'cross

This weekend had lots of bike-related stuff happening. Saturday I managed to spray a couple of frames earlier in the day, then wrap up the last of the sidewalk on the house. After that it was time to clean up for the Vitch's (John Coleman and Kate Carpenter) wedding reception.

What a great time that was. It was held at One-on-One bike studio in Mlps which was the perfect venue for this event. Amazing how well that place cleans up for a bike shop! All the usual Kenwoodies were there to celebrate and a few other friends I hadn't seen in quite a while. One thing is for sure, the Vitches sure have a lot of really great friends. A good time was had be all as far as I could tell.

Sunday was the Boom Island 'cross race. I really wasn't too sure about this. First off, a lot of us were at the wedding reception till about 1am or later and of those I think most were bound to be hungover. Secondly I hadn't actually ridden my bike at all since the Lake Rebecca race the week before and my shoulder was still questionable and quite sore. The doc had assured me though that it would be ok if I wanted to ride.
So I headed to Boom island still not certain if I'd race or just watch, but once I was there, I had to give 'em my $20 and put myself through some misery. I decided I was going to take it easy and not risk any crashes on an already injured shoulder, so I lined up near the back. Big mistake. The race had 78 people in it on a course that was appropriate for about 30. The first couple of barriers I literally had to stop and wait in line to get up them. By the time I got up the second run-up I could see the front of the pack was already a full half lap ahead of me. But I figured I'd just pick people off once it thinned out.
It never really thinned out much though. I can't recall any part of the race where I was riding alone, and I was passing folks almost constantly for the first 6 laps. That's a great morale booster. The course was really set-up quite well, especially for singlespeeding. There were three sets of barriers plus one run-up that you literally had to dismount and run. So 4 dismounts per lap. It was clear that I was outclassed fitness-wise, but I think I made up for it on all the dismounts and remounts. I seem to pass the most people during the couple of seconds I was off the bike rather than the times I was riding. Guess I ought to spent a little more time getting fit. I have no idea where I finished but I know it was a lot further ahead of where I started, so I'll call it a victory.

Shoulder felt fine while riding, but it's still pretty sore today. I guess I'll probably have to do a little PT as the doc recommended, but that's not too bad. Much better than what it could be.

In other news, Terry Bill From Reynolds tubing was kind enough to email me in response to my last posting about 953 weights. He's such a good guy to deal with, and explained that they're using brand new dies on the current batches of 953 which can lead to the thicker walls, but that as the dies wear in, the spec should also become closer to the advertised specs. For the meantime I'm going to keep measuring tubes and setting aside the thicker ones for frames that need a little more material, and using the light ones where appropriate. Thanks Terry.

bbbb