Bicycle

Sunday.

2012-01-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

Recap of Worlds Here. Watching it was pretty believable and unbelievable at the same time. Seeing 7 belgium blue suits rolling through the finish line minutes ahead of everyone else while 60,000 fans are screaming was extraordinary.

Road for 2.5 hours on sunday. Good group and good weather.

This saturday is
STREETCRED! Don't miss it!

2012 UCI and SUNDAY

2012-01-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

Check it out, 8 uci cross races in the US in 7 days.

6 of these dates are on the same weekend??? 3 races saturday, 3 races sunday.

19.9.12 CrossVegas - Cross After Dark Las Vegas, Nevada USA C1
22.9.12 USGP of Cyclocross Planet Bike Cup Sun Prairie, WI USA C1
22.9.12 StarCrossed - Cross after Dark Redmond, WA USA C2
22.9.12 Toi Toi Cup TBC CZE C2
22.9.12 Charm City Cross Baltimore USA C2
23.9.12 Steenbergcross Erpe-Mere BEL C2
23.9.12 Rapha-Focus GP Issaquah, WA USA C2
23.9.12 USGP of Cyclocross Planet Bike Cup Sun Prairie, WI USA C2
23.9.12 Charm City Cross Baltimore USA C2
26.9.12 Gateway Cross Cup - Cross After Dark Saint Louis Missouri USA C2

Historically, Starcrossed followed Crossvegas, then gateway, then onto madison for usgp. We planned our Manions date this weekend hoping madison would happen the following weekend but no.

Link to 2012-2013 UCI.

Road 2 hours today, way too hard than I should have considered I haven't been on a bike in 10 days. Tomorrow I hope to ride at 1 from volker, we'll see.

Setting the alarm for 7:30am to be sure the live streaming of the World Championships is going. Cycling Fans usually is ok, or you can't go wrong with Sporza.

Carbon Cleanse is still happening. Also have complete build kits, 7900 group with rotor 3d+ cranks(175mm, normally $660) with 3t cockpit, fulcrum 5 wheels, basically everything from THIS. Entire build kit is $2000.

Ebay.

2012-01-26T19:28:00.000-08:00

Its a pretty safe bet that at about 25 days after the quarter I have a bunch of stuff I am trying to give away on ebay. 30 days after each quarter, I send a big fat check to MO dept. of Revenue for sales tax. This along with rent, credit card payments, house, medical bills, kids, student loans, makes for stress induced Carbon Cleanse.

There's a trick to ebay, that recently I have come across. People in California spend a lot of money on bike stuff. They also get home from work around 6, drink a little, then a little more, then go on ebay to buy stuff. I've listed stuff at different times of days for various reasons. Some people have ebay blocked at work, while some don't have Internet at home. I've tried focusing on various time zones at different times of the day, California between 7pm and 9pm (west coast time) is the best time to do it, preferably wed/thurs/or friday. If you live in the central time zone, list your stuff between 9 and 11pm, its my only trick for ebay.

What sucks with ebay is your usually out 13% or so after ebay and paypal fees. If I sell some $1800 wheels for $1k, I see about $870, even though I probably paid $1200 for it, its not a healthy thing to do...so I try to price things at least 10% above cost so I don't lose out. Ebay has adds now, claiming they have saved families lives, finances, people lose jobs, and start selling their belongings on ebay to make rent, they do, they make rent, pay bills/mortgages, and eventually start working again avoiding foreclosure/bankruptcy, you name it, ebay sells it.

The other thing that sucks about ebay is 9 times out of 10, you barely get wholesale out of what your selling, even if it is brand new. Seems most the people buying on ebay do their research, know their stuff, or already have a hook up for good deals, and still want a better deal. Last spring I parted out 2 7900 groups. 1 group, used by a colavita/sutterhome racer had 15k miles on it, had been crashed with lots of scratches. The other was pulled off a brand new fp3, brand new super good. The brand new group sold for a combined $1400 while the used group went for $1280.

Between now and Saturday night I leave myself in a pretty vulnerable position. I'd do just about anything to sell something cheap, just to have some cash flow to make it to the end of 1st qtr, 2012, 11-6 friday, 10-4 saturday at 39th.

Seriousness

2012-01-25T13:02:00.000-08:00

The title of THIS caught my attention. I was interested to see what it said.

Of the 10 things listed, I only fall under 1 of those things, number 8, and I never realized why I did it until now.

This article got me thinking that I am not as serious of a cyclist as I thought, or at least, my serious level is slipping.

Have I ridden my bike in the last 7 days? No.

Have I thought about riding my bike in the last 7 days? Yes.

Does the weather dictate whether or not you go for on a training ride? Yes.

Does the sum of all my families medical bills for 2011 value more than my entire bike/racing budget? Yes.

Do you do odd things through out the day simply because you believe they will make you faster? Yes.

What's the definition of a cyclist anyway. Road, cx, mtb, commuter. It seems the label is defined by the user. To some, a person who rides there hybrid 5 miles at the park once a week is a cyclist. To others, people who ride 5,000 miles a year (about 100 miles/week) wouldn't be considered a cyclist. Its weird.

Mountain Bike

2012-01-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

I built my d29 carbon jamis up ss on saturday. 17.9 lbs with pedals and I even left the big chainring on the crank.

Nothing crazy for the build, crest rims, barro race tnt tires, x9 aluminum crank with both rings, pancake brakes, easton ec90 post, ritchey wcs alloy flat bars, ritchey alloy 260 stem, even a little tensioner...oh I guess 1 crazy thing, THIS. I tried selling it new for $300, it didn't go, so it went to my bike.

I've been writing about how it sucks I can't get a 32-36t chainring for my 1x9 setup with bb30 cranks because of the stupid 120/80 bolt pattern.

Turns out, Home Brewed Components has had this problem sorted out this whole time.

They've got a 120mm bashguard and 80mmbcd rings from 32-36 in different colors.

I will hopefully opt for the spiderless ring on a bb30 crank. This will save a ton of weight with an mrp 1x guard.

Should be no more than 19lbs 1x9 with 11-32 pg980 cassette. If I want to save weight, I can drop a pound going to barro race folding tires or stan's raven tubeless tires. Or I could get the stan's gold wheelset, dropping 1/2 lb.

One day, there will be M35 Cranks.

Car for sale.

2012-01-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

My wife got a new car with payments and we need to sell this one. We haven't driven it since October, its been kept up really well. Its a good car, I'd be fine selling it to someone I know, its a good car.

I'll be at the 39th st. store today from 10-4, the car will be there so if you want to take a look, come by.

all the info. here.

More on Dieting.

2012-01-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

HERE is a lot more info. on dieting.

