And when the big orange sign says, "Paving Crew Ahead : Wet Tar" pay attention. The shit is everywhere. It took me 20 solid minutes to get it off ME. Goof Off works well BTW! Not cleaning the bike until I get home. It'll probably flare my bicycle OCD something fierce, but I just don't have the facilities to affect a proper lick and rub here.
It was an absolutely perfect day. 3 hours...51 miles...got some sun (and tar).
Inside Brandywine State Park near Wilmington, Delaware...
New pavement...wide shoulders...rolling...thanks President Obama...(you'll rarely hear me say that!)
Another day down into Delaware. So nice... Unfortunately, I haven't edited the video yet. Two more 45+ mph descents...
Three days. 115 miles. 6500+ feet of climbing. My legs are damaged at this point, but I'm as happy as a new puppy...with less peeing on the floor. No ride tomorrow, as I'm pulling up stakes and moving out into the country.
I miss the Boss and Junior Management, but it's been cathartic not to raise my voice, or say the word "Stop" 40x a day....
As you can see from the above pics, it's a terrible, terrible place to visit.
I've been leaving the outskirts of Philly, and heading South into Delaware. Once Route 202 is crossed, it's like entering another country. The roads are fabulous. Smooth, wide, and fast. Of course, my largess isn't optimal for the terrain.
Every ride has been a series of 12mph climbs, followed by 40+ mph descents. I found a loop that's 11 miles and gives nearly 500 feet of climbing per loop. Most of it is one really ugly climb out from the Brandywine River. That being said, the reward lies just after the climb. A quick right turn, and a 50mph descent awaits. The first few times thru, I was cautious, as the roads were unfamiliar. The last time, I let the bitch run.
53mph at the base...
Some guy in an Explorer pulled up on the climb out that follows and called me a lunatic. I said thanks!
Unfortunately, the battery in my Contour died overnight...unbeknownst to me. The will be video of the rollercoaster ride down tomorrow...
As for the ride up, 9:12 was the total trip time. 8:50 driving time. Average speed was just below 74mph. It's shocking simply because I went thru the DC/Baltimore metroplex like shit through a goose.
One more ride here tomorrow, then out into the deep suburbs for the rest of the week.
...and counting...
A few things are on tap this morning, then it's time to pack up the Boss' company car for the trip to Pennsyltucky. Not taking the Yukon XL, as the wife has claimed it for her own. Of course, she IS schlepping three children and all of the crap that goes with them to the beach.
On the gasoline tip, the Yukon drinks it like a rapper drinks Cristal. The Terrain isn't much better, but the gas is ostensibly free, as it's a company car. Sweet...
The downside, there's only room for one bike inside. The Helium is getting the call.
Spencer said this ad was rejected. I wholeheartedly disagree! It should be the next print ad in every magazine...
WHAT. THE. FUCK? The new Campag TT crank. I've seen clubbed feet that are more attractive. Italian style? Sure, if those Italians are at the Jersey shore...
I never realized that Cavendish was so little! He seems to be a really good boy though...
Read the caption...Jered is so good! And the Giro is easily the biggest piece of eye candy that exists in cycling.
Small(er) ride last night. Only about 35 or so showed up...
It was smaller still after the National Champion and his little band of brothers rolled out five minutes early. It begs many questions. I guess he's tired of getting shelled out the back, so he's leaving early? Whatever...they get caught every time, so the point is moot at best...
And special thanks to the dude on the brand new Fuji and his brand new Hincapie kit for telling me how to take a pull last night. I pulled through and immediately came over, as one is wont to do in a large group. He pulled up, 'educated' me and rolled through. I asked him if he noticed that I was on 35mm wide knobby tires, yet still taking pulls.
I guess this sufficiently irked him, and he took some huge hero pull into the headwind. Irony? After this hero pull, he couldn't catch the line as it went past him. Derp...
I turned left onto the dirt and came home after that. I had zero urge to do the whole ride. The way my luck runs, last night would have been the perfect time to get taken out by someone riding over their head...less than 36 hours before ManCation.
And as the sign so correctly states...
I'll update again at some point on Sunday, after my first ride/exploration down into Delaware. I've mapped out a good 40-50km loop that includes a 2 mile dirt road climb. Sweeet....
Good ride last night. Left with the group, but told the H.O. I'd take the short way, as she claimed to need the time to begin her preparations for vacation. Have I mentioned she's leaving for the coastal office on Friday? You'd be surprised at the logistics involved with getting this corporation ready to go to the beach.
