iRide

So I found out yesterday that we are going to a 4/10 schedule at work. Since I have seniority, I got first pick on what day I wanted off. So I of course chose Friday. My new schedule is 9:30AM-8PM on Mondays and 6AM-4:30PM Tuesday thru Thursday.

It will affect riding a little. My resolve to ride Monday morning solos (that I just blogged about loving) will be tested. Instead of getting to sleep in until 8AM and then going out for a ride and getting to work at 11:30, I will now have to bump that all ahead 2 hours. I will need to get up at 6AM in order to get it all in. That’s still technically sleeping in, since I get up at 5AM every other day. But, I know it’ll be hard to get motivated to ride the first really chilly morning this Fall or Winter.

My Wednesday rides will basically become night rides once Winter gets here and the days start getting shorter. It’s all good I suppose. With my NiteRider Tri Newt, I have an awesome light for night riding. I need to start using it more anyway. J says he’ll make most of them and Mark has said he’ll ride with me. So it’s all good there.

I will have all day Friday to ride, which is awesome. I’ll need to drop the kids off at school by 8AM and will then have all day to ride until they need to be picked up at 2PM, which is plenty of time to ride just about anywhere. It’s cool too, because that will free up my Friday nights to do stuff with the family, since I usually don’t finish my Friday rides until around 6PM.

The main thing that will be affected is Taekwondo. Not getting off until 4:30PM means I won’t be able to get there until about 5:15 or so. I will basically miss out assisting the first class (low ranks) and nearly all of the second (mid ranks). It sucks too, because those are the classes where I feel I can help out the most and do the most good. I really enjoy working with those students. They are very respectful and eager to learn. I have those forms down really well and am confident enough of my abilities in them to feel like I can really help teach them effectively. I won’t miss my own class or sparring class, which is good!! But I’m majorly bummed about not being able to help out as much in the lower rank classes.

I also am not looking forward to the scheduling change because it interrupts my routine. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t like change. I like being in my set, regular routine. This new 4/10 schedule is uncharted territory and that always makes me apprehensive. Tonya says she thinks I’ll like having that 3-day weekend every week enough that it’ll make everything else worth while. We shall see.

I didn’t get my usual ride in today because I somehow tweaked my ankle and leg at Taekwondo last night. I didn’t feel it until I woke up this morning. I thought I’d be OK once I stretched it out and walked around on it. Unfortunately, it just got tighter/stiffer and generally more painful as the day went on. Considering I rode Sunday, Monday, had Taekwondo yesterday, will have class and sparring again tomorrow, am riding Friday and riding Noble Saturday–I figured a rest day would do me some good.

I’ll post updates about how the new schedule is working out as time wears on. It is starting effective immediately. And, since our pay period is Friday-Thursday, it means I have this Friday off. At least there’s that.

And finally, just because I feel like it–here’s a couple pics of bikes I’ve sold, and wish I hadn’t:

Intense Tracer:

Giant Reign:

For whatever reason, I’ve realy been missing those bikes lately. I’ve decided I’m not going to sell anymore bikes. Ever. Period. There’s no reason too.

Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

I have been riding the Niner a lot lately and I think I’ve finally got it dialed in just right. I took off the Niner Flat-Top handlebars and put on a Easton EA50 riser bar. I was just too stretched out with the flat bars and needed a little bit of sweep and rise to make it more comfortable. I also thieved the new Atomlab Trail King pedals off my SS and put them on the Niner. I ordered another saddle off the Specialized site to replace the cheap and uncomfortable Nashbar saddle I’m currently running. I am liking the new saddle on the Yeti, so I know I’ll like it on the Niner too. It should be here by the end of the week.

Dad and I also converted the fork from 80mm to 100mm on Saturday afternoon. Justin was kind enough to offer to help me since he’d done the conversion a few times, but scheduling didn’t work out on my end. So Justin emailed me the manual/directions he had and dad and I were able to get it done in about 45 minutes. Thanks again Justin!!!

