onward and upward

In true Cleveland sports style once the season is over it's time to gaze boldly and dreamily towards the upcoming season. There is always next year, and next year will be perfect... right
Taken from the NEOCX website..

A number of dates have already been reserved for the 2011 NEOCX Series! Please see the list of tentative dates below:

- Sept. 3, 2011 (SATURDAY – Team Lake Effect/Manatoc)
- Sept. 11, 2011 (SnakeBite/Brooklyn Rec.)
- Sept. 18, 2011 (Spin/Wendy Park CX)
- Sept. 24, 2011 (SATURDAY – Stark Velo CX)
- Oct. 2, 2011 (SnakeBite/Cascade Park, Elyria)
- Oct. 16, 2011 (Spin/Willoughby CX)
- Oct. 23, 2011 (Blue Sky (or Not!) II CX/Euclid)
- Oct. 29, 2010 (Solon/Chagrin River CX – Day 1)
- Oct. 30, 2010 (Solon/Chagrin River CX – Day 2)
- Nov. 6, 2011 (CRC/Solon)
- Nov. 13, 2011 (Spin/Location TBD)

All these prospective races come with a potential Single Speed CX Category that the Centurion will own, maybe co-own. The currently hypothetical SSCX race would be Open and only 30 minutes. Which leaves me to think that with a little extra effort over the summer and spring, I could possibly race that, and then still have some gas in the tank to race the B's. Singlespeed then too... of course

I am excited, are you?

snow

winter is back.....so are the fenders, the layers, the gloves that never quite keep warm, and the totes galoshes because waterproof booties are out of my price range. I hope to keep some form this winter. We'll see, the past two winters I've gained 10-15 lbs and then lost it in the spring. I don't want to do that again. I like riding in the winter, I always feel like there is less traffic. I doubt thats quantitatively accurate. Nonetheless, crisp morning rides where everything is muffled by the snow are to me, a great way to get the day going. Of course, not everything is gumdrops and rainbows.

Two years ago I broke a blood vessel in my eye straining so hard to ride up a hill going home during a snowstorm.

There is also the random wipeouts due to ice on the road. Usually once are year I'm just riding along and then zing! I'm sitting on the ground wondering what happened as my bike spins away from me.

And how could I forget my first full Cleveland winter of riding, back when I had virtually no technical gear. Riding to school during the day and working as a server at Aladdin's at night. One night at work at Aladdin's my right foot started burning. Just a little at first, but then it got worse and soon my left foot started burning. Though I've never had athlete's foot, I thought man this must be athlete's foot. I trotted across the street and purchased some athlete's foot medication from the convenient store, and rubbed all over my inflamed feets. WOW was I wrong. My feet went from burning to holy sh#*# what did I do? shove my feet in a coal furnace! Wrong move, bad form misdiagnosis. Turns out they were frost bitten. Now I know what not to do....

bog of eternal stench

Visit cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

daaaaaaamn '87 cx nats superbog

Visit cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

also a video of the day 1 A race from the 2010 Chagrin River Cyclocross Challenge

kirtland pump station

welp the season is over...This was my second year racing at Kirtland park, and I love this course. I think it's a perfect course for a single speed. There is really only one section were racers can gear up, otherwise it's turns, technical climbs, switchbacks, and two 'day of reckoning style' stair cases that frame the course on the east and west sides. Just like last year the stairs and a technical dismount-180-around-a-tree-on-a-hillside-switchback are what saved the race for me, ....well at least made it so I was able to hang with the fast guys. I never like the first lap of the race, they're crowded, no one's willing to give an inch and people take unnecessary risks. Fortunately for me one of those unnecessary risks was racers trying to ride this 180 around the tree thats on a hillside switchback. Every time I ran this kooky section I either passed a racer or made up a great deal of time on someone who passed me. Otherwise I spent most of the race passing and then getting passed by a Stark Velo racer, I think his name was David. Finally in the 7th lap after the first stair run he blew by me in the flat, and I thought damn thats it, I'm gassed and there is no way I can catch him. But low and behold on next and final lap he tried to ride the dirt path parallel to the second section of stairs, where he stuttered, faltered and failed. Earlier in the race I caught him here but he immediately blew by me on the remount. This time around I had caught up right behind him and ran those old concrete stairs as hard as I possibly could, stairmaster, and hoped for a smooth remount as I was passing him. Success! and then went wide open, full throttle, pedal to the metal, as fast as my stumpy legs could spin through the spiral of death on the baseball diamond and home into tenth place. and then on to Happy Dog for some grub.

