Don't Call it a Comeback

Damn I got excited when I saw that stan's kit as I have been considering the same and figured you would be the gp.
I agree with Norm however, even the first time I did the tubeless kit on my mtn bike it took a few days to get it perfect and you won't have access to compressor, soap and bucket (well maybe) but anyway you don't want to mess with this crap there, you want to ride. You can probably change a flat with your eyes closed with a tube so there will be more enjoyment in not having to worry "what if" even though that is what you were probably hoping by going tubeless anyway. See I can be sensible once in a while.
Have a great trip bro, be careful and I want to see lots of pictures that are out of focus and colors are all crazy. See I never get far from who I am.😀
 
I'm beat. Long day.

Try to do a cliff notes version

Flight

Good. Comfortable. No problems. On time. Food acceptable. How often does one hear that?

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Baggage claim

Bags out first. Too good to be true, and it was.

Delay in getting the bike case. So I told the guy at the Continental baggage office that I'd rent a car and come back. He said great I'll keep an eye on it.

I came back, and there was a sign "Out to lunch, back 3:30 which is in an hour". With my bike case INSIDE his locked office. What.

I got the ticket counter girl to come down and open it up.

Car rental

THey didn't have the exact car I reserved so I made some noise and got bumped up to another. I got a hemi cuda extend cab pickup which is a sweet truck, plenty of space for people and cargo. It's big and manly. I like that.

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Ride to condo and rain

I guess it rains in PR this time of year. Tropical rains. VIolently. Then it stops quickly. Then it starts again.

People drive slow on the major "freeways" heading out of San Juan. Really slow. THere isn't a concept of left lane only for fast .

Made it in about an hour. Not too bad. Nice scenery, green mountains.

Condo.

All good. On the beach, ground floor. Sand is kind of red.

Saw two peeps on roadbikes, looked fit and kitted out. Good sign

Dinner

Tex mex at Chihuahua grill. Rained some more.


Bike

Put it back together no issues. Good seeing that Garmin 705 maapped PR fine. I'll be able to make it home now.
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More later, going to bed.
 
My heart would have dropped when the bike was MIA (if only for a moment)
 
Day 1 Ride

First ride in PR

Went out for a first PR ride at 6:30am this morning while family was sleeping.

Our complex, Palmas Del Mar, has a lot of roads that are nice and smooth. I warmed up on the roads within the complex, about 5 miles. Couple of good climbs, actually no flat spots as we're carved into a hill. Knee was feeling good, so I pushed it and no issues. Just a slight twinge here and there, but basically ok.

Then doubled back and went outside of the development on real roads.

Here is what the roads look like:

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Narrow, no shoulder, many tight turns, and spots where you see the rainbows of petroleum based products. Dangerous. Another thing are the wild dogs. They did not appear to be hostile, but they were in the middle of the road wandering back and forth. Nuts. Needless to say I didn't open it wfo on any part of the stretch.

Although drivers are not too bad, despite numerous people telling me the PR drivers are crazy. They are quite considerate actually.

Ok. Again, it rains in PR. As soon as I started to climb, it poured with a vengeance. I had the thought that I was not of sound mind to do this. I've accepted that as fact, and moved on.

This was a pretty good climb, around 1000 feet elevation change in total for the stretch. On the way up it was pretty easy, with some relief. On the way back, the hill went for what seemed to be straight up, but looking at the data, only 355 feet / 2 miles / 3% grade. Ok, it's not a killer climb, but I've been off the bike for 5 weeks, so I felt good about the effort. Total elevation change 1260.

My HR for first time was in the 160-170, and averaged 146. Feels awesome to be back and flowing again.

Here's me on top of hill, sporting the DRV jersey in honor of JimV.

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Here's the view on top, on the other side of the road.

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All in all, despite the really sketchy conditions, great success. I think I'll be able to do some hill climbs every morning and then venture out further at other times to do some real exploring.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11105053

You should export this to Google Earth, pretty cool - within Garmin Connect, hit Export-Google Earth below the summary pane on the left.


Tubeless
I wish I had them. The roads were a bit rough, plenty of opportunity to flat or pinch flat, and on some sections it was steep enough where I felt a bit of a slip. I would gladly invest the time to mess around with it. Also, can they turn into tubed tires in a second, so no risk there.
 
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Very cool man. I like the last pic, just because you're not home. I love everything about being in a different area. I have to say I really hope to be able to go to Taiwan this winter and have the instant feedback of the iPhone & Facebook with me.
 
I was in PR on vacation last month. I stayed in dorado for half the week at a resort and then with my stepfathers family in orocovis for the other half. I did remember seeing a lot of roadies down by the beaches, not a single mountain bike though.
 
Two solid climbs this morning

Peep them on GC, they look like a pair of perfectly shaped pyramids, or really pointy boobs.

http://connect.garmin.com/player/11234029

I pre-ride my routes in PR, so that I don't wind up in some crevasse. So when I pre-rode this frankly I was like, I'm going to for sure turn back midway. These were the typical Puerto Rico roads, windy, small, no shoulder, cars, etc. Add to that the elevation change.

First went from -5 to 800 for 2.6 miles, or 6% grade.

This went to almost top of a mountain, and just as I was reaching the top, it started to rain 🙄. Made the descent pretty sick.

Second went from zero to 700 for 2 miles, or a 7% grade. Here the sun was out and sea right there, just beautiful.

Long story short, these turned out to be not nearly as bad as I thought, in fact, another awesome ride. The second one while shallower was tougher as it had a couple of 12-15% stretches. Did the 16 miles in a bit over an hour.

The knee feels pretty good. It let me know sometimes that it's still healing when I was up and hammering, but in general it's been good.

Fantastic views, and again, cars were real considerate. I was wishing I had more life insurance at times.

1st climb
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Rain on top of 1st
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Backside of 1st
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Top of 2nd climb
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F-U Hill, and representin' MTBNJ.com in PR
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I should mention that I purchased Garmin's topo maps for $86 for Southern US states + Puerto Rico. Even though this is likely the only time in this decade I'll use the maps, in my mind it's a tiny price to pay to be able to navigate around and not only not get lost, but formulate effective rides in a strange and humid land.

And, besides all the bashing I do on Garmin's shortcomings, I heart my Garmin 705. God bless them for rolling stuff out ahead of beta or even alpha. Well, maybe to them it's full production versions, but whatever 🙄
 
Livestrong ride was today under insanely dry conditions.

I did the Century. The first 18 miles though I did at a super-chill pace with Mrs. Kush and some fellas from my work. Then we parted ways and did the rest by myself.

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/11789641

I started with the 45 mile group, which was started like 40 minutes behind the 100 mile group, so I wound up passing everyone I could, though by that time I couldn't find anyone to hang with as they were all gone 🙁

This was a hilly course. 7200 feet of climbing. Very few flat spots. Knee holding up, but now its a little stiff.

Tubeless rocks. It is bitchin'. I ran it at 90 and it was super plush, and super grippy around the turns, and climbs nicely. The install was PAINLESS. Trick is to soap the beads up super lots. I have Mavic Kserium rims, which don't require tape. That was a big bonus

The seat J sold me rocks even more. Selle SMP Glider. My undercarriage appreciated it.

Puerto Rico - I have hundreds of quality shots to process. Will get to it, the vacation was an absolute blast. I rode 8 days, 200 miles, climbed 16000 feet.

Best part is not a single mechanical. Not even a flat on those vicious roads. My tires now have a dozen little cuts though. I had the 09 version of the Giant TCX, it took a lot of beating, and not a single issue. The '10 is now being pimped at Halter's.
 
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