Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

The fat ol' goose may be me if I do not get out more often than I have been. Holiday banquets, dinners, charity events, weather, etc, have all conspired against me lately. I have plans to be here in January and I really would like to get some longer stuff under me. I have been doing short and hard...that is pretty easy. Just point and shoot toward the hills on an SS. Long and moderate to hard is more difficult to achieve.

I had someone ask me the other day if I had ever done a long ride on the SS and I have not yet. I think 2.5 hrs is about the most right now, but there was only about 10 minutes of flat terrain in that 2.5 hours. I would like to do something longer. Right now I am 2 to 1 SS to geared as far as ride time. I still pull out the Lev for epic stuff or a ride that is very digital, especially among other geared up riders. I still do not have the fitness to hang with a faster pack of riders on the SS over a typical So Cal ride. Maybe I will some day. No biggie. That is why I have more than one bike.

I have time over the week following Christmas to get a couple of good rides in if we get decent weather. It looks like a pretty good rain storm is coming in and it will bring snow to above 3000'. If we stay cool through December then the snow may stay for a while. Well, So Cal means that there is always somewhere to ride.

Cold weather is all relative, ya know?

One of my favorite blogs is Jill's blog from Alaska. I am always in awe of the daily challenge that riding a mtn bike presents in winter conditions.

Pic from Jill's blog page -



Doesn't that look all cozy and inviting, hmmm? I get whiny when it dips below 50*. Below 20*? Not this boy! My house is warm, thank you, and I think I left the water running in the other room...and my mom is calling, etc. Part of that is not really having cold weather clothing for riding. Functional, bad weather technical clothing is pricy stuff and to spend that kind of money when you can just wait a day or two to ride when the weather clears...well, it makes poor sense to a family guy on a budget.

But Alaska...or Colorado or Michigan or Iowa or anyplace that gets really COLD and stays that way for months? I am not sure how I would deal with that. I am not a bike commuter, so riding is about the fun and fitness, not a get-to-work necessity. I guess I would learn to do it anyway, but maybe I would just hibernate or hit the gym for spin class and kickboxing/pilates/yoga with the rest of the over 40 folks.

Props to you guys and gals who brave, or in some cases, celebrate the frozen rides of winter. I would love to ride with you, I really would but I can't find my mittens (I think the cat had them), and I am sure I hear the phone is ringing. You know how my mom hates to be kept waiting.

2008 highlights: Good shoes

Earlier this year I finally put aside my trusty old Answer Speeders. The tread was about gone and the fabric at the toes was blown out. So, to replace them I ordered some shoes from an on-line discount store. I guess it was their house brand, but the price was right so I tried a pair. You know the old joke about the Volvo looking like the box the car came in? Well I might as well worn the box these shoes came in as wear these on a ride.

So, I eBayed the discount shoes and hoofed it over to the local bike shop. They happened to be a Specialized dealer, so I tried on a couple of pairs of the Body Geometry mountain bike shoes.



Wow. Those felt good, like someone who HAD feet actually designed them. Actually, Specialized is heavily invested into the Body Geometry concept, that being products that have a high amount of ergonomic technology in them. So basically they are supposed to fit well and feel good, along with supporting the foot and relieving hot spots and unwanted pressure points, etc.

Well, all that aside, I like 'em. They have been consistently comfy and seem to be wearing well. They are quite decent to hike-a-bike in with nicely agressive lugs and a more flexible footbed than the carbon racy-type shoes. These are not the high end ones designed for ultimate stiffness, put at over 100 clams, they are not cheap either. I have the 2008 version of this model.

Perfect? No. I am not too crazy about the buckles. They are kinda glitchy, not always indexing or releasing cleanly. I think I may try some dry lube on them, or, I know I can replace them with the buckles from the higher end versions of the shoes.

If anything, it made me realize the value of a good shoe. Some day I may be able to afford a really high end shoe, but for now, these are getting me down the trail just fine.

Just riding.

Something crossed my mind that has me bothered. I think it was yesterday, the day after the Liebre Mtn ride. Now, that was a great ride. The climb was hard on the SS, but so what? It was what I wanted for training that weekend. The trail itself could hardly have been better. Miles of singletrack, brushy in places, but with perfect soil conditions and nearly magical in the way it weaves underneath the trees, you would think I would have been just blissfully in the groove, just dancing along. Not! I was thinking too much.

What was I thinking about on the way up the mountain? Well, in between the times I stopped for a cardiac break, I was thinking about why I packed too much stuff. Why I had not been riding more. Why I was so slow. I was nagged by the thoughts of some upcoming medical tests that could be less than wonderful. I was thinking a lot. Too many doubts. To quote Niner bikes, "Pedal Dammit!"

What was I thinking about on the singletrack? Frame geometry, fork offset, tire performance, SS good or bad, steel VS. carbon/ti/alu, lean back more, lean forward more. Overdressed? Underdressed? I actually had to force myself at one point to relax and smile as I entered yet another swoopy corner. What is the deal?

It was not always that way. Now, I have a tendency to overanalyze stuff. It is just a personality trait. Kinda like the character Monk in that crime drama on TV: "It is a blessing...AND a curse" It is what makes me the guy you want sweating the details and prepping stuff. But I remember in years past just riding and not thinking. Just riding and feeling the simple pleasure of the rolling wheels being driven along by gravity and one-rider horsepower. Just riding.

Just riding.

The ride is what it is...the bike is what it is, and to some degree I am what I am. I think it is too much time spent on internet MTB sites debating the merits of this or that bike part or set-up. Too much product analysis. Or, maybe it is bigger than that. Maybe it is the cares of age and the loss of the free feeling of youth and maybe...just maybe it is just a reflection of my life's attitudes overall. I am not sure. But, I am very sure that I need to get back there somehow, back to just riding once I am on the bike and save all the pondering for the garage bench and the fireside post-ride discussions. I need to leave the doubts at the trailhead, forget about rebound settings, fork offset, stem length........

Just riding once again.

More planned obselescence?

This post from GT and this post from GNAT along with this opinion on the Bike Lab site have been very interesting reading.

So who asked for expensive parts that cannot be serviced?