Bike your drive

sure on the day I drive in (mid-morning dentist apt for the kids kinda of necessitate it, or at least make it far more efficient time wise to drive) i open up with an REI page that I came across over at Bike Providence.
http://www.rei.com/bikeyourdrive

Biking Facts: Did You Know?

5 reasons to bike your drive
The average person loses 13 pounds their first year of commuting by bike.
40% of all car trips in the U.S. are made within 2 miles of home.
60% of the pollution created by autos happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.
Just 3 hours of biking per week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gas a year by boosting bicycle trips just half a percentage point: from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.
Information courtesy of Trek Bicycle Corporation.

Yeah from the great Trek Bicycle Corporation... But all true. All important. Esp this time of year when it just might be cold enough to get you to "want" to jump in the car. But with not much more than you'd need to stay warm in the car till it warms up (during which time it is spewing toxic crap out the tail pipe if it is a gasoline car... you know of course that emissions aren't tested or regulated until the car reaches operating temperatures which happen a bit after the car starts making enough heat to thaw your fingers out).

Sure, it is a pretty obvious ploy to boost sales of bike stuff at REI, but that's okay IMHO. I've been a member for close to 20 years? Maybe longer. Family's been a member for much longer.

It is a good site for the beginner. Not so much maybe for me. I probably could sit down and pull 90% of the advice and info out of my head w/o much work. Sometimes i do to those who inquire about cycling as a transportation alternative.

It sucks that there isn't a better way to get to the school via bike with the kids. 103 backs up and half a mile of stopped two lane traffic w/o shoulder and with no good ridable sidewalk path there (the one that is there is full of telephone poles, garbage cans, cars zipping in and out of Dunkin Donuts... not as mellow as it could be.

These last couple weeks i've traded the evening trainer workout sessions for commuting. And usually I work in a bit of specificity on the ride in or the ride home. I still find it far easier to push beyond and into the pain cave on the trainer than out in the open. Too distracted by the beauty around me, or the cars or the road, the birds, the razor sharp shells.

Another side note tangent. I'm constantly being reminded of how nice it is to be free from the pressure of needing to know when I will have my next cup of coffee. No constant "I need a cup of coffee" no rushing into the office and changing and hurrying up to get the coffee started. No morning routine stared by cleaning the coffee maker and scooping up some beans and making some. Simplification.

It is nice. Almost December and I've been Caffeine free since mid-August.

Falling asleep instantly when I lay down in bed is incredible. Waking up and being awake and not groggy or fuzzy is pretty damn cool too. I'm still getting tired but I'm not craving a coffee, and now when I get a headache I can pin it down more easily, the two that i've gotten have been #1 lack of sleep #2 dehydration... Pretty simple and easy to fix...

I don't miss it. I miss the ritual. I miss the getting a coffee and hanging out at a coffee shop or seven stars. Drinking hot herbal tea just isn't the same. And decaf still has the same caffeine as a Coke so that's not an option.

If you aren't driving to the ends of the earth on Sunday for a CX race, maybe ya wanna join the RI crew for a hilly throw down. drop me an email if you are interested gewilli at gmail. I've decided Easthampton and Cheshire are too far to drive right now... and honestly a nice long ride on the cross bike with some slicks sounds like more fun than waking up way early and driving a long way in the car, esp at this point of the season... 13 races in, 2-4 races to go.

heddwch
g

Still Suits Next?

water recycling in space now...

saw this and thought of Dune...

ya either get the reference or not...

this contraption is years away from being a still suit...

Cyclo-cross is hard

Cyclo-cross is hard
Originally uploaded by KarolusLinus

yes... yes it is

Compared to CX Mag

All the other cross stuff magazines try to do seems lame now.

Like this. A tire review without talking about the Open Challenge tires? Sure they mentioned most of the popular ones but nothing really substantive.

Thank doG for CX Mag's content. That gang knows their stuff.

I was given a copy of the Velonews print edition with the cyclocross preview in it? And stuff guide or what not. And it just had the feeling of being crazy vanilla (as in plain, not as in kick ass Sacha White bikes). I know the Velonews guys get into cross a bit. But compared to the crew that Andrew and Company have rounded up... everyone else just sort of fades in comparison.

CX magazines content is impressive. Truly impressive. It really does reflect the soul and heart of Cyclocross and the people that make cyclocross what it is.

They get it.

So sign up. Renew, send them cash, buy some add space. Support the best USA based cyclocross source for news review articles and what not. Only do it occasionally? A grumpy bitter old man who doesn't get single speed cross categories? Ya still should have a print copy subscription.

I got Dirt Rag in the mail and one night later I'm done reading it. It takes me much longer to read the CX magazine issues, AND i don't put it down longing for a dualie 29er that I can't even conceive of affording, and longing for time to do long epic mt bike rides like i did in the days pre kids + job... It builds a longing I can't possible fill. Sure, CX Magazine can be about crazy unobtanium. Mostly tires and wheels. Compared to suspension forks and frames that change from year to year to year, CX frames wheels and what nots don't change that much. Sure you can buy wicked expensive stuff, but if you have strong legs, good skills, disciplined training all that bling bling doesn't really matter. You can still have fun racing cross and even be successful.

I'm sadly going to let my Dirt Rag subscription lapse, and stick with one magazine. CX Magazine.

And if you only race one cross race a year, or two... you should still get your self a subscription.

heddwch
G

disclaimer: this post was purely a spontaneous result of the typical gewilli process, no incentive cash or free issues or any knowledge or involvement from the staff at CX Mag prompted this outpouring of thanksgiving for a kick ass magazine.

coldest day of the season

And I LOVED IT.

What a ride in.

A brutal headwind blowing at 20-30 mph all the way into the city (got a bit calmer between the big houses and buildings). Along the water? Wicked solid headwind.

With an ambient temp at 22°F when I left and the sign in the sun saying 27°F when we passed it... it was cold.

But.

Some how i managed to over dress a little. Yeah, only I seem to manage to over dress and start sweating riding in 25 degree weather into a 25 mph headwind. No booties on the feet either. Just my trusty pair of Defeet Blaze socks and my two strap sidis. Toes were a touch cold, and might not have been good for an hour or more, but they were fine for the 40 minute mellow ride in with a colleague.

It was a gorgeous ride in though. Bright sunshine thanks to the lingering high pressure system parked over us bringing that nice wicked wind from the north.

Last night the wind was blowing about the same strength from the same direction and i spun home in the 46x12... yeah seriously. Rather effortless when you have a wind pushing on your back at 25 mph. It was nice.

and at the moment i'm actually contemplating not driving to the far away races this weekend, thinking maybe instead going for a good long roadish ride... and i'm surprisingly okay with that... kind of crazy, but honestly, even with fuel prices dropping the options are: Long Island (way too far - ruled out long ago), Cheshire (124 miles or so each way), and Easthampton (100 miles or so each way). Sure there are people who go farther each weekend, but I'm 14 races and 3-4 training races into the season, looking at 3-4 more races, missing another weekend might not be such a bad thing. Esp if i can get a long 50+ mile hilly ride in with some little climber types (ie Brent aka little hill junkie).

I will be missing sterling this year. I do like that course although I never seem to do well there. Last year I washed the bike the night before, and it never really dried out, drove it up there in the car, did some pre-riding, and during the race the front der cable froze in the big ring. No shifting out of the 49 and it was tough riding around that course like that. It was fun but I was slow. Although now there is a chance I might hit a MABRA race on the way home after Thanksgiving.

Plymouth South results are up. The times for Chris White and myself are off a bit. He finished in 43:33, i came across at 43:43 and Greg Montello (that IF guy) was given the same time (as me). 43:43 was enough to beat wayne c on time and rob naser and mitch and b-mac... whoooo!

It looks like Simon Burney's new page is active: http://www.cyclocross-stuff.com/ not a lot of content but something to keep an eye on.

well there ya go, from the cold and windy Ocean State...
heddwch
G

scattered

blew through the 2k mark yesterday at some point.

been blasting through various stuff today...

someone my wife shares an office with was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer this week, and following folks like Ezra's personal battle with cancer and Susan's fight that Fatty is sharing, then racing with a team mate who's a brain cancer survivor...

it just makes you pause and reflect what is important... Ezra sounds like he's gotten a great roll of the dice. Fatty's dealing with quite the opposite end of the spectrum... but one really remarkable thing is level of support and compassion you hear about through their writing...

the human spirit... the out pouring on a personal level... that is a remarkable thing.

My grandmother (technically my step father's mother but she's been a strong grandmother figure in my life) isn't doing well. An email came through the family list this morning (or last night) describing a very challenging situation. She's lost her mobility. We saw her this summer when she came down and had a picnic with my brother and our families. A windy wonderful September day. One of the last days shopping at the market. We had a great time, and she seemed quite happy to sit and watch the little ones, and the waves wash in. After that she came over to the house and gave her the best seat in the living room, with a view out the window at a our gorgeous Japanese maple and we talked. It was a struggle then to get her up the front steps to the house... My step father on one arm and me on the other. She was still generally ambulatory with a walker and a railing, but a recent fall has put one of her arms in a sling and she has been wheel chair bound. Unable to get around. And that, for someone her age, hasn't helped. A woman who was so fiercely independent and viking strong (Norway born) not to mention one of the most powerful intellects in the Peace movement has gotten old.