Me? Yeah, bikes in the car, clothes in a bag...DONE!
Anyway, as I said, I left with the group and rode out 12th, into quite ominous skies. The run out was pretty quick last night, even considering the headwind. Once to the end, the decision became whether to turn right and take THAT short way, or turn left, on to the dirt, and come home on Old State. I'll let you guess which option was taken...
The dirt was NIIIIICE last night. Hard packed, dry, and fast. The pace was kept high all the way to the old water treatment plant. Good stuff...
And this isn't bike related, but it's damn funny...
Short one today, as I need to start getting my poop in a pile for ManCation. A trip to Target, and 17-22 minutes of packing should suffice...
Pippo's Cipo. No US importer, but I can get you one if you want it! Good to have friends in other lands...
Quoted for truth...
And speaking of shit, remember how Trek said Bontrager wheels were built in Wisconsin? Yeah, there must have been an influx of immigrants from the Pacific Rim to Wisconsin...
And I'm telling you Junk, they say there's a bike in these pictures...
I'm having trouble seeing it now too...
Riding tonight...rain is coming, but I need to spin the legs around. I'm going out unless there are large arcs of electricity between the ground and sky.
Time to run errands to get ready for ManCation.
Bristol and I went out Saturday and just sort of rolled around in Lex and Calhoun. Seeing that I hadn't ridden all week, and he had plans to race in Charlotte today, we really made no effort to do anything other than roll the pedals over. It was a big sun sort of day. 3 hours got knocked down without much fanfare, other than a really large cow that had escaped his pasture out in Calhoun.
The wind, however, was blowing dead out of the North, and the idea of fighting it on 12th St. held little romance for either of us, so we decided to hit the dirt...
Even after 4 days of rain, it was damn nice. Not heavy at all, and only one truly damp section. It's only a little mud...
TVH, Il Prof and I went out at 9 this morning for another jaunt into Lex and Calhoun. Perfect day, other than the block headwind all the way home from Pelion. Did I mention Pelion is 25-ish miles from the house? Yeah, that shit was fun.
Terrible roads out there. I just don't know how much more I can take. I may have to go back to riding the junk roads in Lower Richland...
And the scenery is akin to riding through Detroit. It's simple abuse of the eyes...
Anyone have a flat-bottom canoe? I have plenty of fishing poles...
Il Prof turned off to go do another two-ish hours. TVH and I came home with 4:15 on the bike. Cooked legs, and cooked caucasian flesh were the theme for the afternoon. I definitely tightened up the tanlines today, although they'll be pink for a couple of days.
And my semi-custom Ultegra 12-28 cassette worked perfectly on it's shakedown. Yeah, you're right, Shimano doesn't make an Ultegra 12-28, but it's not terribly difficult to figure how how to do it. Lose the 11, throw in a 16 and a spacer, and lock it all down with a 12t lockring. It should work fine to get my big self up and over some of the steeps on ManCation.
I guess the Tour of California ended today. That news ranks right up there with watching the NBA playoffs. Both are horribly boring, and will put an insomniac to sleep...quickly...
And Phil and Paul should probably be forced to some sort of sobriety testing before doing the VO. They're either hammered, or have just lost it...or both...
If living in the PNW is like this, I'll gladly stay in the "backward" South! 5 days of rain, and one day on the bike has made me (more) difficult to get along with.
The highlight of my week was that I could actually get on the bike on Wednesday afternoon. JBrstl and I did I nice CX spin, and ended up at Summit for the Ride of Silence. Big turnout with nearly 70 riders on hand. Good coordination by Tim and PCC. Big thanks to the West Columbia PD for absolutely locking down traffic. We took up a whole lane, and they kept us safe!
Best part of the evening? Getting shushed by an extremely vigilant 10 year old. Excellent!
The rain is supposed to subside, and El Sol should make an appearance tomorrow...Maybe we'll get to ride in the Sun.
Now, are these of any aerodynamic benefit? I mean, I understand the skinsuit part of it...
With all of the rain, I was going to ask her if she'd loan me her full fenders. Yes, Junk, there's a bike in that photo!
Who went from 55+ km out and made Roubaix his bitch? THIS GUY!!!
As badass as BoomBoom may be, he's still not ^^^^^ THIS GUY!
Oh well, end of the week....
