Month: February 2012

Andrea

Procrastination

Last night I had the pleasure of recording a podcast with the guys from XXC Magazine. It was (at least for me) one of the more entertaining 90ish minutes I’ve spent talking about anything bike related. Hopefully, when the podcast is up in a few days, you’ll enjoy our bantering. I hope they ask me back on the regular.

Step 3, profit.

In other news, instead of doing the 500,359 tasks I need to do to ready myself for 5 days in Syllamo (starting tomorrow), I’m writing a blog post. It’s the classic ADHD symptom where there are so many thoughts rushing around in my head that my brain short circuits, and I end up procrastinating and doing something totally non-productive to the things I actually need to do. My plans had been to wake up, ride a little, work on Ryan’s bike a little, and head up to the Outdoors, Inc. Distribution Center to talk to the Boss Man about sponsorship/next year’s race season. So far, all I’ve done is make coffee and look at the internet. I should probably at least eat breakfast and shower before I go.

At least this morning will assure that  my day can only get more productive from here.

Andrea

For Sale: Truvativ Stylo Singlespeed 180mm Crank- $50

Just to update anyone who is searching for other stuff that I’ve recently posted for sale:

-The Niner fork and BH  CX bike are sold/traded
-The SRM will hopefully sell on Ebay today.
-Next round of stuff will be up this week if I can get it done before I leave for training camp 2012 at Syllamo.

First of the next round is a Truvativ Stylo singlespeed crank. It’s a tried & true piece of equipment perfect for a budget/no frills singlespeed build or 1x conversion. The length of the crankarms is 180mm. It’s in great working condition, but it does have the usual cosmetic blemishes you’d expect on a used crank. Price does NOT include bottom bracket, but if you’re local and looking to purchase, I can arrange a good deal on one if you need it.

Email me if you’re interested: andrea @ brickhouseracing.com

 

Andrea

Initial Review: Maxxis Radiale Tire

Being road training time again, I figured I’d take a look at what road tires Maxxis had to offer (I’ve been riding their mountain tires for a while now with great success, but had never tried them for road). I found the Radiale on their site and was very interested to see what a true radial road tire would feel like.

Yesterday, I had my first chance to take them out for a longer ride. First impression once I was on the road? Holy sh*t these are smooth… like “Maxxis added Paula Deen-esque quantities of butter to molten rubber and molded these tires” smooth. If you’ve ever ridden a 25c or 28c tire with reasonably low pressure, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you’ve never ridden a 25 or 28c tire at low pressure, think of riding on an old chip seal road, only to have it feel like very recently paved asphalt. Nice thing is, at 230g, they weigh less than most 25c tires. I hit a couple of very short patches of gravel during my ride, and they felt as expected- soft, smooth, and very nice. I’m looking forward to finding some sketchier stuff on Sunday when I go out for a little century action.

I can’t totally attest to their durability right now since I’ve only ridden them once. However, the tread feels very substantial when you pinch the unmounted tire between your fingers (unlike the “tube condom” feeling of an Ultremo or other similar rubber). I’m looking forward to getting them out again for sure.

 

Andrea

Gray’s Creek

I’ve been on a bit of a Gray’s Creek kick lately. It’s a 4-ish mile 4-wheeler trail that most people ride as an out & back along the Wolf River from Germantown Parkway towards Houston Levee Rd. Most people turn around at Gray’s Creek (hence the name of the trail). However, the 4-wheeler tracks continue down the sand bar creek bank a ways and across to the other side. The trail continues another mile to Houston Levee, but was rumored to be grown over. Yesterday, my curiosity got the best of me, and I decided I’d give it a go.

Lucky for me, the worst part about the trek was the hike upstream to the crossing, then further upstream to where the 4-wheeler tracks turned off into the woods. After that, the trail was a little rough and a little muddy, but totally passable. I did take one (unplanned) detour where the trail took an abrupt turn towards the river and dead ended at someone’s campsite:

 

I turned around and found the trail that continued on towards the road. It wasn’t much further before I reached the end:

The route from creek crossing to road looked something like this:

 

Once I was out on the main road, I turned and headed north back towards home. I took another detour (planned this time) through the woods behind Briarcrest private school, where I found a slightly creepy shrine to God and John Deere tractors:

 

I eventually ended up back on Macon Rd, where I took to the unfinished greenline, which, in its current state, is just an abandoned, slightly overgrown rail bed. The rocks are extra fun on the singlespeed. The entire thing was about 20 miles.

 

I’m happy to be back at it. Tomorrow- 3.5 hours. This weekend? Weekend Worlds and 5 hours on Sunday. W00t!