10 Year Old Bike + License Procrastination

= an undeserved win in the mens 18-30 category TT on sunday.  But first...what wild sports action this weekend.  THICK.  I love playoffs.  Any sport except maybe baseball.  People bet, HUGE egos have to give press conferences after shocking losses, speculators speculate.  Love it.  I didn't actually watch any of what went down over the weekend, but it's pretty much impossible to have not heard about it.  The Lakes won, the Oils won (season high 4th straight W), Indy didn't win...and ruined what could have been the coolest playoff game this decade.  Instead we'll have to watch a lame New England massacre against a reallllly lame chargers team.  I hope NE annihilates them.  All i got is beef wit.

Me?  Still recovering from the terrible first week to start the year.  Cleared a bunch of stuff on that fancy auction site that everyone uses, and am slowly putting together some funds to piece together something.  The derailleurs smashing up the way they did...it just makes me want to start over.  It's akin to buying a house where someone's been murdered...strong metaphor, but you get the idea.  Perhaps i'm just looking for an excuse to build up some Sram Red.  It'd be a daisy.  Everything about having to buy your own bike/parts is fun except the buying part.  In other news, my SRM still doesn't work.  The never ending %$#&ing saga.  I just gotta grow some balls and get pissed and sound threatening on the phone.  Sadly, that's usually the most effective solution to these types of issues.

Everything's not all glum, however:  My current bike!

Record 9 speed.  It's great to have a chain that doesn't wear out in 4 rides (Sram).  Given the current state of the other bike (and the dumb/elusive 35mm front D clamp size), this guy is probably gonna see some serious action.  Which brings us to the sorta race report.

I did that Tom's Farm TT on sunday.  The flyer said "licensed and unlicensed racers-$20".  For me, that meant I could put off buying my license for another week.  I didn't realize that'd mean I have to race the Men's 18-30 instead of the p/1/2/3.  In any case, I took the old bike out there.  Classic.  Pretty much TT bikes all around, pointy helmets, aero-bottles....and then the hot SAECO machine rolls through.  Aero gear was as follows:  Carnac Oversocks, removal of bottles/cages, 12-21 cassette, and a fresh shave from the night before.  I wore the vintage LMC long sleeve skinsuit, sport-mullet, and big gaudy (but lovely) Rudys to finish the get up.  I'd never done this course.  Conditions were perfect.  A bit of a head wind.  Nice homely vibe all around.  Doc USCF guy has a pretty sweet 'stache goin.  I'm a fan.  Figured it'd be around a 20 minute effort.  Did the warmup routine as instructed by ol' Monsieur Gregnac.   Cool.  Legs were good, and it was the first TT in which the beginning didn't hurt too much.  Finished up, and awaited the results.....yep...19:48.  I'd cheated some poor guy out of his glory by winning the 18-30.  I would have been 4th in the 1/2/3, 50" from the winner.  I'm pretty stoked with that considering the aforementioned equipment choices.

C'est tout.

-Salut-