A Thoroughly Non-Epic Tedious Anti-Social Bike Week Feted with Mininal Actual Riding

The numbers on this week:

  • 3 hrs commuting
  • 2 hrs on the trainer
  • several spins with Kila to the park and fire station
  • 2.75 hrs on Hawes ending in gross mechanical failure

but ask any Doctorate in Economics, they will tell you that numbers alone can be deceiving.

On the trainer I watched Heroes. It was just like sitting on the couch, except i was sweating.

The commute on Wednesday was to facilitate my not having a car, so Beckie could pick me up en route to us watching the Suns beat the Rockets from the Cox suite.   It was a vintage game for me dominating in the paint, and a vintage night for Shaq gobbling up chicken fingers and free beer.   Wait, i got that backwards…must have been all the free beer.

Friday was a work happy hour.   I rode in so I could party and not drive.   After a couple beers and a lot of Jack, I was lit up for the ride home in the dark.   Other than my breath tasting toxic by the time I reached Gilbert Rd, it was a good ride.

lit_blog

pack: Osprey Talon
jersey:   illuminite Napa
front light: Sette Glo
rear light:   Planet Bike Superflash
SOLAS tape on the bike
water bottle (not pictured): Jack Daniels and Diet Mtn Dew

Saturday we gave G her new bike.   The basket was an instant runaway hit, and many toys had to be fetched prior to even riding it down the driveway.   She is not a climber yet, not hardly even a spinner, but she will grow with it.   She gets better each time she throw a leg over it, and couldn’t wait to show it to her friend Alex.

Sunday was a Hawes’ Greatest Hits ride on the Hei Hei, hoping to finally get the hang of the big wheels.   The first hour out Twisted Sister and Wild Horse hurt bad, but somewhere coming up the Mine Trail I finally found my legs and my center.   For a stretch I forgot I was on a new bike!   It only lasted til I hit Upper Mudflaps, a tough climb when I’m fresh, and by then I had nothing left.   I would have gone home if I didn’t need another 45 minutes and wasn’t desperate to get over the mental block of riding something nasty on the Hei Hei.   I cleaned Alex’s rock trial easily, a nod to the big wheels, then dropped down the Las Sendas staircase not noticing much at all.   it was smoother than the Blur, different but about the same as the Heckler.   I guess I expected fireworks and a marching band   .   So now I was fired up for the final 10 minute climb to the top of Tower Trail, and almost at the top i got all weirdness in my granny ring.   I was relieved, sorta, to see it wasn’t chainsuck; I lost 2 chainring bolts.   I kinda thought to myself before launching that I should check everything… I had replacement bolts in my pack, but the little ring is such a pain to get at with my thick multi-tool, it wasn’t worth the effort at this point in the ride.   So I headed down, hit the road, and coasted home.   Back in the ManCave, I pulled the crankset to realize it was an older style with a lockring, but it was kinda cool that I spotted this, grabbed the right tool that had been collecting dust for 2 years, and with a few twists had it all back together and ready to go for Beckie’s ride.

Flush with a warm glow from my new bike, I decided to spend $60 on this:

axle1
pic courtesy of BWG

9mm end caps for my Hope Pro II hub, and a DT swiss RWS thru bolt (top).     This offers 3 big advantages over the 5mm QR skewer (bottom):   9mm bolt vs. 5 mm axle, bolt down instead of quick release, and the fork mounts to the bolt itself instead of the hub which removes any wiggle between the fork legs.     The parts will take a few weeks since I’m using a cheap but slow parts hookup – what can I say I was feeling poor (but I sold the stock wheels for about $140 after expenses woohoo!!!).   I think this will be an excellent addition to the bike, making it just a bit more all-mountain capable with really no change in the weight.     Still won’t be my choice for big tech rides, but should extend the boundaries for me when I get to the gnar on my enduro rides.     Its really going to make the Hei Hei into just what I had hoped it would be when I built it (the new tubeless wheels, btw, fabulous and flawlessly installed!)   The Squealer is this weekend, and if I’d had just a bit more time on the Hei Hei I would probably ride it instead of the Heckler – sacrificing a bit of accomplishment and speed on the gnarliest sections for overall speed on the course.   Something to look forward to for the next epic day!