Struggles of health are what we all ultimately have to fight. Even the healthiest of us wind up at some point succumbing to the fact that these bodies we were born with don't last forever. Imperfect systems of evolution.

I'm actually somewhat stuck for finding the appropriate words to carry on for the moment. it feels a bit incomplete, the thoughts just before the line but it does reflect the moment appropriately...

heddwch
G

the one thing i had started writing 2x and didn't was connecting the feelings i had from attending the seattle production of Parsifal with the end of life and the feelings of loss when a parent dies... but i couldn't work it in well enough and i just kept deleting sentences... so if you are short on stuff to read - go read about Parsifal...

Race Report... Dayville DAS race

Yes. I should get to that. First I love these close races. Sleeping in, waking up and getting out of bed when I'm ready to, not when the alarm says to. Getting stuff loaded in the car, lounging around in the morning. Filling up the car on the way and still getting there with more than enough time.

The weather was windy overcast with spotty showers, some pretty heavy. But it didn't rain a drop on the way home. With rain all night and heavy damp fog and mist there was no drying of the course. it was wet last year when i went. wet this year. Love it.

On the way there i hesitated putting the iPod with the death magnetic through the car stereo. WBRU was doing the retro-brunch, songs that close to middle age folks like me remember fondly. Crap. I can't be middle aged. 37? Seems way more middle than anything else. Anyway. A couple good songs came on. Then, cruising through the fog towards CT on 101...

the opening bars of this song started in through the speakers...
I'm not ashamed to say, I like that song. Why? Dunno. Something about the simplicity and the melodic vocals? The synth. what ever it is, it sort of washes over with positive good vibes. forget metallica... for the drive in at least... i was pumped.

WBRU fades just over the CT side of the RI hills... so the retro brunch was cut short...

It was a light turn out at Dayville. Despite the Beer Cross in the title, this race doesn't have any of the shenanigans you'd associate with stuff like the SSWCCX race. It is just plain old hard core cyclocross.

Head over, get my number. Walk back, chat a bit, grab the pit bike and ride over to check and see what kind of changes they've made to the course from last time I was there. First barrier was the same. Most all the course was the same. An added barrier in a new location. And then there was the tape chicane maze. Holy crap batman, that is one tight ass twisty section. Custom made for a little freak. Not some big guy with a longer than average wheelbase. Steve Morse was running it in the pre-ride. I think it might have been a touch faster to run it. But i still only ran it 1/2 the time. And then there was the run up. The descent was tough. Bumpy, slippery and trees everywhere.

So with recon finished, the women about to start... I headed back to get through the pre-race ritual of non-rituals. Trying not to be so set in my ways that disruptions or changes don't freak me out, but there are elements that seem to be required. #1 pinning on the number. Can't really get around that. And after years of doing it and finally hearing the one phrase that made it all click into automatic:

"How do you pin them on? When numbers are on the left-
Bottom left hand corner goes right under the armpit. Bottom of the number should come pretty close to following the line of the side panel."

(thanks to K-man)

Now pinning numbers on all funktasticly just seems crazy. How hard is it to pin the sh1t on? Seriously. I'm too OCD/fastidious for my own good. Anyway.

Pinned up suited up trainer set up, hop on. The Bikeman gang from RI are under cover warming up. NBX Bo Fuller was cruising around doing something. Maybe warming up too? I dunno. Steamboat was racing with us in the Killer Bs. As were a handful of others including Shawn McCormick. Before Plymouth or maybe a race before that I had not realized that there was more than just Frank and Mark. Then one race there was a guy who looked remarkably like Mark, in a Fuji team kit. Well yeah. That's Shawn. The only McCormick I can say I've finished in front of. Sounds kind of cool to say "I beat one of the McCormicks!" Esp when the person you are talking only knows of Mark and Frank. (I just realized my name's all my spelled in the Opa-Opa results -damnit). Anyway Wayne was there too. Looking pretty serious today. Bo was all about wanting to beat Wayne pre-race.

Warm up felt okay. First time on the bike since Monday. Legs were pretty stiff. Lots of slowness in them. But I persisted and spent about 25 minutes just spinning them around listening to Metallica. Eventually I broke a sweat and I started to mix in a few intense efforts. The sensations weren't bad but not great. All that time off kind of left me feeling somewhat flat. But not too bad. Much better than I felt at NoHo. Not as good as I felt at Plymouth South. With about 20 minutes to go I rolled over to the start. We got lined up. I didn't want front row. I wanted to start within myself. Chuck and Steve made a Steamboat sandwich in front of me. Boom we were off. Chuck went out crazy. Nailed the hole shot, had it for a few minutes or a few seconds, not sure which, but the second lap or so I was past him. Passed a slid out Stevens. Got around Morse when he went down into the narrow hill after the covered bridge thing, he was running up and I managed to pedal around him and drop him. I don't think I was slowing down much, but I never really got better at riding the lines in the single track. And other people did. NBX Rob was chilling back a few seconds from me. I could see him, and after every single track section he was a tiny bit closer. Closer and closer he'd get through the tight twisty stuff. I'd easily hold the gap in the straights or over the barriers, but hitting the snot slick clayish mud in the turns and the tight single track he'd work closer until he'd get me. Then he was gone with about 3 to go. I was again alone in no mans land. Then there was a kid moving up. Killing it in the twisty sections and the down hill. I tried to hold him off as long as I could. Then on the last lap he got around just as we passed the pits the first time on that lap... and he jumped as he went around. A really solid jump. I was able to dig down and keep the gap from growing but he hit the twisty stuff up top and gapped me a touch. Then I reeled him back heading into the back rocky rooty stuff. I was flying through there and managed to get almost on his wheel as we hit the tape maze. He got out a touch better than me, but I ran the last two turns and was on the bike and I was on his heels at the top of the run up.

Saddly, he just took off and i botched the turn at the bottom of the hill and he built a gap I couldn't close on the plane of pain. I was at the limit there through the turns, full bore big ring spinning, rear wheel drifting around the corner, but i would have needed about 50 meters to catch him.

And once again I've sort of come to the realization, I like big hills, and power sections. This single track mountain bikey stuff even with tubbies still has me a bit slower than I could be. Something to work on.

But it was a fun race. Finished 8th out of 18th after being as high as 6th with a really mellow start.

Had a post race IPA, mmm good. Then picked up the pit bike and headed back to change and come back to watch Skinny and Mark G race around. The kid who won the Killer B race destroyed those guys. Word was he was hopping the barriers. Kid has skills.

Then sunday I decided to check on my weight... damn ~7-8 pounds lighter than I was a week ago. I should really have kept the food intake up even when I was off the bike. Damn. Getting skinny. But then the nice people running the wellness clinic said i had about 15-16 pounds of body fat so... hopefully most of that was fat? Hopefully? (doubtful I know but hey i can dream, right?) Even if only 5 pounds of it was fat... that would wind me up around 5% body fat... possible... so much for trying to keep that insulating layer on during cross season... Gotta eat more food. SWEET!

Gotta say, I like having that dilemma... fooooooooood.... me need FOOOOOOD...

now to see about making the skinnier legs and body go faster...

heddwch
g

great read

something to think about... or at least read.


Esp if you don't follow Ryan Kelly's blog on a daily basis...

10,000 hours for mastery. Seems about right. Then couple the exceptional luck with success and you can't beat that logic.

Luck or circumstance, how ever you want to look at it, plays an absolute undeniable roll in success. Much of it can be created by hard work and diligent planning on the individual's part. Much of it cannot.

Sounds like a fun book to read. I was going to say if anyone is done reading it and wants to loan me a copy... but... it won't be released until tomorrow... maybe i'll pick up a copy for vacation reading...

Cool vid from DC

hadn't seen this before... nice little bit of hope for the bike culture...

quick quiz

Here's a one-question IQ Test to help you decide how you should spend the rest of your day......

There is a mute who wants to buy a toothbrush.

By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth, he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.

Now, if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses,

how should he express himself?



Think about it first before scrolling down for the answer...



















He opens his mouth and says. 'I would like to buy a pair of Sunglasses.'

If you got this wrong, please turn off your computer and call it a day.

grease under the nails

still...

