Lynda

November 2006 - Posts

• Ergomo Sensor Cable Routing pics

  Oh twist my arm Arleigh and ask me to post more pics of my bike ;-) I taped the sensor cable from the bb to the CPU on the bars with black electrical tape along the side of my down tube to (kinda) match the Yeti decals. Don't look too closely. This is the speed sensor cable going along the left chainstay. Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 29 2006, 10:18 PM by lynda with no comments

• Ergomo Sensor Cable Routing pics

  Oh twist my arm Arleigh and ask me to post more pics of my bike ;-) I taped the sensor cable from the bb to the CPU on the bars with black electrical tape along the side of my down tube to (kinda) match the Yeti decals. Don't look too closely. This is the speed sensor cable going along the left chainstay. Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 29 2006, 10:18 PM by lynda with no comments

• Ergomo Sensor Cable Routing pics

  Oh twist my arm Arleigh and ask me to post more pics of my bike ;-) I taped the sensor cable from the bb to the CPU on the bars with black electrical tape along the side of my down tube to (kinda) match the Yeti decals. Don't look too closely. This is the speed sensor cable going along the left chainstay. Rich says nothing ruins the bling of a nice bike quicker than a bad wiring job. Err... better not look at this next pic then Rich I'm more of a function than form gal and this all held up nicely to 4 hours in the dirt today. I'll post a pic of the power file and the stats later. I'm still picking through it myself for goodies. Whatdya get when you mix two boyz and a zillion leaves? Posted Nov 29 2006, 10:18 PM by Lynda

• Ergomo Install

  That was easy! It slipped in and worked with no finagling around for hours. Not quite plug and play but no headaches involved. It comes with instructions written for a gal with my level of mechanical knowledge i.e. it actually told me which was the left and right side of the bike! It also comes with a few tools needed for the job to thread in the bb without ripping off the sensor cables. The only things I needed were a torque wrench and a 34mm socket. The socket required a trip to the hardware store. I had a torque wrench. The Ergomo is inside the bottom bracket so step one was to take off my old cranks and bb and clean out the shell. Now I know what I'm doing that only took 5 minutes. Next thread the Ergomo bb into the shell. On the left side are two sensor cables which must be oriented at 9pm with the bb tightened to 55 Nm. On my first try it was at 6pm. Add a few washers until it ends up at 9pm. I ended up with 3 washers which meant I had to put the bb in and out a few times to get it right. Bolt on the cranks Tape up the two sensor cables. One goes to the rear wheel to pick up speed and the other from the bb to the cpu. The speed sensor worked first time too. I thought I may have to do something tricky with it but no... Enter wheel circumference, K-Factor and check the offset. Go ride. Lookie here I have watts, heart rate, cadence, speed and time! The whole system is really contained. There are not a lot of wires and pieces to get ripped off-road. I'm pretty psyched on this right now. Tomorrow I'll take it off road. The forecast is windy with a high of 41F - brrr... Posted Nov 29 2006, 09:05 AM by Lynda

• Ergomo Install

  That was easy! It slipped in and worked with no finagling around for hours. Not quite plug and play but no headaches involved. It comes with instructions written for a gal with my level of mechanical knowledge i.e. it actually told me which was the left and right side of the bike! It also comes with a few tools needed for the job to thread in the bb without ripping off the sensor cables. The only thing I needed were a torque wrench and a 34mm socket. The socket required a trip to th… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 29 2006, 09:05 AM by lynda with no comments

• SRM Wrangling

  Today was the SRM install day. A big job for a wee gal with out a career in wrenching. First step was to strip off the pedals, cranks and BB - easy. I can take things apart. Next up was installing the octalink bb. Problem #1 errr which is the left and right side of the bike? A doh but important question.. Problem #2 I do… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 25 2006, 07:29 PM by lynda with no comments

