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Lance has less than stellar finish in Less Vegas

Though I do not like to be one to predict doom and gloom and wish no ill will to anyone competing; Lance as predicted did not crush his competition. This is certainly his first cyclocross race since his return to professional cycling. Lance allegedly rode in the middle of the pack and kept dropping back throughout the race. Ryan Trebon of Team Kona, took first. The video below ironically focuses on Lance and not Trebon. I couldn’t find a video for this race featuring Ryan, the ummm-winner. Lance drew a huge crowd into the thousands.

Lance also crashed on a sharp corner. Check out this dark shadowy video of his crash.

And just in case someone thinks I’m being cruel. This is a race report from Santa Cross 2004 in Santa Cruz California. Lance won that race!!!

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2nd Annual Ubeercross Epic Cyclocross Ride

Jason Roon sent me the flyer for the October 18th 2008 Ride. This year we are starting at Founders at 11:00 AM and riding to Bell’s. Whew that’s convenient for Kazoo crowd! Last year we took a long time, somewhere around 6 hours, but we were playing in the mud for at least two hours. I would plan on at least 4 hours ride.

Last year was truly epic. We had beautiful weather, plenty of mud, and 40 miles of trail. Though 60+ miles in total it was the best time I’d had on a bike ever.

My report from last year tells a gruesome tale of mud, fun, and beer, if that doesn’t sell you I don’t know what will.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Ubeercross PDF Flyer

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Will Cycling’s Most Favored Son take on Cyclocross?

I am not much of a celebrity hound. I never really followed the Tour de France. I occasionally read Velo News. But I typically spend more time reading about cycle commuting than I do about competitive professional cycling. Last month Lance Armstrong announced to the not so shocked world that he would return to the world of competitive cycling. Ok-that didn’t floor me. Professional athletes retiring and un-retiring is old news. However when I saw the link title from Velo News Armstrong tackling ‘cross? Trebon can’t wait, I thought this might be worth watching.

Armstrong took second in the Leadville 100. A one hundred mile mountain bike race is certainly a feat of endurance. Cyclocross season is gearing up. And a balls to the walls sprint for under an hour in the mud is not the same as a tour stage climb, or a mountain bike race. Cyclocross almost has it’s own specialty type of athlete and most of the racers do mountain bike races as well. But almost none are competing in road biking events and cyclocross.

I have nothing against Lance, but for the sport of cyclocross, (which is pretty much the coolest thing since well…chariot races) I hope the Kona team does hand his ass to him. It would be great for the sport to have a big name come out and do a few races, and for the world to see the true warriors of the holy cross shine. Then again Lance does seem to be superhuman and maybe he can take the punishment.

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Cycle Commuting Comicstrip

Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery is a daily comic for cyclists everywhere. The comic is geared for the commuting audience. But is a little for everyone on two wheels. The comic is drawn by Rick Smith.

I’ve been reading with delight since it’s inception. I’ve wanted to do this about one hundred times myself. It seems urban bike culture is coming into it’s own. The comic depicts two cyclists. Yehuda is the steel frame/single speed/ simplicity bike guy who works at the shop the Kickstand. Then there is the bike shop owner Joe. Joe is more of a high technology fan and is a perfect foil to Yehuda.

Today’s comic is a gem.

Another favorite of mine is where Yehuda paints his own Bike lanes. Peruse the archives and enjoy.

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I find myself becoming more and more irritable on my morning bike commute. Drivers who use cell-phones, that do not look where they are going are trying my patience. This morning I made a critical mistake. I think if I had changed my position in the lane to be more direct and visible, this situation might have been negated.

I had my modified Bianchi San Jose with pannier bags loaded this morning. Laptop and clothes for the day in the bags, and I am heading downhill to a stop light. The stop light has some construction going on in the middle lane. I rolled up in the right lane first at the light. I was off to the right of the lane, which was my first mistake. I should have been in the middle of the lane. A woman from the center lane under construction started edging her SUV into the right lane. She rolled forward but needed me to move to turn right at the red light.

