST RAIN RIDE MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. 
Looked at the weather forecast last night, said it was going to be thunder & heavy rain & 26mph winds by 9am.  Got all the heavy gear out, including rain pants, jacket, booties, etc., ready for bear.  7:05am and I'm up and looking out the window, and it really doesn't look all that bad.  Sure, it's wet, light drizzle, bit of wind, stuff all over the road, but hardly the makings of a major storm.  7:15am and Kevin's left a message on my phone saying he won't make it, looks too nasty on the roads (this follows an email last night from Ueyn, saying not to wait for him if it's wet out).  So it's up to me.

Immediately it feels like I'm over-dressed, as rain pants & jackets don't just keep rain out, they also keep sweat & heat in!  It's not cold at all, maybe 58 degrees at the start, and the rain?  Just a little drizzle.  This is turning into a major disappointment!  About a third of the way up Kings I take off the jacket, but leave the rain pants on, kinda hoping for a downpour at any minute.  But, it never comes.  A bit of wind, yes, and a lot of garbage on the roads, and a whole lot of fog up on top (thank goodness for bright flashing tail lights!) but no heavy rain, no epic storm.  A bit further up the hill I see Nicole heading down the hill; she does a really early morning ride from the other direction, and we frequently pass on Kings.  "This separates the men from the boys" she yells, to which I reply "Or the stupid from the stupider!"  But like I said, it really wasn't all that bad.  Maybe next time.

11/05/02- REPEAT OF 10/31 RIDE, ONLY WORSE!  
Don't know if it's the upcoming weather change or what, but the three of us, myself, Ueyn & Kevin, were all feeling so slow this morning that we chose to ride up through the back side of Huddart Park up to King's Mtn, mostly because it makes the time to the top almost meaningless (it adds a bit of distance as well as some steeper sections that bog you down).  Normally, at the top of Huddart Park you exit the steep section and make a welcome right-hand turn onto King's Mtn about one-third of the way to the top.  Normally it's welcome, that is.  Today, even though that turn marks the end of the steep stuff, none of us felt like the tough part was behind us.  Some days you get the hill, some days the hill gets you.  We fought the hill and the hill won.

Overall, what's the difference between a really fast ride and one like today?  For starters, on fast days the slower members of our group take 27-29 minutes to get up Kings.  On a slow day (sometimes known as a "High Gravity Day") the fastest riders will be lucky to break 30 minutes.  On a fast day, everyone looks forward to the relatively new extension of the ride, the loop down 84 towards the coast and back up Old LaHonda.  On a day like today, people look for reasons to bail out. 

11/04/02- NOT THE RIDE I'D PLANNED SUNDAY
but still fun.  There were supposed to be several of us doing a ride to Santa Cruz and bike, about 100 miles, at a moderate pace.  But something came up with everyone but Kevin, and even he couldn't do 100 miles since he had to be back by 1pm.  So instead we headed up Old LaHonda, down to the coast, traveled inland a couple times on our way north to Half Moon Bay and then up 92 and south on Skyline to King's Mtn, for a total of 60 miles.  A much tougher pace in the hills than I'd planned; what I really feel I need right now are some longer, relatively easy rides (and the weather forecast for next weekend doesn't make it look too likely anytime soon!).

11/01/02- A WHOPPER OF A TALE,
but it's true!  Took the day off and went fishing with my almost-10-year-old son.  Up to this point, fishing is about as much as we'd mastered.  That catching thing seemed terribly elusive.  But today that changed.  Drove to Del Valle reservoir, near Livermore, and rented a small motorboat to cruise the lake and try our hand at trolling.  Seems a bit strange, cruising along at a walking pace, hoping something gets interested in whatever you're dragging behind.  Kinda boring, too.  After a bit I spotted a small cove where I figured, if I were a fish, I might hang out there (I'd also noticed that some rather experienced-looking anglers were spending time in other inlets). 

Took about five minutes and my son was claiming he had a fish on the line.  I, of course, was certain that he'd snagged it on a rock, but then there was this thing where the reel was spinning backward against something, and it wasn't because the boat was drifting.  Dang, my worst nightmare, he'd hooked a real fish!  Turned out to be about a 14", maybe 4lb largemouth bass, way bigger than anything I'd expected to see.  The not-so-fun part was the amount of time it took to remove the hook from its mouth, long enough that I had to warn him that we might not be able to release it.  Eventually I got the fish free, and my son was one proud kid.  Well, no, he now calls himself an Angler.  Maybe someday he might be a cyclist?  But for now an Angler isn't all that bad.

What, no cycling angle?  Of course there is.  On the way back home, we went through downtown Livermore and I finally got a chance to stop at Livermore Cyclery, owned by the Howards, whom I've known for years.  Very nice place, very good people.  If you live in the East Bay, I can't think of a better place to go for your cycling needs.

10/31/02- BOY, THAT WAS HARD! 
You know how sometimes you go to bed kind of dreading that morning ride (not wanting to admit it to anyone, of course!), but once you get out on the bike everything just feels so great and you remember why riding a bike is such a wonderful thing?  This morning wasn't one of those days.  The body just wouldn't get going, as if my blood had been replaced with recycling 90-weight sludge.  By the time I got to King's Mtn, I was able to force my legs to do their job, but that's what it felt like, a job.  Once on Skyline things were a bit better, but it was one of those rides where the reward comes from having done it, and feeling much better afterward.  Four of us today; myself, Kevin, Ueyn and Mark.

10/30/02- YOU'RE SCARING ME!  
Yes, you.  We recently changed servers and have access to better logfiles and reports than previously.  For example, since 10/15/02 (only 15 days ago), we've had 15,354 views of this page (um, not quite... more like 3000 when I rechecked the logs, but that's still quite a few!).  I must be reading the report incorrectly.  Otherwise, guys like Ueyn & Kevin, who end up on this page frequently, are going to start demanding royalties!|

CREDIT GIVEN WHERE CREDIT DUE.  I should have pointed out a few days ago that I got help with the non-underlined-until-moused-over text links from Richard Brockie, who showed me the code used by the Fremont Freewheelers.  Of course, I just noticed that he doesn't use such techniques on his own website.  Hmm.

