So...so close...

So Tony Martin went solo at the Vuelta the other day...at KM 1.  He didn't get caught until he was 25m from the line.  That's right.  A 174-ish km solo break.



As has been well documented on my little dirt road off the information superhighway, I don't like OPQS.  Ironic, as I like several of their riders...
Anyway, that was some heroic effort from Tony Martin.  Reminds me of when DZ went all solo on the field in Stage 11 of La Vuelta in 04...but held it...for 161km.

(There would usually be a video here, but for the life of me, I cannot track one down)

Instead...here's a video of everyone's favorite doper...



Notice the names in the clip?  Yeah?  All guys popped for dope.  Maybe the field WAS level back then?
 And you cheered...you know you did...it's OK!

OK...gotta go do laundry.  The work of the Director of Facilities is never done.

I was right...

I know it pains pretty much everyone around here when this happens, but it does occur...more often than not...
The problem this time is that I was right, and it's paining ME.
I felt sort of puny last weekend, and was at the end of a six week riding period, so I figured I'd back off a bit, and take a little rest. 
I told Ford on Saturday that I'd be sick by the middle of the week, and I was right.
Between the amount of riding, and school starting back up, I have something swimming around in my cranium, and I think we all know, it ain't brains.

I normally DO pick up something at this time of year.  I blame the kids.  They go back to school, and get around all of the other little dirt farmers, then bring home an amalgamation of whatever strains of sick are floating around.  It's sort of an virological boulliabaisse. 
Mark my words...it will eventually be the root cause of the zombie apocalypse. 

No matter.  I can't ride tonight anyway, due to The Boss having to oversee the hospitality tent at the Carolina football game.  I'll just hydrate, and fill myself with over the counter meds.  I'd call my personal Doc for a RX, but he's in worse shape than I after a high speed shunt that left the poor boy with a bunch of broken bones...and hopes.

I cannot decide here...

I'm down with the flouro, but flat green.  It looks like it should glow in the dark.  Maybe it does...?

Remember, caps...not hats...

That's right...

Why do I have the distinct feeling that Bristol's pool will meet a similar demise when it's reached the end of it's useful life? 

Oh, and Tuesday's ride was fun.  Decent average pace, and I did exactly what I said I was going to do...not ride at all hard.  Just sort of rolled around.took my turns, and came home...in the dark. 
Hope everyone enjoys their ride tonight.  Be safe.  The roads will be filled with drunken college football fans.

I'm off to Target and Earthfare.  Oh boy...the excitement is palpable. 

Things...and such...and so on...

 I can say, with a degree of certainty, that I would like not change a thing on this one.

Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?  Now we're custom painting Air Attack helmets?  It makes it look even more like one of those "fragile egg" kid's helmets.
As an aside, some GlobalBike guy was wearing an Air Attack last Saturday.  Really?  I know it was a quick ride, but is that necessary?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  If anyone shows up on the group rides with an aero helmet, I will make fun of you.

It seems Sacha @ Vanilla has been sipping the flouro Kool-Aid as well.  FYI, Baum does it better...

I think I may join a new club soon.  Tarik Saleh has it correct.



Peto video finally works.  He should really ride CX this Winter.

Japanese Keirin racers ain't skeered.  Under the lights, in the rain...sure, why not...

Nothing much else going on.

Horner is leading the Vuelta, which is either a commentary on the quality of the race itself, or the quality of the AvGas to which the 41 year old still has access.  Yawn...

See you guys @ 6:30...

Update : Straight from EuroBike.  The new C'dale Slice RS TT rig.  You listening Brandenburg?

Wait...what?

So Saturday morning, Ford, Il Prof, and I rolled out EARLY, and headed to Clinton for the 2013 Flight of the Dove.  You know, a nice, friendly metric with 400+ of our closest friends, that benefits the Hospice of Laurens County.

Got there in plenty of time.  Kitted up, found a good spot to get comfy for the start, and BOOM!!  It was on like Donkey Kong.

