Hampshire 100 Race Report

On August 18 I completed my fourth consecutive Hampshire 100.  It was hands down my hardest race of the season.

It was only a few short weeks ago, but in many ways it feels much longer than that.  Leading up to the race I'd had some awesome days out, like the Catamount 6 Hour race.  I'd had some breakthroughs at races and was riding really, really strongly.  My goal was to carry that form through August, but a series of events, fatigue and an especially intense weed pollen season made that very difficult.

Since the flood we had some drainage issues around the house, and during one particularly intense rain storm (the day after Catamount, believe it or not) we got about 4" of rain overnight and had some water in the basement.  It wasn't that much water, but I went into full-on PTSD panic mode.  In short, it consumed me.

On one of the hottest days of a very hot summer Ben, Carrie and I worked for 10 hours to move 7 yards of gravel with shovels and a wheelbarrow to sure up the ground under the bulkhead and raise the driveway up a little further.  Our work paid off, but it was a very arduous task that took as much out of me as an endurance race.

The next weekend we went camping, which was fun but robbed me of some much needed sleep.  I never felt right that weekend and was having a hard time getting out of my own way.

Leading up to the race I got some decent sleep, ate well, but felt beat up.  My last Wednesday night race was fine but not awesome as I got tangled up with an overly aggressive single speeder who crashed into me as he tried to pass at an inopportune moment.  The Saturday before the race I felt inexplicably terrible.  I didn't want to get out of bed, and I certainly didn't want to race.  By late afternoon I decided to make the trip and after an inadvertent detour I got the venue, set up my tent and went to sleep knowing I was going to give it a shot without expecting a great outcome.

Stsrtline 2011- I'm the third white helmet in from the right.

You may be thinking that I went into it with a defeatist attitude, but in truth I was just being honest with myself and what I thought was possible.  When I got up Sunday I felt alright, and after the gun went off I had a solid first 2 hours on the mostly flat, wide open dirt roads and rec paths.  I was still not pushing the pace too much as I knew I wasn't ready to let it all hang out, but when I got to the Hedgehog climb with its 28% grades I ran out of power.  It wasn't that I was tired, fatigued or otherwise beat up- I just couldn't get my heart rate up, and I certainly couldn't pedal with any force.  Shit.  I knew at the race didn't start until that climb, and I was staring down the barrel at a long day without my diesel climbing legs. 

A little further along was the Powerline climb which is steeper still than Hedgehog and approaches 30% in spots.  Nobody rides the whole thing, but I rode more than most.

I rode this unnamed section, but I wasn't fast.  Photo jacked from have2run blog

Believe it or not I pass most people in endurance races on the climbs.  For whatever reason I can stay smooth and aerobic when others have a hard time keeping their bikes moving, and by doing that I can move up.  The same was true at Wednesday Worlds at Catamount this year- on climbs under about 5 minutes I was able to maintain my gap or even close them down slightly.

And none of that was with me on the course.  Every uphill was a struggle, and as soon as I felt like I was finding a groove my heart rate would drop.  I decided to settle in and push along with what I had.  By riding smart and pacing I figured I'd be able to at least finish, even it wasn't going to be the inspired ride I was hoping for.

My edge over last year's finish was that I have been working extensively on my handling skills.  It wasn't that I could ride anything that was super difficult, but I rode almost everything I felt comfortable on, and I was maintaining what speed I did have on more of the course.

At around mile 50 things started to even out.  My lack of early horsepower meant that I couldn't dig deep, which meant even though I had less to work with I was far more fresh than I would have been if I could have put the power down.  It was weird.  I wasn't really able to pass people, but I was ready to get the race over with so I did most of the remaining climbs standing in the big ring.

What I wanted was a Coke.  As I rolled into the last aid station a handful of women ..."manning" the station were buzzing around offering chain lube, snacks, etc.  Then she said it- the blond haired ring leader uttered the words I'd wanted to hear all day.  "Do you want a Coke?"  "Fuck yes I want a Coke!" I exclaimed.  In the next 40 seconds I drank about 20 ounces as another woman politely lubed my chain.  I have no idea who they were or what they looked like but they were all absolutely awesome and made my day.

