hamster

Yes, I'm registered. Let's share the room for one night, I'll figure out what to do after the event.

Lesper4

OK, cool. I will send youa PM as we get close to the date. Are you riding the Palm Springs Century?

Thanks, did even know it was an issue.

Lesper4

Palm Springs Centry this weekend, Solvang Double next month. By the way registeration for the Eastern Sierra Double opened today.

Lesper4

Well I thought I got the room before but there was no record. I just made the conformation. Finished Palm Springs in under 6 hours so heopfully if I keep up the same training I will be fine. By the way I bought a bike light and then I got one for Christmas. I was wondering which one I shouddl use/keep. One is the Magic Shine MJ-808E from Amazon 1000 lumens but has a heavy battery pack. The other is a Niterider Lumina 250, 250 lumens. Much lighter but not as bright, although when I charged them they seem very similar?

hamster

I have no opinion about either light, except that Magic Shine is specced for 3.5 hrs at full brightness and Niterider is specced for 2.5 hrs and both seem to be stretching it for a double century, especially if there's any reduction in brightness after 2 hours. Personally, I've been using a $25 Walmart bike light that runs off AA batteries, I have no idea how many lumens it has, it's not super bright, but I forgot the last time I had to change batteries in it.

March 23 will be almost full moon, so, if we also get clear skies, a strong light may not be as crucial.

TrojanHorse

I thought I would hate the magic shine battery pack when I got one... (I got this one: MagicShine 2013 version MJ-808U with CREE XM-L U2 Max 1100 lumens LED Bike light ) but I just tuck it up against the head tube and it doesn't bother me. I wrap the excess cable around the stem or bars inside the light to keep them away from my hands.

I also got one of these (I'm still looking for a helmet light for improved "see me" visibility) and 4 Mode 1200 Lumen CREE XML T6 Bulb LED Bicycle bike HeadLight Lamp Flashlight Light Headlamp is very nearly identical to the much more expensive magic shine. Everything is just a teeny bit chintzier with the fake light... the button isn't as secure, the pack only has one velcro strap, the cable connection doesn't feel as secure, but hey.

So now I have to strap TWO battery packs to the head tube (one in front, one in back) but I like having both lights. I typically put one in blinky mode when it's near dusk and then they both go into bright headlight mode after dark. The fake one is a little beamier so I point that further down the road, and the magic shine provides more of a close up on the road. I felt pretty comfortable bombing down harbor blvd at about 35 last week and some pedestrian complained that my light was too high, so there's that. (this was before dark when I had one blinking)

If we ever do a(nother) GMR night ride I'll be good to go, light wise at least.

Lesper4

Yeah you are right I think the full moon is the 28th?
Good to know about the lights, I would like to try them out on a ride hopefully before Solvang.

hamster

The full moon is on the night of 26th to 27th.

Just to clarify, you have a reservation for one room on the 22nd, and nothing on the 23rd, correct?

Lesper4

Yes
Motel 6 (BUELLTON) the night of the 22nd only. I am not sure what time I am leaving, either late to miss some traffic or just fight through it. Figure I should be there between 9-11?

Biker395 

Yea, baby.

Lesper4

Palm Springs was 5h 30m with 1h @ 3 rest stops, I am riding close to 140 miles on the 23rd. That will be my biggest ride to date (somewhat flat, Fontana/SGRT/Seal Beach and back). And besides that I will try to continue to get my regular 70 mile 6000ft rides in each week. I would like to try and extend it to 90 miles.

Eastern Sierra Double does look very doable with the right weather, havent decided on it yet though...

hamster

I just got a Cygolite Metro 300 headlight. It is nice, not blindingly bright but good for night riding. Compared to my previous battery-powered Bell Lumina, Cygolite provides the same illumination at 'medium' setting, but over a 3x3 bigger area. It also has a special mode that combines constant illumination (for me) and flashes (for oncoming drivers). It comes as a combo with a 2 watt LED taillight: extremely bright, but very directional and I haven't completely figured out how to fix it with the beam parallel to the ground. (With my geometry, I have literally zero usable seatpost space and I have to clip it to the back of the seat bag.) The whole package cost $80.

Lighting wise, I think I'm all set for Solvang.

Lesper4

I got a cold so I never got in my 140 mile ride. I do plan on riding two centirues the next two weekends. One flat to the beach and one with more elevation. Hopefully that should get me back into shape.

