I'm feeling better

The Pie R.N. broke out the stethoscope last night and listened to my breathing. I learned a new word last night, or at least a new meaning for a word I already knew. The lower portion of my left lung is "consolidated" which means it's full of fluid and not filling with air when I take a breath. How cool is that? Not very cool at all. Any resumption of "training" will have to wait until this issue is remedied, so Warrior Creek (which is coming up in a few weeks) will be raced on talent and good looks unless I can cure this thing with a pot of coffee and some organic pop tarts.

Things have been happening since I got sick. The world doesn't stop just because I'm drowning in my own mucus... which sure beats drowning in someone else's mucus. I got a special delivery from my people at Bike29 on Saturday during my crazy haze period of illness involvement:

Apparently my camera was feeling a bit under the weather as well and was unable to focus on the task at hand. I'd love to tell you what was in the package, but suffice it to say it's top secret stuff which will make great bike race. No it is not a crabon frok, but if things go as planned that should be here as well just in time for the Six Hours of Warrior Creek... not that it will make me any faster, but I will look loads better which will help me with the "racing on my good looks" strategy.

Remember when I broke the saddle on The Fastest Bike in the World just as I started my "training" for 2010? Remember how I dug through my bin of old nasty and broken saddles for a replacement and came up with an old Selle Italia Flite? Well that saddle shit the bed too...

Even though The FBITW is eating saddles like a toddler eats Cheerios I still celebrated New Chain Day with great unbridled enthusiasm the other day.

New Chain Day usually goes like this. I notice the chain is a little slack while I'm at work, so I flip the bike over in the comfort of my bike room when I get home... at least when I finally remember to do so. I then take out my giant crescent wrench, make the necessary adjustments, realize the wheel is pretty far back in the drops, pull out my Park Tool CC-2, discover that my chain is well past the replacement mark, get pissed off since I leave my PT CC-2 laying on the workbench where I can easily access it so I can avoid wearing out my chain to the point where it will damage my cog and ring, and then go about the business of swapping the chain. Usually I pull a new chain from my case of 25 PC-1's, but this was one of those super special New Chain Days. I had finally saved up enough spare pieces of extra PC-1 to make an entire length of new chain which made it an extra special New Extra Chain Day.

There is very little in the world that is more satisfying than removing a noisy, used up chain from my drivetrain to replace it with a silent set of links derived from the cast-offs of countless predecessors that have since been sentenced to the garbage bin. The next day at work after New Chain Day is always such a fixed revelation, a quiet smooth transition of legs to power that can not be replicated on some ghastly geared beast.

Speaking of gears....

Ahhh, why bother tipping my hand. You'll just have to wait.

Wow, did Max Plaxton get run over or what?

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