scotch

That was just brutal, and it goes to show that Tom Glavin is still on the Braves payroll.

For what it's worth, don't be surprised if the Spankees get waxed by Cleveland.

roadwarrior

When "The Idiot" fired last year's Manager of the Year, who almost got that team into the playoffs last season, that was the point when they were dead.
Girardi was outstanding last season. Young guy working with a young team...I read an article where he was talking about how half the team didn't know how to pack for road trips, didn't know the routine...he was perfect for the Marlins. Taught them all they needed to know and the players respected him.

Then he told Jeff Loria to shut up. And Loria became, The Idiot. Heckuva move Jeff...firing the Manager of the Year.

patentcad

That's because @ this lunatic asylum it belongs to NomadVW.

RiPHRaPH

poser. real riders count hours riden, not miles.

NomadVW 

Awww.. c'mon. The year is still young. We've got 3 more months until annual awards can be given out. One never knows. If I keeled over tomorrow, you'd only need 2100 miles to catch me for 2007.

Otherwise, I'm on a 2300 km/month pace right now, which means I'll top out around 26k km this year. As for milestones, I should be over 20,000 km next week some time.

Too lazy to do that miles to km math.

(and for the non-weenie hours loves, I'm @ 629 hrs 48 min today)

pedex

don't bet on it

patentcad

How many miles will you roll up this year pedex?

rollin

How many miles does a courier ride on average a year? or does a a pro train?.... I need perspective.

VWNomad has spent well over 50 12 hour days on his bike....

Holymoly,

I've been riding over 200 miles a month this year and I'm stoked, ahhh to be a weekend weenie. Can someone point me to the mortal forum please so I can enjoy my soy latte.

trek1

I turned 2,004 this weekend but that is about 50% road and 50% trail which miles are harder to come by IMHO.

I have done 700 more miles in 2007 and it's been one great riding season.

Good going.....now you have to try and better that next year. A year older and time/miles to beat is a feat in itself.

patentcad

Incorrect.

My goal for 2008 is to get faster. That means more rest days, fewer miles for sure.

jkizzle

My goal is to get ryanf. That means the bigger the quads, the more people look at my package and the worse my grammar gets.

biffstephens

Great riding pcad....makes my 6000 look like spinning in the park

I agree...faster for 2008...

HDWound

Isn't that what you said last year?

pedex

I should hit around 16,300 or so by year end. I'm at just over 12k now, but since I bought a roadie Ive been riding more, mostly tempo work so my rec riding miles will be pretty decent this year. Work wise I get around 250 a week here lately.

patentcad

But I did get faster in 2007. Next year I will get fasterer.

pedex

it varies, a busy hard core messenger.....3-400 per week easy, up around 500 a week sometimes when things get really crazy and short handed

pro as in elite pro.........not uncommon for some to do around 20k in a year, maybe 15k or so for average pro give or take

They really don't compare, I only average like 14mph slinging packages but its all stop and go short trips and spread out over the work day, pro's ride fast for 4-6hrs with very few stops and put in long hard days in the mountains if that's what their training calls for. They get a lot more tempo work and structured work outs, I sprint damn near all day which is why I do tempo work when Im off work to make up for what my job does to me. I might do 70-80 big gear starts and stops on a fixed gear in one day and rarely get over 25-28 mph, the pro's train for pack riding and do lots of motor pacing, totally different animals.

Walter

Oh so true. If you don't think the underachieving Marlins are proof enough just look at the NFL where San Diego is reaping the benefits of firing a coach who only went 14-2 last year.

So, how does that relate to cycling? Doncha you know someone is gonna ask.

patentcad

Pedex, how many bike messengers work at your firm? How urban or suburban is your locale? I'm surprised to hear about a bike messenger service in a mid-sized city in middle America, I always thought it was more a bigger city Manhattan/SF/Chicago sort of thing.