The main thing I am taking from this is the H20. Drinking lots of it will help curb my appetite. I know this. I plan on drinking 14oz before each big meal and drinking 8oz before I put anything in my mouth. I am home with 2 babies 4 days a week, it is hard not to eat all day, since I am feeding those babies all day. Making myself abide by the H2O rule will help I think.

Sleep is also pretty important. I do need this, I get up a few times every night. It is hard to go to bed at a consistent time. Especially since the 5 month old does what he wants.

In a perfect world, I would lay down at 10pm, and wake up at 6am with a couple of interruptions. Then do 1/2 hour of exercise, maybe running, or stair jumps, or planks, anything.

The drink coffee and eat something. I am trying not to eat carbs like cereal and oatmeal, so I a looking for alternatives. Usually its fruit, banana most likely. Maybe I need to start making eggs.

Then mid mourning yogurt/fruit snack.

Lunch. Soup sound good. I have really bad blood pressure, last time it was 161 over 90. I'm trying to stay away from sodium, most soups and instant meals has it, lots of it.

Afternoon nap. Are you serious? Maybe if the stars align right, I get both babies asleep and there isn't a mountain of work to do. Grown ups don't take naps, not real grownups. If any grown up has a shot at this, I do.

I never drink coffee after 4, actually, never after 2, but I will drink green tea till 4.

This article claims from 4pm to 8pm is the best time for workout, to improve muscles. I remember my friend in college, he played d2 ball, he claimed that lifting early in the morning is best. I don't really care, any work is better than no work.

With dinner add flaxseed and fish oil. I have flaxseed and use it, this shouldn't be so hard.

Gotta stretch more this year too. I'm doing more running and on certain days I can't run I spend time doing lunges, stair jumps, you know, stuff that makes you sore. So stretching a few times a day is another goal.

Road Season

2012-01-17T19:41:00.003-08:00

Here's my hope for the road season. Lots of sunday only racing until I hit herman/martin where I hope to be fast. Then I'll try to be fast tour of kc/lawrence. Look out for some "gran fondo drop rides" to happen to fill the weekends I'm not racing.

2-26 Froze Toes
3-4 Perry RR
3-11 Perry RR
3-18 Perry RR

4-1 Perry Roubaix
4-7 Colavita Crocodile Rock, Perry Lake MTB RACE.
4-15 Bazaar RR
4-21,22 Tour of Herman
4-25-29 Joe Martin
5-6 Auburn RR
5-11,12 Tour de grove.
6-8,9,10 Tulsa Tough
6-22-24 Tour of KC
6-30 Lawrence Circuit
7-1 Lawrence Crit

cake

2012-01-16T17:53:00.001-08:00

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Dr. K made this in our microwave in 2 minutes. Yes. Its a huge coffee mug full of steaming chocolate cake w/nutella.

1 egg.
4 tblspn self rising flour
4 tblspn sugar
3 tblspn cocoa powder
3 tblspn nutella
3 tblspn milk
3 tblspn olive oil

Add icecream/whip cream if you truly want to be fat!

Fun and Community

2012-01-16T08:24:00.001-08:00

Usually, when people talk about mtn. biking, they talk about how it used to be, how it is way worse off now. Back in the 90s there were lots of pros making $$, and lots of races that had tons of participants with awesome prizes. Some say road and cyclocross took away part of the mtb racing success.

Road might have healthier following, but I'd argue that mountain bike racing is way more healthier than road, and maybe even cyclocross on the national scale. I don't mean local kc races. In KC we are fortunate to have one of the best cx race scenes with 100-250 participants at each race with a full calendar.

With mtn. bike racig, so many variables play a part in the success of the events, most of it being the weather. A mtn. bike race in kc with over 80 participants would be considered a big success while if a cx race or local crit had only 80 participants for the day, it'd be a complete failure. Its a really tough discipline to promote regionally.

Back to why I think mtn. racing is healthier for Regional races.

Look at registration for all big races. Look at Ouachita. People set their alarms early, and it filled up before I had breakfast. I wasn't registering, but most races like this are super successful and fill up in minutes. Look at leadville 200. You have thousands of riders signing up years in advanced with 20,000 riders on the waiting list.

This was just an observation I made, when I got an email saying that the best stage race in the midwest had their registration open. I checked the confirmed riders, and...click.

Organized racing has jumped a lot of hurdles, it has sustained sustainable success over this "tough economic period." I'd still argue that it will be worse. Even if the economy improves. It isn't because Strava is stealing all the weekend warriors, and it isn't pirate mtb racing, alleykats, "Worlds" style group rides are fulfilling everyone's competitive drive.

I think it has to do with Fun and Community. Races that maintain these attributes should continue their success.

Its been really good weather this winter. I went for a short 30 miles ride on sunday, I saw tons of riders out. Hopefully we'll see a lot more participants at races this year since everyone is able to get out and ride.

Ride and Resolutions

2012-01-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

I am really happy to get some descent miles this week. Having a sitter 2-3 hours a day so I can ride, makes a big difference on my mood.

Didn't get out until 5 or so on Wednesday. It was dark, starting to snow, freezing. Road about 8 miles when I was jumping some railroad tracks and the phone flew out of my jersey crashing and ending my strava ride. Before that I flatted at mile 1.

I'm pretty sure the cause of the flat from Tuesday was the ruffy tuffy strip I had in the rear. The strip was 1 piece, and there was some excess and it was all crinkled right where the little hole was. Put in a new tube, did not reinstall the liner strip, aired it up to 80psi and off I went. The first section was one of the tougher sections as far as no dirt, just tons of rocks. I pinch flatted. I still can't believe it. 28mm tires with 80 psi should be able to hit anything...not this thing though, whatever it was. I used my last tube, I should have some time today to ride. I'm keeping it on mostly pavement today if I can help it. 30degrees today and some snow, not a lot, it covered the ground.

Lots of people have resolutions this year. I usually don't make resolutions. I try to make lifestyle changes on the fly, as they are needed, or when I see something wrong. Its crazy to think that people realize that they need to stop smoking, or drinking in excess, or not exercising, or eating fast food everyday, sometime during the summer and wait 6 months before they make the necessary changes, whether that be for a month, a week, or a day.

I am hoping that 2012 brings a few changes, I want to keep my diet good this year, I started around November, trying to drink less, and avoid processed foods/drinks as much as I can. I also am hoping to ride my bike more. Do a few longer races like Joe Martin...something like that. Something that's going to hurt.

