Amber planned on going into work early today so motorpacing was out. Instead Cynthia talked me into coming out for the Tuesday night ride. OK ride over, ride back, easy to moderate 4 hours: WRONG! 20 mph headwind over turned into an hour fifteen sufferfest. Then Bradley's back is feeling better so he drops the Hammer. Then we get to Turner's Bend Hill and I dump it to see what the group is made off. Well had to do some circling @ the top. A little group forms up with 4 or 5 guys, which Bradley and I ride off our wheels; so on we go. I'm doing the majority of the work since we're into the wind. Brad's dumping it on the hills. Oh yeah I'm still in my 39 by the way. Had a quick use of the 53 up TB hill but that was it. Spinning like made between 19 and 23 mph. Guess Brad's lost some fitness with his back because I rode him off my wheel a couple of times either that or my fitness is finally coming around.
Last night @ Hell took my pulse, after drinking a pot of coffee, @ 52. Not bad ; hadn't been that low since back in the altitude days.
Well long story short 4 hours 15 min later I'm back @ home around 9pm actually hurting a bit because of 75 moderate to fairly hard miles in my legs. Gotta love group rides, where else can you see a Felt pimped out with a Brooks 15lbs saddle?
Bet I'm going to suffer on the Wednesday night Big Ring Loop.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Monday, May 30, 2005
Hardtail
Spent my "day off" before going to work going back to my mtb roots. Hardtail that is. Had been batting the idea around for awhile since I've had no luck dropping the Fuel below 26lbs.
So I washed and scrubbed my spare frame(leftover from a previous derailleur incident). He stripped the Fuel of its necessary parts. I started weighing and assembling the hardtail in prep for Saturdays Greenways Adventure Race.
The first surprise was that my high dollar cockpit was only 2oz lighter than the original Beasts\'s cockpit. Second the Pilot weighs in @ a hefty 4+lbs & the tried & true Mozo Pro @ 3lbs 11oz. Guess which fork I went with? Not the brick for sure.
After some fighting with the Race Face crank (a quick trip to their website solved that problem) the hardtail is taking form. Then some serious issues with the front derailleur & all's well. Went for a quick test ride with Amber around the neighborhood & all seems ok except for a slow leak in the front tire(better change that before Saturday I guess).
Hopefully my old back can still handle rigid. I hope so because I like 22lbs a lot better than 26lbs! I guess now I need to think about selling the Fuel and perhaps getting a bumper shock bike. That might involve racing on the dirt again though-- HMM Expert Master 30+. Better start Sport or risk having to train even more.
So I washed and scrubbed my spare frame(leftover from a previous derailleur incident). He stripped the Fuel of its necessary parts. I started weighing and assembling the hardtail in prep for Saturdays Greenways Adventure Race.
The first surprise was that my high dollar cockpit was only 2oz lighter than the original Beasts\'s cockpit. Second the Pilot weighs in @ a hefty 4+lbs & the tried & true Mozo Pro @ 3lbs 11oz. Guess which fork I went with? Not the brick for sure.
After some fighting with the Race Face crank (a quick trip to their website solved that problem) the hardtail is taking form. Then some serious issues with the front derailleur & all's well. Went for a quick test ride with Amber around the neighborhood & all seems ok except for a slow leak in the front tire(better change that before Saturday I guess).
Hopefully my old back can still handle rigid. I hope so because I like 22lbs a lot better than 26lbs! I guess now I need to think about selling the Fuel and perhaps getting a bumper shock bike. That might involve racing on the dirt again though-- HMM Expert Master 30+. Better start Sport or risk having to train even more.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
The AM after
Last night Amber & I had our 2nd house warming party. This one was much bigger than the first. I lost count @ 23+. At one point I saw a kid running around the yard & I had to ask who she belonged too; someone @ the party or a random kid of the street. Turns out she belonged to one of Ambers class mates.
My advice is not to attempt to cook 36 hamburgers & 24 hotdogs because you will become a slave to the grill. But all came out well & everyone seemed to enjoy. My garage fridge has god knows how many beers left in it. You tell people BYOB so they bring it, drink a few, then leave the rest; hmmm I might be onto to something here.
This was the first chance my parents got to meet a few of Ambers Aunts & Uncles & in turn they got to meet my sister & her twins.
Yesterday was a mad rush build up to the party. The LIST became overwhelming telling us what to do. Started by replanting the tree that Lucky had dug up again(Damn dog!). Then mowing, weedeating, quick looks @ the computer to see how the Giro is going, followed by a mad rush to town to return Wes' vid & give Roger hotel money for Joe Martin Stage Race. They didn't see the rush in my eyes & wanted to converse. So not being able to say no I talked to each for about 1/2 hr. Then back to the Garage. It's amazing what one shelf from Sam's Club can do. I can now park both cars in the Garage! All done with time to kick back for an hour & relax before the party goers came.
When everyone left I was bushed & had no trouble falling to sleep.
My advice is not to attempt to cook 36 hamburgers & 24 hotdogs because you will become a slave to the grill. But all came out well & everyone seemed to enjoy. My garage fridge has god knows how many beers left in it. You tell people BYOB so they bring it, drink a few, then leave the rest; hmmm I might be onto to something here.
This was the first chance my parents got to meet a few of Ambers Aunts & Uncles & in turn they got to meet my sister & her twins.
Yesterday was a mad rush build up to the party. The LIST became overwhelming telling us what to do. Started by replanting the tree that Lucky had dug up again(Damn dog!). Then mowing, weedeating, quick looks @ the computer to see how the Giro is going, followed by a mad rush to town to return Wes' vid & give Roger hotel money for Joe Martin Stage Race. They didn't see the rush in my eyes & wanted to converse. So not being able to say no I talked to each for about 1/2 hr. Then back to the Garage. It's amazing what one shelf from Sam's Club can do. I can now park both cars in the Garage! All done with time to kick back for an hour & relax before the party goers came.
When everyone left I was bushed & had no trouble falling to sleep.
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