So I started to try and get the tica ready for the muddy doggy 100 miler this weekend.  
 
-Took the derailleur off that I bought to replace the one I cracked on the goatneck ride- it was only a double and I need a triple.
-added a 55 tooth aero chainring  
- straightened the tiller which was 2-3 inches off-center, which might account for the bike feeling a bit squrrelly  
- rotated the handlebars  to center them as well - it was pitched too far right.
- repositioned the center q-ring which I believe might have been one bolt hole too far clockwise.
 
and finally I put the old cracked front derailleur on.  It had never fuctioned correctly before - I could either get it into the small ring or big ring, but I had to make a choice.  Put it back on just for the heck of it, and not only does it work, it now shifts flawlessly (on the stand at least) between all 3 chainrings.  It strains the derailleur to the absolute LIMIT to get on that big sucker, but it's working.
 
I'm such a horrible mechanic - I love it when happy accidents go in my favor.

What the heck is an "aero chainring"???  

except I'm using a regular round tooth chainring, it just has a carbon fiber cover over the chainring.  I wasn't really looking for that when I got the chainring, but it was the only 55t I could find.