simple: put glue on tire till evenly discolored, let a couple layers dry on rim, quick wet layer on rim, mount, center, roll
Remove the punctuation and well you can maybe even get more in there.
Rolling is done either on a broom stick or the floor or both.
And there are plenty of people using 3M Fast Tack, arguably a more advanced glue than some chopped up rubber tree in polar solvents. And plenty using all sorts of different glues.
Heck some people use tape but I still don't get it. If i'd have used tape the tire still would have rolled in those conditions and I'd just have way more work to glue it back on.
Is that enough obsessing about it? Or not? And really [rolling a tubular] isn't much different than getting a flat - more expensive maybe, sometimes, but worth it? Yup. It is a subtle difference but as slow as I am I can use every advantage I can grasp.
Gloucester will be fun. Running Racing Ralph clincher up front and Fango in the rear.
heddwch
g
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Crack Dealer has stopped giving it away...
Yup. No more free predicting:
On one hand, not running the predictor gives me some sort of illusion that I can finish somewhere other than DFL. And that's not bad. Just call me the Ryan Kelly of the master's field. Wait - well not exactly. He's faster and younger.
But hey we're both wearing mostly red kits. That's sort of similar.
Anyway - go hand over your lunch money (or coffee money) to Colin and start predicting.
So remember how the race predictor was totally awesome and totally free back in the day? And then remember how it took down the site due to its popularity/lack of caching?
We've decided to take the crack dealer approach to the problem. The first hit was free -- now you gotta pay! I bet you wanna know how you're gonna do at Gloucester, eh? Eh? For five bucks, I'll tell ya.
Seriously. $5/year -- that's less than two BikeReg service fees, mind you -- gets you all the race predicting you could ever want, plus the justification to yell at us if the site goes down, gives you an error, predicts you to lose, or doesn't work in IE6*. What a deal!
*-just kidding, you'd have to pay a lot more than $5 to make us fix the IE6 bugs..
On one hand, not running the predictor gives me some sort of illusion that I can finish somewhere other than DFL. And that's not bad. Just call me the Ryan Kelly of the master's field. Wait - well not exactly. He's faster and younger.
But hey we're both wearing mostly red kits. That's sort of similar.
Anyway - go hand over your lunch money (or coffee money) to Colin and start predicting.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
too long this morning
I tried something I normally abhor. I went running with the iPod. Yeah. Well I needed a way to time stuff. So I set an alarm for 12 minutes after I started running and the plan was to turn around when it went off. To give me a roughly 25 minute run. I don't own a watch. Well one that works anyway. So I thought this would work. Well I got out by the lighthouse and wondered if the alarm was going to be going off soon or not. Oh hey. Look at that - it should have gone off 3 minutes ago. Guess I should turn around. Now 3 minutes isn't a big deal. 6 extra minutes isn't either. Except that 6 minutes means I was late waking everyone up for breakfast and school. But we managed to make it work, got everyone out the door okay. But for my damn pinky toe it means a blister. I haven't run that long yet this year and just after I hit the 25 minute mark (out of 30) my two smallest toes on the right foot started hurting. Blistered a tiny bit. Damn.
I'm debating deviating from the coach's plan for a 1 hour block at Z3 tonight and counting the Z3 ride to work and a Z3 ride home as one hour. 30 minutes each way somehow though doesn't add up to a single block. We'll see what happens tonight. I may not get it in. Tomorrow morning I'll spend a nice 30 minutes on the trainer (per Coach's plan again) instead of running. Just have to wake up early to get it done. I've got a decent play list all ready. Warming up to Metallica's Outlaw Torn (S&M 2), intervals to the one non-spoken 30 second track i have in iTunes: old mother reagan, by the Violent Femmes. 2 minute breaks listening to Ian Giles, The Ramones, Nathan Milstein, Pink Floyd, and a cool down with Say Hello Wave Goodbye by David Gray. Wicked wacked out eclectic mix. I've got feeling I'm going to be searching for a different 30 second clip for next week.
Looking at more positives for G-ster. I'm not starting in the last row this time. Sure all the point getters from VT are in front of me. But that's about right. Hopefully I can get my race frame of mind tuned in before the start for a change and freaking race from the gun. If I blow up mid race, well I blow up. But damn it, it will be a different weekend. Focus, proper warm up. All that stuff. Maybe I'll even put the pit bike together. And possible re-tape the giant Cross bike. I've got the tape and had planned to put it on for the start of the season, so maybe I should carry out the intended plan.
I just figured out why the alarm didn't go off. The silly device was set to California time. WTF. Weird.
ET Phone home sort of deal maybe.
And I've decided to make a conscious effort to avoid any use of ellipses in this entry. All for crank falling off guy.
That and seeing a few pictures of me, I have decided to not bring the blue cycling cap to the races anymore - if i have to I will wear the black one. AND those glasses I've been using to mock the fancy non-cycling glasses wearing people, are not racing again. Neither of them work with the big red Planet Bike Kit (see image #09 in the Waterville Valley CX race for example). I don't recognize that guy - no facial hair, weird glasses, and a mismatched cycling cap. My coach doesn't agree and my mechanic is thinking I'm nuts but I'm 100% sure that those are the reasons I'm slow right now. I expect an instant change this weekend.
We'll see what Saturday and Sunday bring, eh?
Heddwch
G
I'm debating deviating from the coach's plan for a 1 hour block at Z3 tonight and counting the Z3 ride to work and a Z3 ride home as one hour. 30 minutes each way somehow though doesn't add up to a single block. We'll see what happens tonight. I may not get it in. Tomorrow morning I'll spend a nice 30 minutes on the trainer (per Coach's plan again) instead of running. Just have to wake up early to get it done. I've got a decent play list all ready. Warming up to Metallica's Outlaw Torn (S&M 2), intervals to the one non-spoken 30 second track i have in iTunes: old mother reagan, by the Violent Femmes. 2 minute breaks listening to Ian Giles, The Ramones, Nathan Milstein, Pink Floyd, and a cool down with Say Hello Wave Goodbye by David Gray. Wicked wacked out eclectic mix. I've got feeling I'm going to be searching for a different 30 second clip for next week.
Looking at more positives for G-ster. I'm not starting in the last row this time. Sure all the point getters from VT are in front of me. But that's about right. Hopefully I can get my race frame of mind tuned in before the start for a change and freaking race from the gun. If I blow up mid race, well I blow up. But damn it, it will be a different weekend. Focus, proper warm up. All that stuff. Maybe I'll even put the pit bike together. And possible re-tape the giant Cross bike. I've got the tape and had planned to put it on for the start of the season, so maybe I should carry out the intended plan.
I just figured out why the alarm didn't go off. The silly device was set to California time. WTF. Weird.
ET Phone home sort of deal maybe.
And I've decided to make a conscious effort to avoid any use of ellipses in this entry. All for crank falling off guy.
That and seeing a few pictures of me, I have decided to not bring the blue cycling cap to the races anymore - if i have to I will wear the black one. AND those glasses I've been using to mock the fancy non-cycling glasses wearing people, are not racing again. Neither of them work with the big red Planet Bike Kit (see image #09 in the Waterville Valley CX race for example). I don't recognize that guy - no facial hair, weird glasses, and a mismatched cycling cap. My coach doesn't agree and my mechanic is thinking I'm nuts but I'm 100% sure that those are the reasons I'm slow right now. I expect an instant change this weekend.
