Also: Saturday!
Velodrome CX this Saturday! Love love love this course. Lots of sloppy back-and-forth through a drainage ditch, and the last time I did it I had three crashes (two caused by my hitting people who were already on the ground). Mud, water, churned-up grass, plus riding down the banking into and out of the velodrome. The only things that would make it more epic would be a 500-meter section of pavé, three inches of snow on the ground, and if it were raining blood.
Have I mentioned how I feel about it? Because you should probably know that I love this one.
Things, Stuff, and Other Things
Once again, no real clear-cut plan exists for a blog post. I'm feeling somewhat guilty for not having updated lately. So here, again, is a list of bullet points about what's goin' on (I hear Marvin Gaye every time I type that). Some of this is heavy, some light, and I'm guessing that most of it is transient stuff that I won't remember a year from now.
• First and foremost, I've been trying to pay more attention to the happy things in life and less attention to the negative crap. No, this isn't some loonball attempt to follow the wishful-thinking bullshit espoused by The Secret. It's more of an attempt to just be more happy and to see the good in the rest of the world. It's been hard to do, though. I'm very influenced by the moods of the people I'm closest to, and as a result, I have the occasional bad day.
• Framebuilding is going well. I've been honing my brazing skills and am starting to feel pretty comfortable with them. I've also finished a few joints with hand-filing and power tools, which has served to illuminate the need for a quality filling of the joint after it's been tinned. My next session is in two weeks and we're going to go over TIG welding -- and as part of that, I'll be using 3" square tubing to build a welding stand, which will become part of my arsenal of tools. Once built, I'll need to get it powder-coated and buy a few small fixtures (repairs stand clamp, casters, bolts, etc.) to get the thing put together. I've also blueprinted the 29'er frame and the cyclocross frames using BikeCAD.
• I also recently applied for a part-time, work-at-home gig that would have me working as the Online Editor for Cyclocross Magazine. My skill set (English degree, deep experience in interactive, and a love of cyclocross) seemed to be a good match. I did get a pleasant response from them this weekend, and have written back. Just waiting to hear more at this point. Very excited about the potential position.
• Trying to get my shit together on the 2010 training program. I really need to hit that this week.
• Calvin is getting really weird lately. The little guy has taken to standing in the corner of the living room and meowing at the top of his lungs for no particular reason that I can ascertain. We need to get the whole quartet of beasts into the vet for check-ups soon -- I think we talked about doing that in January. I'll keep an eye on him until then.
• Really vexed about what to do with a novel I've been writing. Stephen King has a horror novel coming out with a major plot element that's somewhat similar to what I'd been thinking about -- and I nearly just deleted the file. I realized not long after the shock wore off that we both might have gotten the idea from The Simpsons Movie. The problem is, I'm not sure I want to continue with the process of wrangling the book into a shape that could be considered "readable"...or if I should move on to the next idea.
• Wedding planning is coming along nicely. Locales for ceremony and reception are found and reserved. DJ found and reserved. Photographer found and waiting on contract from them. Future wife's wedding shoes have arrived (and I got to watch her "squee" over them last night, which was fun). Saturday, while she's trying on dresses, I'm going to go start looking at tuxedos and try and nail down gifts for my groomsmen -- I don't want Kate having all the fun. Also have to have a difficult discussion with one of my groomsmen, which is going to be filed under "ugh"...
• Need to install Ruby on Rails on my Mac tonight. Need to build a simple application that's going to be part of the Ferocious Cycles website. It's going to be a nifty little bit of code that will make for some happy customers.
• Need to make some time with my family in the near future. Haven't seen mom in awhile and I've got the Scrabble itch something fierce. Should swing by dad and stepmom's place, too. And maybe drive out to Detroit for a weekend to visit my bro and my sis-in-law, the latter of whom is undergoing chemo.
So that's where I'm at, Internet. How are you?
Review: Shimano SH-M310S
The author's shoes -- just after their first use.
Background: I bought these shoes because I have a history of foot injuries stretching back almost two decades, to my time in the army, and my last two seasons of cyclocross have both been curtailed by sprained feet. Historically, I've used the same shoe for 'cross racing and commuting, an older Nike model, paired with Crank Brothers pedals. Prior to the Nikes, I had a pair of Pearl Izumis that I picked up for cheap during my days working in customer service at REI. With 'cross season fast approaching, I opted to give Shimano's heat-fitted shoe a try as I've loved my R300-series road shoes (not heat-fitted) for the past couple of years.
