I love each and every one of my bikes, but I really only ever ride one at a time. I’ve tried riding multiple bikes at once, and I almost ended up in stitches. In light of my attrition to “competitive” cycling this season, I’ve been thinking more about about what I need, vs what I want. Thankfully I’m not in the position of having to “get by” with what I have, I have an amazing arsenal of bikes at my disposal.

No, I’m in the process of pairing down. There is nothing worse than to be riding one bike, and thinking that you’d be having so much more fun on another. This little demon has been inside my head for the last few years, and it’s time for him to stop. I have to admit, this whole crabon availability nonsense has given me pause to reflect  my own personal bike needs. I’ve had “more fun” on my WFO than any other bike this season. Granted we’re just getting going, but I don’t see that changing much. The RDO is a hoot to ride, but it isnt exactly what I’m looking for in a bike. That isnt to say it’s not worthy, because it very much is. I have no problem riding a 24lb bike with top shelf components on it. It moves like they do.

But my 32 lb slugger with 5 lbs of tires does too.

But maybe my problem lies in that I am topped out with the RDO, there is not really anywhere to improve it. My inner bike nerd needs room for tweaks and obsessing. Maybe that is why I appear to enjoy riding the WFO more. And I have all sorts of tweaks planned for that bike over the summer, which I’ll begin talking about tomorrow.

The wait for carbon is long. Really long. How long? I can’t get an accurate answer from anyone, but you can thank the aerospace industry for that inconvenience. What does this mean? Well, if you have a carbon bike, count yourself lucky. If you don’t, I sure hope you’re patient.

big bird

The problem is this beast. Each plane contains 23 tons of raw carbon. 23! Needless to say that this has caused somewhat of a “carbon rush”. Considering that your average finished carbon bicycle frame weighs 3-5 lbs, you could easily meet the needs of the entire cycling industry if they made one less plane a year. Of course, this is not the case.

So let’s just say that no one really has access to large amounts of carbon fiber at the moment. Not Niner, not Santa Cruz, not Specialized. You could have almost seen this happen. What does this mean? Well, I’m pretty sure that this will slow the sales of high end bikes, right when there is a demand for them.

The first question is, how long with this carbon rush last? My guess is that it will take years for carbon manufactures to be able to meet the demands of the market. Obviously, the bike companies with the largest resources at their disposal will fair the best out of this shortage. Companies that can effectively “turn on the machine” and shoot out a bunch of copies like Trek and Specialized.

The second question is what does that mean for metal bikes? Will we see the industry lower their pricing in the mid to high level bikes to attract that person who wants to pony up for a carbon bike? Not sure. I certainly hope so, because it’s the smaller specialty shops that will feel a big crunch otherwise. It’s sort of worrying to not be able to deliver what the marketplace is demanding. Imagine going to a produce stand looking for Granny Smith apples, and only finding Macintosh. Sure, they are all apples right? Some folks will make do, but others will keep searching for the right apple.

 

It’s tough to get everything done that needs to be done sometimes. Shop, home chores, chicken watching, dog sitting all required my attention this weekend. The weather was supposed to be foul, so I grabbed Weapon X and snuck in a ride first thing on Friday morning before heading to the shop. It went a little something like this:

Then it was rain, rain, rain on Saturday, making it a great day for doing things off the bike. Like clean my apartment. Only I’m a wicked procrastinator, and I took a nap and watched baseball on TV instead, knowing full well that the weather tomorrow was going to be more of the same.

Except it wasn’t. No. Instead, it was nice and sunny, and the perfect temp to go out and ride my road bike for a long ride, something I had tried to get on earlier in the week but got shut down 4 miles out by some big scary looking clouds. I barely made it back before the skies opened. Well, darn it. I had a boatload of laundry to do, my apartment to clean, and was kid free, so I tackled the impossible catastrophe that is my home. It literally took all day, and I was actually able to stay surprisingly focused and didn’t crack my first beer until I put the vacuum cleaner away.

Seems like the rain was waiting until nightfall, and now everything is wet again. But at least my laundry is done and my apartment is clean.

After a great amount of hemming, hawing, considering and reconsidering, I have decided to pull out of my bid for the 2012 Breck Epic. Due to bio-mechanical setbacks and lack of time for proper training I just wasn’t feeling like I’d be adequately prepared to go out and take on this monster of an event.

