Selling Form ti cyclocross bike. 55cm- see pic for measurements
John is selling his On One Il Pompino single speed cross bike simply because he hasn't ridden it in years. It's a large- 55.5 cm toptube, 54 cm seattube (c-t)
It's steel all around with 135 mm rear spacing with horizontal drops.
It's in very good condition (it's John's, so duh).
Salsa Delgado cross rims laced to Surly hubs- black.
Easton stem and bar
Cane Creek brake levers
Avid Shorty 4 brakes
Ritchey logic pro headset
Alpha Q seatpost
Truvativ cranks GXP
34t salsa ring, 16t ACS freewheel
WTB Interwolf tires
He'd like to get $400 for it.
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| BFFs |
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| sugar loaf |
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| on my way to the finish |
I opted to race my RSS29. I put it together on Saturday
afternoon and hit up the mesa. I was so fired up about how fun it was I decided
to take it to Matthiessen on Sunday. When I registered for the race late Saturday I was the third
Cat 1 female. I figured I’d be on the podium no matter what as long as I finished. Not that I care
but I was trying to fire myself up.
Riding a singlespeed the start is always a
concern. Looking at how the race started I breathed a sigh of relief. I
probably wouldn’t get dropped; it was just some tightish turns in the grass
straight into the singletrack. That sigh was short lived when I found out they
were doing a road prologue lead out. Boo. But whatever. Not to mention there
were 6 of us! My hopes of a podium
finish faded, but I was happy to have more than 3 of us for sure. Racing by yourself is never fun and when not a lot of people are registered that's usually what happens.
We started the rollout. It was pretty tame on the initial
leadout. But then it was game on. I was spinning like mad but couldn’t hang. Not
even close. I watched the whole field pull away and disappear around the turn. When I made it around the turn there was nobody in sight. At this point
the race was more of what I expected, me off the back. Haha. I had hoped to catch
somebody as the race went on. It was a goal anyway. So I just did my thing and set out what I came to do, ride my bike.
It
was the first lap so I was getting to know the course. Before I knew it I was
on Betsy’s wheel. Betsy and I always race well together, it can always go
either way so it’s a good motivator. But she had been coming off an injury that
happened in May so wasn’t feeling in the best of shape. We chatted and rode
together for a while and then I passed. She was always good at coming back
strong in the end so I thought for sure I’d be seeing her soon.Shortly after passing Betsy I came up on Gina’s wheel. I
hung behind her for a bit unsure of what was going to happen. I passed Gina. In hindsight I probably should
have before I did, but again, expectations- I still had over 3 laps to go.
Hitting the monster climb heading out of the river valley
into the finish I thought I’d have a better go than on pre-ride. I thought
racing might give me a little more momentum. Nope. I was off my bike on that
bad boy on first lap. I hate being off my bike. Peter, a fellow singlespeeder
and Twin Six teammate and person who would eventually save my day, came cruising by running with his bike so I didn’t feel
as terrible and it sort of woke me up to get moving a bit faster.Up the climb back on the bike to start lap two.
On Lap 2 I felt like
I had a better feel for the singlespeed as well as the singletrack. Riding the
rigid I felt a lot more flowy and confident. I surprisingly came up on 3rd place, Melinda. I
don’t remember exactly where. I sat on her wheel for a bit unsure of whether or
not I should pass. ALWAYS PASS RACHAEL, especially when you know some downhill singletrack
is on its way. I’ve been racing way too long to think about such things. I know
I entered a race but I wasn’t really planning on racing so it was a mental
battle and I'll admit to being a bit nervous. Do I go for it and blow myself up and not finish? Or stick to my plan?
I finally decided to go around her on a short climb, with
roots. My heartrate skyrocketed but it felt good to ride the trail the way I
wanted to.The downhills into the river sections were a blast!!! I
caught Bev on one of the downhill sections. She moved over to let me by. Sweet. I was in second place thinking there was no way I was
catching the Mercy/Specialized girl. Those girls are always super fast. Shortly after catching Bev she was standing on
the side of the trail with a mechanical. I later found out she went slightly
off trail and a log ripped her derailleur off. DNFs always suck.
I was now in first.
That was totally not expected.
But I still had to climb out of
the river valley and ride two more laps. I hit the climb and tried to ride as
much of it as I can, but Bev rode by me easily up the climb as I ran/walked. I
felt confident I’d catch up to her in the singletrack but I still had to stop
for water.And here is where I’m not a racer. I hadn’t prepared to race
at all. I had no food, no water hand up, didn’t bring my hydration pack, so I
had a bottle of water mixed with racer food in a chair by the course hoping
watered down my stomach would handle it. So I had to stop, throw my bottle out
and grab a new one. Precious moments in a close race for sure as Melinda passed
me as I was swapping bottles.I headed out onto lap 3. I really wished I had gotten into
the singletrack first. I’m really good at singletrack. Being on the singlespeed
behind people who aren’t as good is tiring. It’s all part of racing and I’m not
complaining but it’s still the way it is. I should always be more aggressive
and I’m usually torn. I don’t want to risk putting somebody in a tree so I can
get one place higher. So I was behind Melinda for a bit and then we were both
behind Bev. Now I have to get by two people and I suck at being aggressive. I
should point out that believe it or not, I’m more aggressive than I used to be. As I was planning on where I could get by
them, as I didn’t think Melinda was going to give it to me, a guy came up on
our wheel and said “whenever I can get by”, so I went for it as they pulled off
a bit… I sort of felt bad about it but I was waiting for a good time to pass and that was it. I felt a tad guilty until I started railing trail on my own
terms! ;) Even dropping the dude that called the pass. I figured they’d catch me at the climb. Again I tried to
ride as much of that as possible. Ride, walk, walk, ride.
