A Sad(dle) Story

Alas! First my rear derailleur, now my most expensive saddle, a Fizik Vitesse (which isn't that expensive, but still). It all started with a night ride, last Thursday.

The lineup:
Me



Andy


Nick (his first night ride, I think- he did well)


Joey


We rode the West side and then started on the East side (I think I'm getting that right). We came to the bowl, and though it was a little slippery, I decided to man up and ride it. All the guys were on the other side, so I yelled 'coming through' and dropped in. Well, halfway up the other side, I'm looking up to find the lip and yelling "Look away!!" because I had a couple of lights shining at me and I couldn't really see.

Heh. Of course, saying anything when you're zipping along and your cheeks are frozen, giving your speech a little slur, will get you puzzled stares. From all three of your riding companions. So I could see the dirt a few yards in front of me and then the most brilliant light coming from the top of the bowl. It probably wouldn't have been that bad- I was mostly just distracted and didn't pedal enough to get over the lip, so I kind of fell over sideways and then slid down a few yards.

I had one hand on my bike while I was skating along on my bum, and apparently the saddle was hung up on a root or something. It held for a second and then came sliding past me. Once I had stopped, I brushed myself off, hiked up the other side and tried it again. This time, success. Once on the other side I checked out the saddle a little more. Rideable but decidedly broken.





So anyway, now I'm going to try a few test saddles and keep an eye out at the swap meets for a replacement. Miraculously, I found an older leather Vitesse at the swap meet for $5! It might go on one of my about-town bikes instead of the mountain bike. I also picked up this white one to try out. It looks pretty decent, and I don't have any other white saddles. Also $5, so who could resist?



I'm terrible at resisting. Nowadays, I come home from each swap with several saddles to try out. Oh well, they're good to keep around for just such an occurrence, I guess.

Milwaukee Swap Meet

Swap meet report! This year there were almost exactly twice as many tables, and a good variety of things. There were some decent deals to be had, and it was well run. There was an announcer that wandered around the tables and advertised the best deals he found over the loudspeaker. It was helpful for dealseekers and the vendors, but it was also kind of a pain to talk over when you were trying to ask or answer questions.

The deal of the day: I got these guys at the swap for $60 apiece. Nothing wrong that I can see but a few dings. We're going to have them painted and keep them on hand for loaner frames for the team, in case anyone's frame suffers an untimely demise.




I got a pair of look-pretty-new-to-me Sidis for $45. The guy wouldn't take a check so I had to go around to a few friends and weasel some cash out of them. (So much for 'If I only bring my checkbook, I'm bound to buy less!') I have a pair of road shoes already, but these are better, and they're exactly my size. I'll probably sell off the old Garneaus.



I also got this for free, which someone gave to me, saying "Someone on pegasus will wear this, right?" With pleasure!



I know the Madison swap is king, but this meet is looking up. It may not be the biggest and best yet, but it's one to watch. In fact, I like that it's smaller and not as many people bother with it. More deals for me!

Appeasin'

Sometimes, when I'm chatting with people, they'll mention they read this blog. By far the most mentioned topic? Not cycling, but Citizen Snips. Well, I'm all for giving the people what they want, and they are banging down the door for a certain tubby tuxedo cat. (Although, he's been slimming down recently.)

This photo was snapped a few nights ago. I was working on Christmas gifts and watching a movie (in the background you can get a sense of how messy I've become in Cale's absence) and the cat was napping and doing his thing. You can make your own cute caption, but what usually runs through my mind is Rod Stewart's Do You Think I'm Sexy or Blondie's I Touch Myself.





If you'd like to inspire your animial to do a similar photo shoot, you should come up with a style board to really communicate to them your artistic vision. Some suggestions:

Only the Lonely

Since Jingle Cross, Cale's been gone on a business trip. And I'll be honest, the title of this post, Only the Lonely, came to mind because I'm the Only at home, and when I was a kid I owned a Roy Orbison cassette tape. (I liked 'Pretty Woman') Point being, I'm actually not lonely... yet. Another week to go.

So what have I been doing with my time? Mostly sitting at home, staying up late, working on Christmas presents and watching movies that Cale would hate. That's the best part about him being gone. I've watched Pride & Prejudice twice. Twice! Oh ho, while the cat's away the mouse will play, and how! Talk about gettin' wild. It reminds me of when I was freelancing for Hayes. I had so much alone time during my day. I miss that.