10/29/02- BACK TO NORMAL,
thank goodness.  Ueyn, Bruce, Mark, Steve and Kevin in attendance on this morning's ride, and, while it was a little cool at the beginning (47 degrees through Woodside), once we got on the hill, it was a nearly-constant 58-59 degrees for the next 20 miles.  Very nice, pleasant day to ride, although it did seem the diesel and chimney fumes were hugging the ground.  Kevin's looking quite strong after his return from the Ironman, and Ueyn nearly made it to the top with him, getting a time just under 27 minutes.  Me?  I like to watch.  Trouble is, you have to get up faster than 28:50 if you want to see the leaders finish!

10/27/02- IS THIS THE END OF EVERYTHING? 
That's what my almost-10-year-old son asked, as the Giants made their final out and lost the World Series to Anaheim.  But it's over, which is good for the bike biz, and, in a totally-selfish sort of way, it's even better for business because the Giants lost, just as it is when the 49ers tank one.  All those people who feel stupid that they gave up time they could have been riding (or ended up doing honey-do things earlier when they'd normally ride), well, they're now released and will recognize that cycling is that one true constant in their life, that one thing that's always reliable, always there for them.

10/26/02- I HATE THE RALLY MONKEY. 
There.  Now I feel so much better.  In case you don't know what I'm talking about, it's that darned Anaheim Angels mascot in the World Series.  Sigh. One more night watching baseball, but at least tomorrow night it will be dark when it starts (5pm) with daylight savings time ending, so it's not like it's going to shorten a bike ride!

I'm also pretty tired of that "monkey with a cold" Sprint commercial!  Hopefully it will end with the World Series.

10/24/02- FAN MAIL?  NOT! 
We've had the Killer Squirrel web page up for nearly five years now, with all manner of submissions by readers of our website.  And, I've kept a lot of them off the page, because they were simply too gory, or indicated a disregard for animal life etc.  But today I got our first-ever email questioning my judgement and morals.  Read it for yourself on the Killer Squirrel page, as well as my response.

This morning's roll call?
  Kevin, Ueyn, Dick and myself.  Dick?  Who's Dick?  That would be Dick Kiser, our sales manager in Redwood City, resident mile-dog.  It's been maybe a year, perhaps more, since he last made it out to one of our Tuesday/Thursday rides up King's Mtn.  Perhaps we'll see more of him in the future!

10/23/02- BRRR!  
Tomorrow morning feels like it's going to be the first real taste of winter.  Sure, it got down to 44 degrees Tuesday morning, but that just didn't seem all that cold.  Tonight there's a chill in the air that's somehow colder than the actual temperature.  And today marked the first time the home heater was turned on since... May?  Not really sure, but it's been a long time!  Yes, sure, us Californians really are wimps.

10/23/02- TRAP DOORS & MISSING LINKS-
two things I forgot to mention yesterday.  The first refers to an entire field of trap-door spiders found as you're climbing Old LaHonda on the west side.  It's on your right as you're about a mile or so from the top, and the only time you'll see it is when there's a bit of dampness in the air, exposing the hundreds of webs laid in a veritable minefield that would be impossible for a bug to miss.  I keep forgetting to bring my camera and get a shot of it.  One of these days...

The other item is a change to the way pages are linked on our website.  Normally, links are underlined, but I'm trying to clean things up a bit and use links that are blue & bold, but not underlined.  Like this link to our King's Mtn ride page.  The problem is whether people will understand that it's a link!

10/22/02- UEYN, KEVIN, BRUCE, STEVE, MARK...
did I leave anybody out?  As the days get shorter, we find an increasing number of people on our morning rides up King's, probably because they can't get in an evening ride after work.  Kevin's just back from the Ironman in Hawaii, Ueyn's dealing with a painful back that a Chiropractor says is a result of a tilted hip, Steve's out to prove that sprinting is an ageless art, Mark is simply enjoying the ride and I'm out there because somebody has to keep these guys honest when everyone agrees not to ride hard on the last part (Old LaHonda's west side), an agreement that lasts for about the first 30 feet after you turn onto it, and then all hell breaks loose.

10/20/02- YOU RUN INTO THE NICEST PEOPLE ON A BIKE.  
I got out on a short ride this afternoon, after wasting part of the morning watching the 49er game, then a few honey-do things, finally heading out about 3:30 or so.  Figured I'd have a nice quick ride up Old La Honda and back down 84, nothing too ambitious, just keep the legs loose and make sure I didn't feel like I spent the whole day in front of a TV, watching football and baseball.  So I'm cruising across Woodside Road (at Roberts) and spot Sal, someone who's done quite a few of the epic rides on our site, heading nowhere in particular.  So we head on up together, enjoying what had to be about the perfect weather to climb.  64-69 degrees, no wind, really nice out!  But the curious thing was how many bikes were heading down Old La Honda.

Found out why.  At the top of Old LaHonda we headed north on Skyline to Sky L'Onda, and then down 84.  Usually, you worry a bit about some hot-shot thinking you're not fast enough and trying to pass you where it's not safe.  Either that or you're stuck behind Grandma driving 15mph the whole way.  But not today.  Today was fine.  For about half a mile.  And then 84 became a parking lot, at least in the downhill direction.  Solid stopped cars, literally for over two miles, with us trying to ride a precariously-narrow piece of shoulder, dodging rear view mirrors all the way.  Not fun!  The problem is that stoplight they installed near the bottom, where they're doing the construction work.  Normally not a big deal, but today, you had people coming back from the Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay, and it had to be nightmare for everyone in a car.  We got down in maybe 25 minutes, but I'll bet cars were stuck there for way over an hour.

On the way back, we rode Godetia, a shortcut from Canada to Jefferson, for extra credit.  That's Godetia in the photo on the right, and it's way steeper than it looks.  Mercifully short though.  If you've never ridden it, it's the first street you come to after passing the back entrance to Canada College as you're heading north on Canada.

