New Hydration Bladder

Got the new hydration bladder I ordered only on Wednesday! Damn. Love the new quick connect on the hose at where it hooks to the bladder, makes draining/drying easier for sure. No more funk-i-fied bladder usage that I've been ingesting who knows what little germs/critters, for the last few months.

New set of pads should be in for the rear brakes in the next few days.

BOD Meeting this Monday up in G-Berg. Hoping to get out of work a bit early and hit the Schaeffer pre-ride.

Weathers looking crappy for next Thursday. Enough with the rain! GO AWAY!

Also took advantage of the Back Country Research deal on 2 straps and a Tuhl-Bag for fall riding. I love being able to ride without the hydration pack, at least in area's where I know I'm close to the parking lot like Wakefield or Accotink if I park up near there. Rides where I'm liable to get further out I still carry a pack usually if riding alone. In a group I may try and cheat out of it and have others carry a spare tube. I'm lazy. Almost time to remount the flask carrier also.

And I think tonight I shall brew. Not sure if I'll do the Raspberry IPA or kick of the stout finally.

Irene is a bad bad girl

Power stayed on for me and mine mostly in the face of hurricane Irene, only the inlaws in Bethesda lost power.

Got out for a short mixed surface ride I wanna say about 45-50 minutes. Didn't feel awesome either as I noticed some throbbing indicating some minor sinus crud and in general my fitness is way off. Though the only way to fix that is get out and do stuff, so that's the plan. I'm going to either go up to Cabin John today or maybe Lk FFX.

I've also come to the sad conclusion that during the last great gear bag clean out I accidentally dropped my Edge 500 into the recycle bin. Alas 2 weeks ago that recycle bin went out after I had forgotten to retrieve said GPS. UGH. I think I'm going to pony down on a Edge 800 on payday.

And in a bit of bawdy humor:
20 Worst Tramp Stamps

Also have a full PM of the bike due this weekend. Apparently I never quite correctly reinstall the cranks and I quickly end up with a creaky bottom bracket.

Electronic Shifting

I've been reading and hearing a lot of discussion in the last 2-3 weeks about Shimano's new E-Dura Ace shifting system. A real mix of negative and positive. After reading a bit more and applying my brain to it here is my take on it.

Bling'ish gear for now, but give the tech another development cycle and it may really come to something truly interesting to the broad spread of cyclists.

My one application I might see if I had a truly "tricked out" rig was maybe running my front D on that if i had a 2x? system. I already run a shimano up front (hnmmmm maybe thats why it shifts so bad), but after reading reviews/tests/etc I could see using one if I went to a 2x? gearing. A smooth front ring shift could provide some nice benefits especially on those new trails when you hit an un expected grade change and find yourself wishing to hit the easier ring and not worrying about dropping chain or fighting the shift as I currently find myself sometimes.

However I would like to see some more improvements in the harness and battery systems first, also not ignoring the fact that it doesn't currently come in a mtb/thumb shift format.

For now I continue to ride 3x9, and look fondly off at the idea of a perhaps 1x3/4 Jones/etc but it just ain't happening till a new job is in hand. For now the Midget will continue to be my trusty steed.

On a funny note I was just reading in one of the MB monthly's that Steve Peat rides the same rims I do, and that leaves me feeling pretty geeked out.