11 July, 2011

Volagi test ride, helping a friend get to the top, and onetoughride fund-raising!

While I would have liked to have gotten a bit more training in over the past week it just didn't seem to happen. However, I do have a few updates including some comments on my Volagi test ride that I did last weekend which I'll save for last.

First, the one tough ride fund-raising campaign is off to a roaring start and if I have your email address you probably received a letter from me looking for your support. I am excited to report that we have received a check from our first corporate sponsor and four of our friends totaling almost $2,200! This is just awesome and on behalf of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation and the onetoughride team, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I will be sending out 1-2 more emails prior to the Furnace Creek 508 to share information on the race and let you know how you can track us live on the web as Team Wild Hares races non-stop across 509 miles with more than 35,000 feet of climbing.

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to get a couple of rides in starting with a ride with my friend and neighbor. He mentioned that he had a goal to get to the top of Mt Diablo by the end of the summer and I offered to help him train to get there. We'd done a few rides around town over the past year and then a little local climbing on a ride Friday after work. On Sunday we headed to the Athenian School in Danville to start the ride and I set a goal of getting to the pay station at the top of the S. Gate. Well we got there and he pretty much climbed that without a problem so we headed for the midway point between the pay station and the Junction and again, not a problem. This being his first real climb I was impressed and suggested that we shoot for the Junction if he was up for it and we nailed it. I am pretty sure that we'll beat his goal of summiting Diablo before the end of July so we may have to shoot for both sides of Diablo with a summit from each side as the goal for the summer.

After I got back from riding Diablo (even before I had a chance to change) Nicholas and I took off on the tandem to set yet another record for the day which was our longest ride together with the most climbing in a single day.  Nicholas and I headed from our house through Pleasanton and down Happy Valley Road. Next it was off to Sunol to climb Kilkare Road. Kilkare is classified as a CAT 3 climb and is 3.6 miles long climbing 665 ft. Nick and I rode non-stop from the time we left the house and then through Sunol up the climb and through the descent where we stopped at the Sunol train station for a quick snack. Nick is now getting so confident on the tandem that we don't even have to stop for him to grab his water bottle, drink, and then return it to the bottle cage. This was my best ride of the week and we are really enjoying the tandem and have already ridden more than 140 miles together since we picked it up in early May from Crank2 in Pleasanton.

Volagi Liscio Rival
Last, I had the good fortune of being able to get a real test ride in on the VOLAGI LISCIO RIVAL and have to say that I was very impressed. I picked the bike up on Saturday late afternoon from Crank2 and got it home and set it up to replicate the fit of my SL3. While I had originally planned to take it out to Portola Valley to climb La Honda and Tunnitas some unexpected car issues led to it being a local test ride which ended up being shorter than I would have liked due to 100 degree temps. One of the first things you notice is the Longbow Flex Stay Suspension which really does a great job at absorbing a lot of the road vibration and I gave the bike to proper test up the road to the S. Gate of Diablo which as you know if you have ridden it, this road is bad! The bike sports a BB30 bottom bracket and the frame is stiff when you stand on it. I cut the climb a bit short due to the fact that the cranks ended up being 175 mm and I set the saddle height assuming they were 170mm.

The disk brakes on the bike instilled an added level of confidence and the saddle was very comfortable. This is really a nice bike and considering it was a pre-production bike I was even more impressed. The bike I rode was a 53 and included the upgraded carbon wheel set. The weight was a bit more than my Madone 5.5 or my S-Works SL3 at roughly 17 lbs, 15 oz. This is a great all round bike and I especially liked the idea of the disk brakes for steep descents on a lot of the tougher centuries and double centuries as well as when the weather gets a bit wet. In wet weather disk brakes provide both the benefit of better stopping but also you are not tearing up the sidewalls of your wheels (especially bad with traditional full carbon wheel sets). I am sure that the production bikes will be lighter especially DA and Ultegra versions.

Thanks again for your support and if you haven't made a donation it is as easy as hitting the Donate Now button at the top of this page.
Enjoy the ride...
Steve

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