Here’s where the water thing screwed me again. I need to eat on the bike but everything
seems to cramp my stomach, including the water mix I grabbed last lap. I couldn’t
finish the last lap with no water and a cramping stomach so I came into the
start area asking if anybody had water. I stopped at Peter’s little area and
asked if he could spare some. Obviously not expecting me, precious time was
ticking as Melinda passed me as I was waiting for water. D’oh! Though I thought
that was way better than having nothing. Peter’s water mentally saved me as I
was convinced I wouldn’t finish not cramping without it.
I fumbled with the water bottle
not wanting Melinda to get too far away. I passed her in the grass open field.
I wanted to get some water in me and just picked a terrible moment. I was
flailing in the singletrack with a full bottle in my mouth and screwed up two
turns costing me precious time and energy. Rigid was starting to take its toll
as well as the singlespeed. Little climbs became a bit steeper and longer than
they were the first three laps. Roots seemed bigger. I definitely lost a bit of
the flow.I tried my hardest to gain as much time on Melinda as I
could because I knew she could ride the climb out and I couldn’t. The bottom
singletrack I was behind another rider that wasn’t going as fast as I’d like
but fast enough to where I couldn’t get by especially since it was pretty
technical down there.When I made it to the climb I started running up and saw
Melinda getting ready to make the turn to start the climb up. At this point I
was a bit deflated, but only in terms of placing. She passed me riding as I was off the bike. And that’s how it ended. Second place.
And I
thought I’d be last. Pffft.
It was a super fun race. Probably the most fun I’ve had in
years. I lost out on taking the win because I didn’t prepare for the race. I’m
fine with it as I did exactly what I came to do- ride my bike and have fun. The only thing that was different was I actually was competitive and ended up doing very well in the results.I guess my fitness isn’t as terrible as I thought. However
that was a great course for me to come back on as I felt it favored my handling
skills over my fitness. Those are the courses I really enjoy. I still have trouble with riding between trees. I always have but it's a bit more mental now with all my vision changes I think. I sort of close my eyes and hope for the best. There are other things I have issues with like not seeing trees to my right usually. My poor right hand gets bashed a lot. But considering where I was six weeks ago, I'm good. When I look back on the past few weeks there were moments of panic, being bummed and frustration. But the hard part seems to be so far behind me now. Racing yesterday made me feel a lot better about my everything.
results
I registered for a race happening tomorrow. I'll admit to being nervous but not for usual pre-race reasons. I had eye surgery six weeks ago. No, not lasik. I had strabismus surgery. It was my 4th surgery; my last surgery was when I was 5. I was born with strabismus. I could get into all the technical terms but I'll spare you. Prior to my three surgeries my left eye was turned into my nose. The third surgery for the most part corrected that, but it left me not being able to look right with my left eye.
After the third surgery at age 5 my left eye was reasonably centered. As I got older it gradually moved to the corner of my left eye. Sometimes it bothered me sometimes it didn't. However about 9 months ago I don't know what changed, but I was having some visual issues I'd never experienced before. If I looked out of my left eye I would get, for lack of a better word, tired.
I should probably explain that I look out of one eye at a time. I can see out of both, but pick one to look and focus out of. My brain picked my right eye because it could move left to right whereas my left eye could only move center to the left. I will never have depth perception.
Prior to this latest surgery I had a blind spot but I could also practically see behind my head on the left side. My peripheral vision was awesome. My vision was sort of a huge landscape (which I kinda miss).
Anyway, I went to see an optometrist to see what I could do. He recommended surgery. He feared that my inside muscle of my left eye had possibly fallen off, worst case. I scheduled the procedure for about a month later and waited.
Most people experience this surgery in twilight sedation. I had to be put completely under because he thought he'd have to go digging for that muscle. I don't really remember surgery as a child, but I don't think I had the leg booties that inflate and deflate.
I woke up in a room with John stoned out of my mind. It felt like I was out for days. I asked him how long, he replied, "an hour". They cut the muscles on the left side and the right side muscle hadn't fallen off but he said it was like an overstretched rubber band just hanging there. 4-6 weeks recovery time and I'd definitely fall into the longer category because of my prior surgeries.
The first day wasn't such a good time. I was dizzy and was seeing double. It was also a little more painful than I was expecting. Though not terrible enough to where I felt like I needed major painkillers.
I felt like the anesthesia stayed with me for a long time.
The next few days I was seeing completely double. Watching the Blackhawks in the playoffs I was literally watching two televisions. It was so hard to track the puck. The next few days I had a major distortion going on, like I'd see two sidewalks, one would be straight and the other would be on an angle. This was worse almost. It's also when I kept walking into walls. I thought I broke my toe one afternoon from slamming right into one.