The shoes, like high-end ski or snowboard boots, are custom-fitted. You acquire the correct size, and then you work with a bike shop employee to have them fitted -- a process involving a small oven, plastic bags, and a vacuum pump. This, actually, proved to be the only real snag in the ownership experience.
Hello Winter
Been awhile since I've last posted here. Lots has been going on, but I'm not going to delve into anything prior to this weekend.
First of all, I'd say that winter's formally here:
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That was the looks of things when I stepped out the door around 7:45 a.m. You can't tell from those images, but it was still snowing. And as of 11:00 a.m., it's still going. Been awhile since we've had significant snowfall this early. I'm not complaining, mind you, because it's still warm enough where I don't feel the urge to die when I leave for work.
This weekend was a productive one. Saturday, we started Laundrypalooza, which carried into Sunday and will be giving a final encore tonight. We did Grocerystock on Sunday, along with a Target run. Again, productive.
I also raced the Theo Wirth CX and did okay -- and by "okay" I mean "I didn't die." I don't know if I'll be racing next weekend. I need to get up to Princeton for Round Two of my framebuilding experience.
Hope you're all well, Internets.
Weekend, Food, Etc.
Well, I was all gung-ho about racing 'cross this weekend, but that's off the calendar. I was going to race Saturday, but that's all the way up in Fargo. Too damn far to drive for a single race. I'll settle for hammering a couple of hot laps in a local park and doing some mount/dismount practice.
Some cookin' is on the agenda for the weekend. Since Sunday is the Vikes-49ers game, I will probably get up and take a stab at a pierogie pizza. The whole concept is something I cannot ignore and sounds like it would be a good game-time food.
Also have a chimmichurri recipe that I'm dying to try -- we discovered the Agentinean green sauce while we were in Vegas, and fell in love with it.
In other news, we've had to move our wedding date because our locale and the associated hotel rooms are inundated by the Bayside Blues Festival. Dammit. Now I gotta wait another two weeks to marry Kate. Ah well. She's definitely worth the wait.
I am sleepy. Work is too long today. I want a beer. And a nap.
I’m Back
So it's been awhile since my last post. Partly because I had a short week at the office last week and a normal workload. I got everything done, then blew town for Vegas, which was awesome, as usual.
The first thing you'll have noticed is that I reverted back to the old theme I'd been using. The garish one was too damn obnoxious for my tastes. The second thing you'll notice is that I deleted all the accumulated spam in here. (Okay, maybe you didn't.)
Life: Wedding preparations are starting to roll. We've got a location, but it's going to necessitate two separate lists -- one for the ceremony (small) and one for the reception (huge). I want Kate to walk down the aisle to "Brick House" by the Commodores. She's having nothing of that.
Bike: 'Cross season starts this weekend and I'm not really ready. But I'm going to hit it anyway. Might as well suffer a bit and use it as training. Worst case scenario is that it becomes training for next year. Framebuilding class is starting soon. Real soon. Oh yeah, and the debacle with my RA'ed mountain bike shoes has been resolved. Got them. Heat treating them tonight.
Writing: I think I'm finally completely burned-out on reading. Vacation'll do that. To maintain my relationship with the written word, I'll be trying to wrap-up the rough draft for Bubble over the next few weeks. Hoping to keep it under 130,000 words. Going to be close. After that, I have to start my next novel, which is about humanity's first (indirect) contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.
One Bad Apple
Two years ago, I raced my first 'cross race and fell immediately in love with the sport, despite having my ass handed to me on a silver platter. That race was in Powderhorn Park, one of the sizeable plots of parkland that Minneapolis has to offer.
Turnout for the race was amazing and spectators were everywhere. Everyone I talked to loved the course. It was well-organized.
And it wasn't on the schedule for 2008. Why? They couldn't get a permit to do it again. One of the goofiest of the rumors was that we tore up too much grass. Turns out the reality of the situation was that one of the racers took a shit in someone's front yard.
