So day winding down and i'm cruising Flickr...
this is a cool shot... no?
Yes Nasty is a TALL freak...
Like me, MIF, and rich...
Friday, September 28, 2007
fork clearance and brake setup
I got a set of those brakes...
Maybe i should be using them instead of my goofy M737s!
Maybe i should be using them instead of my goofy M737s!
Shoot
Just as i was settled on selling them, figuring the market was sufficiently primed and desperate 4 years into their absence...
They come and introduce new ones.
Crap.
Yeah. Well Still. I got em now. Anyone wanna buy a set of GORE RIDE ON cables?
I'll bring em to the next cross race. Ya come up with some reasonable cash amount and they are yours! NEW, never installed (duh) even in the original zip lock.
So who's gonna be the first to run the new HED Stinger 90s on their cross bike?
They come and introduce new ones.
Crap.
Yeah. Well Still. I got em now. Anyone wanna buy a set of GORE RIDE ON cables?
I'll bring em to the next cross race. Ya come up with some reasonable cash amount and they are yours! NEW, never installed (duh) even in the original zip lock.
So who's gonna be the first to run the new HED Stinger 90s on their cross bike?
Case in Point
(see the problem is i is trying to fix shit around here today... gotta wait for shit to turn off, then back on... with this stuff it takes time)
I mentioned earlier about putting off reading some stuff till later?
Well JPow's stuff was something i put off for a few minutes.
Go read it. Sure the cynic will say "all pro riders do it" then some will say, no, not true. Believe what ya want. But, if the dude is doing it and ya ask about the 'crit level... well he probably won't react the way JPow did unless he has a really GOOD lawyer coaching EVERY move and EVERY word. Somehow i don't think JPow's making the same amount of cash that Lance is (who probably does have a lawyer doing just that). No I didn't just say Lance is a big fake doping cheater.
Good stuff out there.
Props to the NE CX Pros.
I mentioned earlier about putting off reading some stuff till later?
Well JPow's stuff was something i put off for a few minutes.
Go read it. Sure the cynic will say "all pro riders do it" then some will say, no, not true. Believe what ya want. But, if the dude is doing it and ya ask about the 'crit level... well he probably won't react the way JPow did unless he has a really GOOD lawyer coaching EVERY move and EVERY word. Somehow i don't think JPow's making the same amount of cash that Lance is (who probably does have a lawyer doing just that). No I didn't just say Lance is a big fake doping cheater.
Good stuff out there.
Props to the NE CX Pros.
There are a-holes and then there are A**HOLES
I put the ** in there for some reason. I dunno.
After the PacNW races i saw an image that sent two works blaring in my head. Yesterday a good friend emailed me a link to the same picture with pretty much those words. I had thought i posted it. And ya know. Thinking i might have and then not. Why not? Well why perpetuate it. Although now.
I just read the Velonews bit about Jeanson (the second story). Holy crap. There are assholes and then, there are ASSHOLES.
Granted. I was the one being called an asshole. So anytime i see this guy's name, or see a picture. I think of the two words he yelled at me at the base of that last run up at Nats last year. My worst race of the season. It was a horrible race (but cross and still good but in relative sense of racing). And there at the end with the afore mentioned good friend yelling at me (after i was unfortunately out of earshot) that the leaders were coming... i was preparing to make one last ditch attempt to bridge up to Bauer when i heard: "INSIDE ASSHOLE". I didn't hear him coming, i didn't know he was behind me. If i hadn't already unclipped and begun the runup on the inside i would have gladly gone to the outside. But. Well. Too late. I got yelled at by the 35-39 nat champ. And well. He didn't catch Bauer and i didn't get to do another lap (probably a good thing anyway).
Contrast to Matt White passing me in a polite even voice over at Eco-X just before my chain broke. Two ways to make it work.
And then there is this REAL asshole with a capital A. Aubut. Unfortunately he is not a renegade. An outlier. There are guys like him out there all over the place. In real life. Not just pushing women in women's sports. Guys like him need to be tossed under the bus metaphorically of course. Pretty sad. But then. Is this the truth? What is the truth? Will we ever know?
And then how about the chicken testing positive in the tour but not being able to have the test declared as a "positive"? How fahked up is that?
Messed up stuff eh?
At least i have a nice hearty lunch to eat today. Completely free of EPO!
Hey. To the fast guys out there.YaYou can be like Matt White or you can be like the other guy. You have a choice. Make the correct one.
Peace
G
After the PacNW races i saw an image that sent two works blaring in my head. Yesterday a good friend emailed me a link to the same picture with pretty much those words. I had thought i posted it. And ya know. Thinking i might have and then not. Why not? Well why perpetuate it. Although now.
I just read the Velonews bit about Jeanson (the second story). Holy crap. There are assholes and then, there are ASSHOLES.
Granted. I was the one being called an asshole. So anytime i see this guy's name, or see a picture. I think of the two words he yelled at me at the base of that last run up at Nats last year. My worst race of the season. It was a horrible race (but cross and still good but in relative sense of racing). And there at the end with the afore mentioned good friend yelling at me (after i was unfortunately out of earshot) that the leaders were coming... i was preparing to make one last ditch attempt to bridge up to Bauer when i heard: "INSIDE ASSHOLE". I didn't hear him coming, i didn't know he was behind me. If i hadn't already unclipped and begun the runup on the inside i would have gladly gone to the outside. But. Well. Too late. I got yelled at by the 35-39 nat champ. And well. He didn't catch Bauer and i didn't get to do another lap (probably a good thing anyway).
Contrast to Matt White passing me in a polite even voice over at Eco-X just before my chain broke. Two ways to make it work.
And then there is this REAL asshole with a capital A. Aubut. Unfortunately he is not a renegade. An outlier. There are guys like him out there all over the place. In real life. Not just pushing women in women's sports. Guys like him need to be tossed under the bus metaphorically of course. Pretty sad. But then. Is this the truth? What is the truth? Will we ever know?
And then how about the chicken testing positive in the tour but not being able to have the test declared as a "positive"? How fahked up is that?
Messed up stuff eh?
At least i have a nice hearty lunch to eat today. Completely free of EPO!
Hey. To the fast guys out there.
Peace
G
Links? You want some LINKS? YOU CAN'T HANDLE...
Around the Globe with GeWilli
First up in "Open Tabs" is the folder called "Cross"
Next Up is something randomly called "Local Cross"
Then we've got something called "Read Once" because in general they get updated once a day and often before i get to reading stuff.
Then there are three groups of something i called creatively enough "Open Tabs 1 2 and 3"
Open Tabs 1:
Open Tabs 2:
Open Tabs 3:
That's about it.
Most are over on the left, not all though. Many above haven't been updated in months. Categories are stagnant a bit. I should organize them a bit more. Make it make sense. Some cross is spread out, some local isn't in the local, some stuff just don't make sense. It's okay. generally thanks to firefox i can hit all of them pretty rapidly. The ones with long content often get a star in the back of my head to go read them again, the short updates get read quickly. Then again, some i don't read at all. If the title catches my eye i'll read, or i'll not, generally while i look at all the content i don't really read everything all the time.
Oh and about the brakes. I think i getting it. Me thinking circular was bad. Needed to think about pull direction. Still comes down to straddle cable angle a bit tho.
peace
G
First up in "Open Tabs" is the folder called "Cross"
The Tree Farm
Too Tall
http://rscyclocross.blogspot .com/
Too Vanilla For You
toddwells.net
CyclocrossWorld.com - Your Source for Everything Cross
Race Cyclocross!
Tristan Schouten
Cycling & Track Racing, Vegan-Style!
Bike Racin', C to the McC Style
lauren
Shufflin' with Shawndoggy
Hernando go lightly
cross videos
Destination: Suffertown
CXCN
Jacquesmayniacs - Official Website of Ben Jacques-Maynes
Road Cycling at YourCycling.com | Share your Passion Here
The Jonathan Page
cyclocrossnews.net
Mud and Cowbells
Plus One Lap
Davide Frattini Blog
34x18
Cyclocross Magazine
cyclocrossELEMENTS: More Cowbell, More Cyclocross!
El Dolor
WeebelowOnWheels - Journal
Laatste Ronde - A cyclocross blog by an achtervolger on the move
erikv
http://crossniacs.com/
Unholy Rouleur
Next Up is something randomly called "Local Cross"
Ace Girl Races
Until the Snow Ends
In These Woods
SUFFERING IN CYCLO-CROSS
Cyclocross Babble
Leave The Fan On
Victoria's Island
Independent Freewheeling Chicks
not the wolverine
Veggie Cycling
Cross Advice
Horst-Benidorm-Property Research Corp. Masters Cycling Team
legolord
Cross in New Belgium
Cyclocross Culture
Then we've got something called "Read Once" because in general they get updated once a day and often before i get to reading stuff.
Comics and Editorial Cartoons: Frazz on Yahoo! News
The Mad Dog Media Whirled Hindquarters
GoClipless.com
kerrylitka.com
Frank
Feltslave
What I Think
Above the Crowd
megA
Coach Curly Performance Systems
CTodd: /sea 'tôd/ - n.
KickSomeAsphalt
Cyclocosm - Pro Cycling Blog
Then there are three groups of something i called creatively enough "Open Tabs 1 2 and 3"
Open Tabs 1:
solobreak
Christine "Peanut" Vardaros
Algonquin Trips and Other Things
Belgium Knee Warmers
Cycling Automaton
gwadzilla
BikePortland.org
Union Velo Blog
Drunkcyclist.com
veloandvino-this cycling really cuts into my wine drinking!
time to get moving
Big Bikes
Green Apron Stories
Il Bruce
flahute
Citizen Rider
...with a little luck (and a lot of hard work)...
Bike Snob NYC
Open Tabs 2:
it's not just about having good hair
Murat
mollycameron.com
fatmarc: skateboarding ruined my life
Basic blog - by Lee
Sans Auto
Cash for Chaos
kette rechts
Cycle and Recycle
Algonquin Canoe Trips
Anna Milkowski
Bobke Strut
Ride More, Talk Less
Little Roadie
Two Adventures
Dan Action
The Hobgoblin of Little Minds
Anne Jovi - S.L.U.T. (Sustainable, Lowcost, Urban Transport)
Cycling Obsessions
Open Tabs 3:
Sprinter della Casa
Bolder in Boulder
Broken Spokes and Funny Clothes
32sixteen
Dan Schmatz
Jeremy Powers
RACING UNION
Up in Alaska
bikeliker.com - Bicycle Culture on the Web
Fat Cyclist
Michele's blog.
nicomachus.net | the velorution will not be motorized
3 Bicoastal Boys
Slow Your Roll
exit17.net
The Hub Providence
The HUB and Circle A Cyclocross
::urban delicious::
The Pioneer Hoot
I dabble, I babble, I travel...
Moveitfred By Bike
pnwbuckeye
Chasing Singletrack
That's about it.
Most are over on the left, not all though. Many above haven't been updated in months. Categories are stagnant a bit. I should organize them a bit more. Make it make sense. Some cross is spread out, some local isn't in the local, some stuff just don't make sense. It's okay. generally thanks to firefox i can hit all of them pretty rapidly. The ones with long content often get a star in the back of my head to go read them again, the short updates get read quickly. Then again, some i don't read at all. If the title catches my eye i'll read, or i'll not, generally while i look at all the content i don't really read everything all the time.
Oh and about the brakes. I think i getting it. Me thinking circular was bad. Needed to think about pull direction. Still comes down to straddle cable angle a bit tho.
peace
G
Thursday, September 27, 2007
I gotta get me a pair of these
Seriously. Don't they look AMAZING? Light and all that. Yeah... I need those. Or maybe i'll go with a pair of these. $160 a pair and look how adjustable they are! The only thing missing is the Peace Symbol straddle cable.
Oh how i wish i had a bucket of them from back in 1995... all the colors of the rainbow.
Or should i just save $60 and go with the original, the Empella Froglegs? They just scream QUALITY when i see the picture!
I would never think to go with the Paul neo-retro. Not only do they have adjustable spring tension, they have pads that can be angled and all that? What is the point of that? Obviously if you don't need to do that with the Empella, Spooky or TRP EuroX brakes... why bother with that extra pain in the ass setting it up?
Scratch the Pauls off the list. And heck I ain't gonna bother looking at anything under $49.99 cause ya know if it is that cheap, damn sure it ain't gonna work for SH!T on a cross bike.
Ya can go back to regularly scheduled programming.
AFTER we all bow down to the National Champ who BROUGHT it to Vegas. Freaking tall boy kicked ASS. WTG Treefarm!
fundamentals
Brakes, bar position, even tires, do they really matter?
Does riding $150 FMB/Dugast tires make you any faster?
Does pointing the ends of the bars to the rear hub or running them flat make you any faster?
For that matter does being able to get on and off the bike smoothly, properly and with style make you faster?
Does running unadjustable frogleg style brakes make any difference in winning or finishing DFL?
Nope.
None of that really matters.
Heck, the little bit of running people have been doing probably is just enough to ya don’t hurt after the race as much. It ain’t gonna win the race for ya.
If you can’t put the power down, if you can’t ride fast… well it no matter… ya won’t win…
Ya gotta ride faster than everyone else. If you are as fast as someone and better than them in one of the above mentioned categories you might finish in front of them. And in that case well, that’s good, but chances are the above skills aren’t really needed for doing cross well.
So big questions: why worry so much about it?
Because I can. Because I don’t have the skills, or time to make the really important part matter, the pedaling. I can do what I can.
I can try and race myself into shape, I’ve been given REALLY good advice. And I’ve remembered just about every piece of it. So if, if I get a chance I’ll actually be able to make something of it.
Till then I’ll worry about trying to wrap my feeble brain around the trivial bits as to why froglegs are so damn popular. Or why I bother wondering about the minutia of cyclocross. The getting on and off.
