Saturday, May 26, 2012

Tallgrass TT

Woke up at 4:30am, loaded up the family, and west we went.  Got there with time to warm up, but I did more chatting and cruising than actually warming.

We found out there were 7 of us racing against each other.  I didn't really think the tt would matter much, but I still wanted to go hard. I had no aero equipment, while the dude who put over a minute into me had a $15k tt bike.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Carbon tubulars.

My first year racing, a friend let me borrow his carbon dv46 carbon tubulars for the KS State Road Race in Pittsburg.  I was blown away.  I had ridden plenty of "nice" wheels, ksyrium sl, r-sys, carbone sl, assault carbon clinchers, lots of wheels.  I may have dropped 2 lbs. off my bike just by switching to these 1080 gram wheels with 245 gram corsa cx tires.  I have to mention the tires because if you weren't riding a proper tire on your carbon tubulars then you are not experiencing the true advantage of them. 

Its hard to swallow the price tag though.   Even if you can find some r2 reynolds or assault tubulars cheap, what happens when a rim is folded or cracked?  Well, if its cracked, my man Marko will fix them for $45, if it is folded or destroyed, your out $600-$800 just for the rim. So even if you get a good deal, replacement cost is high.


This is why 2 years ago I started ordering oem knockoff chinese rims direct from china.  I raced the 38mm tubular at 1100 grams with solid hubs 2 seasons ago, they rocked.  Since then I've built lots of wheels made of carbon that I bought direct from china.  If you order 10 rims, you get a good price, usually around $140-160/rim and shipping isn't too bad either.   Last summer, in april, I built up some "new" prototype rims.  They were super light, super aero, and super breakable.  I hit a couple manholes/potholes hard at a rainy crit with 700x21 tires at 75psi and pop/pop.  Cracked them both. No worries, I had marko repair them and I raced them the rest of the road season and all the way through cyclocross season. 

These things weighed in about 1034 grams with a zipp rear hub, a c-4 fh55 front, straight pull 16/20 spokes and 50mm rim.


I just got in "new" prototype cyclocross rims I replaced the old light rims with.  They are much wider, 23mm wide, same depth, 60 grams heavier each.  Now I'm sitting at about 1250 grams for the set. Not bad. 

They built up super strong.  I'm mounting some 700x23 corsa 320tpi slicks to them.  I don't like that they call these tires slicks.  They are super grippy and have more surface area to touch the ground unlike many treads.

I'll be racing these wheels this weekend . They already feel way more stiffer through all my tests. 


Plan is to order more. Build them 16/20hole or 20/24hole to different hubs. 

Here are some price options.

Rims $360
c-4 285 gram hubset.  $350
c-4 320 gram hubset $280
bikehubstore hubset  280gram $120
chinese hubset  270 gram$100
chris king road hubset 320 gram $450
white industries road hubset 349 gram $300
 lots of other hub options too.


cx-ray bladed spokes. $100
laser light round spokes $60(same weight as cx-ray, just not as strong or aero)
straight gauge 2.0 spokes $40(heavier, made to be super strong for super strong, heavy duty riding)
alloy colored nipples, $35
alloy silver $25
brass black $20
silver brass $15
nipples washers for strength $5

I built my super light super flexy rims with cx-ray spokes, 16/20 and raced tons of road and cyclocross with them, so going 20/24 cx-ray is a good pick for being aero. If you weigh over 200, you may want to consider the super strong spokes.



chris king road with cx-ray spokes and silver alloy nipples is $935
chinese hubset with strong spokes and brass nipples is $515.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

100 miles

Joe and I were at the bike to work week after party, explaining to a new cyclist how easy it is to ride 100 miles.  You pick a route, you pick a goal, you pick a day, you pack some food and go.  She said she was unsure of her abilities.  She knows she can do it, she seemed more afraid than humble.  I had a few words for her on how she could complete a century.

3 ways to do it.

1. My favorite way.  Pick a flat route with a destination about 50 miles away.  Depending on where you start from kc, Lawrence is a great destination.  I truly have a hard time riding anywhere without a destination, a reason to ride.  You get good sleep, leave when the temperature is comfortable, and try to make the 44-50 mile ride in about 3 hours.  Then you stop at your favorite place, wash your face and hands, sit down, eat a burger or some good food, have a beer, drink some coffee, then head back.  You get 1-2 hour break, so really you are riding 2 50 mile rides.   It breaks up the work and since you have a destination, you have a goal and your brain works harder to get there.  If you just go out saying you are going to ride till you computer says 100, then good luck, that's really hard to do.

2. Easier way, if you have a full day, maybe ride 60 miles, get home, take  shower, a nap, then go out and ride 40.  Boom a century.  You'd probably do this quicker than if you stopped every 20 miles for a food break.

