No crashes

I took my chances with the weather for 5 laps at CamRock #3 yesterday. Well, actually, I stopped by Yahara Golf Course to look at the weather radar before driving the 30 minutes to the trail. The blobs on the screen were moving away so off I went.

I had converted the Ringles from Russell to Tubeless on Wednesday so I took a two laps to dial the pressure just above squirmy. The NanoRaptors were doing fine on the mostly dry trail. The rains had a difficult time getting through the canopy and the only wet areas were the open ski trails.

I'm digging the 1x8 for training. I have to keep telling myself the Singlespeed is the primary ride...

I had the trail to myself until 6:30 when 3 others showed up for a lap before leaving. Baby steps I suppose. Not everyone wants or has the time for 2 hours on a trail.

Wausau Wors is the weekend. I might tank up on water for Comp Clydesdale rather than Comp SS. We'll see.

Memorial Day

With ~4600 soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen dead since invading Iraq & Afghanistan  Memorial Day should have more meaning these days... 13 years in the Army entitles me to say that... we need to withdraw everyone now.

Then we could have more people on the trails and a few more showing up at Russell's to burn things and drink PBR. (I brought my own Bell's to get started)

The Host and the Mrs.

Russell vacations with "the Predator." Note the head-shot on #6.

Well, PBR's won't drink themselves.

After sleeping at Russell's I joined Cupcake and Liz for breakfast at John's Sandwich Shop. I love the bike rack.

Liz really did have a good ride to Bubba's... and perhaps too much caffeine.

The gathering at Bubba's. He Manned the grill and kept a PBR at arm's length. I was digging the ramen salad, almost like at LuLu's.

Genetic expression

Since Russell and Cooop are holding a grudge against rodents I thought one from the Milwaukee Museum might be appropriate. Note the expression, it almost says "oh shit, Russell and Cooop are after me." 
...but then he is just a rodent so maybe it's a perpetual expression.


The Jetta was loaded and driven to Kendall. It didn't take long before Sephie showed how proficient she is at cycling.



Ride, take a break (eat some Doritos & have a few sips of Sprite), ride, take a break, ride, take a break and so on until the destination is reached. As much as I might want her to ride or race single speeds, there needs to be a development period. I know it will take years before her body can deal with the saddle time needed for longer rides or the pace of races (road or off road) but she's got the mentality now.


The first of the 3 tunnels on the trail. 

I didn't realize how long they really are. Without a flashlight it would be slower going than it already is.


The scenery from the trail was typical Wisco. Dairy cattle and farm land are along the trail, but there is an Amish farm and we were lucky enough to see the tilling of the soil. Or it could be fuel prices have gotten high enough the Amish aren't the only ones using horses.

At Wilton we stopped at the "Pie are Square" diner. One of my favorite breweries, the Pyramid Brewery is in San Francisco. They are finally being distributed east of the Mississississississississississississississississippi River.


So a round of pie ala mode was had before the return trip.

Pecan pie with Apricot Ale signifies the official start of summer for me.

Sephie doing her Megatron impression

On the return trip, at roughly 14 miles ridden, Seph started to either bonk or suffer a sugar low from her two scoops of ice cream and apple pie.

Karen drew the short straw as she had the rack on her bike. It was mostly up hill, which surprised me because I thought trains were too lazy to climb hills. 

I had the easier job of bringing the bike along. It was a little difficult snapping a picture at the same time...

After we walked through the tunnel she regained her legs and her focus... and then some. The 3 mile downhill leg back to the car was great. She dug deep and "finished the stage" with some fire. She'd been giving me "the look" all day when I'd pull along side her. If you've ever raced you've seen or given the look when the turns of the pedals get serious. I pulled along side her and relieved her of her fleece and tried to pull ahead to put it away in my back pack. She had other ideas...

Then I caught the finish...

Whether it's football (not that ponzi american style), swimming, cycling or whatever Sephie does, she'll have "the look" ready to go... and the desire to finish the competition off.

Trail riding today

With today being the only chance for a family bike ride we're headed up to ride through the tunnels by Sparta. Sephie is getting a major upgrade today. I'd looked to see how close she was to riding a 26" mountain bike over the Christmas holiday and it affirmed my efforts. So today I put a shorter seat pillar on Karen's Big Sur and adjusted the brake lever reach and presto... no more 20" bike to ride! It's pretty dialed. A set of my Mavic hubs with Ti spokes on 231's and a few other upgrades over a stock Big Sur (vintage 1997-ish)



Meanwhile, I spotted Randy running at the WORS #2 in Lake Geneva while cruising youtube... It's been a while since I've seen Randy push a bike up hill, he kind of looks like Cupcake what with the green Salsa and all...


Still, at least he's racing.

Reduction

Yin & Yang too for that matter. The last few weeks have not been spent training. I rode last Tuesday at the Farm (aka Area 25.5) on the Ferrous. What wasn't a ripping downhill was an uphill walk. I was geared 34x18 which was too tall. A 21 would have been better given my lack of conditioning. Still, the rocky downhill ravine at full speed was refreshing. The fallen trees at the bottom showed me the awesome stopping power of the Stroker Carbons. 90 minutes or so of riding was enough as the winds picked up and sprinkles started. I thought I was going to get hammered by a storm so I headed back to the car. A pit stop at TBS West to hang out with Jesse delayed my getting home. His StuporFly rocks. A pure carpet fiber race machine will be providing many a rug burn to the competition.

Today I rode the Flyte with Dan & Brian at RockCut #3. I hadn't been on these trails before but they were worth the short drive. Intermittent showers changed the trail lap to lap, but it was very ridable and challenging. There's an "expert loop" which is a little more challenging with its rockier descents and log obstacles. The third rock drop off got the better of me in front of Brian. I thought I had the right line but my back wheel tried going faster than the front via a route over my head. I landed on my head and slid on my arm and leg... crash... flip... thud... grind... *DING*

The *DING* was my handlebar bell announcing the end of my crash. I was a little shaken up. I haven't had a real ass over tea kettle crash in years. But a swig of water and a bike check and I was ready to ride. the only bike damage was a little "kick"in the rear wheel. (sorry Russell)

Brian saw the error of my way...


I did maybe 3 hours of riding and felt pretty good... Oh yeah, the Flyte is now a 1x8. I only shifted maybe 4 times. Most of the time I was in a 36x21 but later I bailed and would drop it to the 25 for the rocky uphill corner. It was nice to have the gears if only because I have no power or strength. I could see running 1x8 for 24/9 though...

Added bonus... my bundle of joy came from Twin 6 yesterday. I wore my Argyle jersey today and it held up in the crash. It'd be super sweet if they made bibs. I'm just sayin'...

Images to come.