"no mud, no lotus"

We have had some really great weather here this past week, so it was nice to be able to get Mr Pink out for a couple rides. Today, I was able to go for almost 20 miles and do some errands, but take a few of the local routes through the city that I'm familiar with. I am amazed at how this bike handles since I put the 25 mm Vittoria Rubino Pro tires on it. It is very responsive, and I am a little bit shocked at how well you can dive into a corner on this thing. It does not acce

A few weeks back, I came across an intriguing vlog post on YouTube by Tom Bell. Tom is a mountain biker and coach who I feel has a lot of great stuff to share on his channel. This post on heart rate variability was a concept totally new to me, and I decided that I would give it a try. Using a basic heart strap and your smart phone paired to a mobile app (I use Elite HRV) you can measure your heart rate variability. HRV is a look into the space between beats, and it is touted

With the Ritchey stem arriving just after I left for the U2 show yesterday, I had to wait to get the final steps done. Today, I installed the fork, stem, spacers, bars, and shifters. I dialed in the height and drop as best I could. The last step was taking it to the shop for cable install and a good setup. I figured this was the best course of action considering I had no cables or housing, and the Campus Wheelworks guys always do a great job. I didn't want to cop out, but I t

No bike building post today, as I am still waiting for that dang stem. I was off to New Era Field aka the Cap to see U2 on their 2017 Joshua Tree Tour. In short, here we're my thoughts: The show was visually stunning. Songs on the playlist represented the best of the band and maybe the best songs of that generation or any generation for that matter. The Edge is absolutely phenomenal, and he never can get enough credit for his groundbreaking sound and music. Bono is one of the

The first race of the cyclocross season is in the books...along with the first crash. Yep, the race got off to a terrible start with a crash in the first minute. Being a category 5 racer, there are often lots of inexperienced folks on the course, myself included. I was shocked to get a call up to the front row having raced only a couple times last year. The call up turned out to be the worst possible gift I could have received. I started off on the far right and after a few t

Components are slowly being mounted. Today, I installed brakes, front and rear derailleurs, and cable guides. Panaracer Gravel Kings 32cm were mounted in to the old faithful Dura-Ace 7800 wheels, and those too went on the bike to check for clearance and set up the brake pads. So far, everything looks great. Now if only that darn stem would show up, I could get the fork installed. Hopefully tomorrow after the cyclocross race. Hopefully.

#crossishere We have been practicing for weeks, and tomorrow will be the first cyclocross race of the season. I got out today on the bike for a good hour to work on tight turns and remounts, two of the cyclocross specific skills that I struggle with. Luckily, we have many good coaches locally who helped at the local Campus Wheelworks cyclocross practices. One of the things I picked up this season was that my hesitation on the remount was largely due to my looking down at my f

Cranks were something I was really not sure about....so many questions derived from the fact that I had Dura-Ace shifters and a rear derailleur, but no front. So...do I go 1x? Would 1x even work with the rear derailleur I had, as my cyclocross and mountain bike 1x's we're both equipped with clutch derailleurs? What crank goes with the bottom bracket I had installed? I was about to go to the local shop and inquire about getting a crankset, but as I did my research, a deal was