I love tinkering with stuff – especially bike stuff. Today, I decided to tackle a project I’d been considering for a while: “butchering” a Brooks saddle.

The patient was a Brooks B-17 Narrow Imperial. I’ve had it for a few months, but never cared for the way it looked. The side skirts had an ungraceful profile, and it tended to bulge out at the sides.

After reading a number of articles on the process, I installed a fresh blade in my utility knife and went to work. The results were pretty dramatic:

Before (the green tape marked my intended cutpath):

After:

Post-op, the saddle was noticeably flexier, so I increased the frame tension. We’ll see how she rides this afternoon.

UPDATE: Success! I put the saddle on my Salsa La Cruz and went for a 20 mile urban ride in Milwaukee. It was noticeably more comfortable – hammocky, you might say. It’s similar to having a suspension seatpost.

Yesterday was the first chance I’ve had in over a week to go for a nice, long ride. The weather was perfect, and the fall colors were in full effect.

Kelley and I drove down to Chicago today to meet my new niece, Addyson. Look at the hair on that kid!

Addy slept for about half an hour in my lap, all the while making little squeaks as she exhaled. It was beautiful.

Hey there. Been awhile. If you’re hip to Twitter and Facebook, you know I’m still around, just in different parts of the Internet. My interest is turning back towards blogging, though. I’ve got an idea for a new blog (or a new direction for this blog) that reflects my changing focus, from road racing to a broader spectrum of competitive and non-competitive riding.

In a nutshell, I’ve been racing less this year but riding more and having a lot more fun on the bike. I’ve gotten back into mountain biking, and I’ve been commuting to work about two or three times per week. Kelley has become a very strong rider, and we ride together most Sundays, often leaving from her parents’ house near Holy Hill.

If I make good on my intentions, my future posts will relate to racing, training, and transportation; mountain biking, road biking, and touring; rides, tips, and maybe even some product reviews. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll keep it here on Blogger or if I’ll switch over to WordPress. I’m trying to come up with a catchy name right now. It’s slow going, but I’ve already drafted some new posts that will help me set my direction and hopefully aid in the naming process.

Meanwhile, if you’ve never been to the Rivendell Bicycle Works site, go there now and read anything in the “Read” section. I don’t agree with 100% of Grant’s “velosophy”, but there’s a lot of truth there that you won’t find on other bike companies’ websites. While you’re there, if you’re feeling generous, I’d love an A. Homer Hilson in size 55. I’d also be quite satisfied with a 52cm Sam Hillborn (in orange, please).

Riding a bike is fun. If it weren’t, kids wouldn’t do it. So why do adult cyclists frequently suffer burnout? I think it’s got a lot to do with poor goal-setting, and the work we undertake in order to meet our self-imposed expectations.

Like I wrote earlier, it’s important to have meaningful goals, and to work hard towards them. But come on – nobody reading this is making a living racing their bike. It’s our hobby, so if it’s not fun, what’s the point?

With this in mind, here’s a list of ways I’ve found to make riding fun. If you’ve got more, leave a comment.

• Ride with someone you care about. Go at a pace that’s comfortable for them.
• Ride a bike that forces you to go slowly – a cruiser, a clunker, or whatever’s available.
• Ride somewhere new. (Find a route on MapMyRide.com.)
• Ride to an interesting destination.
• Bring a camera and take pictures during a ride.
• Leave your computer/power meter/GPS device at home.
• Ride farther than you’ve ever ridden before.
• Do spontaneous intervals of indeterminate duration and intensity. Just enjoy going fast.
• Go to a race and just spectate. You’ll remember how much fun it is to be in the action.
• Go on a night ride.
• Ride a route you haven’t done in a long time.
• Ride to work.
• Ride in the rain.
• Try a different type of riding – road, MTB, BMX, cyclocross, time trial, touring, track, whatever. Just don’t start running and swimming. That’s a slippery slope…

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve struggled with training programs that were too detailed and regimented. I seldom actually managed to do the prescribed workouts, so I was in a constant state of catch-up and readjustment.

Once I began targeting specific racing goals, I realized that my training program didn’t have to be so complicated. Last year, since my main goal was a time trial, I made sure to get out on the TT bike once a week for a hard, race-pace workout. If I could only ride once in a particular week, that was the ride I’d do. Beyond that, I took whatever threshold-level intensity I could get on solo and group rides. And beyond that, I rode as often as I could, just for the fun of it.

Since I plan on doing a number of crits and road races before this year’s national championships, I’ll do more short, high-intensity intervals than I did last year. The weekly TT ride will still be a priority, but I won’t adhere to it quite as rigidly as I did last year. When I do race, I’ll try to get in breakaways, which of course are a great way to build threshold power.

After Masters Nats, I’ll shift my focus to mountain bike races. My limiter there has always been endurance, and especially leg cramps. Consequently, I’ll do my best to get out for one long ride per week – either 2+ hours on the mountain bike or 3+ hours on the road bike.

Finally, if I still have the motivation, I’ll go back to short, high-intensity training to prepare for the fall cyclocross season. While a ‘cross race couldn’t be much less like a time trial, both require dedicated, race-specific workouts in order to become competitive.

So, the message here is this: once you’ve set your goals, figure out the workout that will most effectively prepare you for your target event. Do that workout at least once a week, and make it count. Having done that, look for ways to incorporate similar, goal-specific work into two or three other training rides that week. If you’re fortunate to be able to ride more still, make sure it’s the adult equivalent of recess, not extra homework.

In my last post, I summarized my training philosophy in three points: setting meaningful goals, focusing on key workouts, and having fun. In this post, I’ll develop the concept of setting meaningful goals.

I’ve been racing for about 15 years. I’ve done mountain bike races, cyclocross races, road races, criteriums, and time trials. I even did one duathlon just to remind myself how much better riding is than running. That variety is one of great aspects of our sport. It has allowed me to set and achieve a number of meaningful and challenging goals.

We all know that goal-setting is important. What I think gets overlooked, though, is the importance of setting meaningful goals. A meaningful goal is one that, if accomplished, is worth more than the sacrifice required to accomplish it. Too many people have pursued competitive success at the expense of more valuable things like relationships, careers, financial wellbeing, and their health. Don’t let cycling take any of those things away from you.

Here’s an example from my own experience. One of the most challenging goals I’ve ever set for myself was a top performance in the time trial at last year’s Masters National Championships. Before I decided to make it a goal, I calculated the cost of the equipment I would need, the travel expense, and the time investment. More importantly, I discussed the idea with my wife. I ended up taking third and was extremely satisfied with my result. It was well worth the sacrifice. Of course, if I had bought more expensive equipment, trained longer, and spent more time away from my wife, I might have done better. But the satisfaction would have been less. I would have given up more than I’d gotten in return.

Another key to setting meaningful goals is variety. Every time we achieve a goal, we expect to be able to do it again. For some people, the repeated accomplishment of a goal is satisfying every time. For me, though, the goal becomes more of a burden than a challenge, and the accomplishment becomes more of a relief than a reward. That’s why I try to start every season with a fresh set of goals. Some may be repeated from the previous season, but only if I still have the motivation to give them another run. This year, I’ll target Masters Nats again, but I’m adding the Midwest Cycling Series, a top-100 finish at Chequamegon, and possibly the state cyclocross championships. I’m looking forward to a more balanced mix of road and off-road events.

Well, that’s enough said about meaningful goals. My official training program begins next week, so I’ll tackle the subject of key workouts in an upcoming post.