Here’s the deal. Riding a bike is riding a bike. Cross is more than just riding. Parts and set up matters significantly more in cyclocross than it does in road racing/crits. Even to a degree more than with a mt bike. It still won’t make or break your race but it gives the packfodder something to focus on. Setting a goal of looking good getting on and off the bike is a start. It IS something concrete that an overscheduled family commuting man can tackle. I can easily take 30 minutes a couple times a week to go out and work on the fundamentals. The basics that make cross different. The dismounts. The shouldering, the barriers, the running. Those little things, they are goals I can easily reach. That whole riding fast thing I have hard time with, sort of, well at least that’s what it is seeming.
Too many medium days as solobreak would say.
Well This week I ain’t getting much more than nothing. Monday dentist, today inspections… and now… no racing this weekend unless I head up to Amesbury. Damn.
And next weekend… same thing, can’t hit maine, can’t hit MIF’s Island. Only hope is some road race. That and it figures. The team tires are in. I got new knobs to use. Yeah still clinchers, and no. I don’t think they gonna do ANYTHING to get me to go any faster. Maybe they’ll give me a bit more confidence traction going into corners. The pressure is kinda tricky with the SWorks Baldy. Too low and the little knobs fold over and washout. And it seems that too low is a bit right around the range for me that is the pressure I’d run. Sitting forced to wait here at the garage is just helping to create words enough to make Il Bruce’s eye’s glass over.
I’ll say this, if you want to train on the bike to replicate cyclocross intensity/power, do 10/20s for an hour. 10 seconds of 5-6watts/kg then 20 seconds of nuttin and repeat. It’ll get your HR up and balance the whole longer sustained intensity ya might have built from road racin/riding. Granted if you can sustain those 10/20s for an hour, well ya can prolly hang with the big boys.
Does riding $150 FMB/Dugast tires make you any faster?
Does pointing the ends of the bars to the rear hub or running them flat make you any faster?
For that matter does being able to get on and off the bike smoothly, properly and with style make you faster?
Does running unadjustable frogleg style brakes make any difference in winning or finishing DFL?
Nope.
None of that really matters.
Heck, the little bit of running people have been doing probably is just enough to ya don’t hurt after the race as much. It ain’t gonna win the race for ya.
If you can’t put the power down, if you can’t ride fast… well it no matter… ya won’t win…
Ya gotta ride faster than everyone else. If you are as fast as someone and better than them in one of the above mentioned categories you might finish in front of them. And in that case well, that’s good, but chances are the above skills aren’t really needed for doing cross well.
So big questions: why worry so much about it?
Because I can. Because I don’t have the skills, or time to make the really important part matter, the pedaling. I can do what I can.
I can try and race myself into shape, I’ve been given REALLY good advice. And I’ve remembered just about every piece of it. So if, if I get a chance I’ll actually be able to make something of it.
Till then I’ll worry about trying to wrap my feeble brain around the trivial bits as to why froglegs are so damn popular. Or why I bother wondering about the minutia of cyclocross. The getting on and off.
Here’s the deal. Riding a bike is riding a bike. Cross is more than just riding. Parts and set up matters significantly more in cyclocross than it does in road racing/crits. Even to a degree more than with a mt bike. It still won’t make or break your race but it gives the packfodder something to focus on. Setting a goal of looking good getting on and off the bike is a start. It IS something concrete that an overscheduled family commuting man can tackle. I can easily take 30 minutes a couple times a week to go out and work on the fundamentals. The basics that make cross different. The dismounts. The shouldering, the barriers, the running. Those little things, they are goals I can easily reach. That whole riding fast thing I have hard time with, sort of, well at least that’s what it is seeming.
Too many medium days as solobreak would say.
Well This week I ain’t getting much more than nothing. Monday dentist, today inspections… and now… no racing this weekend unless I head up to Amesbury. Damn.
And next weekend… same thing, can’t hit maine, can’t hit MIF’s Island. Only hope is some road race. That and it figures. The team tires are in. I got new knobs to use. Yeah still clinchers, and no. I don’t think they gonna do ANYTHING to get me to go any faster. Maybe they’ll give me a bit more confidence traction going into corners. The pressure is kinda tricky with the SWorks Baldy. Too low and the little knobs fold over and washout. And it seems that too low is a bit right around the range for me that is the pressure I’d run. Sitting forced to wait here at the garage is just helping to create words enough to make Il Bruce’s eye’s glass over.
I’ll say this, if you want to train on the bike to replicate cyclocross intensity/power, do 10/20s for an hour. 10 seconds of 5-6watts/kg then 20 seconds of nuttin and repeat. It’ll get your HR up and balance the whole longer sustained intensity ya might have built from road racin/riding. Granted if you can sustain those 10/20s for an hour, well ya can prolly hang with the big boys.
Where in the world
I dunno. That's as creative a title as i can come up with. Cars 50% success rate on the inspection. One passed, one didn't. The one that passed i didn't think would, the one that didn't well... you do the math. I ain't good at it, esp it would seem trying to follow solobreaks geometery (although i'm building an imaginary frogleg XT hybrid brake to see if i can edjumakate myself in the ways of the retarted squealing mallet adjustable mafac copies... (Paul's and the Kore and the frogleg LIKE with adj pads is different - with the same stupid part sticking out, ah hell i dunno)
Not racing cross might actually mean... working on car...
Brief here now but more content coming up soon. I left lunch at home in the car swap. Sigh.
Chinese Food Truck?
Not racing cross might actually mean... working on car...
Brief here now but more content coming up soon. I left lunch at home in the car swap. Sigh.
Chinese Food Truck?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Enough parts... Time to race
it is wed night folks... if ya in New England head your butt over to Wrentham. I wish i was going but... can't
Git out and ride the damn bike... if ya can't stop? No worry, just learn how to corner.
It is still kind of a bummer that Danielson and Amesbury are on the same day. Guess i might actually get a chance to see what it is like racing in a field smaller than 35...
So who all is gonna step up and race at Danielson? Should be fun. Cause there ain't a cross race that isn't fun.
Oh... that hill thing i was doing before BKR... up and down the hills in the city here...
turns out there are a few stretchs over 20% (for very short sections)... pretty cool... i knew the sh!t was steep... 20% is pretty freaking steep...
Well. We're off to go troll the bike path... Ride around at 10-12 mph chilling waitin for some pathlete to pass so i can have some fun... But with a 16 mph wind coming out of the southwest, well... that's gonna suck the watts while draggin the trailer...
at least i won't need brakes to stop.
Git out and ride the damn bike... if ya can't stop? No worry, just learn how to corner.
It is still kind of a bummer that Danielson and Amesbury are on the same day. Guess i might actually get a chance to see what it is like racing in a field smaller than 35...
So who all is gonna step up and race at Danielson? Should be fun. Cause there ain't a cross race that isn't fun.
Oh... that hill thing i was doing before BKR... up and down the hills in the city here...
turns out there are a few stretchs over 20% (for very short sections)... pretty cool... i knew the sh!t was steep... 20% is pretty freaking steep...
Well. We're off to go troll the bike path... Ride around at 10-12 mph chilling waitin for some pathlete to pass so i can have some fun... But with a 16 mph wind coming out of the southwest, well... that's gonna suck the watts while draggin the trailer...
at least i won't need brakes to stop.
Well since blogger is all freaking hosed right now. I’m gonna do this long hand and cut and paste when it comes up.
Why? Well something’s on my mind.
I could be way out in left field on the whole frogleg/mafac thing. But ya know. I dunno…
Ain’t it just straddle cable length (and thus angle?)
Whatever… time to move on and find something else to demonstrate my idiocy.
90 people lined up at a UCI event? WTF? Cross Vegas has 3x more people than it should in that race already. Yeah. That’s right. If ya don’t think you can finish in the top ten, get the fahk out a da race.
Oh wait…
Never mind
This isn’t Europe…
We’re all fair and balanced here. Let THEM ALL EAT CAKE. I mean let them all race.
That said, looking at that list. Can you find a more stacked field anywhere? Not likely. Not likely.
Dats some crazy stuff.
We’ll I’m going for a walk to get centered on the lecture I gotta give and to get some more local apples and what not… seems I ate my lunch already and it is not even close to lunch time. I hate it when that happens.
So. Till next time when/if I can come up with more ridiculous stuff about brakes or something.
Why? Well something’s on my mind.
I could be way out in left field on the whole frogleg/mafac thing. But ya know. I dunno…
Ain’t it just straddle cable length (and thus angle?)
Whatever… time to move on and find something else to demonstrate my idiocy.
90 people lined up at a UCI event? WTF? Cross Vegas has 3x more people than it should in that race already. Yeah. That’s right. If ya don’t think you can finish in the top ten, get the fahk out a da race.
Oh wait…
Never mind
This isn’t Europe…
We’re all fair and balanced here. Let THEM ALL EAT CAKE. I mean let them all race.
That said, looking at that list. Can you find a more stacked field anywhere? Not likely. Not likely.
Dats some crazy stuff.
We’ll I’m going for a walk to get centered on the lecture I gotta give and to get some more local apples and what not… seems I ate my lunch already and it is not even close to lunch time. I hate it when that happens.
So. Till next time when/if I can come up with more ridiculous stuff about brakes or something.
Canti Brakes revisited
Canti brakes, now lets look at them objectively.
What are the components?
#1 Lever travel (how much cable is pulled by the lever)
#2 straddle cable length
#3 anchor pivot distance
#4 straddle cable angle
#5 brake pad material
So why do mafac copies populate the “popular” vs practical brakes on cross bikes?
Dunno. I have no idea. The biggest factor is #3 from my experience. And then given equal #1 it comes down to #2 and #4 combined. Those mafac copies tend to allow you to have a longer cable length and that’s about the only advantage when setting it all up. When you have those type of brakes with straight posts and no ability to adjust the angle, well that’s a flawed design. Paul’s Components are one of the few that use V-Brake style cartridge pads that are adjustable (angle of toe). Why is that important? Toe angle is pretty damn critical for #1 quiet operation and #2 chatter free performance… nothing worse that chatter feedback through the bike.
So why use froglegs/mafac? I dunno.
But here’s one idea. If you are as vertically challenged as KL well, then *maybe* your frame won’t have enough exposed cable pull to run high cable angles with regular brakes.
The whole pad/rim clearance is also something to consider.
With the high angle “mafac/frogleg” straddle cable you’ve got the bigger issue. And one that was more of an issue with mt bike wheels from back in the day. Why? Long straddle cable and small straddle cable angles mean that the brake pads are going to be very close to the rim. If the rim goes out of true even a millimeter or two it can rub on the pads because so little cable pull actually moves the pads towards the rim.
Now, if you have fancy wheels that never ever go out of true. This really isn’t a problem. But finding the balance between being able to change wheel easily and not bottoming out the brake lever is a bit touchy. No?
So, well. Now where are we? Back to “why do froglegs blow?”
They blow because there is really no reason to use them. No reason.
However. That said. Pass the word around. I would very much like to be proved wrong. Tell me that mafac/frogleg brakes are better. Now here’s the deal. Gotta be able to angle the pads without bending the brakes. That’s so SO cheap crappy side pull road style. Yall remember the park tool that is used specifically for angling cheap crappy road brakes? Anyway. Seriously. These are just opinions. People have different ones and I’m very willing to be educated, curious to what facts or interpretations lead people to believe that froglegs are so wonderful and stop you so well.
Just to experiment I am going to play with the straddle cable length/angle when I replace the cartridge pads. Why? I dunno. Kinda wanna try stuff out. And this is something I can try more safely than testing the life of a chain.
Pass the word around to the mechanics out there. Gimme a dissertation/smartass/on line answer, if indeed froglegs/mafac brakes are best for cross.
What are the components?
#1 Lever travel (how much cable is pulled by the lever)
#2 straddle cable length
#3 anchor pivot distance
#4 straddle cable angle
#5 brake pad material
So why do mafac copies populate the “popular” vs practical brakes on cross bikes?
Dunno. I have no idea. The biggest factor is #3 from my experience. And then given equal #1 it comes down to #2 and #4 combined. Those mafac copies tend to allow you to have a longer cable length and that’s about the only advantage when setting it all up. When you have those type of brakes with straight posts and no ability to adjust the angle, well that’s a flawed design. Paul’s Components are one of the few that use V-Brake style cartridge pads that are adjustable (angle of toe). Why is that important? Toe angle is pretty damn critical for #1 quiet operation and #2 chatter free performance… nothing worse that chatter feedback through the bike.
So why use froglegs/mafac? I dunno.
But here’s one idea. If you are as vertically challenged as KL well, then *maybe* your frame won’t have enough exposed cable pull to run high cable angles with regular brakes.
The whole pad/rim clearance is also something to consider.
With the high angle “mafac/frogleg” straddle cable you’ve got the bigger issue. And one that was more of an issue with mt bike wheels from back in the day. Why? Long straddle cable and small straddle cable angles mean that the brake pads are going to be very close to the rim. If the rim goes out of true even a millimeter or two it can rub on the pads because so little cable pull actually moves the pads towards the rim.
Now, if you have fancy wheels that never ever go out of true. This really isn’t a problem. But finding the balance between being able to change wheel easily and not bottoming out the brake lever is a bit touchy. No?
So, well. Now where are we? Back to “why do froglegs blow?”
They blow because there is really no reason to use them. No reason.
However. That said. Pass the word around. I would very much like to be proved wrong. Tell me that mafac/frogleg brakes are better. Now here’s the deal. Gotta be able to angle the pads without bending the brakes. That’s so SO cheap crappy side pull road style. Yall remember the park tool that is used specifically for angling cheap crappy road brakes? Anyway. Seriously. These are just opinions. People have different ones and I’m very willing to be educated, curious to what facts or interpretations lead people to believe that froglegs are so wonderful and stop you so well.
Just to experiment I am going to play with the straddle cable length/angle when I replace the cartridge pads. Why? I dunno. Kinda wanna try stuff out. And this is something I can try more safely than testing the life of a chain.