That "someone" happened to be the dude in charge of some goofy neighborhood association in the area, and used the incident as an impetus to not only prevent the race from being held at Powderhorn Park again, but I've heard rumors that he's gone so far as to try to block any cyclocross events from occurring in Minneapolis city limits. I'd chalk those up to just rumors, however. (Boom Island isn't happening because of construction on the island. And Theo Wirth is happening this year.)
The point of this posting isn't to lament the guy making a stand against the Powderhorn Park event -- his negative reaction is understandable (but probably a little over-the-top). The point is that there are too few races in the cyclocross calendar as it is, and if we act as poor citizens in the neighborhoods they're held in, we ultimately push ourselves out of the sport we love.
‘Cross Upgrades?
Since the above photo was taken, the only real changes to the bike have been the loss of the water bottle cage, and a switch to TRP CR950 carbon cantilever brakes. (The Avid Shorty 6s went onto the Surly Cross-Check commuter.)
I've been thinking about making some minor changes to it for the upcoming season — cutting it down to a 1x10 drivetrain and changing the front chainring size to a 42. This would reduce the amount of chain droppage, lighten it (only slightly), and resolve the weird gear spacing I have going with my 50-34 front combo. Also, I need new tires that will allow me to run lower tire pressure without the risk of pinch flats (which have been somewhat common on the Conti Twisters I have on there now). I've been told Michelin Mud2 rubber is the way to go.
Bikey Bikey Bikey, Plus One Other Thing
New training wheels should be finished tonight, and I'm pleased about that. I've got them all laced-up, but would rather pay Andy a case of beer to do the tensioning/rounding/truing, as he's much better at that stuff than I am. I'll be giving them a hard ride tomorrow, rain or shine, just to see how they play out. Will post the resulting data here, just to show you how out-of-shape I truly am.
Got the Birchwood Cyclocross Clinic on Saturday. Yeah, I've already raced 'cross a few times, and yeah, I love me the crap out of it. It'll be good to get out there, though, and sharpen my skills. I could be a lot faster on my dismounts than I currently am, and I'm sure that there's a LOT that I don't know that I need to learn before the season kicks off in September. This means I should tune-up the Salsa Las Cruces this week.
Related to 'cross: I need to start running again. Hills and sprints, mostly, but I want to do some endurance stuff to get the legs used to it again. Also, I need to find some better MTB shoes. Every time I run in my cheap Nikes, I injure my foot. Sidi Dominator 5s, maybe? We'll see.
Unrelated to bikes: the new struts for the WRX should be here today, thank Christ. Hoping to get that work done on Saturday morning.
Product Reviews
So it's only installed on the back brake right now, but last night I installed the combination of Nokon housing and TRP CR950 carbon cantilever arms on the cyclocross rig. This is an upgrade from Avid Shorty 6 arms with just cheap/generic Bontrager cable housing.
The change is amazing. I barely even have to brush the cross-top lever to get the rear brakes to engage, and they do so in a smooth, predictable way, and deliver enough power to stop the bike quickly.
I'm really going to have to remain cognizant of the fact that my Las Cruces is moto-wired (ie.: the brake levers are wired opposite of usual -- left hand now controls the rear brake), or I'm going to eat dirt/pavement.
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.@nickhobart dude this one is SLAYING me. http://www.dontevenreply.com/view.php?post=84 [fontosaurus]
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Dude. Last hour VERY productive. Spent it trying to get a migrated contact lens out of my eye. Fuck. [fontosaurus]
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I'm at Wells Fargo (425 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis). http://4sq.com/6e3CnI [fontosaurus]
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Checked in at Wells Fargo
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I'm at Don Pablo's - Roseville (2700 Lincoln Dr, Roseville). [fontosaurus]
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Checked in at Don Pablo's - Roseville
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I favorited a YouTube video -- Cycles http://youtu.be/-0Xa4bHcJu8?a [fontosaurus]
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have my Friday off, so here's my Follow Thursday: @mightywombat, @veloveggies, @Scoutwell_Cat, @kilgette, @actualmiles, @DoWhatITellYou #ff [fontosaurus]
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Man, talk about enabling commerce. http://is.gd/aeKE9 [fontosaurus]
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