For weeks I had to walk with my hands out to the side, kind of like feelers. I obviously couldn't drive. I had awful balance and I couldn't concentrate. I also had a non-stop headache.
My brain was re-learning how to process images (still is). For years it saw one image straight ahead and then another off to the side. Now my eyes were looking in the same spot. The brain is amazing, though I think it was giving me the finger for the first 4 weeks.
One day I decided I had to ride my bike. Probably the worst idea ever. A number of things happened on that ride that should have made me go back home, but I'm super dumb when it comes to riding, so I didn't. Remember when I said I could practically see behind me on my left side? Well that's usually where cars come from. I about pissed my pants the first time a car passed me. It was like where the hell did that come from!? I also was super dizzy on the bike. I felt like I was gonna vomit and a few times I felt as if I were going to tip over. At the same time it was the best day since surgery.
It took me a long time to even attempt off road.
A lot of things have been weird. One that really sticks out is when walking across this bridge at the mesa I used to only see one foot walking, now I see them both. Last week was the first time I was able to get on a bridge and ride.
It's six weeks later. I still have some redness on the inside of my eye. I can't look left while focusing with that eye without getting "tired", but I can tell it gets better with time even still. I have some minor spatial issues. I still have issues riding at speed, "skinnies", and riding between trees. And I'm way out of shape, fitness wise and just body wise.
I need to sell it.
Stainless steel, Enve carbon fork, 303 rims laced to White Industry disc hubs with PDX tubulars and/or Stan's road disc wheels, with Force, X0 or Force RD.
I'm not exactly sure when I decided that we should hit up the Wildlife Prairie Park IHRS race, but next thing I knew it was on the calendar. We weren't really prepared as far as "OMG, what about the kids!?" However, it all worked out.
We headed down to Kickapoo Township at about 8am. It was a pretty uneventful drive until Google maps had us on all these back roads, under I74 back under I74, where we finally took matters into our own hands and just got on I74. Sometimes I really hate GPS directions.
Anyway, we arrived with not much time to get ready. Enough, but we definitely couldn't do anything but get dressed and warm up.
At the line I was surprised to see so many women! It's very rare to see more than three in the IL races lately.
Since there was no time to pre-ride I went into this course blind. I had no idea what to expect. The lead out seemed long (it really wasn't) and I wasn't sure when we dumped into the singletrack. I just remember thinking it was bumpy.
It wasn't long before we made the turn into some fun singletrack. I was a little more brake happy than I would have liked, but that's usually the way it is when you're unsure of trails on your first lap. I was really looking forward to my second lap knowing more of what to expect. I was barely leading at the start of the race, but I felt comfortable. I wasn't pushing too hard, well, I was, just wasn't gasping like I was at the start of Palos or other races I've done. My stomach felt a little crampy but nothing that was too terrible... until it was terrible. It was like all of a sudden I felt like I was being stabbed. I tried to ride it out but couldn't so I slowed down. I let 2nd place go by in hopes that slowing down might let me feel better. It didn't. So I thought, okay, I'll just relax here for a bit and catch them. But no matter what I did my stomach just kept cramping. It was like sharp pains. The harder I pushed the more painful it was. Then I started getting pissed off. I really wanted to ride the trails. They were my kind of trails.
The second part of the course I didn't enjoy as much as the first. Especially never having ridden there before, and I guess because every rock made my stomach feel worse. I also, as much as I love technical trails like Blue Mounds and WPP, I don't enjoy racing them, but rather prefer riding. Anyway, I pushed through the first lap hoping I'd feel better on the 2nd lap.
I didn't.
I then asked myself what I was doing. I wasn't having any fun and my stomach hurt. I could barely ride and when I stood up I almost had to hunch over. So I sat on the side of the trail for a bit. I thought sitting would at least make me feel better to ride back to the parking lot for a DNF. It didn't, but I went back anyway.
As I got to the car, I farted the longest windiest fart ever. Miraculously I felt better. I seriously can't believe that I was in that much pain because of fucking GAS! In saying that, I've had a bunch of stomach issues this year, more times than I can count. Pre-riding Palos the day before the race I had a similar issue; luckily I didn't have any problems during that race. I think I might start keeping a food diary and see if it's something that's triggering it. But back to race day, I grabbed my phone and rode out to where I had ended my race to snag a picture of John. I could feel the gas pain coming back a little bit, but never to the extent of what I had earlier in the day. The gas pain even made my back hurt, to the point I wasn't sure what was going on- stomachache? backache? both? or one causing the other?
Anyway, I hate a DNF. For a second when I think about it I get all mad, but when I then really think about it, there was no way I could ride let alone race. And when I did feel better, I wasn't up for 16 more miles well after last place went by me. I'm just not that motivated, especially almost 3 hours from home. Also, after a race I always enjoy looking at results and hoping people snapped some cool photos, but the DNF kind of takes the fun out of that.
I loved the trails there. They were fun. I'd like to ride them over racing though. I just hate not having the rhythm I want on that type of stuff. Besides it's just more fun when you can look around and enjoy what you are actually riding. Especially there, it's very pretty, and cool.
