Pre-Season Cycling Camp in San Diego

Each year over the past 6 years I've taken a spring trip to kick off the season, but this year's experience was a little different. First, in preparation for my first true "season" of bike racing I wanted to push myself hard to get ready for the stress and do what I could to be competitive from the start. In years past, my spring trip has provided the opportunity to connect with my brother and his friend Don for a long weekend of riding (typically 2.5 days). This year I wanted to ride harder and longer than I had ever before -- and I certainly got my wish.

Another important difference this year had to do a certain milestone I reached in March. I turned 40 (ouch). That big number gave me a little more bargaining power at home and helped me lobby for a week-long experience.

After researching my options (and coming to terms with a limited budget) I chose Cycling Camp San Diego. The price was much more reasonable than Carmichael's camps, and others of that ilk, but it still looked to be professionally operated (and it was). I made contact with the camp's director, Rob Panzera, and he responded promptly and courteously to all of my many questions. He assured me that I would get a lot out of attending.

I have to admit that when I first me the dozen or so other campers during our pre-camp meeting at the Alpine Ayers Alpine Inn (Alpine, CA, 25 miles east of San Diego) I was a little surprised that they were mostly older and primarily interested in training for individual events (triathlons, long tours, etc.). It was Sunday night before the first day of camp and we sat around the hotel's lounge a little nervously talking about our riding experience and sandbagging about how we'd do at camp. There were just a couple of other serious racers during my week, and Rob told me the composition of each group is different, with some of his camps have drawn a higher proportion of racers. As a result, I was initially dubious that I'd be pushed hard enough. Boy was I wrong. By the end of the week I had developed a great deal of respect for every one of my fellow campers, and I had ample opportunity to push myself to the limit each day.

Day One: 50 miles, 4,000 feet climbing
The first day (of five) was the shortest day of riding and were instructed to stick together. This was a warm-up day, where Rob and his staff would evaluate our form and make impressions about our skill and fitness levels. That evening, just before dinner, we gathered for Rob's discussion concerning VO2 max interval training, which we'd be doing the next day (each evening before dinner Rob would hold an educational meeting to share training tips and discuss the plan for the next day). Rob is himself is a former Cat 2 racer and certified coach, so he's quite knowledgeable about bike-specific training, nutrition and other topics of interest to competitive cyclists. I began to get a little nervous about what the next day would hold.

Day Two: 60 miles, 5,000 feet climbing
On day two we met outside of Rob's room and met that day's assistant ride leaders. Rob seems to know nearly everyone in the San Diego cycling community and he assembled a different group of support staff each day. That way, riders of every level would have someone to guide them. This was very important for a camp like CCSD, since there was quite a wide range of fitness and bike handling skills. That morning I was surprised to meet someone whose name and reputation I'd already known. Bill Holland is something of a legend among custom bike frame builders. My neighbor and friend Paul rides a custom Holland titanium-carbon frame and loves it.

As the ride started I introduced myself to Bill (pictured in the orange jersey) and he remembered Paul well. We had a nice time talking as we rode to the starting point of our intervals. Rob had marked the road with symbols to indicate the starting and stopping point for each set of intervals, which would be based on our heart rates zones (we were expected to already know them before arriving at camp). Fortunately I'd had a HR and power threshold test earlier that winter at a cycling studio in Minneapolis and had pretty accurate numbers to work with.

As the group started the intervals, individual riders began to separate, since some could ride at a quicker pace while maintaining their HR in the desired zone. During each of the six intervals we were expected to ride at a higher percentage of our maximum heart rate, with equal periods of recovery between them. I quickly found myself with Rob, Bill and another strong rider (Greg, one of the other two racers). We moved through 3 of the 6 sets, which eventually approached 95% of our maximum heart rates, and just Bill and I were together at the front of the group. Now, Bill Holland is in his early 50s and is in impeccable shape from riding in the mountains nearly every day. The guy is a machine. On the last interval (all were on climbs, none on descents) the road steepened considerably. I stuck to Bill's wheel until the last couple hundred yards when I discovered a new maximum heart rate (I know, I was supposed to keep it at 95% but I was having too much fun).

