26 February 2013

Pretty pictures

 Once again, the fine folks @ Moots have created something I feel I must have!  All that is needed is a shotgun attachment on the front, and it's the perfect Zombie Apocalypse bike!

 Hmmm...this looks sort of familiar.  This was from MonsterCross last weekend...
The "F" bomb was likely dropped...
Which leads us to a funny....


 Cipo, letting his Soul Glo.  Doesn't look happy about it either...

Back in the day, when bikes were steel, wheels were 3x/32h, and men were hard.  Don't know this guy...?  You know the rest...

OK weather, figure out WTF you want to do, because this back and forth shit is killing me. 

25 February 2013

Monday...rides...and a review

So yeah...my little head cold is on the way out, thankfully.  It seems that I get this stuff from Junior Management, even though they never show any symptoms.  Dirty little...(sassafrasa...grumble...grumble...)

I awoke Saturday with the knowledge that if I got on the bike, it would be a solo journey, as the weather was less than optimal for cycling, and well, people around here may melt.  The plan was to watch Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but all of the feeds were junk, so I kitted up, and went out in the 39 degree drizzle.

Precautions were taken to make a wet, sub-40 degree ride a bit more tolerable.  Embro under the knee warmers, full fenders, and my new Sportful UK Rain Jacket, courtesy of PBK.
Yes, it was a freebie, but as most of you know, free or not, if something I test doesn't work, or has issues, I will not blow sunshine up anyone's skirt.
Now, on to the show...
I left Service Course in a light drizzle, which was little more than a nuisance.  To be honest, with a baselayer, jersey, and armwarmers under the jacket, I was quite toasty.  As my pre-review review postulated, the Sportful jacket was quite adept at keeping the wind at bay.  I actually had to un-zip about 15 minutes in...
Once out into LexCo, the drizzle became rain.  No worries.  Rain beaded up, and fell right off.  I felt a bit like a duck.

Everything about the jacket just works.  The sleeves are plenty long, even for my borderline simian proportions.  The little velcro sleeve tightening tabs are simple and effective, and the long-ish tail of the jacket covers even my bigger than average posterior.  It was like a little water-resistant, high-vis cocoon.
Another feature previously mentioned was the fit itself.  When standing/off the bike, the jacket feels odd, like there's not enough material across the front, but as suspected, once on the bike, and in the closed-chested, rounded-back riding position, it was perfect.  Also, flapping from the wind was minimal.  The only time I noticed it was on a 50kmh+ descent, and the material movement was slight.  Not that loud flapping action from other vests, and jackets.
2 hours, and many different intensities of precipitation later, I hit the door @ Service Course.  Yes, I was wet.  Feet wet.  Legs wet, but toasty thanks to the embro.  Hands wet, and a bit cold.  I was wet under the jacket too.  But, and it's a Kardashian-sized but(t), the wetness under the jacket was from my sweat.  The jacket kept me warm enough, and dry enough, to return soaked with sweat...in 39 degrees and rain.
I also discovered a feature that I saw in my initial pre-review, but completely missed for what the feature was designed...sort of.  Remember the little zippers on the sides/back of the jacket?  I called them vent zips, and it seems they DO work in that capacity.  What I discovered Saturday was that they are access zippers, so one can get into jersey pockets!  Perfectly placed, and dreadfully easy to operate.  So simple, yet so genius.
Once back at SC, I hung the jacket up on the elliptical (as that's what it's used for now...a $900 drying rack...), and it was DRY, rain and sweat, in less than 45 minutes.
I like the Sportful UK Rain Jacket.  I'm still on the fence about the flouro, high-vis yellow.  I know that it's to keep dummies like me, who CHOOSE to ride in the shit, a bit safer, but that doesn't negate the fact that it's eye-searingly bright.  I like low-key cycling clothing, and high-vis flouro yellow ain't it...
Like I said before, I'd probably never BUY myself a $125-150 rain jacket, but if you live somewhere that rain is a constant companion, the purchase of this jacket is something to consider.

Not that they really helped keep my upper body dry, as it POURED on me for about 30 minutes, I also rolled the Planet Bike full fenders on Saturday.  Talk about a 10 minute install being time well spent!  I stayed DAMN dry, until the rain started dumping.  If you ride, or even plan to ride in the weather, it's $45 well spent!

Full Audax mode engaged...

Sunday, Il Prof and I rolled around for 2:30, and just chatted.  It was quite nice.  The day went from overcast, and a bit damp, to blue sky about halfway thru the ride.  It was about all I wanted/needed. 

