The subject says it all. I found out yesterday and I’m feeling crushed right now. Not exactly sure what I’m going to do now.

I drove up to my mom’s house for the holiday weekend and as I always do when I’m up there I use my dad’s shop to give my bike a thorough cleaning and tune up. It’s been a month since I’ve done it and I could really tell on my last couple of rides that things felt a little out of sorts. Little did I know how out of sorts they were.

The first thing I always do is give the bike a good cleaning to get all the road grime and build up off. While doing it this time I went ahead and took apart the chain rings and rear derailleur to clean them well. With the rear derailleur off I discovered my first problem. The derailleur hangar has a crack in it. Luckily, my hangar is the replaceable type so it’s done it’s job in not letting the frame crack. The bad part is that it needs to be replaced. I had actually broken my first hangar after only having my bike a few months because of a bad shift. It looks like this crack was a product of age and/or fatigue. I know I’d probably crack under the pressure of carrying an elephant around.

One of the last things I do is clean my rims and the front rim was the last one to get cleaned this morning and it held the last surprise. One of the spokes looks like it’s pulling through the rim and on the break surface side the rim is splitting apart. Not good and actually very dangerous should the rim have decided to fail while riding. I had replaced my rear rim about a year ago due to a similar problem (although the front rim is in much worse condition) so I was probably due to replace the front anyway. It is the original after all.

So, with those two problems it looks like I won’t be cycling until I can get them fixed and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to. Truthfully, I was actually worried something like this might happen with all the riding I’ve been doing but I think the bike held up pretty good considering its age and my weight. I’ll probably take it to the bike shop tomorrow to get an estimate on a rim, hangar, and a few other things that need to be done, and I’ll take it from there. It kinda sucks but I think my century ride is probably in jeopardy. It’s probably in jeopardy anyway if I end up getting the job I want back in Jacksonville.

For my regular readers you’ll notice that I haven’t posted in about a week and have been scarce on Twitter (@farsided). I had a really rough week last week dealing with the family separation and the job search, and felt really tired of being on the bike so much. I did ride a few times but they were slower endurance pace rides instead of hard intervals.

Most of you know that I’m working in Dallas while my family still lives in Jacksonville, FL. I’ve been trying to get back to Jacksonville but the job market there has been a tough nut to crack. I put a lot of effort into the job search over the last couple of weeks and reached out to some old acquaintances of mine that were able to stir up some leads for me. Up until a couple of weeks ago I had had a good lead in my back pocket and was just waiting for the job to be posted. Turns out the the job was canceled and I was back to square one. I found out yesterday that the job was back on and I applied for it today. I won’t elaborate now but I’m very excited about this opportunity and have high hopes that it will be what gets me back to Jacksonville with my family. I’ll update as I know more.

It had been four months since I’d seen my family so this past weekend I flew home to be with them. It was a planned trip so I could attend my wife’s parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary Party, see my youngest daughter get baptized, and be there for her 9th birthday. The trip was a whirlwind of activity but it felt so good to be home and around family again. I was away from them for long periods of time while in the Navy but I find it much harder to be away now since I’d gotten to spend the last two years with them after leaving the military.

Needless to say, I didn’t ride much more than about 40 miles last week and didn’t get a long ride in on Saturday. I’m OK with that though because I really think I needed the rest. One thing I did do was weigh myself this weekend and since getting weighed on my doctor’s office visit back in April I’ve lost right at 20 pounds. That’s right at one pound a week which is what’s recommended. I could tell my clothes fit better but after not seeing much change lately I was getting discouraged on this front as well. Now that I know my hard work is paying off it’s just fuel to keep going.

To those that reached out to me this past week I appreciate it.

Day 44 – 4×6 Intervals at RPE9

All my interval sessions up to this point had been 4×8 (four intervals at 8 minute duration) so I was looking forward to something new and to see just how hard I could push for 6 minutes. It was hot when I started the ride with a stiff wind out of the Northeast which made the second and fourth intervals particularly difficult.

After my warm up I waited until I had a slight downhill section to start the first interval. I shifted up a couple of gears and quickly got up to 21 mph. My speed varied between 18.5 to 21 mph during the six minutes and it actually felt pretty good. I wasn’t all out but probably couldn’t have given it much more. After the interval I had to slow it way down to recover. This was repeated for the other three intervals but the two into the wind were very tough and my speed did suffer some in areas where I had a direct head wind. The last interval was particularly hard because it was the last of the day and was into the wind. I think I gutted it out pretty good though and gave it a good effort.

Even though these intervals were 2 minutes less than my normal intervals they were very hard due to the effort expended. I wasn’t all out but almost. Here are the days numbers:

Time (h:m): 1:13
Distance: 18.62 miles
Avg Speed: 15.3 mph

Day 45 – 1 Hour Endurance Pace Recovery

I was really feeling the hard interval workout from the day before. My legs were heavy, I was tired, and not keen on riding but knew I needed the recovery ride to work out the kinks in my legs. Even though it was only an hour in length it felt much longer and tougher. The wind was absolutely brutal today blowing at a stiff 20 mph out of the South. Instead of resetting my computer at the end of my warm up I just rode for an hour. My average speed really suffered because of that but I still got in a decent ride.

It was Wednesday which saw, again, lots of cyclists down at White Rock Lake. I think I’m going to have to start calling it ‘Bling Day’ because this is the day you see all the serious riders show up with full team kits, carbon wheels, TT bikes, Colnagos, Pinarellos, etc. I wonder what the total cost of hardware rolling around the lake on a day like this is?

