Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Bike Commute 6 miles
Run 9 miles

I don't like to shop around. I tend to get it in my mind very quickly what it is that I want and then I buy it. I decided 5 days ago that I would be riding in next year's Great Divide Race and instantly I began contemplating what bike I wanted to ride. I thought for a few minutes about my existing mountain bike, a 2001 Gary Fisher Sugar 2, and decided it just wasn't up to the task of riding the GDR. After a little reading of online forums and looking at some pictures of GDR rigs I decided that the best option at the best price would be to build up a Surly Karate Monkey with a nice new, reliable suspension fork (probably a RockShox Reba) and then snag many of the other parts from my Gary Fisher. I have no idea if this really is the best option within my budget, but as I said I don't like to shop around and this was the first option that seemed to make sense so I decided to roll with it. I decided all of this about 24 hours ago and just a few minutes ago I found a great deal on a leftover 2006 Karate Monkey (thanks to a tip from Dave) and made the purchase. My new frame should arrive within a couple weeks.

I guess I really am doing the GDR. I can't believe I'm really doing the GDR. I know it's still a long way away and a lot of things can change between now and then but I have a really good feeling about this one. Ever since I decided on this last week all I keep thinking about is how the heck did it take me so long to decide this? If I had decided on this a year ago I could be out there riding it right now. Oh well, I think I have enough other things on my plate to keep me busy between now and then. Especially considering that The Iditarod Trail Invitational may be even more of an undertaking and require more focus to prepare for than the GDR.

Great 9 mile run after work today. Had no intention of running hard but I ended up doing miles 6,7, and 8 in about 15:45! Great tempo pace that felt really comfortable. Have the day off from work tomorrow. I'll probably put in a pretty long run (3 or 4 hours), unless I give into the parade and other holiday festivities going on around town. The thing is I don't really like large groups of people so chances are I'll go out and run all day so I can avoid everything going on in town.

7 comments:

  1. welcome to the all consuming mental drain that is the GDR =)

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  2. Decisiveness is good. There's a Goethe quotation I'm not recalling.

    The Monkey will serve you well. Get some good reliable parts and you'll be set.

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  3. Congrats on the new monkey! What method travel will you use for the Iditarod Trail race? I could see you any of the three options.

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  4. hey dave b.,
    not sure yet what method i'll use on ITI but i'm leaning toward foot. definitely not skiing. i'm too new to skiing to try to tackle something like that, and from what i hear the skiing once you get over the alaska range can be almost impossible due to lack of snow. building up a good snow bike by then is almost certainly out of my budget so that has me leaning toward running, which would certainly be my strongest method anyway.

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  5. Vive le monkey!! Good call, Geoff, did you get a brown one??

    Watch the fork clearance with the Reba. I thnk they corrected for that on the newer ones though...

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  6. Not sure where to post this but I wanted to ask if anyone has heard of National Clicks?

    Can someone help me find it?

    Overheard some co-workers talking about it all week but didn't have time to ask so I thought I would post it here to see if someone could help me out.

    Seems to be getting alot of buzz right now.

    Thanks

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