After finishing this 6th and final interval, Bill and I looked around and found that no one else was in sight so we rode together to the first SAG stop. SAG for the camp was outstanding, led by a guy named Jeff who wrenches for a San Diego-area shop and formerly worked for Mavic. He drove a van packed with complimentary bars, gels, sports drinks, fruit and a very well-stocked tool kit. In any event, this was my first of many hours riding off the front of the group with Bill. I have no doubt Rob could have ridden with us but he had the responsibility of shuttling between groups to check in on other campers. Even though Bill and I rode hard, we took the opportunity to discuss bike making, travel and life generally. It was a real privilege not only to meet him but to ride with him and engage in several hours of interesting discussion.

After re-grouping at the rest stop, we did some skills training, including bumping and crossing/rubbing wheels (on grass) and descending. After these on-the-road clinics, Bill and I were joined by another ride leader as well as Greg and his Portland-area racing partner Eric (in the photo Greg is on the left and Eric right). We hammered together for about 40 miles to close out an exhausting but productive day on the bike. I took the opportunity to spend a lot of time pulling up front because my goal for the week was to see how many days in a row I could push myself to the brink of exhaustion and still recover to ride the next day. I recall Greg yelling up to me during a few long pulls "You guys are amazing!" -- certainly a compliment from a fellow (and more experienced) racer. I had decided not to save myself for rides later in the week because I didn't want to get to the end of camp with anything left in the tank. What was there to lose? So what if I cracked on the 3rd or 4th day? At least then I'd know that I'd reached my limit.

In a subsequent post I'll summarize the remaining three days from my camp experience along with my day of riding with my brother and his cycling partners near San Jose. When it was over, I'd had my first 400-mile week (with 35,000-plus feet of climbing) and I was ready for my first season of bike racing.

Winter Came and Went

OK. I'm a terrible blogger. I haven't had a new post since last fall. That's OK, though, since the only readers at this point are those I notify of new posts. I promise I'll try to get better at this.

It's June, and although winter should seem like a faint memory, it isn't. Not with temps in the mid-40s again. This past weekend I went on my regular 100-mile Sunday ride with the Flanders guys and "enjoyed" a cool mist and lots of wind. It wasn't so bad until I had to leave early to get back to our sitter and headed back home into a stiff headwind. After flatting twice, with no patch or pump at hand, I had to call a friend for a ride home from East Union (45 miles from home). Not my finest hour as a cyclist.

But this post is meant to provide a brief recap about my winter experience; and an experience it was. This was my first season as a year-round commuter, and it takes a little (a lot) more commitment to ride through winter in Minnesota it does for my west coast brethren (Jeremy, et. al).

That said, I had a blast -- and I mean it. My goals each year have been to ride 1,000 more miles than each year prior, and to drop my temperature threshold by 10 degrees. So, last year's goal was 4,000 miles for the year and a commitment to ride anytime the temperature was above 30 degrees. I beat both goals by a longshot, finishing with 5,200 miles and riding in temps as low a zero!

To prepare for the season, I picked up a used cyclocross bike -- a Bianchi Axis with some nice knobby tires. I didn't find it necessary to use studded tires under most conditions, though I had a couple of dicey rides in the late winter when a thaw and re-freeze left the bike paths particularly icy. The bike performed really well except for a few particularly "slushy" days when I wished I'd had a single-speed. The rear cassette became totally useless when frozen slush formed on it and prevented it from shifting.

Here's a photo of me with Jim Flanders (owner of Flanders Bros. bikes in Minneapolis) and Jack Stack, English professor, Flanders club comedian and strong all-around rider. The weather here was 6 degrees above zero and we put in about 30 miles.

I learned quite a bit this year by riding in such conditions. Surprisingly, you don't need to wear much more on your body for 10 degree weather than you do for 30 degree weather. You do, however, need to focus on keeping your extermeties warm. All I ever wore for my core was a long-sleeve Craft cool-weather base layer, long-sleeve jersey and a relatively thin shell (as shown in the photo). Feet require special attention. On the coldest days I'd have thick wool socks, chemical toe warmers, Lake winter shoes and neoprene shoe covers. Likewise, to keep my hands warm in really cold weather I used an oversized pair of REI mittens with wool glove liners and chemical hand warmers.

One of the main challenges was actually to avoid overheating, especially when stopped (even momentarily). I would often stop midway on my commute to work (25 miles roundtrip) at my favorite cafe, and I'd have to quickly remove my helmet, balaclava (with helmet hat on top) and neoprene facemask. Then I'd quickly take off my jacket and unzip my jersey.

