The Ride: Route for reference
Saturday was absolutely miserable. The weather report was calling for 75F and rain. It was actually 60F and constantly raining. There was so much rain that I had found that my rims and frame were filled with water when I got my ride up on a rack for post-ride inspection. I deflated the tires, loosened the valve-nuts and re-inflated them to find water streaming out of the stem hole. The frame leaked from the neck as it was inverted.

Bergeron and I decided to head for the 75-mile option after mile 50. Every stop resulted in teeth-chattering trips to the john and quick restocking of sports drinks. I was wearing a thermal jacket/jersey and I was still cold. As I look back now, from a warm, dry seat, I probably should have just gone for the full 100-mile option. But I am not a cold-weather rider by any means. I am quite cumfy above 90F. Sixty and wet was killing me.

Overall, the route was the same as previous years. I had one instance where a police officer that was directing an intersection waved my in the wrong direction. Not only that, his fat ass was blocking the sign that told me to go straight. I turned left and added about 8 miles extra, which explains the inflated totals for Saturday. And then there the dump I took just after Hinkley.

I rolled behind Bergeron as we approached an intersection. There was heavy road construction, so we were rolling on crushed gravel and dirt mud. Not a good combo for razor-thin road tires. Add to that an very steep incline leading right up to a paved intersecting road. We have a stop, they do not. With a cop on my right, across the intersection and an MS support vehicle facing in my opposite direction, both watched an S-10 pick-up roll through at just the right speed to let Bergeron through and for me to slow down enough to dump my clipped-in ass into the gravel. I was beyond pissed and nearly heaved my ride into the windshield of the squad car. Yeah, I would have regretted that big-time.

Sunday Bergeron decided to take the ladies' route. The dude was in pain and let me out solo. The wind was out of the east on both days, with a slight shift from the south to the north from Saturday to Sunday. So, the first day's numbers are pretty fast, but given the wind factor, I was a little off due to the temps. Sunday was mostly into the wind, either straight east or north. But the increased temps and lack of rain gave me better times. I was quite pleased with a pace of 18.4 on a 80-mile recovery ride, after 85 miles had been put in the rearview the day before, with 10-15 mph head winds. Granted, towards the end of the eastern pushes I felt like I was pedaling in mud. More than the leg fatigue was eventually constant weight-shifting in the saddle, due to overall soreness in the crotch. I was training at 3.5hr, or sixty-five mile runs with minimum discomfort. I am not convinced there is anything I can do to eliminate that for rides that are above four hours.

That, and my fucking knee is killing me. Up and down stairs is severely painful. This sprouted up a month or so ago, while the bike was in the shop. My knee had acute pain that got worse as I was off the bike for a week or so. It went away, strangley enough after a good fifty-mile training ride, and now it's back. I give the pro's a lot of credit. Not everybody is built to spin for that duration, myself included, I think.

Tech Report
No issues to report. The new Winwood Carbon Fork that was installed as a replacement to the Forte that I demolished earlier in the season seemed to be solid.

As for new equipment goes, I did a bad thing just prior to the ride. I had been running a set of Shimano 540's for a few years. There the black rims with the funny low-spoke count set-up. There's only eight paris of spokes on the wheels, set in a way that makes is look like eight single spokes. Looks are great, and honestly I had no issues outside minor squirrleyness on certain turns. I'm a middle-weight rider so I'm not pushing the boundaries of stiffness. I did, however, switch to a higher-pressure Specialized tire set last fall. I was running 90 psi Hutchinson's prior to that. Since the switch I have had five flats. Rim-tape had been switched out, installations were done gorilla-style with my bare hands. The flats wouldn't even happen on the road, except for the last one. I would notice a flat while the ride was sitting indoors, idle. I'd replace the tube, and the next day it would be flat again. I actually had a tire blow while the ride was still on the rack. That was two weeks prior to the MS ride. I'd had enough and bought a new set: Ksyrium SL.

Yeah, I over bought. Whatever, I don't own a car. So far, they are fantastic. They removed about 2-3 lbs from the overall weight of my rig. Their construction is fantastic. There's actually no need for rim-tape. Inside the rim there is a added layer of AL that completely finishes the channel. The spokes holes are completely concealed. As for performance, we don't get many ass-grinding inclines around these parts. But, I will mention that the back wheel is so stiff that it took me a while to get used to the none-squirrley-ness. I had been anticipating the slight give I was getting with my previous wheels around corners. The Ksyrium's are laser-tight.

As for tires, I was not happy with the Specialized Mondo series. In addition to the flats, I noticed that they just got really chewed up. I had dings and tears after just a few hundred miles. So much so, that I had noticed my inner tube sticking out like a hernia one night while I was sitting on my couch. They were 130psi tires. They rode well, but at $45 a piece, I was looking to get more that a few rides out of each. I had slapped on a pair of Michellin tires that I was initially skeptical of. They are listed at 110psi. So, I thought they would be a little soft and slow. When I got them they are listed a little tighter, at 117psi. After putting over 150 miles on them over the weekend, they are fantastic. They are not actually round. The center of the tire comes to a point, which decreases the rolling friction. Their construction is nice and soft. Sure, the big bumps still feel like you are riding on concrete. But the small and medium stuff is real nice. I could actually feel the tire give just a bit to take off the edge. And they were just as fast as the Specialized Mondo's.

That's it. I'm still looking to participate in the North Shore Century this September 15th. Route options vary from 25-100 miles. Note: the full-hondo is a nut-buster. Last year, I ha the first fifty done less than 2.5 hours. The next fifty was straight down Lake Shore Drive from Kenosha to Evanston, right smack into the lakefront wind. That half took me 3.5 hours.