A Little Change of Plans

As I stated in a previous post, I ordered my new bike on Sunday. The shop owner assured me that he would call me Monday (yesterday) to let me know when the bike would arrive. He actually never did call me on Monday, I had to call him in the evening. He told me that the Cannondale rep never called him back. I said ok and hoped he’d call today (Tuesday). Anyways, he did. What he told me though wasn’t exactly good news. He informed me that the bike that I had ordered, the Cannondale CAAD9 5, was out of stock. It would be another 2-4 weeks before it would be available. Naturally I was a little disappointed but he did have a deal waiting for me as an alternative. He told me that when he spoke to the rep, he didn’t want to have a disappointed customer and blah blah. So basically the deal he could get me was a Cannondale Six 5 for a couple hundred off retail. The Six 5 retails at $1770. Waaaay out of my price range, but he was willing to sell it to me for $1500, only$200 more than I was paying before. $200 more for a $400 value? I’ll take that. It IS in stock and he said that I should be able to ride it next weekend. I’m pretty excited! Haha.

I got the black model: http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/09/cusa/model-9RCT5D_9RCT5C.html

Dana Point Grand Prix!

Not much crazy news going on as of late, but I do want to mention that I have reached a very big milestone in my weight-loss. The infamous 50 lbs! That’s right, 50 lbs. As a gift, something that I’ve been talking about in past posts, my dad has purchased for me, a brand new Cannondale CAAD9 5 road bike. This thing is beautiful. For those who don’t know what it is, follow the link at the bottom of this post.

In other news my friends and I went to the Dana Point Grand Prix today. It was an awesome all day even where racers of all skill levels compete. We went to the Cat-1 race though. Also at the bottom of the post I put a link to my Flickr photostream where I have uploaded pics/vids. Enjoy!

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/09/cusa/model-9RA95D_9RA95C.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacroix_photography/

Marine Base or Bust!

Yesterday I went on a great ride. I packed up my bike, some food and gear and went down to the Dana Point harbor. My plan was to ride from there down the coast to the marine base, past the San Onofre State beach and nuclear plant. Everything was all set and I left the car at about 1:30p if I remember right. The ride there was quite easy, mostly flat ground with very minimal hills when rolling through San Clemente. What’s very nice is that when you leave Hole in the Fence beach there are signs in San Clem that direct you to Califa Road which where the main bike roadway is to the marine base. It was not difficult at all to find my way. It was a perfect day with no clouds in the sky, was warm and there was awesome visibility. Also, tons of other riders out. Now that I’ve gained more knowledge about bikes and things it’s easier for me to point out some of the more expensive bikes that other riders are riding. Riding this trail and seeing awesome bikes is like going down to Rodeo Drive and seeing all of the Lamborghinis. It was a really fun ride. The intersection where I finally stopped was Old Highway 101 and El camino Real. My bike computer clocked it at 20.27mi from the Dana Point Harbor. Like I said, the ride there was a breeze and only took me about an hour and a half. The Ride back was a different story. It started out ok, got hungry so I stopped to eat and get some energy back. One of the hardest things though was that I was working against the wind the whole time, riding 20 miles against wind… not fun, haha. Anyways the last 10 miles were when the fatigue really started to kick in for me. My legs were ok, its just after 3 hours sitting on that damn seat becomes, quite literally, a pain in the ass haha. Anyways, it was a great ride and I’m def going to do it another time. It’s kinda one of those once a month rides. It also get a little lonely after 25 miles so it’s a good ride for a group. Other than that I didn’t really encounter and dangers except that I rode through a swarm of bees that were on the trail and I also crossed a rattlesnake’s path, haha. In the end the ride totaled 40.57miles. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that wants to give it a try. I added some photos to the album. A pic of a beautiful resting spot along San O beach and a memorial set up on the side of the road and a couple others.

Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48304&id=680454665&l=e87603e339

Adventerous Fail Whale

A friend and I attempted to go on a big ride today. Maybe not big for some but definitely my biggest yet. It was a bit of a fail whale though . You Twitter people out there will know what that is, haha. Anyways we started off a little late but if we had left on time we would have been looking at about 15-20 miles one way making it a 30+ round trip ride. It’s a shame that we left late but anyways we still went. The main reason it kinda failed is because as we were ascending a hill my friend’s new bike kinda went Kaphshshchchhhh. The rear derailleur where it mounts to the frame cracked. We found it odd and frustrating because the bike was brand new (4 days old). So, at that time we had only gone about 6.5 miles out so it wasn’t a problem for me to ride back to get the car. I still got 13 miles out of it but it was a great day and a great looking ride. It had some great potential and I can’t wait to attempt it another time. Here is a map of where we went just for today.

03/25/2009 Route San Clem

A Few Little Upgrades

I know haven’t posted in a while but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been keeping up with my program! First off I’m proud to say that I’ve dropped a total of 40 pounds so far since the first week of January 2009. It’s kind of a big thing because I’ve never lost that much weight in any previous attempts at loosing weight. It’s a very exciting time and I’m very happy to see myself wearing a lot of clothes that have been sitting in my closet for years. I’ve been riding a lot and keep up with my cardio and I’ve also extended a few of my usual rides by a few miles and adding much more difficult climbs.

Second I just wanted to mention that I’m excited about a few upgrades I purchased today. I upgraded from my steel pedals with toe cages to some slick Shimano Ultegra-SL pedals. These things are way sexy. I’ve heard how great and how much more efficient clip-less pedals are but you really cant understand until you experience them for yourself. The ride is sooo smooth and you can really feel how the pedals work with you as opposed to just sliding your foot into a cage. With these you can actually pull out and up to get full rotation and use much more energy more efficiently. Also, since you must have road shoes to compliment the pedals I picked up a pair of Cat-1 Stelvio road shoes. They are very comfortable and actually have a carbon fiber soul. I’ve attached photos of both below this post. Lastly, I finally got a pair of lycra cycle shorts, haha. Yeah THOSE tight shorts. 2 months ago I had to wear the XXL’s and today, I bought a medium. Yeah, this weight loss thing is great, haha. Anyways, tomorrow I’m going on a little 15 miler to give all the gear a proper break-in.