I took it out for the first time with the new upgraqdes/parts yesterday. I am REALLY liking the ride a lot better now. I am in a much better position with the riser bars and adding an inch of travel to the fork slackened the Head Angle by about a degree, so that helps too. I am glad to have finally got the fork conversion done too. I’ve wanted to do it since I was riding the Zion. It makes the ride a lot more plush and I’m not quite as puckered on the gnarlier stuff.

Sean and I rode and explored more trails here yesterday. We didn’t start out until about 6:30PM, so we only had a couple hours. We rode out to the Mt. Gowan Open Space Preserve and did some exploring out there.

We then went out of the Preserve a different way than we came in and explored more of the unknown. We found still more trails going all over the place. Some singletrack. Some wider multi-use trail and even some rock features. It’s going to be quite a chore to actually map it all out. We came across a pretty old dam built out of rocks. I don’t know how old it was, but it was a pretty interesting find. I rode out onto the top of it–which was only about 12″ wide. You can see in the picture that I lowered my seat. The drop off was as high as 15′ at some points, so I decided I wanted a wee-bit more control.

We had to break out the lights towards the end. All in all it was a really fun ride–almost unexpectedly so.

I am also really starting to enjoy my Monday morning solo rides too. Well, I guess that’s not exactly the right wording. I’ve always enjoyed them. I guess what’s changed is that I’m actually starting to look forward to them. As a rule, I don’t like to ride solo. But, there’s something about Monday mornings before work (I don’t have to be to work until 11:30 AM) that makes it different. I bust out a nice ride at Lake Hodges–which is on my way to work anyway–and then just grab a shower at work after. It’s super easy!

I know one of the contributing factors to this is the present Tonya got me for my birthday–the Timex Iron Man watch with iControl. Since I got the Azonic SurroundSound helmet, I always rode solos with my iPod set to a pre-made “Ride” playlist. Which was OK, but it was the same music a lot. With this watch, I plug an adapter into my iPod and then am able to control the iPod with the watch. I hang the watch from one of my CamelBak’s straps and set the iPod to “Shuffle”. I then have about 2,000 song possibilities. If a song comes up I don’t want to listen to, I just hit the Next/Skip button until I get to one I like. It is so cool. I need to thank Tonya again for such an awesome and thoughtful present.

I decided to take a “Personal Wellness Day” today. I woke up with a pretty severe case of anal-glaucoma and called Sarge to see if I could take some vacation time off instead of going to work. He said it was OK and my planned route at Hodges this morning immediately got longer!! I rode a much longer route than usual and it was awesome. There was something about knowing I didn’t have to go to work after that made it that much better.

This week should hold the usual rides. It’s also looking like Wednesday will be another double. 1 lap with J and then another lap immediately after with Mark and maybe Sean too. We also have another Noble trip planned for this Saturday. Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

I saw this on Allison’s blog, so I thought I’d run it down over here. It was kind of short, so I added/made up a few questions of my own…

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?

I read about a Titanium Titus El Guapo that was built up pretty stout and weighed in at 29 lbs. Not bad for a 6″ travel bike. I’d probably go with that.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?

No. Owning just one bike is boring. I have a pretty diverse stable. I would never spend the $6,000+ it would cost to own that Titus El Guapo.

How many bikes do you own?

Seven. 26er FS All-Mountain, 26er HT, 29er HT, old school 26er rigid, 26er FS Freeride, “69er” rigid Single Speed and a road bike.

If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?

The question says “route”, so I would work out a route that hit all the Lunch Loops trails in Grand Junction, CO. If only one trail, it would be Holy Cross–a trail in the Lunch Loops trail network and the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike.

If you could upgrade any ONE part on any ONE of your bikes, what would it be, what are you replacing and why?

