Random Thoughts of the Day

First off, thanks to all those here on the blog and on BikeForums.net who have wished me a speedy recovery during my time off the bike.  I’m going back to the doc’s on Wed this week to have two more spots worked on.  This time I fear, I’ll be a little worse for wear afterwards than this last time.

As far as this time around, the two spots on my right calf are healing up well, and my limp is just about gone if I wanted it to be.  I try to favor it a bit just so I don’t put any undue strain on it while it’s still healing.  But I’ve been off the strong pain meds for the most part over the weekend and there is only a bit of tenderness when pressure is applied to the area.

I’ve really been trying to keep my mind off the bikes.  Haven’t been spending quite as much time on BikeForums, haven’t been working on the bikes as I thought I might want to.  Mostly been laying on the couch or playing computer games.  But this morning as I was heading out to work a cyclist zipped down the street in front of my apartment complex and just made me sigh.  I so wanted to be out there too, enjoying the early morning with only the sound of the bike’s tires and gears and my breath and heartbeat in my ears. 

Hopefully I’ll get the Serotta soon.  Yes, it’s still not done.  David was supposed to have it done a week ago last Friday.  But he emailed me with some bad news just hours before I was to pick it up.  It was all done, he was taking it down off the stand, and the paint got chipped.  So back to the paint booth it went.  I told him that I was going in for the leg surgery and to take his time to do it right.  And while this is true, I’d still love to see it. 

Off the bike: 4/25 – ???

Copied from my thread on BikeForums.Net 

Its official, I will be going into the docs for additional excisions on a number of moles that I had biopsied 2 weeks ago. The first round will be Wed afternoon for the two on my calf. A week later I go back in for the one on my temple and one on my lower thigh. So that’s 4 of the 7 spots in 2 week’s time, the max that the doctor can do. The stitches on the legs usually come out 2 weeks post excision, head usually 10 days. So it looks like a bare minimum of 3 weeks worth of stitches. After that, I have the decision of doing the other 3 spots (at least 2 more visits) either now or waiting till cooler weather to arrive (and prime riding weather to end!)

I’ll keep this thread updated with my recovery progress. Thanks to all of those who have already expressed their well wishes as I go through this. I hope to be back on the bike soon, but must ensure that the excisions are healed enough to do so first. I don’t get paid to ride a bike and with my history of bad scaring the last thing I want to do is risk damaging the wound by going too hard too soon.

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I did the just below skin depth round 2 weeks ago which were the biopsies. These are a complete removal since they are what they call dysplastic, which are atypical and have a higher likelihood of developing melanoma in the future. 2 of these ‘noted’ as being more atypical as the other 5 and were recommended for immediate complete excision.

I had a malignant melanoma when I was 18, back in the summer of 2000. Which means when a mole biopsy comes back dysplastic, it’s better off completely removed than sit around and find out if it’s going to go bad down the road. Especially those two that were noted. Thanks for the well wishes. 

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Hello everyone. Just got home from round 1. Two new very nice long stitched incisions on the back of my right calf. One is just about centered on the back, the other to the inside about 1/8 of the way around. Both are well covered in bandages so no war wound photos any time too soon.

I’ve gone down this road before so I knew what to expect. My appointment was at 2:15, and I’m home less than 2 hrs later. Local anesthetic was used, and that took more time than anything to do. So now I’m home, no way that I could possibly climb on a bike regardless of how much I’d like to. With the leg stitched up, even though they run long ways down my calf, the skin feels very tight and the leg doesn’t want to straighten out all the way. If history repeats itself, it will likely stay that way for about 5 days before the induced limp is gone. The doctor even mentioned how tight the skin was after stitching, contributing it to my cycling. I kinda laughed, after seeing the ‘leg thread’ in road cycling last week there are plenty of cyclists out there with bigger and firmer calfs than me. I guess for now, that isn’t a bad thing, and I won’t be working towards bigger ones for a while.

I go back in a week from today for round 2. This will be the thigh and my right temple. Those will likely be more troublesome due to their location. The temple especially I’m a bit concerned with being in my hairline and right in a rather tender area of the head. At least they’re giving me some good pain killers.

The build debate

I now own two very nice vintage steel frames.  One is my Gazelle Champion Mondial, 531c steel frame, currently build with a mix of 8sp Shimano and Campagnolo 10sp, which is slowly being converted to all Campagnolo 10sp.  And now I have the Serotta Nova.  This frame, currently being painted, is built of Columbus SL tubing, and has a complete Campagnolo Super Record group. 

