That thing...

You know...that thing...?
The thing were you aren't REALLY injured, but have a little knock, or ache, or pain?
Yeah...that thing...

My knee is bothering me, and seeing as no Euro teams are watching a 45 y.o. guy, I'm taking a week or so off the bike. It's feeling better every day.
Sure, I could probably ride, but It's November, and motivation is pretty low at the moment. And we won't mention that it's raining...AGAIN...
I planned to get back on tomorrow, but a trip to the Chiro is on tap. Supposed to be crappy Wednesday as well.
Looks like Thursday might be the day for an easy spin while Junior Management is at school.
I DO need to get back on it though. I was slack for most of October, and there's a LOT of candy in the house right now.
Damn kids...

Koppenbergcross was pretty good yesterday...


Poor Sven. At the front, only to be submarined by a mechanical...
The new Northwave CX shoe. Me likey...

And Tommy D's "B" sample is held up (he doped) because the FBI is investigating is his ex-wife could have "spiked" him (he doped), thus causing his positive. Seriously! One can't make this shit up!

If he's cleared (he doped), it's further proof that USAC is a joke.

And why would his ex-wife (#2 is I'm not mistaken) want to "spike" him? Let's just say that Tommy has an affinity for podium girls. Maybe it's all that testosterone rushing through his system?
I'm just wondering how long it'll be until he has his own Gran Fondo.

The folks at DEAN are bringing affordability to the Ti CX frame game.

$1200. Straight gauge American 3/2.5 Ti. 44mm headtube. Add an Enve fork, and a King headset, and you have a $1700 forever CX frame.
Then again, for just $300 more, one could get this...

Diamondback Haanjo Trail Ultegra. $2000. Alu frame/carbon fork. FULL Ultegra 11v with hydraulic brakes and HED wheels. A better bargain is hard to find. I'm sure the brand snobs will dump on it though, and that's cool. You go ahead and spend that extra $1K or so to get the same bike.

I'd tell you to go outside and play, but it's pretty crappy outside. Rain, fog...60 degrees. Stay inside.
Me? I'm thinking some retail therapy will make my knee feel better.

It was a ride.

Yesterday was a ride. No more. No less.
Started with Kevin's F/D issues. We rolled up to Service Course. I fixed his bike in about 3 minutes, and we were on our way.
MAYBE 15 minutes from Service Course, Dean's F/D cable snapped.
The little ring was en vogue it seems.
We rolled on. Dean in his 34. Kevin in his 36. Me in my 39.
Out on MLK, Dean ran over a chunk of glass. We stopped. He changed his flat while mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds buzzed around. Not wanting to get carried off by said insects, Kevin and I rolled around in circles.
From that point, it became a tour of Lower Richland flood damage. And believe me, there's DAMAGE out there. Just seeing the high water lines in certain places was amazing enough. Then, we rolled up on the hunt club on Old Bluff, near The Swamp.

This used to be a VERY full pond/lake. It seems the 15+ inches of rain created a little added pressure on the dam/road, and as we know, water does what it wants. Bye bye road. Bye bye water.

Further into the ride, we headed down Airbase to see the railroad damage for ourselves. Certain words shouldn't be used as descriptive adjectives, as they may be a little inappropriate. This fact notwithstanding, the washout of the RR and road was impressive.

 That's a 10' culvert pipe, and a standard heavy excavator. The gap in the tracks won't be repaired for a while. There is LITERALLY only one way to get the repair materials out to the site. The RR service company has retro-fitted dumptrucks with train wheels, and is backing the truck down the track ONE AT A TIME to dump stones.

Airbase Rd. YOU SHALL NOT PASS. Don't look for this to be repaired anytime in the next...I don't know...year or so.
The gap? Easily 100'. One can see chunks of the bridge downstream. There are LARGE sections of tarmac 100...200...300+ feet downstream, and in the woods. Crazy.
For here, we turned around, and headed in. Good miles, good conversation.
I will say though, staying in the small ring for 3.5 hours, and keeping cadence high, is tiring. My legs are SHOT today.

Zonhoven was yesterday. No full race video is up yet, but here are the highlights...

Women


Men


And here are 9 things drivers need to stop saying when whinging about cyclists...
WIRED article...

Enjoy your Monday kids! I'm headed down to Service Course to fiddle around a bit.

Back at it...

