Ode to Colorado Cyclist

Tons of stuff to report on, like two short but excellent rides this week, but for me the really great news was from Colorado Cyclist. I just got off the phone with Andrea, who reported that Mavic agreed with me that the rim was faulty, and they are rebuilding the wheel with new rim and spokes! Man, I just LOVE great customer service.

I did a short, fast ride last night and had a guy on a fixie ask me to stay off his back wheel - not that 3-8 ft back it was any help behind his very slippery TT bike with deep dish wheels. (Dude, if you want to cripple your ride by tossing your gears, fine, but then no whining!) He claimed to be concerned that he couldn't stop as fast as me, so don't follow so close. Figure that one out.

Just to make a point I dropped back and followed him for 5.5 miles from Sunrise to WBP. Can you tell where he pissed me off from the HR trace?  HR was +10 LT for 16 minutes - Garmin alarming for HR the whole way. A nice 21 mph average. It's all good, and great motivation. Always respect someone's wishes regarding tail-gunning. In this case it was the way it was done that raised my ire.

Off to the periodontist to get the last 2 stitches removed, but wanted to mention this wacky little ride my bike club is putting on. One after my own heart. There is this crazy steep hill about 15 miles from here called Beatty Drive, and on New Year's Day we are going to do hill-repeats for 2 hours to establish the pecking order and get some bragging rights.

I'm guessing I'll get 10 laps in before the 120 minute cut-off at the bottom start line brings the competition to a halt. I will be doing hills again seriously for the first time in a year to get ready. Cold, thick air is the BEST for climbing. Ten laps will work out to ~ 3,800 ft of climbing in 8 miles - or 16 if you include the rocket ride down hill. (on averaged, this is a completely flat course ;)

Oh, my PI Convertible Barrier Jacket arrived this morning too. Fresh from Competitive Cyclist. The cycling hub of Arkansas. Uh, yeah, right. OK, maybe not so much, but got a great price on the SIDI shoes and then a 20% discount coupon for apparel, so liking my shopping experience there.

PS: Back from the mouth butcher. All is well. Big sigh....