Posts by colin:
- Functions exactly as it should
- Fairly low-profile
- Easy to place/remove iPhone
- Snug fit holds the iPhone securely
- Tough, solid construction and quality materials
- Looks about as good as these things can
- Installation is tough. Pulling the zip ties tight enough and snapping the pieces together takes considerable effort.
- Not compatible with iPhone cases, hope you like your iPhone naked
- No wet weather protection at all
- Zip ties have to be cut off, standard bike computer-style rubber bands would be nice
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The Cyclemeter Review
April 13th, 2010You may remember I started using Cyclemeter (Abvio, $4.99) about a month ago. I’d used a few other tracking apps in the past, and when I decided that Fitnio had failed me for the last time, I plunked down the $4.99 for what looked like the best cycling app out there. Read the rest of this entry “
Skyline is amazing.
April 7th, 2010I wish I’d had my camera with me today. I rode SF2G’s Skyline route and it’s my new favorite ride. It was pretty brutal for a first-timer though, by the end of mile nine all I could think was “What have I gotten myself into?” Oh, and before I go on, I’d like to note that the link I posted is 100% accurate as far as I know. Cyclemeter performed admirably today.
Usually when I plan to ride I bring a change of clothes to work the day before, and leave my laptop there overnight. But I just decided yesterday afternoon to do this ride, so I had to bring everything with me on the bike today. It was a bad day to travel with an extra ten pounds. Very little of the route is flat, and I am not in climbing shape. At all.
The good thing about climbs is, they always pay off. I absolutely love a good descent. Nothing like grabbing the drops and getting some face time with the handlebars. Sawyer Camp Trail (approx. miles 15.6-21.8) is the perfect combination of twisty descents, awesomely fun sharp turns, and gorgeous scenery. It is COLD though. The kind of cold that numbs your face until you can’t make consonants. The kind of cold that forces you to ball up your fists to save your fingers. The kind of cold that turns your nose into a total snotfaucet. Worth it though. Imagine if the forest portion of the Arkansas River Trail were five miles long, mostly downhill, and next to much prettier water.
And now on to the griping portion of this post. I am having a knee problem. It feels like my right patella is seriously bruised. It’s not, obviously, or I would know why it hurts. It was fine for almost the whole ride, but about three miles from Google it started bothering me, and it’s gotten worse throughout the day to the point that when I got up for water a minute ago it was hard to straighten my leg. I can walk just fine, in fact I don’t even limp… but it feels like I kneed The Thing in the crotch.
I also need a new saddle. I thought I just needed to get used to the one I have, but it seems like it’s taking fewer and fewer miles each ride to develop some serious ABS (that’s Angry Balls Syndrome). I picked up a used Fizik Alliante for my CX bike (just completed, pics forthcoming!) so we’ll see how that works out. If it’s good I’ll have to find a white and black one to match my Orbea.
Pro.Fit iPhone Bike Mount Review
March 28th, 2010Since I’ve been using my iPhone to track my rides (with varied success), and since I’ve been riding longer and more often, I took a major leap and blindly invested over $26 in an iPhone mount for my handlebars. I came across this post at iPhoneness, and after reading some Amazon reviews etc. I settled on the Pro.Fit holder & bike mount.
Opening the box, I was dazzled by the packaging. It was the first sign that I’d really made a solid investment that I couldn’t possibly come to regret.
Fortunately, once I had it out of the bag it was clear that the money they saved on packaging was well spent. The individual pieces feel extremely solid.
They even included a pair of Flexible High-Tensile Polymer Fasteners with Built-In Permanent Locking System. Fancy.
Installation was not easy. The mounting bracket and phone holder have zero clearance between them, so the zip ties have to be pulled extremely tight until they’re flush with the bracket. In addition to (or as a result of) having no clearance, the mount and holder are a very tight fit. It took me several minutes to snap them together, and I’m not what you’d call “dainty.”
I had no idea what the rubber strip was for, and honestly if something only comes in two pieces I am not likely to read the instructions. On my first ride I quickly realized that the rubber strip was important. I left it out, and for the entire ride the mount was flopping over to one side of the stem. Getting home, I checked the instructions and confirmed my suspicions: That little piece of rubber is what keeps the bracket in place.