10/16/02- IF YOU GO INFINITELY FAST, DOES THE ROAD BECOME SMOOTH AS GLASS? 
Don't think I'll ever find out, but did have some fun on Tripp Road towards the end of this morning's ride, as I decided to see if I could hold 25mph+ on it and see what it felt like.  Not quite smooth as glass, but definitely a lot less bumpy than normal.  Nice morning for a ride, with Harry, another guy whose name I forgot (but I've got to remember to call Kreitler to order a roller for) and met up with Ueyn on the way back.

10/15/02- WE'RE STILL UP!  
A nearly-seamless transition from one web server to another, the only glitch being about 10 minutes when you could get chainreaction.com but not the aliased chainreactionbicycles.com, because I didn't specify something properly.  The web is such fun!

Tuesday's ride went very nicely, despite a very heavy overcast that made it appear we'd be riding in the clouds.  Showing up were Ted, Steve L and Bruce, riding the extended version (which has now become the norm) which takes us up Kings, south on Skyline, down the west side of 84 as far as the old red barn, and then head back to Skyline via the west side of Old LaHonda, then north on Skyline a bit and down 84.  As foggy as it was, the roads were curiously dry!  Yet another great time on a bike.

10/14/02- WATCH THIS SPACE,
but hopefully you won't see anything change!  We're moving our website from an older "webfarm" to a newer, more modern one that will be easier for me to update, especially when I travel.  But the process of making the changes is rather scary, since, if I typed in the wrong configuration info, the website will simply cease to exist (until I figure out how badly I fouled up and fix it).  Cross your fingers!

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to riding up the hill tomorrow morning.  Don't know if Kevin will be with us, as he's got the Ironman Triathlon coming up in Hawaii this Saturday.  Go Kevin!

10/10/02- BICYCLING CURES EVERYTHING. 
At least for me!  Something hit me late yesterday, started feeling a bit tired (even sleepy), a few aches & pains... some sort of present from Las Vegas, no doubt.  Go to bed wondering what it's going to be like after a week off the bike, riding up the hill.  Well, as usual, it was great!  Ueyn, Bob & Steve showed up, and we had a fun ride up the hill in cooler weather that reminds us summer's just a memory now.  First time with leg warmers.  Sigh.  But sure felt better after the first couple minutes on the bike, and even better now.  That bike thing... it's pretty cool!

10/09/02 YEAH, WE RACKED UP!  
Getting Lance's autograph on a few of my photos was pretty cool.  Even cooler was what went on yesterday morning, final day of the show.  TREK has been taking a position of leadership in advocacy issues having to do with cycling, and decided to put on a big-time Lance event in the main exhibit hall.  So they had Rob Roll, OLN's irascible commentator, do an interview with Lance on a stage in the middle of the TREK booth.  Basically, the show ground to a half for nearly an hour!  The only people without eyes riveted to that stage were some of the Taiwan vendors who seized the opportunity to have a quick smoke in the hallways.

But what about the advocacy stuff?  Well, John Burke, TREK president, and also president of Bikes Belong, a cycling lobby group in Washington DC, had a raffle for people who had made donations to the various groups trying to make the US a better place for cycling.  We'd been planning to join Bikes Belong anyway, and added IMBA (a mountain-biking organization), CTC (California Transportation Commission) and the LAW (League of American Wheelman) to the mix.

What was being raffled?  Oh, not much, just a bunch of signed jerseys, hat, limited-edition Graham Watson photos (I really wanted one of those!), and a couple other things.  Oh yeah, we won a new custom-painted Lance Armstrong 5500 frameset, autographed on the spot by Lance himself.  Grand Prize as it were!

But somebody needs to bop my brother Steve upside the head just a bit.  About an hour later, we're in one of the exhibitor's booths and the rep asks Steve how the show's going for us.  Steve answers that it's "OK."  OK???  Like, I ask him, how could it possibly be any better???  The frame will be on display in our Los Altos store in about a week.

10/07/02 10:30pm NOW YOU'LL KNOW
why I'm staying longer than I'd like at the Las Vegas Interbike trade show, and missing my usual Tuesday/Thursday morning ride.  Pictures don't lie... what can I say... the chance to actually say hi to Lance and get him to sign a couple of photos I took... it just couldn't be passed up.  So my brother Steve (in the photo on the right) and I find ourselves at Morton's Steak House, with a bunch of other TREK dealers, waiting for our moment with Lance.

At first you're thinking it's kinda silly, a whole lot of people stuffed into a small room, waiting for the greatest cyclist of our generation to grace us with his presence.  And, who knows, he just might not show at all!  It's happened before, most notably at a post-race Tour de France party a couple years ago, when legend has it he chose to go out drinking with Robin Williams instead.

But, right on schedule, there he is, suddenly at the front of the room, having arrived there by some form of invisible conveyance such that nobody saw him enter, even though many were watching.  I'm told he just came right in the front door...
As for the photos Lance signed, I'd have to say we scored big.  Bigger than big.  Lance got personal, "editorializing" one of my most memorable photos of him, the one on Alpe d'Huez, right after he took off and left Ulrich in the dust.  The one where the guy in the big floppy hat moved into the photo at the last moment, ruining the shot.

Ruined?  Maybe not!  Things have a way of turning out the way they ought to, and it seems that the guy in the floppy hat served a purpose after all.  Something that didn't occur to me at the time, or even later, but Lance picked up instantly.  When I gave the photo to Lance, he looked at it kind of funny, and I was thinking maybe he couldn't tell what was going on, or where he was in the photo.  Uh, no.  What I got back was a signed photo, with a line through the name on the floppy-white-hat-guy's jersey.  A line through the "Cofidis" name, the team that cut Lance instead of believing he could come back from cancer.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled.

