How to drill a carbon fiber seat for installation on a Bacchetta frame with a seat plate.

Drilling a new carbon fiber seat for a Bacchetta frame with a seat plate ( CA1, CA2, or Aero) is critical to having the seat, and therefore you, aligned with the wheels. I takes time and patience, so you only want to do it once. And if you do it wrong, you are cockeyed on the bike.

First read the article on how to attach your drilled seat to the bike. This will give you insight into what hardware you might want to use.
 
This job is challenging if you want to do it well, as there are not good consistent reference point on a carbon seat, just a lot of curves. It hard to approach it with a tape measure and just mark it for drilling,

My first method involved a seat plate frame (CAx or A) and a set of struts and hardware. This is probably what most home mechanics will want to do:

First, position the strut brackets an inch farther down the seat than a Bent Up Cycles recumbent bag (deepest bag I know of) reaches. This way your strut location never limits your bag choice. Mount the brackets as far outboard as possible still leaving about 2mm between the head of the strut pivot bolt and the seat rib. These 2 holes don't have to be perfectly aligned  longitudinally on the seat, as long as you have Velogenesis clamps. If you still use grenade pins, they do. While you are at it, get a aluminum upper seat stiffener from Larry Graham to prevent localized seat flex and create better triangulation in the back of the bike.
 
Attach strut brackets, struts,  and mount it all on the frame. If you bend your strut ends to lay fMake sure you adjust the VG clamps so the struts are equidistant from the rear tire. Make sure the seat if roughly at your preferred seat angle. Put masking tape on the frame on either side of the plate so you don't scuff anything with the drill. Drill out all the holes you intend to use, or just all of them to 6mm (1/4" is fine). Deburr holes.
 
Now drop the seat base on the frames seat plate. Carefully center the seat plate between the rims of the seat and pick holes in the plate where the seat is closest to parallel with the plate. Centering is easy with the new seat as they are too narrow to fit over the seat plate. Mark one hole and drill it. Bolt it down with your chosen hardware and rigid spacers to keep the seat ribs off the sides of the plate. Now recheck that your seat is not twisted and is level, and drill the second hole.
 
This can take a hour. What I did at Bent Up Cycles was to then make 2 tools, that attach extremely well to the upper seat and seat base, each with drill guides and multiple set of holes for different seat angles. Now it takes 1 minute to drill a seat perfectly. ;-)

2012 Las Vegas Grand Fondo - Vegas style, Baby!

To say that I wasn't very excited about cycling around Las Vegas was an understatement.  No offense to the residents of Vegas, but I really just don't like it there (apparently this is rather common among people who only spend time on the Strip).  I had finally decided that I was NOT attending Interbike this year and was rather excited about that.  Then Scott steps in...

Scott picked up his decked out Carbent HPV Raven a couple weeks ago and invited me to join him on the Las Vegas Gran Fondo.  He assured me that it would be very scenic and fast.  I looked at my calendar and realized that it was exactly two weeks before the Furnace Creek 508 and would be a great final training ride for that.  So, I decided to sign up and also managed a quick trip to Interbike to see a few vendors.




Scott's wife, Emarie, had some connections and got me a room at the Boulder Station Hotel and Casino. It was quite refreshing staying off the strip.  Scott and I spent a few hours on Friday making some changes to his bike and getting some dinner.  It seemed like we were up only a few hours later, lining up at 5am for the start.  We didn't realize there would be 2500 cyclists, and found ourselves at the back of the pack. Although the start was at 5am, we didn't cross the start line until 5:52.  However, it meant that the sun would be coming up very soon and lights would be unnecessary.

We started by cruising up the Strip, which was closed off to vehicular traffic for our ride.  It was actually pretty cool having the whole road to ourselves with the bright lights and approaching dawn.  We made our way up the strip, across the Valley and started down Boulder Highway towards Boulder City.  This section was fast...I mean REALLY fast.  We easily passed 1000 cyclists in the first 25 miles of the ride as I went hoarse calling out "on your left", "on your left".

After we turned on the road to Lake Mead, the crowds started to thin out.  The sun had just come up and we were cruising through the foothills, working it (perhaps a little too hard) on the short climbs and then bombing past everyone on the way down the other side.  I slowed down for the first aid station (and who puts an aid station halfway down a hill, anyway?) but decided to keep going. As I hit the bottom, I got my first view of Lake Mead, and it was quite spectacular.  I rode across the roller coaster around the lake, until we got to the first serious climb at the far end of the lake heading up to the highway.

Cresting the climb brought me to the descent down to Hoover Dam (I lost Scott back at the lake when I needed a pit stop).  The descent down into the Dam was twisty and technical, just the way I like it!  I had to keep the speed down, though, as there were many cyclists on the road.

Hoover Dam was awesome!  I had no idea how big it was, and took a few minutes to snap some pictures.  At the far end was the second stop where I grabbed a banana, refilled the water bottles and met up with Scott.

Having two decked out Carbents together caused quite a stir.  We received many compliments on the bikes and one local mechanic assured Scott that he could bring the bike by his shop any time for service. (FWIW, this lasted the whole ride - people were repeatedly impressed by how good the bikes looked and how well we climbed on them).

We began the climb out of the Dam.  This was billed as the hardest climb on the route, but it really wasn't that bad.  With only 40 miles under our belts we were pretty fresh and I probably pushed it a little too hard.  Oh well...  After reaching the top, we began the longer, gentler ascent up the pass to Boulder City, followed by a nice ride on a bike path that takes you from Boulder City back into the Las Vegas Valley.  All the while, I was expecting the heat to pick up, but it never really did.  The temps throughout the day were in the mid 80's, up into the 90's in the Red Rock area.