I'm not too mad about 2011. I stayed healthy most of the year, 2010 seemed like I was sick all the time, especially all of cross season. In races, I tried the best I could, and didn't give up. I didn't let misfortunes piss me off so that I didn't ride a good race. There were races like Tour of Lawrence, Campus Circuit, where after 2 or 3 laps, the 100 rider field had turned into about 30 riders, and they simply road away. I was going as hard as I could, legs, lungs, it was all there head down pedaling, and they just road off. Most riders dnf'd, I stayed and road the whole race getting lapped by 15 or so guys on a 5 mile loop. I wasn't embarrassed, to get dropped, it was a hard course with thousands of feet of climbing. Plus it was hot. I got a good day of riding in and on paper it looked like I did ok, with good usac points. There were probably 30 guys who dnf'd after just 2 laps who could have easily beat me. Other races, like Cross off Cancer, I had bad luck, dropping my chain loosing 10 places after being in 2nd. Then crashing twice, riding off the course, still battling to the front to get 3rd, that's probably my favorite result.

I think my main resolution this year is making a conscience effort to "invest" into my diet. I usually eat whatever is cheapest, satisfying. This year I will do my best to buy local, fresh, natural, good for you food.

I've been drinking a ton of tea. I got some good green tea that I drink all day, usually 2 bags with 2 liters of water. I usually keep it in a thermos, and when the baby needs milk, I used the tea to warm the milk. I've always just heated up water to warm the milk, and then through the water out, making the tea makes me feel like I"m not wasting.

Tuesday ride.

2012-01-10T21:19:00.001-08:00

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Road a bunch of dirt again. With 3 miles to go, rear goes flat. It was 6 by then, I was 3 miles from the house with frozen hands and it was dark, so I just road it home. I don't recommend doing this.

Monday Ride.

2012-01-10T10:37:00.001-08:00

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Got in some good dirt miles on monday. Got lucky. Dr. is working in coffeyville, about 30minutes from her parents house, so around 2pm grandma says she's done with chores for the day so she can watch the kids. I road a ton of rocks. All the nice dirt roads got graded and there were tons of rocks everywhere.

I put 27mm challenge roubaix tires on last week. 85psi and off I went. It was like riding a fs bike on trail, super smooth and cushy.

Today I am not so lucky. There are some sick calves that need "worked", ground that needs "broke", and taxes to do.

So I am with the kids and am trying to "plank" a minute or so every half an hour, I don't remember it being so hard.

BOING

2012-01-09T15:14:00.001-08:00

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Strava

2012-01-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write my thoughts on strava ever since I downloaded the free app onto my wife's phone Christmas Weekend.

I went for a 1 hour ride last night while my wife put Benon to bed. I didn't use strava, and the ride was quite unfulfilling, like it didn't count. The whole time I was pedaling it was as if it didn't matter. It was cold, windy, and super dark, it kind of sucked.

Strava has won a few awards as being the best new product in the cycling industry, it is a worthy winner. The program is simply amazing, being able to get all that data from your ride is very useful for most cyclists, I would guess even more for non racing cyclist. In fact, I would even go as far to say that strava will actually hurt the racing scene, or it could benefit.

Racing is competition, it is the reason most cyclists decide to race instead of just ride bikes for fun. With strava, you are able to make any ride competition. You feel good on a Saturday morning ride? Why not go to all your buddies best times for each climb and see if you can beat them? Why pay $25-$45 to go race, travel time, risk injury, in hopes of glory when you can use your strava and post it online for all to see how you whupped on your "fast" friend at a designated climb. Wait for the perfect, when you have a 20mph tailwind, then just wait for the metro bus to fly by and hop on.

Strava is genius. I haven't used it yet to test any records, maybe eventually I'll get a pt and garmin500 to do so, for now I plan on racing lots this road season, getting big miles so I can win some cx races next year.

If I have time this weekend, I'm going to try to convert my d29 carbon frame to ss. See if I can get the magic gear right. 27x15, 37x21, 32x18, or 26x16 are all close.

MTB

2012-01-03T13:52:00.001-08:00

Ever since I got my mtn. bike, I've wanted it 1x9. It hasn't happened cuz its bb30 shell, and I don't want to run an adapter. No one makes a 32, 34, or 36t ring for either the 386 or the 120/80 bcd so I've been out of luck for a while.

I'm going to order this. Also might try a 37t e.thirteen ring as well. We'll see how that feels with an 11-34 on the back. Also going with this. Dropping 1/2 lb. from my already light white bros. rigid carbon fork. I should be riding a 20lb. bike before long.

Gears are so complicated. I was completely satisfied with my fully rigid steel jamis exile setup. I hurt my legs too much with it, since most of my trail riding days are recovery days I thought I needed gears.

knee

2012-01-02T09:08:00.001-08:00

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It still hurts. Bruised it in 3 different places on Saturday. I road some more and it feels better. Seems to hurt worse when I'm not riding, especially when I wake up from sleep. It is getting better though.

Went to the Parisi Cafe before and after our ride on sunday. It was really good coffee. Everything is good there and not expensive either. Probably going to start meeting there every saturday morning. We'll know for sure later.

#Rapha500 Day 7, final. 55 miles.

2012-01-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

Road 10 miles in the morning. Then road another 20 toandfrom the local cyclocross race. At the race, I road 2 miles to warm up, then 13 laps of the 2.5k course for another 20. Then another 3 to finish.

The race went ok. A local clif bar pro was in town. Me, Shadd, and him were off from the start, then 1/2 way through the first lap I crashed really hard on a 180 going way too fast with way too much pressure in my tires. Stuck my right knee in the ground real hard and knocked my front wheel loose. Started running while loosening my skewer, straightening my wheel, then re tightening. Thankfully I didn't crash again and ended up 8th.

Awesome race, great course, free beer.

#Rapha500 Day 6. 52.8 miles left.

2011-12-30T20:46:00.000-08:00

Road 6 miles today. Spent more time in lines running errands than riding. Riding lots and racing to finish tomorrow.

#Rapha500 Day 5. 19.5 miles.

2011-12-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

Gonna try for more tomorrow.

#Rapha500 Day 6. 13.7 miles.

2011-12-29T05:50:00.000-08:00

Got out for a short spin once Benon was asleep. This place is pancake flat in all directions. If it wasn't for this big bridge on Rouse, I would have had 3ft of climbing.

92 miles left.

2011-12-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

It sounds like a lot. If I get out in the next 3 days, it will be after 6, cold, dark, just not fun. More fun than riding an indoor trainer though.

#Rapha500 Day 4. 32.3 miles.

2011-12-26T19:15:00.000-08:00

Got out late today, around 3. Had birthday soup and cake, put Benon down to nap, and sat around for 1/2 hour trying to figure out a fun route. My legs felt good, but there were many clouds, no sun, and I knew it'd get dark quick. I decided to make the dirt my bitch. I was mentally discouraged from it yesterday, so I needed redemption.