Pass the word around to the mechanics out there. Gimme a dissertation/smartass/on line answer, if indeed froglegs/mafac brakes are best for cross.
car mechanic and cook
So what happens when you are both the car mechanic and cook in the family? Well. First you get home and take the dog for a run. First run for me and Lucy. She was cool running at my speed for a while. But she wasn’t smooth… kinda galloping/canter… loping along. And then about 800 yards later she decided we needed to slow down to a pace closer to what my wife has been running at. Good side, my HR went down and stabilized around 145-150 I think. And the other good side, we didn’t need to go quite as far to run for 15 minutes. Yeah. Only 15 minutes. I ain’t marathon, I just trying to keep the legs familiar with running, hoping I can take advantage of runs and run ups, at least to not make them a liability.
Yes. Going fast in cross isn’t about running, it isn’t about getting on or off the bike super style. It is about going fast. Going fast when ya pedal. Yes, having super fly style getting on and off means ya can carry more speed and burn fewer matches. Having running form means ya won’t toast a whole pack of matches every time you have to traverse a massive sand beach (say at Caster’s/goddard park for example). But doesn’t get you a podium. Riding fast does.
What’s the other “discipline?” Starts. Starts are wicked fun and pretty much what I do at intersections all day. And starting from the intersection with a trailer is great, gotta focus on getting power down and clipping in. Starting with a trailer in traffic means ya gotta have power going down with both feet right away. No flubbing. I think it is one reason why it was almost effortless to nab a hole shot. And yes, having a front row starting position is certainly a huge advantage to getting the hole shot, and there isn’t really a discipline in cycling where the start is so critical. It might not get you on the podium, but a bad start can keep you off it.
Back to the start of this entry. Car mechanic and cook. After the run (oh yeah that’s where I got side tracked). Head back and put the e-brake cable in. And no, you don’t have to jack the car up to replace them on the Golf (like it says in the book). And having done it before the only slow part is adjusting the stupid straddle nut. Oh. Straddle and brake. Two words recently thought a lot about.
Car finished. Does it work? I dunno. Maybe the lever is all frozen up. But buttoned down it “feels” like it works and at least the other side sort of work. Will have to play with it a bit tomorrow when the winter tires get put on. And feels like working AND at least locking up one wheel. That’s worth the few minutes (okay a lot – I always forget about the tool finding and problems like fasteners not releasing).
Get done. Time to make dinner. Simple. Grass fed Top Sirlon pan seared in butter (sliced then seared) with a sauce and diced potatoes cooked with red onion, oilive oil, salt and sage powder. Now this sauce was amazing. Take the butter, add some flour to make the roux. Cook that down for a bit scraping the bits off the pan (man I forget what that stuff is called) then once the flour has been toasted (floury taste gone) a bunch of wine was put in to both deglaze the pan and make the sauce. A bit of water was added to thin it out and some salt. That’s it. Simple. And unbelievably delicious. Stick some salad in there and you have a beautifully balanced healthy meal (with the one assumption that ya eat meat and all that).
Food is good. Food feeds the soul. Use the best ingredient possible and use pure simple ones. Process the food yourself. Cook it yourself. Put your energy and your love in the food that you make for people and you will nourish more than their physical being. You will nourish their emotional being as well.
Eat well. Eat simply.
Now if that was the secret to being fast on the bike, well then, I should be freaking FLYING!
Peace
g
Yes. Going fast in cross isn’t about running, it isn’t about getting on or off the bike super style. It is about going fast. Going fast when ya pedal. Yes, having super fly style getting on and off means ya can carry more speed and burn fewer matches. Having running form means ya won’t toast a whole pack of matches every time you have to traverse a massive sand beach (say at Caster’s/goddard park for example). But doesn’t get you a podium. Riding fast does.
What’s the other “discipline?” Starts. Starts are wicked fun and pretty much what I do at intersections all day. And starting from the intersection with a trailer is great, gotta focus on getting power down and clipping in. Starting with a trailer in traffic means ya gotta have power going down with both feet right away. No flubbing. I think it is one reason why it was almost effortless to nab a hole shot. And yes, having a front row starting position is certainly a huge advantage to getting the hole shot, and there isn’t really a discipline in cycling where the start is so critical. It might not get you on the podium, but a bad start can keep you off it.
Back to the start of this entry. Car mechanic and cook. After the run (oh yeah that’s where I got side tracked). Head back and put the e-brake cable in. And no, you don’t have to jack the car up to replace them on the Golf (like it says in the book). And having done it before the only slow part is adjusting the stupid straddle nut. Oh. Straddle and brake. Two words recently thought a lot about.
Car finished. Does it work? I dunno. Maybe the lever is all frozen up. But buttoned down it “feels” like it works and at least the other side sort of work. Will have to play with it a bit tomorrow when the winter tires get put on. And feels like working AND at least locking up one wheel. That’s worth the few minutes (okay a lot – I always forget about the tool finding and problems like fasteners not releasing).
Get done. Time to make dinner. Simple. Grass fed Top Sirlon pan seared in butter (sliced then seared) with a sauce and diced potatoes cooked with red onion, oilive oil, salt and sage powder. Now this sauce was amazing. Take the butter, add some flour to make the roux. Cook that down for a bit scraping the bits off the pan (man I forget what that stuff is called) then once the flour has been toasted (floury taste gone) a bunch of wine was put in to both deglaze the pan and make the sauce. A bit of water was added to thin it out and some salt. That’s it. Simple. And unbelievably delicious. Stick some salad in there and you have a beautifully balanced healthy meal (with the one assumption that ya eat meat and all that).
Food is good. Food feeds the soul. Use the best ingredient possible and use pure simple ones. Process the food yourself. Cook it yourself. Put your energy and your love in the food that you make for people and you will nourish more than their physical being. You will nourish their emotional being as well.
Eat well. Eat simply.
Now if that was the secret to being fast on the bike, well then, I should be freaking FLYING!
Peace
g
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Fuzucking Cheaters
Chocolate, Waffles and Cross...
Damn has velosnooze gone like worthwhile again? ANOTHER good article.
Gotta cut and paste quote from cyclocosm:
"old style canti brakes blow"
So, if you are one of the trendy bastards who thought running frog legs was a good idea, sell em quick before they are monetarily worth their stopping power (meaning nadda).
A 29er making me drool (i was trying to come up with SOMETHING worthwhile over at cyclingnews.com)
And i haven't lost count. There would have been only 11 days until the world cup race, IF it had come to Providence this year. Has Fries and Co progressed any further in securing funding from "Madison Ave" yet? Have they been doing anything? Or they just focusing on current stuff and ignoring the event to the point where it won't even happen next year?
Would have been pretty freaking awesome, lemme tell ya. And moving the Long Island races to the 29th/30th would have been a great move seein as there isn't a race this saturday at all.
I've identified a big problem. routine and regular training. or more specifically the complete and total lack of.
Tuesdays have normally been the get out and run days. Well. I gotta get the car ready to pass inspection. Swap out the almost bald but perfectly serviceable tires (just gotta slow down in the rain) for a set of slightly cupped (didn't get rotated during a long winter in michigan and got over-inflated one -20 degree day) all season rubber with snow tread (Nokian NRWs). And stick a new rear parking brake cable on. Yeah. It has been seized for over a year now, figured i should get it working again. $14 for the part with taxes picked up at the parts place. should be a quick install. Assuming i can take the plastic bits between the seats apart reasonably easily. Cars are a big pain. Yet now with Lucy (our new member of the family, of the canine persuasion) it would be nice to have a vehicle that can fit everyone including our stuff. It is a tight fit in the Golf or the Volvo sedan. But even the old volvo gets close to 30 mpg driven conservatively on the highway. Can't complain... except now i gotta get both cars to the inspection station and see'n as RI has diesel inspection there are only a handful of places that'll do oil burners. Fortunately one is pretty close. Don't even have to go to the city.
BTW - being on hold is boring, i HATE touch tone menus, a blinding maze of hell... i'm on level 5 or 6 right now... oh... now after all that "all representatives are busy please hold" big microscope companies ain't any easier to deal with than the phone company! Sheesh...
Oh Cook book. Just for Feltslave. I scored a 1995 reprint edition of: "The Stonyfield Farm YOGURT COOKBOOK" by Meg Cadoux Hirshberg. Damn cool bit of stuff in there. Some history i didn't know (but i'm sure Yogurt boy knows by heart).
It is an interesting bit of history reading about the status of the company (SF) back over 10 years ago. They've done pretty well for themselves. The recipes are (from looking at the ingredients) pretty damn good. Definitely gonna have to try the waffle recipe in here.
I'm gonna end with a comment from BikeSnobNYC's current entry. Pathletes. Best is taggin em with a trailer!
Oh and i gave up on holding and left em a message, they promised to Call back as soon as a representative was available. I'm still waiting.
And as i'm waiting i'll really leave with this quote hanging in the air:
peace
G
Damn has velosnooze gone like worthwhile again? ANOTHER good article.
Gotta cut and paste quote from cyclocosm:
Beyond the Headline #2: the dual epiphany has finally dawned finally dawned on professional ‘cross racers - old style canti brakes blow, and UCI-legal alternatives are available. With the departure of the squealing, unadjustable menace, tubular gluing is now the sole arcane practice keeping bicycle mechanics employed. Expect a massive oversupply of unskilled labor in Belgium, resulting to civil unrest and open revolution.
"old style canti brakes blow"
So, if you are one of the trendy bastards who thought running frog legs was a good idea, sell em quick before they are monetarily worth their stopping power (meaning nadda).
A 29er making me drool (i was trying to come up with SOMETHING worthwhile over at cyclingnews.com)
And i haven't lost count. There would have been only 11 days until the world cup race, IF it had come to Providence this year. Has Fries and Co progressed any further in securing funding from "Madison Ave" yet? Have they been doing anything? Or they just focusing on current stuff and ignoring the event to the point where it won't even happen next year?
Would have been pretty freaking awesome, lemme tell ya. And moving the Long Island races to the 29th/30th would have been a great move seein as there isn't a race this saturday at all.
I've identified a big problem. routine and regular training. or more specifically the complete and total lack of.
Tuesdays have normally been the get out and run days. Well. I gotta get the car ready to pass inspection. Swap out the almost bald but perfectly serviceable tires (just gotta slow down in the rain) for a set of slightly cupped (didn't get rotated during a long winter in michigan and got over-inflated one -20 degree day) all season rubber with snow tread (Nokian NRWs). And stick a new rear parking brake cable on. Yeah. It has been seized for over a year now, figured i should get it working again. $14 for the part with taxes picked up at the parts place. should be a quick install. Assuming i can take the plastic bits between the seats apart reasonably easily. Cars are a big pain. Yet now with Lucy (our new member of the family, of the canine persuasion) it would be nice to have a vehicle that can fit everyone including our stuff. It is a tight fit in the Golf or the Volvo sedan. But even the old volvo gets close to 30 mpg driven conservatively on the highway. Can't complain... except now i gotta get both cars to the inspection station and see'n as RI has diesel inspection there are only a handful of places that'll do oil burners. Fortunately one is pretty close. Don't even have to go to the city.
BTW - being on hold is boring, i HATE touch tone menus, a blinding maze of hell... i'm on level 5 or 6 right now... oh... now after all that "all representatives are busy please hold" big microscope companies ain't any easier to deal with than the phone company! Sheesh...
Oh Cook book. Just for Feltslave. I scored a 1995 reprint edition of: "The Stonyfield Farm YOGURT COOKBOOK" by Meg Cadoux Hirshberg. Damn cool bit of stuff in there. Some history i didn't know (but i'm sure Yogurt boy knows by heart).
It is an interesting bit of history reading about the status of the company (SF) back over 10 years ago. They've done pretty well for themselves. The recipes are (from looking at the ingredients) pretty damn good. Definitely gonna have to try the waffle recipe in here.
I'm gonna end with a comment from BikeSnobNYC's current entry. Pathletes. Best is taggin em with a trailer!
Jim said...
Steve, that's what I call "Interval Training." I do about 10 miles of bike trail commute (each way) some days. Often, some Pathlete screws with me when I'm trying to do a light spin after a workout or going home. Usually they try to goad me into a race or pull off a dangerous pass, nearly hitting a woman with kids or some rollerblader or another cyclist. That's when I decide to do some operant conditioning.
So I settle in for an easy spin about 15 feet off the pathlete's wheel. Okay, sometimes I have to go to zone 2 against Hinault Jr. Then I start doing intervals.
Um, their intervals, not mine.
They usually pedal along until I get right up on their wheel, then coast. The profoundly loud clacking of a Powertap hub is the signal for them to ride at 200% of Functional Threshold Power for as long as they can. They throw down for all they are worth for about 20 seconds, I let them get a little gap, and then they pop. When they visibly deflate, I adjust speed appropriately and cruise for a couple minutes about 20 feet behind them. They're warmed up and ready to go now. I'm careful to spin quietly, and usually they are sure they've dropped me with that amazing jump. They get in a couple good minutes of rest, which is the most important part of any training plan. During their short rest is where I face the toughest choice of all:
What kind of intervals am I doing today?
If my Pathlete seems to be short on VO2Max ability, I do a Tabata protocol. That means every 20 seconds or so, I coast a little. The Pathlete takes off like a shot (from a very small gun) and pedals hard for 10 seconds, then rests, if by rest you mean "gasping for breath, bouncing around on the bike, looking around nervously." 20 seconds later, 'CLAK CLAK CLAK CLAK" causes him to stand up and do a little 10 second sprint. This is good because in addition to building supra-threshold power, anaerobic endurance, it will also increase aerobic base. Unfortunately, most Pathletes only have it in them to do about 4 or 5 reps before they are done for the day, and to get maximum value you need to do about 10 reps. Yeah, they just don't suffer very well. But I'm working on the local commuter community, so there's hope for them.
