Rob's blog

Today the Rush got... a tiny bit of bling... a Salsa seat clamp.

Then through necessity... new bottom bracket and a new Crossmark on the rear.

The rear tire was an absolute pain to get to seal this time. Grrrrrrr!

Another maintenance update...

After the filthy ride on Sunday I had feared the worse for the brakes. Once the pads get worn down leaving metal on metal action not only are you up for a new set of pads, but most likely a new rotor too. Rotors chewed up by this kind of stuff get so pitted and rough that they then chew through the replacement pads in no time - keeping them is a false economy.

Why does blinking make sand come out of my eyes?

Yes, this was a top, top ride but not really what was intended. I had this mental plan that today was to be the peak of Dirtworks training (2 weeks out). In this mental plan I was to ride until something broke, me or the machine, or the 80Km target in my head. After having a cold most of the week figured I would break first but the trails had different ideas.

Ooooh... bling!

This evening the Rush got new X0 rear mech, new PG990 cassette, two new FSA alloy rings (granny + middle), new HG93 chain. The chain will be lubed with White Lightening Wax for a while to see how it goes. Tried that before but think I shouldn't have been quiet so liberal with it so new regime will be followed.

Thanks to cupcake for the SRAM tuning tips!

Sorry, none of this is that interesting, save for reference later to see how long things last.

The Rush got a new Crossmark on the front just now (5 months, 900Km old). Annoyingly had to go to the servo to get it to seal. The rear won't be lasting too much longer, what with all the talk of Larson on the back maybe I'll try that when the time comes.

Someone (I think it was that Fat Cyclist dude) once wrote about how to explain the love of riding to your friends. He reasoned with them like this... imagine you have an incredible sports car... and imagine a breathtaking piece of road to drive it on... then imagine being able to drive that road flat out, as fast as you like without fear of hurting anyone else or being pulled over by the cops. I'm sure you get the metaphors... mountain biking is this rush!

Well, sadly this morning I had other things to attend to (yes, sorry, aside from the trail day which had to be binned), but this arvo got out on a ride in Royal National Park and had one of those moments. Well, actually, it was more like 6 minutes of pure bliss that encapsulates the above theory and more.

So today was a training exercise for the Dirtworks 100Km race. Although it was a blast think it showed there's a lot of work to do. And while you can clock up 50Km plus rather easily around Terrey Hills/Cascades/etc. there's nothing much like a trip to GNR/Womerah to remind us what real hills are!

We rode part of the course from around the 70Km stage forward first, then looped about a bit to ride in reverse from 65Km-ish out and back-ish.

So, it's 4:23pm and I've been up since 6:30am, and all that has happened is:

- Have breakie, shower, dress, go for a ride.
- Come home, very quick snack.
- Strip & clean bike. It was filthy, even though it got a good soaking with clean water after the ride you could hardly tell.
- Rotate tires. Damn! These UST just won't reseal without a decent compressor if they aren't new... involved a trip to the servo.
- Shower & change again. Ahhh... human at last!

Just got back from a consult. Mr surgeon seems quiet proud of his work. Says I need to massage the scar to soften it up (any takers?). Most importantly says I can go riding again!

In fact, he says masses of MTB riding will help[1]!

Excellent!

[1] OK, that last part is a lie.

A few people have mentioned using the wind trainer lately, so why not add to it? Aside from the rain, I can't ride on the trails right now due to injury. Doesn't stop me grinding away on the trainer though so have had one set up in the lounge for the last couple of weeks.

Dunno about anyone else, but the whole, "No pain, no gain" things sits well with me. I believe you have to push your body in order to improve it so sitting there pedaling away comfortably won't cut it. Sure, you will probably maintain some level of cardio fitness this way, but it might be nice to improve somewhat. Boring as it is, this is all I've got right now, so I tell the story of my latest 'rides'...