The bike rides great. It’s a crazy thing knowing that I built the wheels that I’m rolling on. It was my first set, and since then I’ve done three more. The tires are really comfy, almost too comfy. They have a limit of 50psi so sometimes they feel like they are losing air, but it’s just the way they are.

So the things that didn’t work out are the front brake, front rack and shifters. I thought that the front brake would work, but it was too short for the 650b rims. The rack is made to work on the front brake, so you can see where this is going. So I had to change the front center-pull front brake for a side pull. Not a big deal. I also have to order a different front rack to mount the hold the Rando bag.

Also, I ended up back with friction shifters. For some reason the bike wasn’t shifting right with the bar ends, so we went with downtube shifters instead. I’m fine with that, as that was how I was imagining the bike when I was first thinking about the build. It does take a little getting used to, but it’s mostly the reach. It feels much farther reaching to the downtube than I thought it would. I think friction shifting is the new fixed gear, or at least that’s what I’m going with.

For my ride to work I threw on my rear bag from Carousel Design Works. It’s a surprisingly huge bag. I threw my change of clothes in there for the ride in. Then, I rode out to a mexican restaurant for lunch, and threw a whole burrito plate in there. Nice!

So there are still some things left to do. The lights can’t go on until the rack arrives. Then they still need to be wired up. The fenders are still to be ordered, but those should come around the same time as the rack. Also, the tires should be on their way soon. The tires that are mounted right now are just too slow for a brevet. They will be great for some mixed terrain rides though. I think this bike will fit in with the Rough Riders perfectly.

I plan to ride the Kogswell at least one more day this week, but then it’s time to prep for the 400k. Now I have to decide which bike I’ll ride for the 400k, as I was planning to ride the Kogswell. Tomorrow I’ll post the route, it’s crazy.

I used my normal mixtures of Heed and Perpetuem. One bottle of Heed and the other of Perpetuem. I mixed in 2 scoops of water in my 21oz bottle of Perpetuem, which is about 270 calories. I packed two extra bags of Perpetuem, with two measured scoops in each bag. So I was carrying another 540 calories in powder form. Over the course of the day I only used one of my bags of Perpetuem. I should’ve used both extra bags, instead of just the one. Even that might not have been enough though. As it was, I only consumed about 500 calories of Perpetuem over 10 hours of riding. I also had two packs of salted cashews, and a bottle of chocolate milk. So that’s only about another 410 calories. According to my Heart rate monitor, which may or may not be accurate, I burned 6,300 calories. That’s a lot more going out than was coming in. If you’re to believe the HR monitor I had a deficit of 5,300 calories.

Now I’ve gone from using too much Perpetuem, to using too little. I think I have a better understanding now of how much I need, just about two scoops every one to one and a half hours. So for the 400k that’s what I’m going to plan for. I think that this will work better, along with some chocolate milk and nuts at the stops. Also, eat some breakfast!

I’m learning that it takes some time to find out what works best for each individual. What works for one person may not work for you. Most of the randonneurs have gone through their learning curves so they have a good understanding on how to fuel themselves. I’ve got a better understanding on my fueling now, and I’m hoping that it will work well for me in a couple of weeks.

I was planning to ride the permanent solo, but luckily Jack was able to join me. I really enjoyed our conversation on the ride and I learned a lot from him. I’m trying to lay out my own permanent and know I have a better understanding on the finer points to doing so. Now, about the ride.

As you can see from the map below, we covered a lot of ground. I was on my bike in far away places that I’ve dreaded driving too! One of the highlights was riding by the Mission Inn in the city of Riverside and seeing the old craftsman homes. At one point I realized that we were right near my sister’s old apartment in Corona. From there we made our way all the way back to my home town of Covina. It’s a funny thing when riding distances like these. The world seems to get smaller and smaller. Now, just about everything is within pedaling distance.

