Maiden Ride on the Durango 29er!

I took the new Jamis Durango on a two-hour first ride Saturday morning and had a blast.  Lots of you reading this probably know plenty about road bikes but might be a little out of the loop on mountain bike tech.  Here's the rundown:

Any decent mountain bike now comes with disc brakes, and they rock.  There's cable and even hydraulic.  They perform much better than rim brakes and also look very cool.  Weird fact - This eliminates the need for rim braking surfaces, so your rims may not even have them.

• 29er wheels are much taller than standard (26 inch) mountain bike wheels.  This allows you to roll over stuff like a monster truck.  Gives you a larger contact patch as well.  You can easily feel the difference when riding.
• The taller wheels also makes bumps less jarring, so lots of people feel no need for rear suspension.  
• All the extra wheel material does make the bike weigh a little more.  But perhaps that is outweighed by the performance gain or simple joy brought by riding something different.

I've spent two days riding absolute top of the line 29ers and they are amazing.  I'm not in the position to shell out $6000 for a bike right now, so I picket out a Jamis Durango for less than $1000 and I'm going to ride the wheels off of it.  I'll replace stuff with better stuff as those things break.

First two mods:

1. Take all the reflectors off.  Bike shops have to put them on by law.  Unless you're riding on the road, that's just dead weight.
2. Put anti-flat gel in the tubes.  There's different brands of different types, and I put Stan's brand in the front.  I thought better of it afterwards and decided to put Flat Attack in the rear (similar to Slime).  Stan's will have to be replaced in a few months, but Flat Attack lasts for years.  I rode with Slime in my old mountain bike for many years and was shocked at all the flats it stopped.  I pulled the tubes out of the tires and saw they were riddled with green specs from all the punctures that self-sealed.  I know, I know, it adds weight, but I'd rather be riding than fixing flats.

 So the biggest news is that I signed up for an epic, 85 mile mountain bike race on January 2nd.  I'm riding rollers at least an hour a day to make sure I can handle it.  I've never ridden anything like that distance off-road, so I'm just going to ride it, not race it.  

It's part of a mountain bike racing category called "Marathon Distance."

Podcast - Night Running

Click Here to Listen

Hey there, tri-studs and studettes!  Join me for a moonlit run as I talk about running form, interview Emily about her own running form, and cover a variety of other topics.  It's another great show that was lots of fun to put together for everybody.  Enjoy!

Shownotes:

• Out running at night after Thanksgiving dinner.
• Evolution of running.
• Interview with Emily about fixing her running form.
• Jumped by a scary hillbilly.
• Emily can't stand losing.
• Cindy Crawford is hot.
• Great winter cycling staying warm trick.
• How to quit caffeine.
• How to swim the English Channel.
• The Republic by Plato - Get it delivered chapter by chapter to your email.
• Zentri Base and Nutrition Camp is coming up soon!

Click HERE to listen

Project Durango Completed!

Zentri supporters helped finish out the payments on the Jamis Durango 29er I had on layaway.  This is a great collaboration project to help get the podcast off-road more often, resulting in a lot more variety in show content for many years to come.

Having a mountain bike opens up lots of events for me to participate in that I've been wanting to do for a long time.  I used to mountain bike quite a bit, even raced a few times.  Emily and I are now looking at both Xterra-style triathlons and mountain bike races for this coming year.  Yes!

A 29er is in itself a great topic to talk about.  They have very tall tires compared to regular mountain bikes, which leads to all kinds of interesting handling characteristics.  As I train and race on one, it will be great to compare and contrast it to the regular bikes (26ers).

In a cruel ironic twist, I got the bike home and then was informed that nearly all of the next four weekends are booked solid with family events and other stuff that will make the first "epic" ride challenging to schedule.  

I bought a new lapel mic so I can make some great recordings on the new ride.  By the way, I've decided to call it "Flow".  It's a great name because it has a double-meaning: "Flow" as in Zen focus, and "Flo" as in a hard working diner waitress, dishing out tasty goodness as fast as you can order it and with attitude.

Big thanks to everybody that helps support the show.  Even though the podcast is for free, it is still very time consuming and expensive and all your help, in any fashion, makes all the difference in the world!

RESPECT, MON!

Black Friday Deals!

Hey, everybody!  Here's a first attempt at a ZenTri cartoon.  Did it in Microsoft Paint, inspired by Black Friday and our lust for carbon fiber everything.  I'd like to do more of them, so put suggestions of topics and better software to draw cartoons with in the comments!

6 Ways Triathletes can Deal with Difficult Family Members over the Holidays (and Two Nuclear Options!)

Not only do you not get to pick your family, but many of you may have also found yourself at odds with some about your triathlete lifestyle.  This issue can rear it's ugly head when you are forced to spend day after day with them during base season the holidays.  

This can get nasty.  REALLY nasty.  You just want to go out for a run or bike ride and they decide this is the time to have an intervention.  Nevermind that the person who really needs the intervention is Uncle Larry, who is 100 lbs. overweight, watching his third football game, and slouched out in his recliner and performing as a nacho cheese receptacle.

Here is a few tips to get you through this rough patch and maybe you could also learn some things about yourself along the way:

1. Evaluate.  You first should make sure that your significant other and kids are happy with the time you spend working out.  If they aren't, you really have no defense.  Fix that relationship first before you tackle others.  On the flip side, if they are happy, you're golden.  After them, nobody else really matters.
2. Compare your likes to theirs.  Tell them you aren't interested in watching TV like a zombie.  Say you'd "rather be active than passive."  Have them calculate how many hours a week they watch TV or do their own hobbies.  Your time working out is probably half of that.
3. Be firm.  Look them in the eyes and say that you are happy with what you do.  You are going to workout, and that's that.  But...
4. Be flexible.  Pick your critical workouts that you can't miss, but be open to doing them at odd times during the day.  Ride the trainer while you babysit the kids, go to the pool a little later, or let some family members bike along with you while you run.
5. Catch up with maintenance.  Can't get away?  Clean your bike, update your log, read a book about training, do some Zazen or yoga.  There's lots more to triathlon than just "makin' miles".
6. Let them know ahead of time.  The biggest problem is usually lack of communication.  Others will get pissed when they think everybody is going to the mall (gag) and you tell them you are going for a bike ride.  However you do it, by calendar, email, or whatever, let them know which days you are doing your longer workouts and what time of day you will be doing them.  This fixes a majority of the problems.

The Nuclear Options.  I'm famous in my family for putting up with crap for a long time and then letting crazy shots fly when I've had enough.  Take the following with a grain of salt, but don't forget that people actually do these :

1. Don't even go.  "The best battle is the one never fought." - Sun Tzu.  The holidays aren't mandatory family time.  If your family drives you nuts, just don't do extended family time with them.
2. Move.  That's right.  You may just be living in the wrong place.  There are plenty of cities where people are active and outdoorsy just like you are.  If you are miserable with your surroundings, there's no reason you can't pack up and change them.  Surround yourself with other happy active-types and make them your new family. 

Have some stories about family members trying to set you straight?  Share them in the comments!