• SRM Wrangling

  Today was the SRM install day. A big job for a wee gal without a career in wrenching. First step was to strip off the pedals, cranks and BB - easy. I can take things apart. Next up was installing the octalink bb. Problem #1 errr which is the left and right side of the bike? A doh but important question.. Problem #2 I don't have an octalink bb tool. A quick trip to Desert Cyclery is never a quick trip with the gang in tow to "help". I learned a few more important details while I was there such as the right side (which is the drive side) of the bb has a reverse thread which is the opposite of pedals - makes sense right? No problem. Got everything installed - eventually. Problem #3 I can pick up speed and HR but no power. Nay happy at all. I spent about 2 hours playing with the power pick up sensors and so on but ZERO power. I reckon the next step is a call to SRM on Monday and probably sending it back to them. I love training with power but this SRM is very very high maintenance. Grrr. So now I get to strip the SRM back off, change back the bb, put my old cranks on etc so I can go for a ride. Blah... Posted Nov 25 2006, 07:29 PM by Lynda

• Thanksgiving according to Wesley

  Wesley made this turkey at school - it's awesome My name is Wesley I am 6 years old I am writing about Thanksgiving I am thankful for my mom and dad They like to do nice things I am thankful for my friends My friends are kind to my friends I am kind to my mom and dad I will always be kind to my friends Posted Nov 22 2006, 09:05 PM by Lynda

• Thanksgiving according to Wesley

  Wesley made this turkey at school - it's awesome My name is Wesley I am 6 years old I am writing about Thanksgiving I am thankful for my mom and dad They like to do nice things I am thankful for my friends My friends are kind to my friends I am kind to my mom and dad Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 22 2006, 09:05 PM by lynda with no comments

• Power Meter Wrangling

  Power Training is the way to go - no question at all about that. As a coach I want power files for all the rides my athletes do so I can plan and track their wattage progression and accumulation of training load overtime with the Performance Manager Chart Power meter choices for the mountain bike are tough. On the road I've been running Power-Taps without a hitch for a few years now. Thumbs up for Power-Taps. The… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 22 2006, 01:29 PM by lynda with no comments

• Power Meter Wrangling

  Power Training is the way to go - no question at all about that. As a coach I want power files for all the rides my athletes do so I can plan and track their wattage progression and accumulation of training load overtime with the Performance Manager Chart Power meter choices for the mountain bike are tough. On the road I've been running Power-Taps without a hitch for a few years now. Thumbs up for Power-Taps. The PT measures power at the hub and they don't have a disc compatible hub. Thumbs down for PT. That is a deal breaker for me off-road so PT is out for mtbing. As a coach I am desperate for a power meter that works well off road. That is an expensive wish as it means I have to try them all out. I've been riding an SRM on my mtb for over a year now. It has so many limitations I cannot recommend my athletes sink their $$$ into a product that is less than ideal. Next up on my list for testing is the Ergomo and possibly early next year I'll get my hands on an I-Bike (working on that deal at the moment :-). On paper The Ergomo looks like da bomb. It has everything I want. Now I have one sitting here in my office all I have to do is install it. First off Ergomo wins the presentation award hands down. My PT came taped up in bubble wrap, the SRM came in a nice white cardboard box but the Ergomo comes in this little metal 007-like attache case. How cool! Here are the three CPU's side by side. The SRM is the monster - heaviest too. Finding room on my bars for a hulking CPU is always an issue - especially in 24's when I have to put lights on there too. Ergomo lurks in the middle of the field here and at first glance looks like I'll be able to set it up on my stem. The SRM is a bar mount only. The PT can go both ways. The PT mount is zip-tied on so will go anywhere I can get zip-ties. Now I'm off to the Desert Cylery to have the talented and patient wrench Andy watch over me installing these beasts by myself. Currently I have Andy busy fixing one blown brake line and three blown forks. I love Andy :-) Posted Nov 22 2006, 01:29 PM by Lynda

