2014 Tour de Cure - Rochester, MN

On, September 20th, I participated in the 2014 American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure.  The day started early, just before dawn with the moon light to guide me through the pre-ride preparations. I was out loading my bike around 5:30am and captured this nice alignment of the bike, moon and Jupiter.  Perhaps in retrospect, this was a sign that the stars would be aligned for a great day.

Of course when you are up and active well before the sun starts to brighten the day, you can accomplish a lot. For example, you get to be the first one through the check in table. The volunteers were great and everything was set up and ready by the time I arrived. As you would expect when the volunteer ratio was at least 10:1, you can move quickly through and get busy waiting on the ride's start.

Brian W. was also a brave soul that joined the Mayo Clinic Team. He moved to Rochester last year and fell in love with cycling this summer. He trained hard to prepare for the event, and we made plans during the summer to ride the event together. Shannon, being the good wife with a love for photography, woke up early to take a few send off photos. Here's Brian and I getting ready for the day. The start was downtown at the YMCA. This proved to be a great starting place.

Mayor Brede was there for the send off. It was a little disappointing to see that many of the registered riders didn't make the start. It's hard to tell why that was the case. Perhaps it was the overnight thunderstorm...or the high probability of rain during the ride...or the forecast that consisted of high winds... Basically, it was an average day to ride in Rochester, so I'm not sure what it was.  Those that brave the start were rewarded with rain, winds and hills during the day!


Actually, it was a beautiful fall day for the ride. It did rain and the wind did seem to be a headwind no matter which way we were heading. Here's Brian and I heading to Salem Rd on our way to Salem Corners. This was around the 5 mile mark on the ride. See, it looks beautiful!




















The local biker club provided escorts for the riders. That was a nice touch. In this photo, you can see some of the early signs of Fall.

The ride was great. We did have a 'mechanical' while out. One of Brian's tires decided it was time to give up the ghost during the ride. We tried to patch a blown sidewall and limp our way to the nearest aid station. When we arrived, we learned there was a SAG wagon a few miles away with a loaner tire. We waited patiently while the volunteer took what seemed like 30 minutes to change the tire. That gave us a few moments to recharge a bit. It also put us last on the course. Have no fear, we did our part to thank all of the volunteers that kept the remaining aid stations open for us as we rolled through.

Our statistics were this: 84 miles, 5 hrs, 20 mins cycling.
Link to data on Strava




This was a road bike ride. One would normally think that would mean you wouldn't come out looking like you played in dirt all day. Well, that was not the case. Here's some before and after pics to let you get a feel for how demanding the ride was.

Before

After

Boston -- A stroll through history

View of the Boston skyline at dusk

Each year in early August, the Joint Statistical Meetings are held. This year's meeting was in Boston and I'll be honest, I wasn't looking forward to Boston for some uncertain reason. Once I arrived, I was not initially thrilled -- overcrowded and sort of nasty around China Town. I kept a positive outlook and started exploring. After rekindling my interest in history, I found that I loved Boston.

On an off morning, I took a hike on The Freedom Trail. This trail led you through the historic developments that shaped Boston's, and the USA's, history. The trail was marked with these inlays and a brick path. Enjoy the photos!

Graveyard where J. Hancock, P. Revere, and Mother Goose

John Hancock's Tomb

One of the many old world alleys

Many of the tombstones were marked with a skull and wings to symbolize the soul going to Heaven

Ben Franklin statue

Paul Revere's House

Old meets new: The old State House, site of the Boston Massacre, in front of the new high rise skyline that dominates Boston today

Cuyuna at last

Mass Transit - The beauty of having a truck

Ever since moving to MN, I've heard about how amazing the singletrack is up at Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Biking trails. We decided to take a pre-Fourth of July vacation to Cragun's resort up on Brainerd, MN. As it turns out (coincidence or not?), Brainerd is a next door neighbor to Cuyuna. We loaded up the truck with mountain bikes for all and headed North for a few days.  I talked Shannon into taking the Trek Farley fat bike just in case she wanted to ride. Of course, I was more than willing to ride it too.