Speaking of Het Nieuwsblad...here's the last 76km...



And Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne was cancelled Sunday due to weather.  People on Twitter pissed and moaned.  Funny how people will complain about pros not wanting to race, and risk their livelihoods, in horrible, cold, icy conditions, yet those very same people who bitched won't pull their bikes out if it's below 50....

Yeah, here's the Kwaremont from yesterday...

Enjoy your day...



21 February 2013

A few things...

As we know, I'm no fan of SRAM, but this Rock Lobster sort of trumps that...

Or just wait on the Di2 Shimano disc brake set up.  Have your first born ready to trade!

Campagnolo 80th Anniversary group.  You listening Mr. Edwards?  I'm sure it's inexpensive...

 Nice little spin last night with JBrstl.  First outside ride in 8 days.  Felt really weird for the first few minutes.  It was nice out, and there was no plan, other than, as JBrstl so eloquently pointed out, not getting killed by a car.  The Vista/Colonial Center area was busy last night.  Real busy...
Either way, it was 90 minutes NOT spent on the trainer, or couch...

Rolling over to the Urban ride tonight...hopefully the 60 degree temps will bring out a group...

Enjoy the rest of your Friday...ride your bike this weekend...



19 February 2013

Back to programming...

 Roubaix right...

Roubaix wrong...

Boonen's new saddle.  I see the cobblestone, and the champagne.  I guess his alternate saddle design had a crashed Porsche, cocaine, and underage models on it.

Speaking of Boonen, and the Classics...

Het Nieuwsblad is this weekend...



And two of everyone's favorites follow shortly thereafter...

Strade Bianche



And San Remo...



Still can't get over how fast they go UP the Poggio...unreal...

Riding tonight...likely on the turbo, as I'd rather ease back into it than partake in my normal tomfoolery of being of the bike with a cold, and immediately going out and riding in the cold, dark, rain.  Plus, I don't have to put on anything other than bibs and a t-shirt to ride in Service Course.

Enjoy your day in the Rogue Valley...





18 February 2013

Not quite...

I thought weekend trips were supposed to be relaxing!  Jesus...
The last two weekends, one a riding weekend...one not, have been less than easy peasy lemon squeezy!
After a couple of days of single parenting, I loaded up The Beast, and took Junior Management to Charleston for the Southeastern Wildlife Expo.
Saturday was pretty "meh" as far as it goes, especially considering the fact that the day went from 55 and sunny to Portland in about 45 minutes.  Hanging out with strangers, in a tent, while the weather turned to shit isn't my idea of a good time, so we bailed and went to the Nike Outlet.  And of course, as it always happens, I found NOTHING, while everyone else involved made out like Jesse James.
The highlight of Saturday?  Making our way to Sullivan's to eat at Home Team.  So good...

The Boss had to be at SEWE early Sunday, so Junior Mgmt and I fiddled around the hotel, had a nice breakfast, then took a little tour of Chuck.  They dig all of the Civil War history, so it's all good.
We made our way to Brittlebank Park, found a spot to park The Beast, and headed in to SEWE for the second day.  The sun was out, and it was in the high 40s, but the wind...oh the wind...

Yes, those are whitecaps on the river...

After about an hour, we found the Charleston Angler tent.  They were blowing out their winter clothing from the two retail locations in Charleston, so I bought hats and gloves for the boys, and some Columbia Sportswear fleece for me.  $225 worth of schwag for $60 isn't a bad deal.
From that point, we meandered, played with dogs, pet exotic animals, shot guns, checked out hot college (and post-college) girls, and generally had a good time.  @ 2:30, we parted company from The Boss, and put it in the breeze for Cola.
It was an early night for all...

I awoke this morning feeling like I'd been in the Apple pie moonshine from last weekend.  Dusty 20+ mph winds from Sunday have destroyed my sinuses, and completely died out my eyes, face, and lips.  And walking/standing for nearly 6 hours?  Yeah...legs and back are just done.
Hopefully, it'll be a quiet day...HA!

 Cool owl is watching you...!

 Slightly manipulated church image...

Ravenel bridge...

Pics were taken with a Nikon Coolpix L26 that I've been trying out.  I can tell you that it's pretty average, maybe slightly below, for a 14mp point-and-shoot.  Slow focus, slow shutter, slow flash, slow processing...
It also drops pictures, which really pisses me off, as I thought I'd taken a good picture of The Boss and JM together, but NOOOOOOOO, the file was corrupt.
It's also big, sort of bulky, and and very intuitive when trying to choose modes.
For the money, you can do better.  Don't get fooled by megapixels and supposed features.  If the processor is shit, the camera is shit.
All of my ride pics are taken with a 12mp Samsung TL205 that's been wet, dropped, run over, and generally abused for the better part of 2 years.  It's still better than the Nikon!!  As with most things Samsung, they have P&S cameras figured out!

