Don’t know how Lewiston compares, but the Bike Nazi brings his irascible tone to Boise Valley air quality. I’m worried about your health, Steve. –Corrie

Air Trouble!

Our local air deteriorated in a meaningful way last year.

Specifically, we had 120 “yellow-alert” days, 10 “orange-alert” days, and 1 “red-alert” day. A total of 131 bad-air days (36% of the total).

That compares with 77 in 2006, 58 in 2005, and 48 in 2004. Far as I know, that “red-alert” day, which occurred in July, is the first on record.

I thought I had posted this a week ago, but I guess not. So here’s Soctt’s take on the cause of my avulsion fracture. Update: I get x-rays on Monday, see the doctor on Tuesday, hope to be riding, slow, flat easy from Swallows Nest to Asotin and back by the end of the next week. Could be too optimistic, though. Foot’s still swollen. Can’t put a shoe on it yet.–Corrie

Cause of fracture revealed!

I stood on my right foot, left foot bare, poised to step. In my left hand a DVD, in my right, the remote. The DVD player’s only six feet away. A rocking chair is only two steps, yet I cannot put that left foot down. It just won’t budge.

A week after the avulsion fracture on my left foot, though I feel improvement each day, its still slow.

Scott revealed his theory on why my fracture occured. I asked for permission to share it, but in the absence of permission I’m going ahead. Its just too good a story. Not as good as Scott’s pants story, but a good story anyway.

One of the first things Doug told me as we left Lewiston in the RV was that I should beware of the Trost Curse of Three. I had ridden with Scott once last summer and twice before this trip. I was due for the curse to hit.

Doug reported the wives of Scott’s coworkers wouldn’t allow their husbands to come out to play with Scott. And he recited a litany of evidence which I promptly forgot as I also did the curse. Part of the working of the curse must be this fogging of the memory.

Here’s Scott’s explanation . .

Corrie,lol… Before you inflate your chest too far with the idea of the strength of your legs… (yes fracturing your foot with that kind of power is impressive). I think perhaps I should float another theory as to the ultimate cause of your injury… There are some among us (myself not included) who would claim that you have just fallen victim to the Trost rule of three’s….. I personally put no stake in this theory and consider it to be pure hogwash… but there are those who would chalk up your injury to it being the third event type of outing with me this year… If my count is correct… We had 1: The reverse lapwai loop 2: The death valley ride.. and than 3: the standard lapwai loop where you suffered your fracturing event… On the bright side…. the Trost curse only seems to strike an individual once a year…. So once you heal up from this curse event… you should be immune to the curse…. at least per the current theory on this curse… more research might be needed….

Now, I’m a hard-headed rationalist when it comes to this sort of superstition. Oh, I admit to being a little nervous when I hear creaks in the night and I would never go down those dark stairs into the basement like the girl in the horror movies always stupidly does–but then I did go out with dangerous folk. Maybe . . .

In the mean time, I sat back down and put the boot back on. The DVD, Jodie Foster’s Brave One is pretty violent but really gets to that “we’d all be safer if everyone was packing heat” debate.

For whatever reason, my ride’s still the Lazy Boy.

Corrie

Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds. First you’ve got to take the Road I course. I’ve been interested in this since I saw a course offered in Spokane a couple of years ago. I expected one would be offered the following year but if it was, I missed it.

The League of American Cyclists present a number of courses around the nation as well as League Certification Seminars. Taking Road I won’t certify me and I might like to take other courses if I can find them within reasonable distance before taking the certification Seminar. This Road I course will focus on Commuter skills in conjunction with Bike to Work Month activities in Spokane.

Road I takes place in Spokane on Tuesday, May 6, from 4?30 to 8 in the evening and again on Saturday, the 10th from 10 to 4pm.

This program is highly thought of. I’d hesitate to speak authoritatively without this training.

Let’s consider sending several of us up for the course. Information is available at Road I cours.

Just when I thought it was safe to use MapmyRide to keep track of my mileage, Cyclist Nexus sent me an update so I’ve got to go play with their gps import. MapMyRide doesn’t always get my Garmin mileage corrrect. Now this guy makes me take another look at Excel. Remember Steve has his 2008 Excel spreadsheet all prepped and ready for your new cycling season. See my reviews and down load Steve’s spreadsheet over at the Journal page. Follow the tips below to make it give you nice glitzy charts too. –Corrie

I am guilty of being a dork concerning a great many things. Bikes are at the forefront of my dorkiness but my obsession with Microsoft Excel is at the top of the list as well. So why not combine the two? If you are a hardcore Excel user, skip all the text and just look at the pictures and you’ll get the point. If you only have cursory knowledge of Excel, this entry should give you the basics to get started.

