US Cup Unification Race, a Kitty and Interbike

Thursday Sept 17th: Todd tried to catch a lost 6-week old kitty in the woods at Bonelli (San Dimas, CA). The kitty loved Todd's Power Bar balls and drank a good bit of water but would not be caught and found a great hiding spot in the cactus. Friday Sept 18th: Todd spent another 3 hours and finally caught the little guy who wouldn't have lasted long in the extreme heat. We took him to Citrus Veterinary Clinic in San Dimas, CA. If anyone wants a new cat please give them a call.

Sunday Sept 20th: US Cup Unification Race at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, CA. It was way too hot for a race. Luckily I had enough points to win the Unification title by just showing up. Only three pro girls started and I think half the guys DNF'd. I had goosebumps the entire race, we basically rode around just under the overheating threshold and it became a road race, waiting to see what the other person would do. It ended up coming down to a sprint in the last 5 minutes, but as I changed gears getting ready to go I dropped my chain and the race was over. Congratulations goes to Allison for winning the one day race. After the race we packed up and headed to Vegas.

Monday Sept 21st: Finished the drive to Vegas, ~ 2 miles from the RV park the slide-out awning broke and fell down. We took it off, checked in at the RV park then hit Dirt Demo day 1. . Tuesday Sept 22nd: Dirt Demo day 2, 8:00am Dirt Demo (HUGE) road group ride. We thought it would be a chill early morning spin, I had only eaten one hardboiled egg and drank a 25 calorie FRS before the ride. I started mid-pack which was a mistake, my legs felt great and I started bridging from group to group, it was a great power day. The rest of the day was spent riding every Specialized bike I could get my hands on (Era, Epic, 29'r, Tarmac SL2). The Era actually rode the best. Most of the bikes had the new SRAM XX drivetrain, wow! I need that drivetrain... I wish I could have tried the 16.6lb Cannondale Flash! Once Todd figures out how expensive Interbike is in the long run, I think he'll try to keep me from going.

Specialized 29'r Carbon HT

Specialized Carbon Epic

Wed-Fri Sept 23rd-25th: Interbike all day, dinner industry parties, Cross Vegas and Gold Sprints at night. I was on my feet for almost 18 hours a day!! Pink recovery socks saved my legs and had style!

FRS kept me going. I had never tried the FRS drinks, but I scored a give-a-way case and got hooked on it... .

Here are a couple cool items:

Ergon Cork and Grass Grips

I am going to try this new ZeroGoo product on my next ride, it mixes gel with water for a constant flow of pure gel, pure water, or any mix in-between. It was super light and easy to adjust.

.

Saturday Sept 26th: We put in a new fuel line, luckily that was the ticket! Hit the road to NM with A/C!

Sunday Sept 27th: Todd stopped off at the Albuquerque, NM airport and flew to MD. I continued on to Santa Fe, set up the "house", got a fix of NM chile and visited with Todd's family.

Specialized Trail Crew

I just saw a listing looking for Specialized Trail Crew members. It sounds like they figured out a job title (albeit non-paying) for what I do when I am not racing, travel the US in search of new trails and new cycling friends. I already have the Specialized gear. I already lead rides for my clinics as I travel, and join group rides in each town I visit. Leading rides without the clinic part would just be, well, a pretty normal day.

.

Having a title may justify my passion for attracting unsuspecting people to this addiction called cycling. They may not quit their job, sell their home, buy an RV and travel the US in search of new trails, but then again maybe they will... I love getting out on the trail with guys, girls and kids of all levels. Going for a super slow spin or a long epic ride, showing someone how to bunny hop or use clipless pedals in the park, joining a singlespeed hammer ride or trying to follow a DH rider down some drops is a great day on the bike.

.

just another excuse to post a picture of my race bike (which now has S-Works carbon cranks).

Specialized has solid products, it seems they put a great deal of time into their research, design and testing. The carbon hardtail is an awesome race bike, there were a few races where I could have used an Epic, but the hardtail performed very well. Even the smaller things are done correctly, I did a short review of the helmet, shoes and gloves last year. Basically the women's gloves actually fit, I haven't found any other gloves that fit this well. Specialized also offers extras like the Riders Club website, clinics and demos; and now ride leaders, this is something I would love to be a part of.

Specialized S-Works Crank Review

Specialized S-Works Carbon Cranks:

This review is after one month's use. Out of the box these cranks are very pretty. As you can probably tell I added a bit of red.