Riding into Sunset

Day 1 Ride: Lost and Found
I chose my Superfly 100 for the my first ride. We arrived at Cragun's mid-afternoon and hung around until we could check in. Once we were checked and had dinner, I raced off to the trails. It took about 30 minutes to travel to the trailhead, but due to construction, I couldn't find the trailhead. I wandered lost on the paved state trail and wondered if I had made a great mistake. I then find a rider walking back and I asked where the trails were. The person pointed me in the right direction and I was on my way. What seemed like 2 miles later, I finally found the singletrack.

Superfly 100 at the trailhead

I ended up with 14 miles of action.
http://www.strava.com/activities/159792367



Day 2 Ride: Riding with the Boys
My day 2 ride was at a reasonable pace with Sean and Luke. Both have mountain bikes but don't really have a mountain biking bug. They have gone with me a few times and seem to enjoy it when the go. This time, Luke led us on the first loop. He set a comfortable pace. On the return, Sean took the lead and was gone off the front. I was pleased that Luke felt comfortable to ride his own pace. When Sean saw the video, he wondered why he wasn't in it more. I explained that he was out of camera range most of the ride. He smiled.

http://www.strava.com/activities/159989811

"Riding the Red"- The trails have a lot of iron so the dirt had a nice shade of red.

Day 3 Ride: Saying Goodbye
I wrapped up the trip with a solo ride ride on the Farley. It gave a completely different ride experience. I felt faster but at the expense of taking a pounding. The bike handled great and begged to be leaned deep in the banked turns. I ventured further into the trails and found myself with more climbing to do. The Farley climbs just fine, but after three days of riding and the little extra weight the Farley carries, I could feel the elevation changes more today. The descents, however, were a blast.




This is a view from the top of Miner's Mountain. The view was amazing.

 I'm actually excited to try to get back up there as soon as I can. There are 25 miles of trails begging for bikers. I covered maybe half of the trails over the three rides--27 miles of riding.


http://www.strava.com/activities/160791239

This was a cabin perched on the side of a hill. At the bottom (47 steps if I recall correctly) was a beautiful lake. The lake, however, was way too cold to enjoy. It was fun to watch people try to enjoy it.

Between biking days 2 & 3, we did have another day. It was a rain day, so we loaded up the truck in search of Lake Itasca.  This lake is the head waters for the mighty Mississippi River. The photo below is of Kyle walking across the river--all 15 feet or so of it. Kyle and Drew also walked across the river without a bridge just to enjoy the process.

And finally, I brought a little of the "Red" back with me.

Stages Power Meter

After spending a winter training with a power meter on my Wahoo KICKR, I wanted to get a power meter for my rides outdoors. Approximately a year ago I started reading about a simple solution by Stages Cycling. Their power meter solution is a modified left crank arm that encapsulates a stress meter directly on the crank. The advantages is that it is a simple solution that is easy to add. The costs, like many power meters on the market are relatively high, but it was one of the cheapest solutions. I placed my order when there was a 4-5 week back order. I figured that the MN winter wasn't ending anytime soon, so I could easily endure the wait. At exactly 4 weeks after ordering, this arrived at my front door.
The installation was a simple process if you know how to mount a Shimano crank arm. I initially compressed the bearing too much so I needed to redo the installation. That said, I spent less than 5 minutes for both installations including digging my torque wrench out of my tool box.

I have approximately 1 month on the bike with the power meter. I can say it works far better than I anticipated. There is an ever so slight delay between an initial increase/decrease in power being applied with when the power is registered on the head unit (a Garmin 510), but that was expected.

I'm already learning better pacing strategies for hills and riding into the wind. For both of these, I was really going too hard too soon. Now with some power targets, I'm finding I'm climbing hills in more of a predicable manner without going so anaerobic by the time I reach the summit.

More updates will follow as I collect more data.

Trek Farley can do it all, well sort of

Trek Farley - Semirevew

I have just crossed 150 miles on the 2014 Trek Farley. My initial impressions were highly favorable of the bike. After 3 more months of riding the bike, I've fully come to appreciate the fun factor a fat bike brings. The bike simply reminds me of the days of my first mountain bike, the Trek 930 Singletrack: no frills; no suspension; but fun.

