Neuvation Cycling Blog

It starts simple enough.  You want to get back into shape so you borrow a friends bike and go for a ride.  At first it’s work but it’s still fun going downhill or on the flats with the wind in your back.  You spring for a new bike and start riding on the weekends.  The first few months are fun but they are definitely work but after awhile it gets easier. Sure you can kill yourself but you don’t have to.

Then it starts.  You begin looking for time during the week when you can sneak in an hour or two.  At some point you find yourself at work staring into the distance thinking about the next ride.  Somehow you manage to find the time to get in 5 or 6 rides a week.  Most of them are at least an hour (anything less really isn’t a ride).  You are becoming consumed and are no longer fully in control of you new formed habit.

Now even priorities get pushed aside so you can get your riding in.  Instead of work, getting on your bike gives you a jolt of pleasure and all of the problems of the day get pushed aside as your mind takes in all the feel good drugs you body is putting out to overcome the workload you are pushing.  Pushing hard now becomes a pleasure - even with the pain.

Now you are a full blown addict.  Those with enough talent will take the final pill and turn pro to somewhat justify the addiction.  The rest will live with the addiction as best they can while still justifying it as a good way to stay in shape.  For the lucky few who really have the free time it’s a free addiction.

If you are into bikes you fit somewhere in this sequence.  Fitness is an addiction.  Getting a little means you want more and there is a point you can cross where it becomes an addiction.

Many of my customers are true addicts.  You can tell by their e-mails.  Anything to do with their bike is exciting and by dangling carbon wheels in front of them I sometimes get the feeling that I am a pusher and not a sales guy.

If everyone had these types of positive addictions instead of the negative ones most people have it would sure fix a lot of the problems we have.

It’s extremely rare in cycling to see the type of class of this year’s Vuelta.  To be honest, I don’t know if I have ever seen anything quite like it.  Contador is as likeable as any true champion you will ever meet and Levi’s “he deserved it” comment - while coming in an extremely close second (and without time bonuses the same real time) goes beyond nice guy.  It’s true class as we have not seen in a long time.  True class in an elite athlete is extremely rare.  The very nature of their work - to beat the other guy - normally rules it out.

Lance is back almost for certain with Astana which, no matter what anyone may say, is fantastic for the sport.  Whether he can be on a team that is not focused on only him winning is something we will find out.  If he can do that and remain true to his claimed goal of cancer awareness will, in my mind, put him in the class with guys like Levi.  Or not.  If he comes back to his former conditioning it will put the burden on Contador to show how classy he really is.

I am not one of the guys who thinks Lance had to cheat to get the record he has.  It’s very easy to look at his accomplishments and look at his competition (many of whom were on drugs) and say it’s impossible for him to have done it.  I would answer in just one work.  Tiger.  Until Tiger came along no one believed anyone could dominate professional golf the way he has.  On an average day he’s as good as anyone else on their best day.  Golf has one other challenge in that most of the tournaments Tiger plays in have all of the best in golf against him.  It’s not one event a year.

Supplements have been around for a long time.  Witch doctors, medicine men, and snake oil salesmen have been selling them for thousands of years. Back in the old days when they were laced with legal cocaine I am sure there was little question at least about how they made you feel.  Now it’s a little more subtle.

I must admit that I am somewhat of a sucker.  I bit on coral calcium.  I even was somewhat convinced that it made a big difference.  It’s caused the placebo affect.

No matter what you put into your body, it’s pretty much the body that makes the real change. Sure the chemicals help it along but the body has most of the job of healing itself.  The number is actually quite high.  I believe somewhere about 10-15% of the time the body will actually have a very positive benefit from a placebo (sugar pill).  I am sure that if you got only that amount to get very positive results you could use their testimonials to promote whatever snake oil supplement you wanted.  I am sure that’s the way most of them work.

Never the less, I was looking for something that would give me more energy.  I saw all of the Lance commercials on Velonews.com and CNN.com saying it gave him more energy so why not?  For some reason, I didn’t want to try what he was selling so I went off in a search of my own.

My problem was that I am not getting any younger (about 60) and have been doing more and more activity.  When I pushed myself at all I would be tired for most of the day.  When I upped my activity too much I would break down.

