August 3, 2015

Too much of a good thing? Debatable...

Well, it's certainly been a while... at least a month since my last post of any length.  Yeah, you could say I've been busy - but, I have been riding.  Quite a bit, actually, especially compared with my lack of commuting consistency over the past few years.  
June left without much fanfare, but, July for me ended up being a near-600 mile month.  Not a massive, world-beating accomplishment when weighed against what I'm reading across the internets these days.. but, for me, that's a LOT better than what has become "normal."  In fact, another first-in-a-long-time for me came three weeks of full, five-days-a-week commutes as well.  It feels good, not forced... but, I'm ever-cognizant of potential burn-out.  

Burn-out... well, while California is basically on fire right now, it's certainly seemed that way in the Midwest; however, there's probably been enough humidity in the air to prevent any sort of fire from getting started.  Rain, rain, rain.... in July.  What a weird summer, so far.  The local trail systems have been washed with flash floods, are slick with silty mud, and have sprouted a lot of overgrowth.  With the threat of heavy rain producers popping up daily, it's been downright swamp-like.  I've dubbed the entire loop I normally use as My Own Private Central America.  

Mmmm, fresh mud!

Leg's shouldn't look like this after 12 miles of what was supposed to be pavement.  Oh well... I like it!


More to come... I've got an entire 200k to write up, as usual, and it's already been a month since it happened.  As my riding companion that day had said, however; the rides with the nice weather and light winds aren't really the memorable ones.  Well, I still have a couple memories to share, but, he's largely correct:  not much to report, overall... aside from some recent, personal realizations, and a new kick-start on actual "training" and pushing my own envelope for once, instead of going through the motions.  

I've also re-rigged a few things on the bike... nothing major, but, it's sorta refocused myself on the purposeful.  Finally, I've added a new bike to the stable, which I haven't written much about (and haven't ridden it much, either, so...), and I'm considering, on the eve of its tenth birthday, replacing the Kogswell.  Yeah, I've been down this road before, but, I'm actually talking to builders now... so, we'll see.  I'll put it this way:  it's either that, or I build up the Trek 450 again.  I'd received a green light on some mods to that old beast of a frame, but, to date I haven't done a darn thing to it.  It's not the money... it's just... I can't bring myself to do it, to hand it over, to have some frame mods performed to help it accomplish what I want out of my next frame.  It's just... wrong, somehow, to mess with it... So, I'm not going to.  A far safer, though pricier, bet is to try and accomplish those same things with a new frame.  Of course, every time I have these notions, I hope on the Kogs and knock out a personal best, or crush a hillclimb, and flick it out of a fast corner... man, it's good.  So, what am I messing with, again?  

Projects are fun, as are discussions.  If I keep the Kogs, however, I'm shopping for powder-coatings.  There's a local business that does phenomenal work, and I've been flirting with the idea of a Kogs refinish since they opened...  again, typical me, always hesitant to pull the trigger.  Well, something is gonna happen, and this year.  

Stay tuned... there's lots more to chat about.