Monday, June 25, 2007

DR Lawless

I raced TK Lawless for the first time this weekend. This was the 3rd race in the TT series here in michigan. This was my first time riding this trail, it was not what I expected. I guess the best comparison is either holdridge, but flatter or novi, but hillier. There is 10 miles of single track that is tight and twisty but not overly technical with some two track riding added to the start and the end of the race to add to the distance.

I started out with my teammate John, we were the second group to go out. I tried to hang with him but by the time we hit the single track he had already dropped me.
My legs were burning, it wasnt adding up to be a good race and I was only a few miles in.
I backed off the pace at about 5 miles, when the legs began to cramp up. Most of the hills were yet to come, so I wanted to save something for the end of the race.
I never really recovered and I didnt pass a single person, after about the first 1/2 mile. Not a good sign at all.
The last couple of miles really hurt, but I managed an 1:15 minutes. Not really all that impressive for sure.
I am not sure what is going on. I just had nothing in the legs almost right from the start. I am looking forward to getting my new insulin pump that also monitors your blood sugar in real time. I really hope that this really sin my racing and recovery. I think that after my rides my muscles are not rebuiliding either because not enough insulin or too low glucose. Hopefully with the new pump I will be able to manage this more closely and it will make a difference... I hope!

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Wheels, wheels and more wheels

Today was my first ride on the Ksyrium wheels that I bought a few months ago. These wheels are fast. I now know why everyone says that wheels are the most important upgrade on the bike.
I finally got the cross bike put back together. I changed out the crankset to the Ritchey WCS compact and I picked up 2 FSA chainrings, a 46 and a 36. I figure this will be a good setup for racing. I left the 50 that came on the crank, and swapped out the 34 for the 36. I was hoping to get this done in time to try it out at the stage race a couple of weeks ago, but it didnt quite work out. Riding it on the road today the bike felt really fast and the 50 tooth chainring seemed like it was ok for the road. I am used to pushing my 53 tooth on my DA crankset, which you really can fly with.
I put the cosmos on and hit the trails. The compact crankset felt really good and I liked the gearing choices that I had. Shifting was smooth and crisp. I really love the bike, it handles so good and feels so responsive I really cant wait until cross season.
My other project which is finally complete is the Trek Top Fuel 110. I have been looking to get a high end wheelset for this bike for sometime now. I was almost sold on a set of Crossmax SL, then my next idea was to build up a set of wheels. I was thinking Mavic 717 rims and DT 240S hubs. Then I was looking at the Industry Nine hubs, which look really cool. But I was able to land a good deal on a brand new set XTR wheels.

The first time I saw these wheels at one of the LBS`s around here I thought that they were really cool, and lightweight wheels. Putting them on the scale they weigh in at 1550 g for the set. A little bit over the 1525 g that Shimano claims. But still a huge improvement over my previous wheels that weighed in at 1800 g. I am going to try out the Maxxis High Roller with Stans on this wheel. A few of the guys on the team are running them, and have a lot of good things to say about the tire. I had my XT center lock rotors from the bike build up so at least I didnt have to buy new rotors for these wheels, being that I just bought a set a few months ago.

One of the cooler parts of the wheels are the skewers. I love the X on them.
I cant wait to try these out. I am waiting to pick up a new cassette, SRAM PC-990. I had one before and didnt like it, but I have heard that it is a little bit beefier than the first model that I had. So hopefully it shifts better than the older one. 2 of the guys on my team are running it and neither of them have had the problems that I had.
I will post back up once I get a couple of rides on the new wheels.