I'll pass along some more tips as winter 2009 approaches. Hopefully by then I'll have my 6,000 miles for the year!

In the Crucible: The Pleasure and Pain of a Hard Group Ride

Last year I regularly rode the Flanders Bros. Saturday "Coffee Ride" -- roughly 40 miles at a respectable pace of 18-20 mph. That's pretty fast for a so-called "social ride." When my wife began road biking earlier this year, she joined a club that rode on Saturdays, so I had change my routine. The Flanders Sunday ride is a longer, harder ride that typically covers 60-120 miles at a faster pace (20-24 mph average). It was a big step up for me to try to keep up with these guys, but it's been a lot of fun trying.

As you'll recall from previous posts, my wife had a major accident on her bike this spring, which limited my availability to ride on the weekends for a while. Fortunately her recovery has proceeded well ahead of her doctors' expectations, allowing both of us to ride quite a bit lately.

Up until yesterday I'd taken the mid-length option (about 100 miles) during the half dozen or so Sunday rides I've joined. There's a turn-off point midway into the Sunday ride that roughly half the group takes, which makes for about a 65-mile route. Then there's the "La Sueur" loop -- 120 miles of pain and suffering (at least for the mortals in the group like me). I hadn't had an opportunity to try it until yesterday.

The ride started fairly innocently, with a moderately fast pace around 20 mph as we headed out. One of the riders was having trouble with a bad bearing in the rear wheel hub so we got a bit of a slow start, actually stopping at another rider's house to pick up a spare wheel. It was then that the ride began in earnest. I think some in the group were frustrated with the slow start and wanted to make up for lost time. In any event, the screws began tightening.

Pacelining
I was feeling pretty good during the initial series of pacelines. For those new to the sport, pacelines are single or double-file lines where the lead rider(s) take a few minutes "pulling" up front before peeling off to the rear to rest (riders up front expend roughly 20-40% more energy compared to those behind; thus the benefits of drafting).

Then I got caught up front during a fast stretch with "Alex" -- a big and very strong German chap who probably eats little guys like me for lunch (actually, he's a pretty nice fellow but he's not afraid to drop weaker riders). I kept up pretty well for the first few minutes, as we powered along a gradual descent at 30 mph. But he clearly didn't want to go to the back until I asked for mercy. Fortunately one of the other power riders sprinted up to the front and took over before slowing the group to let a rider who'd experienced a mechanical issue hook back on.

Reverse-Pacelining
I realize now that I should have swallowed my pride and moved to the back sooner. I burned through a lot of energy in just a few minutes trying to power through this section. Over the course of our 6 hour-ride, I took my fair share of time in front, and sat in on a little over half of the reverse-paceline rotations (during reverse pacelining, the last rider pulls out and rides alongside the single file group to take the lead position). Moreover, I felt quite good during the last third of the ride, even sitting in on some fast rotations that involved three of the strongest riders (the rest of the group opted out and sat on on the back as we drove the pace).

One thing that really helped me during this long ride was forcing myself to eat enough. I have my wife to thank for this. She's much more disciplined than I am and actually reads books about cycling (with big words and not a lot of pictures) whereas I tend to read books about politics and history (which haven't seemed to help my bike skills much).

Fueling
Since I'd been able to keep up on the 100-mile training rides I felt that whatever I was doing was working. Fortunately, about a week or so ago she calculated how much food I should be consuming during my rides and determined I was eating less than half of what I really needed. I always seemed to carry enough food with me (energy bars and gels) but often returned with most of it uneaten. So, after a few hard pulls up front (and at least once every hour) I'd eat a bar and/or a gel. As a result, I felt much stronger at the end of the ride than I have in the past.

When I looked down at my bike computer near the end of the ride I could hardly believe it. Even though we'd had to slow down and briefly stop several times due to mechanical problems our average was 21.5 mph. Without these stoppages we probably would have averaged 22+. And amazingly I felt strong at the end.

But here's the real high point: Near the end of the ride, about 115 miles in, two riders, independent of one another, rode up next to me and told me I rode well. One rider in particular, who kind of took me under his wing early in the season, said it was probably the hardest training ride of the year. "You looked real good today, Fred," he said. "Real good."

