It's always something...

Tuesday, I nearly got carried off by a pterodactyl.
Last night, well...we'll get to that...

Let's just say, the ride was fun. On the run out on The Powerstation, Henry commented that the County had run the motor grader over the still-open, far end of the road. Okay...no big deal...
We forged ahead.
The dirt is in good knick. Firm. Hard-packed. Smooth. And pretty fast.
Oh, and when you get to the washout, and fine the newly filled in section, thank Henry for taking time out of his day yesterday to go out and work for a couple of hours to make it passable.
Of course, it helps that he works for SCANA, and has a key to the gate.
Can't bomb through it at full speed, but it's definitely rideable, and much.

Anyway, once out to the far end, we were met with a road that resembled Koksijde...


Yeah, the County ran the grader, and turn the road into a soft, squishy sandpit. Ironically, the two "roadies" in the group were the only two to ride the entire section all the way to Eastman.
Plenty of stops, and a few folks fell over. Let the bike move under you people...loose arms...
KL said "F it", and turned around to wait for us at the gate. Wuss....
Id like to think my superior skills, and new Clement LAS rubber kept me upright...

A photo posted by MM (@mminsc) on Jan 28, 2015 at 4:59pm PST

As a reward for riding the whole section, my drivetrain sounds like sand was pouring onto it...because sand WAS poured onto it.

And the title of today's nonsense? RS was leading thru the branch chicane...I was second wheel. He ran over a good sized stick, and it kicked straight up in the air, and into my face. I saw it coming. I could do nothing. Felt good.

If any Columbusers want to work on their sandpit skills, now is the time. Give it a good, soaking rain, and a few dozen cars rolling thru, and it'll be smooth and fast again.

Yes...Merci Roubaix! Indeed...

Speaking of Roubaix, the 2015 route was announced. 253km, and 53km of cobbles...
April 12th. NBCSN will be streaming it live, so figure out your HDMI cables, and direct streaming to your SMART TV. You have some time...

Time to get the day started. Gotta go get cracked and stretched.

Hunter. Or Hunted?

Nice, sedate night ride last night. It was chilly, but felt pretty nice. Cold night air is good for you, no matter what your grandmother says...
We rolled out with a larger than normal "A" group, which was cool. It warms my little Grinch-like heart to see all of those lights bombing around in the woods.
Easy peasy out to the gate, then back in. Ricky and I hung back until the washout, then I sort of rolled to the front. I don't mind riding in the back, except when coming to a technical spot, or a hazard, mainly because you are at the will of the guys in front of you.
I went into the mudhole first, and saw something large and gray enter my upper peripheral vision. I instinctively ducked, and might have let out a little squeal.
THIS flew about a foot from my head...

I only saw a wing, and the tail, but the consensus was that he was a big fella. Audubon says they feed on small mammals, which I definitely am NOT, but the hunting behavior was spot on...

"Hunts by night or day, perhaps most at dawn and dusk. Seeks prey by watching from perch, also by flying low through forest; may hover before dropping to clutch prey in talons."

Seems that's exactly what happened....

It was good two hours on the bike, as usual. And I didn't lose a contact. WhoooHoooo!!

(what the hell happened to my Font...?)

And in Lance news, Armstrong's attorneys subpoena'd Frankie. Betsy had a small aneurysm, and yapped (as she does) to anyone who would listen. There's a word Frankie needs to add to his vocabulary.

com·plic·it

kəmˈplisit/

adjective

1. involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing.

You guys were there Frankie (and Betsy). You knew....

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Not ugly. Not inexpensive either....

Speaking of...

How about a stainless Merckx frameset, built with SR and Boras, to celebrate Eddy's 70th birthday? 

Only 70 will be made. 69 for public consumption. Eddy gets #1...DUH! Price for entry? $17,500.
The Boss said I could get a new, steel frameset. I showed her the VN article, and said I'd made my choice. This was her reaction...

