Bike Tuning, Part 1

Melissa needs a ride too because Jake the Snake just won't cut it anymore. JTS donated some parts to this TCR and the first upgrade is ~1100g crabon fribe wheelset. Next to go are saddle and seatpost.

Light wheels for those climbing days.

Bike is not a bike without a powertap.

My mechanic thinks that yellow swiss stop pads would work better than overpriced TRP pads.

Grrrrravel

Pretty chilly it was. The mountains of Manitoba were covered in snow and there were tire tracks in the sleet to be ridden. It was like riding a moped or booty call with ugly chick/guy, most of us have done it before, but would rather not do it again.

Unfortunately the biggest hill, le cote du winnipeg jets, was not part of the course due to road closures. The soggy gravel was kinda enough though. Had to ride the cross bike but managed to sneak over the finish line first.

MB Mountains

It wasn't that bad. Less snow than in November when I did my last race of 2010

Jar of gravel trophy. Should have been limestone and mud mixture with some pork poop added

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This is the post I tried to do on my phone, but it just didn't work.

Now there's no races in horizon so we'll see what will happen. I'm planning on riding to the cabin tomorrow, but it does look bit wet for longer ride.

Ultimatum and Spring Classics

So what the hell happened last Sunday? JV was stuck to his racing for 4th GT mode? There was no frickin' ITT or mountain stage on Monday! What was Hushovd doing driving the peloton on Haaghoek before he got kicked out the back door? Better ban the radio because I'm sure Thor didn't come up with that idea on his own.

Oh well. Superteam got their arse handed over to them but the classics team, that has delivered for the past...what...15 years, almost did it again. That almost was because of Nick Nyens. I can relate to that guy...not so much the handsome devil that got my wife following cycling and is apparently the superman of cycling. There's nothing like the underdog or semi-underdog stealing the show and I'm all for that. Hells yes, another show like that again on Sunday. Actually Boonen winning would be pretty good, but I think it will be Langeweld's turn.

But I was watching de Ronde with Ajokoira last Sunday and it turned out that he used to be a very handy sprinter back in his day. He told me that he was battling it out in the sprints with Djamolidine Abdoujaparov back in the 80's in Baltic Sea Friendship Race. This to me is very surprising, not only because I thought Ajokoira was my age, but also because I have reliable sources telling me that Ajokoira learnt to ride his bike at the age of 12. He does have unbelievable skill to call every single attack etc. some 1-2 minutes before it actually happens, but I think it might be just lucky drunk guesses.

But here in our little duck pond, it has been nice and warm. Just trying to figure out what to do this summer. No racing allowed on paved surfaces here in sport's hinterlands, or land of curling, as the locals call this country. Actually, I would hazard a guess, that no outdoor activities allowed, unless you're getting driven to them in a Volvo. Canadians being outdoorsy people is a bigger myth than Santa living in North Pole. I was in BHP the other weekend and I knew 90% of the people by first name and the thing is, that I can't remember people's names. Not so good if you're trying to build relationships for living.

On a semi-related note. My asset manager sent me a memo, that all the stuff, that I don't use on regular basis, must go. So if I don't go to work in the morning, I'm deemed to hit the basement and make a list of all the stuff that I don't use. I'm supposed to put this list on my blog and price everything to sell ASAP. I have everything from frames to brake pads. I'm not too sure if I can inventory everything, but I'll do my best. Paypal works and I'll ship internationally.