Shirts, Qualifying and Complaining

Last week I picked up this year's Pro-35 shirt order, and once again Cris did an incredible job.  He was able to take my vision from a photograph I'd taken last summer and turned it into exactly what I wanted. 

So what's with the car?  It's been a recurring image throughout the last year, and has become a sort of  allegory for my effort to turn pro.  After all of last year's events I felt like I still had the same potential but had some work to do to get back to being race ready.  The same engine is still under the hood.  

I've been tweaking my position over the last few days and think I've gotten it pretty dialed.  The only problem is that it's not the same position I've been using for the last few months of training.  By all accounts changes as major as the ones I made should be made in the off season when there is time to adapt slowly, but really I didn't have a choice.  My back injury from a late May has been flaring up and I couldn't steer around a sapling to save my life.  Fortunately the tweaks I made address both, but the bad news is that my body isn't used to handling torque with the more upright posture.

The Wilmington 100 is this weekend and although I'm excited about it I'm trying to set realistic expectations.  My heart isn't set on qualifying, it's really just about experiencing the race so that I can prepare for next year.  My back is either going to hold out or it isn't- and there's no amount of worry that can change that.  

Fortunately I have one of these on order and I really hope it arrives soon.

Detail oriented readers will note that I had a 2012 Mooto X YBB in-hand and may be wondering what happened to it.  After waiting for the 2012 version updates (from the warranty replacement from my 26" YBB) I realized that if I was going to run suspension that I wanted some real travel.  My original YBB was a great one bike option for every ride and race I threw at it, but now with the RSL there wasn't enough difference between the smooth 29er hardtail and the slightly smoother short travel YBB.  My recent back issues have only reinforced that going for a longer travel option was the right decision.  Delivery is still a few weeks away but I've been dutifully readying the components so that I can be ready to build once it does arrive.

For now it's taking it easy and getting ready for the weekend.  

Bolton, New Shoes and Miscellany

This week I've been back to training even though the weather's been uncooperative.

Monday looked to be the warmest and driest day judging by the forecast, so I took the initiative to go for a short recovery ride.  Tuesday was cold and pouring so I rode for a little over an hour on the rollers before yoga class, then Wednesday was Bolton.

Ah, Bolton.  I posted on Facebook that I'd be climbing it, partially because I thought if I started talking about it to I'd actually do it.  My strategy worked, and I made my first trip to the top of the season. It started to rain about halfway up, and I ended up getting pretty soaked as I crept my way back down.  Amazingly enough it was still dry at the bottom and hadn't rained a drop.  

I felt pretty good and was able to stay smooth the whole way, but my time wasn't awesome.  Part of that was being tired from Tuesday's class and part of it is a result of some changes to my training this spring. 

In years past I've done a lot more road volume, but this year I'm really trying to spend more time offroad so that I can hone my skills.  It seems to be working, and I find myself riding faster, smoother, and braking less.  As a result I have a little less strength for very long, sustained climbs like Bolton, but when I consider the demands of my main events there really aren't many long climbs- they're short and punchy.

Thursday my new Pearl Izumi Octane MTB II's showed up, and I spent a few minutes at lunch getting the cleats setup.  I'll post some more thorough details on these after I have some more time on them, but so far I've been impressed.  They're light, stiff, and have a very good fit all while taking a unique approach to being a high end XC race shoe.

The less-than-stellar ascent of Bolton and new shoes were fuel enough for me to decide that I needed to do another hill climb so I made plans to do Cottonbrook and committed to doing it all in the big ring.

When I got to the trailhead I spent a couple minutes balancing like a one-legged scarecrow while adjusting my cleats on the new shoes, but overall my quick cleat setup method served as a great starting point (I'll post more on that later).  After that initial fiddling the shoes felt great and I made my way up the climb with relative ease.  I'd expected to be far more beat up from the previous day's ride, and although I wasn't setting the world on fire I did make it all the way to the top in the big ring.

My time was a little slower than my previous best this spring, and some of that was taking a deliberate pace but also I think struggling with such a tall gear on the steep sections is slower than turning a lower gear over.  I kinda knew that already, but it was interesting to see it first hand- the big ring is not always faster.

Also this week I made some strides on the next order of t-shirts.  Here's a draft version of the artwork.

The shirts are going to be dark gray heather- quite a bit darker than the background here, and the print will be a little lighter so there will be more contrast.  Cris at Factotum Design is printing them again and we should have them completed within the next couple weeks.  There will also be hoodies with the same art on a pre-order only basis.  If you are interested in either one let me know.

Also this week I've been wrestling with the intermittent performance of my aging heart rate monitor.  That may not seem like a big deal, but it means sometimes I'm flying blind without it and other times I'm just getting really frustrated that it's not working.  As soon as I can get the right battery I'm going to attempt this on an old chest strap.  It's not working now, so I really don't have anything to lose.

 

For now it's counting down to the end of the work day and getting ready for some more training this weekend.  There's still a slim chance that I might do Flower Power, but most likely I'll skip it and focus on getting some high quality riding done.

Distraction, Procrastination and Projects

In between work, Christmas shopping and some occasional relaxation I've been making my way back into being an athlete.  Last week I got in four workouts in a row- some on the rollers, some running the river loop, but all quality.  Fortunately this time of year I can be unstructured, and I'm trying to use that to my advantage.

