SRAM-tacular

The SRAM order finally shipped last week! Not in time for Sea Otter or this weekend's race, but I do look forward to rocking/rubbing/rolling the goods soon!



Got a chance to utilize my sweet new Crankbrothers shortie socks last night! Ran out of evening time to hit up a short dirt ride, so on the trainer it was for me.



I inadvertently left my snaps from the ride earlier this week on my home computer! D'oh. More pics later from Tuesday and Wednesday's riding.

Happy Friday!

Weekday updates...

Few and far between, lately. Haven't had much to say! The weekends are jam-packed with goodies and weekdays not so much.

I have a few weight updates for ya, and I bought a bunch of goodies at Trader Joe's. I'm more and more coming to seriously love healthy eating and good food. I don't eat a ton of "rich" foods anymore, and try to stay away from sweets as much as possible. I've nearly cut out all alcohol and have been feeling pretty good and sleeping well (shocking!!).

After our all-out retaliation last Sunday morning the nights have been quiet. Sunday night I did shoring up of my own situation to ensure sleep (Tylenol PM, wax ear plugs, and a shot of Vanilla Rum - YUM) and slept great. I haven't even worn ear plugs all week since and I've been sleeping off and on. I've also made great efforts to be as quiet as possible whenever I'm home (not letting the door slam shut, not having the TV overly loud, not having the radio loud, etc.). I hope this lasts!

However, I have become OBSESSED with food. I live my day around food and when my next snack is. I haven't even been hungry. Maybe I just need to find something to keep myself busier during the day? It's a possibility. Riding is not a big focus this week (it's all about recovery and regeneration for the next cycle - starting this Saturday).

I've got my calories pretty well laid out, and while I essentially eat the same thing every week, I'm trying to change up breakfast and dinner enough that I'm getting a variety.

Cereal is a low calorie breakfast (Kashi Go Lean and Cheerios mixed, with blueberries when I'm lucky).

Bagel and cream cheese is super filling and a great way to kick start the day with a LOT of energy.

New for today - I tried making my own oatmeal that wasn't processed and full of sugar. (I'm a big fan of the Instant Maple & Brown Sugar.) I was eating a ton of that for years as breakfast, and have since moved away from oatmeal. But, we have an entire bag of plain oats that Justin's mom gave us over the holidays (she wasn't eating them) and I can't stand them plain. At all.

So, I asked (and received) lots of suggestions for what to put in oatmeal, and I made some today that included it ALL!

1/2 cup of oats
1/6 cup of Craisins
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/6 cup almond slivers
1/6 cup walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of milk
1/3 cup blueberries

It was pretty freaking good! In all honesty, I think the blueberries made it, but it was tasty and seemed filling. At the time. It's chockful of calories (530~), but a little high on the fat:protein ratio - mostly due to the nuts, I think. I figured with that kind of calorie intake at 6am I'd be full for the day. Not so! Wound up kind of hungry again at 8:30-9, just like always.

The cereal has been really filling this past week, but my calories are a bit lower than normal since riding is all easy spinning and really low volume.

Cereal (Kashi/Cheerios mix), milk, and blueberries comes out to 320 calories and a way better mix of fat:protein (7% fat, 21% protein calories vs. 35% to 12%).

Sorry for the extraneous info, but like I said, I'm obsessed lately!

Justin I think hooked it up with a DA cassette over the XTR for a weight-savings of 65g



and then switched out the chain to a KMC (uber pimp - pics this weekend of it installed) for a savings of only 21g.



But, it's supposed to be a killer chain, and not much difference in price from the Hollowpin SRAM chains (correct me if wrong).

With the added weight savings of -45g from removing the chainguard I'm now at minus 131g. Which is good, because next he added some weight.

At SRC #3 I was running the Specialized Fast Trak SLK tire on front with the MaxxLite 310 on the rear - 790g total.

