Sunday, November 22, 2009

Don't be "That Guy" Part II

If I suck now, there's simply no excuse. This bike combined with the Zipp 404's is about as legit as I can get. My teammate decided to upgrade his SLC-SL (race only with less than 400 miles on it) to an S3, so I had no choice but to wipe out the bike fund and snag the SLC-SL frame. Combined with the SRAM Red and the Zipp's I pretty much have built up a Tour ready bike. Well, if it was 2007 anyway. I built it up yesterday. I decided I'd might as well do it right, and snagged some Zipp bottle cages, a 3T carbon bar, and a titanium railed Specialized seat. I also bought some new sneakers and went with Continental's with the Black Chili compound. I have absolutely no idea what the Black Chili will do for me, but it sounded pretty good. The only thing left is a new 3T stem, but I wanted to get a ride on it before selecting a size.

Took a quick 20 mile shakedown run yesterday and it was clear that this was going to be a fast bike. It is ridiculously stiff and in a good way. The real test was today's Faso Ride. We rode a brisk 55 miles with a handful of town line sprints. I beat my previous watt record by about 90 watts and I haven't done a legit road sprint since before CX season. This bike is gonna be sweet.

I'm not sure if this bike can overcome middling genetics, but I intend to find out next season. There's no doubt that this bike will put the watts to the back wheel, I just need to make sure I'm around when everyone gets near the finish. Hopefully I can pull that off, otherwise I'm going to be "That Guy" on the tour caliber frame, components, and Zipp's dropped with a fat guy on the old Cannondale. Then again, perhaps I'll be dropped with the fat guy riding the Pinarello, with Campy Super Record 11 and Bora Ultra Two wheels. Maybe I should have taken Jeremy B's advice and just raced the old Trek XO-1.

On an unrelated note, congrats to Drumroll on his dominant season. He snagged three CX wins this year. He had a solid year last season, but he's definitely moved to a new level. Good to be "That Guy."

3 comments:

Drummroll said...

"schnooorkk, hack, hack" ...that's Drummroll w/a Pro sized head cold. At least it waited 'til the season was over. I'm so stuffed my damn teeth hurt. (I got worried about the teeth hurting & checked on the net but it says not uncommon for some sinus infections -- just a whole new experience for me). Kleenex, Vicks vaporizer shround w/a towel & nasal (yuck) irrigation are todays highlights. Props to Skinny too on a great CX season.

Skinny Phil said...

Too many airplanes with recycled germs. Good times.

Unknown said...

Greg:

Grab some Olbas Oil and put it in a bowl of super hot steam water and then drap a towl over your head and the bowl. You won't stay under long but it'll clear you out