i got a wheel!!

woohoo! a very dear friend sent me a bike wheel the other day. as previously mentioned, i cracked the crappy wheel that came on my motobecane fantom cross uno. yup, still trying to figure that one out. well, it was a beautiful blue mavic cosmos, which after some research i found out is no longer being produced. now, i've put some time in to my road bike and a crash or two, ouch. plus, i live in the pothole capital of the world known as dc. the mavic open sport front wheel is in need of a truing, so i switched out the wheels. the murrrcycle deserves the nicer, albeit slightly heavier wheel. pfffttt, we are talking grams here people, i can't really tell the difference! i hate changing bike tires, but i've gotten quick! well, once i can pull that damn tire off the rim. thanks tire lever for saving my nails! the new wheel came perfectly true, and i got some strange looks walking home from work with a bike wheel in my hand. hey, it would have been better than dragging home the box that was pretty much the size of me. so my bikes are now both happy. can you see them giving each other googly eyes in the pic?? :) the best part? i am back to biking around the city and locking up my bar bike without a care in the world!!

fantasy vuelta!

so the vuelta a espana starts this saturday, august 28th. i can sense your excitement just as much as mine! it's the last big stage race of the summer. it's kind of bittersweet for me though. it's like that famous t.s. eliot quote, "this is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper." the vuelta is my least favorite big summer stage race. i love the giro and le tour! there is something about it that seems soo anti-climatic to me, and i am not sure why. maybe i should talk about it with a therapist, and please don't hate me you vuelta lovers!!! :)

ok, i am excited! why? because it's time for me to kick some butt in my fantasy cycling league. i am still riding high off my 35th placing in my tour de france league hosted by the wonderful simon lamb at his blog, la gazzetta della bici. so he decided to move the vuelta fantasy league to road.cc. i think there are some more prizes. it's cool, i fully expect to claim those prizes as the bootyhouse team has been rising steady ever since the giro! in fact, both times i kicked simon's butt. i don't expect my amazing team to do any different for this year's vuelta. so simon, i am looking at my vintage campagnolo water bottle where it belongs, on MY bike! you can send me some delicious british chocolate when i win! :)

it's time for the...

... vuelta!!!! it's the last summer stage race and i am about to pee my pants in excitement!

twitter

i love it! i have noticed a lot of people really don't understand it. i have met some awesome people on twitter! i won't mention them here, only to keep their privacy somewhat private. i love meeting anyone willing to talk about not only experiences on the bike, but the sport itself. let's talk about fixing our own bike problems, our favorite rider, and our problems on our own bikes. let's talk shit about our favorite riders and our favorite teams. i know i catch a lot of flack for having unconditional love for garmin transitions. yup, despite my tweets of millar time and my love of dave zabriskie; i don't really know why i love them. maybe it's the argyle, maybe it's the felt bike despite the fact i don't own one. i may be in love with their track bikes! speaking of track, i am going to daydream of keirin!

my favorite thing

that is all.

my new bike!

ahhh, so i pulled the trigger on the motobecane fantom cross uno, a single speed/fixed cyclocross bike. i got a great deal on it from bikes direct thanks to their mislabeling the seat tube. now, don't get me wrong, i love the murrrcycle (my specialized ruby elite), but frankly locking up a $2200 carbon frame bike outside bars in the city make me nervous. my new baby has a steel frame and is a work horse! it came with a dual hub, which i quickly converted to single speed. that made more sense to me as a road cyclist. i was pretty proud of myself for assembling it all by myself, but had to call in some reinforcements to help tension/align my breaks. wasn't exactly use to the avid shorty 4 break system, and assembling it with little upper body strength and no bike stand proved to be a bit of a challenge. my baby is ready to ride. i've taken it out on a few quick jaunts around dc so far. i love the fact that the hills are harder (good, i needed to strengthen my thighs), but the downhills are soo much fun. i've noticed on flat surfaces i can get my baby moving and keep up with traffic. now, i just need a clever name for my baby. any ideas? it's a black frame, red/grey lettering, and a bad ass bike all around. i was thinking black beauty or the uno. after a few more rides, it will come to me. until then...i'll see you on the bike!!