I suspect that like many cyclists, I’ve never really spent much time thinking about how, or what, insurance would cover an incident should something serious happen to me on the bike. But a friend of mine, who happens to be a bike attorney here in Chicago, dropped some useful information in our cycling group chat the other day. All of which, was news to me. While I haven’t spent energy on the…
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November 2, 2020
Products I Do Not Understand: Aero Gravel Wheels
Accepting that I’m not an expert in aerodynamics, it’s quite possible that I’m wrong here (please be gentle, aerodynamic experts). That said, based on my lay understanding of wheel aerodynamics, I cannot see how (except in very limited circumstances) one would benefit aerodynamically from an “aero” gravel wheel. That’s not to say that there aren’t other benefits to a deeper wheel, CX racers will know that it’s quite common for so much…
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October 29, 2020
Advocating for Dual-Sided Power Meters
Single-sided power meters are far and away the most popular kind of power meter. There are a few reasons for that, but the biggest are that it’s cheaper and easier to do it that way. Buy a new crank arm with a power pod, and swap it for the left arm on your bike. Done. For an experienced mechanic, this should only take about five minutes. While that is cheap[er] and easy,…
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October 20, 2020
Not cool Strava, not cool at all…
I’m not sure when it happened, but Strava has silently changed the amount they plan to charge me come December from the $23.99 I agreed to auto-pay, to the $59.99 they are now charging for Live Segments + a bunch of rubbish. Legally they are allowed to do this sort of thing, but it’s still shifty AF to change the price by 2.5x and not the automatic opt-in. Clearly they have the…
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September 25, 2020
I tried Garmin, but the guys…
Yesterday my Garmin fēnix 6 was nagging me about the need for base, which of course I ignored. Hold up, not just because I didn’t want to, but because the Friday morning group ride is supposed to be slow, and laid back. So I figured that it would be easy to ride off the back in something that would approximate a base power output. That was not to be the case this…
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September 17, 2020
Resting heart rate as an indicator of relative stress
Like a lot of people, I track my resting heart rate (RHR) as an indicator of training stress. It’s hard to know whether to CRUSH IT, take a rest day, or get in the space between otherwise. It’s a real number that provides insight into what’s going on, well before I would otherwise notice. With the worst of it over (hopefully), I thought it would be interesting to explore the impact crashing,…
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September 8, 2020
The Revolt is Dead. Long Live the Revolt!
Thanks to everyone who suggested a replacement frame. Fortunately, things worked out really well on the Revolt front :).…
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August 21, 2020
I’ve been doing wound care wrong. My whole life.
Unfortunately, I picked up some lacerations, and stitches, in last night’s adventure, but fortunately the 182lb Pure Climber was there to let me know that I have been handling my wound care incorrectly. For as long as I’ve been self-managing my wound care. Maybe it’s just me, but I suspect not given 1) the host’s desire to discuss it 2) he specifically mentioned that some surgeons do it wrong 3) it’s what…
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August 21, 2020
Destroyed The Revolt Project Bike
Sad to say that the Revolt project bike is dead. I crashed it last night and bent the top and down tubes. Interestingly the front wheel appears totally unscathed. No time for sadness though; help me find the next gravel project bike!…
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August 14, 2020
Canyon Crash Replacement: is it worth it?
I’ve written before about my own experience as a 2nd-hand owner of a Canyon bike after breaking my frame, but I thought it would be interesting to document another story. This time, the story of someone who is actually covered by Canyon’s crash warranty. This is the story of a Local Apex Predator and his Canyon Ultimate CF SLX. Here goes. The damage in the photos below was caused when the fully…