I would swap out the current fork on Haro X7 freeride bike–a Marzocchi 66RC to a Rock Shox Totem Solo Air. Because after what Marzocchi did to me over a warranty issue I had, I will never buy/own another one of their products again. I am working on this swap right now actually.

If you could go ride any ONE trail anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Anything at Whistler. I haven’t been yet.

If you could ride with any pro mountain biker for a day, who would it be and why?

Andrew Shandro. I think he’s an awesome rider. He’s been around awhile and is still living the dream so I think he would be full of good stories and good advice. Plus, he teaches at skills clinics, so he has the heart and desire to teach. I would be a human sponge and just soak up everything he could show me.

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why?

I technically do both because I own a road bike, but I ride mountain primarily. I don’t ride too much road because cars are too dangerous. I’ve been hit by a car while riding a bike twice–neither one my fault. Plus, road riding gets pretty mundane after awhile. Mountain biking is WAY more challenging. Plus, I think the brotherhood of mountain bikers is stronger than with roadies. I do enjoy road riding though–probably because I don’t do it very often.

Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.

No. Because they’re for people who can’t ride a real bike. If I was ever injured to the point where I could never ride a regular bike anymore, I’d be all over it.

Have you ever raced a triathlon?

No and I never will. I don’t like swimming that much and detest running. It’s bad for your knees, ankles and joints. I would ride the bike leg in a 3-Man triathlon though.

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?

Ice cream. I love ice cream but this is a no brainer. I can’t think of much I’d give up biking for.

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?

Try to bust out the camera and not die, of course. Not necessarily in that order. This is Allison’s answer and I liked it so I kept it.

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Please add this to your blog if you are reading it so others can see it. Or not if you don’t want to. It’s all the same to me. Thanks for reading mine though

I got in a good ride today. Two laps at Hodges–1 with Jeremy at our usual time and then another with Mark and James after. It was cool–and easy. I really wasn’t tired at all after. But hey, it’s Hodges so I didn’t expect to be. I rode my Yeti so I could goof around and have fun. I missed my Niner the whole time though. Maybe I’ll ride it Friday.

Seek your bliss. Ride lots…

So the Noble shuttle ride that was supposed to happen this morning fell through. Instead, Sean, Evan and I decided to do more exploring here in Ramona on the trails in the nearby hills. If you recall, Sean and I did a little exploring not too long ago. Today we wanted to ride a little bit further out and scope out a huge crevice called “Devil’s Jump Off”.

We decided to set out early so heat wouldn’t be a factor. The clouds were socked in at first, but they burned off pretty quick. It’s actually nice to do almost all the climbing in the first few miles. It makes the return at the end of the ride much easier.

Another one of the designs painted on the road:

Like I said, we weren’t below the clouds for long.

Above the clouds:

Evan somehow happened to notice a grasshopper meeting a rather unpleasant demise in the web of a Black Widow. Sean got a pic:

We knocked out the climb fairly quick and soon were in the rolling meadow:

The trail forks by this tree. Sean and I had ridden to this point on our last ride.

Last time we went left. This ride, we would go right. From looking at maps and satellite images, we knew there would be an immediate downhill section into the valley below. We could then follow the trail through the valley. We knew at some point there was a pond and a huge meadow. Armed with that, we set out into new territory.

The downhill was short and we entered the valley and the trail was just where the maps said it would be:

Before too long we came upon the pond:

The trail continued on around the pond:

The scenery was pretty cool and we were all pretty stoked with the trail conditions and the fact that our pre-ride navigation and planning was working out.

Before too long, we came upon the vast Meadow we had seen on the satellite maps. There was a trail on either side of it. We took one side out and the other back. It was very beautiful. Pics do not do it justice!!

The trail ended on Hwy 78, about halfway in between Ramona and Santa Isabel. We turned around and headed back. The plan was to go back the way we came, but to throw in the detour out to “Devil’s Jump Off.”

We also decided to take a short break back at the pond for a short rest and gourmet feast of Clif Bars. Yum!!

