Wed-nes-day

Yeah...you think about it the same way when spelling it...

Brutally hot last night. Sandbaggers galore. People who badmouth the ride, and the group, for YEARS, but show up. You know...a good group ride.
I was less than motivated to go out in the 147 degree heat last night, but I went anyway. I still feel a little bad from last weekend. Usually takes me a week to come back from stings that cause reaction.
HR came up more, but only to about 160-ish. That's not enough...
I was surviving, but not really enjoying it.
On Old Wire, JMR had a flat...and no kit, so a few of us stopped. He had a nice cut in his tire, so I booted it, and changed the tube.
At this point, my motivation was gone. They continued on. I turned left and did my own loop.
Word is that JMR flatted again about 5 minutes later. Wasn't my work. I blame the tube.
Fucking Bontrager XXXL tubes are terrible. Never had one that survived more than a ride. Hell, the last one I pulled out of my flat kit had a hole in it...OUT OF THE BOX. Good QC there guys.
If you want a good, thin, supple tube that will actually LIVE, just buy Vittoria latex. Hell, they're the same $ as the butyl Bontrager garbage, and I PROMISE that they ride better.
Anyway, I rolled solo, and meandered home.
Not before passing the Statehouse, which was inundated with pasty, veal-like millennials playing Pokemon Go.
Go back inside, and leave the outside to those of us who know what to do with it.
And the next PokeDork that steps off the curb, into the road, and in front of me, is going to catch an elbow to the dome.

Stuff:
Yeah, I'll take this one...

Where was this when I was looking for a truck?
A stretched Suburban grafted to a TopKick chassis and front-end. You know, in case you need to haul 10 people, or pull an apartment complex of it's foundation.

Yeas, I know people will cry "compensating", but those are the same people who likely drive beat to shit Honda minivans.
And speaking of beefy, I slapped some 32mm wide Clement Strada LGG meats to the CX bike.

They're big and round. No clue what pressure I should run. None. I'm guessing 75R and 70F. We'll see tomorrow night...

Gotta go finish a bike. Stay inside. It's too damn hot.

From good to meh...

So I posted once last week...sorry...not much to say...
Tuesday was fun. It was faster, and steady. Kept the front-rushers at bay. Well, except for S3. He did his normal 'hide-in-the-back-out-of-the-breeze-then-attack-to-the-parking-lot' bullshit.
Think it might be time to start imposing my will...
No ridey Thursday, as I got a much needed spinal alignment. Who knew that doing construction on Service Course would make me crooked? Oh, that's right...I did.

No one rode Saturday morning...except me. I went out on the Salsa to enjoy the morning.
The first half of the ride was just that, quite enjoyable. Just turned over the pedals. No plan. No rush.
About half way around the loop, I caught a wasp in the mouth. In my haste to extricate the large, stingy bastard, he got me twice. Once on the tongue, and once on the lip. Super...
You think you know pain. I did. I have an above average pain threshold. This was different.
I've always assumed getting hit by lightning really hurt. Now, I know.
I can only describe the sensation as such...
Attach jumper cables to your ears, then have someone hit the switch.
There no waves of pain. It was all at once, and all over my head. Tongue, lip, teeth, jaw. The headache was immediate. My nose began to run, and did not stop. I salivated like a St. Bernard at the dentist.
I had to keep riding. Have I mentioned I'm allergic to stings? Yeah...keep riding...
Tongue? Swollen. Lip? Same. My jaw ached like I'd been punched by Iron Mike.
I was an hour from home when I got stung. By the time I hit Service Course, my eye was swelling shut, and my breathing was wheezy and labored. The allergy is bad enough. I'm guessing taking two hits to the mouth isn't optimal.
The Boss was panicky. I told her to move out of my way.
Into the fridge for the Epi-Pen. Bam! Right in the hip flexor! Grabbed the Benadryl and chewed up 4.
Then into the cold shower.
The next couple of hours was a shitshow on par with the Republican Convention. Waves of nausea, dizziness, confusion, all punctuated by the effects of the Epi. Nothing like being sleepy and manic at the same time.
I drank about 2 quarts of water, then gave in. Sleepy time. I got up, ate some dinner, and went back to bed.
Woke up Sunday, feeling meh, but kitted up and rode anyway. Should have stayed in bed.
Benadryl will, in fact, sit on your HR. I could ride, but once the road turned up, and my HR was required to go above about 120, I was cooked.
It made the three hours seem a little bit longer. Once home, the wheels came off. Corpo went to the pool, and I passed the F out. Three hours on the couch. Woke up dry. Never been so dry. Drank everything in the house. Sorry about the Kool-Aid kids...
Bed came early. And it was HARD sleep. Never heard the Boss leave this morning.
Feeling better today. Tongue is sore, but everything else seems to be getting back to baseline.
Just remember...

Things to look at:

 Squad goals...

 Yes, I'll need this in a 56cm please....

 More Duc goodness...

And if you cannot tell me who, and where, then SHHHHHHHHH.....!

And it seems the ASO has shut down all pirate video clips of yesterday's Tour finish. They've also disabled embedding. Here's the LINK for the last km of Stage 21.
Sagan was COMING at the end.

And I was told this weekend that everyone needs a computer with cadence on their bikes. I responded with the tried and 100% true...
'The proper cadence is whatever doesn't get you dropped...'
If riding at 100rpm keeps you in the game, have at it. I can tell you though, after DECADES of doing this, there are times when mashing the living shit out of the pedals @ 80rpm (or lower) is beneficial to survival.
FACT.

Peace and Phil grease. Time to get my day started. Have a solid Monday.

Monday...again?

This two-day weekend crap needs to be legislated. Monday should be a day off too.
3 weeks until we leave for holiday. Same undisclosed location. No, still not going to tell you.
4 weeks until school starts. Morning rides? Yes, please...

Speaking of...
The Saturday ride fell apart. People out of town. Other things to do. Lost in the neighborhood (Taylor).
Me? Of course I rode. Duh? Do you people not even know me?
As I've begun to loathe riding the road bike solo, the pulled the Salsa from the quiver, and headed out.
All the way out and around Eastman, and home through The PowerStation.
It must have rained/stormed/blown hard out there. Branches down everywhere. One tree down blocking 90% of the road. Heavy surface.
No matter. I was having one of those exceeding rare 'no-chain days'. The cranks just rolled over.
2 hours and 55km later, I was back at SC.
Quick feed and rinse, then work in the yard. Well, on Service Course itself.
Bad wood cut out. New wood installed. Upon pounding the last nails, some sort of stinging insect flew out from under the building, and went on the attack. I took on to the calf, one to the butt, and one directly to the nose. Yeah...the shit hurt.
I ran inside, took two Benadryl, and hit myself with the Epi-pen. I simultaneously got really sleepy, and really jacked up. Thankfully, nothing swelled. Can't imagine what the face would have looked like. It's bad enough w/o swelling...
At that point, I was done for the day.

3 Heathens met Sunday for a modified run out to Swansea. The weather was great, and a good pace was kept. I had trouble with HR. I blame the chemicals coursing through my blood from the insect stings.
And I'd forgotten how long a few of the rises on Hwy 21 seem to be.
The body woke up a bit on the final run into Swansea, and felt pretty good after the stop.
And on a day like yesterday, it was hard not to feel good...

As one can see, it's horrible out in the country. And dangerous! Riding in the Fort is much better. You guys stay there! Wouldn't want to endanger anyone.
(Pssst...on the run from Swansea, down to Pine Plain, over the ridge, and down to the end at the BP, we got passed by 2 two cars. Both drivers waited to pass, gave us plenty of room, and waved as they went by.)
Coming in on 12th St., in was an episode of "Hawks in Flight".
We saw two Swallow-tailed Kites eating insects over the edge of the tree line, and once to the 77 overpass, what can only be described, in technical terms, as a BIG ASS Red-tailed Hawk.
The Red-tail is pretty common around here these days, but the Swallow-tails are a rarity in this part of the State.
As an aside, Mississippi Kites are out and about in town right now. A large one sat above me as I worked in the yard on Saturday.
Pretty amazing to have so many birds of prey hanging around.
Anyway, TVH and I rolled up through campus, and the asshats playing PokemonGo, and home.
Another Sunday. Another metric.

I'm sure you're watching the Tour, so I won't re-hash. Nuttier than squirrel turds.
I will post ONE video though...



That's a whole lot o' watts being laid down in that break.

Happy Monday kids!

Back at it...

Well, I did not win the $500+ Million Mega Millions drawing, so you guys are stuck with me...
Sorry...

I took last week off the bike after being glutened. Took me until Thursday afternoon to feel "normal" again, and as the temps were somewhere between India and the Sun, I opted to keep my happy ass inside.
It gave me the time to source, and order, new bars for the CX bike. Deda Zero100 Deep, if you're curious. 92mm reach and 142mm drop. 3mm different each way than the Newton Deep.
If they feel the same, I may order a couple more for stock.
I put PRO "deep" bars on it for the time being. I can live with the difference for a week or so. The "or so" part is important, as getting things from England is either quick, or it takes weeks. Gotta love Customs....

Saturday, we met at 8 for the normal blast out through the Swamp. It seems my two compatriots felt like pushing. It felt faster than usual. I say "felt", as I still have not affixed any means of recording speed to either bike.
All I know is that my legs were confused, and towards the end of Old Bluff, when I looked down, I was in the 52/15. That's about 40kph @ 90rpm. Easy when you have someplace to hide. Not so much when you're the biggest guy in a group of 3.
On the way back in, the pace slackened...a bit...until TVH shellacked a hole. Not only did his bars slip down, his left shifter slipped on the bars. Nice.
We rode piano from that point.
Pro-Tip for his mechanic : Carbon Assembly Paste is your friend, especially on a bike that has nothing but carbon bits on it.
90km in the bank. Home well before it got hot. Win/Win
As most of the Heathens are out of town, TVH & I met for a spin out through LexCal. A hilly, hot spin. I felt Saturday, so when the road turned anywhere North of about 4%, I put it in a comfortable gear, and simply rode to the top.
Temps weren't bad (90-ish), and there was a breeze (in our faces), so it was manageable. Another 75km. Got some sun too. There's NO cover on that loop. None.
When I hit the door, The Duke was in the splash pool. I emptied my pockets and got in. There is no pride after finishing a ride in 95 degrees.
The rest of the day was #NoPantsSunday. Success.