Speaking of the cat, when I got home, the cat was really, really clingy for days. Since we'd been gone for four days, he climbed into my lap every chance he got and followed me around the apartment.

This is the first weekend where there's hardly anything bike related going on. I like this time of year, where biking tapers off for the year and there are still a lot of events and gatherings. Later on in the winter, I swear there's nothing to do some weekends but mope and try to stay warm. But not now!

This weekend I'm going to get my makeup done for a Pegasus wallpaper project. It sucks, last year we had the calendar and we called it the calendar. This year I'm planning a ...thing where we'll release wallpapers throughout the year. You know, computer desktop images. Photomagraphs. So what do I call it? Do I really have to explain that every time? I fear it may be.

Anyway, makeup. But I have to get it done in the morning, before the bike swap meet at UWM, because the makeup artist isn't available later. I'm just grateful she's making time for me at all, but I will be wandering around the swap with gorgeous makeup, which I'm not used to. Maybe I'll just go all out, wear a short dress and heels and pretend I stayed up all night at some fabulous party. That I just decided to 'swing by the swap' on my way home. Hm. Tempting.

That night is the first of a string of parties, too, which are always fun. I like dressing up. Who doesn't? Next weekend is the Santa Rampage, which will rock pretty hard. My poor Santa's Mistress costume, though. It's seen some mud and road salt/grit in its day. I would wash it but it would probably unravel. Or bleed out. Or both. I'll try to spot clean it before year two of the rampage arrives.

Anyway, now it is sufficiently late and I can go to bed feeling like a rebel.

Taps

Jingle Cross was exhausting. My legs are very tired today. I did three races: Friday night, then Saturday and Sunday during the day. Friday: Very dark and cold. The course was lit pretty well, but not superbly. There were some dark areas. Saturday: Lovely. Nice and warm, I think it got up to about 55 or so, and it was sunny. Sunday: I shudder just to remember it. Very cold with a wind that just picked up and up.

As for the actual racing, Fri and Sun were pretty much the same. I did my time and picked up my $42 (11 through 15th place got $42. Covering the costs!) Friday I did not enjoy, and Sunday I did. Saturday, though, was tragic.

I mangled the heck out of my derailleur. The mud and grass was doing a number on bikes the whole weekend, particularly derailleurs. I'd love to see a count. There were dozens of them broken. On Saturday, I didn't even make it a lap before my fork got so clogged that my front wheel wouldn't turn. I stopped, tried gouging out the mud, leaves and grass out with my fingers, and eventually just unhooked the front brake and tried to power through it. Well, my powering through it meant that I didn't notice any funny business until the derailleur was wrapped up like a Christmas present. Or twisted up like a pretzel. Any simile would do.

RIP, derailleur.



So on Sunday, I wore a 'Santa's Mistress' costume during the race and was told afterword by the official that there's a huge fine for not wearing regulation kit. They want kit with sponsors to be worn, because the sponsors support the races, etc. I didn't bother to tell her that our major sponsor at the moment is a mythical beast, because she was on a roll and it would have been rude to interrupt. Really, though, to try to explain it away might have seemed like I was trying to make light of it, so I let it be. Anyway, she made no bones about it that it was serious business, but was pretty nice about it, and I think it'll result in a warning instead of a fine. As an official she's gotta do what she's gotta do.

Oh, also about Sunday, I borrowed a bike from the Specialized tent. Thank you, Specialized! It was a top of the line carbon frame (can't remember the model name) with Zipps, Dugast tires, SRAM Red of course, and some TRP brakes. I'm kicking myself for not checking out the brakes and noting the model, because I want some (and apparently there are a few different models). Cale's always been in the camp that CX brakes don't have to have great stopping power, because you should never have to really stop during a race.

Baloney! Perhaps it's the right way, but it is no longer my way. Sunday with those brakes were the only time I descended Mt Krumpit (the huge hill) with any sort of confidence. I was able to slow to a speed that didn't frighten me, thus making the cornering possible. I think with a little time, maybe I would brake less because I would feel more confident all around. In any case, TRPs are on the list for next year.

