February Riding and more.

Salsa Cowbell 2, 9spd barends, shimano brake levers, Thomson stem, Zipp tape. Cateye Enduro, Mafac Cantilevers, Chris King headset. Some of my favorite bits on a bike.

Dorkus Enormous riding at night

Little bit of snow and ice on the comute home.

Rode the Selma Ti singlespeed and felt weird after the Steamroller.

My youngest daughter, following in the footsteps of my middle daughter.

Another drawing from the young one.

My wonderful Black Mountain Cycles. This bike is awesome!

February has been kind of a weird month. It seem like we got more snow this month than last. I still have done only one ride on the Pugsley and ridden the crap out of the Steamroller. I have grown accustomed to the change from 42x15 to the 42x18. I have gone up and down the hills with no side effects. My weight has kept crawling down and still feeling good about the huge challenge that will happen next month. I am starting to focus more on some of my equipment. I have almost given up the idea of doing a singlespeed on the course. I don't know what gear I would ride and am afraid to blow up and not finish because of a crazy idea. I built a training wheel for the BMC using a 105 hub and a Velocity Fusion rim that came off a Power tap wheel. I used 290 3x spokes despite the call for 287 right and 289 left. The wheel came out perfect and I am rolling on a panaracer pasela tourgard in 700x32c folding tire.
I also changed out the Ragley Luxy bars for some Salsa Cycles cowbell 2's. These are narrower than the Luxy and very comfortable. I did like the Ragleys at Dirty Kanza since I rode in a more aggresive terrain and they offered better control because of their wider stance. I did not like the fact that my Barend shifters stuck out at an angle and were so vulnerable if I would happen to crash. I also slapped on some new Zipp tape which is manufactured by the Lizard Skin guys and is fantastic. I shortened my shifter cables and that part of the bike is now dialed.
I have a White Industries Tracker Hub which is going to become my race wheel one I pair it up with a Dt Swiss Trekking rim in 32 hole configuration. I will use dt swiss spokes and on BK's recommendation I will try some Brass Pro lock nipples.
I am leaning towards some Kenda Happy mediums in 700x40c for tires but that is not fully decided. I will stick to my wired computer since it does not get funky when I use my lights. In ther rear I will go with a lighter blinkers. I am also looking to get some new cages that will perform better with my tangle bag.
So that is running through my head. The shop has seen some extensive remodeling and we are set for a record year. The vibe is good, the laughs hard and we are just waiting for the gun to go off.
best,

Ari