Monday
Damp and dreary outside
Very gray, but thhe GD flat light that permeates everything is present today. Just KILLS my eyes and head.
Blinds and curtains? Yeah...closed...
On of the coolest pictures of Chicago ever! Nothing like riding the lakefront...
So yeah...this happened in Boulder yesterday on THE BIG RIDE. 102 miles. 7500' of vertical. A collision with a what was evidently a VERY large deer. FWIW, that was a custom Ti Mosiac with a 44mm headtube and 40mm downtube. Like I said...big damn deer...
The Science Guy knows a lot...
Good ride Saturday. Three hearty souls showed up in the rain to ride out into Calhoun County. Why that way on Saturday? Well, you see, there this thing called "Radar" that shows where the rain is coming from, and going to. It also shows wind direction.
So instead of fighting rain and wind for 3 hours, we rode AWAY from it. At one point, the sun tried to come out, and the roads were dry.
I wanted to take HWF, and CR out to the section of Valley Ridge that Il Prof and I rode last weekend, but the USMC Mud Run had different plans. It seems that the farm on which the Mud Run is held now, is ON Valley Ridge. Traffic was heavy, so were avoided it and did a different loop. Still got almost three hours. It was big fun...
As an aside, I'd like to do the Mud Run one year, if I knew it wouldn't cripple me. Ask HWF how he did last time out...
Pssst...by the way. I know her. Her name is Kelly. She's hotter, and cooler than the people you know. She rides too...
Speaking of hot and cool...Go on over to Baum's Flickr page. Be prepared to spend some time. It's high grade Australian bike porn...
No ride Sunday, as I was tired, and really in no mood to get wet again. I spent most of the day as a house cat would...
Sleep...ate a little...wandered the house...sleep...lunch...worked on the Ridley...sleep...ate a little dinner...laid around...Sleep. With the exception of working on the bike, it was a cat's day.
The Ridley got new Keos, and the commensurate position adjustments, as well as a headset teardown, cleaning, and rebuild. Still waiting on the new 52 chainring that was supposed to be here Friday...
A watched pot I suppose....
Enjoy your Monday...go outside and play if you can...
Here's the scenario :
It's 8:45am, and the sign above hangs on my front door.
Doorbell rings.
Mormons...
Nuff said...
Last night was another slowish ride, which is fine, as I had zero urge to really ride hard, and again, I forgot to eat something in the afternoon. Really? I'm forgetting to eat now? Second time in a week. Maybe the inner fatty is dying off...
Anyway...
Quicker roll out, but nothing to write home about. Slow climbs. and tempo on the fast parts. That was just fine, other than the whole, "Hey, we've slowed to 22, so I'll go to the front now..." thing that has been going on lately. One Cannondale riding person of foreign birth did this about 6 times last night, even AFTER he got barked at by 2 or 3 people.
When the pace wicks back up, you're just in the way. The quote, "Just strong enough to be a danger to himself..." was uttered more than once.
Another rider who shall remain nameless, but pulls all the way to the yellow line when getting off the front, was heard to say that he almost got whacked b/c he pulled out too far to the left.
No shit Sherlock. We've been telling you that for months.
Also heard...
"If it's not on Strava, it didn't happen..." This one was said in jest, thankfully! Had it been in a serious manner, I may have been forced to hook a woman...
It was an evening of quotes...
I said nothing...
Nuff said...
It may have been our last ride with DBarry as well. The visiting Cat1 is moving out West next week. Gonna miss the old (young) boy. He's quality, as a rider, and most importantly, as a person. Safe travels man!
Gonna figure out the new Keos and shoes tomorrow. We'll see what happens...
Oh, and a little Lance action...
There seems to still be a fair amount of vitriol towards the Uniballer, which is sometimes a bit misplaced. I don't care that he doped. They all did. Now some are choirboys, while LA lives to dangle over the jaws of Justice. Whatever...
You all just wait, and watch...
LA might be a shitheel, and might have been the biggest cheater to ever ride a bicycle, but he isn't stupid. This is a chess match, and he is going to beat someone's ass with his King.
The UCI and WADA is in trouble, as is USAC and USADA. And you know who has the power to burn it all down? That's right! You can call him Mr. Armstrong....