We'll see what Saturday and Sunday bring, eh?
Heddwch
G
Monday, September 28, 2009
gewilli learns the hard way
sure - everyone said "re-glue your tubulars ever year"
yeah - sure whatever - you don't need to do that...
Well...
Ha ha... i learned me good.
Sort of like "Hey I can get more than one year out of a cyclocross race chain"
um... no *I* can't... *I* can't even get a whole season out of a SRAM 9 speed chain, but I can safely (now that I know) get a whole season out of Shimano chain with confidence.
Next year? New glue at the start of the season. Might as well, no?
Learning lessons the hard way has been my misfortune or blessing. Although, thankfully, I have managed to learn stuff the right way the first time... occasionally...
-g
yeah - sure whatever - you don't need to do that...
Well...
Ha ha... i learned me good.
Sort of like "Hey I can get more than one year out of a cyclocross race chain"
um... no *I* can't... *I* can't even get a whole season out of a SRAM 9 speed chain, but I can safely (now that I know) get a whole season out of Shimano chain with confidence.
Next year? New glue at the start of the season. Might as well, no?
Learning lessons the hard way has been my misfortune or blessing. Although, thankfully, I have managed to learn stuff the right way the first time... occasionally...
-g
positive spin on the weekend
I figured it out. It only took dozing off while I was talking after lunch. Yes, I managed to fall asleep while i was talking. Only for a second but man, no questioning it.
The lack of sleep is cumulative - the past three weeks of stress and late nights. And not the good bike interval workout stress. The wrong kind. Adding two really difficult races in the mix on tired legs was NOT conducive to racing at a higher level.
So that's the first positive spin. Tired.
My coach is telling me not to worry about the crappy results. The weekend was a huge success. I've tasted the bitter humility of being DFL, and being lapped (fortunately not in the same race). I don't want it to happen again. Coach also has pointed out that even with the bad results, I got a great honest race pace effort in, and really was able to work on cornering under pressure. Coach also said to stick with the plan. We're trying something different this year. It could be a total and complete failure, but the failure can't diminish how much fun I'm having racing. If it doesn't work this year? Well we'll make a note of it and be certain to make the needed adjustments.
Second positive spin. It is great to have a coach who's been doing this stuff as long as I have and who understands me really well.
Finally. My mechanic is a complete fucking moron. At least he was this weekend. Seriously. How did he get the tire pressure SO wrong on BOTH days? Seriously. And his crappy ass glue job didn't make it a whole year. Only 10 months!!! WTF? Come on. Seriously. I might just have to take over gluing duty from now on. Not to mention he has been to busy moonlighting as a VW diesel mechanic these last three weeks to even bother touching the Pit Bike. It is sort of close to being ready for pit duty but it didn't even make the trip to VT. And to add insult to his idiocy, he wasn't in the pit to help make the adjustments or to change the front wheel when I came in. I had to do it all myself.
I will give him the credit for picking the closest pit after my crash. G-ride's view of the crash confirmed really that it wasn't the rolled tire that caused the crash - it was my crash that caused the rolled tire. Pretty conclusive evidence of that. You can't go airborne and land with your tire pointed to the left when your body wants to go straight. Maybe my mechanic's glue job kept me from breaking the fork or the bike. Maybe he's not such a total buffoon after all.
Heck he managed to score a brilliant front wheel replacement for Sunday. A condition perfect Rhyno. I'm glad the rest of the field wasn't riding on Rhyno's I'd have really been OTB. There isn't a better tire out there for that condition. Me plowing through the corners with too much air in the rear (38 psi) slipping and sliding going straight and losing rear grip in a few corners, and that front wheel stayed glued.
It was really awesome to behold the power of that tread. No wonder it is so freaking popular and coveted. WOW. Seriously. It was as grippy in the mud as that FMB that I rolled the day before was in the dry dusty grass.
Off the bike was brilliant. Cooking, laughing, hanging out, having fun. Catching up with people in person like The Mayor, and Zanc, and Matt, and CCR, and all. Chilling with Skinny White Dude on the way up and down. G-ride, be sure to thank your wife for the beans, you'll be happy to know I fired the first volley... SWD met his stink equal on that ride home!
See. That's why you have a coach. Someone to help spin it all positively. And man. 24 hours after leaving the G-Ride compound I'm wicked stoked to go back next year and redeem myself.
Now if i can just get caught up with some sleep and get back into my coach's assigned workouts, well it will be good!!!
Heddwch
G
The lack of sleep is cumulative - the past three weeks of stress and late nights. And not the good bike interval workout stress. The wrong kind. Adding two really difficult races in the mix on tired legs was NOT conducive to racing at a higher level.
So that's the first positive spin. Tired.
My coach is telling me not to worry about the crappy results. The weekend was a huge success. I've tasted the bitter humility of being DFL, and being lapped (fortunately not in the same race). I don't want it to happen again. Coach also has pointed out that even with the bad results, I got a great honest race pace effort in, and really was able to work on cornering under pressure. Coach also said to stick with the plan. We're trying something different this year. It could be a total and complete failure, but the failure can't diminish how much fun I'm having racing. If it doesn't work this year? Well we'll make a note of it and be certain to make the needed adjustments.
Second positive spin. It is great to have a coach who's been doing this stuff as long as I have and who understands me really well.
Finally. My mechanic is a complete fucking moron. At least he was this weekend. Seriously. How did he get the tire pressure SO wrong on BOTH days? Seriously. And his crappy ass glue job didn't make it a whole year. Only 10 months!!! WTF? Come on. Seriously. I might just have to take over gluing duty from now on. Not to mention he has been to busy moonlighting as a VW diesel mechanic these last three weeks to even bother touching the Pit Bike. It is sort of close to being ready for pit duty but it didn't even make the trip to VT. And to add insult to his idiocy, he wasn't in the pit to help make the adjustments or to change the front wheel when I came in. I had to do it all myself.
I will give him the credit for picking the closest pit after my crash. G-ride's view of the crash confirmed really that it wasn't the rolled tire that caused the crash - it was my crash that caused the rolled tire. Pretty conclusive evidence of that. You can't go airborne and land with your tire pointed to the left when your body wants to go straight. Maybe my mechanic's glue job kept me from breaking the fork or the bike. Maybe he's not such a total buffoon after all.
Heck he managed to score a brilliant front wheel replacement for Sunday. A condition perfect Rhyno. I'm glad the rest of the field wasn't riding on Rhyno's I'd have really been OTB. There isn't a better tire out there for that condition. Me plowing through the corners with too much air in the rear (38 psi) slipping and sliding going straight and losing rear grip in a few corners, and that front wheel stayed glued.
It was really awesome to behold the power of that tread. No wonder it is so freaking popular and coveted. WOW. Seriously. It was as grippy in the mud as that FMB that I rolled the day before was in the dry dusty grass.
Off the bike was brilliant. Cooking, laughing, hanging out, having fun. Catching up with people in person like The Mayor, and Zanc, and Matt, and CCR, and all. Chilling with Skinny White Dude on the way up and down. G-ride, be sure to thank your wife for the beans, you'll be happy to know I fired the first volley... SWD met his stink equal on that ride home!
See. That's why you have a coach. Someone to help spin it all positively. And man. 24 hours after leaving the G-Ride compound I'm wicked stoked to go back next year and redeem myself.
Now if i can just get caught up with some sleep and get back into my coach's assigned workouts, well it will be good!!!
