Temps in the mid teens today found me meeting up with my long time riding buddy Tim. Little talking, we hit the trail in order to promote heat & blood flow. Not many other friends would have braved the cold for almost 3 hrs of pedaling with me but Tim is always smiling and eager. That I am thankful for....friends like Tim.
Stork
It's the first day after the holiday and I managed to get a mountain bike rude I'm with Timmy Lyons for the first time in weeks. Bavington was muddy be we did a solid 2 hours of riding before parting ways. It felt good.
Now I'm sitting in Oakland waiting to pick up A-L from work. Then it's off to Cleveland to visit her Dad.
Enjoy the warmth cause I'm praying for the cold frozen temps to come back....and SOON!
srork
Winter snow finally came! I got a ride in with Anna-Lena on Sunday which was her first shot on the mountain bike and with clipless pedals!
StorkFinally getting around to wearing the new Pearl Izumi Barrier winter cycling footwear.
I've had both the Lakes and shimano winter shoes but the Pearls have a little stiffer sole and toe spikes which may help when off the bike during the snowy rides. All in all they are really warm and fit nice but the Shimano shoes are still my favorites. Easy to put on and get off, priced right and wear pretty good. These Pearls however are just a notch above the Shimano if you're interested in a slightly fancier shoe go with it instead.
Stork
Well well well, winter is just starting to show itself around here. I have no complaints about that at all in fact I look forward to it. Finally this past week the temps dipped low enough to provide us with some frozen trails and lucky for me a new superfly 100 showed up.
I've been shy about falling victim to the full suspension but I have to say after just two rides that this thing is wicked fast..wicked I say twice! Pro pedal really provides for some stable climbing but this bike carves better lines than a plastic surgeon with a scalpel. More to follow as I get a few more rides in on it. So far I really like it and think for certain courses/races that it will be my first choice!
Stork
Made the trip this past weekend with Bob Myers to Traverse City MI for the 20th Iceman race. Weather turned out in the mid-fifties and the course was dry and fast. They added a few miles to the course between the start and some single track mid way. I actually like the change to the start and always welcome single track. However i did wish for some snow! I think i've raced the Iceman like 5 times and never has it been anything more than cold.
With warm temps and dry ground this race turns out to be fast and favors the roadies. Its a game of cat and mouse the entire way as you try to stick with the group or catch up to the one that dropped you. 17MPH average is a bit high for a mountain bike race in book. Anyway it was enjoyable as always and i really have to thank all the Fisher/Bontrager/Trek folks for their hospitality and support. Especially Bob who drove up with me and then took care of getting me to the race and picking me up. I really appreciate everything he does for me. THANKS BOB.
The race went off and lining up with more than a dozen top Pros has a very humbling feeling. Just who am I to think i can run with these guys...but hey anybody can win if its their day. We took off up the pavement and made the first turn at which time the real guys started to jockey for their placement. I slapped Sam Schultz (Fisher Subaru) on the shoulder and explained that i was going to take his rear wheel for a ride to the finish line. he politely said ok as long as i allowed no one in between! We'll that lasted about 300 yards before he pulled away.
I settled into a pace following another rider but quickly realized that several others were pedaling past and i needed to get around this guy. A quick move and I jumped into a group moving up through the pack before hitting the first bottle neck of singletrack.
From here on out it was a struggle to stay on top of the heart rate and breathing due to the wicked pace by everyone there trying to attack. At least twice i felt my lungs tighten and breathing became very shallow. Lucky for me the pace dropped back and i recovered before having to pull over and deploy the rescue inhaler to ward off a full asthma attack.
the groups thinned out the further we went until i was riding alone for the last mile or so. Finally another in the books! Iceman and a season behind me.
Its been a great year and having wonderful coaches from Eatough Coaching has really helped along with all the support i get from my local Shops and the guys at Fisher. I've won a few really tough races and had several other top finishes so it feels good to end the season with a great race like Iceman and all the fun that comes with it.
stork
So i got my hands on a set of the Bontrager Carbon 29er Wheels. You know the ones you never see and when you ask someone why they don't have them they all say "they'll never stand up to the rocks and roots here in the East" So i've been rocking these out for a couple months and i must say "I'm saving up for a second pair"
They are for one thing extremely sexy looking but more importantly one must understand that they are a small weight savings over the other wheels but a huge increase in stiffness. Ok maybe not huge but noticeable to me.
Over the long haul of a race the weight saving in a part that is moving will more than likely play a larger factor in your performance than a part that is stationary like a water bottle cage stem seatpost etc.
Well enough, you either understand it or don't. So i've ridden these wheels at a few races already. Chequmegon in WI, Seven Springs 24 hour race in Champion PA and Dillion State Park in Ohio. What i noticed immediatly was the tracking and path my wheels took trough the rough stuff. A normal wheel deflects slightly as it rolls into, over and around rocks or obsticles but the Carbon Wheels did less of this. Almost making it easier it push through something rough on the trail.
Never yet have ihad any problems with the wheels and again like all Bontrager wheels the Tubeless system was actually easier to set up than putting a tube in a wheel. I've been using the wheels continually around my area in the local Parks and still wonder why more guys haven't made the switch.
Stork