Funny thing about the Zipps, though. On the way up the hill, I was making them flex quite a bit, to the point that they were rubbing the brakes on each pedal stroke. Howeverrr, the brakes might have had less clearance, and I wasn't being particularly smooth with my pedalin'. And let's remember, I am a powerhouse. With a substantial weight to power around. Other than that, the wheels felt great, and I am eternally grateful for the loan.

More photos as they pop up later.

Le Couch

Guess where I am Right. Now. That's right, I'm lounging on le couch. The couch which is not a bony futon with pilly fabric. Yes, I am sadly proud of this piece of furniture. I'm not crazy about the color and all, but goodness, is it the best for watching movies. And blogging.


(I Photoshopped the wall. It's pink and I'm going to paint it some other color...)

On the couch you may have noticed one of several mismatched pillows. I made this pillow out of Thomson bags on the sewing machine that Cale resurrected. It's made out of four seatpost bags.



That was an exciting day. Cale made a small musette bag out of the smaller stem bags, too.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to lounging and feeling satisfied.

State Champs

The state championships at Hales Corners were bound to be good. Beans and Barley gave us three gallons of Grandma’s Thick Pea Soup and three gallons of a vegan chili to give away. Gary was bringing a keg, and we had heard from a few other people that there were some snacks and a few cases of beer coming, too.

Sunday rolled around and we got up early to pack the truck and run to get the goods from Beans. We got to Hales Corners early, snagging a good parking spot and a prime spot for the tent. We set up by the barriers with the My Wife Inc. and Magnus tents, making one super Hooverville the size of a city block. Well, it seemed that way, anyway. Slowly, more people started arriving. Our guys from Chicago showed up and started warming up, and I put the soup on heat.

(Mmmmm, soup!)


It was fun to watch all three of the tables fill up with food. One of the Magnus guys had baked a cheesecake, and lots of people brought cheese and crackers, cookies and other snacks to share. One guy came up from Chicago with his grill and cooked up (it was rumored) about 50 brats! Unfortunately, we didn’t save any brats for the officials, so I’m afraid we won’t be showing up on the results next year.

During the first few races, I ran back and forth from stirring the soup and chili to the barriers to take some photos and then back again, each lap. The morning went really quickly and soon enough it was time for me to race. It had gotten pretty warm, but I pulled on the ol’ lace up stockings anyway. Two years of racing and those things are still going strong! No holes or anything.

I lined up behind the men with maybe… six other women. The women I had battled with from the Kletch Park race weren’t there, but Toni (who recently catted up from a 3, and who had come in ahead of me at the state road race) had lined up with us, so I wasn’t sure how the race would go.

At the start, Toni got out ahead of me. I decided to stalk along behind her for a while. She had raced the women’s 3 race earlier in the day, so I suspected she might be tired. At the barriers by the Pegasus compound, I had a sloppy dismount but managed to get ahead of her.


Photo by Chris/ffonst

I wasn’t feeling too spectacularly strong, so I just kept it at an even pace. Toni would catch up to me a bit on the straights, and then I would get a little space through the corners and barriers, I think. I really pushed myself to take the back part of the course as quickly as I could. There was a lot of slick mud that coated my tires, with some slippery downhills and corners that made me a little nervous. I figured I might have the advantage there, though, so I focused on it.

My favorite parts on the course were the corners up by the pool and the sand pit. The corners by the pool were really fast, so you could keep up your speed and then really bomb down the hill right after.

The sand pit was PERFECT. It was just perfect. Deep, thick sand that you could just kind of plow through. There was a kind of path to one side, but I was having too much fun kicking up sand right through the middle. On one lap, I heard some kids, either making fun of me or the person ahead of me. When I hit the sand pit, though, they both stopped and went “Wooooaaah.” Heheh.

The race wound up pretty much as it had started. I got third in the state championship, because the woman who got second, Holly, is technically from Illinois. Hey, I’ll take it!



Moreover, it was a beautiful day, perfect for hanging around outside. One of my favorite photos from the day is a photo of a few of us reclined in the camp chairs after the races. The course was being taken down and the sun was getting pretty low in the sky. We were all pretty tuckered out from racing and cheering, full up on soup and snacks.

Aforementioned photo! by Nick Holbus.