Archive for the 'Logbook' Category

I rode to work again today. It was pretty easy going to work, but rather grueling coming home. I was pretty darn tired by the time I finally made it to my doorstep. My legs felt worn, and I was starving. Luckily, Louise is the best girlfriend ever, and said “Hey, I’m going to make us dinner. Give me 15 minutes!”. She was working in the garden and initially wanted me to work with her this evening. Riding made that not possible, but I didn’t want to let her down, so I stayed up last night and built a new planter box. I had to pull out the flood lights to dig in the dark, but I got it done!

Ride: Ride from home to work (Los Gatos to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA). The path: Corbin’s house to work.

Time: 6:34 to 8:06

Riding Time: 1:30’5 (cycle computer), 1:32 minutes by my watch. I hit two lights that may have added about 2 minutes of stopping time.

Distance: 20.88 miles

Average Speed: 13.7 mph

Max Speed: 24.3 mph

ODO: 666.4 miles

Notes: 150mm crank holes. Geared nimbus 36 with KH hub. The first 2.2 steep miles up from my house to the top of Summit Rd takes 20 minutes. Downhill is fast and fun. One dismount up the steep part of my hill (about 1 mile out), and one hop off at a stop light instead of hopping for a minute.

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Ride: Ride from work to home.

Time: 5:20′ish – 7:25′ish (didn’t note the exact times)

Riding Time: 2:00’40 (cycle computer)

Distance: 20.83 miles

Average Speed: 10.3 mph

Max Speed: 23.1 mph

ODO: 687.3 miles

Notes: Totally grueling going up the hill. I need to get stronger. I ate one bar while going up the hill, and frozen yogurt at work before I left. I rode with a biker on the flat parts from Cupertino to Saratoga (Highway 9 turn off). I’m pretty sure he was going slower just to ride with me. We chatted a bit about unicycling. Best comment “I’d hate to see your grocery bill!” At least he realized that fixed gear unicycling takes a lot of energy.

Unicycle ride log, entry 8

Ride: Reservoir ride from Nathan’s house. Corbin, Eric, Nathan. google maps

Date: April 24, 2008

Time: 8:00 AM – 9 AM

Riding Time: 1:00

Distance: 12.5 miles

Average Speed: 12.5 mph (riding, nonstop)

Max speed: 24.1 mph

Route: Nathan’s house, down Los Gatos, Los gatos creek trail paralleling freeway, around reservoir, and back to Nathan’s. Training ride for RTL. KH geared 36′er.

Unicycle Ride Log Entry 7 – April 22, 2008 – afternoon

Ride: Earth day ride! Ride from work back to home. The path: Corbin’s house to work.

Time: 5:10pm to 6:57

Riding Time: 1:52’58(cycle computer), little less than 2 hours total by my watch.

Distance: 20.84 miles

Average Speed: 11.0 mph

Max Speed: 22.0 mph (holy crap)

ODO: 630.0 miles

Notes: 150mm crank holes. Geared nimbus 36 with KH hub. As I anticipated, the ride back was slower, but not twice as long. I rode along Sunnyvale-Saratoga Rd in 1:1.5, only shifting at stop lights. It was definitely tougher than the ride to work, as it is slightly uphill. After an hour, I was at the reservoir, and had to face the hills. It took me another hour to get up the hills, which was mostly in 1:1 the whole time. By the top of Mt Charlie Rd, my legs were getting tired! The higher gear definitely wears your legs out, especially after a 40 mile ride at a fast pace.

Unicycle Ride Log Entry 6 – April 22, 2008

Ride: Earth day ride! Ride from home to work (Los Gatos to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA).

