transitions, yeah.

Let's get this party started, you can feel those days
coming, they're just around the corner. Time to pay
the piper.When you start seeing quotes like this
from the big dawgs, you know we're turning the
corner on another season.

Spring's coming, bring it.

from cyclingnews.com:

For Boonen, the semi-classic is an empty space on his trophy shelf. "It is the only race I have not won from the spring classics, all the other ones I have already won one time or more."

Must be neat to be able to say
that, with a straight face, at 27.

Me, I'm gonna get after some
sick mid Atlantic lift assist bc
skiing tomorrow, totally radgnar.
Like last wknd, but more.

One last chance to shralp some pow,
then I'll reallllllly be itchin for some
quality saddle time.

quick transition from this:

to this:

and definitely some of this:

???

March First is Saturday?

holy shit am I in for a
rude awakenin' at Cohutta.

I'm lucky if I'm able to
handle a Harri-Roubaix
at that time of year.

fuck.
me.



this is gonna be neat.

back on it.

testing testing. spin the
commute home, contacts
in, gear shuffled, partial
kitting done, car loaded,
Furnace by 6:15.

Rolling quickly. Jabber
feels so. damn. comfortable.
Rip across CommServ to
warm up. Reach the end,
light indicator goes from
blue to red. shit. looks like
an O&B. Kill the light & relax,
then fire up and burn the
hi-beam back to the car.

At the car, indicator still blue?
Damn, musta been a glitch.
Really wanted more than an
hour's ride, coulda stayed out.
Shoulda stayed out.

Still a fun ride, bit of crunchy
snow, am liking the new light
more on the bars instead of
the helmet. Final piece of the
Jabber puzzle is wheels. Popped
a(nother) spoke in the rear wheel.
Converting an Eno eccentric to
a concentric bolt on, new hoops
are on order.

First need to tear down the old
ss wheels.....anybody need a
pair of 26" Mavic UST rims?

Not even ridden for a year.....

explorin'

I had a good snow hound mentor in Dirtball.
Followed a hunch to Denton Hill State Park.
Good vibe all around, no fun police to limit
your line choice, which meshes nicely
with my prefered approach to skiing.

An afternoon of slackcountry explorin'
blew my mind, both in potential and the
unexpectedly spectacular, ski whereever
you want condish. Totally different than
the lift served off piste that was skied earlier.
Karhu Guides are incredible skis, they do
everything you ask of 'em.

While poking thru the trees, remember to
always look for the blue ribbons.
Pics can fill in the rest.

Interesting morning commute.Pennsyltucky stormin'.Early crowd.Report was right, thin cover for sure. Cranked

out a few more laps for good measure anyway.3 hours of charging the lift served portion of the

little hill had me itching for a change of scenery.

Tour time out thru yet another rabbit hole.Wonder what's off the 'groomed'?

Exactly what I had hoped to find.yep, found it.oh yeah.more.and more.my favorite color.and more.and up again.previous plunder.exit chute.

5 turns.

standing on the knob of snow.
scoping the line, snaking from
here to there to there, those
are the first three, bang, bang,
bang & maybe open up the last
one just a bit.

slope rolls over off the headwall,
no scoping the line from above,
what do the next turns hold?
where do they take me?
what's down there?

neat questions to ask, but you know
the answers. how many laps off this
headwall have you done over the years?

click of the poles, then push off,
drop a knee, settling into the
trough between bumps, nail this
turn and establish the rythmn.

POP! let that ski unload you qwik
footed bitch, change leads and
get that next edge engaged.
let the ski work.

POP! solid carvable footing, with
a bit of rain infused hardpack
scrapeage added to the soundtrack.
throw your core down the fall line,
hope that your feet catch up,
shluff flowing down with you.

POP! Drive that uphill hand,
can see past the rollover now.
There's the lip of your nemesis,
a side of the trail drop that only
comes in after a cold month of
running the snow guns.
(we take what we can get)

I'm not comfortable falling thru the
air and I'd like to change that. So we'll
let this third turn finish a bit, moving
out across the line. Hit that hardpack
spine, get light and snap those skis
around midair. That's four.

Set an edge and line her up, breath.
Hesitant side slippage before the
commit. Adrenals firing, bead of
sweat trickles, just point 'em you
fuckin' pussy......pre jump the lip
like you've read about, keep it tight.

then silence.

one-one thousand.

two-one thousand.

touchdown.

DON'T DROP THAT HAND!
Out of the backseat!

drivedrivedrive, eyes open like
platters accelerating instantly to
Mach Looney status out of the
chute and onto an apron of
choppy crud over hardpack.

Let out a hoot, maybe even a holler.

Rinse, and repeat.

linkage.

this is a humorous read,
thanks Tim: Things I Like.