I'm bummed the season's over and very excited for next year.

graph

So here's a quick chart I made of my six race season. It progresses chronologically from left to right across the x axis. The y axis is place ratio, which is my attempt to control for the varying field size between races, its just my finishing place divided into the total racers. I don't know what is this is the best way to represent the data, or how I can properly weight each race, as a last place ratio would be 1 but a first place ratio would be asymptotic and possibly not accurately representative. A 5th in a field of 44 would have a much larger ratio than 5th in a field of 63.

The CRC Solon and Chagrin river races were raced with a 7 speed index system on 27inch wheel and riser bars ( using my normal Centurion frame). All other races were with my normal single speed setup.

What does this tell me ?
I was physically unprepared for the season. I most certainly need to dedicate more time to getting race ready. This year I didn't start riding (outside of commuting to work, school and playing bike polo) until mid June, and even then it was inconsistent and lacked interval and heart rate training completely

Also being psychologically prepared, going into the Kirtland park race knowing I can easily finish top ten made a world of difference.

Heart rate training. Just before the chagrin river race I started keeping track of my heart rate when I was exercising. I believe that that over the course of the following four weeks was one of the biggest contributors to the vast difference between my early season and late season races.

Needless to say there is plenty of room for improvement between now and next year.

happy dog

I'm no food critic, but I feel the need to give this place some props.
If you're in Cleveland and on the near west side 58th and Detroit to be specific, I would suggest swinging by the Happy Dog. At first $5 for a hot dog ( or vegan sausage) seemed a bit steep, but that $5 includes any or all of 50 gourmet toppings. Vodka sauerkraut, chorizo chili, fresh tomato slices, kimchi, peanut butter, bourbon baked beans just to name a few. All alongside an awesome atmosphere. A little over a year, maybe two years ago the Happy Dog restructured themselves changing up their menu with the help the owner of Momocho, and few other things such as getting some great local band s to play there and starting events like a pinball league. Since then I've made a monthly sometimes tri-monthly trek westward to dine on delicious dogs, tater tots and a brew from a seemingly endless selection. Its also a great low key place to watch a browns, cavs or tribe game.
note
happy dog has fast become a local cycling scene favorite. After yesterday's (11-21) cyclocross race I went there with the 'rents and my g/f only to run into a few other racers there, and then learned later on in the day (well after we had left) that 40 some had stopped there after the awards ceremony.

pre last race '10

Last race of the season is coming up on Sunday. Apt timing too as I have far too much catching up to do with my grad school classes. (not that I'm really behind, I'm much more dedicate to being a good student than a good cyclocross racer) Browns are playing away this weekend so I'm gonna try to get as many people as possible to tailgate the race. At the very least give my friends a visual to put with my most likely boring stories that i tell them. If there is one thing that I learned this year its that I didn't dedicate enough time training and getting in shape before the season. Its always easier to put something off or substitute it with something easier, or call it quits early on a work out, but in the end I end up cursing myself for those shortcuts. I don't desire to be the fastest racer out there, just to have good competitive races, and those don't happen without investment. I know it sounds corny

also still following the j-pow behind the barriers, I think they're great. my g/f thinks it's just bike dorks with a bored cameraman.