Okay barely noticeable a few days and lots of dishes later. Friday was the Timing belt day. The thing I had forgotten, was just how much sh!t needs to be removed to get to the belt. But, it all came apart, all went back together, sort of smoothly, not rushed but it still took a while. Pulled into the barn around 10:30 or so. Got the tools unloaded, sorted out, space cleared to work in and started around 11am. Worked pretty much straight at a moderate pace, until about 3pm when the car fired right up the first time. I did a couple extra things like take the glow plugs out so it is easier to turn the engine over to line up the pump, camshaft and crankshaft. Then after it started I did a quick oil change. Toss in a fuel filter change and that was about everything. Pretty dirty, and no, for some reason i've never been able to work as well with gloves on. Sometimes I'll wear the mechanix gloves. Heck I picked up a pair from Ocean State Job lot for $8 on tuesday for the work. And then those nitrile gloves. Hands get too sweaty and I can't feel the bolts and nuts and stuff. Need to feel. So i generally get dirty. Kept it mostly to my hands and face (working under and wiping sweat = dirt on exposed skin).

It was fun being a mechanic again. Kind of remembered fondly all those get-to-gethers in michigan and around when I was mostly focused on cars instead of bikes. Instead of racing I'd go help work on cars once or twice a month through the year. It always seemed to be most frequent in the winter. More often than not we seemed to be crawling under and over cars on frozen concrete slabs of pole barns or garage floors. Didn't have to worry about waiting for the engine too cool off before taking it apart. But this time was a solo adventure. Might have been the first time I've done a timing belt with out someone either watching or helping, usually more than one or two. This was just me. And my own set of tools. No borrowing the odd one from someone to make the job easier. Heck I managed to add an extra 30 minutes at least when I left my Serpentine belt tensioner tool at the house. Sort of managed to get it back together after dropping the 12" crescent wrench on myself once or twice (that son of a bitch is heavy). Timing was bang on exactly where it was when I last changed it (forgot to check before i took it all apart - but based on the smell from the exhaust and the engine smoothness - it was probably slightly retarded, the timing that is). Just a moment of clarification: retarded and advanced are two terms for talking about the timing of the injection, advanced is early and retarded is late. Advanced generally means better power and fuel economy at a slightly higher combustion temperature meaning it runs a bit leaner and cleaner and burns some Nitrogen as well as fuel. Retarded is less powerful, tends to not burn the fuel completely or at as high of a temperature making more soot (incomplete combustion) but doesn't burn as much nitrogen. More power better economy and less soot is generally where the car (ECU) wants the engine to run. And for the most part as long as the static mechanical setting (timing belt alignment) is good and in a certain range, well then the fuel pump can adjust the timing where ever it needs. Anyway. It is pretty cool stuff. Rather simple and elegant. And so much more exciting than spark ignition systems.

And the other thing that hit me, well more of a slow realization. I haven't worked on the car in this physical shape. As a result i wasn't totally wrecked the day after. Legs were fine for racing. I think just riding on Monday and not at all the rest of the week and the single track on the course played a bigger part in my results than anything else on Saturday.

I did manage to give myself a bit of tendinitis in my left shoulder. Pretty severe inflammation/pain in the upper bicep tendon. Fortunately as most cyclists know from their tiny bicepts, ya don't use em much on the bike. And at least it was the left shoulder, not the right shoulder so there was zero pain from lifting the bike or running with it on my shoulder. But man. It hurts. And I know this pain. I've had it before. But it seems to be getting better a bit faster than in the past. When I was way out of shape they gave me MRIs, and lots of vitamin I but everytime i thought it was getting better I would stop taking the Vitamin I, only to find a week later after the last of the ibuprofen has washed out of my system that I was in just as much pain as before, and then it would take a whole week for the Vitamin Ibuprofen to build up enough in my system to have any effect on the inflammation or the pain. Sucked.

But hey at least I can still ride. And after getting the car put back together Saturday was slated to be a great race. Wet, raining, and close. Only about 35-40 minutes from the house. So nice. More on that later. It sounds like Shedd Park was pretty Epic this year. Sunday we just made Crepes and went to ballet and the farm and hung out and watched some football. Tried to stay up and watch the Cowboys and the Skins but I fell asleep somewhere in the 3rd quarter...

will write up the race later... and what a great race it was. My strengths are really not weaving between trees on little single track sections, but it still was fun. Wet and slick and muddy, and raining, and a beer after the race as a recovery drink. What more could ya want.

heddwch
g

nats locations

I was reading cyclingnews (shock, first time in a long time i've had the patience to read their stuff).

and I caught this bit from Bill Marshall:

In a more general feedback request, the organizers are looking for 'cross racers' thoughts on Kansas City as the location for nationals going into the future. "We want to bid on it again," said Marshall. "The whole intent is that we want to prove to USA Cycling that it is advantageous to have the event in the middle of the US. The demographic is mostly the northwest and northeast, so we want to show them that Kansas City is in the middle of that."

Lets see. If you hold the race in the NW, 1/2 the field doesn't have to travel. If you hold the event in New England, 1/2 the field doesn't have to travel.

If you hold it in KC, 95% of the field has to get there some how.

Fiscal irresponsibility.

Have Nationals alternate between epicenters of the highest concentration of cyclocross racers. Sure if the race is in Portland it might be 65% local, and if it comes back to Providence it would be close to 60% regional. But in essence folks from the MAC north would drive in likely, and that's a shorter drive (in general) than going to KC.

I don't like nationals being held in the middle of the country. Doesn't make sense. All it does is put more fiscal stress on the racers who want to participate. Maybe for the masters who are pulling down over six figure incomes it doesn't matter where it is held. But for many it is a big factor in attendance.

Benefits for holding it in a strong cycling/racing culture area? Spectator attendance. Providence it wasn't too bad, and i know a large number of folks who came to check it out who didn't know about cross at all. Portland would have no issue getting spectators. Seattle probably the same.

No answers here but wild speculation that it has to make a much bigger carbon footprint to hold the race in the middle. With that many more people flying in, sure it would "stimulate" the economy more (maybe) it would certainly drain more wallets than if the race was held on either coast.

NY Time Cross Article

Check it:

PUSHING THE LIMIT

Blood, Muddy Courses and Air Horns

By MICHAEL BARRY

Published: November 13, 2008

Cyclocross, a sport that was originally a way for road cyclists to stay in shape, has developed its own stars, fan base, and a professional World Cup circuit.

It is a pretty bland article, but that said. It ends with a strong emotional punch of "yeah that's why i do it"

Good read. If short and lacking in substance, it makes up with a good story.

The other Barry, wicks that is, has a new entry up over at Velonews. It was posted up there yesterday. Mostly an add for Geoff Proctor's camp but there are a few bits of Wicks humor tucked in there making it worth the few seconds it takes to read his article.

fast volvos

I'd kind of always been a fan of Paul Newman's rumored stealth V8 240 wagon. And to me that seemed like the perfect vehicle. Boring, strong, but fast. Then at some point I got a job that needed me to drive 75 miles each way. 5 days a week. And I bought a new car. A diesel. A VW. Back to the Dub I went. And with diesel power who wants a stinkin V8 anyway. things change but watchin that old 740 burn rubber is pretty cool.

i'm thinking cars mostly this week. only on the bike monday. girls off on tuesday with me, wed and today i'm doing the drop off/pick ups in the car and tomorrow, tomorrow it looks like i might just finally get to that timing belt. so if i don't pre-reg for Dayville, and i don't show up, well it isn't finished or i can't move or both. should be interesting and fun. actually looking forward to getting all dirty. it's been a while. In reality after you've done a good handful of them they aren't very complicated. Esp if you are using the right tools. The cam shaft locking plate, the injection pump locking pin, the camshaft pulley puller... the bulk of the time is just taking everything off and out of the way. And double checking torque and alignment. Then once all buttoned up, ya gotta check the timing on the computer and hopefully, with luck you'll already be w/in the acceptable range, if not. it is the arduous task of ever so minutely tweaking the injection pump, a mm this way or that, that is the last thing to do before putting the cover on and closing the hood.

still no plymouth south results?

And in case you missed it, Brooke Hoyer had a stroke while racing at PIR (oregon) this weekend. He has been writing for CX Magazine for a handful of issues lately. Covering the NAHBS in words and photos, and writing up the bottom line of bottom bracket height in Issue #4. All the best to him.

heddwch
G

Try not...

"Try not. Do…or do not.
There is no try." --Yoda

Yeah... I've got that as a sig somewhere. And seeing it just now reminded me of when Wayne C came by and I told him to get on that wheel (that gapped him IIRC) or something. I forget who it was that came through. And he said I'M TRYING... and I said something like there is no try, you either do it or you don't or something like that...

I was a talkative MoFo both saturday and sunday. At least until C Smith gapped me an IF guy to the point where there wasn't nothing to say, it had been reduced to me vs him. First lap was telling Ken Scott to jump on that wheel, don't let that gap open. Stuff like that. Even to IF guy and NBX and who ever else was running around trying to follow Smith around. I even jumped in front and told em to jump on and lets go. It was fun. It was pretty much all positive, and it kept me focusing on something other than how much it hurt, and it kept that happy feeling around a lot longer. Around long enough until the killer competitive side realized there was a chance (to try and beat IF guy in the sprint).

I dunno what the other guys thought of that obnoxious motor mouth, but maybe that's part of why I had fun. I actually did the whole yelling while racing thing. And man did it give me a boost to hear Kenny say "ROCKING THE BIG RING, ALRIGHT" or something like that. When i was there dropping off the pit bike he couldn't help but notice me shouting at anyone i knew who was racing past and some I didn't "PUT IT IN THE BIG RING" seriously. They were going so slow post barriers past the pit.