#Rapha500 Day 3. 44.4 miles.

2011-12-25T18:32:00.001-08:00

Didn't plan on riding much today. Stomach is bad. I ate 3 muffins before my day 2 ride. Found out today that those were fiber1 muffins, the whole ride on day 2 felt like I had a bomb go off in my stomach, its even worse now.

I started west, found a new road, some dirt, went for a while. Then hit the highway, went north on some dirt. I planned on making a right turn eventually, but there never was a turn. Ended up riding some nasty gravel for 15 miles to finally find some smooth dirt to ride back east. Then the highway back home for the last 5 miles or so.

This gravel was really bad for 23mm tires and 36 spokes. Had I had 56 spokes and 27s I'd been much more comfortable.

This was some pretty smooth gravel.

2 roads now I have ridden miles, 10-15 without any turns to find a dead end with 2 barbed wire fences right next to a major highway. I got my shoes pretty muddy on day 2 once I hopped the 2nd fence.

Here's the fences. Pretty tall.

#Rapha500 Day 2. 58.2 miles.

2011-12-24T14:02:00.001-08:00

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Cracked with 10 to go. Lots of dirt.

#Rapha500 Day 1. 86 miles.

2011-12-23T20:44:00.001-08:00

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Started the ride on pavement with 10mph nw wind and 29d temps. I felt pretty good getting started. I started east. Towards Big Hill Lake. Found some dirt and road it for a while. Riding 2 y/o vittoria pave tires didn't increase my confidence on dirt, with rocks everywhere, without a pump. Eventually hitting pavement, after a few detours(I don't really have a route today, just going, and turning where I feel like turning.)

Started taking sips of Accelerade at mile 20, then a banana at 35. Legs started feeling the pain eat 50. Racing cyclocross all year, with 1 ride over 2 hours in the past 4 months made this one a real eye opener.

Riding solo is different than I anticipated. I expected to shout out screams of pain at mile 70, I did, but not like I had anticipated.

Roads down here are pretty flat. 55mph speed limits with small shoulders. I was passed by 7 cars today before I got to the highway 8 miles from my destination. Not much to complain about except the 80million giant dogs that ran at me.

Starting out heading west tomorrow.

#Rapha500 Challenge

2011-12-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

I'm in southeast Kansas, staying with my wife's parents for Christmas. I've got 4 days, fri-mon where I have a couple hours each day to ride. My good days are the 23rd, today, and the 26th, my birthday. Then I might get an hour or two each night till friday.

I think the motivation to complete this challenge is finding new roads. Dirt roads, turny roads, paved, and bumpy. Just ride places I've never been to. That is the purpose. Knowing that I will probably not ride these roads again makes it even more special.

I have a hard time riding for hours, let alone days in a row. My attention span lasts about 2 hours before I just want to be done. Plus these rides will be solo. I haven't been on a solo ride that lasted longer than an hour in about 4 years.

I have twitter now, brkusiak.

Namur

2011-12-22T12:43:00.001-08:00

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bp

2011-12-21T11:14:00.001-08:00

The Epley maneuver pretty much cured my dizziness. Took 3 tries. Twice doing the right side first, then after doing the left side, fixed. I still have high blood pressure. Resting heart rate is under 60 but bp is over 140. I've had high bp for as long as I can remember.

I eat enough carrots to sustain a small rabbit farm, but eat lots of other things too.

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At least now I can use cycling as an excuse for my health, instead of just for fun.

500k

2011-12-20T07:36:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna try and do this.I've got 4 free days. Fri-mon. The rest would be on the trainer, or maybe friday morning, the last day. I don't have a reason to. It's a big challenge. My attention span usually lasts 3 hours max so 310 miles in 4 days is not realistic at my speed and 30d temperatures.

Dizziness, rides, sales.

2011-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

I've been getting really dizzy ever since Thanksgiving. Usually if I'm looking down and look to the right or left really quick and sets in, gets really dizzy and I have to sit down. Or if I lay down with my head turned to the right or left its super dizzy. Thankfully, I don't get dizzy when I am on my bike. Its only when I go from laying to standing or sitting to standing. The first time it happened, I was getting up at 3am to get my kid back to bed who was yellin. As I was walking down the hallway I was literally bouncing off the walls side to side, just couldn't walk in a straight line. I didn't think anything of it, just went back to sleep, only for it to happen again.

I asked a friend, who told me about how he was super dizzy all the time for a while, and how there was a magical easy treatment.

Procedure to fix it.

I've tried it once. It almost made me throw up. When I lay down with my head to the right, it was insanely dizzy. Normally I straighten out my head and the dizzyness goes away. Since you have to keep your head on each side for 2-3 minutes, it just got deeper and deeper. I think I'll have to do this procedure 1 or 2 more times to be cured, I hope. If not, I might have a really bad ear infection or possibly a bad brain. I am looking into health insurance for me and the two boys this week.

Big Ride This Sunday!

Big Sale Tomorrow, Friday! Carbon bikes in practically every size, super cheap. Free lifetime tune ups and 50% off everything you want with the bike.

Big Gravel ride in Lawrence Saturday. I can't be there, but you should be there! Its free.

2012 KCA race calendar.

Wheel Deal.

2011-12-13T14:34:00.001-08:00

I've got 2 sets of these left.

Same as pictured with silver spokes/nipples.

Hubs are made in america c-4. spokes are bladed dtaerolite/sapimcx-ray. 20f/24/rear.
Rims are stan's alpha340 tubeless.

Will come with tape and valves for tubeless installed. I banged mine all over tulsa and pittsburg, still straight as an aero. If you want a 1200 gram tubeless wheelset for $550, and weigh less than 185lbs, let me know.

KS State Champs

2011-12-12T12:21:00.000-08:00

Course on sunday had a few modifications to it from Saturday. Still lots of pedaling with fast turns and a tough run up.

Field was smaller today, but everyone was fast. I was in 4th after a few turn. Chasing Joe S., Andrew, and Ben S. Then Jp passed me and eventually Bill S., Adam M, David Hejduk and a few others caught me. The course had some long fast straights with lots of wind.

Everything else after this was kind of blury. I got dropped by the group, then Hejduk attacked them and they let him ride away while Ben S. sat up, too tired.

JP was also otf chasing Coe for a while, then I heard his back started hurting so he quit.

The course had lots of forgiveness. Plenty of places to catch your breath and still go fast. Lots fast turns that you could really drive.

I caught back with the chase group of 4 with 3 guys up the road, Joe, Andrew, David.