I had to cut the zip ties, which meant a trip to the hardware store for replacements. The hardware store didn’t have any small enough, so I got the closest thing and performed minor surgery on the bracket to make them fit. All this added up to a seriously crappy installation process that I could have avoided had I just read the instructions. Lesson learned, I guess.
The good news is, when this thing is installed properly it works great! The fit and finish is top notch, and the iPhone fits snugly and securely in the holder. Nearly 100 miles of testing over some bumpy roads, and my iPhone was never in danger of falling out. It’s not meant to protect your iPhone in a crash, but honestly it seems like it provides enough protection that even in a serious wreck your iPhone would have a solid chance.
PROS:
CONS:
THE VERDICT:
A solid piece of equipment. If you’re tracking your rides with an iPhone, a handlebar mount is a very nice thing to have. This one does the job, is built to last, and won’t drop your iPhone if you hit a pothole. I might even get a second one for my other bike, but I’ll be careful to install it correctly on the first try.
Looks like it’s time to… Re-tire. (YEEEAAAHHHH)
March 21st, 2010Had a pretty great ride today, but I only tracked half of it. Just totally forgot to restart Cyclemeter after my water break. Check it out! I really wished I had my camera, in fact I may get a second (or bigger) saddle bag so I can take it with me on rides. Fortunately Google Street View is a pretty good substitute. That picture’s from where I did my fastest mile.
I stopped at the 16 mile mark for a snack and some water, and noticed it’s time to replace my tires. If you don’t know how to tell when your tires are old, I’ve included this handy picture for your reference (click to embiggen):
Cyclemeter: Also for Running!
March 14th, 2010Just finished my first run with Cyclemeter. It seems to have been pretty accurate, or at least it’s as accurate as Fitnio ever was. That’s all I really have to go on. Looking at the map of my run, it looks like the GPS doesn’t “check in” as often as maybe it should—I promise I wasn’t zig-zagging down the middle of Polk Street. But all in all, I’d say it compares favorably to any other tracking app I’ve used.
The tweeting feature might be what seals the deal for me. Knowing that it’s sending a link to Facebook makes me feel like I’m really accountable for turning in a good run. It might even make me run more often, if I feel like people might start wondering why I haven’t run lately. Is that a little narcissistic and/or self-obsessed of me to say? Probably. I don’t care though (because I’m awesome).
My running has improved a little, in spite of me not really staying on top of my training. My outdoor runs are a mile longer now but averaging the same speed. That’s pretty encouraging, and in combination with the beautiful weather, Daylight Savings Time, and Cyclemeter, I might even start running more than once a week. Of course, we’ll see about that when the time comes to run on a weekday after work.
Check out these rides
March 11th, 2010Not a real update, just wanted to share this post from over at Cycling Tips. Pics so good they’ll make you want to go out and climb all day:
Hey Cyclemeter, you are my new favorite iPhone app.
March 10th, 2010In my last post I briefly touched upon a slight problem with Fitnio. Specifically, it wouldn’t upload my ride. Well, after that happened on three or four more rides, Fitnio decided it wouldn’t even open at all. It would just crash, every single time I tried to use it. I reinstalled it, restored my phone, and cursed it up and down, but nothing would fix it. Not even the most creative curses I could muster. So you know what, Fitnio? You’re out. You suck and I never liked you much anyway.
I hereby declare Cyclemeter to be The New Hotness. I used it for the first time today, and it… it just… you guys, it is a dream. I won’t devote space here to listing its features, suffice to say that it does everything they say, and it does it well. If you check my Twitter you’ll see that it can tweet when you start and finish your ride. HOW COOL IS THAT?! It even uses less battery power than Fitnio. You hear that, Fitnio? You suck so hard.
The one flaw I saw was that it clocked my first couple of miles at around 79 mph, which isn’t entirely accurate. 7.9 mph would be closer. I’ll give it a pass though, because when I started out it warned me that the GPS signal was weak. Fortunately it allows the user to change any stats it records, so I scrubbed my amazing but untrue top speed from the record.