So much for the support...

Dirt, switchback climb out of the valley. Only problem? It's in Ethiopia...
(and now the Font switches back to normal...on it's own. Ghost in The Machine)

Have a happy Wednesday. After lunch, the weekend is on the downhill...

We've located the problem...

Technology is ruining your ride...

(Reprinted from BikeRadar)

You know you're a modern roadie when…

20.    You return from an epic ride to find your GPS didn’t record and it feels like you just wasted your day and energy.

-Use of the word "epic" automatically renders this entry moot.

19.    Your gears stopped working… because of a dead battery.

-Cables always work, and even on the extremely rare occasion a cable fails, a stick can be wedged into a derailleur to find a gear.

18.    Your first ride of 2015 was on 2 January. All the achievable Strava KOMs were already taken. 

-STRAAAAAVVVVAAAAA

17.    You work out indoors on windy days because your aerodynamic frame and wheels are just too scary outside.

-Or go out and learn to handle your bike.

16.    A rest day is when your GPS is turned off.

- I. Can't. Even.

15.   You can't train indoors because your computer has a virus.

-The word "train" automatically renders this entry moot.

14.    You’re involved in a crash and you get X-rays… of your bike for insurance purposes. The sore ribs go ignored.

- Sadly, we all know of this occurring.

13.   You see someone wearing a tiger-print skinsuit and your first thought is ‘brave’.

-Unless your name starts with Cipo and ends with -llini, You sound be made fun of, relentlessly...PERIOD. 

12.    A car hits you because they didn’t see your ‘murdered-out’ bike and matching kit. Luckily, you caught the whole thing in HD video.

-I have a camera. I think the battery is dead.

11.  Your brakes are leaking oil.

-If this happens, causing you to be late, you will get left behind. Same if it happens while out.

10.  Your power meter keeps cutting out – you decide it’s pointless to ride like this.

-Or just tape over the screen for the whole ride.

9.    Distracted by your GPS, you hit the back of a car. (Perhaps using your Garmin while riding is no different to drivers texting?)

-If this happens, you will get left behind.

8.   It’s wet outside, so you wonder if you should just ride your cyclocross bike on the road today?

-Unless it's down, road rides get the road bike.

7. You get a flat and find neither you nor anyone in your group has a 60/80mm valve tube. You call a cab/your spouse, delete the file off your GPS and pretend the ride never happened.

-Always have a long valve tube. Long works in short. Not the other way around.

6. Your heart rate/cadence/speed or power sensor malfunctions and picks up the data of a young-gun riding past. You immediately screen-shot the effort. 

-Facepalm

5. You can’t operate your bike computer because the touchscreen doesn’t work with thegloves you’re wearing.

-If this is the case, you are riding with the incorrect computer.

4. You have a Gran Fondo coming up, but can’t decide whether to use 50/34, 52/36 or 53/39 gearing on the front. And the rear cassette is a whole other drama! 

-Facepalm v.2

3. You're sitting at the lights and go to push off – you shift for a gear but nothing happens. You quickly hear the laughter of your mate riding off and look down to find you’ve been unplugged.

-Someone in that scenario is a dick. Might be more than one person...

2. Fixing a bottom bracket creak is no longer a matter of reaching for a wrench and grease. It now requires a hammer, a cup remover, a headset press, a new bottom bracket and a whole bunch of Loc-tite.

-Nope. an 8mm and a BB wrench. Thanks.

1. Your crankset tells you not to quit your day job.

-A VERY limited few on this big, blue marble should EVER quit their day job. Know what I'm sayin'?

Signs

Sometimes, the Gods look down from the mountain, and send you enough signs that indicate you should have just stayed home.
Saturday was one of those days.
Yeah...it stopped raining, but it was still quite unpleasant. 40. Damp. Windy. Cloudy.
I decided to go out anyway.
Felt like crap. Forged ahead in the hopes that the bad stuff would get pushed out. The only thing that got pushed out was the tube through a destroyed Clement LAS.
On the 12th St. bridge, I hit a wheel weight from a tractor-trailer tire. Front tire hit it, and flipped it up. Rear tire hit it flush. The large hunk of steel-encased lead laced the tire all the way to the bead.
RIP rear LAS. You were a good tire...

