Ugh.
Waiting for Allstate to call and discuss a settlement.
This is not settling me down in the least. By the time I get a check (hopefully), order it all, build, glue and secure it in my garage (which looks like spider man hit it with cable locks) it'll be my last season over and I'll be ordering up my Ti bike to ride off into the sunset with.
Ugh.

I was just robbed while on the nooner and the thieves took my SL2 and Wyatt's which was here for repair as well as a bunch of Zipps.
Keep an eye out for these items on C-list and eBay, please and pass along to any and everyone that you know, thanks:

#1 '09 team SL2 with Sram Red, Specialized crank, Ritchey carbon stem, Ritchey Classic bars, white tape, white Fizik Arione saddle, Syncros post, Bontrager Carbon Aero tubular wheels.

#2 '09 team SL2 with Sram Red, Specialized crank, Specialized bar and stem, black tape, Specialized post, Fizik red / black Aliante saddle, Edge composite 1.0 68mm aero rear tubular wheel, Bontrager XXXlite front tubular wheel.

1 set 2009 Zipp tubular 404s
1 set of 2009 track Zipp 404s
1 Zipp 900 dimpled disc wheel- decaled "Ritchey Carbon" - one of a kind (in red Mavic bag)
1 Zipp 808- decaled "Ritchey Carbon" - one of a kind (in red Mavic bag)
1 '09 Specialized team helmet
1 Schwalbe road 22 tubular

Back from a windy Hawaii trip where Wyatt, Steve and I got in some good riding. We didn't ride as much as last year, but the rides we did were quality and finely tuned- which is what I needed at the time. That, and a lot of sun and beer.

Wow, where has the time gone. December already, a few hundred reps done, klicks packed into the legs and still I feel like Elmer's glue sliding down a piece of felt paper.
Yesterday was another one of Yeah Yeah's death marches in the cold and wind: up King's, down a freshly paved Tunitas, down Rte 1, Pescadero Rd., up Haskins, up West, down Page Mill and straight to a hot shower- on two gels (its a bitch of a diet, honestly).
I wish I had an altimeter just for days like that one, but the laptop on my stem doesn't have one. It was a good day, though hampered by flats, etc. which was a little frustrating. It was cool to be riding with the future of cycling, though. A few of the team's juniors came out: Daniel, David B. and Charlie were putting in the time with us older guys. It's funny to me that some older Cat 1 racers get all insecure when racing with younger guys- giving them crap and the like (you know who you are) as if they wanted to keep the racing all to themselves. You really want to keep racing Pro, 1, 2 when you're 40? You weren't that good to begin with- which is why you're still racing in California. Exclusively. You don't and hardly ever travel now, so why not welcome your replacement, give him or her the advise you never got and elevate the sport? They will always be better than we were, and if they're not? Then the sport isn't evolving, and that's a serious issue.

A new painting for Alison's father.
Oil on canvas, 18 x 26

Good golly Miss Molly- I just rode the new electronic Dura Ace yesterday and it was FLAWLESS! So very pimp, smooth and remarkable. Even better- I rode it in the rain and it was working perfectly!
Small servo motors will move the chain up and down the cogset simply by pressing one of two buttons on the redesigned leverset. It took a bit to figure out which button did what, but once I did I was slapping them with abandon and the chain was all over the cogs without a single missed shift. I was blown away!
Even better is the front derailleur- I cannot describe how simple it is to use and it feels SO much smoother than the mechanical version- which as we know, is smooth as.
Wayne Stetina explained that it will actually wait for the shift to go when your legs are in the dead spot in your spin for a smoother shift and that the athlete will adjust to the correct timing of shifting within a week, but should you need to dump it into an easier gear- just push the button and the chain will find what your legs are capable of.
Simply incredible. I just wish I'd had my camera on me so I could post some pics- but alas, I don't have any. Know this- the whole gruppo is much more refined than the original spy pics and looks right off the production line. Very, very slick.
Campy, Sram- you've got some catching up to do and I've got to start saving my pennies!