I decided to drag Oksana out for yesterday’s easy night spin around the monuments.  I figure there is no way  (now that I’m not logging easy commuter miles), that I’ll hit 300 without some laid back outings.  Last night was one of them.  Sickeningly enough, I repeated the pre-ride beer/Haagen Dasz binge (sometimes it sucks to have a grocery store on the first floor of your building), but avoided the consequences by drafting off of Oksana on the trail (I wish I were joking) up to DC.

Here is a cold Oksanochka in front of the Lincoln memorial (my little PS camera is pretty limiting so sorry about the bad pic):

A note on her bike:  You can probably see in the picture that she’s got herself a nice vintage Schwinn Breeze.  I picked it up (overpaying dearly for a pristine early 70s model) for her after hearing her talk non-stop about wanting something “classy” more than something “sporty” (which I had been pushing for).  I’m happy to report that after a few months of her pedaling around an excessively heavy “classy” bike (i.e. classy = trendy) she’s starting to see the light and is now open to me getting her a second bike. What’s great about it, is that she has my exact same measurements (ok, maybe a few inches different here and there….), but I’m thinking she’ll fit perfectly on a 54cm frame…

Incidentally, I’m guessing her fitness and skills will match up nicely, if not exceed all the other DC area Prince riders.  Come to think of it, I’ll probably have to hook her up with a full Assos kit so she isn’t ashamed to be seen riding it underdressed.

I put up a solid effort toward sabotaging Ride #23 yesterday – which based on the weather, required venturing out into the cold 45mph wind gusts last night. I think I often subconsciously conspire against myself by arranging these little mini-motivational challenges. On the drive home from work, I was looking at the saplings lining the highway, watching them bend halfway to the ground in the dreadful wind, thinking: ”man, tonight’s ride is gonna blow!” Clearly I wasn’t in the right motivational mindset just yet. I needed a spark.

So what better way to motivate oneself than to celebrate a successful drive home from the office by guzzling 4 beers, a giant bowl of tortilla chips + guacamole and a pint of mint chocolate chip Haagen Dazs?

Talk about a gut bomb. If I hadn’t been so excited to test out the warmth of my new Pearl Izumi booties (which by the way turned out to be waaay better than the crap Louis Garneau booties I sported last year) I never would have made it out there.

The very wind that I observed whipping the hell out of the trees on the median, would now whip me around for about 45 minutes until I could get to a decent mid-point in the ride. There would be no pedaling drills or mellow soft-pedaling on the way out, just slogging through variable head/cross wind gusts…not much fun. In addition to the wind of course….there were enough calories to sustain a Sudanese child for a week, just sloshing around in my stomach….quite a few of them from alcohol (note to self, next time stick to pre-ride pilsners and avoid ale) .

Now I have to say, I have had some great rides while sporting a little buzz….this was not one of them. I felt like an absolute turd. Its ironic that as you become more fit, you are seemingly less capable of riding with alcohol as a fuel. As with other past alcohol fueled rides, I tried to imagine that I was a race-car, but alas it did not work. After hitting the midpoint and changing directions, the monster tailwind became my salvation, and allowed me to finally drop the 12yr old girl on the My Little Pony bike that was drafting me the entire way out.

Its gonna be a long winter.

So I cranked out a post work ride today in the cold rain.  Look for further than ride #20 to witness my enthusiam for similar weather.  The difference?  About 15 degrees.

My cold weather kit is, and always has been, a hodge podge of clothing.  I’ll often find myself ill-prepared in one way or another.  I think its a bit of hidden masochism creeping out in the way I dress myself….I don’t know.  Anyway, I usually end up paying for this with some discomfort.  Sometimes extreme (ask me about my 3 day xc ski adventure in upstate NY with a 30 degree bag in January), and sometimes less so…today’s discomfort level was in the middle.  Unlike Saturday, I never really warmed up, but unlike my backcountry skiing…I didn’t risk toe survival.  It was however, not fun.

