 The hubs and I both won lottery spots to race in this year's LBS! We had entered the lottery several years in a row and I kind of thought we were never going to be selected. Maybe we finally aged into smaller divisions? Maybe all the Olympians were in Russia? Maybe they took pity on us. Whatever it was, we were stoked. We booked a VRBO with a hot tub and at the very least, it was a peaceful stay in Glacier, WA. The race itself was the opposite of peaceful.  Folks waiting their turn to race. Eating paella. Keeping warm. It was cold.  Map of hidden course "treasures". So far this year, the snow levels have been low in the Pacific Northwest. Traditionally, the LBS winds its way through a natural half-pipe but the low snow prompted planners to start the race a couple hundred yards up-hill from the half-pipe. That part of the course was lovely. The lower half was iced-over. Actually, it was lucky if ice even covered all the rocks and tree roots. Banks? Not really. There were gates set up so you knew where to go but it was fairly arbitrary. I managed to post a time on the first day but DQ'd on the second day of qualifying. It was kind of a relief not racing in the finals and not having to throw myself down that course again. Usually, the racers get all technical over wax. This race was all about sharp edges as the board base didn't see much time on the course. Hopefully we win lottery spots again. I want a chance to run the race when the course is fun. Many commented that, unlike previous years, this year's course wasn't fun. It's supposed to be fun because it isn't like winners are taking home new cars or stacks of cash. I have no illusions of winning this race but I do like to have fun. So, next time. (Pics taken with cell or point and shoot). 
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 CycleOps Website To train for the LBS I bought one of these things off of Craigslist. I haven't embraced running in the cold and rain which, in Seattle, means I don't run much during the winter. Hence, I thought an indoor cardio option would be good. Treadmills are expensive and very large. Where this thing can be tucked away into a closet fairly easily. I had to buy a special skewer for the rear wheel so it mounts tightly with the trainer. It comes with one when you buy it new, but since I did the Craigslist route, I ordered the missing skewer off Amazon for like 10 bucks. It was easy to swap out.
So far, I really like the thing. I use my mountain bike. It's a carbon fiber frame but there hasn't been any issues with cracking or whatever at all. I have thrashed the bike pretty hard on trails so, it stands to reason, standing and riding hard on the trainer shouldn't be any worse for the bike. I did have to get a special smooth tire for the rear-wheel. The regular knobby tire caused crazy vibration and noise. It is still a little noisy even with the new tire. It's nothing that couldn't be solved by turning up the TV's volume. Oh, yeah. It sits in front of the Tee Vee.
You can adjust the tension by turning a knob on the trainer but for the most part, I set it up the one time and have only used my bike's gears to increase or decrease the difficulty. I have had it since November and it does the trick when I want to burn some calories and get a sweat going when the weather outside is gross. Hell, I do it when it isn't that terrible outside sometimes, too. |
AuthorDarlene Tsao decided to start a blog. Archives
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