Sir No Name

It was a toss up for titles of this post between Sir No Name and Tuesday Night Worlds smackdown. But frankly TNW smackdown is boring. This is not that type of blog people...you should know that by now. Anyway I am not going to lie to you. This is gonna be a seat of the pants, mostly lies, endorphin filled drunk dialing of a blogpost. I haven't done Tuesday Night Worlds in at least a year. I am sooo over group rides. I like my rides tight and with the illusion that I am actually a strong and fit biker! Ha! That's easy when you are riding a gentlemanly pace with your pals.

Tuesday Night World's will kick you in the nuts and steal your lunch money so fast all you'll have time for is the crying. But I digress. Anyway my usually slacker schedule got all blown to hell today. What was supposed to be a bucolic ride through country roads with a good friend turned into a last minute scramble for a ride. When and why my brain fired off "Tuesday Night World's" like that was a good option I will never know? I still have no idea and my brain will be punished severely for this...but my ADD is like that. A thought pops in my head and like a dog chasing a squirrel up a tree it is on. No reason, all care for pretense and image go out the window. It didn't hurt that the new Hup Noir called B sample just came in...it is the most badass kit on the planet...seriously and yeah I kind of wanted to show it off. So I kitted up rubbed some gentlemen's blend on for some sheen and a bit of warmth. Put my happiness is charm in my back pocket for good luck and headed out the door.

Ok so in a kind of biological passport kind of way I will be honest with you. Some things have changed around here in the last year. I am taking a wolf pack approach to my biker life right now. A wolf pack is badass. They hunt together, play together, fight together. I am old, uncool, slow, and without a shred of style. My friends are fast, super smart, talented and have more style in their pinky than anyone I have ever known. They know more about bikes, training, racing, bike setup..well you are getting the point. Just by being in the pack I have gotten stronger, faster and more stylish...well ok 2 out of 3 isn't bad. I will never be stylish. I've documented all the help I had getting the road bike built up. And I pretty much was standing on my soapbox saying to anyone who would listen "my cross bike is the best road bike I have ever owned!" BS. I formally retract that previous statement. My Sycip road bike is the best road bike period...
Ok but the devil is in the details and here is the rub. I hated this bike. Hated, hated, hated it. You know why I hated it? Because it wasn't set up correctly. I have never been able to get in the drops. It felt slow. It felt twitchy. Had to be the bike. Wrong. Sara Bresnick-Zocchi is a fit guru. No lie. She is the coolest most down to earth person you will meet so maybe guru seems bold. But when someone can take a bike that didn't "work" for you and turn it into a rocket ship that says talent and skill to me. I'd even be so bold as to say art. What amazed me was just how different the bike handled. And mind you. She fit me last week. I rode it for 45 minutes between then and the Tuesday Night Worlds. The 45 minute ride was your typical princess in a pea ride. Ride. Stop. Adjust. Really all I did was rotate up my bars a little higher as I like them pointing pretty sky high.
To be honest the other great thing about a wolf pack is you trust the people in your circle. I trust my friends. That is how you can go into a crucible ride and not worry about the machine. So after all this blathering here is the straight dope. The bike was faster. Yeah I have said that a bunch. But why was it faster? SBZ would know that I don't. But I was able to do some subtle things that I have never done on that bike. When you are going 28 mph 4 riders across a busy road with 60 guys all around you riding like maniacs its the little things that keep you upright. Using your thighs to move the bike instead of steer. Holy crap. It was like my mind said move over a touch to be safe, just a slight thigh movement and the bike moved over a scouch. Amazing. And the drops! So that's what the drops are like. I have never been in the drops in my life. That is not an a false statement. I just assumed I wasn't a drops guy. But there was a moment where I had to be in the drops. The tail of the group was three bike lengths away. I knew if I didn't reattach it was over. I got in the drops and dug deep and was there! Back in the group.

What a great night of riding. It was sketchy as hell and don't know if my heart can stand doing this every week...but maybe. It might become fairly addicting I suspect. Going that fast and hard and literally flying at warp speed with a group of riders is like a drug. Ok so wtf? why is this called Sir No Name? I was locked into the group about 4 rows back just flying along when I feel a hand on my back. No big deal in a group like this letting people know where you are is really important for safety. I look over and its Rosey! He is astride a blacked out carbon road bike called No Name. I was sooo stoked to see him. Admittedly a bit too stoked as we turned onto Glen Street and he moved forward and I followed his wheel. He went straight through everyone and got on the front with the Threshold boys and laid it down. Staying on Rosey's wheel up Glen Street was one of the most painful experiences of my life. But I got over Glen Street with the group which was a first! And I thank Sir No Name for that...