Trip and Tubulars

The trip to Boston went much better than I expected. The kids did well as could be expected in the car and at night, so it was about as relaxing as it was going to get.

When I got back, I was suprised to see an email that we were starting cyclocross practice at the track this week! Cyclocross already? Really?

So, I packed up the new bike and took it to the track last night. I brought my tubular tires and wheels to try out with the new bike. I had a fleeting thought that I should really check the glue, but I'd already aired up the tires so I didn't.

Things went OK at the track. Between the heat and not having ridden in a week, I didn't feel so great, but I managed. The SRAM drivetrain worked OK with the Shimano cassette, maybe just a little noisier when shifting to the bigger cogs. I still need to get used to the shifting though. I found myself not shifting when I should have just because I wasn't confident with it. A few times I tried to shift to an easier gear when I was already in the biggest cog, which resulted in going to a harder one... not nice!

Otherwise, I really liked the bike. The handling seemed quicker than my old bike; this was one of the main reasons I chose the Salsa over the Bianchi that I tried. The carbon fork also seemed to help damp out some of the vibration from the always-bumpy surface at Waterford.

Right near the end of the night, I was trying to make a fast tight corner around a tree when my front wheel slid out. It was a small crash, so I hopped right back on the bike and got going again. Then I could hear something thumping on my bike. I got back off and spun the front wheel, it went halfway around and stopped. The tire had partially rolled off the rim and was hitting the brakes. I popped it back on and kept going. Knowing that the glue was suspect, I didn't push hard for the rest of the night. So, now I've rolled my first tubular. It really wasn't too big of a deal, but I'll get them re-glued before I use them again.