Time: 6:32 to 8:07

Riding Time: 1:33’06 (cycle computer), 1:35 minutes by my watch

Distance: 20.77 miles

Average Speed: 13.3 mph

Max Speed: 26.0 mph (holy crap)

ODO: 609.1 miles

Notes: 150mm crank holes. Geared nimbus 36 with KH hub. The uphill from my house is steel, and it took 25 minutes to go 2.2 miles. Then, down Old Santa Cruz Highway I was cruising at 19-20 mph on the straights and slowing down to 17-18 for the curves and bumpy areas. Past the reservoir it hits a nice gradual downhill, and I looked down and noticed I was going 24mph. I decided to push it a tiny bit; which was a bit scary but still felt good. I grabbed the brake to actually slow myself down to 20mph, and took a look at my cycle computer; 26.0 mph. Insane! I never thought I would go that fast on a unicycle.

Past that, there is a gravel road that parallel’s highway 17 till I hit Los Gatos town. In LG, there are some rolling hills, but once I passed Saratoga High, it was mostly downhill and easily cruising at 20mph. I think the first 2.2 miles at the really slow speed killed my average.

Unicycle Ride Log Entry 5 – April 20, 2008

Ride: Geoff’s 12th annual birthday ride, Crystal Springs reservoir through woodside and portola valley, to Ladera and back.

Time: 9:15-2pm (ish)

Riding Time: long.

Distance: 50 km

Average Speed: ?

Max Speed: 24.9 mph (seriously)

ODO: ?

Notes: The geared unicycle is way cool. 150mm crank holes. geared nimbus 36 with KH hub. In the high gear for the majority of the time. It was totally fun to hang out with everyone and ride. Pictures from Tom W.: Tom’s Ladera Pictures on Flickr

I’ve missed some ride log days, but here’s a new one.

Unicycle Ride Log Entry 4 – April 19, 2008

Ride: Bottom of highway 9, up UCON down Sick and Twisted. Geared 36′er.

Date: April 19, 2008

Time: 11:30-12:20 (ish)

Riding Time: 0:58

Distance: ? miles (forgot to look)

Average Speed: ?

Max Speed: 16 or 17 mph (off road)

ODO: ?

Notes: Mostly in 1-1, except on the fireroad, when I could blast in the high gear.

Last Saturday we did “Scalisis’s Death Ride” — a 57 mile ride with 5000′ish feet of climbing. We started at Tom Holub’s house, rode 30′ish miles to the base of Mount Diablo, and then climbed to the top of Mt Diablo (3,849′). The ride started out with six people, but it ended up with just three of us on geared unicycles. Tom on his geared KH 29′er, Mike on his geared Nimbus 36′er with the older Schlumpf road hub and myself on my geared 36′er with the KH Schlumpf hub.

This was the first long distance ride on my Nimbus 36 with a the KH geared muni hub. The geared 36 is an amazing unicycle. I can cruise at 15 mph on flat ground with no effort. I can do sprints at a sustained faster pace (I’d say 17mph, but I haven’t tested that out). I can descend at a madding pace — 21-22 MPH sustained, if it is a smooth light downhill and I’m really paying attention. Going down Mt Daiblo I was averaging 17-18 mph (which is pretty fast down that hill), and slowing down to about 16 mph for the corners (which have a 15 mph speed limit sign for cars). My top speed of the day was about 24.3 mph — and I wasn’t particularly trying to go fast, it was just a speed I hit while going down a hill. All with 150 mm dual drill KH cranks.

The geared unicycle adds more comfort to my riding. With 150mm cranks I have the power to eat up hills, but maintain a comfortable cadence while in high gear. Since my legs are doing less up and down motion, I find that I get less leg pain — especially when at higher speeds, which would sometimes cause my right leg to ache. My bottom felt a little better than usual after such a long ride; the additional force required to move the wheel actually helps relieve pressure from your butt.

Things I noticed: Tom was faster going up Mt Diablo with his geared 29′er / 125mm cranks. The 29′er is really a better machine for such a steep climb. I could go faster on the flats/descents — but that may also be do to my riding style. Learning to shift is essential; I’m getting fairly proficient at it, and hit the shift within a few tries. I generally shift at 10 mph (up or down). We were in geared up mode most of the day, except for a few hills that required shifting.

