Mondo Trasho

This post has nothing to do with the John Waters film of the same name starring the Notorious Divine - most noted for the scene in which Divine 'receives' a gift of rosary beads in a church pew (it really was filmed in a church in baltimore). Neither Divine or Waters would admit if Divine actually 'received' the rosary, but the scene left little doubt of what was occurring. Oh no, wait, that wasn't Mondo Trasho. That was Multiple Maniacs. Never mind. I guess I just like talking about the sexual desecration of sacrementals around easter.

But, as I said, this post has nothing to do with the movie, or religious perversions for that matter.

I got some really good riding in this weekend!

Saturday - Rode With Bangin' Big Ring Billy Bad Balls. Did 56 miles in just over 3 hours with 2400 feet of climbing, in a route similar to this one:


Except that I rode over to salem center to meet Billy which added the extra miles. The route included the famous Warner Hill, and the hills on rte 121 in chester, including the famous Microwave Tower Climb. We rode pretty much non-stop and cranked out some good big-ring tempo on the 28 bypass heading north. Billy is very fit right now, after a very full winter season of XC skiing. He kept me motivated on the climbs, and didn't let me slow down on the flats. I pretty much set the pace on the climbs and I'm quite sure he could have dropped me on anyone of them, but there were times he was breathing as hard as I was. We split the workload though he definitely did more than I.

Sunday - I answered a call to ride with Mark, a new member of my team to go for a 3-4 hour ride in southern vermont:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28983369

It turned out to be 4:24, 63 miles, and 5000 feet of climbing. The dude is a cat 2, and consistently gets in the top 5 in local 35+ road races. He took it easy on me. I took the advice from earlier in the week and put a 26 on the rear, probably one of the smarter things I've done all year.

I don't know for sure, but it seemed to me that half of the course was dirt. Dirt hills. Wet Dirt Hills. Alot of it was quite soft, like you were riding on very soft tires, so lugging the bike over wet dirt hills obviously was slow and painful. He had done the Johnny cake race in upstate new york the day before, missed the break, and chased solo for while before calling it a day. That worked in my favor. He could have dropped me anywhere he wanted, but followed my pace up the climbs. You can see his heart rate data on the garmin website, so I know he was working as well, but since he only had a 23 he had to push it harder over the steeper dirt sections, which he did with ease.

We missed a turn somewhere on the way back, and he suggested a direct route back that unfortunately would take us over Greenfield Rd. in Colrain Massachusetts. From the top of that it would be about ten miles home and all flat/downhill. I asked how step it was and his answer was, "let's just say I'd like that 26 you have". The climb on Greenfield Rd is just under 1.5 miles long at an average grade of 10%, but very consistent. I parked it in my 26 and kept my HR below AT, sitting the whole way up. Remember, this was about 4 hours into the ride. It took us about 8 minutes. He was alternatively standing and sitting, but seemed ok with the pace - IOW I don't think it was too slow for him.

Weekend stats: 119 miles, 7400' of climbing, ~8 hours riding time.

So, my legs are pretty trashed today. I rode into work because the weather is cooperating and a recovery ride is good. This morning, I ended up catching a group of cars through a section of gentle downhill where it's easy to draft. That isn't a good idea in early spring in Lawrence. Forgetting my years of commuting and drafting experience, I tucked directly behind an SUV doing about 30. It's generally wiser to draft behind the wheels since most drivers will drive around road hazards, and if you're following the wheel track you miss the hazards as well. I hit a rather substantial hole doing about 30.

The front survived, but the rear started a bad hop right away and went flat shortly after. It's still true enough that it doesn't hit the brakes. But, when I pulled it apart to replace the tube, I noticed that the metal by the valve stem hole had actually buckled and is visibly fractured. It's safe enough to ride home as long as I don't hit anything else, but tonight will be its last ride. I've hit big holes and curbs at speed before with these wheels and haven't had any issues, but I guess it finally caught up with them.

It was an old Rolf vector comp I've been commuting on for ten years. I bought the set new from the shop that used to sponsor my old team when he went out of business. I probably have over 50K miles on them. I've never had to do anything more than a simple true to the rear, and even then I really only had to do that maybe three times.

It's the end of an era. The shop owner sold them to me for like $150 for the set, so they owe me absolutely nothing, but I'm doubtfull that I'll be able to find another wheel that cheap that will hold up that well. Tonight, I shall raise a toast to my vector pro.

Trashed legs....trashed wheel.....Mondo Trasho.