Well...sort of...
Seeing as I cannot back down from a challenge, Junior Management told me that I couldn't punt a soccer ball the length of their field. It's about 60m.
I grabbed a ball & pulled the laces tight on my futbol boots. Did I mention I did NOT warm up...at all?
Yeah...
Not wanting to take more than one try, I backed up, took 5 steps, and let it rip. The ball flew high, and straight, clearing the goal at the other end of the field.
I also hyper-extended my right knee in the process. Not badly, but enough to limp around, and put very little power to the pedal...not that there was much to begin with...

I rode Tuesday...gingerly. Small gears. A LOT of spinning. As the knee feels a little better today, I went ONE cog bigger on the back this morning. Didn't "hurt" per se, but there's definitely some stiffness.
It's freaking beautiful outside...

 55 and sunny. Just some Mad Alchemy on the legs....

No Garmin. No care. Just ride...

Knocked down almost two hours both days. Riding in the sunshine beats strapping the lights on the bike...EVERY time.
I'll show at a few night rides, but they'll be few, and far between...

And as usual, I made it almost all the way home before having a run in with a driver. Some dumbass Shandon mommy, likely on her way home from a stretching "workout" @ barre3 & yapping on her phone, decided that she had the right of way in her Volvo SUV, and turned right in front of me. And yes, I had the right of way...
This is for you dear. Bless your heart.

Shut up and take my money!

And with that, I'm out...

Initial impressions...

So I picked up a set of Shimano RS81 C24 wheels. Couldn't really pass up the price...

They're Shimano's take on bulletproof, yet still relatively light, carbon clinchers.
No carbon fairing here. The carbon is structural, and makes the wheel stiffer, while reducing weight. Out of the box, mine weighed 1470g. 1502g with the Shimano plastic rimstrips. Stated weight is 1505g.
A bike part weighing what the manufacturer said it would weigh? Shocking...I know!
These came with Schwalbe One 700x25c tires. On the 21mm wide rim, they are pretty fat. They fit on the Noah, but JUST. More on the rubber in a second...

The wheels themselves were dead true out of the box. Spoke tension is HIGH on the aero, straight pull spoke. The hubs were a bit tight, but Shimano's new hub system makes adjustments ridiculously easy. No more cup, cone, and loose balls. These have angular contact bearings, thus adjusting the hub is little more than popping off a dustcap, removing a 5mm axle end, and a little (and I MEAN little) turn of a fat washer. Easy peasy.
Once loosened up, I threw on a cassette, and put some latex tubes in the Schwalbes.

They look pretty good on the Ridley, eh?

I rode them Sunday morning. Nothing like a 100km to shake down a wheelset.
Initial impressions?
Smooth. Buttery smooth.
Stiff. Way stiffer than expected. Stiffer than my Williams WS28 alu wheels AND the 50mm carbon wheels.
 --Methinks Shimano is correct in their assertion that the fact that the hubs flanges are WAY outside makes a stiff wheel.

High-ish flanges, big bracing angle, and straight pull spokes = stiff.
Not at all harsh though. The carbon dampens the road buzz considerably.
Roll really wheel. Even with the light hoop (>400g per Shimano), they seem to just roll along. Response to acceleration is immediate.
No drama through turns either. No flex, no drama.
No braking concerns either! Alu braking surface FTW!
I was pleasantly surprised.
Now...let's get to the problem.
The rear wheel developed an annoying hop that grew increasingly bad/annoying throughout the course of the ride. I thought it was a tire issue. Lumpy casing, or I may have done something upon install.
Once home, I fiddled with it. Same tire. Same hop. Switch ed a Vittoria Open SC. SAME hop. SAME spot on the wheel.
Upon further inspection, the rim itself has a 30mm section of one bead that has a flat spot...right on the weld.
Inside the rim, the weld wasn't sanded/machined down properly. It gets up INTO the hook bead itself, and doesn't let the tire seat correctly. We found the cause of the hop.
The front is fine.
Up to Outspokin' we go.
The consensus is that one slipped past the old Quality Control goalkeeper.
It's going back to Shimano for warranty.
No big deal...it's almost November. I can wait.

I was honestly surprised by the Schwalbe One tires. I ride Vittoria, period, but as these came with the wheels, and get great reviews online, I figured I'd give them a shot.
They're truly nice tires. They roll well and turn well. I got 25s, and they're big, fat, and round. They come in 28s, if you're into that sort of thing.
We'll see how they get along thru the Fall and Winter.