I do get a kick of out telling those single ring folks to "put it in the big ring" and find it even funnier when they try to say they only have one all out of breath and don't realize you know they only have one ring... maybe that is a bit of the devil on my shoulder getting the kick out of that.

Speaking of starts. Plymouth North isn't such a bad start place. Everyone gets a front row (or second row). Sure it narrows down pretty quick. But everyone has an almost equal chance to be fast and agressive. Sure it tends to favor the inside line racers. But for perspective. The SSCXWC08 start is maybe something that might not be bad for an National/epic event. Ala MotorCross. Sure maybe you need a giant special start field to get everyone to fit in there. But it certainly would change the bitching from one of I was out of contention from the start to that MoFo took me out. It could be pretty freaking chaotic (i'm just imagining right now) funneling 50-100 riders down to 3-4 wide over a not so long space. But man, it would put a huge premium on your start power, fitness, and bike handling. Ya don't have those three in spades and you are screwed in a giant field.

Anyone else notice that Mahk McC's worst finish was 4th at VT day 1? All the other finishers are either first or second. Seriously. Pretty crazy. But not really. No wonder he shows up and doesn't pre-ride... and still wins easily.

Heck Puntey results are on BikeReg before Plymouth South. Crazy. Maybe they'll be there tomorrow... maybe?

we'll see

Heddwch
G

mid week hump

still riding the high from the weekend...

With the girls out of school for Vets day, we did our best to stimulate the economy. We went shopping. Not for anything crazy. The start of cross season kind of tossed out a year and a half food shopping routine. It wasn't just the racing on the weekends. It also was about the time the market closed. Much despite my brother's efforts, he was one of three owners and the other two decided they needed to pack it in. So the LLC hit receivership. And we lost the place we'd been procuring food for 18 months or so. That is a long time for a routine. And since then, with racing on the weekend and no comparable store anywhere close, things have been kind of upside down in the food procurement patterns. But heck, they managed to close before the stock market hit the sh!tter, and even if they'd made it through, they might not have made it till now anyway. I wonder if that sentence makes sense.

So the girls and I hit a reasonably smattering of stores. And then we came home and made pizza.

Pizza night. Gotta love pizza night.

And lately I've really sort of changed up how I'm making pizza. I've gone from the hand tossing and using a peel to get it directly on the stone in the oven, to cooking the dough first (with or w/o sauce) in my pre-heated caphalon pizza pan (oil on the bottom). It sits in the 475°F convection oven for 3 minutes or so, getting slightly browned and crisp. Then I put the toppings on and slip it out of the pan directly on the stone.

It gives me a bit more control with the crust. And since I've switched from buying the dough at the bakery to making it myself... well I'm making a few more pizzas. The girls love this because they get their own pizzas, full control. Last night pizza one was cheese and sausage, pizza two was mushrooms, olives, sausage, just a tiny bit of cheese, and fresh basil. Fresh mushrooms mind you. Putting canned watery crap on pizza is sacrilegious. I made a big plain cheese to satisfy my wife's preference for simple, and mine was loaded with pizza two plus a bunch of spinach. So good.

The crust turned out very thin last night. And crispy. My wife called it a cracker pizza almost. But those girls devoured most of their combinations. It was good.

We tried a local Mozzarella cheese. It was pretty damn good. Not a fresh balled in whey mozz, but it was as close as it could have been in texture and flavor. And it melted like fresh mozz. Ya know how non-fresh mozz never really browns and looks more cheesy than white. This was a pure white cheese (even with a touch of provolone mixed in) melted on the crust with a delicate browning on the surface. And man did it make a good pie.

Looking ahead, cross season is winding down. 4 weeks or so left.

Around here we've got a few choices this weekend. Saturday there is the Brockton race. Two years ago it was a crazy course. It was also the only muddy race weekends. That day it went up against the uber mud at the UNH race. It was the one pinch flat race of the year, but in the mud, my Vred 28s kicked butt, and the wheel loaned to me by C-Burke was a tufo tubular and it didn't hook up one bit, i had to slow way down just to stay under control in the greasy wet turns. That and I managed almost to pitch myself into the pond. They made changes last year. It didn't sound too much different. And this year it is going up against the Dayville race.

For a good story about the Dayville race check out legolord's write up of Beer Cross #1. It is almost the same course they used for Natz Schmatz in January. And that was fun.

And my plan for the moment is to hit Beer Cross on saturday. Besides it is $10 cheaper (or 11-12 if ya do the bike reg thing) than Brockton.

Sunday is Lowell. That famous race at Shed Park. Over the past couple years I've been going there the city has made lots of improvements to the place. It does have some great kid friendly playground equipment for them to watch Daddy (or Mommy) race around. And it is a fun course, sort of. Actually other than the steep ridable hill there i'm not a big fan of the course. Maybe it is the cinder track that turns everything black. That is the litmus test for your kit washing routine. That Black nastiness is tough to get out, even if it doesn't rain it still manages to be wet. I don't like to be negative about a race overall, and there are lots of people who just love that course, the location and eagerly anticipate the races return. Me? Not so much. Maybe because the first year they didn't score me. I finished, and IIRC they put people on the results that finished after me. But I didn't get scored. Last year, the missed the leader coming through and so I saw 1 to go for 2 laps or was it 2 to go for 2 laps... at any rate that kind of stinks. And in that very last lap I got passed by the leaders. Would have been on the lead lap if they'd gotten the lap cards right. But nope. Ah well. I wasn't having a good day anyway from what I remember. Might have been sick or something. Who knows. I suppose I could look back but, nah. I know the scoring isn't really the fault of the venue or the promoter. But it does affect the racer's perception of the event.

Like Plymouth. It was fun as hell but, seriously. Where the heck are the results? If I was almost DFL like usual, heck I might not care. But I want to see how I stacked up. I want to figure out who that IF guy was that I beat at the line for 14th on Sunday. I want to know where I finished in the Saturday race. Was I really 11th? Or did i just imagine that placing? Because I clarified with the officials that yes indeed, chris white was 288 and i was 285 and I finished behind him by 10 seconds, i know my placing. But not really who I finished in front of. Results. May they show up SOOON. please
well hey, what do you know, Plymouth North Results just showed up

Ooops, probably should have hit publish a while ago.

heddwch
G

i'm not a gambling man...

but i'm in tears from reading this one...

The IRS decides to audit Grandpa, and summons him to the IRS office.
The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his
attorney.
The auditor said, 'Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle
and no full-time employment, Which you explain by saying that you win money
gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable.'

I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it,' says Grandpa. 'How about a
demonstration?'

The auditor thinks for a moment and said, 'Okay. Go ahead.'

Grandpa says, 'I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite
my own eye.'

The auditor thinks a moment and says, 'It's a bet.'

Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it.

The auditor's jaw drops.

Grandpa says, 'Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can
bite my other eye.'

Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn't blind, so he takes the bet.

Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three
grand, with Grandpa's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

'Want to go double or nothing?' Grandpa asks 'I'll bet you six
thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in
between.'

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks
carefully and decides there's no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he
strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor's desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a
major loss into a huge win.

But Grandpa's attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

'Are you okay?' the auditor asks.

'Not really,' says the attorney. 'This morning, when Grandpa
told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty-five thousand dollars that he could come in here and pee all over your desk and that you'd be happy about it.'

Plants are cool....

A Plymouth Weekend

The Refunds Now team was well represented this weekend, esp on Saturday. We had a bunch of guys out there. Three of us in the Masters open races, one in the 3/4 race and at least one (or two) in the 4 race. And out of that we got a 3rd place in the 35+ and a 1st in the 3/4 race. And while I didn't have a spectacular race, I had fun. It felt like a pretty small field of riders. Well strung out as it gets there at Plymouth North HS. Small groups form or you get stuck out in no mans land in the wind on the power sucking grass or the lonely sidewalk climb. They put the "run up" back in (so totally ridable) and I was stoked for that. It was fun. I managed to hang on to Marvin and Chris's wheel for a while, then at some point I cracked just a touch and couldn't get back on. The closest guys behind be in the 35 race were Ken Scott and CTodd. And they were pretty far back (too far to sit up and let them get me). And sooner than later a few of the just off the front 45s came through. I could watch them work through Ken and Ctodd. Then they got up to me and when Paul and who ever else was with him caught me I yielded the racing line and jumped on their wheels. And I held on as long as I could. Gap, repeat. And that helped me "race" through the middle part of the race. Chris and Marvin were long gone. Sadly putting almost 3 minutes on me. But the end result was that I managed to hang on to that spot behind Marvin. And while painful. It was fun. Loads of fun. Curtis managed to snag the hole shot prime and then went on to beat Frank and Bill and company while Mark toyed a bit with Dan Coady pimping the Love Bike man for the win.