We skipped the next stop and started across the south end of the Valley.  The rollers were never quite short enough to get momentum over, but the urban scenery was still pleasant, the drivers were conscientious and there were many cyclists to talk to.  We also picked up another recumbent rider, Rich, on his Ti Virginia that I built for him awhile ago. The miles across the Valley rolled by quickly, and we soon found ourselves heading out the West end of the Valley towards Red Rocks.

We were about 90 miles into the ride and I was starting to get a bit tired.  I realized quickly though that I was starting to get dehydrated as the temps rose, and downed the rest of my water knowing that an aid station was just up the road.  A flat tire took just a couple minutes to fix, and I was back on the road with Scott and Rich heading up the gentle climb into the canyon.  Rich was slowing down and Scott was speeding up...I kept an even pace right in the middle!

The station at Blue Diamond was the only time I took a significant break off the bike for about 15 minutes.  I downed another bottle of water and ate another orange and banana and was ready to go up the final climb.  The gentle climb continued on another four miles as the scenery because more and more spectacular.  They even marked the summit with a giant pink blow-up pole that you could see from a mile away.  Definitely Las Vegas style!

The last 25 miles were basically downhill.  The crosswinds in the canyon kept Scott awake as he learned how to handle his new Zipp 404 Firecrest wheels, and we passed group after group as we made our way to the finish.  Our final time was 7 hours 50 minutes, and I had a rolling average speed of 17mph on the nose.  The climbing was more than advertised at 5380 feet and the mileage was a little low at 119.8.

I would highly recommend this ride.  The scenery was fantastic, the course was (mostly) well-marked and the stations well-stocked.  The after-ride party was a bit disappointing.  Knowing that it was catered by Outback Steakhouse, I wasn't expecting any vegetarian options, and I was right.  Papa John's was there with pizza, but they were charging for it, as were most of the other vendors that participated.  The sound system was so loud that it was hard to carry on a conversation, but perhaps I'm just getting old :).  Time for a nap...

More RAAM - A great night of racing.

RAAM can get a bit lonely.  When 25 teams hit the road, they get spread out relatively quickly, and often it doesnt even feel like you are racing anymore. In 2010, JV and I had our first real night of racing as we left Athens, Ohio.  This year, it happened as Steve and I as we left Keyser, West Virginia.

I had the first pull out of Walmart.  We knew there were a couple teams behind us - T402 was a 4 man team from Germany and T800 was an 8 person team.  We didn't know exactly how far behind they were, but it wasn't much.  I left the time station feeling pretty good - I ws going to take the first two climbs while  Steve was shuttled ahead for an exchange.  

Steve met me at the top of the second climb.  I felt a little cheated that I didn't get the descent, but oh well.  Ron and Kevin drove me over the third climb, then around a left turn to head up the 4th climb of the section.  We were going to drive about halfway up and meet Steve there.  We headed all the way to the top to check out the turn at the top, and then came back down.

As we got ready to set up for our exchange, we got a call from Steve's van. They had missed the turn at the base of the climb and were heading back to get back on course.  They requested that we drive further back down the climb to set up an earlier exchange as Steve was pretty fried from the bonus miles.

We saw Steve coming up the climb - T402 and T800 were climbing together with Steve about 50 yards behind them.  As I knew where the next turn was, my goal was to just stay with the other teams and then take the lead on the descent.  I exchanged with Steve, and kicked it up to threshold power, knowing that I could maintain it for 5-6 minutes to the top without frying myself.  I stayed right behind the other teams, not losing any time, and hit the throttle as we began the descent after the turn.  I quickly rocketed past them, but missed the light a mile down the road...aargh!

The light changed and the racers came by me...I throttled it again. It couldn't catch them.  A mile or so later, they had missed the light, so I caught them and then passed them as I made the right turn.  In retrospect, I should have stopped behind them and waited...they had outrun their support vehicle and were poised to go straight thru the intersection.  The only reason they knew to turn right was they watched me (I was on Gps and had my support vehicle right behind me).  Otherwise they would have gone off course and we could have taken back a nice lead.

I made the turn and they gave chase, cutting off my support vehicle.  Not wanting to get away from Ron and Kevin, I feathered the brakes while still pulling away from the competition, trying to leave enough room for my van to pull in behind me (I could see lights behind me, but didn't know which vehicle belonged to me).  They finally got behind me and I let the hammer drop to open up my lead.

We exchanged at the next control and Steve rode easily over the first, short climb.  This next section to Hanover, PA, had four longer climbs.  We broke them down into sections and started moving ahead to stage.

Note, while very competitive, everyone is quite friendly.  We would say "hi" to crew and racers as we all leapfrogged each other on the course.  As we approached the top of the first climb, T800 rode past us and eventually passed Steve.  Try as we might, on these steep climbs we just couldn't keep up. Steve bombed down the first descent but T402 caught us halfway up the second climb.

We continued climbing, hoping to keep their lead as short as possible.  I knew that after this stage, the terrain would become very recumbent friendly (except for a couple short climbs). We worked our way up and down the climbs...man these were hard.  How could any solo racer get to these climbs 2800 miles into the race and still be motivated to continue?  

We arrived in Hanover about 20 minutes behind.  While we had lost some ground, I was confident we could make it up in the remaining miles to come.

Stories from RAAM - Food

I thought I would share some stories from our RAAM adventure that we finished a couple weeks ago. Rather than giving a blow-by-blow account of the race, I thought I would share snippets that I hope that you will find interesting. Let's start with everyone's favorite topic...food...

I received a humorous email from one of our crew after the race in the form of a diary entry. It read:  

Monday, June 18th, 2012

We’re settling in to more of a rhythm. Riders are getting to be more predictable. Crew are getting to be more predictable. Menu requests are pretty typical. 