Eventually Adam and I road away and we had 5 to go I think. It was hard racing. I knew Adam was fast, so I never put in any really hard attacks, I didn't want to hurt myself because I knew he could get around me and leave pretty quick. Before 1 to go he road away. I probably could have stayed with him but by then I was mentally beat. I ended up 5th.

The usac points thing seems pretty jacked up after last weekend. Getting 5th place in a local race with 12 starters gave me way better points than getting 3rd behind Tilford/Mills at Cross out cancer. I'm not complaining about better points, its just interesting to watch.

5th at capital cup.

2011-12-10T18:03:00.001-08:00

Awesome course. Come out tomorrow. State champs. 50d and sunny.

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Diet

2011-12-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

I ran for 20 minutes last night and then did about 10 minutes of jumping stairs. I'm pretty sore this morning. Shows how out of shape I'm in.

I read a lot about dieting last night. The interesting one was on the Paleo Diet. The arugement about what we ate 10,000 years ago vs. millions of years ago interests me, vs. what americans have been eating in the last 100 years.

After reading all that, it makes me not want processed grains. I'm usually a big cereal eater, and I make probably 2 nutella/jelly sandwhiches a day. Plus pizza, I probably eat it 3 times a week.

It seems today, everything processed and packaged in a box, taistes like plastic. It probably has plastic in it. Even milk shakes from mcdonalds might even have plastic in it.

I find it so hard to make an investment into a diet. It basically comes down to costs and cereal, bread, nutella, jelly are way cheaper than fresh fruit/vegatables/meats.

Cyclists have no problem spending $$ on gas to races, races, bikes, parts, clothing, but how many spend the $$ on food? It does get expensive.

You start eating 4oz of salmon every night and it will add up to the costs of 303s pretty quick.

I'm not subscribing to the paleo diet, but I will be buying more bananas, fruits, vegatables at the grocery store.

Here is Friel's guide to the Paleo diet. It lets you eat more carbs to recover which makes sense. Then the rest of the day you eat the paleo stuff.

Upcomming weekend.

2011-12-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

I want to race both days, we'll see. I'd also like to race ss and open on sunday, but that sounds tough for me at this point. I need to choose 1 or the other. I have a pretty good chance of winning ss state champs, but I think I'd rather have fresh legs for the open race. I think I've lost all my lungs. Haven't spent anytime training at high intensity to engage my breathing hard enough to get my hr up, except for racing, which isn't often enough. When I race, my heart and lungs give out way before my legs do. Its frustrating to finish a race and feel like your muscles didn't do anything.

Jeff Unruh always puts on an excellent race, with a great course. You don't want to miss it, CLICK.

I've got some masi cxr bikes coming to volker bicycles. You should buy 1, let your friends ride it, use it as a pit bike, or even make it your a bike. I'd sell it to you pretty cheap. masi cx bike for cheap.

Muddy Jingle Cross Iowa 2011 Saturday Cat 2 Race Camera

2011-12-06T08:13:00.001-08:00

View on ExposureRoom

Friday Night Jingle Cross Helmet Cam Video.

2011-12-05T15:06:00.001-08:00

View on ExposureRoom

State Champs, (Boss Cross)

2011-12-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

We had good mud saturday. The kind that is super wet and not super sticky.

Today, we had super dry, super sticky mud. Pretty Miserable. I was winning the race half a lap in. Then I let Travis get by me right before the huge mud hole.

There was some awesome firepower at this race coming from the eastern side of MO. I'd say there were probably more east side riders at this event as a whole than KC had, kind of sad since there's been so much complaining about all these dry dustbowl crit courses. I don't care really, the people who were there were having a good time, smiling and riding their bikes in 40d weather, thanks to the awesome promotion once again by Joe and Jeremy.

After 3 laps I was in 5th. I was behind Josh Johnson, Travis Donn, Daniel Miller, and John Schottler. All guys who are way faster than me so I wasn't battling to get back up there, they were way gone, but there were quite a few guys on my tail. Those guys in front, they all had pit bikes and guys helping them in the pits getting them fresh bikes. I didn't even bring a pit bike. After my poor leg performance on saturday I didn't think I'd last 3 laps anyway. It was the opposite today, good legs, good riding, but eventually my bike didn't want to move. It had to have more than 30 lbs of mud on it and the cranks barely turned and the wheels wouldn't go either. I rolled into the pit and Mark and Theresa of http://localcycling.com helped me out with a few brushes and bucket of water. 5 minutes later my bike is rolling again and after two laps it was getting bad again, the mud was definitely getting worse as the race went on.

Travis bought some Super Mud tires from me last week and road them on his A bike. Hands down he says they were better than any other tubular he's had, twice as good as the limus(on his b bike). If you don't want to listen to me, thats fine, but don't listen to the 40+ dudes talking up their free tires while the guy beating shottler and miller is doing it on handmade in france tires.

I ended up 8th out of 12 riders. I know this because the results are up online. Its alot different now than it was a few years ago. The people working the events, Sherri in particular gets all the races off on time, all the racers scored right, and 9/10 times the results are posted that night! Used to be a week before results were up on time. We have it pretty good.

Congratulations to SC. He got 2nd on saturday to a very fast racer, winning the entire Boss Cross Series. Maybe he'll blog about it. Maybe not.

bc#4

2011-12-03T19:25:00.001-08:00

6th place. Very fun but no legs.

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New Red.

2011-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

I'm a fan of sram, I'm a fan of shimano and campy too, but it seems I'm always racing sram. I believe sram red is the best, but if you said I couldn't race the best, I wouldn't ride force or rival, I think I'd rather ride 105 5700 than force.

From the video, it looks like the shifters are the same, and the f. der. and cassette got the major changes. It wasn't a close enough look, but the cassette look like it won't be so loud with the etchin in the back plate.

Jingle Cross Iowa City Day 3. 2011.

2011-11-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

The rain had stopped, but it had felt much colder. The mud was thicker too, many more broken bikes today. The start was much better today. Instead of making that left into a 180d right, we just made a sweeping left 90d turn and looped around real easy into a nice mud pit.

I was 4th into the holeshot and moved up to 3rd before the 2nd mud pit. We got to the runup and I sucked again, but not as bad as last time. I kept in the top 9 and the descent I passed a few riders.