The question I keep asking myself is, which bike is better suited for the modern Campagnolo group, and which will look best dressed in the vintage Campagnolo gear.  The Gazelle has a very classy and vintage paint job.  Pearl white with blue seat tube and downtube panels, and was probably originally equipped with either Super or Nuovo Record.  The Serotta is going to have a much more modern metallic red color on it, with silver decals.  It looks the part of a modern bike much more than the Gazelle.  So should I reverse course, rebuild both bikes with each other’s gear?  That is the question I keep posing to myself.  And in all honesty, I really don’t know.

Part of me wants to keep the Gazelle as my primary distance rider.  I love the look of the frame, its uniqueness here in the US where very few Gazelle’s were imported.  Not saying that I couldn’t use the bike for a long distance ride with friction downtubes and vintage parts, but I can certainly see choosing which ever bike has the modern Campagnolo group on it over the vintage gear for a good number of longer rides. 

There’s also the ‘new paint’ factor.  Which is both playing for and against the Serotta.  On one hand it’s going to look fantastic when it’s completed.  David emailed me saying it was ‘the best red he’s ever seen’ and I certainly want to show off that color and the bike.  But I also don’t want to mess it up either.  All my bikes are riders and not wall queens, but I still look after them and want them to look good for as long as possible.  If I build up the bike with the Super Record group now, and then change my mind, there’s a good possibility that the derailleur clamp will leave a mark in the paint that the new derailleur won’t hide.  So in short, I’d like to make the decision once and not risk marring a new paint job.

Then there’s the headsets.  I just had a modern Campagnolo threaded headset installed on the Gazelle, and David is putting the S.Record headset back on the Serotta.  Granted, with the history of S.Record headsets developing indexing rather easily, it’s probably a given that both bikes will eventually run the new model.  But the fact remains that if I’m going to build a bike with ‘fully campagnolo super record’ that it should include the headset, since I do have one. 

Decisions, decsions…

A Couple Firsts

A couple of firsts on my short ride tonight:

1) First ride on my new Specialized Carbon Pro shoes.  Feel really nice, power transfer is great, and getting used to all of the BG features.  By the end of the short 6mi ride I had mostly forgotten about the new position my feet were in due to the tilted food beds.

2) First ride after having the first round of cutting done on my leg, arm and scalp to remove moles that displayed the warning signs of possible skin cancer.  The good news from the doctor is that there were no cancerous spots, but all seven of the spots are “pre-cancerous” and are highly recommended for complete removal.  I have just over a week till I plan to have that done so I will soon be off the bike for a considerable longer time than this last break (against my will).  I had the first round done last Monday evening, just shy of exactly 7 days ago. 

Ride stats (short as it may be)

Distance: 5.77
Time: 0:22:33
Avg Speed: 15.2

Nothing to write home about, but I wasn’t out there for a lot of speed, just an enjoyable ride on the Gazelle.  Winds were very strong out of the south tonight which really showed how a week off the bike really hurts the conditioning!

9 days to freedom

Well, from school anyways.  The 19th I have my exams, the 20th I have the turn in for my final project submission, and then it’s summer vacation for me.  I had actually hoped to get my final classes out of the way this summer.  But it is pretty obvious that I’m suffering from a bit of burn out and I can’t get the class I want anyways.  Oh well.

What I am hoping though is that I don’t get laid up with any minor surgery for melanoma in the near future.  This past Monday I visited the dermatologist and he removed seven moles for biopsy.  I’ll be getting the results from that either later this week or early next week.  If any of the three on my right leg come back as problems then I will be going under the knife for additional tissue removal and keep me off the bike for several weeks longer than I’d like.  I’m already way behind on my desired miles for the year and haven’t done any real long distances like I had hoped early this year yet.  Longest of the year so far has been a very flat 45mi.  If I want to do any metrics I need to get out and start pushing soon. 

Wheel build – Third time a charm?

Just returned from lunch here at the office to the welcome news that there was a delivery from Cambria Bike at the apartment this morning.  This will be the third set of spokes delivered for my first wheel build attempt.  Well, second go around actually doing a build, hopefully this time the results will be more satisfactory.

The first attempt ended with the discovery that the rim I was using for the front wheel had some faulty eyelets that were pulling away from the rim.  After asking around both on BikeForums.net and at my local bike shop, I decided that the safe thing to do was take the wheel back apart and return the rims.  That was “just practice” I suppose.