I think I’d probably be able to do 2 or 3 stages with my current abilities, but I know that I would not be able to finish. And because Breck is so far away and expensive to get to, I couldn’t rationalize going and not coming home with this:

it says "Bad MotherF***r" on the back

image poached from Jeff Kerkove’s blog

It’s the finisher’s belt buckle. If I don’t finish, I don’t get one, and I’m not going to not finish. Instead I will work on getting my dilapidated self back towards some sort of fitness level that will allow me to ride my face off at altitude for 7 days, and set my sights on next year’s race.

I’m very bummed about it, but sometimes you just gotta be realistic.

This pretty much means my “racing” season is over after the DH40, which will leave me the rest of the summer to enjoy my time on the bike.

You know exactly the ones I’m talking about. The kind where you wake up in a foul mood and very little goes right. And it’s raining cats and dogs. And I’m writing out all the bills for the end of the month. Meh. At least I can pay them.

Air 9 RDO

After reaping the joys of business ownership, I set about the task of building JayPro’s new hardtail, a Niner Air 9 RDO. It sure is a svelte looking frame.

cramped rear caliper mount

It wasn’t smooth sailing though, the aesthetically pleasing yet impossible to reach with any kind of a tool rear brake mount had me cursing up a storm for about an hour while trying to line it up properly. I had to do a line swap too, as this new design runs a lot more line under the down tube. I eventually outsmarted it, but only just.

do the cables and BB fit? yes, but barely

I knew I was going to fight a pitched battle with the internal cable routing too, so I took a minute. I ate, so I wouldn’t fly into a low blood sugar rage, then I made a plan and stuck to it. With only a few miscues, I had successfully run the cables in relatively short order. This design uses full housing from shifter to derailleur, which is easier to instal than the cables on the A9C, but not optimized for ease of use.

And now I’m going to say my piece on internal cable routing now. BAD IDEA. Changing cables still requires the removal of the crank and BB, which is time consuming, and a huge pain in the ass. I’m not sure if whoever was in charge of this feature has ever had to replace a cable in a parking lot, or in the pits at some race, but it sure as hell is not race day convenient. That and the location of the rear brake are the only two problems I have with this bike.

fast AND light

It is otherwise a beautiful machine, weighing in at just 20.5lbs as you see it here. Despite my little mechanical niggles, I think this will be a very capable race rig, provided you bring it to the start line ready to go. It’s stiff, light, and is sure to strike fear into the hearts of those that line up against it.

 

I snuck in a quick ride on Friday and Saturday morning before heading to the shop, I knew it was going to get hot later in the day, and the poor dog has been jonesing for some quality rides. Friday took me up the new trails in Adam’s Camp area, Hardy’s Haul and Kimmers. It’s a nice 6 mile loop and is good for something quick. Saturday I rode Pipeline.

I’ve been dialing in Jay’s GoPro camera over these last two rides. Unfortunately, the chest mount he has seems to be upside down, but I figured out that I can rotate the footage in iMovie. Getting the position correct has been a bit of a chore, but I think I have it figured out. Friday’s ride was almost perfect, especially if you like dangly nylon Camelbak straps in the frame. Oh well, I made some adjustments, and fixed my strap for Saturday’s cruise down Pipeline.

I produced this video on the desktop at work, which does not have all the same awesome editing features that my newer laptop does, but what the hey? I haven’t done a video in quite some time, so my skills are poor anyway. I do have to say that I prefer the aspect the camera delivers from the chest mount, despite it’s ungainly look.

Sunday had me with a free morning and perfect weather, so I decided I’d make my first trip to the Kingdom of the summer. I was terribly unmotivated to ride anything local. I was in need of something different to do, and this seemed like a good fit.

My head wasn’t really in it though, which was a bit of a bummer. I rode pretty well, put on decent mileage, made good time etc, but for whatever reason it didn’t pull me out of my funk. Maybe I was having a low blood sugar morning. I probably would have felt even worse if I had not ridden, so I guess it’s good that I at least tried.

Monday, there were no bikes at all. I took K to the Memorial Day Parade in Vergennes, where we sat on my cousin’s front lawn and enjoyed the floats. K especially enjoyed the candy. Then it was back up to Waterbury for a cookout with the gang. Kids everywhere, sunshine and lawn games. This is what summer is all about.

 

Retail is a tough business. I’ve always tried to offer the best products possible, at least according to me. Let’s face it, I have high standards and impeccable tastes, so everyone wins really. Finding that fine line between what is cool and what sells is the trick. It has to be cool and sell. One of the things that has always done well for me is the $30 glove.