As for the ride, it was pretty good. We fouled up by going out with the dead tailwind. I will say though, it's pretty nice going UP Fish Hatchery at 35kmh w/o turning oneself inside out. After a Belgian crosswind section into Swansea, the ride home was an exercise in head down, teeth gritting, headwind riding. It was one of those winds that one just has to push through. Slowing down and going easy isn't an option. Doing so would yield a 20kmh ride home, and ain't nobody got time for that.
100km in the sun, and wind, on a 65 degree October day.
I'll take it.

Once the rear wheel comes back, and I get some miles on them. I'll post a full review.

Hope everyone had a productive weekend. Gonna be nice this week. Go outside and get it on you.

Better than expected...

No, not me. I still suck.
Still fighting this poison ivy thing. Thankfully, Mayor Benjamin single handedly got the City safe water. That guy is amazing.
Anyway, at least I can soak myself in an epsom salt bath. Between that, the African black soap, and some high dollar steroid cream, the tide seems to be turning, and we're making inroads in the battle.

I actually got on the bike yesterday.
The water has receded, sort of, and the PowerStation is in decent nick. It seems the water was flowing down the road at a fair rate, and it took a lot of the top layer of sand and dirt with it. Gravel-y and rough is probably the best descriptor for the first couple kms. It's rideable, but just not as smooth as some might remember.
The middle section is about the same. Most of the debris that #2 and I cut, and pushed off the trail, floated right back onto the trail. I didn't clear it yesterday, as I was pressed for time, and already have enough poison ivy. It's passable, but not at high speed.
The washout is about the same...shockingly...
I figured it would be a small chasm after that much water flowing back and forth.
Once past the gas line, the ride stopped. There's still standing water on the road, and in the ditches. It's orange, fetid, and I'm just not riding through that.

Overall, it's definitely rideable. No real surprises. No giant holes to eat you. The animals are VERY active though. I saw turkeys, deer, birds of prey, and a BIG rattlesnake. Be aware of your surroundings. Tae the earbuds out and use all of your senses.

The PowerStation seems to be none the worse for wear. Water still laying on the last km, past the gas line. I'd guess the water was @ 8 feet thru this section.

A photo posted by MM (@mminsc) on Oct 15, 2015 at 8:41am PDT

Tour de Leaves is this weekend. While it's a great ride, I'd rather stay here and be itchy, than suffer for 3.5 hours in the mountains.

Mmmm...
Triumph Scrambler...
And if you like gas powered things, poke around on Silodrome. Pretty cool site.

Time to go get cracked and stretched. Have a good weekend. Go outside and play!

Back in the Saddle...

(Subtitle : Around your ass to get to your elbow)

After the rains, which made yet another multi-inch visit yesterday, we finally got to ride this morning. Thing is, the normal routes are ostensibly gone. Roads are just gone. Not just backroads, but main thoroughfares.
Most of the "flat" routes are interrupted by road, and/or bridge washouts.
We had to area adjust to out into the hills today. In looking at the road closure list from the DMV, we're going to have to seriously adjust a few loops.
Listen, I'm not complaining, we're riding bikes here, not splitting the atom. In the grand scheme, what I'm doing on the bike is pretty unimportant. Honestly, I almost feel bad for being out on the road, on a bicycle, while others have lost much, and are trying to get by. Believe me, I get it....
It was good to go outside and play!

At the same time, I've been stuck in the house with three children for a week, as school has been out. Did I mention that The Boss was gone on business for most of last week?
Oh yeah, and I have a case of poison oak that would kill a mortal man. If I could take a cheese grater to it, I would. Not itching the shit makes my 14 years of sobriety look like playing Chutes and Ladders.

These are my travails...YMMV.
Oh, and here's a couple of pictures of one of our main routes...

The "stream" that usually runs under it is usually about 10' wide and 2' deep. Don't fuck with water...
And YES, the train tracks are just hanging there...

Euro CX started today. Looked like a nice Summer day in Belgie...


And the Tour of Abu Dhabi came to an end. More camels than people watched...
And Peto, in his white kit (shudder) decided to rock the black shoes...

Just NO! And I see that the Big S made him ride the new Venge dumptruck...
Ugly, AND rides like crap. What's not to love?