The corners were a bit greasy, the single track up top was pretty slick and the downhill was wash boarded to hell. But it was fun. Way more fun than last year. IIRC I might have actually finished 11th or something. Out of maybe 19 finishers? I forgot to take the snapshot of the results sheet so i'd remember. It wasn't nearly as cold. And I was once again overheating, short sleeve skinsuit unzipped a touch even. But despite getting caught by a handful of old guys who started 2 minutes behind me, it was a great day. And I was really looking forward to Day 2.

As an aside. I finally (kind of a shocker) put a name to that Ryan Kelly dude. But that was after the race. As we were lining up for the start I looked around. There were WAY more people at the race than on the pre-reg list. Man. Is that a sign that you are in an elite race? Pros and Ex Pros are the ones who often don't bother with the pre-reg. They don't have much cash and prefer shell out the dough as close to the moment they need it, as opposed to say registering for Gloucester over a month in advance. The smaller the race, the more likely it is to happen.

So I look around. Mark M at one end of the line (inside). Frank M at the far end. Dan Coady next to Mark M (i think) Curtis, then me. CTodd picked a spot next to me, Ken Scott was about middle of the line. And all i could think about was Ryan's column. Great. Ah well. Of course on saturday I did the day of registration too.

Sunday. Ah sunday. It was made a touch more complicated with the addition of my 3.5yo daughter to the traveling mix. And seeing as the winner of the 3/4 on saturday needed a ride and was doing the race right before mine, the plan was hatched so that Mark N would hang out with my girl while i raced. It was fantastic. Only downside? I didn't get to pre-ride. But seeing as I was lining up against more or less semi-pro/pro CX racers in the masters open, well... No way in HELL would it be a smart race to go out at Mark M's speed, or Shattuck's or... who ever else showed up. Ken Scott gave me the cliff note versions from the pre-ride. Mark N mentioned a few spots to watch (most the concrete square water bars on the downhills). And so I just did the warm up on the trainer hanging out at the car with my little one. We hit the bouncy house a few times and the potty a few times but still some how I managed to get a good 20-30 minutes on the trainer and the legs warm and some efforts in. Feeling not so bad. Mark N gets back from his slightly truncated cool down, announces "Second place!" I guess 1-2 at Plymouth North switched to 2-1 at South. He scored a sweet trophy on saturday and a cool spinner medal on sunday. Then it was time to line up.

Everyone at the line had dirty bikes except me. Meaning everyone had a chance to pre-ride. Not me. Then Mark M shows up. just after the 2 minute warning. Clean bike. He hasn't pre-ridden the course either. Cool. I chill back in second row. And have a nice relaxed start. Roll around to the bottle neck, and sit in on Ken's wheel. Marvin takes off running around that first hairpin as the pack bunches up. But gains only one or two spots. And I chill behind Ken. He's pre-ridden. And I encourage him not to let a gap open. To stick on that wheel. And more or less the first lap everyone is kind of together. Strung out. But not that separated. Ken bobbles on the little u-turn with the tires around it and I head past. Grab the wheel in front and keep going. And I just sit on wheels. Mostly targeting Chris White. In the first couple laps I towed a few folks around chasing down the gap to Chris. We reeled in a few riders, I don't know how many but it must have been more than I thought because I was pretty damn sure I was near to last place on that first lap. Chasing gaps, sitting in. And I raced. I made people pull me around. I didn't MAKE them. But I knew they were all stronger than me. And gap me they did a few times. Chris (and I) caught the IF rider and Rob Kramer (Ridley Factory Team) as we went by Rob he muttered wrong tire choice. I couldn't help but offer an upbeat and happy comment (tone of voice) that Page would still be kicking our asses on this course riding around on road tires. But tire choice was a big deal in some spots. As was line choice. Chris and I snapped the elastic on IF and Rob for a lap maybe. Then Chris snapped me and IF guy was gaining on me. And before long it was 2 to go. Woa. Holy crap. Only 2 to go? Where are the 45s? Soon Mark G (45 leader riding for Team Fuji) catches us as we head back around the chainlink fence. He goes buy and IF guy goes around me with him. Chris is up a head a bit and they hit the woods and the chute with the water bars. IF guy jumps around Mark, so it was Chris, IF, Mark G, then me a bit back. I was calm. I knew i had more power and speed through the up hill behind the bleachers than the IF guy. And sure enough. We hit the mud and I discover that the middle line through the mud is the fastest and I'm back on IF's wheel. Mark G has already passed Chris and we're off headed back to take the bell lap. One crazy thing was the barriers. It was slightly up hill and into a ferocious headwind. Getting off the bike the wind almost blew you to a complete stop. It was crazy. But it was a quick remount after the hairpin with a downhill tail wind. Big ring all the way around. So bell lap. I'm still behind IF. He's got more power in sections than me, but I seem to be climbing better than he is. Last lap I just sit there. Not going to let go. I'm cooked. I make sure my normally loud breathing is as loud as can be to let him know i'm just barely hanging on. He gaps me a touch going past the Pits the first time. But I dig and find something to hang on. I'm thinking where the hell are the rest of the 45s, then we see a few of them as we head back to the chainlink. Wow. We might be able to hold them off. Wash rinse repeat. I relax on the downhill, catch him on the up hill. Hit the barriers and then he gaps me as we power back past the pits. Oh no he's not. Up ahead just before you hit the single track around the backstop. Total one line. No passing. There is a lapped rider. F*CK. I gotta get around him to have a chance to be on IF's wheel. And I jump, dig down, stand up and power power power, shouting ON YOUR RIGHT and I dove past him, just in front of him and make the line before he gets there. I even think he didn't really have to slow down much as i went past. And I'm back on IF's wheel on the final climb up towards the paved finishing straight. We hit it. He starts down shifting and sprinting. He's got a single ring. I drop it down from the 46-27, two clicks down and sprint. And win the sprint for 14th place (out of 22 iirc). Totally gassed. Spent. And elated. It was fun.

That and I was very confused. They must have started the 45s more than 2 minutes behind us. Nope. As it turned out. It was exactly 2 minutes by Steamboat's watch. Holy crap. It was amazing. Sure. It was only 14th place. Mark M finished (with a win of course) at either 39 or 41 (i can't remember). But I do remember that Chris White came in only 10 seconds ahead of me at 43:33, and I ticked the line at 43:43.

I was pumped, super stoked. I beat a handful of guys I haven't even been close to all year. SO MUCH FUN.

Damn this cross racing stuff is just amazing.

And seeing all the regular folks there. The other FREAK. Gary the tri guy who can't start to save his butt. Sweeny, C-burke, Ken Scott, Mike and Cathy, Skinny White Dude's Wife (Oh and I'd wager Skinny's take on the race was about as polar opposite as mine). Wild Bill, ROB BAUER. James H and the rest of the NBX crew, Marc T, Steamboat Stevens. Hannah and man I gotta be missing someone. If so, i apologize. It was just an awesome day. I do actually like that course alot. Total big ring 100% of the way around. Didn't need the little ring once. Didn't use it once. Or wait. No I did use it on the first lap a few times, I wasn't sure what was coming.

That and I realized. As much as you pre-ride a course, it is hard to pre-ride at race pace. And the lines change a little at that speed. If you want to be off the front on the first lap, yes. Getting a pre-ride lap in is critical. If you are content to follow a wheel or two and not get overzealous (*cough* skinny *cough*) on the first lap it is something less important to cut out than say a good warm up. Obviously good to get both but. Anyway.

What a great weekend racing.

So... Much... Fun....

heddwch
G

Mud... mud everywhere

a quick run down has people preparing for mud this weekend. the Racing up in GTO, SSCXWC08 is looking wet... we might get wet weather here but at least it won't be bone dry ground (at least in parts of the courses). Putney's corn field should be well saturated. Pony cross is trying to decide between a Fango and a Rhyno.

Bottom line? It is looking like a great weekend for cross.

No matter what kind of rubber you've got on your rims, glued or hook beaded, tubed or no tubed... cross is fun... it ain't here long.

Soon everyone will mope around pissing and moaning about the lack of racing in the USA between nationals and worlds. And when worlds are over everyone will go into Cross withdrawal and be miserable until they pull out the mountain bike or worse, the road bike and hit a few races to calm the shakes.

As the cyclocross wives get mid-way to the breaking point, kids wonder if they will ever see their Dad's (or maybe Mom's) in the middle of the day on a weekend NOT on a bike, there is only a few weekends of racing left on the calendar. It will soon be over. Lives can go back to normal.

but this weekend and a few more to come, still belong to cyclocross...

Soon the feeling of sitting, cold at the start line, waiting for the fire to erupt in your legs that will have you sweating in less than a minute, will be but a memory. This moment. Relish it. Embrace the awesomeness that is cross while you can still appreciate it. Don't wait till Nationals. Or NBX, or what ever your season finale race will be to sit there and get all mopy and doe eyed about the end. Begin to savor it now.

