Swiss mountains

Yesterday I participated in the Hyvinkään Sveitsin-ajo, a nearby bicycling event. I didn't have great expectations as I'd only managed to ride about 200 km this spring before the event. I thought that I'd just take it easy in the 32 km/h group. As it turned out, the group went faster than that, so I fell out of the group at some 20 km to go. Anyway, the event was great fun and I rode faster than ever before.

I noticed that I have some climbing abilities. There were some steep rises, which broke the group in pieces, but I didn't have as much trouble as some others did. If I hadn't stayed behind some riders who slowed down more than I wanted to, I'd probably have managed to stay in the group all the way. Actually, I kind of escaped a smaller group in a rise, and because of that I had to go the dullest part of the ride, some 10 km of flat road, against the wind, all by myself. A poor choice of tactic. Although, had there been more hills, I could probably have caught the 32 km/h group again.

It is, however, nice that there is some unexpected action in a ride like this. I guess it would be uneventful and kind of boring to just draft comfortably all the way. So, you get to ride faster than you would by yourself, but what's the point in that? It's much more rewarding to do some of the work yourself.

Distance: 101 km
Time: 3:04
Avg: 32.9 km/h

Infrequent exercise

My training programme for HCM and TdH, designed with scientific exactitude, has been blown to pieces, once again. First, I caught yet another cold. Must be the 3rd or 4th I'm going through this spring. Second, I've been so busy with other engagements that I haven't had time for training. Honest. Of course, I'd rather go bicycling on weekends and evenings, but when you're selling an apartment, there are a million things to be done, and the project takes from weeks to months.

However, exercise has been good on the few occasions that I've actually managed to do it. Two weeks ago, I ran a half marathon one morning. I just went running, the weather was good, the running flowed well, so I decided to run for two hours and see if that constitutes a half marathon. And it did, according to the non-scientific exactitude of Google Maps, the distance was about 22 km. If I run at the same speed, I'll do HCM in 4 hours.

Then, last week I bicycled to Kerava one morning to pick up a co-worker. It also went pretty nicely, even though the weather conditions were pretty far from ideal. Strong-ish wind and mediocre rain. On the way back my feet were soaked through and pretty much frozen solid. Now I'm beginning to see the point of shoe covers, must get a pair of those as soon as possible. I'm sure the coldness of the ride contributed to the cold I'm still suffering.

Last week there was a course on riding in a group, arranged by Hepo, but I couldn't participate because I was incapacitated by a massive hangover. The previous night, we went out celebrating with co-workers, and the night became rather long-winded and replete with various alcoholic beverages. I'm glad that there are only a couple of these events in a year, nowadays.

Damn, I really have to get back in discipline, exercise-wise.

Season premiere

Went on the first ride of the season yesterday and it was bliss. Painful bliss. As usual, there was a strongish tailwind on the way away from home. Once again I thought that man, this bicycling is easy, I'm doing 40 km/h with little effort, I must be in a great shape. And once again, when I turned back homewards, I noticed that there was a wind after all, remembered all the ways cycling can be painful, but was happy anyway.

The new bike is great. I'm thrilled of the easiness of shifting. I don't have to find the stick from the floor no more, the gears go up and down with a quick flick of a finger. I've given all of you a handicap by using obsolete technology, but watch out, now I'm state of the art. Well, ok, the new, electrified Dura-Ace drivetrain might be even more state of the art, but now, at least I'm hanging in there with my 105/Ultegra mix.

My back was in a shock from the ride yesterday, but luckily that seems to have passed. Also there was a slight pain in my knee today, which I suppose is a result of a non-optimal saddle height. The saddle felt a bit too low but I couldn't be bothered to stop and adjust it on my first ride.

Also my bike computer refused to work, which was a minor nuisance. I'd managed to purchase the cable ties of the correct width (the quality of which was crap), install the computer (even though the length of the cable ties was insufficient for the front fork) and test the functionality (which worked just fine on Friday). Then, nothing. The damn thing just didn't work. I've had connection problems before, which have passed with some adjustment, but this time nothing helped. The computer was just dead. Therefore I don't have specific distance and time for the ride. I'd even measured the wheel circumference and set the meter accordingly. Annoying.