Oh and by the way, riding’s going well… Missed a couple of weeks because of jury duty, equipment failure, and weather (I will NOT ride in the rain, I don’t care if that makes me a wuss). But today was great, the weather is steadily improving, and I won’t have jury duty again for at least a year. Expect to see some more frequent rides tweeted, thanks Cyclemeter!
I did it!
January 28th, 2010I rode to work. I RODE my BIKE to WORK . For some reason, after I used 70% of my iPhone battery to track the ride, Fitnio decided not to record it. But it was right around 45 miles, and took just over three hours. Pretty slow, but I’m happy with it since I haven’t done a real ride (or even been on a bike, really) since the summer. For anyone interested, here’s the link to the route. It says 42.5 miles, but instead of the Foster City route we took a bike path that added about two miles. Aside from being freezing cold until the sun came up, and completely worn out at the end, it was extremely pleasant.
I plan on doing this once a week for a month or two, and then moving up to at least twice weekly.
I am completely exhausted, so that’s all I’m writing.
If it keeps raining like this I’m going to invent Street Kayaking.
January 27th, 2010Hey, remember last week when I said I was going to update every Sunday? Is anyone surprised that I didn’t stick to that even for just a week? No? Me either.
Anyway, I would have updated if there was anything to update about. The weather here has been horrendous. I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long. When it’s like that, I can’t even make myself walk the block and a half to the gym. Gym clothes are just not suitable for cold, rainy weather.
The good news is we’ve gotten a little break in the rain, and tomorrow I’ll be riding my bike to work! That’s 42.5 miles from San Francisco to Mountain View. I have my Orbea, my Orbea has new pedals, I have a riding buddy, and I’m ready to do this. Wish me luck!
We’re supposed to get more rain over the weekend and next week but I promise I’ll take full advantage of every day that it doesn’t rain, so that I’ll have something to write about here.
I’m not a guy who does New Year resolutions…
January 16th, 2010But January’s as good a time as any to get this thing rolling again, I suppose. I’ve come up with a few blog-related goals that I hope will make training (and writing about training) a little more interesting, or at least more consistent!
1. I’m going to tweet about all my runs and rides. You guys will know if I’m slacking off. This could get really boring after a while, so we’ll just play it by ear.
2. I’m going to update this blog at least once a week. On Sundays I’ll post a summary of the week and how I’m coming along. Hopefully posting on a weekly schedule will keep this blog on my radar and influence me to post more often.
3. This is pretty hypocritical, at least for now, but I’m going to hassle everyone else to post more often too. Schuyler starts swimming soon, and I don’t know about you guys but I think he needs to write about it on the Internet.
4. More pictures! I got an awesome pocket-sized camera for Christmas and I want to put it to good use.
I don’t have any specific training related goals just yet, but I’ve laid out some vague ones. Once I work out the details I’ll start tracking my progress, but for now I’m just looking forward to riding my bike to Mountain View a couple of times a week!
Whoa, look who’s updating
October 7th, 2009Alright, I haven’t had a lot to write about training wise in what… six months? So I’m just going to take a few minutes to fill in our loyal readers on my boring routine and lack of progress.
Actually I have made a little progress, I suppose. I can run a solid five miles in about 45 minutes now, although I don’t that often because it sucks. Have I mentioned before that running sucks? I don’t remember. Anyway, running sucks, you guys. But I am getting better and it sucks less than it ever has before!
I’m making solid headway in the weight-loss department, too. I’m only seven pounds away from my long-term goal of 185. Turns out having a job where you’re on your feet all day, and there’s free coffee, can really slim a guy down.
Guys, Vibram Five Fingers. These are the Best Shoes (capitalization necessary). I run in them, I work in them, I wear them around the apartment and forget I even have shoes on… And my feet feel amazing. My legs are in the best shape of my life and I feel like my balance and agility have increased 100%. My feet never get tired, even after standing for 7+ hours. The only downsides are that I initially got some wicked blisters from running in them, and the smell. Taking them off is like getting punched in the face by a guy whose job it is to give bulls prostate exams, and I’m not someone who usually has a foot odor problem. But it’s worth it.