What it did make me realize, is that I need to drop some coin on a few winter gear updates to plug some cycling wardrobe holes…..I’ll post up mini-reviews of whatever high tech clothing choices I make, but right now….a brown star is to be awarded.

Adidas cycling shoes.  Being the Germanophile I am, I’ve always been a blind devotee to Adidas shoes, whether it be running, or just a pair of casual trainers to hang out in.  Unfortunately, a few years ago I naturally extended this Adidas devotion to cycling (when I should have just stuck to Sidis).  The first bad experience was initiated by my Adidas Marathon mountain bike shoes.  The main velcro straps (secured only by a thin wire) wore out within about 4 months of use (the synthetic wire wore through and snapped).  I tried several remedies, but it was such a critical high stress area, nothing held.  Ironically one of my riding buddies has 2 pairs of the very same shoe that he rotates use of, and has not experienced the problem at all.  I figured it was perhaps just a quality control thing…..so why not give Adidas cycling another shot, after all, some top end carbon soled Adidas road shoes were on sale at the time.  Fast forward 1.75 years and a few thousand miles.  The ratchet buckle (the retention mechanism that pretty much all top end cycling shoes have these days) is worn out on the left shoe.  See the pic below of the unhappy Adidas customer:

Can I find replacement buckles anywhere?  No.  Does Adidas even sell the replacement buckles?  No indication anywhere that they are for sale online.  Who the hell sells a carbon soled shoe without selling the buckles?  They are clearly replaceable, I can see the screw.  My hope is that I can retrofit some Sidi buckles assuming the screw is the same size, and assuming I can dremel out the arch strap sufficiently….who knows.  What I do know is that Adidas gets a strong “never buying again” rating from me, and a brown star.  Wilkommen zur Sheissliste Adidas.

Yesterday was a great day.  Amazing weather called for an all-day outing of some sort.

We kicked the day off early by gathering some friends together for several hours of morning hiking.  The location of the hike just so happened to be the very same place I often find myself riding singletrack (Gambril state park).  It also just so happened that I was able to drag my bike along and Oksana was able to get a ride home with someone else after the hike…..yes, sometimes you can have your cake and eat too.  Here’s a pic of several lovely hikers near one of the lookouts.

So after the group was worn out hiking the 7 mile yellow loop, I suited up and hit the trails.  A couple things occurred to me on the ride:

First of all, hiking a trail that you then turn around and ride, really provides some interesting perspective that I’m betting most of us mtn bikers rarely get.  Think about it, how often do you hike, then ride the same section of trail in the same day?

It was pretty cool.  I guess the best part about it from the mountain bike perspective, is how you appreciate having a bike to cruise through the woods in much more of a dynamic way (a stark contrast compared to walking of course).  The flip side to this for me, was taking note of how much more social a group hike can be than a group ride usually is (i.e. the slow pace of the hike is perfect for good conversation).  I’m not gonna go into this stuff in detail cause I think the contrast is pretty clear, but you see my point….its cool to appreciate each one for what it is.

The second thing that occurred to me was that I was going to start tallying products that via their use and abuse, end up on my gold star list or on my shitlist (a brown star?).  Despite my long history as a cycling product megaconsumer and my more recent attempt to shed that image and stick to the same products until they wear out…..I still plan to wear a lot of stuff out, some things faster than others as the thousands of miles start to pile up.  So in a sense, these ride entries will be peppered with some long term reviews.  Take exhibit A for example:

