Wielding Jehovah's Cyclocross Battleaxe
- Thread starter Norm
- Start date
soulchild
Well-Known Member
Oh that's my old (new) saddle?
EDIT
This is not the Glider mind you. They feel nothing alike. This is minimal padding (less forgiving) offering for narrower sit bones than the slightly wider Glider. If yours sit bones fit and you get it adjusted correctly it will disappear for sure. If not, it's going to feel like you're being pulled apart by your ischial tuberosities.
Enjoy.
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Same here, I tried one, not for me.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
I need a name for the new bike. Strava lets you pick your bike
Ludacris Speed aka Luda, aka L.S.
I thought the phase with these saddles died. These saddles are a case of lining the sheep up and seeing how many follow.
that would be a fashion faux-pas but screw it - if its comfy then ride it.
that bike looks schweeeet.
rick81721
Lothar
Are you referring to the SMP Selle saddles in general or this specific model? I found that a "regular" saddle (at least the one that came with my salsa) created genital area numbing problems that completely disappeared when I switched to a Selle saddle. When I was fitted for the road bike they actually started me on a higher end smp saddle but I found the hybrid to be more comfortable so went with that.
Those style SMPs in general. Honestly I just think they look dumb. I am still sprung like a 13 year old, so I may think different if that stops happening.
gtluke
The Moped
Ellen was saying that determining if your hens are laying and fitting a bike seat are pretty much the same thing. You got this. Farmer.
ha! I suppose if you can lay an egg everyday, the saddle is ok for you 😉. I have yet to lay an egg myself. 😱
I was here, then I went away. Now I'm back.
I have been slaughtering bikes & bike parts at an alarming rate this year. Last year I rode like 1/2 of what I normally would, but I probably spent 1/10 what I normally do. This year has been pretty bad in that regard.
I destroyed my new Evo frame before I even got a chance to name it on Strava. That's all I'm gonna say on that.
I glued tubulars this week. Utah says this makes me more pro. But really it just means I'll only have myself to blame when I destroy these.
I put both cross bikes back together today too. The main one was fine, just had to finish up the tubulars and make sure they still work fine. They do. The second bike got a new RD, which it needed because I put the old one on the primary bike when I ripped that off.
We went to Canada and did a shit ton of stuff.
Doing Nittany the next 2 days. CrossResults Race Predictor says I'm going to come in 57th and 57th. I guess it's consistent. I'm thinking I should do better than that but I guess you never know. It also suggests I really took last year off, doesn't it? Best I ever did was 20th, worst was 67th last year when I ran for like 8 minutes. If I split the different between 67 and 20 that gives me 43.5. Last year I came in 42nd on the non-total-just-partial mechanical race. So what does that all mean?
I think it means I need to go and see how it shakes out. I hate this race, it slaughters my bikes.
Talk to y'all Monday.
I have been slaughtering bikes & bike parts at an alarming rate this year. Last year I rode like 1/2 of what I normally would, but I probably spent 1/10 what I normally do. This year has been pretty bad in that regard.
I destroyed my new Evo frame before I even got a chance to name it on Strava. That's all I'm gonna say on that.
I glued tubulars this week. Utah says this makes me more pro. But really it just means I'll only have myself to blame when I destroy these.
I put both cross bikes back together today too. The main one was fine, just had to finish up the tubulars and make sure they still work fine. They do. The second bike got a new RD, which it needed because I put the old one on the primary bike when I ripped that off.
We went to Canada and did a shit ton of stuff.
Doing Nittany the next 2 days. CrossResults Race Predictor says I'm going to come in 57th and 57th. I guess it's consistent. I'm thinking I should do better than that but I guess you never know. It also suggests I really took last year off, doesn't it? Best I ever did was 20th, worst was 67th last year when I ran for like 8 minutes. If I split the different between 67 and 20 that gives me 43.5. Last year I came in 42nd on the non-total-just-partial mechanical race. So what does that all mean?
I think it means I need to go and see how it shakes out. I hate this race, it slaughters my bikes.
Talk to y'all Monday.
It's pretty pervasive. I think I have 9 beer cans stuck to various things in the basement, including the neighbor's cat which I'm going to need to figure out sooner or later.
At one point this week I rested my head against my hand and when I removed it I yanked some hair out. That one is actually true.
You should see the PDX that I glued to the carbon rim EO built for me. Looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man blew his load all over the side of it. It's so bad I'm not even going to bother bringing it this weekend.
None on my balls but it's not for lack of trying. I'm going to take the Racing Ralphs out for a spin soon, to make sure they don't rip clean off. I'm sure you'll see it on Facebook if they do. But more likely that will happen shortly after the race starts tomorrow.
I've had a rough week. Thanks for the laugh. I distinctly remember you saying at Otto CX, "It's just glue, how hard could it be?"