While we were there, I noticed Sean had a little wild flower stuck in his crankset, in between the chainring and crank arm. I decided to take a pic as a goof. Unfortunately, I noticed a crack too:

We finished up Snack Time and pressed on to “The Devil’s Jump Off.” It was pretty cool once we got out to it. It was actually a dry waterfall. The total drop to the bottom had to be close to 500′ if I had to guess.

Looking back at it from across the canyon:

The only downside was to get out to the overlook, we had to walk through about 100 yards of this:

So therefore, when we got back to the rock outcropping where we left the bikes, we spent the next 10 minutes picking stickers out of our socks and shoes:

It was OK though. My Niner stood guard the whole time (insert yet another gratuitous shot of new bike):

We continued on and made it back super fast. Which was easy considering it was almost all downhill. You gotta love knocking out the climbing at the beginning of the ride!!

Initial impressions of the new Niner are good. It climbed very well and handled extremely good too. I could feel the 5 or so pounds I dropped for sure. This new bike is super nimble and flickable. I’m really looking forward to more saddle time.

This trail was nothing technical or anything like that. However, the weather and scenery was awesome and I’m pretty sure Sean and Evan would agree–there’s something about exploring new stuff. Not knowing what’s coming up next just makes the ride that much better.

Instead of riding right back to my house, we rode to the “Village Store” not too far away, where a group from the local high school was having a fund raiser. Tri Tip, Pulled Pork sandwiches and hot dogs were on the menu. We were more than happy to partake and relax in the shade for a bit. We then headed back to my pad–albeit at a very leisurely pace. No sense jostling all that Tri-Tip around.

Thanks to Evan for making the drive all the way from downtown SD where he lives. Also big thanks to Sean for the expert map reading and planning and for the pics. A lot of the good stuff you see above are to his!!

I will likely run through the usual rides and ride locations this week. Until next time–seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

I took off work a bit early today and headed over to BB to see how the progress on my 29er was going. I figured that since the hoops were laced, I’d help to expedite things and tape the rims and throw the tires on. Maybe install the cassette and chain too. When I got there, it was still sitting in the corner—–but this time it was sitting in the corner FINISHED!!!!!

I was SO stoked. Turns out Steve finished it this morning. He even wiped it down a bit for me. I couldn’t believe how awesome it looked, sitting there complete. I was beginning to wonder if this day would ever come.

As any proud papa would do, I rushed her home and proceeded to take a crapload of pics. So, without further ado…

The final build specs:

Frame: Niner Cycles EMD9
Fork: Rock Shox Reba SL
Shifters: SRAM X9
Rear Der: SRAM X9
Front Der: Shimano XT
Cranks: Race Face Evolve XC w/ int BB, 22/32/Bash Guard
Cassette: SRAM 990
Chain: SRAM 991
Brakes: Shimano Deore hydros w/ Gun Metal DangerBoy levers
Bars: Niner Flat-Top Nine
Stem: Thomson
Seatpost: Race Face Evolve
Wheels: No-Tubes ZTR Flow’s on Chris King hubs w/ Crank Bros Split QR skewers
Tires: Fr-Kenda Nevegal 2.2, Rr-WTB Exiwolf 2.3

Tomorrow morning, a few of us are supposed to hit up Noble Canyon. I haven’t been there since the Yeti broke. It should be a good time. I’m going to attempt to take some pics, but you know my track history on that so we’ll see. Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

Sean took James and I on a more complete tour of Ted Willimas Friday afternoon. I got out of training pretty early and met Sean at the trailhead at 4:30. James wasn’t going to be there until 5:30, so we set out for an hour or so until he got there. Usually at TW, we climb up the East side of the hill and then descend down the more technical stuff on the same side. Sean would take us up and down the South and West sides as well before the day was over.