Hopefully, the children will go back to school at some point this week, and I'll get to go check out The Powerstation. Wondering how big the washout will be? Hell, it might be big enough to just ride down into, and up & out of the other side.

Maybe we'll get back on a regular schedule around here....

Quick update...

No riding going on. We live in South Carolina, which is currently under a Federal State of Emergency due to the rains and floods.
The ENTIRE State is under water. Homes are inundated. Dams are still breaching. Roads and bridges are simply washed away.
We had 20+ inches of rain at the weather station near my house. This was after it had already been raining for a solid week.
My town in is disarray. Some parts of the State are in far worse shape. It's pretty bad. The national news was here, put has done a pretty piss poor job of coverage, and telling the stories.
Life here will be affected for a long, long time.
If you want to see what's really going on, dial up WLTX News 19 on the intarwebs, or get on Twitter and search #scflood. 
Thankfully, we live on high ground, and suffered no damage. My family is all safe. We have power and a trickle of water.
I don't care who you pray to, or if you pray at all, but if you choose to hit your knees, or turn your face to the sun, say a word for the people here who have been hit extremely hard.
I don't want to make comparisons, but the scope of the damage will pan out to be on par with Katrina.

This is an underpass that I-77N crosses. The water is about 10-12 feet deep in this photo. The creek that flooded is about 400m to the left of this spot. Much of the land surrounding the creek, all the way from Northeast side of town, to the river, was under this much water.


A couple of bike things...

 The guys from Erirea prove that one doesn't need all of the high dollar BS associated with cycling. They were rocking Ultegra at Worlds.

Peto!! Come on man! White shorts. Ain't nobody got time for that!!

And with that, I get back to work...trying to help rebuild South Carolina.
Have a good Tuesday!

Um...shit...!

So yeah, Hurricane Joaquin is churning out in the Atlantic right now. It's not forecast to hit SC, but we are expected to get 10-12" of rain. Yeah, that's not a typo...

Normally, I like pretty colors, but in this case, GFY Mother Nature. Seriously...
Working on the general assumption that there will be no riding outside. If I am forced onto the trainer, I won't be a happy monkey.
A thought DID occur to me though....

Are these flippers Keo compatible?
If there's a break in the rain, just enough to get out the door when it's not dumping down, I'm outside. It's just rain...and maybe some wind...you're not gonna melt.

I got out on the road bike this morning. Made the executive decision to lower the saddle on the Ridley. It just FEELS higher than the saddle on the Salsa. After about 20 minutes this morning, and feeling like I was tippy-toeing the pedals, I stopped, and knocked the saddle height down by 5mm. Doesn't sound like much, but with my back injury, I'm the Princess and the Pea.
Felt low at first, but after about 10 minutes, it was all good, and felt pretty much like the CX bike. Methinks I need to scooch it back a bit though. Yeah, I said scooch...
Knocked down an easy 90 minutes this morning, hit Service Course, and mowed the grass. #dadbrick

Last 40km of Worlds. You know you want to watch again...


And an open note :
Quit whinging about the coverage. It was fine. People who complain about having hours of cycling coverage on LIVE TV are spoiled, period.
The coverage was choppy at times because of how TV works.
The signal was taken for the motos, and shot to a helicopter, then back down to the truck, and out to us.
The helo cannot simply follow the race around city streets, thus, the signal gets interrupted but buildings, bridges, tunnels, etc.
And no, a fixed wing aircraft would make NO difference. In fact, in Richmond's case, it would likely be worse, because the plane must fly at higher altitudes, and be FURTHER frm the camera motos.
Welcome to the World of wireless TV signals.
The only way to get around it is static cameras that are hard-wired to the TV truck, and as it's not exactly a 4 corner crit, that ain't gonna work.
Be happy with the fact that we can watch cycling on TV, and on the intarwebs. It wasn't all that long ago that the only coverage we got was of the Tour...on Sunday...for an hour.
Now get off my lawn!!

Skillzzzz...

And if anyone is in the market, my polished White Industries H1 hubs are on the 'Bay.

32 hole. Built once. Ti freehub. Spoke holes are in good shape. Smooth as butter on a bald monkey. Can't buy these anymore. 74g front/224g rear. Build into a light, stiff, bulletproof wheelset...

