another slow season

big props to the NEOCX administrators, its hard to imagine the amount of work (probably all of it done in peoples spare time) needed to have such an awesome race series.

big thanks to all the scum city racers, and Joy Machines Bike shop,

Kirtland pump station is my favorite course, always fast and fun, and being the last race of the season no matter what, there is something to look forward to here. I tried to get people to come out the race, making claims that, it will be easy to watch, i'll have beer,you'll laugh when you see me in spandex, and at least come for the food trucks, but everyone bailed. (There were a few surprise shows though, high-fives to the redryders and scott l.)

My race didn't go so well, and called it in the 4th lap when I hopped back on the saddle of the Centurion only to have it drop rails deep to the frame. I tried to fix it and carry on, but it was too jimmy-jacked to continue. I considered my options, and decided some tacos from the food truck were the best choice.

almost immediately daydreams of what to do to make next year better flooded my head and monopolized all my keyword searches in google and yahoo. Should I keep riding singlespeed? Should I get a bike with gears? If I go to geared do I have to race in the B's again? Will there be taco handups instead of beer?

I do have a couple of plans

1) stay in shape over the winter. this is easily the hardest to accomplish. riding the bike trainer is so boring... so very boring... in fact i don't know if there is anything more boring.

2) buy a mountain bike. last summer I was switching out the slicks on my polo bike with knobbies and riding that as a single speed mountain bike, but since that was stolen along with my CX bike I think I might take the plunge and buy the redline 29er

3) ride with people. riding by yourself makes you slow. riding with people makes it easier to push you self

4) become more involved with the NEOCX series

we have the technology

Welp, the Centurion is back in action. Rebuilt for cyclocross action with some spare parts. I had moved the handle bars, brake system, bottom bracket, cranks and chain ring to the new, and now stolen Raleigh. This has left me with little to work with when throwing together a whip for the last local race of the season. Of course, I had just finished converting the Centurion to the ultimate winter commuter bike. Off with the fenders and back to the front line...

good bye

good bye dear Raleigh Hi Life. You got me on the podium 3 outta 4 times. A bit too small , but not too fast ....stolen

photo credit: from greatracenutrition.com i think

no gas

raced day 2 at the chagrin river 2 day cx extravaganza pb fast track cycling. Every year the folks who put this event on do a great job Just couldn't get going. I however, did not do a great job. Spent most of the race thinking, "how the eff is he soo far ahead of me, ?..." Fun race, but frustrating. There were a bunch of dock section and barn doors covering up the flooded ditches. These were very sketchy, potentially dangerous and I hope they don't return next year. Also, our car got stuck in the mud, we had to resort to filling the trench dug by the tires with sticks and pine needles. Managed to bend a skewer on the roof rack too. blergh On a lighter note the 'rents, the g/f and brother #1 came out to watch my mediocre performance, and then we got some Mexican at El Camino. Tacos make everything better.

fantasy cyclocross http://www.velogames.com/about.php yup I have a team

comments on pro cyclingcrozz: trebon is crushing it, we'll see if he can keep it going until January, Tim Johnson is having the worst luck in the world. And my favorite underdog, Geoff kabush is now unemployed, luckily he's Canadian and has free(ish) health-care.

next week's race is in Solon, and it's contending with the big UCI race down in the dirty 'nati, so with any luck the fast doods will be out of town. Flyer here.

azure sky

Blue sky (or not) II went down this weekend. At over two miles it was a fun course, and pretty long for this series. Rolling up to the race venue in the morning it was exciting to see the event on the City of Euclid electronic message board. I'm a bike fan of urban races. I live in the city, I don't have a car. I grew up in BFE, and though it is nice to visit, I don't really want to drive waaaaay oouut there to race a bike all the time. The tale of cyclocross coming about as a point to point race in Europe across farms and fields, is great but very situationally applicable. One of my favorite traits the US cyclocross, and the NEOCX series is the variety of locations offered. There are races out there in BFE and they're great races, and there are races near city centers and in urban parks; ultimately each provides their unique compliment to the series as is progress through the season.Somehow though, I tend to favor the re-appropriated city park races, no offense rural promoters,as its just one man's opinion ...what a ramble....