Nittany Day 1
Some things to note:
1. Previous to this day, I had done 4 races at Nittany
2. Of those 5, I have had mechanicals at 4 of them
3. I glued my own tires last week
Warming Up
They say that warming up is important but I think that aside from getting your legs going, warming up is just a way to distract you from the nervous energy you feel when you are doing a race. At least this is what my theory du jour is. I have never had an effective warm-up. I used to have a routine down. And in the end I felt like crap as often as I felt good. So I have more or less done away with the warm-up in favor of shotgunning beers.
Anyway, I'm in better shape this year so I warmed up a little more. It pretty much consists of riding around between races until about 11:20, then riding hard-ish for 5 minutes. Then do 1-2-3 sprints of 3-20 seconds. Then I get out my prayer mat, face Mecca, and ask for divine power.
Lining Up
Lombardo tells me he was out drinking the night before. I know this already, since he posted however many FB pics of it. I tell him that Cross Results says we are going to finish 57/58 or so. We laugh, continue to BS and so on. There are like 80 people in the class, in theory. I didn't count.
And They're Off
It was hot. When the race started, it did not get any less hot. In fact, I'm sure it got hotter.
I start moderately strong but not too much so. I find my place and try to stay in some sort of controlled discomfort zone. I think in mountain biking you can say "I raced my own race" but cross is sort of different. If you race your own race you're probably going to lose. So it's the nature of the discipline to be on/near the red zone of being pegged. I try to be careful here since the reality is that I have not gone 100% Race Mode in almost 2 years. Last year I hurt, but I did not have the fitness so it was always a cautious hurt. Earlier in the year I did some MTB races but they're not quite the same.
About 1 lap in I pass Matt, who pretty much beat me every race last year. The year before I'm pretty sure I had his number the whole year. So what would today bring? After 1 lap, I blew by him and hammered on. Later I would find that the heat was too much for him, something I worried about. I guess everyone did. I had pounded 2 bottles of drink in the hour before the race and by lap 4 was still feeling chills.
I wish I could say that I remember much of this but I really don't. I looked down at some point and saw an average HR of 186. My power was something like 365 or so, at one point. I don't know where I ended and all these data sites add the 0s, so I can't even tell what my pedaling power was. It doesn't matter.
At some point D yells that I am 32nd. I have been working with a few guys and Ryan H is literally 100 feet ahead. I want to work with the 2 guys but before long 1 is gone and the other guy tells me in the words that he's sorry but all he can do is draft. As we get to the back part of the course, I know that Ryan sees me, as he starts to pull away a little. I'm too visible in the kit, and I know that it's his motivation to race harder. After the race he says something like, "I saw you back there," to which I reply, "YES I KNOW THAT!"
The class used to be bigger. In the first 3 laps I work with pods of people, which is a bit of a strength of mine. I am good at using them to my advantage then leaping up to the next human. The issue with this is that eventually the humans ahead of you are either being lapped, or suddenly dying. When you jump up to someone who just sits up and more or less asks to be shot, it's somewhat steam-sucking. On this day, in this heat, that was doubly the case. In any event, I wish there were more people in the class. I know, I could race the Bs. I don't want to.
In the end, I was never able to catch Ryan. Bastard.
Oh but wait. Before this I had never beaten Lombardo. I passed him on lap 2 or 3 and he yelled at me to go faster and keep it up. I was happy to hear this. I always enjoy when the guys I race with give me encouragement. I try to do the same when I can.
In the end, I finished up 32nd. The guy stayed on my wheel and as we got towards the finish he told me he wasn't going to fight me for it. I was dubious but in the end I decided to trust him, and he didn't actually sprint me for that elusive 32nd place spot.
Only 62 finished the race so technically I did not come in top 50%. But at some point there were apparently 80 of us on the course. I don't know where these numbers come from but from a racers perspective I'd like to know everyone I lined up with and who I beat. If they DNS it's one thing. But when they DNF I want to see that on the sheet. Not that it matters. Anyway, Race Predictor had me 57th, and I ended up 32nd. So that's a pretty good jump on last year I think.
In the end the heat was tough but I did hydrate very well. At this point, I'm on Gatorade with a GU tab in it. No matter how hot it gets, this stuff still tastes good to me. After all these years, I think I may have finally found a concoction that works.
In terms of the barriers, I think I'm fine. Maybe a hair better & more confident than in the past. But not anything like butter yet. I feel like I end up either making ground or staying even with everyone I race with on the barriers.
My power is solid, coming around. I don't think my bike handling is where it should be. I did fine but I lacked a little of the confidence I feel like I had in the past. Not sure if it's lack of practice or lack of confidence in the wheels. But that probably needs to get better, or more precisely, more consistent.
