And we're winding down...

Mancation is coming to a close...and to be honest, I'm just about ready to get home, sleep in my own bed, and do a ride that is FLAT.  There is NO flat here.  You have to choices...UP or DOWN.
No matter.  The roads are good, the weather has been outstanding, and I have a 28 on the rear wheel.

From Wednesday's ride West...

Good morning Ladies...
As I passed, they all raised their heads, and watched me roll by.  None missed a single chew of their breakfast...

This farm road led me to one of those roads that, if one was forced to choose a road to ride for the rest of one's life, would be a stellar choice.

I give you Rt.282 in semi-rural Pa.  13-ish miles of smooth, twisty, canopied pavement.  I got passed by TWO cars on the entire length.  If you are ever in the vicinity, please do yourself a favor, and ride it.  Thank me later.

That being said, it IS in a valley, and DOES follow a trout stream downhill.  The climb out to the plateau is @ 2 miles, and averages 8%.  Most of that average is kicked up in the last 400m, which is an oh-so-fun 20-ish%.  Stick it in the 28, and stand up...

Yesterday was a tale of two rides.
 Going OUT to Valley Forge, I felt like Superman.  Hills?  What hills?  Wind?  What wind?
I got there almost a full 10 minutes faster than usual.  Just ROLLED it.  I did two big loops, stopped for a wee, and to refill the bottles, and headed on my way.
Coming back...not so much...
About 8 miles from home, the wheels came off.  I didn't go full Bonk, but I definitely cracked.  HARD.  The legs went away, and the HR skyrocketed.  Auto-Pilot kicked in, and I survived it.  Felt like hammered shit for a good hour after hitting the house though.  The tile floor in the bathroom was my friend.

 The story of the terrain around here...

Wee stop.  Yes, I am THAT guy on this trip.  I rode the carbon wheels.  I wish I hadn't.  In a place where braking modulation is needed, it's the one thing I really didn't have.
Nothing says love like repeated 40+mph descents on carbon clinchers...

 The Memorial Arch in Valley Forge...I like this place...

Highest point in the park.  Not a bad view...

Once home, fed, watered, and napped, we loaded up and headed down to Citizens Bank Park for some inter-league play with the Red Sox.

Hadn't been to a Phillies game in DECADES...literally.  The new park is NICE.  Easy in, easy out.  The amenities are outstanding.
Our seats didn't suck either.
And I got to see Jackie Bradley Jr. play.  The Sox subbed him into the game in the 7th.  Kinda cool to see him in The Show.

Today will be an easy 90 minute spin...in the woods...

Headed back to SC tomorrow morning....for some rest...

Mancation '13 continues

Woke up ready to ride this morning.  Feel good.  Slept like a stone again.  It's 55 degrees and drizzling outside right now, and the radar is awash in green as far back as Ohio.  Today might just be Mancation '13 : Rest Day.

 Helllloooo Wilbur....

 I don't neeed no steeenking mountains bike...
The inner trails @ Brandywine are a little tough on the CX rig, but the big outer loops are unbelieveable.  Smooth, flowy, big up and downs...pretty damn fun...

 Lots of shared land use too.  A lot of trails go right THROUGH fields and property adjoining the State Park.  Families walking, hikers, horses, cyclists...I saw them all yesterday.  Everyone was polite to one another, and shared the trail.  Unreal...

The last stretch home.  Can't complain...at ALL.

Your fatbike sucks...

Where does one find one of these?

OK, it's Tuesday...I think...get back to work!  I gots Mancation to attend to...

Mancation is gooood....

 Obligatory horse photo for Junk

 Doubletrack

 Singletrack...nice crossing over the mudhole...

 Hey Mike Edwards...fly fishing perhaps?

 Up the hill....

After about 10 miles of pretty damn sublime riding in the woods, I popped out onto what could be described as a smooooove road.

The drive up was an uneventful 9 hours in the car.  I say "car" because The Beast went to the beach with the rest of Corpo. 

Even the traverse of DC was relatively easy, which is a bit shocking.  Once North of Richmond, one must remember to start driving like a Yankee though.  Both hands on the wheel, and bumper to bumper at 70-85mph...all the way to PhilaPa.

It's Memorial Day.  Thanks to those who have served, and those who are still serving.  All gave some...some gave all!

Time to go ride.  Road bike, or CX bike in the woods again?  Mancation decisions...

1.5 to go....

The CX bike is ready to roll the smooth, groomed, flowy trails of both Brandywine Creek State Park in Delaware, and  Marsh Creek State Park in Pa.!  New Clement LAS rubber is mounted on the White Industries wheels, and the commensurate cassette has also been fitted.
The Ridley is ready to go as well, but I think a wheelset change will be made tomorrow. 