"Behind The Barriers" Episode 7 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.

new belg

bad for Todd Wells day at 2 min 50 sec
looks painful on the right leg
guess thats what one gets for showboating

blue sky z 11-14-2010

Returned to racing single speed cross at the Blue Sky (or not) race in Euclid. I like it much better than using a junky hodge podge sis setup. The course was well balanced, switch backs, a spiral of death, some technical mazey turns, mud, a hill run up, some long power sections and lots of off camber stuff. At Blue Sky I reached a few personal firsts

• successfully and repeatedly remounting of the bike by doing the jump and land your bum on the saddle technique, instead of the normal stagger and throw one leg over
• first top 10 finish this season
• first time I raced with 'low' tire pressure around 35 psi I assume, I didn't have any tool to measure
• firs post race puke.. this season

the low tire pressure made all the difference in the world! no joke. Forever I blew off riding low pressure as a fallacy and myth. Was I ever wrong. Go figure the Ritchey Speedmax tires which I have so often cursed worked wonders when properly inflated...

the saddle jump was something I didn't do on every remount but I made it on several. That too makes a world of difference. My typical technique is that if I'm near (within a 1/4 or so of the course) an approaching set of barriers is to just hang back behind the group that I'm trying to catch and then go full tilt into the barriers do a running like a bat out of hell dismount to pass everyone. Adding the saddle jump just made the only thing I'm fast at doing even faster. awesome.

puking sucked but the last time I made top ten in a race I booted it as well.

Even though I hit the deck probably four times throughout the race I felt great never gassed or unable to catch my breath, and passed tons of racers (for once). Only one person passed me after I had wrecked and gotten myself tangled in the tape, subsequently spending the rest of the race trying to unsuccessfully catch him. Needless he finished 14 seconds ahead of me, about the time I spent in the tape. I don't know what the secret was this race. I felt and rode great and it seemed like the majority of the field was just the opposite. I'm gonna call this one luck, I think some of the top B series racers were no shows and everyone else just had a bad start or something ... i dunno

interestingly enough this race I finished 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind the lead and took 9 place in a field of 44, and in the kent stark race I also finished 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind the lead but took 22 out of a field of 44.

a couple of numbers

NEOCX b series
The average age of the top 10 finishers of the CX races that I've participated in this year is 33.95. The time gaps between first and tenth vary between two minutes and just over four minutes, most races tend to be closer to four minutes. With the data available, typically, I finish between 4 and 5 1/2 minutes behind the first place finisher. So, for most races the ensuing 10-15 racers finish within two minutes of the top 10. For the most part approximately 10 racers every two minutes is the range for every race this season give or take about 20 seconds. Two more races left in the season, When I get some time, most likely after the semester, I'll get some real statistics up here, not approximations.

other media

Missed the race this weekend because I had to catch up on some major homework time. Grad school + work = middle of the pack cyclocross. Anyways here's some great cross videos that I've been watching to break the monotony of reading and writing.

Cross Crusade Race #2 Rainier High School from Burk Webb on Vimeo.

these are both from the same race of the Cross Crusade Series out in Oregon. The second video in particular has some great shots along with some Rush tunez. The bridge with the kids going over the barriers is great, sometimes I feel like that. Whoever produced the second video has a lot of great vids on vimeo from this season. There's only one video of the series I race in and it was just a shaky handi cam 30 seconds of a le mans start. This cross crusade series has two videos that people spent time editing and production. ridiculous. redickyouluss

I've also been following the Jeremy Powers web show Behind the Barriers. It's really dorky. reaally dorky.. but still fun, if you're into cross i guess

"Behind The Barriers" Episode 6 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.

next week is Euclid then one more race and I'm done

anti hipster legislation

not that any of this really affects me as an inept amateur racer

Fixie Hipsters Need Not Apply
Also Fixed gear bicycles will not be allowed in cyclocross events, all bikes must have a freewheel and two brakes: UR10.18 1M3 Cyclocross bikes – freewheel – Tom Simonson. This makes it clear that all cyclo-cross bikes must have a freewheel. 1M3. Bicycle Types (a).. (b) For road, cyclocross (including single speed classes) and MTB races, only a bicycle with a freewheel and one working brake on each wheel shall be used, except as allowed elsewhere in these rules.”

source: cyclocross magazine

I've only raced one race with against someone on a fixed gear and he whooped me and most of the field. I'm not too keen on the necessity of outlawing fixed gears in cross. Maybe in areas with larger fixter populations a deluge of inexperience poorly controlled fixies have proven a nuisance and safety hazard in the races. I feel that this proposed legislation along with the banning of carbon wheels and tubular tires for kiddies is a bit too prescriptive / "we know whats right for you". Mandating front and rear brakes makes plenty of sense. I would most likely never race on a fixed gear bike, but I fail to see the reasoning behind banning a bike if its fixed gear and has a front and rear brake.

