So tonight may very well be one of the final rides on the Lemond.  I’m planning on posting an ebay ad and/or selling the bike locally.  Packing up a bike really does blow though…so I’m hoping to avoid that whole shipping scene.

I’ve been trying to keep my excitement surrounding the new Seven build to a dull-roar, but its killing me to be staring at the bare frame in the living room….just dying to be built up.  After having splurged on some EA90 Aero wheels and a 7800 Dura Ace group, its now simply the waiting game for it all to arrive.

In the meantime, I have a pretty killer “bike of the month” for you.  As you’ll recall, I posted up a friend’s bike last month (Eric’s home-made Salsa 69er) and called attention to its uniqueness/rarity.  So this month, we’ll continue the trend.  The pics below are of Ms. November.  My friend Norman from up in Brooklyn has put together a beautiful gem of a road bike.  Its a full custom IF 953 frame, decked out with Red, Zero Gravity and other high end goodness.  I’ve been a fan of Reynolds 853 for many years now….and have ridden it extensively both on and off road.  When I heard a couple years ago that 953 “stainless” was gonna hit the market…I was jazzed up about it.  I even explored the option of having Chris Igleheart build me a custom mtn frame in 953 last year.  In the end, 953 has become best suited for road applications, and as you can see from the pics below….it makes for a pimp alternative to ti.  Read the link for a description of the material properties of 953 - very cool.  These are the first pics I’ve seen of someone’s personal stainless setup and I’m guessing probably the first time for all of you as well.  Me like.

Yeah….just 2 rides in between today and last Wednesday…ouch huh?  The combination of this being my “transition” month (i.e. excuse to drink and eat what I want and skip rides with less guilt than usual) before my serious base training commences 12/1, the recent IT band issues, and my sudden disinterest in riding anything other than my new Seven…..has left me pretty uninspired.  Notice I didn’t even bring up the weather.

Despite my lack of motivation (I skipped a Saturday!), a few of us met up at Dan Maguire’s place on Sunday afternoon for a pretty mellow 14 mile jaunt up and down the Potomac on some nice, albeit leaf camouflaged, singletrack.

I also finally got to take a peak at Mike Z’s new-old Seven ss, in which he’s employed a killer German eccentric bb device.  The thing is so sweet because it alleviates the need for any special frame modifications (speciall ebb shell, or sliding dropouts) to accommodate the necessary chain tensioning when running a ss setup.  I’ll probably find myself using one at some point down the road…

It was a good social ride that for a couple of us, culminating in several DFH 60 minute pints in Dan’s basement.  Dan’s new basement bar setup really shouldn’t be described with mere words, so at some point down the road, I’ll snap a few pics for the blog.  I will say that when my forthcoming hip hop album reaches number 1 on the Billboard charts (still waiting for 50 cent to call me back on that collaboration proposal)….I’ll probably hook myself up with something similar.

Behind on the blogging as usual….

Last Wednesday was the first Gambril night ride of the season.  Ian and I drove up to the park after work and got psyched up for a cold ride.  It was a nice change of pace from the EF thing we had been doing.  Now that I work up in Maryland, its nearly impossible to make it out to the mountains of western Virginia for any mid-week rides….so until February, Gambril and Schaeffer’s Farm will do.

Part 2 of the 2008 bootie saga was also kicked off last week.  I figured I’d bring back last year’s shredded road booties for some off-road action, and not having any duct tape, decided to use electrical…  Yeah, so that didn’t turn out so well.  One or two sections off the bike walking and the electrical tape was shredded.  Note to self: always seek out duct tape, there is no substitute.  I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate on its legendary do-it-all status….

Anyway, the primary take away from that Gambril ride was the knowledge that I can no longer rely on my god-given eyesight to ride at night without some Rx assistance.  Its the most bizarre transition from last winter when it was never really a problem.  Nevertheless, the last couple rides have been downright scary.  On the gnarly rocky Gambril terrain I normally flow over like its nothing….I was holding on for dear life.  I found myself so relieved to be approaching a long climb - anything was better than the blurry “can’t see any line at all through the rocks going more than 10mph” experience I had on the downhills.  I basically did my best not to annoy people who could actually see the trail.  I’d yo-yo between the front of the pack on the hills and the back on the dh’s….basically feeling like a roadie out on the trails with huge lungs and no skill.  On the positive side I felt like I had tons of juice in my legs.  Swapping out the 12-23 Ultegra cassette for an 11-34 Sram was the best move I’ve made in awhile.  My road cassettes will remain on my road bikes from now on…

Anyway….there is probably a pair of Oakley Rx in the near future….as soon as I’m out of Seven-DA-Easton build arrears that is.

Holy shit, what a difference 7 degrees makes.

Like yesterday, I was not overly pscyhed to get out for tonight’s ride.  To see the temperature drop down below freezing was bad enough, but then to see the forecast mention “15-20mph winds, with gusts up to 30mph,” well that wasn’t very inviting either (I promise this will be one of the last posts where I bitch about weather….honestly).

Here’s my best attempt at looking tough before heading out the door:

(as a sidenote, ever notice how ridiculous we cyclists must look to non-cyclists when sporting the helmet mounted lights…its one of the goofier things that tend to stand out).

Well, 5 minutes after that picture was taken, I went on to suffer through 20 miles of balaclavalessness before wimping out and coming home.  Man oh man did I wish I had gone with some face protection.  After having spent years in the coldest parts of the country mixing in winter riding, skiing, snow shoeing, etc…..I should have known better.  I figured my face would adjust to the numbness…but it never really did.  I was pretty much just miserable the entire time.  Every other part of my body was toasty warm and comfortable….but damn did my face hurt.  Amazing what a 30degree, 30mph wind does to a face.

So its Christmas in November tomorrow when the Fedex folks are slated to deliver my likely new crit weapon.  Here’s pic I pulled from the ebay listing, I’ll take more tomorrow when I have it in hand.

Ok, I’m back in the saddle.  Motivational juices are flowing.

Best of all, I think I have my cold weather mojo back.  The weather brought in a pretty good cold front this week here in Vaginia.  I say “Vaginia” because “winter” here is kind of a joke by midwest standards - making it all the more weak to see the bike paths (we have great bike paths here) entirely deserted the first time the temp drops below 45.

Anyway, I logged my ride yesterday night despite the promise of horrible weather.  I was greeted with 38 degree drizzle upon leaving the office at 6pm - not the most inspiring conditions.  Anyway….good 90 minute ride….etc and so forth.  What I really want to bring up here is the silliest little “tip” that I’ve found helps me get over that psychological barrier and go from couch to asphalt in the worst weather.

As everybody knows, cycling is a pain in the ass in terms of cold weather clothing.  There are multiple tight layers of clothing to deal with, inconvenient hat/helmet combos, and gloves that never seem to be right for the temperature at hand…..worst of all the feet.  All of this dressing up is often a pretty big deterrent for me.  I know I know, lame to be deterred by the act of dressing oneself….but I know I’m not alone.  Anyway, the worst part of all this for me has been the bootie situation.  Does anyone else get as frustrated as I do trying to work a pair of booties over a road shoe with straps and buckles that want to snag the tightly fitting booty every inch of the way?  You gotta work the little opening over the giant road cleat, then inch it up and around the velcro straps/buckles, etc.  Again, I know this is petty….but I think these little hassles snowball inside your head, with every mini-hassle ultimately building up into a reason to puss out and skip a workout.

So here’s my so called discovery: Leave the booties halfway over the shoe.  I know it sounds stupid, but it literally saves me 5 minutes of prep time for every cold weather road ride.  I only started doing this a week ago and I feel incredibly dumb not to have taken this lazy shortcut much earlier in my winter cycling career.

Just slip the ole foot in the back, use the top buckle to tighten everything up (the bottom velco/buckles will need to be left a little looser than normal), yank the top portion right up around the back…and voila.  Here are the pics.

Ok…I’m doubling up my posting action tonight….so onto the next ride….

Finally, a nice solid ride with some hammering mixed in.

Earlier today, CJ and I rode out the Custis to meet Eric L in Rosslyn.  When we met Eric, we learned that his target was to log 100 miles today and since he was already 30 or so in, it seemed pretty realistic.  I wanted no part of this…at least not until February/March.  As a sidenote, Eric is the insane dude that spontaneously took a 160 mile detour when riding into work one day - on his singlespeed road bike no less.  CJ and I would settle for a nice 30 miler instead.

So to spice up our shorter loop, CJ decided to drag us out on a hilly ride through Arlington, a route neither Eric nor I had ever done.  Now I have to admit, when it comes to riding with other people….I have a very hard time regulating my intensity.  If somebody is behind me, I always get the sense they want me to go faster.  I suspect CJ is keenly aware of this tendency and knew I would beat myself up today if he led us onto the biggest hills he could find….and sure enough, I did.  Between the three of us, we pounded out a pretty good paced ride…even with my yo-yoing pace.  I don’t have the specific performance data, but even with minimal cooperation we were frequently in the low/mid 20s.  The best part about riding out on the WO&D from Arlington is the trip back.  Almost without fail, there is a pretty money tailwind for the last 30+ minutes home.  It was on this stretch that we were mid to upper 20s the entire way on the flats.  It felt great to hammer a bit for a change.

Now, I have to admit.  I’ve been obsessing about the new frame I picked up.  It looks like Fedex should have it to me by Wednesday, but until I can determine how well it fits me (on paper the specs look perfect), I don’t want to make any concrete plans to build it up - and instead will just flip it for a small profit.  Until then, I’ve been thinking (ok, obsessing) about my options.  Do I re-use older Ultegra parts with 5000+ miles?  That seems less than ideal.  Do I “settle” for Ultegra SL or maybe a Force Group, or do I just suck it up and go DA?  If so, 7800 or just go nuts with 7900?  Then whatabout wheels?  With the aero downtube, I want to go with an aero wheelset to complete the bike’s vibe as more of a sprint/aero bike and less of a climber.  So what should my ceiling on carbon wheels be?   Do I go with something like a Neuvation or a mid-range Reynolds?  Literally go for broke with Zipps?  I have lots of ideas, but I’m thinking that the build will be spread out over a minimum of several months, if I decide to keep her.  I still have the Walt build to take care of, and my Ukrainian accountant is probably not gonna appreciate my overblown bike budget entering into our wedding year.  I think I’m working into my 2011 funding with this next build project…

And yes I realize the overt hypocrisy in consideration of Ride #12’s mode of thought.  This really would be the last bike for awhile if it fits ;-0

Anyway, pics on Wednesday!

Yesterday was a ”get out and do something mildly physical” ride to offset both an increasingly doughy cubicle ass and the alcohol intake from the previous evening. I have to admit, my current ethanol (exact same compound you know…) consumption rate is admittedly too high for a “serious” cyclist who wants to be competitive (I’ll cut down after the holidays in my base training phase). Its one of those ironies that kept me from moving to Belgium, turning pro and racing in any of the spring classics during my first couple years of college. I’m pretty sure the alcohol was the only factor limiting me there.  

Now for some logistical thoughts: I’ve been in the late season cycling motivational doldrums lately – which is probably pretty clear based on the handful of missed days that are piling up in November (e.g. 3 off days in all of October, now 3 just in one week of November). In defense of my own motivational powers (or lack thereof), I have to say that Ride # N on this blog is actually Ride #N+200 or so… You see, I’ve already logged about 230 or so days on the bike thus far in 2008….so my motivation struggles are based on quite a few base miles already. Now mind you, many of those “days” were simply 10-15 miles of riding to work and back with small detours thrown in (hardly a “training ride”) but 4000 or so miles nonetheless.

So how is this 300 thing gonna actually go down?

I’ve got a little input from friends over the past month on what should constitute the “ground rules” for reaching 300. CJ has recently said that I should count 2-a-day training sessions that I might inevitably have to resort to in the spring (i.e. ride before AND after work and count both as a “ride”…..rough huh?) as my only way of reaching 300. Another friend Nick L (and Johnny B) have suggested that I only count rides done “in my full kit for at least an hour”. I think the hour part is probably pretty key, but since I’m counting rides that are more casual in nature where I’m just “out on the bike” and might not be all kitted up (i.e. maybe I’m just out cruising with Oksana and rocking knickers or whatever)….I think I’ll have to omit any clothing or “seriousness” restrictions. So in theory, the baseline requirement will be 300 hours on the bike (300 individual rides, at least 1 hr each). Whether it actually ends up being 600 or 700…who knows. I do plan on tracking that stuff in a more sophisticated training log starting Dec 1 (which I am counting as the first day of my training calendar) when I begin my actual “base” phase and begin to ramp up mileage. Thank you to Mike Z for pointing me in the direction of those $99 training plans…I will be choosing one shortly.

In other news:

I splurged on a Seven Axiom ti road frame that many of you have already heard me elaborate on via email, gchat or whatever. It was entirely impulsive of me, taking advantage of a “too good to be true” type deal. This post is already meaty enough, so I’ll save the full-story for sometime next week when the frame is in hand and I can take some pics of it. I’d like to comment on how I’m doing my part in stimulating the economy but because I bought the bike used, it does not contribute to GDP. I can only hope that the recipient of the proceeds from my purchase decides to go on a Xmas Wal-Mart (Uncyclopedia is hilariously un-PC) shopping spree, filling up his SUV a few times driving back and forth with loads of plastic Chinese toys.  

Wednesday was the kinda ride that I hope becomes more the norm than the other mid-week night rides over the past several weeks. I met up with CJ (so not solo), the weather was mild (no tricky clothing considerations), and we kept up a moderate but by no means difficult pace (I’m lazy). Its precisely what I’d like to log lots of between now and February.

