Midnight Century is quickly approaching

I've been slothing most of the summer. Aside from my short daily commute and a weekend ride or two, I've not really been putting in many miles. I'm busy with a lot of stuff. I went on vacation last week and came back a couple days ago. Even though I wrote about the Midnight Century in OTM this month, it's just sort of struck me that the it is only two weeks away. '

(Btw: the link there to the OTM column has the ride details)

Now that it's hit me, I'm kind of obsessing about it. I stayed awake staring into the darkness last night thinking about my handlebar height and if I should rotate the bars back just a touch.

I'm thinking about the water issue. There will be no water drop this year. But I didn't need as much water as I thought I would've last year. It's cool in the early morning hours. I think I'll run with a full Camelpack + two waterbottles. My CamelPack is pretty small.

I'm thinking about lighting: should I just put my new Cyo hub-generator-driven-super LED on the bike and be done with it? Or stick with the same light I used last year. I'm leaning towards staying with the MiNewt.

I'm thinking about food. Jake and I chatted briefly on this and I'm thinking 5 small rice and bean burritos and some kind of candy. Either Boston baked beans (thanks for that idea RJ, those are good riding candies) or maybe Gummy Bears. Oh yeah, and I'll work on sunflower seeds for much of the ride.

I'm thinking about gearing. I'm taking my Resurrecto with the Hetres. That bike has a 12-26 cassette on it and a 48-36-26 triple. Should I swap the cassette out for one with 30 teeth? I might. I can use the cassette from my cyclocross bike.

I'm thinking about my weight. I've gained a few pounds this summer. I'm taking it easy on the beer and food front for the next couple weeks to see if I can drop 5 or so pounds.

I'm thinking about my legs. I just haven't done the long rides that I was doing last summer. I know I'm good for the mileage, but I may be a bit slower this year. Which is fine, but it would feel a bit like a step back for me to really loose a lot of time.

I'm going to ride about 1/2 the route tomorrow and will end up with around 70 miles. I plan on pushing it a bit to see how I feel. But it's supposed to be 92 degrees tomorrow, so that could slow me down quite a bit.

I've got a S24O planned for the following week. I'll be sure to make it far away... I've not done the Hunters run for a couple years, that would be a great S24O destination.

Bag love

Mobile post

Hatch Road

Someone emailed me today and asked me the status of Hatch Road.

Most cyclists that ride that hill know what an awful experience the climb is. And most know that there is some plan somewhere some time to do something about the road.

Some pre-design work to figure Bike/Ped and 57th/Hatch intersection design and cost was recently finished. There are a few options.

Check out the study here. It's a whopper at 24 MB, but it's interesting reading and lays out the different options and costs.

I like the Option 2 Roundabout Intersection with with Bike/Ped/Safety Option 2. That's $11.7 million.

Next step, as always, is to find the money. There's no money right now set aside for this project.

Comparing the Motos

Quasi on the left. Neo on the right.

New LBSs

A couple new bike shops in the hopper.

#1. New LBS going into the South Perry area. Next to Lorian Health Food. That's a tiny space. But a great location. No info on who owns it or what brands (if any) they'll carry. I plan on snooping around on my way home today.

#2. Sprague and Pines. This one isn't new to most people. But I can't really have a list with only one item. I've heard that the owner defected from WS East and is going solo. And he scored a Trek account.

Road find

Not pedros, but good to have around

RANS

We're borrowing Loren's RANS Screamer. Maddie loves it. She can't reach the pedals and the seat is much more comfortable than the xtracycle -- she can sit cross-legged and sing while I do all the work.

Liza has yet to ride it. Maybe this weekend.