The Tour was ended it's first week+...
Cav seems to be back. He passed Hinault for second place on the all-time stage wins list.
Hinault is smiling, but one could hear him grinding his teeth, and muttering, "I keeeel you..."

 Cav is riding full custom Enve wheels on King hubs.

 The new Ridley RVV. I'm listening...

 Lotto-Jumbo's Bianchi. Lovely.

 Greipel's Noah. The paint is beautiful.

And let's examine this...
Leigh Howard (IAM) clocked 122.7kmh on a descent in Stage 9. That's 76mph in old money. Scary. I've tickled 60 a few times, but 75+? Oof...

2017 C'dale Evo. I dig it.
And let's be clear. I know the Tour is going on. I know it excites people to ride, and ride harder than they normally would. Be aware though that you are NOT a ProTour rider. Ride within your limits.
And if I see ANY of you doing this...

I will ask you to leave. No humping the top tube!!

Happy Monday! Gonna be another lovely day of 100+!!

All good...then not...

Rides have been getting better. Fitness is coming back.
Felt good Thursday. It was a weird ride, but I got mine. The skies looked threatening, and we got a little wet, but the group stay together, until it didn't...
Splits on Gator. Splits on the run in.
No matter. The new retiree, Julie & Rox rolled in with me, ahead of the dozen or so that stopped for a flat.
Nice ride Saturday. Faster than usual, but felt good. Just rolled it over on a tour of LR. Man, Old Bluff is NICE. Smoooooove...
Well, it's nice, except for the fact that SCDOT decided to grind the drunk strips into the shoulders.
It did get hot at the end, but the fact that I drank 120oz in the 3.5 hours seemed to work.
TVH had more issues with his Boras. After the 8th flat on them since installation, he'd had enough. New tires and tubes went on after the ride.
He threatened to give them back to the shop, and just ride his Boyds. We all knew this was a hollow threat.
The Heathens rolled out Sunday for a short loop, as The 4th of July ride was on the horizon...
We rolled, slowly, and it got HOT quickly. 80oz. of fluid in 2 hours HOT. Felt fine after...
Ate and drank thoughout the day, then the shit hit the fan...
We went to the LexCo Branch for dinner and 4th of July festivities. Yeah, it was the 3rd, so what?
My mother cooked a HUGE dinner. It was all good, and supposedly GF.
(PSSSST...it wasn't...)
The GF cornbread wasn't GF, and I was glutened. I started feeling like crap about 30 minutes after eating.
We went to see the fireworks. I was going downhill fast...

Once home...I went to bed...
0500 brought cramping, and me curling up into a little ball.
Emails were sent. There would be no 4th of July 110km for the kid.
I slept until 0900. Yeah...LATE!
Felt like hammered shit ALL day. The bathroom and I spent much quality time together. I tried to go to the pool with Junior Management, but had to tap out. The heat made me feel even worse.
Finally had enough @ 2100, and called it a night. Slept 11 hours.
Things are on the upswing today, but not close to normal. Maybe by Thursday or so....
And FYI, if you think that folks that eat a gluten-free diet are simply jumping on a bandwagon, please feel free to fuck off. I have Celiac Disease. Google it.
Sure, some ARE bandwagon jumpers. For others, it's a serious health concern. It's also a HUGE pain in the ass, literally AND figuratively.
Getting "glutened" is not a good time. People react in different ways. I get HORRIBLE stomach issues, and a feeling of malaise that makes a hangover seem like a lottery win.
If you can eat and drink whatever you like, consider yourself lucky. A lot of folks cannot...

"Eh, hello God...
I'm pray today for others racer who make try for to beats me. Please for to watches overs them, for theys knows not what theys dos...Amen.
Yours friend, Eddy"

Yeah...I bought Mega Millions tickets. Yeah, this ^^^^ will be one of the very first things I buy...

I DID get down to Service Course for a bit yesterday though, between bouts of curling up on the AC vent.
New tape on the Noah, as the old Bontrager stuff smelled like __________ (insert your stank of choice).
Also pulled the 7800 of the CX bike to make way for the 7900.
In pulling the levers, I became acutely aware that the bars were done. My sweat had eaten an appreciable amount of material away. New bars for me! YAAAAY.
Problem is that I had no correct bars in stock. I put on some PRO "deep" bars, but they're just not right, and it seems that no one in the US sells DEDA deep bars.
I bought some Zero 100 deeps from Wiggle, so it looks like the CX bike is gonna be down for a couple of weeks. Dammit...
Probably for the best, as it's supposed to be a bit warm for the next 5 or 7 days. 100+. No thanks. Not built for that shit...
When does Fall start?

Happy Tuesday. Take a lesson from the dog, and fins a cool spot on the floor...