Experimental Tires On The Ciocc, And A Fast Lake Wa Loop

After doing the 200k last Saturday on 700x23mm tires (was trying something smaller, didn't make much difference besides a little more road buzz), I've been thinking about the Grand Bois 28's that I have lying around. When I rode those on the September 600k last year, I loved 'em. Felt like riding on clouds, at least compared to what I was used to.

I've done brevets on 23's, 25's, and 28's so far, and the 25mm width was my fave for a while, but if the Pacer could fit the Grand Bois 28's with the full fenders, I'd probably use them all the time. They've just been sitting in a pile of tires that I have ever since I got fenders for the Pacer.

Not sure why I'd never tried this before, but I finally wondered, "What about the 28's on the Ciocc?!" I've used Gatorskin 25's on that bike before, and rembered the tight clearance, but wanted to check anyway.

The answer is yes. Sort of.

The rear fit isn't too close - probably more than 5mm of clearance around the brake and frame.
Seat tube, however, is a close call...
Seat tube #2 shot...

So that's what, 1-2 mm of clearance? I figure the worst that'll happen is rocks might scratch the paint, I can live with that. It's a tool, not a jewel, as they say.

Front clearance:

On the first test ride it felt like I was riding on balloons compared to the 23's I had on there before. On my 20 minute test spin around The Hill, I hit up some of the roughest roads around: 11th ave near Aloha, a few streets near Volunteer Park. I've ridden on these roads on a variety of tires & bikes, and this time it felt like I was on different roads!

That was at about 80 psi, which might have been a bit low - the tires themselves recommend 105 psi, which seems high for tires so wide. I looked around online, and came up with 90 psi as a good pressure for these tires & my weight.

Lake Wa Loop On New Tires

I've done this ride more than any other loop, excluding my commute. And since most of the roads don't change that often, I've gotten to know them pretty well, even down to certain bumps here and there. That means it's easy to tell the difference on these tires, and I think they'll make next weekend's 300k much more comfortable, if I end up riding that bike.

Or maybe I'll go buy some 26's from Il Vecchio instead, which might be a bit more reasonable.

Anyway the outlook for Saturday is looking good! Although a 11 mph wind from the south might be a little annoying coming down highway 9 at the tail end of the ride..

Entire workout: (lake wa loop, ccw)
Duration: 3:10:26
Work: 2258 kJ
TSS: 204.9 (intensity factor 0.804)
Norm Power: 229w
VI: 1.16
Pw:HR: 1.25%
Pa:HR: 9.61%
Distance: 82.191 km
Elevation Gain: 1497 m
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 866 198 watts
Heart Rate: 97 192 155 bpm
Cadence: 15 123 81 rpm
Speed: 0 82.2 27.2 kph (16.9 mph)
Crank Torque: 0 203.2 23.2 N-m

City Hills: Madrona, Queen Anne, Capitol Hill

The Pacer is in the shop, getting the new Honjos put on - can't wait to see it in person! Although apparently the Grand Bois 28c won't fit with the fender in the rear.. damn. I can probably at least run 26's on it.

So tonight I took the Ciocc out for a spirited ride, initially to do the Mercer Island Loop. But a few kilometers away from the apt, I realized I'd forgotten a pump! So instead of doing Mercer, I just kept it in the city. Closer to the population of other cyclists, with pumps hopefully!

Ride Description

First, the elevation graph of the route I ended up doing: (max height 439 feet)
From Capitol Hill down to Lake Wa Blvd, right on Madrona Dr (big 1 km+ uphill), follow Union st all the way to Broadway (hilly). I held 16 km/h (10 mph) for the first few minutes going up, but eventually dropped down to 10 km/h (6 mph). The Ciocc climbs well, especially when unloaded & the dynohub taken off!

From there I came back west to Broadway, and bombed down Denny Street over I-5. Probably hit my top speed in the route, 67 km/h there! At that kind of speed in the city, cars start to hold you back. I'd love to do a road race in the city some time, and have that be part of the course!


Then there's Queen Anne, easily the steepest part of the route, heading up to the views of downtown at Kerry Park. Had to take a little diversionary right on a less-steep road on the way up, on which I rode half way up, turned around, and then re-attacked Queen Anne Ave. It's so damn steep!

