Road Bike - What to get?

I've been looking into roadbikes a bit lately. Definitely a complex field and it's hard to make a decision on what to get.

First of I need to define what kind of riding I want to do... Looking at the terrain around here it will most definitely involve tons of climbing. As far as I gather popular rides in the area are between 20 and 60 miles. That would call for a light frame... Aluminum or carbon.
Other things to consider:

• Do I want to race my bike? Probably no, except for a Tri perhaps.
  
• Do I want to tour? No.
• Do I want to commute by bike? Unlikely.

Alright...

What else is there to consider?

• Gearing: Questions here: Double or triple? What cassette? 12-25? 12-27?
  
• Wheels: Box vs. Aero? Which tires? 700-23? 700-25?
  
• Components: Compagnolo or Shimano? Which level Ultegra? 105? Dura Ace? (or equivalent)
  
• Size: Probably in the neighborhood of 62cm
  
• Cost: Yeah... well...
  

Perhaps it's time to hit the shops and look at some bikes... I hear the most important factor is fit...

Comments anyone?

week 17

Mon: Rest
Tue: climbing PG SV w/Dan. Two warm-up TRs, 4 leads 10a, 1 crack
Wed: Yoga, 90 min
Thu: backyard WOD: 21-15-9: push-ups, squats x2, pull-ups
Fri: Bouldering 40 min. 12 as a warm-up for the WOD: 400 m row, 21 Deadlifts, 21 Push-ups, 400m row, 15 Deadlifts, 15 Push-ups, 400m row, 9 Deadlifts, 9 Push-ups, 400m row. DL @95#
Sat: hiking: Huddart County Park and Phleger Estate OSP approx. 10 miles 3.5 hours
Sun: Climbing PGSF 7 climbs

El Corte de Madera OSP ride

Last Saturday I met Les, Chris and Dan at Skeggs Point on Skyline Blvd at 9:30 in the morning to go on a mountain bike ride in the El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve. My past experiences at ECDM are not the greatest, because of the rather technical trails, and my limited- to non-existing skill set on a mountain bike. However I had felt rather comfortable on the last rides inspite of my sprained ankle and I had made sure that the Resolution trail would not be on our route.

When I got to Skyline it was pretty chilly and quite damp, so we didn't linger for long but rather got going quickly. I don't recall the exact trails we took, but we took the Manzinita trail descent into the valley. Here was my first mistake... I had made sure that we wouldn't take Resolution, not realizing that Manzinita is as bad... oh, well... Of course I made the beginner mistake and went too slow...taking a spill in the first technical section of the day.
Somehow I made it down the hill and enjoyed the next part of the ride...again: I have no idea which trails we were on, as I was just following the blue and orange dots of Dan's and Les's shirts between the trees. At some point we started climbing again on the North Leaf trail... which was about the point where I was ready to throw my bike in the ditch and hike out. I kept unclipping and picking up my bike. Twisting my and loading my injured left foot more then I had wished for. At some point I thought: "Oh, that's why I only rode my bike 5 times between last June (last time at ECDM) and now: It's just not that much fun!" I really couldn't get back to the parking lot fast enough! Apperantly this is a common problem though, since Lesley had a similar experience at Waterdog the previous week. It would have helped if I had slept better the night before as well...
Long rides are taxing... almost more mentally than physically...

After 2.5 hours on (and off) the bike the beer and burger at Alice's was highly welcome!

week 16

Mon: Rest up from the weekend
Tue: Climbing: PG SV with Dan, first time in forever trying to push into hard grades again. 7 climbs incl. several 11b's. Left index finger is fine. Ankle hurt the next day.
Wed: Wanted to do a WOD, but fell asleep on the couch... Ouch! Rest day.
Thu: More Rest. Damn!
Fri: Climbing: PG B w/ Ben.
Sat: Mountain biking: Skeggs Point aka. El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve
Sun:Rest

Scary!

Ben brought this to my attention today.
Scary! I mean these things look like old friends and the 5-for-the-price-of-1 sounds tempting...But what about the "working around certification procedure for this gear according to CE & UIAA standarts" part?

Big Sur Marathon weekend

The Big Sur International Marathion is taking place this weekend. Local runners are raving about it in different blogs, the media coverage is increasing, and the excitement is big.
Not for me though. I was supposed to run the 21 miles as a long trainings run in preparation for the Rock'n'Roll Marathon in San Diego in the end of May. But I haven't run in almost five weeks after spraining my ankle on a trail run in Wunderlich Park. The rehab is taking longer than expected. Cycling, climbing, walking are fine, but running is still a no-no.
So no 21 miles in Big Sur and consequently no marathon in San Diego...

Quite the change of plans for the spring...

I hope to be able to get back in shape for a fall marathon.

Yosemite: Knob Hill

Or: Never stop exploring!

Last weekend's trip definitely sparked the 'climbing outside bug' again, so I needed to get out again as soon as possible. During the week it seemed unlikely that I would be able to make it out due to a pretty big work load. But by the timeFriday came around things didn't look too bad. On Saturday Dan and I decided to drive out to Yosemite in the evening and climb on Sunday.
Our destination was Knob Hill, where I had never climbed before, but it seemed like a nice crag to get back into the groove of leading outside.

We wanted to start out on 'Just for Beginners' and scouted the rock to find the route. At some point I saw a few bolts higher up and figured it had to be the route... I racked up with a few draws ans started up. Just as I clipped the third bolt two guys show up and ask how things are...We chat for a while, when one of them asks: "You know that you need gear up there, right?" After what the following conversation starts: "Hm, the book says just 7 draws..." "Nope... that climb is not in the book" "huh, ok!" "I can bring you your rack!" "Cool, thanks!" "You need some tiny stuff ..." At this point the second guy whispers: "It's his route!" "Oh, you're Eric then!"