Q: What can I get for you after your ride? 
Alex: Turkey and cucumber in a wrap, please. 
Steve: Turkey and mustard on bread or a wrap, please. 
Chris: Whatever you’ve got. 
Dana: I’d like a salad. Maybe some mixed lettuce and romaine hearts. And add some baby spinach. Organic, of course. And throw in maybe a quarter of a cup of sprouted garbanzo beans. And some pine nuts and almonds. And sunflower seeds if you have any. Raw and unsalted for all the seeds and nuts, please. And some sliced cucumber and sweet peppers would be great. For the dressing, maybe a tablespoon of olive oil with maybe a quarter of a cup of vinegar. And add lots of dill and just a sprinkle of garlic powder. And maybe a touch of agave nectar to the vinegar, if you have it. 

Of course, to be fair and balanced, I should also present the other side. 

Q: What can I get you before your ride? 
Alex: 3 botles of Infinit Lite (2 scoops/bottle Brevet mix in Red & Black Camelback bottle, and 1 bottle of Infinit Brevet mix with protein (2 scoops + ice) in black Camelback bottle 
Steve: 3 bottles of Infinit (2 scoops/bottle) labeled “Base Mix” + ice in black/blue Camelback bottle. 1 bottle of Infinit Mix Light in Camelback bottles. Light ice. 
Chris: 1 bottle of Perpetuem 
Dana: Banana with peanut butter.

Food is one of those topics that ultra distance cyclists get pretty worked up about. We have frequent conversations (read: arguments) about what drink mix is the best, which tastes the best, what upsets the stomach, etc. Or, as my brother summed it up so nicely (he's an ultra-distance runner): "What's with you cyclists? All you talk about is food and your digestive system...us runners...all we talk about is sex!"

About three months before RAAM, I drastically changed my diet to eliminate processed foods, minimize sugar, and increase consumption of vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts dramatically. The result was a pretty quick loss of 18 pounds, a loss of moodiness, and a tidier digestive process :) RAAM was going to be the testing ground for this kind of diet in a longer, more intense race.

My foods in the vans included fresh fruits such as peaches, nectarines, plums, dates, apples and bananas; my trail mix blend with raw cashews and almonds, dried cranberries and chocolate chips for a little sweetness; some granola, and lots of water. The only processed food (besides the chocolate chips) were a couple Hammer Fizz tablets I used when it was 105 degrees in Kansas, and a couple times I stole the Sun Chips out of the crew lunches.

In the RV when I was off-shift, I ate lots of salad and a few bananas with peanut butter. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, on a particularly long shift, I even enjoyed a huge salad in a 1-gallon zip lock bag!  It was pure bliss! I sprouted some garbanzo beans, lentils and green peas before the race and left them in the RV refrigerator. We also hit up the Oceanside Farmers Market on Thursday morning for fresh, locally grown fruits and veggies. Also, I initially requested cheese omelets as a meal choice, but my crew one-upped my request by making me a three-egg, cheese and steamed brocoli scramble on a whole wheat tortilla every morning! By the end of the race, I think most of the crew had also caught on to this delicious and easy-to-prepare breakfast!

I also did some tortilla chips with hummus or salsa - Sabrina held out on me with the hummus until about day four...she knew it wouldn't last long! The organic, gluten-free Amy's burritos only lasted a couple days...

I remember running in to one of the racers from the Beefeaters team in the bathroom at Burger King in Athens, OH.  I welcomed him to the home of what so many people in American think of as their kitchen (add sarcasm here), and he responded that he couldn't imagine how their team could get through RAAM without all of the fast food places.  When I started describing our daily menu, his eyes glazed over and I swear he started drooling...it's all about priorities, man!  And I want real food!

All-in-all, this meal plan worked GREAT for me! However, there are downsides to this kind of diet on RAAM. As my friend Sandy Earl points out: "What goes in must come out!"  When you are on a high volume, bulky diet, you tend to eat a lot and then produce a lot out the other end. Yep, if you didn't know where I was at any given moment, chances are I was in the bathroom... :)

It's also more work for the crew. I was lucky that my crew had no problems with my dietary needs and seemed to enjoy real cooking more than preparing dozens of turkey sandwiches (or, I may have just been imagining it...).

Finally, in an RV with limited water and holding tanks, we went through water more frequently and the dump tanks filled up faster from all of the dish washing. Rather than doing a tank dump twice during the trip, we were dumping about every 36 hours. There's a story behind that too, but I will save that for later...

Bent Up Cycles Referral Program

We have been talking about it for awhile and now it's a reality - the Bent Up Cycles referral program! It's simple...give us a call or send us an email requesting some of our personalized business cards. We will send you a stack of business cards with your name on it! Now whenever someone asks you where you got that cool bike or where they can get a recumbent, you can hand them a card with the Bent Up Cycles contact information and your name. By giving potential customers a card with your name on it (instead of mine), it will be easier for them to remember who referred them. When they come in to the shop, we can link the sale directly back to you via the business card and we will email you a store credit for 2% of their sale. We will keep track of all the paperwork - just remind us that you have a credit when you come in as our point-of-sale system doesn't volunteer the information! We look forward to hearing from you soon!

The Azub T-tris Trike is here!

We first had a chance to see the Azub trikes back in October, prior to the Recumbent Cycle Con. Needless to say, we were very impressed with the Tri-Con we were shown. It rode like a dream with rear suspension and fantastic geometry, and it folded into a tiny package for transportation.

Enter the T-tris. With the same great geometry, minus the suspension and tiny folding option (although it still folds), it should provide a fantastic ride without the $4k+ pricetag. It has delivered. Check out the pictures below and configure your own T-tris trike on our website:

The timeless FSA Gosammer crankset provides great shifting and is lightweight.

We pair the SRAM X9 10s rear derailleur with the PG1070 11-32 cassette for great shifting in the rear.

Red anodized quick release levers through out provide a little bit of extra bling!

Shown here with the complete rack system that can accomodate two sets of small panniers.

Here you can see it with just the rear rack. You can also mount the lowrider rack separately.