Perhaps the cx magistrates may have taken on the nativist m.o., and fixed gears and expensive wheels for juniors do not constitute or contribute to true cyclocross culture. Deviation from whatever their vision of cyclocross culture dilutes and possibly even compromises the integrity of the sport. In theory then, cross culture was founded by those who rode freewheels and did not spend freely on their children. The success and maintenance of cyclocross demands relying on these foundations.

I find these odd, but not odd enough to contact a representative

not that any of this proposed legislation will hamper (or really concern me whatsoever) my pitiful efforts in cyclocross. also there is a clause at the end of the fixed gear proposal that allows for exceptions except as allowed elsewhere in these rules.

chagrin river cyclocross day #1 2010

This was the first race last year were I felt capable and overall in good form for the entire race. I was not dead legged and could respond to other racers sprints and hole shots. The 2009 chagrin river cx was also the first race that I had a real fun time attending. 2010 was just as good if not better. This year there seemed to be a larger crowd and the course though similar to last year was just as challenging and not nearly as wet and muddy. The race promoters put a good deal into this two day event, keg of beer, delicious chili, sweet food things, warm fire $3.00 a dozen free range eggs and a party tent. Major props to them. Saturdays race was costume mandatory so I decided to go as Abraham Lincoln. (side note later that night my girlfriend dress up as Baberaham lincoln and we won a costume contest as Abe and Babe) The costume worked pretty well, and everyone could immediately tell who I was dress as. No one likes explaining their Halloween costume ad nauseum. There were alot of good costumes out there on the course. Though there were still a few who even with the threat of a 30 second late start failed to show any Halloween spirit. Party poopers. Of course even if one shows up in the normal spandex team kit they still look like they just walked off the set of a 'Power Rangers' episode. The biggest costume issue I had was that for authenticity sake I zip tied the top had to my helmet, which added a foot or so of needed clearance on top of my head. Despite my efforts to be evasive I still managed to nail almost every low hanging branch on the course. The hat also proved to be a nuisance on the open field part of the course where it picked up a lot of the head wind. Enough so that in pictures you can see me looking at the ground to help ameliorate the strain the top hat was imposing. The hat wasn't the only mishap I also manage to drop my chain at the beginning of the third lap and spent the rest of the course struggling to chase down everyone who I had already passed. I haven't had a mechanical issue like that in a long time and I forgot how much it break up one's rhythm. I'm still skeptical about any advantage gained by changing to a geared bike. First off, the bike is 25% heavier and when the derailleur gets gunked up with leaves or mud the shifting is very inaccurate. This race I found myself having to shift down two and then up one to get the preferred gear. The tires are the best part of the change over to gears. The $12 a pop kendas have proven to do well in the thick mud, loose gravel and sand but are awful on cornering. As long as I'm going straight I'm okay. Secondly, even after re-fitting my bike and adjusting everything so it's as close to a perfect fit as I and several fit guides can get it my lower back is still killing me. Lastly my race place ratio hasn't changed, now I wasn't expecting an awesome sea change in my ability as a cx racer but I figured getting gears would lead to some improvement. I imagine if I had the money to afford a decent SiS system then I wouldn't be so jaded about going geared. I knew what I was getting into and just had to see if I could diy a geared cx bike from what was in my garage. Verdict: I could and it didn't make much of a difference. That being said I think after the season (which for me is three more races) I'm gonna break out the tools and go back to single speed. Also congrats to Jay Karp for taking the W on Saturday's B race.
I would have like to have raced on day two but decided to stop by the courts for a couple of games of bike polo and then home for some much needed homework catchup.

no need to reinvent brakes

cantilever brakes for dummies

"For instance, substituting 622 mm (700C) wheels on a bike built for 630 mm (27 inch) wheels will degrade the braking.)"


always always always consult sheldon brown before finnicking with the bike....

risers

The change to riser bars has been accompanied with a substantial increase in lower back stiffness. This may be from either not properly setting up my bike, or from not being used to riding with risers or any from number of other variables. An hour of yoga yesterday did the trick on my back, and may have to become part of the weekly routine. Note to self, vacuum carpet before yoga #catfur...