Now just to do some laundry, and get The Boss' company car packed.  Why not The Beast?  Well, Free Gas in the company car is always nice.  I really don't like driving it, but the $400+ savings makes everything sting a little less.

No ride Tuesday, as the weather looked a bit less than stellar down in LexCo.  Instead, TVH, HWF and I did a big, meandering loop of the Fort last night.  It was just a simple spin-the-legs-around ride.  Nothing more, nothing less...
Saw a few folks out there.  Wasted a wave on one, didn't on the others...

Big sun and new pavement.  I really don't like riding on the Fort, but last night wasn't so bad...

 Your fatbike-fu is weak....

And the new Pinarello Wrong-ma.  Disc brakes.... (smh)

And they took the Stelvio and Gavia out of the Giro because of the threat of bad weather....

Somewhere in Tuscany, Andy Hampsten is wandering his property, kicking stones, muttering something about pussies...

Gavia...1988...get some...

Next post may very well be from Pennsylvania...
I trust you'll be waiting with baited breath...

Have a good Friday, and weekend...

5 to go...no more free laps

4 if I don't count today...but today ain't over yet...

How do you want your bike porn?
Loud and bright...

 ...or muted, and (sort) of understated?

Can we choose both?

 I hate it when they know exactly why you're drifting to the back...

 Photo is from "The Bunny Crit".  Draw your own conclusions...

If you watched the Giro yesterday, you know that it got pretty Alpine at the top of the Galibier.

Here's the video of the last 7.5km directly from RAI TV.  GALIBIER....

Couldn't figure out the embed code.  Click the link...thank me later...

Wonder how much Cav hung onto the car yesterday? 

Nice rides this weekend...
Saturday was the first truly warm and muggy day we've ridden in thus far.  I gotta say, I'm just not acclimated to it yet.  Rode okay, but felt meh.  We did have a nice little group though.  Should have been bigger, but...well...I'll leave it at that...
3 hours and 85km fell under wheels in a tick less than 3 hours, and no efforts were made...sort of what a Saturday ride should be.  Long and steady.

Upon return to Service Course, work on the HMS Back-yaarrrggghhh-d continued...for then next four hours.  It's starting to look like something...pics will follow upon completion...

As is expected of a 43 year old, I woke up Sunday, and my entire body was stiff and sore.  It had just stopped raining.  It was wet.  More rain was expected.  I had to ride to get the parts working again.  CX bike...road wheels...and GO!
Nice 2 hours out thru LexCO and back.  It did look threatening a few times...

And the first 40 minutes felt like being beaten about the hips and legs, but once I turned onto 321, everything was good.  Tailwind all the way home.  I sort of got into a 20mph light tempo groove, and just rode.  2 hours and 60km later...
I did NOT do any construction work on Sunday...

The Ridley is ready for Mancation, and the Salsa will be tonight, as long as Brown Santa hits the door with my new Clement LAS tires.

Hope everyone had a productive weekend.  Mt. Mitchell is today too.  Rubber side down folks...

7 days...

...until Mancation '13.  This is gonna be a long week...

Fun ride last night.  It's funny how much smoother, yet less aggro, because it was FASTER.  How fast you ask?  Well, fast enough to have a nice working lead group.  I don't get into averages, simply because they mean exactly dick.  Let's just say it was faster than a bread basket...
All I know is that the stretch between Gator and the Airport was one of the quickest trips we've ever taken through there.  40-60kmh the whole way.  Yes, 60kmh into South Congaree.  That's 37-ish mph in Old Money.
It was one of those rides where I felt better as it progressed too.  I think I needed the effort to work the stiffness out of my legs that building Junior Management's pirate ship caused.  Bending, stretching, and stooping while framing out the deck just ripped up my hips and hamstrings.
Strangely, they feel fine today...

Giro News :

Wiggins and Hesjedal both dropped out this morning.  Who knew that training to the edge of exhaustion, and starving oneself to the point of looking like a victim of an European War Crime was bad for your health?  They both have "chest infections".

And Cavendish notched his 100th career win yesterday.  Good on him, even though he probably should have been relegated for deviating.  Nothing like looking under your arm, then swinging dead right...



And the Tour of California is going on.  It's brutally boring.  Yesterday, there was some excitement b/c of the crosswinds, and Jens won the stage with a late attack, after driving the break for 50km. 
And it's because he's MFing Jens Voigt!!!

See video in yesterday's post for possibly the best line EVER from Jens...

Pretty pictures...

Gotta feel bad for this guy...

 Laundry time @ Lampre

Why do I think there's a correlation between Sagan's lack of performance in California, and Cannondale's booth girls?

And one (or two) for the road.  I suddenly want a Vespa...