For someone who just started riding with the "A team" this year, those words meant a lot. Sure, they might be simply trying to encourage me along as a newer member, and they did give me some good ribbing for overdressing for the weather, but I'll take it at face value. When you're riding with guys with as much race experience as these, you need to take every compliment you get.

Why I Ride on the Road

The latest installment in my Shifting Gears column in the Southwest Journal just hit the streets and I wanted to provide some substantiation for a few statistics I cite in the piece. As soon as the story is posted on the Journal's web site I'll provide a link, but in a nutshell I explain why I feel safe riding my bike on the road, with traffic. I've actually come to prefer riding on the road rather than on dedicated trails and paths

The figure I cite regarding the average number of cyclists killed in car-bike crashes in Minneapolis (1-2 per year) was taken from a conversation I had with Don Pflaum, city of Minneapolis Bicycle Coordinator.

The observation that "about half of all car-bike crashes are caused by dangerous behavior on the part of cyclists, such as riding on the wrong (left) side of the road, turning left in front of passing vehicles, running through red lights and stop signs or riding at night without lights" was drawn from Robert Hurst's excellent book The Art of Cycling: A Guide to Bicycling in 21st Century America (p. 161).

The estimate that "a decade of experience will reduce a cyclist’s accident rate by roughly 80 percent" originally comes from John Forester's Bicycle Transportation: A Handbook for Cycling Transportation Engineers, published first in the early 80s but updated in a second edition in 1994. I first noticed this claim on Ken Kifer's web site (www.kenkifer.com).

The general observations regarding the relative safety of biking versus driving were drawn from Ken Kifer's research. Sadly, Kifer (a writer and dedicated cyclist) was tragically killed by a drunk driver in September 2003 while riding his bicycle near his home near Scottsboro, Alabama. His web site, referenced above, contains a remarkable amount of practical information for cyclists.

Interview with Liza Stoner and Family

Note: The following interview appeared in partial form in the first August issue of the Southwest Journal. I've re-posted the interview here in its entirety.

Recently I had an opportunity to sit down with Liza Stoner and her family following their their month-long summer adventure, which saw the 14-year-old bike nearly 1,600 miles from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. to promote electric vehicle legislation. Liza’s mother (Amy) biked with her while her father (Jeff) and 8-year-old brother (Christopher) drove the support vehicle. 16-year-old sister Corriell was at summer camp during most of their trip but joined the family a couple days before they reached the capital (July 21). At the end of Liza’s “Ride for Renewal” she had a personal meeting with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) during which she shared her passion for environmental issues and her petition, which then included about 1,200 names. Here are a few excerpts from our conversation . . .

FM: First, welcome back, and congratulations. Maybe we can start at the end of the trip. What was is like meeting with Senator Klobuchar? Were you nervous?

Liza: Not really. She was so nice! It wasn’t really scary at all. I spoke with her for about a half an hour. She even shared some of her stories about biking with her dad across the country when she was in college.

FM: Pretty impressive, having a private meeting with your Senator at age 14.

Amy: Actually there was a Nickolodean crew filming it all, a Senate videographer, several other photographers and Senate staff. We attracted quite a crowd, mostly tourists, who started gathering to see what was going on. Some even asked for her autograph. There was even this 10-year-old kid who started debating Liza and Senator Klobuchar!

FM: Sounds like democracy in action. What would you say was the biggest highlight of the trip?

Christopher: We saw lots of animals. Some bears. Deer. Snapping turtles!

Liza: But I think Christopher’s favorite part was the hotels. Swimming in the pools. (Christopher smiles.)

Jeff: Christopher and I would often drive the vehicle 20 or 30 miles ahead and wait at the next major intersection. We’d get out of the car and find a park. We even played some baseball.

Liza: We met some really interesting people, too. A lot of bikers riding coast-to-coast. There was a father and son biking 100 miles a day with no rest days. A couple in their 60s riding across the country. Five guys in college riding from Pittsburgh to D.C. for AIDS orphans in Uganda. It was fun to share stories.

Jeff: Amish country was a real highlight, too. Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Especially Indiana.

Christopher: I liked their hats!

Jeff: And the landscape. Rolling hills and farmland. You see the country a whole different way when you’re not on the Interstate, where everything is the same mile after mile.

FM: What was the biggest surprise? Was the experience just like you expected?

Liza: It was a lot more fun than I expected. I thought I might get bored riding so much every day, but it was interesting the whole time.