One more week of school
May 6th, 2009It’s finals time, so not a lot of time to train… Just as well, since it’s about as humid as Swamp Thing’s butt-crease right now. I did manage a 3-mile trot today, but not having run for the past week and a half combined with the humidity made it pretty unpleasant. Weather’s supposed to clear up today and be nice into the foreseeable future so hopefully I’ll make time to get out and enjoy it before leaving for Little Rock.
Crit training begins!
April 30th, 2009Last Summer I took part in CARVE’s Summer Crit Series, and I came out of it with a thoroughly cleaned clock. It took me three races just to not get lapped by everyone else. This Summer I’m determined to do at least a little bit better, so today I went out for a little crit-specific practice. I went down to Crissy Field, found an empty parking lot, and spent the better part of an hour working on track starts, figure eights and slaloming. I’ve hardly been on my bike at all this semester, since I can’t ride to class and my exercise time has gone toward running, but I’m definitely in better physical condition than I was this time last year. With some more time in the saddle I should be in pretty good shape, maybe even good enough to keep up with the old, fat, Cat 5 guys.
It’s a fantastically clear day, so after my parking lot drills I rode to the base of the bridge. There’s a new bike path most of the way there, so now instead of worrying about potholes and gravel you can focus on dodging tourists on rental bikes. Something about renting a bike absolutely makes people lose their minds. I honestly feel safer riding downtown during rush hour. Anyway, here are some pics, courtesy of my apparently colorblind iPhone.
Just checking in
April 24th, 2009Just a quick update on the shoes: still awesome. Calves hurt worse than when I first started running, but strangely not WHILE running. Did a half mile yesterday and a mile today, keeping the distance short as a precaution which may not be necessary. Not even the slightest sign of shin splints or any other injuries!
I guess I’m the only one still updating this thing
April 22nd, 2009Running is getting easier! Or at least, its suckitude is on the wane. I’m quickly closing in on a sub-7 minute mile. Friday I did four miles in 38:30, with a best mile of 7:03 and an average of 9:50. The new shoes seemed to have been helping, although I never felt like I hit my stride. My feet were doing all sorts of crazy things trying to reconcile my natural gait and the structure of the shoe. I’m new to running, but this just seemed incredibly wrong to me. Then I saw this article: The Painful Truth About Trainers.
I’ve suspected this ever since I began selling running shoes. They’re just not made to complement the foot’s natural shape or motion. How, exactly, did we run away from bears and lions without $100 Nikes? Pretty well, apparently, judging by our survival as a species. Today I left the Sauconies at home and ran in my Mexico 66′s. These have been my go-to sneakers for some time. They’re thin-soled, lightweight, flexible, durable, and stylin’. And they ARE running shoes—They were first made in 1966, and worn in the ’68 Olympics in Mexico. Hence the name.
Since I was running on basically no cushion at all, I opted for an easy mile on the treadmill just to see how it went. 6.8 mph, no incline, easy-peasy. After a mile I was feeling pretty great, so I thought I’d just round it out to 10 minutes. The 10-minute mark came and went. Here’s a brief rundown of the next several decisions I made: “What the heck, let’s do a mile and a half. Still good… maybe 15 minutes. Ok, let’s just do two miles. Still good… I guess I can walk until I hit 20 minutes. Ok, 20 minutes down, let’s just make this a three-miler.” I didn’t get tired until around 2.8 miles, and managed to keep up my pace until I’d done three miles. 27:40… wait a minute, that’s faster than my average from Friday. Granted, it was a mile shorter, but I think I found my new running shoes.
Even using tendons and muscles that have supposedly been weakened through neglect, I felt almost no pain or discomfort during or afer the run. This, for me, was unheard of until today. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but for now I’ll be looking for the receipt for those Sauconies…
Caffeine, Running Fast, and Ratatat
April 5th, 2009Not much to report on today, just a short run and weight routine at the gym. I can consistently do a mile in 7:13 now, although it results in a heart rate of around 191. According to the chart on the treadmill this is heart-exploding territory and not to be sustained, but when was the last time I let a chart tell me what to do?
A couple of interesting articles for you today! This first article is about how coffee (more precisely, caffeine) lessens the pain associated with working out.