I’ve been on this new snake oil for about 6 weeks and it seems to have really made a difference.

Training:  For a change, I have been doing three different sports.  Hiking (1-1/2 hours climbing a 1500 foot peak). Kayaking (1-2 hours of solid paddling), weights (one hour sessions).

Before supplements I could do 6 hikes and two weight sessions but was at my limit.  I have, over the last 6 weeks added 3-4 kayaking sessions, and an extra weight session (with about a 10% increase in weights) and feel great.  The very selfish goal is 6 hikes, 3 bike rides, 3 kayak, and 3 weight sessions a week.  That’s about 20-25 hours.  I think I can easily do it by spring.

The magic supplement is Stemulite.  Google it.  It’s not cheap but for the results I am getting it’s a bargain.  It may not work for you.  I am of the firm belief that all of these either happened to fix what’s wrong with you or they don’t.  You probably don’t have the same issues I have.

One other quick tip I got from Scott Adams (Dilbert blog) was to use Magnesium supplements.  It did two things for me.  Less knee pain and also cleared up a very small allergy I had for the last two years

Most people don’t understand the types of construction of the different alloy rims and their benefits and problems.  There are essentially three types of construction methods.

All alloy rims are extruded.  Molten aluminum is forced through a die that gives the rim it’s shape.  The extruded pieces are straight “bars” about 15 feet or so long.  These are then put through a roller that forms a coil of about 4-5 rims.  The coil is then cut with a saw.  All alloy rims are made this way no matter what happens after.  It’s the extrusion process and the fact that the join area is the connection point that connects the tube but it’s mating two surfaces that are the circumference of the rim apart on the extruded bar that virtually always results in irregularities at the join area.  Usually these are minimal but they are always present.

There are three basic ways to join the rim - pinning, sleeving and welding.  The pinned rim uses an extrusion that has two small (about 1/8″) channels running the entire circumference of the rim.  This is a strong system but it’s also heavy because you have two extra channels.  The sleeved rim uses a small sleeve that is inserted into the join and glued (epoxy).  The sleeve is created by a different die and very closely matches that interior of the channel of the rim.  Welded rims are similar to sleeved rims except they are welded instead of being sleeved.

Neuvation uses sleeved rims because they are less costly than welded rims and allow the use of a thinner wall (because it doesn’t need to be welded).  The only possible advantage of a welded rim is that there is no possibility for there to be a bump at the seam.  The bump at the seam - which is possible with the sleeved rim - is easily fixed with some light sand paper.

All quality alloy rims have machined braking surfaces which greatly improve braking performance.  Virtually all alloy rims are also anodized.  Painting would not be as durable and add a lot of weight (probably about 50 grams per rim).

Because of the extrusion process, rims vary in weight by 30-40 grams.  We actually weigh all rims but that only eliminates the heavy ones.  There is still a variance.  People ask why not just only accept the lightest rims?  Because it would greatly increase the cost. The more critical you are of any process the more it will increase the cost.  Sometimes it’s important and other times it’s not.

Why is it that everyone always wants to beat the guy or girl in front of them?  You out riding and you see a distant spec on the horizon.  This is an immediate call to arms.  You immediately start doing intervals to see if you can whittle down the distance.

I might point out that this happens to almost everyone I know.  I once had two ladies (not girls - ladies) latch on a short distance behind and they killed themselves trying to pass - which they did and soon turned off onto another road so they could breathe.

It took me about 30 years go get over this.  It was a fight but gradually reasoning took over my hard wired reaction.  When dogs bark, it’s not necessarily because they choose to.  They can’t help it.  Show a dog a squirrel and show me one that doesn’t go nuts.  For dog’s there’s normally not a lot you can do but I would like to think we are a step above.

I ride because I want to ride for the next 30 years.  Not to beat myself up.

It makes no sense to let someone else control your ride just because they are there.  It’s not easy but work on this and you will be a lot happier as you see yourself literally take control of them because they have this burning desire to beat you.  When they do that they loose control and you are the master.  Think of it that way and it’s fun.  “These crazy humans are all the same.  Like programmed lemmings.”