She actually rolled down the window and tried to sweetly ask me to move so she could turn right at the red light. “No!”, I told her. She could wait for the light to turn green like everybody else. If I had been a car she could/would never have done this.

My mistake was in being off to the right if I intended to go straight through the light. I was asking for it. Lesson learned occupy the center of the lane when you intend to go straight.

Bad Bike Commuter Positioning Diagram for going Straight in an Intersection

Good Position for a Bike in Traffic going straight

Certainly the second diagram is more aggressive in terms of the positioning in traffic, but hopefully safer. The object is not necessarily to be in the center to let the car through on the right, but to clearly occupy the middle to let the car know you are going straight.

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Is there a Road Bike in My Future

Road Cycling in My future? Is road cycling too scientific for a low-tech runner and kayaker? Road cycling is reknown for over complicating a very simple sport.

I am beginning to do some thinking about Road Bikes. Since my introduction to cycling was really through cyclocross, I had a moderate disdain for roadies. Road cyclists seem to be overly scientific with everything. My perception is that road cyclists are uber-anal about training and equipment. My eyes glaze over when I begin to hear about saving 20 grams of weight when switching to a carbon bottle cage, or about increasing V02 max, or lactate threshold. A discussion of Polar Heart rate monitors actually make me want to strangle someone.

I sort of had an inkling that eventually a road bike might be in my future. But this really has more to do with my body revolting at running. I am essentially starting over with my running after April 30th when I have surgery for my inguenal hernia. I am considering trying to put more effort into distance cycling as my body doesn’t seem to revolt quite as much to the cycling.

Despite my body crying yes, my soul is crying no to all of the leg shaving, heart rate monitors, and the carbon bottle cages. Certainly I could go with some sort of cheapie steel bike, not where spandex and pedal my heart out, but I am after all somewhat of a gear head, and not a complete Luddite. I want to be able to compete a little, but not go overboard.

Kayaking has some of the same issues. The GPS carbon fiber everything, racing boat guys who have no interest in the beauty of the sport, and only care about going fast. I like going fast too, I like surf-skis and wing paddles, but I also like skin on frame kayaks, greenland paddles, and the beauty of a really traditional kayak. I admire the guys who can go 8 miles an hour in an epic kayak all day. But can they carve a sweet bottom turn on a wave? Can they elegantly bow-rudder into the wind? Probably not.

I don’t want to be that guy who has a complete carbon bicycle, but who can’t even jump a stump, or hit the sand at full speed and climb over muddy hills on a cross bike.

Simply put, I am drawn to cycling for the fun of it, but the price is a killer.

This Carbon Soloist from Cervelo has caught my eye:

But I may be living in a tent if I even whisper the thought of buying one to the wife!

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Knowing the names of things is half the problem when you are trying to understand a new universe. Remember the old testament in the Bible where Adam is responsible for naming every thing on earth, well almost everything except your carbon steerer tube.

This new video does a great job of explaining all of the various parts of your bicycle.

Bicycle Anatomy for Beginners from Quickrelease.tv on Vimeo.

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I’ve been a sort of lazy mechanic since birth. I’ve usually allowed other people to take care of mechanical problems that I found challenging.

This spring, an unnamed local bike shop, (lbs) sort of hosed me. At the time I was pretty upset about it, but in retrospect I think it was ninety percent my responsibility and ten percent the local bike shop.

I brought my Felt F1X in for a creaky noise on the non-drive side of the crank. I told the mechanic, a good kid who has been super helpful in the past, that my cyclocross bike was making some creaking noises. I wasn’t sure if it was the crank, the pedal, or something else. I left it there for the day, and picked it up at five. The kid said he couldn’t replicate it, but that I might think about replacing the cranks. We talked about a Shimano Dura-Ace upgrade, and a few other ideas, and then I biked home. I took the back way up Westnedge Hill and over some grass through Crane Park. In the tough part of the climb I was head over handlebars pumping uphill when the non-drive side of the crank snapped off the bottom bracket. I went down hitting my man business, (yes the pods) on the seat and then went down in the dirt. I walked the bike home sort of fuming along the way.