Having a single speed division that starts 2 minutes behind the normal field has completely spoiled me. Unlike past races the Blue sky started the SSCXers with the B-masters group.Over this season I have forgotten what mania the first lap of the race can be; with log-jams, pile ups, and getting stuck behind someone who can take a turn if their life depended on it. Starting with the rest of the B masters brought those memories back quickly, the entire first lap was a fight. ugggh.

2/3rds of the course was pretty plane jane grass crit, that was slowly turning into mud as the day went-on. The other 1/3 was some dry rollers in the woods, and a hellacious off-camber 100 yard wide series of mud-switch-backs on the shore of Lake Erie. The switchback had a 100 yard flat section that made a hairpin about face into a 100 yard stretch of mud on a 45 degree slope, which had another 180 turn at its end to a similar to the first part 100 yard muddying flat stretch. Somehow I was lucky enough to ride this every lap, and not burn myself up for the ensuing stair run up. Overall good course, great beer, and some jaw-droppingly awesome pulled pork sammies


"you can only race the people who show up" is a quote from zach(or james?) dieringer, after I told him, yeah I got 2nd but its because all the fast people are down at states. So for the first time in my storied 3 year career I ended up on the podium, and I was awarded a balling pair of super socks.

Stark Velo and Brooklyn CX

Stark Velo race went pretty well. My place in the single speed pecking order moved up by two, which I would say is a win. The course was similar to the previous year's, a grass crit course with long power sections, not too technical. Watching John Proppe win the A race was amazing. It was very exciting to see a new face shake up the other wise 4 usual names. Magz and I did Canton romantic getaway 2.0 by getting a room at the luxurious airport Hilton, and dinner at Bender's. Bender's was pretty damn good I would certainly go back there.

Brooklyn would have been the perfect race. It was beyond muddy. So thick was the course in some parts that long sections had to run. It was my impression and as the first 3/4 of lap one proved this was the course for me. Luck, however, had other plans. The Single Speeders start about two minutes behind the b1 group. The b1 is comprised of 35+ (age) B racers. These guys, even though technically are in a completely different category than the Single Speeders really fight you for every turn, and won't let you pass. Normally I start catching the b1 group about half way through the second lap. At Brooklyn we (the Single Speeders) were catching the b1 group half way through the first lap. I had a great position, and then my front wheel flatted. I don't bring spares to the race, so I was SOL. I rode my flatted bike a little further then gave up and walked. I was walking my bike back down the course when I was passed by team mate Guy Singer. He told me he was dropping out of the race. I said hey there gimme your front wheel, we'll trade. So he did, and in possibly a not so race legal swap I was back in the race.(we were near the pit, does that count? and my walking never cut any of the course) Only now, the wheel Guy gave me was too big to provide any good clearance, and my bike was too mudded up for me to get the front brake back on the cantilevers. I had to stop at least 10 times to roll my bike backwards and pick giant softball sized chucks of mud our from the my front fork to keep myself from endoing, and had to take all turns with one leg out, unclipped, as I only had a rear brake. The awesome folks at snake bite racing provided time splits per lap. I had a 14 minute first lap and an 11 minute second lap a 12 minutes third lap and a 13 minutes fourth lap (I wrecked pretty bad at the bottom of a hill on the fourth lap. Catching my breath and getting the rig back together took sometime out of me). boo

cascade park cx

I think I'm gonna be second to last for the majority of the season. I'm nowhere near the caliber of the riders that are winning these races, not even enough to really be competitive in them. I'm glad that most of the SS racers are 'A' series racers, just, it leaves me spending all but the first lap by my self in no-man's-land. The only motivator is picking off the nearest geared racer and not getting lapped by the lead. The Cascade Park cx race in Elyia firmly established this motif for my season. Half way through I took a hand up of Miller High Life. I only enjoyed a sip of it before tossing it to the side. I'm sure theres a pictures somewhere in the intertoobz.