Coffee Lessens the Pain of Exercise
And this one is about how there is an ideal running pace for everyone, at which metabolic efficiency is its highest. For men this pace is, on average, 8.3 miles per hour.
These two articles would seem to confirm the validity of my preferred workout method, known as the Drink a Lot of Coffee and Then Run Your Butt Off Method.
I have been listening to a lot of Ratatat as my running music lately. Good, good stuff.
The brutal winds at Fort Mason blew away all my ideas for a title
April 2nd, 2009Today I did the same run as Sunday, but .06 miles longer and almost three minutes faster. I took 42 seconds off my average mile, and 1:14 off my best mile. Somehow I burned 3 fewer calories. Does this mean I’m in better shape now than I was four days ago? So it would seem.
The new shoes are doing well, but I’m going to have to put my Superfeet in them because today I noticed a definite lack of arch support. I don’t know how I missed that when I tried them on, or on my first run.
I got new shoes!
March 29th, 2009Today was my first run on my new running shoes, and MAN does having the right shoes make a difference! I ran (ok, mostly walked) 4.8 miles in 56 minutes. My best mile, I think, was 9:36. I say I think because I used the iPhone app Fitnio to track my run, and I’m not sure exactly what that “9:36 mile” is referring to. Let’s just go with that being my best mile time. The weather is amazing right now, so I’m very glad to have shoes that don’t constrain me to the treadmill.
The shoes are the Saucony Progrid Guide 2. I was pretty set on getting Adidas, since they were my favorites when I sold them, but the Sauconys just fit better. I tried at least one shoe in every brand at Lombardi’s before I made up my mind. Hopefully it was worth the trouble and I’ll be able to run regularly again without fear of injury. Oh, and the best part? My former boss gave me the employee discount. So now I’m sitting on the exercise ball I got with the money I saved!
Well hello there
March 24th, 2009Long time no see, huh? Yeah, I haven’t been doing a whole lot of training, to be honest. I do make it to the gym 3-4 times a week, but now that I’m terrified of shin splints I keep the running pretty short. I can do a mile in 7:30 now! So I’m improving, in spite of things. My Lombardi’s coupons expire soon, so I’m gonna go ahead and get some running shoes before that happens… then maybe I’ll have some more activity to update on! The weather is getting nicer all the time, so I’d really like to take the running outside and get away from that treadmill.
I hope to be doing a lot of tinkering with the site in the coming weeks, so if anything looks weird or broken it’s my fault. I’m working on my personal site (no link, because it still sucks) and some of what I learn might apply to this one as well. So yeah, there’s the news.
Weekend Update
March 7th, 2009Man, school is keeping me busy. I’ve pretty much put the training on hold, although I try to make it to the gym a couple of times a week. Still no running—I’ve tried a few short, 1-2 mile runs here and there and completely given up until I can get running shoes.
The weather has turned, so there may be some bike rides in my near future! Assuming, of course, that I can get my homework under control. It may be Spring Break before I get outside again.
I’m not TOTALLY slacking.
February 28th, 2009I traded a couple hours of sleep this morning for a workout. 20-minute 2.02-mile run, and some weights. It was much needed, and I feel a little bit better about my week now. Exercise is truly habit-forming, and once I’ve gotten into the habit it is not pleasant to break it.
I got some gift certificates in the mail from Lombardi’s, so I may be able to splurge on some real running shoes in the near future. I used to sell running shoes there so I have a little bit of a customer loyalty thing going on.
No sign of shin splints or any other sort of injury today, so that’s good news. Maybe keeping the mileage low is a good idea for now.
A brief, general update
February 25th, 2009For the next few weeks, or months, my training is going to have to take a back seat to schoolwork. Already, midterms are sneaking up on me like a ninja in the night, trying to catch me asleep in my Bed of Unpreparedness and murder me with a Sword of Harsh Grading after battering me senseless with Nunchuks of Innumerable Assignments. The regular workload of 12-15 class hours and 8-10 hours of homework for each of three studio classes isn’t too bad in and of itself. But in addition, I have to write, draw, and produce a full-length comic book within 8 weeks, and I’m trying to build a portfolio site where I can show my work. The comic book is going to kill me—last semester in my Comics class the pace was 1-2 pages a week, and that was tough enough with only one other class that semester.
So, I’m not going to make it to that half-marathon in April, but I will do my best not to backslide from where I am now. The main thing is to keep my grades up, otherwise I won’t graduate before we do this thing. Thanks for putting up with my bitching, I’m off to study some art history.
Pretty sure I’m getting shin splints.
February 22nd, 2009Never having been a runner, I’m not all that familiar with the attendant injuries. For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to learn to distinguish between all the different sorts of pain that come with this sport. Sure my legs are going to be sore, my calves feel like they’re on fire about 60% of the time now. My upper leg muscles weren’t used to anything more strenuous than walking up a hill or an occasional bike ride. So there’s a certain amount of just shutting up and getting over it that I have to do. But the past few runs have had me worrying. All the info I can find points to shin splints, but fortunately at this point it’s not bad enough to warrant real recovery time.
I’m pretty sure that it’s my shoes’ fault. I’m running on neutral trail shoes when I definitely need at least a stability shoe, more likely a motion control, in the road variety. Maybe this week I’ll hit a few specialty running stores and get gait analyses and shoe advice. Until I can afford new shoes though, I’ll just have to back off on the running and maybe substitute biking. If it would just stop freaking raining all the time I’d put some miles on the ol’ Cannondale, but until that happens I’ll be on the stationary at the gym (ugh). Now’s as good a time as any to start swimming, I suppose, but I want to swim even less than I want to run.
Progressing as planned!
February 19th, 2009Took a whole minute off my 5k today. 27:24. I did the first mile in 8:03, and the last 3/4 mile at 7:34 pace. I think. Everything was a little blurry at that point. I’ll do some longer distance this week, and then next Thursday try for 26 minutes. I’m pretty confident that I can hit 25 minutes within 3 weeks, but we’ll see how that goes.
I either need to take a little more time between waking up and working out, or I need to just hold off on the coffee until after I’ve run. “Coffee slosh” is brutal when you’re trying to set a personal best.
My weight loss seems to have stalled at 7 pounds (I’m at 203 now). I am, however, losing body fat, which really is just as good. I think the disparity is due to strength training. I can’t seem to find an exact figure anywhere, but I’ve heard that muscle weighs two to three times as much by volume as fat, depending on the specific muscle and the person. If anyone knows better, please speak up in the comments!
I figure I have a couple of options to lose the remaining 13 pounds. Just reducing calorie intake would do it eventually, ditto for increasing cardiovascular exercise. Cutting back on the weight training would do it too, at the cost of muscle mass but with the result of a more compact and efficient body composition. If I were going to focus on running or cycling, I think that would be the way to go. But I’m going to start swimming again at some point, which takes a considerable amount of upper body strength. So the only reasonable path to take seems to involve eating less and running more, which totally sucks. Oh well. At my height and build, 190 pounds is exactly where I need to be if I’m going to be a competitive athlete. Also, being 13 pounds lighter would mean 39 fewer pounds of force every time my foot hits the ground while running, and based on Dad’s knee history that is pretty important to me.
Are there any nutritionists in the audience? I’d love some pointers on how to cut back on calories while still getting all the necessary nutrients. What’s a good protein:carb:fat ratio for someone training for a marathon? How many grams of protein should a 200 pound guy trying to lose weight (but not muscle) have daily?
I’ve been lazy.
February 18th, 2009Laura’s visit threw me off, and then it rained for a solid week, so in the past two weeks I’ve been running twice. Last week I talked about the 5k and my goals. Well, this week I made exactly no progress. 28:30, three seconds slower. I did, however, do my first 8 minute mile today. I’ll take another shot at it tomorrow and see if I can improve.
Today’s workout music was Girl Talk’s Feed the Animals. (Warning, MySpace link!) It is impossible to get bored with that album. Put a Radiohead riff behind Jay-Z, and you can hold my attention for as long as I can stand to be on a treadmill.
I broke down and bought some new workout clothes. I only have two sets of clothes suitable for running, and I got tired of washing them by hand in the sink after every workout. Next month, perhaps, I’ll finally get real running shoes. This is really just a roundabout way of saying, don’t be surprised if you see ads on the site soon.
