Lactic Acid is good for you

WCUK talks about a recent article in Sports Medicine claims that

…the production of lactate should not be viewed as a negative facet of increasing exercise intensity. Every aspect of lactate production is beneficial.

Could it be that so many people got it wrong all these years? Possibly since these were the same people telling us to gorge ourselves on pasta and starches.

Elings Park Race – sept 2008

So my return to XC mountain bike racing proved triumphant. The weather was perfect for me – cool and foggy, there was no blazing sun to slow me down. Of course that meant no ocean views but c’est la vie.

This was my first race since 1996 – back then I was still racing junior and now I’m in the 30-34 age group! I registered as a beginner which meant 2 laps on a 6 mile course that I was intimately familiar with. Plus I was in the best shape of my life – over the last decade at least. All that lead to the big V – 1st place; 48:33 on the 12 mile course; 5+ minutes faster than my nearest rival. I was really sandbagging it apparently.

Next year I’ll upgrade to sport, err excuse me Cat 2, and race with the big dogs.

Here are a few good pics from the day:

After the race I hung out with Shaun, Andy, Jos and Kate. Checked out some Dual Slalom action and cheered on the Sport XC racers. Shaun even brought along some post race recovery beverage from Telegraph Brewing Company. A great time for all!

Finally a kick-ass pic of my buddy Paul Donohoe rounding the final corner of the XC downhill section:

Fargo – the post-revolution touring bike

Salsa Cycles new Fargo looks like one bad-ass touring bike. 29″ wheels, Steel Frame, Rack mounts, 6 waterbottle cages, disc brakes… this thing is built for the long haul.

This would be my one material indulgence if ever I had to live with all my possessions strapped to my bike (here in Santa Barbara this appears to be a popular hobby). Or as Jason puts it:

The Fargo will be just the bike we need to get around in after the revolutions that results from financial collapse, halted elections and a Republican “police state”.

Amen. In this time of strife, I think bikes may be the wisest place to invest our money!

What ever happened to bar ends?

Thumbing through my Mountain Flyer magazine I realized: You just don’t see many XC mountain bikers riding with bar ends these days.  Bar ends give you so much:

• extra hand position to reduce fatigue
• great leverage on the climbs (that out-of-the-saddle-and-on-the-hoods feeling carried over from road biking)
• personally I find an added sense of comfort having something to confine my hands and keep them from slipping off (a feeling carried over from the big grips of my BMX days)

And at what cost? 1/4 pound and slightly narrower grip position. Oh and you may have to think about compatibility with some carbon bars. But the benefits far outweigh the costs – IMHO. So why did bar ends fall out of style?

What gear is everyone else using? A neat survey..

I was curious what other folks around the world were running for their fixies/singlespeeds. Low and behold I found this great survey on gear ratios and the conditions under which people use them.

Retraining My Brain

I’ve been using old skool rapidfire shifters on my MTB for as long as I can remember (after the XT top mounts were discontinued ) so I have an ingrained habit of using my right thumb and left index finger to downshift.

Well my new XT rear rapidfire shifters have reversed that so index fingers downshift and thumbs upshift on both sides. Makes sense. But my 15 years of developed muscle memory run contrary to this new shifting scheme and, inevitably I’ve ended up throwing the bike into a hard gear right before a steep climb.

I assume eventually I’ll train myself to learn the new way of shifting. But for now I’m going to have to deal with mis-shifts; I figured I’ll make the best of it and use the ridiculously hard gear to hammer up hills for some strength training!

Post-Workout Recovery Drink Recipie

This works well for me, has about 50g of protein and 100g of high glycemic-index carbs. And it actually tastes pretty good.

• 1 bannana
• 1 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1 cup fruit juice
• 1 Tbsp Dextrose
• A pinch of ginger
• 2 scoops of whey protein isolate (I use Isopure apple-melon)
• 3/4 scoop of mild melon HEED
• ice cubes and about 2 cups water

Put it in a blender and go. It foams up to quite a big volume initially but, after settling, should be enough to fill a 32 oz Nalgene. Put it in a cooler and drink it right after your ride. Perfect.