Chew it up, savor it. Don't gulp and swallow.

heddwch
G

PS, I wonder what scottyucsb is doing...

i don't like tape

No, i'm not talking the awesome course tape that we have here instead of cones of suggestion. I'm talking about tape for tubulars.

with great respect to Sven and Bart, tape ain't good.

yucky nasty stuff...

sure it might hold well, and cover up for person inadequacies and lack of OCD when gluing... it can also potentially save your bacon if you roll on day one of a two day race, slap some tape on there and go (just hope ya don't have to take it off cleanly).

why use tape when you can put your tire on so well that you can't remove it? I dunno? Why add an extra step to a process? I dunno.

one of the better links for gluing, okay one of the best if found is here:
http://www.engr.ku.edu/~kuktl/bicycle/Cusa1.pdf

another good read on cyclocross tires, including tubulars and gluing method is here

i might even pull out my write up of the complete secret "Peanut" technique soon...

But I'm going to save it for when I'm really pressed for content.

RBR has a boat load of threads dealing with gluing cyclocross tires. Here's one of them. Just in case you happen NOT to be results boy who has that forum open on a second monitor and has his browser set on auto-refresh so he doesn't miss a juicy chance to slam some dimwitted newbie.

Down in this thread I made a 30 second photochop sketch to try and illustrate my point about using lower (race) pressures to cure the tires. I'm still not sure I made my point clear to everyone, but I understand what I'm trying to say. It all depends on the tubular, the profile. How well it matches the rim.

Too much air will tend to squish some of the more liquid glue out of the bond and could potentially compress a stiffer glue into a thinner depth. And in some cases it seems that you get a nice gap at the center of the rim where the glue could potentially pull away preventing a solid bond. This is however unlikely if you get enough Mastik One and you apply it properly to the basetape and the glue and if you install it with the peanut method, or just the Portland Broom stick trick.

It is the constant photos like this and this one that bother my OCD self. You've got a nice wet sticky (esp with Mastik One) rim surface and you are pressing it into something. Is that something completely clean? Is some of the glue residue being removed? Well if it is wet you are either removing it or contaminating it. Both create a weak spot opposite the valve hole. Oh so you think you are just pushing on the lip of the rim? [ sarcasm] Yeah you don't need glue there [ /sarcasm].

Now that's great if you are a triathlete and have to rip your tubular off your Zipp 909s mid race. You've got a nice spot where the bond is weak. Not so good if you are racing cross and you don't want that sumbitch to come off at all.

When I was taught how to glue tubulars (at least as i remember), way back in 1990 (sure, not that long ago in the memory of old farts like Solobreak) you put the valve in, set that on the ground and pulled the tire around. Always protecting the fresh wet glue on the rim from being touched. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER touch the dried glue, or the wet glue with anything other than the tire or the next layer of glue. And always start with a solvent washed rim (or old new glue if it is not dried and powdery and flaking off). You should have heard the fit Peanut went into when I touched the rim to see if the glue was dry with my bare finger. Oh she was NOT happy in the least (and that, THAT started the memories trickling back in).

Now how do you pull the tire around? You stick your toes through the spokes to hold the rim down. Yeah. Your toes. Usually I just use an old ratty pair of socks, ya know the ones destined to apply pledge to the frame in a week or two? Pull it around and you get the tire on easily, without any mess on the braking surface (or the tape you put on the braking surface).

Things like that were taught to me by old master crusty roadies who were eager and amazed to find a kid in the new dawn of clinchers who WANTED to learn how to glue tubulars. I never could afford them myself, but I did wind up gluing them for other people in the shop.

I treated it like an art. Like building wheels. Like cutting bits of 0.25x0.5mmx60 nm thick sections of epoxy. I get a rush out of it. I relish the chance to dissect the process, to solve the riddle: Why.

The truth of the matter is, you can screw the process up however you want. Use tape. Pump the tire up to 100 psi. No rolling, no broom stick. No pushing at the seam with your thumbs. You can just slap some glue on, push the rim against some cardboard and get the tire on there and you may never have a problem. But. Just the fact that you CAN get all fastidious about the process, THAT makes it wicked damn awesome.

Back to one of the first links to how to glue toobies. This one. There are two follow up parts to it. Curing Time. And adhesive performance at higher temps (not really part of cyclocross even with carbon rims that smell like burning plastic when ya hit the brakes). Fun stuff.

Oh and if you are looking for acid brushes, Harbor Freight's got em on sale right now (based on the flier I got in the mail last night).

-g

damp friday morning

(had damn typed... but really it was just a damn ride in)

The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.
- George Bernard Shaw

Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.
- R. Buckminster Fuller

I like these two from the morning.

Bikeman.com came through and i've got a replacement glued up and it should be ready to go tomorrow if I decide to try and do a double weekend (coming off being sick? a good idea? probably not a good one if I want to increase my pathetically consistent cross results ranking). Why order through bikeman.com? Honestly, because well #1 they had the one i wanted in stock, and #2 they sponsor a cyclocross team, and #3 it is way faster and more convenient than trying to order something through the team shop, and they are more or less "local" so that means UPS ground is essentially next day delivery.

Tire showed up. Looks good. Goes on easily. It is the right one. Glue on. Wake up in the 5am hour to get the final coat on (thin thin coat on the base tape, thick wet coat on rim). Mount. Center. Roll. Inflate. Done.

Now the post install inflation pressure has been debated a bit over at the RBR CX forum and touched on a bit in the CX Mag's latest issue. And I think I've decided what may be an optimal and repeatable inflation pressure. "Race pressure." No more, no less. Inflate it to 30 psi or so (if that's what you race at) and it should be all set. Another thing that I was thinking about while gluing (yes maybe it is the Hexane getting to me). G-ride's been rolling tubulars left and right this year. Okay, everyone else has been rolling his tubbies. And he uses that funky white stuff. And the one i rolled, that he glued at the end of the season last year, still was wet and sticky in the spoke holes. The Mastik-One I use and Peanut uses and most everyone else seems to use is pretty solid after an hour, and hard after 24. And it got me thinking about over-inflation is a danger that is glue dependent. But best to be safe and not overinflate and risk reducing the bond strength in the middle. Or so my current thinking goes.

Who knows. I'm probably completely off base and wrong. Maybe crazy assumptions. All I can say is it is fun to be gluing again. Even without gloves I managed only to get one spot on my hand with a touch of glue. Hopefully i wont have to practice on my own stuff for a while.

It was a great ride in. managed to string together a handful of accelerations, got the HR way up for a while. Body really didn't like it at first. But after about 15 minutes of feeling like i was going to die, it came back. Felt okay. Well see how that translates.

heddwch
G

forward for the morning:

someone somewhat politely made the assertion that there is no way in hell that I can feel spoke wind up on a wheel with 34 tubulars inflated to 30 psi. Maybe I can't. But I do actually feel like I can tell the difference between wheels. Could be all in my head. But from the first years selling bikes at the Pine Street Pro shop back in Seattle, one truth has been overlooked by salesmen and test riders. Wheels. Someone will go ride a bike, and say it soaked up the bumps amazingly. Someone will ride a different bike and complain about getting beat up. Frames often are so similar that the only explanation is the wheels. Tires both equal in size and pressure. But hey. Maybe it helps sell a more expensive bike. I don't know. What I have noticed is that like frame flex that some people don't notice, others do. Wheels have a distinct feeling. Sure the ultra low pressure in a tubular can affect how it feels.

I've been on a few different wheel combinations, recently and on my time on bikes. One of my faults is overly aware senses. It causes me to go into self protect mode too early in racing. It makes the slightest noise or tick distract from my focus. if the car hiccups when I'm driving I've been known to be thrown into an anxiety attack. it is part of who i am, why i'm so damn slow (well besides the obvious lack of a consistent structured training plan).

I like those grammo tubolari CX wheels. They might be 1690 grams. And that's heavy compared to a nice light carbon wheel set. But they are also strong. No weight limit (nice for a 200+ pound guy). And they look good. Are easy to glue up. and you know how you can look at a wheel and get a feeling if it is strong? well these have that look. I like them.

I no longer have to be worried about continuing to grind away the already well thinned down sidewalls on my vector pro clinchers. I don't have to worry about riding around a low profile front rim with double butted spokes. Why? Worry about that? Colin demonstrated what happens to low profile rims at MRC. Would a deeper rim section have survived that? I tend to believe that it would have. Why? I dunno, call it a gut call based on experience. Maybe he'd have broken a fork or something else more catastrophic, or maybe he'd have been able to ride the bike. We don't know, can't know. But it just seems that given an equal number of crashes compared to the old days when a box section rim was standard issue, people are chipping their wheels less frequently now.

I might be wrong. Hell I'm often wrong. And I'm ashamed sometimes for making people think my writing is something akin to gospel. It is entertainment. For me. Gets the sht out of my head. If it is wrong, I'm sorry, it reflects a feeling. Point it out if you want. Doesn't bother me.

My NoHo feelings about grip and tires are based mostly on pre-riding and maintaining position through the corners and technical sections. The other sections, you know the power sections and what not?, well those i discovered that my legs wouldn't pedal. No amount of mental oomph was going to push the virus and strep infected body to hang in. I was going backwards so fast it wasn't funny. But i wasn't going backwards in the corners, for a change. A big change.