The descent was much easier today, it was fresh grass and you didn't have to run any of it. The bottom was a mud hole. The worst kind that just caked up your bike. After that section was the gravel section, perfect, you get rocks into the mud and poof, off goes your derailleur, thats what happened to me after the 1st lap. I jumped on my ss, it had my beloved piranhas on it, 3 seasons old, worn down really good. It was hard but I finished the race with it. With 1 lap to go my wheels were barely turning. The side knobs of the tires were grabbing the mud the wheels barely turned with it all over the rear brake and bottom bracket. I ran up to the top of the hill for the last time getting passed by 1 guy at the top where he could ride and my ss could not. At the bottom of the hill I could see the next rider coming, he was 5 seconds back going into the circle of death, coming out I still had the gap but when we hit the gravel into the finish he simply shifted up and pedaled around me while I spun in for 8th.

The pros were switching bikes every lap, you had to, I wish I had a geared bike and maybe an extra derailleur and hanger in the pit, probably would have been top 5 pretty easily.

Next year, jingle cross will be the weekend before thanksgiving, I am looking forward to it.

If you are going, here's what you need to be doing to train for it.

2 times a week, every week in october. Go to Eaton and Cambridge in KCK. Run up cambridge as fast as you can with your bike over your shoulder. Get to the top do 15 10 second max efforts with 15 seconds rest in between. Do 5 sets. If you plan on racing elite, do 8 sets.

Jingle Cross Iowa City Day 2 2011

2011-11-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

Race start was 12:30. It had been raining all night, and temp was about 39d. Rain was supposed to stop at 12 but it never did, I think it even rained harder after the start.

I had a descent start, the start was the same for friday and saturday. About 400 meters, then a nice left into a 180 right turn. It kind of sucked to hit at speed. Last year start I really liked, super windy turning that you could take easily at speed. This year, it was a corkscrew that really stacked it up.

At about 50 meters before the turn I stopped pedaling and about 8 guys went around me from either side. It was chaos. The ground was super wet and mud was flying everywhere. I could barely see with my old contacts and the mud.

I made my way back up to 5th or so before the ride up.

The way up krumpit today was like the friday race last year. It was rideable for a while, eventually the dirt was too slick and if you didn't have momentum, you had to run. Being 5 riders back, we all ended up up running.

The descent was treacherous, as ST said. I was able to run down it really fast, I didn't have a problem with it.

From further down the hill.

I didn't crash the entire race, I just couldn't keep up with the leaders riding/running up the mountain.

I had the same problem with my heart again, it spiked really bad and I couldn't really recover the whole race so I ended up racing the whole thing riding at about 50% power.

Mud was everywhere, it was good mud, fresh and wet so there were not as many broken bikes as you'd think.

I ended up 7th, I could see 4th place the entire last lap, just couldn't get up there. 40 minutes is too short to race.

JINGLE CROSS 1 IOWA CITY Friday 2011

2011-11-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

Left Kansas City at 11:30, got to the course at 4:00. First thing I do is knock my glasses off my face closing the hatch and my glasses break in half. I have raced with my glasses all year, I haven't used contacts since Tulsa Tough I believe. Luckily I had my contacts in my race bag. They are pretty old. Disposable. The kind you throw out after 2 weeks. I've had these out since March, and have used them for 9 or 10 road races, so I probably have that many hours into them. They worked.

Race start was 5:30. After 1 lap it would be dark. This is my 3rd night race in 3 weeks in a row. I like them alot, as long as you can prelap the course when it is light out. I got a pretty good start. I was 3rd for a while, then we hit this narly mud/ditch section and the 2nd rider colapsed. We all got off our bike and ran while the 1st rider, road away and we never saw him again.

After the mud we hit the fly over and then to the bottom of mt. krumpet.

It has a long run up, pretty slick too. When you get to the top, you still had some riding to do to get to the descent.

I was 2nd to the runup, but by the time I got to the top, I was 20th. My heartrate spiked, I couldn't breathe, and I basically walked up the the thing. I couldn't really recover until 2 laps to go. Finally I felt ok to pedal hard again. I made up a bunch of spots and got back up to 6th or 7th with 3rd/4th/5th 10 seconds up, but I couldn't close the gap.

After the race my legs weren't tired at all. Like I had barely ridden.

Black Friday

2011-11-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

Big Black Friday Sale. Buy all your christmas gifts here! If you don't, at least try buying from locally owned merchants and small business.

I road my bike today, the first time since last saturday. Before I got on my bike my legs felt strong, 20 minutes later they are jello again. Ouch. I'm going to eat a bunch of food and try riding again. Leaving for Iowa Friday morning at 11am. I'll be at the 39th sale from 8-11 to sell things.

Eating.

2011-11-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Its almost thanksgiving. Holidays are usually bad for me. I'm not a potatoes kind of person. My dinner plate probably will weighs about 1 lb. but my desert plate will weigh 4 lbs. Its a choice, not a good one, but I'll take responsibility for it.

Eating is something I haven't thought about this cross season. I remember listening to Road cat 3 racers talk about dieting when I first started. They had it down to a science which kind of freaked me out. 3 days before the event, eat chicken or salmon with pasta..yadayaydayaysda yada.

I usually just try to eat something. If I wasn't paying for it, I'd probably eat a salmon scramble from room 39 the morning of every race. Instead, I usually make a batch of waffles and share them with my oldest. I think I end up eating about 1k calories of carbs. I'll especially do this if I'm racing twice. I usually try to eat fruit during the day and 15 minutes before the race I eat a espresso clif shot.

Thats it. It could be better, and I probably should try to get better at it.

The main point about the article below that I like is the importance of recovery. Keck does this. He has a whole lunch packed to eat after his race. Recovery, eating well right after the race, pb/j, apple, pasta/chicken, all that. I'm going to try hard at that this weekend. The weather looks descent, it could be a lot worse. Friday, low of 48, saturday, 70% rain and high of 48, sunday, snow.

What to Eat?

Peloton Magazine.

The thick of it.

2011-11-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

This time of year, it goes by fast. The time of year you think about all season, all throught the spring road races, summer crits, and fall training for cx. Sad thing is by the time it gets here, the real season of cx, you're tired, flat, and are fat.

I'm not riding my bike this week till friday, hopefully I will have good legs by then. I'm not saying that is what people should do to prepare to race, its probably the opposite, but I want to be truly motivated to race when I show up in Iowa, even if I am out of shape. Right now I wish I could go back in time, maybe to the 1st of october, and started a running regimen. 1 mile a day, 3 days a week. Train real hard. Instead, I didn't do any running, and I wasn't able to ride much, so I just got fat. I'll no for next year. I'm pretty sure I said something like this last year too. You think you want to be fast in october so you take more rest days and stay off your feet and avoid running to avoid hurting yourself, then you realize that you should have worked harder.