From there it was mostly downhill, and damn it felt good to finish.  Remarkably enough that sub-par performance was good for 6th which made it all worth it.  My streak of finishes is still intact so that I can go for my Hampshire Hardcore next year if I can finish 5 years in a row, so that's definitely a goal for next season.

Maybe I'll even go for the full 100 miler. 

For more perspective check out Graeme Street's race report podcast.  

Interesting Random Bikes

Here's an assortment of stuff that's caught my eye recently.

First up is the integrated custom carbon awesomeness that Ergon put together for their team rider Irina Kalentieva for the Olympics and World Championships this year (from the Ergon fb page).  It's a an integrated bar/stem/barend/grip combo with special clamp mounts for her brakes, shifters and fork lockout already molded in.  There's also a cool integrated Ergon GS-shaped grip with some thin padding attached.  Nothing actually clamps around it- all of her controls have molded mounting points or are totally integrated into the design.  

Next up is the carbon Zaskar that Cecile Ravanel raced in the first Eliminator World Championship race.  Standard 26" wheels, singe ring up front with an MRP guide, dropper post and American Classic tubeless wheels.  Nice setup.

This one is from the roadie-centric slam that stem.  Not sure what's so captivating about this, but I really like the simple 1 x 10 drivetrain with the two color paint, Reba and Thomson post.  Looks understated and put together- not to mention fun to ride.

And since I put together my Moots Divide I've been checking to see how other guys are setting theirs up.  This one is a 26" wheel version built up by one welders at Moots as featured on their blog.  It's a pretty sweet and versatile setup with a Fox up front, wide Answer carbon bars and sweet matching Answer Rove XC stem.  This is the second one I've seen with a dropper post, and since it's a 30.9 you've got plenty of options including...

The new dropper post from Thomson.  This looks like the usual Thomson fare- well made, machined aluminum pieces that use their existing mounting bolt and clamp configuration.  I don't have a dropper post, and at this point I would wait for this one.

And that would be a cool addition for non-racing outings on my MX Divide.  It's pouring right now or I'd offer a better image than the shitty iphone/dishwasher shots featured here.  I'm still deciding on how I want to dress it up, and since Tomas just sent me the Race Space SDG kit it's now looking pretty dope in green and blue.  The new Moots kit is navy with some green accents so if I can stay on the program next season (please?) I'll likely run it like this.  I'm really digging it right now with the blue topcap, blue seatpost clamps and blue Pro-35 sticker next to the green/white saddle and very vogue green grips.

Here's another angle.

Frustration, Anger, Acceptance

"The more things change the more they stay the same".   That adage with its blended elements of zen and pessimism is a pretty accurate summary of my attempts at racing standard cross country events this season.

I'm in good shape.  A couple weeks ago I set a new PR on the Bolton hill climb, and at last week's Wednesday Worlds I had a 1 minute gap on my nemesis on lap 2, rode off the course, he passed me and I was able to claw back a 30 second advantage by the top of the climb.  So the fitness markers are there.

My skills are improving.  While I'm not setting the world on fire I am much smoother than I was a year ago.  

My cool kid inhaler seems to be working.  I can start hard without wheezing, and generally feel like oxygen intake isn't a problem beyond the usual at my limit and can't go any harder sort of thing.

I've even switched to half and half in my coffee instead of light cream.

With all of these indicators going the the right direction I've decided to try my hand at a few standard distance XC races this summer.  

 

And at the risk of sounding melodramatic it's been all for naught when I toe the line for standard cross country races.  It's like I somehow have reverted to the fatter, slower and less smooth version of myself from years past at those races. 

For both XC events this year it's been hot- over 85 degrees with high humidity and an even higher pollen count, and I've also dug really deep midweek before both races so I may not have been in optimal racing condition.  

It just confounds me.  I'd like to be able to do some races that are a little shorter and cheaper than marathons, but really it's been an enormous sense of frustration to be able to race for 1 hour or 4 hours but not 2.

So I'll be sticking to marathons for the rest of the season, which was the plan all along. 

Stickers and an Update

Things have been up and down on the racecourse over the last few weeks, but the good news is that I think I'm figuring it out.

Today my new stickers arrived.

I promptly wasted most of lunch break sorting out how I'd best display them.  They're a little taller than last year's version so they don't lend themselves well to round frame tubes.  So with a little creativity and a pair of scissors I came up with this- bumper cutout on the right leg, url around the left below the SID decal. 

More news to come including some details on riding with Wayward and look for a great post called "How I Spent My Summer Vacation, or Why I Got An Inhaler."

Yeah, really psyched to be one of the cool kids now.

One Down, Several To Go

I'm glad my first race of the year is out of the way.

This week was my first Wednesday Worlds, and my first race of the year.  Sure I'd been training pretty aggressively and had some new found trail skills to put to use, but a lot has happened since my last event on August 21, 2011.

I've deliberately avoided posts about training.  Some of that is probably because I can tell I'm improving but still don't have a good handle on where I am relative to last year, and some of it is because I'm a little self-conscious about it all.  Somewhere between the whining about hard efforts and existential crises taken out of context is the day-to-day of riding and training.  Keeping track of my performance has always been a challenge for me and I don't want to add pressure to myself or try to get too grandiose about how bad ass my training has been or how I'm going to take people apart on the race course.

Racing is hard, and although I remind myself of that regularly there's still no way to fully prepare for that all-out effort unless you're actually toeing the start line.  Physically and mentally there's no replacement for racing.

Leading up to Wednesday's race I was nervous.  I've been totally off the local cycling grid and have been riding almost exclusively by myself.  That suits my introverted style, and I push myself, but it makes it tough to benchmark relative to the competition.

So how'd the first Wednesday Worlds of 2012 go?  Overall pretty well, though I was ready to pull the plug halfway through the first lap.  This year's hill course is similar to years past, but somehow it manages to incorporate all of the sharp climbs at the expense of the long diesel ones.  I like the long diesel ones.  They suit my riding style and I know I can dig a little deep and reel people in towards the top.  I don't like the short, sharp ones.  It's tough for me to produce such short, sharp repeated efforts and I have to factor them into my pacing strategy.

I didn't do Flower Power, and I didn't get a full warm up.  The start of the course was similar to what we'd done before, so I anticipated where the hard efforts would be based on that.  I was planning on a handful of short, sharp efforts and was metering my effort accordingly.  My start was good, probably a little too good.  I was heading up the second steep climb with the group I want to ride with but can't quite yet.  I backed off a little and let a couple guys go who I knew I couldn't chase.  After that I got a little too aggressive punching it going over the wall and started to feel the effects of the start right when I needed to be maintaining my pace.  Ouch.

I started to slip a little, but recovered slightly for what I thought was the last steep pitch.  Previous loops had the gravelly slog up to the rockwall as the top of the course- but not this year.  After bouncing over the rockwall it was all new singletrack trough the woods- and a shit ton more climbing.  Barely halfway through the hard part, I was hurting pretty bad and going backwards fast.

From there to the top of the seemingly endless climbs I was essentially soft pedaling as racer after racer slipped past.  At some point Nemesis caught me and we started riding together.  Before long we were in a small group and were trading places with each other for the next few laps.

By that time I was starting to settle in a little, and knowing how much climbing lay ahead I backed off a little on the early steep sections.  That didn't really make it easier but it made the overall pace more sustainable.  Meanwhile my trail skills were totally gone.  I was riding like I'd just crashed (even though I hadn't) and was just losing time on every stupid turn.  Dammit.

On Lap 3 things improved a little.  I'd sorted out how I needed to attack the climbs, knew how long they were and was able to get a little smoother on the turns.  Simon's instructions about falling into my socks were starting to change my actions instead of just rattling around my head like some empty affirmation.  Looking back I think I've just done so many races there that my well-worn bad habits crept back when I was on the rivet.  I had to relax and back off a little so that I could let go of some tension and really feel the trail, and while I wasn't really smooth I was certainly smoother.

Nemesis and I had traded places many times through laps 2 and 3 with some other riders in our group trading pulls periodically.  Somewhere on lap 4 I got a gap and stretched it to 30 seconds by the finish.  Beating him is not why I get out of bed in the morning, but it's a very real performance benchmark.  Last year I had a couple of early season races where I was way ahead, and yet as I thought my fitness was improving he caught right up.  

Really I have no idea how I'm doing compared to last year.  Wednesday's race was a favorable indicator and I'm glad I finished when I really just wanted to quit.  I think my form is pretty good and if I can tweak my pre-race prep a little (by pre-riding the course and getting a decent warm up) with the right pacing I can improve on my performance.

Maybe I'll do Coyote Hill this 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.

From the Saddle: Bolton Recovery Ride

Enduring Hardship

April is a heart breaker.  Weather can be warm and sunny or damp and rainy with an inconsiderate randomness that makes consistent outdoor training very difficult, and of course none of that is any way new or surprising.

So far I've had two weeks of 100% dedicated on-bike training for the 2012 race season.  Sound like a late start?  It's certainly nothing like last year's super intense and nearly perfect transition from long ski training hours into a high mileage training trip in France.  

In many ways I feel like this GTI- plenty of potential, but in need of some work before race day.

March was warm and mild, and in spite of that April is taking its usual sweet time to fully commit to being spring.  I'm really at a point where I need to put my full attention on training so I can't let the weather slow me down.  

But I'm not at a point where I can augur myself into the ground with huge volume in nasty weather either.  The shake and bake training approach has never worked for me, so I'm going to be realistic about my expectations.  I'll be riding outside as much as I can.  Mountain rides will be for skills and intensity, road rides will help with the volume.  There's no way I'll have race worthy fitness for at least another 6-8 weeks.  My first race is the Leadville Qualifier in mid June, the Whiteface Wilmington 100 on June 17.

That first race is really to get used to the event and see how I do without worrying about qualifying yet.  It sounds like it's a very roadie-centric course with a lot of climbing on dirt roads and limited singletrack much like the Leadville event itself.  If I do qualify it will be through the random lottery and not by winning my category.  If that happens I'll have to be honest about my fitness at that time and whether or not I can afford the trip to Leadville.  

The question this time of year comes down to how I go about building the ramp from pre-season to race fitness.  Is it worth it to ride three hours in the rain, or should I ride inside until I hit my sanity threshold there?  Should I drive to Stowe to do hill repeats at Cotton Brook or should I deal with road spray on Duxbury Gap?  Can I legitimately do a recovery ride on trail if I walk the steep hills?  Will I really walk?

So really it comes down to how much I need to train to be ready to race.  It's a familiar position for any athlete, and this week the suffering clock has been set back to zero.  The same engine is still under the hood- I just need to find it again. 

This One Snuck Up On Me- Diamondback Steilacoom RCX

During my trip out to Seattle I was fortunate enough to borrow Simon Lawton's Diamondback Steilacoom RCX.  It was a great way to get out and see the city, and after a few rides I found myself really liking the bike. 

Steilacoom, wide shot.

What surprised me the most about the bike was how responsive it was under power- when you put the pedal down the bike takes off without hesitation, and the drivetrain/bottom bracket stiffness is great.  Most of that is attributable to the BB30 crank, but upon closer inspection you can also see a well thought out and highly manipulated tubeset that also plays its part. 

Bottom bracket with BB30 stamp.

Most of my riding was on paved rec paths and commuter trails, but I was able to make a couple of dirt dalliances to see how 'cross worthy the bike truly is.  Turns out it's a solid performer on dirt as well and the underfoot stiffness doesn't translate into an unnecessarily harsh ride.

Here's what the underside of the top tube looks like- note the subtle flattening in the midsection for more comfortable shouldering.  Simon is sponsored by Diamondback, so he supplemented the very stealth decals with some bolder and more visible white letters on the downtube.  

The BB30 allows for very thick chainstays which are highly manipulated to allow for tire clearance.  This also helps keep things moving forward when you're pedaling squares.  

The seatstays are manipulated to allow for some vertical compliance and are fairly thin top to bottom but wide side to side.

The overall package of the bike was deceptively nice- everything worked remarkably well including the Shimano 105 drivetrain, DBR brand cockpit (save for the shorter stem that I used- Simon is 6'4"), Equation rims, Avid Shorty brakes and venerable Michelin Mud tires.  Nothing flashy, but solid parts with no corners cut.

Handling was as predictable as any other CX rig I've ridden and was a good blend of being stable and maneuverable.  The bike was a 59 and a full size above my normal 56, but with minimal tweaking it worked out fine.

I didn't get to race on this bike, but if the opportunity presented itself I certainly would.  Diamondback isn't at the forefront of the CX arms race, but the Steilacoom benefits from being under the Raleigh umbrella, and Raleigh has certainly cemented themselves in the very competitive Pacific Northwest scene.  If you're looking for a second bike or are new to the sport with $1525 to spend then this is a great option.

For more info visit www.diamondback.com/2012-steilacoom-rcx.

Off Road Classics

This winter has been widely publicized for being rather mild, but there's still snow on the ground and I'm getting the jones to ride.  I guess it's not really a surprise that I happened upon these bikes on the retrobike.co.uk site and found them particularly captivating.

First up is a classic Yeti ARC.  The custom painted Rockshox Judy SL fork, matching ano turquoise
Ringle stem/post/bottle cage and deep section HED carbon wheels make this really look like every bit of the mid-90's racer it is.

This Yeti is a little more modernized and looks like it's ridden fairly regularly, unlike the previous bike listed in this post.  I'm not sure how they got disc tabs on the rear dropout without an ungainly adapter, but the paint-matched rigid fork and subtle but high end build kit means this bike gets ridden periodically and isn't just for show.

Any retro race bike post would be incomplete without a nod to the GT Zaskar.  Growing up GT was sold by a rival shop across town and so I'd developed a natural resistance to them.  It wasn't until college when I saw some up close (including Wayward's Xizang) and developed some respect and even a mild affinity for them.  Sometime during my college years GT fell on hard economic times, changed hands and then bumped their way along for a while.  Recently they've make a bit of a comeback and since sponsoring World Cup racers Todd Wells and Burry Stander have been making inroads back into the racing community again.  This particular model predates all that, and I think the Zaskar was one of the best mass produced race bikes of its time and truly represented GT in their hay day.  

This Merlin XLM is another throwback.  Many of Merlin's key employees survived the transfer of the original company and followed Rob Vandermark to Seven.  This was one of the Massachusetts-made ti frames that was undisputably one of the best options available in that material at the time.  There weren't many of these floating around back then, but given their durability (and the fact that mainly doctors and lawyers could afford them- there I said it) many of them are still in service.  I'm not sure how I feel about the "Afterburner" finish on the M960 XTR crank, but the rest of the bike looks pretty dialed with the cool for the 90's red ano parts treatment.  

Last is one of my favorites, the Fat City Shock a Billy.  I've mentioned these in previous posts, but I have say I think they're very cool.  I have no idea how well they ride or how durable they are, but the suspension concept was way ahead of what Trek and Cannondale were running at the same time with their unified rear triangle Super V's and Y-bikes.  Those things sucked.

SDG saddle, XTR 940 build kit and what looks like a Rock Shox Mag 21 painted to match.     

Ah bikes.  They're always fun to look at.  I can't wait to actually be able to ride again.  It won't be long.

J Bailey Cycling Cap

People have strong opinions about what a cycling cap should or shouldn't be, and how it should or shouldn't be worn.  For me it's an on-bike piece of clothing, so if I'm wearing one I'm either riding or about to be.

As a cyclist I definitely have a fair number of cycling caps in my collection. My new favorite is indisputably the handmade J Bailey that arrived yesterday.  The design is simple black with a Tricolor visor stripe that appeals to my Francophilic tendencies.  

The cut is a pretty basic three panel that fits smoothly under a helmet.  The material is cotton, but has a nicer feel than any other cycling cap I've ever worn- and with my shaved head there's a lot of hat-on-scalp contact.  I would describe it as the difference between this and a normal cycling cap to be like the difference between a high quality ringspun cotton t-shirt like an American Apparel and a Hanes Beefy-T.

What I really like about this cap is the visor.  Most visors end up being too long when they get pushed down by a helmet, but this one is the right length to sit just at the top of my line of sight across the upper edge of my glasses.  It's out of the way but still provides some protection from the elements.

Another benefit of the handmade, small production approach is that there are sizing options beyond the usual one size fits all that's usually on offer (has one size ever really fit all?).

If you ride a high end, handmade bike why not wear a high end, handmade cap?  For more information or to buy one visit his Etsy shop.