Second attempt was put in motion back in February after finding a new set of rims, these a NOS set of 27×1″ Araya rims from a member on BikeForums.  Rims arrived in fantastic shape and I soon ordered both spokes and a Park Tool TM-1 tension meter from Cambria Bike.  Well, the TM-1 was on back order, and instead of taking 7-10 days it took more like 30-37 days before it shipped.  I happily received the order of spokes and the tool finally a couple of weeks ago, only to discover that the order had gotten messed up at some point, and they shipped me the wrong size spoke. 

So back to Cambria Bike those went, which reminds me to check my CCard statement for the refunded shipping costs, and now the new set of spokes have arrived.  Additionally I am buying my own truing stand.  I had borrowed Marty’s stand from him back in like, January, when all this started and I still have it.  Feel bad keeping it for so long regardless of his assurance that he hasn’t needed it.  So, considering the other wheels I’ll be building in the near future, and the upkeep on all of my wheelsets, it will be a very worthy investment.

 Let’s hope this goes better than the first two attempts.  Once these are done and I’m confident I can build a serviceable wheel, my next goal will be the rim replacement on a set of tubular wheels I have for the Serotta.  And finally a set of clincher “everyday” wheels for the Serotta as well.  After that, who knows…

Serotta Update!

Just received a PM from David and Southwest Frameworks who is handling the painting on the Serotta.  He has completed the color coats and the first coat of clear.  Next is a wet sanding, application of decals, and a final coat of clear.  Planned unveiling of the competed frame is going to be at the second (annual?) Dallas BikeForums Member Meet and Greet on Monday the 9th.  I can’t wait to see how the color comes out looking on the thin tubes of the Serotta’s frame after seeing it nearly daily on a Lexus GS on my way into the office. 

All of the parts for the bike are assembled and ready for assembly.  The only question marks left are the headset and the wheels.  I’ll be going with the original S.Record headset for now, but fear that the indexing feel of it will be difficult to get out and may be in need of replacement sooner or later.  The wheels, ah the wheels.  There are going to be two sets of wheels for this bike.  First off the tubulars that I have now, the rear rim is slated for replacement in the near future and I have two Mavic GL330’s waiting to replace the GP4 currently on the rear wheel.  I am also planning on building a set of clincher rims for the bike, hubs and rims coming from David also, and waiting to hear from him on what he’ll want for those.  Then I’ll have another chance to hone my wheel building skills.  More on that later I’m sure.

Spring in Texas

While browsing through BikeForums.net it’s hard not to see some of our more northern members still posting pictures of fresh snow fall and tales of 30 degree highs still sweeping through their home states.  It’s April already, nearly a week into it, and some of them have been out on the road maybe once so far this year.  In comparison, Spring in Texas is fantastic, but it is also unpredictable.

Well, to be fair, weather, regardless of the season, is unpredictable in Texas.  I’ve been out in shorts and a T-shirt racing around a lake in East Texas in January.  I’ve been out riding in 65 degree weather in Feburary, but I’ve also seen snow showers fore-casted for April 7th, 2007.  So much for a ride, even a short one in-between studying and other birthday festivities, on that day.  Saturday is fore-casted for mid-30’s with a good chance of rain showers, and even a bit of snow mixed in just for good measure.  I’m going to blame this on Tour of Dallas which is scheduled for tomorrow morning.  It was the same way last spring.  The days that I have class and work from sun up till sun down are the days where it’s bright, sun shine and moderate temps.  As soon as the weekend rolls in and a chance to get out on a ride, be it a charity ride or just out with the local shop, in rolls the rain, the wind, and the cold. 

Ah yes, the wind.  Texas has plenty of that.  And this time of the year it seems to be blowing most often out of the west.  Which poses the following problem, the local shop’s rides go East then back West out to Sache.  So while you’re blasting out in one direction with that 15-20mph wind on your back and you’re feeling like you could ride the le Tour, once you get turned around and into that head wind it becomes a test of your will.  Last week me and 3 -4 other riders dragged a pack of about 12 into that wind on the way back in.  My body aches and fatigues just at the thought of it. 

Then there’s the rain.  There was recently a thread on BikeForums, where an ‘old salt’ roadie called all of the riders who refused to go out riding in the rain a bunch of sissies with their lace panties in a bunch.  Let me state, that in Texas, any rain can be more than any one outdoors wants to deal with.  It can turn from a nice steady soaking rain to a torrential downpour with the ability to flood streets and drop hail in a matter of moments.  Last Tuesday the sky went from blue to dropping pea sized hail in the span of about an hour.  When it’s spring in Texas, you learn to watch the weather, both on the news and in the sky, very carefully.