This weekend I'll more than likely be running Kenda Karma's fr/rear (these are amazingly consistent tires when it comes to weight; we got 3 and they were 480, 480, and 481g). New tire weight is 960g. Difference? 170g.

So, we added 41g of rotating weight, but I'm also picking up a bit of rear tire traction. I have no idea how the Karma up front will behave, but I hope it functions okay.

I really liked the Karma on the back of the Dos last year toward the end of the year. It wasn't as fast/light as the 1.8 Bontrager, but it was close!

Just wish the rear tire would seal. It's been flat 2 days in a row.

Last up - the TJ's goodies:



I bought a lot more than that, but there's a selection. We got some whole wheat pizza dough so we're gonna make a chicken/veggie pizza Sunday night (whole grain dough, mixed bell peppers, red onion, marinara, black beans, lentils, canned chicken, lite mozzarella shredded cheese will be used sparringly).

I'll take pics of the oatmeal concoction if I make it this weekend, and also the pizza.

Now it's time for lunch!

Want to lighten up? SCRUB some

I got in my order of Scrub Components brake rotors tonight.

They are sweet!





We had no idea how light they were, but after putting them on the gram scale it's clear they provide a massive weight savings!

Scrub Rotors:



Avid Rotors:



So, I've now shaved an additional 94g from the bike!

Every little bit helps. We weighed the bike with Candy 4Ti's and it was set at 21.8lbs. By saving an additional 31g with my new set of Eggbeater 4Ti's I'm up to having lost 1/4lbs from the bike. Should be around 21.5lbs now.

Trying to save where I can cause when I get the Ergon's in it'll probably add some weight. However, that's totally fine by me, cause the stock grips are NOT comfortable. 1:20 of ride time this past Sunday and my hands were already sore and begging for some Ergon love!

Justin has just informed me I'll be dropping another 60-80g with a non-setback seatpost and flat bar.

I have no idea if the Sram X.0 stuff will wind up saving me weight, but I doubt I'll gain any there.

We'll see if I can get 'er down to 21!!

SLK here I come!

Sometimes you've gotta go out and flog yourself...

For me that day was today. It wasn't even that I really felt like I needed to make up the pain and suffering that I missed out on yesterday. I actually thought today's ride would be easier (and shorter) than it really was. But, a cold day in the "hills" is a cold day in the hills no matter how you cut it.

Old faithful

I can't remember the last time I was out there...but, for $&*#'s and giggles, I'll look it up. Jan 19, 2008. Yup, almost an entire year since I climbed this one.

I started out overheating and wondering why I had on so many layers. I figured that climbing up Holy Jim would be painfully hot. I was wondering why I'd brought extra socks and more wool. It was really hot, needless to say.

Justin began pulling away. Everytime I looked up the fire road he was further away. I maintained my endurance pace.

It started to get a tad bit colder as we reached the pines. Then we hit the shade. Time to pull up the arm warmers before the short descent.

The first real "downed" tree.

I'd seen a FS ranger truck heading down the fire road, so I assumed it was all clear.

After the short descent it was just downright frigid. My hands hurt. My feet hurt. There were small bits of snow here and there, and the ground was frozen.

It couldn't have been more than 38-40F.

Eventually we hit the "real" downed tree. But, two moto's had also gotten through it, so I knew it couldn't be that bad. There were about 3-4 big trunks blocking the road, but it was easy enough to walk under/over/around them and get back on the bikes.

The "other" side

We got to the gate and basked in the sunlight. It was still cold, but at least the air felt warmer.

Next up was the traverse...

I had been looking forward to climbing up the wall. Mostly because I figured a Z4 climb would warm me up. Wrong!

Just as we started the ascent I couldn't even hold onto my Ergon barends. They were just too cold to the touch (through my normal thin gloves). It was so cold I could barely get out of Zone 3, no matter how hard I was climbing. It was cold and more of it, almost all in the shade.

I reached a bit of sunlight and my lower back gave out. I pulled over to warm my hands and stretch my back, and got back to moving again, hoping to thaw out. Eventually it felt a bit warmer, since we were mostly in the sunlight.