Heddwch
G
this needs a new title
the web log that is. something with fail in it. Because this weekend i flat out failed to ride well. I've failed to get the Waterville CX results finished. I failed to get the work outs in the previous two weeks because of working on the car. And to add insult to humility, well, i rolled a tubular on Saturday. Yes. My glue job failed. But i had good company. Lots of it I guess. And yeah, I should have re-glued the tires. But the one that rolled has to go get some new base tape put on. And well, I'm pretty nearly 100% certain I could have even rolled a Zanc glue job in that crash.
So yeah. Hit list of the worst of the racing, or a reason why i was having a hard time mentally racing once the race started. Saturday we pre-rode, thought maybe there was too much air in the tires. Took a bit out for the bumpy sections. Took a warm up ride down the road, and back. Only to get to the car to hear "Last Call to staging" DOH. Most all of the field was already lined up. We got there just in time to take our place. We meaning me and my fellow Planet Bike Team mate G-Ride. Basically time to slot into the grid before the whistle blew. Okay. Good - no chance to cool down. We hit the race hot. And it was fine. Pace felt okay. But that first corner after the start finish (the uphill sweeper) my rear tire went fup-fup-fup-fup-fup in the turn. Hmmm. Maybe i just hit something wrong or weird. Next turn not so big deal. Rode the hair pin when everyone got off (outside line was clear). But pretty soon, it became apparent that i couldn't take the corners as fast, the rear wheel was washing out hard core every time. Fahk. So. I started biasing weight to the front wheel. But that took my focus off of just going hard. It wasn't about just going hard any more. It was about staying upright and trying to ignore the rear tire, and keep it happy. On the plus side the low air was wicked smooth in the lumpy grass. Well the problem happened a bit later in the race. First I thought about pitting but I'm not fast enough to pit, change a rear wheel and stay on the lead lap. So it was about damage control. Go as fast as i could. Which really wasn't that fast.
I reeled back in G-ride, we were making our way up to trackrich and a handful of others when I took a hard left hairpin too hard and too weighted in the front. This was a corner that pretty much I saw someone crash in more or less each of the first handful of laps. It was a bad corner. Big berm and a lip with another berm. There is a drop off between the two. I was trying to stick it in the grass on the first side. But some how I managed to slip off the first, drop into the second with the front wheel weighted to about 75% of my weight - and the drop more or less shifted 100% of my weight forward and well, 200 pounds going straight with a wheel going left with tons of grip meant something had to give.
I went flying. I managed to roll and pull the bike up before G-ride piled into it. But when I collected myself the front wheel was jammed hard. And the tire was off. Unjammed and put back on but by then G-ride was gone down the downhill already and I was gingerly hitting the corners with a rolled tire. Hit the pits where my wheels were (by the parking lot) did a wicked fast front wheel change and was back out there. Still unable to corner with any weight on the back tire and now, no where near anyone. Yeah - I should have changed both, That would have been smart. But I didn't. i figured I'd be okay. I got caught on the final lap by a handful. When the leaders (Roger and Kevin) passed me, they were extremely polite and gracious, both of them saying thank you. Not even out of breath in the least. Chatting along. It was a long time before the rest of the guys came past... But it still really sucked. Don't get me wrong it was fun. And i was able to really focus on cornering better. But man that course was hard. Being my first time racing there I had no idea what to expect or where the lines were or how to best ride it. And I'm too slow to have anything go wrong. But it was still fun.
Sunday was a bit better. But in some ways worse. Not really that much sleep, first night it was the sounds and noises keeping me up, second night? It was a late night and still a restless sleep, and the heavy rain all night long kept waking me up. At least there wouldn't be any dust on Sunday.
Just wet grass and slick mud. I borrowed a Dugast Rhyno for the front. And to get right to the point, over compensated from Saturday in the rear. So I went from TOO much rear traction to not enough. And once again was sticking the front wheel, but no where near as hard as I was the day before on the dry course.
The laps on sunday were insanely long. Waaaaaay too long IMHO. The course itself was fun, but one of the nice thing about cross is doing a course 6-8 laps, getting a feel for it. 5 laps (4 for me even though i didn't get lapped - they were pulling people because the laps were so long). Roger was turning 9+ minute laps by my quick calculation there looking at the results. I was not. CCR crashed and G-ride got the scent and managed to rail it on his home course. I just couldn't get my head into it for some reason. I was having fun, esp lap 3 and 4. Lap 2 really really sucked. It usually does for me, and when lap 2 is that long, well. that is really really bad.
So now, well I have a tire with base tape coming off heading to Tire Alert with some of G-rides tubulars, a good perspective of how crappy i'm riding right now, and a long season ahead of me. I will change the plan for next year, but I will also not abandon the current plan.
It was a great weekend. A good way to start the year officially. (Last weekend was pre-season). Or maybe the season should really start in October at G-ster. Hmmm.
Great hanging out at the Chabot compound with some of the coolest CX races around. And being wickedly entertained by Soup's sequence of shots from Myerson's crash. That's just the first of the set, but you get the idea.
Right now I'm exhausted, battered mentally and physically. But man it was a fun weekend with the bikes.
heddwch
G
So yeah. Hit list of the worst of the racing, or a reason why i was having a hard time mentally racing once the race started. Saturday we pre-rode, thought maybe there was too much air in the tires. Took a bit out for the bumpy sections. Took a warm up ride down the road, and back. Only to get to the car to hear "Last Call to staging" DOH. Most all of the field was already lined up. We got there just in time to take our place. We meaning me and my fellow Planet Bike Team mate G-Ride. Basically time to slot into the grid before the whistle blew. Okay. Good - no chance to cool down. We hit the race hot. And it was fine. Pace felt okay. But that first corner after the start finish (the uphill sweeper) my rear tire went fup-fup-fup-fup-fup in the turn. Hmmm. Maybe i just hit something wrong or weird. Next turn not so big deal. Rode the hair pin when everyone got off (outside line was clear). But pretty soon, it became apparent that i couldn't take the corners as fast, the rear wheel was washing out hard core every time. Fahk. So. I started biasing weight to the front wheel. But that took my focus off of just going hard. It wasn't about just going hard any more. It was about staying upright and trying to ignore the rear tire, and keep it happy. On the plus side the low air was wicked smooth in the lumpy grass. Well the problem happened a bit later in the race. First I thought about pitting but I'm not fast enough to pit, change a rear wheel and stay on the lead lap. So it was about damage control. Go as fast as i could. Which really wasn't that fast.
I reeled back in G-ride, we were making our way up to trackrich and a handful of others when I took a hard left hairpin too hard and too weighted in the front. This was a corner that pretty much I saw someone crash in more or less each of the first handful of laps. It was a bad corner. Big berm and a lip with another berm. There is a drop off between the two. I was trying to stick it in the grass on the first side. But some how I managed to slip off the first, drop into the second with the front wheel weighted to about 75% of my weight - and the drop more or less shifted 100% of my weight forward and well, 200 pounds going straight with a wheel going left with tons of grip meant something had to give.
I went flying. I managed to roll and pull the bike up before G-ride piled into it. But when I collected myself the front wheel was jammed hard. And the tire was off. Unjammed and put back on but by then G-ride was gone down the downhill already and I was gingerly hitting the corners with a rolled tire. Hit the pits where my wheels were (by the parking lot) did a wicked fast front wheel change and was back out there. Still unable to corner with any weight on the back tire and now, no where near anyone. Yeah - I should have changed both, That would have been smart. But I didn't. i figured I'd be okay. I got caught on the final lap by a handful. When the leaders (Roger and Kevin) passed me, they were extremely polite and gracious, both of them saying thank you. Not even out of breath in the least. Chatting along. It was a long time before the rest of the guys came past... But it still really sucked. Don't get me wrong it was fun. And i was able to really focus on cornering better. But man that course was hard. Being my first time racing there I had no idea what to expect or where the lines were or how to best ride it. And I'm too slow to have anything go wrong. But it was still fun.
Sunday was a bit better. But in some ways worse. Not really that much sleep, first night it was the sounds and noises keeping me up, second night? It was a late night and still a restless sleep, and the heavy rain all night long kept waking me up. At least there wouldn't be any dust on Sunday.
Just wet grass and slick mud. I borrowed a Dugast Rhyno for the front. And to get right to the point, over compensated from Saturday in the rear. So I went from TOO much rear traction to not enough. And once again was sticking the front wheel, but no where near as hard as I was the day before on the dry course.
The laps on sunday were insanely long. Waaaaaay too long IMHO. The course itself was fun, but one of the nice thing about cross is doing a course 6-8 laps, getting a feel for it. 5 laps (4 for me even though i didn't get lapped - they were pulling people because the laps were so long). Roger was turning 9+ minute laps by my quick calculation there looking at the results. I was not. CCR crashed and G-ride got the scent and managed to rail it on his home course. I just couldn't get my head into it for some reason. I was having fun, esp lap 3 and 4. Lap 2 really really sucked. It usually does for me, and when lap 2 is that long, well. that is really really bad.
So now, well I have a tire with base tape coming off heading to Tire Alert with some of G-rides tubulars, a good perspective of how crappy i'm riding right now, and a long season ahead of me. I will change the plan for next year, but I will also not abandon the current plan.
It was a great weekend. A good way to start the year officially. (Last weekend was pre-season). Or maybe the season should really start in October at G-ster. Hmmm.
Great hanging out at the Chabot compound with some of the coolest CX races around. And being wickedly entertained by Soup's sequence of shots from Myerson's crash. That's just the first of the set, but you get the idea.
Right now I'm exhausted, battered mentally and physically. But man it was a fun weekend with the bikes.
heddwch
G
Friday, September 25, 2009
Vermont - Here we come.
Planet Bike will have a strong presence this weekend at the Green Mountain Cyclocross races. At least in the masters 35+ field.
I'm nervous and excited about it right now typing. But first there is the little matter of driving up.
Nope, no race report from last weekend. Heck i'm wicked behind at this point.
The gluing discussion was good, there's always some one talking about glue this time of year.
Always someone who thinks that the way someone else is doing it is wrong. That there is only one way, or only one GOOD way.
Simple rules:
Clean clean clean clean. all surfaces. any oil on the basetape, on the rim, any dirt on either of those places will make a bad glue job.
edge of base tape to edge of base tape coverage... syringe, glove, tube, brush - no matter how you do it - do it even and cover the whole base tape (and of course once the glue is on there - DON'T F*CKING TOUCH IT
rim - get a good base on there. let the first layer(s) dry. And make super extra double sure the rim is completely clean (acetone followed by alcohol is the best). Then once you get your glue on there DON'T F*CKING TOUCH IT. No you DON'T need to feel it to see if it is hard or not.
little bit of wet glue on both dry surfaces - mount and inflate and center, deflate roll, re-inflate and let rest for 24-48 hours before racing...
simple...
easy...
right?
or not.
no of course it isn't easy. even though it is.
I'm gonna go race and not think about the tires... just going to go race hard... and have fun.
Because damn it. At the end of the day - tubulars make it nice but no matter what wheels you're riding - cyclocross is still just THE most fun you can have on two wheels.
heddwch
G
I'm nervous and excited about it right now typing. But first there is the little matter of driving up.
Nope, no race report from last weekend. Heck i'm wicked behind at this point.
The gluing discussion was good, there's always some one talking about glue this time of year.
Always someone who thinks that the way someone else is doing it is wrong. That there is only one way, or only one GOOD way.
Simple rules:
Clean clean clean clean. all surfaces. any oil on the basetape, on the rim, any dirt on either of those places will make a bad glue job.
edge of base tape to edge of base tape coverage... syringe, glove, tube, brush - no matter how you do it - do it even and cover the whole base tape (and of course once the glue is on there - DON'T F*CKING TOUCH IT
rim - get a good base on there. let the first layer(s) dry. And make super extra double sure the rim is completely clean (acetone followed by alcohol is the best). Then once you get your glue on there DON'T F*CKING TOUCH IT. No you DON'T need to feel it to see if it is hard or not.
little bit of wet glue on both dry surfaces - mount and inflate and center, deflate roll, re-inflate and let rest for 24-48 hours before racing...
simple...
easy...
right?
or not.
no of course it isn't easy. even though it is.
I'm gonna go race and not think about the tires... just going to go race hard... and have fun.
Because damn it. At the end of the day - tubulars make it nice but no matter what wheels you're riding - cyclocross is still just THE most fun you can have on two wheels.
heddwch
G
Thursday, September 24, 2009
So I got thinking about gluing
Gluing tubulars for cyclocross that is.
Thinking about the people who take the tire off every year and re-glue them. Then there are those who say if you don't destroy the tire taking it off the rim, it wasn't glued on well enough.
And then the whole tape vs glue or technically tape and glue vs just glue debate.
I'm a glue only guy. Glue only is means no tape to try and take off the base tape, or the rim. Only glue. Glue is easy to deal with. Tape stuck to base tape pretty much means you learn to sew or glue on base tape.
And about the base tape. Why bother with it at all, isn't it just glued on anyway? And what's wrong about using that glue to stick the tire to the rim?
So back to the tape. I got thinking about it when I saw Smithers Minneapolis posting about gluing tubulars. With the nice picture of the tufo tape and backing.
Now the "one" benefit I hear about tape is being able to line the tire up, get it centered nicely, then you carefully remove the backing. Giving you a nicely centered tire every time.
So I got thinking seeing his picture. What material is used for the backing and, well, why can't someone just run a length of that backing over the glue and pretend there is tape there but not really.
Could it be that the glue is too fluid to work that way? Certainly there has to be a silicone or similar non-stick adhesive backing that could work w/o disturbing your nice glue job on the rim.
If that backing could be sourced - i can't imagine anyone using tape on a tubular.
heddwch
G
Thinking about the people who take the tire off every year and re-glue them. Then there are those who say if you don't destroy the tire taking it off the rim, it wasn't glued on well enough.
And then the whole tape vs glue or technically tape and glue vs just glue debate.
I'm a glue only guy. Glue only is means no tape to try and take off the base tape, or the rim. Only glue. Glue is easy to deal with. Tape stuck to base tape pretty much means you learn to sew or glue on base tape.
And about the base tape. Why bother with it at all, isn't it just glued on anyway? And what's wrong about using that glue to stick the tire to the rim?
So back to the tape. I got thinking about it when I saw Smithers Minneapolis posting about gluing tubulars. With the nice picture of the tufo tape and backing.
Now the "one" benefit I hear about tape is being able to line the tire up, get it centered nicely, then you carefully remove the backing. Giving you a nicely centered tire every time.
So I got thinking seeing his picture. What material is used for the backing and, well, why can't someone just run a length of that backing over the glue and pretend there is tape there but not really.
