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

Damn Time Flies!

Is Blogging dying in this day of 30 second attention span....ie. Facebook? I do admit I keep the FB page more up to date than my Blogger. After saying that but not updating my blog for this long is nutz! I'll do a better job with more details. My job as Sales Manager at Chainwheel Drive has been a great experience and has help make the year fly by! One of the first things I did was to design and get a new shop kit out....

Other updates: Hmmmm, a "new" used Honda 2010 Element

Sadie is doing great....

After MUCHO research I got a Suunto Ambit2 HR "watch" to replace the old & tired Garmin 405cx

Finally got some road & cyclocross racing in this year

And Missy & I are still dating each other

Sooooo, I'll do more but wanted to try to keep on top of this.....it's easy to do the FB thing, but blogging is a bit more involved, or should be! Ciao, Rick

Update long over due

This is crazy late but let's just say I've been pretty busy!

I left my job at Finn Marketing for the Sales Manager position at Chainwheel Drive bike shop in September, traded in my beat company minivan that I bought cheap for a used 2009 Mini Cooper,

retired the Ellsworth Scant and am riding a 2012 Specialized S-Works Venge

I did the Horrible 100 also (more on that later) with folks from Gearlink & the MCC crew.

....and Melissa & I are still seeing each other

and are going to move into a house

(that's right a rental house) together.

Things are not easy but definitely worth it and much better than before. I have much to be happy about and not due to processions but how life is going in general.

I'll do a break down on the above as time allows.....I hope everyone is having a great Holiday season!

In with the new (track bike) Felt TK4130

I sold the Pinarello (gasp!) and purchased a Felt TK4130. WHY??? Well, I have been working part time at Chainwheel Drive bike shop in Clearwater, FL since May 14th in sales there and they do not sell Pinarello, the Pin was/is a great bike but being aluminum and not spec'd as a true track bike I thought I'd be better off with a 4130 steel, true geometery track bike. I was able to sell the Pin on eBay and buy the Felt for close to the same money so the cash flow of the deal was good. I got it in right before the 12 Hours of St Pete "alleycat race" and wanted to use it for that (more on that race on a different post). I have it rigged up two ways; as a "pure track bike & for training/racing on the road fixed. More reviews on it later but I love it so far. Ciao, Rick