Just about a bike: Specialized S-Works CX

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A 2000 Specialized S-Works CX popped up on our local Craigslist the other day.  As pictured in the ad, the bike appeared to be rather cobbled together. Bikes of this vintage often are. Nevertheless it also looked like it had really good bones: bright mostly-intact paint and, according to the seller, some really good shit in a box, too. Turns out he still had the entire original XTR-M950 group, and the "missing" right-hand Ultegra integrated brake/shift lever, the original seat, everything in fact, except for the stock rear wheel with its bespoke S-Works hub. Definitely some significant resto/refurb potential!

During our first salvo of correspondence the seller told me he'd had the bike shelved in his garage for several years and now needed the space for other things (a tale as old as time). The seller also told me he had inherited it from a neighbor some years ago and had converted it to 11-speed recently, but that he was willing to include the contents of the old parts box in the deal if I would be willing to return the newer 11-speed parts to him once I'd removed them from the bike. Of course! Duh.

So, I arranged to meet him in a corner of one of the parking lots at the hospital, cash in hand.  Took me 2 minutes to eyeball the rig and shake the seller's hand, "I'll take it."  And that's how deals like this get done.

Let's use a heart-rate monitor!

Several of the following observations were originally posted to the Fifty+ Years Old Forum at mtbr.com on 01 October 2024.

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I started riding with a heart rate monitor, a Garmin Forerunner 45, in April 2024 and, after several months of data collection, I now find myself absolutely fascinated by what I've been learning about my cardio-vascular health and fitness. I am especially intrigued by the corroboration of what I feel has been a distinct increase in my overall-fitness and threshold-endurance during this summer's riding season. 

Bottom line: I love doing the things I get to do outdoors. My objective in learning to use a heart rate monitor has been to better understand my general overall fitness and health and, quite simply, to maximize however-many years might remain to me to continue to be able to do these essential activities that I love. Below is an inexpert run-down of what I think I'm beginning to understand better about my body based on what my new monitor seems to be telling me.