Replacing my XTR cranks with the S-Works Carbon Cranks saved ~71 grams. Following the directions and recommendation of Specialized I opted to install the bearing sleeve (if you decide to leave it out you'll save an additional 30grams).

If I ever decide to go to a 2x crank, and save even more weight, Specialized also sells just the spider.

The new cranks were professionally installed by Ryan at Mountain Bike Specialist. Ryan is Todd Wells' Durango Mechanic and has seen the only issue with the S-Works cranks that I know about. Todd had an internal crank nut come loose. To prevent this see "Installing the Carbon Crank" step 2, make sure you add loctite to #9- Steel Retainer Nut as shown. Ryan used red loctite on this one place for me since I was overly paranoid. I recommend using blue or green loctite everywhere else as recommended.

I wear all cranks like this, my XTRs look the same way. I should have used a crank protector.

The first ride with the new cranks was a ~3.5hr 38-mile race (Hermosa Classic) where I hit a million rocks with the brand new cranks. If I could not crack them in that race, not knowing the course and hitting every rock in the trail, then they are good to go.

Shifting between the small and mid chainring is pretty smooth, but trying to get into the large chain ring is not as quick or smooth as with the XTR. It may shift right away or it may take up to three pedal revolutions. This seems to be common with other racers as well. But to save ~71 grams I will take a less smooth shift to the big ring.

For the first couple weeks my chain would stick to the chainrings, occasionally to the point of getting chainsuck. I had the same issue using a (6 week old) used chain and a brand new chain. Both Ryan and Specialized recommended running the cranks (with either chain) a few weeks to see if the chainrings would wear-in, they did. It took up to two weeks and I no longer have any chain sticking issues. I would recommend allowing 2-3 weeks before a big event in case you need this break-in period.

I think these cranks spin more freely than the XTR cranks did. (The XTR cranks were installed with the S-Works bearing adapters, not the XTR bearings.)

Bottom Line: Buy these cranks for the weight savings, bling, 2x option, and stiffness (although I can't tell the difference in stiffness). Remember to follow installation directions. If you are picky you may notice less smooth shifting vs. XTR.

Durango July 2009, Ned's Specialized SS

Lots going on in Durango this last week.

Sunday 7/26 Durango Century It was a tour "not a race" and I did not race. I did work in the lead paceline a bit, I chased a guy or two even though they were not going anywhere, basically I just had fun. In order to keep out of trouble with my coach, I dropped off the lead pack at ~ 65 miles and rode a more steady pace. Luckily another girl Mel dropped off as well and we pedaled, talked, stopped at an aid station then rode together a little more. My time was still 4:25 which seems really fast for 100 miles. I think it helped that there were no other girls in front of us (except the ones on tandems), otherwise "not racing" may have been too hard to handle.

Wednesday After my normal workout I headed into town to do the local weekly Durango Devo ST race. The A men and women race together which was great since there were only three women. With 3+ minute laps I didn't get lapped by any guys and finished 1st in the women. The cost is $10 and the proceeds go to the Devo kids, so I am all over that.

Thursday I hooked up with the local singlespeed ride and got to ride with Ned Overend! Ned was riding his new 2010 S-Works, 29'r, Carbon SS. I had actually met Ned earlier in the week at a local shop where he was building up his bike, see pic - notice the horizontal dropouts. I was too enamored by his bike to even realize who I was talking too. I did consider that it was Ned himself, but he just didn't act like it, he was too down-to-earth and friendly. No one else said anything either. I know, I am an idiot. I have wanted to meet Ned for a long time, I still want to get him to sign my copy of Mountain Bike Like A Champion since I use that book in my skills clinics.

Saturday I raced the Hermosa Creek Classic. 38-miles point-to-point. There were 4 pro women, I finished 1st and took home $175. Nice! I had my newly installed Carbon S-Works cranks on the race bike and although they took a beating on the rocks, they still look good and saved me 70 grams over the XTR with adapters (no cups needed on the S-Works).

Sunday I played with my cousin's daughter Logan (my second cousin?) and taught her how to siphon water. My ride today was a 2.5 hour scenic road ride. My legs felt good and I pushed it for a while, ran out of water and kept going just because I felt like it. I finished the ride by spinning easy with another cyclist, a girl who had stopped to take a picture along the route.