Earthbound

The house is silent. The girls are soundly sleeping. The cats... Fella's patrolling the 'hood for bunnies, Pallisades is scanning for squirrels from the window perch, Mavic is cuddled with Karen and Merlin is nestled on my sweaters.

I have a "race" today. Madison-Basco-Madison starts at 2pm from Orton Park. I'll finally meet Kittens and the others from the BKB. The route Kittens came up with doesn't look too challenging, mostly railroad bike trail. But there's the human element that will result in me seeing stars and feeling lactic acid burn through my body.

There's no specific bike requirement so anything goes short of a RATO assisted beach cruiser. I'd love to use the Seven. But the shit of the bike trail and the unknown portions of the route make me wonder if I'll be carrying it instead of riding it. The Rig would be good but what gearing? A 34x15 is the tallest I have if I end up trying to keep up with 'cross bikes. M900 has been sitting idle for 18 months since being cannibalized for the Rig. So yesterday I broke my cardinal rule. Never build a bike the day before a race and expect it to work perfectly. It's been years since breaking that rule but still, gremlins will lurk. It's a Tomac-esque ride now. Drop bars, rigid fork and 8 gears via a barend shifter could make it perfect for today.

At least Wednesday's snow has melted and made conditions just marvelous.