Objects of My Attention

The untraditional winter we've been having has been well publicized, and it's made for some interesting conditions both on the road and the trail.  Skiing has been very hit-or-miss, and I've had days that are either awe-inspiring or completely humbling- sometimes even back to back.  Folks in other parts of the state have been able to ride right along in November-like temperatures and only mild accumulation of road grit.

Fortunately bike geekery is not weather dependent, so here is a sampling of some of the bikes that have been on my radar recently.  And no, I don't own any of them.  Yes, I wish I did.

The first in a trio of IF's is this Planet X Cross.  IF is known for their cool paint schemes and this is no exception, but what I find most interesting about this bike is the Campy build kit.  I can't tell from this image if the bike is Ti or steel or whether the gruppo is 10 or 11 speed, but regardless it's a cool setup.

This Ti Factory Deluxe is the sole mountain bike in this post, and yes I'm partial to titanium 29er hardtails.  This bike has a cool blend of new (Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels, ENVE cockpit, Ergons) and classic (ti, XTR) wrapped up in a simple but well-executed paint scheme.  Mountain bikes aren't often considered elegant, but I think this one might convince people otherwise.

The last of the IF's is my undoubted favorite- the Ti Factory Lightweight (all IF images from the Independent Fabrication blog).  Sure the paint is rad, but the innovative ti/carbon design makes the ISP seem relevant on a metal bike.  The stealth Campy Super Record 11 and Mavic SSC Carbones keep with the Ferrari-esque aesthetic.  No battery powered shifting here.

Not quite an ISP but still a high performance ti frame, this Hampsten Gran Paradiso is an update one of their long-running models.  The extended seat mast as a recent change within the last 18 months and I think it makes this bike more race-inspired.  Hampstens aren't widely used as race bikes and their geometry reflects that, but they're carving out a niche with the ever growing gran fondo crowd.  According to Steve Hampsten this bike as pictures tips the scales at 15.5 pounds with pedals so it's still more of a performance piece than a Porsche Panamera.

 

In some circles Australian custom builder Baum has started to make a name for themselves.  Their offerings are straightforward steel and titanium designs with remarkably eye catching paint work.  This one pictured above was featured on their website, and every single one of their bikes has a similar simple yet jaw dropping aesthetic.  Make sure you check out their Giro tribute bike from May of 2011.

Right now the weather for this weekend looks like it will be pleasant (for February), and with any luck I'll be able to get some more workouts in.  I did manage to reassemble the Race X Lite rear wheel bearings, but they aren't quite as smooth as they should be so it'll take some more tinkering before I feel comfortable riding them.

So for now, it's daydreaming during the week and keeping the matches dry for the weekend.

Sram XX Grip Shift- Coming Soon?

I have to admit that I've long been a fan of Grip Shift.  The combination of fast shifts, light weight, simplicity, user serviceability and remarkable low cost made them my preferred option for a long time.  When I switched to 10 speed I had to run triggers since Sram didn't have another option.

Fortunately World Champion Jaroslav Kulhavy is also a Grip Shift fan, and he ran a XX prototype at Worlds.

After that Sram circulated this press release.

2012 is Grip Shift's 25th Anniversary, and my bet is we'll see them at Sea Otter, and with any luck hacks like me can get our grubby paws on them sometime around June or July. 

A Breakthrough, a Letdown and Power Tools

Since New Year's I've been able to get out and ski a few times, and now I'm starting to feel like I'm getting my ski legs back.

In previous posts I've mentioned how I've been ramping up my midweek activity, and believe it or not it's been easier for me to do that than to reliably get in solid workouts on the weekends.  That effort feels like it's starting to pay off, and even though I feel like I have to fight harder to keep up with my master's group I think it's worth the trade-off.

Saturday I got out for a couple hours with Spinney.  It had been below zero overnight, and after some debate I managed to get my skis waxed and out the door.  He wasn't doing much better and couldn't find his iron, then needed a scraper, etc.  It was like two old women getting ready to drive to bridge club.

Once we got to Trapp's we hit some of the usual trails and made our way down through the race course to Skater's Waltz and across to Aither for the first time this year.  That's not a flat route, and Spinney was hell bent on skiing to the cabin so after chasing him around for an hour and twenty minutes we made our way up.  I didn't set the world on fire, but I skied steady and felt like I was making solid time.  I'm not sure how much faster he was, but I stayed in contact for a good section of the climb and didn't stop at all on the trip up. 


