Change of Pace

More like a 180 at full speed, actually...

As most of you know by now, I'm not at V18 anymore. It's only been a month since I started working at KCPL, but it seems waaay longer than that since I've been down to the shop. What a great time that was hanging out, working on bikes, drinking beer, talking to friends... I wish I could have stayed but I've joined the ranks of the desktop tweakers once again. It's hard for me to believe that I was away for over 2 years. That was awesome.

My new job is a straight eight desk job, but it's actually quite cool. Lots and lots of maps. I'm going through an intensive training and apprenticeship program right now that'll take me all summer and into the fall. I've just completed the first 28 days (that is significant) and nearly all of my concentration and energy have been put into getting through that. It's kicking my ass a little right now, but I'm slowly adjusting to the new schedule and I hope I can start to get personal ambitions up and running again. Less studying at night means more riding!

Until I'm finished with training, my shift will be 7-3 M-F. I'll get a random twilight or graveyard shift, but mostly I'll leave work at 3, which gives me plenty of daylight in the afternoon to play. I hear there is a dude that works in my building that rides his bike to work. I'm hoping to catch up with him and get the scoop on that- maybe start riding into downtown daily once again.

New Equipment

I've made some drastic changes to The Tranny (my Matt Chester Ti mtb) and I had a chance to test the new equipment out yesterday during a couple of times around Swope.

FOX FLOAT RLC QR15: This is the most significant change I've made to the bike since changing over to a 650B wheel size. The new Fox fork replaced a Marzzochi Atom 80, which was the original suspension fork I got for the frame in Y2K. Let's hope the Fox lasts as long. The Fox is a nice fork- lots of compression and rebound adjustment and easy to work with. After trying several different settings yesterday, I settled on almost no compression damping and just enough rebound damping to let the fork spring back quickly without jolting the front end. Essentially, I tried to make it feel like the old super plush Marzzochi. They didn't make air-sprung forks this good 12 years ago! They didn't make forks this light this stiff either! I definately noticed the increased steering precision. The Fox is 100mm and so it's A-C is 20mm higher, but I think it actually felt better. I don't know- maybe the Fox sits into it's travel more? At the end of the ride, I saw that I'd used about 85mm of the available travel, so it looks like I got everything dialed in pretty good.

SCHWALBE RACING RALPH 2.25 TIRES: The first ride on brand new tires is always a treat. I've been a huge fan of WTB tires for awhile, but after going the 650B route a few years ago, my choices have been limited. I've been using Pacenti Neo-motos and Kenda Nevegals. The Ralphs are much lighter than either of these and I could feel it in the ride. Other than that, I can't say much in comparison until I have some more time on them. The conditions at Swope yesterday were perfect- moist soil but no wet spots. It was velcro traction everywhere. I think any tire would've done well yesterday.

ESI GRIPS: I love these things! They are simple, no-nonsense foam grips. They are just the right density and diameter and are super comfy. They don't look like much, but they work wonderfully. They are light too at 70 grams for the pair. I was more pleased with these things yesterday than either the fork or the tires! Ahhh, the simple pleasures...

V18: Riding With (a) Purpose

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I've been tending shop at Volker on 18th St. while Britton is busy with other things. It feels great to be commuting to work again! Road training gets stale quickly and it's hard to get motivated, but having a goal, a pursose, a mission, a destiny(!) keeps it intersting. Depending on my route, it's between 17 and 20 miles down there, so I'm getting almost 40 miles a day. Sometimes I take it easy, sometimes I go hard. No worries, just good fun miles- all on the old winter SS.
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We got some brand new Velocity Blunt SL 29 rims in and I built them up around C-4 hubs. Wow, are these things light! I have Blunts on my 650B and I was curious how the SL version would look. They are a bit narrower than the regular Blunt but are still wider than most XC rims. Also the rim is flattened in profile at the nipple holes instead of having a shallow point- it looks much more finished and solid. If you have a disc-specific cross frame, these would be da bomb.
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How great is wool? Seriously. I'm not one of those weirdo Wazis. I wear plastic clothes quite alot, but yesterday it was 33 when I left in the morning and 60 when I returned home. I wore Swrve knicks and a bamboo t-shirt with a wool Volker jersey- same thing, both rides- and was perfectly comfy. Awesome! If you don't have any Swrve clothing, you're life is missing something.

SL-M732

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This Shimano shifter is the first piece of my new bike. It's the only thing left of one of the first mountain bikes I ever owned- a sparkly purple Specialized Rockhopper bought at a pawn shop in Manhattan, KS in 1995. It will come back to life soon. I haven't got much nailed down yet but I'm thinking 4-5" travel frame with 120mm up front. I want XC handling and lightness. The XT thumbie will be the centerpeice of a 1X8 drivetrain featuring a shortcage (Dura Ace maybe?) deraileur. With a 13-23 or 26 cassette, it's high and tight gearing but after riding SS for the last 10 years, 8 speeds should be more than sufficient.
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Rode WYCO Lake yesterday and picked my way through some of the new trails. Those trails are coming together nicely. Just need about double the milage and WYCO will be fantastic. Speaking of fantastic trails...
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I met Tom Park at Swope this morning and we had a great ride. He was on his 29er SS and I was on my 650 SS. Speeds seemed to match up nicely between us and Tom is a great bike handler so it's a breeze to ride with him. I gotta get out there waaay more than a couple of times a year.
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I pulled my foot out on a tech section and tweaked the back of my leg on something- I guess I whacked it on the empty pedal. It's tightened up quite a bit since I got home. I'll see if I can keep it loose for tomorrow's race. If it's too tight, I won't race. In years past I wouldn't even give it a thought, but with money being tight, I don't want to throw away 35 bucks on a show-n-go. It sucks, but that's the reality of the situation.

Boss Cross Day 2

More fun times.
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4th in Masters and 5th in SS today. I was tired after yesterday's effort and there were some fresh guys that showed up. Went hard all the way through the Masters race and then wasn't feeling real great about another round of pain after that. I lined up and decided I'd do what I could in the SS- my fourth race of the weekend. I went hard all the way through, so I'm happy with my weekend.
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It was a hard shock to the system. A good one.

Boss Cross Day 1

Fun course. Spectrum of variety. Great to be on the bike going hard and racing again.
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Got 5th in Masters. Those old dudes are fast! WTF??
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2nd behind Kent W. in the SS. TCPC went 1-2-3-4 with Britton finishing in 3rd and Lyles in 4th. Rad! Britton and I rode together most of the race. I gassed out and had to take it down with 2 laps to go but Britton stayed with me and made me earn it at the finish. That dude is a good team mate.
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More racing tomorrow. I feel good tonight but I know 4 hard races with all that sand running is going to have me on the floor Monday or Tuesday. Oh well-oh well-oh well...

Boss Cross 1-2 Pre

Rode over to the BC course at Barry Platte this afternoon. Looks a lot like past editions but some different corners. Some wicked off camber stuff with roots looks to be challenging and fun. Long stretches of sand. Looking forward to racing tomorrow for the first time in a oolong time. If you want to see how cross is done right, come out tomorrow. Or else miss out- dummy!
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I haven't been training at all. I used to train like a Pro but I outgrew that shit. Mostly just been going out and doing fun rides wherever and whenever I feel like it. Not sure if that exactly the BrettS plan but it's gotta be close. Anyway, I'll have fun tomorrow mos def.
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I live about 3 miles from Barry Platte so I'm planning to pack a bag and ride one bike and ghost the other over. That way I won't have to drive- that's a good day already! See you there.