Only one week until ManCation. Of course, I'm going to Pennsylvania in the Spring, so it'll probably rain to whole damn time I'm there too. Rides will happen anyway...
And yet another photo by Jered Gruber, who has once again proven why he's pretty much the best cycling photog out there...
There are two ballers in this photo...
Not only has Sagan made the Tour of Cali his beesh, he has also shown everyone that their bike handling skills aren't as good as they thought...
Hoogerland T F U!
This photo makes me warm in all the right places. Lance as WC, Tchmil as UCI points leader...both on steel Merckx frames. I would buy that Lotto Caloi/Merckx that Tchmil is on TODAY! So hot...
And from the 'Two Wheels Good' File, a Triumph design exercise. Yes please, don't change a thing...
Didn't ride last night as every possible loop available was covered by a large thunderstorm. And I'm NOT getting on the trainer! CX ride tonight, rain or shine...unless there's lightning again. I'm down with riding in the rain. Having untold voltage run through my body...not so much...
So, as the video from yesterday showed, we hit some dirt yesterday. JustinB was always down for the scouting loop, and Doug showed at the house for the fun too. We ended up doing a meandering loop through Lower Richland, and hit 4 sections of dirt. 2 were REALLY good, and 2 were okay...the county saw fit to spread some gravel since the last time I was out there. No matter. We still knocked down 55 miles in 3 hours, and had a damn fun ride. Too bad for those who missed it...
We'll do it again in a few weeks.
Talking to you Neil, Timberlake, Klatte, Porter, Hackathorne, and whoever else...well, those who will come out and not whinge like 9th grade cheerleaders...you know who you are...
Sunday called for a bit of sleeping in. And it was Mother's Day.
I woke up and fixed The Boss a nice breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen, and took down the tent in the backyard. Upon completion of these activities, a window opened to go do a quick 2 hours. I grabbed the CX bike and headed out. About 10 feet out of the driveway, I noticed that I had a little brake rub. Not wanting, nor caring enough to fix it on the spot, I went back to Service Course and switched over to the road unit. Same loop...different bike.
Coming back through WeCola, I had a wild hair and decided to hit Old State.
As the video clearly shows, it was damn nice. 32h/3x wheels with 24c Vitts aired to 95psi delivered a sublime ride. Banging down through the woods @ 35kmh made everything okay in the World.
And that reminds me...after two days of dirt roads, the Ridley needs to be cleaned and lubed...
Now, on to some business...
First, a caveat...
While I did purchase the Kenda Happy Mediums, they were provided at a SUBSTANTIAL discount by Kenda.
OK, that's out of the way...
As seen in the photos, they look a like a file tread tire. They are...and they aren't...lemme 'splain...
The center part of the tread is, indeed a file pattern, but the file tread nubs themselves are much larger than those on a true file tread like a Clement LAS or Vittoria XN. And the knobs that deliver traction in the turns start much closer to the center of the tire, and get borderline large where it counts. The knob pattern here is borrowed for Kenda's very own Slant Six tire.
I picked up 35mm wide rubber, and they measured out to 36mm when aired up to 60psi. These were mounted on a 19.5mm wide Kinlin rim, so it's more than likely a pretty true measurement. On one of the new-style 22-23mm hoops, I'd estimate a 38-ish measurement.
On the first ride, the tires were run up to similar pressures as I would normally run in the aforementioned Clements. 50psi F/ 55psi R. Well, between the relatively high TPI (120) and what I can only perceive as a softer rubber durometer, those pressures weren't enough for the tarmac. The tires were spongy and washy. In the dirt and on the singletrack however, the Happy Mediums were damn nice.
The gripped through turns, didn't bottom out, and delivered traction superior to that of the Clements.
The volume of the tire itself was plenty for the smooth-ish singletrack on which they were tested.
The stated pressure range is 50-85psi, and I'd say that this is pretty close. In a race situation, someone with less...um...let's say mass than I could likely run them lower than 50psi, but I make no promises.
The few rides brought some experimentation with pressures. Much like Goldilocks, some were too hard, some were too soft. 60 in the front and 65 in the back was JUST RIGHT!
The character of the tires changed. They rolled well, turned better and more progressively, but weren't at all harsh. They felt remarkably like the benchmark Clements.