3. Pick a day with little wind, good weather, and find a buddy to ride with.  Hopefully the buddy is as fast or faster than you so they won't slow you down.  Go out and slam 100 miles quickly.  Maybe 2 stops, short stops to refill bottles and grab candy.  Think to yourself, the faster you go, the faster you get home, showered, and feet up on the couch.


Just go out and do it. 100 miles isn't that far. Set an alarm, wake up, and start riding.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Plans

Racing is fun. I think the most fun about racing is the idea that you have no idea what's going to happen next.  There's a surprise around the next corner.  Especially crit racing, where there are 120 racers, all trying to do the same thing, all planning the same thing. 

I hate plans.

I hate seeing a team of cat 4s lining up, discussing strategy, who's going to attack, who's leading out who, who's going to ride the front for 20 minutes for no reason other than to say that he could, or pretend he was working for his team.

Its retarded.

There are a million variables that go into racing.  Saying you are going to sit in the whole day, then attack with 3 to go because you can't sprint, and your coach says you have great 10 minute power makes me scratch my head.

There are lots of variables in racing.

I'm a really big fan of discussing the course, the wind, the heat, the other teams that showed up,  cracks and potholes in the pavement, the off camber turns, the trees poking out into the course, there's a lot variables that impact 100 decisions made by 100 riders.

Most riders are saying, stay out of the wind, don't ride the front, stay towards the front, don't be behind the guys who look like they can't turn, stay towards the front, stay towards the front, get towards the front going into the last corner, sprint.

If you say you are going to attack at 3 to go, and a group goes at 4 to go, and you watch them go saying you have to stick to your plan, that's stupid.  What's the point of planning at that point.  Go race, make good decisions, keep your head up, be smart.

Monday, May 14, 2012

MOPRO

The first big crit weekend is over.   Seemed to have perfect weather all 3 days.  Weather that would be great for a 4-5 hour ride, instead, each day I raced 1 hour as hard as I could. 

We left KC about 1:00pm, thinking that'd give us plenty of time for a 7:00pm start, traffic was bad, we got there pretty late.  Still enough time to get registered, dressed, water, etc.


The course for the loop is new this year.  4 turns. Turn 1 and 2 are easy, turn 3 or 4 are a little loose at speed.

3 laps in a girl walks out into the middle of the road, not even looking, while a 100+ rider field comes barreling down at 30mph, she did what you might say a squirrel would do, go left, then right, then left, then right, then stopped and hugged herself as riders went around her.  No one fell and no one got hurt.


There were plenty of attempts at break aways at this race.  There was very little wind, and with only 2 turns at the very edge of the course that would slow a charging field down, nothing would stay away.

I stayed in the front the whole race, getting into a few moves I had confidence in, but there was always a team ready to bring back a break.


Every lap it was a race to corner 3, it was a hard left, into another hard left, then 300 meters to the finish.  With 3 to go the pace was, attacks were flying, I don't remember much, with 1 to go I was on the front, waiting for the attacks.  Finally 200 meters from corner 3 everyone was going, full speed, I got through the turn around 8-9 place, feel a guy on my inside, we were going fast, single file and this guy starts pushing me, then the next turn he's on me, he swings right after almost hitting his face on a barricade that was sticking out.  I grab my brakes, scrub my speed, forget to shift down, and try to get going again, I pass maybe 1 person without anyone passing me.  9th for the night.  Had I had a good head and shifted as I was breaking, I could have went better, maybe 7th, had I been 1 or 2 riders up going into turn 3, I'd been top 5. 


The p/1/2 race was a blast to watch.  Really fast night racing.


Saturday was a bigger day.  Lots of turns, very flat. Longer course.  Still no wind.  I road the front mostly, not really getting into any moves, nothing really got more than a few seconds away. 48 minutes in, I took a nap, thinking we were racing 60 +3, next time around they said 4 to go and I was 40 riders back.  I pedaled really hard, got towards the front and stayed there till 1 to go.  Going over the bridge we are all 16 riders wide, going 15mph, everyone willing to attack was boxed, including me.  We started rolling again, I attacked the outside into the next turn and again into the next turn moving into the top 20.  At the next turn there was a crash behind some where.   Then there were huge accelerations.  When you hear bikes/people hit the pavement, its hard to race. I kind of mentally checked out, stayed in the same spot for 2 turns into the finish, 24th place. 

I had really bad gears for this race.   I was always in a gear too big, always accelerating out of turns with a massive cadence, my legs were really heavy with 4 to go.    I just didn't spin enough.


We ate pizza at the handlebar, a great place, $2 beers too from 4-8.  Then ate at atomic cowboy, they had $5 mugs that you can refill for $1.  


Then we bought 5 32oz chocolate fudge milkshakes, half price from sonic(after 8pm), watched snl, went to sleep. 



I didn't know what to think about sunday's race.  Half the week I didn't even want to do it.  There are over 100 guys showing up for the weekend, and 98 of them didn't win friday or saturday, and they will be trying to win sunday.  There's always the most pressure on everyone the last day.