10/07/02 6:30pm- THIS IS LAS VEGAS, AFTER ALL.  
And what would Las Vegas be without an Elvis sighting?  Better yet, a dual Elvis sighting, one full-size, one mini-me version.  The things people will do to try and sell a product!  And then there are the infamous Marzocchi girls, women chosen to showcase something other than product knowledge.  They've been a staple of the show for a number of years, clad in attire that's more commonly found on the sidestreets along the strip.  I recall a time when they were something you could depend on for an interesting diversion, but now?  Seems like they're just a bit on the scary side!  Sorry no photos, but PG13 is as far as we'll push this website's rating.

10/07/02- MEANWHILE, AT THE INTERBIKE TRADE SHOW...
So why do you go to a trade show?  Well, you never know where that next cool product's coming from.  A year or two ago we discovered the Tirefly, this cool little blinking LED light that attaches to your valve and lights up as you're riding.  Stupid, fun, & we sold quite a few.  But a really tough one to top!  Yeah, I know, we're supposed to be checking out the latest carbon cranks from FSA, or see what Colnago's new paint job's like, or find out if there's such a thing as a lugged steel frame anymore (pretty much not).  But most of that stuff will come to us, as distributors visit the shop trying to hawk their wares.  All except the Colnago, but we just want to look at those, not buy them (they're way expensive and have one of those "Warranty?  If you have to ask about a warranty, this isn't the frame for you" type of attitudes).

The younger people on our staff really enjoy the trade show, since they often aren't around when the distributors come by with the latest & greatest tubeless ATB tire.  And they're still blown away when they spot an Eddy Merckx (shown in the photo signing autographs) or Greg LeMond in a casual setting.  But us old farts have business to conduct, credit managers to get to know (credit managers are very important people in any business), and roller coasters to ride.  Oops.  OK, there is some fun involved!  Or was supposed to be, but, after walking a couple miles to New York New York hotel, we found the way-cool roller coaster shuts down at 11pm (what's with that?) and it was 11:45.

Found out that Gary Fisher is a regular "diary" reader here!  I've probably known Gary about as long as anyone else in this biz, going back to the days when I was a junior racing for Pedali Alpini and he was a young senior with Marin (not related to the current bike company).  In fact, Gary Fisher's the only person who ever called me up on the phone and threatened me with great bodily harm, something he probably doesn't remember (as they say, if you remember the 60s & 70s, you weren't there). That's a story for another time.

10/05/02- ROAD TRIP (AGAIN)! 
But nothing so exciting as France I'm afraid.  It's off to Las Vegas for the Interbike Trade Show.  I'll be gone until Tuesday evening, which means I'll be missing the regular Tuesday morning ride.  I should also mention that our Redwood City location, which is normally open on Mondays, will be closed, and on Tuesday will be minimally staffed.  Best to wait until Wednesday for anything you need taken care of.

10/04/02- RODE WITH MY DAUGHTER TO SCHOOL TODAY- WHAT AN EYE OPENER!

  • The bike lane along the busiest street is narrow, the cars encroach on it as they get ready for a right-hand turn onto another very busy street, and the vegetation on the side is so overgrown it lashes out at you as you ride.
     
  • The crosswalk across from the school has a push-button, but the cycle runs FIVE MINUTES. Seriously. You get someone who's worried about being late for school, you've encouraged them to walk or ride, and they encounter something like that... while the cars in the left turn lane get a green signal... what's the message?
     
  • The main drag in front of the school is littered with debris in the bike lane, so much so that I'm amazed I didn't get a flat.
     
  • The bike racks, located in the car parking lot, have been shoved together to make room for another car space. There are two of them, at a 90 degree angle, so the first four or five spots of each are useless.

ARRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!

10/03/02- WHY WE RIDE. 
Sometimes it's not even about us, sometimes it's what we can help other people with.  Sure, it's great to get out there in the morning, climb the hill and feel like you've accomplished something for the day.  But it's even better when someone else shows up and says that he wouldn't have been out there if he didn't know that someone else would be.

10/01/02- OLD FRIENDS, NEW FRIENDS, GREAT ROADS,
what's not to like?  Steve Lubin, one of the organizers of the Old Farts ride below, showed up this morning for the ride up King's Mtn, along with Ueyn Block, and Ted Zayner was waiting for us at the top.  Steve and I go way back, as he was one of the "elders" of Pedali Alpini when I began racing.  Let's see, I'm 46 now, Steve's 53, that would have made him a whopping 23 years old!  Fortunately, Ueyn (late 20s) was very kind to us this morning, and we had a very enjoyable ride up the hill.  Hey, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I rode my '71 Cinelli again too, which is kinda fun but also makes you realize just how much nicer bikes are today.  Modern bikes have brakes that stop you, gears that shift and don't slip when you're climbing, and a more comfortable ride.  What's not to like?

09/29/02- SORRY FOR ALL THE MISSING DIARY ENTRIES!  
I've got a lot of catching up to do, but rest assured we did get back Thursday afternoon from France, and today (Sunday) is both the first day I've felt relatively free from jet-lag and, perhaps more importantly, my first day back on the bike in nearly two weeks.  Interesting ride, the annual "Old Farts" event for racers from the mid-60s to very early 70s.  I barely made the cut-off date, but there was somebody a year younger than I in attendance.  Lots of fun, and gave me an excuse to ride my '71 Cinelli again.  Also working on a new page about traveling through France and specifics on getting around in Paris via the Metro.

09/26/02- OK, FOR THOSE IN NORCAL IT'S 09/25/02
and my France trip is about over.  Sorry for the lack of daily entries, but there has been zero free time for updating the website, and since this is a personal, but business trip, and this being Paris, the city of romance, and I'm here with my wife... there are other things to do in the evenings besides spending a couple hours on the website.  But not to worry, I'll be catching up shortly after I return, hopefully late Thursday (that's when I return, not when I catch up!).

