I am not ready yet

Tour de Burg is coming in four days, and I had a lot of shit to do to get ready for it this weekend. I am still not ready, and some of the things I did do made me less ready than I thought they should have while others made me more readier.

I thought I would like this tire that I brought home from the Tran Sylvania Epic. It looked meaty, fast, and bouncy.

I know Rampage, and sir, you are no Rampage.

The WTB Wolverine rolled fast, but even aired down to 15.5 PSI (measured when I got home from my ride yesterday) it was still not as nice as my Rampage. I am gonna mount this 790 gram beastie on the rear for Tour de Burg. I ripped two Crossmarks up there last year (in only three days on the mtn bike), so beefy in this case is way better. Now I need to mount the Rampage back up and move the Wolverine rearward. Meh.

I also got to try out my new Enduro external bottom bracket.

My stock Race Face BB shit the bed at the TSE, so an upgrade was in order. I'd hate to say I'm a victim of marketing, but I felt like Beavis and Butthead reading the technical spewings put forth by the folks at Enduro.

Smooth balls, larger balls, deeper ball grooves, ball size... you had me at balls.

This product worked fine and was as thrilling as a bottom bracket can get which is not very.

Yesterday's ride? It was my first mountain bike ride since the TSE ended, and it was a doozy. Only Leyonce dared to join me based on my ride description. I think I mighta lost part of my soul yesterday. We only went 44 or so miles, but the heat... oh, the heat. I'm not one to sweat much at all, but yesterday I had a constant drip coming off my chin. I had to push up sections of a climb I haven't pushed since 2004. We missed an important turn and climbed an extra 2.5 miles when neither one of us was in the mood for extra climbing. I found myself missing my 8" front rotor for the first time since I removed it in April (when I mounted up the Niner crabon frok). I lamented the choice of the Wolverine and aired it down hilly nilly trying to regain some comfort. My 2.1 Prowler was no match for the loose gravel roads and stymied my efforts to get to the top in haste. I rode up on a black rattlesnake in the middle of some narrow singletrack and pissed my pants. I don't know my snakes, but when he turned around and started rattling at me... ummmm, yeah... he was a rattler. Leyonce kindly grabbed a very long stick and shooed him off the trail since I was ready to go backwards for 35 miles to avoid conflict. My big wheel shenanigans at last week's New Belgium Urban Assault Race finally caught up to me. My lower back was screaming in pain on the descent and my dented rib cage wouldn't expand full on the climbs to allow me a full breath. Stupid big wheels, so much fun, but such a cruel mistress.

Tour de Burg here I come.

So this week's things to do to the Meatplow before the Tour de Burg:

Move the Wolverine to the rear
Mount the Rampage up front
Replace the worn out PC-1 (no doubt the extra 2.5 miles of climbing did it in)
Swing the EBB to the "up position"
Raise the saddle
Flip the stem to the "rise position"
Obtain a 7" post mount adapter and get a 7" rotor mounted up ASAP

If you've got that very adapter I need and you are local'esque let me know. Paying $9 shipping on a $17 part sucks ass, but I'm gonna do what I gotta do to have it on there before I leave.