18 August 2011 - 8:02Is Shreddie Ready?

We will most certainly find out won’t we?

I’m not going to tell you what I did to the bike drivetrain-wise (until after the race) but rest assured that I will be running what I brung. I managed to stomp Perry Hill with the newly reconfigured Shreddie, albeit in a truly ugly fashion. With two shake down rides in effect, Nat’s EMD SS which he has chosen to do battle with on Saturday’s Pittsfield 666 race, and my open SS attempt at the Millstone Grind on Sunday, we decided that we were going to do a nice easy ride. Nat’s comment was “just take it easy huh?” on the first climb, as I went into a hypoxic state getting up one of the steepest parts of the trail. I had one (1) skip, and that was all. My Force derailleur/tensioning solution did a fantastic job of keeping the chain on the cogs, it never once gave me a problem.

I also had ZERO brakes. I sheepishly admit that I am only just now getting Shreddie ready for battle. He has pretty much sat since Singlespeed-apalooza. New pads, and a full SRAM approved factory bleed had me grabbing the levers with 2 fingers and overshooting every turn until the last part of the ride. It made for some sketchy moments, but I’m confident they will be burnt in by race day. They felt better by the end of the ride for sure, but I think they will just have to be “broken in” on course.

So yes, I think Shreddie is ready. Am I ready? Um, no, not so much…