On the other hand, if I want to do some subthreshold intervals, I coast, then settle in about 7 feet off the Pathlete's wheel. He typically settles into a hard barely-subthreshold pace, bobbing shoulders and head, rocking side to side and all. After 4 or 5 minutes, depending on how I'm trying to work him out that day, I'll soft pedal and let him get 30 feet, signified by his turning around on the bike, swerving into the oncoming lane, and look of relief. If I think he needs to work on lactate clearance, he gets two minutes rest before CLAK CLAK CLAK CLAK. If he needs to really focus on steady power outpout, I'll let him rest for 4.5 - 5 minutes.
Man, I've never had so much fun doing intervals before. You should try it. At first I couldn't believe how consistently wannabe hammerhead commuters responded to this stimulus, but having seen it, I think I have found a new hobby. Man, they're easier to train than dogs.
Sure, some people might say it's mean. But if they want to race, they need to train right. They should be grateful as hell that I'm willing to help them out this way. Crap, I pay a lot of money every month for coaching, and my coach is *way* tougher on me than that.
September 25, 2007 2:30 PM
Oh and i gave up on holding and left em a message, they promised to Call back as soon as a representative was available. I'm still waiting.
And as i'm waiting i'll really leave with this quote hanging in the air:
The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.
- Bertrand Russell
peace
G
Photographic proof
of just how slow i am.
After Eco-Cross a little spider has taken up residence in the brakes... and i'm debating cleaning it off or not. Pretty solid display of just how fast i am.
Oh and the three stooges:
might get a few other images up in a bit...
Flat tire this morning. Actually it happened after putting the commuter tires back on, i had just forgotten to change it until this morning. Did what a mechanic never should do in the shop (home/bike room) and that's put a patch on when good tubes are around, and worse use a "glueless" patch. Well it made it about 3.5 miles before letting the air out. So mid-bike path i had to change the rear out for a good tube. Shoulda done it off the bat this morning.
Oh well.
Positive? That SRAM chain actually is pretty smooth and crisp. But then, considering how old and worn my other stuff was? Anything would feel smooth and crisp.
peace
G
Monday, September 24, 2007
never fails
when i have to leave to pick up one of the family members someone comes in and asks for help... i inevitably attempt to give them the last few seconds i have but almost always it isn't enough time and i come off looking a bit grumpy and unhelpful and it bugs me. In the past people have offered appreciation for my willingness to try and offer a few seconds of help when i obviously was a bit too busy, but i have also gotten comments that i am unwilling to help. Those bug me the most because i am anything but that. So while we sit here and bide time before a dentist appointment i reflect on the happenings just before i had to leave to get to school in time for dismissal. I hope that user understands. I hope he managed to figure it out. It weighs on me.
I wasn't gonna say anything but opening this up always gets me a bit introspective and i couldn't help but come to Patrick O'Grady's defense at this letter to the editor:
Well mr reply (it ain't anon i just ain't using his name here) ya haven't been paying attention to O'Grady at all through this and all the other doping messes.
Sokay. i guess we don't know where you stand on it either other than you think it is clever but too much on the fence. I haven't checked Trust but lately... i wonder what kinda stuff that guy's been writing lately. Heart broken? Nah, pissed i bet. Angered at the decision. Feeling wronged. Well. We can't really know the truth. Like everyone else who has denied convincingly then recanted, like all pathalogical liars or self-deluded folks... they are good at deception. They really aren't any different than mentally ill drug users. Can't find fault in Dr Dawn's arguments/findings now can we.
Well time to load up and check out this dentist. Here's to hoping for a good experience and a successful cap for the oldest! And an end to her mechanical horse racing in the park (that broke her tooth in the first place).
-peace
G
I wasn't gonna say anything but opening this up always gets me a bit introspective and i couldn't help but come to Patrick O'Grady's defense at this letter to the editor:
Clever, but hardly courageous
Editor:
It's a pretty clever response to the guilty decision. It could be taken either way, for Landis or against him. O'Grady doesn't have the balls to say it was the right or wrong choice, just submit a cute picture, and let most people think he's on their side.
Well mr reply (it ain't anon i just ain't using his name here) ya haven't been paying attention to O'Grady at all through this and all the other doping messes.
Sokay. i guess we don't know where you stand on it either other than you think it is clever but too much on the fence. I haven't checked Trust but lately... i wonder what kinda stuff that guy's been writing lately. Heart broken? Nah, pissed i bet. Angered at the decision. Feeling wronged. Well. We can't really know the truth. Like everyone else who has denied convincingly then recanted, like all pathalogical liars or self-deluded folks... they are good at deception. They really aren't any different than mentally ill drug users. Can't find fault in Dr Dawn's arguments/findings now can we.
Well time to load up and check out this dentist. Here's to hoping for a good experience and a successful cap for the oldest! And an end to her mechanical horse racing in the park (that broke her tooth in the first place).
-peace
G
Bike P0rn
MIF can have Barry's bike... i want TreeFarm's saddle's perfect even. And hey bar angle is good too. Just probably have to put some 180 cranks on there and I can rock in style!
This post got a bit locked up in the crazy afternoon - but here it is... twin towers of kona pimped from the Tech Report on Vsnooze.com (and i hate to say it but vsnoose is grabbing my attention alot more than that cyclingnews... maybe that big take over is now making me not want to read their stuff)
Good morning bike racers
yeah - cliche? (go buy a T-shirt at anyrate - if you have already then buy one for someone else)
maybe... cliche... but hey - like his songs Ctodd's got it... ya know?
i speaking to everyone else. I certainly just seem to be just a dude who freaking loves racing cross so much that... well even tho i slow i keep doing it cause it be fun.
Ctodd has content but it ain't as funny as the Strongbad email that Nicomachus posted.
but it sounds like he's got stuff cooking...
So ya know, after writing up that whole Eco-X thing sunday morning... we started the normal wife at work daddy hanging with the kids getting the shopping done sort of weekend day that has been going on for a while now.
The family really had a good time at the race. Would have been nice to have given them another 30 minutes of cheering for "daddy" but, well. My gear didn't co-operate.
Damn gear. So yeah. I broke an old chain. So why not just get a new chain? Well ya see, there's this little problem of chain wear. Like when you use the same chain and cassette paired up for a couple seasons and a few years? Well. ya can't just change one of them.
So. Well... first stop in the Sunday tour of RI was Providence Bicycle. And they had the stuff i needed. a nice new 9 speed ultegra 12-27 cassette. Fahk they are pricey. and then. Well. I needed a chain.
Here's a bit of a brief back story. I've always used shimano chains. Basically since they came out with the chain pin thing. Why? cause they worked for me. I never broke them. And they flat out shifted WAY better than the Sedis/Sachs stuff. NO question. So, i've stuck with shimano chains. All the bikes I own now have always had shimano chains on, except the Adroit. I put a sachs on there and the shifting blew giant donkey... anyway. It no good.
But... These shimano chains they had were pricey. And. Well. So were the SRAM ones too, but... but i caved. The SRAM were a bit less $ and i've been kinda curious lately. I haven't tried a new generation SRAM chain. The rivets look more and more like a shimano chain, and with a whole groupo to go with the chains now i'd hope they had their sh!t figured out by now. And that powerlink looks mighty appealing. Maybe i just have to try it.
So i did.
I can't believe it.
Like going over to the dark side. Man.
Well. I know, everyone will be saying "dude i don't got problems with the SRAM chains" or "shimano chains suck"
my answer to shimano chains was basically the only way to make them suck was to have a sucky mechanic. or use them for 5x long than you should.
You know when the fancy chain stretch tools don't register that you have a worn chain. You know when the normally rounded teeth on the 39tooth chain ring are not needle points that there might be a bit of wear in the drive train.
So it was more cash than i wanted to spend... And well... two races in a row. Both polar opposites. SBX was a hard core power fest. Roadie course. Eco-X was hard core single track crazyness all mt bike style and stuff, sort of. Different. Both i had not so good day and well.
The technical stuff, barriers, running, shouldering, remounting... all good... I just need more go fast juice. Or something.
if i keep breaking stuff i'm gonna have to let the Power Tap go to the highest bidder and go back to just riding. maybe i should anyway... Anyone wanna buy a used PTap Pro? (2.4 wired version?).
Ah hell i dunno. Just kinda bummed. I almost feel like i need a positive out if it all. yes, it is a positive that eco-x wasn't an a-race for me. I would be more bummed if it happened at G-ster. Yes i was way out-classed in the Men's open. Hell sounds like the Eco-cross field was just as stacked at the Michican UCI race.
Oh well. Yes it was fun. Can't measure how cool it is to hear ya kids shouting for you. It was great hanging with some really cool people. All yall. I just kinda wanna find some measure of positive to go with this pretty depressing season. OTHER than yes. I finally got this getting on and off the bike thing down. For all the good it has done me to date.
Positive. Must - stay - positive...
Gonna try and race this weekend. It looks like everyone is headed to Amesbury. Sight of WMSR. Or well pretty close to it. Pretty damn far. Dayville is 100 miles closer. Pretty much a no brainer. That and well maybe it'll just be me and Bill Doonan duking it out. But registration is looking pretty thin... gotta be a malox moment for the promoter.
Heck if Dayville guys can move it to Saturday they'd prolly increase the numbers 10x.
And just to add to to the "positive" vibe: Jeanson? doped? No way. Wait. She was suspended but denied... and... well now has come clean.
Couldn't help but notice the bling when slumming over at Velonews tho... MIF... whadda you say we pull a strongbad one of these race weekends and race on Major Jakes the rest of the season! Just kiddin of course. Stealing bikes is wrong. way way way wrong... just can't help but covet even a little the bikes of the Kona Twin Towers...
a deflated: peace,
g
maybe... cliche... but hey - like his songs Ctodd's got it... ya know?
i speaking to everyone else. I certainly just seem to be just a dude who freaking loves racing cross so much that... well even tho i slow i keep doing it cause it be fun.
Ctodd has content but it ain't as funny as the Strongbad email that Nicomachus posted.
but it sounds like he's got stuff cooking...
So ya know, after writing up that whole Eco-X thing sunday morning... we started the normal wife at work daddy hanging with the kids getting the shopping done sort of weekend day that has been going on for a while now.
The family really had a good time at the race. Would have been nice to have given them another 30 minutes of cheering for "daddy" but, well. My gear didn't co-operate.
Damn gear. So yeah. I broke an old chain. So why not just get a new chain? Well ya see, there's this little problem of chain wear. Like when you use the same chain and cassette paired up for a couple seasons and a few years? Well. ya can't just change one of them.
So. Well... first stop in the Sunday tour of RI was Providence Bicycle. And they had the stuff i needed. a nice new 9 speed ultegra 12-27 cassette. Fahk they are pricey. and then. Well. I needed a chain.
Here's a bit of a brief back story. I've always used shimano chains. Basically since they came out with the chain pin thing. Why? cause they worked for me. I never broke them. And they flat out shifted WAY better than the Sedis/Sachs stuff. NO question. So, i've stuck with shimano chains. All the bikes I own now have always had shimano chains on, except the Adroit. I put a sachs on there and the shifting blew giant donkey... anyway. It no good.
But... These shimano chains they had were pricey. And. Well. So were the SRAM ones too, but... but i caved. The SRAM were a bit less $ and i've been kinda curious lately. I haven't tried a new generation SRAM chain. The rivets look more and more like a shimano chain, and with a whole groupo to go with the chains now i'd hope they had their sh!t figured out by now. And that powerlink looks mighty appealing. Maybe i just have to try it.
So i did.
I can't believe it.
Like going over to the dark side. Man.
Well. I know, everyone will be saying "dude i don't got problems with the SRAM chains" or "shimano chains suck"
my answer to shimano chains was basically the only way to make them suck was to have a sucky mechanic. or use them for 5x long than you should.
You know when the fancy chain stretch tools don't register that you have a worn chain. You know when the normally rounded teeth on the 39tooth chain ring are not needle points that there might be a bit of wear in the drive train.
So it was more cash than i wanted to spend... And well... two races in a row. Both polar opposites. SBX was a hard core power fest. Roadie course. Eco-X was hard core single track crazyness all mt bike style and stuff, sort of. Different. Both i had not so good day and well.
The technical stuff, barriers, running, shouldering, remounting... all good... I just need more go fast juice. Or something.
if i keep breaking stuff i'm gonna have to let the Power Tap go to the highest bidder and go back to just riding. maybe i should anyway... Anyone wanna buy a used PTap Pro? (2.4 wired version?).
Ah hell i dunno. Just kinda bummed. I almost feel like i need a positive out if it all. yes, it is a positive that eco-x wasn't an a-race for me. I would be more bummed if it happened at G-ster. Yes i was way out-classed in the Men's open. Hell sounds like the Eco-cross field was just as stacked at the Michican UCI race.
Oh well. Yes it was fun. Can't measure how cool it is to hear ya kids shouting for you. It was great hanging with some really cool people. All yall. I just kinda wanna find some measure of positive to go with this pretty depressing season. OTHER than yes. I finally got this getting on and off the bike thing down. For all the good it has done me to date.
Positive. Must - stay - positive...
Gonna try and race this weekend. It looks like everyone is headed to Amesbury. Sight of WMSR. Or well pretty close to it. Pretty damn far. Dayville is 100 miles closer. Pretty much a no brainer. That and well maybe it'll just be me and Bill Doonan duking it out. But registration is looking pretty thin... gotta be a malox moment for the promoter.
Heck if Dayville guys can move it to Saturday they'd prolly increase the numbers 10x.
And just to add to to the "positive" vibe: Jeanson? doped? No way. Wait. She was suspended but denied... and... well now has come clean.
Couldn't help but notice the bling when slumming over at Velonews tho... MIF... whadda you say we pull a strongbad one of these race weekends and race on Major Jakes the rest of the season! Just kiddin of course. Stealing bikes is wrong. way way way wrong... just can't help but covet even a little the bikes of the Kona Twin Towers...
a deflated: peace,
g
Eco-Cross Race Report
Eco-Cross 2007
Great venue once again. Food was fantastic, beer was good. Weather was great for the spectators. It was warm enough that the racers were sweating solid and the dust from the dry course caked faces and legs. In the Open race it might have been mistaken for a New England UCI race. McCormak was there, Matty White and a few others solid riders. Mark had already won the Master’s even when I got there. Team mate Curt pulled out a podium spot though in that race. Everyone was having a blast it seemed. They changed the course a bit, super bottle neck and well, lots of stoppage on the first lap.