The sliding seat clamp and sliding boom give infinite adjustment, and this trike should fit just about anyone. Notice the notched angle adjustment system? This provides precise adjustment that is also very sturdy.

The steering system is also adjustable with a notched system that ensures no slippage.

We shod this trike with Marathon Supreme tires, but the ZR comes stock with Marathon Racers that provide the same flat protection.

New hours!

Effective Tuesday, April 24th, we will be changing our hours. Our new hours will be Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 2pm to 6pm, Saturday noon to 6pm. What? Shortening your hours as summer is approaching, you say? That's crazy!

Believe it or not, we don't think it is. Rather than being open 40 hours per week for general retail sales, we have decided to limit our time so that we can focus more time on you, our customers. So, while we will be open fewer hours, we will now be available on a scheduled-appointment basis whenever it is convenient for you! What does this mean for you?

When you have a scheduled appointment, you will come in and meet one-to-one with us. Nobody else will be there, the phones will not be answered, we won't be distracted by any other customers. It's just to two of us enjoying an adventure of exploration into the world of recumbent bicycles and tricycles!

Want to go for a ride beyond the loop around our neighborhood? No problem, let's grab a couple bikes and hit the road...we don't need to worry about any other customers, only you.

Don't want to drive all the way from Orange County? No problem...we can bring the selected bikes and trikes to you!

You see, we consider you, our customers, our most valuable asset. And when we have to keep answering the phone or helping multiple customers at once, we don't feel like we are giving you the service you deserve. So, we are trying a new model and hope you will like it.

Appointments can be scheduled at any time (based on availability), and are billed at $25 per hour. Note, however, that all of this fee (except transportation time) is completely applicable to your future bike/trike purchase. No need to worry about expiration dates...there are no time limits.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to give us a call or send an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

A fantastic training ride

A busy training schedule often leaves me devoid of fun and memorable rides. It's easy to get caught up into the "schedule" at the expense of enjoyment. Last Monday, however, was different.

The first two nights of Passover had just ended. With four days off of work, I was feeling well-rested and eager to go for a long ride. Surprisingly, I was able to maintain my predominantly plant-based diet throughout the festivities of Passover. While everyone else enjoyed brisket and chicken, I ate huge salads, steamed vegetables and the like.

My normal Monday ride is a loop out to Topanga Canyon via Sepulveda. Sometimes I will ride up Old Topanga, sometimes (if I have a little extra time) I will head up Fernwood to Saddle Peak. Today, I decided to extend the ride a little further and head out to Malibu Canyon and up Piuma to Saddle Peak.



Over the past month, I have lost about ten pounds, and this was immediately apparent as I shot over Sepulveda without using the small chainring. It was windy up at the top, but I laughed as a guy in a convertible passed me on the way down the other side, screaming "41 mph!". I wanted to catch him and let him know that I am normally braking to keep it under 50!

The weather was perfect - mid 60's and little wind (except in the canyon). The ride up the coast seemed effortless, despite my power meter telling me I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I ate dates and trail mix (cashews, almonds, cranberries and chocolate chips) and started my way up Malibu Canyon.




Above, you can see the beautiful view of Malibu as you start up Malibu Canyon. I sped along, arriving at Piuma Road 15 minutes faster than expected.

Piuma is truly a classic Southern California climb. Starting at about 600 feet of elevation, you wind your way up a quiet road with beautiful vistas of the Santa Monica Mountains during the first half, and the Pacific Ocean and mountains during the second half. It is a pretty consistent climb of 5-8% for about 4.75 miles up to the first summit at 2200 feet with minimal traffic.



This is the view down to Malibu Canyon from about 1500 feet.

After the first summit, you get a one mile reprieve as you descent 250 feet down to Schueren Road. Unfortunately, this just means you have to climb that 250 feet and then some, as you ascend to Saddle Peak at 2350 feet. This last section can get hot as you move away from the ocean breezes and hit the inland temperatures.

There are four ways up to Saddle Peak: Piuma/Schueren, Las Flores/Schueren, Fernwood, and Stunt. Las Flores is crazy steep, with extended pitches in the 14-16% range. I usually go up Fernwood and descend back down Stunt (I have never actually climbed Stunt, the tamest of the climbs). Today, I topped out at Saddle Peak and immediately started down Stunt. There is a wonderful driveway about 1/2 mile down where the home-owner has set up a water fountain for cyclists. I took this opportunity to refill my bottles and enjoy an apple while admiring the view into the San Fernando Valley.



I then headed down the roller coaster, back over 7-minute hill (that takes me considerably longer than seven minutes!) towards Woodland Hills. Again I was amazed at how good I felt on this last climb. Usually, this is a tough one, but today it was amazingly easy.

My usual stop is the Corner Bakery at the Topanga Canyon Mall, and today was no different. A few birds joined me as I enjoyed a bowl of Tomato Basil soup and OJ.



I made quick work of the 15 miles back across the Valley to home. Definitely an enjoyable ride that I hope to do again soon. Anyway want to join me?

ICE Vortex ++

We have been waiting very patiently for the new Vortex to arrive from Inspired Cycle Engineering. We were expecting a lower, more laid back, narrower version of the old Vortex. What we received was a beautifully sculptured work of art (that was also lower, narrower, and more laid back than its predecessor). Here are some pictures, with the usual caveat...the pictures just don't do it justice!

Some specs:
Vortex frameset with stock wheels
Air-Pro Carbon Fiber seat with pad
American Classic Aero420 Rear Wheel, spaced to 135mm
SRAM XX 11-32 cassette
SRAM XX Long Cage Rear Derailleur
SRAM TT900 Bar End Shifters
Shimano Ultegra 6703 Front Derailleur
FSA SLK Light Triple Crankset, 165mm
Avid XX World Cup Hydraulic Brakes
KMC X10SL Chain
Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tires

Trike Adaptation for Challenged Athletes

A dear friend of the shop, and Challenged Athletes everywhere, John Elliott posted a great article on adapting a trike, Adaptation of a trike for racing at the San Diego Triathlon Challenge on Recumbent Journal.