Here’s the day’s numbers:

Time (h:m): 0:57
Distance: 13.6 miles
Avg Speed: 14.32 mph

Day 46 – 4×8 Intervals

Another interval day but back to the 8 minute variety with a little less exertion. It was a hot day but, amazingly, no wind. Wooohooo! Don’t get those very often. White Rock Lake was almost like glass. I did my warm up and rolled straight into my first interval.

I think doing the 1 hour recovery ride yesterday really helped because my body actually felt quite good and I had no heaviness in my legs at all. I had actually noticed that when I got out of bed in the morning. I found myself rolling along at 19 mph for the first interval with no problem and maintained that for most of the interval. The same was repeated for the other intervals with me able to sprint over the small hills in intervals two and four at over 17 mph and quickly accelerating back up to 18.5 to 19 mph. On the fourth interval I pushed it pretty hard for the last 3 minutes or so and it felt great. Once done with the last interval I decided to go ahead and start my cool down and roll back to my car due to it starting to get a little dark. I need to remember to bring my lights next time.

Here are the numbers for today’s ride:

Time (h:m): 1:00
Distance: 16.2 miles
Avg Speed: 16.2 mph

I have a rest day today followed by a four hour endurance ride on Saturday. Hopefully the weather will be nice.

Here in North America we’re rapidly approaching the end of Summer and if you’ve been riding your bike in the evenings like I have then you’ve no doubt noticed that sunset is coming sooner than it was at the beginning of the month. In fact, we’re losing a minute of sunlight each day while the Blokes and Sheilas in Australia are gaining a minute. I did a long evening ride a couple of weeks ago and felt I could have used a light then so I thought now would be a good time to talk about bicycle lighting.

Think this cyclist needs a light?

1. First and foremost, you’ll want to use a bicycle light for safety. As the sun begins to set earlier each day our evening rides stand a very good chance of concluding in civil twilight (the sun has set but it’s not quite dark yet). There’s enough light to see but it is becoming more difficult due to lack of light and shadows. If you’re having a hard time seeing then other folks are probably having a hard time seeing you. In this instance, a bicycle headlight and/or tail light will make you more visible to other riders approaching or overtaking you and, probably more importantly, you’ll be more visible to car drivers who are feeling the effects of decreased light as well.

   Not only do bike lights improve safety so you’re more visible to other riders and drivers but you’ll be doing yourself a favor by using a headlight to illuminate where you’re riding. The area I ride is in pretty good shape but there are spots on the trail where an improperly illuminated rut, hole, or seam could see me injuring myself, another rider, and/or damaging my bike. A good headlight or helmet light will help illuminate the path you’re riding.

2. Another reason you’ll want to use bicycle lights, and often forgotten, is that in most cities it’s required by law to have a light if you’re riding during darkness. Check your local laws but, even if there isn’t one, you should still have lights due to the safety concerns above.

Things to consider when choosing bicycle lighting

1. What type of riding do you do? If you’re a road cyclist you may not need as robust (tough) a light kit as a mountain biker.
2. How long do you ride in the dark? If you ride for long periods of time in the darkness you may need bike light options that offer long-life batteries or generators.
3. Are you environmentally conscious? If so you may chose lights with rechargeable batteries or a generator over bike lights that require replacement of dead batteries.
4. Is it very dark where you ride? If you’re a trail rider or ride in areas where there is no street lighting you may need bicycle lights that are very bright.
5. Are you on a budget? Simple lighting systems for bikes can be very affordable where more advanced lighting options can put a strain on the bank account.

What kind of power source do you need?

1. Standard Household Batteries. A lot of the smaller head and tail lights for bicycles use two to four double or triple A batteries for power. These are convenient and due to the small size (and power output) of the lights you can get run times upwards of 60 hours or more depending on the mode (constant light versus flashing) used.
2. Rechargeable Batteries. Like a lot of electronic devices these days, you can get bicycle lighting that uses rechargeable batteries for power. Not only is this convenient, it saves money, and helps the environment. Battery options include Nickle-Metal Hybrid and Lithium Ion.
3. Power Generation Systems. For those looking to have a lighting system that is not only super environmental friendly (no batteries required) but can last a long time (as long as you pedal it works) then this could be what you need. These lighting systems are run off a generator that’s attached to your wheel and makes electricity as long as you’re moving. Some have battery backups or reserves for when you’re stopped.

Halogen, LED, or HID?

The type of bulb you choose can have a big impact on the quality of light emitted. The type of bulb itself doesn’t generally drive the cost of the lighting system up as much as other components (type/size of batteries and accessories) but your higher quality lighting systems are generally LED or HID with rechargeable batteries. The bestselling lighting systems are typically household battery powered LED units with 3-5 LEDs.

1. A halogen lamp is an incandescent lamp in which a tungsten filament is sealed into a compact transparent envelope filled with an inert gas and a small amount of halogen such as iodine or bromine. The halogen cycle increases the lifetime of the bulb.
2. Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are an electronic light source. LEDs have many advantages over traditional light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, and smaller size. LED bike lights are very popular and what I use.
3. High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps are a type of electrical lamp that produces light by means of an electric arc. HID lights give a greater amount of light output per watt of electricity input than incandescent lights.

What to get?

As you can see above there are lots of options available but choosing a basic bicycle lighting system (a headlight and a tail light) isn’t hard. Find a balance between your needs and budget. You can easily find a good LED headlight/tail light combination that will fill your basic needs and meet safety and legal requirements. If you need something with a little more power or rechargeable batteries you can go that route as well. In addition to Amazon.com, Real Cyclist also has a good collection of bicycle lighting or you may find what you’re looking for at your local bike shop. It really doesn’t matter where you get it. Just make sure you have some kind of bicycle lighting if you’re going to be cycling while it’s dark.