In other news:

After getting into an email exchange concerning lubes on Wednesday (Ian has fallen for a new lube called Dumonde), and then doing a bit of research on a variety of lubes, I feel I have to award a gold star to a lube that I feel is the best I’ve ridden on either road or mountain in a long time. I’ve been using it for about 1.5 years straight, and it seems to keep my sh*t running smooth as hell. Take it from me, I’m pretty low on the totem pole when it comes to bike cleanliness. I’m quite often one of the dirtier bikes in any group ride….so when I say that a lube does a good job, I’m saying that within the context of the lube not getting the help of any degreasing or regular rebuilding of parts. Its pretty much a wipe-squire-wipe routine for me. In fairness to myself, having a garage would definitely enable me to be a bit better about this….

Anyway, Rock N Roll lube is the only lube I’ll pay for right now. When you’re stuck in that random bone dry chain situation at the trail head - you take what your buddy happens to have of course…but if I ever buy a bottle, RnR is the only thing I consider. Its simply amazing stuff.. …I won’t drone on about it anymore than to say that I’ve logged quite a few miles over the past couple years and really have not experienced much parts wear at all.  Keep in mind the fact that I’ve sampled a myriad of lubes over the past 15 odd years of riding so there’s a pretty big basis of comparison here….  Go buy some.

The “Gold” is the best all-around option imo:

I know Ian will probably want to comment on Rock & Roll since its his favorite as well ;-0

Ok, so its time to catch up on some of these entries. What a week its been. By that, I mean: what a lazy ass I’ve been this week.

Monday was an evening in which I realized when driving home in the pitch black “night” at 7pm….that I’ll be riding more than 50 night rides over the next couple months. I like night riding as much as the next guy, but sh*t….its gonna get to me. What sucks is that there really isn’t another option. Waking up early enough to squeeze in a dawn ride is actually more of a night ride with the sun poking up at the very end. That’d be the only way to get something in before having to hop in the car and head off to work. On the other hand, who the hell wants to wake up at 5am anyway. I don’t.

So in light of my realization, I did my best to suck it up and get out the door, overcoming what was an intense urge to repeat the prior night’s post-ride routine of scotch, chocolate and football. (I even had a vested fantasy football interest in the otherwise boring match-up between the 49ers and Cardinals). So yeah, it took some motivation to get out.

Furthermore, once out the door I quickly realized that my single jersey layer + arm warmers would not suffice. I was about 15 minutes into the ride and just couldn’t take it anymore. I had to turn back. I simply couldn’t warm up and feared that my nipples would slice through my nice Twin Six jersey before the ride was out. Now here’s where the real motivation was required. I had been out in the cold for 20-30 minutes total when I pulled back up to my building. Obviously I was extremely tempted to just say “fuck it” its too cold….but the chuckle from the front desk security guard in my building seemed to say “haha, you sucker…I knew you wouldn’t be out there for long….” And so I redressed with another layer of upper body protection and a skull cap and went back out for round 2.

Two observations from the ride:

Lip balm is one of those things you never seem to have handly when you really need it.

Foxes can approach golden retriever size (not sure why, but I always get a kick out of seeing them scurry out of my way….Monday’s was the largest I’d ever seen).  

Today was another ride like Friday and Saturday.

Went out for what should have been a mellow road ride, but ended up chasing roadies around Hains Point.  What a boring ride.

Instead of droning on about it, I’m going to talk about this evening’s current post-ride activity: Scotch drinking.

A little history.  I once took it upon myself to learn to “like” Scotch.  I saw folks pouring out a “couple fingers” in the movies and decided I had to see what it was all about.  I was probably 21-22 at the time and one bottle of Oban later, I was hooked - my favorite spirit since.  I rattled through way too many expensive bottles in too few years and have since taken a bit of a hiatus in the recent past.

With the exception of a nice vintage Balvenie that I sucked down earlier this year, I’ve been more of an post-ride beer guy than anything else.

Today I decided to mix it up and revisited an old friend:

Laphroaig is know as one of the most intense of the classic single malts since it has a really dominant smokiness.  Some folks don’t really dig it, I do.  I drink all my Scotch neat, and if its cask strength I’ll pour in some imported bottled water from Scotland since the mineral composition matches perfectly with the scotch (ok, I just made that last part up… I use water from my Brita).  Anyway, note the lovely tulip glass.  If you normally drink your Scotch out of a “rocks” glass - stop being a hack and do it right - anything resembling a snifter is a step up.

I plan to cut myself off pretty quick since I’m already getting critical glares from a certain Ukrainian, but hopefully I’ll “review” some obscure Scotch later in the year….hopefully near ride 200 or so.

If any of you folks enjoy a really hearty stout (I’m talking stuff over 10% abv) after your fall/winter rides, and you’ve yet to try a high quality Scotch (and no Johnnie Walker black does not count) post ride instead, I urge you to give one of the classics a try.  I recommend everyone start with a bottle of Dalwhinnie.  Very smooth.