We rolled out onto the main road at a normal start-of-ride pace...then all hell broke loose.  I was talked to Aaron and Roxy, glanced up the road, and there was a 500m gap to the front already.  WTF man?  3 minutes into the ride, I'm burning matches @ 50kmh to bridge to the front.  Super...
I got there, and it was go time.  The next 35-40 minutes was faster than ANY road/circuit race I'd ever been in.  The first 40 minutes passed at an average of 42kmh.  That's 26.5mph in old money.  What?
I began to question a few things.  Sure, I was handling the pace fine at mile 15, but what would mile 55 be like?  And as Ford and I discussed, what, exactly, was the point?  Sure, you go to these rides to go hard, and break out a good avg. pace, but I never saw the bucolic Laurens County countryside for the time I was in the front

I called it, sat up just before the tire eating section of the ride, and pedaled alone for a few minutes.   I crested a rise after about 5 minutes alone, and saw Ford coming back towards me.  He was just shaking his head.  Almost at the same moment, we both said, aloud, "What the fuck...?"
We soft-pedaled for a while, waiting on womens' State champ Sam (she's strong like Bull), and the three of us rode together for a solid 20 minutes before the second group caught us.
From there, we had a good group, save for the guy in the yellow jersey, who made efforts to kill the entire group with every pedal stroke.  And by "kill", I do not mean break our legs, or drop us.  He was literally homicidal on the bike.  My six year old holds a tighter line.
The second group stayed together for pretty much the remainder of the ride, and it was pretty good.
Cracks began to show, with pretty much everyone, around mile 55.  I cracked like a Lladro figurine at mile 58.  Not a bonk, but the speed went away pretty quickly.  40kmh became 35kmh, and then 32kmh.  And that was all the engine room had left.
I did dig a bit when I saw my time, and the fact I only had 2 miles left.  It hurt...
Finish time was 2:49 for the 100km, which comes out to 35.4kmh, or dead on 22mph.  I'll take that on a windy, hillier than anyone expected loop.

It's a great ride.  Well organized, tons of outstanding/friendly volunteers, great terrain, and a good cause.  I'll go back!

Sunday, we met for the normal ride, and it became clear pretty quickly that anything resembling speed was not on the menu.  We all rode out together, and once Timmy and Ford split off to head home early, the rest of the group also split.  The front rode away, while Il Prof, Charlie and I rode together.
It was all I wanted/needed.
85km rolled under wheels on a borderline perfect SC Sunday.

See?  I told you!

The other two of the three amigos...

Twas a good weekend of riding...

Oh Peter....

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gLDMhKHlEIA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Now down the stairs...no big deal. UP can be done, but might lead to a broken bone of some sort...  ( the video seems not to be cooperating.  Here's the LINK)

And the photo below is why hipsters shouldn't have money...

A Merckx Max w/Belge National Champ paint...and a complete travesty of parts, and set up...
Son, I am disappoint...

And with that, I am done...
Gonna be a lazy Monday around here...hopefully...unless someone wants to go do this...

Short Friday post

Well, the flood in the basement seems to have been solved.  Water got pumped out, the water heater, thankfully, fired right back up, and the new sump pump got installed.
After the day of stress, and thinking that I might actually be forced to dip into the DOUBLE secret squirrel, everything seemingly worked out OK.

(Knocks on the very hard, very heavy, Indonesian Teak table on which this is being typed...)

Rushed around, dealt with kids, spent money and didn't eat a whole lot, but chose to go ride anyway.

A few things.  Tromping up and down the basement stairs, tromping around in water, and running around like a headless chicken will make you tired, and make your feel less than chipper.
The ride to the ride was not giving positive feedback.

Fortunately, Madre Natura had other plans for the ride anyway.  It grew darker as we waited to roll, and once out onto 12th St., it became very clear that big lightning was just ahead of us, and coming our way.
I turned around, as did a few others.
Rain?  Sure.  Wind?  Whatever.  Lightning?  Ain't nobody got time for that.
It's just a bike ride.  There's not real reason to risk having 1TW of energy pass through your person.
And after the stormy ride of two Summers ago, I've probably toed that line a bit more than one should.

Home, shower, eat, bed...thank you!