You don't think, somewhere in his lawyer's office, there are REAMS of paperwork and communications that prove that all above agencies were complicit?
I'll take the long game here. Have people already forgotten that Lance isn't afraid to be the asshole, and drag people down?
Get your popcorn ready, because it's about to get GOOOOOOD!
It's supposed to iffy this weekend. Good luck to those who have chosen to travel to Athens to enjoy crit racing in the rain. Your mantra should be "80psi...80psi..."
Whatever you choose to do, keep the rubber side down...
Last night's ride was a bit of a mixed bag. We went out SLOOOOOW. Once the folks in the back, where we happened to be, started touching wheels, hollering, and just decided to jack the brakes for no good reason, the pace went up a bit. The light @ Saxe Gotha cooperated in breaking up the group as well. Thanks SCDOT!
Once out though, it became abundantly clear that only a few hearty souls wanted to actually take pulls. Everyone wanted to be AT the front, but no one wanted to be ON the front. Protracted 40kmh+ pulls are hard, huh? Just like Ronnie Coleman says...
As for the first quick ride on the new equipment...
My hipster wheel is great. Stiff, and smooth. The 25c (26.5 in reality) Vittorias are sublime. If you have the means, pick up a pair. You will be happier, faster, and fresher. @ 105psi, the ride is muted, but absolutely NO speed is lost. If anything, they are faster over tar/chip roads. Get some. Thank me later.
An old man imparts wisdom to the young buck. Is the young buck listening? Does he know just who the old man is?
Peter Sagan as a child?
A friend found this in his neighbor's trash pile...on the street. C'mon people of Shandon, you're letting me down. I KNOW someone has one of these that they want to throw out!!! Such a cool bike!
Oh, you have "custom" shoes? Really? Padded uppers? Nah...don't need 'em! I guess we'll just have cleat inserts drilled directly into our metatarsals next?
As a Jack Russell owner, or one who is owned BY a Jack Russell, I can tell you that this happens often. The body sort of gets away from the walnut-sized brain...
And I found the design for the new Service Course. After I hit the Powerball...
Garmin finally won something! And OPQS continues their string of not winning something. Lefevre actually tweeted that OPQS had a good effort, and solid teamwork, especially from a young team. Yeah...spin that shit Pat. Pinaut was their top finisher...at 27th. And a young team? Are they a Devo squad now?
And Wiggo got a little sideways over the weekend, and decided that it was the bike's fault for his inability to shift Electronic Dura-Ace...
Good effort Brad! Too bad the bike decided that getting tossed was stupid. Of course, a 11-speed electronic D/A equipped Dogma is probably smarter than all of us anyway. It knows what's best...
Is it just me, or does the S5 look considerably less offensive with a flatter top tube?
A triathlete. Crashed. In transition. Let's just move along...
Good rides this weekend. Just what was needed. Miles, in the sunshine, with good people.
Saturday was a Swamp loop. Twas enjoyable, even though I was forced to find a vest and armwarmers before leaving Service Course. I thought the cold was over. WTF man?
It's greening up nicely out in LR.
Sunday, we went off into Calhoun County. The plan was to do a short-ish 2.5 hour ride...until we saw a road we'd never been down before. Between finding the Starbucks roasting facility...
(no tasting room...DAMMIT!)
...and following the aforementioned road less traveled, the ride turned into 3.5 hours in the big sunshine. No matter.
The road will be added to Lex/Cal loops, as it's pretty fucking sublime, and the company, and conversation, was damn good.
The only down was the grease/tar/whale shit I ran through at some point in the ride. Stuff was everywhere on the underside of the bike. One Cat's Tongue Towel took care of it. Go to the site...buy some...thank me later.
I also rode the hipster wheel...
No sick skids, but another great build from Uncle Shrews. And yes, that IS a big damn tire on there. I put the 25c Open Corsa CX3s on the bike...with latex tubes. Here are the bullet points...
-Holy volume Batman! About 5mm clearance under both brakes. They measured 26.5mm wide after 2 rides.
-Smooth like butter on a bald monkey. Volume, width, latex, and 105psi. Tar and chip? What tar and chip?
-No weight penalty
-No loss of speed
-Cornered into Starbucks @ 45kmh like on rails
-They look cool...half the battle right there...
PBK has them for less than $90/pair...shipped...from England. Try that at your LBS...
