One Foot Out of the Bucket

I'm no longer on death's doorstep today. Maybe still on his front yard on the way out of town which is the right direction. I'll make sure to crap on the lawn before I head outta Dodge.

When it rains it pours and last night Julia was breaking through a new tooth and her gums were bleeding. From 10 to 11 she woke up every 5 minutes which killed my sleeping, especially since that's when my medicine was in full effect. I need to time that better so medicine and bed time coincide. For the record it's 11:00 pm on Wednesday night as I start this post. You would think I'd be sleeping but no sir that's just not in the cards right now. Hopefully I can get to sleep soon and finish it off on the train.

I didn't go to the doctor but I called and they confirmed that Advil and a nasal decongestant was the solution last time. They wouldn't give me a prescription over the phone. So I went the DIY route and took 4 Advil and a Sudafed every 4 hours. By 2:00 I was feeling a new man. Thoughts of self-molestation gone entirely.

The problem, which I had in 2002 according to the doctor, is such. Basically you have sets of overlapping muscles covering your skull. The front ones are sinus muscles and the back ones are the ones that run down your neck and back and so on. When you have sinus problems it pulls the front muscles one way. When you are overtired or stressed it pulls the back muscles the other way. The result is a conflict which for some is a sinus headache. For me it feels like someone is nailing an ice pick into my head periodically. I consider it in the same ballpark as bad toothache pain. In other words, awful, sometimes worse.

After I became a new man I spent some quality time on my 4 different bike projects. So when I said I was going to start doing this myself I guess I really mean I'm going to do all of it myself, not just most of it.

The big result of the day was getting the SS back to being rideable. What I previously referred to as my SS was a former geared bike that had no derailleurs. So I had a bunch of gears on it but just stuck in one. I removed 2 of the front rings and broke apart the old cassette with a grinding bit to get the gear I needed. Then I spaced the gear accordingly. The last touch was the Surly Singulator which is being used in push down mode because there's too much chain slack. Lenny gave it to me free which was a bonus. He had bent the spring which explains why the push down never worked for him. I worked that out and got that out of the basement around 4:00. Then I raised the seat, lubed the chain, and now we're back to 2 fully functioning bikes. I need to do some work on the cockpit because it's all out of whack with what I like to ride. I'd like new bars, preferably riser bars, and some better grips if it passes as a legit bike. No reason it shouldn't but I'll need to ride it a few times to see.

The full-suspension Stumpjumper went on the DL Tuesday when I took the rear linkage apart and found the bearings on one side shredded. Gary has the kit for 50 plus 45 labor but at this point I can't afford it anymore. I found a full bearing set online for 40, so I'm going to buy that, their recommended grease (or is my Phil Wood good enough?) and have it shipped to me for 52 dollars total. If I'm in over my head I can always bring it to one of the shops.

That basically bags my KVSP race. One more H2H off the radar to be replaced by Ringwood. Not a big deal since a race off a sick week is probably a bad idea.

The road project right now is 2 part. I need to repack my hubs but I don't want to take them apart and find the races of the hubs grooved which would render the hub shot. So I decided to unlace my old Rolf wheel that came with the bike and try to bend the rim back to true a little bit. I did it but it wasn't easy. Those Rolf rims are heavy duty which is expected on a wheel with fewer spokes. I laced the spokes back up and now I need to get my truing stand which should be coming this week. I usually just use the bike as a truing stand but we're going big time baby!

When that's done I can swap the wheels and repack the existing hubs. I may leave the Rolfs on there since they are oh so much more sleek. As the year goes on I will probably look to build myself up a nice light set of wheels but that's just off the radar for right now because light rims equal money and right now money is still an object.

That leaves the old Trek full-rigid geared mountain bike which was, up until yesterday, a trainer bike. But since I'm done with the trainer for the season I took it off the stand and pulled the rear wheel off. I got the slick off the rim and found a Velociraptor read tire to throw on but then it was dinner time.

There are a few things to work out on that bike but until I get the SJ back rolling that and the SS will be my primary off-road rides. I don't think either of them will see time this weekend since I will likely be all on the road.

So that's how the stable looks right now. More or less as sick as the old man, I suppose.

I like reader feedback so I will post my last few comments here and reply.

Steve

"next time buy a trance and spend the 100 bucks on the keep it rolling program. 5 years, wear & tear replacement, baby. Expect to drop about $150 for tools if you choose to go that route. BTW, what team do you race for?"

While I would never buy a bike solely on the maintenance program, that surely makes it pretty darn attractive. I find it insane that they offer that since the drivetrain itself would blow that 100 fee out of the water in 2 years. Not everything I had done would have been covered but most of it would. I still think Gary should have tried to get me a new seat post from Specialized. Still not happy about my experience there. When I told him about the problems he said, "Sorry." Not much customer service there. Can you tell I have soured on my shop? Am I repeating myself? Sorry, I'm just not a happy customer. I'll stop now.

I'm covered on the tools as I have a mostly complete Park set. I just need a few parts here and there. The team I race for is p9 SortsGroup, which is that EdgeCrusher racing team that got lit up on MTBR. The guy who put the team together approached me and asked if I'd be interested. It's usually not my thing because I hate to be tied down to anything but I said sure, why not.

ChrisG

"IMO, a "holding" week followed by a "rest" week will not put you into a slide. Not with the way you've been training. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you'd reap benefit in a couple of weeks, perhaps just in time for a lengthy goal event..."

Yeah I don't really know what I was thinking when I wrote that. Perhaps the initial stages of my sickness setting in. Mentally I was thinking rest week followed by a rest week, but a hold week is plenty. At this point it's moot anyway since I've been off the bike 3 days and the chances of me going for a ride when I get home from work are slim. I'm thinking rest week then hold week next week so I don't jump into it too fast from being sick this week. I just hope being sick doesn't offset any gains I might have made.

Terren

"Misery loves company... I overdid it on Monday and now have a summer cold."

Are you riding or jogging or going to the gym or what? What did you end up doing with the sports drink? Either way I hope you feel better soon.

Jake

"my head was all clogged up today along with not sleeping b/c riley was up at 5A. anyway, get well."

Thanks, and sorry you've been caught as well. I guess it's that time of year. Isn't today the first day of summer?

That's about all I have, which is plenty to read really. Not sure if I'll be on the bike before the weekend or not, but I hope to get 2 solid rides in this weekend.