Then I came down the other side of Queen Anne, and on the way back I held a good 25 km/h heading up the little Dexter hill. Took a left on Denny (crazy traffic) and followed it all the way back to the Hill. Even kept in the 53-tooth ring coming up the steep section next to Whole Foods! Granted, I was grinding at probably 30 RPM, but it was actually a good feeling. I felt like the chain was going to snap before I would.


If the Oregon 600k pans out this weekend, I think I'll be well-prepared! And I felt surprisingly well, given all the climbing on Saturday.


Route Distance: 21.5 km
Rolling Time: 1 hr 2 minutes
Overall Time: +5-10 minutes?
Average Speed: 20.4 km/h (12.6 mph)
Map Link: here

A Few More RAMROD Images

A few more photos from Thursday's adventure around Mt. Rainier.

Here I am in Eatonville - about 70 miles into the ride. (~30 miles in to Ramrod). I like how the truck looks like it's bearing down on me.. (these two are from a photographer, and I bought the photos in case you're wondering)

Climbing towards "Paradise," smiling for the camera. I was hoping you'd be able to see my Schmidt E6 lamp burning, but I guess during the day it doesn't do a lot of good. Works well in the shade of course.

Mt. Rainier National Park. Made all the climbing worth it.

The Ciocc on a dirt road - just a pit stop.

Schmidt E6 lamp, Shimano dynohub, in motion.

10 PM, rolling into seattle. 230 miles done! It was raining hard at this point.

And finally, a pointless video of me doing 32 km/h (20 mph) on the way back home (Highway 169).

Speedy Mercer Island Loop

Yesterday the SiR ride got canceled due to fear of snow/ice, so Dennis & I hammered out about 70 km on the Green River Trail instead. It was pretty scenic, and we worked on pacing and drafting. My two layers of wool worked out great, even in 30-something degrees & light rain: short-sleeve Ibex wool jersery, with a long-sleeve classic wool jersey over that, and then wool arm-warmers over all of that. I was pretty tired last night after our ride, but decided to do some fast-paced riding today.

Usually when I do the Mercer Island Loop I'm doing about 32-36 km/h throughout most of it, but today was a bit different. I passed up a rider on I-90, and sprinted up the little hill onto Mercer. Already a little winded from the 3km effort (40 km/h for 2 km or so) of catching up to they guy in the first place, I got onto the rolling hills of the Mercer Island Loop and started hammering away (for me, I'm no racer yet, just out to have fun) at 34+ km/h (21+ mph).

By the way today I was on my fast bike, not the heavier Bianchi that I've been randoneurring on. It lives up to its title as the "fast bike," no doubt. If only it fit full fenders on it, I'd use the thing for randonees.


About 4 km into the loop, I noticed a black shape behind me. Was it the guy I'd dropped earlier? Who knows. I pedaled on, at an estimated %75 of my max heart rate (I don't use a heart-rate monitor, I'm just going from perceived effort), at a steady 34-40 km/h pace. I even jumped and sprinted at the top of a hill, thinking that would do it, but he eventually passed me, and I could see that he's a racer-type: local team kit on, powertap hub, fast pace. Me, I'm just in a blank blue wool jersey, but I love to see how long I can hang onto a fast wheel. He wasn't the guy I dropped earlier, so he must've been catching up the whole time I guess.

So we're cruising at 36-44 km/h, over the rolling hills of Mercer. No big climbs, just little inclines up and down, up and down. I'm drafting off him, at about 1.5 bike-lengths back. I don't even know this rider, so I'm not about to sit directly on his wheel, but I don't think he minded the competition/pacing. (Who knows if I was even competition for him at all, for all I know he was on a recovery ride!)

I kept up with his pace for about 16 km (10 mi) or so, the whole time getting close to my max heart-rate/bonking level, and recovering. Even when we got to the 200-foot climb (towards the southern tip of the island), I was steady at his pace, just hanging on. At times I felt like I could've passed him, but I figured he's the sponsored one, I'll let him tug me around for a bit.

