Sep 22 2008
Rancho Relaxo
Happy fall solstice. Equinox (thanks for the correction).
Got an off-week this week. Very much needed. Saunas and hot tubs galore. Time to get things in order before October.
Team picnic yesterday. Picked up the new Castelli kit. New colors (no more ‘Laker Girls’ comments). New graphics. New team car. We got totally pimped out. Sweet. The Castelli stuff feels a bit weird walking around in it but once you get in riding position on the bike, everything fits like it should. The shorts are, um, shorter. Lots of moderately unsightly tan lines visible. All in all, pretty excellent gear. I appreciate that they left a black panel in front so we don’t have the sausage-fest appearance colored shorts can get.
Also picked up the new wheels and Schwalbe Racing Ralph tubulars. Now these are worth getting excited about. 35mm size with a fair amount of volume in the tube. I’m hoping it’ll give my fat ass a little more cushion on the bumpier sections. Tread looks good, seems a little tight for shedding mud though. We’ll see. I hope to have them ready for this weekend. It’d be great if the ground got softened up a bit over the week.
I’ve already set aside my post-race beers for the season. It’s a mix of Hair of the Dog (Doggie Claws ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07 and Fred from the Wood ‘07), Sierra Nevada Bogfoot ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, and Deschutes (Abyss ‘07 and Black Butte XX). I don’t know in what order I’ll have them but I’m sure it’ll all work itself out. Sometimes I’ll stand in front of them and the right beer magically appears in my hand. You can call me the Beer Whisperer.
Starcrossed was this weekend. From what I heard and read, it got a little slick up there. It brings me back to the ugly lessons of last weekend – be prepared for anything.