Darkened my Windows

Thanks kids for the father's day gift!

Windows tinted.  50% on the fronts, 35% around the back.

Mohican with DeLuca

Mr. DeLuca and I headed down for a Friday after work ride at Mohican.  It was Mike's first time there and he was having fun on the singletrack.

The new (to me) roof rack is working!

Out and Back

Ryan and I headed down to Mohican for an eight mile out and back ride.  It was a busy day on the trail.  We saw quite a few trail runners and mountain bikers getting in some miles before the races.

Disappearing into the green.

I did a test run with no hydration pack.  My bottles were on the bike and tools in a seat bag.  I think this is going to be my plan for the Mohican 100 next weekend.  It was noticeable not having all the weight on my back and I think this will be a positive for 63 miles of riding.

While the bike/gear setup is looking good I am still concerned about my sore left knee.  It's been nagging me for a couple weeks now.  Icing every night, taking it easy, or taking it hard have not made much of a difference.  At least it's holding steady and not getting worse.  It didn't really seem noticeable during the ride today and hopefully does not detract from my race.  One week to go.

Two bikes on the roof!  It looks

so awkwardly cool.

Mohican Lap and a Half

After last weekend's stomach limited ride at Mohican, I headed down for another attempt at a long one this weekend.  It was the first trip wit the bike on the roof of the 3 instead of hanging off the rear bumper.  The most comforting detail was the sun at my bike on the way down.  I could easily see the bike was still on the roof and had not flown off.

A reassuring shadow.

I set out on a lap and felt okay through Mt. Doom.  Like last week I was cramping around mile 19.  This was not part of the plan but seems to be a reality of the race to come unless I can figure something out.  I do think I spent too much time pedaling seated in the beginning of today's ride.  Too much food at the second trail head also caught up with me, but I worked through that without much issue.  The cramps were the problem.

Back to the car after a lap I spent some time stretching and eating.  I refilled my hydration pack and worked up some motivation to head back out.  As I started a second lap, this time with the camera, I was thinking about some unique wildflowers I noticed on the way down to the covered bridge.  I decided I would at least ride that far and take a picture of them for KT.

I found the flowers and got the picture.

At the covered bridge I was really feeling junky.  Instead of Mt. Doom I took the road, which requires a pretty good effort even though on pavement instead of singletrack.  I jumped back on the trail to connect over to the second trail head.  Legs were dead, cramps were difficult to ignore, and this ride was turning into a slog.  I decided there could not possibly be a positive training effect in this condition and took the road back to the car.

This is how we roll now.

I was beat.  And hungry.  I stopped at the gas station and bought chocolate milk, a bag of cheese, and a steak.  Not a ready to eat steak but a seasoned steak to take home and grill.  It was delicious.

Recovery food, gonna need it.

Rack Attached

KT and the kids are gone for an overnight, so with the place to myself I got to work attaching the new roof rack system.

All the pieces and part laid out.

Attachment was very easy thanks to the factory mounting points on the roof of my Mazda 3.  Set the cross bars with Landing Pads loosely attached onto the roof, adjust for proper width and even bar stick out on both ends, then bolt it down.  It's solid.

Tightening the cross bars.

As previously mentioned in another post, I found a great seller on Craigslist.  He really took care of everything and included all the pieces, parts, and manuals.  In addition he gave me some advice about waxing the roof before installing the parts.  On his car this prevented any unwanted marks when the rack was removed.  I took his advice and laid down a coat of Meguiars NXT wax before installation.  You can see a reflection of the garage door opener on the ceiling in the pic above!

Of course I had to test it out with a bike carrier, so I threw one up there and lifted my bike into place.  The load and unload is very easy but may be challenging on top of my car unless you are 6' or taller.  Daniel is going to need to grow a little before throwing his bike up there.

Bike on the upper level.

Driving for a Roof Rack

Ever since owning the Mazda3 I have considered a roof rack.  Several times I looked up the list of Yakima and/or Thule components needed to make it happen and have choked on the high cost.

