Rebuilding my Dream

I purchased my Serotta Colorado Ti in August of 1998. It has been a wonderful bike through the years. I've put over 58,000 miles on it. I've done Cycle Oregon, Ride the Rockies, Hotter n Hell Hundred, Seattle to Portland and Ride Across Indiana on it. All of the brevets save one have been on my Serotta. And after 12 years, I could not be happier with the purchase.

However, all things age. The frame is not a problem, it is titanium. I'll wear out long before it does. However, I still had the original F1 fork on the bike. And while the F1 was designed by Dave Kirk to be super strong and durable, it is a carbon fork with 58,000 miles on it. Everything fails eventually, I would just prefer not to be on the bike when this happens. Further, I was still riding Campagnolo 9 speed. True, some components had been replaces, but my shifters were original, and while they have been services numerous times, the shifting just was not as crisp as it should have been. Once again, when parts get enough miles on them, they just have a tendency to be worn and not perform at a high level. Plus, it is getting harder and harder to find Campy 9 speed components.

So this winter, I took on the effort to rebuild the Serotta. The first order of business was to acquire a new fork. This is not as easy as it seems, since the vintage of my bike means it has a 1" steerer tube. There is one company making 1" forks these days---Serotta. So I phoned up Crono Metro in Madison (the closest Serotta dealer) and exchanged information. Serotta would be custom building a new for for me, so they needed the serial number off the bike to look up the exact geometry so they could build the right fork. A few weeks later, Scott at Crono called to let me know that my new S3 Fork had arrived and was ready to be installed.

Upgrading the fork meant that I would be saying goodbye to my quill stem and also the bars I currently had on my bike. No issue there on either count. It is good to move into more modern technology on each accord. When I went down to Crono to get the fork installed, we'd upgrade all of these components too.

The last task was to upgrade the component set. I would be going to Campy 10 speed. First, this is what I am used to, Campy components. Second, it will match my other bike (the Specialized) so now it is easy to switch wheels back and forth between the two bikes. My front derailleur was already 10 speed compatible, so no issue there. These days, Campy is investing heavily in 11 speed, so if you watch, you can find some 10 speed components on closeout, which is what I did. Starting last fall, I would watch for good deals on 10 speed components and buy them one at a time as the deals came up. This allowed me to find shifters and a rear derailleur at pretty significant savings. I also found a Campy 10 speed cassette at a good price and already had a SRAM 10 speed chain kicking around in the basement.

Finally, I had replaced my decals once, but they still become roughed up over the years and don't look very good. So I called Scott at Crono again and he was able to get me a sheet of new decals for me to purchase. So by the time I was done, I would have a bike not just with new components, but in many ways would look new again.

So a couple weeks ago, I traveled to Madison with my Serotta in order to start the rebuild process. I had pretty much stripped my frame down of all the components and had all my new components in a box. That day, they built the bike up enough so they could fit me and know where to cut the steerer tube of the fork. I left the bike in Madison a few days for Crono to complete the rebuild, and went back on Saturday to pick it up.

Its beautiful. They did a fantastic job. I can tell it is still my bike, because I know the places where the titanium is a little scuffed up. But otherwise, it looks like it just came out of the showroom. One of the joys of owing a high end bike like a Serotta is that you have it for a long time. It is more than what you ride, it becomes an extension of you on your rides. You give up the "getting something new" every couple of years, but what you get is a personalized machine that will be with you year after year.

On the Crono's Facebook page, Scott will sometimes post picture of someone's dream bike they built up. I'm not purchasing any new bikes these days. I don't need to. I already own my dream bike, and Scott, Andrew and Colin just rebuilt it for me.

Riding Season has Finally Arrived

We appear to finally be shaking off winter in Northeast Wisconsin. I actually have been able to ride four days so far this week. Today, I even was able to get in a 50 mile ride. The basics of the ride are below.

Bike route 897333 - powered by Bikemap

Nothing special here. Meade Street up north and then you bounce around up to Black Creek. From here, you use State Road to get across Highway 54. Instead of going up to Deer View as I normally do, I cut the route off and road on Genske Road and County P. This was nice. No traffic at all with woods and farmland mixed in. You get to Highway 187 and head down to Shiocton, which is an opportunity for a store stop. Then it is the normal route back using County Road A, Laird Road, Rock, Mayflower and finally Capitol

The route is flat save a few small hills coming back. It is very quiet once you get out of Appleton on Meade. All in all, a convenient ride of close to 50 miles.