With the car loaded up we headed to ballet, got there, I put in a tank full of B20 BioDiesel and came back. Got one of the best iced coffee’s in the world at Seven Stars. Why best? They do use fantastic beans. And the coffee is specifically made for the iced stuff (not left over burnt yucky stuff), but the best and coolest thing is the coffee ice cubes. Yeah. Instead of keeping the beverage cold with ice, which then melts, and waters down the coffee. They actually use frozen coffee cubes. Rumor has it they have one employee who’s only job is to make these frozen coffee cubes.
It is a close venue, and very family friendly. Did everyone see the baby donkey? Got there in plenty of time. I guess they were running a bit late. Even still Wellons was soooo wrapped up in her conversation with one of the Men from Saturn she almost missed the start.
I watched the women, checked out the new sections of course (visually, no one should ever-pre-ride during another race, even when it is clear). And headed back down. Saw Josh, black eye fading away, and then there was colin. Furiously messing with his bike. And I had to open my big mouth. I just couldn’t managed to not make light of his current string of mechanicals and what not. Josh has already raced and won the Beginner Race and had shed his demons. So just as the last women were finishing a heard of the open men were waiting up by the Pit to dive in the course. A couple of the juniors jumped the gun a bit. Or at least didn’t wait as long as the rest of us and Dan L said, “I ain’t follwing a 10 year old.” Well a minute or two later Matt White takes off and well, like devotees of a cult the rest followed right along. Those 10 year olds had eaten it at the opening to the single track section. Their bikes were littered all around barely out of the line. Dan seemed rather prophetic at that point. Even on the pre-ride the fence section was a mess. So we tooled around that side and then we had all lined up a bit and then well. They were waiting on medical. I guess Amy W took a solid spill and the EMT folks were on their way. So off everyone went again. This time around the barriers to do the other half of the course. For those who weren’t there this year. It was more or less the same. But better in many ways. The barriers were no longer a high speed lead in, but in the same spot. There was an extra couple turns but some taken out. But it was dry this year. Dusty.
Anyway. Eventually we started the race. I knew I had no shot and that’s not maybe the best way to go at this. But I was having a great day. It was fun. Lynn (team mate) won the Beginner Women’s race and my girls were there to watch me race. So, I don’t really work hard to line up in front. Maybe I should have. Chuck did. But he came back to “us” pretty quickly. I pretty much basically wound up on Steve’s wheel. Felt comfortably hard. The first lap with the traffic and Colin and Josh jabbering the whole freaking lap behind me, esp around the new fence was entertaining. Kinda funny. Chris did a great job with what he had to work with. But. If there was some way to even come somewhat close to the USAC/UCI “rule” of 3 meters all the way around… it would have been a much more fun course. Riders wouldn’t have been lapped as quickly and basically if you weren’t in the top few spots ya can kinda write it off for contention unless you were the fastest guy on the course. Chuck worked his way back and between him and another guy a gap opened between Steve and me and that got me fired up to start amping up the effort. It seemed like I was making a bit of headway. Distancing Chuck (my actually secret goal was to finish in front of him) and gaining on Steve. Call me a bikeman sandwich. Well whadda ya know… “Inside” Damn it… here comes Matt White. Already? Oh well I almost made it 30 minutes before getting lapped. Yes. That is how slow I was. Unbelievable, or not. So here’s matt, coming up behind me out of the sand, past the Donkey and I look back, “where’s mark” no sign of anyone, so I go to jump on Matt’s wheel. Hell if I’m gonna be lapped at least I can try to follow these guys as long as possible. Maybe learn a bit of how they were taking the lines and all that…
Snap, woa… just as I’m passing the pits my chain breaks. I had originally left the pit wheels on the car, but at the last minute thought, I’ll put em up in the pits. “Ya never know.” Well I didn’t have a pit bike, just wheels. And see’n as I was right there I drapped the chain over the wheels and walked back down the hill. Dejected, disappointed and resigned to the situation. Race #1: crash, Race #2: broken chain…
I’ll admit to trying to get a bit more time out of this chain and cassette than I should have. It wasn’t maybe the best idea. Well I hindsight it was a horrible idea. But hey, chains and cassettes are expensive. I’ll let ya know just how much after the trip to the bike shop today. That and all the high torque pulling of the trailer up the hills probably didn’t help the life span. 90N*m a couple times a day everyday might just not be good for an old chain that was so stretched that no chain “stretch” indicator tool would register. As in stretched. But hey. It shifted fine. It just broke. Yes, in away I was curious. I was curious to see how long I could make it last. Maybe in some why I thought I would break it somewhere else? I guess it was good that I didn’t. At least in a race I wouldn’t have more than a mile to walk… on the commute it could be a considerably longer walk. Now I can go with the 12-27 cassette instead of the 12-25. Maybe even go with a 42-49. That inner chain ring needs replacing. Heck. I maybe a new bike would be a good idea! They come with all that stuff! On the plus side I still have a spare wheel with the 12-27 cassette on the Klein. Rebecca’s comments about the Supercross and how amazingly faster it was than her old Stevens was not what I wanted to hear but she did acknowledge that the top tube was way short. Steve’s team issue Major Jake frame was actually the frame that got me drooling the most. And the cost for a jake the snake frame is cheap cheap cheap. But then they don’t come with cassette and stuff, just a carbon fork. But it wasn’t the bike that broke. It was the parts. And they broke because I deliberately tried to extend the life of the bits on the bike. I would never suggest that anyone do that, extend the life, but there I went and did it. I would never suggest writing in my goofy style… all loaded with ellipses and stuff… but it is me. What can I say.
Driving back I sort of went from somewhat dejected to kinda pissed. But before that I beelined for the beer… walked back with wheels, chain draped over and loaded bike up on car, grabbed the beer cup and filled it up with a nice Harpoon IPA a couple times, but not that many. Passed the cup over to Dan L and split.
That is all I had a chance to write yesterday… will have to read through and fill in the gaps… 24 hours later
Great venue once again. Food was fantastic, beer was good. Weather was great for the spectators. It was warm enough that the racers were sweating solid and the dust from the dry course caked faces and legs. In the Open race it might have been mistaken for a New England UCI race. McCormak was there, Matty White and a few others solid riders. Mark had already won the Master’s even when I got there. Team mate Curt pulled out a podium spot though in that race. Everyone was having a blast it seemed. They changed the course a bit, super bottle neck and well, lots of stoppage on the first lap.
With the car loaded up we headed to ballet, got there, I put in a tank full of B20 BioDiesel and came back. Got one of the best iced coffee’s in the world at Seven Stars. Why best? They do use fantastic beans. And the coffee is specifically made for the iced stuff (not left over burnt yucky stuff), but the best and coolest thing is the coffee ice cubes. Yeah. Instead of keeping the beverage cold with ice, which then melts, and waters down the coffee. They actually use frozen coffee cubes. Rumor has it they have one employee who’s only job is to make these frozen coffee cubes.
It is a close venue, and very family friendly. Did everyone see the baby donkey? Got there in plenty of time. I guess they were running a bit late. Even still Wellons was soooo wrapped up in her conversation with one of the Men from Saturn she almost missed the start.
I watched the women, checked out the new sections of course (visually, no one should ever-pre-ride during another race, even when it is clear). And headed back down. Saw Josh, black eye fading away, and then there was colin. Furiously messing with his bike. And I had to open my big mouth. I just couldn’t managed to not make light of his current string of mechanicals and what not. Josh has already raced and won the Beginner Race and had shed his demons. So just as the last women were finishing a heard of the open men were waiting up by the Pit to dive in the course. A couple of the juniors jumped the gun a bit. Or at least didn’t wait as long as the rest of us and Dan L said, “I ain’t follwing a 10 year old.” Well a minute or two later Matt White takes off and well, like devotees of a cult the rest followed right along. Those 10 year olds had eaten it at the opening to the single track section. Their bikes were littered all around barely out of the line. Dan seemed rather prophetic at that point. Even on the pre-ride the fence section was a mess. So we tooled around that side and then we had all lined up a bit and then well. They were waiting on medical. I guess Amy W took a solid spill and the EMT folks were on their way. So off everyone went again. This time around the barriers to do the other half of the course. For those who weren’t there this year. It was more or less the same. But better in many ways. The barriers were no longer a high speed lead in, but in the same spot. There was an extra couple turns but some taken out. But it was dry this year. Dusty.
Anyway. Eventually we started the race. I knew I had no shot and that’s not maybe the best way to go at this. But I was having a great day. It was fun. Lynn (team mate) won the Beginner Women’s race and my girls were there to watch me race. So, I don’t really work hard to line up in front. Maybe I should have. Chuck did. But he came back to “us” pretty quickly. I pretty much basically wound up on Steve’s wheel. Felt comfortably hard. The first lap with the traffic and Colin and Josh jabbering the whole freaking lap behind me, esp around the new fence was entertaining. Kinda funny. Chris did a great job with what he had to work with. But. If there was some way to even come somewhat close to the USAC/UCI “rule” of 3 meters all the way around… it would have been a much more fun course. Riders wouldn’t have been lapped as quickly and basically if you weren’t in the top few spots ya can kinda write it off for contention unless you were the fastest guy on the course. Chuck worked his way back and between him and another guy a gap opened between Steve and me and that got me fired up to start amping up the effort. It seemed like I was making a bit of headway. Distancing Chuck (my actually secret goal was to finish in front of him) and gaining on Steve. Call me a bikeman sandwich. Well whadda ya know… “Inside” Damn it… here comes Matt White. Already? Oh well I almost made it 30 minutes before getting lapped. Yes. That is how slow I was. Unbelievable, or not. So here’s matt, coming up behind me out of the sand, past the Donkey and I look back, “where’s mark” no sign of anyone, so I go to jump on Matt’s wheel. Hell if I’m gonna be lapped at least I can try to follow these guys as long as possible. Maybe learn a bit of how they were taking the lines and all that…
Snap, woa… just as I’m passing the pits my chain breaks. I had originally left the pit wheels on the car, but at the last minute thought, I’ll put em up in the pits. “Ya never know.” Well I didn’t have a pit bike, just wheels. And see’n as I was right there I drapped the chain over the wheels and walked back down the hill. Dejected, disappointed and resigned to the situation. Race #1: crash, Race #2: broken chain…
I’ll admit to trying to get a bit more time out of this chain and cassette than I should have. It wasn’t maybe the best idea. Well I hindsight it was a horrible idea. But hey, chains and cassettes are expensive. I’ll let ya know just how much after the trip to the bike shop today. That and all the high torque pulling of the trailer up the hills probably didn’t help the life span. 90N*m a couple times a day everyday might just not be good for an old chain that was so stretched that no chain “stretch” indicator tool would register. As in stretched. But hey. It shifted fine. It just broke. Yes, in away I was curious. I was curious to see how long I could make it last. Maybe in some why I thought I would break it somewhere else? I guess it was good that I didn’t. At least in a race I wouldn’t have more than a mile to walk… on the commute it could be a considerably longer walk. Now I can go with the 12-27 cassette instead of the 12-25. Maybe even go with a 42-49. That inner chain ring needs replacing. Heck. I maybe a new bike would be a good idea! They come with all that stuff! On the plus side I still have a spare wheel with the 12-27 cassette on the Klein. Rebecca’s comments about the Supercross and how amazingly faster it was than her old Stevens was not what I wanted to hear but she did acknowledge that the top tube was way short. Steve’s team issue Major Jake frame was actually the frame that got me drooling the most. And the cost for a jake the snake frame is cheap cheap cheap. But then they don’t come with cassette and stuff, just a carbon fork. But it wasn’t the bike that broke. It was the parts. And they broke because I deliberately tried to extend the life of the bits on the bike. I would never suggest that anyone do that, extend the life, but there I went and did it. I would never suggest writing in my goofy style… all loaded with ellipses and stuff… but it is me. What can I say.
Driving back I sort of went from somewhat dejected to kinda pissed. But before that I beelined for the beer… walked back with wheels, chain draped over and loaded bike up on car, grabbed the beer cup and filled it up with a nice Harpoon IPA a couple times, but not that many. Passed the cup over to Dan L and split.
That is all I had a chance to write yesterday… will have to read through and fill in the gaps… 24 hours later
Friday, September 21, 2007
random thoughts from friday night
banged out on the keyboard while D/Lin the ptap on friday night...
Fundamentals… master them and you can do the fancy stuff
Like waxing your car at night, wiping your bike down with just a few lights at night… might not be a good idea
Also, the whole side of if they don’t care about ya then ya won’t hear any critique…
Sitting here tonight, wondering about the whole open race tomorrow.
kJ wise it has been a pretty heavy week. Tired but not totally exhausted.
It wasn’t a total rest day today so we’ll see how that plays out.
Fundamentals… master them and you can do the fancy stuff
Like waxing your car at night, wiping your bike down with just a few lights at night… might not be a good idea
Also, the whole side of if they don’t care about ya then ya won’t hear any critique…
Sitting here tonight, wondering about the whole open race tomorrow.
kJ wise it has been a pretty heavy week. Tired but not totally exhausted.
It wasn’t a total rest day today so we’ll see how that plays out.
Hmmm
Should i send Big Jonny one of my spare Big Orange Jumpsuits?
That's all i got today...
Eco-Cross tomorrow. And what was with Bikereg changing the format. It threw me for a damn loop this morning.
Jealousy defined
And an email announcement from the Mayor of Drunkingham. Not to be confused with the Mayor of Flagstaff, who is a different cat entirely.
From: The Mayor of Drunkingham
Subject: 50 yards of hell, Vegas style.