Could it be that the glue is too fluid to work that way? Certainly there has to be a silicone or similar non-stick adhesive backing that could work w/o disturbing your nice glue job on the rim.
If that backing could be sourced - i can't imagine anyone using tape on a tubular.
heddwch
G
Dead Air
well that was a long stretch.
Mid-week during cross season even.
Well lets just say - it is an indication of a few things going on.
Car is fixed more or less I think. I hope. Seems to be. It might take a bit of time for the coolant to get all the bubbles out but hopefully we'll reach some stasis soon. First good sign was this morning putting some coolant in there before driving in. Yes. I drove today. Breaking a damn good loooong streak of perfect weeks.
More on the commute relating to training and cross later. I'm talking about the car now. So this morning putting the coolant in, there was no pressure in the hose. That's either a good sign or a bad sign. Good sign in that there should be some pressure in the system but it shouldn't hold it once the car is cold and has sat for 24+ hours. And even after a week, opening the coolant reservoir meant a cascade of coolant bursting out pre-head gasket change. It is also starting very smoothly, and seemed to take a bit longer to warm up this morning than previously.
I'm still not pushing the car - no high RPM high load situations yet. Trying to let everything break in a bit before rattling it through the paces. At some point I'll put the pictures I snapped during the process up. I wasn't too good at getting representative images of each step... but I think i have at least one shot with the head off...
Starting it up was a bit stressful. Everything buttoned down (i thought) except the #3 injector. You leave that one cracked to purge air out of the lines. Basically crank the engine over until fuel starts spraying out of the loose nut/pipe connection. Once it sprays. Stop cranking, tighten the nut down and start it back up.
And so I did. Started it up. And it was idling, sounded okay even. But then it started sucking down coolant and i couldn't tell if there was an exhaust leak or if i was burning PB blaster off the turbo bolts or if the wind blowing into the barn tail pipe to bumper was carrying some exhaust up under the hood. So after a bit of idling I blipped the throttle position sensor (pedal) a touch. and then #4 injector started blowing combustion gasses out around the injector body. Fuck. Shut it off quick. Tighten the injector bolts down again (of course I'd piled the tools back into the box and cases in the mean time). And fired it back up. Gave it a bit more of a blip and whoosh smoke and weird noise... FAHHHHK OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT. Fearing the turbo just blew or some other expensive nightmare I peered at the smoky mess (mostly exhaust blowing up through the engine bay). And found, that I'd forgotten to attach the turbo to intercooler pipe. Well it was in place but I'd forgotten the clamps. Quick work with those. Few. Yeah the car smokes a lot (even running 100% bio) when the turbo isn't hooked up, and it sounds weird. But there was also a strange sound from the timing belt side. So I cracked the cover open and it seemed okay. I had a great idea to leave it cracked open while i started it again to see if the belt was running okay. Started the car. and w/in about 30 seconds a horrible metallic screeching noise started from the timing belt side of the engine. Another wave of oh shits and then i shut it off, and put the cover back in place. And then noticed it wasn't seated just quite right. Got it seated. And started.
Ah. Now it seems to be running smoothly. But then. Shit? What's that smoke? is that exhaust gas escaping between the turbo and the manifold? Shit. I need to run the RPMs up a bit to see if I can feel any exhaust gas escaping. It could just be PB Blaster burning off because the turbo at this point is getting kind of hot. Or exhaust from the tail pipe blowing out under the car but this stuff smelled different than the tail pipe. And yes. I did actually breath in the tail pipe, and thanks to the ~18-20% oxygen content and the biodiesel, it is harmless and you don't even notice it in the lungs. But this stuff smelled different. Didn't want to chance it. My bro came over to hold the throttle down a bit while i felt around with my fingers around the junction. I couldn't feel any escaping gas, but the smoke was getting thicker, but then the turbo was getting a bit hotter. I added a touch more of a turn to the bolts holding the turbo on, snugged them down a bit more. Oh well. Fuck it. If it is leaking it will either get worse, fill with soot or i'll have to take that apart. screw it.
But in that process i got a check engine light (and the coolant needed to be filled with some more water.
Shit. CEL isn't good. Damnit. Fire up the 486DX dell laptop from 1995 and check. Cat temp Sensor open/short to ground. Shit. Oh right. I had unplugged that for some reason. Damnit. I get it plugged back in. Reset the light, topped up the coolant and waited for it to reach normal temperature.
It seemed to be running smoothly.
All that was left to do was pull the lower rad hose and drain the water out and refill it with Coolant. No, I didn't go back to the wonderful G12 stuff. Or the new G12+ stuff. I used the PEAK universal antifreeze that was on sale at Autozone for $6/gallon. Yeah. I cheaped out on the coolant. So what. This new universal stuff is all coolant. And well maybe i have to change it out again but I have my doubts that this car will last another 200,000 miles or 13 years which ever comes first. I mean it might and well in 5 years I'll just change the coolant. But I'll probably have to put a new water pump in before then anyway. And I'm leaning to the side of coolant is coolant, esp in the last couple years with the move to "Add to Any Color Antifreeze" labels on some of the stuff.
Pulling that lower rad hose isn't much of a problem. Getting it back on is a royal Bitch and a Half. just a bit pain in the ass. Esp w/o the remote hose clamp pliers. I probably could have saved an hour or two of labor if I'd bought a pair of them. But I made due with what I had. Just was challenging.
Got it all back together. Tools loaded up and was headed home by 8:15-8:30 or so. Didn't start work Tuesday night until ~6:30 anyway. Not bad.
Anyway. I drove in today and it was nice and smooth. Moved it a while ago and it starts much more effortlessly now. That's not a bad thing. And I think based on the change in the exhaust note that the timing is slightly more advanced than before. But I haven't checked the timing graph yet. The mechanical marks were bang on and it doesn't sound retarded, if anything it might be a bit advanced.
Why drive in and kill another perfect week? First reason: I rode hard to get home in time last night. I was flying around the place here trying to get some images taken and printed for my oldest's class. They did a mold experiment and well K brought one wicked stinky moldy piece of the bread home for me to take some images of for the class. And left a bit late. No easy ride home. Had to redline it all the way. It hurt a bit. But I got home in time. Walked to the farmer's market, bought a few things, then the littlest and I took the passat over to run a couple errands and it worked then too.
My legs were tired. I was tired. This is supposed to be a rest week per the calendar and well I'm trying to stick with something for a change. So I drove. I've got to hit whole paycheck tonight as well. Might as well combine trips (efficient and all that). So I drove. But in my carbon neutral B100 burning old wagon.
Maybe next Tuesday I can actually get out for the smack down for a change. Although with the daylight running short we may need to head on a shorter route to the east instead of out west.
Vermont is coming up. I haven't been out to race there yet. It will be my new course of the year. Of course despite what J-Hole said, Waterville CX was anything but lame, even if it was new. The other verge race I've missed is Maine. I don't think this year will work to get up there. Maybe I can try and hit it next year. Last weekend just confirmed thought, I love racing cylocross. There isn't anything better.
And yeah, still haven't written up Wah-ville CX yet... soon...
heddwch
G
Mid-week during cross season even.
Well lets just say - it is an indication of a few things going on.
Car is fixed more or less I think. I hope. Seems to be. It might take a bit of time for the coolant to get all the bubbles out but hopefully we'll reach some stasis soon. First good sign was this morning putting some coolant in there before driving in. Yes. I drove today. Breaking a damn good loooong streak of perfect weeks.
More on the commute relating to training and cross later. I'm talking about the car now. So this morning putting the coolant in, there was no pressure in the hose. That's either a good sign or a bad sign. Good sign in that there should be some pressure in the system but it shouldn't hold it once the car is cold and has sat for 24+ hours. And even after a week, opening the coolant reservoir meant a cascade of coolant bursting out pre-head gasket change. It is also starting very smoothly, and seemed to take a bit longer to warm up this morning than previously.
I'm still not pushing the car - no high RPM high load situations yet. Trying to let everything break in a bit before rattling it through the paces. At some point I'll put the pictures I snapped during the process up. I wasn't too good at getting representative images of each step... but I think i have at least one shot with the head off...
Starting it up was a bit stressful. Everything buttoned down (i thought) except the #3 injector. You leave that one cracked to purge air out of the lines. Basically crank the engine over until fuel starts spraying out of the loose nut/pipe connection. Once it sprays. Stop cranking, tighten the nut down and start it back up.
And so I did. Started it up. And it was idling, sounded okay even. But then it started sucking down coolant and i couldn't tell if there was an exhaust leak or if i was burning PB blaster off the turbo bolts or if the wind blowing into the barn tail pipe to bumper was carrying some exhaust up under the hood. So after a bit of idling I blipped the throttle position sensor (pedal) a touch. and then #4 injector started blowing combustion gasses out around the injector body. Fuck. Shut it off quick. Tighten the injector bolts down again (of course I'd piled the tools back into the box and cases in the mean time). And fired it back up. Gave it a bit more of a blip and whoosh smoke and weird noise... FAHHHHK OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT. Fearing the turbo just blew or some other expensive nightmare I peered at the smoky mess (mostly exhaust blowing up through the engine bay). And found, that I'd forgotten to attach the turbo to intercooler pipe. Well it was in place but I'd forgotten the clamps. Quick work with those. Few. Yeah the car smokes a lot (even running 100% bio) when the turbo isn't hooked up, and it sounds weird. But there was also a strange sound from the timing belt side. So I cracked the cover open and it seemed okay. I had a great idea to leave it cracked open while i started it again to see if the belt was running okay. Started the car. and w/in about 30 seconds a horrible metallic screeching noise started from the timing belt side of the engine. Another wave of oh shits and then i shut it off, and put the cover back in place. And then noticed it wasn't seated just quite right. Got it seated. And started.
Ah. Now it seems to be running smoothly. But then. Shit? What's that smoke? is that exhaust gas escaping between the turbo and the manifold? Shit. I need to run the RPMs up a bit to see if I can feel any exhaust gas escaping. It could just be PB Blaster burning off because the turbo at this point is getting kind of hot. Or exhaust from the tail pipe blowing out under the car but this stuff smelled different than the tail pipe. And yes. I did actually breath in the tail pipe, and thanks to the ~18-20% oxygen content and the biodiesel, it is harmless and you don't even notice it in the lungs. But this stuff smelled different. Didn't want to chance it. My bro came over to hold the throttle down a bit while i felt around with my fingers around the junction. I couldn't feel any escaping gas, but the smoke was getting thicker, but then the turbo was getting a bit hotter. I added a touch more of a turn to the bolts holding the turbo on, snugged them down a bit more. Oh well. Fuck it. If it is leaking it will either get worse, fill with soot or i'll have to take that apart. screw it.
But in that process i got a check engine light (and the coolant needed to be filled with some more water.
Shit. CEL isn't good. Damnit. Fire up the 486DX dell laptop from 1995 and check. Cat temp Sensor open/short to ground. Shit. Oh right. I had unplugged that for some reason. Damnit. I get it plugged back in. Reset the light, topped up the coolant and waited for it to reach normal temperature.
It seemed to be running smoothly.
All that was left to do was pull the lower rad hose and drain the water out and refill it with Coolant. No, I didn't go back to the wonderful G12 stuff. Or the new G12+ stuff. I used the PEAK universal antifreeze that was on sale at Autozone for $6/gallon. Yeah. I cheaped out on the coolant. So what. This new universal stuff is all coolant. And well maybe i have to change it out again but I have my doubts that this car will last another 200,000 miles or 13 years which ever comes first. I mean it might and well in 5 years I'll just change the coolant. But I'll probably have to put a new water pump in before then anyway. And I'm leaning to the side of coolant is coolant, esp in the last couple years with the move to "Add to Any Color Antifreeze" labels on some of the stuff.
Pulling that lower rad hose isn't much of a problem. Getting it back on is a royal Bitch and a Half. just a bit pain in the ass. Esp w/o the remote hose clamp pliers. I probably could have saved an hour or two of labor if I'd bought a pair of them. But I made due with what I had. Just was challenging.
Got it all back together. Tools loaded up and was headed home by 8:15-8:30 or so. Didn't start work Tuesday night until ~6:30 anyway. Not bad.
Anyway. I drove in today and it was nice and smooth. Moved it a while ago and it starts much more effortlessly now. That's not a bad thing. And I think based on the change in the exhaust note that the timing is slightly more advanced than before. But I haven't checked the timing graph yet. The mechanical marks were bang on and it doesn't sound retarded, if anything it might be a bit advanced.
Why drive in and kill another perfect week? First reason: I rode hard to get home in time last night. I was flying around the place here trying to get some images taken and printed for my oldest's class. They did a mold experiment and well K brought one wicked stinky moldy piece of the bread home for me to take some images of for the class. And left a bit late. No easy ride home. Had to redline it all the way. It hurt a bit. But I got home in time. Walked to the farmer's market, bought a few things, then the littlest and I took the passat over to run a couple errands and it worked then too.
My legs were tired. I was tired. This is supposed to be a rest week per the calendar and well I'm trying to stick with something for a change. So I drove. I've got to hit whole paycheck tonight as well. Might as well combine trips (efficient and all that). So I drove. But in my carbon neutral B100 burning old wagon.
Maybe next Tuesday I can actually get out for the smack down for a change. Although with the daylight running short we may need to head on a shorter route to the east instead of out west.
Vermont is coming up. I haven't been out to race there yet. It will be my new course of the year. Of course despite what J-Hole said, Waterville CX was anything but lame, even if it was new. The other verge race I've missed is Maine. I don't think this year will work to get up there. Maybe I can try and hit it next year. Last weekend just confirmed thought, I love racing cylocross. There isn't anything better.
And yeah, still haven't written up Wah-ville CX yet... soon...
heddwch
G
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
WTF
4 Cyclocross races on October 17th?
And when did MRC move from Nov 1st to Oct 18th?
And now there are 3 races on Nov 1st!
CRAZY.
Awesome in a way, yes. But CRAZY.
Come on promoters - we've got enough venues and folks wanting to race - lets spread out into december a bit more maybe... Esp for the more southerly venues.
Ah well - just don't miss Waterville Valley next year. It is only 2 hours from Boston. seriously - make the trip next year, tell your friends.
And when did MRC move from Nov 1st to Oct 18th?
And now there are 3 races on Nov 1st!
CRAZY.
Awesome in a way, yes. But CRAZY.
Come on promoters - we've got enough venues and folks wanting to race - lets spread out into december a bit more maybe... Esp for the more southerly venues.
Ah well - just don't miss Waterville Valley next year. It is only 2 hours from Boston. seriously - make the trip next year, tell your friends.