And why a white rim? Let's just say that a deal was struck that made the white hoop so wallet-friendly that, effectively, the Sapim spokes/nipples were free.
Last 5km of Fleche Wallonne. All that's really needed...
Fun ride last night. Definitely slower than Tuesday, more of a Tempo-ish affair last night. Still ended up with good miles, and plenty of laughs and smiles, and isn't that what it's really all about?
Oh yeah....STRAVAAAAAAAAA!
My new hipster wheel is done. Gotta go get it shortly. Wonder if it'll help me do sick skids, or get into those skinny jeans? Actually, when one actually rides a bike, skinny jeans are an impossibility...
And #2 turns SIX tomorrow! Where did that time go? Happy Birthday Buddy!
Ok, lots to do this morning. Time to get up and rolling...
Is it a rule that one must have bad hair to be on Team Sky? And can someone with some Photoshop skills switch the hair?
Le Geant de Provence is back in Le Tour this year. Fireworks will ensue...
Cool cross bike from my friends @ Predator. One question though...
All that time, money and effort put forth, and FSA cranks? Really?
This is Hooper. He lives in Beaufort. He's probably one of the best dogs to inhabit this planet. He knows he's in trouble...
Fun ride last night. It seemed faster in spots (the climbs) and more subdued in others (302), but was still pretty quick. I made the mistake of following, or at least making the effort to follow, Dan and Lang over the 26 overpass. It hurt...
My ears were ringing, so I know the HR was higher than it probably should have been. After I sat up to recover a bit, someone passed, and asked me a question. All I heard was Charlie Brown's teacher.
There was an incident at the very end of the ride as well, immediately following the "I never took a pull all night" sprint in the neighborhood. And of course, the only 11 speed Di2 bike in town got plowed into from behind by someone who was bleary eyed from their quest to get to the parking lot first. (smh)
Fortunately, no was was hurt, and Dan's probably-not-inexpensive r/d is still operational.
Fleche Wallone is on right now...and I have a chiro/physio appointment. So...later...
Edit :
That didn't take long. Big shout to Mark Adam @ Hawley Company for this...
That was the theme of the weekend, as I forgot to take a camera to the occasions I was involved in over the course of two days.
I rolled to Charlotte Saturday afternoon, to take in the high dollar Presby Crit. If you haven't been to these races, you are missing out what American Crit racing is all about.
Let's back up...
As some of you know, the trip up I-77 is possibly the most boring thing on the planet. It's just this side of listening to a verbal re-cap of a bike race...from a bike racer. Anyone, if you set the cruise @ 80-ish, the trip gets knocked down more quickly, and you are relatively sure that you won't run afoul of the LAW.
In one particular section, the speed limit drops to 60, and it's always rife with Johnny Law. Just as I slowed to about 68, I saw a non-descript, dark-colored, Ford sedan on the shoulder...hazard lights on. Hello Occifer!
About the same time, a large Silver SUV streaked past me at a rate of speed that can only be described as HIGH. Easily 85-90mph...Hello Occifer!
The aforementioned sedan came off the shoulder like he was leaving the pits at Darlington, and ran down our Yankee friend. Oh yeah...NY tags on the SUV. You aren't talking you way out of this one pal. Speeding AND reckless, as the Yankee was easily 15+mph over the limit.
Did I have a camera to take a few pictures? Nope...
Just thinking about the ticket the driver received makes my right butt check hurt. Why the right butt cheek? That's where my wallet resides...
I arrived in Charlotte about 75 minutes after I left...w/o a summons, and made our way to the light rail station to ride into Uptown. Lots of attractive women, and interesting characters on the train.
Did I have a camera? Nope...
The races were both fast and furious, and I don't mean that in a Vin Diesel sort of way. Nothing will shatter a pro crit faster than throwing $250, $500, or $1000 premes every 4 or 5 laps. Only the strong survived each race.
The women came down to a bunch gallop. Don't know who won...don't care. It was a great race, and the women gave their all. Those who dared toe the line were winners...
In the men's race, the purse was $50k, with $12,500 to the winner. It was just crushingly fast for all 90+ minutes. One of Charlotte's finest was on hand with a radar gun. The bunch was regularly tipping 33-34mph UP the rise on the front stretch.