solon crc cyclocross race

The course resembled the upper levels of the game snake where the snake had grown far too long for the screen and is forced to double back on itself ad nauseum. So many left hand turns Aye-Carumba! Early on in the second lap a racer on a blue steelman or dieringer went down in front of me, I saw this happen all in slow motion, and then I plowed into him and unintentionally stepped all over his expensive wheels. I really hope I didn't mess anything up on his rig. I didn't stop to check, again raising the question of sportsmanship. After picking up my bike I ran 4 yards or so around one of the 900 turns and immediately slipped and hit the deck, bike in hand. The course was so knotted and turny that it was pretty hard to find a good place to pass someone. The pecking order didn't change much, I spent 85% of the race trying to catch one team spin rider, and just couldn't. On the last lap, near the same spot that I trampled over the wrecked steelman, the racer in front of me snapped the tape which immediately recoiled and wrapped itself all throughout my front wheel. In an o-crap frenzy I had to stop and pull the tape out, of course not thinking to logically unwrap the tape and instead just pulling frantically at whatever strand of tape I could grab until it was wrenched free.
Again I have no idea where I placed, I assume somewhere in the middle of the pack. I feel this course was not an adequate test of converting to gears as i hardly shifted maybe once the entire race. In other news I was C racer Dave's birthday so they grilled out and gave me a free veggie burger. And it was also Jay Karp's first race back after hernia surgery, and he got a top 10 finish! Major props going his way.

bike report

After a few trial and error tests with different cassette and chain wheel sizes I think the cyclocross bike is set to race.. again. Changing a part, setting up or reconfiguring a bike on the cheap is never as easy or quick as it seems when I start the task. The Centurion is back to having 27" wheels, which make the braking a whole lot better. The cantilevers never worked very well with the 700c wheels on the bike. The original pro tour series came with 27" wheels and maybe its just not as easy to swap wheel sizes on bikes with cantilever brake setups as it is on bikes with caliper brake setups. Live and learn. I had to buy a new set of tires, the only cross style 27" tire I could find are made by kenda. The kenda tires are nowhere near a supple as the ritcheys that I was running on the 700s, but I think they'll do. The price for both kenda tires was less than the cost of one ritchey tire. Having good tires seems to be heavily stressed by most serious races, but most of those people also have bikes made this century. Here I'm trying to weigh the trade off between good tires / light weight and having gear options. If my race performance fails to improve over the next two races I'm probably going to return to single speed. All of these changes and modifications are at the expense of a substantial increase in weight.

the current cost of investment in my cyclocross bike.
tires $25
brake pads $12
brake levers $24
Chain $8
Frame $40
total $109

geared

1x7 with riser bars, for now. we'll see how it works out in the field later this week. A few successful tests around the back alley.

experiment

In an on going effort to do all that I can to not purchase a cyclocross bike I have begun a new experiment to transform my single speed cross bike over into the geared world. I really enjoy single speed cross, and my motives to switch are not entirely performance inspired, just mostly so.... so to say. I just want to try racing with a gear bike to see if it makes that much of a difference. If it does I'll keep it, if it doesn't I'll keep it until its time to tune up the rear derailleur and then change back to single speed. I have always been a firm believer in the adage "a poor carpenter blames their tools", but I do believe tools have their limits I saws-all cuts a lot faster than a regular hand saw. Of course I'm not adding an electric motor to my bike...
I don't really have to money available to spring for a new derailleur and cassette and index shifters. I do however have an old sun tour 8 speed index shifter set from an old gt mountain bike that was given to me. The original drive-train on the Centurion was friction shifting. So with a little elbow grease and some major wheel trueing the Centurion single speed is now a Centurion 8 speed. I had to get ride of the drop bars to accommodate the mountain bike style shifter. Not too much of a loss, I never road in the drops anyways. I'm excited to ride in the fast and shifty new world of geared bicycles.