No booting it. Called The Boss for pickup. She couldn't figure out where I was until I told her to turn left at the Krispy Kreme. Figures...
I rode for a grand total of 30 minutes. The Boss told me to switch bikes and go back out.
No thanks. It's a sign to stay home...

And this sort of brings me to a larger point, and ties into the whole Columbia "WalkBike" thing.
I was riding on the shoulder Saturday morning, just as I was a few weeks ago when I ran over the meth pipe.
Riding on the shoulder, and in bike lanes, is fine and well...if they're clean. All of the detritus from the road gets pushed to the sides, where drivers expect us to ride. Well, the two "cut tire rides" cost me $150 (at retail) because I chose to ride on the shoulder.
Part of proper, and safe, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure is making sure that surfaces provided are free of obstacles, and the danger they present.
The powers that be claim they want to provide safe roads on which to ride, but the bike lanes are always full of garbage, and the SCDOT ground the "drunk bumps" into the road, thus eliminating use of the white line/shoulder, forcing us into the lane.
Sounds like lip service to me...
Columbia, and our Mayor-who-sits-on-High, has to have committees and meeting after meeting to make the City friendly to non-vehicle transport, but a $35 Million baseball stadium gets pushed through w/o so much as a "Hey...how are ya?"

Anywho...Sunday met The Heathens with cool temps, but a BIG sun. It was quite pleasant. One of those ride days that if one complained about the weather, and being on the bike, one should just sell their shit.
A modified trip out to Swansea, up around the Ricky extension, and back in on Fish Hatchery. Speaking of, FH has become a pave section. Hey, LexCo, there are only so many times you can throw a shovelful of asphalt into a hole.
Know why we ride out in the lane? Go drive down Fish Hatchery Rd.
Back thru the airport, WeCola, and USC.
We said the ride would be shorter than last week's 117km, and it was. I got home with 108. ;)
It was a borderline perfect day to ride. If you missed it, you missed it.

And along the same vein, this is an open note to those living in the NE. That sound you hear is people in the Southeast laughing AT you...

...not WITH you. And please, don't get any ideas about moving South. We have enough of you already...

Taylor Phinney's little sister is gonna be PISSED. That skinsuit is going to be all kinds of stretched out when she gets it back...

Staying with things Pearl Izumi, the 2015 road shoe looks sessy. Too bad no one in town will bring in anything other than what their bike suppliers provide.

Hoogerheide was yesterday. Last stop before Worlds...



Women



If the video won't load due to Country restrictions, download the Hola app onto your chosen device. It gets around these sort of things what shocking ease. Thank me later...

Okay...get on with your Monday. I need to go to Whole Foods...

AGAIN?

Another really fun night ride last night. All the way out to Eastman and back in on The Powerstation. I lost yet anther contact. It's really fun trying to ride with any sort of pace, at night, in the pitch black dark, with one good eye.
Thank Dog that I've ridden that loop more than everyone else in town combined, and have the majority of it committed to memory.
I did overcook a turn though. Too much speed. Not enough vision. Might be time to order a pair of clear Oakleys to ride in. Contacts are pissing me off...
Watching HC disappear into the washout was nice too. which brings us to this...

Pro-Tip : Make sure you can get out of your pedals before attempting a CX dismount.

Couldn't have felt good, as any sort of soft dirt to land on has since been washed away.
And a big shoutout goes to the new girl on the ride last night. As we passed the "B" group, she let out a spectacular belch. I mean, truly impressive. Don't know you, but I like you!

