my toy bike

One has to wonder if I would descend with more confidence on a mtn bike that actually fit. Surely...

But whatever. I've had more fun on this bike...it's only during races that I begin to question its suitability.

Kurt Vonnegut

Two striking sentences from Cat's Cradle:

My soul seemed as foul as smoke from burning cat fur.

Her smile was glassy, and she was ransacking her mind for something to say, finding nothing in it but used Kleenex and costume jewelry.

the ride...

...is really nice.

Really. Nice.

And I wasn't prepared to say that. With my dilly-dallying around it seemed ok, but I was honestly second guessing all the $ and time putting this thing together. But this morning I got to ride it fast and THAT is where it rides nice. Really. Nice.

It's hard for me to explain without relying on trite phases like "front end stability" and "stiff, but comfortable," but all that explains it well. It's right around 400 watts where I can really tell the difference between this ride and my last one. It just feels fast. Stable. Stiff. All that.

Yeah.

Buy a Tarmac.

From In-Gear.

...

Too bad I don't have the same positive feelings for my mtn bike. Yesterday I drove the 45 minutes from Philly to Granogoe and beat a little more crap out of that red bike of mine. The headset has had it. Maybe after replacing that I'll like the bike a little more. Maybe just a little.

Race report: Two flats--one for each of the two laps I completed (I was supposed to do three). Awesome.

Lessons learned: (1) I go up good. (2) I go down slow. (3) Forty psi is too much for that course.

After the race I tooled around on Moats' new race 29-er a little. The difference between my bike and his was disturbing.

raw

Building this bike has been a headache...not the bike's fault, but mine, because I'm a moron:

(1) I still haven't settled on a permanent stem. Specialized gives nasty warnings about using stems with large cutouts on their carbon forks. The easy solution is to use a Specialized stem, but they only make them compatible with oversize handlebars, which I'm not fond of. I found a suitable stem (in a drawer of misc. stems at Merv's), but it's a heavy sucker. A good 1/4 lb heavier than a Ritchey 4-Axis.

(2) You'll notice in this last pic how short (too short) my cables are. I tried to recycle old housing--it wasn't that old--but it didn't work out. After I had the bars wrapped the front brake cable was pulled so tight that I couldn't keep the brake from rubbing the rim. Ended up having to cut new housing...and throwing out the new cable. Had to do the same thing with the front dérailleur cable.

(3) I screwed around with the chain too much (installed it without feeding it through the dérailleur and, rather than taking the dérailleur apart, which is what I should have done, I tried to break the chain and put it back together Shimano style...SRAM chains don't like that) and ended up snapping it right on that link that I was messing with one mile into my first test ride.

(4) And I haven't got my hands on any of that special non-slip stuff for carbon posts yet...so the post won't hold me and I still haven't had a decent ride on my new bike.

But...as you can see, it looks beautiful...

...

I've almost got the other bike completely TT-ized. I'm just missing bar end shifters. Then I can run all the cables and I'm all set.

i pulled the trigger

And out shot this:
The boys in Hummelstown are taking care of me.

I'm very excited.

maryville

Last weekend I was introduced to the farm.

a few turns; a few sore muscles

We got a couple of inches overnight, and it'd been cold for a while so I figured for a decent man-made base... Anyway, I played hooky and went skiing.

It was actually a pretty decent day on the mountain. It kept snowing all day and they had the snow-makers on full bore so there was enough snow to feel like you were actually doing some work with each turn--that is, where the pitch is actually steep enough to necessitate a turn, which at Whitetail isn't very often. And the muscles are sore in a different and pleasant way today, making it more than worth the while.

But while the snow-makers certainly contributed to better conditions, they didn't contribute to the general aesthetic ambiance of the outdoor experience. The machines were so loud you couldn't have a conversation on the lift ride up. Preferring an orderly loudness over the din of machinery, I plugged in, tuned out, and skied most the day listening to the short stories, poems, country lyrics, and article-length musings of Tom Robbins.

the mountain roads are iced over again; time to go mountain biking

Had a nice long 4+ hour mountain ride today. It seems like I ought to be able to crank out four hours without even blinking. The last hour or so I was blinking.