Reminds me of this classic.

gadgetry

hmmmm, wonder if I can bolt a cog onto one of these puppies?
It's an 8 bolt pattern, proprietary I'm sure, doesn't look like a 19 or 20 would fit, too large of a bolt circle. Would need to change up gearing to something like 42/24 or 44/26 to make a large enough boltable cog from the looks of it. And that would totally change my ring clearance, thusly killing my world famous ninja log clearing skillz. So, forget it.

Mostly curious about how it would, if it can, read backpressure into the pedals. Or if it would even work as a flip flopper, do these things only read power in one direction of rotation? Bet those silly kids out west are drooling all over it...

i'm hungry.

working thru a slumpy funkish moodish thing lately.

some things good & busy, others slacking.

getting called out for the slacking, not directly,

but a wake up call nonetheless. changes happening,

lateral moves with pros & cons, will be finally

incorporating the brown bag plan to take

the two wheels to work much more regularly,

eliminate some laziness, a small rework the

morning/lunchtime schedule. develop new

efficiancies and appreciate the benefits of

more controlled diet and all associated.

got back onto skis Saturday, bluebird warm 30deg

day. quality imitation snow, two weeks of rust

shaken off quick. what a blast running laps with

the 'regulars.' got spanked here or there, once

over the handlebars and head first slide off

the top off Gunbarrel, did come back to nail the

'pillow line' along the chair though, fuckin' hilarious.

they're bound to yank my ticket one of these days.

afternoon in the workshop tinkering with a file,

then a half hour evening test ride round town

had me smiling goofy kiddy grin. Couple rock

'hucks' over on campus and some stairs have me

rethinking the skillz envelope, more to come.

Snuck in a shortish flat mid 30's grey spin before

the rain arrived today. Haven't been on the skinny

tires for a few weeks, rolling zen along the Yellow

Breeches, 10-15mph tailwind, silent chain ticking

rubber to asphalt hummin soundtack, just pedaling

along. Was good to visit with my quiet friend again.

my new friend.

last night's first date stroll

thru town went well. today

was a lunch date in Meeshow.

it was quiet and pretty.pimp my ride.

we had fun, who needs skiing?

happy trails, stay safe.

ritual

I've deleted two longwinded posts about
these folks and their PowerTapped
singlespeeds. What I think will be
interesting to follow is their personal
experience of learning the how of
ss racing vs interpretation/applying
the data as they prepare.

what's that saying about boxing?
"everybody has a plan until they get
punched in the face...."

one thing I can't get my mind around,
and this is getting into the basis of my own
programme, is that the Earth isn't flat.
It rolls and drops and dips and kicks you
in the teeth and hits you with body blows
before turning the corner and showing you
a 22% switchbacked punch to the neck.

Planet Earth doesn't divvy out the
punishment in 45/60/90/120 second
hi cadence intervals with 52seconds of
zone 3 recovery between each.
In sets of 3.

Your race course might be PA styley,
steeper 20ish minute power climbs with
punchy techy singletrack in between.
Or you could be hitting the hour plus
sustained climbs at the Shenandoah
linked by long flowy recovery downhills.

Which is why my programme has
evolved into what it is. Put in the base
work now, then start mixing a bit of
climbing into the long Saturday ride.
Once those pedal strokes are tallied
it's time to go out and really find those
climbing legs, a month's worth of focus
on the local climbing routes and working
over the orchard roads. Top end is next
so bring on some speed via the local
road TT series and downhill fixy work.
By mid summer, just finessing the form
from there on out. Build and recover,
keep it sharp and cover the chinks in the
armor. Train on the terrain that gives
you trouble, cuz racing a ss is as much
about the course as your competition.

Learn your body and
just ride your damn bike.

what was that about long winded?

introductions

please meet my new friend:

may a rear brake never grace this frame.get used to this view as I roll over your soul.oooooo, pretty.neat lighting.clearing this uphill logtard move on the second lap = $$$planning to spend the day together tomorrow,

get to know each other a bit better,

first impressions = sweet.

stay tuned.

fear me.

If my bike coasts, ya'll are toast.Me: You see Harlan, this bike coasts.

Harlan: oohhhh, now I'm scared.

pic ripped from this guy.

idle thoughts

riding the Dos has felt like cheating.
it's now painfully obvious that the
old DBR needs to be put to pasture.
hung up on the wall.

the fit of my 6' 0" frame on that
16.5" frame no more worky.

so, I've been researching.
and I'm quite surprised at
what four hundred couple
dollars can get you.

thought about the Salsa El Mar,
still a contender, but not a fan
of the EBB and kinda pricey,
fork included though. also
saw a bunch of others here and
there, then took a second look
at the Vassago Jabberwocky.

I shot out some email,
to see what's about.
stay tuned.....

Oh yeah, entries paid
for Cohutta & Tahoe,
fear me, my bitches.

ice ice baby

interesting riding conditions.

ride agendas cut short,

mother nature dictating

the effort. quality work

at a trickier slower pace.

constant mental focus

saps the will, it ain't

springtime yet....

fixed Dos expanding the

envelope. fun times

beginning to let her run,

confidence inspired.

pictures tell the rest.