Thanks to PAMBA for putting on these races. Everybody there is always kind and attentive.
Their hard work is very much appreciated.
I always start the first race of the year sick. I wonder if it's really not an illness but a severe allergy that hits me right at that time. Anyway, I was up in the air regarding racing Sylvan Island. My wrist is still fucked up and I was sick. I also remember hating the drive last year and with a 2:20 start time I knew we'd get home late.
The forecast wasn't looking too good for race time. I didn't want to deal with those types of conditions but at the same time sometimes those races are the most memorable and fun to write about. All my drivetrain parts need to be changed anyway, so what the hell right? I also knew, though he'd never admit it, John REALLY wanted to go.
With all the rain we got overnight on Sunday I knew we wouldn't be riding trails anyway, though a nice road ride to multi also sounded nice. But who am I kidding? I rarely miss out on an opportunity to ride trails- especially tight techie trails with minimal open and climbing.
Sylvan Island received about an inch of rain overnight. I expected the trails to have a lot of standing water, but to our surprise the trails were only a bit slick, but mostly tacky. A little too tacky, but that's way better than a soupy mess.
There were six of us starting in the women's expert/open race. I think three were local and threes of us weren't. It was time to go. I tried to get on Robin's wheel even though I know it was futile, but at least it gave me the motivation to get to the singletrack fast. I knew my first lap was going to be the sloppiest and most painful but at the same time I knew it was going to be my fastest which sometimes makes the difference for me in a long race when it comes down to the end as I tend to lollygag mid-race. I really need to work on focusing. Though I will say that is one of the hard parts of racing with the lack of women. It's rare that I'm ever with competitors so you tend to almost forget that you are competing.
Anyway, back to my first lap. It hurt. I went from second to third right away. I ate it hard going into one of the singletrack sections on my first lap. It took me a few to get my bearings right, and luckily I talked my way through not losing any confidence over it. Unfortunately 4th place caught me shortly after. She was never that far away and I hoped that once I settled, which was coming soon, my next lap would feel so much better and consistent.
I was right. My HR settled and I was more confident in the singletrack. 3rd place was less than 30 seconds away. I went into my 3rd lap feeling super confident... maybe too confident as I went OTB for the second time IN THE SAME FUCKING SPOT. Only this time I hit my head and was actually airborne a lot longer. After I hit, I assessed that I didn't seem to be hurt. My wrist took a huge portion of it (my poor left wrist probably wants a divorce). My helmet was full of mud and over my eyes. My glasses were dangling off of my face. I could feel my right thigh by my hip throbbing. I had mud down my shirt, my whole left side was covered and it was all down the tape on my wrist. I got back on and actually didn't feel bad. It took me a bit longer this time to gain my confidence back. But now I was irritated with myself. I was sure 3rd place was more than 30 seconds up at this point and who the hell knows where 5th place was. So I headed into the 4th lap with the wrong attitude.
Here's where I made my biggest mistake. Last year we only did 4 laps because the lead expert men passed us and they pulled us. So I figured this year would be the same as well, the lead expert men passed me on my 4th lap. Not to mention I did hear thunder. So I was barely riding. Feeling sorry for myself. I was out of water, my head was throbbing, my left hand wasn't working and I was muddy and itchy. I wasn't racing. I saw John, yelled hi and then shortly after he asked if he could get by. So I got off my bike and let him by. Got back on and shortly after that saw Gina in the woods behind me. Seeing a competitor got me back into race mode and I picked up the pace. But I still thought I was done. And then they waved me on for the 5th lap.
Fuck. I have no water. I hadn't eaten... I got over poor me really fast as I headed into the singletrack and rode faster and pretty flawless. It made me realize just how stupid my 4th lap was. Newb. It started to rain but I actually thought my tires were hooking up better with it being slightly slick instead of tacky where my treads seemed to fill up a bit. I was also having issue with the black rock and the black dirt- I have no depth perception so it was really hard seeing those in the turns. Jury is still out on whether those are the tires I'm going to run this season.
I'm really glad I went. I really liked the course; in my opinion much better than last year.
No results or pics are posted up yet. I didn't load the race into Strava yet either. I just wanted to get this up while I still remembered.
I'm a fair weather cyclist. If I have to wear more than 2 layers I just say no. I have no desire to ride when it's cold. NONE. I don't even miss it really. I usually preoccupy myself with cross training indoors and the internet.
I don't know how to explain it but if I can't ride the way I want to ride, riding just doesn't interest me. Bundled up in a lot of clothes- mostly the big gloves- I can't handle the bike the way I want. Trails are usually snow or ice covered in spots so I can't ride as aggressive as I'd like.
Yesterday I was bored. It was technically a rest day so I had nothing planned for working out. The sun and 50 degree temps motivated me to get outside. So I went downstairs to pump up my mountain bike tires. I grabbed my helmet,shoes and their covers. Threw on my wool knickers, jersey, windproof jacket and my mint green dakine gloves and headed outside with music cranking through my headphones.
