Team 86753O9 made a great showing at the 2006 Gateway MS 150. Rachel, Eric, Amber, Dave C, Joe, Amy and I all made it, but I still need to find out if everyone had a good time. I know that Eric had some knee issues, and Rachel had a problem with one of her elbows. I made it though ok, just some cramps in my left calf on the first day and some sore knees on the second. The weather was very nice with 70s, overcast, and a few sprinkles on Saturday, and 80s and a clear sky on Sunday. I don’t have a fund raising total yet, but I’ll post results after the October deadline. However, I think we beat our original goal and will have a great result.

So, I did my first ever century on Saturday, and my second on Sunday. I understand now why the century route was much less crowded the second day. That does not matter though. I only did the century to get the patches, and now I have them. Here are my results:

Total riding time: 11 hours, 34 minutes
Total distance: 206.43 miles
Overall max speed: 44.3 mph
Overall average speed: 17.80 mph

Having ridden my first century, I can say that they are fun, and I hope to do more. Road riding is much easier than gravel; maintaining 24-27mph on the flats was not uncommon. Commuting on the singlespeed definitely helped with the hills, and the long Katy Trail rides helped with my stamina.

Product Reviews: I lost track of the number of Gu packs and Jelly-Belly Energy Beans (which are really good) I used, but they were well worth the price. The Powerbar brand lemon/lime energy drink was ok, I prefer my blue (whatever flavor that is) Power-Aid. My Gunnar Crosshairs is an excellent touring bike. Despite the chunky rims, cantilever brakes and 28mm tires, the Gunnar easily accelerated up hills past the matching spandex clad teams, which was very satisfying. I was in non-matching retina-burning safety green and black spandex. Oh wait, this was a tour, not a race. Anyway, the frame handled great, felt great over the rough stuff, and was very comfortable. The wheelset did better than expected. I actually gained on most riders coasting down hills, and I had no problem plowing through gravel and getting air over bridge at 40+ mph (that was fun). I am very happy with the bike and look forward to more road tours.

I would also like to thank the MS 150 volunteers, especially whoever set up station two on the day two 75/100 route; the coffee cake and coffee were great! Now, if you will excuse me I need to find some ice.

Every Labor Day for the past nine years I’ve gone to the once Busses By the Arch and now Busses Nowhere Near the Arch. This year was the first year I’ve attended without a VW. Last year was in the old Jetta VR6, every other year in a Vanagon or Bus. The Honda was banished to the boat dock parking lot to hang out with the empty boat trailers. I rode in on the singlespeed laden with all of may camping gear plus titanium spork.

The weather was great and it was nice to see old friends. Ed’s TDI powered Vanagon was impressive and fun to drive. Steve’s RC splitty with remote adjustable suspension was also fun. A different Steve’s TDI Golf was there, and of course with more modifications. Brian’s Syncro Vanagon and Eurovan Weekender were both there. Kurt even made it in from Australia and donated some premium Milwaukee’s Best Ice.

Sterance was not the only singlespeed at the event. Ed brought a newly converted singlespeed mountain bike, and there was a nice red low rider.

One of the highlights of the weekend was on site coffee provided by www.volkskaffee.net. This converted Westy coffee house was just what we needed. I especially liked the “redeye”, a double shot of espresso diluted with a big cup of dark roast coffee.

MS 150 Update: I just finished cleaning and preparing the bikes for the MS 150. I swapped the pedals off of the M2 since the 747s are getting a little worn. I also switched to road tires, re-calibrated the speedometer, cleaned / lubed everything and waxed the chain. Rachel’s Specialized received a similar treatment. Also, if you ever get a chance to try Jelly Belly brand “Energy Beans” they are great. An excellent alternative to Gu; what they lack in caffeine they make up for with sugar.

The August numbers are in… 206.98 miles and 14:49 brings us to:

August Summary
Total distance (August): 206.98 miles
Total distance (Cumulative): 1064.53 miles
Total time (Cumulative): 85 hours, 12 minutes

Roughly six months of riding (116 of those days I actually got on a bike) put me past the 1000 mile mark. Not too bad. However, two days in September will likely match all of my August mileage. This may hurt.

What else? I finally fixed the M2. I replaced the bent XT crankset with an ’06 XT crankset. Not much difference between the two, other than the not-bent status of the new one. I also replaced the exploded chain. I was going to get another SRAM or Shimano chain, but Klunk had a nice Wippermann 908 chain in stock. I was a little skeptical at first; the Wippermann was a few dollar more than the Shimano, and a chain is a chain. Right? Well, I’m happy to report that the Wippermann is worth the money. The drivetrain is smoother and the shifting is quieter. I’m sure not of this is because the crankset is no longer rubbing on the front deraileur cage. A word of caution: Be sure to note the orientation of the Wippermann Connex link during installation. I initally installed the link upside down. Some claim this can cause the chain to skip on the 11/12t cog. I caught the error prior to my first ride. I had a 50/50 chance of getting the link installed correctly, but managed to get it wrong on both bikes. That extra XT crankset, bottom bracket and tire were all for Eric. These retina-burning-orange (prison uniform orange, maybe city road worker orange?) Klunk t-shirts are going to become out team shirts for the MS 150, thanks to the logo designing efforts of Eric, the shirt donating skills of Klunk, and the screen printing talents of Amber and Dave (not me).

As I mentioned in the last post, I ordered a FSA Mega Exo Ultra Compact Super Gossamer Turbo Nano Cross Crankset. This crankset is very nice and a good value. The Gunnar also received a chain upgrade. This time it is a Wippermann 808 chain (same as the 908, just for 8 speed systems). The results on the Gunnar are similar to the M2: smooth shifting and little drivetrain noise. One surprise was that the original chain on the Gunnar was very stretched. I only put about 600-700 miles on the chain, but it was in very bad shape. I can’t even use it on the singlespeed. It is not a big loss though, it was a cheap Shimano chain w/o nickel plating. It really sounds like I’m abusing my bikes, really I’m not. They just wear out quickly?!?

MS 150 update:
I have now raised $300 plus an unknown promised pledge. I am now past my original goal when my donation matching is taken into account. However, I am still looking for donations, so click here -> Team 86753O9 MS 150 Site.

Ok, so you made it to the bottom of the post and still haven’t figured out why I am dragging a Wally-world shopping cart up a singletrack trail? Eric and I rode Cosmo on Tuesday and found this cart at the end of one of the trails in an abandoned quarry. It did not prove to be adept at negotiating the trails. Further proof that Wally-world is worthless. Have you ever picked up a shopping cart? Especially one of these carts from a big-box store? They are really heavy. I suppose they are necessary for transporting your 3000 oz. Fresca, 40 lb. box of thumbtacks and 1/2 cow to the checkout. See Eric’s blog for more details.