The Workbench

Somehow this photo makes my 6 foot, 300 pound workbench look about the size of an end table. This is mostly how it looks in the summer with the exception of the bench vise being missing. You can still see the four holes for it on the right side. The wooden top is made from 2 x 4's standing on end and makes up most of its heft.



Here it is full winter mode with the nordic form clamped in place. I couldn't bear to have ski wax ruin the surface so I covered it with sheet plastic to protect it. A workbench is a tool, and tools should be used, but I have a special respect for this tool that goes beyond simple utility. For over fifty years it was in service in the barn on my grandfather's cattle farm. After he moved to a retirement condo in 2000 in sat mainly unused in his garage until he died in 2007.

This summer I picked it up and brought it home. I had to remove the top from the legs and take the basement door off of its hinges to fit it down the stairs and into the basement. With the help of a friend the whole ordeal took three hours.

With the history this bench has I feel compelled to use it as much as I can, and last week I used it to build a snowboard tuning stand. Carrie needed a place to tune her board, and it only seemed fitting to make it work for her, too.

The Wife

So this weekend was the return to winter as we got some steady snow much to the relief of the local resorts. Saturday was a trip out to Craftsbury and today was skiing at Trapps.

This week Trapps went from having 3k to 37k open, and today the skiing was great. All of the pictures I took came out looking like you'd expect- idyllic scenes of snow falling on a groomed trail, and they were pretty unimpressive.

What is impressive are the pictures of my wife snowboarding at Tuckerman's Ravine last weekend.

Review- Kenda Kaliente

This season I put in several thousand miles on the road, and most of them were on the Kenda Kaliente tires pictured above. I wore out three Sram chains but rode only one set of Kalientes, and all without a single flat tire.

The Kaliente is a pretty standard 700 x 23c clincher tire that was the top of the Kenda road line until the recent introduction of the C2C, Konstrictor and Kaliente Pro. It features a puncture resistant belt under the tread and a remarkable sub 200 gram weight. They're also remarkably inexpensive and can be found online for as little as $30 each.

The Obama stimulus package meant that there was a lot of road construction this summer and many of my long rides were on long stretches of gravel and broken pavement. Almost all of these sections were in fairly remote areas where a sliced tread or torn sidewall would have been catastrophic, and the Kalientes handled these conditions with aplomb.

There is one downside of a lightweight, high mileage, cost-effective tire and that is slight compromise in ride quality. Many of the online reviews I've read about the Kaliente echo that sentiment. It's not unduly harsh, but it is noticeably less smooth rolling on pavement than a Konstrictor or one of the Michelin Axial Series.

But to compare the Kaliente to a much more expensive performance clincher is unfair especially when the more supple Axial would have most likely punctured on the aforementioned broken pavement. In my mind the Kaliente is best described as a raceable training tire that is comfortable absorbing thousands of training miles but also ducking into an occasional group ride or practice crit. Its resistance to wear also makes it a great tire for switching back-and-forth from indoor miles on rollers or a trainer and riding outside.

When you consider its price to performance ratio it's really an incredible option as it punches far above its weight and is competitive with training tires costing much more. The pair I purchased in March are still in service as dedicated indoor tires as shown above.

For more information check out www.kendausa.com.

Weekend Workout Report

Here I am getting dressed up to go for a ride in the salty gritty January thaw. It didn't feel nearly as warm as the thermometer lead me to believe, and with how out of shape I felt I really wished I was able to skiing instead.

Carrie took this shot right before I set off on my ride. I was going for a Rapha catalog-esque shot but it didn't quite work out as planned. Still, this is what it looked like in all of its unglamorousness.


Here's a shot of my handlebars. Riveting isn't it? You can even read the low speed heart rate and cadence numbers. That's what happens when you're more worried about photographing your ride than you are about riding.

I made it for a mere 90 minutes. For January that's a win, but I have a lot of work to do before my trip to France in March.

Next time I'm going to stick to knobby tires and SPDs and make crappy weather rides more about dirt roads and snowy bike paths. If I have to clean my bike anyway I might as well thoroughly enjoy getting it dirty.

Best Laid Plans...

So Wednesday's workouts went well- 40 minute run at lunch time, then 90 minutes on the rollers after work. The run was tough not because of the length or intensity, but because I suck at running. The rollers were fine, and between the PowerTap and wireless headphones I was able to get in the zone.

All of this set the stage for being completely smoked for my masters' ski group on Thursday.

The drive over featured this sunset behind Camel's Hump.


This was my first week skiing with the fast group, and that meant that my instructors were two local collegiate ski racers home for Christmas break. Both guys were what you'd expect from collegiate athletes- young, talented, and massively fast, but also good at passing along some of their wisdom from years of experience.

As soon as we started to skate out on our first loop I knew that I was going to have push to stay with the group. The fatigue of Wendesday's workouts and being rusty from not being on snow for over a week combined to make it a challenge. Needless to say I was spent when I took off my skis 90 minutes later and collapsed into the drivers seat of my car.

Of course this is New Year's Week, so I was fortunate to have Friday off, yet somehow I failed to realize how completely shattered I'd be if I set up a big midweek workout, masters skiing and then three big ski/combo days on the long weekend.

Friday morning I knew I'd take the day off and was disappointed at my lack of plan. My only option was to head out to a friend's New Years Party and drown my "sorrows" in alcohol. Sometimes being unstructured can backfire.

My approach went from not having a plan, then feeling I had the wrong plan and feeling bad about it, then having a hangover Saturday morning, then realizing that the weather wasn't going to be conducive to anything except nursing a hangover and feeling like I somehow unwittingly made the right decision.