My plan was just to hit up the paved loop. Not a mile into my ride I knew this was going to be a mistake so I decided that after crossing Harlem I'd head over to the Swallow Cliff area. A destination if anything. I didn't feel bad really but I knew I had a tail wind for much of the ride. I ignored that there wouldn't be a tail wind on the way home on the straightest hilliest portion of my ride. I planned to just head out to Rte 83 and back, but of course when I saw the entrance to the multi-track how could I resist? So I dumped in. It was wet. It's been worse however. I rode to Rambo Hill and then headed home on Kean to 119th.
Man, was I out of shape. It wasn't so much that I was struggling as how slow going it felt. I know the wind didn't help. And I suppose I wasn't expecting much different as I haven't ridden my bike in a long time. But for some reason when you've been off the bike for so long, when you get back on it's like your body remembers how fast you were when you rode last and it just doesn't respond.
Still, it was such a nice day to be out. I was thankful for my wool as times I was super sweaty, and then pretty chilled.
My legs felt like jello for a little bit once I got home (mind you I rode a mere 16 miles) but later on I felt normal as I do today. I think mostly because I didn't eat before or during. I'm glad to get that first ride out of the way and looking forward to it just getting easier from here on out.
I was reminded how much I miss riding even though it wasn't singletrack. Though I was happiest in the trees. Just something about it that makes me feel so alive and happy.
John is selling his white Spot CX bike (need to get measurements) as well as his orange Gary Fisher Ferrous (med- 17.5").
I'll also be selling my Blue carbon cx bike.
As soon as I collect all the details I'll post 'em up.
I can't believe it's a new year already.
As I get older it seems like time just flies.
We ended the year at a cross race and started one with the same.
I don't do resolutions but with that said I really need to get back into a routine of putting some sort of work out into my schedule. I'm still having wrist issues from my crash at Sheboygan back in October. I don't think I wrote about it. Or did I? Huh.
Anyway, I can't do yoga or push ups. I can ride. But jumping at Ray's eventually becomes an issue.
Ray's. It's what's on my mind for the winter. Hopefully I'll get out there this week.
I plan on being there the 15th for sure.
Mountain biking is not on the brain yet. I just put all the IL races in my calender. I haven't done that for WORS yet, which I guess says a lot for what I plan to do this year.
I miss WORS how it used to be but I won't miss what it eventually became for us.
It's just after 11pm. I'm pretty tired but just not ready to say goodbye to Sunday yet.
I was sick. So sick leading up to the last race. I had such mixed feelings on racing.
I just had to show up and finish to keep my 2nd overall in the series. At first I thought we had to do 3 laps for 24 miles. That's a bit rough being sick, but then I found out us ladies were doing 2 laps. I could totally do 2 laps for 16 miles. All I had to do was finish.
So we drove down to the Farmdale Reservoir to finish out the series. For the first time racing in near Peoria all year there were a couple unfamiliar faces at the start line. Which is great, but figures it would be the race where I wasn't going to be that competitive. It was a struggle with myself to hold myself back.
I love the atmosphere at these races. It's just so laid back. It's perfect for me actually. People just wanting to go ride their mountain bikes fast on single track.
We were off. It was a fairly slow start which surprised me. I thought they'd be giving it a little go. I was third on my way into the singletrack when second place ended up dumping it on the sharp left hand turn. I actually rode over both her wheels, though I did choose the wheels over her. She was fine and I hoped her bike was too. I was in second for a bit watching 1st place walk away. I hoped Betsy would come around me and give her a run for her money. I wanted to so bad, but knew it wasn't a good idea knowing how I felt. In hindsight I may have been too cautious, but if you've ever had an asthma attack, it's not worth the risk.
Betsy ended up going around me as we rode over the reservoir/dam thing. I stayed on her wheel for a bit. She opened it up as we got further into the trail and I never saw them again. I passed a few guys, nobody caught me, so it was good.
I forgot just how fun Farmdale is. The trails down there are definitely worth the drive. Not to mention there are multiple trails systems within a short drive of each otehr. I ended up coming in 3rd place. I actually wasn't more than a minute behind Betsy and first place was only a couple minutes ahead. The girl who won, Cat? or Kat? was actually from Utah, very cool to have her racing there. 
So, I was 3rd overall in the race, 2nd overall for USA Cycling IL Cat 1 for the year and 2nd overall in the IHGRS. Good times.
Next up is Sheboygan, last official race of the season which happens to be pretty much be my all-time favorite race even though I usually have my worst results there.
I was riding the trails last night thinking about riding 26" vs 29" wheeled bikes. I don't think I have a preference right now to be honest. A 29er does things well that a 26" can't, like keeping momentum. I noticed right away that I was pedaling to keep my speed quicker than I would hit the gas on my 29er. Roots, especially those that aren't straight across the trail, were easier on my 29er. Climbing steep, especially more technical climbs, are easier. Riding my 26er I had to work a bit harder to make it up the steep climbs that my 29er rolls right up. To add though, the Yeti is way taller and I'm not used to the higher front end to get up and over the bike. My second day on it I made the climbs, however there was a bit more grunting and more body english to go up.
A 26" has its very own things that a 29er couldn't compete with, however. For starters, I have never been able to accelerate out of a corner like I can on a 26" bike. I can't whip around a corner on a 29er like I can on a 26" bike. Floating in the air on a 29er does not feel the same as it does on a 26". The landings feel quite different too.
I have no complaints about either bike. A 29er rolls over things nicely, however I found that I work a lot harder to get over taller log overs than I realized. Popping a wheelie takes a lot more effort on my part on my 29er than it does on my 26".
I'm not disappointed by either ride.
I remember having a conversation with Kent Eriksen when he was building my hardtail a few years back. We spoke about how we go back n forth between short top tubed bikes vs longer top tubes with shorter stems and 29er vs 26ers, full suspension vs hardtail, etc. It's not that we feel one is better than the other, but we sort of like change. The difference. We get used to riding one for so long, and we adapt forgetting that we've adapted. So then you get on a different bike, for me 29er hardtail to 26" full suspension, and all of a sudden the traits that the new bike excels at are just that much more excellent. It's new and exciting and fun!
As far as the Yeti is concerned I was nervous that I would hate it at first. I hate the flat tire feeling and the hang up on log overs I remember experiencing on my Blur. I struck my pedal a lot on my Blur too. Anyway, after getting over the initial weirdness, which only took me about 15 minutes actually I had a blast! I'm a fairly aggressive singletrack rider. I like to attack the trail. I like to drop in, I like to lean, essentially I really like handling my bike. With the 68 degree headtube I found the small ravines, the downhills way more fun. I don't know if fun is the word, but I felt like I didn't have to get back off the rear of the bike. I just dropped in. I felt like I had more control. I realize we don't have huge drops here or very long downhills, but still, everything is short and fast here and I noticed the difference right away. I sort of touched on it above, but I was a bit nervous coming off of the 29er back to a 26" when it came to the logovers. My worries were put to rest right away. I thought I'd have that endo feeling as I hit the other side, but with the longer fork, this wasn't an issue at all. Not that it would have been an issue, just something I would have had to get to know again. It was so much easier to get up and over them, way less effort. I had troubles climbing steep ups on my first ride out. I didn't know how to get over the front end so it ended up wandering on me causing me to have to put a foot down. The second day it was fine. I'm sure I'll have issues in the snake put, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's funny how quick we adapt; I sat on my Form last night and it already felt low and long.
Hopefully I'll get to ride again later on today.
I just realized I hadn't wrote about my last race. Probably because there really wasn't much to write about race wise.
Saturday night we had a party for my cousin. I was out until 1 am. I didn't eat dinner either. I knew that wouldn't bode well for my race the next day, but whatever.
It was just Betsy and me at the women's expert start. Betsy and I are pretty equal racers actually, it could go either way when we toe the line.
I was off the front in hopes to get some time on Betsy in the beginning. I was doing well and feeling fine, though I could tell that I was going to be hungry. You just know.
I took my first gel shortly after the first lap and felt fine. I actually felt pretty good. I killed my second lap once I knew the trails. As I was riding my third I could feel myself fading a little bit so I took a gel. I didn't feel so good right after. I felt like I really needed to burp and/or puke so trying to go hard was difficult. I shouldn't have needed a gel so quickly I think was part of it, but I think this had to do with not having ate right those prior 24 hours. Anyway, I could hear Betsy coming. But it was hard to keep moving feeling that crappy. Betsy caught me and then passed me. I was still feeling a bit green. I went to grab a drink out of my hydration pack hoping that watering it down would help me a bit. I did end up burping which relieved some of the pressure, but then my bite valve fell off my pack. W.T.F. I was shocked to feel all that water hit my chamois and start running down my leg. I tried to stop the water flow but all that happened was me getting a mouth, throat and stomach full of water. I gagged and choked while trying to reverse the flow back into the pack. Finally I had done so. Feeling a bit waterlogged I moved on. At this point I felt I had lost so much time, not to mention what the heck was I going to do about water? No water equals no food. Oh well, I thought, just ride your bike.
Dehydration caught up with me quick; it was way hotter out than I expected. I started to feel a bit out of it. In the singletrack I just felt a bit off. I just ended up slowing down to enjoy the ride. I didn't think I'd catch Betsy so it wasn't worth asking my body to go above and beyond just to finish a closer 2nd place.
I finally finished. I had dried salt all over my body and wasn't feeling the greatest. My body wasn't hurting like it should after a race, just more like out of it I guess.
Sitting here on Thursday typing this, I still feel like I'm a bit dehydrated. I really suck at drinking water lately it would seem.
Last race of the series is Farmdale, apparently if I race it I will be counted for series points.
I made a last minute decision to race stop 9 of the Illinois Homegrown Race Series. I wanted to race, I just didn't want to be in a car for 5 hours that day. I knew I'd regret not going so I made the decision to just do it. John headed the other way on I57 for the xXx cross relay with the girls in tow.
I love Kickapoo. It's a 10 mile loop of mostly all singletrack that I love. It's tight, technical and twisty with short punchy (at times super) steep climbs, ravines, off camber sections, not to mention two (or is it three?) pretty awesome downhills. There's like one spot on the loop to recover- the double track to start your next lap.
In past years us women have done two laps of the course. Twenty miles on that course is a lot. As I'm in the staging area I found out we weren't doing two, but three. I was not prepared to do three. Luckily I had brought enough water, but mentally it sort of deflated me not to mention that if I knew I had an extra 10 miles to do, I probably would've ate more. There was nothing I could do about it, so I shrugged it off and prepared myself for a long day.
