Upgrade this! Why Move Up When You Can Just Keep Bitching?

You coming or going? I was going to upgrade, but I think I'll just ride this one backwards.

One month in and there's all sorts of chirping about points, upgrades, race categories and so on. I can't figure it all out, really, except to say that I'm going slower and everybody else is getting faster. You can't swing a dead cat right now without hitting a new Master's ++++++ category. Old guys are everywhere. There are more women racing too, which is good, but they still need some of the new, faster blood to step up to Elites. But that's just me.

Maybe there should be special categories for guys like Slayer and DC (Don Cameron, you idiots) to duke it out to the death in a one-on-one cage match. Hey they already run away from the field, why not let them settle this on their own?

How about a category for guys who are really fast but don't give a shit? JB can laugh while Mike drinks and they'd both ride away from me like I've got two flat tires. Jerks.

If you're wondering if you should upgrade (when you shouldn't) while you're on top of the podium and chomping painted metal and wondering where you're going to put another Champs jacket in your closet don't be too hasty ...

... because just like that you could be going from first to practically sight-unseen because of a hole no bigger than a rat bite.

If you ever do think about upgrading, here's a good tutorial on the matter by the genius cartoon people at Xtranormal.

And if you are a real idiot and get tied up in the slippery slope of chasing series points, or you just love talking about how f-king tired you are from doing double races on the weekend (like I do) here's another tasty XtraNormal forwarded by Flying Bats, about doing the double and chasing the points ...

Riding tonight? It could be a mud-bath. Let us know. Start time will be 6:30. I have a special mud bike for nights like these, it doesn't have top end capability, but with a little less in the shifting department it may be more dependable when the going gets deep.

The Dirty Mudder with Gears

Trek XO Cross Bike 54

Redline Pro Carbon/Alloy steer tube fork

Front ring  42 (no brand but usually FSA)

Salsa Chain Guard (44)

Problem Solver Dog Fang inner chainring guard

Cassette 12-27 Miche

Centaur 10 Speed right shifter

Tektro left brake

Ritchey 42 WCS Bars

Ritchey 120 WCS Stem

Thompson Elite Seat Post

Fizik Aliante Saddle

Centaur Rear Mech

Velocity Spartacus Wheels (38 deep?)

Truvative Roulier Cranks 172.5

Crank Bros Candy pedals

Wipperman Chain (mid level)

Origina Pro Cantilever Brakers (wide spooky TRP style)

Velocity Bottle Cage

Planet Bike bar wrap

I'm providing all this stupid information above not because this bike is so special (it's not) but because I'd like featuring your bikes here with all the specs I've literally thrown up here. I think it's great to see what other people run and give the rest of us some ideas on how to set up a bike that works for you, based on the size on performance of riders you know. Send a photo and the specs and I'll put it up here.