Pages

Wednesday, March 24

Stuffed Sack

*sigh*

Current ho hum with some slight future excite.

I'm about 97% certain I won't bother with The Whole Enchilada this weekend.  Doing a mental pros and cons list and the only mark in the "fer it" side is "because it's there."  Not a very strong argument at all.  The course is always "there," even on race day since they don't close the trail to other users during events.

Granted, if 6 Hours of Warrior Creek weren't going off next weekend, perhaps I'd be a little more desperate for some racing actions, but it totally is happening.  I sure am hoping I can talk some other single speeders in the the Duo Male SS category, but I heard single speed is ded... which is mebbe why Boone is making ti cogs again?  We got 2/3 of a podium so far, some grab your dumb single speed and sign up already, goons.

Way future excite is that Pisgah Productions announced (some of) their dates, and it looks like a late summer/early fall bike racing blitz. 

So, there's just this giant hole between 6 Hours of Warrior Creek and Shenandoah Mountain 100 to fill with... uncertainty?  Blessed.  Haven't been getting enough of that in my diet.

Way, way future excite?

“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”

As someone who only utilizes one of five single speed bikes (usually, forgive me) on any given ride, I identify with this quote.   Sorta.  Gears are like menu options at a Mexican restaurant.  There's too many of them, and I'm probably gonna regret whichever one I choose.

But when it comes to gear (not gears), I want the perfect piece of equipment for the job.  The gloves for 32° to 44°.  The small ratchet with an extension and a 4mm bit that I keep handy just for the tensioning screws on my Paragon Machine Works sliding dropouts.  The shoes dedicated to hike-a-bike heavy races.  My mug that has just the right amount of surface area to volume ratio to keep my coffee at a drinkable temperature. Etc.

I have a plethora of jackets and coats.  I guess it's a combination of needs over time multiplied by memories of being cold or wet due to poor choices.  The two puffy coats I have were both gifts, my super puff for standing around campfires... you know the one with all the burn holes and feathers poofing out of it.  The other one is my sponsor-correct dress puffy from Maxxis Tire Camp. 

Neither of which are very practical when it comes to traveling with them on my bike.
  
This past winter, my friends and I have been gathering outdoors about once a week to drink beers and talk about bikes, and COVID, and bikes, and plumbing, and kids, and bikes.  There have been many nights that have dipped down into some temperatures that were beyond my comfort zone, and I've had more than a few "memorable" rides home.  I've wanted a packable puffy for some time, but I didn't wanna put any thought into it.

Thanks to FaceBook bombarding me with ads, I saw this reversable puffy coat ON SALE from Cognative MTB. Let's see... packable, from a North Carolina company that gives money back to the trails AND is a co-adopter of the Black Mountain Trail (you know, the one that reminds me that there is always a reason to live another day), and did I mention ON SALE?

Is it warm?  I can tell you that in the one and a half minutes it took me to prop my camera on my work bench to snap this photo, I started getting that feeling like when my mom had just bundled me up to go out and play in the Ohio snow and was taking too long to lace up my boots. 

"I'M GETTING HOT!" 

Does it pack down?

Yeth, El Guapo.  Chamois cream and dangling scrotum for size comparison purposes.

Am I bummed that I got this at the very tail end of cold, outdoor drinking season?  A little.  Do I plan on living for awhile longer, so mebbe it's gonna see a metric butt ton of use before I'm ded like single speeds and 26" wheels and Rush Limbaugh?

Yeth, El Guapo.

No comments: