Gravel Explore

I rode the trainer last night after dinner. It was ok, but my heart is officially outside. No matter the temps. There isn't enough snow to deter me now. I am going to get up early and pound some pavement and gravel. Hopefully a nice mix of both. I really need to pick up a nice little elevation recording device. Maybe I'll have to strap that evil computer of mine on, and overlay the details with GMAP.

Nate and I have been tooling around with this little dandy of a program for a couple of weeks now. It really opens things up in your mind as to riding locally. There is a lot of good terrain around here to be ridden, you just have to plan for it. I am hoping for a three hour stroll tomorrow morning. I also really need to crank up the intensity once it is 4 weeks and counting. Currently I am about 4.5 weeks out. So it is time.

In other news I just got the fit dialed on the 'Fly. The long wheelbase will be a little on the interesting side. I got a half link installed which helped. I got an 80mm XXX Lite stem as well. That fit like a glove once I hopped on. Cockpit length is a tad longer than on my Scout, but that is perfect. Or at least it feels longer due to the wheel base. I also figured out my little disc rotor click. It was rubbing the disc adaptor. I really wish we had a IS Disc Tab facing tool. That would help out a ton.

The biggest factor on this bike is going to be the G2 geometry. It rolls through corners. Kind of telepathically. As I said before it rips downhill, but once it gets tight (and this is on bike paths not offroad trails) it isn't the sharpest bike. But I don't have the discs fully bedded, nor do I have a 7" rotor, nor do I have metallic pads installed yet. I don't believe the 7" rotor option will be needed, but the metallics might.

Also I think that the Arches are pretty awesome rims, but I think I am already missing the size of my Delgado's. The extra width creates so much more stability to the tire at lower pressures. I might have to relace my front wheel with a Flow or a Duster. Probably leaning towards the Duster due to the 30gr lighter weight. Although I could probably just tape the stupid thing and keep it even lighter. Their bead hooks on their rims are what handles the tire's bead so well.

Enough babble. Sleep, Eat, then Ride.

Ride day

It had been a couple of days since I got out for a good outdoor ride. I decided to take some time off considering my schedule and it was needed. Now it is time to hit the pavement again. This time around it is going to be brutal. Miles followed by intensity. I have to contact the man and have him work me up a little plan. He's good at that kind of thing.

Anyways today I completely lost track of time. And it was pretty self explanitory. Add one new bike + 48F max temp + a day off and you get a lot of riding and stopping to show off the new wares. I hit up work, then to Adams, then to "drop" him off at class. Then south of town, along the river and to Geoff's. Then across town again to get some climbing in on the way home. It was sloppy and the bike got real dirty.

The verdict is the bike feels long. I think the cockpit length feels pretty good. Within 10mm on stem length as well as within 5mm on saddle fore/aft as well as height. The bike is a straight up rocket ship. I can feel the huge difference that G2 offers. It almost doesn't make sense why it handles that well. It's just numbers on paper, but this thing bombs downhill. I definitely need to add a half link and minus one full link to bring the wheel in a little. That'll shore up the wheelbase situation.

The bike is a dream on climbs. This is where you can really feel the massive downtube/bb area doing it's job. It transfers all the power to the rear hub. I'm glad that I picked a pretty stiff rear wheel combo, because it thus intern transfers all that power to the ground. If it were lighter it would climb faster, but I honestly think I hit it out of the ball park in terms of all around build. 18.2lbs is good enough for anyone. The weight makes it so you just spin just the right rpm up climbs. Even off road.

I am going to have to step it up this year as this bike is straight fast. I am a huge damper on it's performance. The handling is going to take some getting used to. Especially on tighter trails. It'll be just fine though. The On One fork has kept things nice and crisp in the handling department, and is way stiffer than expected. I chose it due to the fact that it features no weight restrictions, and no rotor size restrictions. This equals stiffness.

Overall a great beginning to the week. If this is my race bike for the year the long wheelbase will cater to the longer distances that I'm planning on hitting up. Registration for Levis Trow 100 just openned up and I might have to hit one more of that series. They make you pay some trail fee or something, so it's worth it to do 2-3 races at least. Oh what a shame (Big wink inserted here.)

Done.

