Fall fever!
Hello, everybody. Well, today I got goosebumps and for the first time since about March they weren’t caused by dehydration or heat-stroke. After 32 consecutive 100 degree (plus) days, summer has finally released its choke-hold. While the high temperature today WAS a toasty 86 degrees, that’s a good 20 degrees less than just a couple weeks ago. The lights are back on the chargers with the evenings losing light at an insane pace and the sun isn’t quite so overhead at 2PM. In September, not only does Austin weather change, so does local culture. The first race of the Texas Fall Series has already gone down (go Shontell), judging by the Scratch Acid show at Emo’s last Saturday all the students are back, Jared and I scorched our mouths and got a “wicked” afternoon buzz at the Austin Hotsauce Festival, and UT made their return to the gridiron since the Rose Bowl.
Goosebumps indeed. Fall in Austin is the best. Probably how Spring feels after a long northeastern Winter. I’m dedicating the next 2 weeks to hitting the trail hard everyday with a lighter CamelBak, testing out my new GPS unit, but most importantly, breaking in my newly dialed Willits Monster-X. You may have read my blog entry about my trials and tribulations on my Trail King. While it’s easily the most fantastic race bike I’ve ever owned (got my best result of my life on it at last month’s Texas Chainring Massacre 6-Hour race!) the Monster-X is clearly the funnest.
At the heart of the Monster-X concept is versatility. I’ve been running it through its paces with several different configurations; a 2×10 cross bike, a road bike, a drop-bar all-day bigwheeled climber and most recently as a back-to-basics rigid 1×9 masterpiece. The latest setup was kind of a fluke but ended up being the biggest surprise I’ve experienced in so long. Raw acceleration eminating from the most elegant, simple construction. Railing corners on this bike reminds me of the simple joys of bike riding. I’ll run it hard for another month and give you the
details.
Edit (Dec. 6th): I now am running it with Salsa Poco bars (short-reach) with Dia-Compe levers, Salsa interrupters, and a Dura-Ace 9-speed bar-con shifter going to my 1×9 setup with a 950 series XTR rear der. Very simple and elegant.