Joe Lewis from Hincapie Devo got away with about 12 to go. He was 40 seconds up at one point. And then the obvious happened. Mike Tamayo keyed the radio button, and United Healthcare's Blue Train came to the front. Shit got REAL after that. Carnage, mayhem, broken legs and spirits were in abundance over the last 10 laps.
They caught Lewis with 2 to go, and then blitzed the leadout. Unreal...
We were standing with another REAL DEAL professional bike racer who said, and I quote, "I glad I'm not racing tonight...."
Hilton Clarke took the W. What remained of the field trickled in over the next two minutes or so. BLOWN UP!
Did I have a camera? Nope...
Sunday morning, I rolled up to NoDa for the races. Good course, good crowd, great community support.
Big fields in every category. Hell, the juniors had over 30, and the 4s had 70!!!
Hero of the day? The grommet in the Hammer Nutrition kit in the Junior race. 9 years old. The smallest Tarmac one can buy with Ultegra Di2 and Ksyriums. And before you scoff, and say, "Spoiled little fucker", I can tell you that he was a happy-go-lucky kid before the race, and after the race. No BS baseball-dad antics from his parents AT ALL. They were super nice folks, and uber-supportive.
Anyway, when he strapped on the helmet, it was GO time. Sure, he was smaller, and got popped out of the main group pretty quickly, but dammit, every time he went thru the last turn, onto the finish straight, he turned his head, looked over his inside shoulder, and sprinted out of the corner. His turns, and bike handling in general, were EASILY in the top 5% of all racers on hand in NoDa. The kid was a straight hero to the crowd. He got the biggest cheers of the day, period!!!
In 12-15 years, when there's some young pro, kicking everyone's ass, and they say he's from Charlotte, NC, it's probably this kid!!
Did I have a camera? Nope...
In Charlotte over the weekend, you had Dilworth, Presby, and NoDa. Two full days of great Pro/Am racing, and a high dollar PRO crit. All were well organized, and supported. Take a lesson Columbia...
Speaking of racing...
Here's the last 5km of Amstel Gold.
Remember our previous conversations about saddle to bar drop...?
Yeah...ridiculous...
Yeah...this is on select police cars in Austin, TX. Wonder what it would cost to outfit Columbia PD, Richland County, and LexCo vehicles? Who's the grant writer around here?
Reminder to self : Put one of the point and shoot cameras in The Beast. Leave it there...
It's kind of "Meh..." out there today. Make an effort to survive it, if nothing else. It's only a Monday. You could be in Fargo...
And again OPQS has two in at the kill, and comes away with nothing...
Sagan also apologized, in person to the podium girl he "molested"...and gave her flowers. She accepted his apology, and the issue is squashed...so let it go people!!
And the article/diatribe/ranting of a lunatic I posted the link to the other day? Yeah, it's been pulled down...along with about 50 tweets concerning the incident on the authors Twitter timeline. Curious. Wonder if her boss @ OPQS got wind of it? Betting so. Kinda dumb to malign the sport that pays your bills, in an open forum no less, and not expect blowback.
As my wife's grandfather says, "You don't shit where you eat..."
The ride last night was thin, and for good reason. Heading out 12th, lightning, and DARK clouds were noticed on the horizon. And by dark, I mean Wizard of Oz, flying monkey dark. The decision was made, as a group, to turn around at the end, and head for the house.
The rain started about the time I turned at the quarry in Cayce. Things got pretty hectic after that...
Crossing the bridge, I was forced to un-clip, and hang my leg out as a defacto outrigger to keep from getting blown out into traffic...or off the bridge altogether. Twas not a good time. Still got home with 90 minutes on the bike...only 30 minutes short of usual...
I should probably go clean the bike, and throw some grease in the bottom bracket....
Headed to Charlotte to ride, and go to the Presby Crit. A lot of folks are headed to Brevard for The Assault on the Carolinas. Enjoy! Looks like a fun ride. For those of you stuck here, enjoy the weather. Go outside and play...
And read this diatribe about the Sagan incident. Who knew it had such deep reaching sociological effect? Or, the diatribe could just be the rantings of a lunatic. Probably more of the latter, than the former...
Oh, did I mention the the author of the article "works" for Omega Pharma-Quick Step Pro Cycling Team? Yeah, that's who you want handling your social media...