Responding to Ignorance on the Road - A Different Approach

Written by Dana Lieberman

If you have spent any amount of time riding on public roads as a cyclist, you have probably been yelled at, called names, cut off and generally been abused by a small portion of the driving population. Spending any amount of time on bicycling bulletin boards, Facebook Cycling pages, and other online cycling forums will reveal that this is not an uncommon issue. Online, posts like these tend to get people riled up, with posters stating how they handle these situations, how they might handle the situations if concealed weapons were legal in their state, etc. Quite frankly, this battle between auto driver and cyclist has become pandemic as cycling continues to become a more popular mode of transportation. States, counties and cities are legislating solutions, but I think we all have to take some personal responsibility for the ways we interact with each other.

I used to spend a lot of time yelling back at drivers, pounding on cars and generally being as aggressive as I perceived them to be. A couple years ago, however, that changed. I was out riding with a friend on an early Sunday morning and a car passed us too close while honking. We caught up to the car and I started yelling and beating on his car. I unintentionally dented it. He took off and so did we.

15 miles further into the ride, as we were pulling into a Starbucks for a snack, the same car pulls in with a police officer behind him. We each explained our sides of the story. The officer gave me a choice...I could agree to pay for the damages to the vehicle or he could haul me off to the police station for assault on a deadly weapon. I was quite embarrassed by my behavior, agreed to pay for damages, we both apologized and went our separate ways. You see, we are allowed to yell and scream our heads off, but the moment it gets physical, it is assault.

I really reflected on this episode for some time. It made me think about how I managed my anger and how I responded to others' perceived anger. While it cost me my pride and a few hundred dollars, this episode was rather an epiphany for me...I didn't have to let the behavior of others on the road dictate my behavior. I now have a new strategy for handling obnoxious drivers...it is one that keeps my blood pressure under control and allows me to turn a volatile situation into an educational one.

(I will start by saying that I take a very proactive approach to cycling as prescribed by the League of American Bicyclists) The first thing I had to realize was that the vast majority of drivers in the Los Angeles are, in fact, paying attention to what they are doing and don't mean me any harm. This is obvious...thousands of cars go past me each week and I rarely have a close call, let alone a collision.

Second, I realized that most drivers don't have good vehicular proprioception. They just don't know how wide their cars are or where they are relative to other vehicles.

Finally, I understand that nobody ever won an argument by yelling at someone who didn't know they were in the argument. When you yell at a driver for driving too close, have they ever come back and said, "gee, I'm sorry about that, thanks for yelling and cursing at me to bring it to my attention"? I'm guessing no...they probably had no idea what you were yelling about...

So, I came up with a different strategy for managing these situations. My hope was that I could turn these into educational moments where both parties left feeling like the conversation was successful. Here's what I do:

It's generally pretty easy to tell the drivers that are oblivious rather than malicious. And inevitably, I will catch the oblivious drivers at the next light. As I am approaching them, I whip out my cell phone and pull up my photo album of my kids. The conversation starts with "Do you have children?"

Most nod yes.

"Me too". And I start showing them pictures of my wonderful daughters.

As I show them the pictures, I explain, "Since you have children, you probably understand that the most important thing for me is getting home to see them again. They way you just (insert reckless driving behavior here), I get concerned that I won't be able to do that. Could you please drive more carefully next time?"

The drivers typically respond with a sincere apology and something to the notion of they didn't realize how close they were, etc.

I end with something cordial like "Have a great week".

I leave feeling like I communicated my message to the driver in a way that was heard. Hopefully the driver leaves with a better awareness of their driving and cyclists rights on the road. It is more likely to be a win-win situation than if I would have yelled, cursed and dented their car! And I don't spend so much time angry...

Securing a carbon seat to a Bacchetta seat plate.

This article applies to the Bacchetta CA3.0, CA2.0, CA1.0, Aero, and the one Corsa I know of (JC) with a seat plate.

I first really felt a problem when the seat on my aero pivoted at the base when I tried to shift my butt slightly in the seat. This was at 53 mph on a descent in Oregon in 2003, on the Vine Ride Century. It felt like a low rear tire rolling over onto the sidewall. Scary. This was with the stock hardware stack up: 5mm (3mm hex lens head) bolt, thin fender washer, thin rubber washer, seat, thin rubber washer, seat plate, split ring washer, wing nut. In time I discovered that the only way to really tighten it enough, so the seat would not pivot at all, was to use pliers on the wing nuts. I could not on the drive side as my bolt was under under the idler brace. The 3mm bolt heads could not withstand enough torque to get the seat tight enough for me. Even so, after a few months I discovered that my seat has been moving slowly back, as the threads on the bolts had chewed up the carbon in both holes. I can't seem to tighten the bolts enough to keep the carbon in one place. Instead of holes I now had a slotted seat.

After several iterations, I settled on this, and this is what we do at the shop today. To be honest it looks a lot like what Optima does. Drill out the holes in the seat plate with a 1/4" bit so they will just accept a 6mm bolt (4mm hex flat head). We drill out the seat too with a 9/32 bit, to accommodate the head of the flat head bolt. We have a jig for this that allows us to drill the seat centered and straight every time. The jig has multiple drill guides that can be used depending on seat angle. You want the seat to be parallel to the plate at the point of attachment. We also have holes drilled some multiple of the seat plate pitch, plus half a pitch, apart. This means you are not limited to seat positions every 3/8", but 3/16" of an inch. This is good as currently the way to dial in your position on a Bacchetta with a seat plate is to get close with the fore aft location of the seat and use recline to get your leg extension just right. That, or slot the holes in the seat. The next jig I build might have holes that allow for 1/3 of the stock seat plate pitch seat position. So 1/8" between each seat locations.