This is the only information any of you pukes need.That and the fact that youll need to pack your orange jump suits, and a fat wad of singles.
Lets make the Natwick race look like a damn sunday school meeting.
Wednesday, September 26
Excel Sports Cross Vegas
7:00 pm - Pro Women
8:00 pm - Industry Cup
9:00 pm - Pro Men
Mandalay Bay ResortFuck all, now I gotta find something orange to wear…
That's all i got today...
Eco-Cross tomorrow. And what was with Bikereg changing the format. It threw me for a damn loop this morning.
Jealousy defined
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Good MORNING Bike Racers
Seein as CTodd is outa commish due to manning up to race the 3/4 Masters and then signing up to be pummeled even more in the 1/2/3 race at Sucker Brook on sunday then the second truck ran him over good (he is now single, as in not dating anyone, and wanting to date someone it would see). So we probably can expect a light content duration from him.
Luckily the High DEF Cross Video MASTER Henry has popped up a few more videos from Sucker Brook. The start and barrier section of lap 1 of the women's race and then Anna M's wheel change by Mike Wazowski. I mean Mark Wysocki. Mike, Mark, Wazowski, Wysocki... whassa difference
Speaking of being a wise ass or should i say: "While i'm being a smart ass"
Check out the Clown Bike! Who the hell put's 20" wheels on a cross bike. Esp in the age of 29er mt bikes and all that!!!
INSANE.
Seriously. That belongs to the tallest cross freak. Taller than me. And yeah. His bike is way bigger too. Here's to hoping he gets it to do a good ghost ride crash to get the demon's out before he starts practicing or racing on it!
Yall know about ghost riding a new bike right? it is when ya take the brand new bike, and before you go for a ride you get that first crash out of the way. You might scratch it up, or something. But the point is ya do that to get that first one out of the way. Someone could probably write a pretty compelling essay about ghost riding the bike and all that... maybe ya get the gist of it now...
Cruising in this morning, taking it mellow i stop to retrieve bunny and baby from the back (she wanted them up front) and a guy come zipping by on a nice road bike wearing what seemed to be team shorts and a messenger bag. What team? I dunno. INSTANTLY the passenger in the Solobug gets excited and says "GO GET THAT GUY DADDY!" Damnit. I was gonna have a nice Piano ride in.
Well. We motor. He's got about 200-300 meters on me. And he ain't going slow. And I'm pulling a trailer. head down and motor... i was gaining slightly for a bit, but i was beyond the sustain mark. i settled the power down a notch and maintained the gap... and then the week started to catch up with me. There was a reason i was riding piano. But the encouragement from the trailer was persistent. we never caught the guy though. He must have flown up the hill cause when we got to the top of the little rise he was gone.
My passenger LOVES it when we go fast. And generally we go fastest when we are trying to "get that guy" and well... maybe these 10 minute intervals will help?
Oh and for the record. I decided that i'm racing for 60 minutes at Eco-Cross. The family wants to come and the morning race conflicts with ballet class. So we'll load the race support vehicle pre-ballet and head to the course after class. The family had a blast last year in the drizzle. Weather is looking better and so we can expect even more fun. The Harpoon Beer Tent will make recovery even better! Or at least provide incentive to race the whole 60 minutes!
So well... gonna see about getting some cross stuff in tonight. Might actually take a rest day tomorrow. Gotta get the muscles recovered a bit. Today might have been a better day to rest but i got to run all over the city and it just flat out blows to do it in a car. Parking, lights, pedestrians, more parking, headaches, meters, traffic. Bike is just so much simpler. Now if i could just find my keys.
peace
g
Luckily the High DEF Cross Video MASTER Henry has popped up a few more videos from Sucker Brook. The start and barrier section of lap 1 of the women's race and then Anna M's wheel change by Mike Wazowski. I mean Mark Wysocki. Mike, Mark, Wazowski, Wysocki... whassa difference
Speaking of being a wise ass or should i say: "While i'm being a smart ass"
Check out the Clown Bike! Who the hell put's 20" wheels on a cross bike. Esp in the age of 29er mt bikes and all that!!!
INSANE.
Seriously. That belongs to the tallest cross freak. Taller than me. And yeah. His bike is way bigger too. Here's to hoping he gets it to do a good ghost ride crash to get the demon's out before he starts practicing or racing on it!
Yall know about ghost riding a new bike right? it is when ya take the brand new bike, and before you go for a ride you get that first crash out of the way. You might scratch it up, or something. But the point is ya do that to get that first one out of the way. Someone could probably write a pretty compelling essay about ghost riding the bike and all that... maybe ya get the gist of it now...
Cruising in this morning, taking it mellow i stop to retrieve bunny and baby from the back (she wanted them up front) and a guy come zipping by on a nice road bike wearing what seemed to be team shorts and a messenger bag. What team? I dunno. INSTANTLY the passenger in the Solobug gets excited and says "GO GET THAT GUY DADDY!" Damnit. I was gonna have a nice Piano ride in.
Well. We motor. He's got about 200-300 meters on me. And he ain't going slow. And I'm pulling a trailer. head down and motor... i was gaining slightly for a bit, but i was beyond the sustain mark. i settled the power down a notch and maintained the gap... and then the week started to catch up with me. There was a reason i was riding piano. But the encouragement from the trailer was persistent. we never caught the guy though. He must have flown up the hill cause when we got to the top of the little rise he was gone.
My passenger LOVES it when we go fast. And generally we go fastest when we are trying to "get that guy" and well... maybe these 10 minute intervals will help?
Oh and for the record. I decided that i'm racing for 60 minutes at Eco-Cross. The family wants to come and the morning race conflicts with ballet class. So we'll load the race support vehicle pre-ballet and head to the course after class. The family had a blast last year in the drizzle. Weather is looking better and so we can expect even more fun. The Harpoon Beer Tent will make recovery even better! Or at least provide incentive to race the whole 60 minutes!
So well... gonna see about getting some cross stuff in tonight. Might actually take a rest day tomorrow. Gotta get the muscles recovered a bit. Today might have been a better day to rest but i got to run all over the city and it just flat out blows to do it in a car. Parking, lights, pedestrians, more parking, headaches, meters, traffic. Bike is just so much simpler. Now if i could just find my keys.
peace
g
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The UCI and Cross
More specifically Part 5. Adam and those folks who are sort of tied to the UCI prolly know this chapter by heart. hell maybe even contributed to the writing of it.
As good students of our sport, it is imperative that we all understand and know these rules.
Sure, a local non-UCI race may deviate with in reason. But only within the scope that USAC will allow (assuming then again that the race is sanctioned by the USAC folks).
There there are a couple more good bits:
And ya know. I've worked the pit at a few races locally (Nats and C1 and C2 events last season) and there ain't a single venue that seemed to come close to the organization and layout specified/recommended here in Chapter 5.
Seriously. Honestly the pit boxes and pit entrance at Nationals was pretty insane. From looking at the layout hitting pit lane should not entail deviating from the racing line at all.
That impression is supported by most races on the DVDs from euro land i've been seeing. Yes. There are different ones. and here in the USA there are comparably few Pit mechanics even for the Pro Ranks. But still... give that layout a look. If ya ain't brining a wrench it no matter much. Ya gonna rely on finding your pit bike yaself/pit wheels or rely on "neutral support" to get it done.
I'm not meaning to rile up any promoters. JJ and Jack and the crew did an awesome job at Sucker Brook. And as promoters i'm sure people have made them aware of ways to improve the course for next year and we will continue to see that venue grow to be the HUGE event that it deserves to be. Just think a bit out loud about course design and stuff.
At least withing the scope of the UCI ranges... how does the USAC version stack up (Chapter 5 again)? Well for one. There is no mention of cancelation of a race.
Everything else is pretty close or identical.
Anyway.
Enough technical musings for one afternoon.
And keep in mind: 90% of a cross race is riding your bike.
Getting fast on the barriers and all that don't do you jack if ya can't hang when it comes time to pedal.
go ride ya bike
G
As good students of our sport, it is imperative that we all understand and know these rules.
Sure, a local non-UCI race may deviate with in reason. But only within the scope that USAC will allow (assuming then again that the race is sanctioned by the USAC folks).
Course
5.1.012 A cyclo-cross course shall include road, country and forest paths and meadowland alternating in such
a way as to ensure changes in the pace of the race and allowing riders to recuperate after difficult
sections.
[2nd paragraph abrogated on 1.08.00].
5.1.013 The course shall be usable in all circumstances, whatever the weather conditions.
Clay or easily flooded areas and agricultural land should be avoided..
5.1.014 A maximum of 5 events may be run on one course on the same day.
(text modified on 1.09.04).
5.1.015 The organiser must take steps to avoid damage to the course by spectators.
Before the start of each race, the organiser must check the condition of the course and carry out any
repairs required.
For the UCI world championships and UCI world cup events, a parallel course is required for sections
of the course which deteriorate easily.
(text modified on 1.09.99; 1.09.03; 1.09.04).
5.1.016 From the start of the race onwards, the course may not be ridden by anyone other than the riders in
the race.
The organiser must provide at least 4 crossing points for spectators on the course. The crossings
must be marshalled on each side.
(text modified on 1.09.04).
5.1.017 The course must form a closed circuit of a minimum length of 2.5 km and maximum 3.5 km, of
which at least 90% shall be ridable.
(text modified on 1.09.99; 1.09.04).
5.1.018 The course must be at least 3 metres wide throughout and clearly marked and protected on both sides.
The use of dangerous items along the course, such as fencing wire (barbed or otherwise) and metal
stakes (including those used for advertising banners) is forbidden. The course must also be kept away
from any item which presents danger to the riders.
(text modified on 1.09.99; 1.09.04).
There there are a couple more good bits:
Call-up zone
5.1.019 An assembly area for starters (call-up zone) shall be provided and marked off behind the start line
(see Diagram 1).
Eight lanes with a width of 75 cm and a length of 10 m shall be marked out on the ground at right
angles to the start line in order to facilitate organising the riders into starting order (see Diagram 1).
(text modified on 1.09.99; 1.09.04; 1.09.06).
Start section
5.1.020 The start section must be on firm ground, and preferably on surfaced road. It must have a length of
at least 200 metres and a width of at least 6 metres. It must be as straight as possible and not
include any descent. The first narrowing or obstacle after the start section may not be abrupt, it must
be such as to allow all the riders to pass easily. The first corner must be greater than a right angle.
(text modified on 1.09.03; 1.09.04; 1.09.06).
Finish section
5.1.021 The finish section must run straight for at least 100 metres. The width must be at least 6 metres for
UCI world championships, UCI world cup events and events in class 1, and at least 4 metres for
other events. The section must be flat or uphill.
(text modified on 1.09.04; 1.09.06).
Obstacles
5.1.022 The start and finish sections must be free of obstacles.
(text modified on 1.09.04).
5.1.023 The course may include no more than six obstacles. Obstacle shall mean any part of the course
which is likely to require riders to dismount.
The length of an obstacle may not exceed 80 metres. The total length of obstacles may not exceed
10% of the course.
Descents of flights of steps may not be used.
(text modified on 1.08.00; 1.09.04).
5.1.024 The course may include a single section of planks. This obstacle must consist of two planks placed
4 metres apart. The planks must be solid for their entire height and not made of metal. They must
have a height of 40 cm and extend the entire width of the course. In races for juniors men and
women, it is recommended that a parallel course avoiding this obstacle should be used.
In the event that the course is abnormally slippery, the plank section must be removed on the decision
of the president of the commissaires' panel in consultation with the organiser and, should he be
present, the UCI technical delegate or the cyclo-cross coordinator.
(text modified on 1.08.00; 1.09.03; 1.09.04).
5.1.025 The course may pass over bridges or footbridges as long as they are at least 3 metres wide and
have protective barriers on both sides. Bridges or footbridges shall be covered with an anti-slip surface
(matting, mesh or anti-slip paint).
In addition a separate footbridge for spectators must be provided.
(text modified on 1.09.99; 1.09.04).
And ya know. I've worked the pit at a few races locally (Nats and C1 and C2 events last season) and there ain't a single venue that seemed to come close to the organization and layout specified/recommended here in Chapter 5.
Seriously. Honestly the pit boxes and pit entrance at Nationals was pretty insane. From looking at the layout hitting pit lane should not entail deviating from the racing line at all.
That impression is supported by most races on the DVDs from euro land i've been seeing. Yes. There are different ones. and here in the USA there are comparably few Pit mechanics even for the Pro Ranks. But still... give that layout a look. If ya ain't brining a wrench it no matter much. Ya gonna rely on finding your pit bike yaself/pit wheels or rely on "neutral support" to get it done.
I'm not meaning to rile up any promoters. JJ and Jack and the crew did an awesome job at Sucker Brook. And as promoters i'm sure people have made them aware of ways to improve the course for next year and we will continue to see that venue grow to be the HUGE event that it deserves to be. Just think a bit out loud about course design and stuff.
At least withing the scope of the UCI ranges... how does the USAC version stack up (Chapter 5 again)? Well for one. There is no mention of cancelation of a race.
Everything else is pretty close or identical.
Anyway.
Enough technical musings for one afternoon.
And keep in mind: 90% of a cross race is riding your bike.
Getting fast on the barriers and all that don't do you jack if ya can't hang when it comes time to pedal.
go ride ya bike
G
These are a few of my favorite things!
Damn song. Coming back from a bit of a lunch time cross practice, there's a guy playing the sax... the one that is all straight and stuff? almost clarinet but bigger and brass... (i'm a strings player - brass lexicon isn't my forte)... he's blaring out a pretty damn good version of that song.
And it is stuck in my head.
Other things to note about lunch time rides. EAT AFTERWARDS. These might seem pretty intuitive to most. And if i was offering advice i'd certainly suggest waiting till afterwards to eat the bulk of your food. But i was hungry and ate most of it before. Nothing like a full stomach to turn the legs to lead.
