Exploring California

From a recent trip to Morro Bay.....

Going back to Cali.....

Yup, that's right! I made some great friendships in FL, mostly through the group I rode with; the MCC crew. I just had this nagging bug in me to get back out to the west coast..... I've been hired by Lezyne as a CSR/Acct Rep. I've only been out here eight weeks and still getting used to the time change and working "normal hours" but so far I feel that I have made the right decision. This is despite missing some good friends. I will be back there every x-mas break because my family gets together at IRB for 2+ weeks. So I left for Cali on March 10th. The move out was painful to say the least...I really had to pair down to the bare minimum; maybe too bare! The trip out there with the Honda Element and a 5x8' trailer is something I don't ever want to do again!

Lezyne is a great company and one I feel I can grow with.

I haven't fallen asleep!

Is Blogging a dying form of communication? by looking at mine you would think so! Too many changes to go over now but let's start off with a picture of my latest babe.....The 2015 Focus Cayo Disc 3.0! Yeah, the S-Works Venge is history along with my delicious Enve 6.7s...... I did replace the standard DT Swiss wheelset with the Reynolds Assaults and have been very pleased with them. I have also put on my zero offset Thompson seatpost and 90mm stem to be better fitted. I'm trying out the Fizik Arione VSX saddle to get more comfort than the stock saddle. More later....really!

Edinburgh Cross Race 2014

My first (and only so far) cyclocross race this season. Ironic what happens when you work at a bike shop you don't get to race as much! For some reason the sand pit owned me that day.....I didn't get through it clean once. The bunny hop over the log at 18-20 mph was my redemption! This was my first race on the Wilier and the bike is fantastic! I'm not getting rid of the Ritchey Ti Cross but this Wilier is sweet! I'm only a couple of months away from racing in the 55+ class instead of the stacked 45+ class. I came in 7th I believe; about in the middle of the age group. I'm hoping to get 1-3 more racings in before the season ends. I hope everyone is having a great season out there! Ciao, Rick

My first Wilier!

Damn, what a nice surprise!

I bought a Wilier Cross bike (we are a Wilier Dealer) and built it out from the parts off my beloved Ritchey Ti Cross bike. To say that the ride qualities are sweet would be a big f'ing understatement! I put the OMG Enve 6.7s on it and with SRAM Force 10 spd on it it was just a stupid 16 lbs! I use it on any rough road rides that I do and don't feel I'm giving much up from riding the S-Works Venge believe it or not. It makes me want to get a Zero 7 or 9 now! More later! Ciao! Rick

Some sweet shoes for the Venge!

I've been testing some different wheels to buy to replace my FSA tubies that have been breaking spokes too frequently. I was torn to get a set of new tubies but I wanted to play around with different tire sizes and clincher was the only way to do that so for the most part I check out different clincher wheelsets. No science behind my testing but more of a feel on how they felt.

The FSA tubies are light and didn't feel pushed around in the wind but were not easy to relace. Together with my bike the overall weight was only 14.12 lbs!

The Shimano Dura-Ace C50 tubies felt great and were fast and light but I wanted to go with clinchers so they didn't make the cut. They felt like they were effected by the wind more than the others also.

The Enve SES 6.7 were the deepest that I tested but felt like the fastest that I tried; I could feel them in windy conditions in a negative way when it got in the 17+mph windy days. I had also tried the SES 3.4s; they were great but I didn't feel that they were as noticeable as the 6.7s The 5 year warranty, the choice of three different hubs and being made in America were big pluses for them. Oh, thanks for my buddy Beck helping to model the Enves in this picture!

The Zipp 404s have always been my favourites; they felt fast and didn't seem to get blown around for the depth. A great wheel set and a close 2nd only to the Enves.

I ended up going with the SES 6.7s, Chris King ceramic hubs....the weight difference between the 3.4s and 6.7s were only around 120 grams but the "perceived difference" in overall speed of the 6.7s and the way they felt made them my choice.

MTB with AJ

AJ is claiming that none of my wipe outs are done in slow mo.....:-)
We had a great time getting out and I want to do so again (and maybe re-edit the movie!)

Ciao,
Rick