kent state stark cx

part 1.
Though we were promised cx weather on the facebook race bump, we instead received nice sunshine bringing in a breezy mid-60s Saturday. Not too much to write home about my performance during the race. The course was fast and dry, with a long uphill and some really tall barriers. I felt alot better than I did at Wendy Park, however my place ratio was about the same. Around the third or fourth lap there was a section in the early part of the circuit were the course made a bumpy crossing over an asphalt path and then took a blind left curve around a pine tree immediately followed by a right curve. These weren't so much turns as they were quick little S curve jars. Anyways I don't quite remember how it happened but I think it went down like this. The guy in front of me checked is speed through the curves which cause me to react which cause the guy behind me to run into my rear wheel. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzt and then he went down and somersaulted a couple of times with his bike. Someone from the peanut gallery shouted 'Nice Wreck!' I didn't quite know what to do. I haven't been party to a wreck were the result was I was still on my bike. I slowed down and looked back to wait, but when no one else did and the wreckee quickly got up and got back on his bike I took off again. I'm still not sure what the sportsman thing to do is. I ended up briefly chatting with the fellow after the race and he said there's nothing wrong with just going on with the race, and in fact thats just part of the race. Someone nearby chimed in "thats racin' cross man'.
As said before not much to write home about. The weather was beautiful, I felt good and had fun. My friend David T. crashed out in the last lap. What a bummer, but he still had a good attitude about it.
Next race for me wont be till Oct 17th gotta keep training , riding or something... also a little time to catch up on school work.

part 2.
Kent state stark is not that far from Cleveland, maybe a little over an hour. But it's far enough to for me and my lady to feel it warranted a hotel room. (we don't really get out much) And thats what we did. Using the race as the foundation for our "Canton Romance Getaway Extravaganza' we purchased a Saturday night spa package at the McKinley Grand hotel in vibrant downtown Canton. We chose this place mainly because "Grand" was in the name. The package included an awesome cx race in Kent - Stark, diner for two at the slightly cheesy hotel restaurant, and couples massage from some spa. Every thing at the hotel was nice. Pretty run of the mill, nothing extravagant. The restaurant was a little run down but the food tasted good. After that, all I can say is that massages are awkward, this not the fault of the masseur.

wendy park cx

Oh to be fast. Maybe one day. Maybe one day I'll buy an actual cross bike. Maybe I'll start my own business too. The opportunity cost of "fast" will probably be poor grades which are much more unacceptable than a poor finish. $25 to race $60000 for school hmmmm.. I'm sure I can figure something out cause damn I'm slow. My boss, an old cat 2 racer, insists that I should add P90x to my routine. I dunno I'm skeptical about any work out that involves wailing guitars, xtreme camera shots, and shares the same name as a gun from the N64 game James Bond Golden Eye . Yesterday was the first race of my much anticipated (by me and my three cats) sophomore cyclocross season. And much like last year it was a pretty dismal show. The staple mishaps of last year proudly returned in oh10, miscalculating turns, unclipping up steep hills and getting passed while spinning out on straightaways. The only thing epic is how unbelievably (epically) sore my legs are. It was a slooooow commute into work this morning. I did have fun on the 100 yard sand and broken glass section on the lake Erie shore. Perhaps proving once again I should focus on running those sections and not burning myself out trying to muscle through them all macho-like. Still had fun though, and getting some grub at the Old Angle was even better! It should also be noted I did succeed in convincing two friends to race. Spreading the gospel of cyclocross just a little further, or for you fast folks out there increasing the fodder.

Cross oh-10

Ohio is beautiful in the fall, like a big ol' wedding cake. Cyclcross season is like icing on the cake. A very muddy painful icing that always ends up costing more money than you think it will. I'm looking forward to getting my butt kicked in the NEOCX series as well as participating in a few other races across the state. The Centurion is up and running with a new ( as of 1994) set of Dura Ace cranks given to me from the legendary Thom Dom. In addition to the cranks the Centurion has a shiny new surly singulator chain tensioner, which if it follows suit will last about a month before I start zip-tieing it to the frame.

I won't be able to make it to the spin weekly practices, but I feel that won't hold me back toooooo much.