The course was fun though, more running than other courses, which I enjoyed thoroughly. There were two hills, which after a lap I had to run up, a set of a barriers, a short run up bit that was ridable but only if one successfully navigated the chopped mixtures of turf and mud, and then the laughably not ridable bog of eternal stench. The bog was about 10-15 yards long and was low-calf deep super thick mud. Many did try to ride it, I have no qualms about running, and very little to prove by riding. Those who made it through the bog of eternal stench on two wheels were few, the rest enjoyed a spectacular face plant. The rest of the scum city racers did pretty well in their respective events, it will be nice to watch that team develop into hopefully a group of decent, but motley crossers

Next week is the Wendy Park Race. There will be a single speed category, but we'll be starting with the entire B group. No splitting up into 3 separate but equal races. The only bad part for me is that I'll be getting in from Portland, OR at 6 am Sunday morning, so I'm sure this race will go over like a lead balloon. yech...

manatoc vid

theres a bunch of neocx vids from the manatoc race up youtube. This is the B1 single speed race. The single speeders started a minute after the masters doods.

its a kinda magic

It only took me 3 years but I finally got the "magic gear" set up to work on my Centurion Single Speed Cross Disaster Transport Bike. I was reading a very brief interview with Adam Craig in the 12th issue of Cyclocross magazine, in which he swore by the use of a magic gear for his single speed cyclocross national championship bike. This got the old tinkerbox thinking, and an afternoon later I had something that one would call a success.

The magic gear allows a single speed setup on a bike with vertical dropouts without the use of a chaintensioner. Sheldon Brown best describes it here. 44x20 with a 1/8th chain is the magic setup apparently. I must stress that this does not agree with the Infotoobz Magic Gear Calculatoro 6000 . But whats important is that it works. Now, what to do with three single speed chain tensioners??..... Bike is running smooth...need to get some pictures......stilll

I ran into a local crosser the other day who presented me with some bitttersweet news about the new NEOCX single speed category. The good part was that by combining those who I know that plan to race sscx and those that he knew, all added up to more than 5 sscx racers. So maybe at one, or more of the upcoming races there will be a SSCX cat. The bummer part is, those that he knew are all fast as hell. Like cat 2 lightening boltz. ...... basically eliminating all my dreams of getting a W.

cross diary 2011 and bar tape n tape

Two weeks until another thrilling year of single speed cyclocross on the North Coast. All summer I toyed with the idea of a new wheel set, and new tires, possibly even a new frame. Yesterday I ventured over to the nearest bike shop to make some potential investments a reality. I failed to buy any of the three aforementioned items and returned with a copy of cyclocross magazine and some new bar tape. Its fancy bar tape though. I thought, well, I had a $9.99 bar tape on my first season, and then also for the first 3 races of my second season. Then I sacrificed the handsome charcoal tape when I spent my own 40 days in the wilderness as I raced the next two races with riser bars and a 7 speed, yuck. Emerging from my bout with temptation I discovered I had no bar tape and not a dime to spend on new tape. So, I rummaged through the trash and resurrected some old cork tape that was broken in several sections. With some super-glue and some time that probably should have been spent writing a research paper for my M.A., I made it work and returned, bar tape and all the land of milk and honey aka sscx aka single speed cyclocross. I must say I'm still having trouble convincing myself this was a necessary purchase ..It was...it was ...

Maybe .... maybe some new tires will come too. No dugasts, or even challenge. Probably another set of ritchey speed max pros. They're great tires and inexpensive to boot. I know I should try another pair, just to get the experience but the same time, why ruin a good thing?

2011 has more than fancy bar tape in store. I should be racing for a club, Scum City. While I'm not too fond of the name, and the jersey ..well, is intense, I'm excited to race alongside some other nuts who are just as crazy for cross as I am. They seem like some great fellows, and I like their initiatives to get more people to come out to the races. We'll see.. I might just miss my wool red jersey too much.

