jmX

So I'm a hacker...a programmer. In my free time I nerd out and write code, and recently that has been more and more about writing 3d bike software for when I'm riding indoors on my trainer (which is almost never, it's been in the 80s here for weeks it seems). I bring this up, because my software hobby turned into a fun little afternoon out on the road.

Not that long ago I got a random email from a guy who wanted to try out my software. I agreed he could come check it out, and he mentioned that while he was in town he was going to ride with the Dave Zabriskie and I was welcome to join. Next thing you know, I'm up in the hills north of Malibu getting a tour of the Santa Monica mountains by Captain America himself. Very cool experience tucking down on a descent and looking over to see DaveZ also in a tuck a foot from me. We did the infamous Rock Store climb (which wasn't actually anything compared to the more iconic Mt Baldy climb) and I got to see his crashed Captain America cervelo P5 from the 2012 Tour of California.

Anyway, I get that threads are worthless without pics, so here ya go:
(Canondale tents/trucks in the back as their 2014 team launch was going on where we parked)

Here's your answer, saddlebags are pro (DZ on the right):



And my trainer software that I hardly ever use because the weather is so nice here :




Just wanted to share/brag/rub it in about our weather.

Url (no, it's not able to be purchased, sorry...)
https://vrbike.jmxdigital.com/

RobertL

Way cool! I'll bet it was a blast to ride with Dave.

Campag4life

Bravo. Not only for your talent but the chance to meet the great bike rider who I understand is a hell of a nice guy.
Have to ask, did you or he turn up the wick at any point? Did you ride with a power meter?
Climbing with a pro had to be challenge and no doubt he was being deferential to his company.

Lastly, any plans for your software moving forward? Virtual software seems to be exploding in its realism.
Best Regards

PS: funny really. Pic of Dave...he looks to be an average skinny guy on a bike. But we know....oh no...not even close.
Thanks for sharing your story.

Dudelsack 

Another vote for great post!

Gluteus

He is. (I met him at the Tour of Utah a couple of years ago).
Very cool story.

datlas 

Cool story.

Any way we can recruit DZ to the 41???

rangerdavid

way to cool to be in the 41

chuck r

Sounds like a fun day. It's one of those memories you will enjoy for the rest of your life.

nesdog

Yeah, Dave lives nearby. He's always pretty friendly and approachable. Now that he isn't off in Europe racing, we'll get to see him more often in the summer months.

TMonk

good stuff.

Slackerprince

Great experience.
Thanks for sharing.

S

shoota 

How dare you post something in the 41 that isn't flame worthy!
Btw your software looks top notch. Wanna do my verilog homework?

Nachoman

Good post. With a photo to boot. Bravo.

ovoleg

Rockstore climb is pretty legit if you're going fast bro. Especially if you're dodging motorcycles~

Nice job on the software!

Bob Dopolina 

qft.

jmX

He never tried to drop us, he knew we were just normal dudes plus there was a lot of chatting going on. We did bomb down a few descents. On one 4-5 minute climb I suppose he opened the taps a little as my HR went to over 170bpm. As I gasped for breath I asked him what he thought his HR was and he said 130'ish . On that climb I got 222nd out of 2446 on strava. Typical wattage for me during the day was 225 or so.

https://www.strava.com/activities/105408788

I think there are plans for my software moving forward. We'll see. It's another week of 80 degree temps here so it's been hard recently to find the motivation to do the trainer stuff.



Heh, I think that what I code is vastly different than verilog. You're probably better off doing it yourself

jmX

Yeah it seemed surprisingly busy for a friday lunch hour. Lots of bikes and fancy cars. I suspect it'd be more epic if I was going for a strava record, but we did just kinda chat the whole way up. I suppose I'd always assumed it was longer than 2.5 miles or steeper, so that caught me off guard. I'll hammer it next time I'm out there.

Thanks for the comment on the software.

sbxx1985 

Great story.

jmX

Just wanted to update this thread and say that my project finally went public. Got tons of press so I'm stressing now more than ever. Anyway I started this thing not that long after joining this forum and buying my first bike...and now I have 6 bikes and was on velonews today. What a journey!
Zwift launches multiplayer online training videogame - BikeRadar

af2nr

Looks like a fun twist to spinning on a trainer, good luck!

Bradleykd

Congrats on the software, looks awesome!

The most important question that is high on the 41 right now though, is: what kind of chamois cream was he using?? Did you lube up with his nuts pre-ride??

f4rrest

Pretty cool. I was wondering when someone would get around to putting something like this together.

Now all it needs is some GTA thuggery and firearms.