Road, Gravel, & Mountain - XL-Size Cycling

An opportunity presented itself over the weekend.  I was browsing my Instagram feed when I came across a deal from a bike shop on the East Coast selling what appears to be a demo Pinarello Dogma K8-S with Ultegra build and Fulcrum Quattro carbon wheels for a really good price. I got super excited and started researching the bike.  It appears to be a race bike with a little bit of an added comfort in the form of an elastometer shock and an ability to accept tires up to 30mm.  The only thing it lacks are disc brakes, but my biggest attracting for them was the larger tire clearance, which this bile provides as well. I have been riding a Pinarello Gan K Disc, which a lower-end derivative of Dogma F8.  My Gan K has been by far the most amazing bike I have ever had.  I have done centuries and double centuries on it. After giving the idea of buying this bike a couple of hours worth of thought, I decided to pull the trigger.  I did a lot of researc...

2018 Santa Cruz Tallboy C S is a beautiful bike!  I got it in early December and was anxiously awaiting for it to arrive. It arrived in late December.  A local bike shop in Boise put it together for me.  It looked really nice.  I took it for a couple rides on a Greenway and finally made it to a local trail in the beginning of January. I loved the comfort of the bike.  I really enjoyed the scenery and the freedom to go and explore the mountains.  I loved the that I didn't have to share the road with cars. However, after riding road bikes for almost 6 years, this bike felt a little unstable.  I felt like I don't have a lot of control with the handlebars.  It maybe the geometry or just the fact that I am used to road bikes. I also didn't like the singletrack and rock gardens.  Climbing felt kind of weird, especially when I had to share a narrow trail with bunch of people, dogs and cyclists.  I know a lot of people who ...

2018 is almost over.  It has been a great year For cycling.  3,750 miles, longest ride so far (213 miles), new places, lots of personal records, and many new bikes. MY FIRST (AND SECOND) DOUBLE CENTURY Double century has been an elusive target for a few years.  I tried one a few years back to just DNF at mile 57.  That left my longest ride at 130 miles. My cycling time went down in subsequent years. Completing a double century became my main cycling goal this year.  So, I started training.  I kept increasing the distance of my weekend rides.  Then, I completed A metric century (64 miles).  Then, the Sea Otter Carmel Valley Gran Fondo (93 miles), then Strawberry Fields Forever Century (100 miles). Sea Otter was the hardest one at that point.  It was on a new bike.  It had several hard and long climbs, but I was not in the shape I wanted to be in. The next one Grand Tour Double Metric (130 miles), followed by STP (Seattle...

5:30am.  The alarm goes off on my phone.  It is 17F and dark outside.  The hotel room feels so comfortable.  But it's time to get up and get going. Spin Class / Cycling Bar. 15 minutes later, the snow and ice are crunching under my boots.  I walk into the  Upcycle Studio  in Boise, Idaho. This place has been humming since 5am.  It's bright and welcoming -- a stark contrast with the freezing cold and darkness on the street. 30 minutes later I am sweating bullets.  The instructor is guiding the class through imaginary hills, mountains and valleys.  The imaginary wind blows hard at times.  She commands.  She jokes.  She sings.  She demands. It is hard.  But it is kind of fun.  30 minutes later I am fully awake and drenched.  A brisk walk to my hotel.  It is starting to get lighter. Shower, breakfast, Uber to the office and I am doing what I love -- high-tech marketing. All in all, the s...

I always feel guilty about recovery weeks.  I have researched and fully understand the importance and value of the recovery time.  I get it.  But I still feel guilty and uneasy about these. Now that I have surrounded myself with bikes and made cycling a key part of my daily life, I have an hourly visual reminder to go cycle.  So I have to constantly remind myself to not go commute to and from work, to not go ride at the trail, to plan the weekend differently, etc. It's all good though.  This week, I am doing some micro rides, where I am trying to not push at all.  I am doing weights and long walks.  I am also trying to catch up on some sleep.  I am driving to work and back, getting reacquainted with my cars, traffic, satellite radio, and phone calls.  And this experience makes me realize that while I really like mike cars, but I LOVE my bikes!  The more I am staying away from my bike routine, the more I want to do it ne...

Exotic Sports Car Pinarello Gan K feels very much like an exotic sports car.  It just goes.  It goes fast!  And it gets going fast really quickly! It took me a moderate effort to push the bike to 32 MPH, on a slight uphill, which is pretty crazy for an XXL rider!  Yet, it feels magical! Second Look After riding around 1,500 miles after my first review of Pinarello Gan K Disc , and doing so on several bikes, my opinion is unchanged: Gan K is an amazing machine for going fast. It takes very little effort to get it going.  And the nice thing is that it feels like the bike is assisting you, even when you are tired. Final Word I am not sure how Pinarello did it, but Gan K feels amazing when riding on a flat course.  It feels planted and controlled when descending quickly.  It struggles a little (to compare with my 2018 Specialized Roubaix or Biacnhi Vertigo ) when you have to climb -- perhaps due to a slightly heavy frame and a midd...

2018 Specialized Roubaix Expert Review What does define a modern endurance bike for an XXL rider?  For me, the top 3 are: Comfortable, non-jarring ride -- even when you go over chopped up surfaces  Ability to get going fast quickly and without too much of a frame / component flex Fun with hills -- easy to climb and safe to descend  And then there aesthetics.  I like a classy look that stands out from the sea of look-alike shapes and colors. 2018 Specialized Roubaix Expert in Chameleon Purple / Blue delivers on 90% of these requirements. Ride Quality   2018 Specialized Roubaix just glides over road imperfections and small potholes.  It is smoother than any road bike I have ridden and tested.  The difference is even more pronounced when you do back-to-back tests rides on various bikes.  I tested 2016 Bianchi Infinito CV vs 2018 Trek Domane SL6 vs 2018 Specialized Roubaix Expert. The riding impressions may be different fo...