And special thanks to the wanker in the Hyundai who decided to attempt a left turn in front of me at the corner of Gervais and Assembly. I guess the 3000-ish lumens shining in his eyes wasn't enough...
No matter. It was a solid 2 hours on the bike, on a pretty pleasant evening.

Two wheels good...

A stripper Ducati 750? Shut up and take my money...

Uh...how'd Roy get thru THAT?



Here's the last 10km. They were hauling ASS...



Steele Von Hoff has a serious kick. And likely the best name for a sprinter...
As for the crash, Lawson Craddock broke his sternum...HIS STERNUM!!!  Bet that's fun...

Time to get my day started. The Post Office and Publix are calling...

STRAAAVAAAA!

The 'roo is highly protective of his KoMs

Mid-week

Don't know about you folks, but my internal calendar is all kinds of screwed up from having a long weekend.
I thought yesterday was Monday, thus forgot to plug in my lights until about 4:30. Nothing gives one that secure feeling like leaving for a 2 hour night ride with less than a full battery charge.
Things to be glad for yesterday :
1) Running dual lights on the front. One light crapped out last night.
2) Feeling a little bit tired, and not riding on the front. Henry got to the big washout first, carrying entirely too much speed.
He got there, saw that it now resembles a chasm, and executed an emergency bunny-hop. Well, no so much a bunny-hop, as I think the bike left the ground as a direct result of the vacuum created by his sphincter slamming closed.
Everyone else dismounted and walked it, including yours truly, and you know if I get off, it's not passable.
It was nice of the "B" group to poach the private property again. Like I've said before, if they wanted people back there, that giant, orange, custom-fabbed gate wouldn't be locked to a giant steel post, and have barbed-wire around it.
The answer? "No one is back there..."
Well, no one is at the bank at night either. Doesn't mean you can let yourself in....

Back in through the trails, up onto campus, into the 'hood, and home. 2:15 on the bike is a pretty nice way to spend an evening. Did I mention it was in the 60s? And I rode in shorts?

And special thanks to the cranky old biddy who yelled at us for using the MUT...thru the woods...at night. Such a delicate flower. God forbid she share...like an adult.

Rapha, and pretty much everything it stands for, is daft. I do, however, have feelings for this frameset. Make mine the same, but leave off the Rapha logos. Thanks.

On your left....

And like Dean, I think my next bike will be metal. I'm leaning towards this ^^^^^^^^^^^^. Genesis OS 853. 44mm headtube. OS downtube and BB shell. $1400 F/F. Not a bad deal.
Or just sell out completely, and get the 953 Stainless version....

It's shiny. And twice the money. Did I mention it's shiny?
The money "saved" by going 853 just bought the 11v group. I'm no economist, but...

High 60s again today. Take your lunch outside.

Three-fer

The Grandma said she wanted Junior Management last weekend. Who am I to say no?
And seeing as she's half-retired at this point, and only works mornings, AND JM had Friday off, they went out to the LexCo office shortly after lunch Friday.
This allowed me to get out in the sunshine for a ride. A truly odd sensation through the week.

I didn't ride far, and I definitely didn't ride fast, but the legs got going around after a week of virtual inactivity, and the sun felt good.
Dean and I met Saturday for an easy 3 hours out through LR. Again, big sun, but it was chilly. The rest of my day was consumed with honey-do projects. The most affecting was the switch from the king size bed, down to the queen. Yeah, I know that's backwards, but as we're trying to get this place together to sell, the smaller bed makes the room look bigger. Perception and all that....
It's like sleeping on a postage stamp....
And moved furniture, and customizing the high-dollar headboard to accept the queen rails, just KILLED my back and legs. I figured Sunday would be a deathmarch.
We had a good group Sunday morning for the new Swansea loop. Once out to the normal turn, we headed straight, and added an outside loop, and it was easily the highlight of the ride. Terrific roads. Outstanding views. No cars.
Once in Swansea, for the regular BP stop, we headed home. A ripping tailwind on Hwy6, was punctuated by some dumbass redneck who passed us IN THE GRASS. Yeah, Dog forbid you got held up for 30 seconds...on a Sunday morning in Swansea. So much to do out there...DICK.
Tailwinds and crosswinds followed us home. And of course, I flatted...in the middle of a fecking climb. Super. Fixed it with a new tube, and a piece of GU wrapper...again, and we went hard on 176.
12th. St. was a bit of a challenge coming in. Nothing like a 20+ crosswind to end the day...
No matter. I actually felt pretty good, and hit the door with 118km. Yeah, I should have looped the block to make it an even 120. I didn't. Shut up.
Twas a good ride, and a good loop, with good folks.
Even though today is a day "off", I'm staying clear of the bike. I should probably go spin for an hour to get the crap out of my legs, and get some blood moving...we'll see.

