Psimet2001 

All of us in the Chicago Far West burbs should just all start wearing the same jerseys. Call it something like "Endure Psi-degris Design Doctor Heaven Project"

nixternal

Athletes Endure Psi-degris p/b Doctor Heaven Project

or we just keep ABD, and change it to its true behind-the-scenes definition: Alcoholics By Design

Psimet2001 

Ahhh.... but that would be the "elite" team right?

nixternal

We would all be elite in our own ways. You and I would be the elite sausage suits!

nixternal

Check out my new virgin! 60cm Madone and a 56cm cross bike. It is a 2012 Trek Ion CX Pro. Full Rival, aluminum, and it fits me like a glove. Waiting for some Egg Beaters and some new shoes (hopefully Wednesday!). Right now I will borrow or make a barrier and practice my shiznit. I can dismount it fine, the remount is a ball buster, plus I haven't done that clipped in yet. Planning on a couple hundred miles a week. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, ABD is going to be doing the Bartlett High School ride at 6PM on the trails out to the river and back. Something like 27 miles. So come on out and get some weekly miles in with us!

aham23

^^^^ nice. does i need to get out on mine for some miles. just too damn nice right now. not right now, because its dart, but in a bit, i mean. is the ABD ride just on the path or do you guys do any CX practicing?

will this new drunken elite team rock PSIMET Team Issue Wheels? if so, i am totally in. later.

MJH2

I don't hate it. It's just that I've had so much fun with the road racing. Especially with the combined 1/2/3 fields. Having a bunch of capable teammates in the same race (and all being on the same page) magnifies the "fun factor" by about 100.

Plus, as fun as cross can be, I've never been able to figure out how to do it without crippling back pain. After about 20 minutes I have a hard time putting out 75% of threshold power. That makes 45 minute races more of a death march than anything. I'll probably be out (watching) for Bartlett. I may race Campton... but I may not race cross at all this year.




Any new news on Charles? Last I heard it looked like he was improving. I haven't heard anything since the middle of last week.

nixternal

I can't say for sure if there will be any CX practice. I know it will be at least path, however I don't see how they are getting 27 miles on the path alone. I think they know of some single track like areas by the river they will also hop into as well. It's just a way to put some miles on the CX bikes. Plus it gives me a whole new reason to play with bike lights and build my own

nixternal

Haven't heard much more other than he has improved and has some rehab ahead of him.

MJH2

There are a few of us out here who ride the path at night. A lot. Like, a whole lot. You can easily bang out 30ish fun path miles. https://g.co/maps/dm2dr

There are an "off road" loop or two right by capones. Fun stuff. Technically not open to bikes, but "people" have been known to ride it at night.

nixternal

I bet we will be doing that off road loop by capones. I will find out tonight. I just found some damn trails right off of Munger that I didn't know existed, and we ride past them 3 times per week on our regular group rides. I saw Eric out a few weeks back lit up like a damn train on the path around West Chicago I think. Right now we are researching some lighting systems. I don't get how lights are as expensive as they are. ****, I could get a Mac for some of the light systems out there. MSRP on some lights is taking cost and multiplying it by 10 or more. I just don't get it.

Psimet2001 

I equipped a lot of guys on our team with the new Cygolite Mittycross 480. Everyone assures me that it can burn out the retinas of most woodland creatures.

Funny you mention Eric - I ran into him last week at the reservoir in Palatine. Riding cross bikes at night is my all time favorite activity.

MJH2

Did somebody page the king of cheap lights? I've been trying this so far this year. It's cheap and works great. The bar mount is a little hokie, but it's been through a bunch of night rides and banditcross races... no problems. I get about 2 hours on a battery, but always have a spare (they're super-cheap):

https://forums.mtbr.com/7337360-post3.html

The down side is that it will take them 3-5 weeks to get to you. A few people on our team have this light. You can get it from their American warehouse. Gets here a lot quicker, and looks to be really decent:
https://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808-...-set-900144459

MJH2

That thing looks pretty solid. Are people wearing on their helmets? I need something for the helmet.

Eric lives out that way now.

Psimet2001 

I saw them at Interbike and decided to track them down. I ran a team buy giving everyone a 1 time discount. Ordered in bulk. Near cost. Nice deal. I had planned on wearing it on my helmet. It is definitely helmet usable.

Yup - that's what he said. I just looked up and saw a rider farr off on the road and thought - that looks like a BH kit. Who would be in a BH kit over here....I'll bet it's Eric.... "ERIC!!!" - he turned. He stopped in and we talked while everyone else practiced.