Amy: Definitely not boring, though did make up a few silly songs to pass the time in a few spots.

FM: Were there any really low points during the trip?

Jeff: Ohio was tough. It was really flat, especially the western part of the state.

Amy: The roads were bad, too, and the drivers.

Liza: Even the maps were bad in Ohio. They [Jeff and Christopher] had everything — On-Star, GPS, Adventure Cycling maps.

Jeff: When we got near Cleveland we had to check four different maps to make sense of the route.

FM: Was it hard to return to your regular lives after a month of such unique experiences? Was there a sense of letdown when you finished?

Liza: Kind of. I really wanted to bike back home. I’ve been biking everywhere since we got back, but I take the bus sometimes, too.

Jeff: I had to go from being an 8-year-old to being an adult again. Deluxe (his employer) was really great. I took some PTO and they gave me a leave of absence to do the trip. Actually, it was probably most difficult for Amy to reintegrate.

Amy: (Laughing.) Yes, it’s probably been hardest for me. I was so pampered! All I had to do was ride the bike. That was my job. I’m really itching to get out again. I actually think I’m kind of a flight risk right now. You guys might come home and find my bike gone and I’ll be nowhere to be found!

FM: Is there anything you’d do differently if you had it to do all over again?

Liza: I’d like to train a little more and ride more each day. Closer to 100 miles. But I’d have to get up earlier. [Everyone laughs.] I also really wish we could have had an electric vehicle for our support car.

Jeff: Yes, we came so close. If we’d started a few weeks earlier we could have made it happen. Honda and Toyota both tried, but it was GM that really tried. It would have made a great story. [Watching the destruction of General Motors’ EV1 battery-powered cars in the 2006 documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” motivated Liza to plan her bike trip and petition.]

Amy: I agree. That was really our only regret.

Jeff: Oh, and I’d probably pack a little lighter. After all, we did laundry just about every day!

FM: Obviously you were successful with the biking portion of the trip, but did you accomplish what you had hoped to?

Liza: I feel like I did. I think we will get electric cars. Later the same day I met Senator Klobuchar, she brought us to a press conference about oil speculation. (Klobuchar acknowledged Liza before the press and audience.) There are a lot of people who really want things to change.

Amy: Yes, we didn’t meet anyone who didn’t agree with the goal of making electric vehicles more available, regardless of their politic background.

FM: Do you plan to stay involved with the electric vehicle movement or are there other issues you want to get involved with?

Liza: I think I’ll continue to be interested in electric vehicles but I’m interested in other environmental issues, too.

Amy: Some people from Project Better Place will be in Minneapolis and want to meet with Liza. The director of the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” sent a personal message to her, and so did Chelsea Sexton (executive director of Plug In America).

Jeff: I think it goes to show that one person, and particularly young people, can make a real impact. Liza had a vision, worked her tail off and with the help of a lot of people accomplished her goal. And I haven’t even had a chance to tell Liza this yet, but our Board of Directors [at Deluxe Corp.] wants her to come meet with them.

Liza: What?! Dad!

FM: So, what’s next for the Stoner family? Do you have any more exciting adventures planned?

Amy: Well, Liza’s already hatching a plan for a European bike tour—on her own dime, of course!

Jeff: And Christopher said he wants to ride coast to coast when he gets 8th grade.

Amy: Yes, and I think it’s Jeff’s turn to do the riding this time. It’ll be a boys’ ride. Plus I really have to pay them back for sagging us the whole way!

Nickolodean News has tentatively scheduled September 21 to air their story on Liza’s trip.

Laura's Comeback

After nearly three months of hard work, my wife Laura did it. She got back on her bike today for her first outdoor ride since her accident. And just as I expected, she did more than just gingerly spin around the block, she rode 20 miles -- and loved it!

I have to admit I was relieved to see her pedal back home safely, and not because she made it back without incident. Rather, she returned on her road bike, clipped into her pedals, with an enormous smile on her face.

You see, she headed out on her hybrid, thinking she'd be nervous about clipping in to her much more responsive road bike. I left to take the kids to their swimming lessons and didn't notice when I got back that she'd switched bikes. She told me her hybrid just didn't feel right -- her feet kept sliding off the pedals and the bike felt sluggish. So, after riding around Lake Calhoun she headed back to change bikes (and shoes).

