Xterra and I Need New Bike
So it's official on two points.
- I hate riding long distances on roads. Let me restate that. I enjoy the fast pace of the sprint or Olympic triathlons. I dislike the slow pace of the 70.3 triathlon, 56-mile bike portion in 88-degree heat. But then again, I hated the century race when I did it, the 80-mile tour when I did it and also last year's 56-mile portion of the half iron race. So, I've done a couple 40-mile races that were enjoyable. Shorter is better, even if the bottom bracket is working or not (see the race report below).
- Off road trails have always been more enjoyable to me. The exception being the Ho-Chee-Min Trail in Memorial Park in Houston where I missed many one-foot bridges on a 100-foot-7-degree-descent, tumbling my bottom, end-over-end into a body of water. I don't think I'll enjoy the same today, 15-years later but if the trails are less sloped on the descent, then I'll definitely enjoy it more. I also enjoy running on dirt more than asphalt or concrete.
So, it's a done deal. Get a new/used mountain bike to try an Xterra. Or if you know me, build one. The Frankenbike swap meet is this weekend. ;)
Labels: Frankenbike, Xterra
You Get What You Need
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well you might find
You get what you need
Oh yea-ay
Another Frankenbike was scheduled for Saturday but at first it looked like it was going to be a bust. A bust meaning all buyers and no sellers. Something was not right with the 11 am start time. Even the pizza parlor, the location of this month's Frankenbike, wasn't open at that time. Four or five buyers sat around on the front deck enquiring what everyone else was looking for. One other guy was looking for a road bike rear derailleur as I was. The others kept their cards close to their vest. A couple of sellers finally showed up and I had about 20 minutes until my cycling guru friend arrived at my house, from out of town, so if this thing was going to happen it needed to happen quick.
Long story short. I went to pee, came out and one table was set up. Looked down and spotted a Shimano 105 short cage rear derailleur. How could this be. Where is the other guy?. I spotted a front derailleur and then a Bontrager carbon fiber Race Lite seat post. Pull out a few dollars and I was done.
If I'd shown enough patience with the brifters I would've been able to score some Shimano 105s which were attached to a light handlebar for $85.00. Again, this has taught me to wait for Frankenbike and if it's not there then go to Craig's list, then eBay, and then finally online retail if I have a couple of days and local retail if I need it immediately.
I started to build the road bike last night. It should take a couple more days and then I'll show you the fleet.
Labels: derailleur, Frankenbike, Rolling Stones
Tiny Bubbles
Frankenbike was in a much smaller venue this time around. As a result, only one or two people were selling bike parts. I was able to pick up a bottom bracket, a crankset and front and back derailleurs for $30, all of which were Shimano. Luckily, Performance Bike had just opened a new shop in South Austin and sent me a $20 off coupon. I was able to pick up a chain, a Richey seat post and a stem for $35, as they were having a Grand Opening Sale in addition to my $20 off. The handlebars were too much and not on sale at Performance, as well as two other bike shops so I went online when I got back home and ordered the brakes and handlebar. Both were on sale at Nashbar.com so all told savings for the day turned out to be $210 off of retail. All that's lacking to get riding on this bike are the shifters/ brake levers, cabling and a seat. As the shifters/brake levers can get kind of pricey, I'll have to be patient and watch some eBay auctions or wait for a bigger Frankenbike.
Today marks the first day of the taper period. I cut the number intervals this morning for the run. Although sluggish at first, the legs felt good by the end of the morning. It could've been they were just getting rid of the Blue Tarantula tequila from the other night. I wasn't planning on a tequila evening but then again I didn't plan on dancing to Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles with four Hawaiian hula dancers either.
No more beer or Blue Tarantula until after the race.
Labels: Don Ho, Frankenbike, Performance Bike, Shimano 105
New Frame
I just love Craig's List. Just when I thought all hope was lost in finding another sweet deal on a frame to start my next bike project, Voila, another one shows up. And not a beater bike 25-pound steel and granite lugged frame but the almost exact frame that I purchased to make Salsa Verde...a Cannondale R1000 CAAD 4, 2.8 pound yellow sweetness. And this one came with a carbon Slide fork and a Cane Creek head set and for next to nothing. Not only that the Frankenbike swap meet is this weekend!!!
The new Cannondale frame will be used for a new road bike. Instead of using the other C-Dale frame and spending half the year as a tri bike and half the year as a road bike it made more sense to have two bikes.
Status report on the wheel covers. They made it to Round Rock, north of Austin this morning in the wee hours. It's slated to be delivered this afternoon!!!!
Labels: Cannondale, Craig's List, Frankenbike
Frankenbike #22
I was looking forward to Saturday's Frankenbike swap meet as I really needed a rear derailleur. When I got there, most everyone was already set up with their treasure chests spilling over with good loot. My coworker was on his way and had me looking for pedals. Score! A semi-used pair of Look pedals and get this. The guy had some slightly used SIDI shoes with cleats in his size in the FREE Box. I picked up a brand new very light saddle from the free box and made my way across the patio. Score! Branded cycling shirts for $5 a piece. I picked up two for myself and gave the brewery cycling jersey to my coworker. I then scanned all the tables for rear derailleurs. I came back to where I bought the jerseys and the guy had a Shimano 105 on the table. "How much," I said. "Five dollars," he said. No friggin way! I could not get the five-dollar bill out of my wallet fast enough. Bought new, it would've cost me $67.99.