I'm still gathering my thoughts from last weekend. I have spent much time debating what makes a great cx race, what gets 200-300 people to come out to race. I am now realizing that handing out $13,000 does not do it. What gives? What causes people to sell their cx bike and stick to the road, or cancel there cross events because they fear of a low turnout and are tired of the effort for no reward? I'll keep thinking. Why aren't more people getting cx bikes. 80% of the cx bikes ridden in KC probably never line up to the starting line of a real race.

For a few weeks I was jealous of places, such as portland, getting 1400 people to show up and race for cans of food. Now, I'm truly proud of what the KC Cyclocross scene has to offer and no one should take it for granted.

Boss Cross is December 3rd and 4th. This race is gold. If you have friends interested in bikes, get them to come out and watch. Offer them beer, offer your bike for them to ride the course. Share the fun with them.

If there is a race not to miss this year its this one. Why? Because its next!

Too tired to Think.

2011-11-19T19:37:00.000-08:00

Next time I say something like, "I think I'm going to race 4 cyclocross races in the span of 22hours with barely any sleep," feel free to slap me in the face, as hard as you like.

Felt pretty worn out when I woke up for the 9am start today. Like I had just ridden 100 miles. After the ss race, I had more coffee, and about a liter of black tea. I never drink tea, but I was craving it for some reason.

I watched the Cat 3 mens race, Ben S., Bob C., and a tulsa man were way off the front. With 1 to go, Bob flatted his front and Ben attacked putting in a huge gap, winning $300 pretty easily.

Then there was the cat 4 womens race. They made those poor girls race a whole hour, but they all got paid.

The open race for women paid out 15 places, only 4 girls showed up, Catherine won the $750 first prize, Karen B. had some mechanicals, finishing 4th, getting about $200. The cat 3 womens race paid 10 places, only 2 showed up.

By the time the womens open race was halfway over, I had pulled 5 goat heads out of my tire. Stan's sealed it up fine with the pirahanas. I ran about 42psi on friday night, road about 34 today.

The course was super hard. Very fun, but you had to have an engine to ride it well, I didn't.

There's a tough ride up, you had to run it with the ss, but with gears everyone could ride. The first 2 laps I messed it up. I was riding 11-23 cassette which is not the cassette for this course, by a long ways, even 11-25 would have been too much.

After the ride up, there's a power zapping climb, then a super long pavement section into the headwind.

I am not a power rider, I can't haul for minutes, I can zap for seconds. I am usually able to make the course work for me by zapping/coasting but when you are exposed out there for a minute or two and you just have to pedal, its hard for me.

I got an ok start, about 5th place. Stayed there until the first ride up, about halfway through the course, got passed by 4-5 guys. I started losing all my legs. I couldn't go. I kept going but not hard.

Finally, after racing 5 laps or so, they posted the laps to go, there were 6, they did't show the lap counter until 4 to go yesterday.

I think the top 7 were really going, the next 6 or 7 were all treading water, I was one of them. With 4 to go Joe S. lapped me. He won the $1000 at the end of the race.

There was a really smart racer with us, he barely raced the first 4 laps, staying in last place, but when he got lapped, he could hang on to the leaders wheels, he'd get dropped, but then catch on to the next guy, he ended up passing all of us who were dead in the water finishing top 10, I just had to laugh.

With 3 to go I dropped my chain, it got me frustrated.

With 2 to go I think I was 15th, I got passed. Then I tried staying with the guy in 5th place, but was dropped. Then I got on 6th places wheel, I could see 2 guys a head, but I messed up the ride up. I could see the guy in front of me jump on to the 6th place rider and stay with him through the power/pavement/headwind section, that must have been nice.

I kept him within reach, knowing I could get time on them through the barriers and pass the 2 guys racing ahead of me for about 13th place. Instead, as I dismounted the fast stair section, I threw my bike in the air, it did a summersault. The chain got wrapped around the derailleur/cassette a few times. 2 guys pass me. I fix the chain, jump to go and the front wheel is rubbing. I loosen the scewer, fix the wheel, and pedal really hard, suddenly I can feel my legs and they actually feel like going. The next 30 seconds go by, I finished the race, but didn't catch anyone in front of me.

Tulsa people don't see cross that often. I don't think I heard a cowbell rung properly the entire weekend, didn't hear heckling either. All this, "good job, you look great!, keep going man!", that doesn't make me work.

They had a great beer garden at this race, I didn't drink any since I needed to drive, but it looked like really good beer and lots of fun. One old man hit the deck around 1pm and an ambulance was called .

2nd.

2011-11-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Crashed after 4 laps. There was a rocky descent into this berm, I didn't ride it at all until this lap. I tried riding the whole thing and the dirt was way too loose, didn't hold my tires and I washed out landing on my shoulder. Legs were pretty flat and still feel flat. Racing again at 3:30.

The course was pretty technical, lots of hard, short, steep climbs, not good for ss. There's a really cool descent into some fast long barriers, I think that was my favorite section.

Wind is still going hard.

tulsa showdown at sundown.

2011-11-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

Won the ss race. It was much harder than I thought. I was battling with another guy, we actually caught 3rd place in the masters race if that tells you how fast we were going.

My legs felt horrible afterwards. Race got over at 5:50, so we had some time to kill until the 9pm open race.

Watching the 3 race was pretty fun. Ben Stover won pretty easily with Bob C. in 2nd. It was a pretty good field, 30 some riders. Bob had a few bad hookups with riders crashing right in front of him almost each lap.

For the open race, they staged us by usac ranking, which was the first time this has happened. I was the 9th rider called, so in theory, I should get 9th place.

My legs just wouldn't go, I got a descent start, but the first 2 minutes of the course is the hardest with a tough section straight up a hill with barriers at top, plus a few 180 degrees, straight off camber. Then it loops around and has a killer hill straight into a bad wind.

Did I say it was windy? Yes, a solid 25mph with gusts of harder wind.

The course was really wide open after that, lots of off camber stuff but the grass so was grippy it made it impossible to slide out. You really didn't need to use your brakes if you were going as fast as I was.

Anyways, my legs wouldn't go until lap 3, which by then I was in 15th place. I started riding better and got to 9th. With 3 to go I got passed. I lost all my steam. Then 2 to go I got passed.

Ended there at 11. Not wear I wanted. 1 place out of the $30 payout for 10th.

The usac ranking system was pretty interesting. Tilford was called up first, he got 3rd, Fawley was called up 2nd, he got 1st, Ankney was called up 4th, he ended up 4th. I'm pretty sure the 3rd place racer was called 5th. Coe was called 3rd, ended up 7th. There was a solid group of 7 in front of me the first 2 laps. Then it turned into a group of 3 with a group of 3 a few seconds behind. It was definitely a super fast grass crit. Wish I had better legs, or maybe a motor on my bike to keep up.