North East Ohio Cyclocross
• Sept 4 – Lake Effect @ Manatoc (Sat afternoon race as part of the Big Valley weekend – see special start times listed below)
• Sept 12 – Spin @ Wendy Park
• Sept 25 – Stark Velo @ Kent State (Stark Campus)
• Oct 8-10 – (Non Series) - UCI3 Cincinnati
• Oct 17 – CRC – Kevin Kimmich @ Solon
• Oct 24 – SnakeBite @ Elyria
• Oct 30 - Solon Bike – Brett Davis @ his parents/Chagrin Falls
• Oct 31 – Solon Bike – Brett Davis @ his parents/Chagrin Falls
• Nov 7 – Spin @ Willoughby (* TENTATIVE)
• Nov 14 – Open <— YOUR RACE HERE
• Nov 21 – Lake Effect @ Kirtland Park
• Nov 28 – (Non Series) – Ohio State Cyclocross Championships

Ohio Valley Cyclocross
September 19 Kings CX; Cincinnati, Ohio
October 3 Tour de Louisville; Louisville, Kentucky
October 8 Cincinnati UCI3 - Devou Park UCI C2; Covington, Kentucky
October 9 Cincinnati UCI3 - Middletown UCI C2; Cincinnati, Ohio
October 10 Cincinnati UCI3 - Harbin Park UCI C1; Cincinnati, Ohio
October 17 DRT BloomingCross; Bloomington, Indiana
October 23 Derby City Cup USGP - UCI C1; Louisville, Kentucky
October 24 Derby City Cup USGP - UCI C2; Louisville, Kentucky
October 31 Eva Bandman STG; Louisville, Kentucky
November 7 Gun Club Cross; Cincinnati, Ohio
November 14 Infirmary Mound; Columbus, Ohio
November 21 Promotion Cross; Lexington, Kentucky
November 28 Buckingham Financial John Bryan OH Champs; Yellow Springs, Ohio
December 4 Ft Harrison; Indianapolis, Indiana
December 5 OVCX Finale - Brookside Cross Cup; Indianapolis, Indiana
Cap City Cross
9/5 - The Frankenbike 50 -- 50 mile dirt road/singletrack/road race/ride weird thing that we don't know how to describe but we hope will be REAL fun at Scioto Trail State Park

2010 Cap City Cross Race Series:
10/ 3 -- Big Run Soap Box Hill (southwest Columbus, excellent venue.)
10/17 -- Coffman Park - Dublin
10/31 -- Uncle Steves Halloween Race
and COLUMBUS CITY CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
11/14 -- Infirmary Mound OVCX
11/28 -- OVCX/Cap City State Champs at John Bryan
12/5 -- Smith Farm
12/12 -- Lobdell!

springles

been running more than I've been cycling all in hopes that having a stronger and faster running aaaand cycling base will bode well for the fall oh10 cyclocross season. the weather has been unseasonably nice. quickly melting away my tolerance for the cold. tomorrow will be mid 50's and rainy. less than a month ago that was t-shirt weather, but now it's a possible brrrrrr


bit of a close call here

sxsw

most vacations involve one or more of the following

-a temperate to tropical climate of warm sunniness
-a relaxing relatively easy schedule, or none at all
-time to unwind, whatever that means
-copious amounts of money to be easily spent
-dorky clothing
-who knows what else, the few vacations I took as a kid were never "relaxing"

Dorky clothing aside I arrived in Austin Tx with non of these. But tradition be damned and on a budget of under $150 (all dedicated to food and booze over 4 days) I was able to see 20+ national bands perform at venues all over Austin. And walked away with many lessons and a little tinnitus.

First lesson:
To the best of my understanding theirs a sort of hierarchy of purchase at sxsw. free/or cash shows are trumped by wrist bands which are superseded by the omni-badges. Wrist bands and badges are completely overrated. To make up the $160 investment one would have to attend primarily wristband only shows, and ignore that fact that many many times throughout the week a band that played a wristband show one day will often play a nonwristband show later in the week. Also with the exception of a few cases wristbands and badges could be substituted (like many things in life) with the loop hole of cold hard cash. Which also was only presented once while I was there, and it was a paltry $5.

Second Lesson:
Lone star makes you poop. I've never dropped the Browns of at the stadium so many times in one day as I did after my first night of Lone Star a la Carte. The inexpensive $2.00 took a much greater toll on my GI then my wallet.

