I tried to get out early this morning for a dirt road ride, I really did. Sadly, my “early” turned out to be 9:45, and things were already starting to really heat up around Michiganderburgh. We get less than ten or so HOT days a year here and today was predicted to be one of them with temps going up into the low nineties by afternoon. Which if you’re from Michigan feels like you’ve been set on fire and thrown into a pool of gasoline.
The past few days have been pretty un-blog worthy (much like the past ten years), so I felt it best to write nothing at all (until now). During that time of unworthiness, I did all my normal summer activities: rode my bike, did some fishing, grilled meat, took some photos and drank a few beers.
For a multitude of reasons, I’ve put off getting new tires on the Superfly for months: lazy, cheap, not riding singletrack as much, not racing, etc., etc. I could think of a million excuses, but mostly it was due to laziness (and being a moron). I believe the rubber that was on the SF was roughly two years old and it showed EVERY SINGLE BIT of its age.
Every turn with the Bontrager XR1 Team Issue TLR 2.0/2.2 tires was a thrill, and a guessing game of Will I Go Down or Won’t I™? Finally, I parted with the cash and moved to the Bontrager XR2 Team Issue TLR 2.35s. There’s not a huge difference in the tires, but the added girth + the extra knobs ACTUALLY made me feel like I could take a corner and not eat dirt. That is pretty swell.
With the week pretty open and void of hours at the shop I headed out for another dirt road ride on the Boone today. This time I headed south of town with hopes of more dirt, less pavement, and a few more miles.
After several failed tries, I finally got back out on the Boone today for a dirt road ride. The last time I was on it (last Thursday) my ride was only about six miles long due to a broken spoke. Since then I have put the newly Napper laced rear wheel on, so today I was able to ride with a bit more confidence (at least until I break another one due to my expansive figure and muscular, thick thighs.
The winds were pretty high on Monday, so my desire to get out on the dirt roads was pretty low; I also had little want to drive to a trail head to ride my mountain bike. Instead I chose to take a day off the bike, a decision made easier by having got 26 miles of singletrack in on Sunday. Even without being in the saddle I did manage to get some outside activities in.
Thursday and Friday brought two days of crap dirt road rides on the Farley, and Saturday brought five hours at the shop followed by going to Ithaca to hang out for a couple of hours with friends at the 2015 8 Hours of Ithaca in the stifling heat that Ma Nature threw us. I was happy to have got out for rides on Thursday and Friday, but the were less than desirable. I was also OK with not racing Ithaca (that ship has sailed) and with not riding in the fresh turd like heat. However on Sunday I hoped to do SOMETHING of quality. Or at least as much quality as a 44-year-old man with an ever-expanding muffin top and a growing pork chop problem can muster.
After Thursday’s failed ride on the Boone due to a broken spoke and the subsequent fat bike ramble to salvage the day, I just went ahead and planned on riding the fatty on Friday. This was a wise and a stupid decision.
After working eleven hours at the shop on Wednesday and knowing that I had the next two days off, I had a plan for my Thursday: sleep in (8:45 AM) and get thirty to forty miles of fast dirt road riding in on the Boone before cutting grass, trimming some hedges, going for groceries, doing laundry and getting B off to his last night of soccer camp, after which he would leave to spend the night with some friends and teammates while I enjoyed some white trash Mexican food and a cocktail or three while watching pre-season footy.
Here is how that worked out…
After a slow and rainy day in the bike shop on Tuesday, Wednesday brought brilliant sunshine, clear bright blue skies and perfect summertime temperatures. The sort of day that you wish you were out on your bike, instead of waiting on customers. Luckily I DID get to ride. Well, sort of.