As you can see, these pedals are beat to absolute shit, and for the last few months, they have started to function like absolute shit.  The springs have been battered by countless pedal strikes.  The frequency of strikes skyrocketed when I started riding the Surly, and now that I’ve been taking a closer look at frame geometries….I have no choice but to blame the non-east coast friendly bb height (since I ran these same pedals on the Commencal and didn’t see nearly the wear and tear).  The spindle bearings probably have a few thousand miles on them and still spin quite smoothly, although its clear that the grease is breaking down in the right pedal based on how it spins a bit more freely.  There is however, no play in either spindle.  Now that the retention springs are beat to hell such that they jingle jangle around when not engaged…..I find myself inadvertantly unclipping when using the slightest bit of body english hopping around.  Not cool.  Also note in picture 2 how worn down the spring surface is.  Its hard to see in the picture, but I’d say 30-50% of the material is eroded.  I know I know, just buy new ones.  Well, I did already, but I refuse to install them until the Walt is built up with a higher (I’m thinking 13″) bb height.  All this being said, the ATAC design still gets a gold star.  I had my first pair for 7 years after buying them used!  So I’m giving the pedals another shot with some extra protection from the pedal strikes.  I hope to be writing about how buttery and tight they feel for ride #300.

Today was one of those days where I fell in love with cycling again.

I woke up today with a tremendous hangover.  One of those times when your previous night’s wine consumption is most efficiently tallied in bottles and not glasses.  Yeah, one of those nights.

So with a pounding headache I get out of bed at 12pm only to look out the window and see a steady stream of rain.  It took me all afternoon to muster up the motivation to suit up and walk out the door.  The temperature was dropping and the rain was still coming down at 6pm when I climbed on the bike.  Since waking up, I had been anticipating a suffer-fest.  One of those penance rides where each drink the night before comes back for its own little pound of flesh.  Normally I’m like the little monkey in the behavioral psychology experiment on rides like this…..the ride sucks balls beyond belief and I vow never to “overdo it” again….I basically get “zapped” by these post binge rides after making the “wrong choice”.

Not today.

The minute my mind got past the cold and wet sensation - I started killing it.

Did my chamois get soaked after 3 minutes of rooster tailing?

Did my training kit transform into a Belgian wetsuit 10 minutes later?

Did I take another 20 minutes after that to finally warm up?

Yes, Yes, and Yes.  However….once I settled in…..I had one of those rare rides where you just feel awesome.  Like your legs somehow have whatever juice you need to sprint up any hill insight without even flinching.  Its that unstoppable feeling where you’re just cruising along in the mid 20s on the flats and not even feeling it.  Then top that off with A) an absence of even 1 single person outside of the miserable looking tourists hiding beneath their umbrellas as I passed by the Jefferson monument……not one other person on my route and B) transitioning through patches of rain, mist, fog, and all of it set against a foreboding purple sky….

No better way to feel alive for this cyclist.

So last night was a pretty sweet night ride out at EF.

I submitted the Elizabeth Furnace ride to MORE as a “weekly night ride” so it could be placed on the club calendar starting with yesterday’s ride. Check out the posting on the calendar here. In the past I’ve been pretty disappointed in the sheer lack of interest from fellow club members after posting up invitations to ride something on the challenging side of the spectrum (i.e. anything out in GW forest). This led to Ian and I questioning how many (if any) riders would show up, given it was now on the MORE calendar alongside all the other club events.

Imagine how shocked Ian and I were, as we rolled up near the trailhead last night, only to find more than 10 other MORE members warming up and getting ready to do the ride. No sooner did I get out of the car did I hear somebody say something to the effect of: “is that Paulson ride leader dude gonna show up or what”? I couldn’t believe it.

Ok, so that whole last part is a total lie. The parking lot was empty, as was my Gmail inbox. Now granted, I did give short notice in submitting the ride, and I did submit it as a “weekly” ride. So perhaps people saw it and figured they’d hit us up for a ride anytime between now and February – who knows. My guess is, (and my ongoing observations support this) MORE is primarily comprised of people who like to blow lots of money on nice gear and talk about riding more than actually riding said gear. I hope I’m totally wrong and I’m waiting to be proven so. It’s been an ongoing frustration for me since I joined the club. I understand the job and family obligation thing (I’m on borrowed time myself ;-0) – but where the hell are all the younger non-married riders without kids that don’t have as many things stopping them from getting out? I don’t get it.

