Pristine, perfect bar tape in a color other than black (I think that black tape actually increases rolling resistance and take 5 watts off of your FTP).
I just wrapped the handlebars of Ryan’s Ridley CX bike after he replaced them following his carbon fiber mishap.
Enjoy:
Hanging next to my cross-check:
…AND pineapple from a can!
Today has been busy-
After a couple of french-presses worth of coffee, Ryan and I rode out to Shelby Farms. I’ve been coaching him into a short-term overreaching cycle in order to get him on form for Cyclocross Nationals in Kansas City (exactly two weeks from today). Today, we used the cross-country running course on the north side of the park. It’s about two miles long, and a perfect CX practice course. After riding a warm-up loop, I rode ahead of him and created some makeshift barriers out of strategically placed logs (I even managed to create a sweet forced run-up!) The interval I prescribed was tough: two minutes of all-out hammering followed by three minutes of “recovery” at an LT effort, for 30 minutes. Right off the bat, Ryan noticed that one side of his handlebars felt a little “off,” but he finished the workout anyway.
After that, we rode back home, had a snack, and headed back out on our road bikes for a two hour ride that included several more (shorter, less intense) intervals and one hill attack.
Beware… what follows gets somewhat domestic (again)!
Ryan had to go to the Outdoors, Inc. store on Union to pick up some new handlebars (see link above), as well as stop by his workplace for a little while. Meanwhile, I did some dishes, washed clothes (damn winter riding laundry!), went to the store…
Afterward, I removed the cables & housings from Ryan’s CX bike and snapped some photos of the carbon fiber explosion. He came home & worked on the re-installation while I made dinner: pear, walnut & gorgonzola salad (with arugala… yum!), and Hawiian pizza (I promise- they go surprisingly well together).
Which brings us back to the title of this blog entry…
I don’t know yet… Indy just snagged at least three off the floor when I was making coffee. How much caffiene does it take to make a Jack Russell Terrier go nuts?
Sunday was a nice learning experience.
When racers were called for the start of the singlespeed race, only one other entrant- p1/2 racer Jeremy Chandler, came to the line. I figured I was in for a beatdown & probable lapping at some point during the race, but he told me that riding alone was boring, and that he’d stick with me. It was actually a great experience- he gave me a wheel to follow through some tricky sections of the course where I’d tend to slow down, offered a little advice, and generally pushed me to ride as hard as possible. At one point, the race promoter yelled an offer of a $50 bonus to me if I beat him. I told Jeremy that if he let me win, I’d gladly split the bonus money. So, on the last lap, I buried myself. Once, in the wind, Jeremy offered a draft (I think I proposed marriage at that point), but otherwise, he rode behind/beside me and yelled at me to go faster. He let me take the race by a wheel. Later, at payout time, the $50 bonus was “forgotten,” so I gave Jeremy back the difference between 1st/2nd place prize money. He could have easily ridden off and left me on my own for the 45min race, but was nice enough to not only ride with me, but offer some help & encouragement, so I felt that it was the least I could do.
Here’s a shot that Ryan took from the sidelines:
As for my second race… it was a learning experience as well. I learned that if I want to kick some butt, don’t race earlier in the day! Not only did I finish DFL (unlike the Saturday, when I managed to pass a few of the men), I also got lapped by at least half the field within the last two laps of the race. It was all I could do to drag myself around the course for 5 laps!
There were a few people taking photos, so hopefully I’ll get a few up this week.
Ryan raced well in his races, though was a bit dissapointed to finish in 2nd place on both days.
I was the sole CX 1/2/3 woman lining up today with the 1/2/3 men for a 45 minute race. I let the guys go ahead of me, but kept the DFL man in my sights. After a lap, I began to pass him. Of course, he sped up and passed me, only to be caught again within the next lap. I laughed at him little… he was a little miffed and said if he hadn’t just raced his ass off that he could easily beat me. Ah… the male ego (eyeroll). I managed to pull in a couple of other guys for a total of 3: a 1/2 and two cat 3s.
Tomorrow I plan on doubling up & racing the single speed category (I’m expecting similar results) along with my usual women’s race.
Here is some post-race mud hotness:
For the locals that visit my blog-
In case you didn’t know (though you probably do), a half-decent shoulder has been installed on Highway 196 between Gallaway and Piperton. I rode a good length of it today (from Seward to Ral-Lagrange), and, while there is still a little more traffic moving a little faster than I prefer, riding on the shoulder seemed to help stave off road rage on the part of the motorists.