Riding over Christmas was a bust.  After fighting to stuff the RSL into the trunk with all of the clothes, presents and miscellaneous stuff for our Christmas trip I felt like I had to actually go for a ride.  I got off to a slow start after fumbling around for most of the morning, but I did hit the trail head with the intention of riding for about 2 hours.  After 40 minutes of riding I got a sidewall cut that I couldn't repair with my frozen CO2 cartridge and walked 4 miles back to the car.


During that walk I realized my current set of mountain bike shoes really suck unless you're clipped in and pedaling smoothly.  Had I known they were going to suck so much I would have taken my chances with some Sidi replacement lugs and JB Weld on an old pair of road shoes.  That may end up my solution if I can't line something more substantial for next year, and so far it doesn't look good. 

While looking into my pageviews last week it appears that the snowboard tuning bench setup I made for Carrie is getting some traffic- if you're looking for that post you can find it here.  It's interesting given that I only really gave that passing mention in the post, but if you have some ambition and a couple 2 x 4s it's pretty straightforward.  What's also interesting is that I end that post by rambling about how I should really put some time into getting the Redline ready to ride.  Funny how some things never change. 

I've been contemplating an order of Pro-35 hoodies.  Artwork would most likely be similar to the earlier t-shirt run, though I may change the location of the print.  In case you forgot, this is what it looks like.

I'm considering a slight color change that's in keeping with the 90's-era Mavic pallet seen above.  That means I might swap the pink for the green found on the Mach 2 CD rim shown below, but the jury is still out on that.

Unfortunately there is no shortage of things to spend money on this time of year with ski gear, cycling season pre-orders, and the various winter costs of extra fuel and propane just to keep things interesting.  This idea might not get off the ground, but the t-shirts were a hit so I'd like to do something long sleeve to go with them.  I might do zip up rather than pullovers, but there again it depends on cost, and if I can't get afford quality shirts I'm not going to do it.

For some 'cross season is still rolling, and the remarkably mild fall and winter have made that exceptionally easy this year.  Embrocation has some really cool 'cross articles including an interesting recurring feature about Jeremy Durrin found here.  It's worth a read as it's not just the usual "I went to Belgium and got my ass handed to me" race report that you find from Americans racing in Europe this time of year. 

Now that 'cross is mainstream there's no shortage of content, but I've found myself interested in some of the more retro stuff.  Things like this fan card of legend Klaus Peter Thaler for instance.

 

I did in fact get some 'cross fan cards of Albert Zweifel and Roland Liboton and I fully intend to display them in the basement once I figure out a clever way to do it. 

Of course mention of anything retro 'cross would be remiss without mentioning Alan.  A few years ago I was fortunate enough to race as part of the Alan grassroots 'cross program, and it was cool to represent a brand with such a rich history in the sport.  The US distribution has changed hands since then, but the bikes are all still handmade in Italy.  Around the time of Klaus Peter there were few companies who actually made their own 'cross bikes, so Alan made them for almost all of the European brands like Guerciotti and Colnago.  Almost all of the greats at that time rode Alans, and I can vividly recall BMW-ProFlex sponsored Henrik Djernis riding the '96 worlds on a bonded carbon/aluminum frame.   

Here's a shot of Don Myrah's Guerciotti-badged Alan 'cross bike that he still uses from time to time.  I'd be remiss to not mention his palmares either as a national 'cross champ and '96 Olympian in mountain biking. 

And of course when I do get back to competition I am going to get my ass handed to me.  I've been semi-active for too long, and now I need to put some effort into rebuilding my overall health and fitness so that I can achieve some sort of meaningful progression in 2012.  I felt like I got close in 2011, but was still just a half-step away from really kicking ass.  I was close to guys I wanted to beat but I just felt like I was slightly off the pace- and I want that feeling back.  There's no France trip to jump start my season this year, but maybe Wayward and I will get together for some ski-centric masochism to get ready for the riding season. 

Maybe tonight I'll actually get the shop setup instead of just talking about it.  Of course that will happen after I ride the rollers for a couple hours, so all bets are off. 

The Warehouse- Shirts and Stickers In Stock

 The shirts have arrived, and Cris did an awesome job on them.  I have Men's sizes S-XL available, so if you'd like one track me down or drop me a comment and I'll get in touch.  As much as I'd like to give them away I do need to offset the cost of getting them setup, so $15 covers a shirt and shipping. 

Here's a close up of the artwork on the chest.

This is the artwork on the sleeve.  

I also have a ton of stickers in both the older style on the left and the newer style on the right.  The newer ones are based on the sleeve art from the t-shirt.  If you'd like either one please let me know and I'll drop some in the mail for you.  

Pro-35 T-Shirts

I'm going to get a small run of Pro-35 t-shirts made with the artwork pictured here and printed on the chest and left sleeve.

Local screen printer extraordinaire Cris Jones of Factotum Designs will be printing the shirts.  If you've done any events like the Bike 29 Gravel Grinder or gotten a shirt from the VT Mountain Bike Festival in Waterbury then you've seen Cris' work. 

If you're interested in one please email me or leave a comment and I'll be in touch before they arrive in roughly 4 weeks. They will probably run around $12-15 and a dollar or two for shipping- just to cover the cost of getting them printed and out the door.