-g

feeling close to being back!!!

why?

food, appetite is back with a vengance. I ate breakfast this morning (other than race day often I'll skip it or have it late). I ate a normal person's size lunch portion at 10:30 this morning. Had a quart of soup for lunch, two apples (one just after getting in, one about an hour ago). And i'm ravenously hungry. Body must be feeling the weekend coming on. that depleted sick stage ain't gonna cut it. Must boost cellular fuel reserves. If not I'll be even slower than normal. AND that is slow.

But slow it all relative. Slow compared to Mahk and Jonny? Yeah. Getting lapped by them? Not on a normal day (for me). Not close to the middle fast guys. The guys who got their shit together and put a solid training plan in and hit their goals and are going gang busters this year are just out of reach, some times closer, some times not so much. My Crossresults numbers are not terribly surprisingly consistent. Toss out the high and the low and boom - solid average. But the coolest thing? I'm having fun. And really, that's what cross is about? no? Sure it sucks. Sure it is painful. But damn it. It is worth every second of pain out there on the course.

Someone was chiding me about the tires. Switching to tubulars. Saying that i was still slow and that someone like Page could put road slicks on and still beat me on any cross course in any conditions. Ya know. That is so true. Any Pro. Hell Bold and Mahk could probably do that as well (beat me with those things) if they had the motivation to keep racing. But all this talk about tubulars being better. There is a measure of truth, but a slope of accuracy. Certain tubular tires are actually reportedly way suckier than the better clinchers (Racing Ralphs, Mud 2, Challenge Opens). So someone who grabs just any old tubie and glues it up may find themselves dissatisfied or not realizing the full benefit. And yeah. Look at me. I've raced on a total of two different sets. Wooh. But then I raced on three different clincher treads in Michigan, a handful more clinchers here over the last 3 or so years in New England, and I was given a chance to try tubulars. I can't corner on pavement. Mental block i guess. But give me grass, mud, dirt, sand... i feel pretty confident following anyones lines at most any speed. That whole, hey if they can ride it I can to works. But then at NoHo I actually found in that first lap, and during pre-lap. I was never slowing down for the corners. I could ignore my long built up instinct to jam the brakes. I could just lean and ride right out of the turn. Tires or confidence? Both? I've been on tires that don't corner. I've been on tires that slide out if you tape the brakes. I don't like sketchy tires. I like to be glued to the ground. And for the moment I feel that level of confidence finally racing on those glued up things.

And on top of it all? if possible. The fun factor has gone up. No longer worrying about pinch flatting. Back stretch of Suckerbrook for example. In the first race all the way through there I had to allow enough room to see the line to ride. Second race I forgot about picking a line and I got on tiny Chabot's wheel and drafted his ass through there and promptly flatted. The difference in effort between riding a pressure high enough that my 200 pound self doesn't pinch and a pressure that grips the corners and takes the edge off the bumps is huge. And of all the benefits, it adds the fun factor in.

Tires are tires. The strongest legs can win the race in spite of tires. And skills can corner fast no matter what rubber is between the rim and the ground.

Maybe the sensations at NoHo weren't all about the tires. Maybe I'm neglecting the benefit of the wheels I was racing on. Maybe the added stiffness and the weight and the smooth as freaking butter bearings made a different. No sissy thin butted spokes. These have a decent weight point but all the stiffness and rigidity of a wheel much heavier. Over the years i've ridden a reasonably range. Sadly never any highzoot deep section carbon bling. But hand built stuff? I've tried most of it. One thing I personally prefer in a wheel is one that doesn't wind up under high torque loads. I want it to feel solid, not squishy. Let the tire be the suspension, not the wheel. The gluing surface was so well adhered to the tubular it took lots and lots and lots of work to get one off this week. So, if you are in the market for a decent budget set of wheels, you want something that will be more durable than the GL280s on Ebay and you missed the $100 GP4s that just sold, those grammos might be something you want to try. Certainly stronger than an Ambrosio rim (just judging by the profile at least).

Well.

that was a rambling bunch of nonsense if i do say so myself...

But that PRO bar (banana) I ate there when i started writing has filled me up and I'm no longer hunger. I'm itching to get on the bike and ride home in the rain! WHOOO.

Might just have to race both. Too bad it looks like i won't be able to beat G-ride in a sprint finish for 19th place on day one like last year.

heddwch
g

odd weather for RI

it was a misty kind of rain. kind of like what you get all winter in the Puget Sound. It was awesome. The ride in was chill, mellow. Little ring just sort of keeping the legs moving. Not wanting to stress the system yet. Trying to give the body as much time to heal and recover as possible.

The rain was pretty amazing. I really do love that type of precipitation. The down pours I can do without. But the misty light drizzly rain is awesome. I had carolan's concerto playing in my head most of the length of the bike path. Then for some reason getting towards the city i switched over to ode to joy.

no photos, and despite the temps in the 60s I stuck the winter jacket on over a jersey and some knee warmers on. Crazy, what the heck. Well I was planning to ride easy so I stuck an extra layer on. Saw a grand total of one runner, and two walkers, and one other person on a bike. Not a commuter. More like one of those guys who lost their license and uses a dumpster recovered department store bike to get around. But he was out in the drizzle, maybe heading home from work, and he returned my "good morning" reply as I passed with a clear and polite "good morning".

so, good morning, and it is...
heddwch
g

i missed it last night

The "acceptance speech" that is. I was told by my mother that I should try and listen to it. So, eating my fall soup for lunch over some rice, I cranked up the full screen version of the youtube thing.

And I listened.

And I watched.

And I was moved.

I am encouraged by little things, like when speaks about his wife, and children. Those are the words of an honest open caring family man.

I am hopeful. I am encouraged. If someone can effect change in this nation, in this world. I think it just might be Obama. I watched this one first. That was a fantastic speech.

Although this one, this one... yes we can. Yes we did. Thank you America. Our party system may be flawed. But if you look at the diversity of ideas and ideals w/in each party, our country's politicians cover a huge range. Umbrellaed under one label, diverse within it. And yes, now it is truly time to move on.

If you missed it last night. Find seventeen minutes and watch it.


heddwch
G

couple more shots from NoHo

photo credit "cup of soup" 
photo credit "cup of soup" 

moment of zen

from the ride in... very calm and peaceful morning on the EBBP...

we can move on

yes we can, we can move on.

it is more relief than anything else I felt. A moment or two of excitement. but mostly just a relief. Who the heck is that mccain guy that gave the speech last night? that guy seems pretty decent and logical if somewhat lifeless. the evil twin of his on the campaign trail didn't do him any good.

it will be interesting these next couple years, these next few months. the transition.

totally pooped yesterday, feeling a bit better today. Sensations are turning more positive. maybe the weight of yesterday was heavy on my shoulders. last night there was no noticeable soreness in my throat, but still i'm going to ease back into going hard. Might even pass up the logical local double of Plymouth and pick just one course. Must choose between a potentially wet familiar course or a dryer new course.

for now, though, we can move on, fortunately in a new direction, with a new, intelligent as hell person in command. Not some bottom of the class, daddy's coat-tails dumb jock running the place. Maybe a shift has happened. People maybe have realized that being likable and stupid doesn't make you qualified for prez.

heddwch
G

Election Day

Walked in, got my vote. Turns out they split up the previous single voting location into 6 different ones. After we voted (we got lucky in that our polling place didn't change), we passed 3 more polling places. All one right after another. The insanely monster lines they had during the primary pushed them to spread it out. Unlike a lot of the places we saw on the news this morning.

Honestly. To be frank and perfectly clear, i'm actually for the first time since I started voting, terrified that the candidate that I voted for today might not win. In the past I've always been on the side of "Hey it can't be that bad, we've got a good checks and balances government, the President can't mess it up too much." I guess the last eight years have changed my opinion.

So we voted. Free Ben and Jerry's Ice cream to voters. Going to see if that extends to underage dependents. And since the oldest had a bit of homework to do online, well it gave us an excuse register for NBX. 20th place. Sure like solo said there are about 40 Verge point guys who will get call ups, but at least I'm not too far behind Chabot and the rest of the non-verge point getters. So I'm multi-tasking, and writing and reading and helping the girls on the computer and what ever else and I see that Gwadzilla has a ben and jerry's graphic, and I read it. 5-8pm. Damn it. Ah well, at least I'm registered for the last big race of my season.

Well I'm slowly feeling better. Throat wasn't as sore last night. Feeling pretty good today, still a bit tired.

Maybe if it was wet and muddy at NoHo I might have had as much fun as erikV at Barton. I read somewhere, maybe Boom? Nys? Something about the Koppenburg in the wet, that it is cross weather. Not so much fun to race in it every single race, but it is good to have them everyonce in a while. Sort of like cross. If we raced it all year long it would lose the magic. If we raced in the mud absolutely every weekend... actually forget that logic. I'd have an absolute freaking BLAST if we raced in the mud every weekend. We've got the rest of the year to stay clean and dry. Right?

be good, vote, and hope for the best,
heddwch
G

Save me a spot

I'm not going to get in line for the front of the race. Might as well start near where I'm going to finish. No sense hanging around in the front and then getting blown out to the back.

