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Carl Buchanan - Mountain Bike Racer

March 2008 - Posts

  • I was able to get out for three consecutive days of riding this week. Amazing. Thursday was going to be a fairly easy spin on the CX bike through Black Hawk but, it turned into a bit of a resistance workout by the time I was heading through the park itself. Lot of trail that still had snow and ice on it so I just worked on powering through it and trying to keep the front wheel straight. The longest stretch was about 200 feet or so long and about 3-4 inches deep so it was a pretty nice little piece of effort. Then there were short little patches across the trail here and there with the last one being about 9 inches deep....stopped me cold in my tracks. I did a quick dismount, shouldered the X-Fire, and ran through the 50 foot section like it was still CX season. Very nice.

    Friday afternoon was a ride up to Finchford on the SystemSix to check out the road conditions from the chip-n-seal they did last year. Turn One is the only part of the course effected by this and it does not look bad at all. Should not pose any problems during the race in a couple of weeks time. Lots of wind from the NE made this one a bit of a workout too and combined with Thursday's resistance, my thighs were a little tender so Saturday was going to be an easy day.


    Heading towards Three-Tier Hill in Finchford.

    Took the SystemSix out for some wind training to Hudson and back with Blue. Average speeds were under 13mph...very relaxing.
  • SystemSix out to play

    Had some time to ride on Saturday and opted to take the SystemSix out for a little bit of Iowa asphalt. Kept it pretty short with a 90 minute ride out and about the country roads to see how the snow is melting and how the roads handled the winter weather. The asphalt seemed to fair a little bit better than the concrete did overall. Busted up concrete all over the place ready to swallow a small car in some areas. Temps were around 30F which actually makes for a pretty nice ride as long as I kept moving. Stopped for one minor adjustment and could definitely feel the cool breeze from the North. Probably should have worn my Cannondale LE booties too; toes were a little chilled when I got back home.


    SystemSix out for it's first ride of 2008. This bike is absolute bliss on the roads.


    Many of the locals have been riding this stuff....I passed on Saturday.


    I went with the Oakley Raders on Saturday. Very comfy and fit with the helmet extremely well.
  • Wagon walking

    Amy and I took Rhea for a short walk in her wagon yesterday since the weather wasn't too bad. She tends to get a little on the happy side when she gets to go for a ride. Should be interesting to see her in the Burley trailer this year too, she might even stay awake this time.


    Picked her up from my Mom and she started cheesing from ear to ear as soon as she saw the wagon.

    Sun was a little bright so Amy hooked her up with her Oakley Gascans. Note the very cool argyle "O".

    Polished Rootbeer with Bronze lenses
  • Share the Road

    Plates are in. Now go get yours.

  • Project: X-Fire - rolling

    It's done and went out for it's first ride this afternoon and I have to admit that it's great. Super stiff. Very smooth. Perfect fit.


    Carbon straight blade fork with TRP EuroX brakes

    Campagnolo Centaur Carbon 10 Speed

    Centaur shifting with Veloce gearing

    Lots of carbon

    Oakley Racing Jackets and my cool new helmet light....very cool

    It may be a Ridley but, I still love my Cannondales

    Ready for action
  • Spring cleaning

    Project X-Fire is down to one final needed item.....bar tape.







    Cleaned up my room a bit this weekend too. It's amazing how much junk collects underneath a workbench over time. Pitched out a ton of stuff and built a new bench that has two levels so that I can actually store everything in a nice orderly manner. It even has just enough room underneath it that my rollers fit nice and snug on the floor. Current plans are to brace the old bench and put a new top on it before putting it back into service.

    old bench
    Old bench

    new bench
    New Bench
  • So close to being done....

    More parts from Italy for the bike from Belgium that is being assembled in the U.S.


    Black boxes o' parts

    Shifters have arrived!!!!

    Carbon fiber of course.

    I should be able to get these installed and adjusted tonight after work. Then all that I will need is bar tape....white....Fizik.....currently on backorder. Should be done soon though.
  • Weekend at home

    Pretty much stayed at home all weekend even though the temperatures were into the low 40s. Lots of things going on such as finishing up the entryway in the house. New flooring, trim work, and a much needed coat rack have helped to clean up a greatly overlooked area of the house.

    Second on the list was taking advantage of the sunshine and getting most of the ice off of our driveway. The ice was anywhere from 2-6 inches thick and much of it was a real pain to get loose. Another small problem with the ice was the speed in which the water was pouring down the driveway as it melted from the top. It was pooling at the bottom where I was trying to remove the ice without filling my garage with more water and ice. Some dynamite would have been useful but I was all out so a couple of shovels would have to do. We got about 75% of the driveway cleared out by the time we lost the sun and chopping got more difficult. I called it quits with about 10 more feet to go before the garage door.


    Nice and thick to keep the challenge high.

    This was the original channel for water runoff that Mother Nature provided. It was in a direct path for the garage so I had to modify it just a little at the bottom.

    This was the channel that I put in to drain water into the backyard and away from my work area. Not too bad if I do say so myself. It definitely did what it was supposed to do.

    I also took some time to get the newest parts for Project X-Fire installed. Installation of the Campagnolo Centaur QS front derailleur, Campagnolo Veloce 13-26 10-speed cassette, and KMC chain went really well. Both derailleurs are adjusted and are patiently awaiting some shifting power. I must also state that, Campagnolo cassettes are the best when it comes to install. The plastic guide that they arrive with make installation a snap.


    Plastic guide holds the cassette together in the box and....

    ...snaps onto the freehub to help lineup the cassette...

    ...for a simple 3 second installation. Fantastic!!!

    Almost ready to roll.
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