We started two minutes after the men. There was a longish double track lead out that lead us to surprise hill, which is very aptly named by the way. My plan was to get out front to get into the singletrack first to hopefully put some time on the ladies.
As I struggled up surprise hill (should've been a gear easier) in the lead, I felt Bev right on my wheel, literally. I felt her tap it as I grunted pushing my pedal down to crest the hill. By this point I was pretty redlined. Arms tingly, breathing hard and legs burning, I almost felt like I was coming to a stop as the trail continued to climb.
I knew it would start going down in a couple feet, but Bev passed me before the trail turned to my favor. I sat closely behind her as she descended down the fast flowy singletrack. I wanted to get by her, but it was so tight. She'd brake going into the turns, I'd have to brake too, slightly annoyed that I knew if I was up front I'd be railing the sweet, sweet singletrack. But Bev can accelerate out of a turn like nobody's business, so it was impossible for me to get by.
We headed down the switchback down into the ravine. I was still right behind her as we climbed up the switchback out of the ravine, both of us dabbing as we made the super steep left turn. Still behind her we recovered as we finished climbing out of the ravine and onto more twisty, rooty goodness. I waited for an opportunity to get by. I was rewarded for being patient as Bev lost traction going into a turn and was off her bike.
Sweet. But, not so sweet. Her misfortune happened right at the only section of multi-track on the whole course! Her strength, definitely not mine. I laughed at the irony.
All I could do was slide forward in the saddle, click my gears and push as hard as I could. I raced this course last year so I knew the next section was the wall rides and technical creek climb. I hoped to stay in the lead once we got to that point. I know Bev is strong, and though I'm a better singletrack rider than Bev, she still is no slacker; so I knew staying ahead of her was near impossible, but anything could happen so I just kept pushing.
As I entered the trees I almost felt relieved as I thought I'd start descending to the wall ride. NOPE. More doubletrack. It felt like forever. Bev caught me here and I pulled her into the singletrack. I led for a bit but she was right on my wheel. I'd put some space between us in turns, but she was right back on me in no time. I probably still had 25 miles to go at this point in the race, so I told Bev if she needed to get by to go. She was gone. I didn't even try to stay on her wheel. She was way stronger than I was. I still pushed hard though because I knew Betsy wasn't far behind, and well, anything can happen.
As I entered the second lap I still felt good. I grabbed a gel, chugged some water and pedaled on. I had the singletrack all to myself! I was having a blast until I saw Betsy as the trails weaved next to each other. A sort of panic set in; I didn't want 3rd. I pushed harder to keep the distance between us.
As I came to the end of the 2nd lap there are two super steep hike-a-bike climbs (for me anyway), as I stood at the top of the second one trying to clip in my pedal I heard shifting behind me. It was like I saw a bear on my tail. I flew down the steep technical downhill, skidding around the 90 degree turn out to the multi-track to the next singletrack section. I saw Betsy again as I messed up the switchback climb to head to the finish. As I was running up the climb Betsy came shooting down out of the woods. CRAP! After climbing up that climb it took my legs what seemed like forever to want to turn over the pedals, but finally I got them going.
After that, surprisingly I still felt okay going into the 3rd lap. As I pushed down the double track to drop into my 3rd lap I almost missed the turn to surprise hill. I slammed on the brakes and barely made the turn. I felt like I lost so much momentum. As I climbed up the hill I heard the crowd cheering for Betsy. She was so close. I pushed myself so hard in the singletrack in hopes of gaining a bit of time where I knew I could make it count. I almost ate it twice. I flew down the switchback downhill perfectly and cleaned the steep switchback that I missed the first two times as well. I wish somebody was there to high five.
I pushed through the rest of the lap harder than I thought I could. On one of the downhills I thought I was going to have a significant crash. I was going very fast, way faster than I should have been. I brushed a tree which moved me to the left side of the trail where there was a hidden log in the grass. I'm not sure how I missed it, but I did. So I dialed it back a notch on the dowhills. Fatigue and pain were starting to take over. My stomach was crampy from the gels, both of my feet had blisters and my back was twinging on every root and ravine, not to mention my feet kept flying out of my pedals for some reason. Every sound I heard I thought was Betsy right behind me. I dreaded the hike a bike section. My legs were hurting, I knew I was close to cramping and I had blisters that burned and stung worse when off the bike. As I came flying down to the descent to head out to the finishing section of singletrack (which isn't short), I looked back and didn't see Betsy. I knew at this point that if I could keep moving I'd have second place.
A part of me wanted to cry. Whether it was PMS, pain, joy, I don't know, but the urge was there. I didn't though, instead I laughed. I was almost done. That last section of singletrack is super fun, however after almost 30 miles I just wanted it to end. I was close but still so far away.
Finally the little steep exit onto the double track. I put my head down and then looked for the timer's table. I hit the brakes and high-fived Bev who was standing at the finish line. As I stood there I wondered how I would get back to my car. The thought of pedaling back with legs that were probably planning a mutiny and a back that was revolting, not to mention I was feeling quite sick from my effort, was not one of joy.