• Up on the Goose

  My legs are back and I swung them over my SS for a couple of hours up on Gooseberry at the weekend - very, very nice. Here is the last pic my camera took before it died. Best Buy says I should have it back by Christmas - well hopefully. Twas a super nice day and I got to meet a couple of new riders, fast Eddie and Lukas. Eddie stayed behind me as he didn't know the trail too well but occasionally it got too much for him and he burst away and was gone for a few minutes until he lost the trail again. I was the designated tour guide for the ride. I get turned around in the Bowls and Ledges area and had us riding in circles for a while. Just when I'd declared I didn't know where the **** we were Joel saved the day and found a trail marker - we make a good team :-) Back at the trailhead I fooled the new guys into thinking I was Betty Crocker handing out brownies!! Actually Wesley made them... Here is a random pic of Emma just 'cause she is so darn cute. She is dancing with and singing to her Barbie. She likes to pick out her own outfits and accessorize too. She already has talents I'll never acheive. I have a 21 lb turkey in the fridge - anyone want to come over for Thanksgiving dinner? 6pm. Posted Nov 21 2006, 08:43 PM by Lynda

• Up on the Goose

  My legs are back and I swung them over my SS for a couple of hours up on Gooseberry at the weekend - very, very nice. Here is the last pic my camera took before it died. Best Buy says I should have it back by Christmas - well hopefully. Twas a super nice day and I got to meet a couple of new riders, fast Eddie and Lukas. Eddie stayed behind me as he didn't know the trail too well but occasionally it got too much for him and he burst away and was gone for a few minutes until he lost the trail … Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 21 2006, 08:43 PM by lynda with no comments

• Cobwebs

  Oooh ma legs are full of them! Today it's been exactly a month since 24-hours of Moab and since I have done anything resembling training. 3 X 20 mins at sweet spot today went 199w (pretty good), 203w (spot on), 178w (kaboom!!). Mom-Coach has been taking the front seat and Racer the backseat - which is good. Racer had been taking a bit too much of the fair share and I was losing some balance by the end of the season. It is good to have it back now. On the coach front I have been travel… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling Posted Nov 17 2006, 06:48 PM by lynda with no comments

• Cobwebs

  Oooh ma legs are full of them! Today it's been exactly a month since 24-hours of Moab and since I have done anything resembling training. 3 X 20 mins at sweet spot today went 199w (pretty good), 203w (spot on), 178w (kaboom!!). Mom-Coach has been taking the front seat and Racer the backseat - which is good. Racer had been taking a bit too much of the fair share and I was losing some balance by the end of the season. It is good to have it back now. On the coach front I have been travelling around, meeting lots of smart people, chatting with other coaches and learning lots of good stuff. I took a visit to the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine to check out their bike fit facility. They have a 3-d laser system which is very cool. I highly recommend a trip there if you are iffy on your bike fit. I took in my Yeti and road bike and both got tweaked with a shorter stem for my road bike and moving the seat forward on my mtb to shorten my cockpit. The biggie they identified was that my feet were not under my hips - big energy loss, so I need a lower Q-factor. Another visit was to James Wilson in Fruita to learn about his business Mtb Strength Coach . Very cool stuff. Look for more on him later. "Mom" really encompases not only taking care of my kiddies but taking care of all those others in my bubble I love. It does my heart good to see others in my bubble happy, especially if I have helped that along in any little way. A few more miles of driving took us down to Silverman triathlon where Steve was racing and the kiddies and I were cheerleading. He turned in a huge performance moving his overall placing up from 21st last year to 9th this year - top 10 is awesome. His time was 7 minutes slower than last year 12:09 as it was a heinous wild and windy day. I thought for sure they were gonna cancel the swim. Kudos to the race promoter for sticking his neck out and letting the racers go out and do what they were lusting to do. Here is his finishline pic - this is joy (honest!) So with racking up 2,420 miles of driving in the last 11 days the cobwebs are no big suprise. I'm home, the weather is great and its training time now... Posted Nov 17 2006, 06:48 PM by Lynda