So I was spending one of my favourite past times on MTBR and came across a post about a Shimano skewer snapping while attached to a bike. Turns out certain skewers made after November 1 2005 can fail randomly. Of course I happen to have a set of XT Skewers that might fall into the recall. The problem is they came off a wheelset that I sold with a bike (with different skewers) and I can't remember what version of XT hubs the wheels had. I'm pretty sure they were pre 2005. I don't have the bill for them either. Not sure what to do. 90% sure they are older that Nov 1 2005. Here is the recall for those who have Shimano skewers. It affects a whole range of skewers (only front)....XTR, XT, Dura Ace etc.

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/cycle/sac/us/en/news_and_information/news0/front__quick_release.html

In other news, got some solid riding in over the weekend. Got over the flu thing and felt okay riding. A short ride on Saturday and a long one on Sunday. I was slowed down by the Milton Santa Claus parade a bit....I usually cut through town to avoid a few busy roads but ended up in the middle of the parade. I thought about riding along the parade route since I was wearing my colourful red Hammer Nutrition jacket and might fit in....but since I can't do any wheelies I figured I'd be worthless entertainment and found another route to bypass the whole thing.

There's a guy in Oakville who just rides around town all day doing wheelies....he's known by everyone as wheelie guy....maybe he could teach me?

Steve

Got the flu shot a couple of weeks ago. I have the flu. But it is not completely debilitating, just fever, chills, upset stomach, etc. Only dry heaves. Oh well, weather is crappy outside anyways.

The weekend looks a little better, but the trails will probably be wet so they'll be out unless they are frozen.

Thinking about getting a seasons pass to the Halton Region Conservation Areas which will allow me to ride at Kelso and Hilton as much as I want. I'm not one to go in a back route and ride. I've asked for the family pass for Christmas which basically gets a carload of people in so now all of us can go. We were up at Mountsberg a couple of weeks ago to do research on the Snowy Owl for a project and took a bunch of pictures. I really liked this one in particular of the eagle. All of these birds are rescue birds. Also, nice thing about Mountsberg is they have a couple of bike trails which are perfect for the kids....about 10km long which is just right. The pass gets us in here as well. Lots of good hiking too.

Got in a good ride today. As an experiment I decided to ride the exact same route I did last Sunday which was on Cyclocross tires. Those tires had a tremendous amount of wear on them after just a couple of rides so I have put on the Kenda Small Block 8 which is what I have used in the past. I thought the cross tires would roll a lot faster and be lighter which would increase my speed, but last weekends ride made me wonder if that was really the case. So I got the Kenda's on got on my way. It was pretty chilly today but at least the sun was out which always makes for a good ride. I had on quite a few layers and was drenched when I got home, but I was warm during the whole ride. So last week the route I did took me about 4 hours and 15 minutes. This week was good. I left around 11:30am and had a tailwind for the first half of the ride. Unfortunately the first half is where all the climbing is so I don't benefit as much as if it was on the 2nd half (like last week). I didn't check my time at all during the ride but about 3/4 of the way through I could really feel myself slowing down with a combination of the wind and fatigue. When I finally got home I was really surprised to see that I had finished at 3:25 which means I did the ride in 3 hours and 55 minutes which is 20 minutes faster than last weekend. So I think the Kenda's are definitely faster than the cross tires. I think that makes up a large portion of the time difference....maybe I was feeling better as well although I didn't feel like it. So the Kenda's will be staying on now, maybe I'll save the cross tires for the Paris to Ancaster race....but then again the Kenda's would probably still be faster.

Steve

A little chilly

Sure is cold today. I'm not a big fan of the cold....I'd much rather deal with 100 degree heat personally. Anyways, Santa Claus parade in Oakville was this morning so everyone bundled up and headed out for the 9am start. It was pretty good this year....not too many Shriners this time. After the parade Evan and I headed over to the LBS to pick up a couple of things....a neck warmer and a Knog tail light. The Knog is really cool and just what I have been looking for. Some of my rides have stretched into dusk lately and I want to make sure I am visible.

Once Sue & Noelle got home from the craft show I headed out for about 2 hours on the Niner. Man I am really liking this bike. Hopefully I'll get a nice long ride in tomorrow too.

Steve

Picture of the Niner

A picture of the new Niner.

Got the cockpit all set up now. It is identical to the Asylum. Someone suggested I put a single chainring on the front...next thing he'll tell me to turn it into a singlespeed! I like it the way it is....just need to put on some bigger tires!

Steve

I was asked by someone what 260 days meant the other day. It was 260 days until my first 24 hour solo race in 2 years which will be the 2008 24 Hour of Summer Solstice. I'm signed up and confirmed. I needed to do that as part of a goal to start training. I have the migraines under control and I think I am ready and committed. I took all of 2007 off from racing (apart from Pauls Dirty Enduro) and most of 2006 off as well. But I am ready. Bought another bike (pictures to come) to help get things going. It will serve as a training bike, back up 24 hour bike, and occasional short course racing bike. I'm also planning a full schedule of racing besides this one 24 hour. Other races I am planning:

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo (in Arizona in February) - Duo with my Brother
24 Hours of Hot August Nights - Duo with Dave
The Ontario Cup series - my daughter wants to race peewee so I'm going to race too
Pauls Dirty Enduro
Maybe some 8 hour races - duo or solo

I've set some personal goals for these events as well as a few other things. I'm not planning to post them....just for me to know right now....if I make them I will post! But I am trying not to take things to seriously. No sponsors, no pressure, nothing....just fun training and racing....the way it used to be many years ago.

To get things kicked off I had hoped to take my new bike our for a ride yesterday. The parts were delivered on Friday night and I planned to get it built right away. I purchased a Niner EMD9 Frame, White Brothers Rock Solid Fork, XT Crank, post, and stem...the rest was either coming off my other bike or I already had as spare parts (i.e. spare wheelset). I did also purchase new XTR shifters, front derailleur and rear derailleur but those went on the Asylum which is my full out race bike. Back to the Niner....as I was putting it together everything went well until the front derailleur....it was a hand me down from the Asylum and was a high clamp...unfortunately I needed a low clamp for the Niner. I got everything else done and then went to the bike shop on Saturday to pick up the right derailleur. We ended up going to watch a UCI Cyclocross race afterwards so no riding (other than a short ride with my son) was done but that night I finished assembling the bike.

Today, Sunday, finally got out for a good ride. Weather wasn't that nice....cold, windy, overcast....just the conditions I dread. I ended riding for 4 hours 15 mins though which was longer than I thought I would. I realized I still had a bit of work to do setting the cockpit but think I have it sorted out now. I also put on cyclocross tires thinking they might be faster than my Small Block 8's because they would be lighter and have less rolling resistance. I just picked up whatever the shop had and they are a bit on the knobby side. Not sure if I was going any faster or not....didn't feel like it. I'll have to do a few of my routes with them and time it. Then do the same routes with the SB8's and see. I don't really like the look of the cross tires on the bike....just looks disproportionate.

A long update but a lot going on recently. Hopefully more to come as I starting riding more.

Steve

It has begun

The countdown has finally begun.....260 days.