We use a washer with an inside diameter just smaller than the flat head bolt. This washer is quite a bit thicker than the stock one, so it does not flare. It has a smaller outer diameter though. The bolt head and washer can pivot relative to each other which is nice too. Then comes a thin rubber washer, the seat, a thin rubber washer, 7 fender washers, the plate, a split ring washer and an extra long nut, not nylock. Nylock bolts have less thread and are easier to strip. The fender washers are not needed on the older M5 seats, likely not on an Optima seat either, as they have enough space between the ribs for the seat plate. With the CCK or VK seat now found on most Bacchettas you need to elevate the seat with something incompressible so that the ribs don't hit the sides of the plate. An aluminum spacer would be ideal.

If you tighten the bolts enough, the rubber washer will ooze out the sides of the washer quite a bit. Also If you wheel your bike up to a wall, and put the wheels right in the v formed by the wall and the floor, and now hold the bars in one hand and the seat back in the other and twist, you will find the seat no longer moves independently of the frame tube. Your cornering confidence should improve. You should feel one with the bike. Shifting yourself in the seat should not be accompanied by the sensation of a low rear tire. Once the seat is no longer pivoting, the seat struts play no role in laterally bracing the seat. The odds are they will never crack. If you tighten the bolts enough, they will not come loose either.

There is a downside to all this, and this is Bacchetta's concern: you cannot go changing your seat angle without first loosening these bolts and you may even have to drill new holes in the seat if you change the seat angle a lot. You need to be bolting the part of the seat that is closest to parallel to the plate. You cannot pull the grenade pins and shove the seat down to fit the bike in a vehicle either. That's a great way to crack a seat too.

The upside is this: you may find some threads on using RANS struts or some custom brace in an attempt to stiffen up the seat laterally. The seat does not flex laterally, it only moves if the base bolts are not properly secured. Once you bolt your seat base down so it cannot pivot, none of these modification wi have any affect on seat movement at all. The issue has already been addressed.  The struts just keep the seat from landing on the rear tire once you sit on the bike.

We do use nylock nuts on the bolts holding the seat struts to the rear dropouts on the frame. These are just to make sure the bolts never loosen, they do not have to withstand a lot of torque. Its our belief that although checking fittings every once in a while is a great habit to have, nothing should require frequent tightening.

Call me at the shop if you have any questions. 

High Baron ZR with U-Bar (Tweener)!

This bike was very popular at Recumbent Cycle Con last Sunday. People liked the sensation of having close to even weight distribution between the wheels, and the lower seat height than most other dual 700c wheeled bikes. The U-bar was more popular than the tiller as it made it easier to sit upright in the seat at stops and get on and off the bike.

We actually have 3 of these in stock now, 2 with a U bar and one with a tiller. We also have low Barons with both bars built up and ready to go. We have a Cougar too!!

JV, Why Do I Struggle in the Mountains?

Here is a table of what happens to a human's ability to produce power as altitude goes up, due to lower partial pressure of oxygen:
 

Use the Bassett non-acclimatized column if you have not been training at altitude for over 2 weeks. A rough rule is to subtract 10% of your power at sea level for every 5000' you go up. Also note that the gains from acclimatization are not huge. We used this on RAAM to keep from going into the red through the Rockies. Over Wolf Creek Pass (10,800') my power was down a bit over 20%, but it felt like my perceived exertion was just the same as it had been for the last 2 days. I was breathing pretty hard too, as some of you may have seen in the video.

Note the implication here: if you drop 5000', you will gain power, assuming you are not a non-responder, according to the percentage gain for a non acclimatized person, but from your acclimatized level, due to extra red blood cells! This means you may be at 105% for a while. This effect will fade in a few months.

Aerodynamic drag goes down with altitude, so you may descend faster. Many records are set at 6000' to 7000' elevation because of this.

On acclimatization to altitude:
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/acclimatization-to-altitude.html
http://www.sportsci.org/traintech/altitude/wgh.html
The take away from this is that unless you can spend a bare minimum of 2 weeks training at altitude, you are better off showing up just before the event and doing it. Roughly a third of the population are non-responders, meaning no amount of training at altitude will lead to any physiological adaptation. My brother is a non-responder, but I have never had a chance to find out if I am.

Also make sure you take care of yourself just like on all your other rides:

• Nutrition (~250cal/hour?), hydration (bottle/hour?), and electrolyte intake.
• Could you lighten your bike and gear and still be prepared for the event?
• Get some lower rolling resistance tires that will still be durable enough for the event? Here is the data: http://www.biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/AFM_tire_testing_rev9.pdf
• Keep your cadence up in the zone where you are most efficient. Don't let it drop 30 revolutions just because you are climbing. Get more gears if you need them.
• Biggest predictor of climbing performance is power to weight ratio. Shed pounds or get better at producing aerobic power, whichever is easiest.

Hope this helps!

CA2.0 Stock

For those of you still eying my favorite bike: We've got one CA2.0 left in stock. Its a Large 700c Sport Spec, $3199. We could sell it as a frame kit too, or as one of the CA2.0 ZR spec bikes as well if needed.

The new High Baron built up.

So its occurred to me, after I had Matt built it, that a shorter rider, who is after 700c wheels, might want to sit fully upright in the seat. For that reason I expect this model will get the U-bar treatment on subsequent builds for stock.

The red looks really nice in the sun!

Calabassas Tunnel of Trees

This is a short piece of my commute home. This is just after I leave the San Fernando Valley. Its a great place for testing headlights, as you go over 45mph a few times, and the tunnel of trees makes the hot spot of the light very defined all the way around. Note the signs getting a bit bright, thats from my headlight. There really are no challenging turns on this one. The compression right before the sunset can be tricky if you are not ready for it though.