Read more about using Excel to track your mileage 

Linda, Carol and Jen are working on coming up with safety projects that we can reasonably manage. Carol created the Helmet flyer that I posted yesterday. I thought those ladies might appreciate a second mention and doay’s three safety posts. –Corrie

Bike Mom Leads Safety Program

HBL Members doing great things

HBL’s 2007 Advocacy Volunteer of The Year winner Natalie Iwasa had a wonderful write-up recently in the Honolulu Advertiser. She was featured promoting the Bicycle School Bus program in Hawaii Kai. Natalie has started this program and is looking for students in the area that want to ride to school as well as adult volunteers to help out with the project. If you want to help with the Bicycle School Bus in Hawaii Kai, or want to start a Bicycle School Bus in your neighborhood, please contact Natalie at the-green-one@hawaii.rr.com

Yes, there’s a nice new spring time/St. Pat’s green tinge on all the pages now. Please do not adjust your monitors.

Look closely and you’ll see that the search button has moved up into the menu bar which has actually gotten shorter.

You’ll also find the balance sheet under the business menu where it belongs. I sent out the link earlier but changing the menu means updating all the pages.

I also got an email from Cylistnexus They want us to take another look at their journal/map site.

When I posted that page this site was interesting but didn’t work well. All its features weren’t implemented. So, I’ve updated the chart and added a link to a pdf of features they sent me.

It really does merit revisiting.

I’ve moved completelly away from the palm device I was using mostly just to as a mileage log. I like MapMyFitness better than BikeJournal which Doug continues to use. Cyclistnesxus looks very much like MapMyFitness. One problem I’m having with MapMyFitness is that when I import my routes directly from the GPS rather than hand entering them, the mileage isn’t correct. Never off by much but off. Its not the GPS. The training Center software gets it right.

–Corrie

 You’ve heard of dog sledding in Alaska, but did you know this was going on right now?–Corrie

Four-legged bane of Trans-American bicycle tourers? Dogs. Four-legged bane of Iditarod snow bikers? Moose.

The Human-powered Iditarod got underway in 10-degree temperatures on Sunday, and racers snow-biking the route have reported problems with moose along the trail, especially one particularly aggressive female moose.

Meanwhile, Jill Homer, whose Up in Alaska blog is one of the most popular bicycling blogs on the Internet, is posting good enough times to be on pace for a record-setting 350-mile ride into McGrath.

Read the rest of the story 

Part of my costume in the remake of Robocop?

Trek’s new Jet Boot 7000?

The latest in fetish wear?

Those of you who have spent any time in the bowels of the beast (St. Joe’s) having X-rays may know that this is a “Walking Boot.” Actually “walking” is too generous. Hopping is more accurate. It effectively keeps the left foot from bending. Since I also can’t put weight on the left foot, I’m reduced to hopping on the right. What fun!

This time Last week. I was finishing up my Death Valley Adventure. Today, its an adventure just getting from the Lazy Boy to the kitchen.

Somewhere between Southway Boat Launch and Lapwai I experienced an avulsion fracture.

Wikipedia says “Highly trained athletes can overcome this neurological inhibition of strength and produce a much greater force output capable of breaking or avulsing a bone.” Wow, what a man I am. I’m stronger than my own bones.

I felt nothing on the bike, but when I dismounted to go into the grocery at Lapwai, I found myself limping severely on the left foot. Back on the bike, I felt fine and continued to Kendrick, even finishing a century.

The foot was sore on Sunday but by 12, it felt good enough to try to ride. We kept it easy and the foot felt almost normal afterword. Monday, it rained and I did nothing. The foot was more sore but I only walked about in the house. I figured it just hadn’t been warmed up. On Tuesday I had a CAC meeting on the Pedestrian Trail. I could force myself to walk pretty normaly by the time I got in from the parking lot–though it did hurt.

At home, though, after sitting for half an hour applying ice, I found I could put little or no weight on the foot. Linda took me to the ER at St. Joe’s. I am happy to report they were considerably more efficient then when I took Linda there last summer.

And for a prize, this boot is all I got. Not even a prescription. We may have to look into that, though. Ibuprofen wasn’t cutting it yesterday. At bed time I took a hydrocordone tablet left over from Linda’s prescription last summer. Yeah, I know. Don’t say it.

That got me through the night, but I found out this morning, hydrocordone must be taken withs food. After taking another tablet, I became nauseous trying to sit up and write this. Linda had gone for a run and so missed the show of me lying on the floor trying to shake off the nausea dripping with sweat.

I mounted an assault on the kitchen for food and after brief respites on the couch to recover from the effort, I managed to get everything together for cereal. Those rolly kitchen chairs are great for making quick trips to the refrigerator. The bananas seemed hopelessly far away but proved no challenge since I could lean on the table to get to them.