I think the next step in luring some faster riders out on these night rides is to post a personal ad on Craigslist as “Danielle Paulson” with this picture in my profile. I’ll say something about “looking for a good time riding rough terrain late into the night” Maybe that will get them away from happy hour and out on the trails.

On a positive note, Ian and I did put in a solid ride. Not really the MORE group session that we hoped for but Ian and I just took turns at the front and back, tag teaming Elizabeth anyway. We were making great time holding down a steady, but fast pace all the way up to the top of Bear Wallow (the high point for those that don’t know), but then ironically the several miles of technical and flowy DH that is normally a thing to be cherished – was not so cooperative under a carpet of huge poofy leaves. I think in past rides, the leaves have been wetter and more trampled down….cause last night’s ride back down was more scary than fun. I just don’t recall being so technically challenged on stuff I would normally clean without batting an eye…..it was kinda nuts.

Also worth noting: the perfect riding weather continues on. It was a cool upper 40s lower 50s the entire ride last night, and my wool jersey (I’ve been ranting about how great it performed since about 10 minutes into the ride) was spectacular. In case you’re wondering why this was such a special event…..I got into the wool thing about 2 years ago, and really started pushing the limits of what wool was good for. I found myself going on 95 degree summer rides with a jersey that felt nasty after about 10 minutes (but I was wearing wool dammit, Merckx wore wool!). Last night was vindication for wool.

No ride today, just lots of booze (its not quite off-season training time for 09 yet is it???)….but something interesting this weekend. Stay tuned.

A measly 10 miles at lunch was all she wrote for today.  It was however a productive 10.

Today was the first day in which I did a full on mini-grocery run (oxymoron?) with the road bike (as opposed to the fixie which was a semi-weekly thing until her departure).  Not a big deal obviously, but for some reason walking around the store in my carbon-soled road shoes kinda drives me nuts.

Anyway, I also found myself committing to the one habit I thought I was just “gonna try” on account of how poseurish I thought I was being the first time I tried it several months back….  See for yourself below:

Maybe most of you won’t really see what the big deal is, but to me this is a sign of A) a messenger, or B) a dufus wannabe.  I think I clearly fall into the latter category, but like many things that are born out of function and later become “hip”, I can tell you the back pocket lock thing is great.  The deep pocket on my Dickies knickers (thanks again for the hem-job Oksana) works perfectly for this lock.  I can’t even feel it when I ride, and it takes weight off my back and is one less thing to crush the eggs.  Which brings me to my awesome pack job.  If you want to see a beautiful thing, look below and you will see a lovely assemblage of delicate items placed perfectly for break/crush/bruise-free portage.  I’ve found over time that bread works as a great back pad, and returns to a normal un-squished size once the bag is opened.

Anyway, I also wanted to take the time to callout what I think is a pretty kick ass little setup my buddy Eric L has stashed deep down in the double digit quiver.  Below we have a custom Salsa 69er that made its debut awhile ago before the Trek marketing machine laid claim.

The great thing about this setup, is that it takes advantage of a trick that I had planned on employing with my Dekerf SS before I sold it.  Eric is running a 26″ rigid carbon fork (Pace) which has a short axle to crown measurement (so it doesn’t jack up the geometry too much with the larger wheel in front) but yet somehow still manages to clear a 29er wheel with boat loads of space.  Checkout all that clearance:

I think its sweet.  I kinda regret not setting up the Dekerf after seeing his bike for the 2nd or 3rd time now.  He had it out this past weekend, and picking it up is ridiculous…down around 19lbs as pictured and not a stupid 19lbs either.  You can’t really see the spec, but there’s really nothing ultra fancy on it.  If a person was so inclined, I bet this bike could be 18lbs….anyway, sweet bike Eric.

Fall is definitely here.

Last night was the first night where I headed out onto the road and thought for the first time in 9 months or so “maybe I’m underdressed”.

