I was wearing a winter jersey over my summer jersey all day. The hot shower was great after, and a glass of wine on the roof watching the sun set got too close to cold. Like 55 or so.
I rode about 25 miles/40km in a small valley close by doing loops and came across a raccoon just kind of hanging out but not looking very well. He wasnt afraid as I approached and passed by so I turned around as there was a dude in camo. in a driveway close by. I told him about the coon and he said he would get the live trap and release him in the wild. I did about 3 more loops and he was still hanging out so one of the other locals called the police to have it removed and then the hunter dude finally came out to capture the thing. That was my ride with the wild life right in town, oh yea we had a coyote in our subdivision the other day as well. Animals dont have much of a habitat anymore as we cut down tree after tree.
Did I mention the new-to-me y2k Quattro Assi I just finished building up? No? Well I rode it this AM. Wow. What a ride! Smmmmoooooovvvvvvve like buttah, but stiff enough to sprint on. It was basically NOS and I built it up outta spare parts. ...which just happen to be D/A! I think this may end up in the rotation lots. All it needs is a King HS. Good thing I work for a shop, huh?! The legs on the other hand still need work. Hit this one hill feeling 'pro.' Was going at it pretty good in the big ring (wasn't much of a hill) and rounded the corner when it kicked up s'more and whooops! The legs pretty well decided they'd had enough RIGHT EFFING NOW! Lactic acid overload on aisle 1 and 2 please! Gonna go race my first race back down around UVA. ALL hills. No, I'm not ready for it, but WTF?! may as well. The only goal for that race is don't get dropped on the hills. Easier said than done for this sprinter-type individual. On other news: the ride itself was 23mi in about 1:45. Not moving real fast. Not moving real slow. Felt pretty good overall actually. M
I was just sending those for you... not sales pitch If you think it they are something your customers would appreciate, ping me offline and we can discuss.
I finally got around to spending some real money on lights. I've been quite happy with my Cateye Opticube (front light) for about 3 years and have been running 3 flashing lights on the rear (a generic Trek light I found on the shoulder, a Princeton Tec 2 LED and a Nashbar blinky). But it's been quite a hassle keeping up with charging the batteries twice per week (I ride about 10-12 hours/week and run the lights on flashing the whole time). Besides, having 3 lights on the back looked a bit ghetto, especially since the Trek was zip tied to the seatpost. I got a set of Magicshine lights from Geomangear.com. Wow!
Yea I got one of those Magic Shine light sets, I love it, I mount the light on my helmet, battery pack in my camelbak. The charge last for a couple rides on high, I do mostly trails at night by my self, its a blast, totally changes the riding experience. Sometimes I just clip it on my bars but I prefer the helmet mount.
I've heard good things about those Magicshines. Haven't actually touched my mtn bike this winter tho, so haven't upgraded my half dozen circa 1995 Niterider halogen lights. Had buddies in Sandy Eggo riding the HIDs. MAN! talk about bright! With a capital BRIGHT! I had to have em ride in front of me cause my 6v stuff couldn't cut thru the shadow I made with them behind me. Oh, and Morning all. Buddy's coming up to go for a little ride here in a bit. We're gonna be dual sporting our Tarmacs and Roubiaxes. :eek1 Lookin for dirt roads ala Paris-Roubaix aka my favoritest race evar! We're breaking out the 25c tires and going for it! Askel's got nuthin on me. M
Guess it never happened then. ...but why do my legs feel whupped?! Got a late start so I modified the plan en route to the 'start of the ride.' Chopped off a chunk but still managed to go 1:20 this AM. Most of it was on good roads. 2 sections of gravel road. 1st was ~2mi long. Second was half that. I was followin the advice I heard about a long time ago: when on the pave stick it in a big gear and hammer on it. No time for pics when hammering. Something tells me my hammering was slower than the guy giving the advice's tho. I grabbed the 'new' Quattro Assi with 23c tires on it cause that's what shoes I put on. Shoulda ridden the wheels with the 25s cause I bottomed out a few times. :eek1 Didn't flat tho. It was sunny this AM. Sposed to be rain coming in this afternoon. Glad I got out when I did despite the mid- to upper-30s. All y'all near me are welcome to come ride April 3rd. Should be fun. M
Nice! Despite the lack of photo evidence. I'm working form home again so maybe I can get away early this evening for a little ride of my own. My back went nuts on me last night. :dog So, I'll need a good spin to stretch it back out.
A couple of us rode over the teams' shop in the next town over. The loop was only 34 miles but it might as wel been 94 the way I felt at the end. While we were there I picked up a few parts so I can re-assemble the freshly re-welded X01 into a single cross. Unfortunately, Captain Brain Fade forgot to look for a singulator while he was there. Guess it can't be too had to fab one from all the priceless scap that my wife thinks needs recycled. My buddy thinks it needs stripped and re-painted with something cool, I think I'm leaving the scorched paint as battle scars. Tomorrow is our 1st team ride of the season and I am sure I'll be the 1st to succomb, probably 30 feet out of the lot!
I feel bad for some of the guys. I have nothing to prove so if I am struggling I just sit up and enjoy my own ride at my own pace. Others feel the need to burry themselves to apoint they barely make it back after being dropped then can't ride for 2 or 3 days. Then you have the circle jerkers who think every training ride needs to start with a 28mph dash out of the parking lot with no warm up to speak of and be damned those who actually care about a quality workout or ride. We have one idiot that always leads the race out of the lot only to blow up then bitch about how things went. The wonders of group riding!!
That's why I like riding with the wimmens! They don't have all that ego/testosterone crap going on. ...AND they're better looking! M
OK, the fixie is built! I finished late last night, so no pics yet. But it's a Reynolds 520 steel frame, black with chrome details. Saddle and bar tape are Brooks (honey colored), with SRAM drop bar brakes. Rounding out the build are Crank Bros Candy pedals and a freewheel on the other side of the hub. Very, very different from my tri bike, of course - but guess what I'm doing saturday morning in Miami? And guess where the Orange Hawtness is? So guess what's getting raced this weekend? I'm actually kinda dying to pass carbon-clad aero-geeks (and yes, I'm normally one of 'em!) on a steel fixie with leather bits. Too bad nobody makes a wool tri-suit!
We will need photos of this. The bike not the wool tri-suit. And if you have ever ridden in wet wool shorts with real chamois pad? Well, it would be something you would not only remember but avoid.