House of Suffering

(me on the left, or at least how cramped I feel lately)

I have been swapping stems and angles and bars...all kinds of stuff, all in order to get a better fit on my frame. And now I am looking at swapping my frame, which is defintely more expensive that a stem that I would purchase. So now I am looking back at my set-up from two seasons ago and realizing I never had fit issues like this. Is it me thinking I need to be comfortable during a cross race? Hell, is there even such a thing as comfort during a cross race? I am comforted by knowing I will usually finish mid-pack and feel good enough to have done a little better - but that is usually the extent of comfort during "wheels to dirt." However, training on the same bike is a different thing altogether, right? Not really. I would rather ride the same bike I race on for familiarity in handling, shifting, etc. In a very roundabout way, I think I need to get fit for a frame/stem/etc as my shoulders feel like crap after about 1 hr on the bike, and this leads to post-race/ride neck pain. I try to check my slouch and get into a better riding position, but that only lasts a few pedal strokes before I go back to checking the 'puter. Yeah, square 1 maybe - or square 2 at best. After go back and forth with Fort Frames via email, I think it is time to grab the bike, reset it to last year's race config, and haul it over to Lou at Ponyshop or Alberto's. VQ does fittings as well, and they use all kinds of sensors and 3D imaging. Sounds cool. I'll start small and go big if needed. At least I found a saddle that works - WTB Rocket V Pro. Good stuff, and I should have just stuck with WTB based on how the old SST Ti fit me back in CO.

Who knows - it might be the case that I am just messing around with stuff too much. I have never felt so un-dialed on a bike. I am going to run through a basic fit calculator when I get home tonight, and go from there. I look forward to getting this taken care of as having a headache for 4-5 hours after a race is never fun, and feeling similarly after riding the trainer just seems wrong.

At least someone hammers out good stuff these days! Here are some stellar IPAs this time of year:

Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale Wet Hop

Founders Double IPA

Southern Tier Gemini

and my fav...

Bell's Hopslam (which is already done for the year, but I stocked up!)