Riding on snow is a different game, though. Snow is surprisingly slippery when you least expect it. In places where the snow has been packed down, it has nearly as much grip as dirt. But, if you venture off the 6 inches of "hero snow", you are taking your chances. The unpacked snow that runs along side the good stuff is almost impossible to bike in. It is loose and doesn't provide any traction. A slight turn can easily lead to a front tire washing out.

A related challenge is drifting snow. Sometimes you can spot a clear route through it. Most of the times, however, it calls for a hike-a-bike. Sometimes the depth of the drift is greater than you anticipate. Here are two quick shots of my recent ride where I thought I could bike from the trail back to the road. Wow! The snow sure was deep.
 
Sometimes the drifts make for a perfect fat bike kick stand. This drift was located right in the middle of the trail.

This is a short video of my ride yesterday. We are expected above freezing temperatures today, so I'll probably stay off the snow so that it has a chance to survive the warm up. But, it is going to be too warm to not ride. I may just have to venture out to the road.

One area where the Farley doesn't thrive is on the road. Sure, it can be ridden on the road. It is actually quite comfortable on the road, but it is slow on the road. The aggressive tires coupled with a relatively heavy build makes for an involved cycling experience. I rode on New Year's Day with a group here. All but two of the guys showed up with cross bikes.  Needless to say, I wasn't able to ride with them for very long. That was fine for what we were doing -- getting miles just to say that we did it.

So after three months with the bike, I'm happy to report that it is a wonderful bike. It is like a monster truck that is very nimble on singletrack. It is also like a monster truck on the highway -- it will get you from point A to B but it isn't a luxury sports car by any stretch of the imagination. That is fine with me. I have a road bike for that thrill!

Fat Bike Fun

Last year I made a decision that I wanted to really focus on year-round riding. When we lived down South, that was relatively easy. Winter was an ideal time to ride.  Now in Minnesota, winter riding takes on a whole new meaning. Snow, ice, winds, and short days all present challenges that can be overcome with gear and perseverance.

Here is my old (circa 1995) Trek bike that I took snow riding last winter. The tires were narrow and it was a challenge to keep moving and stay upright. Nonetheless, I was able to get in several good rides. Here is a video I made on one of the trips to Eastwood Park.

By the end of the winter, I was ready for a "fat bike". A fat bike is just a mountain bike with extremely fat tires. Well, "just" doesn't do it justice. I don't shy away from saying I'm a fan of Trek Bikes, but Trek didn't have a fat bike as of last winter. Rumors were that Trek was indeed developing and testing a new fat bike. Late this summer, the Farley was introduced for a late fall release. Only 500 were to be produced the first year, so demand could be high. My local bike shop, Rochester Cycling, was getting a list of interested buyers together. I put my name on the list. Last week, I got a call that the bike was in and it was mine if I wanted to buy it. I rushed over after work and had it in my truck in no time.

I promptly started putting it through its paces. The ride was incredible. My initial impressions were as follows:

• *The bike is a blast to ride. Very quick and lively despite looking like Bigfoot.
• Climbs beautifully--very stiff frame and feels efficient
• Light steering - not twitchy, but definitely lighter than I'm used too
• It is a bit front heavy. I'll need to learn how to wheelie it.
• The top tube length fits me nicely. The bike feels very much like my Superfly with the exception of lighter steering
• Trek appears to have tried to keep the bike lively for singletrack use. A side effect is that the rear triangle is tight. The stock tire is as large as I'll be able to ride. I don't see any issues with that.

Here is an action sequence from the first real fat biking done on the Farley.  Winter is coming. I can't wait to put it to work on some snow-covered trails.

Big data!

Trek Domane getting prepped for a washing.

