New Bling!!

I decided to switch from the Avid BB 5 cable actuated disc brakes to Hayes HFX 9 XC hydraulic disc brakes. I also had 160mm rotors front and rear but I switched the front to a 185mm rotor for more stopping power.






The brakes come as a pre-bled system that can be installed and require no set up EXCEPT that both the cables were too long and needed to be cut down which is a process that I didn't want to tackle so I dropped the bike off at the bike shop. They had the cables cut down and the brakes bled the next afternoon.

The instructions said that the rotors require a burnishing period of 30-40 stops until they have full stopping power and when I tried them the first time I thought I totally wasted the money because they stopped worse than my old brakes. After more riding and stops they are now far superior to the old brakes. They also require a lot less pressure applied to the brake handle to have the same pressure applied to the pads at the caliper as my old brakes.





Pretty technical and boring explanation but at the same time cool.

Tomorrow will be the first time I use them in a race and I'm sure a post will follow as to how everything went.

The Benefits of Pre-Riding and Cell Phones

Some race courses are the same every year, like Iola, so I don't necessarily need to go pre-ride the course and get a feel for it. This year I went on Saturday just to get out and see what the course was like. Luckily I did because on the 1st lap I broke a link in my chain. I made a call to Rib Mountain Cycles and they had what I needed in stock, however, I didn't think I would make it back in time so i called Carrie and of course she was willing to go pick it up for me. My friend Dan was with me also and he finished riding in time for us to get back so I made another call to Carrie and told her she didn't have to go. Without a cell phone I wouldn't have been able to call and find a chain or a person to pick it up and might not have been able to race on Sunday and without pre-riding my chain would have broke during the race and I would have been done part way through the 1st lap. I now have a spare chain I carry in my vehicle in case I need it.

RASTA Rally

Well the RASTA rally lived up to years past and Bikes N Boards along with Wayne Fish built an awesome course with new, very technical singletrack and was rough enough to provide a beating for the body. It also gave a preview of the WORS Crystal Lake Classic that will be held at this venue next weekend.





The start was it's usual dusty self and made it hard to find good air to breathe until we got off the gravel roads and into the woods.






Thirteen miles later with a beat down handed to the body I arrived cramp free at the finish line in time to see Collin race in the three mile youth race.





And by "see" I mean get back on my bike and trail the kids to make sure they all make it to the finish with no break downs or injuries and to make sure Collin doesn't give up.





Collin did a very good job and I tried to stay out of sight until I came around a corner and he had crashed in some sand, so from there I provided some coaching to get him to the finish. Then we had a discussion about all the things he did right and what he could work on to do better.




BTW anytime I think what I am doing is hard all I have to do is remember this picture. A tandem mountain bike!?!?!

WORS Race #1 (Iola)

Race season started yesterday at Iola and hearing the familiar 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.......GOOOOOOO! from Don Edberg was music to the racers ears.




Even though the start of the race is uphill it still almost brought a grin to my face to be racing again. The grin quickly turned into more like a look of pain. The first half of the lap at Iola is mostly uphill and by that I mean steep with loose sand and rocks, roots and ruts. My legs didn't take kindly to what I tried to dish out on lap 1 and consequently let me down for the laps 2 and 3. I still managed to push hard enough to beat last year's time by 20 minutes. You can tell it's not your best race when the women who start 8 minutes behind us start catching you. Not that some of them aren't fast but I mean they ALL caught me (not something I like to broadcast)but it happens.




It feels the best when the finish line is in sight and you get to come through the finish and not have to pass by for yet another lap. It's also good to see all the people again that you haven't seen for a year.

WTF??

I hit 9 Mile last Friday for th opening day and the trails were awesome. The legs and lungs were not however but you have got to start somewhere. I rode for a little over an hour and pain wise felt ok till the next day and then it hot me. Every year the first thing I notice is that my seat/chamois combination takes a little getting used to. It was hard to sit for a couple days. After a couple more rides I will be back to where I need to be and all will be good. I am hoping to get out to 9 Mile tomorrow and Friday along with a couple rides next week as well. I hopefully want to mix in a few trips up the park road on Rib Mountain. Iola is close (May 17) and I am not ready.