Today's training ride...Alloy versus Carbon wheels

Today I tried out my HED Belgium rims on my Pinarello.  The idea is that carbon wheels can overheat on long descents and alloy rims dissipate the het better.  Deb and I were in San Francisco Saturday night for a concert so I had her drop me off near the Cliff House on the ocean front in San Francisco.  I rode through Pacifica (including through the Devil's Slide tunnel which has a great bike lane!).  I passed through Half Moon Bay and then ascended Tunitas Creek road to Skyline.  Finally I rode long Skyline Drive to Black Road in order to descend and head home.

On the descent I suddenly had a blow out on my front tire!  When I went to change the tire the rim was so hot I could barely touch it!  After changing the tire I continued more cautiously.  Finally, I turned off into our driveway and then my rear tire blew out!

I've never had any trouble like this with my Zipp carbon wheels.  Guess I'll be taking the carbon wheels to France!

Here is the Strava record for today's ride:

Support my efforts...

In addition to riding in France in July, I also have several century rides and Gran Fondos planned for later in the summer.  Two of these are the Best Buddies Hearst Castle Challenge from Carmel, CA to Hearst Castle along Highway 1 on September 7th and the Best Buddies DC Challenge on October 19th from the Washington Monument in D.C. to Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.

The Best Buddies Challenge supports Best Buddies International, a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Please consider supporting my efforts by visiting my donation pages and making a donation:

Best Buddies Hearst Castle Challenge

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Best Buddies DC Challenge

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Getting ready...

I am a MAMIL and I am about to participate in a ritual of my species.

On July 10th my wife and I (and my Pinarello Dogma 2) will fly from San Francisco to Paris to begin our adventure.  My wife will visit friends in Switzerland while I take on a grand challenge: riding some of the famous climbs of the Tour de France ahead of the peloton.

In preparation I have been training since November.  I've put in more than 250 hours on my bike riding 3600 miles since January 1st.  I ride outdoors on weekends and on an indoor trainer during the week.  I even keep a bike and trainer in Virginia so I can train in my hotel room when visiting our company headquarters.

Here is a link to the training ride I did last weekend: