Lake vs 45NRTH Wolverhammer

Boots are one of those things as a cyclist you don't think toooo much about unless your in the great white north.  Hell DC doesn't really count.  I'm talking PA  and north of there.

But hell DC gets cold and so do my poor little feet.  Between dumb stuff like sledding in socks and other things my feet are a bit cold sensitive.  Call it a 3 out of 5 with 5 being the worst.  My hands are probably a 4. 

Well my Lake boots have their issues.  A snapped cable since last spring.  One boots neoprene has holes.  The soles/sewing of them are showing signs of failure a bit also.  I also need to re-wax them for water proofness. And finally they really don't keep my feet all that toasty even with a heavy wool treking sock.  Plenty of room in them for sure as size 48,  maybe too much.  They've served me well over the last 4 years.  And I got them for $160 bucks.  Not too shabby.  Last night I finally did replace the broken BOA lace.  It wasn't easy but it really wasn't bad.  I have enough spare cable that if I wanted I could redo the otherside.  However that won't be necessary for now.

Why you ask?

I finally got a pair of these:

Wow.  That about sums up these boots on first inspection. In fact I will post some pictures of them in detail later to flickr.  It's uh never mind.  Very well made.  Seams are well sown.  Sole is well attached. The zipper on the outer shell is heavy duty and Velcro's into place.  The laces inside are strong as hell the cincher is well made also and holds the laces tight.  Very comfortable on the foot, the faux fur interior is nice.  No pressure points when pulled VERY tight lacing.  Even walking around was pretty comfortable.  Hell with a pair of gators they would make fine snow boots for shoveling or just getting around.  Based on the over all quality and everything I can see these boots lasting 5+ years, which makes their $325 price tag less oppressive.  This is the 2nd most expensive pair of shoes I've even owned.  Right behind my 5+ year old pair of Sidi's. 

Tonight I mount the cleats and get them adjusted.  Can't wait to ride in em.  Toasty toes, here I come!

The running disease continues, did 2.7'ish in 25 minutes last night.  Going to start pushing to 4 miles soon.  Maybe Sunday, if I don't ride. 

Spent a while cleaning the MTB last night tonight I pick some lube and give the chain a good cleaning.  But I may also shorten the chain as it's still the old length for supporting the triple rings up front. 

Stretchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I'm still around doing my thing.  Not biking as much lately due to other commitments, still getting setup at the new place.  Finally got a bedside table setup yesterday and tonight I setup the desk.  The room is approaching "done-ness".  After that it's some more cleanup, junk disposal and sorting the ton of crap of mine in the basement. 

Last week was Wakefield Festivus Part 1 of 2012.  Due to commitments of various people we are holding a 2nd week this week.  I led a MONSTER group to start with of 20+ people.  Ended up with about 10 by the end.  Lotta fun.  Well excluding the peanut gallery behind me complaining about everything.  Thanks Ricky and Adam :P 

Ran on last Tuesday and ran again yesterday.  Boy my running sucks.  Actually if it wasn't for that costco hotdog I mighta been okay yesterday to run more/better but I need 3 to 4 hours after a meal before running. 

Drank a ton of good beer this last week including:

Terrapin Dark Side Stout - Side Project # 9  - Belgian Imperial Stout - I'd been saving this last bottle for over a year maybe 2.  Excellent. 
Brooklyn - Blast - 2x IPA - Yah it was very nice and well balanced.
Brooklyn - Maple Porter - Also nice,  minor maple hints.  Went really well with pork and fries.  Could be good with breakfast also
Magic Hat - The Heart of Darkness Stout - Very toasty, well balanced.

Stayed up way tooo late reading last night.  Stupid books, being all interesting and stuff.  I will say Hyperion so far has been one strange book!

Not quite as cold as

It wasn't quite as cold this week as last week at WF thanks to a lack of a breeze. 

After some very successful cleanup at the new place I rolled out a bit after 5:30 and made to WF just before 6.  Didn't get to pre-ride but that was fine.  Stayed warm, prepped everything, and shot the breeze with everyone already there.  We had I think over 20 people on this very cold night and it was great riding, the trails were in good shape and casual blasted out a VERY fast pace, pushing 9 and 10 mph avgs for a lot, in 56 mins we were at 7 miles gps'd and over 8 I would say if not 8.5.  Went out for a short addition in the bowl and pushed to 8.5 putting me near 10 I fgiure in 1:10.  Not too shabby. 

Post ride I enjoyed a couple of PLB's including a Founders Breakfast Stout.  Woot, big thanks to Julie Ann for that.  Yum.  Then we were off to Roy's and we packed one corner, must have been 15 of us I think in total.  We got done pretty early and I was home around 10:30 even with a bit of construction traffic on 66. 

I got home and stashed stuff and checked my laundry, and it had just finished drying and was toasty warm!  Hell yah my cold hands were happy I can say.  Put a bunch away quickly (pants and socks) the rest is left for today.  Have about 2 more loads of laundry to catch up on to get rid of smoke stink. 

New comforter on the bed kicked ass.  Still not used to a foot board on the bed, it's taking some getting used to as I normally hang off the end a bit with pillows piled at the top.  Ended up sprawled across the bed diagonally.  But was toasty warm and slept very well. 

Tonight we get a couch and table.  The house is moving well along. 

It's December? Whooo knew?

Visions of ......wait never mind.

It's been a pretty hectic last month and change.  My absentee land lord returned at the end of October from her 3 year deployment in Belgium.  Within days me and JD had realized we had to move out and stat.  We turned in notice to vacate on Nov 6th.  My last bike ride was on the 8th and then stuff got busy at work and then I was traveling the next week thru the next Monday.  Got back and promptly rolled into Thanksgiving, so no ride that night either.  House stuff sucked up the rest of the time but we had settled on a new place and I paid final part of the deposit on Thanksgiving weekend and since then I've been schlepping stuff over at load or two a day most days.  Amazing how much shit I have.  Homebrewing gear and beer was almost 2 loads.  Cloths were a load.  Electronics were a load.  Bike stuff 2 loads.  Tools/misc/car care/etc was another load.  The final push started last Sunday and basically wraps up this weekend.  We've secured a pretty decent couch and table via craigslist for $550 and are picking it up Friday after work. 

Activity wise I got a run in also last Tuesday for about 25 minutes in the cold evening with Jen.  It was good but running around Silver Spring is a bit hilly! Tonights WF TNR promises to be a cold day in HELL!  Well it may be a bit warmer than last week with temp of 32 to 28. Gotta find my bar mitts for tonight.  Stupid hands were a mess for most of last week till about 20 minutes till the end.  ugh.

Lots of beer drunk lately including:

Goose Island BCBS
Evo #7, #6, #3, Primal Pale, Rise UP Stout, and Menagerie #8
Firestone Wookie Jack
and I'm sure others I've forgotten. 

Off to ride in a bit.