 Last week I attended the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) in Montreal. This is THE gathering of statisticians from around the world. “Big Data” was all the rage at the conference. What is big data you ask? Think of it in the context of credit card transactions. Every swipe of a credit card generates at least one record in a database (envision a sheet of paper on a desk). Now consider all of the credit card transactions that occur every second around the world. That is a tremendous amount of data generated (envision the desk now with paper stacked to the heavens). What is more remarkable is that your credit card transitions are processed in near real time. If you travel too far too fast, your card might get declined for fraud protection. We have had this happen when purchasing something online from the far reaches of the world while at the same time swiping the card at a local store thanks to the modern sidekick called a smart phone.

What does this have to do with cycling? 
Believe it or not, you can generate “big data” while biking. In fact, modern cycling computers such as the Garmin Edge 510 generate data files consisting of 1-second sampling of your biking performance. You can collect your precise location via the GPS system, heart rate measurements, cadence, altitude, temperature and of course speed. Some cyclists are now using power meters to quantify how much energy is being put into each pedal stroke. This data too can be incorporated into the data stream captured by the cycling computer. Perhaps even more remarkably, this data can be uploaded automatically to the web and viewed in real time by people around the world!

No self-respecting statistician would stop with the canned summaries made available through default settings on websites. However, how does one begin to move the data around in cyberspace for further analysis? How does one synchronize the data across multiple apps? There are many ways of doing this, some of which involve manual data manipulation (i.e., time). Since cycling is a hobby for me and my many day jobs keep me busy, I’ve put together a rather elaborate series of connect apps to make the “big data” useful in a practical sense.  

My workflow is this: I use a Garmin Edge 510 to capture the raw data generated by my bike rides. The Garmin talks to my iPhone via Bluetooth. At the end of the ride, the Garmin Connect app is used to automatically upload the data to Garmin Connect, which is the repository for all of your cardiovascular-based fitness activities such as running, cycling, swimming, etc. Garmin Connect, while very nice, doesn’t have all of the features I like to see in a website for fitness data.

One thing I like to do is easily compare repeated performances over the same route. Strava is the perfect tool for this. You can see how your own performance changes over time through the use of “segments”. Segments are essentially GPS start and stop coordinates with a defined path connecting them. They create virtual races for people. So while you can compare your own performance over time, you can see how you stack up against others riding the same segment. Cyclists seem to have a love hate relationship with Strava as a result. I find it fun and an interesting way to keep you engaged in riding your bike. Now, I could manually upload all my rides to Strava, but there is no fun in that. There is a tool, garminsync.com, which does this automatically for you. That is my kind of tool.

My fitness fun doesn’t stop there.
I use a FitBit One to record movements throughout the day to better gauge energy expenditure. Since I ride my bike virtually every day of the year, I don’t want to have to manually upload these rides to FitBit to get credit for the calories burned. After all, I’m only really measuring calories burned to quantify how many calories I still have to eat. As you may be suspecting, there is another web app called fitdatasync that will automatically move my Garmin Connect activities to FitBit.

With the combination of Garmin Connect and FitBit, I have calories consumed pretty much quantified on effectively a real time basis. What I now need is to measure calories in. I use the app MyFitnessPal to record food eaten. This is a remarkable tool that has virtually any food you might eat already in its database. You can even use your phone to take a picture of the barcode on the package and it looks up the dietary information for you  – Big Data at work again! The way this app works is that it measures your calories in and uses the calories burned to quantify how many calories you can still eat – the basis of energy balance.

To do this, MyFitnessPal requires an estimate of energy expenditure, which is currently consolidated in the FitBit account. Fortunately, FitBit and MyFitnessPal can be linked so that they share data. Therefore, my calories burned are linked with my calories in and I can better control what I eat in a day. However, all of these calculations are all heavily influenced by weight. Consistent with my intentions to not lift a finger while managing the data approach to data integration, I purchased a FitBit Aria scale. This scale wirelessly uploads to my FitBit account. Fitdatasync syncs weight to Garmin Connect, so calories consumed based on exercise are closer in Garmin Connect. This is helpful since the calories burned during exercise get ported back to FitBit and ultimately MyfitnessPal.

So just think, one simple bike ride generates data that moves through a half a dozen websites and applications all to produce some summary that I make decisions on. This is the essence of what Big Data is about.