FLASH-POINT BLOG ARCHIVE: Nov 2006

I still owe you a story about Ride the Rockies in June.It was literally a good warm-up for the hills that I am facing now!

The thought of climbing for several hours can be quite mind-blowing. I found it interesting to see how your body can adjust to this different type of challenge so quickly.
The wheels did very well, climbing and descending. Only one scary moment when I was descending with almost 50 mph on a windy road, windy conditions – and a semi coming from the other direction. I almost flew off the bike, but managed to regain control.
The Flashpoint folks were very friendly and helpful. We chatted a lot, every afternoon after a nice day of riding, about all kinds of things, not only the wheels and the marketing. They checked the wheels for me and found them to be in perfect shape.
One day, I was able to test-ride the Zipp 808 – wow, what a fantastic wheelset. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to ride them everyday. The Flashpoints are definitely the more variable wheelset for a much wider range of use.
Overall, I had a wonderful week, met a lot of interesting and nice people and put a few hundred miles on the Flashpoints.

First of all, I have to apologize for the long break, but there was simply nothing to write about (cycling- and Flashpoint-related) for a particular reason:
I moved from the US to the Caribbean end of June. Of course, it took quite a while to ship our belongings, including the bikes. And then….still no internet at home yet.
Cycling is different here. Commuting would be suicidal, finding some people and a group to ride with was crucial.
Now it’s almost November and still nice and warm! Another major change is the terrain - nothing for a (former) flatlander like me. It took me a while to get used to the hills (I should rather say mountains), not only on the bike.
Road conditions are sometimes scary with huge potholes, so I was already thinking about “retiring” the Flashpoints for while. But then again, why not give them a try? I expected them to be out of true in no time, but so far, so good!
Again, theses wheels prove to be perfect allrounders. You can literally ride them every day, with the benefits of racing wheels.
Talking about racing: Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to race this year because of the move. But I am almost getting nervous and can’t wait for next year ;-).