Nutshell? They are excellent 'do-it-all' CX tires. As most folks who ride/race CX bikes know, there are horses for courses. On a dry to damp/dry course, these would be the choice. Personally, I'd pick them out of the quiver before Small Block 8s.
I don't know if I would trust them on WET grass, even with the larger shoulder knobs. We'll check this out soon back on the Double Secret CX test loop.
Leave them in the car if it's muddy...
The HMs are available pretty much everywhere. They come in 32mm (UCI/USAC legal), 35mm (tested), and 40mm (if you want to get your MonsterCross on). Retail is $40-45 each.
Guten tag peeps...
Not a whole lot going on...so here's CBS coverage from 1988 Paris Roubaix. You 'back in the day' boys should watch it. You may learn some things...
I sent out an email about a Roubaix recon ride for tomorrow. Looks like Bristol and I will be going alone, as the excuses began to fly fast and furious.
The "Tour de Midlands" is tomorrow as well. I guess folks would rather do a ride that costs $40, and starts at 0700. Yeah, you read that correctly.
I did this ride a couple of years ago, and it was great...when it left at 0900. The logistics involved with a 0700 ride start are such that I cannot fathom going out there.
Long story short, I'm not getting up before the clock hits 0500 to do a ride around the lake...that costs $40. I guess they're taking the 8-9 hour century riders into account, as painful as that sounds. And to be honest, there's ZERO reason a cookie ride should cost $40...
Funny part, every time we make the effort to get folks together to do a loop of the lake, the excuses fly. Cyclical? Perhaps...
Here are today's Giro stage highlights...
Have a good weekend. There will be photos and video of the dirt recon ride so folks can see that it's not quite as scary as believed.
Remember a few weeks ago, I mentioned the fact that Columbus is now drawing stainless tubing for IF using the old MAX tooling? Yeah? Well here you go! I can say, with some degree of certainty, thhat this will be my next frame. Makes me all warm and funny...
Phinney in pink...play on player!
And this is for the cager that harassed Justin and I Tuesday night. Nevermind the fact that we were riding legally, and one of us was IN the bike lane, and the adjacent lane was wide open...
Some redneck douchebag in a POS Ford Taurus decided that he'd had a bad day working at the Pantry, so he rolled up on us, yelled something about his superior knowledge of South Carolina vehicle code, and sped away.
Initially, I said nothing...shocker. I just sat up, no-handed, and gave the old, double arm-out-to-the-sides WTF gesture. No birds flew...another shocker.
RDB (see above descriptor) hit his brakes and slowed, acting as though he was going to stop to have a discussion of the aforementioned vehicular codes. I stayed in the same WTF position, and rode towards his buy-here/pay-here Taurus.
I honestly think he thought about being a badass, then re-thought his badass-ness when he realized that the guy on the bike, wearing the hot pink jersey, was an appreciably larger human being, and that any confrontation would likely end poorly for him. He again sped away while showing us either his IQ, or that we were #1...or both.
We just rode on...
The tree guys are finally coming this morning. Or so they say...
I had to run through FOUR tree services before I could find one to come out. It dumbfounds me that people just don't seem to want to take my money. The economy must be recovering...
I know said neons were back, but Farnese Vini may be pushing the envelope here. Of course, in the vast sea of blue, red, and white, the yellow can definitely be picked out of the bunch!
The new line of Giordana womens' bibs look nice, eh?
Okay, I've seen snakes on rides, but this is re-donk-u-lous! Dudes must see this all the time, as they are acting like it's just a damn stick caught in the wheel.
And here's another 'back in the day' post. If you don't know who this is w/o looking at the caption, or Google, please stop saying 'back in the day'! This guy was/is a BALLER. How big? His race numbers are sublimated on his fucking WC jersey!!
Here's the finish of Stage 3 from yesterday. Ferrari should be tossed, period. Other sprinters have been removed from races for less. Guy took down the WC and the pink jersey.
And Favilli of Farnese Vini won the newest award (best bike handler/emergency move) given at the Giro... La Biancheria Intima Marrone...for his 60kmh+ bunnyhop OVER a prone/laying in the road Cavendish.
What is 'La Biancheria Intima Marrone'? you ask? Roughly translated...Brown underwear...
Okay, gotta jet...busy day of running around on tap...
Hello MTV, and Welcome to my crib...
View from the top of Valley Forge. The descent back into the valley was enjoyable... (wink, wink...)
The National Memorial Arch in the center of the Park. 
COBBLES!!!!!!!!
