Ooooouuuuchieeeee!

Okay so one of my least favorite experiences got repeated on a bike yesterday.   

 

 

Chain Breaker should be my title at this point in life.  Though I don't think I've had a full chain break like this since maybe 2015 when I got the RXC2 and the chain snapped on it in Accotink while going fairly easy in the first 120 miles on the bike.  This time I was on Fred and this was a fairly new KMC XFlat Pre-Waxed for SRAM AXS 12/13 and again the mileage at failure:

 

140 Miles.   Yep it's also happened on MTB chains back in 10 speed days.    High performance chains versus low performance human who weights more than 150lbs.  Climbing the Ascent Trail at WF on the MTB.   And then when you talk about worn chains?  Oh yah.  I once blew out 3 links in one ride on the MTB during the NoVA Epic back in the day.  I still blame Camp and Wrench as I was following them thru Accotink.... And Camp is my curse, I've also flatted a tubeless front tire while following him too.  

208 Lbers this morning...maybe a bit more on the 209 side, but still I'll call it 208.

Otherwise, a good month for riding hoping to hit the tidal basin and a few other spots tonight to get a solid end into March.    Wednesday has PM storms but then clear the next few days....Good riding other than being overly warm for the start of April.

 

 

Mad Mad March

Not sure how we got to late March from early February when I last posted.  Life?  Job?  Cycling?  Weird Weather?  Volunteering?  

It's all on this list I suppose.   Eating out too much also.  Lets just skip the weight in for this one huh?  I plan to re-weight in on Friday AM and if it's better I'll update then either way... hahaha

 Teasers of Spring and Summer here.  80'ish on Sunday, this morning it was 35'ish riding into work with a high of 50'ish today.  Warming up though.

• Jan 2026 - 15 Hours in 21 Logged activities covering 170 miles
• Feb 2026 - 14 Hours in 18 Logged activities covering 154 miles
• Mar 2026 - 20 Hours in 26 Logged activities covering 206 miles

 Yes thats a bit of it for sure, 6 more hours this month than last and I've got a week to go.  I'm going to go on a limb and predict 32 total activities near 250 miles by end of Tuesday.   Last 2 weeks I've gotten above 60 miles a week which feels awesome.  Riding more has shown real results in my Power.  Power readings are new since I got Fred.   In December - Feb most of my power normalization was 150'ish.  So far in March, I'm hitting at 170.  And my power over time?  I'm consistently pushing forward.   And my Avg power went from 180 in January to about 232 in a 20 minute block.  

 I'm no Lance thats for sure. And I'm glad.

 Major TW projects coming at Wakefield over the next months.   I need to book a day and do a major improvement/cleanup of Phase 4 soon.  Also need a new blade for the Saw...bendy bendy.  sigh.   

 For the first time other than maybe when I last ordered team kits, I've ordered 2 bib shorts.   Oh wow joys of Gmail, last order was in Dec 2015 and before that in spring of 2013!  I think one of the bibs I'm still using dates to the 2013!  oy.    

Holy Heavy Batman!

 Wow a brutal few weeks here in the DC metro region.  The snow-ice attack on the 25th of January was a much more  major event than 6-8 inches normally is due to it being 2-3 inches of Sleet/Ice in the top layer.  Then major freeze/minor melt off due to sun turned the top layer into Snow-crete in a way I've never really seen.  Just saw we had the 10th or 9th coldest period on record with 9 days below freezing in a row that ended Monday the 2nd.   Last similar one was in 1989, which I have a vague memory of.  

Did some necessary bike maintanence on the MTB.  Pulled down the drive train and fully cleaned and re-lubed BB and cranks and cleaned up half the rear pivots.   Also tried cleaning and lubing seat rails to see if it made the seat less creaky.  Couldn't really judge on the snow ride on Thursday the 29th.   Also did a re-wax on both Ichigo and Betty.  Ichigo had some weird results, I think due to a lack of riding it had very little penetration and most of the lube just didn't respond/bond in.   

Switched the studdlies onto Ichigo on Monday and finally rode into work on Tuesday.  The CCT was great down to DC Line, DC inward it was clear generally down to the bottom with about 60-70% fully clear.  On the way home due to the warmth I'd say DC section is now at near 90% clear minus re-freeze on melt off/etc.  Down at the start is the worst where DC only plowed 1.25 lanes.   DC itself?  Pooh.  Roads are you friends, bike lanes are terrible.  Intersections suck!  

