My Laziness May Be My Downfall

I have to admit that I haven't been riding as much as I should lately. I can make excuses like work has been busy and family obligations are needing more of my time than usual but the honest truth is it is freaking HOT! The weather in New Orleans has been down-right oppressive.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a morning person. I do not wake up early unless I absolutely have to. Because of that character flaw, the temp outside is usually in the mid-90s by the time I get up with a heat index well over 100. Add to that the general steaminess of the oh-so-humid climate and it can feel like you are sitting in a pot of boiling water with the sun only inches from your head. I am getting older and with each passing year, my ability to tolerate the heat diminishes.

A friend of mine somehow managed to convince me to wake up in time to go on a group ride recently. The rest of the group are morning people. The weather was tolerable, not comfortable but really close. Not being accustomed to the morning sun, I didn't even think to apply sunscreen. Luckily the burn quickly faded to a nice tan but the tan lines... Wow.

The ride itself was great. We had several more experienced riders and two relative newbies. We elected to go at a pace that permitted most of us to have a pleasant conversation while also allowing the new-comers the ability to stay with the pack. All-in-all, it really was a great relaxing ride.

The one caveat I have to throw in there is that I experienced my first tire puncture since 1995. The unbeaten tire streak has ended.

Since the heat does not appear to be going away any time in the near future, I am beginning to think that I may need to take up night riding (at least until my stamina for the heat improves). I checked my lights and everything appears to be in order. The other option is finding a route that has at least some shade. Either way I just need to get off my lazy ass and ride.

Toe Numbness

This weekend I took a ride along my usual route of the south shore lake trail. In order to adequately describe the situation, I have to back up to earlier that morning. My aunt and uncle were in town for a concert the night before and I had met them at Cafe Du Monde for some coffee and beignets (fried squares of dough, think french donut covered in a pound of powdered sugar). This was what constituted the entirety of my breakfast that day. Let me just say this as clearly as possible, beignets are not the breakfast of champions...

I started my ride with a warm up to the trail. Once on the trail, I picked up the pace and maintained a cruising speed of about 15 mph. For the first 6 miles of the ride, I regretted my decision to have beignets. The powered sugar and grease had formed some sort of unholy alliance in my stomach and made me feel as though I was carrying a 20 pound baby made of bricks. As the miles wore on, my speed steadily decreased.

Luckily, about 4.5 miles into the ride, I was passed by two guys riding at a pace I hoped to maintain (one on a Scott and the other on a Schwinn Le Tour). I snuck in behind them and resolved to stay with them no matter what. For the next two miles, my mind was distracted by the desire not to drop off my new unofficial pack. At 6.5 miles, we came to the end of the trail and the pair road off. I, however, was not done. I turned around and began the journey to the other end of the trail.

I had only ridden another two miles when I experienced something I had never felt before while riding. As I neared the 9 mile mark, my toes on both feet went completely numb. I adjusted the straps on my shoes hoping the increased blood flow would resolve the issue but the problem persisted. Around this same time, my chain started to jump between gears with every shift. Every downshift would provide one full revolution of the crank in the proper gear then the chain would begin to slip between the higher gear selected and the lower gear I had just left. I continued on for a quarter of a mile to diagnose exactly what was wrong, figuring that I must have knocked something out of alignment when I services my chain before the ride.

I was forced to stop and adjust the rear derailleur. Luckily this solved two problems: First, the derailleur was fixed and I could continue the ride with smooth pedal strokes. Second, my toe numbness went away. I was only off the bike for two or three minutes but the feeling in my toes had returned and the problem never returned throughout the rest of the ride.

I continued to the opposite end of the trail and then rode back to my entry point and ultimately home. In just over 30 miles of riding, I had experienced more nuisances than I ever had before in an entire week of riding. That said, I still got to spend some quality time on my bike, with my thoughts, and enjoying what the day had to offer me.