And a diet tip:

Peace out. If you live on the East Coast of the US, stay inside this weekend. If not, go outside and play!!

PNW

Another day of gray, misty, Pacific Northwest weather. If I wanted to live in Oregon, I'd move to Oregon.
And by the looks of the forecast, it's not going to end anytime soon...

There will be some damp mornings on the bike this week. Night rides are supposed to start, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Probably best to just push it off until next week. I need to get out to the Powerstation and remove some limbs and debris anyway....

Worlds are over, and while I really don't care that I didn't go to Richmond, the racing was damn good. Every race!

Men's race...

Don't know who the bozos are doing the commentary. Probably someone doing a live podcast...

Ladies

U23

Too bad the UCI cannot deem the Junior Women's race worthy of upload. Chloe Dygart made a Sagan-esque attack for the win. It was fairly brilliant.

All were great races with worthy winners.

And Sagan gets respect for everyone. I'm just wondering what all of the fauxperts who cried out after "The Squeeze" are saying this morning? Probably professing their love for him. Wankers...

And did anyone notice that Peto wasn't riding a Venge?

He was on his OLD camo Tarmac. Wondering how SpecialEd will spin this one? He probably didn't want to be on a bike that rides like a dumptruck for six hours.

Me? I rode both days over the weekend.
Yeah, it was wet. Yeah, I got dirty. Beats the shit out of sitting on the couch, or Dog forbid, riding the trainer.
Made the mistake of riding down past the USC tailgate Saturday morning. I'm patently shocked that there aren't dozens of accidents before games. People just driving like they're the only special snowflakes in the World. Once through the madness, it was quite pleasant. Roads were pretty empty.
The PowerStation was ok...just a little heavy. There's one pretty big limb down, blocking the entire trail. I couldn't do anything with it. I'll get out there at some point this week and get it with the saw.
Same ride Sunday, just a bit more rain and wind.
It why having a CX bike in the quiver is always a good thing.

Happy Monday. I'll be right here, waiting for the pest control guy. The Boss made the appointment for 10:30am, because...you know...I have NOTHING else to do with my morning.

You asked for it...

You asked for rain. You complained, "We NEEEED the rain...!"
Well, you got it. Hope no one was near Main and Whaley yesterday. The water was only about 6 feet deep.
It rained for about 15 hours yesterday.
That idiot, Sam Champion, on The Weather Channel, said that the storm was pushing into the Southeast this morning.
Good to see that moron was paying attention yesterday. Thankfully, today is his last day on the morning shift.

Speaking of rain, you know that thing where you go out, under threatening skies, and smash a ride for 90 minutes, then when you are 15 minutes from home, the bottom drops out?
Yeah, welcome to my ride yesterday morning. Felt great. Just turned the pedals over.
Once across the river, and headed up Gervais, the rain started. By the time I got back to Service Course, it was dumping.
Beautiful...
I'm wet. Shoes are soaked. Bike is filthy. Good ride, all in all.

I'll leave this without comment...

Don't you just love the UCI?

 Kiry wins the TT...

...then gets his bike checked for a motor.

In other TT news, here's yet another reason to dislike UHC...
Villumsen can't get into her preferred TT position on her sponsored Wilier, so she rode a Trek (yeah, it's a Trek), and won Worlds.

Tamayo has a hissy, and threatens to fire her, or may have, then reinstated her...
She wins, and everything is okay with the World.
Willing to bet the farm that had she not won, he would have canned her on the spot.
Here's an idea Mike: Carry some extra Wilier decals in your bag. Not the first time someone has ridden a non-trade team bike.
His excuse? Protecting the sponsor. Um, okay...because, you know, there are SO many Wilier dealers, and folks riding around on Wiliers. Who even imports Wilier now? I remember when a local company was the distributor. They couldn't give them away...
If I was Villumsen, I'd take my maillot arc en ciel, and move on. A World Championship opens other doors.

Cav and Eisel are going to MTN-Quebeka, which will be called Dimension Data next season...probably with ETIHAD Airways on the kit somewhere. Should be interesting to have about a half dozen "sprinters" on the team next year.

Hope everyone took some rain gear to Richmond. It's supposed to rain this weekend. Thank Dog Tejay isn't there! Can you imagine the whinging?

Happy Friday! I'd say go outside and play, but it's really shitty outside. Should be better tomorrow. Do it then...

4 days...

