Wonder-Becky

Even though she was hit by a car six weeks ago,
Even though she has some kind of nasty upper respiratory infection,
Even though she only got three hours of sleep the night before,
Becky was able to crush the Chicago triathlon yesterday!

34th out of 256 in her age group in 2:46. This was her first International Distance triathlon.

She managed over 20 MPH for the 40k bike leg! This on her nice but heavy and non-aero road bike.

Anyway, she did awesome!

Sad Question

Those of you who read this log regularly know that I was waiting all season for a custom frame. The frame finally arrived just before 9 Mile. Unfortunately, it was the *wrong* frame. The seat tube is two inches too long and the top tube is too short. This after waiting all season for the frame; it was ordered in February and delivered July.

I called the builder. He wanted to build another frame for me. I decided that I would rather have my money back and move on to another project. The builder agreed, and said they would send me a check by the end of the week. That was three weeks ago, and now he is not returning my e-mail.

My question is this: What should I do? I can't use the frame, and I'd hate to embarrass the builder by putting his $1500 frame on ebay for $650, which is what I paid. Would someone even buy a 'custom' frame built for someone else?

Oh, and should I be 'outing' this builder by describing my experience here and on the boards?

Thoughts and advice appreciated.

Could there be some beef in your future?

Yes, there could be.

Round and Round

Did the team ride on Tuesday. The speeds were high; sometimes they were crazy-high. I held on for all I was worth.

I took it easy for the rest of the week.

Friday I drove to the UP for a very nice invitation-only century ride. Lots of great folks and good food to be had. This was my fourth time at this particular ride, and I had a great time!

Should be a pretty mellow week on the bike again this week. Rain in the forecast means adjustments to the ride schedule. Next week is taper for Shenandoah, where it looks like I will be camping at the race site. That should be...interesting.

Love will find a way; just give it time.

Ohhh that smell...

Nate, Dan and I did 5 hours on the singlespeeds yesterday. I'm not talking about a nice trek through the woods, looking at daisies and butterflies; this was a mini-epic. It was hot and humid; maybe in the high 80's or 90's. We each went through a couple gallons of water. We did trails that were more like deer tracks than singletrack. Just like last week, I spent too much time on my back. Just like last week, I feel like I've been flushed down the toilette.

So Dan and I were packing the car. I couldn't help but notice that something smelled...well...like old roadkill. So I sniffed the usual suspects; jersey, gloves, helmet, shoes. All smelled like flowers. Then it hit me...my hat. That thing was like the south facing end of a north-bound goat. And the goat was on an all soy and bean diet. I mean to say that the hat was rank. For the rest of the ride, I smelled the hat. So did Nate and Dan.

On the plus side, the Quiring was full-on awesome! That bike is like rock and roll with 29" tires.

Anyway, I'm off to the U.P. this weekend for a cool invitation-only century ride. Lots of interesting folks, plenty of good food and I get to ride 100 miles. Good stuff.

Hi! I'm Joe. I like to ride bikes...

Not much saddle time this week. The weather was hot, my foot hurt, and I felt run down. Even today I wasn't feeling great. I should have went for a long slow ride. Instead I did bike maintenance and went to the farmer's market.

The Quiring is in great shape! I changed the chainring, cog and chain. I almost put the rigid fork on there, but decided to hold off until after Shenandoah. Slapped on a new front tire. The bike performed very well during the shakedown ride. My foot/toe held up as well.

I'll be out on the singlespeed tomorrow for about 5 hours. Sounds like Dan and Nate will be there; maybe a few others as well.

Broken Toe

The title about sums it up.

I Slammed the pinkie toe of my left foot into the wall this AM. There was a nice 'POP!' noise, and it hurt like hell all day. Tonight it is all black and blue and quite sore. I 'buddy tapped' it to the toe next door and went for a spin on the road bike. It hurt, but wasn't terrible.

I'll try the team ride tomorrow, but if it hurts too much I might take the rest of the week off the bike.

Something old, something new...

I did my first fixie ride this week. On Friday I borrowed a fixed Surly Steamroller. As someone who had been riding singlespeeds for a long time, I thought it would be a pretty easy transition. Not so much. I'm not saying I didn't like it or that I won't try it again, but it definitely felt a little sketchy at times. Downhill was...interesting.

Today saw Dan Jansen and I out on SS MTB's for about four hours. Lots of hills, lots of finding hidden trails tucked away and forgot by nearly everyone. I crashed more today than in my last 10 MTB rides combined, including one impressive flip-over-and-lay-on-my-back crash and a total "Hey, where did that tree come from?" crash. Also, I got stung by a bee.

I feel like I am nearly recovered from 9 Mile. Two toes are still a little numb and my lower neck/shoulder area is still not right. The legs are flat, but starting to respond when called upon. Also, I'm dealing with a bit of lingering knee soreness from a midnight rock garden get-off.

On tap this week: Tuesday Team Road Smackdown, some recovery, Thursday MTB SS early pre-Iceman training, some recovery and some SS endurance training on Sunday. 'Bout what you'd expect for August.

24-9 Pic Dump