Wednesday, May 18, 2011

On the Road Again, and Trail!

Single speed commuter
After more than a week off due to injury, on Monday, I finally hit the road for my first ride to test the knee.  My ride consisted of an 8 mile commute to work (IRO Mark V single speed), and then a 13 mile commute home.  Felt fine other than a little interior soreness, almost as if the inner scar/scab is causing some discomfort, but I can live with it.  Decided to hit the trails on Tuesday, but as I go for my bike (which has been sitting dormant since I returned from Pisgah), I found the left side of my bottom bracket seized as well as the upper bearing on my headset.  Bummer!  So I grabbed the Motobecane Fantom Team off the wall, removed my wifes seatpost/seat combo and slid on my Seatpost/seat combo and I was off to ORC.  This ride made me realize how much I now dislike riding a full suspension bike.  Am I in the right gear? Do I sit and spin? Do I stand?  What is all that noise?  Strange, that two years ago I won the Triangle XC Series on this bike* and now it only gets ridden by my wife or when the SS is in need of repair.  I had planned on riding 2 laps (24 miles) but instead rode one frustrating lap, then 5 miles of fire road before calling it a night.  When I returned home I disassembled and cleaned the bottom bracket shell and and the eccentric bottom bracket, then threw on an XT bottom bracket I had lying around.  Next, I took apart the Motobecanes headset and swapped over the bearings I needed (before ordering another set).  This weekend I am definitely back on the Single Speed with one week left before the Burn 24...YeeHah!
Val, showing off what will eventually be her full-suspension ride.
                  

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