"Butter on Butter!" My mantra du jour.
Today was the inaugural Firefly roll. For the small population of humans reading this, there may be an even more minute subset that did not know about my recent bike purchase. Picked up the Firefly on Friday, but the crazy schedule of a suburban white male in his mid 40's delayed our union until Sunday morning.**
Firefly you say? At this point you are likely grimacing at the image of me on a bike with banana seats and streamers flowing gently in the breeze. Not so! Firefly is a Boston upstart, sprung from the loins of the now omnipresent Independent Fabrication. When IF relocated from Boston to cheaper, more spacious digs in New Hampshire, some of the big talent opted for entrepreneurism, starting Firefly. My bike is #52 off the production line. If 3 guys can form a line.
Why a new bike? This is likely your next question, particularly if you have seen my current rig. Pinarello Prince, carbon Edge dishes, Di2. No, it's not for sale. Crack in the driveside chainstay, near the dropout . This crack, plus Ullrich's unfortunate shipping tragedy, opened my mind's eye to a non-carbon option. I think the Prince can be saved, much like Ullrich's. The guys at Calfee are warlocks.*** But I fear uncertainty, and am afflicted in a bad way with the N+1 disease.* Much consultation with Brant (aka Magnum) led me down the Firefly path. Gotta say the aesthetics of the bike are very appealing. Makes me want to grow a beard, start wearing euro-knickers and quaff ristretto four times daily. Very Rapha-esque. Here is a pic of the Frame, for your viewing pleasure.
All of this lead-in, and you are still wondering how in the hell this relates to our post's tasty title. Patience.
White-knuckled it through a soccer game/UT football marathon on Saturday, avoiding brews in anticipation of Sunday's big roll. It was worth the sacrifice.
Tyler, me, Ullrich and Scheibs were joined my two guest riders (Jim and Melissa) for a 9am roll from 290 and Fitzhugh. 70 miler to break in the Fly. Weather? Well, it's snowing in Maine, flooding in Bangladesh, and getting dark at 2pm in Canada. But in the ATX, the weather is approaching nirvana. 50 degrees at the start. Ullrich went old school. Like a Packers offensive lineman. Well, given his weight loss, more like a linebacker. Maybe a strong safety. I digress.
Arm warmers and gloves. We lit out at 9am in controlled fashion. Ride plan was endurance. No outbursts. Time for the greyhound to saunter around the big circle. Unbelievably, this is how the roll actually shook out.
If you have been on Fitzhugh lately, you know it has some of the finest pavement in the county (whatever county it's in). On this stretch, the road-feel benefits of steel started to exhibit themselves. Steel connects you to the road, but in a smooth, strumming kind of way. I don't know how to explain it, other than saying that riding the Fly on those fly roads was like "Butter on Butter." There you have it. Long setup for little punch. Kinda like my power output.
PROJECTONE PLUG-
This was my first extended exposure to Scheib's new rig. ProjectOne with di2! All black. Ferris Buehler would say "It's so choice". And I would agree. Such a sweet ride! I love it Scheibs.
Other highlights of the day:
1. I think Tyler only rides when we go ultra. Always poor mouthing about his fitness, yet always there at the end.
3. I got outsmarted today when chased by an angry dog. Failing to successfully employ the "Perkins Maneuver", actually had to outsprint the snarling, overly aggressive canine. My poor execution was likely due to the fact that I pulled 99% of the ride. Hard to find cover in the pack while up front.
4. Didn't get enough time with Melissa and Jim. Both rode very well, but decided to do the out and back, and we looped around 281 to Hamilton Pool. Hope you guys can make another ride!
5. Tailwind on 281 had us flying at 30+mph. Ullrich was at 120bpm. Sucking on my wheel, he assumed it was all tailwind. Think again bro.
6. On Cypress Mill, Tyler and I rode past a farmer that looked like he collects gimps. Scary. Glad we didn't flat. Or get stampeded by his cattle.