A brake is really required for a geared 36′er (but Mike survived without one). Mike has the older Schlumpf hub, and it isn’t as wide as the muni hub. The wheel has a significant amount of play due to the hub not being sufficiently wide enough, and it will be hard for him to get a brake that doesn’t rub. The KH hub does NOT have this problem. I should also mention that Tom does really well on his guni 29′er without a brake, but he’s also a really strong rider.

Problems: my right crank kept getting loose. I torqued it up to 30 ft/pounds the next night, and hopefully that will help resolve that problem.

For those that are curious, here is the route:

First half:

http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=12041305658505895597,37.901800,-121.993190&saddr=N+Gate+Rd+%4037.901800,+-121.993190&daddr=walnut+creek+BART&mra=cc&dirflg=h&sll=37.899511,-122.018623&sspn=0.064342,0.159645&ie=UTF8&ll=37.922805,-121.991844&spn=0.160058,0.245476&z=12

Second half:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=3436991316391079430,37.808381,-122.239420%3B7448847631227499509,37.843250,-121.920720&saddr=40th+St+%26+Piedmont+Ave,+Oakland,+Alameda,+California+94611,+United+States&daddr=Trestle+Glen+Rd+%4037.808381,+-122.239420+to:37.813107,-122.217836+to:Mt+Diablo+Scenic+Blvd+%4037.843250,+-121.920720&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=2&sz=14&via=1,2&dirflg=h&sll=37.822057,-122.20788&sspn=0.059935,0.057507&ie=UTF8&z=14

corbin

Unicycle Ride Log Entry 3 – March 04, 2008

Ride: Apple to Stevens Creek Reservoir and Back 10′ish miles

Date: March 04, 2008

Time: 12:10-1:00 (ish)

Riding Time: 0:46’24

Distance: 10.62 miles

Average Speed: 13.7 mph

Max Speed: 20.9 mph

ODO: 108.4 miles

Notes: Difficult to maintain over 14 mph on average, especially with the slight hills in Cupertino. 125 mm cranks. New Nightrider Tire.

Unicycle ride log, entry 2.

Ride: Mark/Michelle’s house to Corralitos and back. Corbin, Louise, Nathan, Michelle, Rob.

Date: Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

Time: 12:00 PM – 3:45 PM

Riding Time: 2:56’09

Distance: 30.83 miles

Average Speed:10.5 mph

Max speed: 20.6 mph

Route: Mark/Michelle’s house in Aptos. .. to .. to Corralitos Rd, to Browns Valley, changes into Hazel Dell, right onto Green Valley, right onto ?, past 4 corners market, down Varni Rd, left onto Corralitos Rd, right onto Freedom Blvd, left onto White rd, right onto ? rd, right onto ? rd. End at shel’s house.

Training ride for Vietnam.

Total odometer reading: 97.8 miles

Unicycle ride log, entry 1.

Ride: Skyline Blvd, 52 miles. Corbin, Louise, Nathan. Geoff on bike for a while.

Date: Saturday, March 1st, 2008

Time: 8:15 AM – 3:30 PM

Riding Time: (forgot to write it down)

Distance: 52.4 miles

Average Speed: 9.7 mph (riding)

Max speed: 23 mph

Route: Top of Hutchinson Rd and Summit Rd, left onto Bear Creek Rd, right onto Skyline/Highway 35, past Black Rd and continue on Skyline, past Castle Rock State Park, past highway 9, and down to La Honda Road (21 miles). Then back.

Training ride for Vietnam.

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Summit+Rd+%26+Hutchinson+Rd,+Los+Gatos,+CA+95033&geocode=&dirflg=&daddr=Skyline+Blvd+and+La+Honda+Rd&f=d&sll=37.14434,-121.99109&sspn=0.010297,0.015149&ie=UTF8&z=11