So, Sean and I set out and began by riding a little pavement action through some residential streets to get to the South side and began our climb. My chain was VERY dry from all the riding in the past week. Add that to a slightly bent derailleur hanger and my drivetrain was quite ineffiecent. The chain was making some crazy loud noises, but worst of all–it was “ghost shifting” and jumping all over the place whenever I would torgue very hard.

I wasn’t feeling it the entire way up, what with the dry chain and my overall whiny attitude towards climbing lately (more on that in a bit). It wasn’t too bad of a climb and we eventually reached the hucking platform. I dropped off a few times, you know, for funnsies. I threw on the armor for the descent and we headed down. It had been awhile since I have ridden the Yeti at TW, so I was curious to see how it would go on a regular bike–since I’m usually aboard the wrecking ball that is the Haro. The DH was super fun. I cleaned everything too, so that was cool. About halfway down, James called my cell to let us know he had arrived. Needless to say I didn’t stop to answer, but I knew it was him. Who else would be calling? Plus, I could look down to the street below and see his car pulling up, so there’s that too.

We cruised down to the street and while we waited for James to gear up, I took the oppurtunity to give the Yeti a little much needed TLC. I bent the derailleur hanger back and generously applied chain lube. It actually worked and the bike pedaled really well after that.

I asked Sean what the rest of the ride would consist of. He said we would climb up the usual way–up the East side, then down the South and up the West. Oh yay!! Two more trips up the mountain!! INSERT MAJOR SARCASTRIC TONE HERE!!

****A little backstory: I haven’t really talked a lot about it here, but I have really hated climbing lately. I’ve had some issues for awhile. When we all rode SART back in May, I bonked big time. It was probably the worst day on a bike I’ve ever had, both physically and mentally. The Yeti is also somewhat heavy for a trailbike. The magic weight you want to try to stay at or below is 30 lbs. The Yeti sits at 32.5 lbs. 2.5 lbs may not seem like that much more, but it is rather heavy, especially on climbs. I have been razzed by people, saying I over built the bike for the riding I do. I don’t think I have, but who knows. Anyway, that and the mental aspect have been giving me trouble lately. I still haven’t got all my climbing confidence back. I was climbing so well last year. I think I just lost the mental toughness to just sack up and embrace the pain and just do it.****

We began the climb up the usual way and I felt really good. I cleaned everything pretty well and when we got to the top, we took a DH route I had never been on before. It was pretty fun and was over before I knew it. We went straight into the next climb back up the West side and it was pretty steep. I was pretty tired from the previous 2 trips up and wasn’t looking forward to it.

Well, on one part of the hill, I was ready to give up and dismount. I then remembered something I had seen on Allison’s blog just the day before. It’s a “confidence building” wrist bracelet. The motivational phrase popped in my head. It was actually just the kick in the pants I needed at that very moment. Here’s Allison’s pic of the bracelet from her blog (worn with a LIVESTRONG bracelet):

Yes, it says HARDEN THE FUCK UP. At that very moment, I realized I have been being a whiny little girl about climbing–for no reason at all. I’ll never be the fastest climber, but I’ve gotten to be alright at it. I don’t know where or when exactly it left me, but all at once I got really pissed off about the whole stupid situation. I put my head down and just kept spinning. The next thing you know, I was at the top of that section. I cleaned the rest of the climb with renewed vigor. More importantly, I stopped agonizing over the climbing and just decided to have fun. I think the difference between now and last year is that I had a different attitude about climbing last year. A more positive attitude. Never again will I go back to how I’ve been acting the last couple months.

Glad to be at the top nonetheless:

I have decided to keep this way of thinking going and quit being a damn wuss over climbing in the future. My technical riding has improved. Why should I be going backwards in the climbing department?

