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.