Lately I've had a lot of trouble with entropy. Or at least I've noticed it at work. Things have been breaking a lot. My home computer broke as well as the bike computer, the remote connection on my company laptop hardly works at all, my car keeps on rusting and needing maintenance, perfectly renovated apartments don't stay perfect for long. There's always something to fix. Fixing things requires time and money. A human's life consists mostly of fighting entropy. But possibly it's not an entirely bad thing. The results of entropy can also be charming. You have to admit, it would be dull and uninteresting if things stayed the same forever.

Well, anyway, to end this bout of digression, might I recommend a book for a change? It's got nothing to do with bicycling, it doesn't tell you how to win entropy, but it's a fascinating read anyway. It's The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I read it a couple of months ago and just thought of it while digressing about entropy.

Distance: some 50 km
Time: some 2 hrs
Avg: some 25-3o km/h

Incoherent rambling

I've been a proud owner of a '08 Trek Madone 4.5 for nearly three weeks now. Haven't managed to actually ride the bike yet, though. Shameful, isn't it? Although I must say that my excuses are plentiful and, partly, even valid. First of all, I suffered from a persistent cold for some three weeks, during which doing any sports was unthinkable. Then I vacationed for a week in Berlin. And last, but not least, the weather in Finland is not suitable for bicycling yet. In my opinion. Sure, there are plenty of polar bears, disguising themselves as humans, who claim that bicycling through the year in Finland is possible. However, when I'm talking about bicycling, in this blog, I usually mean road bicycling, without winter gear. You know, the kind of bicycling that they do in European countries, like Italy, for example.

Come to think of it, I'm really beginning to hate the local climate. It really is miserable to have a three month summer vs. nine months of trudging in wet snow, coughing and suffering from various colds each year. I don't even ski. Well, you can always move to a warmer climate on pension, but perhaps doing just that should be considered earlier. Berlin didn't seem like a bad place to live at all.

Anyway. The season should be started soon. There's a bicycling event nearby about a month from now, about a 100 km ride. A couple of friends have expressed their interest too. I'm in, provided that
a) weather conditions are not too bad, i.e. no ice storm. No tornados either. Raining s**t will turn me off also.
b) I get to practice a bit before the event. A couple of longer rides should suffice.
c) The wife lets me.

Also I'd like to get a new bike computer and/or heart rate monitor. I can also live with the old ones, provided that I find some cable ties of the correct width so I can install the old bike computer on the new bike. It's not as easy as it sounds.

Tough call

I've been sleeping on a hot bed of charcoal for some time now. Since last week I've been doing a lot of comparing of frame materials, drivetrain components and wheels in my sleep. It really doesn't improve the quality of sleep. After a few nights of delirious arguing with myself I came to the conclusion that I prefer the Trek Madone 4.5 2008 over the Bianchi Freccia Celeste 2005. Having made the decision eases the pain somewhat, but now I'm waiting for the actual bike to appear at the dealer's. He'd ordered the bikes last week, they should have been there yesterday but weren't, and I'm waiting for a call.

Furthermore, I caught a real fever besides the bicycle fever. It passed already, but I'm still kind of feeling flu-ish and unable to do any sports. Cough. Sneeze. It sucks.

Decisions, decisions

Seven days ago I vaguely suspected that I might want to purchase a new bike this season, if the financial situation so allows. Preferably an Olmo.

Six days ago, when I visited the bicycle fair, it became obvious that I need to get a new bike this season. Possibly a Bianchi, maybe an Olmo, anyway, an Italian bike, for sure.

Five days ago I was quite sure that I have to get myself a 2009 Bianchi 928 Carbon Mono-Q Veloce. The feeling lasted for several days.

Yesterday I found out that a 2008 Trek Madone could be purchased at a reasonable price, and the idea immediately became very attractive to me.

Today I visited my next-door bike shop and became aware that they have several nice bikes in my price range available. Oh boy, the decision is getting harder. Practically thinking, any bike in the price range of about 2000 € is surely good enough for me, so based on which criteria will I make the decision? Look? Colour? (Supposed) country of origin? The café racer discussion hi-fi status of the material and/or manufacture method of the frame?