Also, my totally awesome girlfriend got me a hose for my birthday. I can't stress enough what a thoughtful gift this is. My bike has mud on it from my first season. I can't wait to wash it off after the first muddy race this year. I live in an apartment. And funny thing, theres this no muddy cross bikes in the apartment rule. And I must say washing a bike by hand, in the cold sucks the big one. So, yes, this is the best gift. possibly ever.

NEOCX announced that pending the attendance of at least 5 single speed racers, and the approval of the race promoters, there will be a single speed category. This is great! I'm so very excited that, not only there could be a single speed category at many races, but also this category will be racing with in the B group. For a minute I was very worried that the sscx would be stuck in the Cs, which would admittedly blow. No offense C racers, I just want a longer race.

I also look forward to more statistics. I hope to get at the very least, course lengths, lap times and maybe heart rate for each course too. Who likes number? I do.

I'm looking forward to a fun season, and more importantly getting more people to come out to the racers. It took me a season to convince my g/f to get up and out on a rainy cold Sunday morning, and now I'm set on getting friends and family too. Beers n Cheers

mtb

turns out with little modification polo bikes make decent single speed mountain bikes. and with that discovery I've hardly been out on the road bike.

Also I hope the jerks in the NBA get everything sorted out or winter is going be pretty boring. (can't snowboard all the time)

bike stand

So a winter of riding on and off and then a spring of neglect left the drive-train of my road bike in less than ideal condition. The chain had very quickly rusted into one unit frozen in its last moments of wending through the dérailleurs. After a can of WD40, a wire brush, a chain breaker with a cheater bar, and lots of elbow grease I freed my bike of its oxidized serpentine restraint and installed a new chain. Now I needed to recalibrate the dérailleurs, because they too did not take the winter riding very well. This is hard to do if one doesn't own a bike stand.

Inspiration came from an idea introduced to me by a former roommate about a stand consisting of a 2x4 bisected by a front quick-release skewer and mounted and an old office chair. For about 45 minutes I hacked and drilled some lumber that was laying around the garage. Voila! I refitted my makeshift workbench into a makeshift workbench with a makeshift bike stand. Now for the hard part, tuning the front and rear dérailleurs......

spring

not much time at all for exercise; been maintaining a minimal level of fitness. mostly running and taking the eleven flights of stairs several time a day to and from where I work. after these two giant research papers are due next week I'll start training for cx. Not even going to bother trying to jump into the late road season as I have kidded myself in previous years.got my transitions down. so major focus on sprints, intervals, plyo, and not getting so exhausted I stop focusing on proper lines for turns, might be racing for these fools http://scumcityracing.blogspot.com/ we'll see should be fun, whatever shakes out

its been fun watching the spring classics, none of my predictions are going well. making predictions for bike races is slightly less accurate than a march madness bracket...almost a total craps shoot...still...Thor for roubaix... whoops, and a Schleck for Leige.. not quite enough juice there boys, they were seriously asleep at the wheel. Phillipe Gilbert is slammin', good for him. shoulda seen the back to back Amstel golds coming.

old bikes

coupla pics,
my daily commuter and main squeeze is a scarce image of what it used to be




and then somewhere in a galaxy far far away my cyclocross bike looks like this




coincidently I bought both bikes without the knowledge that they were from 1984.. same year as myself

maybe I'll take the camera to the garage and get some pics for comparison.. probably not

elite cx 2011

Jeremy Powers recently announced his move to the rapha-focus team for the upcoming season. I think this is a good move for the sport as the cannondale-cyclocrossworld had a bit too much of the concentration of the high end talent. They were the Yankees of professional US cyclocross. I don't mean to say that this move will completely democratize the talent pool or shake up the elite standings for the upcoming season; I'm sure well see the same four names trading places on the podium.

