This just meanders... there is no good Title. Really.

Weather like this hurts. Start the weekend before last, the first weekend of warmish weather with slop from the snow still littering the roads. I skipped the indoor ride on Saturday morning for a not-frigid ride at a later time running around town randomly before ending at work 44 miles later. The broken finger was sore after that, but not sore enough to stop in at Chipotle and grab one of those monster calorie burritos. Sadly they can't sell beer to go. I think if the weekday girl was there I might have had some luck. I worked till late then rode home.

The next day, Devin was eager to get a good ride in before his fun in the southwest so there was an impromptu Sunday Hub ride organized. I think the general idea was to do the Saturday loop twice, which worked well for me as I just split off on the second lap and went to work. Superbowl Sunday-- I saw the Red Bull car/truck thing coming down Adams as we were just starting up it. We waved, maybe a cheer (they were young girls driving) and I look back and see they turned around to follow us. They caught us at the top and gave us all a hand up. I'm not a huge drinker of Red Bull but it isn't bad and after the last couple of days, the caffeine was a nice pickup.
The bike was a disaster after that. That Monday night I could see the salt crystals all over the frame like cancerous sandpaper. I had to get it clean.

Tonight its dirty again. This last weekend was even better. Saturday morning the Hub ride was huge and everyone was itching to hit the road. Adam had his new Co-motion Expresso frame painted in near likeness to my Ristretto, same scheme but with metallic green and black. It was a good variation to the Hub based color scheme. My Ristretto has a more utilitarian and efficient-performance facade. That Expresso, however, is a little less performance but more flashy like a porn star-- sexy looks and smooth ride. But back to the day...

The roads were wet from condensation and tires spewed shit over everyone. Joe and I broke off near the end for one of my extended routes. Some people complain that the Hub route is relatively flat, but it is what you make it. With everyone out, that flat ride turns into some pretty intense intervals as the goading starts. The extended routes however are infrequent and less competitive. The terrain starts to pull some punches. We went down to Fenton, via old Gravois Bridge, south to Romaine Creek road following that to Old Sugar Creek. From there we explored a new little idea I that looked good on Google Earth but maybe not so in reality. Eventually, we ended up on Hill Valley road out of High Ridge. I usually like to finish with a trip to Lone Elk Park then up Marshall, but the wind definitely grew intense later that day. Joe and I mutually decided to call it a draw and skip that little loop. The extended route ended up being 43 miles in total. With the 29.5 miles of the Hub ride that made for a 72.5 mile day. I was mostly useless for the rest of the day for any big chores. Sunday all I could do is some light spinning for about an hour. But today I was back at the commuting. I'll eventually get to were I need to be. I'm too tired tonight to clean the bike again. I think I'll wait till later this week.

As an after thought I wish I had some pics from these days. I think I'll have to start shopping for a good option for doing so.

Winter Hub Training Ride

Last night, in lieu of the standard indoor trainer ride, the Hub gang went for an outdoor ride. I admit having reservations in the afternoon, but after the ride home and the snow picked up... I was stoked. First note, about riding in Forest Park on the once a year snow of St. Louis: The bike path is an extreme workout. Along Skinker the cars had thrown the road grime slush all over to make an interesting ice & fluff mix.
I wussed out and drove to the Hub. When I realized that the ride was at 8, giving me a free hour that I could use to prime the Eagle for a drive. Every once in a while, like when it snows 8", it's nice to take it for a spin. On multiple axi.
So the ride started off at 8pm. The crew was there. I had brought some special warm up juice to fight the cold.
Apparently I didn't get the memo. I came with my trusty commuter, the 34x15 fixed gear, 700x34 Hutchinson Piranhas, rack and fenders. Everyone else had to have regular fat tires. I think though the advantage was won by the cyclocross. The thinner tires cut through the layers of snow better and made better contact to real surfaces below. A lower gear may have been good in a few cases. The snow ride is the ultimate strength workout. My legs are feeling it today.
I cannot lie. We didn't ride the whole three hours. First we had a mechanical and pit stop to reassemble a saddle-post assembly. This shouldn't have been all that difficult, but it was about 15 degrees and the Jager was already passed around once or twice.
Then we made a warm up stop at a local establishment where we could impress the serious Tuesday night bar patrons with our super extremeness. After some meandering around the roads and a little off road, our final destination was the 'suicide hill' sledding spot. So for regular St. Louisians, this was a known place, but I have never been there. On approach, it looked like we ran into a makeshift high school party. A bonfire was lit, and numerous young'n's with random beverages. I think the best quote as we arrived was a cold slurred "Are you a downhiller?", as I parked my fixed gear cyclocross. One by one we ventured forth and down. On the first run, I was the last to go. Given my broken finger and being the only fixie among us, I was hesitant. But I couldn't disappoint the crowd, could I? So I gave one good push then locked the rear wheel and slid down. I didn't let the bike really pick up any speed until the last part of the descent when I'd need some speed to cut through the field. The second time down, I let it out much more, more speed, a little fish tailing and sliding. Everyone thought that going down that on my commuter was remarkable, but really I think it was much easier. After two runs and a few crashes we once again made pit stop. This time we chose to lock the bikes... with one lock. As we did so, met a lifted jeep with mudding tires, that pathetically flatted on a curb in the snow, and all they had was a wimpy factory jack. These people wouldn't make very long outside the comfy city.
While on the second stop we were able to examine some of the glory of the descent. We made one more stop on the way back, to grab some wings and a few more beers, then returned to the Hub. I didn't get to bed till about 1 in the morning. Definitely a little sluggish today.
If you read this far you should have a good idea how we tracked last night.