Serotta, Surgery, Stiffness and other ‘S’ words

First off, the Serotta and I have now finally got some good miles in together and I must say I love the ride.  The shifting is still settling in as any Campagnolo group typically does.  It did it on the Flyte, and things are getting smoother on the Serotta.  The paint is beautiful, and tonight, I think I’m going to go home and tenderly clean every inch of the deep red paint of the road grit and grime I picked up between the Hotter’n Hell and the Cotton Patch Classic the last couple weeks.  Someone on BikeForums this morning made a new thread stating that “Steel is for Retro Idiots”.  Obviously an attempt to stir up an argument, I didn’t take the bait too much, but couldn’t help but respond with my own choice input on the subject.  Steel rides wonderfully, any ride over 40mi, and I’m going to be on a steel frame.  Till I can afford Ti, or have enough reserve cash to not worry about destroying a carbon, steel is real good for me.

Surgery – yes, it is about time for me to go back in for the rest of it.  For those who don’t remember or read about it, I had 4 moles removed back in late April, and now I must go back for the last 3.  A mixed blessing, I don’t have any more in my legs that will keep me off the bike completely.  However two are in my scalp so I will be unable to wear a helmet for several weeks.  This will keep me confined to the trainer indoors till it heals completely.  The last one is in my left arm.  Usually this would be no real big deal… except I’m left handed.  This might actually help me lose weight since it will be real difficult to eat for a few days!

Stiffness – as in stiffness in my back.  Something about my position on the bike, how I’m sleeping, something has been causing some very prolonged muscle problems in my back.  It has gotten to the point that it is causing some numbness to the surface of my skin in my upper back between my shoulder blades.  Last night I went for a professional massage in hopes it would start to relax my back muscles.  It seems to have helped, but a little more time will be needed to know if it did the trick, or more will be needed.  Till then I might have to limit my bike ride distance and speed some to prevent me from tensing up my back too much for too long.  I’m also going to spend some time and money with a bike fitter at a local shop to get the bike(s) set up better for me. 

Squeaking!  I recently replaced the aged and hardened brake pads on the Gazelle’s Campagnolo Super Record brakes with a new set of KoolStop Salmon pads that fit the original campy holders.  Paired with a brand new set of Campagnolo Omega 19 rims these new pads do stop well.   But they also squeak like a dying banshee.  Sounds that I can barely stand for the few seconds it takes to bring the bike down from 20 mph to a stop.  I really must find a solution to this issue as it is more than enough to make me rethink taking the bike out for a ride.  I really love the ride of the Gazelle, and certainly don’t want something like this standing between me and riding it. 

Summer, is just above over with now.  Even here in Texas the temperatures have started to cool considerably already this year.  And for the first time in a great number of years, I’m not going back to school this fall.  I will be doing some studying, getting some software certifications and such, but I am taking at least a full year away from school.  I think it will be good for me, allow me to focus on some other things for a little bit.  Hopefully rediscover the enjoyment in learning that I had somehow lost in the last 7-8 years of college.

Stuff, other stuff (ok, I’m running out of ‘S’ words…).  Velobase is continuing to grow, though slightly slower than it was at the get-go.  There have been new components added and updated every week, as well as new members joining.  Looking at the activity of many members I can see they are just signing up to get a look at the Catalog scans, but it is my hope that some of them will return to be part of the VeloBase community.  I have been receiving some good feedback on how to make the site better and as time allows I am looking into some of them.  By this time next year I hope to be moving on to Phase 2 of the website.  But I’ll go into more of that at a later date and time.  For now, I’m going to wrap up the afternoon, head for home, and hopefully get out on the bike.  Which bike I don’t know…

VeloBase.info Beta Update

I love it when things come together… quickly. 

The VeloBase.com Glossary page is now more or less complete.  There’s no information in it right now, but it is there and ready for stuff to be added to it by anyone with the permissions to do so.  Of course, there is also a ‘report’ link so to keep it clean and crap free.  And I don’t give those permissions to just anyone either. 

Right now VeloBase.info has 5 users other than myself (and actually, I have two users, one for testing and one for admin stuff), there are a whooping 62 components and 77 photos added to the database already.

Next plans are for the Additional Resource links, and a View Profile page so you can view other member’s profiles and stats.  Then it’s back to the Standard and Visual Component Searchs to round off the website.  Oh, damn, almost forgot, still have the Edit Photo thing to figure out.  That too, yeah, that should be worked on soon as well.   

Waxahachie = Hills

Saturday morning I packed up the truck with the Flyte SRS-3 and all my gear and headed down to Waxahachie, TX for the Cow Creek Country Classic ride.  Registered for what had to be the hilliest 46mi I have ever encountered.  For the most part the ride went smoothly, except for the wide range of speeds I was going at during the ups and the downs.  But hills will do that to you.  You can read my report as well as others in this thread on BikeForums.net: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=312946

VeloBase.com – so it begins

This evening I purchased the domains: Velobase.com, Velobase.net and Velobase.info.

 The reason?  A vintage bicycling database.  Parts, frames, and more.  Coming soon.

