One month to go

Fool's Gold is August 21st and I have felt like crap on the last couple long rides I have done and think I have the reason nailed down...or reasonS. Coffee and beer. Strangely enough, beer the night before and coffee the morning of a ride in the heat caused some dehydration before the ride even began.

I was off last Thursday so headed out for 5 hours on the Pacer. An oppressive wave of heat greeted me when I walked out on the porch at 8 AM. uhhhh, yeah. 107 heat index and one of those "polluted air warnings." The first couple hours were okay, hot but I was able to keep a good pace and just trudge on along. At about mile 65 I was getting cooked heading past Bass Pro Shops in Leeds and stopped to grab 30 oz of ice water from a gas station with the intent of pouring it on my head.

I knew better. I knew not to guzzle a bunch of ice water at once....but it tasted so good compared to the hot Gatorade I had. Now bloated and miserable, I had to do another 20 miles in the sun to get back home where I lay down in the living room for about 15 minutes. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Chalk that one up to a "learning experience character builder something or other".

Had a much better ride today. Drank Gatorade this morning instead of coffee and felt strong for about 4 hours at Oak Mountain. Pretty sure a skunk sprayed me or I ran over invisible cat shit somewhere...I smelled like death for about an hour and a half until the heavens opened up with a monsoon that washed the death stench off. The rain felt great at first but feeling good doesn't mean much with too much grit in the eyes to see anything. Made sure to head down the BUMP trail to see how slick it got in the rain. Awesome ride.

There is an organized Fool's Gold pre ride this weekend but i don't feel like driving out there. I figure affixing the course profile to my top tube with packing tape is about 30% as good as a pre ride and will cost me two tanks less of gas. I win.

"It can't be that bad..."

That is what I said to myself Friday night, a bit confused when Heath said he did not want to do the alleycat Saturday so he would be fresh for a 6 hour mountain ride on Sunday. I decided to soldier on and did probably the hardest 10 miles on a bike I have ever done during the Bici Coop alleycat.

4th place, finished with a flat tire, had a good time. Only problem was the next day fatigue.

Um, yeah.

Now I know why he didn't want to race. My legs were completely useless Sunday. The first 20 miles were ok but I felt like I was going backwards after that and bailed on doing the last loop. This either means I suck, I suck at doing short efforts....or more likely, both of these. Lesson learned. If these were midweek I would be ok, but christ...that just ruined me. Meh.

Schleck killed it in the first biiiig Alps stage yesterday, nice to see him get a win.

Road bike stuff

This is the latest iteration of my Surly Pacer, a bike I have had for almost two years and has felt odd for much of that time. I bought it after realizing I would at some point drop the Madone 5.2 I had been riding on concrete or something. I never really hurt bikes in crashes...it is usually from leaning them up in a bad place. All of my current bikes could survive being dropped from a roof rack and I am fine with that...even if it means they weigh a little more.

Current spec:
Pacer frame and fork (heavy, rides well, has not broken. Awesome.)
Powertap hub on Open Pro rim with ancient front wheel
Protoype commuter tires
Dura Ace 9 speed drivetrain w/ XTR bb
105 brakes
Niner wide ass flat bar w/ Ergon grips (these blow on a mtb but are ok here)
Cane Creek headset (as good as King if not as pretty...)
Thomson post and WTB seat (Rocket V, needs to be a Vigo at some point)

I have decided that from a biomechanical standpoint it makes sense if all my bikes fit the same. This means wide bars, a someone short cockpit, and bars about even with the saddle. It is working well so far. I got a deal on a Powertap and have ridden it a couple times.


Road biking is always a bit boring but with good enough gadgets I can get by. I need a downloader thingy so I can have the computer tell me how tired I get around here instead of depending on the burning sensations in my legs and lungs, which are oh so subjective. I am doing the Bici Coop alleycat race tomorrow. Looks fun, 10 miles on some roads around town that I rarely ride. Can't beat a race that costs 5 dollars! Well, I guess free would be good but I don't mind paying the cash to good folks.

Oh yeah, and Hop City beer in Atlanta is badass. Went there a couple months ago and they have a good selection of homebrew stuff as well as plenty of good beer from everywhere around. The guy working there kept reccomending stuff we have around here in Bham. The Hebrew Messiah Bold is one that comes to mind, need to get this when I run out of the good stuff from out of state.

Summer is here

For real...hot as balls everywhere. I have not updated this in a month and for good reason. I have been lazy since Burn. I sat, I drank beer, I sat some more. After about two weeks of that deal I decided I would have to ride myself back into shape which is finally starting to come around. I rode about 4 hours out at Oak Mountain last Sunday and felt strong again, it was a strange feeling.

List of goings on:

-Registered for Fools Gold 100 Singlespeed and talked my buddy Heath into going.
-Bought a used Powertap. Geek mode ON.
-Missed another Bici Coop alleycat race.
-Found out they are doing a Tour de Birmingham all of July which I will do most of.
-Got the Scandal finished...24 pounds with 900 gram tires, pedals and all that stuff you need to ride.
-Headed for the beach for a few days with NO bike stuff involved. Nice change of pace.

I'm out, I will do a better post when I do better stuff that makes for a better post.