As I alluded to in my horse rant the other day, weather is (as everyone knows) the number one thing that affects every ride from road/trail conditions to bodily comfort.  In my particular neck of the woods, the kind of night we had last night can be a godsend for a rider like me who dislikes sharing.

Which brings me to this quirky side note.  If a genie popped out of a magic water bottle I found on the side of the road, and could grant me three cycling wishes, I’m pretty sure the first 2 would involve carbon & ti, but the third one would be a switch that I could turn on to transform my environment into a people-less one (save my riding buddies) for the duration of any given ride.

Anyway, my point is that the brisk autumn/winter winds keep poseurs at home and keep the trail/road density at its optimum.  I’ll share the bike trails with hardcore runner guy/girl any day since they probably know not to suddenly move side to side without looking.  Its the guy that’s not gonna go for that evening run cause its a bit chilly - he’s the guy I can do without.

Last night was one of those nights.  32 miles of bike path solitude.  The nighttime peacefulness of trails like Custis, WO&D, or 4 mile run is downright awesome when the temperature drops a few degree below room temperature in these parts…

Fall is awesome.

I’ll keep Monday’s ride description pretty brief.

It was in a nutshell, a great “bike ride”.

I thought a lot about how I might describe it since it was a non-dramatic ride (even our best effort to follow a bunch of emergency vehicles with sirens blaring was a non-event after all…which makes me think they use their lights and sirens way too liberally), yet still so enjoyable.

CJ and I met up and basically just tooled around town for the better part of 2 hours.  We lingered over near the ghetto (and the thought crossed my mind how it might be interesting to some day actually do a South East “adventure” ride since I’ve never been in that part of town….but probably best done at daytime) and then we did the standard Georgetown ride-through and home.

Really, when I think about it, its probably closer to how most rides should go.  Meet up with a good friend(s), shoot the sh*t while riding with no concern for pace, and just kinda lose track of time and other obligations.  I guess the only thing missing were the mid/post-ride beers.

I’m not a huge fan of horses.

I guess its not the horses that I typically find all that annoying, but rather their oft inept riders.

I did a typical couple of recovery laps out at Rosaryville this morning, and the conditions were otherwise perfect.  The only problem with perfect conditions, (and reason #1394 as to why I prefer to ride the most remote un-trafficked trails as possible) is that they draw out a very imperfect mix of trail-users (i.e the equestrians on the single track and the rollerbladers on the roads).

I recognize that I’m being a cyclo-centric snob in writing stuff like this, but I’ll just come right out and say that sharing the trail with equestrians has always troubled me.  It drove me nuts growing up riding the overcrowded, preciously rare sections of legal singletrack (that the horses always seemed to destroy) in the greater Chicagoland area, and it annoys me now when I have to dismount and walk sheepishly by a bunch of wigged out horses and riders who always seem scarily close to losing control of their beasts.

Now I have to clarify a bit.  I think, like with most trail user groups, there is a range of competency among the equestrian crowd.  Today for example, I encountered several groups of very friendly and courteous equestrians - a couple of whom were able to 100% control their animals and allow me to pass without having to tip toe by - one even allowed me to ride by.  On the other hand, I also found myself rolling up behind another group of riders who needed an awkwardly long couple of minutes to pull their horses off the trail to make room for me.  I pre-emptively dismounted so as not to freak out the horses, but even walking by as slowly and cautiously as I could, the horses were acting unruly and jumping around.  Its not a stretch to feel vulnerable in these scenarios.  Ever seen a horse kick?

This lack of control over the horse is my own personal largest source of grievance.  I got used to the post-holing the horses would do every spring on the soft Chicago area singletrack, and I’ve also gotten used to their giant mounds of dung dotting the trails (which are often unavoidable and seem to love my downtube).  The thing that scares me the most are the really inexperienced equestrians who seem to have little control of their animals.

I’ve always been ultra paranoid and careful when riding around horses, but reading this IMBA article reaffirms my many observations of horse skittishness.

I might have to start praying for bad weather.