re: tOfficial Cycling Thread

We are headed to Utah for round 3 of the Monster Pro Cup Downhill series. The boy’s AC Joint separation is doing pretty well, and he’s feeling like he’s up for racing. He’s going to catch a ride to California for nationals the following week, and we will head home.

Went to opening of new bike park at Picuris Pueblo in New Mexico. He got second on the whip off and 3rd in pump track. Took home an $800 purse. Here’s his whip off edit:
Instagram Post

Nice! It’s a great sport. Not like this for everyone, but it’s pretty much a lifestyle for my son. Dictates social circle, travel destinations, other hobbies (film making), etc… it’s also just something great that you can participate together in as a family throughout life unlike a lot of other youth sports (not knocking them, just different). Also would rather be at a race in the mountains in middle of summer than a ball field in Iowa. ??

Thats super sick. Followed the gram page

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Thats super sick. Followed the gram page

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Thanks! He works pretty hard at it. As for an update on racing:

Race in Solitude Mountain, Utah for the Monster Pro Downhill Series. Such a great experience there! Crowds were all time, and the area was gorgeous. Definitely not used to the moondust conditions out West, so it was a learning experience. Seeding run was decent, not great. Nowhere near where he wanted to be. Flatted in his race run, but he still had a decent time despite riding the majority of the track with a flat.

Wife, other son, and I drove back to Arkansas from Utah in a single shot while he continued on to California with a friend and his parents for nationals at Big Bear. My wife then flew out to Big Bear, so she could be there for the race. His seeding run was pretty poor. He dropped nearly 10 seconds in his race run, but nowhere near the pointy end of the pack, still. That being said, he missed the majority of his training block on his downhill bike due to the Grade.3 AC Separation, and it was his first time racing these dusty conditions (dust literally up to the hubs of the bike in a lot of places). So, I was pretty proud of the fact that he was able to build so much speed there over the weekend. He and the wife then rented a car and drove back home while all his homies went on to Whistler for Crankworx. Needless to say, he was a little bummed... but most of his friends either home school or do online school. He's starting his senior year, and needed to get back for school.

Now we have a few local enduros as well as a local Downhill race coming up.Pretty hard to train in current temps, so I don't know that he will go fast in the enduros, since there's so much pedaling involved. Mainly just about being there and representing, though, and helping to grow our local gravity scene.

Edit: oh yeah. I forgot that he also did Downhill Rockies at Telluride. He and two friends went out to Angelfire for a day to ride then to Telluride to race. P1 in seeding and P2 in race after blowing a corner and getting in the tape at the end of his run.

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I think it checks all my boxes and I can stay on a road bike for a few more years then fill in a gravel bike. By then maybe my wife won't notice a 6th bike in the garage.

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Just buy nothing but black bikes. Problem solved.

I’ve never thought about SRAM battery issues. I just click them on Fridays before Saturday group rides to make sure they blink green, or check them on the SRAM app. Also, with SRAM, if your rear derailleur battery dies during a ride, you can swap it with your front (if it has juice) and run as a 1x (or if they both die and you have good cycling friends, they’ll loan you one mid-ride and you can both ride 1x). If your DI2 dies, you’re running as a single speed in whatever gear you’re in.

Make sure whatever you do if you go SRAM to get the E1 groupset models if you can (or want). Although the Force and Rival D2’s are discounted right now, the E1’s supposedly have much better hood design (thinner) and braking (1 finger). Of course, if you’re riding a 61, neither of those may make any difference to you. I ride a 54, and would really appreciate both of those due to some pretty severe left hand numbness at times.

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Just buy nothing but black bikes. Problem solved

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This is the way. I used to have similar colored bikes but over the last 2 years ended up with 4 very different color bikes.

I think she has a spreadsheet now…

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I think she has a spreadsheet now…

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I screwed up and bought a white/silver gravel bike. That’s when she started noticing and counting.

Nice. You won't regret the Tarmac SL8. The guy that owns the LBS can choose any Trek or Specialized he wants. He went from riding a 2016 Felt FRD to riding a S-Works SL8 last year.

I run 32mm GP5000 ST R's on my SL8. If I had it to do over again, I'd run 30 up front and 32 in the rear. Depending on the tire, those 30's will balloon out on the Roval's a little to probably around 31.

Garmin 840 here. Heck, as long it integrates with Strava and the mapping and battery life are passable, I'd wait until later in the year when some deals pop up. I will say that I originally had a 530, and pretty quickly upgraded to an 840 for the touchscreen capability, which just makes things easier for me.