Also, cold feet. I've figured out how to keep every other part of my body comfortable and warm on cold days, but the feet remain a problem. They're expensive, but with as much time as I spend riding in the cold I can't help but think these would be a good idea. Booties take such a beating on the mountain bike anyway...

...

Absolutely loved my Thursday ride, ten miles on the rails-to-trails to Newville and (ten) back through a snow fall heavy enough to have completely obscured my outbound tracks by the time I made it back to Ship.

I just can't get over it: fresh-fallen snow is just so magical. Let it snow, baby.

the wisdom of Ignatius

I finished Confederacy a few days ago. Brilliant.

My wife, initially turned off a bit by its sometimes blunt vulgarity, has I think come around. She sent me a note today with a favorite line.

Ignatius, when threatened by his mother with a stay in a psychiatric hospital, comments:

"They will try to make me in to a moron who likes television and new cars and frozen food. Don't you understand?"

I understand.

Society is sick and you have to be ill for it to praise you as a success.

go(a)t milk

I am finding this very hilarious.

(Can you hear Oskar's voice--that's how he would of said it, very hilarious.)

winter

Went down three times today on icy Ridge Road. Once right in front of a hunter. Awesome.

Also, somehow neglected to stuff my goggles and (the mysterious) balaclava in my pack.

Coldest. Ride. Down. The. Mountain. Ever.

Stopped twice to warm my penis (admittedly, remembering the goggles or balaclava would have done nothing to keep my penis warm). A small leaf hit my cheek at 30mph. Hurt like you wouldn't believe. Had I not shaved my winter fur a week ago (or had I remembered the balaclava--or the goggles) this pain could have been prevented.

Otherwise it was a nice ride. :-)

...

Currently listening to A Confederacy of Dunces. Marvelously funny. At one point on my ride I came around a bend laughing loudly--I think it was Ignatius' attempt to lead the factory workers at Levy Pants to insurrection. A Mennonite woman crossing the street to collect her mail probably thought I was laughing at her. I tried to play it off with a sheepish wave and a warm smile. I was not likely very convincing.

a few weeks ago...

...we had this pretty killer ice storm. I guess this sort of thing is normalish in PA, but it's new to me.




These pictures were all taken near Big Flat in Michaux. From the last picture you can perhaps see the precarious state of the riding conditions--one half inch of ice on all the smooth-ish surfaces. I rode to and from via roughish trail, which allowed a good deal more traction than would have the dirt roadways, but with all the fallen trees and branches even that was an abnormal adventure.

...

On the bike, notice the new front disc brake I recently installed. There's a new front wheel to go with it. That front wheel has a rear companion, but only after I had ordered everything and installed the front brake & wheel successfully did I notice my frame doesn't have mounts for a rear disc brake. Disheartening...

If you're interested in a perfectly new and unused rear wheel (FSA XC-300) and disc brake (Avid BB7) they're yours. Otherwise they go on eBay this spring.

...

The new goggles (it's hard to explain how good I feel about new goggles)...

...and the cold-weather digs:

Those neon green booties... I bought them in '89 or '90. I thought you'd like to know.

this morning...

first snow

There was snow last week.

Unfortunately, it wasn't cold enough today and the heavy rain ended all the fun.

...

Also, I took the silver medal in the PA cyclocross championships (B men). Didn't win it, just took it. (dumb joke)

It was a great race. Muddy, muddy, muddy. Went down hard on my hip walking down the steps on my way out to the car. Went down hard on my shoulder 200m from the line taking a corner too fast. Currently suffering two deep bruises.

But now the long season is finally over. And I can rest. And look forward to the long, casual rides of wintertime. And getting a lot of use out of my new goggles. New goggles which work surprisingly better than the ones I pulled out of a lost-and-found box some 11 years ago, and which also have the distinct advantage of not leaving a ring of decaying black foam around my eyes when I take them off. You know, it's the small things...

...

In unrelated news, I'm going to a chiropractor tomorrow for the first time ever. I'm hoping he'll be able to relieve some shoulder tension and help with my back pain. But I'm nervous. I can't imagine that I'll really be able to relax enough to let the voodoo witch doctors work their terrible magic.

cycling news

I made it into print.

Wow.