Wx should be beautiful this weekend.  Go outside and play!!!

Just TOO good...

If you don't like Jens, it's a YOU problem...

HumpDay ( and 8 to go until ManCation)

 Oh...Sweet Baby Jesus...

 "Eh, do you ladies need the keycard to my room?"

Wiggo has crashed so much, he's taken to wearing his helmet while reading La Gazzetta.

Speaking of Wiggo crashing...



That was impressive...

Weird ride last night. 
It never seemed 'fast', but the group got blown to hell on the run out 12th.  We made the turn, and no one was there.  A few ran some stop signs and got away...(I'll reserve comment...)
JBrstl and I waited, and a few chased across.  There was really never a "group" until we got to the top of Glenn.  Even the, the ride really never got together.  Odd...
It wasn't just me.  Others said it was "off" for some reason.  Who knows...?
I got some good miles in the sunshine with a bunch a guys I like riding with.  Not much more to ask...

And I think I have the new shoes/pedals figured out.  I guess I need to ride them to let the body adapt to the differences, however minute they may be. 

Gonna be nice for the next 5 or 6 days.  Go ride your bike.

Tuesday picture post

 I DO need a townie/cruiser bike...

 111 degrees at the finish yesterday in California.  Gilbert knows how to cool off...

 Wait...what?  Where the hell did those come from?

 The drawing from Hampsten again.  I'm still batting this one around.  Hampsten frame, Enve fork, D/A 11v, Boyd 44mm wheels...

 Ok...like "The Dude", I can abide most things.  This I cannot let pass.  It's an abomination, and an affront.  Ernesto Colnago has been made aware, and is flying over to slap someone around...

 Beautiful frame...just lovely.  Two things...
1) Lose the Brooks saddle
2) Roll up the damn bars!

Know who this guy is?  If not, well....you should...

That's it.  No wordy words today...

Go ride...it's nice outside...

12 days

...until Mancation '13...not that I'm counting...

Junior Management is psyched that they only have 10 days of school left.  Not that they're actually doing anything anyway.  SC education...50th in the nation...#1 in our hearts...

Bristol and I went out Saturday morning for a CXploration ride. (I should trademark that...).  The dirt was FLOODED last week, so what did we do?  Went out to see the after-effects.  I wouldn't say it was necessarily the brightest decision, but we had a good time, and saw some cool shit.

 More than a few spots of standing water along the way...

 ...and a section of moving water.  The flood water was still receding Saturday morning.  This was 8-12 inches deep, moving, and COLD...
Yes, we rode through it...duh...

 Here's where it was running TO.  This is NOT normally a creek...

 For reference of the height of the flood, JB's head is about 6 feet of so from the road surface while on the bike.  As one can see, the waterline was at, or above his head in this section.  The river itself is a SOLID 1000+ feet from the road at this point. 

 The boardwalk in WeCola.  Yes...that's river mud.  Yes again...that's river mud on the railing.  The railing is 48" tall.  At normal level, the river is 20-ish feet below.  The water was DEEP!  Most of the WeCola side was muddy like this...and slicker than goose poop.

You may have ridden farther or faster, but I doubt you had more fun...
After dropping JB at his van, I spun it home and ended with 3 hours on the bike.  That'll do...

Following the Mud Ride, I worked for @ 4 hours in the yard.  Dug 7 20" deep holes, mixed 350 pounds of Quikrete, and planted 7 posts.  I made the mistake of actually ASKING Junior Management what kind of play apparatus they wanted.  Their answer?  Pirate Ship.  Okay...we can do that...
The posts are solid, so it's time to start the framing.  The ship will also double as a severe weather shelter/panic room.  (I overbuild things...)

Sunday was Mother's Day, so I limited my ride to 1:15.  Who says I'm not a giver?  It was random.
I got chased by a Great Dane, who while not looking especially speedy while giving chase, made up surprisingly large chunks of real estate with every gallop.  His owner yelled, "He won't hurt you...he wants to play..."
Ok, sure...he weighed probably close to what I do, and was moving alarmingly quickly.  I didn't around to check the veracity of her statement.
I then saw a really nice Accord, that contained a VERY large human being, get rear-ended by a POS truck on Huger.  The VERY large human got out, and was less than pleased. 
I skated...no need to get involved in a summary ass-kicking on Mother's Day.
And the cherry on the top?  I turned the corner off of one street, onto my own, and broke a spoke.  Perfect...
It was still a good ride in the big sunshine...

And if you watched the Giro, you saw Wiggins ride like the wind, until the wet corners snuck up on him...

(photo credit : Sirotti) 
Square that shit off Brad....

It's Monday...and the mountains are calling.  Well, Target is calling...