Oh, this is a GoPro HD camera with a RageCams 2.8mm lens set at 720p and 60fps. I thought this camera was toast after I crashed and ground the lens to nothing on the asphalt. This lens is supposed to just about eliminate the fish-eye.

Thanks to Willie for the prototype light, and the RageCams tip!


Calabassas Tunnel of Trees from Bent Up Cycles on Vimeo.

BWR 2011 - Let's bring it home. Part 8

After getting about four hours of sleep, Roland, Hiroshi and I woke up at midnight and hit the road at about 1am. They had oatmeal, I had a sticky pecan roll for breakfast. A group of four riders had left before us, but we were pretty sure we would catch them, given the terrain.

The first 50 miles were just like the last, only it was dark! Traffic was non-existent, and we just rolled along nicely, enjoying the crisp air. At a certain point, Roland left me. I started getting bored and tired and had to make up silly games to keep me occupied. Here are a few:

1. Catch the rider! I could see a couple riders up ahead. Soon, I was passing Chris and Luis. I would get a half mile ahead of them, stop for something, let them pass and get ahead of me, and start the game over! I think they thought I was nuts, but it kept me entertained...

2. Morning services. I sang the entire morning Shacharet service, out loud...or as much of it as I could remember!

3. Walmart songs. As we approached Wasilla, we were supposed to go to a Walmart at mile 70. Well, the Walmart didn't emerge until mile 74. Did I mention Wasilla is just mile after mile of traffic lights, strip malls and traffic (it was morning rush hour at 7am)? That damn Walmart because the brunt of many imaginative and derogatory songs.

4. Remember the 80's. Any 80's song was fair game, as long as I was singing it at the top of my lungs.

With these tools in hand, the traffic faded away and I quickly arrived at Walmart, five minutes before the MacDonald's opened. A group of us waited, had breakfast and tried to get warmed up.

The last 41 miles took us via the scenic route into Anchorage. Glenn highway was pretty when we didn't have to negotiate the 8" of clean pavement between the gravel and the rumble strip. Roland and I were riding together, and pushed through the last couple of climbs over the Eagle River area. The last 5 miles or so were all downhill, and we cruised into the finish line at 11:34am. We have 26 minutes to spare! Hiroshi followed us about five minutes later, claiming the Lantern Rouge for himself. A wonderful ride!

BWR 2011 - Denali, Part 7

We woke up at 7am, ready to go! Today was going to be a great day of cycling. Once we topped out on the Parks Highway a few miles after Cantwell, we would be descending or riding flat to rolling terrain the entire day. Add the short mileage, 125 miles, and the expected beautiful views of Denali and the Alaskan Range, and a perfect day was in order! As we left the hotel, I had to go back to the Chevron station for some food. They actually had fresh cinnamon rolls from a local bakery...excellent! I stowed one in my bag along with a couple more mundane bars, and off I went. Roland had continued on solo and I spent most of my day 20 minutes behind him.

It was a cold morning. It only got colder as I headed for the summit at about 2000 feet. It's amazing how much colder you feel when you are tired...by the time I reached the summit after 10 miles, I needed to add layers of clothing as I knew I would be heading downhill. It was damp, so I sat on my dry bag as I added a layer of clothing and munched on the cinnamon roll I got at the Chevron. Delicious!

By the way, the state of Alaska is very good at telling you when you've reached the top of something. They do it by calling it "summit" whatever. On day one, it was Summit Lake...today it was Summit Airport. When you are starting to get a little brain-dead, obvious cues are very important! :)

Then, the descent began. It wasn't a steep descent, rather just miles of rolling terrain, moving in a downward direction, punctuated by some short, steep climbs. I soon reached the next control 37 miles out, Hurricane Gulch, right as Roland was leaving. Mike was there with his behemoth truck that I think could handle anything Mother Nature threw at it. Great guys with soup...soup IS good food! So far, the day had been cloudy...no views yet.

39 miles down the road, Mary's McKinley View Lodge was waiting. 39 miles of wonderful cycling! Again, the road headed down, no more than about 1%, but perfect for a relaxing day on the road. The sun came out periodically, there were still no views of Denali. The traffic was light and all was good except for my squeaky chain. I guess that's what happens when you don't lube your chain before the ride and then ride 600 miles on it. No problem...a squeak is just a squeak...

The McKinley View Lodge wasn't...that is, it wasn't a Lodge with a view of Denali. That's okay...they more than made up for it with the best cinnamon rolls of the trip. Sticky pecan rolls, actually. Warmed up with a cup of hot chocolate was wonderful (I was trying to stay off the caffeine today as it was a short day of riding in complete daylight). Just to give you an idea of how good these rolls were...I asked the nice young lady who was serving me if she had made them. "No." Good thing, because if she had, and I wasn't married, I would have proposed on the spot! JR, the volunteer who was signing brevet cards said she's used to getting several proposals a day! LOL!

While hanging out and chatting with JR, I learned that Ryan had DNF'd. This made me Lantern Rouge for the moment, but I had plenty of time so I wasn't worried about it. Shortly, I stripped down (it was definitely warming up) and hit the road for the last 50 miles of the day. It was only 3:30pm...plenty of time!

As if the cycling wasn't perfect already (except for the missing views of Denali), it just got better. I had finally dropped off of the descent and was not cruising along "real" rollers. You know the ones...you cruise down one side at 25-30mph and you have a enough momentum to just soft-pedal over the top of the next one. It was truly delightful and the miles just melted away. I passed Hiroshi and relegated my Lantern Rouge position to him.

Two highlights. Bob stopped at one point to make sure I was okay. He was out of wheat thins and chocolate chip cookies, but he had chain lube. Nothing like having a quiet bike again. Second, outrunning a thunder storm! One minutes it's fine, next minute it's raining. Quick, put on the rain jacket and take off. Five minutes later, it's sunny again!