Some things to note:
1. Previous to this day, I had done 4 races at Nittany
2. Of those 5, I have had mechanicals at 4 of them
3. I glued my own tires last week
Warming Up
They say that warming up is important but I think that aside from getting your legs going, warming up is just a way to distract you from the nervous energy you feel when you are doing a race. At least this is what my theory du jour is. I have never had an effective warm-up. I used to have a routine down. And in the end I felt like crap as often as I felt good. So I have more or less done away with the warm-up in favor of shotgunning beers.
Anyway, I'm in better shape this year so I warmed up a little more. It pretty much consists of riding around between races until about 11:20, then riding hard-ish for 5 minutes. Then do 1-2-3 sprints of 3-20 seconds. Then I get out my prayer mat, face Mecca, and ask for divine power.
Lining Up
Lombardo tells me he was out drinking the night before. I know this already, since he posted however many FB pics of it. I tell him that Cross Results says we are going to finish 57/58 or so. We laugh, continue to BS and so on. There are like 80 people in the class, in theory. I didn't count.
And They're Off
It was hot. When the race started, it did not get any less hot. In fact, I'm sure it got hotter.
I start moderately strong but not too much so. I find my place and try to stay in some sort of controlled discomfort zone. I think in mountain biking you can say "I raced my own race" but cross is sort of different. If you race your own race you're probably going to lose. So it's the nature of the discipline to be on/near the red zone of being pegged. I try to be careful here since the reality is that I have not gone 100% Race Mode in almost 2 years. Last year I hurt, but I did not have the fitness so it was always a cautious hurt. Earlier in the year I did some MTB races but they're not quite the same.
About 1 lap in I pass Matt, who pretty much beat me every race last year. The year before I'm pretty sure I had his number the whole year. So what would today bring? After 1 lap, I blew by him and hammered on. Later I would find that the heat was too much for him, something I worried about. I guess everyone did. I had pounded 2 bottles of drink in the hour before the race and by lap 4 was still feeling chills.
I wish I could say that I remember much of this but I really don't. I looked down at some point and saw an average HR of 186. My power was something like 365 or so, at one point. I don't know where I ended and all these data sites add the 0s, so I can't even tell what my pedaling power was. It doesn't matter.
At some point D yells that I am 32nd. I have been working with a few guys and Ryan H is literally 100 feet ahead. I want to work with the 2 guys but before long 1 is gone and the other guy tells me in the words that he's sorry but all he can do is draft. As we get to the back part of the course, I know that Ryan sees me, as he starts to pull away a little. I'm too visible in the kit, and I know that it's his motivation to race harder. After the race he says something like, "I saw you back there," to which I reply, "YES I KNOW THAT!"
The class used to be bigger. In the first 3 laps I work with pods of people, which is a bit of a strength of mine. I am good at using them to my advantage then leaping up to the next human. The issue with this is that eventually the humans ahead of you are either being lapped, or suddenly dying. When you jump up to someone who just sits up and more or less asks to be shot, it's somewhat steam-sucking. On this day, in this heat, that was doubly the case. In any event, I wish there were more people in the class. I know, I could race the Bs. I don't want to.
In the end, I was never able to catch Ryan. Bastard.
Oh but wait. Before this I had never beaten Lombardo. I passed him on lap 2 or 3 and he yelled at me to go faster and keep it up. I was happy to hear this. I always enjoy when the guys I race with give me encouragement. I try to do the same when I can.
In the end, I finished up 32nd. The guy stayed on my wheel and as we got towards the finish he told me he wasn't going to fight me for it. I was dubious but in the end I decided to trust him, and he didn't actually sprint me for that elusive 32nd place spot.
Only 62 finished the race so technically I did not come in top 50%. But at some point there were apparently 80 of us on the course. I don't know where these numbers come from but from a racers perspective I'd like to know everyone I lined up with and who I beat. If they DNS it's one thing. But when they DNF I want to see that on the sheet. Not that it matters. Anyway, Race Predictor had me 57th, and I ended up 32nd. So that's a pretty good jump on last year I think.
In the end the heat was tough but I did hydrate very well. At this point, I'm on Gatorade with a GU tab in it. No matter how hot it gets, this stuff still tastes good to me. After all these years, I think I may have finally found a concoction that works.
In terms of the barriers, I think I'm fine. Maybe a hair better & more confident than in the past. But not anything like butter yet. I feel like I end up either making ground or staying even with everyone I race with on the barriers.
My power is solid, coming around. I don't think my bike handling is where it should be. I did fine but I lacked a little of the confidence I feel like I had in the past. Not sure if it's lack of practice or lack of confidence in the wheels. But that probably needs to get better, or more precisely, more consistent.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
About the end of lap 2 I was about to barf and then ride off the course and find the nearest ice cream truck until I saw you coming. Thanks! 😉 You were riding well out there and I was afraid the group of you were going to work together to get through me. I just kept digging deeper and deeper until I think I finally warmed up at the finish line 🙂
