señor taco’s travels

Well, I knew one of my cats, Polly, hadn’t been feeling well. She had lost a little weight but seemed to be bouncing back. Little did I know that she was really sick. On Saturday we noticed that she was yellow around her ears, nose, and mouth (icterus). I took her to the vet but it was so late in the day that they couldn’t get the blood work back until Tuesday. I waited until the next morning and took her to another vet where they did the blood tests and found out her liver was having problems because of fatty deposits. I then transfered her to a local pet emergency clinic for holiday weekend treatment.

They did an ultrasound and took a needle sample of her liver (still don’t have those results yet). On the basis of the ultrasound they started treating her for hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome) where her body was trying to metabolize fat from her weight loss and couldn’t keep up. They put a feeding tube in and got her started feeding that way and she’s rebounding.

I transfered her to the regular vet this morning (where I took the picture) and she’s going to be there getting more nootrishus food through the tube for the day. I can pick her up this evening and then feed her through the tube for a few days until she gets to eating on her own.

Well, it’s all coming down to this last week of training. I rode five days straight last week for about 110 miles total. I took Saturday off and it really helped as I had a great ride on Sunday with Chris. Had we had a lunch break I could have kept going another 40 or so miles over our already 55ish miles.

I’ll just leave you with this, I know I needed to change my tires before the ride, and I was going to do that this week, but on Sunday we stopped after about 40 miles and I looked down to see this:

Yeah, yikes! I’m just lucky I had a good tire with a kevlar belt in there. I took it easy getting home, no crazy downhills for me. When I replaced it last night I found a large piece of glass embedded near that damage. Good tires these . I did the calculations and I think I had between 800 and 1,000 miles on that tire. That’s some training there. I’ve now got two new tires, ready for the ride. They’ll have around 100 or so miles on them so they’ll be perfectly ready on Day 1.

“Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There is something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym.” — Bill Nye, The Science Guy

one + one = three’s ‘Old School’ Cycling Logos (via Coudal Partners)

Thanks to my very generous house mate Keith and my bike expert friend John I am now back on two wheels again. So, I cracked my carbon bike frame. Keith has a slightly larger Cannondale that he loaned to me. Keith’s gears are very aggressive compared to what I normally ride so John helped be strip down my frame and then he swapped the parts needed onto Keith’s frame (and by all that I mean he did almost all the work).

Yesterday I went for a short and easy ride along the water trail to make sure everything was adjusted correctly. I tweaked the bars a little and got a feel for the seat position.

This morning I got out early and went to the top of Grizz/Sky and back. The temprature was already in the mid 70’s (we’re in for record high tempratures today) and there was a stiff wind out of the East that made the hills a bit harder (what since I was heading East).

For sure I need to move the seat forward a few centimeters. Other than that the frame fits well and I feel comfortable riding it. It’s a different feel when riding for sure. The frame makes different noises going over some bumps. It’s a little stiffer than the carbon frame, but it’s a great bike to be riding.

Now I need to pack up my frame and ship it for repair (ugh). More info a things progress.

Well, Sunday was Day on the Ride where the ALC staff provides rest stops, a lunch stop, and has sweep vehicals. We rode from the Presidio to Sausalito, Larkspur, Fairfax, up to Nicasio, and out to CA-1 and up to the Marin French Cheese factory for lunch. We then turned around, went back through Samuel P. Taylor park and on Sir Francis Drake Road and back the way we came. In all it was supposed to be between 75 and 80 miles.

I had to stop at 73.25 miles when at the top of the last hill right before the Golden Gate Bridge my chain came off, wrapped around my bottom bracket, and brought my ride to an end. I got swept back to the Presidio to meet my friends and came back home.

Once at home I detangled my chain and started to inspect my bike. The right chainstay is cracked (it’s a carbon frame), probably from the tensions when the chain got wrapped up. Now I need to figure out what to do to get back on the road and for the ride. I’m still trying to figure out if I can get the frame repaired. More updates as they come.