More remarkable than that was a completely smooth descent back to the lodge- and the first time ever I made it down without falling.  It was then that I realized that this was a breakthrough day for me.  I'd never made it to the cabin so early in the season, and certainly not chasing somebody with solid fitness.  When we got back to the car it was hard to believe, and although I'd gotten seriously chilled from the long, fast downhill I was pscyched.

We piled our gear back into the car and headed home.  At that time I was still thinking that I was going to ride the rollers so I didn't actively work on my recovery plan, which was a big mistake.  When I got home I was starving, and after not eating enough immediately after my workout I was starting to get the cold shakes from getting chilled and low blood sugar.

Of course to combat that I had to eat almost everything in the house, which pretty much completely canceled out the caloric debt of my skiing effort.  This is all after Spinney was telling me to be careful about refueling if I was going to try to ski again on Sunday.  In retrospect I wasn't aware of how deep I'd dug, so I wasn't being proactive in refueling. 

After I'd crashed, rebounded, showered and gotten dressed Carrie and I picked up our replacement dishwasher and went out to dinner.  It was clear that having an enormous box in the living room wasn't going to be feasible for more than a day or two and that I had to get this thing installed soon.

Sunday morning it was hovering around zero when I got up, so knowing that it would warm up about 15-20 degrees later in the day I figured I'd take advantage of the situation and start working on the dishwasher. 

Having installed and removed one defective dishwasher already I was pretty familiar with the basics of the install- in a nutshell it's connect the water, the drain and the electric and test it for leaks.  Of course it's never quite that simple for me, but with directions in hand I got out the tools and went to work.    

Among my tools are a large number of hand-me-downs from both sides of the family.  Over the summer my Dad cleaned out his father's wood shop, and these pliers were among the twelve pairs that I inherited.  I've never seen anything else like them with the 90 degree head, but I've already used them three times this week on the upstairs electric outlet replacement, the dishwasher and the tC trunk handle.  

Also among my tools is this- a Craftsman Impact Drill my brother gave me for Christmas.  If you've never used and impact drill you're missing out- these things are awesome and not just because they make a ridiculously loud SNAP SNAP SNAP as they switch from standard drill to impact mode.  Using this to secure the two dishwasher mounting screws was the highlight of the install.

After that I decided to tackle replacing the trunk lid on the tC.  After three years of regular use, the old handle had snapped off and was only hanging onto the rest of the car by one retaining clip and the wire for the release button.  It wasn't that I wanted to keep procrastinating, but I don't have many options to get things like this done in the daylight so I decided to get it done.

The trunk handle is a story in itself, and after an extensive search I opted for a carbon one because it was more cost effective than buying one unpainted and trying to paint it myself.  After some searching on the Scion forums I found some semi-coherent instructions on how to replace it.  Turns out this is a common problem for the tC and dealers charge up to $400 to install a new one, which makes my $65 eBay special look that much more appealing.   

Overall it went fairly smoothly and my hands didn't get too cold although it was only about 18 degrees and I was buoyed by the idea of being able to use the trunk lid again.  As you might imagine it's a real pain in the ass to carry skis, boots, poles, spare clothes and water and have to put it down in the snow to open the trunk because you need to use both hands to lift the tailgate.

When I finished the handle install it was 3 PM and I was nowhere near being ready to ski.  After a protracted period of bumbling, fumbling and swearing I finally got to Trapp's and had my skis on at 4.  So much for seizing the day on the skiing front.

As soon as I set out I could tell the conditions were great- and for the second day in a row my skis felt awesome.  These Fischer RCS with Graham's base grind have quickly become my favorites.   

Although the skis were running well I wasn't- with yesterday's breakthrough/bonk combination and my extended project time earlier in the day I felt sluggish and slightly off-balance.

I did throw some Pro-35 stickers on the skis- it had to be done.

I'm a terrible classic skier, but the tracks were so fast and crisp that I found myself jumping in double poling on the flats and downhills. 

An hour later it was getting dark and went home.  It was a beatiful night, and I wished I could have taken advantage of it more than I did.  

Live and learn I guess- there's always next weekend.