Even through the twists and turns coming up the east side of the island, I was hanging on to his pace, still 36+ km/h. Eventually he pulled out and motioned for me to take the lead, so I did. I think at that point I had the advantage of having conserved so much energy, and kept up the pace, or at least tried to. After a few km I noticed he was gone, not sure what happened to him.

I tried to keep up the pace all thew way back home, but it gets hilly once back into Seattle. On the I-90 bridge heading back to Seatown, my average read out at a whopping (for me) 30 km/h! It was a little less than that by the time I got home, but this was probably the fastest I've done that loop. I definitely felt the toll at the end, but never bonked. I probably need to start doing more fast-paced rides like this if I'm gonna do anything useful at the crits this season!

Distance: 40.77 km
Time: 1hr 26 minutes (roughly)
Avg Speed: 28.5 km/h
Elevation Gain: 571 m (1,818 feet)
Total Distance for 2008 so far: 888 km (551 miles)

600 km on the Ciocc!

I got my new dream-bike (a steel Ciocc) on October 1st, which is just about one month ago. Let's see how many kilometers I've put on this baby!

At the very end of my 80 km ride today, my cyclo-computer read a whopping 600 km (372 mi)!! Not bad for one month's worth of riding. Check my cycling log for the details.

Most of the rides were on the weekends, as my new job working for the man combined with the cold/dark weather hasn't given me the time or the motivation to go out and ride. But if I start commuting to work then it would be a 32-mile round trip!

Hopefully these miles will build a good 'base' for the 2008 STP/HPC/etc, and I'm thinking about giving the local race scene a shot. We'll see.

Hilly Lake Washington Loop - 80 km of great Seattle riding

Today I hammered out one of my favorite rides today, my version of the Hilly Lake Washington Loop - most local riders take the Burke-Gilman back to Seattle, but I like to break off at 180th/Perkins and follow that out to the rolling hills of 5th Ave E., just parallel to I-5. Here's an elevation profile of the route:




There was a tough head-wind out of the south, but I was holding 32+ km/h, which is how I like to roll. I can get a lot lower/more aero on the Ciocc as opposed to my Bianchi - that helps a lot on days like today. I can also go a hell of a lot faster on this new bike, partially because the 53,39 x 11-23 gearing I'm running is made to go fast and nothing but!

It was kind of chilly out, but it never rained so that was a pleasant surprise. Bring on the cold weather cycling!!

Total Distance: 81 km (50 mi)
Total Rolling Time: 3 hrs, 2 minutes
Average Speed: 26.1 km/h

Solo 120 km or The Tour of Cascade Foothills

Yesterday I went out for a little ramble that went something like this route: from Capitol Hill I went East to Lake Washington Blvd, then South on that until I hit Renton. From there the plan was to head East via Highway 900 out to Issaquah and to hit up Cougar & Tiger Mountains, but as soon as I saw a group of three riders that were cruising at about the same pace I was, 34-36 km/h (21-23 mph), I just had to chase them down!

Or at least try to - even though they were heading North via Lake Wa Blvd towards Bellevue, and that wasn't the planned route. No problem, I know these roads pretty well now, so a little detour is always nice. Plus, I can easily still get out to my target-climbs from Bellevue, so why not chase down some strangers that may or may not be faster than me?

Unfortunately I never caught the 'rabbits' - alas, the stop lights in Renton gave them too much of a gap and I never saw them again. The lights or my legs weren't enough, not sure which. It was still fun though, a little sprinting-for-no-reason never hurt anyone, right?

When I made it to I-90 I hopped on the trail and headed East to Issaquah, where I hit up Cougar Mountain, the 3-mile, 1,400 foot climb that makes or breaks a cyclist in these parts. This was my first go at that climb on the new Ciocc, which has a low-gear of 39x23 (~44 gear inches), a little steeper than the Eros. I made it up, and the stiffness of the frame easily evened out the steeper gear; although I can't say it was easy. The air was definitely nippy up there, and after slipping on my arm warmers I descended down as fast as safety would allow, which wasn't very fast at all - I probably topped out at 65 km/h down Cougar.

Then it was off to Tiger Mountain, about 10 km away just South of Issaquah. At the bottom of Cougar Mtn take a right on Newport Way, follow it to Front St, then take that South to Tiger Mountain Road on the left. Tiger's not a monster-climb, but at about 800 ft it's not small either. Luckily the roads were dry enough that I could blast down the 'mountain' - although I never could get much over 72 km/h (~46 mph). Guess I'll have to go over to Tolt Hill Road to really get the speedy descent I'm looking for.

