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Anyone who has run a marathon, cycled a long race, or camped in the woods for 10 days will tell you wet wipes are the bang! Wet wipes are small, moist, antiseptic squares of civilization. Crohn’s/Colitis makes them an essential piece of gear for any run or ride over two hours. Further, when on long wilderness trips, a good moist towelette will make you feel like the king of England even while being eaten alive by mosquitoes on a bear infested island on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Action Wipes are the evolved offspring of your garden variety wet wipe. For athletes the enticing aroma of eucalyptus and tea tree oil, might be enough. The fact that they are bigger, and more resilient should really sell you.

They claim they are great for cleaning off saltwater after surfing. We freshy’s don’t worry about that. But obviously they have other uses.

I discovered this product via Bike Skirt’s Blog. Credit should go where credit is due. The Action Wipes product review is worth reading there as well.

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2nd Annual Ubeercross Epic Cyclocross Ride

Jason Roon sent me the flyer for the October 18th 2008 Ride. This year we are starting at Founders at 11:00 AM and riding to Bell’s. Whew that’s convenient for Kazoo crowd! Last year we took a long time, somewhere around 6 hours, but we were playing in the mud for at least two hours. I would plan on at least 4 hours ride.

Last year was truly epic. We had beautiful weather, plenty of mud, and 40 miles of trail. Though 60+ miles in total it was the best time I’d had on a bike ever.

My report from last year tells a gruesome tale of mud, fun, and beer, if that doesn’t sell you I don’t know what will.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Ubeercross PDF Flyer

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Folding bikes are really handy. I can imagine the boredom and sedentary waiting around for the show to start would probably make me a bit crazy. A pair of running shoes would most likely be my refuge of choice because it’s portable. But a folding bike would be ideal. Brompton is making a few different models. I imagine they would make a great city commuter where you had limited storage space in the office.

These Brompton Bikes really come in handy when you are traveling the world as an international rock tour de force. That was said with irony by the way. The goofy lads in Sigur Ros have a reputation for backstage antics that get them hurt. See if you can spot the jump where Jonsi (guy in striped shirt) hits his nuts on the jump.

We also saw Sigur Ros in Detroit on tuesday, show report coming soon.

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Will Cycling’s Most Favored Son take on Cyclocross?

I am not much of a celebrity hound. I never really followed the Tour de France. I occasionally read Velo News. But I typically spend more time reading about cycle commuting than I do about competitive professional cycling. Last month Lance Armstrong announced to the not so shocked world that he would return to the world of competitive cycling. Ok-that didn’t floor me. Professional athletes retiring and un-retiring is old news. However when I saw the link title from Velo News Armstrong tackling ‘cross? Trebon can’t wait, I thought this might be worth watching.

Armstrong took second in the Leadville 100. A one hundred mile mountain bike race is certainly a feat of endurance. Cyclocross season is gearing up. And a balls to the walls sprint for under an hour in the mud is not the same as a tour stage climb, or a mountain bike race. Cyclocross almost has it’s own specialty type of athlete and most of the racers do mountain bike races as well. But almost none are competing in road biking events and cyclocross.

I have nothing against Lance, but for the sport of cyclocross, (which is pretty much the coolest thing since well…chariot races) I hope the Kona team does hand his ass to him. It would be great for the sport to have a big name come out and do a few races, and for the world to see the true warriors of the holy cross shine. Then again Lance does seem to be superhuman and maybe he can take the punishment.

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Yakkay Fashionable Bicycling Helmet Covers for Women

Sick of looking like a cycling dork?

Try one of these bad boys for girls out. Yakkay Brainwear for Smart People Helmets and helmet covers.

I have a hard time getting my wife Laura to wear her bicycle helmet. She is unfortunately stricken with a strange affliction I was clearly inoculated against. She is image-conscious and fashionable. So therefore getting her to put the brain pan on before going for a ride seems to be an uphill battle, if not impossible. So when I spotted the Yakkay Helmets on Boing Boing this morning, I said Eureka!!!

As a cycle commuter and also a cycling enthusiast, I often don’t care what I wear, how I look, or worse (for those around me) how I smell. So while I think image is frivolous in comparison to say weight, durability, and function, I recognize that not everyone feels that way.

Also check out the fit video. (Psst marketing director of Yakkay let me give you the best advice of the year post this on you tube!!!). I’ll take my SEO/M consulting check now thank you.

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Look out for Handle Bar Palsy!

I went out and did a 37 mile ride with Rob and Gene last week on my Bianchi San Jose Single Speed Cyclocross bike. I’ve turned it into a commuter rig with moustache handlebars. It was a great ride out to Hacienda in Gobles to have some Mexican food. However, my hands started going numb on the way out, and then really really numb on the way back. In fact now, I am still getting some tingling and lack of strength in my right hand.

