I rode at Yargo yesterday in between dentist appointments and did 2 laps, one SS, on geared. I have to say that I am pretty even on them. The geared bike feels faster but it is heavier. My laps times are about 5 minutes off last summer's and I am still about 10 lbs heavier than I'd like to be (who isn't)?

I have not done 3 hours on the SS yet and maybe Saturday will be the day.

GO STEELERS!

Getting sick is no fun and it looks like my plans for the Southern X are going to get cancelled which is really dissapointing. The "neck check" is always a good rule to follow and once it moves into the chest it is usually game over for racing. I will give it until tomorrow morning to decide but right now it is looking grim.

Geared MTB

I finally built up my old 1990 7 speed Klein with gears and have ridden it twice. I can't seem to use the gears properly after all the SS riding. I end up finding the 2:1 and leaving it there! I read Andy Applegate's blog about his nice new bike and was a bit envious. My Klein is cobbled together but still rides pretty nice.

The Southern X is going to be painful since I have a nice head cold. But, since Cesar Grajales is racing I will just simply enjoy it as a nice 3.5 hour group ride in the mountains. I am really looking forward to the Snake TT and see what I can do for 34 miles on the SS.

I sure hope this does not go sinus infection...

Building up the 19 year old 7-speed mtb is a pain in the ass.

MTB Build and Gardening

I am not a very good mechanic and I usually pay someone to build bikes for me when the time comes. But I can do a few things myself. I have gotten better at gluing tubulars, setting up tubless tires, and the little things. I cannot do head sets or bottom brackets, and I don't have a torque wrench although the new Park wrench is tempting me.

I have been trying to expidite the rebuilding of my 1990 Klein Pinnacle back to a geared bike. It is a 7 speed so I thought finding parts would be very challenging. I am surprised to find more out there than I thought although choice is pretty limited. I have the original crankset/bottom bracket but with new bearings. The 1" Rockshox Judy XC is pretty old but still works great. Some of the new stuff includes a Thompson stem, Easton carbon riser bar, Thompson seatpost, WTB saddle, Suguino chainrings, new SRAM X-7 rear derallieur, a SRAM 7-speed cassette with spacer, new Bontranger Mustang tubless wheel set that I found for a very low price, SRAM 8 speed chain, and some cool original Shimano rapid fire 7 speed shifters. I already had the Shimano XT brakes with Swisstop pads. The front derallieur is a Shimano LX pulled off my wife's bike.

It will be fun to ride a geared bike again but I still prefer the single-speed. I like the geared bike for the N Georgia terrain and the SS for most of the races.

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I also really like gardening. I am not very good but my family was pretty good at it when I was growing up. Of course in Western Pennsylvania you could grow almost anything in that soil. Farmer G has provided a lot of good insight and I have a few books on raised bed urban gardening that I used (Cubed Foot Gardener and Square Foot Gardener) but the best source is Walter Reeves's website.

This year I am growing Bluberries, Garlic (Farmer G's varieties), tomatoes (roma and cherry), bell peppers, carrots,cucumbers, squash, herbs, onions, and lettuce in the spring. I am using my grow lights to start them indoors and then transplant them later. I have a nice 6x8 foot raised bed that is about 12" deep and I'll have various large pots to grow things like some of the herbs, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.

Last year was my first year and I started really late so this year should be better and it is a good way to get my daughter involved like my family got me involved.

Farmer G has so much he has to give it away, I am hoping to only use stuff from the garden as I need it and avoid the store. Should be fun!

Dan's Macabre Ride #1

Like most of the US, cold and windy but at least here it was dry. Always a hard ride for me, I try just not to get dropped. With some mercy today I managed not too but left alone I would have.

Here is a stat comparison from the last 4 Macabres I have done. Last Jan and this Jan are almost identical.

Did my yearly January FTP test and dropped about 10 watts from December. That's not too bad and to be expected. I am rebuilding my 7-speed mtb and hopefully it will be ready for Southern X. If not I'll use the cross bike.

Brendan and I went up to Camp Merril and did the Cooper-Hightower-Winding Stair Gap 25 mile route. It was tough on cross bikes and in the rain. The mud really put a damper on any speed.

Cyclocrossworld.com has a number of good sales right now.

Southern X Race Route

Can you say 13 mile climb?