Embellished Saddle

First Century of the year

2013-02-26T00:10:00.003-08:00

Its a 100 days to my ride from San Francisco to Los Angles with ALC -2013, and what better way to celebrate than by riding a 100 miles in a day.

So on Saturday morning 2/23/2012 my friend Gino and I embarked on a 100 mile ride though the South Bay.

Our route started with a warm-up to Milpitas and then on to a 1000ft climb up Calaveras Blvd. We then went around Calaveras Reservoir into the City of Fremont via Niles Canyon. Both Calaveras Reservoir and Niles Canyon were gorgeous routes.
From Fremont we rode across the Dumbarton Bridge to East Palo Alto and took the Bayshore trail to the Stevens Creek trail to end up on Foothill Blvd where we stopped for a well deserved lunch of sandwiches and chocolate croissants at the Los Altos Bakery & Cafe

After lunch we continued on to Palo Alto-->Atherton-->Woodside and then looped back to ride back to Santa Clara.

Elapsed time: 9:05 hrs
Total riding time: 7:00 hrs
Avg Speed: 14.4 mph

Link to Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/42017157

Pictures along the ride:

Panorama of Calaveras Reservoir

Calaveras Road

Beautiful day to ride

End of the ride

First Month of Training - Jan 2013

2013-02-01T00:43:00.001-08:00

Today, Jan 31st marks the end of the first month of training for ALC 2013. Its been a really cold January for riding and I had to start riding with ski gloves cause my finger were freezing during the rides.
My stats for this month are in and I am very pleased with the data:

Total Distance : 267.3mi
Elevation Gain: 9,380ft

My Goal for February is to roughly double these numbers, so I'd like to be at:

Total Distance: 500 miles
Elevation Gain: 20,000ft

Additional details, ride maps and a few photos are on my Strava profile here

How to buy a new road bike

2013-01-29T23:34:00.001-08:00

If you're looking for a new road bike or planning to upgrade your existing bike- this is a good post for you.

The sheer number of choices available when deciding on a road bike is overwhelming! I recently went through the process of upgrading my bike and learned a lot about the decisions one needs to make and the choices available for selecting the ideal bike.
This post focuses on the fundamental decisions - and can be used as a step by step process for new and novice riders when selecting a new bike.
(I say new or novice riders because the decision making process is rather different for expert riders)

Buying a road-bike 101

Step 0: I'm going to assume you've weighed the pros and cons and have already made the decision to get into road-biking! Congratulations!

Step 1: The basics : understanding geometries
As you begin your hunt for the ideal bike, you need to first understand the two types of road bike geometries.

Endurance Geometry
Race Geometry

Endurance Geometry: Designed for longer distance riding (endurance riding) these bikes and are know to be a more comfortable geometry. These bikes sport a (relatively) shorter top tube and a taller head tube, giving the rider a more comfortable posture for those long endurance rides. (If you think you're going to do century rides - this is the type of geometry you want)

Race Geometry: These bikes are designed for speed and have a more aggressive set up. They sport a longer top tube and shorter head tube: giving the rider a more aerodynamic posture for sprinting and racing.

The basic recommendation for a beginner rider is to test ride both these geometries and select a bike that fits just right. The race geometries stretch your torso more than endurance geometries- so one may feel better than the other. For a beginner rider neither geometry is better or worse. Its all a matter of what feels and fits best.

Remember being fast is far more a function of your fitness rather than the bike, or any accessories for the matter, although most road bikers pretend to be willfully blind to that fact :)

Decision: Have an idea of the type of riding you're going to be doing, analyze your fitness levels and keep in mind the different geometries.

Step 2: Decide on a budget
Road biking can be a very expensive sport and the cost of accessories, upgrades and clothing options add up very quickly. I recommend you start off by setting a budget - one for the road bike and another one for accessories.

Before you set your accessory budget here is a basic list of accessories you will need :

Helmet
Front and rear lights
Gloves
Biking outfit (shorts + jersey)
Pedals + Cleats
Biking Shoes
Water bottle cages
Water bottles
A bike computer (or gps) (*optional)
A heart rate monitor (* optional)
Spare tubes
A bike pump
A patch kit

Step 3: Go on test rides
Walk into your Local Bike Shop (LBS) and test out the bikes that fit your size, riding style and budget.

The most important factor while buying a bike:
The most crucial requirement is to have a bike that is the right frame size for you. Your LBS rep will help you select the right frame size. This is really important because a riders comfort on the bike and his efficiency on the bike is essentially dependent on the right size frame.

