29 Ounces to Freedom

[jShort]

So i just bought a cross bike. There were a few reasons behind this. One being the obvious, the trails suck right now. Another is the trainer sucks...even more so when the only bike i had was a singlespeed.

And finally, cross racing looks like way too much fun not to get in it.

So I took the new bike out for a quick ride this morning and came to a few realizations. The road is much colder than the trails. I was dressed pretty warm so I was OK. But i thought I would be hot and I wasnt.
Another thing I found out was steele gap road isnt much easier to climb with skinny tires.

Speaking of skinny tires, I bought some real skinny's to put on but I decided to leave the stock Small block 8 cross tires on. I figured with all the crappy roads around me, that would be the way to go. After my ride I may change my mind and throw the road tires on.

As far as fit on the cross bike, I think I need to work on my flexibility. Seriously. I need to work on my core and Im even considering yoga. Being hunched over like that for a few hours may get uncomfortable. I had jdog fit me, so I am sure its the right size and set up. Now its on me to take care of the rest.

So there it is. Maybe this will become a little blog. Maybe this will be the only post and ill quit.

Here is the link for the ride. Of course I didn't start the stupid timer till after I was already up Steele Gap and climbing up Newmans lane to Washington Valley. O well....

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26208769


Tomorrow I plan on going out for a little longer. Maybe I'll keep this going...? time will tell.

 

[Steve Vai]

What bike did you get son?

Let's hit the canal!!

-Jim.

 

[jShort]

I got a Caad 8

Today was the first time on a bike in almost 3 weeks... Im really not ready to ride with you Jim...

But I will be soon and we will tear the canal up!


On a side note, the title to this blog succccks. it was a rush job. Ill Pm Norm to see if I can change it

 

[pooriggy]

As far as fit on the cross bike, I think I need to work on my flexibility. Seriously. I need to work on my core and Im even considering yoga. Being hunched over like that for a few hours may get uncomfortable. I had jdog fit me, so I am sure its the right size and set up. Now its on me to take care of the rest.

it takes some time to get comfortable on the road/cross bike. over time you will get more flexable, the important thing is to try an relax your hands on the bike and get into a pedal rhythm. try to keep a consistent cadence, riding on rollers helps.
this will also help strengthen you core muscles which are important for cycling. thats my wife in the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I990Wbr1JE&feature=related

 

[Steve Vai]

thats my wife in the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I990Wbr1JE&feature=related

We'll come back to this one. As per MTBNJ tradition we need to wait until page 2 before we completely derail a thread

-Jim.

 

[VanDbtRiver]

that bike reeks of filth... nice!

 

[jShort]

After yesterdays ride, I came home and felt a little cold coming on. Nothing major, just a little sniffling and sneezing. So i took it easy and chilled all day.
Night time came around and my wife being the good influence she is, convinced me to meet her sister and fiance out for a few drinks. I was hesitant at first but then thought my sniffling was just my allergies..and it may be good to get out of the house.
6 pints of Guinness and a shot of bubble gum vodka later (dont knock it till you try it..) I was home and crashing.

I woke up this morning with little hopes of getting a productive ride in. But after a cup of coffee and a bagel, and some water I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and see what I had in me. I popped an Allegra for the allergies and headed out.



I took Jim's advice and rode from my apt to the canal, past 6 mile, came back and then did a little more on the road. I probably could have done without the last part, My quads were barking on the climb up Newmans Lane, but I made it.


Here is the link:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26343299

Time: 02:20:22
Distance: 33.66 mi
Elevation Gain: 819 ft
Calories: 2,044 C


I noticed my Hear Rate was really high. Average was 164. It probably had to do with the shitty sleep I got and drinking the night before in addition to being off the bike for a few weeks.

But i'm glad I got the ride in. Now i'm off to a 1 year old's first birthday party where I will stuff my face with no guilt.

 

[jShort]

So firstly, thanks to Norm for changing the title to the thread. Sublime is in my top 3 bands of ever so.. this is very cool.

Its Monday and I'm a little sore from the weekend. Nothing that will keep me from trying to get back out at my first opportunity.
I do need to make some adjustments to the new cross bike though. By the end of the ride it would not shift into the big ring in the front. That I am hoping will be a simple der adjustment.

Secondly, and I am looking for some feedback here if anybody is actually reading this....while riding this weekend I noticed I kept sliding forward on the seat. It felt like I was leaning forward too much. My first reaction was that I need to move the seat forward a bit. But then I worried about it negatively impacting the riding position. So maybe I need to get a shorter stem, or (gasp!) move the bars up a little? Or maybe this goes back to me needing to work on my flexibility and this will work itself out?


I did make a point to keep my core/abs tight in order to take the load off my back while leaning forward. And my back feels much better today.

I am going to try to get 8 hours of ride time this week. Be it road, trail, or trainer.

 

[jdog]

I am stoked that you are getting into it!

It is pretty common for newbies to be sore the first few times on a road bike (or cross bike). This is not unlike hitting the gym for the 1st time in months and then suffering with muscle soreness for the next 3-4 days.

Typically I wouldn't move the saddle to change cockpit reach. Let's try a hair more upright stem first. It will let you roll your center of mass back and up slightly. You might have a bit more weight on your sit bones though.

Pop in and we will tweak it up. Just ring me before you come by.

J-

 

[RNG1]

That's a nice looking bike, enjoy it.
(rotate the front skewer handle back so people don't think you are a rookie out there )

 

[stb222]

A cross bike was hands down the best bike purchase I made last year, especially with the crappy winter weather we had. As far as tires go, I would recommend putting a beefy road tire on that has an aggresive tread. I have been running 25's of the Panaracer messanger tire. One the road they aren't much different then a regular road tire, rolling resistance wise (same tires I run on my fixie) and they can handle dirt/gravel roads, access roads and smooth singletrack just fine.