Saturday and Sunday made 4 days in a row on the bike. That hasn't happened for, well...a while.
Neither day involved much effort, but I'm tired nonetheless.
No ridey today...

Also watched the Worlds TTT for Trade Teams. BMC killed it.



Nothing says ouch like 55kph average on the twisty, shoddy pavement in Richmond.
Pros are already complaining that the surfaces around the city are crap. Good job Richmond! You only had a couple of years to fill potholes, pave some roads, and bring manhole cover level with the road surface.

This might have hurt...


If you have Universal Sports, the remainder of the races will be either televised, or streamed live. The Richmond 2015 mobile app will also have the live streams. It's free, and worth the download. Lots of info, and full schedules of events.

The UCI is also streaming the races on their YouTube channel. It's geo-restricted in the US, you know...the country where the races are actually happening, but if you have Hola, you may be able to get around it.

I don't have much to say today...
Here's some stuff to look at...

 Main St. Columbia 1958.

Slammed 1965 Riv. If this car shows up in front of your house, the guy is there to kill you.

This is beautiful, and mesmerizing. It is surely art, but with mastery of the chosen medium.

鳴子系こけし／こけしの岡仁 from dmp on Vimeo.

And if you haven't seen "I am Chris Farley", you should take the time...

Have a good Monday. Yes, it is possible...

A little morning action...

Days are getting short around here. Darkness is falling early. Time changes in a few weeks.
Instead of waiting around for the groups rides, and being forced to come home at dusk, I've been Juan Solo lately.
All of Junior Management is now in school, so my mornings are relatively free...for a few hours at least.

Get up. Knock out a ride. Get home. Have the rest of the day/evening. Simple...really...

I got CRACKED by the chiro on Monday. I was crook-ed.
Tuesday morning, I was stiff and sore. I got on the bike anyway, hoping it would loosen me up. I left the house and pedaled squares for about 45 minutes, then the stiffness worked it's way out, and the rest of the ride was smoooove.
Well, except for the inbred woman who screamed, "Get a job", out her car window at me.
How very original! I'm out riding my $5000+ bike, while wearing $300 worth of kit, and $400 shoes. Idiot.
I yelled back, "Maybe you should have studied harder...!" Pretty confident it was lost on her...

Rode the CX bike Thursday and Friday. Same loop. Same effort. Speaking of effort, there are a few things that will stop a nice, cruise-y interval than crashing through a full, LARGE spiderweb.

It COVERED my helmet, head, and face. Stuck to EVERYTHING. Pretty sure it was unoccupied at the time. Didn't matter. After I'd cleaned off what I could, I was still fairly certain there was a spider on me...somewhere. I'm itchy thinking about it...
As an aside, The PowerStation is in pretty good shape.

 That's funny right there! Feel free to use it...

 Shut up and take my money!!

 Sven is embracing his inner flouro this (his last) season. Wonder if the Crockett comes in that colorway?

Merckx CX bike...I'm listening...

Interbike is going on right now. Haven't seen a whole lot that has piqued my interest. I'm sure that will change in the coming days. There's always plenty to geek out about.
And Worlds are getting ready to kick off in Richmond. Everyone and their brother is going. Not me.
I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to go off just fine. As a spectator though, folks won't be able to see shit.
Plus, it's on TV. I'll be sitting right here, watching it on the 55.
Plus plus, I've spent enough time in the truck, and sleeping in strange beds this Summer.
For those going...Enjoy. I'll be holding down the Fort.
PS- I'll take Sagan...

Enjoy your weekend. Go outside and play!

Eventful

Woke up Thursday and thought, why the F am I going to wait around until 6pm to ride? Dropped The Duke off at school, and was on the bike by 9:15.
Got a nice 2 hours on the CX bike, and was back to Service Course in time to get him at noon.
Riding in 75-80 degrees always beats waiting around all day for it to get hot.
Rumor has it the ride was silly anyway.
The plan was to ride Friday morning as well, but the house looked like a troupe of apes had been living here, so I cleaned. Sometimes it's just gotta be done.
Rode with Statler and Waldorf Saturday morning, and almost met my maker.
Started to turn left onto Double Homie, and Mike yelled, "Watch out...Watch out...!!". I glance over my left shoulder, and a Nissan SUV was sliding past us at a rather oblique angle. I swerved back to the right, and the truck missed me by not a lot.
Had Mike not yelled, I would have gotten hit. Not a question in my mind about that fact.
My only regret is that the asshole driver didn't put it in the ditch, or roll it over. Fucktard...
The rest of the morning, once I settled down, was pretty good.