It was the first race I'd ever done where I couldn't eat anything (well, okay, I had an ice cream cone) nor did I want anything substantial until the next day.
My legs feel okay today. My left quad is sore, but I think my cleat on my new shoe is a bit off. My back however, I feel like I've been punched in the kidneys.
No results posted yet. No pics yet either. I saw one guy out there in the ravines. I hope he posts them up.
It wasn't looking good for a race on the singletrack for this past Sunday's Palos Meltdown. I didn't even want to think about it. I had been looking forward to the race for quite some time. The thought of a multi-track race was just, um, no.
I was stoked to read Ben's text early that Sunday morning: "Full course!" I didn't realize how down I was about it until I read that. I just felt my face light up.
It's really nice to have a pretty big race 20 minutes from the house.
As we got closer to the racecourse the weather was nothing what I expected it to be. It was barely in the 70s and misting. At about 11:30-12 it pretty much rained. As long as we ran the full course it sort of excited me. I'm a decent technical rider so I knew it would be to my advantage.
I'm usually not that competitive, but I really wanted to do well there; so this past week I thought about what I would do knowing who my competition was. I knew I just had to stay with the girls who were super strong power riders and hopefully get around them as we headed down into Turf.
Start time, as usual, came before I knew it. The rain had stopped. The expert men were off and now it was our turn.
When John Vande Velde sent us off I missed my pedal. D'oh! I'd like to blame the fact that I had different egg beaters on than I'm used to (wider spindle), but I think I just missed my pedal. I watched Julia smoothly pull away.
We all came together again quickly as we descended down the grass hill. I passed Julia on one of the slick short ups as some co-workers were cheering me on. I then took the lead and wondered what the hell I was doing. I'm so not good in the open.
However I figured what the hell, I'm going to suffer in front or trying to hang on. I mostly just thought about busting my ass to get into the singletrack first. I knew if I got into Turf first I could hopefully put some time on them.
As I was just cresting the hill to head down to clay hill I shifted my chain up into my spokes. Really? I seriously don't even remember the last time I did this. I don't even think I've done it in my 30s. I hopped off and calmly pulled it off, but I think I still swore. (reminder: check hanger- remember I sheared my other one off just last week?)
Now Julia was right on my wheel, which I expected. She passed me on the grass as we started to go around the lake and up the hill. I knew I had to just keep her in my sight. At this point I had no idea what was going on behind me.
I pushed hard on the gravel to keep Julia close. I felt like I was getting closer to her and debated on whether or not to put the power down (haha) and try to pass or just be patient.
I seriously didn't know what to do.
After exiting onto pipeline I was glad I waited. I forget how long that section is of lots of pedaling. I also apparently pre-rode the wrong fork in the trail, as we went left instead of right.
There were two small drops. I was right on Julia's wheel. She got a bit squirrelly on the second one which caused me to go off trail. For a split second I almost hit the brakes to let her go by like I would on a ride. *shakes head. But shortly after I just thought "go". So I did. I, and whether or not it was true, thought Julia might not want to pass on the cupped singletrack. I know I would've been freaked. I'll ride down rocky root infested downhills, but those types of singletrack trails with lips scare the crap out of me.
As soon as we hit the road and I was still in front I was confident I'd get into Turf first. I remember coming flying down the pavement and flying into Turf the smoothest I've ever floated in there before and just felt awesome. The bike floated underneath me as I negotiated the slick corners and off camber sections. Once I crossed the creek I felt like I had a gap and could just grow it as long as I stayed upright. And then I lost my water bottle. It was so weird. I actually thought about going to get it for a split second. I climbed up Psycho as best as I could. That section of trail is always longer than I think it is. Finally the turn to head down to the ravines. Man I love that trail. I almost ate it on One Day as I misjudged that long root over the trail and slid down it until my foot hit the tree. Luckily that's all that happened. As I was entering Gravity Cavity Bos passed me, but not without acting like an ass. Obnoxiously calling out on your left, racer coming, etc. It was pretty funny. I had him ask some friends to have a bottle for me. He then said, I saw your Metal bottle on Turf and totally knew it was yours. Of course.
Second lap I rode well but, and I think I was in the minority, thought Turf got a bit slicker on my subsequent laps. Not the actual trail, but the turns for sure were more slick. It was pretty uneventful actually. I was just enjoying the ride. I really loved the course. It was really fun and hard, but not a death march.
Going into my third lap I still felt pretty good. I rode the flats and singletrack great. I just felt really bad on Psychopath just as you pass the fence and the second up part of Gravity Cavity. My legs yelled at me a bit. I wanted to move them faster but they just wouldn't respond on the steeper stuff. I pretty much kept on the gas the whole race; I had no idea how far ahead I was so didn't want to chance it. I just wanted to be done pedaling. Obviously I was excited to come in first.
Crossing the finish line and having a bunch of people cheer and come up to me was really weird. I've never experienced that before, I almost felt a bit awkward.
It was really nice to get the win on my home course! I didn't realize I knew so many great people! It was cool to see them all in one place.
When the guy from the Southtown Star came up to interview me after, the first thing I thought of was CAMBr. Great job to all. I'm still smiling about it today.
"nice face" photo © velogrrl
podium shot © Luke R