A quick warm up and then i did a solid 10-15 minutes of intensity. A little loop, two imaginary barriers (lines painted in the grass) a short shoulder run up, a couple big blue spruce trees and a few barrels. All on slow bumpy hard grass. Then i spun around for a while. Getting something i never ever get in, absolute low intensity, for a few minutes, came back did a bunch of loops backwards and instead of doing the shouldering carrying of the bike i powered up the climb.
A pointless exercise? I dunno. But it felt good to push myself to do something i didn't really want to do (would have rather finished eating lunch while reading the entire internet).
And ya know since the damn song is stuck in my head... i feel like sharing. Check this one out. This version is a bit more listenable. Although who can fault Julie Andrew's voice? Certainly not I. But i gotta say the Brian Setzer version kicks ass. and is certainly much closer to the guy out on the street with his case open.
It is also back to Farmer's market. All the local farms have the early season apples out and even some grapes. All locally grown. Picked up a couple apples. Mighty tasty.
Back to the favorite things. Many of you music folks will(should) associate that song with one legend. John Coltrane. This guy on the street, yeah... same ax, and sitting here listening to the Coltrane version, i'd say that guy on the street learned the song by ear listening to Coltrane.
Music.
Good stuff.
And it is stuck in my head.
Other things to note about lunch time rides. EAT AFTERWARDS. These might seem pretty intuitive to most. And if i was offering advice i'd certainly suggest waiting till afterwards to eat the bulk of your food. But i was hungry and ate most of it before. Nothing like a full stomach to turn the legs to lead.
A quick warm up and then i did a solid 10-15 minutes of intensity. A little loop, two imaginary barriers (lines painted in the grass) a short shoulder run up, a couple big blue spruce trees and a few barrels. All on slow bumpy hard grass. Then i spun around for a while. Getting something i never ever get in, absolute low intensity, for a few minutes, came back did a bunch of loops backwards and instead of doing the shouldering carrying of the bike i powered up the climb.
A pointless exercise? I dunno. But it felt good to push myself to do something i didn't really want to do (would have rather finished eating lunch while reading the entire internet).
And ya know since the damn song is stuck in my head... i feel like sharing. Check this one out. This version is a bit more listenable. Although who can fault Julie Andrew's voice? Certainly not I. But i gotta say the Brian Setzer version kicks ass. and is certainly much closer to the guy out on the street with his case open.
It is also back to Farmer's market. All the local farms have the early season apples out and even some grapes. All locally grown. Picked up a couple apples. Mighty tasty.
Back to the favorite things. Many of you music folks will(should) associate that song with one legend. John Coltrane. This guy on the street, yeah... same ax, and sitting here listening to the Coltrane version, i'd say that guy on the street learned the song by ear listening to Coltrane.
Music.
Good stuff.
Harden the .....
Vande Velde's Vnews thing is the first article over there that's gotten me to click and actually read it. Ya go read it too. Even linking the Chopper Reid youtube harden the fahk up aussie video.
Now i can't really pass up commenting on the fact that Vervecken is registered for the Long Island races. Damn it would be cool to get out there and watch him.
Would be better if he stuck around another week to race in G-ster...
This riding in in the cool fall air is awesome. Got some great intervals in last night. Really managed to work the legs a bit. We'll see if i can escape at lunch for a bit of cross specific riding an all that.
yall be objective and find your weakness, acknowledge your short comings, accept them and work your damn hardest at fixing them.
paece
g
Now i can't really pass up commenting on the fact that Vervecken is registered for the Long Island races. Damn it would be cool to get out there and watch him.
Would be better if he stuck around another week to race in G-ster...
This riding in in the cool fall air is awesome. Got some great intervals in last night. Really managed to work the legs a bit. We'll see if i can escape at lunch for a bit of cross specific riding an all that.
yall be objective and find your weakness, acknowledge your short comings, accept them and work your damn hardest at fixing them.
paece
g
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
randomness
Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
- Edward R. Murrow
When you employ the microscope, shake off all prejudice, nor harbour any favorite opinions; for, if you do, 'tis not unlikely fancy you will betray you into error, and make you see what you wish to see."
- Henry Baker, 1742
Those two together are pretty profound in a way. I was re-reading a JCB article and that last quote seemed to pair nicely with the one from the iGoogle page today. It seems applicable to most everything online, in life. We often see what we want to see, betrayed by our bias, then go blabbing around the world, or halfway, or technically the whole blogosphere. And yes. Getting on the whole word thing (wanted to make sure it was blog-O-sphere and not blog-sphere) i poked around at Wordspy.com. Killer freaking webpage.
Four in a row caught my eye:
Floordrobe
Locavore (they even have a web page: http://locavores.com/)
Carbage
and
Blogebrity
Anyway... where was i?
Waiting for the next thought... no, in reality waiting for microscope crisis #10 of the day... and i expect it to show up any minute. Some of these crisis things are fun, some just crank the BP knob, but so far, no user has been able to stump the chump. But usually it takes a lot of questions to get them to tell me what the hell they did to the damn scope so i can bring it back to life. My favorite is inevitably to the question: "Why are you using those settings?" Usually it is "I dunno." That answer is most commonly tied to settings that generate useless data, and more often than not the answer to "how long have you been doing it that way" is: "I dunno, a while." The good side is that people are teachable. They can learn. But then there are limits. Ya'd think by now i'd have learned how to shut the introspection off and just buckle down and race. But, yeah, it ain't native yet. One of these days. maybe.
Just finished cleaning off the desktop (the virtual one, the real one is next) man saw some cool stuff and was like "wow" that's been here a while. cleaning up is always good. maybe i'll find my keys next!
peace
G
current title bar image Photo credit goes to Zoo! Thanks man!
Adding even more randomness to the web log entry... taking a fresh look at the results. I was in 25th hot on the heals of Dave L and a junior starting lap six... i lost those 5 places there in the next lap... There is always next year and the next race...
- Edward R. Murrow
When you employ the microscope, shake off all prejudice, nor harbour any favorite opinions; for, if you do, 'tis not unlikely fancy you will betray you into error, and make you see what you wish to see."
- Henry Baker, 1742
Those two together are pretty profound in a way. I was re-reading a JCB article and that last quote seemed to pair nicely with the one from the iGoogle page today. It seems applicable to most everything online, in life. We often see what we want to see, betrayed by our bias, then go blabbing around the world, or halfway, or technically the whole blogosphere. And yes. Getting on the whole word thing (wanted to make sure it was blog-O-sphere and not blog-sphere) i poked around at Wordspy.com. Killer freaking webpage.
Four in a row caught my eye:
Floordrobe
Locavore (they even have a web page: http://locavores.com/)
Carbage
and
Blogebrity
Anyway... where was i?
Waiting for the next thought... no, in reality waiting for microscope crisis #10 of the day... and i expect it to show up any minute. Some of these crisis things are fun, some just crank the BP knob, but so far, no user has been able to stump the chump. But usually it takes a lot of questions to get them to tell me what the hell they did to the damn scope so i can bring it back to life. My favorite is inevitably to the question: "Why are you using those settings?" Usually it is "I dunno." That answer is most commonly tied to settings that generate useless data, and more often than not the answer to "how long have you been doing it that way" is: "I dunno, a while." The good side is that people are teachable. They can learn. But then there are limits. Ya'd think by now i'd have learned how to shut the introspection off and just buckle down and race. But, yeah, it ain't native yet. One of these days. maybe.
Just finished cleaning off the desktop (the virtual one, the real one is next) man saw some cool stuff and was like "wow" that's been here a while. cleaning up is always good. maybe i'll find my keys next!
peace
G
current title bar image Photo credit goes to Zoo! Thanks man!
Adding even more randomness to the web log entry... taking a fresh look at the results. I was in 25th hot on the heals of Dave L and a junior starting lap six... i lost those 5 places there in the next lap... There is always next year and the next race...
perfect
the weather doesn't get any better than this. 45°F on the way in. Yes, i put on some arm warmers and knee warmers. And a thin sleeveless base layer. So perfect.
So wonderful. Ya can burn a book of matches and never over heat. It's awesome.
Here's the thing. Yesterday and today i've felt stronger than i have in a long time. Sunday actually i did early and then well anyway. What i found though was motivation.
If the course had been different, some long runs, hills, super high speed barriers, i don't think it would have been as much of a benefit/motivating factor as it was. JJ and Jack and all yall who worked to drill the holes (yes i noticed, how can ya know) and all that. Killer job. Amazing race. So much exactly what i needed.
I plotted out roughly the laps, all 7 of them a couple ways. Looking at the power graph and judging the finishing straight, and then took the total distance raced and divided it up. neither are accurate but close enough. Close enough to point to lap #6 as super sucky. Way longer to get around that 6th time for some reason. The last lap i found some juice i guess cause i got through a bit faster.
it was flat out awesome though. amazing. simply amazing. mentally i've been flying, feeling good.
This racing cross stuff... It feeds the spirit the core the good stuff...
I like it.
I can't wait till Saturday.
Eco-Cross. Come on down. It is a great venue, and i would expect it to be an extremely different course than Sucker Brook. No better way to start the season than with two very diverse races to help ya focus for the rest of the season.
Oh one thing... i got thinking about weight distribution after chatting with solobreak a bit about bob beal and what not (he did pretty damn good there) and so i felt like checking last night. What i found was about 62% of the measurable weight was in the rear of the bike. The exact numbers on the scale - which is supposed to read 5 pounds low and who knows, it is old - the numbers on the scale: 130 rear, 80 front. They don't add up to bike and me but it is close enough... I got to wondering if i was light on the front coming through, carrying speed over the hump and then down the back side might have further unweighted the front, and well... it is sort of like taking downforce off a race car, ya tend to not beable to turn. That ain't good.
So then i got thinking even more. How big is this damn bike... what are the measurements.
And i grabbed the tape and did a quick 1/2assed job to get the numbers down:
Top Tube: 60cm
Head Tube: 17cm
Seat Tube: 58cm c-c 61.5 c-t
Chainstay: 41.5cm
Wheelbase: 103.5cm
BB drop: ~6cm and roughly (with the commuter tires) 29cm high
The stem is a bit of a rise and measuring at 13cm
so there it is... the tractor trailer truck of cross bikes...
but...
damn it...
i like that thing.
peace
g
So wonderful. Ya can burn a book of matches and never over heat. It's awesome.
Here's the thing. Yesterday and today i've felt stronger than i have in a long time. Sunday actually i did early and then well anyway. What i found though was motivation.
If the course had been different, some long runs, hills, super high speed barriers, i don't think it would have been as much of a benefit/motivating factor as it was. JJ and Jack and all yall who worked to drill the holes (yes i noticed, how can ya know) and all that. Killer job. Amazing race. So much exactly what i needed.
I plotted out roughly the laps, all 7 of them a couple ways. Looking at the power graph and judging the finishing straight, and then took the total distance raced and divided it up. neither are accurate but close enough. Close enough to point to lap #6 as super sucky. Way longer to get around that 6th time for some reason. The last lap i found some juice i guess cause i got through a bit faster.
it was flat out awesome though. amazing. simply amazing. mentally i've been flying, feeling good.
This racing cross stuff... It feeds the spirit the core the good stuff...
I like it.
I can't wait till Saturday.
Eco-Cross. Come on down. It is a great venue, and i would expect it to be an extremely different course than Sucker Brook. No better way to start the season than with two very diverse races to help ya focus for the rest of the season.
Oh one thing... i got thinking about weight distribution after chatting with solobreak a bit about bob beal and what not (he did pretty damn good there) and so i felt like checking last night. What i found was about 62% of the measurable weight was in the rear of the bike. The exact numbers on the scale - which is supposed to read 5 pounds low and who knows, it is old - the numbers on the scale: 130 rear, 80 front. They don't add up to bike and me but it is close enough... I got to wondering if i was light on the front coming through, carrying speed over the hump and then down the back side might have further unweighted the front, and well... it is sort of like taking downforce off a race car, ya tend to not beable to turn. That ain't good.
So then i got thinking even more. How big is this damn bike... what are the measurements.
And i grabbed the tape and did a quick 1/2assed job to get the numbers down:
Top Tube: 60cm
Head Tube: 17cm
Seat Tube: 58cm c-c 61.5 c-t
Chainstay: 41.5cm
Wheelbase: 103.5cm
BB drop: ~6cm and roughly (with the commuter tires) 29cm high
The stem is a bit of a rise and measuring at 13cm
so there it is... the tractor trailer truck of cross bikes...
but...
damn it...
i like that thing.
peace
g
Monday, September 17, 2007
SBX photos
Yes. I took my camera. I had full intentions of capturing some video and shots of everyone racing/hanging...
Well. It wasn't until the Women's elite race that i trudged back to the car and dug it out.
So my photo essay is of the first few laps of the Women.
From the start:
Amy leading out of the woods:
And Mega in her new kit. IIRC Zank called it dead sexy... Not my words. Don't wanna get in trouble with JD or my wife by calling Meg dead sexy...
Meg Drilling it. Showing that yes, a technically proficient cross racer will utilize the tops, the hoods AND the drops in a race:
And here She's going so fast she's a blur:
Finally. The last shot of the day. Alex drilling it with 3 to go!
Well. It wasn't until the Women's elite race that i trudged back to the car and dug it out.
So my photo essay is of the first few laps of the Women.
From the start:
Amy leading out of the woods:
And Mega in her new kit. IIRC Zank called it dead sexy... Not my words. Don't wanna get in trouble with JD or my wife by calling Meg dead sexy...
Meg Drilling it. Showing that yes, a technically proficient cross racer will utilize the tops, the hoods AND the drops in a race:
And here She's going so fast she's a blur:
Finally. The last shot of the day. Alex drilling it with 3 to go!
It wasn't the tires
Nah. It is wrong for me to have blamed the tires that served me so faithfully last year. They did their job. They didn't roll off the rim. It was me.
I just got caught with some wicked understeer and a patch of the course on the off camber with no grass. 10 cm higher up the hill was some nice turf for those side knobs to hold on to, 10 cm lower and again, nice grippy grassy rhizomes and what not... in the middle? no so grippy soil... whoops...