I hit the door, and my new bar tape had arrived. Sweet.
The Bontrager stuff will NEVER go on my bars again. It just doesn't last. This set was about 6 weeks old, and was coming apart. Shite.
I headed down to SC for the switch back to basic, inexpensive Easton tape.
After unwrapping the bars, I noticed something odd.

Yeah...that's a hole. I fear I'm turning into Dean, as my sweat ate a hole in my bars. Fortunately, I had a brand NOS Deda Newton Deep bar under the bench.
I marked everything, and switched the bars. Didn't take long.
What took a while was battling my OCD in getting the bar angle and lever placement correct...even though I'd marked it all.
I finished, wrapped the bars, then stepped back. The monster was already gnawing at me.
The bars got unwrapped, rolled up a bit, and the lever got pushed down on the bars.
Second time was the charm.

As a pro-tip, change your tape often. Inspect your bars. Leaving tape on for months and months and months isn't a badge of honor. It's a recipe for failure.

The Heathens met Sunday for a normal Swansea loop. The tailwind out didn't bode well for the return.
Once in the fields beyond Swansea, the headwind was stiff.

We managed.

Upside? LexCo paved Fish Hatchery. Downside? They didn't bother to grind the old pavement. They simply paved over the old, cracked, pot-holed stuff. Yeah...it's black, and devoid of holes, but it's not much smoother than before. It'll be chopped up by Spring. Good job guys!
Best part of the ride?
Coming down Old Dunbar, we were drifting down to the light at 321. Cars in front. Cars in back. Red light ahead.
At the light, some ridiculous, blue-haired old bat pulled up, and told us that we needed to, "Share the road or get off...."
I asked why she was so angry. Was it the fact we were legal, or the fact she was going to have to wait at the RED light anyway?
She peeled off to the right, turned, and shot us an old, boney, arthritic, middle finger.
Ah, Lexington County...you never cease in providing quality entertainment.
It was a good ride, in spite of the angry old bitty. She was probably late to her appointment to get MORE blue put in her hair.
90km under wheels in the 70 degree sunshine.

Didn't do much the rest of the day. Hung out. Napped. Practiced some futbol with the kids. Quality.

And with that...I gotta jet. The boy needs to get to school, I need to hit Target, and go to the Chiro.
Full morning.

Short, and slow...

Much like a few people around here, last night's ride was short, and slow.
Let's start from the beginning though...

Radar said a little rain was around, and the sun was actually out, so I kitted up.
The wind was picking up, and the skies were darkening, but as most around here know, the weather changes in minutes.
A smaller than normal group rolled out, which was made even smaller by the the front half not bothering to wait when a split occurred at a red light. Bad form guys...bad form.
Heading out 12th, it was flying monkey dark, and we could SEE the rain falling. Off to the right...the direction we were headed, the sky was clear.
We rode on...
Well, that rain found us, and it was heavy. No "severe" weather, just a deluge and wind.
Some turned back...cough, cough...Mike...
We soldiered on...



People began riding willy-nilly...crossing the white line. Nope...I'm going to the front. Not getting taken down for a silly reason. I drove it through the rain, to the end of 12th. Lo and behold...the rain let up. And my legs decided they wanted no part of the ride anymore.
After 115km yesterday, the pins just weren't interested. The Professor and I took a bunch of cut-throughs, and rolled home slowly. It was all I wanted.
Short and slow...
The bike is filthy. Glad I cleaned it Monday afternoon.
Guess I'll be back down in Service Course shortly...

Sticky Bottle posted a good article about crashes in pro races. Hits the mark...
CRASHES

He's not wrong about those jackholes running alongside the riders. Dudes in costumes. Little kids, Fat guys in flip flops. You aren't cycling fans. You're fucking morons...
You're right up there with the 'fauxperts'.

This idiot is possibly the most egregious offender. If you guys put together a GoFundMe account for bail, I'll be glad to assault him.

Gotta jet. The Duke needs to go to school, and it's my day to provide "healthy snacks". Dog forbid they're late. His teacher needs to spend a few years teaching public school, where her youthful enthusiasm can be beaten down...I mean, tempered.