Foggy ride in
I had a rabbit. A pretty fast and fit female one at that. She had a couple hundred yards on me when I got on the path, but I had just about closed it down when I hit the Lighthouse.
Hmm. Stop and take a picture or say hi.
I stopped. Of course.
And took a few pictures:
And then I hopped on the bike and worked to make up the 400+ yard difference. And I did. just at the base of the hill up the Vet. The rabbit climbed well. But then at the top a the false flat the rabbit slowed a touch and rolled past with a hello. Rabbit had white cords coming from both ears. Social "hello i haven't seen you on the path before have i" negated by the anti-social device being worn. But still it was nice to see someone else in the morning. Lately (last few weeks it seems) I haven't run into anyone. And yes. I like chatting on the way to work.
WV CX report will be coming up. G-ride has his version of the synopsis up.
And again - tonight the smack down will have to go without the slow big guy. It is hopefully time to put the Passat back together at last.
Heddwch
G
Hmm. Stop and take a picture or say hi.
I stopped. Of course.
And took a few pictures:
And then I hopped on the bike and worked to make up the 400+ yard difference. And I did. just at the base of the hill up the Vet. The rabbit climbed well. But then at the top a the false flat the rabbit slowed a touch and rolled past with a hello. Rabbit had white cords coming from both ears. Social "hello i haven't seen you on the path before have i" negated by the anti-social device being worn. But still it was nice to see someone else in the morning. Lately (last few weeks it seems) I haven't run into anyone. And yes. I like chatting on the way to work.
WV CX report will be coming up. G-ride has his version of the synopsis up.
And again - tonight the smack down will have to go without the slow big guy. It is hopefully time to put the Passat back together at last.
Heddwch
G
Monday, September 21, 2009
a flat, a walk, and help
It finally happened. After a year plus commuting on the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires I got a flat... I had a tube, but no way to inflate it. This flat happened just after crossing under the Henderson Bridge. Why go up that way? Well I had to pick up the new coolant pipe from the dealer. On the bike. Heading home, sisss, sisss, sisss. A short walk to the bike path and i found a friendly commuter willing to offer me a shot of CO2 to get home...
After a year of calling them unflattable, well... a damn bit of metal (or something sharp and thin made it through the armor) thwarted my streak. Pretty good, ~6000 miles or so without a flat... dozens and dozens of bits of sharp glass removed... dozens of sharp seagull bomb shrapnel bits survived and removed... miles and miles
I knew i shouldn't have called them flatless earlier today. But then I've been calling them that for about 6 months. And of the rides and rides where i've forgotten the pump/CO2 inflator.
oh well... i only had a short walk and I had a nice ride home chatting with a great commuter.
That and I proved that the unflattable Marathon Plus is not quite infallible.
heddwch
G
After a year of calling them unflattable, well... a damn bit of metal (or something sharp and thin made it through the armor) thwarted my streak. Pretty good, ~6000 miles or so without a flat... dozens and dozens of bits of sharp glass removed... dozens of sharp seagull bomb shrapnel bits survived and removed... miles and miles
I knew i shouldn't have called them flatless earlier today. But then I've been calling them that for about 6 months. And of the rides and rides where i've forgotten the pump/CO2 inflator.
oh well... i only had a short walk and I had a nice ride home chatting with a great commuter.
That and I proved that the unflattable Marathon Plus is not quite infallible.
heddwch
G
to those out there racing
who respond to me shouting PEDAL HARDER
with I'M TRYING
i have this to say:
"Try not. Do…or do not.
There is no try." --Yoda
THERE IS NO TRY. You either Pedal harder or you don't.
and the next person who comments about me escaping from prison...
my response is "I'm on work release"
with I'M TRYING
i have this to say:
"Try not. Do…or do not.
There is no try." --Yoda
THERE IS NO TRY. You either Pedal harder or you don't.
and the next person who comments about me escaping from prison...
my response is "I'm on work release"
looooooong weekend
But wow, was it awesome.
Racing was an absolute blast. Even Saturday's race, not quite in perfect physical condition after the adventures of Friday, but even then on the bike racing I felt transformed. As soon as I crossed the finish line I was back to feeling like crap but what took over racing on Curtis's most awesome course was dramatic.
Suckerbrook was just as much fun racing. I wasn't as excited about the added corners and all esp since I was cornering in a typical gewilli fashion (poorly), and my snap and jump out of the corners wasn't quite where it could be, but despite that, man it was fun. Hard, painful, but fun. I have no idea how many laps we did. No lap cards until 3 to go. But wow, talk about amazing fun. Based on the times relative to the winners, not considering the two days leading up to the race, or the week of crawling over and under the car and not riding, only looking at last year vs this year's times; I improved. I was not DFL this year (bonus). The field was much deeper and faster. The winners times yesterday were slower than last year and my time was faster. Marginally, but last year the winner finished in 40:42, this year 41:36. Last year I was across the line at 46:53, this year 46:25.
I'm focusing on the positives. It was a freaking blast. Despite the week and few days before it would seem maybe there is a tiny bit of improvement. last year IIRC i had been getting into intervals and other stuff before suckerbrook. This year i haven't done one in anger yet. Just lots of sub-threshold stuff and running.
And that waterville race. Oh man was that a perfect course. Could have been a bit longer but man I LOOOOOOVED the running section and how many times we did it. Every time I ran that like it was a 100 meter sprint flying through there. The little dismount up the hill was tough, even for me but man it was fun, a great element (awesome design/concept curtis).
More on that race later- the snow pit for the Elite races was just fun. A token bit of slush, but it added something no one else had. And the venue really was spectacular. And it really isn't that far away.
It was a great weekend of seeing people I haven't seen in a while. Catching up briefly. Seeing the one and only Zanc make his New England return. And while it may not be the best thing to say, his comment after the 3 race was he hadn't raced that hard since the last time he was in New England. Is racing just not quite the same level where he was? That is one of the ways to interpret it. And man, New England has some amazing cyclocross racers, but New England also has depth, many many fast guys and gals. Most race everything, some race just cross. What a great scene we have here. People really do need to make an effort next year to get to waterville.
And yes. I'll write up both later.
Today i rode in as slowly as I could. even barely pushing the pedals up the hill to keep the HR and effort as close to Z1 as I could. What a beautiful morning for it.
heddwch
G
Racing was an absolute blast. Even Saturday's race, not quite in perfect physical condition after the adventures of Friday, but even then on the bike racing I felt transformed. As soon as I crossed the finish line I was back to feeling like crap but what took over racing on Curtis's most awesome course was dramatic.
Suckerbrook was just as much fun racing. I wasn't as excited about the added corners and all esp since I was cornering in a typical gewilli fashion (poorly), and my snap and jump out of the corners wasn't quite where it could be, but despite that, man it was fun. Hard, painful, but fun. I have no idea how many laps we did. No lap cards until 3 to go. But wow, talk about amazing fun. Based on the times relative to the winners, not considering the two days leading up to the race, or the week of crawling over and under the car and not riding, only looking at last year vs this year's times; I improved. I was not DFL this year (bonus). The field was much deeper and faster. The winners times yesterday were slower than last year and my time was faster. Marginally, but last year the winner finished in 40:42, this year 41:36. Last year I was across the line at 46:53, this year 46:25.
I'm focusing on the positives. It was a freaking blast. Despite the week and few days before it would seem maybe there is a tiny bit of improvement. last year IIRC i had been getting into intervals and other stuff before suckerbrook. This year i haven't done one in anger yet. Just lots of sub-threshold stuff and running.