TrojanHorse

hamster - is this the tail light you have? (cygolite hotshot) https://www.amazon.com/Cygolite-Hotsh...golite+hotshot

They are extremely directional so i think you have to take care to get them leveled just right, but in my mind at least they're intended to alert drivers that are WAY back that there's a cyclist in the roadway... if you go back far enough, there's quite a bit of beam spread. I really like mine. I also have a little planet bike blinky that I mount to the top back of my helmet in the winter time, it always seems to really stand out when I see a cyclist with a helmet light as well. It gets above intervening cars too, for better coverage.

hamster

Yes, that's the one.

Just figured out how to get the thing mounted onto seatstays with an included mount. It's not immediately obvious that you can hang a round mount securely onto a rectangular seatstay, but I did not have many other options left.

I recall reading that training rides longer than 6 hours are counterproductive, because they take too long to recover. I've already violated that rule with a 8:40 ride last weekend, and I'll do at least one hilly century before the 23rd and it will take me 8-9, but I won't go longer than that.

Lesper4

well I hope to get my flat century in under 6 hours and teh hilly century may be short miles we will see. Given that this is only have the distance of the event I cant see how it would hurt. Luckily with the time change next weekend I will be able to get a few more rides in after work.

Lesper4

Well ramping up just bairly soon enough, 30 miles during the week, century on Saturday, 4000ft under 6 hours probably a little fast pace for a double. Ride another 30 miles this week and head out!

m2tiguy

IN, for the Sierra Double - - YOU, talked me into it !

hamster

It's a bit early to be certain, but the good news is, the forecast for Saturday is high 60's / low 70's during the day and 0% chance of precipitation.

Biker395 

You're gonna love it! Seriously my favorite double, hands down. And if the weather cooperates, easier than it looks on paper.

Biker395 

I dunno why I'm seeing this so much after the fact, but I wanna second that. One year, I resolved to drive up to Solvang the morning before the ride, do the ride, then drive back home ... essentially ... staying zero nights in Solvang. Smart, eh?

That plan began with me encountering a very intoxicated motorist on the 101 at about 2AM on the drive up. The guy couldn't keep in the lane, and his speed at any given moment was a random number between 45-85 MPH. Yikes.

Got there and did the ride. Finished in ... oh, I dunno ... about 12 hours or so, then started driving home. I didn't feel the least bit sleepy until I got in the car to drive home. I made it OK though Gaviota Pass, but from there, it's a long straight shot into Santa Barbara. I got so sleepy there, I decided to pull over and rest my eyes for 15 minutes or so ...

.... and woke up 4 hours later.

Had a similar experience on the Eastern Sierra Double driving back home from Bishop by myself. I actually nodded off on Main Street ... about 1/2 mile from home. If I weren't so close to home, I'd have pulled it over and slept.

Since then, I'll take the hotel or at least sleep in the car. Sleepy driving ain't much better than drunk driving and ain't worth it.

Lesper4

And if it doesnt, its twice as hard as on paper, right?

Weather sounds good for Solvang, hopefully not cold enough for warmers.

Yeah I have done the same thing, coming back from a college thing at SLO and then stayed a few hours in a rest stop in the car

Biker395 

You betcha. In 2009, they did the "unnamed pass" reroute. South to Eureka Valley, then North to a turnaround at the top of the pass West of Benton.

One guy, who apparently did a graupel-stinging 30F descent down into Eureka Valley with little more than a windbreaker, was shivering so violently in Eureka Valley he couldn't get food up to his mouth. I dunno what he was thinking ... we were warned again and again about the nasty weather.

Then, we had a dandy headwind all the way from Bishop to Benton. The tailwind coming back was sweet, though.

Of course, I didn't tell m2tiguy about that one.

m2tiguy

well,, I have the hill profile printed up,, posted in my office, next to the breathless so, on paper it does in fact look less imitating -
May go up to Mammoth over Easter and take the bike with me and do and out and back to June

Rick@OCRR

I remember that year. Fortunately I "over-dressed" which turned out to be just right in the end. Thanks for pulling so long into the headwind Vic. I took some short pulls too, but you did most of the work.

And then the turn-around wasn't even marked ("Ah, well . . . Benton Crossing, must be about here?") but whatever, we survived and finished before sundown so no worries. Was epic though.

Rick / OCRR