Oh...here's a small clip that proves that NONE of us are the bike handlers that our little minds want us to believe we are...

Stybar.  Eneco Tour.  Watch it a few times...you'll see it...

It's only money...

Yeah, sure, but it seems to be flowing out of my pocket like Cristal at a rapper's birthday party.
I'm making it rain, but I'm getting nothing out of the deal.  Life is a MFer sometimes.
Just dropped five Benjis on service for The Beast.
This morning, I awoke, and thought I'd head downstairs to look for something.  Instead of the item I was searching for, I found about a foot of water.  Fucking super!  It would seem that the sump pump decided to quit working at some point over the last few days.  You know, the days in which we've received 137 inches of rain...
Get dressed, fly out the door to the equipment rental place, and return with a submersible pump.
Water is pumping out, slowly, and I'm in a holding pattern until the level gets low enough to see WTF is going on.
The big kick in the testes?  I fear that the water has damaged the hot water heater.  FUUUUUUUUUU....
If that has indeed occurred, there will be NO racing HellHole.  As it stands, it's 50/50 anyway, as my secret squirrel fund has become depleted over the last few weeks.
Life costs money...

No reason to stress about it.  It is what it is...

This is why I like the Meatball...

Only in Aspen...

Got some new gloves.  Now the cars that buzz me can be absolutely positive that I DID, in fact, give them the finger...

Does Bristol own this business?  Seems like a fair assumption....

I'm gonna need a moment... (gotta dump that stupid Brooks saddle) 

And from the "Like a Boss" file...



Firefighter chopper in Portugal.  If I ever have enough cash to hire a helo pilot, I'm finding this dude, and paying him whatever he wants...

See you guys tonight...I'll need the ride...

Some things to look at...

...to make up for yesterday...

 You had me at Baum CX bike...
Titanium, 44mm headtube, SRAM 22 hydro discs, Enve wheels...
Up for sale is ONE, 43 year old kidney.  Works as it should...

Calling Mike Edwards...TVH to the Venom green courtesy phone...

The new Felt AR for 2014.  Seems things are getting even more aero...
And speaking of aero...

You listening Brandenburg? 

 And if you're on a budget (relatively speaking, of course...), I give you the Rose Xeon.  SRAM Force, Cosmic Carbones...all for <$4000 complete.  Not a terrible deal on a pretty cool looking rig...
And speaking of cool...

I feel confident that no one other than Stretch Armstrong could handle the saddle/bar drop, but the paint is great, and the thing just LOOKS fast. 

CX is coming...build that appetite...
Race starts @ 19:00...scroll forward...



Race starts @ 20:45...you know the drill...



Welcome to Monday.  By 0930, I'd gotten Junior Management out the door to school, gotten locked out of the house by the Boss, and dropped $500 on service for The Beast.  Sweet...good start to the week...

ZERO days...

School starts tomorrow for Junior Management.  WhooooHooooo!  A quiet house until 2:30pm every day.  I've forgotten what that's like.
Management Trainee #3 will be here, but let's face it, he's EASY when it's one on one.

Once it starts cooling off a bit, he and I will be doing some easy spins.  Well, I will be...he'll be getting dragged along in the luxury of the Burley Solo.  Give the boy a juice cup, and some Cheez-Its, and he's a happy Pappy for 60-90 minutes.

HWF brought me his Masi Friday.  Seems it was time for cables/housing, a chain, and a good lick and rub.
Normally, this repair would take me 45-60 minutes, including time to watch whatever race happens to be on the DVD player in Service Course.
Brakes?  No fuss, no muss.  15 minutes, tip to tail.  No issues.
Rear Derailleur?  A bit finicky, simply because the housing is a full run from the headtube until it pops out the chainstay.  Fortunately, Masi had the forethought to include a guide that runs all the way thru the frame.  Just keep shoving housing in, it'll pop out the back, trust me.  Easy peasy.
At this point, I was about 30 minutes in.
F/D?  I always do this last.  Why?  Who knows?  I can't tell you when I started running cables in this order.  Now, because of my OCD, I sort of have to.
Anyway, the F/D is also a full run of housing, so one would THINK that there's a guide, a la the R/D.
As Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend..."
I could make an effort to explain how the cable/housing is run, and the myriad steps needed to get there, but it would just come out as convoluted as the actual act.
Let's just say that I'm reasonably sure that the factory in China employs fine-boned children, whose sole responsibility is to run the F/D cable/housing.
It's a shit design that really takes away from an otherwise really nice frameset.