And just when you thought the QuickStep boys didn't do any silly photo-shoot stuff, this leaks on the intarwebs...

So much to say...
Their social media people are simply asleep at the switch.

The TdU kicked off. Kittel opened his account early.


Two things :
1) Kittel looks like he needs :
   A) A bigger bike
   B) Wider bars
   C) Deep drop bars
   D) Longer cranks
2) What the F is up with that helmet?

But, who am I to ask these questions? He's the pre-eminent sprinter in the World. I'm some dumbass in SC, pecking away at a Chromebook.

Svenness 3.9
SVENNESS 3.9 from In The Crosshairs on Vimeo.

Happy Monday people! Enjoy it. I'm gonna go out and play with my truck...

Nope

No ridey last night.
I'll do wet. I'll do cold. I'll do dark. I will NOT do wet, cold, AND dark. Just a recipe for trouble.
An riding anywhere near the river is a big ask right now. It's a bit high...
I'm guessing the rain lately has restored some balance to the water table around here too, as we live pretty far above the river, and the sump pump in the basement has been kicking on with some frequency over the last few days....

I may go out for a quick spin this afternoon. Junior Management is going to the Lexington office this weekend. WhoooHooo!

And I'm going to ride the road bike for the first time in what seems like forever. Hopefully, there won't be any crack pipes involved....

This made me puke in my mouth a little...

It does say a lot for the strength of Look frames though....
And speaking of Look, our friends out at the Hawley Company are now the sole importer and distributor of Look frames in the US. A bit of a coup...
And I'm all for riding in the snow, but road bikes...in a group?

To paraphrase Oprah...
"YOU get a broken collarbone...and YOU get a broken collarbone...EVERYONE gets a broken collarbone...!!!!

And we've talked about the debacle at Nationals. Accusations flew. Fingers pointed. USAC got all 8th grade girl defensive, which isn't surprising, as they want to protect their monopoly.
Something really cool did come out of it though...

See there, on the left edge of the picture? Yeah, that's JBristol at the start of the D1 collegiate race. VW used this shot all weekend in their sponsorship materials online. He's sort of "internet famous". Of course, he'll tell you he was anyway...

And a little Vicky P to close out your week...
Enjoy...

The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend. Go outside and play...

Quickie

Aren't they all anymore though...?

Here's how a CX race is run in Belgium...(racing starts at 23:00)



Look! Mud and trees...

Sunday. 0900. Colonial Center. 70-ish miles out thru LexCo.
The Loop

There will be 1 or 2 stops. Everyone stays together. Winter pace. Cutoffs are aplenty.
Come on out. The weather is forecasted to be good. You might have a good time.

Same coin / Two sides

That was the weekend.
Big sun, blue sky on Saturday. It was cold(ish), so I went out solo on the CX bike. The aging body was a bit stiff from three days of relative inactively, so it took a minute, or 45 , to get going.
Once I turned into Eastman, things started to come back on line.
Didn't ride hard. No real reason to. Just kind of rolled along, enjoying nature out in LexCo.
Back in through the Powerstation, across Cayce, up through Gervais, and into the 'hood.
2 hours.
No pictures, which irritates me, as I saw THE BUCK. I wanted to get a picture of just how large his hoof prints are, but NOOOOOOOOO! It seems a sticky fingered 3 year old that shares my address got his hands on my camera. Several dozen pictures of the interior of my house later....
Dammit...
That huge buck is going to cream someone out on the lonely dirt road one day/night...