Once you know your ideal frame size - test ride the different geometry bikes. Also try out different brands as they all fit a little different.
And don't buy the bike on your first visit. You need to ride a few bikes before you make your decisions - so go to other bike stores and ride the different brands of bikes. You'll soon understand the difference in fit - what feels more comfortable and what doesn't.

After a week or two of test riding - you will have a good idea of the bike you think suits your needs best. This is your bike.

Some thoughts to keep in mind while making this decision:
Q: What kind of components should one get? (and you can spend a LOT of money here).
A: My advice is - buy the best components within your budget.

Q: Should I get a Carbon or Aluminum frame
A: If a Carbon frame is within your budget then go for it.
However if I had to select a new bike - I'd go for an Aluminum frame with better components over a Carbon frame with not-as-good components. Again as a beginner it all comes down to the budget.

Step 4 : Purchase your bike
This may sound basic - but keep in mind the kind of customer service you've experienced at the bike store before you buy your bike. You're probably going to go to this store often - for repairs, general maintenance and accessories - so buying your bike from a store with good customer service will be worth it.

I hope these guidelines are useful and help you have a enriched bike shopping experience. And when you start riding, don't forget to Strava

First real hill climb of 2013

2013-01-20T22:04:00.002-08:00

Got down to conquering the first hill of the year. Not as fast as I'd like and a whole lot of room for improvement - but a good start to climbing.

Reverse Sierra is a good steady climb, and in comparison front Sierra is absolutely insane. Front Sierra downhill certainly categorizes as a hazardous decent with steep drops and winding roads. I was clutching on to the brakes through the decent. I can only imagine what it'd be like to climb front Sierra....soon.

World Aids Day - and I'm riding 545 miles!

2012-12-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I've updated my blog - and this is a great time to start writing again.
Today, Dec 1st 2012 is 'World Aids Day'.
On this day I'd like to help raise awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS. It’s easy to think that HIV/AIDS is no longer a problem. Medications have come a long way, and people are living longer, healthier lives.
However, AIDS is not over.
In California alone there are 151,000 people living with HIV. Nationally, 70 percent of all new infections occur in communities of color and people under the age of 25 are increasingly affected.

So this year to help raise awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS and raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation I'm bicycling in AIDS/LifeCycle from June 2-8, 2013. It's a 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to make a world of difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS.
Starting this day, I'll use my blog as a journal to document my journey towards getting in shape for this 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Please take a moment to support the fight against HIV! HERE

City Ride 1: Ride Singapore

2010-03-07T09:49:00.001-08:00

It's officially ON! I've completed my first city ride.
And one word to describe this ride is "HOT".

Sunday morning the 28th of February 2010, I was in a taxi heading over to the East Coast Park, Singapore to start my first city ride.
After spending a few hours on Saturday looking for a good route on Bikely I found one that would work.
The route started at the East Coast Park (ECP), went along the coast, around Changi airport, into the Eastern parts of the city, then to Bedok reservoir and back to East Coast Park.

City Ride 1: Ride Singapore (Road Biking) | Singapore

Where to rent a bicycle in Singapore:

1. Kit Runner at East Coast Park rents out road bikes for S$20/ 2 hrs.
However they rent a generic brand bike with low end components in only one size. Would recommend this place for a leisurely ride along the coast, but not for any serious rider.
They also rent Mountain Bikes, Hybrid bikes and inline skates.

2. The Bike Boutique on Amoy street has a better selection of bikes ofavailable in an array sizes. They rent bikes by the day: around S$50/day. I'd recommend them for a decent bike.

The Ride:

My friend Ankit who lives in Singapore decided to accompany me on my maiden City Ride and his maiden ride :)
We started our day at a McDonalds on ECP with a hearty breakfast of Pancakes and eggs. and once fueled we picked up bikes from Kit and hit the road.

Our route as you will notice on the map, started off very scenic. We rode along the coast of Singapore, by clean blue waters and ships in the backdrop. Our ride took us along the beach, with picnickers taking in the sun, a group of Indians playing holi, then to the pier with folks fishing. We crossed the Bougainvillea gardens, a water sports park, riding through dense green trees for a good part of the ride. Check out the pictures below.
The Singaporeans have done a good job creating a beautiful bike and skate park.

We reached Changi airport where Ankit turned back (woot woot! Thirteen miles on his first ride!) and I continued to ride into eastern parts of the city.
Once in the city, I tried riding on the streets as there were no dedicated bike lanes, but after being pushed off the road twice (thanks to the taxi drivers) it just seemed safer to ride on the side walk. Little did I know that people on mopeds are allowed to ride on the sidewalk too!

The day got crazy hot and temperatures reached 32 degrees Celsius, 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The humidity made the ride even more intense.

