Bike Stuff

didn't ride today. i had a couple different opportunities, but i seemed to use the day to tie up other loose ends instead. i went to watch the Manual Cross-Country team run their first meet this year. back when i taught at Trimble Co., i coached CC for 4 years and enjoyed it quite a bit. i'm short and fat, but my mom for many years was a locally-successful runner , and my dad was a state-champion shot putter (see, the size but not the height, but that's another story to analyze) so i was around that kind of scene growing up. and it was the little skinny kids who ran instead of me. at TC i had several kids participate in the KY State meet, with one girl finishing well a couple times and the boys finishing middle of the pack. long story short, i went over to their tent to speak to what looked like one of their coaches. and lo and behold, whom i ran into was NOT a former TC student, but a former Manual one who apparently has been teaching there for a few years. i guess it's about as common as me teaching at TC when i did. it's a rural county 45 minutes, but worlds away from Louisville. last year a TC girl won the Class A title. it's been 10 years since i was there, but i was proud of her efforts anyway. they have a tough life up there, and any success is a bonus.

as for Manual's runners, the girls were ranked #1 in the early polls, having finished a veryclose second last year. but man, they sort of choked. i'm sure they lost to another local Catholic school, and maybe another one as well. as for the boys, they're not as good as the girls, but their best runner is a little guy i have in class and he finished 9th. he's a talented runner, especially for a sophomore, and a really nice kid too.

after the race i went to my local LBS for help with my creaky BB. i couldn't get the pinche bike to creak in the parking lot, and they were super busy, so i decided to cut my losses and pick up a few things without addressing the repair. the first is this Serfas taillight. 'lance' has one on his Bachetta. it's damn bright, and comes with a small seatstay bracket, which is perfect for the seat rail of the Rans. i mounted this p.m. i might get another for the LHT for the seatstay too. more bright the better at 6.30. i also picked up another helmet-mount mirror. i'm going to jerry-rig it like 'lance'. he hotglued some string to the mirror and and the base. if it pops off or gets knocked off, the string keeps it from flying, or so 'lance' says. after riding the Rans all week, i've become accustomed to having a mirror again. good stuff., oh and i picked up a couple tubes, 1 each for the LHT and for the Blueridge. i also looked at some Serfas tires they have. i've been unhappy with the puny non-puncture resistence of the Contis on the LHT. i've loved Conti's on my other bikes, but these suck. i'm not going to yet, but the next flat i think i will.


here's a crappy pic of the Serfas. the inverted tread will make them heavy, but they should have good puncture resistence. i'm going to look around at some other options. 'lance' likes to buy the cheapest tires possible, but not me. whether it's purely mental or not, i think more expensive tires ride better and last longer, or at least my experience with cheap Performance tires has shown me that.