As for riding, I skipped this morning.  Sounds like I really didn't miss much.  I'm truly glad some new folks are showing up for the Sunday ride, but these folks have lost the storyline.  The Sunday ride isn't meant to be a "whip out your junk" ride.  Sure, there are times we pick up the pace, but overall, it was created to be a base-to-tempo paced ride.
Dropping people in the first 30 minutes of the ride runs contrary to the ride's Mission Statement...if it had one.
Like I said, I'm glad people are coming out, and I hope they continue to do so.  Just know that every ride doesn't have to be a stem biter, or an exercise in dropping people.

Saturday, I left in the light drizzle, and headed for the Powerstation.
Normally, I would have some lovely photos of the road, the mudholes, the completely destroyed bike, etc.
Sorry.  I realized I'd left the camera on the table after I'd turned out of the bottom of the 'hood, and I wasn't keen on climbing back to the Service Course.  Oh well...
Once out, and warmed up, I did an out and back loop of the dirt/mud, looped around to the Northside (throw up your gang signs now), and climbed Gervais for the second time.
2.5 hours passed quickly, and I returned to SC soaking wet, covered in semi-dried grime, and with a bike that really wasn't quite white anymore.
'Twas big fun...
I really need to buy a new fender though...

HWF, Il Prof, and I are headed to Clinton next Saturday for The Flight of The Dove metric century.  There's one hole left in The Beast, if anyone wants to join us.

And good luck to TVH on his loaded pack hike thru bear country out West, and to the Columbia boys who are tackling The Haute Route in the Alps.

I leave you with just a single picture today.  It's a good one though...

Little kids?  Yep?  But those little kids are Luke Rowe and Peter Kennaugh.  Both now ride for Team Sky.  Kinda cool, eh?

Hope everyone had a good weekend, and rode a little bit...

Pro bikes...

I've said it before, and I'll beat the same nearly deceased equine now...

Pro replica bikes are dumb.  They may seem cool/badass/one of a kind when pulled from the distributor's box, and lovingly fondled for the first time, but, and it's a BIG (Kardashian) sized but(t), that super cool pro-dog paint goes out of style in about one season.
Sponsors change, paintwork changes, then you are left with the bike of a team that no longer exists, or exists in some bastardized way.  Case in point?  Derek Everling's old Merckx.  Sure, it was a badass carbon Merckx, but once Quick-Step changed for the 28th time, and went to Specialized, it was kind of a dopey paintjob.  His new red/white/black Merckx.  Yeah, that one is, as the Brits say, the tits.

I'm really glad I was talked out of the Davitamon-Lotto Damocles frame years ago.

There is one, rather large, glaringly exception to this rule...for me at least...

...and that's a Mapei Colnago.  Material is of little importance.  Steel/alu/carbon...whatever.  You throw a Mapei bike in my direction, and things go all wonky. 
I'm getting a bit light-headed (more so than usual) the longer I stare at this frameset.

A C59 in Mapei livery?  Sure...take my money...

The paintwork varied over the years, but was still unmistakeable. 

My only issue with the new bike?  The new "Colnago" font.  Sorry Ernesto, but if you're gonna do a tribute frameset, use the old font.

Moving on...
Of course, the rain fell off and on all day yesterday.  And it fell right when everyone was to kit up and get to the group ride.
Yes, I bailed too...but only on the group ride.
The Salsa got pulled from the quiver, and I was gone.  Dirt (muddy) roads were calling, and I had to go.
A trip out and back @ The Powerstation, then all the way up Gervais, and into the hood made for a good ride.  2 hours all told, with almost an hour of solid effort. 
It was cool and breezy out in the country, which  was a pleasant change from the heat of the previous weekend.
If you missed it, you missed it...