Here's a profile of my 'Tour of Cascade Foothills' route (out to and including Tiger Mtn, but excluding the trip back):


I love how Cougar/Tiger Mountains put Capitol 'Hill' to shame!

Here are the ride totals:

Distance: 120 km (~75 mi)
Total Time: 5 hrs 30 minutes (my cyclo-computer reset, not sure of rolling time, it was probably something like 5 hrs)
Elevation Gain: ~4,000 ft
Road Kill Seen: three, all on May Valley Road - they must not clean it much.
Best Scenery: Mt. Baker & Lake Sammamish as viewed from the top of Cougar Mountain - that makes the pain worth it!

First Real Ride on the New Ciocc - Sweeet!

I was supposed to do the Lake Washington Loop w/ Dennis & Rachael yesterday, but after a night of drinking and dancing at the War Room's sing sing, that didn't happen. Actually, I was so hung over I didn't even leave the house yesterday! Good times though..

Anyway today I finally got a chance to take a real spin on my new super-bike, and damn was it a fast ride! First, some stats:

Route: "Two-lakes loop" - counter-clockwise loop that goes around Lakes Washington and Sammamish, starting and ending on Capitol Hill in Seattle. It passes through renton, issaquah, redmond, bothell, and back through seattle
Total dist: 105.6 km (~66 miles)
Total (rolling) Time: 3 hrs, 52 minutes
Avg speed: 27.7 km/h (~16.8 mph)
Max speed: 73 km/h - going east on Madison the 53x11 was FAST! Too bad it was a little wet out, I sure don't wanna wreck the new ride.

Elevation profile (minus Inglewood, which is only 400 ft or so):

The large bump in the middle of the ride is going up and over the plateau on Highway 900, from Renton to Issaquah.

The Ciocc COM 12.5 steel frame really responds well, it feels a lot stiffer than my Bianchi Eros, which is also steel. I was afraid that the higher gearing would throw off my climbing, but it seems about as hard going up climbs like Inglewood Drive (12% for .5 mi), if not a tad easier. I never used the smallest front-ring on the triple my Eros has anyway, so I'm loving the gears: 39,53 in the front, 11-23 in the back. Can you say speed?!

On the flats my speeds were at about 32-40 km/h (20-25 mph), and it felt incredibly easy to hold those speeds on the windy Sammamish River Trail. Going downhill was great too, I rarely ran out of gearing, and hitting ~45mph on Madison was probably a new top-speed for that location. Once I get to Tolt Hill Road on a dry day, my goald of 100 km/h (60mph) will be within reach!

The rain started to come down really hard when I was just about in Redmond, so the last two hours of the ride were pretty cold, but my vest kept the core pretty toasty. The climb going up 180th/Perkins way in Lake Forest Park, which is three miles long, didn't seem all that bad. And 5th Ave E. (parallel to I-5) is usually a slog at the end of the ride, but this new bike carries me around like a.... well like a decently light Italian racing bike, that's what!

(Here's the bike, btw)

Behold, my new steel Ciocc!!

My new Italian Ciocc (supposedly pronounced Chee-oach, at least that's how the LBS says it):


(Pardon the crappy photo, but it was dark outside - I'll be sure to get some action-shots & close-ups soon)


When I got it home I took it on a 4 mile spin around the city, and it felt awesome. Sprinting is solid, and so is climbing. Shifting is like butter!

The only thing I don't like about it is the stem angle and the long steering-tube, but they left it long so it can be adjusted later. It'll be interesting to see how this bike feels after a century, or a double-century at that.

Here's the rundown:

• Ciocc steel frame (1,700 g or 3.3 lbs) - I've only really ridden steel frames and haven't wanted anything else. Sure, carbon would be lighter, but I'm only a low-level contractor out at Microsoft these days, not Bill G. And from what I hear there isn't that much difference between steel and aluminum frame weights.
  