Waiting on Spring

We are still waiting on spring to arrive in Northeast Wisconsin. A couple weeks back, I was able to get about 100 miles of riding in. Then the weather turned cold and a storm rolled through. Appleton received about 12 inches of heavy, wet snow and the Green Bay area received 17 inches. Since that time, temperatures stayed cold for several days, so only in the last couple has the snow started to melt.

Consequently, this cycling season is getting off to a late start. By the end of March 2010, I had 478 miles in. This year at the end of March, 137 miles. I was able to add 34 miles to that total today, but the forecast over the next couple of days is for cold rain and temps in the low 40's. That is what it has been like all spring, just never seeming to really warm up. Later next week, we are supposed to get into the 50's, so that will be very pleasant.

Pictures from today's ride:

First 11 Miles of the Year

In Northeast Wisconsin, it generally is not warm enough to start riding until about mid-March. We did have a couple of days of mid 40's about 10 days ago, but I was not able to get out of work. And then a major snowstorm dropped 14 more inches of snow on Appleton. So between not really being warm enough and waiting for the snow to melt, it just seems like mid march is the best you can hope to do.

However, I am ready to be outside. And I am ready to do something. Enough snow has melted so that the roads are pretty much dry. It was 27 degrees today, so cold, real cold, but I figured I could tough it out for a while. And that is exactly what I did. Face was cold, fingers got real cold for a while, felt cold when I got home, but I fought through it. Ended up doing 11.7 miles. Nothing great, but it was nice to get outside and get some fresh (cold) air. I probably could have done a couple more miles, but it was pretty cold and I was happy to get home.

It looks like the high on Tuesday will be 38 degrees and then 38 degrees again on Friday, so I am going to try to get out in the late afternoon a couple of times this week. I'm not expecting anything big, just try to get in some 16-20 mile rides so I can start rebuilding some sort of fitness on the bike. The first 500 miles of the year are always the hardest.

I'm at mile 11.

The Big Meltdown?

Earlier this week, Appleton was enduring overnight lows of -8 to -10 F with daytime highs of less than 10 degrees. But in the last 24 hours, a warm front has moved in, sending temperatures on Sunday up to an almost balmy 41 degrees. Here is the forecast for the rest of the week.

A lot of snow melted today. A lot more is going to melt in the next few days. I went skiing at Plamann Park on Saturday, and there were a few spots where the snow was pretty thin--a base of just a few inches. After today, that has to be bare ground. And in the next few days, there will be a lot of bare ground. It looks like ski season may be over. Unless we get another major winter storm hat drops 6-8 inches of snow, I think it is time to hang the skis up. Last year one could ski until the end of February, but this early thaw will leave us with little snow, even if it does cool back off.

So now the question becomes when can one get out on the road bike. Wednesday and Thursday both look promising. I won't be able to get out both of those days, but I'll try to get out probably on Thursday and do about 20 miles to warm up the legs. And then maybe next weekend, with highs around 30, it may be possible to get some short 10-15 mile rides in. Not much, but it looks like it is time to start thinking about the bike again.

Nordic Skiing - Reforestation Camp

Probably the best place to ski in the Appleton-Green Bay area is the Brown County Reforestation Camp. At 1600 acres, it is much larger than either Plamann Park or Bubolz Nature Preserve here in Appleton. The result of this is that there are 15 miles worth of trails. Furthermore, once you get about half a mile away from the parking area, you really have the feeling that you are out in the woods all alone.

There are 4 main trails at Reforestation Camp. They are

• Pines - 1.8 miles - Intermediate
• Oaks - 4.8 miles - Advanced
• Birches - 4.9 miles - Intermediate
• Maples - 7.4 miles - Intermediate

Each time I have been there, the trails have been in excellent condition. Brown County does a superb job of grooming the trails and keeping them in top notch shape. This facility is popular with folks in the Green Bay area, but unlike Plamann park, where the cross country tracks seem to take a beating, the tracks at Reforestation Camp always seem to be in great shape. They also have a lot of signage to remind skiers of the right way to ski as not to damage the trail, so this probably helps too.