And that waterville race. Oh man was that a perfect course. Could have been a bit longer but man I LOOOOOOVED the running section and how many times we did it. Every time I ran that like it was a 100 meter sprint flying through there. The little dismount up the hill was tough, even for me but man it was fun, a great element (awesome design/concept curtis).
More on that race later- the snow pit for the Elite races was just fun. A token bit of slush, but it added something no one else had. And the venue really was spectacular. And it really isn't that far away.
It was a great weekend of seeing people I haven't seen in a while. Catching up briefly. Seeing the one and only Zanc make his New England return. And while it may not be the best thing to say, his comment after the 3 race was he hadn't raced that hard since the last time he was in New England. Is racing just not quite the same level where he was? That is one of the ways to interpret it. And man, New England has some amazing cyclocross racers, but New England also has depth, many many fast guys and gals. Most race everything, some race just cross. What a great scene we have here. People really do need to make an effort next year to get to waterville.
And yes. I'll write up both later.
Today i rode in as slowly as I could. even barely pushing the pedals up the hill to keep the HR and effort as close to Z1 as I could. What a beautiful morning for it.
heddwch
G
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Waterville race
This is what Mr Rhoads has to say about the race.
I guess I'm going to have to ask him to let me reg day of to see if i get in. That is of course if the Race Director will give me a little break to race.
I'm not sure it has hit me yet. The whole, cyclocross season starts on Saturday. But then it really starts tomorrow morning (going up to set up the course and all). And I'm only about 1/3 packed. Not that i need much but still, I need enough to survive until Sunday when the Man Van returns to PVD. Yikes. Mr Over-thinker has so totally under-thought that aspect of the weekend.
see you at the race! unless you are chicken...
heddwch
G
Waterville Valley pre-registration has closed - but show up day-of and I'll make sure you get in.
Prizes are HOT - stuff like LIFT PASSES and products from Caster's, Planet Bike, Schwalbe, maybe even a few more surprises. That's some serious bank as far as merch goes.
And equal pay-out for men and women.
Did I mention the snow pit?
the sound system?
the playground?
the beer garden?
Go online to Eagle Lodge, book a discounted rate hotel, and send the family to the racket club, pool, or trails while you race. Dine in style, make a day of it, and then stay overnight and make your way to Suckerbrook in the morning.
Bike storage and babysitters are available.
I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this - up there with Gloucester. Yup.
I guess I'm going to have to ask him to let me reg day of to see if i get in. That is of course if the Race Director will give me a little break to race.
I'm not sure it has hit me yet. The whole, cyclocross season starts on Saturday. But then it really starts tomorrow morning (going up to set up the course and all). And I'm only about 1/3 packed. Not that i need much but still, I need enough to survive until Sunday when the Man Van returns to PVD. Yikes. Mr Over-thinker has so totally under-thought that aspect of the weekend.
see you at the race! unless you are chicken...
heddwch
G
thanks a lot zen
damn it i've managed to kill a good few minutes reading through xkcd.com
the first one (after clicking on zencycle's links) that really got me laughing: 356
then when i got to this one. one person popped into my head:
JD... the one who has most frequently advised catching flies with honey instead of vinegar...
Then when i hit this one - it had Parke's name written all over it (well not really but anyway).
when i got to Duty Calls i realized - i've seen that before... a couple times...
it sucks when *I* find new things on the internet, it means now i'm like everyone else - not quite reading the whole internet...
yeah and Grapefruit... total pain in the ass
the first one (after clicking on zencycle's links) that really got me laughing: 356
then when i got to this one. one person popped into my head:
JD... the one who has most frequently advised catching flies with honey instead of vinegar...
Then when i hit this one - it had Parke's name written all over it (well not really but anyway).
when i got to Duty Calls i realized - i've seen that before... a couple times...
it sucks when *I* find new things on the internet, it means now i'm like everyone else - not quite reading the whole internet...
yeah and Grapefruit... total pain in the ass
Come on up and Race
I just got a brief preview of the prize list for Waterville. It is STACKED for the winners. Man get yourself on a podium and get some crazy good stuff. Cross Country Ski Packages? Could be, sign up, register.
Heck sign up for two races and double your odds of taking home some sweet stuff.
Definitely going to be a race not to miss. So don't.
heddwch
G
Heck sign up for two races and double your odds of taking home some sweet stuff.
Definitely going to be a race not to miss. So don't.
heddwch
G
another joke
and maybe i'm just not with it as much today but i didn't see the punchline coming and i'm still laughing about it...
Three Wishes Each for a Bear and a Rabbit
One day in the great forest a magical frog was walking down to a water hole. This forest was so big that the frog had never seen another animal in all his life. By chance today a bear was chasing after a rabbit to have for dinner.
The frog called for the two to stop. The frog said, "Because you are the only two animals I have seen, I will grant you both three wishes. Bear, you go first." The bear thought for a minute, and being the male he was, said, "I wish for all the bears in this forest, besides me, to be female."
For his wish, the rabbit asked for a crash helmet, and immediately put it on. The bear was amazed at the stupidity of the rabbit, wasting his wish like that.
It was the bear's second turn for a wish. "Well, I wish that all the bears in the next forest were female as well."
The rabbit asked for a motorcycle and immediately hopped on it and gunned the engine. The bear was shocked that the rabbit was asking for these stupid things, after all, he could have asked for money and bought the motorcycle.
For the last wish the bear thought for awhile and then said, "I wish that all the bears in the world, besides me, were female."
The rabbit grinned, gunned the engine, and said, "I wish that the bear was gay."
Hosed
See? Hosed by that little rusted hole.
I'm working hard to focus on the positive. The fact that it happened while the car was apart, and not half way up to NH or VT or somewhere equally as disastrous or inconvenient, really is a good thing. And I only spilled 3 liters of distilled water through the hole.
A weird bit of leakage had developed after the first day of working on it. Where was it coming from I kept thinking - maybe some had gotten in the bell housing and was leaking out that way? I was perplexed, kept looking for somewhere the coolant could have come from. Not finding it.
Turns out the wiring harness bracket was in the vicinity of this, tucked out of the way of the head install and removal... I guess it loosened the rust a bit. That or the thing rusted just sitting there.
Either way that's a $70 dealer only hose. No chinesium parts for that bit. Downside, I mean Upside, is that this is one problem that won't repeat itself. Something else might rust through, but not this piece. Well maybe over the next 13 years and 200,000 miles.
That's the thing with working on the old cars. Snapped bolts, new problems.
But the head is on, torqued down, turbo bolted up, new harmonic pulley with the upgraded damping system (no more cold start squeak of rubber slipping). Yeah the old one had a rubber bushing like thing between the part that bolts to the crankshaft and drives the alternator, it was slipping when cold. Once the rubber heated up it expanded. I guess when they fail they tend to take a bunch of stuff with them.
On the plus side, I really know this engine well now.
But I am wiped out. I should really get some air ratchets, a nice 1/2" one and a 1/4" one... it would so speed things up and reduce the fatigue factor. And now I get to the ride in the Man Van to the race with Skinny... maybe some of his speed will transmit due to proximity... because i tell ya... this week is not exactly how I planned to prepare going into the first cross races.
Could be worse... could always be worse, and yes, i'm very glad that this thing didn't blow after i'd finished and packed up the tools.
heddwch
G
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