Leaning

Sigh.  I guess my dissatisfaction with the current state of both political parties was not apparent yesterday.

Anonymous said...
"why don't all you libtards pack-up and move to a socialist country already. Fuck off."

Sorry to all those out there that I didn't waste time looking for examples of both the RNC and the DNC failing to fact check statements and statistics during their respective conventions.  Since I was trying to write a post primarily about a chain ring, I thought I'd done a thorough enough job... although, if I only alienate one person per post, mebbe not so bad after all.

I'm sure both parties will have all their ducks in a row by the time we get to the debates.

I've always felt like I was an equal opportunist offender.

Hoping the stars align and I get a ride in the mountains tomorrow. 

I really, really, really, really wanna get the egg ring and new fjork up there for some real riding... since between now and then I'll be:

Riding local once

"Racing" at SSUSA

Leaving for Duwango Tango Mancation '16 with Matt McFee and Bill Nye, riding the By:Stickel Meatplow V.6 for six days

Leaving two days later for the Shenandoah Mountain 100

Mebbe, just mebbe, racing the Fool's Gold 50 (65?) two weeks later.

So yeah, one chance to ride this bike in similar conditions before I commit to some really long climbs and descents over 100 (or 150... or 165?) miles.  I'm 95% sure that I'll run the suspension fjork, if not just because of a recent conversation I had with Bill Nye.  I mentioned that this will be my last SM100 for awhile, being that it will (presumably) be my tenth finish.  He said, "Why not enjoy all the downhills then instead of beating the shit out of yourself for a change?"

Sage wisdom from the Science Guy.

The only thing that has me scratching my head is my tires.  Paranoid me wants to stick with the 2.4 Ardent/2.2 Ardent Race combo.  I hate flats.  I have yet to flat on this combo.

Racer boi me wants to swap to something a little lighter... like .33 - .5lbs lighter.  Because I have them.

In there.  Somewhere.

Does anyone remember what tire I was running when I punctured the rear on the descent at the Shenandoah 100 in... dunno?  Some year?

That information would be handy to have right now.

If only there was a way to keep track of all this.

All I could figure out was that it was in 2010...

Was I fat back then or were my bones just bigger?

I figured out that I did flat a Stan's Raven tire at Breck Epic on Stage 2 just before this race and replaced it with a Kenda Small Block 8 that was nearly impossible to install/remove (no bueno for trail repairs)...

so I replaced it before the SM100... but with what?   Obviously, I wasn't sponsored by Maxxis back then, thus I was running any rear tire that was handed to me on a podium or at an aid station... or found in a bargain bin.

The other strange thing?  I ran an elliptical 33 tooth ring with an 18 tooth cog.  Now I'm considering running a 30 X 18 (which is slightly smaller than my standard SM100 32 X19)?

Da fuq?

It is very apparent that I have no idea what I'm doing.

Throwing darts at the board in the dark. Obviously, the lazy option would be to do nothing, and I'm leaning that way since leaning is also lazy.