Third Lesson:
Bring a good pair of shoes. Three days in a row our itinerary was from 12pm to 2am of non stop shows. All of them free and all of them within walking distance of the other. However all that "oh is just a few blocks away" really adds up, particularly when combined with all the standing around like terra cotta warriors of rock n roll.

Fourth Lesson:
Our biggest problem was being turned away from after party shows because we failed to rsvp properly. Though we did rsvp for a couple of venues there were some that were advertised as just a free show/party that up arrival were discovered to be rsvp only. So do the research. show list austin was an excellent resource but it still failed to provide all needed information, and sometimes left us hanging at 2am

Fifth Lesson:
sleep? on a vacation? seriously not necessary for this event.

Sixth Lesson:
Don't feed the crust punks. Also why do they all have dogs tied to ropes, isn't that just one more mouth to feed? And whats up with the all black motif (i know its got something to do with being an anarchist) I know they've never done anything antagonistic to me but damn stop asking for my second slice of pizza. Don't come between a bear and her cub or me and my pizza.

i'm sure I'll think of more lessons/non lessons and edit this post

sxsw ruled
top 5 best shows for me were
1)acid mothers temple .club 1808
2)this moment in black history .plush
3)japandroids .some club on w6th
4)some noisy female 2 piece whos name I can't remember .the french legation
5)efterklang .music gym

who knows all the sweet stuff i missed

springish

next week I'll be in austin
at sxsw with my cousin
who lives in austin

i'll probably be tweeting alot
http://www.twitter.com/alexanderk

we don't have too much planned other than to catch a few this moment in black history shows and as many acid mothers temple shows as we possibly can

I'm sure there will be plenty of other bands
my cousin is a big fan of the Austin locals the fm campers I have not heard them outside of myspace so we'll see

the past few years my interest in going out of my way to attend specific shows has certainly waned. though the frequency of show attendance has only declined a little, the intentions, and reasons I believe are now a bit more complacent, perhaps less dedicated then they were when I was younger. I'm sure I could spend some time and come up with a whole slew of reasons as to why, but instead I'm just going to say that now I just like going to good shows with good friends, and in Austin I don't care so much who I see as who I see it with.

got the 2010 usa cycling license the other day,
one hour on the trainer yesterday while watching the 2004 l'alpe duez time trial
aiming for two hours today to "hell on wheels"

tdfebruary

My friend Dave alerted me that one can get past Tour de France dvds from netflix. I find this to be pretty awesome. It's hard to convince people that watching a bike race can be fun and captivating. Each race has it own intense story arc which folds into the greater story of the tour. Which of course works its way into the soap opera season.
This argument can translate to most any sport which likens following professional cycling to following NASCAR or professional wrestling. What makes it so easy to get wrapped up in the back and forth teenage soap opera acts of attrition and verbal disputes between sprinters or the one man against the elements soliloquies of the the lone climbers ? the search for individual perfection through vicarious sources? Does the need for a reason matter? No, but its good to know I can watch tdf all year long if I wanted to...
Dave for example watches the old races while riding his indoor trainer. Off season training for cyclists is probably one of the most masturbatory activities one can partake. Faced with my first season of actually having a UCI license I am yet to start training for any road season. Though I should be.. While those like dave and many of my other cylcing compadres have been logging long hours on the trainer to tdf videos or movies or whatever scheme they can come up with to pass the inanity of stationary bike riding, I have been eating pizza and chicken fingers and making lists of what I should do to get ready for cycling and then usually falling asleep.
its cold and dreary
i know that once I start riding I'll be glad that I did.. its just getting over that first bump

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-worst-winter-weather-cities

sloth

Bike Ailement/current condition

• polo bike: two waay out of true wheels, major brake adjustment
• cx bike: no brakes
• communter blue: two flats
• road bike: salty roads....
• bmx: there nothing wrong with it... i just dont ride it

solution: push all bike in the back of the garage and make room for the car. at least until spring and the garage is no longer freeeeeezing

the last blog tried too hard
its wet and cold and gray
and there's something living in the walls of my apartment
chirp chip scratch scratch