* See Velominati Rule #12 http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/#12
**(Though I did get in some pre-ride spooning:)
Today was the inaugural Firefly roll. For the small population of humans reading this, there may be an even more minute subset that did not know about my recent bike purchase. Picked up the Firefly on Friday, but the crazy schedule of a suburban white male in his mid 40's delayed our union until Sunday morning.**
Firefly you say? At this point you are likely grimacing at the image of me on a bike with banana seats and streamers flowing gently in the breeze. Not so! Firefly is a Boston upstart, sprung from the loins of the now omnipresent Independent Fabrication. When IF relocated from Boston to cheaper, more spacious digs in New Hampshire, some of the big talent opted for entrepreneurism, starting Firefly. My bike is #52 off the production line. If 3 guys can form a line.
Parts is Parts...
Why a new bike? This is likely your next question, particularly if you have seen my current rig. Pinarello Prince, carbon Edge dishes, Di2. No, it's not for sale. Crack in the driveside chainstay, near the dropout . This crack, plus Ullrich's unfortunate shipping tragedy, opened my mind's eye to a non-carbon option. I think the Prince can be saved, much like Ullrich's. The guys at Calfee are warlocks.*** But I fear uncertainty, and am afflicted in a bad way with the N+1 disease.* Much consultation with Brant (aka Magnum) led me down the Firefly path. Gotta say the aesthetics of the bike are very appealing. Makes me want to grow a beard, start wearing euro-knickers and quaff ristretto four times daily. Very Rapha-esque. Here is a pic of the Frame, for your viewing pleasure.
All of this lead-in, and you are still wondering how in the hell this relates to our post's tasty title. Patience.
White-knuckled it through a soccer game/UT football marathon on Saturday, avoiding brews in anticipation of Sunday's big roll. It was worth the sacrifice.
Tyler, me, Ullrich and Scheibs were joined my two guest riders (Jim and Melissa) for a 9am roll from 290 and Fitzhugh. 70 miler to break in the Fly. Weather? Well, it's snowing in Maine, flooding in Bangladesh, and getting dark at 2pm in Canada. But in the ATX, the weather is approaching nirvana. 50 degrees at the start. Ullrich went old school. Like a Packers offensive lineman. Well, given his weight loss, more like a linebacker. Maybe a strong safety. I digress.
Arm warmers and gloves. We lit out at 9am in controlled fashion. Ride plan was endurance. No outbursts. Time for the greyhound to saunter around the big circle. Unbelievably, this is how the roll actually shook out.
If you have been on Fitzhugh lately, you know it has some of the finest pavement in the county (whatever county it's in). On this stretch, the road-feel benefits of steel started to exhibit themselves. Steel connects you to the road, but in a smooth, strumming kind of way. I don't know how to explain it, other than saying that riding the Fly on those fly roads was like "Butter on Butter." There you have it. Long setup for little punch. Kinda like my power output.
PROJECTONE PLUG-
This was my first extended exposure to Scheib's new rig. ProjectOne with di2! All black. Ferris Buehler would say "It's so choice". And I would agree. Such a sweet ride! I love it Scheibs.
Other highlights of the day:
1. I think Tyler only rides when we go ultra. Always poor mouthing about his fitness, yet always there at the end.
2. Ullrich had a banner day. While the man is prone to superlatives, he insists this was indeed his "best ride ever!" Low rate, high avg mph. His training is really jumping forward. Well done today Ullrich!
3. I got outsmarted today when chased by an angry dog. Failing to successfully employ the "Perkins Maneuver", actually had to outsprint the snarling, overly aggressive canine. My poor execution was likely due to the fact that I pulled 99% of the ride. Hard to find cover in the pack while up front.
4. Didn't get enough time with Melissa and Jim. Both rode very well, but decided to do the out and back, and we looped around 281 to Hamilton Pool. Hope you guys can make another ride!
5. Tailwind on 281 had us flying at 30+mph. Ullrich was at 120bpm. Sucking on my wheel, he assumed it was all tailwind. Think again bro.
6. On Cypress Mill, Tyler and I rode past a farmer that looked like he collects gimps. Scary. Glad we didn't flat. Or get stampeded by his cattle.
* See Velominati Rule #12 http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/#12
**(Though I did get in some pre-ride spooning:)
***Carbonium Reparo!
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