Why I didn't race today

I officially have the LAMEST reason for not racing. Ever.

It had been my plan to do a cyclocross race this weekend. I checked it out on Saturday and decided that today, Sunday, would be the day. The weather was great. The course was dry. I had even practiced dismounting and remounting and damn it, I was going to have fun. That is, of course, until I couldn't put pedals on my bike.

Now, I have been using a pair of older Speedplays on the cross bike until now because all the riding I've been doing has been on the road (albeit most of it dirt). But Speedplays won't cut it for cyclocross, for a number of reasons. First, they perform dramatically less good when you step into a foreign material such as dirt, pebbles, mud, and freshly-laid asphalt. (And yes, I have had to clean each of those materials out of my cleats after a ride.)

Second, they have ridiculous cleats. Seriously, the cleat footprint is HUGE. They take up the better part of the front of the shoe. Add in the fact that they're metal and slippery, and you get a surface that's very hard to walk on in the best of conditions. These cleats have made me fall on my butt while making my way through a convenience store before. No way am I going to trust them not to slip while I'm portaging my bike up a giant flight of stairs.

So, obviously, racing with the Speedplays was NOT an option. The solution was to swap out my Crank Brothers Candy pedals from the mountain bike. Simple enough task, I thought. Getting the Speedplays off was simple. And the left Candy pedal was simple, too. Came off easy. The right...not so much.

I couldn't make it budge. So I stopped to think for a minute. Yes, I was using the right tool. Yes, I was twisting in the correct direction. I even reviewed the extremely simple installation instructions on the Crank Brothers website. I was doing everything right. I threw all my strength and weight into it, and still no budge. This went on for a while until I felt too weak and dejected to try any longer.

So, I ended up just going to the race to take pictures instead. I still haven't gotten that damn pedal off. It won't be an issue for much longer because I've got a new set of Eggbeaters for the cross bike in the mail, but in the mean time I'll be taking the mountain bike to the LBS soon to see if they can get it off, and to ask if they put it on using a power tool.

I still had a good time taking pictures.

Happiness is a new bike

The new bike! And yes, those are cows.

She's a 47cm 2008 Cannondale Cross XR6. (Or X6. Or Cyclocross 6, depending upon which website you look at.) Whatever you call her, she's awesome. Still, being the person that I am, I can't be happy if I don't have something to fix and fiddle with. I had been planning on upgrading the Tiagra drivetrain to Sram Rival from the start, but today's ride convinced me. Moving up to the big ring took some time and effort (compared to the snappy Sram X9 I'm used to on my mountain bike) and I definitely need more than 26 teeth back there for the Hadley hills. I wasn't forced to get off the bike and push at any point, but not being able to spin made it difficult and a little frustrating.

I now find myself with more 700c tires than I know what to do with. I already owned some slicks, and this bike came with a set of knobbies AND semi-slicks. I guess I'm set for all sorts of conditions now. I'm excited to start customizing; first order up is some new color-coordinating bar tape and bottle cages (I'm thinking yellow?!) and a set of eggbeaters. Expect to see a veritable garage sale of parts up for sale as I begin fine-tuning this bike into precisely what I want it to be. I already threw on my Specialized Ruby saddle, so first up is the saddle it came with, a black Selle San Marco Ponza. If you want it, make me an offer!

This little boat launch is about a quarter mile off the road and the view (complete with swans!) makes it one of my favorite places to stop and have a snack.

Today's 19 mile dirt road loop was fun. I found myself feeling confident taking fast turns on gravel roads, and even though I was taking it easy, I hit 38mph several times on the roller coaster ride that is Fox Lake Road. Climbing was a bit of a drag with the gearing, but due to the relative light weight of the bike compared to the 29er, I made it work. It was a good ride, and fairly uneventful.

Well, except for the turkey on Fox Lake Road. Normally during a ride on back roads you see all kinds of animals crossing the road. Squirrels, deer, any number of birds, even cats. But rarely do you see them using the road as a thoroughfare, which is precisely what this turkey did. My bike must've startled it, and it started running down the road in front of me. This was at the start of a downhill, so naturally I started chasing it, figuring it would move out of the way. But it didn't. It just kept running in front of me, until I'd get really close. Then it lifted off for a few seconds at a time, gaining ground over me. I was really surprised at how fast the turkey was! This comical process repeated several times, for over a mile and over several hills. I never did catch the damn turkey. I'm just glad there was nobody around to laugh at me chasing a giant bird down the road.

I've been kind of stressed lately and this ride brought me perspective, some levity to my attitude, and really cheered me up. Funny how bikes can do that.

This weekend I'm thinking about doing cyclocross in Waterford. But, I hear that the giant orange thing with steps and a slide will be there, and frankly, I'm not too sure about that. It kind of scares me. We'll see.

Goodbye Alice, Hello Fall!

My road bike Alice has found herself a new home, and I am getting really excited about this cyclocross business. I've narrowed it down to a few models, and now I just have to make a decision. I wish I could build one up exactly how I want, but I can't really afford that right now. Instead, the choice lies between the new Specialized Crux Comp (in bee-tastic yellow and black!) and the 2010 Redline Conquest Pro. I like the wheels, gearing, and internal cable routing on the Specialized. But the Redline's drivetrain is a little nicer and it's likely to be a little cheaper. I really, really, really like both bikes. How am I supposed to make a decision?!

