Busted rails, black eyes

Yesterday, I was on my way to work... the slightly extended route utilizing the more southern approach to the uptown.  I'm half-assedly trying to maintain some level of fitness for the the only post-season event I plan on doing, The Wilkes 100k, and my short 20 minute+ commute just won't do.  I'm going under the false assumption that one hundred more minutes of junk miles a week will make all the difference.

Anways...

Going down Brandywine Road, I realized that when I got home later that day, it would be the first time I won't be greeted by Chloe when I walk in the door in over a decade.  She tends to bark at me the entire time as I stow my bike, remove my helmet, shoes, and bag, and try to settle in... until I finally pet her.  When she was younger, she even used to jump in my arms, sometimes before I was ready.  It wasn't always pretty.

Right turn off Brandywine onto Westfield, and I sat up and removed my hands from the bars... not remembering that I did the same exact thing last week and ended up almost busting my ass coming through two major dips that had recently settled in the blacktop.  Another close call, and I got my hands back on the grips just in time.

Last week, I'm pretty sure my poor decision resulted in this:

I loved that saddle.  A WTB Silverado unlike most I've seen.  No kevlar edges that soak up rain water... in and out of buildings, on and off rain, dry ass, wet saddle... figure it out.  I'm pretty sure my employer would buy me a new saddle, as they pay for my bike expenses, but I'm not willing to put out the effort to replace it yet.  Too soon... I need time to mourn.
So into the blue bins I go.

Two options.  Silverado with ass-moistening kevlar protection or a Selle Italia SLR, a bad purchasing decision from January 2011.  This saddle is the most god awful brick I've ever sat on.  I just can't accurately described the manner of hell that is sitting on this thing for extended periods of time, yet it's the saddle I've chosen.  I've used an old Selle Italia Flite with the cover torn off and holes drilled in in it that was more comfortable.  A worn out Brooks that I laced with a shoestring to provide some level of support more than the sagging leather could provide was even better than this.  Even my Tioga Assgrater 2000 slayed this beast in terms of creature comfort.

Nineteen more days of extended commutes and then the longest I will have to tolerate this thing in one go will be no more than twenty five minutes.  I will count the days.

Mountain bike related posts brewing in my head... the upsides of 650B ( I need charts and graphs from Dough), cornering technique confusion, the new dangers of Enduro™...

photo cred: Vital MTB/Devon Balet Media

Expect K-Edge or some other market savvy company to soon release an Enduro™ specific GPS bumper guard.  Of course it will come in POC Approved Blue™ and cost right around 10-15% more than the XC model.

But it will be worth it.... because... Enduro™.