 

[Steve Vai]

I did make a point to keep my core/abs tight in order to take the load off my back while leaning forward. And my back feels much better today.

Here's an easy way to demonstrate a weak core. (I'd put your bike in the trainer just in case!!)

Pedal in the trainer for a few minutes really paying attention to your body posture. Slight tilt forward in the pelvis, slight bend in the elbow while on the hoods. You shouldn't be holding your weight up with your arms...AT ALL...Test it by taking your hands off the bars and hover them just over the hoods with the rest of your position the same. You shouldn't plop over. You also shouldn't start shaking as your core starts to rebel against you. You should also be able to stay in that position for a few minutes without losing your pedal cadence, or spiking your heart rate, or having to change gears, etc, etc, etc...It should feel "natural"...If your face hits your stem the second you take your hands off, it might be time to watch Poo-Riggy's wife

-Jim.

 

[euphoria]

Yo son. Its been 3 days? Watcha been doin? Ridin more flat roads?

 

[pooriggy]

i think he's been watchin my wifes video

 

[jShort]

Im bringing it back!

Yea, so the last 2 weeks did not go as planned. All i wanted to do was get hours in, but as it often does.. life got in the way. Not to make excuses, i'm sure if I had the dedication as some the others on here, I would have found time.
I'm thinking I got in 4-5 hours a week the last 2 weeks. That may be a conservative estimate...:hmmm:

Anyway, this f'ing process of buying a house has me stressing like crazy. Its not the day to day things, its that first time home buyers $8K credit that I will lose out on if I dont get this done in time.
We agreed to a price of the house (not without much negotiation, my wife and I walking away from it, the seller coming back to us, etc, etc) so that was quite stressful. Then we get the inspections done. The septic inspector told me flat out "this thing is a ticking time bomb".... his words verbatim.
So a septic is anywhere for $20 - $40k. The worst part is, the inspector gave it a satisfactory report "with concerns". Basically he said the water level was way too high, but because the system is working as it should, he had to pass it. Which totally blows for us because the seller does NOT need to fix it in order to close.
I met an inspector there Thursday and he looked at the schematics from the original install of the system, the soil reports, the water drainage reports...and from this and what the inspector report said, he confirmed the system has about a year left on it. Granted, he cant really know but it is a good indication of the impending failure... and a 20-40K hit. OUCH.

So my Realtor (who has kicked ass for me....really really great guy) went to the seller and told him we would not close unless this is taken care of.
The guy lost his shit and walked out of the meeting. If my Realtor wasn't a big guy, the seller may have taken a swing. It was seriously that bad.

So I had the lawyer draft a letter telling the seller he has to fix it, and if not we are walking away. Hopefully the guy realizes he doesnt have a choice...that is if he wants to sell it. Any potential home buyer after me will see the same problem when they have the septic inspection done. Plus, any buyer after me will also find out why this deal fell through. So the guy really needs to make a move and get this done. I hope. I should have a response from him on Monday or Tuesday.
If he says F-off, then my wife and I need to find another house and be under contract by April 30th in order to collect that 8 K tax credit. I wont settle for a house i dont like for that 8K alone, but it will definitely be a factor.


So all this is having an impact on my eating, sleeping, thinking, etc. Hopefully getting closure to all this will free up some time for me, and allow me to burn some stress on my pedals. Thats the plan anyway.

So for now I will go burn some stress at the trail maintenance.

 

[rlb]

If he says F-off, then my wife and I need to find another house and be under contract by April 30th in order to collect that 8 K tax credit. I wont settle for a house i dont like for that 8K alone, but it will definitely be a factor.

Put it this way, the guy doesn't really have a choice....So it should work itself out. Maybe ask for $20k back to fix the septic system yourself? Might smooth out the process. Also, I'd be willing to suspect he knew about the septic issues if that was his reaction. Good luck!

My fiancee and I are going to look at a place today and likely putting in an offer. My realtor said the impending 8k credit deadline has things going a bit crazy right now. Which makes me worry about losing a place in between putting in the offer and going under contract. We want to furnish the house with that $$ but certainly don't want to settle. This has been a hard process already and we haven't even found a place that we are happy with. I can only imagine what it will be like once the real fun starts.

 

[rlb]

Try to make it work, at least you're under contract. According to my Realtor most homes he has recently prepared bids for are getting multiple offers. We put in an offer yesterday and just found out that there were two other offers as well. It's getting a bit competitive so starting from scratch is not going to be easy.

 

[pooriggy]

Maybe ask for $20k back to fix the septic system yourself?

At this point I think this is the best option. The owner is not going to take that kind of money out of his pocket to fix septic that may fail.
This is going to be a bargaining process. The homeowner may say I'll knock 10k off the price of house...be prepared to haggle.
You both want this deal. You want it asap to meet first time buyer deadline and I am assuming homeowner needs to close and move to where ever he is moving to. Try to work with homeowner, hopefully he'll knock some $$ off on the house and you can borrow more money with mortgage to finance an new septic.
Good luck with the house...once your in the hard part is over

 

[J-Dro]

Maybe ask for $20k back to fix the septic system yourself?

I would be very surprised if you could rebuild the septic system for less then $40K. When I was closing on my house, the perc test failed and the builder had to re-do the septic system in order to get a C of O. It cost him $35K and that was 17 years ago.

 

[djm]

You have until April 30th to get the house under contract but you have till the end of June to close, in order to qualify for the 8k tax credit. Just be sure to get a purchase contract signed and attach an addendum dealing with the terms of the septic repair at a later date. If you don't get your way with the septic just use one of the weasel clauses in the purchase contract to walk away. You have a few of those right?