It was quite fun to bump into the guy who set up the route and get beta from him. We apparently climbed "Beanie Wienie" or something like that... Quite the nice climb... 4 bolts to a 5.6 flake, protectable with the orange Metolious and the blue Metolious TCU.

After topping out we made our way over to 'Just for Beginners'. Here I took my first Yosemite lead fall of the 10a crux down low. Dan caught me nice and soft though. No harm done. I was quite excited that I was able to get right back on to the climb and even face the runout sections high up without freaking out.

Next were 'Sloth Wall' and 'Anti Ego Crack' both fun climbs. To finish the day I led 'Pot Belly' via the undercling start.

The high temperatures took their toll: By 4PM we were pretty exhausted and decided to call it a day, although we would have had a few more hours of daylight. Back in the Bay Area at 7:15PM.

Yosemite: Reed's and Pat & Jack's

After a long break from climbing outdoors I went to Yosemite with Clint this weekend.
We carpooled with Vince and Eu-Jin on Saturday morning and got to Reed's around 10AM.



While Vince and Eu-Jin started on Eujesta, Clint and I eyed the Regular Route on Reed's Pinnacle. I led the first pitch, but freaked out two moves below the belay... Unbelievable!
After trying different options I lowered off. Clint led on the the chains at the end of the second pitch, on a huge ledge.


Here we had the option to either continue through the big chimney, or to lower off. (Continuing on Reed's Direct did not seem appealing.) Clint led the squeeze section as shown below... Unfortunately I got stuck following him. It was possible to get either my hips or my chest through the narrow section, but not both... We had to reverse our steps and lower off the chains after all.Back on the ground we went over to Ejesta, where I led the first pitch, and Clint the second.

Sunday's goal was Pat & Jack's Pinnacle.
Here I started out leading the bolted line left of Suds. It's a pretty new route, not featured in a guide book. Next was the semi bolted line right of Suds. I only took draws, since I did not realize that I'd need gear on the upper part. Reaching the last bolt I lowered off and Clint finished off the climb. Next was Makayla's Climb. Led it with a small hang at the 3rd bolt.
To finish off the day Clint led Boneheads with an alternate start avoiding the slippery face moves down low. I TR'ed afterwards.

Pretty cool trip! A nice way to get back into climbing outdoors... Last year around this time I had spent 3 days in J-Tree and a few days at the Pinnacles already... Hope things will pick up from here!

Tioga Pass opening date 2009

One of the many questions discussed last weekend was "When will Tioga Pass open this year?"
The estimates ranged from early May to Memorial Day weekend. As much as I'd like an early opening this year (I have a few weeks off in May) looking at the webcam I have doubts that this will happen. Based on the opening dates of the last two years, and the fact that there was more snow this year I assume it will be in early June.

UPDATE: Tue, Apr 21: Looking at the webcam I see one lane at Tioga pass is plowed! Perhaps there will be an early opening!

A quick update

I spent the last weekend climbing in Yosemite, and had a great time out there. It was the first time climbing outdoors since the end of November. A long time for a guy who calls his blog "Adventures in the Mountains". Anyway, since I had some adventures, I hope I will get around to write about them soon. Unfortunately I am swamped with work at the moment. On top of that is some other paperwork I need to take care of in the next few days, but I have quite a few new posts coming up:
The trip report from last weekend, the "Ascent for Mac"-review, a report on research regarding the purchase of a roadbike, a blurb about the differences in gym vs. outdoor climbing, some thoughts about ethics and motivation, and finally an assesment of my fear of falling...
I'll try to bring it out there in due time, hopefully interupted by more trip reports and the weekly training updates.

week 15 workouts

Mon: swimming 600 yards
Tue: climbing PG SV with Dan. 2 warm up climbs at 10a, 5 leads 5.9 - 10b, 1 11a TR
Wed: due to time shortage made up my own backyard WOD: 21-15-9 Push-ups, 2x air squat, pull-up. Tried to minimize breaks... Pull ups were hard though. Overall time approx. 10 min. Kicked ass!
Thu:rest
Fri: 30 minutes bouldering PG SV
Sat: rest
Sun: Climbing, Yosemite, Knob Hill

New Side Bar Feature

After spending the first night outside for this year I decided to keep track of how many nights I sleep out there. For this reason I added a counter to the side bar on the right. Unfortunately it's only one night for this year, but I hope I'll be able to beat last years twelve nights, which was the lowest count for the last four years...

Week 14

Mon: Rest
Tue: Spin class at PG SV. My first spin class ever. I liked the workout but the instuctor was really bad. If one does a count down it should be consistent and not something like 5-15-8-5-3-3-3-2-1. WTF??? On another note: I think the marathon in SD is not going to happen for me. My ankle is still very unhappy if I try to run. However the chances of me getting a road bike are increasing...Need to do some research on that. Look out for the post!
Wed, Thu, Fri: Off
Sat: Climbing: Reed's Regular: first two pitches, Ejesta
Sun: Climbing: bolted routes on Pat & Jack's Pinnacle

Mid Peninsula OSP Mountain Bike Ride the 2nd

Did about the same ride as last week. This time with a larger group though...
Dan, Chris, Les, Marcus, Brandon and I.

We took a different start through Russian Ridge and a different turn in Monte Bello.



Map/Elevation profile: Screenshots off Ascent... look for a review of this program soon...

week 12

Mon: Rest
Tue:Pull-ups,push-ups,
Wed: Rest
Thu: Climbing PG B w/ Dan. 11 climbs
Fri: Rest
Sat: Mountain biking Mid-Peninsula
Sun: Rest

Still no running since ankle still bothers me :-(