Back to the Grind

Finished the Helium Friday night @ 10. Rode it Saturday morning @ 9. It needed a few tweaks, namely the shift levers needing to be moved further up on the bars, but the shakedown ride went well. The 7900 stuff works really well, and the Rotor cranks are the sheezy. Very stiff. Felt immediately stiffer than the old 7800 crankset. I did switch the 53 out for a 52 though. I couldn't get comfortable in the 53 after riding a 52 for the last 5 years. I always felt like I was in the incorrect gear. And the new rear wheel that Uncle Shrews built is perfect, as usual.

Yep, riding out on the Front Range can get hectic. Be prepared...like this guy!!

First neon yellow...now, burnt orange. These, I would rock ALL DAY!

As I babbled about above, Saturday was the shakedown for the new bits on the Ridley. Installation and setup was a breeze on Friday night, but I missed the placement of the levers by a wide margin.
The 7900 levers are flat (and longer) across the top, unlike the pronounced curve on the top of 7800. I placed them where I thought they would be kicked slightly up. Wrong answer. I struggle through the first half of the ride with old Sean-Yates-Double-Wrist-Bend thing happening. Between the incorrect placement, and the greater length of the 7900, I felt REALLY stretched out. After an 90 minutes of this, I stopped and rolled the bars UP, much like the old-school stolen Schwinn 10-speed style. It looked completely oaf-ish, but solved the lever issue. It did, however, render the drops completely useless.
We rolled a nice 90km in the sunshine, so it was all good!

Il Prof and I went off this morning, sans the coffee drinking, scone deliveryman, aka TVH. IP had a 6 hour ride planned...I did not. We rolled out together for the first 90 minutes, where I turned right for the ride home, and he turned left for a tour of Fort Motte, SC. As you can see, Fort Motte is just Southeast of Columbia, in a part of the State where the is NOTHING!
I can say with some degree of certainty that I'm really tired of driving it into the ever-present headwind. Every which way I turned on the way home today was a fucking headwind! It's like it knows...
Another 80km and 2:40 racked up.
Upon hitting the door, the thought of driving to Blythewood to watch the race passed through my head, but a better opportunity presented itself. It was a good nap.

Alright that's enough...Have a good Monday...