Hopefully, with the completion of Highway 385 (scheduled for next summer, I believe), much of the traffic will be diverted from both Collierville-Arlington Road and 196. Both are nice roads for riding that have been inundated with some pretty nasty traffic as Memphis residents flee the city and seek safer residence in the outlying areas.
AKA “My Unofficial Women’s SS State Championship Win”
I raced in my 3rd CX race ever yesterday (2nd if you’re only counting the “real” races). It was tough going, but pretty fun. Kym Flynn, an Expert MTB chick from Vantaggio in Chattanooga, was the only other CX 1/2/3 competing, and, not surprisingly, beating the snot out of me! I’ve been mainly base training the past month, and she’s been tearing up the TBRA CX scene, so my fitness for this race doesn’t quite compare :D Oh yeah… the singlespeed setup didn’t help, either. I ran a 42 x 17, which turned out to be just a tiny bit too big- the hills were very hard and I wasn’t spinning out on the flat sections, so I think I could have swung an 18t in the back and felt “just right.” Live & learn, right?
I did manage to pull off one of the funnier falls of the day… one steep section of course required either a run-up or a LOT of speed and determination. On my first lap, I wasn’t focused on the turn before the hill and stalled out, which resulted in the obligatory “waddle uphill while straddling the bike.” Next time around, I got a little too excited, pulled my front wheel off the ground, and tried to set it back down sideways… which doesn’t work too well. The resulting fall was laughed at by many! (myself included). Remaining laps were fine… I hauled a** around the turn and attacked the hill and made it over without a hitch- notice the lean in the photo below- you prettymuch had to maintain speed from the previous downhill in order to have enough momentum to make it up on the SS…
It sort of reminded me of a criterium at this point...
Ryan pulled off a 3rd place finish in the men’s CX3 category. I yelled my head off at him through most of the race and took a few photos until the camera batteries died. He also managed to make the front page of the local section of the Memphis newspaper in this photo:
Photos from the A & B races can be seen in his Gallery
Jd3 from the Roadbike Review forums was there taking som photos as well- you can see all of them in his forum post, but here are some highlights…
Valerie (CX4), KC (CX4), me, and Kym toe the line
Tiny front triangle & abnormally long arms makes for plenty of suitcasing action
I screwed the subsequent re-mount up every lap
Jumping onto the abnormally large log barrier
Every year the Warthogs have a “werewolf run” out at Shelby Forest in north Shelby County. We rent the group camp lodge, go for a cold night run to the Mississippi River (9 miles round trip), then spend the rest of the night “celebrating.” Some people spend the night, but I opted for the “stop celebrating early” and go home around midnight strategy.
This year, Steve and I opted to ride mountain bikes down to the river (necessary if you’re going to stop celebrating early) rather than run (in case you’re wondering, running takes a lot longer!) We rode down the boat ramp, dipped our tires in the river, then hurried back to enjoy some delicious lodge food & beverage. It was pretty good time…
I played connect-the-reflective-tree-dots tonight at the Lakeland Trails. I’ve grown to love the little reflective points of light (invisible by day) that lead me around the trail via hadlight @ night. I wanted to go for a short, hard run, which is the perfect fit to the short, but hill-intense trail system. To say I felt great would be an understatement. I warmed up on the flatter section of trail in the back of the park then came back to the front to run repeats back and fourth on the first 1/2 mile of yellow trail. I managed two repeats (2 miles), and had a blast! Hills that I normally find myself barely cresting felt surprisingly easy.
Oh yeah… and it had just finished raining, so they were a little wet, too. In my exuberance, I failed to shine my headlamp on a large root in the middle of a downhill section of trail. Before I knew what was happening, I became airboune… but not for long. I landed still going downhill and slid long enough to think “WOOHOO!” Once I came to a stop, I stood up and shined my flashlight back at the trail- I’d made a good two & a half foot slide mark in the wet leaves… DAMN I wish someone had been there to see that!!! Oh well- I had Ryan take a photo when I got home:
This is a list of donars to the “Yes on Prop 8″ movement in California. Read it and keep your money away from them. I’m not from California, and I’m not gay, but I don’t agree with the latest form of bigotry being exhibited all over the U.S.
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