Idiotically we'd left extra layers/shells at home, but I did have one rain jacket (wind proof at least), and one l/s wool jersey (warmer, at least).

Once at Trabuco we put on whatever warm gear we had for the descent, and headed down. It was cold, but warmed slightly as we got lower. We eventually got to the bottom of Holy Jim for a snack and to warm up. It felt pretty good there in the sun.

It was time for more climbing...

It was somewhat difficult to keep it endurance-paced, but I went slow and was able to maintain a lower HR than my last time up the hill. It wasn't even very warm climbing up (a first). Temps were kept to a minimum, and it was pretty chilly near the top.

Almost there and we got to the big downed tree.

The roots I think were about 5' tall, but there had already been a "go-around" cut in to the left.

Eventually we were back up on the divide and it was time for the final descent back to the car. It was time to suit up in the extra "gear" we had brought along.

Parting shot

The descent was cold and painful - it always is in the winter.

For anyone wondering, no, I didn't take the "pimp" bike out today. Probably would've been okay (only one rock strike on Trabuco, one on HJ, and a bit of flora in the drivetrain, but otherwise ok - no flats or mechanicals), but no sense in "breaking it in" on a 4.5+ hour ride with no bail out.

However, halfway up ITT I was thinking about my new "pimp" bike sitting alone at home... then it occurred to me that I was on a pimp bike. The parts were basically the best we could get at the time. Basically full X.0, 240 hubs on 355 rims (bladed spokes), Juicy Ultimates, etc. It's a sweet-azz bike in its own right, and I'm super stoked the good 'ole Dos Niner has held up this well. Same fork since its inception in November 2006. The frame was used in 2006 (not by me), but I got it in April ~ 2007 and it's been going strong ever since. The Reba 29 needed to have the lockout fixed after my first 12-hour solo attempt in June, but aside from that and typical drivetrain replacement, this bike has been super reliable and a great weapon for XC and endurance for over 2 years. Can't ask for much more than that.

So, while I'm sad the new rig is still sitting pretty IN THE HOUSE (that never happens), I'm also stoked that I have such a bitching "back up" bike on the shelf.

Hope everyone else had just as good a Sunday as I did. I'll be feeling it tomorrow, but what fun is a day on the bike if you aren't?

Somewhat Weekend Update

I woke up to great news this morning: A chance to ride and race for Ergon USA for 2009! Stoked. I've been digging their grips/barend combo for awhile now. Padded gloves help hand pain a little, but when I'm doing long days in the saddle I really like the multiple hand positions offered by the Ergon grips. Very excited about continuing to sport (and support) them and also to rockin' the GREEN.

We went out for a pretty good ride today on the mountain bikes. 3 hours of solid endurance training (with some added higher intensity climbing). Wound up with around 4k climbing in 25 miles. Trails were pretty full, but conditions were good. Some standing water from all the rain, but pretty dry otherwise. No real photos to speak of today.

Got home and checked my email and I wound up with an email from SRAM Grassroots as well! Stoked. I love SRAM! Great forks, brakes, drivetrain. Looking forward to continuing to ride and race on Juicy brakes with SRAM shifting bits next year as well. In addition to the off-road stuff, I'm a big fan of SRAM's road gruppo as well. When I got my road bike in 07 I tried a bike with like 105/Ultegra stuff on there and never really "got" the shifting. Hopped on a bike that was fairly out of my price range, but just fell in love with the Rival. Have yet to try Force or Red, but I'm guessing they are killer as well.

Should be a good year!

Now let's put this thing in reverse...

Christmas dinner

The oven

The wine

Got out on Friday to enjoy my new jersey!

Was really nice to get out and enjoy a day without rain! I'd spent Mon-Wed on the trainer, and with the rain Thursday, it was great to get out and enjoy some fresh air and clear skies. The smog layer is always dampened by the rain, so it was really clear out.

Until next time...