A few minutes later, I crossed the Susitna River, and it was a quick, rolling 20 miles to Talkeetna. The organizers had arranged for rooms and food at the Swiss Alaska Inn...a nice indulgence on the last night. Unfortunately, Beef Strogonoff just didn't do it for me, so I settled for soup, garlic bread, rice and corn for dinner. One more day!

For Part 8, click here.

BWR 2011 - The crux move. Part 6

This was the day. Actually, THE should be capitalized. In all of my planning, I knew this day would be the hardest, the crux move, so to speak. I wasn't all that concerned about the first day...I've ridden....okay, maybe I haven't ridden 322 miles straight, but I was really confident that it wouldn't be a problem. I was right...32.5 hours on the road with no sleep breaks. Just good times both on and off the bike. But to wake up 4 hours later and ride another 200 miles? Can't say I've ever even contemplated that before. So, here we were...5:15am, on the road, with the goal of reaching Cantwell sometime that night. I knew that after completing today, the last two days would be easy in comparison (125 and 110 miles, respectively, on very easy terrain).

We had a nice 50 mile flat warm up to Fairbanks. The roads slowly transitioned from 2-lane highway to busier, 4-6 lane highway as we got closer to our destination. Roland noted a MacDonald's on our left about 35 miles into the ride, so we stopped for breakfast. We were definitely cutting it close to the control closing times, but didn't give it too much thought (after the 600k mark, the closing times start getting stretched out to eventually give the rider 10 additional hours). The sky was slightly overcast, the temperatures moderate, and there was absolutely nothing to look at other than the highway and suburban sprawl of North Pole and then Fairbanks.

We finally arrived at the Fairbanks control with a couple hours to spare. Saw a few other riders there; Hiroshi from Japan who had blown out two tires and was trying to get to the local bikes shop to buy new ones, Chris Hanson was taking a nap in one of the support vehicles before hitting the road again. It was too easy to get dragged into conversations and spend too much time at the control. But soon enough, we were on our way, ready to hit the two major climbs of the day.

The next two climbs caught me a bit by surprise. It's hard to look at a route profile that spans 750 miles across the width of your computer screen and know exactly how steep a climb is. Well, these were steeper than anticipated. Each climb was about 1000 feet over a couple miles...the first was the harder one, but the weather was clearing up. We finally reached the top and started down the rollercoaster descent on the other side. The views from the top were expansive, to say the least, and quite enjoyable.

Huh? Were's Roland? He had disappeared from my rear view mirror. Slow down....stop...wait...no Roland. This area was much too remote to just leave, so I started riding back up the climb. There was Roland, fixing a flat...much better than the alternative. So officially, I rode one bonus mile, a bonus climb to boot! But you don't leave your partner...

At the bottom, we pulled over to have a snack. Imagine my suprise when Bob pulls up in his car and asks if we need anything. I look at my umpteenth bar, and ask "Got anything interesting to eat?" "I've got wheat thins...and chocolate chip cookies..." Sold...I stuffed my bar back into my bag and sat down to enjoy the gourmet dining.

"Wait, I can make you some coffee." This was getting better.

"I've got some peanut butter here, but no knife." No worries, we can dip. This was phenonemal! We all hung out, enjoying the cool morning air, good food and good company. We were delighted to hear that Bob was assigned to SAG duty for the back of the pack. He would be accompanying us for the rest of the ride! Awesome!

We started up the second climb, refreshed. The summit approached quickly, and then we bombed down the other side through the rolling countryside to Nenana, our next control.

In Nenana, we met up with several riders. Ryan was cruising along with his iPod blasting. Brennan was feeling pretty good, Hiroshi arrived in good time. Pretty soon, we all set off for the gentle climb up to Healy, the next overnight control.

We all leapfrogged each other for awhile. It was overcast and cool, perfect riding weather! As the climbing got a bit steeper, Brennan led the charge, Ryan and Roland carried on without me, and I headed up solo with Hiroshi close behind. A light rain started, so I stopped to put rain gear on in Bob's car, and enjoyed an apple (it's amazing how enjoyable the simple things in life can be on these advantures). Somewhere outside of Nenana, my Garmin 800 had stopped working, so I was left to navigating Healy with the cue sheet. I think it was around 9pm when I arrived...definitely later than anticipated.

The Healy control had pizza, another perfect randonneuring food! I dried off, exchanged stuff in my drop bag, and slowly got myself together to push on towards Cantwell. Roland and I left together, and swore loudly as we climbed the short but steep climb out of Healy!

Of all of the sections, this one was undoubtedly the most difficult. After the initial climb, the first 15 miles went by without issue. It was a long descent down a canyon, dropping down to the river below. It was a blast, my Surefire light lit the way, and I wished it was light out as it appeared to be gorgeous scenery.

Soon enough, though, I reached the entrance to Denali State Park, with its commercial "lodges" and tourist traps, and we began the long climb up to Cantwell. I had a few issues during this stretch. First, the 18-wheeler trucks were out in force, with their bright lights that pierced the gloom (I guess they really need to see when they are going to hit a moose). Most were going the other direction, but the oncoming truck lights were very bright and disruptive.

The other thing that I finally realized was that my own lights were mesmerizing me! I've never had that happen! The Supernova light was mounted above and behind the Surefire light, and it was reflecting off of the housing of the Surefire light. Also, the Surefire light was so bright, that the glare off the wet road was disturbing. I stopped many times to adjust the light angles and tried different combinations of running the lights. As we approached Cantwell, I finally figured it out and was able to ride the last seven miles in a straight line.

We stopped for my quickest control stop to date...five minutes! Get the card signed, get a cupcake and get to the hotel for a shower and a couple pieces of pizza (I stowed them in my back from Healy). It was 2:30am, we were about three hours later than expected, but the room was large, the showers hot, the beds comfortable. We set the alarm for 7am knowing that the next two days would be easy!

To read Part 7, click here.