0_emissions :=)

Me as wll, I might be up to 2,000 now if i'm lucky.

pedex

Just me, I am the company, although I do have a part timer working for me sometimes. Currently there are like 22 messengers here, used to be around 40. But 8 of us went independent and pretty much F'd all the big companies, took only 3 years and now its mostly us indies doing all the work and making all the $$.

Columbus has about 1.1 million in the metro area, downtown is about 4 square miles. My area is almost 16 square miles. I do downtown and the immediate adjacent suburbs. Tallest buildings here are 44 stories, most are the 5-6 story variety, Columbus isn't an old city at all, much of downtown is only 25 years old infrastructure wise, but messengers have been here since about 1908. Almost all of what I do is legal work, I serve the law firms large and small, I have 42 customers and represent about 65 attorneys. The rest of my clients are title co's, realestate, PR, court reporters, lobbyists, and one senator. Being the state capital means every state agency plus federal and county are all here downtown.

There are messengers in almost every city over 300k.

tetonrider

hee hee -- regardless of who takes the prize, you both deserve the respect for your dedication and consistent motivation.

would you mind posting up some of your bike maintenance routines and expected life for certain components? i'd be curious how long your drivetrain, tires, wheels, etc. tend to last and how you care for them, given that you ride that many miles (and surely many are in sub-optimal weather).

thanks!

patentcad

Let me know if I get overly technical with this explaination:

When it starts making funny grinding or clicking noises I give it to Glenn @ Piermont Bicycle Connection and I say 'please fix this Glenn'. He then invariably looks at me in consternation and remarks 'Have you been riding in the rain much?' and I always respond 'Correct'. So that means a few new chains and maybe one new rear cluster annually (13K miles split up between two road bikes that probably get like 6K each and a TT bike that sees <1000 miles), and the occasional headset or BB, hub rebuild, etc. Then there's a few sets of clincher tires annually, maybe one set of tubulars, pedal cleats, etc.

I try to lube my bikes with spray lube, keep the drivetrains clean, keep the bikes clean, but it's a battle, particularly in the winter. Whatever. Bike parts are cheap (compared to other hobbies I've had). If I need a $100-$300 bike part replaced, I spend the money. Cycling isn't expensive like boating, skiing or many other hobbies. I consider it part of the cost of maintaing Pcad Cycling Zen.

Money well spent.

patentcad

Fascinating Pedex, fascinating. The amazing thing about attorneys (who I also work for) is that in this electronic age they seem more tied to paper than ever. And that has to be good for a bike messenger business. You can't email a big honkin' paper legal file. They won't outsource your business to China.

Ryanf

Haha LOL

A lot more miles than me.

NomadVW 

Ultegra drivetrain, 105 brakes, duraace pads

Duraace chains @ 3000-3500 km (month and a half?)

Tires @ the same (last longer time wise, two sets of wheels, using Mich ProRace2. just started using GP4000's on my one set, we'll see how long those last.)

Lube - hardly ever, which is why chains go pretty fast for me.
Ultegra cassettes last me ~10,000km so far
Cables around twice a year (need to consider that soon, I s'pose))

Replaced Ultegra crank/bb @ about 20k km, I guess? a month or so ago. Duraace dérailleur pulleys seem to go pretty quick for me, about 6-7,000 km before they get to squeaking beyond what a lube will fix. Been pretty dry riding the last couple months, so that helps. Wet weather/grit really gets to them fast.

Wheels are fantastic. I've got a set of Mavic OP wheels, Powertap SL on the rear. The rear wheel is a year old, trued 2-3 times. Front is 2 years old, trued 1-2 times. Velocity Aerohead wheels, powertap pro on the rear. I have 6000km on the set and haven't trued them yet.

Pedals lasted me around 25k km, I'd guess.
Wash the bike top to bottom once every other week or so.

Current saddle has 21,160km on it. (Selle Italia SLK)

I rarely use the LBS anymore except for the purchasing of parts I'm too lazy to order from the states and wait for.

I think that's pretty much all the consumables.