I got back to ECP around 3 hrs later, exhausted, sunburnt, and dehydrated but excited to have completed my first city ride.
We returned our bikes at Kit and went across the street to Scruffy Murphys to celebrate the ride with a near perfect pint of Guinness.

Route Description: Mostly flat and scenic ride. Gets urban, crowded and on-road in the city. Skip the city if you're not comfortable riding on the streets.
I'd recommend riding this route up Changi Airport all the way to the Singapore Sailing club and then riding back on the same route. This way you'll be on a dedicated bike lane though the ride.

Advice for a Singapore ride:

- Keep yourself hydrated. Carry lots of water.
There aren't any water fountains around Singapore.
- Overload on Sun Screen. The heat + humidity makes it intense.
- Get a good map. Directions aren't obvious in parts of Singapore.
- The city does not have dedicated bike lanes. While drivers in Singapore are generally nice, be careful of Taxi drivers.
- Bring your own patch kit. Bike rentals don't give you patch kits here.
- Carry your cell phone.
- Carry some cash (Very useful to buy cold water at 7 Eleven)

Bike the world, one city at a time.

2010-02-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Its almost summer in California and its time to ride again.
This winter has been wet and cold- and I've missed out on any riding this
winter due to both a tight traveling schedule and a little laziness.
Now with the Livestrong Century coming up in July, I'll need to start riding more often.

Last week, while on a long flight across the Atlantic, I had an interesting thought about combining work related travel with a few rides. How cool would it be to ride a bike in every city I visit? We all know that the best way to see a city is on two wheels and this would also be a good way to get on a bike more often. So here I go: I'm going to Bike the world, one city at a time.

I spent some time doing a little research on the feasibility of this endeavor: How to transport my bike, How to find a good route, and will I need carry my riding gear: my pedals, riding shoes, helmet and gloves.
This means I won't be able to fly with only a check-in bag. And any frequent flyer worth his miles knows the importance of traveling with only one check-in bag!
(If you don't get it, please watch "Up in the Air")

I made a few phone calls to the airline companies and searched the web on flying with a bike - to learn that most airlines charge an extra $150 USD one-way to check in a bike that has been disassembled and packed in a bike case.

Seriously? Please think about our carbon footprint each time we fly. If one could offset that by taking fewer taxis on land and riding a bike more often; shouldn't the airlines help promote this?
Shame on you Airlines! I'm trying hard to reduce my carbon footprint here, and you want to charge me and extra $300 USD round trip.
Tsk Tsk.

Which means I'll have to find a bike rental place everywhere I go.

Some basic rules for the city rides:
- The ride needs to be 25 miles or more to qualify
- Publish a blog post after each ride
- Post the route map (I'll carry my GPS)
- Post some pictures (My Iphone will come handy)
- A video on youtube would be great!

So that's it folk. Its a new year with a new goal.
Now lets see how many cities I can ride this year!

Whats with the posts?

2009-04-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

Went for a 40 mile ride a month or so ago. Overdid it!
Strained my back, and turn out that I've pinched my Sciatic nerve :(
So I've been going though bouts of pain in my back and leg, which has prevented me from getting on to a bike for some time now.

Now that I'm getting better, and summer is here : I'll be on my bike more often.

Stay glued for more updates and insights soon....

What is a Bike Fit?

2009-03-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

If you plan to go for long rides on your bike, I can't stress how essential it is to get your Bike Fitted.
If you're thinking about riding anything more than 10 miles regularly (a 10 miler once a Quarter does not count), I'd highly recommend getting your bike fit to the position of your body on the bike.

Two reasons why you'd want to get a bike fit:

1. The first few miles on a bike are fun, but once you start longer rides you'll start feeling every muscle in your body
Some of the areas that could ache on your first few rides are:
a. Legs (wow, who would have thought!)
b. Lower Back
c. Shoulder blades
d. Upper back
e. Neck
f. Your Posterior

2. Performance: A good fitting will help you get the most out of the energy you spend on the bike.
This will be super important towards the end of your long rides or for that matter on any uphill ride!

What a bike fit essential entails is : Customizing the height, settings and angles on the bike to suit your body style to ensure minimum discomfort and better performance.

I was about to write a long post on bike fit, but have found this article that describes the process very well.
I'd recommend you read this Bike Fit article if you're interested in learning more about fitting.

How to choose a good Biking Route

2009-03-11T15:50:00.001-07:00

Lately, a lot of folks have been asking me how I choose my bike routes.
For the benefit of new riders I'll describe my approach here.
Personally, I prefer trying out new routes as often as possible.
However, once you find a good route, you'll end up riding it very often! (One such route is along La Canada).