We got to the top (again) and took yet another new DH route back down. This one was a little more technical than the previous one. I kept my new attitude going though and rolled some pretty sketchy sections. Here’s a pic. Sean just missed the roll part, but here’s me coming off it, though with a Gravity Dropper seatpost and the 36 TALAS, it’s almost like cheating:

All in all, it was a pretty fun ride. I hope to do it again this coming weekend. At the end of the ride, I noticed my saddle was looking pretty haggard. I’ve been running a Specialized BG2 saddle for the last 4 years. It came on my Enduro when I bought it back in ‘04. When I bought my Yeti 575 frame back in March ‘07, I swapped it over. It was a few years old, sure, but it was pretty comfy and I was used to it, so why not?

Well, it has really seen better days lately. The nose is ripped pretty bad, along with both sides. I really like the Specialized BG2 design and I’m used to it, so I went on their website to buy a new one.

I was just going to get the same exact saddle, but decided to compare other models as well. The first thing I noticed was that the weight of my current saddle was close to 400 grams–almost a pound!! What the heck??!! I’m about as far from a weight weenie as you can get, but that seemed really heavy.

The saddle I decided on weighs 240 grams. They had saddles as low as 225 and even sub-200, but those looked REALLY uncomfortable. So in the long run, I’ll be dropping a third of a friggin’ pound just buy buying a better saddle–at only $30 more than the cheaper/heavier one. Rant Over.

I’m not sure what the week will hold as far as rides go. I should be getting rides in Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We shall see. Until then, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

Today, I got out of training early–again. I took a much needed day off of riding. The legs needed a break. I went home to an empty house and turned on the TV. I plopped down in my incredibly comfortable Lazy Boy recliner, in my nicely Air Conditioned living room and turned on the TiVo to watch today’s Tour broadcast.

I kept looking over at my road bike in the corner of the living room–it sits there because all the mountain bikes take up all the available room in the garage and they are too dirty to bring into the living room. Anyhoot, I’m sitting there all comfy-like. Watching the Tour. Sneaking peeks at my bike. Watching the tour. Sneaking peeks. And the next thing you know, I am SERIOUSLY considering going out for a road ride. I didn’t, but I was very close. The only thing that stopped me was that I couldn’t find the extra road tire tube I would have needed to bring along in case of a flat.

So, I resigned myself to the Lazy Boy and the TiVo’d Tour. I knew I needed the rest. But I started to yearn for a ride like crazy. Sitting here now, a couple hours later, there’s still a big part of me that wishes I’d gone out on a ride. The legs I’m sure, are glad I didn’t.

It’s weird. I’ve ridden a TON lately. I’m riding tomorrow. I can sneak in a ride or two this weekend if I must. I’m sure I’ll go out for my usual Monday morning solo. But I sit here and want to ride so bad. I suppose that’s a good thing. It reassures my love for riding and all things bike. It validates the time, money and effort I spend on bikes and biking. But I want to go ride so very much. My road bike is taunting me. Sometimes it goes like that.

On a side note–during our lunch break, we had time to stop off at BB. I wanted to see how the progress on my Niner was going. I don’t know why, but it was still sitting in the corner. It hasn’t been touched since I dropped it off last week. Steve mentioned he has been busy. I understand, but I dropped it off a week ago. I’m not asking or expecting him to do the work for free, so I don’t understand the delay. He said it should be done next week. He also told me that when I dropped it off last week. So now it’s a week later and still it sits.

I don’t know what’s going on with this Niner project. Delay after delay after delay. It’s starting to get pretty ridiculous actually. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about it. I just want my bike. It’s already been like 5 weeks. It’s looking to be at least another before I get it. All I know is that I want to ride my bike. And I can’t. Because it seems like no one gives a rat’s @$$ about it but me. It’s all quite maddening.

Whenever I do get it, I’ll be sure to post pics and give a full ride report. Until then, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

Instead of my regular schedule at work this week, I’ve been in training all week from 8-5. The place where the training is at is just down the road from LPQ. So, I have ridden there after work every day so far.

I had a good ride Monday with Mark. He was coming off of a couple weeks of no riding due to illness. We did all the usual stuff and had a blast.