Once I saw there was some wind in the forecast, 13mph, I felt better about my decision to race.  For the first time this weekend, I didn't line up at the very back for the start.  2nd row.  Into the 4th turn I was the 5th rider, into the 5th turn I was the 50th rider.  Between turn 4 and 5 there's a long straight, into the wind, before the final 2 turns into the finish.   Every lap, it seemed the field would be punching it all the way through turn 4, then no one wanted to work and the guys sprinting out of turn 4 eventually caught up and we'd be 8 wide, boxed in swarmed, until there was an attack the next turn. 

I kept good gears today, I spun more, and didn't lose too much focus.   

With 4 to go me and  dude from tulsa jumped hard.  We had come around the 4th corner, there's a bit of an incline, we both went at the same time, two guys chased and caught on. We were flying.  Me and the dude from tulsa laid down hard 30 second pulls.  My legs were screaming. We got going up the hill and the two dudes both took short pulls, we had a good gap by now, taking huge risks at high speed through each corner, no brakes. With 3 to go, I went hard through turn number 1 and 2 with mellow johnny on my wheel, I'm guessing the 3rd guy lost the wheel, took a chance around turn number 2 to catch back, crashed, and took out the tulsa rider as well.  2 to, about 2.6 miles left, we have 10-15 seconds on  a charging field.  I kept going. I was in a bad place.  A place where had I sat up and waited for the field, hoping to recover to get a top 10, I would not have recovered.  Everything was on fire.  Finally my last helper came around, took a soft pull, the wind was still there on the backside, and I got going again, all around, then he came around up the hill.


Towards the top, I look back, I don't see anyone, so I go.  The mellow man doesn't react, but I knew if we didn't keep the pace really high, we were dead.   As I passed him his face was bad, tired.  As hard as I could. Head down, I was scared.  Got to turn 3 and 4, took it hard, I felt my wheels sliding.  Kept going, it was nice to coast for a bit.  Now the hard long drag into the wind.

It was a long time, I was looking back seeing the field charging.  I also see the tulsa rider coming up on my wheel.  I was still not in a good place mentally.  He was a strong rider, but there was no way he crashed at 30mph, got up, jumped into the front of the field, then attacked field again and bridged a 15 second gap, well, mentally, I thought this indeed happened.  We road together, he took a pull around the last 2 turns and I said stupid like, "keep going, I'll lead it out after the last turn, you got the win, you got it."  We make the turn, I get going, and leave him, so I start to wait, and wait, and wait, and I see the field, the tulsa man doesn't say anything,  the front man is flying, with about 15 meters to go I realize that I either need to jump and take the win or let this man flying by the tulsa dude take it.  I jump, realizing I'm in the wrong gear after all that waiting and cruise in for 2nd.   I had really good legs for the last 4 laps.  The kind that scream with pain, but let you keep going.  The course seemed to suit me, being able to get through the corners fast, coasting the corners to recover, then jumping out of corners to get good speed. 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

bling ring.

nothing on the mtb front all season. Just no time and no motivation.  Its hard to ride trails pulling a double wide.  Its also hard to fix your mtn bike when there are customers paying you to fix theirs.

Soon I'll have the new mrp bling ring.  By June.   Converts my bb30 x9 crank to a 34t single. Should drop good weight too.  Also will be using a mrp 1x guide too with 1x9 gripshifts.  This should be enough motivation to make time to ride trails, maybe race. 


I'm selling my 29er wheels.  stan's crest rims. light amclassic front hub. light silver spokes. 278 gram c-4 rear hub.  Both are qr.  1550 grams with tape and valves.  $300.  (mavic slr 29ers coming)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

More on Pedals

I've got a few miles in on the speedplays. My first day, I did 2 hours of trailer pulling with blade on the right foot and speedplay on the left.  It wasn't too noticeable.    The speedplay has the in/out adjustment, which is what most people prefer on the zero pedal.  Plus you can shim it up if you have a weird fit issues.  I don't, I just hop on and ride.  I'll have my blades back on for this weekend at grove.  I'm not 100% confident in the zero pedal yet.  Just not enough time with them.  In all honesty, if someone gave me $250 today, I'd sell my ti blades and ride the zeros, and if someone paid me $200 for the ti zeros, I'd sell those and ride the blades. Kind of a toss up for me.  I know most people are really into their fit and the way their bike is, but I am not.

The thing that I hate is the cleat on the speedplay, just hate walking around on it, on concrete, feels like I'm crushing them.


I've got room for 1 more if you want to go to tour de grove.  Leave kc by 1pm friday, come back before 6pm sunday.


If you have ever wanted a Pinarello in the Black on Black color scheme, now is your chance. they are all 30% off, even the dogma 2.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/frame/2012-pinarello-dogma-2-campagnolo-eps-super-record-11-bike-10732.html