Here's my approach:

Step 1: My first resource for a good bike ride is www.Bikely.com.
Bikely has an extensive database for bike routes in practically any bike-able part of the world.
Most routes are tagged which is pretty useful (I'm sticking to the intermediate rides for now)
Also as far as possible, stay away from streets/routes tagged with "on-road traffic".

Step 2: Google Maps.
I use Google Maps and find the path from my starting location to the closest point on the route from Bikely.
Using the "My Maps" option I create a new map and trace the entire route.
I then use the "Street View" option to review the route, to ensure I don't have to ride through streets
with lots of on-road traffic.** This is very useful.
Once I'm satisfied with the route, I share the Map of the proposed ride with a few riding buddies.

Step 3: Ride - with a GPS (Garmin 60c). I tried using the Iphone, but the battery always died out in an hour or so.
1
Step 4: I Upload tracks from my Garmin to www.trailguru.com.
I then visualize my ride on Google Earth
The GPS import feature works very well with Google Earth. Go GPSBabel!

Step 5: Repeat Step 1.

Once you've done this a few time, selecting a new route takes less than 10 minutes.

And I honestly feel its more fun to ride when you're able to explore new areas.

Sunnyvale to Stanford Bike Ride 3/2

2009-03-02T20:57:00.001-08:00

Got my first bike fit recently - I'll write about bike fitting in a following post.

I went in to work early this morning, so I was able to leave a little early and get an evening ride in. It's been a wet three days in Nor Cal, and 3 hours of sunshine was just the excuse I needed for this weeks first bike ride.

My ride took me through Fremont ave, to Foothill expressway (recommend for bikers). From there I got into the Stanford campus, rode down University Ave to Middlefield and back home.

Things I learnt today:

1. Its fun to ride on large open streets, with dedicated bike lanes.
Foothill Expressway is fantastic for a ride.
Long flats, Intermediate Hills and you're able to go good distances at nice speeds.

2. Do not ride in a school campus. Too many stops signs will require that you stop every 100m.

3. Avoid busy streets or streets without dedicated bike lanes.
These streets are good for commuting, but don't really cut it for pleasure ride.
Middlefield is one such street. I've ridden Middlefield before: to work and back, but riding this street on a long pleasure ride was very different.
Too many traffic lights, too much evening traffic, and the road became a single lane in many places. I couldn't pick up any speed on my ride back. :(
However, you won't really learn to appreciate the good roads, till you go through a few such ones :)

I got a little rain on this ride too. But a little rain shouldn't be able to stop anyone. Right?

New Rider Basics

2009-02-27T13:14:00.000-08:00

Now that you're thinking of riding.....

I've created a list of basic stuff you need before you go on your first ride.
You can also use this as a checklist before leaving on any long ride.

1. A bike
2. Water Bottle Holders (1 maybe even 2)
3. Bottles (1 maybe even 2)
4. 2 Spare Tubes
5. 1 Spare Tire
6. Hand help pump
7. Floor Pump (Keep this at home!)
8. A good pair of gloves
9. Biking Shorts
10. Biking Shoes
11. Pedals - they don't usually come with the bike.
12. Patch Kit
13. Helmet
14. Sunglasses (Need to prevent the dust from getting into your eyes)
15. Head light (optional)
16. Tail light (recommended)
17. Sunscreen

Winter Rides will require more clothing. But I'll share that when winter comes :)

The few stores I'd recommend in the South Bay are:

REI
Mike's Bike
Performance Bike
Sports Basement

That's it folks. See you on the road.

Feb 21st 2009 - Palo Alto to Redwood City

2009-02-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

We started this ride at Stanford and rode up La Canada to Hwy 92 in Redwood City.
This is a very beautiful ride, with a few beginner level inclines.
We turned and rode back from the Crystal Spring Reservoir in Redwood City.

Of course, on our way back we stopped for Brunch at the Woodside Bakery.

No flats, no backaches, and no crazyness on this ride.
I'd recommend this route to anyone who's already comfortable with an hour on the saddle.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.trailguru.com/wiki/index.php/Track:4CZG"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Saturday Morning Ride -02/21 (Road Biking) | Redwood City, CA 94061, USA&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Rider thoughts

2009-02-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

I've taken up road biking, and have been riding for 3 months or so now.
Living in California, and not picking an outdoor activity is blasphemy!

Now that I'm a little comfortable on my bike - I plan to start writing down my experiences as I discover new routes and new restaurants along my riding routes.

My GPS of choice is a Garmin 60C and thanks to the Iphone I'll be able to take some pictures too! I plan to upload both my ride maps and ride pictures here.

Hopefully this will convince some of you to take up biking and maybe come riding with me sometime!

Shown above is my first road bike: 2008 Cannondale Synapse 7