Overall, I didn’t feel as strong as I’d hoped I would. Within the first 15 minutes I flatted after getting some glass in my tire. Luckily I brought along a spare tire with me, so I changed the tire and tube for good measure and was rolling again in about 12 minutes. Later on, Jack would flat as well, but his happened right at a control, so we didn’t lose any time at all. I was focused on keeping my cadence up, which I did, but my power was down. Looking back I realize now that I didn’t take in enough calories throughout the day. I was about a couple thousand calories down by the end of the day, maybe even more.

I have a good idea on what to change in terms of fueling, and I think I’ll have a good handle on it just in time for the 400k. It’s getting closer now, only two more weeks!

On another positive note, the 2010 results are out for the first half of the year. I’ve ridden enough to qualify for the RUSA 1000k award. Once I complete the 400k and 600k, I’ll move up to the 2000k award. Pretty awesome.

So since I need a new one, anyone got any recommendations for a decent helmet? Also, how long do your helmets tend to last? About the same time, or more?

I told Bruce about the campout and he was in, so we planned a route that would include a dirt climb in true Rough Riders style. We both were on our road bikes, Bruce on his Rivendell Bleriot and me on my trusty Surly Long Haul Trucker. We got a couple of weird looks from people, but that made it all the better. Here’s our route.

My goal was to pack as light as possible and it worked out well. The LHT with my overnight gear weighed about the same as when it’s in full commute mode. I only packed a bivy, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, shorts, trail mix, toiletries and a windbreaker. Pretty simple. Everything except the sleeping pad fit in the 2 small panniers on the back. The panniers that I used are really front panniers, and I have a set of the larger rear panniers. I can’t even imagine how much stuff you could carry if you used those.

I’ll just post a few of my favorite pics, but you can see all of them here.

The man with the plan, Chris from Topanga Creek Bicycles

Past being replaced with the future.

The weekend was a great success, and we’ve already started discussing future trips. My LHT performed flawlessly and my gear selection worked out well. I’m looking forward to getting out again, hopefully after the temps drop. It’ll be nice to have a fire and a cup of tea to relax with. Thanks to Chris, Scott and Eric for setting up this campout.

This ride will be a test of many things. Fitness, gear, toughness and relationships. Yeah, relationships. Serbrina has been the most supportive spouse in whatever path I’ve gone down. However, I think I found her limit the other day. October is when the Super Randonneur series finishes up with the 600k. It’s also when this epic ride will be taking place. I’ve gotten blessing to do all these rides, but once they are done, I need to scale them back. I’ve got rides planned on 3 of the 4 weekends in October and that’s our anniversary month. If you’ve been reading this blog you’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not too bright. If you just reading today, I’ll save you some time. I’M NOT TOO BRIGHT!

So now I’m starting to consider putting off the SR series until next year. There will be many events for the people planning to ride the Paris-Brest-Paris Brevet in August. Sadly though, I won’t be going. I’ve decided that the cost/timing is just too much. I have a hiatus for work every summer, and the PBP is right when I would be starting up work again. I hope to be there in 2015 though. So then what is all this training for? Has it been wasted? Hellz no! More will come about that soon. I’ve got a few things to work out still. I got a good fortune cookie yesterday, so I’m feeling pretty good about that right now.

This summer I really started to think about future life plans. It really hit home when followed a link on Patagonia’s twitter feed. It was about a documentary about the characters from Ed Abbey’s “The Monkey Wrench Gang”. Ed Abbey is my favorite author and when I was much younger I saw myself living a simple life like him. Driving though the desert in a beat up old truck with some whiskey and a six shooter in the glove box. Sounds great doesn’t it? Sadly, I’ve gone in the complete opposite direction, owning (or trying to anyways) a home, cars, motorcycles etc. Reliant on a job (glad I have one right now) and tied to an area for work (Hollywood). Serbrina and I would both like to live somewhere else, but I don’t know where to begin. How to get out from under this, and what would I do for work? All I know is Hollywood. I’ve worked in the Entertainment Industry since high school. And like I said before, I’m not too bright. I need to make a change though. Just not sure what’s out on the horizon. It seems so damn far away.