Quitter

I signed up for both the M45+ and the Elite 1/2/3 races at Moser Farm.
20 minutes before I planned on leaving, I threw my bike into the stand to check the chain lube. Last time I rode it it was shifting fine, but now it wouldn't shift to the smallest cog. I must have messed something up on it when I did an uphill endo trying to climb the big hill in Cheshire on Wednesday. Quick fix, but never the less disconcerting.
Pre-riding everything seemed okay; a little crunchy, but okay.
Lined up in the second row, whistle blows and we're off.
Jim Thompson again has done a masterful job using the terrain to his full advantage to create a diverse and challenging course. Especially important with the weather being so nice this year (Mother Nature ain't making it hard). There were 3 or 4 sets of barriers, 2 run ups, and a mini "spiral of death".
First lap in I'm where I want to be, about tenth spot, but I'm having a hard time pushing myself. There is a bumpy descent in the beginning of the course, start of the second lap I dropped my chain on it, and that was it. I rode the rest of the lap, soft pedaling, staying out of the way, and exited at the officials table.
Just like that.
True story.
Josh and James from 503 Cycleworx had just got to the race and were parked behind me. I whined a bit about gears, to which James very astutely pointed out that they seem to work for pretty much everyone else.
Then they asked if I was going to stick around and race the E 1/2/3? I said no, but I might have used more colorful language to express my intentions.
When I got home, I whined a bit more to Kim. She was puzzled when I proclaimed my shifting whoas (shifting? gears? When did that happen?)
I'm thinking of pulling the plug on the cross season. I've had 3 mountain bike rides since September and that's just wrong.
But the State championships are next weekend and they do have a Singlespeed category. Only thing is I don't think I have it in me to swap the Kite back over to SS, so I'd have to ride the Swift which actually might work better in Cheshire.


Or I could just ride my bike.

I'm thinking things...
We'll see how things go this weekend, but, well, we'll see...

Bonus!

I was on the fence; should I go for the rare lunchtime ride or try to Rambo through the afternoon and try and get a ride in on the way home from work before dark? I like the lunchtime idea, but it seems somewhat decedent to me.

Then the power went out.

I paid the bill, right?
(of course I did, but without power there's no way to check in this day and age)

Well that makes that easy; lunchtime it is!

Rode around the local orchards and reservoirs. Who knew Crazytown could be so lovely?
I've got to do this more often.

I was just going to get a jump on the morning, grab my bike and put it in the truck.

I'm so efficient...

But you can't just take the bike out of the stand, without giving the cranks a spin. Wheels are pretty true, but we're missing a bar end cap...

and what the...

cable housing end is somewhat FUBAR'd?

Hmm...

Try and fit the end cap back on the frayed housing end, but you know it's an exercise in futility.

Unwrap the bar taped remove, the housing, replace the housing, re-thread the cable...
the cable's too short?
How the, is the cable too short? Housing was the same size, why isn't the cable long enough?

That's okay, I've got another Campagnolo cable left in my kit...

Thread it through...

It's too short?

What the...
How can a brand new cable be too short?
Campy must do something cute like have different front and rear cables in the kit.

Grind down the head on a Shimano cable, thread it...
Hey look at that; long enough...

Twiddle some knobs, crimp some ends...

Wrap the bars..

What did I come down here for?










...don't forget the bar end plug.

Best Time of Year

While everyone else was racing around Northhampton, I made the best of my time in CT. Tried to minimize my time on paved roads as much as possible.

Headed thru the res., and out the powerlines to Simsbury

Revisited the trails of the Stratton Brook CX course


Enjoyed the hospitality of Ethel Walker's

I'm finding in my old age, I don't mind bike paths quite so much anymore.

Reconnaissance

The Connecticut State CX championships are coming in a little over two weeks. I had the good fortune of doing a little reconnaissance on Wednesday (Thank you Hunter and Joe!).
After Joe took a leaf blower to the "Hill People's" hill, I was able to ride it.
Hunter from Cheshire Cycles thought they should make it either harder so no one could ride it or easier so everyone could ride it.
I want it just hard enough so I can ride it but none of the other geezers I'm racing can.
Here's a preview of coming attractions:

Vote

TJ and I went for a real humdinger of a ride on Saturday. Headed South through Tariffville to Pennwood and then North to Roncari. Ironically spellcheck says humdinger is a real word whereas spellcheck is not.
I was feeling pretty guilty as we hit Pennwood because I had skipped trail maintenance to race my bike the previous Saturday. When I got to the area they had worked on I didn't feels so guilty. They cut out some awesome fast and swoopy ledge cut trail, and a challenging switch back. Their reasoning probably was the switchback was erroded (although it really hasn't changed in the 17 years I've ridden Penwood). I'm sure they had some reason.
BUT!!!
I wasn't there, and I'm not a member of NEMBA, so I really don't get a say in the matter. Like if you don't vote then STFU!
The reason I stopped joining NEMBA was I wasn't happy with the trailwork project I did volunteer for, and the infrequency of work in my area. Well they were in my area, and maybe if I was a member I could have had some say in the "improvement" they made.
So vote.


Okay...let me have it Mark.