I was pretty pissed. I had just brought the bike in to the LBS to have this exact problem looked over. The kid probably didn’t ride it, tried to sell me a dura-ace crank set, ($650) and then sent me on me way. I brought it back to them and explained what happened. They replaced the crank at half cost and then sent me on my way again.

I knew what was wrong with the bike, I ride the bike every day, and my inability to articulate the problem and even attempt a repair had led to the problem. Of course when this happened in October that was not how I felt. But hindsight and all that usual stuff…

I was determined after this to become more self-reliant when it came to my bike maintenance. I attended a bike maintenance class at Breakaway Bikes in Portage Michigan. I’ve tried to pick up a few more tools. Unfortunately I keep putting off buying a real bike stand. I think I can’t put that off any longer.

Tonight with only the Park Tools website , one video I found on Expert Village., and a borrowed pedal wrench I managed to swap out two sets of SPD style pedals. Editor’s Note: both of those sites could use some SEO friendly URLs.

Once I figured out how to get the best mechanical advantage I took a nicer set of Shimano SPD clipless pedals off of my Vintage Trek Elance, and put them on my commuter bike, my Bianchi San Jose. I also attached my pannier rack which has been sitting in the trunk of my Volvo all winter.

All in all this left me with a bike I fixed myself, one scraped knuckle, and a generally manly and satisfied feeling.

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My first foray into bicycle racing left me on my knees begging for mercy. The Kiss Cross Cyclocross race, otherwise known as “racing for beer” is the sort of punishment dreamt up by fanatic bishops in Monty Python sketches minus the comfy chair. My family came out to watch me flounder like a fish on a bicycle on the Cannonburg ski hill north of Grand Rapids.

Let me describe the course. The start of the race was basically 3-4 inches deep in water and mud which ran for about 200 yards until it came to a steep uphill climb on what I can only assume is a mogul hill in winter. This uphill climb wound up and around, then peaked. Then the course looped down 50-80 yards until you were forced down a steep steep narrow trench. Then racing downhill across a single track bike path where you were priveleged enough to reclimb everything you just ascended, except on a more open hill with less traction exposed to the 20 knot winds. Descending again on wet grass through a windy turn where you were dropped unceremoniously and sereptiously in thick dark mud. Then the object was to make further lateral progress across the hill on somewhat passable terrain until you climbed again for maybe another 150 yards. Then you dropped again in slippery two track roads where a 6-8 inch deep mud puddle waited to suck you in like the scary witch monster from Legend. Slogging it out of that mud puddle brought you to the barricades where you dismounted and carried your bicycle to the bridge. Then they tease you with a short ride on pavement just to be really cruel. And finally just to make it interesting you get to decide between going back through the mud at the start, or fording a swift moving river with your bike on your shoulder.

Take that and multiply it by 7 in under 50 minutes.

I did 6 laps in 53:00 minutes which some of the old hats of the B race, (oh did I mention I did the sissy race?…There is an A race that does the same course but with 10 laps!!!) said that it was a valiant attempt, and that there was no shame in doing 6 on your first try based on the conditions. My sense of dignity is still left in that mud. I think marathons are way easier than cyclocross just for the record. There is no pace in cyclocross it is all balls to the walls sprinting up and down muddy hills. You can’t pace yourself, or detach mind from body at all. It is essentially surfing your bike through mud but with monumental, if not herculean effort.

I have to say all my prep was not wasted. My time at Fort Custer was spent on the technical descents and ascents. The climbs and drops at Ft. Custer were challenging from a bike handling perspective, but not challenging in terms of strength. This race took everything I had, and I was left wanting.

My hat is off to the A racers who must do 10 laps in 50 minutes, it defies the imagination, but challenges the spirit and gives me something to shoot for.

Nothing can say cyclocross quite as well as being completely covered in mud, including my teeth and ears, out of breath, and happy.

I have some friends who backed out of the race at the last minute. I see where they might think themselves wise, but I guess I really want to go back and do another one next year. I want to do all 7 laps under the time limit. Who knows I might actually place in my age group next time.

One final note, only the winners get beer… I guess it pays to be a winner.

More pictures my wife laura took, some make me look less than heroic.