I went to the Amgen Tour of California a couple of weekends ago. I have always loved watching the different Tours on TV but this was the first one I have seen live. I took my 2 sons, 5 and 3. The highlight for them was drawing on the course with chalk and having Lance ride over it. We went to the finish line because I wanted to see all the booths and commotion. It was very cool. Lots of bike companies and local organizations… and of course kettle corn. I think next year I will try to watch on one of the climbs. It was very crowded and a lot of waiting to watch 1 second of bike racing, my couch always works well also.

A very nice TT Trek bike

I wouldn't mind taking ths for a spin

Drawing with chalk on the course

The main field

Lots of cheering

They went by so fast all I got was a pic of Lance's butt

A Quick Step rider making his way back to his bus

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Every time I go on a ride through uncharted areas I always bring a map. Well sometimes that doesn’t do the trick. I don’t keep track of where I am, look at the map only to find I am lost. For those long epic rides though new terrain I always bring my Garmin Edge 305 GPS. It is not a great mapping GPS but I just found a way to upload routes to it. This really saved me on my last epic ride with numerous crisscross trails and roads.

Here is what you do to upload a KML or GPX route to your Garmin Edge or Forerunner. I am going to go through the process of creating a KML route in Google Earth and then uploading to my Garmin Edge 305

Step 1 – Download and install GPSBabel
You will need to download a free GPS route tool called GPSBabel. GPSBabel converts waypoints, tracks, and routes between popular GPS receivers and mapping programs. Download from http://www.gpsbabel.org/ and install.

Step 2 – Create a KML file
Open Google and add a path, click on Add and then path.

Give your path a name

Before closing this popup window use the cross hair cursor and draw your path. NOTE: You can only upload 100 points to your Garmin so count as you draw. I would only create 90 just to be safe. Once you are done drawing your path click ok on the popup.

Save your new path.

Be sure to save it as a .KML

Step 3 – Plug in your Garmin GPS
Plug in the GPS to your computer, close the Garmin Training Center after it syncs.

Step 4 – Upload to Garmin GPS using GPSBabel
Click start run

Type cmd and click OK

At the prompt type “cd D:\Downloads\GPSBabel\gpsbabel-1.3.6\” and hit enter to go to the gpsbabel install directory. NOTE: Your install directory will probably be different than D:\Downloads.

Once you are at the install directory type

gpsbabel -i kml -f YOUR_KML_FILE.kml -x transform,rte=trk,del -r -o garmin -F usb:

and hit enter. NOTE: Be sure to replace YOUR_KML_FILE with your kml file, see image.

That’s it. Hopefully GPSBabel was able to connect to your Garmin GPS and upload the route. Make sure you are not connected to any other Garmin apps at the time. I had to close Training Center to get it to work.

Go ride and have fun and don’t get lost. Be sure to upload your ride data, images and reviews at www.whereweride.com.

About 3 years ago I decided to upgrade a few parts on my bike. I found a great deal on a Thomson stem. Having heard nothing but good things about them I pulled the trigger and bought one. For 3 years it has been flawless; holds the bar securely, unique steer tube clamping mechanism, and looks oh-so-cool.

Yesterday as I was coming down Rocking Horse trail in Los Penasquitos tunnels I started hearing this creaking sound. At the bottom I investigated and noticed a hair line fracture in the face plate. I called Thomson and was immediately taken care of by a live customer service representative. She told me to send in the faceplate and they would replace ASAP. What great service! I will let you know if they send it back like they say.

Notes on Torque from lhthomson.com
Our instructions for both our stems and seatposts call for grease only on the threads of the bolts. Greasing under the heads of the bolt is not needed and can greatly change the amount of force generated by the bolt at our recommended torque, this can lead to premature failure of your components. With all Thomson products please take special care to grease only the threads of the bolt and use a torque wrench. Doing these things prolongs component life and gives you a better margin of safety while riding.

The below method is only if you don’t want to save the cranks. First try a gear puller,  a crank extractor system, a propane torch and hammer, or WD40.

My Shimano Ultegra cranks were constantly creaking so I found myself removing and reinstalling almost weekly. In the process of cranking them down as tight as I could, trying to stop the creak, my left crank arm became fused to the bottom bracket. I eventually messed something up because I stripped the threads on the inside of the crank, the ones the crank puller screw into.

Out came the Dremel. I put on a metal cutting bit and started cutting. I didn’t care if I ruined the cranks because I was so sick of the creaking. It felt like I could feel the play in the pedal stroke. I cut the crank right to the bottom bracket spindle. I inserted a screwdriver into the cut slot and pried of the crank arm. Pop… it came, no problem.

Here are the new quieter and much cooler looking cranks. These are the 10 speed cranks on a 9 speed system but everything works fine. I get a little rub on the big ring when on the small front ring and small back ring, not a big deal.

I have had the Garmin Edge 305 GPS for about 1 year on combined road and mountain biking, running, and hiking. It captures a wide range of information about your ride; distance, elevation, calories burned, cadence, heart rate, etc. I upgraded from the eTrex Vista.

 Pros

• One computer for all my bikes
• Records all ride info and then I can upload to keep a log of rides
• Works great for mapping rides and uploading to whereweride.com 
• Has a light for night rides
• Excellent battery power (12 hours)
• Simple installation and use

Cons

• Mapping, if you want a mapping GPS upgrade to the new 605 or 705
• No average moving speed, only average overall
• Software is awful and not very user friendly

Bottom Line:  If you are into a lot of training, intervals, virtual partner, monitoring heart rate zones then this is your GPS. If you are more into mapping and waypoints then this may not be the GPS for you.

So I thought I would start a blog. I spend a lot of time riding and working on bikes. I figure I would blog for others to check out. I really enjoy riding mountain bikes but I will ride anything, full suspension, rigid singlespeed, fixie, or road. I love to ride. I also love to work on bikes; repairs, overhauls, cleaning. I will start blogging my adventures and messed up backyard mechanics. Enjoy.