Long weekend

Well UPS decided it was a great idea to route my frame to Spencer,IA. That is around six hours away from Iowa City. So needless to say my great week, ended with the predicted kick in the balls. I predicted that one on Thursday when I was on the horn with a fellow in Bloomington. Told him the week was going to well and that something had to go wrong. I just had to open my fat mouth.

So I headed to the great white north to hang with some bike folk, and the Short Cake and her sister. Frostbike was on tap and it was my first time going. So I was excited. I needed a little pick me up for the end of the week. As it turns out, Megan lives approximately 350ft. from QBP's front door. Kind of wild.

Brett and I stayed in Uptown with Ben-Ton. We hit up Famous Daves on Friday night for some BBQ, Beers, and some Blazin' Blues. We rocked out pretty thoroughly. Then we watched Tremors III. Awesome and not anywhere near as bad as expected. We awoke to around 4-5 inches of fresh snow. Didn't even eat breakfast just drank a cup o'joe and hit the road at around 10am.

This is where things got a little nerve racking due to the fact that someone tried to put the kaibosh of us getting in. Our work sucks sometimes. Luckily Brett and I are nice people as well as intelligent and called ahead of time and explained the situation. Obviously QBP understood, and agreed and said have a safe drive up and told us the weather. I still had my doubts. That is the last time I doubt them. We got in easy as pie.

Everything was awesome. Good food, nice reps, and even better people. I ran into a former co-worker, as well as my friend Dave from high school. We basically started our future foray into the mountain bike world at the exact same time back in B-more. It had probably been at least 7 years since we had seen each other. I didn't run into Squirrel or Mark which was unfortunate, but oh well.

I saw a lot of great products. I took crap for pictures though. I was too impressed by their facilities and the overall friendliness of their employees. I knew that both were going to be that was, but until you experience something, it isn't a reality in your world. Race Face is bringing back ano. Luckily my cranks are from a limited run which were a little higher quailty in that department. I got to meet Jeff from Ergon which was nice due to the fact that I don't blogwhore myself for products. Just kidding around a little.

We ran out to Luce's that evening for pizza. Can you say Garlic Mashed Potato pizza? I can and it was quite possibly some of the best pizza I've ever had. Brett and Benton and I also put back entirely too much booze that evening. Wayyy too much. Oh well. Shit happens. Especially when you are drinking. I laced up my wheels before all of that though. More happened Sunday (we were up until 3:30am) but it was all just sitting around wasted talking about politics, guns and then eating a breakfast burrito the size of my head. Literally.

Enough of that story though. I got my frame today and built the machine up. The complete pics suck so I'll update that situation tomorrow. In the box shots and in the stand frame only are good. Frame weight came in at 2.7lbs. Complete it's sitting at right around 18.2lbs with pedals. That's hot all around.

Pictures Thursday

I'll let the pictures do the talking today. The P1 5.2 WSD showed up earlier than expected, and I forgot to take pics of that. The highlight of the day was I9 and Fox respectively. Pictures on!

It shipped?

Well there is a tracking no. It doesn't show up in the Up's system yet, but it's there. I chatted with the nice lady that handles everything and she said it's good. I hope it's here before FrostBike. That'll make for a long weekend if it's not. Plus I guess my On One fork isn't here yet, so whatever. I really don't want to slap the Fox on at all for the time being.

I'm pumped. I gotta get some wheels built and with all the components here why not. I could always wait the two weeks as well to find out if the other thing is going down or not. Tomorrow is the tentative two week countdown. Come on guys! Give me an excuse to ride gears again! Or not to ride gears. Either way it's my choice ( I am assuming you wouldn't care if I did some SS tinkering.)

In other news I found out on my day off that a little package showed up for my customer from I9. Pics will be up tomorrow. Fox F32RLC 120mm QR15 (that's a mouth full) and I9's to round everything into a Ma-chine. EX9 man is going to crap! That bike is going to rip. I've been drooling over the EX 9.8 recently. That thing is dialed. Totally.

Well there will be some pictures tomorrow of a sweet bike that you've already seen, just finished this time. Early next week there will hopefully be some pics of the new ride, or at least a teaser until two weeks from tomorrow. Then I'll know who I can rep.

I also rode the trainer for 40 minutes today. I hadn't done anything for a week. It turns out that it is the nerve. The Ciatic nerve to be exact. It is just tweeked and I found out that it takes a long while to heal those suckers. I am going to stay on the Fixie Cross as it's been the best thing for it so far, and maybe stick a little faster tire on the rear. And maybe the front. Or drop the cog down one. Or just shut up and ride it. I am looking forward to CIRREM in two weeks. Hopefully I'll take the fixie for some gravel cruising goodness. I've only tooled around on gravel on it a little and I know I'm dropping a cog for that for sure.

Feeling Good.

Edit: Pics as promised. Except early. Goodness

Allocation Day!

I have officially been allocated. Well at least my frame has. And it is "up for Rep review." Hopefully it gets released tomorrow. On top of that, I got a call from I9 and the EX9 man's wheels are on the way. Also the nice customer of mine who got struck by a car finally pulled the trigger on a P1 Madone 5.2 WSD in the Plum/Silver scheme. It looks awesome. On top of all of that I got my confirmation email from On One. So that stuff is on the way. Talk about a busy week.

Hopefully the frame gets here. Then the wheels so I can get the QR15 Fox fork and the bad *ss wheels on the silver bullet. I am pretty stoked. Pics to come. Oh and I haven't been on the bike or skis for a week to rest the hip. It still hurts a little, but in a different location now. It's down to rehabing that stupid nerve, and then full bore into April.

I'm up.

Nerve ending

Got out for some more climbing today. I did around 28 miles on the cross bike with some nice elevation gain. I can feel the spin in the legs coming around, but after 8 hours on the bike so far this week, I can tell they need some big gear workouts again. I really want to push it tomorrow, but the hip is twingin' again. I know it's not muscle related any more. It's that stupid little nerve getting pinched. I am going to take 2 or 3 down days again. And get the chance to go pick up my fixie from the 'Rents place. So far that bike has actually done wonders for my hip. That and the road bike on the trainer.

I'm going to go over the fit on those two and really analyze some things. I think the fixie is good because of the more upright position and the bigger gear helps keep things revolution based moving slowish. The road bike is just an old school glove that's been taken care of well. I don't know why but it just fits well. I might have to bump the bars up on the cross bike, move the seat forward .5-1cm and slap a 120mm stem on it. The cockpit length feels great, I just think I'm leaned over too much right now. I'm also wondering if those Inform saddles have sucked me into the point of no return. I think that the extra cm of support is making part of the difference.

The fixie sounds like a great option though. Plus I'd like to get out and grind some gravel/mud sometime soon so I might have to upsize the rear cog to get up to Beverly sometime next week. That would be a long ride, but worth it.

Oh so Nothing

Nothing of interest happened today. Nothing exciting at work, no riding anytime, only stretching eating and hanging with the Shortie. Antsiness is really starting to set in. I am restless to know when things are coming already. The only thing that makes it better is riding. And that kind of hurts my hip when I'm on the bike more than 2 hours. It doesn't hurt when I ride, just the next day. I felt great after the 4 days off, and I mean great. I will really have to hit the stretching hard before and after my rides if I'm going to be out that long.

I want the I9's for EX9-man to come in. I want my SS to come in. I want know how things are going to pan out so I can hit up Gnomefest followed by SSWC09. A week and a half of potentially amazing riding in Wisconson for 3 days followed by 4 days in Durango. That is going to be insane. SSWC09 would have been crazy enough, but to get to go ride Levis-Trow for a weekend as a tune up, well that's just freaking amazing. I can't begin to comprehend that whole situation.

I don't know about lodging for SSWC09 either. I might have to check out the hostel that's right off the course. It's about $15 a night which isn't half bad. I just want to have a good time. Access to a shower at least twice, and maybe have a roof over my head (last one not required.)

That's all I got. I head Durango's steep so I might have to get an order in for a 21t cog just in case. If I can't ride in a 32-21 I'll be in bigger trouble than anticipated. Oh and I'd also like to know what is going down in the next month so I can lace up some wheels. I have some pretty King black hubs laying around and want to know whether to lace them up to 26 or 29 inch rims. If the 26er's then I need to get an order in for either some I9 or CKing Red ano ss hubs. The black were going to serve as dual duty.

I'm out. Some cogs for your viewing pleasure.

