Can't always get what you want

(See attached file: Rockhopper SS.bmp)
When I first started riding a Single Speed the main reasons were because it was cheap and the lack of maintenance. It was cheap because I just used a bunch of old parts that I had lying around. The less maintenance is pretty self explanatory. It didn't take long before I started having allot of fun riding a SS. I'm not sure were I stand on about it being harder or that it's better training. To me it seems like you have allot of harder efforts but you also get more recovery so is it really harder or not? If I had allot of free time and extra cash I'd like to race a 100 miler on a SS with a powertap wheel then race the exact course with a powertap on a geared bike and look at the KJ output. I have a powertap wheel but it doesn't have disc mounts and none of my mountain bikes have rim brake mounts. So until I can do this or someone else does it I'm still up in the air about if it harder. But by riding one you learn how to keep your momentum up so you ride faster. On a side note you can also take crappier lines because you don't have the fear of ripping something off, and the smaller chaining up front clears allot more stuff so in a way you ride sloppier which means slower. So I'm pretty convinced that riding a SS for me a better training but not for the reasons you think. The lack of maintenance and the cost are the two biggest reason why. Less maintenance equal more time riding and low cost equal less time wasted working so just by being able to ride more it's better training. Maybe not the best but still more.
I'm slowly getting to the point of this post. I like to get new stuff and every year I try to get a few new bikes. I justify this by telling myself that I ride allot and deserve a new bikes every year. This year was no different than in the past. What I would like to have is a inexpensive lightweight frame that could be used as a SS or geared bike with little effort to change between the two. Funny thing is there's really not many of them out there and I don't know why. When you have a SS as everyone know you need some way of tensioning the chain. There's several ways to accomplish this feat here's a few with some advantages and disadvantages of each. EBB easy to manufacture, works good, easy to adjust but they add weight, some creak and change your saddle height. Horizontal dropouts easy to manufacture, cheap, but they're a pain in the ass with the brakes, slipping, and some use bolt on axles. Chain tensioners cheap, easy to use but take away that clean look and also chain slap. So out of all of these is any prefect? No but it's just like anything pick the one that best suits your needs and go with it. The one system I've seen and like is the slider dropout. Not many companies do this and I'm not sure why? I've heard from some that they slip, creak and just don't hold up. I've also heard from others that they work great with no problems. So why don't more bike companies use this system? Is it that it because it's not reliable, to heavy, costs to much to make or is it that they want to sell two bikes instead of one? I can't say for sure what the real reason and we may never know. But that's really what I wanted to get and didn't. So then I started looking at SS only frames and decided on the Specialized Stumpjumper SS frameset. That's when I hit my next snag I can't get one until like May and I hate waiting. Back to my point about liking a SS because it's cheap. WTF is the deal with companies making carbon framesets that cost outrageous amounts of money? I'm sure they're light, ride great, and are super nice but it seems crazy to me but whatever. Maybe some day I'll change how I think or maybe it won't seem that expensive to me. After talking to Todd at Pro Bikes he steered me in the direction I should have looked earlier. I've been looking allot of different bikes on the internet but never noticed this one.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45808&eid=4340&menuItemId=9253

   
It's not exactly what I wanted but it's allot of want I wanted. Cheap and seems like it will be pretty light after I swap out a few things and the EBB looks promising. So only time will tell if it's what I need.

J

Review

(See attached file: review.bmp)
It's that time of the year when there's not to much going on. So this is the perfect time for a review of 2009. My miles and hours were up from 2008 but the number of races were down. Reason for this was because of the broken arm early in the season. So thanks to my Garmin here's the totals, I included hours on the trainer and rollers but the miles don't count towards the total. It's not much but here it is

7027 Miles
670 hours on the bike
most hours in one week 29
least hours in one week 4
most miles in one week 306
least miles in one week 8
26 races
16 Centuries
4300 approximately the miles I spent in the car traveling to races
As of right now I don't really have any specific plans for 2010. A few general things I'd like to do in 2010 get more miles, hours and commute to work more often. Do more races not sure which ones right now. This maybe a huge contrast but my favorite types of racing now are 100 milers, ultras, multi day stage races and cyclo cross. So until I figure out which races I'm going to I guess it's best to ride lots.

Here's my after thoughts on the La Ruta de los Conquistadores. I think the three questions I'm asked the most about are how hard was it, was it fun and would you do it again? First I'll tackle how hard was it. Yes it was hard but it wasn't hard in ways I excepted it to be. The climbs were very long and very steep, but not technical. Allot of the climbing was on gravel and black topped roads so that made them allot easier. The mud that you see all the pictures of was only like 5 or 5 miles long and for the most part was completely unrideable. For me one of the hardest things was the schedule. Getting up and being ready to ride everyday by 4:00 AM, along with the fact of sleeping in a new bed every night became very taxing on me. But from the lack of technical trials it failed to give me the total all over beatdown that I crave. So the answer is yes it was hard but it's really more the miles and elevation gains than anything else.
Second was it fun? Yes it had it's moments but to me they seemed to few and far between. I was under the impression that the race would be in the remote areas of the rain forest. In a way it was but I was envisioning crossing suspension bridges made from ropes and vines and being chased by monkeys or some form of wild life. There was none of that but we were in remote areas that most tourist would never see. I was also a little disappointed that it was accessible by jeep or at least by quad. I had fun going through some of the small villages and getting a quick glimpse of how they lived. Some of the double track trails were fun and challenging but weren't enough to make up for the black topped sections. The other disappointment was because of the weather rain everyday I missed out on what would have been some incredible scenery.
Would I do it again? I'm still up in the air about this one. First I'll list the reasons not to go again so that way I can end on a positive note. It was a little expensive for me but I'm cheaper than most. The language barrier was a little to much for me. It seems like every conversation in Spanish is an argument. Not enough off road sections to me. It's a bad time of year for me it pretty much wiped out my entire cross season. I think there's some more but can't think of them right now. Now for the reasons to do it again and a few things that would have to happen. I know what to expect, stage racing is fun, the weather is awesome even when it's raining, and it was well organized considering the logistics involved. If I went back I'd like to go with a group I think this would make the traveling allot easier. A couple other things about going back to would be that I would have my bike setup better. Finally I would like to go back again to do better. I had a few bad mechanicals but still felt like I should have done allot better.

J