Sweet Susie Singlespeed and other news

So I have officially joined the singlespeed revolution. Yes, that's right. I've gone shiftless.

It's taken a while to get the old girl built up into something ridable. Several years ago when I got a new(er) hardtail, I couldn't bear to part with my first real bike -- a '99 Schwinn Moab, dark blue with silver racing stripes! She was beautiful then, and she's even more beautiful now without all those gears cluttering up her lines. Granted, she's seen better days. She lived in my storage closet for a while, was robbed of parts when I needed them, and when Jake pulled her out of storage, all that was left was her frame, fork, stem, wheels, seatpost and crankarms. And as it turns out, for a SS, that's about all you need! I robbed another bike of a saddle, pedals, dug up some old grips I'd won at a race, Jake gave me an old handlebar set and brake levers. We added new front and back gears and a chain and voila! She lives!

Now I never thought riding the SS would be easy. I was prepared to have my butt handed to me and appreciate our local Pig trail in a whole new way. My first ride on her was just through the pines section, flat, flat, flat. It felt good. My second ride I decided to try the whole trail. I managed to finish, but had to get off the bike FOUR FREAKIN TIMES!! By the third ride I'd learned how to accelerate BEFORE the hills, carry my speed and maintain my cadence, and only walked twice!!

I thought I was just creeping along the trail, and although I had made progress in the climbing and handling of the bike (which, with an OLD Judy Rock Shock is a FAR CRY from the way my new Lefty responds to roots and such) was still bummed about my speed. My third time on the bike it took 50 minutes to ride the trail. Saturday it took 45. Apparently I'm making progress! Now if I can just continue to shave 5 minutes off my lap times, I'll eventually be able to keep up with my boyfriend.

Speaking of the boyfriend, he officially now answers to Gonzales, as in Speedy Gonzales. He's been out there turning laps on his SS with a 16-tooth ring. He rode everything but Chandler's and decided to change to an 18 ring to be a little more ridable. lol. I'm cruising along in my 20, and he's whooping my arse! I think he plans to race the SS in the cross country race Aug. 27. While I'm bragging on him, he just earned two B's in his classes over the summer!

In other news, I decided to bag the tri on Aug. 19th. Ever since I heard about the gator found in lake Tobo, my swimming has stopped completely. I refuse to swim in that lake. Refusing to lake swim has left me with no where to swim. I've been resisting paying to join a gym to use the pool, but at this point, that looks like it will have to give. So ... I'll be re-joining the health club soon to get back into swim shape. Couple that with an ongoing struggle with my feet -- blog readers will recall my issues with plantar fasciitis and assorted foot pains that began in late May. I still am only running once a week, and that just won't cut it for being competitive in a triathlon.

I just don't feel ready for this event, and refuse to show up and pay $60 and give it a half-ass effort. In exchange, I've added to my schedule a triathlon in Hiawasee in late September. It's longer than any one I've done before, so it will be a real challenge. Something to work for, something to look forward to ... kinda like riding the SS for the Four Hours of Pork (http://4hoursofpig.blogspot.com). Go sign up. It's for charity.