A very long and slow ride back had to stop and change my listening a few times.  

So today I weighted Fred (The Newness) and Ichigo with winter setups.  Fred without GPS but everything normal (No rack or bag), is currently in at 27.3 LBS.  While Ichigo (with GPS) was at 28.5 LBS.  Jeez, the studs really do ramp up the weight!  I'd say maybe an extra 2 to 3 lbs at least and that's mostly in the wheels.   When I put the front wheel back on BB I plan to weight her with lights, bottle and bar mittz.  But I already know she's a thick lady, she's lasted better than any of the other Salsa Pony Rustler's frames.  Though I still miss the 130/120 geometry.  150/130 is just too much for me really.

 

Fred continues to surprise, though I do feel like at some spots I do miss the longer/wide range of gears on the 2x11 the 1x13 does have a lower range for those long slow climbs back up Mt. Bethesda.   Maybe I'll shoot out for a quick ride at lunch.   

Another shot of Fred:

 

To Fred or not to Fred

 Whats in a name continues to taunt me.   Well at least as much as how to get from the West side of Little B to the East Side.  Haven't felt that out...of....navigational control on an MTB in a Loooong time.  Kept ending up at the horse trailer lot in the NW corner of Little Ben.  

 For my own future reference: LB Trail Map

 

Otherwise some rides to get Fred (TBD) a bit more tuned and ready.  I think the saddle is a tad wide unfortunately.   And the Stem may need to be swapped down to a 80MM from 100.  2CM is a hair shorter than an inch.  Not really sure, I am strongly debating a Pro Bicycle Fitting session or two at this point.   It feels odd, but maybe finding out the right setup at this point is smart.  Hopefully it just works on this monstrosity that is Fred.

Looking a Rack and Pannier setup for commuting next.    I'm pretty set on a Ortlieb Quick Rack as I can take it off with no bolts in like 15 seconds.   Pannier/Bag wise....I'm really a bit stuck Ortlieb is a known quantity but I don't love the Vario setup.  In general a backpack is not super necessary in my view....somewhat.   Two Wheel Gear has a few really slick well divide bag/pack setups I like that are a tad cheaper.  I like the extra organization as my pack has lots of small/random things. (Chargers, Cables, Badges, Tools, Junk, Meds, etc).  For now I think I'm gonna order the rack.  Do some more research.  Arkel also has some cool stuff but more Canadian Bucks than even Ortlieb!  Jeez!   

 

Detail on Fred.  UDH and the sweeeet welds.  And oh yah the Farce RD.   

Zoom Zoom time to roll back up Mt.Doom Trail to Rivendell.   

 Fred....for now.... 

 

Whats in a name?

 So yes things have arrived.  Here's a thirst trap:

 

But now the REAL struggle begins.  What's in a Name?  I think a lot.  I've named many of my bikes and cars and such since being a kid.  Sure most of the time the name was "GDFPOS" or "HeavyAssCrapBMX" or such.   But of late I've generally felt a strong relation to naming them with Characters or Things aspirationally.  The CX ride has been Ichigo now for probably 6 or 7 of it's 10 year life mission at least.   The other day I was thinking about names like:

• Savage\The Savage
• TheFuture
• Fred
• BlueZombie
• Kitt\KnightRider
• Cobra Commander
• Sheppard
• The Normandy

More thought required.   Hopefully the right pedals arrive today.  These things are....trrbl.

 

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, there is always.... OOOOH YEAH!

 

Delivery imminent. 

Heck, I'd be more excited but honestly I'm wiped with how busy I've been at work.  Hell I forgot to order new pedals.  And light mounts.  Etc.  Etc.   Some are solved.

Go Avenga's

Finally, got 2 updates on the new hoopty, got a update frame was finished and they were doing graphix.  Now I just got the update that they are in the Ass-Sembly stage.  Go Avengers!

 

 

 

New Ride by end of next week?  ohhhhh yah!  Call me the Kool-Aid Man.

Wakefield on the 4th - Trails weren't too bad, say 90% but freeze thaw is around.  Low wet area's were wet'ish even 2 days later.   It was COLD AF by 9.  With windchill - say 25F.   Ugh.