09/22/02- THE DAYS ARE JUST PACKED
is an understatement.  We've almost become blasé about Metro, and today added to our list of accomplishments our first SNCF rail trip, out to Monet's house in Giverny.  Actually, you take the train as far as Vernon and then either take a cab or bus the final six kilometers.  But why, when instead you can rent a bike for just $12?  Well... those bikes weren't worth $12 if you had to buy them outright!  But it did help me to understand that a bike will continue running, even with nearly all of its components falling apart, misadjusted or even with flat tires.  If you check out the photo, you'll see that even the rear quick release is used dangerously incorrectly, with the lever screwed on instead of clamped, allowing the wheel to pull out of the frame under pressure.  But we made it, and it probably took a lot less time getting there and back on bike than it would have waiting for a bus or taxi.

Actually, there was one little side trip we did shortly before taking the train to Giverny.  The SNCF train to Giverny wasn't leaving for an hour and a half, so we took Metro line 1 up to the Grand Arch at the end of the line.  Pretty cool place, but I have no idea what that statue of a thumb is for.  Can someone enlighten me on this?

When we got back to Paris after that little excursion (actually, a nearly all-day event), we ate at a nice Brasserie not too far from our hotel, and did what the locals do... set up the chairs so they're facing the street and watch the people go by.  It's really a lot of fun, making up stories about who people are, what they do and where they're going, and especially trying to figure out if they're locals.

After that it was off on the Metro once again, this time to the Eiffel Tower.  My thought was that it might be spectacular at night, and the lines might be pretty short, since Sunday night is probably when most people have left for home and the new influx of tourists won't arrive until sometime Monday.  Call me correct on that one!  Walk right up, buy your tickets and you're on top before you know it, no waiting anywhere.

Tomorrow we're off on the TGV to Avignon, in the south of France. 

09/21/02- BACK IN FRANCE AGAIN!  
Seems I just can't get enough of this place, but it's a bit different this time, since there's no business, not even any bicycling involved, just myself and my wife seeing the place.  The past three trips I've learned quite a bit about getting around (more than just basic survival skills) so, when I saw some combo flight/hotel deals that looked too good to be true, jumped at the chance.

The flight over was a bit better than expected, as United had overbooked the direct flight we were originally scheduled on, so they routed us on a connecting flight via Dulles (Washington DC).  Cool thing about Dulles is that they still have those "smoker zoos" within the airport- glassed-in sections where the puffers get to look really desperate and stupid to everyone on the outside looking in.

Oh yeah, and they upgraded our segment from Dulles to Paris to Business Class.  Have you ever flown Business Class?  For that matter, anything other than cattlecar-class coach?  I hadn't, and I'd always wondered what went on behind those drawn curtains, and the warnings to use the bathrooms in your own compartment.  Well, you know how, in your mind, you really resent the sort of person who's able to fly like that, because you imagine they're getting all sorts of special treatment that you aren't?  You're right, they are!  For starters, you get a seat that's so comfortable that you almost don't want to go to sleep in it.  You also get more legroom than almost anybody could possibly use, and, when the person in front of you moves their seat all the way down?  It's still much further from you than a coach seat fully upright!

You want to talk food?  Again, you have no idea.  You actually have a printed menu with a few items to choose from, and the stuff actually tastes decent.  A wine list.  Your nuts are served to you in cups, not little plastic things that are impossible to open and, my wife noted, it was all pecans, cashews and macadamia nuts... not one single peanut among them.

For this trip I'm based in Paris, where I'd spent the final three days of my last TDF junket.  That last time I got around entirely by foot or Open Bus (these big double-decker yellow busses that you pay $24 for and drive all over town, allowing you to get on and off as often as needed), but this time I've mastered the Paris Metro (subway), RER (urban rail system) and a bit more of the SNCF (high-speed trans-country rail). RER, by the way, is where a band of mariachis got on board and started playing weird south-of-the-border versions of classic American songs, and then passed around a tin cup. 

When I get back I'll be posting detailed instructions on the Metro, RER and SNCF, all the stuff you'd really like to know but isn't included in the stuff they send you (like how to work the ticket machines in the metro, which isn't terribly difficult, but something that you needlessly dread ahead of time because nobody tells you!).

Oh, almost forgot, across the street from our hotel is Pizza Bruno!  I had no idea that Bruno, our service manager in Redwood City, had a side business in Paris.

More to come soon, but got to get to sleep shortly as another big day ahead of us tomorrow- probably a trip to Giverny, to see Monet's home and the actual garden found in so many of his paintings.  Today we visited the Orsay Museum, quite a magnificent place and much easier to see than the immense Louvre.  One of the more surprising pieces to find there is the famous painting "Whistler's Mother", which is almost entirely forgotten next to all manner of impressionist paintings by the likes of Money, Van Gogh and Renoir.  Of course, it also happens to be entirely out of place in those surroundings!


09/18/02- A VERY SAD DAY TODAY
.  This afternoon Jim Latham, a former employee of ours from way, way back, and who, for the past many years has worked for Garner's bike shop down the street, came by to let us know that Mike Garner, their owner, had died of a heart attack while on a bike ride.  Mike was only 48, with a wife and four kids, as well as the bike shop.  Things hadn't been going easy for them as they'd recently closed their Palo Alto location and were operating just out of their Redwood City store, and now this.  I've known Mike for 31 years, not really well, as he traveled in different circles than I, but he was part of the group of peninsula cyclists that I grew up with.  It's particularly difficult dealing with my feelings on this as I prepare to head to France tomorrow morning with my wife for the next week.  Please keep their family in your thoughts and prayers, and the shop as well.

PS:  If you send emails during the next week, it will probably be a bit of time before I get around to replying.  I'll be back a week from Friday, but it will take several days to catch up with everything.

09/17/02- A BIT DIFFERENT RIDE TODAY
as Kevin didn't feel like hitting up too many hills, so after the top of King's Mtn we headed north to 92 and then back on Canada.  In fact, Kevin didn't even want to ride up Kings, but we talked him into it, telling him we'd (myself & Ueyn) take it easy... and we actually did!  Also had a newcomer along, Mark, who'd ridden with us once before.  Now, we could give Kevin a bad time for not wanting it push the pace up the climb, but one has to remember that the guy's already done a hard swimming workout before we see him!

