Pot Luck Post: Many Topics, No Clear Purpose

This past week’s training was somewhat abbreviated as I was out of town Friday and Saturday visiting family. I did do some intervals earlier it the week and got out to do some very solid hill repeats on Thursday night. Saturday I went for a two mile run which turned out to be a bad idea as I was aching badly afterwards. Aside from that, on Sunday I went for a long ride out to the eastside via the Fall Creek Trail, with some emphasis on long race pace riding intervals and then some hill out at Skiles Test Park. On the way back I tossed in a nice sand pit thanks to a recent flood.

Lots of sand. And a blurry picture. Stupid Droid camera.

I should have taken the line to the left. Instead I took the road less traveled and tried to pioneer my own line which got me about ¾ of the way through before I lost momentum. Not long after the sand pit I’m presented with this very informative sign which I always get a kick out of:

Whew. Glad for the heads up as I would have totally missed that looming overpass.

In other news my primary bike received a new rear shifter in time for Sunday’s ride. Installation was easy and a few turns of the barrel adjuster and I was off. When I returned home I found that one of my dogs had expressed his displeasure with SRAM by tearing apart the enclosed directions booklet and spreading the remains all around the living room. My fault for leaving the box on the edge of the coffee table. Strange how the box itself was ignored...

                                                            The guilty one is on the left.

In race news, it appears the Sub9 Death March will be out this year as my partner from last year will not be throwing his helmet into the ring for this iteration.  I don’t think he had a good time riding to Callahan Cemetery last year (the only checkpoint that is only accessible by trail) and I doubt it being a mandatory stop this year would do much to encourage an encore of 2012. I’m toying with the idea of going down and just riding it solo as training for the Barry Roubaix. I know several teams who are going so it might be cool to hang out afterwards. I would even be willing to pay a partial entry fee for access to the Qdoba burrito bar!

Lastly, I can add to my list of new items. Last week I jumped into the world of carbon. No, not a new frame. Instead a carbon fork:

I had been toying with the idea of a rigid fork for my 29er for some time, considering the amount of greenway and bike trail riding I do during the winter. Might save the Reba from breaking down at some point if it could stay in my warm basement during those rides. I had my eye on the Niner carbon forks, since they are just downright good looking. However, their price tag was not. I’d also been looking at the White Brothers Rock Solid, which seemed to have decent reviews, and in build photos looked good. I found one online last week for a very low price, and jumped on it. It seems to be about half the weight of the Reba so the front end of the bike should be lighter. I plan to use this for training and the BR. I think it might also work on some of the smoother local singletrack such as Town Run or Logansport’s France Park. I could also use it for any cyclocross races I happen to find myself in.