Last year I made my own standoffs and crossbars from wood.  They bolted into the factory roof mount points nice and secure but caused a lot of wind noise.  The intention was to attach a roof cargo tray not bikes on these rails, but I never used them.  It was a good attempt at a thrifty solution for a roof rack but it didn't work out.  Not to mention, I wouldn't have tried to mount a bike carrier on this setup.

Ever since my failed attempt I have checked Craigslist from time to time looking for a deal.  I finally found it.

On the road to pick up a rack, and more.

A guy was selling a Yakima setup that came off his Subaru.  Fortunately for me, the so-called "Yakima Landing Pads" that mate up the Subaru also mate up to my car.  Included in the sale were two "keep the wheels on" bike carries made by Inno as well as a third fork mount carrier also by Inno.  I called the seller and worked out a price for same day pickup.

Roof gear in the hatch.

Two hours of driving and I was loading the goods into my car.  Everything was in excellent shape, just as described.  I was glad to have found a good deal!  On the drive home I tried to think of ways to keep from driving roof mounted bikes in the garage; I have a few ideas.

Four hours driving after work,

arriving home in the dark.

Snow Tires Activate

When we bought the Mazda3 back in June I also bought a set of snow tires mounted on steelies.  As fall passed by and the calendar said winter was here, I was not sure when to put the snow tires on.  I decided to wait until the first real snow so I could see how the car handled with the regular tires and then how it would handle with the snow tires.

 Salty car, snow tires stacked and ready to go.

Our first real snow was Friday.  The car did okay but I definitely had to be cautious while accelerating not to break the tires free, same with braking.  So today, Daniel helped me put on the snow tires.

Daniel really did help, spinning the

lug nuts off after I broke them free. 

Daniel was very interested in this job.  He helped move the four way and jack from wheel to wheel, helped me roll the tires around, and kept calling the lug nuts "walnuts".  Oh well, I knew what he meant.

Job done.  I kind of like the looks

of the blacked out wheels.

Sound Upgrade

When I sold the truck I pulled my nice component speakers out of the doors and replaced them with some cheapies.  Ever since buying the car I wanted to install the good ones.  Well, I found the time and did the install.  Okay, truth be told, I drove around with the passenger side inner door panel removed for about two weeks while trying to complete the install.  :-)  But, it's done now and they sound good!

 New woofer mounted and wired.

I made a custom baffle to adapt the 5x7

opening to my 6.5 woofers. 

 Small blocks glued to sail panels with JB Weld.

 Tweeters attached with a metal strap.

Old versus New

Twice in the past week, as I’ve been enjoying my new car, I’ve found scenes of the old versus new…

 An old school station wagon.

 A Mazda Protege5 in red.  The predecessor to the Mazda3

I currently drive, and the same car I owned before the truck.

New four wheeler

In the week previous to Ellen's arrival we were test driving cars and planning a swap of the truck for something more fuel efficient and fun to drive.  Of course a prerequisite for the vehicle was the ability to fit a bike inside and the ability to add a hitch for a bike rack. 

The first pick, and the car that started the whole idea, was the Honda Fit.  The cargo versatility in this small car is the selling point but unfortunately the tiny, underpowered engine offsets the cargo carrying prowess.  If this car had another 30 horsepower under the hood it would be in my garage right now.

At KT's suggestion we went to see our friend at Park Mazda and test drove the Mazda3 hatchback.  Now this is a fun car to drive with nimble handling and adequate power without sacrificing too much fuel economy.  Plus the styling, interior and out, trumps the Fit in our eyes.  The cockpit of the Mazda3 is exciting and useful.  The cockpit of the Fit... not so much.

 Mazda3 hatchback.

The first project with the car was a hitch for use with the bike rack.  The install went very smooth and I'm happy with how sturdy the attachment is on this car.  I've installed hitches on five different vehicles now and this is the most solid mounting I've seen on a car.

My helper with the instructions.

Not having the truck is going to be a disadvantage at times, but I know I'm always welcome to borrow dad's truck.  When it comes down to it, I only used the truck as truck about once a month and probably not every month.  Most of the time it was hauling bikes, which the car can do.  When it comes time to buy lumber or transport firewood I'll take dad up on his offer to borrow the truck.

I like hatchbacks.

 

 Side view.  My large Paragon 29er uses up the

whole hatch area lengthwise.