Steady rain and 67 degrees out there right now.  Went to bed in Columbia, woke up in Portland.

Happy Friday everyone!  Go outside and play this weekend...even if it is raining...

(Now where's that damn fender....?)

Fonzie says...

 Yeah, the whole "fatbike" thing?  Time to find a new cycling fad...



That being said, for WalMart money, I may go pick one of these up to ride around with the kids...

Maybe WalMart can kill the whole 650b thing next...

And then there's this...

Fabian taking a photo of his own shrine...

There may be an edit later today...or not...

Have a prosperous Thursday!

What day is it?

What...WHAT?

(I, in no way, shape, or form, endorse GEICO.  This commercial is just funny...)

Fun ride last night.  Another pretty good paceline got rolling, and the group went faster...go figure.  Everyone is starting to understand this fact, I hope.  Some still did their own dumb shit at the beginning, and got run out the back.  They'll learn. 
It was HOT last night though.  And a bit breezy. 
Wes broke out a cooler of Mexi-Cokes after the ride.  So good...



Thanks Wes! 

Moving on...



And a couple from the Jens file...

Nice...
Not Griepel's Noah FAST though...

Where is this dirt road, and when do we leave?

And remember, Caps, NOT hats...

4 days (not counting today, until school starts.  That will be my chant during yoga today.  Four days...Four days...Four days...oooommmmmm.....

Oh, hi Summer...where you been?

Nice ride Thursday night.  It's really amazing how fast, and smooth, the group can be when everyone takes their pulls, and works in the line.  Shocking...I know!

The heat was becoming apparent on Thursday however.  towards the end of the loop, it began to make the big bodies suffer.

Saturday, a large group looped the lake.  Normally, I'd be down for this kind of fun, but the idea of getting up at 0500 to make a ride with a 0730 take off did not hold any romance for me.  Nor Bristol, as it seems.
We met @ 0900 for a CX ride out thru the dirt...well...dirt that was broken up by large, opaque mudholes of unknown depth. 

Twas deep in places.  Yes, that IS mud from a hole on the flange of the hub.  A hole we WALKED around!!
Once off the dirt, we did a nice road loop into Calhoun County, back to the river, up Gervais TWICE, and ended in Five Points so the tattooed one could sit in the sun at Drip. 
3.5 hours.  We got muddy...we got miles...we got some sun.  It was a damn good ride!

Sunday was long, and hot.  Period!  Thank whoever that the Swansea loop has plenty of places to stop for water.  Well, except the Tennis Center on Sundays before 1pm!  Freaking Lexington County...
I took down SIX bottles in 3.5 hours, and still nearly came apart on the ride back to Service Course.  It was a good ride, but just miserable! 
Don't know about the rest of the group, but feelings of normalcy didn't return for me until about 8pm...after taking down about 3 quarts of fluid, and eating the kitchen.

 Empty roads...

And lovely vistas on in the country...

As we know, in cycling,a skinsuit offers superior aero properties.  below, you will see the proper fitment of a skinsuit...

OK...it's Monday...time to get the week started.  Upside...school starts in just one week.  Oh joy.  Quiet will once again return to the house, at least for a few hours of the day.

It also means I'll be able to get some stuff done around here. 

Gonna be hot today.  Drink something...and stay inside.  That's my plan!

Just some stuff to look at...

Old guys...

Off The Hook from Louis L on Vimeo.

Speedy...

Experiments in Speed from SpindleProductions on Vimeo.

Think you're smooth on the rollers?  Well...you ain't...

 

In case you would like to watch the Tour of Utah...go here. 

Garmin finally launched their vaporware, er, I mean 'Power Pedals'.  So many checks in the "NO" column for these things....

-Gotta use their pedals.  No retrofit for existing pedal systems.
-First generation of a product that was very troubled in development
-$2000 for pedals?  What's gets jacked up first, and the most, when putting your bike on the tarmac?  Yeah...pedals...
-SRM and Quarq can both be had for the same (or less) $, if one looks around.
-$2000?  Yeah, PowerTap just lowered prices considerably.  One can buy TWO rear PT wheels for that money.  (one to "train" and one to race)

There are more than a few other options out there that work just as well, if not better, and cost less.  Thanks, but no thanks...

