Literally

Okay, maybe you're just as tired of hearing complaints about the overuse of "literally" as you are the word itself. But I have a slightly different take on it. Today at lunch I overheard a dude say something like "I literally sent him the email like five minutes later." Why would one use "literally" as an intensifier in such a case? It does nothing. This guy probably really did send an email in the timeframe he boasts of, but so what?

"I literally asked him to stop pushing on the back of my seat."

Is just as misguided as

"She was literally driving me crazy."

Why can't people be as smart as me? Literally.

2011 Huck-a-Buck

This was my first real XC race if I don't count the short track race back in 2009. It was a good experience, and it taught me a small measure of humility. I thought I was fast and could place well, but I came in 12th out of 16 competitors in the CAT2 40-49 field. Let me tell you, these guys were fast. In fact, the winner of the CAT1 race, Terry Kolb, finished his fourth lap three minutes ahead of my third lap finish! Needless to say, I have some work to do.

Now for the excuses.

1. I do not think my bike fit is dialed in yet. My hands and toes became extremely numb about midway through my second lap, and by the end of the race I was in considerable pain. Things like stem length, grips and saddle position need to be revisited.

2. I had mixed what I thought was a middling amount of Accelerade in the contents of my Camelbak, but it turned out to be a highly concentrated mixture. Not sure how I screwed that up so badly. By the second lap, I was pretty thirsty for just straight water, as I had sucked way too much sickening, syrupy sports drink. This mistake didn't really affect my lap time all that much, but I was angry at myself for making such a rookie blunder. Next time...plain ol' water.

3. Pacing. I went nuts-out on the first lap, as is my wont, and had little left for the ensuing laps. The second and third laps were both three minutes longer than the first, which frankly was not all that fast either. I need to work on overall speed I guess.

Them's the Brakes

My new brakes, Hope Race X2's, came in yesterday and I installed them after work. Very nice machining on these jewels. My bike now weighs 18.95 pounds, finally breaking that symbolic 19 pound barrier. I still need to shorten the cables a little bit as they are about 3 -4" too long. Hopefully, Ahmet and I will ride Harris Lake today and I'll get to "brake" them in. Heh.

Fin!

Here she is, finally complete. I may need a longer stem to get my back at a better angle while riding, but I'll get a few miles on her first. Some of the details: FSA straight carbon bar, Easton 90mm stem, WTB Silverado saddle, blah blah. She comes in at a svelte 19.5 lbs.

Cha-chizmalope!

Mike Johnson, a frind of Ahmet's, built the wheels. ZTR Crests laced to King hubs with DT Revolution spokes. I confess that I'm a little disappointed in the color of the hub anodization; since when is "pewter" another term for "purplish gray?"

Click the image to see an enlargement.

Disclaimer: any reflectoporn you think you see in the enlarged image is entirely unintentional. I had my shorts on.

Build Progress

Frame is not here yet, but other things are in the works. My original plan was to transition every component off the Jabberwocky to the new frame, but there's been a few changes. First, the ENO cranks are not compatible --no surprise. I will be going with the S-Works carbon cranks with an E.Thirteen 32t guide ring. The guy at All-Star thinks the CNC machining is blingy on that ring, so I went with it. Second, I want a flat bar instead of the riser, so that will be replaced as well. But the coolest part is the wheels; instead of staying with the slightly worn Arches, I ordered some Crest rims from Stan's. Only 380g each! I will have All-Star lace them up to my King hubs and DT spokes, then use the old Arches for later use on the Jabber...which will need a new (or used) set of hubs and spokes. Yeah, I want to keep the Vassago as a beater or to have on offer if I have visitors from out of town.

New Bike

So I ordered a new frame/fork today. I will no longer be able to use the subtitle "Big wheels. One gear. Zero squish."

It is a Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper 29-er Carbon Hardtail Single Speed. A mouthful, yes, but this bike is mega-sweet. Only 500 of them made this year.

More to come...

Burn-24

I had a good time at Burn, though my team was not competitive. This is another way of saying we came in last in our division (3-5 person 40+ male). Others from the Triangle did quite well. Debbie Hage placed second in women's solo with 12 laps! This is a woman whom I'd ridden with about five weeks prior out at 286. It was just the two of us and we were discussing upcoming cycling events in the area. She said she wanted to try Burn in a solo class and I thought that was cool, so I told her about last year's race and how energetic and exciting the whole event could be. We then came upon a climb and Deb had a hard time negotiating it, so she announced then and there that she was not going to do the race after all...because that hill had gotten the best of her. I thought that was a rash decision, but did not argue. Well, she must have gotten talked back into it in the intervening weeks. She showed up, she rode, and she kicked major ass. Right now, this woman is my hero.

Oh My God! Burn-24!

I was kinda disappointed that I wouldn't be doing Burn this year; I had hoped to make it an annual tradition, and counting on it becoming a yearly custom. Something I would do every Memorial Day. Anyway, it just so happened that somebody named Chris posted a vacancy on TMTB and I'm in! I will be riding with three other MTBers who "are just doing it for the experience." That's fine with me, but I'd like to beat last year's lap averages, and look really sexy doing it. More to come...

Rocky Road

Rode RR yesterday...kind of. I decided to try it backwards, and the first part was just no fun. Lots of very technical and steep climbs. I don't think the trail designers intended it to be ridden this way. There is, however, quite a bit of new trail, and that was refreshing to see. Odd that the bandit singletrack seems to get more attention than the sanctioned singletrack. Anyway, I flatted about halfway through, and there was zero Stan's sealant (in liquid form, anyway) left in my tire to do the self-sealing magic. I think I will go back tonight and ride the intended route. I believe that if one were to ride this trail daily for two weeks, endeavoring to improve every outing, one would be a much better mountain biker in just a fortnight.