There's so much wrong with this picture...I don't know where to begin...
I think Terpstra is grabbing Fabian's ass...
Told you the Roubaix poster was coming...
Speaking of wrong. This bike needs to be liberated, and it's owner terminated with extreme prejudice. Just. Not. Right.
Teach your kids early. When in doubt, smile and rail it!
Yoann...TURN AROUND!!!
Fun ride last night. Felt quick...may have been...who knows? I know parts were way faster than usual...most parts.
Woke up from a less than optimal night of sleep with a dry nose, and eye crust that rivals the sulfur fields of Indonesia (look it up...). Damn pollen...
Batting around the idea of a new wheelset, then thought better of it. Instead, the White Industries hubs are going to get rebuilt on some of the new-style wide hoops. 28mm deep X 23mm wide. 32h/3x. Should be some damn nice wheels. And it will cost considerably less coin than an entire new set up.
The set up will likely be used for this...
Looks like fun, don't it? The above wheels with some 33c Clement LAS rubber...smooth like butter on a bald monkey...
And since my previous post about my friend Pip was so popular, here's another...
This is my friend Rose. She's English. She's RIPPING hot, and very cool...
Here's the last 4kms of Roubaix. The whole race should be up in a few hours...
Cancellara did, in fact, beat the entire peloton this year. The negative racing was less, but still present. As was said in the movie, "The Highlander",
Sep Vanmarcke showed class in staying with Fabi until the sprint. Probably better that he got out of Garmin, and out from under Vaughters...
As for OmegaPharmaQuickStepJoesCrabShackPaulMitchellHairDesigns, they put one on the podium, but it seems like having Cavendish in their midst has turned the team into a bunch of whingers. When Stybar and the other OPQS ride hit the fans in the Carrefour, the team cried out in unison that it was the fans that cost them the race. No, dummies...it was your own damn fault.
I've never ridden the "pave bleu", and don't truly understand the toll that Roubaix takes on one's body and soul, but I HAVE watched enough bike racing to know that you don't ride in the gutter, with your head down. The fans tend to stand in the gutter, and...well...the head down thing should be self-explanatory.
Want proof? Ask Juan Offredo...
The crash in the Carrefour was the riders' fault...pretty smple...
I didn't watch the last 60km, as I chose to go outside and enjoy a bike ride in the big sunshine. TVH and I knocked down a couple of hours at a decent pace, then I came home and lounged. I did choose to honor Roubaix though, by riding the 3x/32hole wheels, shod with wide Vittoria Corsa SC rubber. Blond sidewalls, of course...
Saturday, I drove up to Rock Hill to race around in circles. Not going to give a blow by blow, as it serves little purpose. Here are the bulletpoints :
-Traffic...got there late
-Dressed and on bike @ 8:40. Race started @ 8:45
-One lap (.75miles) of warmup
-OUCH!
-Stayed in the group for the most part
-Have people forgotten how to go through corners, or did some never know?
-Lots of argy bargy on the last lap
-Nearly crashed in turn four. See two entries above...^^^^^^^
-Rode in at the tail of the bunch
-Finished with all skin and intact collarbones.
-Call it a push...
I always knew that I couldn't just roll out of the car, line up and race, but Saturday proved it. At 43 years old, and being a big body, I need at least 30 minutes on the trainer to get the fluids going. I also fucked up by not cooling down at all. I just rode to the car, tossed my shit in, and came home. Should have ridden for another hour or so, just around Rock Hill...
As Saturday progressed, the combination of the complete lack of warmup, the effort, and the lack of cooldown really whipped me. I felt like garbage by 5pm.
Woke up Sunday to ride with TVH, still felt like crap, but glad I went out. It was much needed to get the bad out...
More Roubaix...
Arenberg Forest...
I'll post the whole video when it hits the intarweb tubes...
...cause it seems he really likes some fine WHINE...
Sporza interviewed him after Scheldeprijs, and he SO wanted to crap on OPQS again. You can tell his last rant wasn't well received by his general attitude and refusal to answer the question directly.
I'm no expert...never claimed to be, but obvious points are obvious, especially here. I guess King Sook thought his going to OPQS was going to change the team from one that's completely dedicated to the Classics, and filled with guys who are grimpeurs, to a team that's suddenly going to be a 6 man leadout train for HIM. Sorry Bub, it doesn't work that way...
