Spin In The Mud

This summer, when I changed the component group on the Tarmac from 105 to Force, I took the crank off the CX bike and put an S-900 crank on there instead.  The S-900 is a 130mm BCD crank, so the smallest chainring I could get away with was a 38T.  I didn't mind it, especially on the road, until about a month ago when I went for a cross ride in pretty muddy conditions.

Lighter Weight Bike Update

I outlined in an earlier post my grand plan for weight loss, and mentioned how I lost 23g by cutting off the excess seatpost from my already scary light Woodman.  Step two showed up at the shop yesterday in the form of two carbon bottle cages from Specialized.  I know, I know, more of the big red S.

The Start Of Something Bigger

Anna from the shop decided she was going to do the Hell Of Hunterdon ride this March, and after looking at the profile, I was sold.  Selling Jen is a different story, but in the meantime, I'm going to train for it and if I can do it, game on, if not, there's always next year.

I Found This...

...while I was waiting for a video I'm working on to render.  If you recall, in the summer of 2009 my dad and I did the Park Loop in Acadia National Park, and I loved it.  I did not get to do Cadillac Mt. because I was sprinting back to the car so I could end the misery my dad was experiencing.  I really had to fight with myself to not do the climb.  Any way, here's a short little read for you.

http://www.rapha.cc/acadia

Return Of The Mother Fucker!

Long time readers may remember the post about The Mother Fucker I did a few years back, but if you don't recall, here's a brief reminder... I hated it.  It's a little over a mile in length, but it's a real cock tease.  It starts off as a false flat and then hits you up with a 6% grade.  At the time I had a standard crank and had been riding for less than a year, so it was daunting.  Today, not so much.

Bike Diet Gone Mad

When I had a carbon fibre frame, I didn't really care about how much it weighed.  The Tarmac was 19.5lbs when it was stock, which made it a complete pig in the world of carbon bikes.  I didn't really care.  The King/IRD wheels I had built up for it knocked the weight down to 18.5lbs, but I enjoyed how quickly they spun up much more than I cared about how much lighter my bike was.