We both love the look of her blue and black carbon Fuji road bike. Even after her accident she was thrilled to have it back in the house. As soon as she was able she was back up on it on the bike trainer. But I was probably more fearful than she that taking the bike back outside would bring back memories of her accident.

I really do have visions of us riding off into the sunset on our road bikes together. Sunsets here in the Twin Cities (like those we watched last year coming home from our "bike dates"). Sunsets after long full-day rides together. Sunsets while riding across Europe when the kids are grown.

So I was relieved to see her riding confidently again. And so happy for her. Cycling had quickly become such a positive thing in her life, and it still is.

And being positive is what has most amazed me about Laura during this entire experience. I've been around a lot of people recovering from sports injuries, and I've experienced some pretty serious ones myself. I have honestly never seen someone so focused on the positive every day.

When she could get up and down the stairs by herself, sitting and resting on every step, she didn't complain about how long it took. She was simply happy to be able to get out of the bedroom and downstairs. When she found a rolling cart at Target she could push around the kitchen so she could make herself lunch (with one hand) and push it to the table, she felt so independent!

Just about every night she'd show me the incremental progress she'd made. One or two more degrees in the range of motion in her wrist was cause for celebration. Being able to go from two crutches to one, or one crutch to her cane, produced true jubilation.

I, on the other hand, would have been insufferable. Actually, I'm sure I was insufferable during my last major sports injury. I broke my leg a little over five years ago playing soccer and it took over a year to fully heal. Fortunately the experience led me to take up cycling, which has really changed my life for the better in so many ways. At the time, though, I'm sure I was a real downer.

Ultimately I have to think Laura's positive attitude sped up her recovery considerably. Sure, she was also a model patient with her physical therapy, and this may be the largest single factor (aside from her general health and fitness level before the accident). But I do believe, unprovable though it may be, that a positive attitude can create a positive feedback loop that literally speeds up healing.

Regardless what made it possible, though, I'm just thrilled Laura is back on her bike, enjoying something she has come to love as much as I do, just 11 weeks after an enormous setback. We're even planning a "bike date" for tomorrow night to celebrate. (Ain't love grand?)

My Addiction -- Carbonated Water

Be forewarned: This post is going to come off as a product endorsement, and maybe it is, but I'm thrilled with a new home soda maker I purchased a few weeks ago and think it's worth knowing about if you're paying for high-priced mineral water.

If you've visited this blog before you may have read the entry on water (see 8 Glasses a Day Advice Doesn't Hold Water, posted May 1, 2008). My wife and I started drinking juice diluted with water a few years ago, shifting to sparkling mineral water to make it a little more interesting. Recently, while taking all of our recycling bins to the curb, I reflected on the massive bin of mineral water bottles, most of which had traveled half-way around the world (Gerolsteiner and San Pelligrino being our two favorites).

So much for reducing my carbon footprint by biking!

Following a little research on the web I came across a company called Soda Club (www.sodaclubusa.com). They make home carbonation machines, and there are remarkably few companies that seem to compete with them. Because I'm concerned about the petrochemicals associated with plastic bottles I had to suck it up and pay for the more expensive glass bottle carbonator.

When it first arrived, Ethan (our 8-year old pre-engineering student) wanted to assemble it. Fortunately it's quite a simple unit. It's all mechanical (no electricity required) and consists essentially of a large CO2 cartridge which screws into the base. A bottle of regular tap water (or filtered water if you prefer) is simply placed inside the unit, and the carbonation jet is brought down on top of it. You pump a lever a few times, and voila! Soda water!

Now, some people prefer mineral water because it actually possesses minerals, and some because they prefer the flavor. Since I take my vitamins every day, and because I mix the water with juice any way, this machine is perfect.

Many others purchase these devices to save money on soda. Soda Club offers a wide variety of syrups and sends you a package of samples. I drink the water because I want a healthy alternative to soda so I don't typically purchase these, but simply mix soda water with a little fruit juice.

Of course, the company does require you to purchase their proprietary CO2 replacement cartridges through them, but that seems fair enough. It's still a lot cheaper (by my estimate, at least 75% less than bottled water) and much more environmentally friendly.

So, if you drink a lot of mineral water and want to a) reduce your carbon footprint and b) save money, you should consider buying a home carbonation system. Finally, if you know of other companies offering these products please tell me.