I have not thrown a leg over in 7 days, but that will end tonight.  I'm not going outside, but will instead ride the infernal machine.  No goal other than to loosen up, and get some blood moving around.  Maybe an hour of watching Roubaix will get me back in the mood to ride my bicycle...

Back outside tomorrow night, weather permitting...

Peace and chicken grease...

15 February 2013

Things to ogle...

 I think we now realize just why Assos clothing is so expensive...

 I dislike the whole 'fixie' thing, and most that goes along with it, but I would gladly roll around on this Bianchi.

 Mmmmm....tasty...nothing like a custom motor velocipede!


 The new DeRosa Protos.  Pick your poison!  Notice that there is NO SRAM option...

Why do I want this so?

Head cold is making it's way out of my body, thankfully.  How much snot can a person have contained with their head?  A lot it seems! 
Haven't ridden since last Sunday, and I'm getting itchy.  Unfortunately, I'm happy for Charleston this weekend, so the bike will remain in Service Course for a couple more days.  Gotta say, it's probably for the best.  Fatigue was taking much too large a toll, and I just rode poorly...even more than usual!  :)-  7 or 8 days off the bike is welcome...and let's be honest, Lotto isn't going to be calling to ask me to be in Griepel's leadout train...

Speaking of riding this weekend, good luck, and I mean that, to those who have chosen to get their asses kicked...er, I mean RACE @ Southern Cross this weekend.  The weather looks terrific!  Nothing says love, or sanity, like a 50 mile gravel/CX race with 6500 ft. of climbing in sub-freezing temps. Rubber side down Junk!

Enjoy your weekend!  Ride if you can...




14 February 2013

Grazie Marco!




14 Feb 2004 seems like yesterday....

Cycling was definitely more interesting with Pantani in it.

12 February 2013

Style

 Yep...got plenty here...

 Lampre's team bike may have missed the mark a bit...

 Cancellara thought he had it when he was a pup on Mapei...

This picture has it in spades...

Yesterday was a descent into madness.  Well, not madness, but some serious allergy/sinus issues.  Riding in dusty, windy conditions all weekend, being in the main house with cats (dirty little bastards), and not sleepy well has pretty much turned me into an advertisement for Claritin D.  Oy...

I rode the new Diadoras over the weekend, and am ambivalent, at best, towards them right now.  They're hella light, and hella stiff, but definitely narrower than the old shoes.  Thinking of getting some shoe stretchers and try to expand the forefoot and toebox a bit.  Or just putting them on Ebay and doing something else.  Maybe some Fizik shoes...

Riding this week look sparse.  Tonight is my only real opening, and I'm not really feeling too chipper, so I'll likely pass.  Then single parenting from Wednesday on, and headed to Chuck on Friday for the weekend.  Looks like a rest/recovery week just presented itself...

Have a good Tuesday!  Namaste!

11 February 2013

And we're baaaack!

Another VIP weekend in the books.  Here are the talking points:

-ANOTHER flat tire on the Yukon, only this time, it was in the driveway AFTER we got there!
-Nice easy 50km spin Friday night
-A lot of wine, a lot of beer, and a quart jar of Apple Pie Moonshine consumed...on Friday night.
-I may have picked up the dog's Invisible Fence collar, forgotten I was holding it, and walked thru the boundary line.
-I may have seen the color blue for a few seconds, thought I was having a stroke, and had a small amount of left side paralysis before dropping the collar.
-I may have had numbness that radiated thru my left arm, up to my jaw, for a good portion of the night, and into the next morning.
-A nice 125km ride Saturday morning out to Fripp and back.  It may have included a stop (or two) at Crave Cupcakes in Beaufort.
-The last 10-12km of this ride may also have been trying for everyone involved.
-BIG dinner, less boozing, and in bed by 9:30 Saturday night.  Funny how riding with a former Masters National Champ, and a guy who has raced all over the World, will do that to you.
-Another night of restless sleep
-Up Sunday, lazed about, drove a pristine 1988 BMW M5, then did another easy 50km spin.  Group was told that the 'No Loitering" sign on the train station in Yemassee wasn't meant for white folks by a guy who looked like Grady from Sanford and Son.
-Back to the Compound for a big lunch
-Packed up, said goodbyes, hauled ass back to Columbia
-225km for the weekend.  4 flats in 3 rides by 2 people.  The 4th flat was caused by damage from the 1st.  Sounded like a driveby, and blew a hole CLEAN thru a Dollar Bill folded on itself 4x.  (That escalated into Algebra pretty quickly!)

As is normally the case, I took pictures...

 Sunset off the dock...
 There are TWO National Champions in this photo...
 The M5
How lovely...

Here are the rest on my Flickr Stream

Nice how I get home and it's raining, and complete shite outside!

Hope everyone had a good weekend, because mine was out-fucking-standing!!!  I need a nap...


05 February 2013

Short atttention span post

 Ok, I'm all for the 'Euro-Dog' drop, but this one makes MY junk hurt...

 Someone posted this on another site this morning, and said it wasn't hot.  I'm assuming because it says "Diamondback" on it.  The safe bet is that if it said DeRosa, or Merckx, the attitude would be 180 degrees opposite.  Me?  Pretty damn hot...

 Fabi says he's putting ALL of his efforts into the Spring Classics.  (insert evil/maniacal laugh here)
 Oh, you say Liz Hatch is the hottest female cyclist?  Really?  Please familiarize yourself with New Zealand's Emily Collins.  You're welcome...

I think I just puked in my mouth a little.  That just turns the stomach...

And on that note...


04 February 2013

Regrets...I've had a few...

WHY, oh WHY did I not load up The Beast and go to Louisville?

Women's race (complete)



Men's Race (complete)



Two outstanding races in borderline epic conditions.  Yeah, that word gets thrown around too much, but it's warranted in this circumstance. 

Congrats to Vos, Nys, et al.!  Congrats to Louisville for putting on a damn fine show, and busting their asses to make it happen.  Congrats to the folks who had the idea to advertise a Foam Party as a Twitter joke, and then have that joke turn into a real party, and something that those who attended will not forget...EVER!

And one piece of commentary :
The lights went out at the Stupid Bowl last night.  They stopped the game. 
The river was flooding over it's banks at record levels at CX Worlds.  They stopped the river!

Should tell one a little bit about which sport has more heart.

You won a trophy you say?

 Marianne Vos is not impressed...

And tell me again how tough football players are...
...especially since they played their big game INSIDE...on CARPET...

Good rides this weekend.
Saturday was ass-biting cold, so I went out solo, secure in the knowledge that hardness/stupidity would lead my to be the only one on the bike.  I was correct...
27 when I left...
 It was a little chilly and barren out at the Powerstation.  I did 4x5s anyway...

 Got it to yourself @ 27 degrees...

Frost under the Clements...

2+ hours later, I was home...and it was only 39 degrees...
Sunday, we headed out to Lex/Cal for a bit of a meandering loop.  Still got three hours in what could be called challenging wind conditions.

 Bigfoot sighting?  Nope...just a giant dude out walking in the middle of nowhere Calhoun County!

It was chilly and windy, but there have been far worse days on the bicycle!

Hope everyone had a good weekend and did something than made them happy!

Namaste...

01 February 2013

Style....

Whew...that was a bit of a week...

 Motobecane evidently had serious style back in the day...

 Speaking of style.  This guy may be old, and fat, but dammit, he's dripping with style...

 Climbing in the drops?  Style...!  Don't know who this guy is?  No style...

 Nys?  Style!  This may be what CX Worlds in Louisville look like on Saturday.  Yes, Saturday!  The UCI moved the race, as the Ohio River is expected to flood the venue at some point early Sunday.  And people are bitching about the move.  Shit happens folks!  If you can learn how to control Ma Nature, fly to Louisville, hold back the rising tide, annd count your millions...

Custom Vanilla stem.  $550.  No style...especially when you consider that we've been doing variations on this idea for YEARS.  But it's a Vanilla, so the sheep are lining up in the queue, I'm sure...

Great video about the Gavia...



Terrible music...

Indurain is still...style...

The Visit: Miguel Indurain (English subt) from black train films on Vimeo.


No ridey last night.  Just didn't feel like throwing the leg over the top tube...at all.  Instead, I went up to the kids' school to see how SCDOT can fuck up a perfectly good Federal Grant.  Not going to rant, or get into specifics, but if the original idea, which was a good one, can be called "X", the current plan is (X - 637), and an answer to a question no one asked.  Of course, we're talking about the State here, so...

It's gonna be COLD in the morning, ergo, I'm not even going to bother with heading up to the spot.  A CX bike, and some dirt is in my plan.

OK...hope everyone had a good week.  Go ride this weekend!