Calculating Fixed Gear Speeds and RPMs

Just a little math tidbit for determining gear ratios on a fixed gear bike…

If you know RPMs and want to determine speed:

• SpeedMPH = RPM * FrontTeeth / RearTeeth * WheelDiameterInches * Pi * 60minperhour / 63360inpermile

Which factors out to:

• SpeedMPH = RPM * FrontTeet / ReadTeeth * WheelDiameterInches * 0.002975

Or if you know speed and want to see how fast your legs will spin:

• RPM = SpeedMPH / (FrontTeet / ReadTeeth * WheelDiameterInches * 0.002975)

As an example, lets say I have a 48×16 fixie with 26.5 inch diameter wheels. Spinning at 100 RPMs will put me at:

• SpeedMPH = 100 * 48 / 16 * 26.5 * 0.002975 = 23.65 MPH

And if I’m cruising down a hill at 30 MPH, how fast are my legs going?

• RPM = 30 / (48 / 16 * 26.5 * 0.002975) = 126.84 RPM

First Impressions on the Mamasita

The Mamasita is different in so many ways from my previous ride (a Specialized FSR XC Pro) that its hard to say exactly what is responsible for the difference in ride quality. But I can honestly say that the Mamasita is the sweetest bike I’ve ridden in almost every way.
First lets look at the old vs the new:

• The FSR is a 30.5 lb, 100mm/4″ travel full suspension with mid-level components, heavy 26″ wheels and tubed tires.
• The Mamasita is a 24 lb, 80mm front travel, scandium/carbon hardtail with lightweight 29″ wheels (Stans rims, white bros/ american classic hubs)  and tubeless tires (Bontranger).

Between the 29″ wheels, the tubeless tires @ 30 psi, the carbon seatstays and the ti seatpost, there was a surprisingly cushy feel over light to moderatly bumpy/rocky/rutted sections. Many mildly rough sections of trail would normaly bounce me around, slow down my FSR and suck my momentum. But the Mamasita rolls right over it like it was pavement.  But make no mistake – this is a hardtail and any big hits will remind you of that in a big way. Finesse, attention to lines and top notch handling skills will help if you’re piloting this down technical downhills.

The traditional 29er complaints were not noticable to me. First I was able to handle switchbacks with the same ease as my 26ers.  It requires a slight change in technique but I see no reason why a 29er wouldn’t be able to make a tight turn as well as a smaller wheel. The steep headtube angle on the Mamasita helps out alot with this – turning is snappy and responsive and a few winding corkscrew sections of the course felt a lot quicker on this rig.

Second 29er complaint, slower acceleration, was not an issue at all. Probably because I’m on a lighter hardtail with lighter wheels but acceleration felt just as snappy as other 26ers to me. Starting from a dead start does require a little bit more push but if you’re stopping that often, you’re doing it wrong.

On pavement and hardpack I noticed much less rolling resistance with the 29er tubeless tires. Not quite road-bike smooth but a heck of a lot smoother than other tubed tires I’ve tried on other 26ers. And the tires dug into the dirt spectacularly. I could lean harder into hardpack and sandy corners and hold a line. Again, I’m not sure if all this nice wheel feel is due to the tires, the tubeless thing, or the 29er thing but whatever it is, it works.

What can I say – The frame is awesome. The Mamasita’s geometry, as I mentioned before, is pretty steep which is great if you are an aggressive rider who is actively engaged in handling the bike. The frame is so laterally stiff and the advantages of its geometry and hardtail-ness are readily apparent when you stand up to stomp on the pedals. It is mega stiff and transmits power to the wheel like its a track bike. It can easily do the steady sit-n-spin type effort but the Mamasita begs to be riden aggressively. It responds to every bit of effort you put forth and the 29″ wheels make sure you keep that momentum.

In short the Mamasita seems like the ulitmate race frame. We’ll have to see how comfy she is for epic rides. I experienced none of the supposed shortcomings of the 29er format while experiencing all the benefits. One of these days I may want a little more cush and will return to the full-suspension madness but for now the Mamasita (and 29ers in general) seem to match my style perfectly.

The endless search for Reba perfection

Shocks have come a long way. My original Manitou Suspension fork in 1991 had one point of adjustment – pick the elastomer color/density that was right for your weight.
In contrast, the Reba SL 29er fork has 5+ points of adjustment, any of which become hot topics of conversation in the forums. Before reading the opinions of the masses, read the official manual. For my weight and riding style (190 lbs, aggressive XC) these settings seem to work pretty well:

• Positive Air : 130 psi (left-side fork crown)
• Negative Air : 120 psi (bottom of left leg)
• Flood Gate Valve : almost closed (2.5mm beneath golden cap, right-side crown)
• Rebound : 1 turn away from full fast, aka “rabbit” (red knob, bottom of right leg)
• Compression : On-the-fly, full locked on smooth climbs, full open in other cases. (Blue knob, right crown)

I’m sure I’ll tweak it around a bit more as I ride some other types of terrain and get a better feel for it.