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