In the afternoon, I finished up the overhaul on the Eriksen. Such a nice bike...

Sunday, the other side of the coin landed up.
Cold. Windy. Cloudy. And?
After I watched the Belgian National CX race...I kitted up, and headed out. Temps were about the same as Saturday, but the lack of sunshine was key. It was not pleasant until the diesel got warmed up.
Same loop as Saturday, but with a bit of effort thrown in for giggles.

No, I didn't de-saturate this shot. It was THAT gray yesterday...
And on the outer section, there's an old house in the woods...

Seriously creepy. This is the point at which the decision was made to ride a little harder. (Shudder) Some Scooby Doo creep factor right there.
Another 2 hours on the CX bike. And it was good...

And speaking of CX, the City of Austin made the decision yesterday to halt the National Championships. Yeah, they CANCELED the races for the day.
Environmental concerns were raised by the "Austin Heritage Tree Foundation" over the grass and dirt/mud being forced away from tree roots on the course. Yeah...really...
What is a "Heritage Tree" you ask? According to the AHTF, it's a tree with a diameter of 24" @ 4' above the ground. By that rationale, no one should be allowed to so much as breathe in Shandon/Rosewood.
Austin has some rain, and some mud, and becomes the Lorax. The Belgian Championships looked like the Ardennes in August of 1914.
Nevermind the folks that traveled from far and wide, including families whose Junior racers didn't get to race. Some stayed to race today, but it will be interesting to see how thin the fields are.
Big shouts go out to those who gave time, lodging, and money to racers who decided to stay.
Shops gave time to build/breakdown bikes for those who stayed. People opened homes, and shared rides.
BikeLaw raised almost $10k to distribute to Junior/u23 racers and families to help defer the extra cost.
Tim Johnson, retired CX racer/Ambassador/All around good egg, hosted a free dinner for Junior/u23 racers.
And even Lance himself stepped up by making phone calls, and trying to mediate an agreement. He also provided lodging for several racers.
And people whinged, and thought him duplicitous for these actions. Dog forbid someone with a little juice try to help out! Proof that people are jaded, and will bitch about anything.
"Oh...I can't carry this brick of gold...it's too heavy...."  Dicks.

It was quite nice to see how the community of cyclists came together to help each other. And not just in Austin. Social media (Twitter) drove a lot of it.

"No Felice, I'm not cold! I'm just not comfortable having 'Little Felice' that close to me!"

Here's the Urban Assault Vehicle. Switching to a rigid Niner fork is all that's needed. And tubular Dugast 29er file treads? Brave choice, but you KNOW they ride like butter.

Embrace the Portland everyone! It's supposed to be gray and rainy until Friday...
WhoooooHoooooo!

Nope

Didn't ride in the dark last night.
Regardless of the "cold" (it really isn't...), this was my chosen week to rest a bit, as I was feeling a bit dinged up.
So instead of riding, I lounged on the couch, and watched Guardians of the Galaxy. Damn good movie. And it ties into The Avengers franchise...if you're into such things.
Ok...geek out over...

Back on it tomorrow morning. A couple hours on the CX bike should get me into the swing.

And speaking of CX, Nationals are going on in Austin right now. Our boy Bristol is there, racing in his last collegiate race. And we're trying to talk Dean and TVH into getting CX bikes to race Nationals in Asheville next year.

In Austin, for a top 5 in 70+, all one had to do was finish.
In 80+, there were three guys, and it was, evidently, a battle until the eventual winner rode away. 2nd and 3rd? A sprint finish...