09/15/02- SF GRAN PRIX PHOTOS UP
but not a whole lot of them, things didn't work out too well for taking pictures.  But I did meet Lance Armstrong's mother (very nice person).  Lots of people there this year, even more than last!

09/14/02- SF GRAN PRIX TOMORROW
and we're going to be there!  We even closed our Los Altos store (which is normally open Sundays) so staff and customers can attend.  Lance & George Hincapie will be the obvious fan favorites, although there will be some local guys on the streets too, including Tracy Colwell, one of our long-time customers and former Tuesday/Thursday morning Chain Reaction rider.  Afraid he kind of outgrew us, especially when he posted that 19:51 time up the hill some years back.  We'll (obviously) have a page up after the race with photos.

09/14/02- RECORD LeMOND SALES in our Redwood City store today.  In fact, I think that's all that was going out the door!  I normally don't talk much about the commercial aspects of our business in these pages, but it was a rather exceptional day in that we typically sell far more TREKs than LeMonds (due largely to the huge number of 5200s we sell).  Seems that people can't pass up a killer $999 deal on a bike, whether it was the Klein Adept Comp special we had some months ago, or the current one on the '02 Alpe D'Huez.  Life could be worse!

09/12/02- ANOTHER GREAT DAY TO BE ON A BIKE!  
Sure, a bit cool and slightly-foggy at the start, but no more than halfway up King's Mtn and it warmed up to the mid-60s and stayed that way for the rest of the ride.  Kevin, Ueyn and Ted Zayner showed up, and we enjoyed a detour through Huddart via Greer Road, connecting back to King's Mtn at the park entrance.  Our extra loop that we've added, Old LaHonda's west side, has really become something to look forward to.  It adds about six miles of very pleasant riding, especially Old LaHonda itself, where I don't believe we've seen a single car the past 10 or so times we've been on it.

09/10/02- KA-BLAM! 
We'll get to that in a minute.  Nice ride this morning, good to get out before it got too hot.  Had a ringer show up, John Thompson, who's a Cat-1 racer and also happens to be our TREK rep.  Toss in Kevin Keenan and you've got the makings of a first-class testosterone brigade.  Ueyn & I comprised the mortal contingent, with a new guy showing up that I forgot the name of.  Poor guy, any other day and things wouldn't have been quite so fast! 

I did find a way to hang with the a bit longer with the tough guys.  Since this is a "social" ride, there's a bit of talking, which can quickly put you out of breath if you're not in shape.  Got smart this time.  When they'd ask me a question, I'd answer with either a thumbs-up, thumbs-down or just a flat palm (so-so).  Worked pretty good!  But around the entrance to Huddart Park I shut down and waited for the new guy and rode the rest of the way with him.

As is customary lately, we've added a bit of extra mileage to the route by heading west on 84 instead of east, and climbing back on Old LaHonda.  About 50 feet into Old LaHonda, bam, my front tire was sliced nearly an inch by a big piece of glass.  First flat in about a year, guess it was my turn!

09/08/02- DID A TEST RUN TO WOODSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
with my freshman daughter, wife and 4th-grade son.  The idea was to see if it was really practical to have her ride to school, as well as see if the three of them could make it back up the 370 foot climb to our house.  It actually went quite well, all things considered.  Only took 18 minutes to get there, where we had a picnic lunch and a tour of the campus before heading back home.  Not quite so fast getting back, but still only took about 40 minutes or so, much faster than I expected.  Of course, it might not be so practical (or at least she'll claim that's the case) when she has a backpack with a ton of books in it!

The bike rack itself is a rather sad sight, sitting in a corner of the school's parking lot, with space for, at most, twenty bikes.  Twenty bikes for a school with over 2,000 students.  And I'm told the bike rack is never full. I'm going to work to change that, one bike at a time, starting with my daughter.  Something wrong about that statistic that says only 2% of kids walk or ride to school now, vs 30% twenty years ago.

09/05/02- OUCH, THAT HURT!  
We had two very strong riders today, Kevin and Pat, pushing the pace up King's Mtn (and pushing considerably faster than my 27:24 time).  The fun part was up on Skyline, the section past Skegg's Point where it flattens out and the stronger riders take hard pulls.  Pat was a man possessed, pulling at 31mph on a section that I can't do better than 28 (and that's on a very good day).  Kevin tried to come around at one point, but it was useless... 31mph on the flats, with no tailwind... it's just too much.  In fact, it's so much that you're wondering how you can even hang onto the wheel, but of course you realize that losing that wheel is going to be a lot more painful than staying on it!

But that wasn't the tough part.  Kevin decided to show us a new road, a little offshoot from 84 as you head west towards San Gregorio, named Kebet's Ridge I believe.  It takes a quick little drop and then goes up.  For one mile it goes up.  Seriously up, 10-15% up in fact.  And then, just before the end, it stops going up.  At that point it goes straight up!  Fortunately, for a mercifully-short period of time, and then you're deposited at the end of the road, in front of a very large home with a big friendly black lab.  The climb is almost exactly 1 mile, and you climb 530 feet.  The first part of the descent is one of those time you feel like it would be pretty easy to go over the bars.  Yikes!

09/03/02- THANK GOODNESS FOR FOG!  
After yesterday's heat, it was really nice to be climbing King's Mtn in the mid-60s.  Three of us today, two officially (myself and Ueyn) and then we came across Eric, out there for his morning wake-up ride.  Eric seems to wake up pretty fast; don't know what he'd be like later in the day!


09/02/02- FIRST CHAIN REACTION FISHING TRIP A SUCCESS!  
From the viewpoint of the fish, that is.  We saved every possible fish in Loch Lomond we could, by removing five boats and a certain amount of space on the lake from someone who might have actually caught something!  But I have faith that eventually we'll screw up and some dumb fish will accidentally get hooked on one of our lines.