I used to root for him, and just might again, if he grows the fuck up, and starts taking a bit of responsibility for race tactics. He quietly blamed the team for him being in 20th spot when the sprint opened up. Tell me again how that's the team's fault? Oh, that's right...it's not...
I know they're horses of a different color, but one NEVER sees Cancellara blame his lack of a team, and as we ALL now, with the exception of Devolder, The Shack is The Suck. Fabi talks with the guns...Cav whinges to whomever will listen. He keeps it up, and I'm willing to bet that Lefevre will drive him to the train station personally...
Every Classic, and Strade Bianche IS a Classic, has an iconic photo. This has to be the one...
Remember this? Flecha and Fabi on Fassa? Say that 3 times fast! And how I miss Backstedt!
I know Flanders is over, but the official profile graphic is damn cool...
Roubaix is looming...
Here's Stybar's take...
"The @iamspecialized#parisroubaix bike is having love with the cobbles..." -Zdenek Stybar . GD it, I do love some broken English!!!
And here's an equipment alert...
SRAM is getting ready to jump on the 11 speed bandwagon AND shove road hydraulic discs up your bum, or in this case, into your calf in a crit...
11 speed is fine, but discs of any kind on the road are an answer to a question that no one ever asked. Hopefully it will die a quiet death, or remain a fringe entity, like tubeless road tires.
Decent ride last night, even with the CX portage over the RR tracks on Glenn. Special thanks for waiting to the little group that got away right after that point....
I got Renick'd yesterday, so the legs and back were a bit wonky. No matter...it's only a bike ride. The sun was out, the wind was light, and STRAVAAAAAA!!!
Remember, if you go to race De Ronde, have your trip-tips on the top tube....
And yes, I did fly the Lion of Flanders on the house.
Yep...that's the ENTIRE British Euro Sport coverage of De Ronde. You're welcome...
Who's going to beat Cancellara at Roubaix? Barring a bad crash, or catastrophic equipment failure, NO ONE!
His moves on the Kwaremout and Paterberg were just brutal. I hate talk of wattages, and all that goes with it, but there was talk on Twitter about just how much power he was putting down at the end. The estimations, done by guys who do it for a living, were somewhere in the 475w range for the last 10-12km of the race, and somewhere around 900w on the climbs.
Sell your power units people...
Sagan made the old college try, but just couldn't match Fabi's big diesel. Of course, he did win the podium ceremony...
This caused a HUGE furor among prudish, pseudo-feminist Americans on the Twitters. Nevermind the fact that the gathered crowd around the podium were egging Sagan to do it.
Nevermind the fact that the podium girl didn't seem to care...a bit...
Nevermind that it was an innocent pinch by a cheeky 23 year old man-child.
Nevermind that NO ONE in Europe made a big deal about it.
Nevermind that the official Tour of Flanders Twitter feed used it as their lead photo.
Lighten up people...you'll live longer!
The best reaction? Some knee-jerk "feminist" actually compared Sagan's little bum squeeze to the situation that went down in Steubenville, Ohio. In case you've been living under a rock, in Steubenville, two high school football players molested a passed out drunk high school girl, including forcible rape...and recorded it all on video...and posted it to the intarwebs.
Really? Sagan pinching a grown woman's rear is akin to the above travesty? If you think so, well...just go see a professional, b/c some medication might be in order.
Two good rides this weekend.
Saturday was the normal group affair. 3 hours 55 miles. Some effort, some waiting, some laughs, and we got flipped off (some of us TWICE) by some guy in his bitchin' Chrysler Sebring convertible. Man, was I ever jealous...
I slept in Sunday, watched Flanders, helped the Boss get Junior Management off to her family's Easter festivities, then got on the bike @ 1100. 2 hours later, I was home with a good spin, including a couple of 15 minute efforts. The first one, out at the Powerstation, sort of stung, but woke things up, and seemed to flush the legs a little.
Things are greening up quickly out in the stick...
Skinnies are fine on the dirt...
Got in a little motorpace/sprint action too. That's 43mph in old money...in a 48/13. Leg speed is not something I possess, so that 150-ish rpm burst nearly dislocated my hips.