There is an amazing amount of information out there about older bikes, their components, and as a newer generation is starting to get interested in them, or the vintage guys are acquiring new frames, they want to know about them.  Problem is the information is spread all over the web, and there is no easy way to search for what you are looking for.  Say you have a Campagnolo crank set, or a SunTour rear derailleur.  But beyond that, you’re clueless (been there done that myself more than a few times) on what exactly it is, what it works with, or when they were even made. 

The goal of VeloBase.com is to let you answer a few questions about what you have in front of you, and the page returns you a list of possible components and information about it.  What is the BCD of that Campy crank, is that SunTour derailleur work with the shifters you just bought on ebay?  With a little help from the cycling community the answer may just be there.  Additionally there will be links to other resources that have been long established that you might be able to find or ask about the part in question.  Hopefully once you’ve found out what you want to know, you’ll come back and add that information to VeloBase!

So development officially starts tomorrow.  I’ve done some preliminary planning and such.  But tomorrow the code starts flying.  First phase: vintage components.  Specifically, Cranksets.  That will be the first component that I add to the database and develop the site’s automated pages.  Hopefully other components will be easy to add and expand on quickly thereafter. 

Vintage Bicycle Identification Wiki?

I’ve had the thought of creating a website that helps the vintage bicycle community in some way.  Some ideas have come and gone as I decide them too much of an undertaking, or not worthy of working on just yet.

But I think I’ve come upon an idea that might just be worth while.  An identification website that would allow people to identify different vintage bicycle parts, and eventually expand it into frames as well.  I haven’t started programming on the site yet, and will probably be some time before I do as I’m still in the prelimary design stage right now.  Hopefully it will be a site that the community will not only be interested in helping build, but also use. 

Murphy, his law, and all things that happened today.

I was determined to get the first ride on my newly rebuilt Gazelle Champion this morning. After putting all the Super Record gear off the Serotta on the bike it was begging for a good shake down ride. I had planned to ride with a fellow BF member this morning at 8:30. At 8am I was about to fill water bottles when I heard the distant rumble of thunder. Crap! Not MORE F’in rain! Sure enough there was a fast moving line of strong storms approaching the area. Well there goes that plan.

Fast forward 4hrs and the sun is out, while a bit windy, it was shaping up to be a great second half of the day. Decided I wasn’t going to let this break in the weather get away I jump on the Gazelle. I’m running a full campy super record group, unsure if I had everything tightened down completely. And to top it all off the rear wheel is running an old tubular tire which hadn’t seen the road in probably close to 8+ years. The front wheel is running a brand new clincher tire and tube. So if anything is going to happen, it’s going to be the rear tire right? No worries, I only plan on going around the block a few times. No need to grab the saddle bag with tube and CO2.

20min later I’m a lot further away from home than a block or two, a quick visit over to jsharr’s place and then heading for home. Half way back, I hit a pot hole and heard a lout twang. I knew instant something had happened to one of the wheels so quickly braked to a stop. A quick check of the rear wheel, still up. Front wheel… no such luck.

This is the second time I’ve had a front flat, without a tube/tire, on this bike, after a major build/rebuild. You’d think I would have learned my lesson the first time right? Guess it will take two times for this lesson to sink in. So once again I have to call for SAG, this time a quick call to jsharr and a promise of a some time soon secured a ride the rest of the way home.

So, everyone, no matter how short of a ride you plan on going on, grab the spare tube and pump or CO2. You’ll have more beer to drink yourself when you get home if you do.

23 Days Later…

It was 23 days ago that I last rode, and exactly 21 days ago that I had the first of two rounds of excisions done to remove moles from my leg and scalp. It was only 14 days ago that the one in my thigh and scalp right over the temple were done. And only 7 days ago that the stitches came out of the head. But today, I said enough waiting was enough waiting. I threw my leg over my Gazelle Champion Mondial, clipped one foot into the pedal and started off. I was back in the saddle. It took the first few minutes for me to settle into the saddle, I pedaled softly and slowly just to see how the leg would react. Soon the initial roughness in the saddle disappeared I became once again accustomed to the feel of the saddle. The leg felt surprisingly good. I didn’t push hard, focused on keeping a smooth light spin and took advantage of the downhill slants in the road more often than I normally would. I went around the block twice, just around a 1mi loop each. Then decided I was good enough to make it to the local bike shop and back, which I knew was about another 5mi round trip. I remained focused on taking it easy, but still feeling out how the leg felt a bit. One new scar or another would periodically let me know that it knew what I was up to. Nothing more than a slight twinge though, that soon disappeared as quickly as it would appear. I certainly could tell the hit that my fitness took over the last 3+ weeks. Granted there was a decent head wind on the way back to the house, but I could tell that I was certainly not able to push the tempo nor gear that I had been able to a month ago. In time though, it will come back, I’ll ease back into it slowly, but I want to be ready for the summer and fall rides. Hotter’N Hell Hundred isn’t too far away – and that ride takes more than determination and insanity to complete.

Serotta – The Frame is home, the fork shall soon be

I’m not going to take the time to tell the whole story over again here at the moment.  But for those who might not frequent BikeForums.net often, or at least not the Road Cycling section, I got my Serotta Nova frame back from the painters on Sunday evening.  The full story and plenty of photos can be seen here: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=295301

 I’ll add a full post about the bike when the build is complete, most likely this coming Sunday evening. 

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.