Rivet and Velo News

Picture perfect, read all about the Rivet in Velo News, and be sure to check out the latest addition of Road Bike Action to catch up on the latest review of the Hella Faster.

The End is Near

The end of sub zero temps is only a day away. I have been off my skis for about a week now and its starting to really bug me. We got about 7in of new snow, but its been so bloody cold that I have avoided going out all together. The good news is we are expected to get more snow and temps in the 20s and 30s, so I should be able to get out there and ski again until my legs fall off. I will be sad to see it go, but I am looking forward to pulling the trigger on the first race of the year. At this moment I am thinking of going down to do the 2 day event in Tenn. the DSG, but for now I'm just going to enjoy the white stuff.

Basement weather

With a high of -2 this weekend, I felt that it was a good weekend to spend pounding on the trainer and lifting. Great 62 degree temps with high winds out of the NW in my basement made for a very enjoyable yet challenging ride. 5 min high cadence spin at around 100 watts followed by 5 min at 300 watts plus, both seated and standing. After I finished that fun it was on to another hour of lifting for both legs and upper body, can't forget swimsuit season is just around the corner so gotta keep those upper guns looking good as well. With temps this cold its just not fun to ski, so I am patiently waiting for the cold to break so I can get back out there and enjoy all the new snow that is falling, however it looks like it will be at least Friday before that becomes a reality, oh well, the weather report from my basement is calling for 60-68 with a heavy tail wind today.

Gotta drop 5

2fer today, great hour and a half of ski skating followed by a nice hour of trainer. Much to my ski friends dismay I still like to get on the trainer to help rehab my knees from a hard ski. The riding is easy because the skiing is killer hard, all up then down and repeat until you have nothing but bloody stumps for legs. Really trying to put down some hard efforts and control my lust for the vino and single malt scotch. I am trying to get my weight down from 165 to 160, but damn those are 5lbs that are hard to shed. Yeah, I know that's not much, but I have the metabolism of a alligator. I can eat a meal and be good for days on end, that's great for long racing, but really hard when you are trying to knock off a few. Just gotta cut down on the wine and I think I will drop it pretty easy. I sound like some kind of alcoholic, but if you are pictures when we race around the country you will always see that we end up at vineyard at some point. Anyway I think going public with my extra blubber may help motivate me to get myself shrink wrapped down to a good fighting weight.

Brrrrrrrrr

Making plans to skip the Triple D this weekend, I am finding good excuses like I need to finish demoing the bathroom so the contractors can start on Tuesday, but my favorite excuse is that its going to be a high of -1f on Saturday. That's not a misprint, they are calling for between -1 and 3 for a Saturday high, that's the high folks. I like my little piggies and want to keep them around for another day so I think I might skip racing 6 hours of Deep Freeze. I don't even feel like a wuss cause racing for that many hours in super sub freezing weather could really be a season ender.

Bike Swap Fever

Well it's that time of year again, that's right its the bike swap this weekend here in Madison. Hundreds of folks who can't wait to unload their crap, I mean slightly used merchandise, will be selling or trading goods. I to will be one of those people, but I am happy to say that most of my stuff is new or has been used only a couple of times, just things that just didn't fit the bill or came in wrong and couldn't be sent back. If you are in need of new mechanical disc brakes both Avid or Hayes drop me a line cause I got them for sale and for cheap. If you need more info on the swap go to cronometro's site.

1X9 for 2008

I'm unleashing my new 2008 setup, next year my geared bike is losing 2 front rings, I just don't need um, I came to this conclusion after the season was over and I started thinking about how many times I used the 22 or the 44, never, so Sonora, to extra weight and on with simplicity.

New Years, revisited

What else would you expect to see on at Wisconsin New Years Eve Bash. I had a little bit to drink on Monday, but I was sure that I saw a deer with a party hat on, I just opened my pics to confirm what I saw was in fact real. Whew that was a little scary.
Blue Mounds State Park, one of our favorite places to ski, unfortunately it looks like rain and high temps are going to kill it for us. Getting out tonight before it's all gone.

Triple D Prep

To cold to ski so I have been on the PT 300 for the past 1.5 hours watching Great Climbs of the Tour, a inspirational piece of video to say the least. Then it was off to hit the weights for another half hour. Now I am contemplating the madness of competing in the Triple D 100k, its one of those things that sounds good from the comfort of the EZ boy, but seems foolish every time you step outside, oh well the check is in the mail and I have started getting the single ready for the snow assault. I am gambling that the single may be a better choice because it will run through the snow without shifting problems. I have raced in snow before and when it packs in and ices up the game is over so it will be a straight up dog fight, but I suspect the lack of gears will not be a disadvantage on this one.