Jett Flight

I got a set of Jett Flight gloves to try out. The fit is spot on, and they are very comfortable. No pinchy fingers like the Ergon gloves I’ve been riding, although that is becoming less and less of an issue as I use them. There is no stitching on the thin palm at all which is nice, as I like my gloves as minimal as possible. The back is stretchy, and the fabric looks like it will breathe well. The fingers are pre-curved, and there are little silicone gripies on the picker and bird fingers.

4/10, but no beer spilled

Unfortunately, they do not score high marks on the beer test, despite eventually wrestling the can open. It required far too much effort and strategy to pop the tab one handed. One might accidentally drop or spill the beer while riding, so extra care will need to be taken to keep your beverage safe. This doesn’t detract from the performance of the glove though, even my old favorite gloves, the Oakley Pilots failed the beer test miserably. In fact, the only gloves to pass this test I’ve come across are the Ergon HA-2s.

I’ve brought in a size run of these gloves for the shop, based on my initial impressions. Affordable, well made and good looking.

I know everyone was all bummed out about not reading my diet-tribe about my breakfast habits yesterday (get it?). So here is another breakfast sandwich of note.

fuel for fastness

The Panera Bread “Power” Breakfast Sandwich. Yes, for just $3.89, you too can have this sandwich dreamed up by some corporate goon. Egg, cheese and ham, between 1 slice of multi grain brad. It’s small, but does pack a pretty decent punch. I only eat these twice a year, at the Panera Bread in Newburg NY, before SSAP and DH40. While it is nowhere near as awesome as my local bagel shop, it does provide a good value, decent taste and something that does not backfire on me while I’m racing my bike in the woods of Stewart. I got one for Dough this year, and he liked it.

I’m somewhat of a creature of habit, so finding a place to have a predictable pre race meal is godsend. Plus a Starbucks just opened up on the other side of the parking lot…

Your regularly scheduled breakfast sandwich report has been postponed to bring you this special announcement. Weather permitting, Sunday June 3rd will be the day of The B,S,R.E. Or, the Biggest, Stupidest, Ride. Ever. The plan is to ride bikes all day. My schedule permits this sort of nonsense, and to be quite truthful, I have no idea how long it will actually be. I don’t think the battery on my phone will not support Strava for as long as I think I’ll be out there.

There will be stops for breakfast, coffee, beer, lunch, shots, snacks, repairs, naps and more beer. Maybe even dinner. We’ll see…

Rock of Doom

This is an open invite to anyone who might want to ride their bikes all day. And also for those that might not have all day, but can tag along on a leg or two. The pace will be leisurely, and hopefully, the weather will be nice. If it isn’t, then a rain date will be announced as I can find a window in my schedule.

You have been warned.

primary colors

What a fantastic weekend for riding bikes! If only I wasn’t so woefully out of shape. I guess when you don’t ride for over a week, it disappears quickly. On the plus side, it kept all my rides socially paced.

Sofa King Awesome

So about them tires. The Continiental Trail Kings were mounted, holding air and ready to go. I was nothing short of amazed. As I suspected, the weight of the tire was a non issue. I set the pressure at 28psi front and rear, and left them there. The big blocky knobs have a slight ramp to them, and and shaped in such a way that eases the rolling resistance, while allowing them to grab on to what ever you are rolling over. I would even consider this tire “fast”, especially in it’s class. I’ll continue to play around with the tires , as they impressed me enough to leave them on Weapon X. I’ll be providing more feedback as the summer ontinues.

The Jett shorts also lived up to their name of “Raptor”. They were pretty impressive. The fit was good, they didn’t ride down, and provided plenty of support and comfort in the chamois department. I never once snagged them on my saddle, but then again, with the Reverb dropper post working, there was  a minimized chance of that happening anyway. I found the hand pockets to be of a useful size and dept. I had my phone in there on my first ride, and actually completely forgot it was there. It made no effort to escape, and was there for me when I decided to update my Facebook status on how much I like the tires.

I can't text and ride at the same time

Plus I look good in them .

The Ergon gloves are continuing their break in. They get more and more comfortable with every ride. They are no longer leaving seam line prints in my hands after a ride, which is nice, but the stand out thing i must say about this glove that I’m really into, is that they don’t bunch up under my fingers. Big plus there.

into the green room

There is fantastic weather on tap all week, so there will be much riding!