09/01/02- SORRY, BUT THAT'S NOT A WARRANTY ISSUE. 
It's questionable that I should bring this up, since a very good rule of business is not to diss customers.  But this one was beyond belief.  I'm helping somebody on the sales floor and one of our employees tells me there's a warranty issue I need to take a look at.  OK, fine, couple minutes and I'll be there.  What I saw and heard amazed me. This guy has (no, had) a perfectly-good 1993 TREK 8000 mountain bike that he'd cut a section of a chainstay out of.  And he was claiming it to be a warranty situation.  Why?  Says that the frame just broke as he was riding along, and since he was worried that somebody else might try to ride it, he naturally sawed out part of the tube.

OK.  I've heard just about everything in 31 years of bicycle retail, why not?  But you look at the frame closely, and you look at the cut-out section of tube, and there is no evidence whatsoever of anything other than hacksaw cuts on the tube.  At this point, you also need to understand that I take mutilation of a perfectly-good bicycle frame very personally.  To me, it's like taking a crayola to the Mona Lisa.  The customer insists that the only reason I'm not going to take care of it is because I'm going to eat the labor, since, of course, TREK will take care of the frame.  Well guess what?  Nobody is going to get something that's obviously a result of abuse past us.  Every other decent customer  loses in a situation like that, because you raise the costs for everyone in order to take care of illicit claims.

I'm still upset about this.  Normally, I live by the idea that the more sure you are about something, the more likely it is that you're wrong.  So you have to try and figure out how you've totally blown it, how it actually was a legit claim and you did a terrible injustice to the customer.  Right.  I thought that for a minute, but, just as the customer was leaving the store, I realized what had really happened.  Somebody had either lost a key for a lock or was trying to steal the bike, and sawed through the tube to free it from its shackles.  And then had the audacity to claim the frame was defective.  If the customer returns, calling the police may be the appropriate response.

08/27/02- WE WON!  Well, it's not really a contest or anything, but Chain Reaction was just presented with an award recognizing us as the #1 Klein dealer in the US!  Also got a chance to ride the '03 Klein Palomino, an awesome dual-suspension mountain bike based on the Maverick design.  Wow!  We're going to be selling a lot of them.  I'd initially been concerned that it was going to be an overly technical bike, something that would take time to learn how to ride and appreciate.  Nothing could be further from the truth... you just get on it and go.  Even a klutz like me.  We're going to be selling a lot of Kleins next year.

08/21/02- WHAT WILL I REMEMBER MOST
from a few days I spent in the mountains with my family?  Would it be renting a mountain bike so I could ride the trail around the lake, and noticing the front quick release was installed incorrectly (so the wheel could drop out)?  Or sneaking in a road bike ride over Pacific Grade?  Maybe the night-time trip to the lake to fish, with my son saying maybe it was time to leave, because the wolves might get us?  Nah, must have been when, after spending two hours on a boat on the lake fishing (not catching!), we're heading back to the ramp only to see them re-stocking the lake with a whole lot of big fish for someone else to catch?

None of the above.  It was the sight of my son standing next to the bed this morning at 6:45am, asking if it was time to go fishing.  Nice to be back, but fishing was a lot of fun (might be nice to try catching though!).

08/18/02- GONE FISHING,
literally!  Heading up to Alpine Lake (next to Bear Valley) with the family, for a few days of fishing, horseback riding and just getting away from the usual stuff my kids are more likely to do back home (video games, theme parks, shopping...).  So you won't be seeing me on Tuesday morning, nor Todd, who's starting his cross-country training in the mornings now.  But Kevin and Ueyn might be there, so don't be afraid to show up.  If you don't see anybody by 7:50am, figure it's time to start heading up the hill on your own!

08/15/02- FRESH MEAT
on our ride this morning.  Aside from the usual suspects (myself, Todd & Ueyn), Dave H, one of our customers a bit less accustomed to the fine art of flogging oneself up a hill, showed up.  Got him up there considerably faster than his prior best time on Old LaHonda indicated would be likely!


08/14/02- OLD DOGS LEARN NEW TRICKS.  
That heart monitor really has taught me a thing or two, most notably that I'd been screwing up pretty badly for quite some time, trying to sync my breathing to my cadence (while climbing).  Don't do that!  While it may seem logical and almost elegant to do so, it can really mess you up, since your cadence while climbing is typically unsteady, causing your breathing to go all over the map.  You'll climb much better if you force yourself to breathe fairly steadily, deliberately un-syncing respiration from cadence.

08/13/02- EVER FEEL LIKE YOU'VE SUDDENLY LOST 15 POUNDS
and can just fly up the hills?  This morning was like that.  Can't say why, but I felt really, really good.  Not so good that I could drop Kevin, Ueyn and Todd, but good enough to get another time under 27 minutes up King's Mtn, and good enough that the back side of Old LaHonda was just plain fun.  It was also nice that it was my first "quiet" ride on my bike in several months, since I'd finally replaced the terribly-noisy larger 3 cogs on my cassette.

[shameless plug mode /on]
Here's the chart for this morning's ride from my HAC-4 bike computer (you can enlarge it by clicking on it).  The climb up King's Mtn begins at about 5 miles, and is pretty obvious from the heart rate section!  It's amazing that I went all these years without ever using one of these gadgets.  If you want to figure out the ride from the chart, check out the altitude graph.  The first little rise is my cruise over Jefferson to the start.  The dip in heartrate at about 3 miles is the formal start of the ride, Olive Hill & Canada Road.  The long rise is obviously King's Mtn, with the top depicted by the sudden drop in heart rate.  From there you climb a bit more to the top of Skyline, and then descend down to the bottom of Skyline and then down the west side of 84 to Old LaHonda (mile 17 or so).  From there you climb back up to Skyline, and it's pretty much all downhill after that!

OK, so besides the cool gadget factor, why do you want a heart monitor?  Because it can help you to relax.  Yes, strange as that seems, it's not about flat-out max effort all of the time when climbing a hill.  You need to be as efficient as possible, which means watching your heart rate and figuring out how to climb at the same speed, but with a lower pulse.  Or, better yet, the same pulse but a higher speed!  What I noticed today was that I was breathing a lot better than normal, forcing myself to not get too ragged and uneven. [shameless plug mode /off]

08/11/02- FLOATING AWAY FROM YOUR DAUGHTER AFTER SHE GETS TOSSED OUT OF A RAFT in the rapids is an interesting experience!  Made considerably more interesting by the fact that your guide was also tossed out, but in an entirely different direction, and so you're suddenly put in charge of figuring out what to do with a raft that now has yourself and three other adults, none of whom speak English very well nor have proven able to paddle at the same time.