Old Picture of the Day.

Nice outside.  See you folks tonight...

Okay...here's the issue...

Here's Wilbur and Orville's bike in The Smithsonian.  Very cool, right?  Every seems to be kosher, period correct stuff, if not re-productions of period correct stuff.  One glaring fault drew my eye immediately...

The crankset and BB.  In addition to their invention of the workable airplane, it seems they also may have invented a time machine.  Those are forged aluminum cranks.  Sure, the skip tooth ring is correct, but the modern day-ish cranks...not so much.

I know sourcing things for a museum the size of the Smithsonian is a monumental task, but it just can't be THAT difficult to find some old cottered cranks that at least LOOK the part. 

Google is your friend...

Moving on...

The Angrilu.  8.2 miles @ 9.4% average.  4000+ feet of climbing.  Yes...it's on Strava. 

Ernesto.  Merckx.  Hour record bike.  Drilled bars.  'nuff said...

Fabian may not have the best form right now, but don't EVER question the mullet!!!

I don't know where, who, or how much, but... TAKE MY MONEY!!!

And just watch this...



Nice easy spin last night with Bristol and Berry.  Charlie bailed...wuss.  We just spun, then they watched me change a rear flat. 
Drifting it thru a hard corner with about 50psi in the rear tire was big fun.  So much so that part of the tire tread had delaminated by the time I got home.  Round file...

Time for lunch....

I'm back...not quite in the saddle again...

Oooof!  Yesterday's drive home from DC was never-ending.  Traffic.  Accidents.  Stops.
After 4 days of chasing Junior Management around Washington, and doing ALL the driving, I'm sort of wrecked.

I haven't ridden in a week, but my legs are destroyed.  Walking that much is just not good for you.  All while carrying about 30 pounds of miscellaneous shit in my backpack.  When you're out for the whole day, you gotta prepare for anything...

It was fun though.  I haven't been to DC in 20-ish years, and have forgotten how cool and interesting it is...

Now for the bike-related bit...

Bikes are EVERYWHERE in DC.  Hipsters.  Roadies.  Tri-dudes. BikeShare bikes.  Families who brought their own.  Rentals.  Tours on bike.
Bike LANES are everywhere.  Most are well marked, and a great deal of them are protected.  Fines for hitting a cyclist are posted on signs, and they are HIGH.  Watch your 6 when driving.
Also saw a bunch of dudes wearing Air Attack helmets while riding loops of the Mall.  Really guys?  REALLY?
No terribly cool bikes, but did see a steel Seven that was most definitely stolen.  How do I know?  It was being ridden by a 5'2" gentleman of Latin descent, and it was probably a 56-57cm frame.

Also saw one of five Wright Brothers bikes still in existence.  (Need to load the pictures).  Pretty cool, and not much different than what we ride today.  I did have a problem with the presentation of it though.  We'll get to that once I post the photo...
The Wright Brothers portion of the A&S Museum also had a copy of Wilbur's workbench.  Kinda cool...

Oh, and if you're a single male, above average in looks and intelligence, and have a modicum of good sense, you can do WELL in DC. 
I watched a "date" while waiting on some to-go food.  The girl was a HARD 8/10, and the guy was definitely a "bro".  She ate quietly, while he surfed is iPhone.  I just shook my head, gathered my food, and walked away.

Going to try to spin for a bit tonight.  Need to loosen up a bit.
Definitely on the bike tomorrow night...

Here's something that got passed my way on FB this morning...
Probably one of the best helmet cam videos of a crit you'll see...




Okay...it's 11:15, and I haven't showered yet.  You drive to DC with 3 kids under 8, spend four days walking around (I should have worn a pedometer), then drive back.  When you have done this, then you can judge... :)

Back to regularly scheduled stupidity tomorrow...or later today, if I get the pictures of the bike loaded...