Gonna be an analog night, and an analog day tomorrow (most likely). So I'll wait till those who want to try and get at least one verge point before the end of the season sign up. Then maybe on wed I'll register.

But for those of you who want to race in the race before the race. Get your info ready and click on over and start hitting re-fresh at 4:55 until the reg screen gives you the boxes to check.

Like matt says:

The NBX GP of Cross Weekend is listed on Bikereg.com. The registration will open tonight at 5:00pm.

The courses for the weekend will be similar to last years, the "Fields" course on Saturday and the "Woods" course on Sunday. This years race will benefit the Cycle for Life Foundation - C4LF.org.

The carousel will be packed with great stuff from food to fun bike stuff and will be a great weekend for the whole family.

Good luck and may the fastest keyboard fingers win.

heddwch
G

DSC_6193

DSC_6193
Originally uploaded by talldoofyirish

in the words of G-ride "What a freak"

gotta have some laughter

even if they are old and punny

first the Financial Crisis:

Financial Problems in Japan!

Following the problems in the financial sector in the UK , uncertainty has now hit Japan . In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.
Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.
While Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black.
Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

now for something old and punny

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

3. She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.

6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a-head.'

14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'

17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium, at large.

20. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

21. A backward poet writes in-verse.

22. In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

23. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

thanks lee, made me laugh

one more while i'm eating lunch

And damn it. I looked at a clock an hour ago and my body said LUNCH and I thought yeah. Now i look down at the computer (only clock that is correct) and it says noon? Damn. I guess I'm having an early lunch.

Stupid time change.

Race duration. If a race is supposed to be 45 minutes, shouldn't the leaders race AT LEAST that duration? If you are turning 6-7 minute laps, wouldn't it be best for "racing" to have the race leader finish around 47-48 minutes instead of 40-41 minutes?

Goes back to the plus one rule. Why not? Why not just let them race for 45 minutes and then tack on an extra lap? And then along the same things. How about just having a Cat 3 masters race, instead of a 1.2.3 and a 3.4? Far too many Cat 3s anyway, no? Wouldn't the 1/2 racers like to be free of the pack fodder at the start? Wouldn't the fast Cat 3's like a chance to upgrade to a 2? Wouldn't the Cat 4s be best suited to racing as a Cat 4 until they upgrade on points? Yeah, too confusing. I've heard all the arguments before from FOPs and Ps. And they do make some sense. The whole timing, number of riders on the course at one time. But then I look around (or specifically to the pacNW) and see a workable solution. At least it seems so to me. Yeah they do it differently. And yeah they use weird goofy cones instead of course tape and stakes (although in the sand at NoHo saturday there was a wicked sharp broken wooden stake looking ready to spear someone in the quad). Might not work in well established regions like NE. Heck our officials out here have a hard time scoring races correctly. Some riders who go off the back and get lapped wicked early don't even get scored a lap down. And that isn't even an isolated event. But then maybe because our team is so distinctively liveried and there are many of us in one race, well the officials get confused. Esp since we are generally well dispersed from the front (skinny white dude) middle (c-burke) and back (me and g-ride, face it, we are the back markers and we aren't as fast as the other two). That and while the back to guys might be slower, we don't usually look like we are slower. Except well saturday, Pinkie said i looked pretty sick racing, definitely not normal out there.

oh it looks like Nathan Spear is back in gear for this year. Check out his vid offerings.

heddwch
g

Fruit Fly research

I've been known to look at a few fruit flies now and then, i've been involved in a good handful of projects. many are really really cool. most i can't really talk about because it is other people's work, I just help them take awesome pictures or set up complicated preps for the EM.

While not the most riveting U-tube segments... it certainly is good to put in perspective.

Because hopefully after tomorrow we won't have to keep talking about how insane it would be to put her anywhere close to the white house...



meant to credit the source i found it. Flahute oops

fast kid

how about that Luke kid! Kicking ass in 7th place at Koppenburg?

That mud there looked spectacular. The photo there at PEZ takes the cake. Certainly the type of race where you are dirty inside the skinsuit as outside. Crazy wicked cool. Summerhill does well but brings just one bike to the start of a muddy race? But then suffers not from crappy shifting but a softening rear tire. And Luke. Now, way to go kid. Way to go.

If you aren't going to the 18th annual Putney race, head over to Plymouth south to a race that is supporting his Euro Campaign. Buy a raffle ticket or two, bring your crap to sell/swap.

-g

fog and hazy

not the weather, not it was cold out there this morning. Rode in even. sick and all. maybe not the best idea, but a zone 1 ride for 40 minutes shouldn't make or break me. might even keep the muscles from atrophying (is that the right word?). still tired, fuzzy headed. damn time change has me pretty screwed up. i've been pretty solidly waking up at 5:45-6am even w/o the alarm. i'll usually wake up, try and see what time it is (clock on opposite side of bedroom) then see i have 5-20 minutes before the alarm goes off and i try to sleep a few more winks. this morning, damn i had an hour of trying to get more sleep. suckfest.

ah well, hopefully this anti-strep throat drug i'm taking will kick in, the soreness is enough to wake me up a handful of times through the night. good thing though that the girls are sleeping through the night again, just me waking myself up. drained.

i really wanted to see how they would mix up the course for sunday. i did really want to hang out with chippy and simpson and the gang (still have a hard time not shouting yogurt boy, but I think pinkie will work to replace that nickname). it was a fun scene. great to see the tiny one out trying the terry cross bike. and the rest of the crew out there. poor colin's results are way up there but his luck with parts isn't so much. my luck seems to be on par with his lately.

to top it all off i meant to charge the headlight last night. oops. kind of forgot, and the 1.2A rate takes a while to fill a 10,000amp/hr battery. that and while i remembered to grab the cage that holds the battery, i seem to have forgotten the w/b bolts, and a known working red blinky light. the one i grabbed has dead batteries and i hope that two of the three loose batteries i nabbed will work. but then half way in i realized, oops, i'd forgotten to stick the rear light bracket in the bag. not to mention remember to check and see if i still had a tube or patch kit and inflation device in the commute bag. just so not with it. time change is a pain. top it all off the kids don't have school tomorrow. means i'll get a day of herding cats. of course they are actually excited to go vote with me. hopefully they will sort it all out by last names. for some reason there aren't many portuguese last names that start with letters at the end of the alphabet. quite the change from the polish heavy end of the list in michigan.

i don't know what other rambling crap will spill out of my head at this moment so i'm going to close the faucet and move on. cort is right, these damn drugs make ya feel crappy. the stuff the girls are taking is like crack. w/in minutes of them getting their dose they are bouncing off the walls hyper. me, just the opposite, damn.

stay healthy, i tried my best and did pretty damn good, but just not quite good enough.

heddwch
g

The day when the wheels fell off

Subtitle: Racing when you are sick is NOT a good idea… at least when you aren’t getting paid for it.

I don’t really have much to say. I wish I had a whole solid race to evaluate the Grammo’s. I can say those Racing Ralph FMBs are pretty much the most amazing tire I’ve ridden. That predictable hook up of the RR clinchers but the grip and traction and smoothness and confidence of a tubular was a brilliant feeling. Those wheels were effective.

For a handful of pre-race laps and almost a whole first lap.

Put it this way. I was more fatigued driving home from Northampton than I was driving home after racing at 24hr of Great Glen. I had pre-reg’d for today, but today wasn’t happening. I woke up at a time when I could have gotten there to line up nicely. But no, I stayed here and right now things hurt that shouldn’t, stuff not related to bike racing. The drugs or the bugs have me flat out on the bottom.

I could tell yesterday that things weren’t good, just walking up along side the run up when I got there had my HR spiking. I haven’t encountered that since Jamestown after racing both days at G-ster. I didn’t need a power tap or a HRM to tell me my body was not recovered, not anywhere near race ready. But that course is so fun. It was amazing racing on those tires. I could corner with the little guys. Even in the slick corner that Mo lost it a handful of times, I was stuck like glue. When J-Bold and Mahk came around me I could easily match their speed in the corners, but that was about it. Call it an anti-GeWilli race. No speed in the straights, full speed in the corners.

It was great to see everyone. Cathy is right. Cyclocross is about racing but it really is more about racing and hanging out with the rest of the folks who’ve raced there. Friends. Comrades of the Cross Course. Bonding through battle between the tape.

Ah tape. How glorious it is to have race directors here in New England using Tape and stakes. So pro. Cones seem so not pro. Sure they work. But there is something defining about a stake and some tape. You know exactly where you can ride.

So now it is a battle between the bugs and my body. I can’t really get back to being ready to battle between the tape until I can win the first battle. It is the first time I’ve had a headache like this since starting to taper down on coffee.