New gear:
1) Fox Sergeant shorts.
Fox still cuts their gear for bean pole, little boys, and xc racers. They fit my waist, not much room in the trunk so watch for plumber's crack if you are following me. One bonus feature that is interesting, the shorts are stretch material! Crazy. Now I have a stretchy liner and a stretch shell. That's some comfort right there. The fit is athletic, not too baggy. I give them a thumbs-up.
2) Fox Ranger Shorts.
Weird fit on these shorts. I got them a size larger than the sergeants. It is like they only made the waist bigger. Trunk space may even be smaller. So pair up a loose waist and too little room in the rear and we have major crack making a showing. These ones are on their way back to the vendor.
3) Hoss Ponderosa shorts.
I have always heard good report on these. They are about the cheapest of the cycling specific shorts. I gotta say they are comfy. The chamois liner is very well done. Only issue I have is the droopy chamois that is a side effect of sewn-in liners. Not a big deal, it just catches the nose of the saddle on accasion. Okay one more gripe, my 38in waist puts me in a XXXL size. That is just weird as most brands would reserve that designation to 42-46in waist.
4) Kenda Nevegal 2.35 dtc tire.
I pulled the Ardent 2.4 off the bike. It was just too big for my fork, it liked to throw rocks, and if you hit mud forget about it. The nevegal is very comfortable. Weird thing is I never liked this tire pattern in CA. In AL though I liked it on my 29er and now on my heckler. It just works for the rocky terrain here.
I have been getting a fair amount of trail time in. Mostly shorter lunch rides. The legs are finally coming back and I am able to notice that the small elevation climbs here are not too bad. It is a motivational thing to hit that level where the body starts to work again. I have been riding mostly with friends, which is a nice change of pace from the solitude of so many rides last year. I have hooked up with a crew that seems to have regular rides so it is much easier to hookup on a ride with them. The group also has several guys who are of a similar pace and stamina. We still suffer, but there isn't the demoralization of getting dropped too.
The SORBA club rides have been getting rained out. Yesterday there was a large group out for the Wednesday night ride. The biker's lot was packed as full as I have ever seen it. I broke off and rode with the usual suspects and not the SORBA club. The groups criss-crossed several times and even rode Goat trail in series. That kind of split our B-team as a couple of us jumped into the end of the SORBA pack and kept up with them. It made for a nice break at the benches. A pinch flat and a broken chain were the carnage trailside, but it was on other's bikes not mine.
Today was an Arsenal 8-9mi loop. I was running on dead legs, so I took it back a notch and just grunted it out. I am glad I went for the ride despite it not being a fast day for me. I made 4 or 5 new friends on the trail. Stupid wood ticks are really favoring me out there. On the overgrown trails I am picking up several on a ride. Fortunately I have sensitive enough legs to catch them cuising on my shin or calf, usually before they bite. A bit of mud and damp trails didn't help with maintaining forward momentum, but I managed to make all the climbs so nothing to complain about. For the last couple of miles my bike is chirping. No big deal, I probably should have repacked the hub bearings by now anyhow. Out on the pavement I look down and find the true culprit. My rotor is badly bent and complaining with each revolution. I am getting pretty good at rotor truing, but I think this one is a goner. Oh well, I am overdue for a rotor failure. I think last one I bent was in 2005, so I have had a good run. The rocks out here finally struck a blow. One must have gone airborn and slammed my rotor along the way.
Throw in mowing the lawn and some work and you have it in a nut shell. Hopefully your life is more exciting these days. Either way, keep the rubber-side down...
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