Presta Valves

Posted on 21 June 2009 by tomh

Before I started training for triathlons, I had not ridden a bicycle in many many years.  At the bike shop, I was trying out a new Trek and was embarrassed to say that I didn’t know how to shift!  The Shimano shifters were new to me.  Equally new were the Presta valves on the tires.  I had only ever seen a Schrader valve, which is what you will find on most automobiles and non-racing bicycles.

What is different about the Presta valve?

First, the entire outside of the valve is threaded and comes with a nut.  A very thin nut.  The nut is used to prevent the valve from disappearing into the wheel while you are pumping it up.  They are not required, but can be very helpful.  On the flip side, if you are like me and don’t have a clue about them, you will get a blow out trying to pump up the tire.  I tightened the nut so that it was tight against the rim.  This has the effect of making the tube burst at the connection to the valve.

Second, the Presta valve has to be unscrewed at the top before the valve can be acutated.  So, no air will go in or out until this is done.

Third, the Presta valve won’t work with a typical Schrader valve pump!  You must have a special pump or get a pump with an adapter.  My Target-bought, Schwin floor pump has one.

Lastly, the Presta valves come in different lengths.  They work identically, but the longer length valves are made for deeper rims.

Buy a presta pump now!

Short Presta Valve with Nut

Short Presta Valve with Nut

Presta Valve Adapter

Presta Valve Adapter

Presta Valve Adapter on Shrader Valve

Schrader Valve Adapter on Presta Valve

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Posted in Introductory, Training, Triathlon, Uncategorized

What’s in My Tri Bag?

Posted on 25 May 2009 by tomh

Each person will be different, but there are some things that I find essential to keeping in my triathlon gear bag.  For sprint, olympic, and international distance triathlons, I typically have just one large duffle.  For half-ironman distance, you will probably have three separate bags, provided by the ironman folks so you will have to stash gear into different places.  Also, if you’re doing any tri that has two transition areas, then adjust accordingly.

Here’s a list of essentials:

Swim gear:

  1. Swim cap
  2. Wetsuit (one or two piece) if necessary
  3. Plastic grocery bag or trash bag for wet gear
  4. Goggles

Bike gear:

  1. Helmet!
  2. Shoes
  3. One or two water bottles containing sports drink and/or water
  4. Gloves

Run gear:

  1. Shoes
  2. Socks
  3. Visor

Below is the list of items I use throughout the entire tri or at the beginning/end:

  1. LED Headlight from Darcy or Coleman.  These are invaluable for finding the items in your bag, especially when the transition area opens and it is still dark out!
  2. Sunscreen (30-SPF) stick from Nivea.  Easy application, not messy/greasy, and you can be sure you’ve got things covered.
  3. Towel for placing gear on the ground and general cleanup afterwards.
  4. Stapler.  The race number that is affixed to the bike can sometimes flap around when riding, causing issues with your legs or just disintegrating.  Even though race numbers usually have double-sided tape for bicycle affixing, a stapler ensures really good fit.
  5. Two sixteen-ounce bottles of water for after the race.
  6. Shower-cap to cover the bike saddle if it will be left overnight.
  7. Nutrition gels/bars
  8. Clean, dry t-shirt for after the race.
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Posted in Introductory, Triathlon

Ochsner Ironman New Orleans 70.3

Posted on 8 April 2009 by tomh

I visited New Orleans this past weekend to watch part of the Ochsner Ironman New Orleans 70.3 that I had signed up for, but decided not to run.  My plan was to go to the finish line and watch all of the pros – something I had not seen live before.  When I arrived at the finish line at 10:30, they were still setting up, so I decided to walk to Esplanade drive/street/ave to find a nice shady spot.  Finally around 10:50 a.m., the leader, a Candadian man came through.  It’s so weird to see someone running a roughly 6 minute mile because it didn’t look like he was going that fast.  A couple of minutes later, I saw Chris McCormack come through.  Slowly but surely more and more athletes ran by.  Surprisingly, most New Orleans residents had no clue what was going on.  Most asked if there was a parade.  And there weren’t very many spectators.  I could only count myself and maybe four others for the first hour.  I finally had to pack it in as I was getting sunburned and hungry.  Given that I hadn’t done any workouts that day, I felt guilty just thinking about going to get shelter and food 🙂

Arriving home on Monday, I looked up the results of the race.  I have to say I was quite surprised to find that many participants finished well over 8 hours.  I thought there was a cutoff?  I could have finished in 10 hours!

Race results for the race are posted at www.onlineraceersults.com.  This is the first time that I have seen this site.  Usually results are at results.active.com.  It would be nice to have a single repository of race results, not to mention the ability to see more than just chip/clock times.

I am now thinking about doing the Ironman 70.3 in Augusta at the end of September.  This would give me nearly five more months of training time and it’s within 7 hours driving.  I expect it would be quite hot and humid, just like Orlando, but it’s worth a shot.

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Posted in Training, Uncategorized

Oakley Radar Path Polarized Sunglasses Review

Posted on 28 March 2009 by tomh

I purchased the Oakley Radar Path Polarized sunglasses about a year ago. My main motivation was to have some nice polarized sunglasses that I could wear during my half Ironman race in Boise and beyond.
The retail price is USD $250.00, which is a lot, but I have always felt that to protect my eyes from the sun and flying harzards was worth almost any amount. I bought them on rei.com for USD $200.00.
Overall I really like these sunglasses. They have a special coating and lens design that allows perspiration to slide right off. They still fog up when running in the Orlando humidity. Not sure if I can use anti-fog on them. Occasionally I notice some slight aberration at the periphery, but it’s not big deal.
These sunglasses are lightweight, prevent sweat buildup and smudging, and really allow me to see well when it’s bright out.

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Posted in Reviews

DNS or DNF?

Posted on 24 March 2009 by tomh

If you knew that you would not finish a race, would you go ahead and start it anyway or simply become a spectator?  That’s the question I had to ask myself regarding the Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans next month.  I signed up for it (and paid the entry fee) last Fall.  After failing to finish the Boise Ironman 70.3 last June, I buckled down, started training harder and then signed up for this inaugural race in the Big Easy.

What I did not expect was to become so sick after a triathlon in September that I could barely sit and work at the keyboard all day, let alone run, bike, or swim.  After four weeks, I went to the doctor and he said it was bronchitis.  It felt more like walking pneumonia to me.  Anyway, I missed six weeks of training and when I started back, coughed like a maniac at the end of each run or bike ride (swimming wasn’t even an option yet).  Then, after my first marathon 3 months later, I sprained my ankle and spent another two weeks on the mend.

After all of this, I decided not to race in the Ironman New Orleans 70.3.  Even though it was paid for and all of the plans made, etc., I decided to just become a spectator.

I imagine that if it was a NASCAR race and I knew that I could at least get some points, then I might have made a different choice, but this is a physically grueling race that requires preparation.

There’s always next year or the next Ironman 70.3, but for now I’m going to take the DNS.

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Posted in Training

What’s in a calorie?

Posted on 24 March 2009 by tomh

I have been using a Garmin Forerunner 305 for almost 3 years now.  I never really paid much attention to the calorie count before.  When I first bought it, I was doing the Weight Watchers Online plan, and it gives point calculations based on minutes of exercise.

Since acquiring my new Garmin Forerunner 405 and stopping the WW Online service, I have been watching the calorie count.  I don’t really like the 405, so I started to use it for my evening walks and the 305 for my biking, running, etc.  Well, one day, my 405 wasn’t charged, so I used the 305 for the walk.  It turned into more of a walk/run, totalling five miles.  At the end, the Garmin 305 told me that I had burned over 800 calories!  Well, this was quite surprising as the 405 usually totalled no more than 460 calories.  I wondered what was going on here.

