If You Chose Not To Decide...

For anyone who comes here regularly (I'm sincerely sorry.  Wait, if you still come here after all these years you obviously have some sort of genetic flaw so you're parents should be apologizing, not me) you know that I've been having a not so internal debate about this year's race steed.  I WANTED the Salsa Spearfish but they were in such high demand that everything available to the team was already sold (unless I want to wait until July).

So, I thought that maybe I'd go with the Santa Cruz Tallboy.  A super sweet bike with a big price tag.

And then, just when I couldn't be any more conflicted, Bikeman.com became a Niner Bikes shop bringing the Jet 9 to the front of the heap of aluminum and carbon goodness.  Our team window for ordering a Niner was short and I came ever so close to buying an xt built Jet but by the end of the weekend (our deadline) I was so conflicted that instead of buying a new bike I did nothing.  If you chose not to decide, you still have made a choice. (don't think I've ever quoted a song before, let alone a Rush song...)

What finally sealed my no bike decision was KillBill telling me that I'd probably have to change my riding style in order to enjoy any full suspension bike.  Most notably (and the real deal killer) is that I'd have to sit while climbing hills.  Now, who's stupid idea was that?  Hills are meant for standing as far as I'm concerned.  If it's long and gradual I will sit but if you tell me that if I want to attack on a hill (one of my favorite spots) my bike is likely to get all boingy on me and suck my energy than that is a definite problem.  To be honest, I don't have enough time on any of these bikes to make a true call as to how much it would affect my riding but, after hearing that, there was no way I was going to pull the multi thousand dollar trigger on any bike.  So, my indecision has led me to a new decision.  For the first part of the season at least, I'll be riding my once retired dos niner.  She's just a frame, headset and bottom bracket right now but with a few parts steals from my other bikes and a couple of purchases she'll be ready for prime time again.  Let's just hope she's less Brett Favre out of retirement ready and more (ummmm, somebody else who came out of retirement and didn't suck.  help me out, I can't think of any....) so I don't regret that decision.  Either way, it gives me a bike to race on and the parts can always be switched to a new steed mid season after I've had more time to try the other bikes.  Makes sense right?  Right?  Please tell me I'm right because I want to stop thinking about this...

Wow, looking back, I'm over a week behind on my mileage calcs.  This is exactly why I stopped keeping a paper training log and training plan.  I just can't handle the structure.  Let's see if I can remember it all.

3-21-11

X-train time: 5:00
Ride time: 6:45
Ride distance: 85 miles

Total x-train time: 27:45
Total ride time: 37:45
Total distance: 336 miles

Weight: 188