Metric

I decided with my day off and the promised 60F temps, I'd go for a nice road ride. With all the melt we've had, I haven't actually braved taking the road bike out yet. The roads were all pretty dry, but I wanted the option to hit some dirt should I have felt frisky. The cross bike also makes for a little more effort. I made it out on Sunday for about 2 hours which felt tough. Winds were low, but it was chilly at 32F. Monday was spent riding to and from work to restretch the legs.

I picked the north route out of North Liberty. Head west on Penn St. all the way to the highway, highway west to the Amana turn. North of Amana to Shueyville/Swisher turn. Through Swisher to Shueyville to Ely Rd. Then south to Solon, down Mahhafey Bridge Rd. To Sugar Bottom Rd for some more climbing, over the dam and then back into N. Liberty. Turned out to be a metric century, ringing in the ride total of 62mi/100k.

The first 14-15 miles the winds were in my face about 20 miles an hour. That made for some work. I took about 4 hours to do the ride which is slow, but the winds were high anytime riding west or south, and I was on the cross bike. I stayed fueled to perfection. I never cramped, only felt the burn the last 10 miles or so. The route features some really nice climbing and descending for Iowa. I am feeling really good on the bike. I could punch it when needed and pacing on the climbs was effortless. I could shift down a cog and crank, then back it off to a higher cadence and a lower gear. I still need some big gear tuning on the trainer though.

Hope all you other road pounders got out today and enjoyed the weather. Water levels are all very high with all the melt off we've gotten so far. Keep the rubber side down.

International Weekend

Megan's wedding was a blast. Starting on Tuesday, Nabil's family from Brazil started showing up. His parents Simien and Diogenes, his brother Shogi, and his cousin Yan (spelling is probably all wrong.) His mother is Persian who immigrated to Brazil from Iran when she was 19. His father is Brazilian born. Wednesday was spent with the usual conversations over dinner and games afterwards. For some reason the Short Cakes' mother decided on Scategories. I don't know if you've ever spoken with someone who's main language is Portugese, but the learning curve for English is pretty challenging. So finding synonyms by the same first letter is challenging.



Wednesday was followed by another great meal prepared by the Short Cake's brother. Pork Ribs, a delicious salad, beans and other goodies. Jamie, Greg and the little ones also showed up to stay at our place since the parents place was stuffed to the brim. We came home to meet them and hung out for a while. As always the kids were ready to hang but ready for bed. We sent them packing to the bedroom and only hung out a little before bed.



Thursday night was haircut time. Got the shag hippieness off of my top. Then I picked up a new suit coat and a spiffy shirt and headed to the Rehersal Dinner. Just to find out I was supposed to be in Coralville for the actual dress rehersal. The Short Cake called me when I was all the way across town to ask me where I was cause it was starting in five minutes. Oh well. Instead I hung with Simi and Diogi while they finished up final preparations for the dinner.



Diogi speaks very little english. What english he does though is very good and he uses it like a sharp knife. Very efficiently. While him and Simi fired up some Brazilian and Persian treats (which I got to pre-sample before everyone) we chatted. How different life is in Brazil, but how similar that the families function. Simi needed to get ready for the dinner which left Diogi and I to hang together. We chatted a little which left me feeling pretty much like an *ss for not knowing any Portugese. I have to get some lessons as these people were some of the most loving and open strangers I have ever met. More on that in a minute.



The rehersal dinner. More people, more great food, and more new friends. We ate Kabob, we ate an eggplant/veggie/meat Persian specialty which was topped off by french fries. Yes they have french fries in Iran. I met Matsood and Adriana who were Nabil's Aunt and Uncle as well as their son David. I can't remember a better conversation of the weekend. Matsood is an engineer by education, but sells and maintains a very high end Persian Rug business. His wife was lovely and his son was a dead on balance of the two. We exchanged the differences between Emily and Amilia from Brazil. We found and agreed that Amilia did not exist (a reference to a song about a man who wants a woman that waits on him hand and foot.) On to home and then to bed for the big day.



Friday was spent in a blur of preparations, mishaps that come with the territory and running through the snow in leather shoes. Greg and I were enrolled (being the handsome gentlemen that we are) to be the ushers for the wedding. Unfortunately the parking lot for the wedding was a little small so we had to relocate the cars across the park into a different lot. We only had to move four. The challenge came when we had to cross the park. I go through this park everyday in the summer to get home and around it in the winter as they don't plow the paths. Megan was ensured by some bloke that these paths would be plowed. Huh. Yeah right. City of Coralville plow a multiuse path? In my dreams.