While I've been dwelling on what bike to get, it's been turning into fall. Today's air is chilly and crisp, and for the first time this year, it started to feel like fall. Now, it was plenty cold for the Logsplitter race last weekend, but that was more of a "disgusting February freezing rain with a side of hurricane-force wind" kind of cold, not a fall kind of cold. It's finally time to don a sweater and layer up the leggings under my skirt.

Fall is also my favorite time to ride once the ragweed pollen dies down. It's exciting to ride over a carpet of colorful leaves, not being sure if they're hiding roots, rocks, or a slick of mud. The folliage can change the perception of your favorite trail, and sometimes makes you fall in love with it all over again for different reasons (as was my experience with Burchfield last year). Fall's cool temperatures mean longer road rides too, with destinations like cider mills instead of ice cream shops.

Typing this out makes me kind of sad, because I'm single again and no longer have someone to go with me on those kinds of rides. It's not easy when you lose not just the person you love, but also your best friend and favorite riding partner. I try to keep personal stuff out of my blog though, so I'll stop myself before I go into much more detail.

I'm looking forward to a busy season. It will be full with cyclocross races, group rides (now that I know of local rides; thanks Jeff!), Iceman, and maybe even Massive Fallout. And that's just the bike stuff—there's plenty of camping, concert-going, and festivals in the works, too.

Logsplitter!

Yesterday was the Logsplitter point-to-point in Grayling. I got second in beginner women. I was confident I had been dead last, because while I knew there was someone behind me, I hadn't seen another soul on the course for miles (about 13, to be precise) and was sure that anyone in their right mind (as I certainly was not in that state) would've dropped out of the misery before the singletrack section of the race.

This race was easily the most miserable ride of my life. It actually made me CRY. (It even beats out that time I questionably embarked on a 50 mile road ride during 100+ degree heat only to bonk and suffer heat exhaustion 30 miles in.) While it was sunny when the race started, I "warmed up" with a 6-mile ride to the race start in 40 degree rain that left my feet numb for the entire race. I won't go into too much detail, but over the course of 26 miles, four individual body parts cramped. I never got warm. I had a mechanical. The intermittently blue sky disappeared for good and was replaced by constant, pouring rain. I got mud EVERYWHERE; somehow, mud made it through my rain jacket, jersey, baselayer, sports bra, and onto the underside of my boobs. I'm fairly sure I inhaled some, too.

The, uh..."course map"

I honestly think I would've enjoyed the singletrack at Hanson Hills if it were warm and sunny, and if I hadn't been climbing uphill for 15 miles already. (Or at least it all felt uphill.) I got REALLY sick of hills. The pavement between the twotrack and singletrack was my saving grace—in those few miles I was able to spin in the big ring and make up some time and move up a little. But all my misery aside, I had a great weekend. Met some awesome new friends, listened to great music, and had a really good time. I think I might do this race again next year, providing the weather is a little better.

Edited to reflect a timing mistake on 9/6/10.

Cyclocross and racing: times, they are a'changin...

I've decided that enough is enough. I'm getting rid of my road bike.

And I will be replacing it with a cyclocross bike. Since I moved back to Hadley, I have only rode my road bike twice because so many of the roads here are dirt. Hell, it takes me a mile and a half just to reach pavement from my driveway, which makes for an especially rocky ride on those skinny 700x23c tires if the road's just been graded. I usually just end up riding my 29er because it's nearly impossible to make a road loop around here without including at least a couple miles of dirt. After mulling things over for a while, I decided it'd be best to get a cross bike.

Today, I headed down to Kinetic Systems in Clarkston to talk with those folks about cross bikes and scope out my options. Looking at all the shiny cyclocross bikes just waiting to get muddy, I wished I could take one home. I hopped on a beautiful Bianchi for a minute to get a sense of what size bike I'd need, and I was quite surprised. The 49cm Bianchi felt much roomier than my 50cm Trek women's specific road bike (which to be honest, is a little too small for me). In fact, the Bianchi was probably a little TOO big for me. Now I know that cross bikes are sized a bit differently than road bikes, and that I'll probably need a 47cm bike. How come no one ever told me that? And doesn't that just sound funny, trading out my too-small 50cm bike for a bigger 47cm one?

Everyone there was extremely helpful, and Jeff even convinced me to go to their cyclocross clinic on the 11th. I'm going to learn all about those nifty skills that are specific to cyclocross, and maybe even try my first cyclocross race. Which leads me to...

Racing! After Ore to Shore, I've decided to dive right into racing. This weekend I'm going to be racing the Logsplitter point-to-point, a 26 mile race through the Hartwick Pines and Hanson Hills. And the weekend after that, potentially the Addison Oaks time trial (along with the aforementioned cross clinic/race). And then in November, Iceman. This is going to be an exciting fall!

Finally, if you're interested in buying my road bike, drop me a comment here or on my MMBA classified post. That page has photos and lots of information about it!