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......