So to blame the tires? It would be flat wrong for me to heap such negativity upon these little bits of rubber. It would like saying if i was riding some scandium and carbon belgium goodness that, well, i would be fast.
Again though. All that goofy getting on and off and on and off has certainly paid off. At least i don't think peanut will have the same feeling of fingernails on the chalk board watching me trying to get back on the bike that my form elicited last year. (did that make sense?) (whatever)
Oh yeah... the consistent opinion about the whole weather at nats "thread" on the NE cx list? Fahking HYSTERICAL. Good. It was supposed to be.
And i was very close to buying that Wellens Kickboxing academy T-shirt. But, you know, i got enough T-shirts and well... it was flat out amazing. SBX shirts were cool too. I hope everyone bought up all the stock they had.
I can't help but wonder how my wussy 276 watt average for 47 minutes compared to what Adam found on his SRM, unless he was just riding the cranks and not collecting data during the race. The guy drilling it at the front of the 3/4 race didn't look very smooth or fast through the barrier section but he was certainly lighting it up on the flats. Cause. Yeah. Serious flat course. Flat flat flat. Felt bad for Anna. saw her line up front row, they took off... i walked over to the sand pits, waited for them to go through next to Paul slick corner Weiss... they went through "where the hell is Anna" so i started walking back... well... here she came, not looking so happy either... WAY down... Like minutes. Made my stupid little crash gap look rather insignificant. And she was reeling em in when i left. The 3/4 race also seemed to give the Auburn FD medics some practice. One of the HUP boys was strapped down to a backboard and everything... He crashed in the EXACT same spot i did... I guess i was lucky to only have been slightly scraped up...
Henry already has some video goodness up from the barriers on lap 1 and 2 of the Elite men's race. Curtis leading em out of the barriers. GO CURT! CTodd bring up the rear. Except where is Ctodd on lap 2????
I was gonna just let it slide but take a look. The fastest and best guys all take lots of steps after the barriers... Set the bike down. Stabilize it and do your 1, 2, 3 or variation of it. The slowest through the barriers in the 3/4 race for example were the guys trying to get right on immediately after the barrier.
Just an observation. what you do. up to you. how you run your bars? Up to you. And if ya got stubbie lacking flat bars like Mega... well... ya can't tell if they are parallel to the ground or not. Yall run what ya want. Egg beaters or SPDs or Times... it ain't about the equipment. It is about fun.
Despite being mentally just not there after the crash, it was fun. Great race Justin and Jack. And chalk this one up as a good family location as well. Killer play structure right by the sand pit! good viewing spot for the family.
I am curious to see the results. I have no idea how many starters there were in the field. Did my 30th placing mean anything? Well. I DID finish in front of Bauer (barely).
-G
I just got caught with some wicked understeer and a patch of the course on the off camber with no grass. 10 cm higher up the hill was some nice turf for those side knobs to hold on to, 10 cm lower and again, nice grippy grassy rhizomes and what not... in the middle? no so grippy soil... whoops...
So to blame the tires? It would be flat wrong for me to heap such negativity upon these little bits of rubber. It would like saying if i was riding some scandium and carbon belgium goodness that, well, i would be fast.
Again though. All that goofy getting on and off and on and off has certainly paid off. At least i don't think peanut will have the same feeling of fingernails on the chalk board watching me trying to get back on the bike that my form elicited last year. (did that make sense?) (whatever)
Oh yeah... the consistent opinion about the whole weather at nats "thread" on the NE cx list? Fahking HYSTERICAL. Good. It was supposed to be.
And i was very close to buying that Wellens Kickboxing academy T-shirt. But, you know, i got enough T-shirts and well... it was flat out amazing. SBX shirts were cool too. I hope everyone bought up all the stock they had.
I can't help but wonder how my wussy 276 watt average for 47 minutes compared to what Adam found on his SRM, unless he was just riding the cranks and not collecting data during the race. The guy drilling it at the front of the 3/4 race didn't look very smooth or fast through the barrier section but he was certainly lighting it up on the flats. Cause. Yeah. Serious flat course. Flat flat flat. Felt bad for Anna. saw her line up front row, they took off... i walked over to the sand pits, waited for them to go through next to Paul slick corner Weiss... they went through "where the hell is Anna" so i started walking back... well... here she came, not looking so happy either... WAY down... Like minutes. Made my stupid little crash gap look rather insignificant. And she was reeling em in when i left. The 3/4 race also seemed to give the Auburn FD medics some practice. One of the HUP boys was strapped down to a backboard and everything... He crashed in the EXACT same spot i did... I guess i was lucky to only have been slightly scraped up...
Henry already has some video goodness up from the barriers on lap 1 and 2 of the Elite men's race. Curtis leading em out of the barriers. GO CURT! CTodd bring up the rear. Except where is Ctodd on lap 2????
I was gonna just let it slide but take a look. The fastest and best guys all take lots of steps after the barriers... Set the bike down. Stabilize it and do your 1, 2, 3 or variation of it. The slowest through the barriers in the 3/4 race for example were the guys trying to get right on immediately after the barrier.
Just an observation. what you do. up to you. how you run your bars? Up to you. And if ya got stubbie lacking flat bars like Mega... well... ya can't tell if they are parallel to the ground or not. Yall run what ya want. Egg beaters or SPDs or Times... it ain't about the equipment. It is about fun.
Despite being mentally just not there after the crash, it was fun. Great race Justin and Jack. And chalk this one up as a good family location as well. Killer play structure right by the sand pit! good viewing spot for the family.
I am curious to see the results. I have no idea how many starters there were in the field. Did my 30th placing mean anything? Well. I DID finish in front of Bauer (barely).
-G
SBX
Might as well start with that. Instead of the cool ride in this morning.
briefly tho...
I raced well for almost 2 minutes, crashed, and by the time i got the bars straight, then realized the shift lever was at 90 degrees from normal... the whole field had gone by and well... when i got my sh!t together, well i had 25 meters to make up... kinda just more or less fahking sucked everything outa me. When ya are in 3rd feeling awesome, and then last... in the space of a minute... it just sucked. I managed to work through people... but the lack of technical sections meant that the fast guys who couldn't run, dismount/remount, climb, weren't slowing down at all and it was just tough. HR was pegged until about 2 to go... i mentally really cracked at that point... spent a lap dangling off Gearworks Dave and then a few of the people i had passed a bit early started to work back towards me... with one to go i manage to muster a little bit more... but, i would be lying if i wasn't dissapointed with the finish. But...
The technical side (other than me washing out), barriers, stairs, sand, i felt awesome. mounts remounts were flawless (it felt like), i never ate it in the sand, i was able to hold off people in the corners to a degree when i mentally was on...
But...
I'll blame it on the delay in the team tire order. If i had those racing ralphs that were going to be ordered way back in August, well... i might not have washed out. Those specialized s works baldys were good in the grass but those knobs weren't quite enough for that off camber grass... I suppose i should have ridden that corner at speed, or just not followed the #2 wheels line. When the dude in front of you is lighter and running more agressive tires... ah hell what can i say other than i screwed up. But. My start felt great.
That's about it. Good to finally meet THE Zank (or the Lance Armstrong stunt double), cool to see Mrs. Feltslave having fun out there. And everyone else that was there. Great to put a face to many names including Henry J mr Video!
peace,
G
(oh and it ain't the bike. I like my bike... it race good... i just need better tires and some speed work - trying to decide if 10 minute intervals would work better or go with the shorter ones... hell maybe i just need to do both... or anything)
briefly tho...
I raced well for almost 2 minutes, crashed, and by the time i got the bars straight, then realized the shift lever was at 90 degrees from normal... the whole field had gone by and well... when i got my sh!t together, well i had 25 meters to make up... kinda just more or less fahking sucked everything outa me. When ya are in 3rd feeling awesome, and then last... in the space of a minute... it just sucked. I managed to work through people... but the lack of technical sections meant that the fast guys who couldn't run, dismount/remount, climb, weren't slowing down at all and it was just tough. HR was pegged until about 2 to go... i mentally really cracked at that point... spent a lap dangling off Gearworks Dave and then a few of the people i had passed a bit early started to work back towards me... with one to go i manage to muster a little bit more... but, i would be lying if i wasn't dissapointed with the finish. But...
The technical side (other than me washing out), barriers, stairs, sand, i felt awesome. mounts remounts were flawless (it felt like), i never ate it in the sand, i was able to hold off people in the corners to a degree when i mentally was on...
But...
I'll blame it on the delay in the team tire order. If i had those racing ralphs that were going to be ordered way back in August, well... i might not have washed out. Those specialized s works baldys were good in the grass but those knobs weren't quite enough for that off camber grass... I suppose i should have ridden that corner at speed, or just not followed the #2 wheels line. When the dude in front of you is lighter and running more agressive tires... ah hell what can i say other than i screwed up. But. My start felt great.
That's about it. Good to finally meet THE Zank (or the Lance Armstrong stunt double), cool to see Mrs. Feltslave having fun out there. And everyone else that was there. Great to put a face to many names including Henry J mr Video!
peace,
G
(oh and it ain't the bike. I like my bike... it race good... i just need better tires and some speed work - trying to decide if 10 minute intervals would work better or go with the shorter ones... hell maybe i just need to do both... or anything)
Friday, September 14, 2007
Nice technique compilations
(similar one here)
There of course you can watch the other Milford video with some C and B class clips.
I've mentioned history before:
this is a great clip...
Race well this weekend!
See all yall at Sucker Brook!
mystic amulet
the sun did play a part in choosing the direction of the spurr from the main circles...
and when i noticed the potential to work my shadow in there i did... shooting in the brilliant sun trying to frame an image off a small LCD display was a challenge. But...
the results i think aren't too bad... the imperfect balance of the shadow are just reflecting the imperfections in my character...
and when i noticed the potential to work my shadow in there i did... shooting in the brilliant sun trying to frame an image off a small LCD display was a challenge. But...
the results i think aren't too bad... the imperfect balance of the shadow are just reflecting the imperfections in my character...
beach zen rock garden
So down at horseneck beach i gathered all the rocks within arms reach and started just doing stuff.
no set focus as to what i was going to make, no set organized division of the rocks...
i just did what the sand told me to do, put the rocks where they wanted to go...
I like this shot the best of the batch... and i only uploaded to flickr my favorites...
no set focus as to what i was going to make, no set organized division of the rocks...
i just did what the sand told me to do, put the rocks where they wanted to go...
I like this shot the best of the batch... and i only uploaded to flickr my favorites...
Sir Henry daVideo
Epic. Capital E epic man. WOW
*what the hell is GeWilli talking about now*
Well. While eating a lunch i watched Henry's frantically encoded Dec 9th 2005 video of the Masters race.
Damn that looked like fun!
And seein as i ain't got windows down here in the lunch room of the picture factory i'm hoping to walk outside too see all that out there.
here's the thing. And honestly, you can't find conditions any less condusive to keeping warm than those. Wind, Rain, sleet, temps at the freezing point. -20 is warmer for humans. Water makes it worse. Good gloves (ya can see all the guys smacking their hands and stuff trying to get them to work) are critical.
Notice the one crazy lunatic at the start line there wearing shorts? Sumbitch went on to win only probably cause he wanted to get to the finish line before everyone else so he could warm up. That and he's from Portland. Cold and Wet ain't nuttin new.
We had a day like that hear last year. I did my little 50 minute commute. I coulda raced in the clothes i was wearing and have been find. The doc is right. All about picking the right clothing.
Ah but i'm a different breed. I think the hiada are cool for swimming nekkid in 30-40 degree salt water every morning (at least they used to). I commute to work in all types of weather on the bike. I'd convince everyone back in michigan that the only good thing to do when it snows at night was to go out and Mt Bike on the trails and make the XC skiers all grumpy (i felt less threatened by the skiers than the hunters out there in daylight hours).
I know i'm not the only one who will watch Henry's AWESOME video and get pumped up. Probably not in the majority, but man. How freaking awesome. *chills*
The shots there in the middle with the ice flows and the leaves washing down the start hill... wow. I just keep going back to watch certain sections.
That's like Epic. Way beyond? No. Nothing's beyond Epic. How can ya not have a big Sh!t eating grin on your face watching that!
G
*what the hell is GeWilli talking about now*
Well. While eating a lunch i watched Henry's frantically encoded Dec 9th 2005 video of the Masters race.
Damn that looked like fun!
And seein as i ain't got windows down here in the lunch room of the picture factory i'm hoping to walk outside too see all that out there.
here's the thing. And honestly, you can't find conditions any less condusive to keeping warm than those. Wind, Rain, sleet, temps at the freezing point. -20 is warmer for humans. Water makes it worse. Good gloves (ya can see all the guys smacking their hands and stuff trying to get them to work) are critical.
Notice the one crazy lunatic at the start line there wearing shorts? Sumbitch went on to win only probably cause he wanted to get to the finish line before everyone else so he could warm up. That and he's from Portland. Cold and Wet ain't nuttin new.
We had a day like that hear last year. I did my little 50 minute commute. I coulda raced in the clothes i was wearing and have been find. The doc is right. All about picking the right clothing.
Ah but i'm a different breed. I think the hiada are cool for swimming nekkid in 30-40 degree salt water every morning (at least they used to). I commute to work in all types of weather on the bike. I'd convince everyone back in michigan that the only good thing to do when it snows at night was to go out and Mt Bike on the trails and make the XC skiers all grumpy (i felt less threatened by the skiers than the hunters out there in daylight hours).
I know i'm not the only one who will watch Henry's AWESOME video and get pumped up. Probably not in the majority, but man. How freaking awesome. *chills*
The shots there in the middle with the ice flows and the leaves washing down the start hill... wow. I just keep going back to watch certain sections.
That's like Epic. Way beyond? No. Nothing's beyond Epic. How can ya not have a big Sh!t eating grin on your face watching that!
G
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