Raced track last night, hesitated to close a gap late in the 10-mi scratch race and ended up in a secondary group of four. Another rider and I were clearly stronger than the other two hangers-on and should have been up there, damn.

I've been without a PM for about 5 weeks (due to an accident) and have been generally lazy during that time... so I have *no* idea what my fitness is. But hey, it's my off season. Time to cut weekend rides short to go to the beach, and not get up too early if I don't want to.

Here's what the next few months look like:

September: 8-10 hrs/week no structure
October: 10-12 hrs/week no structure
November: Look out mother ****ers I'm coming back. Taking a whole week off work in the middle and driving out to Tucson Az with a road bike and mountain bike to put in a 18+ hr week

I'll continue to build the volume through December and January and hopefully be flying by the time the stage races start in February.

I heard amazing things about riding, training and spectating in Tucson.

One of the guys in a group I ride with was out there this spring and raved about the place.

It didn't hurt that it was a high end tour - the company shipped their bikes, tuned them up every morning, premium hotels, provided SAG on all the rides, massage, etc.

--

Today is the 22nd anniversary of my daughter Stephanie Marie's death. She was 4 1/2 years old. Leukemia.

I had Mass said for her this morning. It is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary and appropriately enough, was the school Mass with about 500 little kids.

My youngest daughter and I went to IHOP after, stuffed our faces and then slept all day. :)

Going out for a long night ride in a bit.


-Tim-

Holy crap [MENTION=418438]TimothyH[/MENTION] that is tragic. Had no idea you'd been through that, I'm sure it's still tough to this day.

Tucson is indeed a great place for riding. I have family out there so the free lodging helps. I go out every year for "El Tour" de Tucson which is a century/charity ride. This year I'm headed out for a whole week leading up to it so I should get a ton of riding in.

Tim,

So sorry to hear that, my condolences.

Dave

Fixed commute into work on the Wabi (42/17) this morning
Fixed commute back home (10 mi. each way).
Now down to the track to do a Madison workout with the Thursday Night Slingers on the Dolan (51/15).

I need something else, to get me through this, semi-fixed kinda life...

...fortunately the answer to that should come in the form of a gigantic road ride on Saturday, and maybe some MTB On Sunday.

Today I ran fixed gear after being off the bike for almost a month and a half from a car accident. So nice to be back on the bike! I also found a really neat app called TyreWiz, that recommends a front and rear tire pressure based on your weight, the bike's weight, tire diameter, and width. It was 53 front / 56 rear for the fixed gear. Ran with those pressures tonight, and the ride was super smooth, even over some gravel. So cool!

I bought a car. 1991 Chrysler LeBaron in immaculate condition with low miles. Now just need to get a hitch installed and get that Küat NV 2.0 rack. Anyone have any extra money they are planning on not needing you can just send it to me ; )

Wish I could help, but if I had an extra $500, I'd be getting myself a Kuat rack. Those things are NICE.

Cool car, by the way.

This is a recent thread about Tuscon.

Fantastic photos and worth looking at.

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...mmon-pics.html


-Tim-

I saw that! Thanks for bringing it up. Def. going to climb Mt. Lemmon one of the days. Right now I'm planning on three road rides (including El Tour) and two MTB rides.

Today I rode 104 mi with 6100' elevation w some buddies in 6:02 moving time. I'm tired! Up next: more food, and some beer

Today I bought a Nature Boy Disc. :thumb:


It looks to be very experienced, like its previous owner loved it enough to go out often and do all the stuff it was designed for.


Best part? It has a dinglespeed drivetrain, with White Ind. Dos Uno freewheel. All City came up with a really ingenious way to keep the brake caliper positioned correctly when changing gears--I'm impressed by this design. The current gears might be a bit too low for the kind of riding I like to do. I want to put a few miles on it before I decide, but I'll probably be getting some bigger chain rings.


First things first, though. I have to get rid of the ridiculously wide riser bar someone put on it and set up a nice drop bar instead. I'll probably change the seat, too. Otherwise, it looks like a really sweet, solid instrument for fun on two wheels.


Pics will follow.

"dinglespeed"

not sure if that was intentional - but I like it.

Yes, double-single speed. Like the Surly Dingle cog, but with a freewheel.

oh, nice

sounds like a really cool bike, can't wait to see the pics! Is it green like the one on the All City website? Can't help but wonder if it's possible to ride fixed on that frame :)

Dave

It is easy to ride fixed. You just get a fixed disc hub and you will be fine. I believe Surly, Phil Wood and Paul Comp make them and I bet White Industries still has one in their ENO hubs unless that has changed. Though I wasn't as keen on fixed cross myself but I haven't ever raced it just have ridden a cross-y field near my house a bunch.

I have ridden some gravel fixed before, but definitely like a freewheel better when there are obstacles. Was thinking more along the lines of a fixed gear for street use, since it has a relaxed geo and 2 water bottle mounts. I'll have to look at disc fixed hubs (or maybe get crazy and find a disc flip flop hub :-D

Dave

Who had a real nice NBD set up with fenders and Campy cranks for urban use?

I think the bike was from NYC. Was it [MENTION=367865]velofinds[/MENTION]?

Timothy, good memory. If this is the bike you were thinking of, then yes 'tis me.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...238e7cbbbd.jpg

This is the yardstick by which all other NBD's are to be measured.

I know exactly where that photo was taken and hope the bike is serving you well in NYC.

It is gray, same as the one in the picture above from velofinds. Except mine has lots of scratches.

You can run a freewheel on a fixed side but you couldn't really do a flip flop hub with disc unless you went without a rear brake which would be kind of silly. You can find ISO cogs for 6 bolt hubs but I don't see a ton of need for something like that unless just to use a parts bin wheel or hub,

For road use a bike like that would be awesome, wide tires and lots of comfort, not a bad deal.

Seems like there is an easy solution. Buy a complete bike, then build a custom wheel around the Surly ultra new disc hub. Any idea how much the wheel would cost?

Found out a complete 55cm Nature Boy is 23 lbs.. Wish it was lighter for the price (my current fixed gear conversion is 24 lbs).

Dave