Goodbye my Felty, Goodbye my friend

You have been the one, you have been the one for me. Hello my Guru, hello my friend, you are the one, you are the one for me! -a play on James Blunt. Although Felty has brought me great memories it's time to move on. Some highlights to reflect upon:

My First:

-time using clipless pedals, drop bars, vertical breaks/shifters, and aero bars

-"long" 18 mile ride along the 56 bike path

-critical mass

-triathlon: Mission Bay Spring Sprint, 1st in my agegroup!

-time changing a flat

-of many Del Mar tri club rides along Hwy 101

-80 mile epic ride! (after my prior longest being 40)

-olympic distance triathlon (Pumpkinman)

-60 mile Borrego desert experience
All in all, Felty gave me 1673 fairly enjoyable miles although she had some issues near the end. She was a great ride, and she will be missed. And here is the replacement:

TaDa! My custom Guru Crono in Trimuph Green with Zipp 404s.
Bike arrival doesn't equate to instantaneous riding of the bike. A lot goes into the building of this awesome piece of machinery. I would know...I think I spent over 9 hours Friday and Saturday watching the mechanics turn the frame and parts into a smooth-riding bicycle. I asked for a maiden voyage for Saturday morning, along the 101 with the triathlon club Del Mar ride, which sadly, didn't occur.

I came in Friday after work and it hadn't been started. This custom stealth black Parlee (over $10k, 3 month wait time) was in line before me...and was harder to put together than first anticipated. Friday evening after a bonfire at Bahia with Des and Bob, and dinner at Roger's, I headed back to check JT's progress. Not Started!! What? lol. He then remembered a crucial part had to be glued with epoxy. Epoxy that needed 12 hours to dry! He worked on it as much as possible without messing up the headset but had to stop at midnight. I walked out of the shop...with my old bike in hand. (sad face).

I then headed to Solana Beach to hang with the hockey players. We all went on a breakfast ride to Pannikin Saturday morning (on the old bike). A brisk 10 mile ride on the 101 to start the day...and it ended up being the final voyage on Felty. Saturday afternoon, back to the shop to really watch the transformation. Dan was hard at work, installing the cables, bottom bracket, crank, chain, derailleurs, and everything else needed to get this bike out of the shop, under me, and on the road! At 4:30 it was finally done. Stephen had come by to check it out and ride the first ride with me.

Here I am taking my first (nervous) pedal strokes. Light, quick to start, fast on the flats, smooth, and it rides beautifully. We headed up Canon to Cabrillo National Monument on the usual JT Tuesday ride route. Rolling hills at the top of Point Loma with sporadic views of the sunset over the ocean. It was so much fun to put the hammer down! We only had enough sunlight for a quick out and back ride. So many differences from the old felty; quite the upgrade. Saturday night we went to hockey Bill's house in La Jolla for a dinner party, where I was named the Most Improved Player at the Pacific Coast Championships.

Sunday morning we woke to grey skies and a chill to the air. Ran back for the arm warmers. (thank goodness!) Mark and Shannon met Stephen and I at my place and we headed to El Cajon for my debut ride on the Great Western Loop. Holy hills! This 43 mile ride has over 5000' of climbing (and descending) and would normally be in the scorching inland heat. Nope. It was chilly on the flats, I sweat on the uphills no matter what, and then descending it's cold again...now with wet clothes! Burr...oh yeah did I mention it RAINED! On my new bike! (Yes, I shed a tear!) 3 hours later we made it back and headed to Rancho's Mexican Restaurant in OB for brunch.

So my bike really likes the flats and downhills. And I love my bike. So it works out. Now she needs a name. Crono croc, guru gator, green gator, green revolution...any thoughts?