Friday, August 22, 2008

Gearing Up and Down

The Italy mountains tour is basically a month away and I’m far from optimal riding shape. I’ve been hobbled by a busy work travel schedule and both of my bikes being out of commission. I’ll have both bikes fixed today so it’s time to focus on gearing up for the trip. I’m going to put together a training schedule this weekend. I also plan on only riding my touring bike for the next month so I can get my body back in tune with the Black Beast.

I also need to gear down for the trip. The climbing on this trip is going to be legend…wait for it…dary. I’m going to need all the help I can get so I’m going to swap out my crank set in order to get easier gearing for the looming battles with Majolo, Stelvio and Gavia passes. I plan on doing the bottom bracket and crank set swap myself (with Dr. Ed’s oversight). This will be my first major mechanical project since the maintenance class. I’m assuming there’s a better than 90% chance I end up bringing it to a bike shop to complete.

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