So we ran in suits through snow and did I mention that it was 45F the day of the wedding. So melt, mud, and snow was the course set for us. Since Greg and I are pretty much the epitome of James Bond/The Transporter Duo, we rocked it for everything it was worth and came away suave and cool without a spot of mud on us. The beautiful bride always has her day and I was happy to oblige. I will say that I'm not married yet. That's all I'm saying.



The ceremony was gorgeous and simple. The ceremony was in the Baha'i tradition. Megan was the defenition of a composed and gorgeous bride. She didn't bark, scream, or worry. I'm glad no one put on a bridezilla or bridesmaidzilla mask. Everything ran smoothly. The readings were done, with two being done by Shogi and Nuuri. Shogi had his memorized and was composed. The Baha'i writings are always used for readings and prayer. Nuuri sang his prayer in Persian which was awesome. The vows were exchanged, Nabil almost made Megan put her ring on herself which was funny. The kiss, voila man and wife. Then the lineup and everyone said congrats. Then more snow running, tearing down, then time to party.



The reception was great. The hall was almost completely dry except for wine for the first hour to two hour period. This threw some people off, but I was looking forward to it since I have been trying to drink very moderately in preparation for the 80. We ate well and mingled. Everything was super laid back. No special entrance for the Bride and Groom, no drawn out cake cutting process. Their were some appetizers and drinks, then an Italian buffet. On to speeches from Aubray and Shogi, and then the father/daughter dance, and the mother/son dance. Simi was very emotional during the dance. Then time for everyone to party.



This whole light drinking thing has been interesting. Usually I would have some beers, a drink, and a shot or two and then make an *ss out of myself on the dance floor and have fun. I had one drink at the wedding, grabbed the Short Cake; actually was grabbed by her Aunt Sandra (if you knew her you'd know that was a surprise) and cranked out some chicken dance. After that we went and grabbed Matsood and Adriana since they seemed like they were down to cut it up a bit. They rocked the floor. Megan's friends, the Shortcake's cousins, and both families joined in. I've never danced that much in my life.



I had a blast all in all. I can't explain to you the level of love and familial bonds that were forged this weekend. The cultures needed no time to blend. Barriers weren't broken, but were never there. The level of love that was brought to the table by both families could unfreeze the planet should it have been frozen. I'm not even married into this family, yet Matsood and Adriana, Diogenes and Simi, and Farsheed all welcomed us into their homes. And by welcomed I mean forced promises of visits.

The Baha'i faith is something I am only beginning to understand. They bring so much love and unity to everything they do. The love is physical, emotional, and unreserved. They truly piqued my interest. Being raised and educated Catholic, I have never understood the idea of a God that would only accept those baptised into it's faith into heaven, and forgive those who are baptised for murder. My education was very broad as far as religion. In my Catholic school we studied the teachings of the Koran and Mohamed, of Buddism, of the different sects of Christianity. All I could derive is that we need to be united. Religion is a beautiful mistress. She breeds strength, but dissent. She breeds love, but hate. She unites, but divides.

I learned this weekend that doesn't have to be the case. I learned that love can unite all. That there can be a religion that accepts all. And maybe this isn't 100% the case. Either way Nabil, your family shares my heart and my love. Megan, your family has always welcomed and accepted me as it's own. I love you all.

Sorry to get all emotional and stuff but it was a great weekend. Truly original. And sorry for the religious content. I don't like pushing religion onto anyone or into anything. It creates so many walls and bridges between people. It is not intended that way at all. I just wanted to share my experience of a wonderfully faithful group of people which can only be experienced first hand.

Oh and even though I missed the great weather, I got out today for about two and a half hours of pavement pounding. I think the four days off might of kicked this hip thing.

Busy week

I have Megan's wedding this week so sorry to myself for the lack of E-info. Little birdies around the midwest are chirping with the temps of change. Mine was supposed to be here so I could chirp as well, but alas nothing yet. I only have a date. I talked to certain reliable sources that told me they are here, but I only have the date. With the late order who knows what will be the case.

