29 on 29

Wheel size.
Who cares?
Some people defend their choice of wheel size with a zeal that should be reserved for much more important issues.

Like chocolate.

But over on the MTBRs they came up with a silly little bandwagon to jump on:
Ride your 29er on the 29th.

Cute, huh?

Being a big fan of frivolous sociality (Blogger says that isn't a word), I decided to jump in with both feet.

I wanted to get in a ride before work, but because of the snow event, I had to pick up LB @ 11:15 AM.
11:15?
Why even go?

So I didn't get to ride my 29er before work.
I got to ride it at lunch!

I tried to get an action shot

that didn't work out too good

So then I thought I'd just get a static shot of Blü.2

such a pretty bikes

speaking of pretty, powerlines look awfully nice with a little frosting

I guess the early dismissal was called for

Ride details with all sorts of fancy metrics, graphs and charts can be found here:
http://app.strava.com/rides/4643231

Dagnamit!

I thought I had it all figured out.

By some strange paradox the chain length for a 18t cog and a 19t cog are different on Blü.2.  For me, the useful cog range is 18-21. 18 is about the biggest I can push (I'm working on that) and 21 will get me up all but the steepest courses.


chain for "regular" gears

chain for "big boy" gears

It's like I'm getting carded or something. No admission without another link.

But them I remembered I has a drawer of half-links from back in the magic-gear days.
With a half link maybe I could get the Holy Trinity of cogs; the 18, 19, 20.

So I went to work.
Put the half-link in and tried to hook up the power-link.

No-go.
The half-link seems to be too wide for the power-link.

This used to work on my Ol' Pal Stumpy, why not now?
I'm using a 8 speed link?
In the past did I just muscle it shut?
Is this just another senior moment where I can't remember how I accomplished something just 5 years ago?

I won't be able to keep any SS secrets; you can check my chain to see how manly I'm feeling.

Just a little further

Saturday was one of those days where you, or rather I, was just looking for an excuse.
I wasn't feeling great on the bike.  Healthy enough, just wasn't "into it" I guess.
The snow was kinda crappy.
There was just enough half frozen slushy wet snow to add a little extra resistance.  That plus the wind (yes, even in the trees the wind was a slight factor) was making things a little more challenging.

Oh, and did I mention I had Summer racer-boy tires mounted.

On Thursday there was no snow in the forecast, and after all the work it took to get the stubborn tire to seal on my well worn and dented rim, I wasn't a going to change it back.

I had a "normal size" gear on too.

I kept on making that deal with myself "well go to that point, and if you're still a whiny little baby you can then turn around"
I got to the point and set another point.

But the further North I got the better the conditions got.

conditions got so good it was almost like riding on a road

What the?

Seems after all the people whining  about "needing" electricity after being without for over a week from the October snowstorm  the power company decided they "needed" a way to get to the powerlines.

Fortunately they only needed to "improve" a few hundred meters of trail.

By the time I had got to Wintonbury Rd I was starting to feel pretty good, and ran out of early bailout spots.
I knew there would be no more need for shortcuts, and had got down to the business of just enjoying my ride.

Senior Moments

Rambo'd through a ton of work today in anticipation of a small window of opportunity


Bike's here

but nothing's up here?

because it's here

...and that's the sound of the widow closing.

Hey!
That's not a bike.

but I'm pretty sure it's a singlespeed

F100 sure does provide a good view

Now that's a bike!

15.6 mph.
That's it.  That's all I could muster on my ride home tonight.
I felt decent enough, but the motherfuckingmotherfucker headwind had other ideas for me.

As I turned onto Farmington Ave for the final stretch home, as the sun was setting I saw another cyclist heading West.  He was spinning like mad, yet not moving too fast.   We waved, I yelled something about enjoy the tailwind, and realized he was yelling something similar, proving cyclist always have a headwind.

As the sun dropped below the horizon, the wind began to die down as I pulled onto my street.

Bad Blogger

I really should have taken pictures this weekend.
I could have shown you the trails of young men of privilege, who I doubt know how privileged they are having such nice trails at their disposal.

I could have shown you new place I rode and people I met on Sunday.

But alas, I'm a bad blogger.

I will share with you the oatmeal raisin cookies I made yesterday, but not the Belgian waffles I made Friday, because again, I'm a very bad blogger.

Sunday night:

Monday morning: