A year of preparation

I just returned from the Standard Distance Duathlon World Championship in Nancy, France on September 23, 2012! This is my excuse for not writing a blog post for a whole year.

Dealing with the giant bike box on the airline was not very difficult. I am now well practiced at taking this bike apart and putting it back together. Good thing I work at a bike store ;) United Airlines charged $200 each was for the International Flight. In comparison, Southwest only charged $50 for a domestic flight earlier this year. A few notes about boxing your bike: 1. Do it yourself. Know your bike. Be confident that when you get to a strange destination for a big race, the one thing you can count on is that your bike is ready. Plus you will save a lot of time if you don't have to stand in line for the French mechanic. The Brits were very helpful, btw. 2. Don't forget that one of the greatest dangers to your bike in its box is frame on frame damage. Put spacers in the front and rear dropouts. Wrap any parts of your frame that touches anything else. 3. Remember that there may be some tools you need to put your bike back together that you didn't need to take it apart. Your torque wrench, for example.

We got to practice on the course a bit on Friday, so I decked myself out in some TBL gear. This was my one and only "Team USA" interaction, really. Sort of strange to be on a "team" with a bunch of people you have barely met before. The transition area of the race was in La Place Stanislaw. Basically the town square. There were cafes all around the perimeter and terribly slippery stones underfoot. This was good, however, as it would finally the the thing that got me to leave my shoes clipped in to my bike and sock-it through the transition area.

The run was through the park. The terrain was flatter than I am used to, but the advantage of laps was that it was much easier for my companions to see me go by. In the next part of the race, they learned that keeping track of me was harder than they expected. Bikes go by much faster than runners. I ran and biked pretty much the exact times that I expected. Not awesome, but exactly what I deserved considering how little I have been running lately. I was happy with my nutrition plan. I drank water and Scratch while on the bike and a Clif Mojo bar. They are salty which I prefer to capsules, though I could probably benefit from trying Sportlegs in the future.

In the end, I am really glad that I went all the way over there. I enjoyed the race and the course more than I expected. The bike course was 5 laps with 3 turn-arounds each! That is 15 traffic cones on a tri bike! I am proud to say that I did pass a few people on the inside. My legs were sufficiently sore the next day that I didn't feel like slacked off, at least. I am newly inspired having found a group of ladies that are truly impressive! I really have something to strive for now!

Race t-shirt Quilt

Finally, years later, I finished my quilt of race and other memorable t-shirts. I'm calling it "1998-2008" aka the first 10 years with my husband. Though there are 2009 and 2010 Marine Corp marathon shirts in the mix too...details, details...

Great Customer Service at Kelty

In addition to making great backpacks and strollers to carry your kids around, Kelty has great customer service. After about 5000 miles, my 2003 Joyrider has 3 very unhappy wheels. Though it turned out in the end that they no longer have the right kind of wheels available, they sent me their closest match right away with no charge!

So, if you have a Kelty Speedster or another stroller that takes compatible 16" wheels, I would be happy to pay them forward to you.

REALLY Pregnant Running

A woman gave birth after running/walking the Chicago marathon at 39 weeks pregnant:
(Read the article here).

Is that crazy or is that cool?

I definitely remember feeling like I would do just about ANYTHING to get that baby out by 39 weeks, so maybe she's on to something ;)

2011 Strollers

As you may know, I used to be a loyal fan of Dreamer Design strollers, but they no longer manufacture jogging strollers. I believe the company only makes handicapped equipment now. So, I really don't have any useful parts left since most of what people are looking for either broke on my stroller as well or I was unable to remove it without damaging it. Before you send a request for a part, please consider whether the broken part is one that can even be removed if it were not already broken. Many parts are riveted on, for example.

So, if this leaves you in the market for a new (or new-to-you) stroller, the options may have changed since the last time you took a look. Here are some suggestions that are available NOW:

1. Best Mixed-Terrain Running like you are training for something: Bob Ironman Stroller
2. Best Straight and Paved Road Running as fast as you can: Baby Jogger, 25th Anniversary Performance
3. Best I want one stroller to do everything: Joovy Zoom ATS Fixed Wheel Jogging Stroller
4. Best Inexpensive and good enough for real running: Schwinn Joyrider Jogger
5. Honorable Mention for Brand Loyalty: Kelty Speedster Swivel

Generally I have a strong preference for fixed wheel strollers, but in light of EIGHT years (and counting) of loyal service by my Kelty stroller, I have allowed it on the list.

Inner tube, Bent Valve

All my strollers have 16" wheels, but the smaller size wheels are 12" and it can be tricky fitting a pump in there to add air.
If you have an air compressor, that will work because of the small head. Alternatively, strollers such as Valco and Phi and Ted use inner tubes in their tires with bent valves. This allows you to use a regular hand pump. It can be hard to find these replacement tubes, however. Best bet: Amazon.com.

Old Stroller

In case you are still wondering, I DO NOT HAVE ANY CANOPY OR SEAT PARTS FOR THE DREAMER DESIGN.

So, my 2003 Kelty stroller is not getting any younger either. Today I replaced the handlebar padding with handlebar tape [designed for a bicycle]. It was pretty gross underneath the old tape. Because of the split handle style, I've had to replace one side before. On that side the elements and probably a lot of sweat have seeped through the overlaps of tape and caused the metal of the handlebar below to corrode significantly. I am hoping this weakness is not at risk for actually breaking.

This activity does remind me, yet again, that jogging strollers are very much like bicycles. Luckily there are neither chains nor gears to take care of, but the wheels, tires, hand brake and, in some strollers, suspension are all built the same way as those components on a bicycle. The hand brake relies on a cable and brake pads. The cable will stretch over time and the pads will wear down. Likewise, tires can get flats. Even the tread tends to wear down to the wire below after about 2000 miles. The next point of failure that I am worried about are the ball bearings in the wheels. I just have to squeeze 2 more years out of it...