• Campanoglo Centaur groupset (bottom bracket, cranks, brakes/shifters, deraileurs) (featuring a high gear of 53x11 that's gonna get me that 60 mph downhill I've been looking for!)
• Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels - these cost a little more than the frame did! But I'd only heard good things about 'em - and they're so worth it, you can feel the difference accelerating, climbing, etc.
• Easton EA-70 stem/handlebars - yeah, I should've gotten chrome ones, but I just couldn't wait!!
  
• Used SpeedPlay pedals (not bad for $30!), used Dura-ace seat post
• Bianchi race seat that's just temporary (and isn't very comfortable) - I've got a Brooks Swallow saddle on the way! Then this beauty will be complete.
  

My Bianchi Eros saw plenty of mileage, and it'll still be around for the nasty days when I don't want to take the nice European bike out into the nasty Northwest winter. (I bought my cyclo-computer back in May, and it says I've logged 4,471.8 km's or 2,778 miles - and about a year of riding before that, so I've probably done almost 5,000 miles on that thing! I think it's ready for a rest.)

If you're wondering where you can get one of these yourself, check out Velo Bike Shop, on Pine St on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Lloyd, the owner of the shop, said they're going to build up similar bikes and sell 'em - he said they had one on the floor for two hours and it was sold. I can see why!

Waiting for the new Ciocc

I put in an order at my LBS, Velo Bike Shop, for an Italian bike!!

I'm getting a steel Ciocc (italian) COM 12.5 bike, with Ksyrium SL wheels, and a Campy Centaur group set! Oh, and a Brooks saddle! Since I don't own a car I figure I can go ahead and splurge on a sweet ride. Sure, I could buy an aluminum frame for the same price or cheaper, but I like my current my (steel Bianchi), so I figure why switch now?

I was actually at the bike shop the day my frame arrived, and Lloyd even let me unpack it! But while I was inspecting it I noticed a gash on the top of the down tube that looked like somebody had dragged an exacto-knife across it!! Fuck's sake, i'd been waiting over a week for this frame, and now this!

The distributor is on the East Coast and is gonna ship another frame, hopefully this one won't be scratched! (They said I could have $50 off the frame, but I figure it's worth the wait to just get a new frame, like I planned.)

It's questionable as to whether I'll be able to ride the Ciocc on the HPC ride, but there's nothing really wrong with my current ride, besides that it's heavier than the new bike, and has lower gearing. =]

Now that I'll have a 53x11 on the top end, my goal of 100 km/h (~60 mph) should be reachable soon! Then maybe I can reach my other cycling goal: getting a speeding ticket!! one day.... one day. I can just picture a trooper on Tolt pulling me over. Look out Carnation!

Training for the High Pass Challenge

Yesterday I ventured out to do something like a century more or less, but I only completed 80% of the planned ride. I'm getting ready for my High Pass Challenge ride, and since I haven't been riding a ton lately (due to job-hunting), I knew I had to get some pain in before the big day. It was basically a tour of the Seattle-area's toughest hills.

The air is getting colder around here, and even midday you can feel it. And a late-afternoon shower in Redmond meant I was freezing! Arm-warmers & and a vest weren't even enough to keep me warm... almost time for the long-sleeve jerseys! I caught the bus home from the Bear Creek Park & Ride, soaked and tired. About 110 km (~70 miles) wasn't bad, and I did plenty of climbing that should help on the High Pass Challenge this Sunday. Here's the elevation profile of the ride (minus the last 30 miles or so):

The large spike is, you guessed it, Cougar Mountain. The hills are, in order,

1. Capitol Hill (start)
2. a tiny spike that's on Lake Wa Blvd,
3. The climb up Highway 900 going East from Renton
4. Tiger Mountain (~800 ft max)
5. Cougar Mountain (~1300 ft max)
6. Going up 43rd Ave in Issaquah
7. Tolt Hill Road, heading West (10% for a mile!)
   
8. Ames Lake Road
9. Union Hill Road (not steep but long rolling hills)

Since I bailed out in Redmond I didn't do the last two spikes on the route, heading back into Seattle. Oh well, I think it had to be upwards of 5k feet of elevation gain, so I think I'm in good shape for the HPC. I don't plan on finishing first or anything, but to get in before 3 PM (for a 'elite finish') would be great!