broken piggie

Seems like its been a while since I last posted. Maybe because it has been but things are really ramping up here at work over the last month or so and it looks like its going to be balls to the wall over the winter. I guess if it's going to happen anytime, I'm happy to have it ramp up after the summer but still, you can only put in so many 11+ hr days before it starts to get to you.

Despite the hours (and the rain the last couple of days) I've managed to get in a few good rides this week in the form of commuting and some mountain bike time on the now single speed el mariachi (cha cha cha). I need to become one with the El because next weekend I'm making my first trek over to the Kingdom Trails in Vermont and it will be the bike I'll take. Some multi-hour rides on it should be the ticket to melt away some of my work related stress.

Withe the El coming out pretty much full time now it's got me thinking about the Dos and what changes NEED to be made for next year. I won't be making any cosmetic or lust changes but I do have a couple of things I think I need to do. First and formost, I need to change my handlebars and grips. As mentioned about a hundred times, I plan on running Ergon's next season (every ride on my Ergon gripped El confirms that) but I've also decided that I need slightly wider bars as well. My Salsa Moto Ace bar is a bit on the narrow side which has worked well for shorter, XC style races but is less than ideal in the longer, enduro style races I've been trying to focus on. The narrow width means that I either end up hanging the edge of my hands over the end of the bars causing me to blister and develop a deep muscle bruise in the meaty part of my palm or I end up keeping my hands jambed up against the XO twisties so tight that I rub the base of my thumb raw. Usually, during a long race, I do both and end up with very sore hands for days afterwards. As a result, I plan to get some slightly wider bars to open things up a bit. Combine that with the extra comfort of the Ergon grips and I should be stylin next year.

Other than that, the steed is pretty much good to go other than basic maintenance type stuff. I never thought I'd say this but I don't think I'll be wanting a new bike next year. There is still time to change my mind though! :)

Oh, and the broken piggie part, I think I broke one of my toes last night by stubbing it on a chair leg. Lame-o. I think I'll tell people I did it while rock climbing instead.