And this is why you don't race track bikes on the road...

There's a whole lot going on in that 2 second GIF.

And the silliness that is the Greenville Spring Series is rolling back around...in three weeks. Yeah...Feb 7 and 8 is the first weekend. You have four weeks people...
Me? No thanks...
I'm just gonna ride my bike...

Happy Friday. You haven't frozen to death in the frigid temps...

Yin/Yang

So we had a really good ride last. Exactly what a night ride should be. Everyone was having a good time. We rode with a little pace here and there, and still stayed together.
I say "Yin/Yang" because, as has happened several times through the Winter, I lost a contact on the ride. Makes for a fun time in the dark.
Not ordering Alcon Aqua Dailies Plus again...and if you wear contacts, I recommend that you do not either.
Suck...
A good ride, one-eyed, is still a good ride.

And bicycles are a problem?  Sounds like bicycles are the answer in big cities...

The real reason gas is so cheap here in 'Murica. Please, tell me again how cyclists don't pay their fair share...
And folks ponder why we have infrastructure problems...

The Heathens are planning a bit longer ride in the coming weeks. It'll be 115-ish km from the Colonial Center. All are welcome. Doesn't look like much up and down, until one looks at the elevation.

Because a bike on the roof isn't a sail anyway...

Where are these places, and when do we leave?

Okay...kit designers, this isn't difficult. Especially on these Tinkoff kits.
DON'T design the shorts so the riders look like they're wearing nappies.

And the Cannondale/Garmin presentation is tonight in NYC. Cannot WAIT to see what the green argyle kits look like. ( can you feel my cynicism? ) Vaughters will be all hopped up on boxed wine and Viagra. Should be a good time...
If you're into such things, it can be streamed live. The link is available on Cyclingfans.com

I need to run out and get milk and bread before to Cold-pocalypse descends upon us. It's gonna be 25 degrees...
BRRRRRRRRRRRRR....

People in the upper Midwest are laughing. Of course, we laugh at them for choosing to live in that ridiculousness, so it's a push.

And a big shout out to Competitive Cyclist.
I ordered a pair of bibs, which UPS promptly lost, or so we thought. After a week of waiting on a 2nd day air shipment, Competitive sent me out another pair...gratis.
After a two-week tour of the Northeast, the first pair (and the second) hit the door yesterday. One is going back to SLC.
They didn't have to ship out another pair. They could have told me to wait. But they didn't. They serviced the customer
There's a lesson to be learned here....

We now return you to your normal programming...

Ah....
The Boss went back to work, and Junior Management went back to school. The silence is glorious.
JM looked like they'd spent a long weekend in Vegas this morning. 6:30am rolls around early when one has done nothing but wake up at the crack of 9, and lounge for two weeks. It was quite funny.
Breakfast looked a little like this...

Had a couple of good rides this weekend.
Dean and I saddled up Saturday morning. It was quite pleasant outside. Cloudy, damp, and about 55 degrees. While many of you say, "Fuck THAT!", once rolling that exact weather is quite comfortable.
We rolled right along. Right up until I was sabotaged...
Coming into South Congaree, I reached down to replace my bottle, and saw something shiny laying in my path. Front wheel missed it. Rear wheel hit it as square as one could possibly hit something. BOOM!
No hiss. No slow leak. The tire went, and went with prejudice.
As I rolled to a halt, and started the process of changing out the tube, Dean rolled back for a break naturel.

As he returned to where I was booting the tire with a GU wrapper, he presented his hand, and asked if what it contained was what I'd hit.
Yes...yes it was...
And that thing? A meth/crack pipe of some sort. Just the heavy metal end.
A big thanks goes out to the dope fiend who decided to just toss their paraphernalia out on the side of the road. It only cost me a Vittoria Open Corsa SL, and a Vittoria latex tube. At retail, only about $80. Dicks.