Being a software engineer, I guess I'll decide the same way I do any rational decision: by defining the order of importance of the criteria, reducing everything into binary logic and ruling out options until there's only one left.

So basically there are four options available right now:

Olmo Sirius 2008:


It has a full carbon frame, Campagnolo Veloce parts and Campagnolo Khamsin wheels. The Olmo carbon frames are very good and reliable, I hear. A sensible choice, I suspect. Anyway I'll have to rule this option out based on the look of the bike. The black and red colour scheme just doesn't excite me. An ugly bike, might I say. Sorry, Olmo.

Bianchi 928 Carbon Mono-Q Veloce 2009:


This is a beautiful looking full carbon bike with Campagnolo Veloce parts. I definitely like the white colour. There's nothing wrong with this one, I'll just rule it out (at this point) because it's a new model, readily available, and therefore not "a find". However, this shall be my plan B (or C) if a bargain deal should fall through for some reason.

Trek Madone 4.5 2008:

The Trek Madone 4.5 has a full carbon frame, Shimano 105/Ultegra parts and Bontrager Race wheels. The Madone has some innovative design features, I hear. It looks pretty cool also. The Madone model is affiliated with Lance Armstrong, which is not a bad thing for me (yay Lance!). A local dealer is selling these at a reasonable price, so obviously I'm interested.

Pros:
- reasonable price
- full carbon frame (which provides good hi-fi value, at least)
- interesting design
- a find.

Cons:
- no Campagnolo parts
- no Italian prestige.

Bianchi Freccia Celeste 2005:


As I mentioned, today I visited the next-door bike shop, where I was offered a 2005 Bianchi Freccia Celeste. The guy at the shop said that they'd found some of these lying around in their warehouse. It has an aluminium frame with carbon forks and Campagnolo Chorus parts. The wheels are Campagnolo Zonda. They tell me that it's a bike fit for pro racing. I kind of believed it. The carbon fiber Campagnolo shifters and derailleurs do look very cool. I wasn't smashed by the grey colour of the frame, which looked kind of dull. Although it does kind of provide a cool "f**k you with your colours, I'm all business" attitude, when you think about it.

Pros:
- pro quality Campagnolo parts and wheels
- plenty of Italian prestige
- a find

Cons:
- kind of old bike isn't it?
- not a full carbon frame (but does it matter?).

---

Ok, it's starting to become obvious that I'm already deeply in love with the Bianchi Freccia Celeste. It's kind of an ugly one, but so am I. I think we could be sweet to each other.

The unbearable sweetness of choosing between two luxury items.

Fever

Today I kind of started the bicycling season by visiting the local bicycle fair. The supply wasn't quite what I'd hoped for (not a single Olmo bike in the fair), but rather enjoyable anyway. But then again, I am an elitist road racing snob. I don't get much kicks out of the dirt bikes and whatnot. You can't expect a whole fair devoted to road racing in a country of this size.

Anyway, I got a hell of a bicycling fever. Now, I don't see how I could avoid getting me a new bicycle this season. I've spent most of the evening reading brochures and surfing bike shops. Currently I'm liking the Bianchi 928 Carbon Mono-Q a lot. I guess I could settle for a 2008 Bianchi 1885, an alu-carbon frame model, which is affordable and readily available right now, but the thought of a non-carbon bike (and the colour) just doesn't satisfy me the same way anymore. BTW, thanks a lot, Jari, for throwing gasoline in the flames ;)

But then again, what's 2200 € for something you really like and would use for decades? You know, for instance, a grand piano or a Porsche would cost much more. Not to mention what a set of golf clubs and a golf club membership would cost, I imagine. Um, and a Picasso. So yeah, when put into perspective, actually purchasing a full carbon Bianchi starts to make sense.

Now that I've convinced myself, there's only the hard part left: to convince my wife that buying a 2000 € bicycle is not the epitome of futility but instead a good thing for the entire family. Which it is. Right, fellows?

Oh, I did manage to save some money in the fair too. I signed up for the Tour de Helsinki 2009 for the reasonable price of 40 € (including the t-shirt), and bought a pair of cycling shorts for 20 €.