I rode with Evan yesterday. Same route, same good time. It was cool having a bit of one on one time with Evan. I felt like I got to know him a little better. He’s a cool guy and really strong rider.

Today, we got out of training quite early, so J and I did the usual loop. He had to split, but Mark and Sean arrived and I went back out with them. It wasn’t so much the fact that I did a second loop that was tough. It was more doing a second loop at the pace of 2 fresh riders. I didn’t regret going back out, but I can confidently say I was glad when we got back to the cars!!

I’ve ridden 6 of the last 8 days now—all at LPQ interestingly enough. All of that and today’s ride in particular have left my legs pretty exhausted. I’m supposed to ride Sycamore Canyon with Sean tomorrow and a few of us are supposed to ride Ted Williams Friday. I am definitely in for Friday, but I’m not to sure about tomorrow yet. I’ll have to wait and see how I feel.

All of this riding isn’t the only reason I’m tired though. The Tour de France is going on right now. I have it TiVo’d and watch it every day/night when I get home. I haven’t been getting to bed until pretty late due to this, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love watching the Tour. Even though I rarely break out the Road bike (which is a darn shame, seeing as it’s such a nice bike!), I love being surrounded by bike culture and just basking in the glow of it all. It’s only a 3 week event, so I can find time to sleep after.

Here’s a gratuitous pic of my road bike, just because:

Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…

So as the title says, the Niner is finally nearing completion. There was a bit of a SNAFU getting the wheels built up. I originally had someone who was going to build them up for me, but some things went on and went wrong and after 4 weeks I still had no wheels. I was finally able to make other arrangements and am having them built by Steve, the new mechanic at work. It was driving me a little crazy, so I’m glad there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I had a completely built bike just waiting on wheels and it was a tad frustrating.

Oh well. No worries. Here’s what she looked like after I built her up as much as I could:

I’m also having Steve adjust the travel on the fork from 80mm (3″) to 100mm (4″). It should make it a bit more plush on the bumpy stuff. I’m also splurging a wee-bit on the Quick Release skewers. I was able to get a really good EP price on Crank Bros skewers. They are BLING!! I’ve never had blingy skewers before. These are worth it!! I got the black and silver to match the frame:

The final build specs:

Frame: Niner Cycles EMD9
Fork: Rock Shox Reba SL
Shifters: SRAM X9
Rear Der: SRAM X9
Front Der: Shimano XT
Cranks: Race Face Evolve XC w/ int BB, 22/32/Bash Guard
Cassette: SRAM 990
Chain: SRAM 991
Brakes: Shimano Deore hydros w/ Gun Metal DangerBoy levers
Bars: Niner Flat-Top Nine
Stem: Thomson
Seatpost: Race Face Evolve
Wheels: No-Tubes ZTR Flow’s on Chris King hubs w/ Crank Bros Split QR skewers
Tires: Fr-Kenda Nevegal 2.2, Rr-WTB Exiwolf 2.3

I will be sure to post lot’s o’ pics when it’s done.

Anyhoot, the last couple weeks have been pretty good for riding. I’m still cranking out my Monday morning solo rides at Lake Hodges aboard the rigid SS. This past Monday, I was able to knock 5 minutes off my time from the previous Monday, so that was cool.

With my Azonic SurroundSound helmet and iPod, the solo rides aren’t too bad. I’m also really digging my birthday present from Tonya. It’s a Timex Iron Man watch, but it has a feature called iControl. You plug an adapter into your iPod and it allows the watch to control your iPod!! Too cool!! I am no longer a slave to playlists. I just set the iPod to “Shuffle” and let her rip. If I don’t like the song that comes up, I can just click ahead to the next one. I am really liking it so far.

We have a very busy weekend planned, so I’m not sure how much riding I’ll be able to squueze in, but I’m sure I’ll manage something. Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride Lots…