Stage 16 - Everything That You Need To Know

With sprinkles at the start Darin and I rolled towards the hills of the greater Holy Hill area to put in a nice mountain stage. Hopefully we won't crack majestically like Floyd Landis did today. Boy, did that look painful!

The sprinkles soon became a steady rain and Darin donned his Performance brand rain jacket. This is basically a thick garbage bag with holes for your arms. But it wasn't thick enough as it ripped as Darin put it on. And it only took a few minutes for Darin's micro-climate to become a steaming rain forest. He was wetter under his rain jacket than I was naked to the rain.

That makes a good reminder. I've been meaning to talk about where to by cycling stuff and what brands to look for or avoid. Rules number 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; Never, and I mean never buy anything branded by the seller. By this I mean companies like Performance Bike, Bike Nashbar and the like, or your local bike shop for that matter. Even Trek branded stuff is crappy. The Performance stuff looks great in the catalog and the prices are of course much lower than real brands but in cycling you always get what you pay for. I've never been happy with anything that I've purchased that was stamped Performance or Nashbar. And I bet you haven't been either.

On the other hand I do think that buying on line is the way to go for many things. The on-line places I like best are Performance, Nashbar and Texas Cyclesport. They have a good selection of clothing (I like Descente and Craft which make great stuff), complete lines of food and drink (but not the best stuff; chocolate milk and salted nut rolls), a good selection of tires and tubes and lots of other stuff. But here is the key; don't ever buy without waiting for the item to go on sale. These places run about four sales per week and you need to be watchful for the items that you're looking to buy, especially the expensive stuff. And always look HERE for discount codes and shipping codes. You can save hundreds if you buy when it's on sale and you use the codes. No sales tax either. And nothing is better than coming home from work to find a UPS package filled with cycling stuff!

Colorado Cyclist and Excel Sports Boulder are also good on-line shops but their prices are higher and they only have a few things on sale. Get their catalogs though because they're filled with lots of good pictures and information. Pick what you want and then check around for the best prices.

What about your local bike shop? I support them when I can but I'm not going to pay full retail for stuff I can get at a good discount. No one overpays me for anything and I don't think cyclists should feel guilty about ordering on-line. If the local shop can't or won't be competitive that's their problem. I get real tired hearing from other cyclists who think that we should support local shops no matter the cost. If shops can't figure out a way to offer goods or services in a manner better or more efficiently than the next guy then they'll join the long list of companies that couldn't survive in a competitive marketplace. It's dog eat dog, baby! Survival of the fittest. May the best man win. Hey, running a business sounds a lot like a bike race doesn't it? Maybe I should write a book; The Seven Secrets to Success in Life, or, Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Learned While Riding a Bike.

And for me, there isn't a fully stocked shop anywhere near where I live and I get real irritated when I drive all the way to the shop to spend time with a kid who doesn't know anything about cycling and then they don't have what I'm looking for in stock anyway. If your experience is different then consider yourself lucky.

Darin changing his over-priced, under-performing Bontrager branded tube

The rain kept the air cool but the climbing kept the ride hot. Hills here in Wisconsin may be short but they make up for it in grade. I find it a bit exasperating that after putting all of the effort to get up a steep hill you can rarely enjoy the fruits of your labor. At the bottom of most hills you will find a stop sign, a T or a 90 degree turn. Or a combination thereof. Always something to take the fun out of a long, fast and restful decent.

Today's Mileage Goal: 56.42. Miles Ridden: 59.