Well, I done gone and did it!

What was I thinking? I don't ride single speed. I don't have the physical fitness base to pull it off. I lost a lot of that and motivation since my accident. But wait! Aren't I in control? Can't I be the one that decides what I can and can't do?

That is the plan. I signed up for Single Speed USA that is in Stowe, VT this year. Too cool of a thing to pass up. That is of course you have an aggressive training plan that will leave me in the best possible condition for my attempt of the Tour Divide.

SSUSA2012 isn't until the end of July. That is good and bad. It allows for the time needed to prepare but it allows for time needed in such a way that may cause me to delay my efforts. I have to stay conscience of this and use my time wisely.

More of a direct concern is this:

   It's that time of year again. Last year I was in a good place with my performance. This year, I am about 400 miles off of my mark. Lots of riding and training in my near future.

Stay tuned!

my first set of single speed wheels

and boy are they nice!

Stans, King, DT Swiss

880g on the front wheel, 1080g on the rear. Not a bad thing to have a wheelset under 2000g. Weight isn't that big of a deal to me. It is nice having a light set that will be strong. The light guys can go with crest rims and revolution spokes. Honestly, I don't think the weight savings is worth the chance so I went for the arch rims with competition spokes.

The king hubs are sincerely incredible. I have never had a set for myself and look forward to running them. The single speed hub with the fun bolts is just straight up awesome!

time to build some wheels

recipe for a great wheel

Not much I can really say or show here. I will post the finished wheels when I am done. I do feel that it is a good idea to use spoke head washers on a good build. They take up the slop at the interface of the spoke head and the hole in the hub. I don't remember the full story but at some point it became a standard to drill spoke holes a 2.5mm and spokes are 2mm. The brass washer, when the spokes are tensioned, will take a conical shape filling the space in the hub that could otherwise cause play in the junction.

*EDIT: A friend of mine gave me some pretty solid information on spoke head washers and not only is it not possible to use them, it is unnecessary. I ended up deleting them. 

I tend to have some pretty bad luck with breaking spokes. I think it has a lot to do with the use of straight pull spokes. Hopefully the double butted spokes will help alleviate that.

complex simplicity

like a phoenix rising up from the ashes

Here I am. I have been going through quite a bit emotionally rough time here lately with my fitness. That is another post that will help me sort out my thoughts. In the meantime, I have the Voodoo rolling again. I got it all set up and will go out for a ride tomorrow morning to see how it shakes out.

been a while since I've rode with a derailleur system