I was informed of a new bike community lately, BikeCircle; tt looks very promising. They are using Joomla for the base content management system, which is what I will be working with on this new project. It is good to see more cycling communities, I need to get back into riding soon and with spring coming I hopefully can. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and check out BikeCircle.

When you buy a Camelbak nowadays you are getting an Omega bladder which has a special FDA and EPA approved layer (HydroGuard) to eliminate 99.99% of common bacteria and fungus from your tube and bladder. This doesn’t mean you don’t need to clean your reservoir.

I did a number of searches on the internet for the best method of cleaning. I came across users who used mouthwash, vodka, water, and some didn’t even clean them. The most common methods other than the tablets you can buy from Camelbak were baking soda, bleach, or denture tablets. Here is the information from the Camelbak website.

1. Fill reservoir with warm water and mild soap.
2. Clean with Reservoir Bursh and Delivery Tube Brush
3. Re-fill reservoir with 1L of water
4. Add 1 Cleaning Tablet
5. Shale reservoir until tablet is dissolved
6. Let stand for 5 minutes
7. Remove water from reservoir
8. Rinse reservoir thoroughly
9. Re-fill for drinking or dry completely before storage

It also says in an emergency you can add a tablespoon of bleach after Step 3 just make sure to rinse it thoroughly. They also say to clean the whole pack place it in a tub or bucket and wash with cold water and mild detergent. They go on to mention how you should not place it in a washing machine.

The method I used combined the CamelBak method with others I found on the internet.

WORKING METHOD

1. Fill reservoir with warm water and 2 teaspoons of bleach
2. Let stand for 8 hours
3. Remove water by removing bite valve and draining through tube 3 times
4. Rinse once with hot water and 2 teaspoons of baking soda
5. Fill with hot water and 1 tablespoon baking soda and let stand for 2 hours
6. Rinse thoroughly and then dry

As I am writing this it is sitting with the baking soda in it.

Update: This method worked perfectly. There is no plastic taste, no bleach taste just the refreshing taste of clean water. I hope this helps some of you out.

A few weeks ago I had an entry about my creation of a training log I was going to offer as an open source script. I was asking for suggestions for cyclists and never heard from anyone. I have decided I will create a site such as bikejournal, but increasing the features and the eye candy. I am also going to make mine geared to a larger audience, mine will be structured so triathletes and duathletes can track their data too. Which means if you only run you will still have a home for your data logging.

I have started to speak with some popular websites to try and create some strong corporate relationships and bring even more features. I think I will be able to launch in a few months, I have completed the layout for the most part and just need to work on the data display, adding of information, etc. I will do a few posts about it but not releasing too much information.

When I want to go for a ride I must load the bike in the car and drive down to the school, which is only a couple minutes away. You might ask why not ride from my home, well I have a gravel driveway that is roughly 0.3 miles and that would not treat my road tires too well. When I go to the school I start riding and being so out of shape it is hard and I get to a point where I get depressed and stop. All that translates to being a huge hassle to go for a ride so last night I ordered a set of rollers from Performance. Here is the set I ordered:

I should recieve them on Tuesday, maybe Monday. This way I can sit in my room and ride while watching a movie or when the weather is bad.

I am anal about so many things, and one of those things is starting a new workout routine on a certain type of day. What I mean is, the 1st of the month, or a Monday or Sunday, or Wednesday. Some marker point so it is easier for me to track all my data. This Sunday is October 1st, it is also 6 months from April 1st, which in my mind is always the start of spring. I was just looking at a calender and October 1st is exactly 26 weeks till April 1st. I just stepped on the scale and I came in at 256. They say losing 2 pounds a week is safe, I naturally lost more than that many time before, but if I lose an average of 2 pounds per week I will weigh 204 on April 1st. If I weighed 204 and did not gain muscle I would be 20% body fat. Higher than I would like, but I believe once I start riding and gaining muscle through that I may go back up in lean mass. If I was able to increase my lean mass to what it was a year ago, which was 175, I would be 14%. My ultimate goal is to be around 10%, but 14 would be pretty good. Wish me luck, I just hope I can stick with it this time.

My return to cycling has been an interesting one, I have realized just how out of shape I am since last year when I was in the gym every day. I recieved a set of Exustar SR930 road shoes from a friend on Bike Forums and wow, I paid $22 including shipping. These shoes were used about ~10 times and so comfortable. Riding clipless compared to toe-clips is a huge difference for me, with the solid base on the shoe and the cleat under the ball of my foot it gives me perfect application of power. When I purchased these pedals I was 14 so the release tension needed was much less then I need now. This causes a few problems, I have about 12 levels of tension on each pedal and at its tightest setting I found myself releasing by accident a couple of times. I wish I had the money to buy a new set and make myself a custom bike. I have greatly enjoyed the rides I have gone on despite how short they have been.

On a sad note it appears I lost my cyclecomputer. I placed it on the trunk of the car as I was putting my bike in the back seat and forgot about it. I drove two miles to my house before I remembered. I will be going up in the morning to try and find it, but my hopes are not very high. Since it has been 10 years buying a new one might be best, but I have bills and I also really liked that computer. The colors pattern matched the bike, it was compact, acurate, and still in perfect condition. I really hope I can find it.