Fortunately, it's one of those things where so much is happening so fast that you don't really get a chance to panic, and eventually get your raft over to the side of the river and hope that your daughter finally gets a clue and heads down-river towards you.  You're yelling instructions to her, of course, but find out later that she couldn't hear a thing due to the sound of all the water crashing around her.  But she does finally get a clue and floats downstream towards us, making it to the raft about the same time our guide finally does.  But not, of course, before first trying to stand up in the water, something you're told not to do, because you might get your feet caught in rocks on the bottom, with the current then forcing your body underwater.  )But before thinking this all sounds too dangerous, keep in mind that it's the South Fork of the American River, and if you can't get back to your own raft, just wait a minute and another one will coming along.)  Too bad it wasn't one of those places where they take the photos!  Overall a very fun trip though, a pleasant diversion with the kids.

08/08/02- AM I A SNAKE-OIL SALESMAN OR WHAT? 
But it's really true, cycling does cure just about anything that ails you.  Got the blues?  Go out and ride and you'll feel better.  Not feeling well?  Same advice.  This morning I got out of bed not feeling the greatest, rather sore muscles here and there, sort of like I've been fighting off a minor bug for the past few days.  Didn't really look forward to getting on the bike.  But, of course, I did... kinda wondered why for a few minutes, then started to feel better, then much better, and in no time I was having fun.  Serious fun.  Turned the day around by just riding my bike.

Some of the usual suspects showed up this morning, including Bob (who took another minute and a half off his time up King's Mtn), Ueyn and Todd.  Beautiful morning, temps in the mid-60s.  Great for climbing!

08/06/02- CONGRATULATIONS TO KEVIN KEENAN, one of the regulars on our Tuesday/Thursday morning rides up King's Mtn, who qualified at the Vineman Triathlon for the big one in Hawaii.

This morning's ride had myself, Todd & Kevin showing up.  What, no sign of Ueyn?  Kevin thought he might have seen Ueyn on his way down King's to our starting point, riding up the hill.  Sure enough, as we started up King's Mtn, there was Ueyn, riding down.  Oh no!  Now there is Ueyn, riding back up after us!  Seems Ueyn is doing intervals on King's Mtn.  Nasty stuff that makes you much stronger.

For myself, I tried something a bit different.  Using a heart monitor (the Ciclomaster Hac-4), I tried to keep my pulse below 160, forcing myself to try and relax and steady my breathing.  Got about halfway up that way before having to abandon 160 in favor of 170.  Felt pretty good and relaxed, finishing in 27:21.

08/05/02- CLOSURE finally.  My missing luggage from France finally arrived, so, as of this morning, I guess you could say that my French adventure is over.  Nearly two weeks this time, twice as long as my previous two visits, and just long enough to get really settled in.  In some ways I think I tried to do too many things, especially that first week, when the group I was in was dining in fancy restaurants, jetting around to watch the race, and trying to get in some quick bike rides.  That was enough for most, but for me, after a late dinner, it was off to my room to spend maybe two hours working on the diaries and downloading photos.  Once I was on my own, the fancy dining went by the wayside, and that freed up at least an hour, maybe up to three, each day!  But I still won't admit where I bought a couple of my meals... but I'm paying for that tomorrow morning, as I try to drag this flabby body up King's Mtn.

08/01/02- BACK IN THE USA.  Arrived home from France last night, and, despite one of those incredibly-long travel days (the type where you're up for a couple days straight), managed to get up and go riding this morning.  Took a bit of improvising though, as one piece of my luggage, the one with my shoes & pedals in it, has yet to make it back.  So I used some ancient mountain bike shoes and the SPD pedals off my wife's bike and you know what?  It felt just fine.  Something about being back on schedule, back on the usual King's Mtn morning ride, back with Bob and Ueyn, that just felt great.  Also nice just to be back on the bike again, since all of the riding I did in France was in the first week, and it's been about 8 days since I've turned a crank.

For entries from 7/18/02-7/31/02, PLEASE GO TO OUR FRANCE DIARY page

07/18/02- ALL PACKED AND READY TO GO,
but had to get in the regular Tuesday/Thursday ride in first!  Todd Norwood, Ueyn Block and Bob (first time with us) in attendance.  As is usually the case, we don't settle for the new guy riding his/her usual time up the hill... we go for the personal best!  And we got it, as Bob shaved over a minute and a half off his time up the hill.  If he keeps doing that for the next couple of weeks, he'll be in the TDF in no time!

And me?  I'm off to France.  Might be a couple days before you hear from me again. 

07/16/02- MAKE THAT A DIET COKE TO GO.  What, no Coke, Pepsi?  Sorry, you've got the wrong guy!  Or at least that's what happened towards the end of this morning's ride.  Kevin Keenan, our most regular regular, is a big-time Diet Coke nut.  It's about all I've ever seen him drink.  And this morning we did a different loop than normal, skipping Kings Mtn (a car had overturned on Hwy 92, closing the road and putting a lot of traffic on Kings), so we did an extended version of "the loop" which, on the return, brings us close to my house.  So I called my wife on the cell phone (while riding, and no, I didn't use a hands-free kit) to see if we had any Diet Coke.  Of course, my wife hears me breathing heavily (I was climbing at the time I made the call) and gets all worked up about something bad, like maybe I was calling because I crashed or something.  In the end it didn't matter, no Diet Coke in the house, only Pepsi (and Kevin drinks only Diet Coke!).

PS: And what does it mean when your heart rate monitor shows no pulse?  Well, that depends.  For example, if it takes more than 10 seconds to figure out that it's because you're not wearing the transmitter, it could be an indication of IQ!


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Last updated 09/11/07 Hit Counter since 05/06/05

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