The Moonshine lights - J at Tati was stocking them at one point.

aham23

is the route you linked all path? if its a regular thing let me know as i get a rash any time i think about my trainer......... i work at 88 & winfield so this is close for post work rides.

by the sounds of things i should have a light very soon. later.

carlosflanders

Magicshine lights are a great deal. Got mine form geomangear. The cost is in the batteries/

Been doing a lot of nighttime gravel road riding lately. Weather is perfect for it. Biggest danger is running into skunks - had a couple way too close encounters.

MJH2 - I used to get quite a bit of lower back pain on courses with short sharp hills and out of the saddle efforts, or hard ripply courses - Indian Lakes 2 years ago killed me for some odd reason. For the climbing it made a huge difference if I put my hands on the tops, near the stem, rather than on the hoods. Seems to work different lower back muscles. For the hard ripples - Tubulars are the bomb. I was messing around last year with some Tufo Flexus tires - absolutely no improvement over tubeless in terms of handling, but they were fantastic at soaking up those vibrations. Absolutely no back issues. I'll try some Grifos this year.

if you can dig up some tubular wheels you're more than welcome to the Tufos. Very easy to mount - for tubulars.

nixternal

You may be even closer starting next week. We might start taking off from the Winfield bike shop as the path is right there. We rode for damn near 5 miles before getting on any kind of path it felt like tonight.

nixternal

You can actually get the Magicshine lights faster if you order straight from the Chinese kids who build them. All issues that I have read about the Magicshine is either the battery or the driver. It seems the driver has gotten better as have the batteries on the newer models. I seem to recall that there was in fact a recall via geomangear.com on the 808s.

We are looking at Cygolites now. There was on old one in the shop, the Rover II, that has a ****ty water bottle type deal with the batteries inside. I have that on the bike now (bars) and after sitting on the shelf for probably the last 3 or 4 years, it fired right up even in the shop. On the helmet I threw a Serfas TLS-250. It is more spot than flood, but damn is that thing bright. I ran both on some single trail for about 2 miles to get home tonight. You would have thought it was about 1pm as bright as they were. The entire ride tonight I just had the Cygolite on Low and only used the Serfas when we were by the river. Damn it is dark down there.

I did one little booboo though tonight. By the river I was going a bit hot downhill (according to Garmin Connect, 27MPH) and with all the leaves I lost sight of the trail and ended up flying off about a 2 to 3 foot drop. Landed it like I meant to do it, but my ass did pucker and my heart rate spiked a bit.

The other popular light I saw out there tonight were the NiteRider MiNewt 300 USB and the 150. Those little bastards were bright, even the 150 was pretty damn bright. The only problem with everyone having crazy lights while doing night group rides, are the shadows that get casted. Usually you can move to switch the shadow up so it isn't in your way, but it will mess with you the first couple of times you see it.

aham23

i spotted a pic of you and the "Bartlett" gang on FB. my schedule sucks the next three weeks for any kind of Tue or Wed ride but i hope i can join you guys once or twice this fall. like you said, i am pretty close to the start from my work location. later.

nixternal

Today I threw on some of the new Egg Beaters 1 pedals on the cross bike. Anyone have a recommended cleat or anything for these things. I can't believe how easy they are to clip in to, as I don't even hear the typical clip in sound. I am also amazed at how easy it is to clip out, actually almost to easy. I am clipping in fine it seems, as I can pull up hard on my foot and I stay in the pedal. I don't know if I am a fan of the float just yet, as I am so used to such little float with SPD-SL pedals.

MJH2

Did you try adjusting the float by swapping/flipping the cleats?

Psimet2001 

Make sure that your sole of your mtb shoes isn't interfering with the action of the pedal. You may not be actually engaged all the way to begin with.

Also have someone take a look at your cleat position while you are in and pedaling to see if the cleat should move or not.

nixternal

I was just tossing on a new Garmin GSC-10 speed/cadence sensor on the Madone and when doing that, I noticed the following:



That is a result of a Tower Racing Cat 5 locking up his brakes for no reason during the West Chicago Circuit race during the Fall Fling. I can't believe I raced in the 4s on that tire that same day, and I attempted to race the Sunday's races as well. I think that tall bastard owes me $70, one way or the other, for his stupid ass team technique.

MJH2

So, am I the only one thinking about doing some Fat Bike racing this Winter?

I wanted to hit the Mustache Beach Race, but it didn't quite work out:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gasmith...7628283533497/