Arrrrrr Pirates!

Pirated the Chilly Hilly with 20 or so others. Had no conscious in that decision. I've done the CH twice before and got nothing in return. No free chilly, no free snacks, nothing but a stupid number and sticker for my helmet that people insist on wearing 6 months after the stupid ride. Rode my singlespeed with slicks and made it up the hills just fine, but overall the gear was waaaaaaaay too low (60" anyone?) to get anywhere efficiently. Freds that I passed going up hill got much delight in passing me on the straightaways or, god forbid, downhill. About half of our group did the ride on fixies and finished a good hour before everyone else. What a bunch of animals. They even ate all the food before the rest of us arrived. Arrrrrr!

I did meet a few noteworthy Freds. One guy shouted out, "Hey Fat Chance!" as I rode uphill. He caught up with me and was riding a full suspension mtb with knobbies. Turns out that he owns two Yo Eddies, but can't ride them anymore because a snowboarder collided with him 4 years ago and broke one of his vertebrae. So now he's relegated to full suspension and sitting upright. But he finds joy in the riding he can do and has also filled his life with a new wife and baby girl. It was so fun to ride with him. I think he enjoyed his trip down memory lane and heckling me as he shifted uphills.

The next day was even better when Aaron's picture appeared in the Seattle PI as the one representation of the CH ride. So not only was a Pirate representing the ride, but he's riding a tall bike and not wearing a helmet. Those Kaskaders had their lycra in a wad over that one. Go Aaron...let's all just ride bikes.

Jacked up

Had a proper bike fit done by my friends at Real Rehab. What a freakin revelation. Using all their gizmos and widgets they began by jacking up my seatpost over 2 inches. My knee angle went from 27 degrees to 13. They'd like me to go down to 9 degrees, but would save that for later. "Are you serious???!?!" I asked them repeatedly. There was no way I was supposed to ride like this. It felt like I was on my tiptoes and bouncing all over my seat, but they insisted that it was a vast improvement and it opened up my legs and muscles and would make me far more efficient. They said I was an old skool "masher." Yeah maybe. Now I need a new seatpost because my Campy one is an inch above the max limit. They also reeled in my brake levers and moved up my seat so I wasn't so spread out. Oh...I'm supposed to reach my brake levers...how interesting.

The best part about the bike fit was that they agreed my new track bike was a perfect size. "Put a 100mm stem on that and you'll be golden." Shit are those good words to hear or what? All I've done the past 4 months is worry endlessly that my frame would be too small. Me? On a 54?? Those frame builders (who have been doing this for 30 odd years) don't know anything!! Ok, well now maybe they do cuz my bike is coming together quite nicely. Whew.

FINALLY

Got my new track frame. Fin-a-fucking-ly. Columbus Zona steel tubing. Pink. Black. Chrome. Damn she's light as a feather. All you carbon tuber and aluminum posers are missing out big time. Or maybe you should just stick to your game and leave us steel devotees to ours. We'll meet in 5 years and see who still has their frame .

Tour de Denny

My fellow Aquarian, Denny T, put on a marvelous alleycat in honor of his bday. He had us huffing and puffing up and down every damned hill in Seattle in search of all things named "Denny." Denny Hall, Denny Park, some dead guy named Denny, bombing down Denny hill, into the bar at Denny's. Not only was it his bday, but the race happened to fall on one of the windiest days on record. We were nearly standing still trying to pedal down Lake WA Blvd, then slingshot north up Cappy Hill. My calculations showed almost 2100 ft of elevation gain in 20 miles. I was on Rosemary who delighted in reminding me of how my climbing legs have disappeared in the past few months. I swear her 70" gear grew up to 90" that day.

Denny and his lady put on a most excellent post TdD bash, although a few dozen stinky, drinking bikers quickly degraded the air quality in his small apartment.