Time for a (not so scientific) test.  I made sure to set the profiles exactly the same in both units:  Age, gender, weight, and then I put both of them on and started out the door.  I have to say it was a bit weird having both units on at the same time, even though the 405 was on my other wrist.  Watching one unit and then the next, I saw that the heart rate was exactly the same.  Good so far.  The pace was a bit different, but I had heard they did a better job of satellite tracking with the 405.  At around the .25 mile point, I managed to stop the workout on the 405 (darned touch bezel!) before starting it again at the .75 mile point.  In the end, the 305 registered 700 more calories burned than the 405!!

After some searching on Google, I found that Garmin uses the profile and distance, not heart rate to do its calorie calculations and that they are known to be essentially useless.  I would have to say though that the 405 is probably closer to reality.

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Posted in Training

Nuun Sports Drink Review

Posted on 23 March 2009 by tomh

I have tried many sports drinks:  Gatorade, Gookinaid, Hammer products, and Nuun.  The last one is my favorite.  Nuun comes in a tablet form.  A very large tablet.  Simply drop the tablet into 16 oz of water and within two minutes, you have a non-carbonated, no-sugar, sports drink.  It comes in four flavors (the cola flavor is caffeinated), but I like the tri-berry the best.  The best part of course is that it’s sugar free.  Each serving (which is half a tablet) contains less than 3 calories!  One downside is that the tablets are just a tad too big for most bottled water openings, but they can be forced.  If you’re using a re-usable water bottle, then it’s no problem.

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Posted in Reviews

Love these gloves

Posted on 21 March 2009 by tomh

Last week I purchased some Louis Garneau Rex Gel Gloves from all3sports.  Previously, I had used some modified carpenter’s gloves that I bought at Home Depot using a gift card.  They had padding, but not in the right places it seems.  These new Louis Garneau gloves are awesome!  I no longer have the tingling and numbness in my fingers/hands, so I guess they do a much better job of protecting the ulnar nerve.  I have been going the same distances, and riding on the hoods just as much as before, so I would definitely give them the thumbs up!

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Posted in Reviews, Training

Selle SMP Evolution Still Rocks!

Posted on 8 March 2009 by tomh

I have been riding on this saddle for a few weeks now and it’s still the best I have used.  No numbness at all.  I especially like the “Eagle Beak” nose as it allows me to get into aero position without cracking any nuts.

There are still some adjustments that I need to make (fore-aft) to be 100% comfortable.  Originally I had put painters blue tape on the rails in case I needed to return it.  What I didn’t realize right away was that the saddle was moving backwards because the tape was allowing it to slip.  The tape is now gone and it’s tightened down, so there should be no more movement.

All around, I give this saddle high marks.

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Posted in Reviews

Selle SMP Evolution Review

Posted on 16 February 2009 by tomh

I love my old bike saddle.  The problem is that I couldn’t get it adjusted just so that I wouldn’t have numb genitals after 15 minutes of riding.  In search of a new saddle, I purchased the Selle SMP Evolution from all3sports.com.  The price seemed a bit high ($239) for a saddle considering I put it on an $800 bike.  But my thinking was that if it alleviated the numbness and potential ED, then it was well worth it.

Last Friday, I received the saddle and put it on per the instructions.  By the way, your English really sucks Selle SMP.  I like the tag line:  “Designed on your body.”  Anyway, after a short ride around the block after having already worked out that day, I thought it would be good.  Saturday came and I took it out for a 16 mile bike ride.  Granted, there was a lot of standing to get up hills, and therefore I couldn’t say I was in the saddle for the whole time, but the results were astonishing!  I suffered no numbness at all.  Today I went out for my usual 14 miler and the results are the same.  I spend more time in the aero position and no numbness.  As for general comfort, it doesn’t seem to do a better job than my last saddle (Selle San Marco Tri saddle), but I am a firm believer in this awesome saddle.  The $239 plus shipping costs was well worth it!

Only 30 miles of riding and not all in the aero position is probably a bit early to tell how things will really work out, so I will update the post in a week or two.

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Posted in Reviews, Training