Plume's ride and race blog

Sorry it's been so long since my last update, pretty lame of me. I have been sick for the better part of 2 weeks so riding has taken an unfortunate back seat. I raced the Knobscorcher a couple weekends ago with poor results. It's to be expected when you don't feel well I suppose. The singlespeed class has proven to be very competitive. I ended up in 11th place out of 17 riders, not at all what I had hoped for. I think if I was feeling 100% I could have gotten 5th or 6th. No matter.

The extra wet race conditions at Tsali left all our bikes in need of dire repair. My HeadShok especially was feeling really crappy and it was apparent that I needed to rebuild it. This was a learning experience for me but it went surprisingly well and now it feels pretty OK. I had ordered some nice new wheels from Mavic - the CrossMax STs, a new wheel for the '07 line they're a little burlier than the SLs or SLRs. They're wonderful. This is my first really nice wheel set and it's the first time I've been able to run a UST set up, what a difference! Here's the newly rebuilt 1FG, there's not much stock on it anymore...

Optimo 1FG frame

DLR HeadShok

WTB Laser Saddle

Oury Lock on grips

FSA Riser Bar (wide)

Avid Speed Dial SL Levers

Avid BB7 brake set

Thompson offset seat post

Cannondale stem

XT Cranks with a 33t generic ring

Sram 9 spd chain

20t Endless Kick Ass Cog for silent drive train

Mavic CrossMax ST wheel set

Scott Stroke 2.3 UST tire - front

Continental Survival 2.1 Kevlar - rear

I have to say I'm very impressed with all the new stuff on the bike. The Mavics truly shine and it's such a night and day difference compared to the old Cannondale Hub wheels I had. I'm not thrilled with the Avid brake levers, for what they retail for, nearly 70 dollars they really aren't any better than the stock Cannondale levers I had. I need to find a quality mechancial brake lever, I may even switch to a Shimano hydraulic system eventually. This is a pretty racey single speed now. I'm looking forward to doing some long rides and endurance racing on it.  It's not ultra light by any means at just over 23 lbs, but for the riding we do here I'm not sure I want something ultra light weight.  Plus, I've lost a lot of rotational weight which is key.

I also have some good reviews on some accesories I picked up recently as well. I've been struggling with a choice for eyewear when traveling off road. I need Rx glasses and I've been using some very expensive Rudy Projects with Rx inserts, the problem is that they fog up very easily when ever I would stop, or even when I was doing some harder climbing, not good. I needed to go with a direct fit type of lens system and I finally got them. I opted for a Tifosi product and spent a fraction of what I paid for my Rudys, so far they're great and don't hold fog like the Rudy's. They're also slightly more fashionable plus they're lighter and don't slide off my nose like my heavier Rudy's did. The Rudys are now my full time sun glasses and they're fine for road riding. I've been needing an "all day" camel bak for awhile now and I finally got the HAWG, (holds a lot of water and gear), it's great. It's actually even more comfortable than my old smaller camel bak. Other little things include finally switching to lock on grips and a new Halo sweat band for keeping sweat out of the eyes - they both work great. Ok... so not so long til my next entry, I promise.