That's the thing about Frankenbike. Nobody's out to make a fortune. We all piece together our bikes and what's worth $5 to me is worth $50 to the next guy. I sold my Bianchi frame for $3 to get another beer. Hopefully, the guy will take it and make a sweet bike from it. That's what it's all about. People wandered past the booths and found one nice bike part they couldn't live without. They then went and built an entire bike around that one part. Now that I have the tri-bike and the single speed all finished, I need to go find a single part at Frankenbike and build a hot, fast road bike around it.
Labels: derailleur, Frankenbike, Shimano 105
Time Trial Tuesday
It was hotter than hell last night for the Run-Far time trial. Actually it was under a 100 degrees which is good for this time of year and hovering around 91, with 55% humidity and winds around 8 mph. If I had waited until 6:45, they calmed down to 0. It still felt really hot out there and it seemed a constant stream of water was pouring off my body.
Good news though as I reached a new PR on the course getting up to an average speed of 21.1 mph. I was really excited last month getting past the 20 mph barrier and now I think I'm just as excited for 21 mph given the heat and wind. I also had some rear derailleur problems. I couldn't get in the upper three sprockets using either chain ring so my cadence suffered at times on the hills. There was also some chain skipping. It's time to replace it. Frankenbike, June 30 is on the calendar for some shopping!
Right off the bat a couple in matching team kits with solid disc wheels passed me on the first descent. It was sort of demoralizing as I felt like I was standing still. However, looking at the results today he came in 3rd overall with an average speed of 27.9 mph and she came in 1st in her division with an average speed of 24.1. At the end of the first half of the course two younger males passed at a pretty good clip. I kept within five bike lengths of the second guy and as we approached the turn where the wind would be at our backs he seemed to have run out of gas. I passed and to my surprise the other guy that had passed earlier was in reach. He too ran out of gas. We were pedaling about 22 - 23 mph at this point with a couple of hills coming up. As hills aren't my strong point and the derailleur wasn't on it's best behavior I didn't quite catch the first guy, crossing the timing mat right behind him by about five seconds.
Time: 22:47.9 (15 seconds better than last month) | Average speed: 21.1 mph
Raul from Run-Far mentioned they are going to two TTs next month.
Labels: Frankenbike, Run-Far, time trial
Triathlon Cancelled
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It was a very triathlon-like weekend even though no triathlon took place. Rained out. Flooded out is more like it. At 5:30 am, my temp tattoo #139 was still drying, I sat next to the transition area with my yellow raincoat top hood pulled over my Nike cap, watching my cell phone in a zip-lock baggie for a text message stating the swim was cancelled. It never came but another athlete sitting next to me got one. "The swim is cancelled. We'll evaluate and inform you at 7:30 am." I left to go back to the car and at least warm up a little and drop off the wetsuit. I knew what had happened before the text message came and before 7:30 am arrived. People started walking past my car with their bikes. One person and a bike could've meant he'd had enough. Ten people with their bikes and walking to their cars meant the event had been cancelled. It had been.
At that point I was ok with the cancellation. I mean I didn't sign up to do a duathlon. The swim had to be part of the event. I also wasn't so sure of my bike at that point. See, I bought a used Cannondale CAAD4 Road frame for $35 on Saturday and then proceeded to see if I could get all of the components transferred to the new frame and re-cabled in time for bike check-in. Kind of crazy but it all worked. I got the new bike set up by 3:00 pm, Sunday and checked it in to the transition area. For the first time, my bike blended in with the other tri bikes. It wasn't a pawn shop bike with serious components. It now was a tri bike that looked like the others. By the way, not only did I get the 2.8-pound frame for $35, but I also got a carbon seat-post for $5.
The bike swap-meet went well. The above bling-bling was paid for by selling all the wheels and spare parts I had putting the last three bikes together. The "Lawsuit" wheel was the first to go. The Shimano front wheel was next. The swap-meet brought out all types of cyclists; hairy legged, no hair, old schoolers, Yellow Bike Project wrenchers, and of course a couple of triathletes. Go to Frankenbike.org for more information.
So today my mind and body are out of whack. They don't know what to do. I was supposed to be recovering today with a break from exercise for the rest of the week. Now, I have to wait and see if the event will be rescheduled, cancelled altogether or some other option. So I guess I'll keep the workouts scheduled until I hear what's going on. I wouldn't imagine they could reschedule for this coming weekend so it would make sense not to continue to taper but go back to full interval/speed training and the corresponding diet. I was so looking forward to being able to eat and drink anything I wanted this week, but it's not to be.
BTW, I couldn't resist the suds. Who could unless they didn't drink at all. Sitting in a beer garten and not having a beer. Who was I kidding?
Frankenbike Photos
Labels: cancelled, CapTexTri, Frankenbike, rain, triathlon
Frankenbike
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The day has come to attend
Frankenbike and sell some of the spare parts that went into making Salsa Verde and Salsa Roja. I debated on whether to cancel until next month, as this month's meeting place is
Scholz Beer Garten. I think I can resist the suds. I think I can, I think I can.
Labels: bike parts, bike swap, Frankenbike