Good day my friends! Be productive. Or don't...that shit is sometimes overrated.

Fun?

The "Becky Labor Day Ride" was yesterday, sans Becky. She moved, but the ride lives on.
A gaggle of us met early to ride to the ride. Special thanks to Curran for catching us, and making our normal easy roll out into an early morning tempo effort.
About 50 folks rolled out of the parking lot @ 8:15. The group all stayed together until The Swamp. After the first, short stop, things got fun...if your idea of fun is riding above threshold for 30-ish minutes.
A front group formed, and we sort of let them go, with the knowledge that many of them would be back shortly.
And they were...eyes bigger than their engines, and all that...
We caught all but three of them during what could be called 'spirited riding'. Nothing says a good time like steady 45kmh pace on beat-to-shit chipseal roads, and whippy crosswinds. It was as close to Belgian as it gets around here, less the pissy rain and cowshit on the tarmac.
The group gathered up at the second stop, and rolled together between 35-40kmh all the way back the park.
Bottles were filled, and the 'ride to the ride' bunch turned for home. We sort of went the long way...sorry...probably my fault.
No matter. Just a few more kms in the saddle. I ended up with 115km. Felt pretty good considering I've been sick for the better part of two weeks.
And the ride was fun. The whole ride...not just parts.
I'm just wondering how the body will respond later this afternoon, when it's time to get on the bike again.

Last week was a pretty solid week of riding...even with the head cold. 300kms w/o trying real hard, and having a lot of fun. You know, what riding a bike is supposed to be?  I'll take that.

Why do I have a strong want for this bike? It's a little unnatural...

Days are getting shorter too. Guess I should dig out the lights...

Happy Tuesday!

You dirty little mother fu....

So, if you ride, you bike has had a creak. You know the one. The creak that is incessant, wholly bothersome, and won't go away. The creak that requires you chase it, only for you to feel like Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius, chasing the Road Runner.
Yeah...welcome to my life for the past week.
At FoTD, it started. medium to high pitched, obviously in the cranks. Not a deep enough sound for it to be BB creak/knock.
As I could do nothing then, I rode it.
I figured it was chainring bolts. The Ridley had been ridden in the rain several times over the previous month. That shit happens, right?
Nope. Pulled the bolts. Cleaned and greased. Still creaking.
A couple more rides, and it didn't go away. Sometimes creaks go away.
Pedals off. Axles and crank holes cleaned and greased.
Nope. Not the pedals.
Well, it's probably time to pull the BB anyway...
Rotor cranks off the bike. BB pulled. Everything cleaned and greased. Honestly, it needed it.
Re-install. Test ride.
CREEAAAK.
GD it!!!!!!!!
Back down in Service Course, and nearly out of brain power, I stared at the bike. Wondering if it would float after I threw it in the river.
Upon standing, I noticed something. The little nub on the big ring...you know, the one that keeps the chain from getting caught between the crankarm and big ring (should one throw the chain over the outside)?

That 4mm piece of alu had broken loose (shouldn't), moved, and become wedged against the crankarm (again, shouldn't).
Every time the cranks flexed under pressure, it rubbed...and creaked.
Big ring off. Dremel tool out. Bye Bye you dirty little mother fuc....
Cleaned. Reinstalled. Test ride.
No more creak.
3-ish hours. Overhauled the cranks, pedals, and BB. Ain't it always the way?

The Vuelta is going on. Crashes are wiping people out. Neutral service motos are wiping people out. Dudes are testing discs.
That being said, some BRUTAL racing is going on.

Today's stage. What the what? Dumoulin is riding a 34/28 today...

Ouchies....

Remember the Porsche that Matt Brammeier hit (or the Porsche that kept him from flying into the woods...)?

Yeah...that's not gonna buff out...
I ran it through the Mitchell Manual software. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $15k damage.
Ouchies all the way around...

Weird ride last night. We went out SLOOOOW. Too many people. Too many people feeling heroic b/c we were going slow. Rushing the front. Riding beyond their skill level. I had a bad feeling about it, but I knew it wasn't going to catch me out.
At the end of Old Wire, I turned around and rode home at tempo.
Don't know what, if anything, happened...
I got my saddle time, and got rid of more "stuff".

Thinking I might head out to The Powerstation this morning to spin the legs....

Happy Dromedary Day....