2009 Amgen Tour of California!

Today was pretty exciting. A couple friends and I went down to Escondido to watch the ending of the Stage 8 of the Amgen Tour of California road cylcing race. While the city is a little… eh, imo, the place was packed and full of energy. Lucky us, we got a spot right up on the railing and we had perfect a standing positions to watch them come through the finish. I got plenty of photos that I have linked at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

Photos I felt were worthy of my Flickr photostream: http://flickr.com/photos/lacroix_photography/

Everything else I put on my Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48304&id=680454665&l=e8760

What the Hell?!

This is getting ridiculous. I have such bad luck some times and this bike is like a bad luck magnet. Don’t get me wrong, It’s a great starter road bike and it’s actually not the bike, it’s just me. A couple friends and I went on a ride just now starting at the Ocean Institute. We were gunna ride down the beach trails towards San Clemente. Well, one went right and we didn’t see him so we went the other way. While we were riding looking around trying to find him I rolled into a sewer gate and of course the partitions were just wide enough for my tire to slip in and tweak the tire enough to blow the tube. Luckily we had the backpack full of tools so we put a new tube in and we pressed on. Already getting over my annoyance of having to stop once before before guess what happens next. The repair didn’t hold and I had a blow out on the bike way. This was the last straw. We gave up and I walked back while they road to get the car. Gah, I’m just so pissed lol. I’ve decided that I’m not going on any group rides for a long time. Every time I go on a group ride something bad happens and I get bad luck.

One good thing happened today though. I came up with a new Sunday workout. Sometimes I ride to the the beach and sometimes I ride to the gym and do a workout there. I put two and two together and I decided to combine both rides. So today I took the bike to the gym and on my way back I went up Niguel Road instead of riding back to Chapparossa Park and I went to the gym for a workout. Holy smokes was it hard. My legs were already fatigued from the ride and then on top of that running and then more riding home? Cha, intense. It’s good though, that’s what training is for and you gotta work yourself up if you want to succeed. Anyways, that’s all. I guess I gotta replace ANOTHER tube. BAHH!

Cycle Adventure Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48304&id=680454665&l=e8760

Awesom Breaking News!

    I’m still here everyone! Don’t get scared, I just haven’t had anything new to add here. Until now. A couple thing actually, first the non-breaking news. A friend recommended that I try a site called mapmyride.com. It’s a pretty cool site actually. You register for free and you can use the map (uses google maps) to mark the routes you take on rides, hikes, walks or whatever you want. It’s pretty cool. So far I’ve mapped only 3 routes. You can also friend people and share rides and what not. It’s pretty cool. I use it sometimes to map out potential rides to see what the distances are. Anyways I’m Nick L. on there if you’re already signed up, friend me.

    Now for the awesome news. My dad and I were talking about bikes last night and he asked me if I already had a bike picked out for when I’m ready/can afford a better bike. I said yeah and showed him what I was looking at. He was asking about price ranges and brands and what not. Basically to make a medium length story short, he offered to buy me a new road bike ($1,200 max) if I continue with my goals and lose more weight. This is actually pretty exciting since I love to ride now. Not only would it be a great reward, but also help me take the next step in my riding. I’ve very excited and my motivation is higher. I have a personal goal to reach 240lbs by my birthday, May 5th. I’ve already lost 24lbs in 9 weeks and I can’t wait to see how things progress. He didn’t say when and what weight but I’m gunna keep going and we’ll see what happens!

Link to my first choice bike: http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/09/cusa/model-9RA96D_9RA96T.html

No new photos but posting link anyways: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48304&id=680454665&l=e8760

Problem Solved!

I found out the problem that was with my tire and totally resolved the problem! I went in to the bike shop with my friend and we brought the old tire, new tire and the tube and we asked the pros if they had any advice. The guy was also confused that the tires were the same size but fit totally different. He was willing to exchange for a different tire, thinking that the one I got was defective or something. Instead though he actually told me in whisper that he didn’t want to sell me the tire cause it actually wasn’t all that good and he hooked me up with a Continental tire. I strapped that baby on when I got home and it worked perfectly. Great fit and great traction, it’s a very sticky tire. Now I’m totally back on the horse and ready for my ride tomorrow morning.

A couple new pics added:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48304&l=e8760&id=680454665

Mystery Solved?

Maybe. After hitting up a coffee sesh at Harbor House with a friend we came back to my house and looked at my damn tire. I told him the problem and even demonstrated how the tire comes off, and since he’s been riding more than me I figured he’d have a little inside tip on what the problem was. He took a look at it and almost instantly kind of found a problem. Fixed that, but that still wasn’t the right fix. After we just took the whole wheel off and gave it a closer look. After putting a little air in the tube and trying to reinsert the tube into the tire we noticed that the tube was kinda big. It wasn’t fitting in quite right. Maybe the tube is big enough that it was pushing the tire out? I grabbed the old tire from the trash and compared. The tube fit perfectly in. It’s kinda funny because the tires are the “exact” same size.  Only thing is that the old tire’s size is 700 x 25c and the new tire is 700c x 25. Does the C’s placement mean anything? I don’t know. Anyways we’re going to take both tires and the tube in tomorrow to the bike shop to have a mechanic look at it. Hopefully all I’ll have to do is just buy a smaller tube for this mysteriously smaller tire. I don’t know. We’ll see.