J-Pow's move, along with Ryan Trebon's departure from Kona are good examples of the solidification of a professional cyclocross sport in the US. I think we want to see athletics leave teams, the more mobility the more legitimacy, at least in infantile stages like this. This mobility can increase sponsor competition all the while demonstrating to new sponsors and elite hopefuls that there is room in the cx market for their entry and profit. This argument does have diminishing returns, certainly no one wants a cyclists lockout or some b.s. like in other professional sports. Grass roots movements aside, the dominance and amicability of the cannondale-cyclocrossworld team was a large contributor to the growth of professional cyclocross last season. With any luck their success will demonstrate to others that such commitments will yield great benefits for themselves, the rides and the sport in whole.

goals

spring: cleveland half marathon
summer: mountain bike more than twice. road bike focus on speed instead of longass rides
fall: get dirty and win something in cx

lanez

Not that there is too much of a heated debate here in the CLE. The bike lane on the new I-90 bridge topic notwithstanding. Here is an interesting take concerning the economic efficiency of bike lanes. http://olafstorbeck.com/2011/03/11/the-economics-of-bike-lanes-%E2%80%93-how-can-john-cassidy-get-it-so-wrong/
bike lanes: non-rival, non-excluding

repair

I somehow managed a tear in my snowboarding pants the last time I was out riding. Since technical gear is expensive, and I don't want / can't afford to replace these pants any time soon repairing them became the only viable option. I ventured to the local jo-jo fab to search out some way to repair the rip-stop nylon kind of material they seem to be made out of. I found this inexpensive patch kit. I'm a little wary that these seem to work like band-aids and require no extra gluing or ironing. We'll see

using the patch was pretty self explanatory and I'm pretty bored so I documented the process ....

1) Cleaned the area
much like patching a bicycle tube I cleaned the tear and scuffed it a little
2) Cut three little strips of patch material
Upon reflection I should have cut four strips because the tear went through the pant and the interior powder cuff. That way I could treat them as two different tears and sandwich each with strips.
3) Rolled out bubbles and compressed
4) Tested... hasn't happened yet




**update, this patches survived the season and being washed, pretty awesome and much cheaper than a new pair of pants

kicks update

the shoes leave a little to be imagined. Overall very nice to have the convenience of spds at any moment, but even after breaking them in they still feel like buckets on my feet.

Stybar took the championship again! If you check my twitter I predicated that. No top ten for the US mens as I had dreamed but maybe next year. jpow and page still raced well, even if I couldnt see them on the TV replay. How could the Europeans be so much better? I understand that their talent greatly benefits from the fact that the sport is professional in most of Europe, but nonetheless its not like they hide what kind of courses they use for racing or what kind of plans they use for training, or secretly train on the dark side of the moon. I mean they're not racing against Dolph Lundgren! If asymmetrical information and sheer fitness are not the culprits then what is? US racers report that European cross is a much rougher style of racing, fighting for lines, rubbing elbows and taking every cut throat advantage possible. European riders also run much more often and even unclip one foot going into a turn more often then Americans do..maybe this is enough of a difference...and then maybe we're just dandies

new kicks

Cyclocross World Championships Jan 30. 2011 St. Wendel Germany, I don't hold too much out for the US mens team but it will still be fun to watch. It would be awesome to see some top places. The womens race should be good too points-wise tete-a-tete between Compton and Van Paassen. But like any other sport and as the US nationals proved anything can happen in that hour.

I've been snowboarding a lot recently and only riding as part of my commute.

Got a new pair of commuting shoes, replacing the shimano spd m020 that I bought from a thrift store and are a size too small for me. I bought them expecting that I'd eventually break into them but that never happened and after a few

months of ultra cramped feet I sprung for a pair of DZR Strasse hi tops. I like riding in spds, I feel that rattrap cages chew through my shoes too quickly, and I really loath taking two pairs of shoes with me everyday.

So these seem to be perfect.

The DZRs look cool, but still kinda feel like you're wearing bike shoes. I imagine thats hard to escape when one wants to walk the line between casual style and the stiffness required for a decent pair of cycling shoes. I, despite my previous example, expect them to break in, for real this time though.

The set up was pretty simple, just needed a box cutter and a number 4 allen. The shoes also come with some funky orange covers if I ever decided to remove the cleats and just wear them as sneaks.

jacket

as someone who spent their childhood obessed with smokey and the bandit and their adult life obsessed with cycling this jacket by all hail the black market is pretty awesome. just might have to get one