I’m sure Scott would love the pain and say “it’s all part of the adventure.”

Deliver me from dangerous people.

Ground Hogs Day came late this year.

I’m looking at two weeks of walking cast, more x-rays, and six weeks of recovery if I’m a good little cyclists and stay the hell off my bike. What are the odds of that happening? Well, right now they look pretty good.

Corrie

Jim McCracken would like to group to do Cycle Yellowstone:
I’d be interested in considering this ride if we could get a group together.
The 11th Annual Spring Cycle Tour is scheduled for May 10, 2008. The tour - around what locals call “the block” - is 64 miles long. It’s a challenging early season ride but the scenery is gorgeous and we do our best to make sure that everyone has an enjoyable day.

Read more about it:

http://www.cycleyellowstone.com/spritour.html

A Guide to Individual Events in Olympic Track Bicycle Racing

Going back more than 100 years, track bike racing has long enjoyed a passionate following since the first world championships were held in 1895. That tradition continues in the 2008 Olympics, which offers a total of ten different track racing events, the most of any of the cycling disciplines.

Read the guide

Italian Paolo Bettini won the road race in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

(c) USA Cycling

How to Earn a Spot in the Road Bike Race at the 2008 Olympics

From David Fiedler,
Your Guide to Bicycling.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Your Path to Glory: Making the Team in the 2008 Olympic Road Bike Race

Competing in the Olympics is a dream for many athletes, and that’s no exception for road bike racers. Here’s how the selection process works to pick the cyclists who will ride in Beijing Summer Olympics road bike race, and what you need to do to claim your place among them.

Picking the Competitors - Road Race

 Read the rest of the story

No, I can spell. And it’s pronounced Trike.

John Vanderschalie, yeah, I know he’s a runner, just showed up at the Seaport Strider’s Saturday run with one of these. I’ve seen trikes before but not like this.

Once you stop laughing, this looks like it might be fun. Video on the Trikke site and shots of this rig on snowy slopes.

Could John be thinking about 30 years of pounding on his knees? –Corrie

I’ve added two new pages under the links menu for Journals and Maps.

Doug and I have been using BikeJournal.com for about a week. It is a nice journal at this point but doesn’t seem to do a good job with mapping. Way back last summer when I created the maps on the favorites pages,I used Bikely after having already looked at MapMyRide and a couple of others. None of these sites had my favorite feature at that time.

My favorite feature: Auto-route or snap-to-road allows you to tell the software to just follow the road. It reduces the number of clicks you have to make to get around corners. I wish I’d had that when I did routes of Winchester and Spiral grades. Of course now all the sites have that same tool. Well, all except BikeJournal.com.

Journals: brief reviews and links to journal sites and software including Steve’s spreadsheet which is arguably still the simplest and best tool.

Mapping: This is a cool tool for sharing rides. Auto-route would probably have saved me many hours last summer.

My conclusion: I like MapMyRide best overall and it is free though registration is required. It is flexible about how you enter your data. Instead of getting upset because you don’t already have a map for the route you just rode, it lets you enter a description and get on with your log and life. If you prefer you can start by creating the map–easy with auto-route–and then save it to your training log with distance already filled in. Hint: Make sure you tweak your map so it shows the same distance as your computer.

–Corrie

These cyclists are just squirrels riding in place but wait? What are those cables running along the floor? I’ll bet they are having their power generation monitored and recorded by a computer. No? What’s that you say? They are providing power for the computer? I’ve heard of distributed computing, but this is ridiculous. Don’t miss the video that explains it all. –CorrieMIT Cyclists Set Record for Pedal-Powered Supercomputing

A team of 10 cyclists from MIT have set a new world record in the field of Human Powered Computation (HPC) by drawing 1.2 kilowatts of electricity and powering a a SiCortex SC648 supercomputer over the course of a 20 minute nonstop ride. If you recall, SiCortex pulled a similar stunt with another group of bikers at this year’s NextFest. The original idea came in response to Google’s “Innovate or Die” contest that challenges contestants to use pedal power to develop a “zero emission invention.” More info and a video after the break.

Just in case you can get out on a bike . . . Indoor Cross Training for Improved Climbing

Climbs like this can be made easier with preparation indoors.

By Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D.
For Active.com

While speaking at a recent training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, an off-road cyclist wanted to know if working out on a stair climber would be a good cross-training tool to exercise on during the off-season.

I was quick to tell him that a key training concept for athletes to remember is specificity of training. In other words, if you want to be a swimmer, swim; if you want to be a runner, run; and if you want to be a good climber in cycling then climb on your bike.