Every year there are a string of warm, snow melting days in late December or January and this year's is right now. Overcast skies and temperatures in the 40's have decimated what little snow we did have. Even the best maintained nordic areas are pretty hagard as I found out first hand after a futile 12 minute attempt at "skiing." Skiing is in quotes because it was really more about dodging rocks and bare patches than actual skiing. My only recourse? 90 minutes on the rollers with my good pals Powertap and wireless headphones.

I've resolved to make Sunday's workout a good one. I wish it could be on skis, but it'll have to be a run/bike brick.

Conrad Stoltz & Mixed Training

4x Xterra World Champion Conrad Stoltz has a great blog, and his recent post about Christmas Day Training got me thinking.

http://www.conradstoltz.com/christmas-day-training/

Although I'm not a triathlete I have been doing a fair bit of mixed discipline workouts to keep things interesting and also to stay warm. Considering Conrad is home in South Africa he's really not too worried about that.

The plan for me for tomorrow is to do a double Wednesday, or Mittwoch Arbeite as I like to call it. The basic idea is that I go for a run during my lunch break then ride the rollers after I get home from work. It's more to juggle logistically than a single workout but it keeps me from grinding away on the rollers for hours on end. I also have delusions of doing a winter triathlon or two this winter and this is good prep for it.

So why call it out in German? I don't know, but it sounds cool and I got in the habit of referring to winter activities by their German names. I suppose I like the eccentricity of it, but the real reason is that several winters ago I worked with a ski tuner who had spent time with the US Ski Team and on the World Cup circuit. Since Alpine skiing is dominated by the Austrians, many skiing and winter-related words are taken from German, much like peloton, tour, musette and derailleur are taken from French.

I'll post some pics and detail for the Mittwoch Arbeite (literally translated as Wednesday Work) and the weekend workouts as well. The weather forecast is for a high in the 30's, and if the roads aren't super wet and sloppy I'll try to ride outside.

KMC X10 SL Ti Review

Last month I posted a review for the KMC X9SL Ti chain, and now after getting some time on the 10 speed version I have to say I'm just as excited about the X10SL Ti.

I won't completely restate the X9 review, but in a nutshell I bought that chain because it looked cool, not because I thought it would necessarily perform well. The performance far exceeded my expectations and the durability was far and away better than any other chain I'd ever used.

With that very positive experience I opted for an X10SL Ti on my road bike. So far I've got 500 miles on the road chain and the shifting performance is palpably smoother than its predecessor, a Sram PC1091. The KMC has been quieter, smoother and more predictable in every situation all while showing just slightest signs of wear. The gold titanium nitride finish is still intact if not slightly dirty and the stretch/elongation/wear is barely measurable with my Park chain gauge.

Perhaps the most tangible improvement is the smooth shifting action as the chain moves much more predictably up and down the cassette. It never seems get hung up between gears or bind the way the 1091 did.

All of my road miles were on Sram cassettes- an 11-26 Red Powerdome cassette and an 11-23 OG 1070. The chain performed flawlessly on both. Up front I've been running a 50/34 compact which can be problematic because of the large 16 tooth difference between chainrings. Here again the X10 has proven to be a reliable performer and has handled both up and down shifts with aplomb. With previous chains I had some shifting issues and even some chainsuck (yes, chainsuck on a road bike).

I decided to take it a step further and also put an X10SL Ti on my YBB as part of my 2 x 10 upgrade. I've been very glad I did. After ten rides in frozen, muddy and occasionally wet conditions I haven't had a single mis-shift or other cause for alarm. In addition to adding to the aesthetics of the bike the chain also has sheds dirt and grime much like it's X9 predecessor. I still don't have a ton of time on this setup, but the performance so far has been spot-on and nothing short of amazing. Anyone worried about durability with a 10 speed setup is being unnecessarily cautious and should strongly consider an X10SL Ti when they do decide to get in the game.

Moots RSL 'Cross Prototype

There have been some very cool pics of the new Moots RSL Cyclocross bike over at Bike Rumor (which is where this pic is from).


The Cyclo-X RSL includes several of the same design elements of the other RSL bikes- butted tubing, larger diameter downtube, BB30 bottom bracket, oversized & manipulated chain stays, micro diameter seat stays and 30.9 seat post.

Maybe I'll be adding another Moots to the stable in 2011, bringing my total to 4.

Check it out at http://www.bikerumor.com/2010/12/20/moots-psychlo-x-rsl-prototype/#more-25839

2011 Team Announcement- MOOTS!

For 2011 I will be part of the Grass Moots Racing Team. I've been a Moots fan since I first saw the YBB in Mountain Bike Action in 1997, and I've always wanted to be on a grassroots factory race squad, so being able to race for Moots is really a dream come true. With opportunity comes responsibility...and I better be in shape when the season starts so I don't embarass myself.

With the new year comes a new bike, and I'll be adding a Mooto X RSL 29er to the stable when they start shipping in March. I'll be holding onto the YBB and will keep riding that too, but it will be great to have different bike options to suit different courses.

Updated- Rudy Project Gozen Sunglasses

This week the new Rudy Project Gozen sunglasses arrived. I've been looking forward to their arrival with giddy anticipation. Fortunately I wasn't disappointed.

These glasses (or polycarbonate plastics to be more precise) are different from other sport models in that they are more understated than a single wrap-around lens but still offer technical features like interchangeable lenses and adjustable temples. After all, it's not every day that we want to look like Andy Hampsten.

My initial impression is very positive. The fit, lens quality and signature Rudy Project adjustable temples make these a good option if you're looking for sport eyewear.

Just how good are they? Check back later for a more detailed report after I spend some more time riding, running and skiing with them.

For more information check out www.e-rudy.com.