There is a $5 daily fee for the trails at the camp, but the sign says all of this money goes into supporting cross country skiing in Brown County. Given the quality of the trails, this fee is very fair. An annual pass is also available, but since I live in Appleton, I have not really looked into one. There is also a lodge building at the parking lot that is open daily until 4:00 PM. Inside there are restrooms, tables and vending machines. What is nice about this is that if one wants to make a day of it, they could ski, take a break in the building and then ski some more. I can't recall, but I may have seen a microwave in there too.

I have now been to the camp three times, and I have done the "Oaks" trail twice. I have also done the Pines trail a couple times and the Birches trail. The Birches and Pine trails are similar. Some moderate hills, but nothing terrible steep for either and up or downhill. The Oaks trail is my favorite. This trail is rated advanced and does contain a couple of steep downhills. It also contains several good uphills--and longer uphills than what you would find at Plamann park. It is an excellent workout. One other difference, Birches is groomed for both skating and classic, where as Oaks is groomed jut for classic. So you have even fewer people on Oaks.

I think my only disappointment about the camp is that it is about 45 miles away from my house, so I can't go there more often. While our places to ski in Appleton are good, the camp is just a couple notches above them in terms of length of trails, variety of terrain and trail conditions. It is the best place I have been to ski in NE Wisconsin so far.

Nordic Skiing

Cross country skiing is the traditional activity for cyclists in northern latitudes to do during winter when it is too cold and snowy outside to ride. I learned to ski about 6 years ago while living in Idaho. I missed a few years while living in Virginia, but now living in Wisconsin, it is a natural activity to do during the long and snowy Wisconsin winters.

Why do I like to ski. There are lots of reasons:

• It is a terrific aerobic workout. A lot of cycling is about aerobic endurance, and cross country skiing will help you build or maintain aerobic capacity.
• It is a terrific full body workout. After skiing for two hours, your whole body feels like it got a workout: your legs, back, abdominals and shoulders. Basically to balance yourself on skis, a lot of muscles have to work together in unison, and these are a lot of muscles that don't normally get worked.
• It is much more interesting than other alternatives in the winter. Going to the gym, about 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer is all I can handle. Boring! But I have no problem skiing for 2 hours
• It is an opportunity to get outdoors in winter. And, we have some great parks and natural areas that you get to ski through. Being able to get out on the ski trails in the middle of a forest away from it all is a big draw for me.
• It is relatively inexpensive to get into. Skis, bindings, boots and poles will run you about $300. The clothes you wear cross country skiing are the same as you wear in cold weather cycling (you burn enough energy that you stay warm). So really the other things you need are just gloves and a hat. Plus, most trail passes are very inexpensive, $5 or less.

In Appleton, we are fortunate to have two places to ski just essentially in town. The first of these is Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve. It is only about 5 minutes north of Appleton on County Road A. Trail passes are $5 for non-members or free for members. The area is essentially a forested wetlands. The ski trails are almost completely flat, so it is a good place for those new to cross country skiing or for those first couple times in the season when you are trying to remember how to ski. You tend to see a lot of families at Bubolz. The trails are cut right next to the trees, so all of the trails have a very natural feel. Finally, Bubolz does rent skis and have a warming shelter at the parking area.

The other place to ski is Plamann Park. This is a county park, so there is no cost to use the trails. There are not rentals or any type of warming shelters however. They do a good job of maximizing the 250 acres of the park with a trail system that loops you around the perimeter of the park. One thing that is immediatly apparent about Plamann is that the course is hilly. Not hilly in an Idaho sense of long climbs, but you are constantly going up and down short, steep hills. Doing a "lap" of Plamann takes me close to an hour and includes no less than 8 different hills to go up and down. Some of the areas in Plamann do feel very natural, but some are skiing through the baseball fields and the park boundary next to a subdivision. However, I do think they do a good job of making you feel like you are in a natural setting and you never really seem to notice there is a house just beyond the row of trees. Overall, Plamann is an excellent workout. If you do 2 laps at Plamann, you have a terrific cardio workout.

The one other place to ski in Appleton is Reid golf course, but I have never been there. I have been to the Brown County Reforestation Camp, but I'll write about that in another post.