One last note in regards to this report: The Bontrager Fusion Gel gloves that I have been using will soon find that they have been replaced. I have made every adjustment possible to my hand position and the contact point of my hands on the bike. There is simply no way to make these gloves comfortable. I may soon find myself reverting back to Pearl Izumi Gels or Specialized BG gloves but Bontrager gloves will no longer be a part of my cycling equipment. Ultimately, the shotty quality and padding design cannot be overcome. These gloves have the least effective padding of any gloves I have ever tried. Those who know me or are regular readers of this blog know that I love my Bontrager Privateer and therefore want to give the benefit of the doubt to anything with that name (yes, I know it is now a marketing tool only but a little willful disbelief never hurt anyone). That said, there is no excuse for these gloves...

New Orleans to Build a Rails-to-Trails Project in Urban Center

Recently, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling regarding the ownership of the land used for some of the existing Rails-to-Trails projects. While that dealt a fearful blow to those of us that enjoy biking on those trails, it was not a death blow by any means.

New Orleans, not a city typically known for forward thinking, is about to begin construction on a greenway through its urban center. Within the next week, crews will begin construction on a 12 foot wide, 2.6 mile long mixed use trail leading from the French Quarter to New Orleans City Park. The project, named the Lafitte Greenway Corridor, will use an abandoned railway corridor.

The city plans to make this pathway a destination of its own. Lining the path will be over 500 new trees as well as multi sport grass fields. The area through which the trail will lead should expect a dramatic increase in visitors.

Essentially, the trail is shaping up to be a long narrow park between New Orleans two largest playgrounds, the French Quarter and City Park. City Park, for those of you not familiar with New Orleans, is the largest urban park in the country. Larger in acreage than even Central Park in New York.

After the damage caused to the park by Hurricane Katrina, the city invested a great deal of resources into cleaning up the park and creating a new infrastructure within the park to provide better services. New trails were established and new services as well. One invasive species, feral pigs, was removed from the park but another, the Rio Grande Cichlid has continued to flourish. Visitors to New Orleans now have a designated path from their hotels in the French Quarter directly to the park to help combat this destructive species.

The path will also run by Bayou St. John which has been incorporated into the City Park structure. The bayou has recently undergone its own transformation with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers removing the flood wall separating it from Lake Pontchartrain. In doing so, the water has become more hospitable to aquatic life and the fish population has boomed. Bayou St. John is frequent favorite area for paddle sports and fishing. There are also several festivals that take place on its banks annually. This new pathway should serve to increase the attendance at those events.

If you get hungry riding the path, stop by the Parkway Tavern and Bakery for the best damn Po-Boy sandwich you will ever have. Seriously, try the shrimp. It is amazing!

It May Be Time For A New Cockpit

Lately I have been toying with the idea of swapping out the handlebar and stem on my Bontrager. The original bar, Bontrager Race, is 560mm wide with a 5 degree bend. It is a flat bar with no rise whatsoever. Although it has served me well over the past 18 years, I am becoming increasingly sensitive to pain and numbness in my hands.

The stem is a relatively new Soma Shotwell in 100mm. There is also an additional issue of a growing awareness of the amount of weight over the front wheel. This has become much more pronounced since switching to a rigid fork. This will likely necessitate a swap to a shorter stem to move some of my body weight back.

When I purchased the Bontrager in '96, 25.4mm was the industry standard for clamp diameter on handlebars and stems. Since that time, the standard has changed to 31.8mm. Because of this, I feel it would be easier to simply swap both which would allow for a greater choice in which bar and which stem instead of restricting me to the antiquated 25.4mm clamp size.

Now comes the task of choosing a new cockpit. Handlebars come in flat, low rise, medium rise, and high rise, all of which are available with varying degrees of upsweep and backsweep. Alternative bars are also available with bend configurations that seem initially more stylish than functional. Lengths are typically longer than my admittedly narrow 560mm, ranging upwards of 700mm and longer. While aluminum is still the material of choice, carbon fiber handlebars have entered into the realm of affordability.

My initial thoughts are an 80mm stem with 6 degrees of rise paired with a 650mm low rise handlebar. This combination seems like it would bring the bar up and back, thereby relieving some of the pressure on my hands while not drastically altering the handling of the bike. I still have no idea whether I will go with aluminum or carbon.

This is going to be a process of trial and error. I suspect it may be a while until I am able to settle on a combination that fits my needs. Until that time, I will keep you informed of my progress as long as you agree to make some suggestions along the way (I do not want to get lost in a sea of choices).