CIRREM 2011 Race Report

Final Results are in. Well I put on every piece of CWG (cold weather gear) that I own. I saw that a lot of riders went with the balaclava. I went with the Pearl Izumi head band. It is simple and doesn't annoy me when I'm breathing hard. I find I do that quite a lot. I also wear heavy Pearl Izumi Barrier riding gloves.  My plain black, but soft, wool under-garment from Sugui was topped with a short sleeve team jersey and team vest from Champion System. Under that was a team bib and and pair of Specialized long therminal EX riding tights. The feet were protected by a pair of The Blaze DeFeet socks. The shoes were covered with Pearl Izumi Barrier winter shoe covers. Now, the reason that I made all these links isn't to shill these products to you. No no no. My point is that you need the proper gear to finish an extreme race like this. I wasn't very fast, but I finished for the third year in a row and I was fairly comfortable. Is $20 a lot for a pair of socks? Ask yourself that 20 miles into a 65 mile race in 14 degree snowy weather.

 If you finished ahead of me you rode fast. And I invite you to come try your luck at this years North O! Rock Road 100 for free. If I beat you, gear up properly and give it another try next year. Of course you can come to the North O! Hundy too. I will wave the entry fee for you as well.

In this shot I am deciding if my gloves are up to snuff. The last time they were worn I did the Iceman, also a 3 pete.

 The boys went to the Des Moines zoo while I rode. They had a great time.

The roll out was much more mellow this year. I think the studs are much more weary of warming up properly before a four hour effort. Damn that sounds cool. Four hours...I wanna go fast.

This shot is of me when I decided to blow by the checkpoint for the third year in a row.

Bike Build Redux

Well I went and picked up the old EMD frame and it's reincarnated Scandium Air Nine. See what you think.

Really? Sure would be a nice Valentine's Day gift.