And here's the damage. I nursed that bitch home for an hour. The cut opened, and the casing began to warp. That silver seen thru the gaping maw of a cut? That's the GU wrapper.
Size reference? That's a 24c tire on a 23mm wide hoop. Not so much a cut as a gash...
Slept in a bit Sunday, watched Leuven, which was some sort of demented MC Escher-designed course, then jumped on the Salsa.
Twas quite fun. The Powerstation was wet, but not terribly heavy. All the way out to Eastman and back in. On the way back in, it was like everything became aligned, and the pedals just turned over. No effort. As Hincapie calls it...a no-chain day.
Seeing as it seemed wrong to waste it, I stomped it all the way across town, up Gervais, and through Five Points.
Maybe it was the return in karma for the premature death of the Vittoria, or from the tree I cleared on Old State. Who knows...but it was nice.

Stuff to look at and read :

Todd English nails it again.

A custom HD 750. Looks like it's ready to punch someone in the neck.

And from the "Yes, The Playing Field WAS level" files. 65% doped!!
Make sure you enlarge the graphic to see just how involved, and incestuous, it was...and likely still is...

Have a quality Monday. The sun is out, and it's going to get balls cold by Wednesday night. Go outside today...

Derp

Always good to see that CC still enlists the help of the adult Special Ed program to paint their front window at Christmas.
And seriously, if you are going to call yourself a cyclist, and claim that you were a Cat 2 racer "back in the day", you should really know how to spell "Cannondale".

Good to see that nothing has changed with the "artist"....

Well...that was fun...

The NYD 98km went off w/o a hitch...
It was 30 degrees and foggy. Sounds like good WX for a bike ride, eh?
We started with a solid group of 11, and lost 2 in Gaston. My Rosewood peeps turned to get home early. Pregnant wives sometimes take precedent. Glad they came out for the first part of the ride though!
Well, there was ONE minor hitch. A right turn we were supposed to take led us onto a dirt road. And while this didn't bother a few of us, I didn't think it was right to drag the group down an unknown, yet very inviting, dirt road in LexCo, on a loop I mapped out.
No worries. We ostensibly went around the block, and got back to exactly where the dirt road came out.
(I'm riding it next time we're out there...FYI...)

A couple more roads we'd never been on, and we were to Swansea Hwy. We'd cut across a couple of the roads on myriad occasions, but never turned down them. All were really good roads. Low traffic, a bit of elevation change, and some reasonably attractive countryside. I'm guessing on the last part, as that part of LexCo is non-descript, and quite gray in the dead of Winter.
I'll get back to you when things green up in Spring...

Over to Swansea, across the ridgeline, and back home. The ride was EXACTLY 98km for those who parked at Colonial. I ended with 106.99km. I know...I should have ridden up the street a little bit...

And that 30 degree, foggy start? Yeah, it turned into a Chamber of Commerce day by 11am. It was well worth the chilly start. If you made excuses, and missed the ride, that's on you.
The rest of us had a damn good time!

After a quick turnaround, I loaded up #1 and #2, and we went and rode again.

Another 15km with the boys, which brought me to 122km for the day. That was plenty...
And I came to the conclusion that I need another bike to ride with them. The CX bike ain't built for that business.
And I saw a lot of folks out riding, which is great, but put on a helmet folks! And NONE of the children we saw were wearing a hard hat. Just irresponsible...

And speaking of CX bikes...
Stevens has a slew of riders on their new bikes for 2015...
van der Poel's is easily the favorite...

Walsleben's is a close second...

...though the white would absolutely destroy my OCD.
I'm sort of down with the Shimano hydros too. Small, and unobtrusive.

Yesterday's lovely day has given way to Portlandia out there today. Rain is expected until Monday...of course.
No matter. I'm going out Saturday and Sunday...

I hope everyone got outside, ate their fill of pork, kraut, collards, and black-eyed peas, then watched two pretty good football games.

I need to make my first Target trip of 2015...oh joy...
When does school start back?