The compression of the ulnar nerve from pressure on the handlebars makes your hands go numb. Gotta be careful to adjust hand position and wear cycling gloves. Also I am suspicious of the moustache bars, as these have a different hand position than standard racing drops. I’ve ridden up to one hundred miles on my racing drops on the Felt F1x and never had a problem. I also ride on the hoods and with biking gloves. So this is obviously a clue.

Luckily I hardly ever ride more than about 6-7 miles at a stretch on the moustache bars, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

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First Four Mile Run after hernia repair

I tore my tendon 5 weeks after my hernia repair surgery at my first Ultimate Frisbee game of the season. I was able to keep cycling even with the torn tendon. The doctor said the flexion and extension would bother it. The stabilizing needs of running however were painful and out of the question anyway. I began to feel some imaginary weight and some real weight dragging me down each day I wasn’t running.

Cycling, though I love it, is not the same as running. Cycling is a different type of awareness and fitness. I love them both. I’m not sure I could live without either. But I know I would be in the looney bin without running. I suited up after work, feeling confident that I would take it easy and turn around if the tendon hurt. I followed my normal after work route across the north end of Kalamazoo. I was literally weeping with happiness by the time I hit mile one out of four. It’s safe tp say I place way too much value on this activity. But it’s my life.

Running is not like cycling, or kayaking, it is a safety net, a place to vent, it is the padded room where all my anxiety and fear are pounded out with no intermediary. A place where schemes are hatched, plans made, thoughts held dear, memories rebounded, grief reconciled, love and redemption found, and it is entirely independent of weather, equipment, or external forces. I can run in a rainstorm, a whiteout, 10 degree weather with 3 feet of snow, or ninety nine degree heat. I do not need a running partner, or encouragement, I do not need praise or reward, it is not to impress or show off for anyone, it is entirely between me and the road.

At times I feel like my body has failed me, but in my heart I know it has not. Sometimes things are taken away to teach compassion. Now that perhaps I can continue for some time, I don’t know how long, I will be more thankful for each mile, for each step my body gives back.

I have to offer thanks also to Laura for enduring my confinement. Certainly it must feel like she lives with a lunatic in the tower when I am not running.

As additional food for thought, check out the copy from this new Pearl Izumi ad campaign. I’ve been reading online how most people hate it. Personally I identify with it. I guess if they wanted to sway people over who are not runners, maybe this wasn’t the way to do it. But if they were trying to create a brand impression for the runners that are already out there, they got my attention. I think the copy is genius.

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Cycle Commuting Comicstrip

Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery is a daily comic for cyclists everywhere. The comic is geared for the commuting audience. But is a little for everyone on two wheels. The comic is drawn by Rick Smith.

I’ve been reading with delight since it’s inception. I’ve wanted to do this about one hundred times myself. It seems urban bike culture is coming into it’s own. The comic depicts two cyclists. Yehuda is the steel frame/single speed/ simplicity bike guy who works at the shop the Kickstand. Then there is the bike shop owner Joe. Joe is more of a high technology fan and is a perfect foil to Yehuda.

Today’s comic is a gem.

Another favorite of mine is where Yehuda paints his own Bike lanes. Peruse the archives and enjoy.

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I find myself becoming more and more irritable on my morning bike commute. Drivers who use cell-phones, that do not look where they are going are trying my patience. This morning I made a critical mistake. I think if I had changed my position in the lane to be more direct and visible, this situation might have been negated.

I had my modified Bianchi San Jose with pannier bags loaded this morning. Laptop and clothes for the day in the bags, and I am heading downhill to a stop light. The stop light has some construction going on in the middle lane. I rolled up in the right lane first at the light. I was off to the right of the lane, which was my first mistake. I should have been in the middle of the lane. A woman from the center lane under construction started edging her SUV into the right lane. She rolled forward but needed me to move to turn right at the red light.

She actually rolled down the window and tried to sweetly ask me to move so she could turn right at the red light. “No!”, I told her. She could wait for the light to turn green like everybody else. If I had been a car she could/would never have done this.

My mistake was in being off to the right if I intended to go straight through the light. I was asking for it. Lesson learned occupy the center of the lane when you intend to go straight.

Bad Bike Commuter Positioning Diagram for going Straight in an Intersection

Good Position for a Bike in Traffic going straight

Certainly the second diagram is more aggressive in terms of the positioning in traffic, but hopefully safer. The object is not necessarily to be in the center to let the car through on the right, but to clearly occupy the middle to let the car know you are going straight.