The Brazilian crew is pretty awesome. I totally got misinformed and didn't make the rehersal. Talk about getting shafted. So I hung with Simian(sp?) and Diogenes for a while in the kitchen. Things are smelling tasty. I am a little let down with the Short Cake. Especially after a week of her talking about not being invited to things. She tried to call and all but come on hon'. You can do better. Too bad I don't actually get mad about stuff. I sure wish I could.

Tomorrow brings new friends and new family for the Short Cake, and new friends for me. I could consider them family, but until it is on paper I'll keep it at that. I am feeling the internal pressure these days. Both sides duke it out. Outsiders tell me I'm young. Others tell me to get my figurative sh*t together. I know what I am doing. I know when I am doing.

On the bike front I laid hands on my first QR15 equipped Fox Fjork (Dicky "fjear" shout out). It is nice. Axle to crown looks short, and I think my customer is going to want to Push it right away.

I am dying for some hurting. I haven't touched anything since Monday. I rode Wednesday morning, but I feel incomplete somehow. 3 more weeks before the real pain. Then 4 weeks of h*ll followed by one glorious hopefully sub-9 hour day on the bike. BTP baby.

Out of it.

Last night was cold.

I had a nice 10 mile cruise into work on Monday mid-day. 20 mile per hour headwinds for the first two miles, then turned south and just cruised on the fixie. My fixie isn't your usual fixie. If your definition of a fixie is a 26" Titanium mtb frame, combined with 700c wheels, carbon cyclocross fork, Ti bars, Uberlight Carbon seatpost, and 44c 28.5in. mtb tires, then this isn't your average fixie. But it is mine.

Saw some crazy things on the ride. Mostly the helicopter chilling in the mall parking lot when I arrived at work. Nothing else was too crazy. Wrenched on a Madone I sold last season, and then overhauled a Specialized Roubaix. Otherwise things were mellow on the work front. Come time to go home and I realize I can hear the wind howling like a demon. Crap. Pop open the back door to be met by strong enough wind to hinder me marginally successful at actually openning the door. Plus temps had dropped about 25 degrees. There is a big difference between 30F and 5F.

The fixie was a great choice for the ride home though. It being around 8 pounds lighter than the monster truck make it quick and agile. It also climbs like a feather floating in the wind.

In other news birdies across the midwest have been chirping in my ear the past 24 hours teasing me with details of their carbon gems shipping from up north of the border eh. I haven't gotten such news from my inside "bro" but hopefully I'll hear today if the wait will be the ETA date. Either way about 1 more month won't kill me.

Thats the news for the beginning of the work week.

Single Speed + 100 miles (or maybe just 80)

So one thing that has been coursing through my mind, and I mean coursing, is can I ride my mountain bike 100 miles on a real mountain bike race course. Is it physically possible for me. Am I strong enough. Am I level headed enough not to pick a stupid gear. Too heavy or too light. I don't think there is any real level of preparation that can drive me far enough to try a mock race attempt. The idea of riding 10 laps at Sugar Bottom makes me want to puke in my mouth a little (from the idea of the effort.)

Something about the idea of riding on terrain I've never crossed with views and scenery unseen by my eyes drives me to think I'd survive. I am going for 80 miles April 5th and am kind of feeling like a girl for wanting to ride gears. Also the thought of riding suspension kind of makes me question myself. I know my hands will love it, but my brain is having a hard time coping with the thought. I haven't delved into the realm of front suspension but once in the past 3 years and that was on full suspension bike. That I liked.

The two ends working in conjunction with each other to offer a balanced feel as opposed to a one sided affair. If you get one end moving, usually the other moves just a little after the first. This keeps angles fair, and makes bb heights low which I can deal with. If I ride gears I just feel like I may as well ride full suspension.

That brings me to number two. I've told myself since I was 20 something that I would by myself my first full suspension bike (or any bike with suspension) when I was 30. Consider it a long term investment in the interest of my own personal well being. Riding primarily single speeds (except for road and cross/gravel bikes) with no suspension is going to take it's toll. The wrenching all day long followed by 2-3 hour long mountain bike rides with no suspension leads to multiple beers consumed and Motrin and the end of any given summer night.

So can I do it? Will I have the intestinal fortitude. Well I figure right now I'm riding gears. March 1 begins my single speed only bike-a-thon besides road miles. I figure that way I will be self encouraging and building towards April 5th.

More mind drivel pouring out my ear to come on that subject. I just can't get my mind outta my head on this one.

Out.