Its 11:52 now, got a 9am race start, $125 to the ss winner, $65 to 2nd, I hope I get 1st! We'll see, its supposed to be super technical, I don't know what oklahoma's version of that is.

Payout is 20 places tomorrow, start is 3:30, a good 6 hours after the ss finish so hopefully I'll have better recovery.

For Sale.

2011-11-17T11:20:00.002-08:00

Lots of parts for sale. Click HERE! You see something you want, email me an offer.

Complete Record 11 Group, complete with cable kit. 172.5, 53/39 crank, 11-25 cassette. $1700

I've got plenty of stuff not listed too. All the new ritchey 260 light stems, zipp carbon bars, lots of parts, trying to sell it for Christmas.

Got a few bikes that I need to have gone too.

2011 xenith comp 51cm, 105, Was $1950, now $1300
2011 Pinarello fpquattro campy 11, was $4k, now $2700
Xenith T1 Triathlon frame. M, 54cm. No wheels, full carbon $2000.

Fors

2011-11-17T11:20:00.001-08:00

Tubeless Wheels

2011-11-15T17:52:00.000-08:00

Took a set of these for >http://www.rutsandguts.com/ which is this weekend.

The piranhas sealed up really well. I tried the 700x35 ravens, they didn't even air up, I did not like that. The piranhas are crazy fast and bombproof, which is what you need for saturdays race. Last year I heard there were $1000's of tires ruined after just a few hours. Hopefully these with tons of stan's hold up. They are holding so far. This is the first time I've had a bike down here in Pittsburg. Benon seems to like being able to ride with me instead of riding for me. The wheels are super strong for how light they are, 1200 grams. They have held true very well during my bunny hopping practice sessions. I still have 2 sets left to sell. Grey c-4 hub, silver cx-ray spokes, alpha rim, $550.

Cheap Wheels

2011-11-14T09:01:00.001-08:00

Ritchey 50mm carbon tubulars, with grifo 34s and sram 10 speed cassette. Ti skewers included. Over $2000 here, get it for $900.

Heartland Park Topeka Gran Prix

2011-11-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Best course of the year. Finally, we had some soft dirt to ride in!

This race is one of the best races of the year, at least for this area. Someone needs to give the promoter $8k so they can make it uci, it has that potential.

Knowing that this was my only race this weekend, I decided to double up back to back. Haven't ridden since blvd. cup, so I new I wouldn't have much zap in my legs.

I raced my ss with piranha tires, these things are the best tires you can get for clinchers, or tubeless. I ran them at 35psi and they were awesome. Even in the slick dirt they gripped well and just rolled over everything. The tufo primus flexus tires, though very fast, seemed to grip too much on the dirt, and slow down. It took a while to adjust in the open race, I really didn't need to brake at all with the dirt being so slow, but did the first two laps, since in the single speed I had to brake cuz the piranhas were rolling so fast.

I was off the front and caught the 3/4s before we hit the track in the ss race. Slowly worked up to 4th or 5th place behind SC. He was up there just a little ways with 3 to go, but I started riding more conservatively to save some speed for the open race. I won, with 2nd place being 15 seconds or so behind me.

In the open race, we started out flying, I thought I was hurting during the ss race, it was all out in the open. AC and Bill were in front of me going around the track. Finally AC's ultimate power starte gapping us and Bill lead me around, we had 5 seconds on 4th place on the first lap. Then Bill started flying, I couldn't keep up. I road as hard as I could and still finished 3rd. After 3 laps I made the ultimate mistake of shifting down a hill without pedaling into the gear and hit a bump, the chain came off just as I was heading onto the track. Lost a ton of speed and lost Bill. Bills gap went from 10 seconds to 40 seconds and my gap on 4th place went to almost nothing.

The course was wide open, with plenty of technical turns and tough descents/ascents. Lots of power zapping short climbs. Riding at night was the most fun. Can't wait to do it next year.

Road ride today. Come check out the Dogma2. Leaves at 1pm sharp from 39th. Lots of people to be there.

HPT Tonight, Road Ride Sunday.

2011-11-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

HPT in topeka tonight. This has been my favorite race since I started cross racing. Historically, this is in the only race in the area that you pray for a dry race. Last year it rained all week, and it was tough. Lots of running, tons of thick, cakey/peanut butter mud. We haven't seen much rain all season, so hopefully the ground is solid, which I'm betting it is.

Got in the new pdx tubulars. Same tufo construction, super seamless basetape adhesion. Super burly, bombproof tread construction too. These are tires that will last a few seasons, $100 each. They are tubeless, so you can use sealant. They weigh 350 grams, which is way lighter than limus tires.

FMB order comes in this week. I have a set, maybe 2 of the new super mud tires that have not been called yet. $190/pair.

Sunday, 1pm. Leave from 39th. Road ride, 3-4 hours tempo riding. I doubt I'll make it past 3 hours myself, haven't been on the bike that long for while. Can't wait. Gonna be 60/sunny.

Everyone is invited to the 39th st. road ride, we leave sharp at 1pm, so come early if you're habitually late or have bad luck with street signs.

Rhythm

2011-11-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

Its really hard for me to settle into a rhythm during a race. "I'm like Jojo the idiot circus boy with a pretty new pet." I pretty much go as fast as I can passing as many as I can until I'm with someone that I'm comfortable to ride with. Last season I had a really hard time with this, I'd go to hard and be done after 1 lap, and if I was lucky, I'd last 3 laps. This year, I'm doing a little better pacing myself.

Here's some music I've been listening to for a while, it has helped my racing. Good music takes patience, really good music tells a story.

Too many spacers is always a bad thing.

2011-11-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

I read this the other day, I figured I'd post it before he took it down.
"
Nov 8 | Death.

Posted by Noel, November 8th, 2011 at 1:44PM

There was a Rapha ride last weekend that took riders down Las Flores Canyon. My father lived up that canyon in the early 80′s and I know it like the back of my hand. I’ve been riding it since 1983…. and I just rode it last week. I always give every descent my full attention and I treat every descent the same way a surfer treats a big wave… with the respect and attention it deserves. The rider that died simply overcooked a turn near Hume and Las Flores. A moment’s inattention on a diminishing radius turn and he’s gone. Riding is playing.. but its also a skill. Always always always treat your riding like a skill that takes devotion and patience. Have fun… but never bite off more than you can chew and never be afraid to slow down or take a break. I’m not a fan of fondos and fun rides…. they tend to celebrate disconnected riding. I hate that someone died on that road. I hate that the shop chose Las Flores when there are other descents that take so much less skill (when I read the email I commented to a friend that it was too technical a descent for that kind of ride and that someone would get killed). I’m tired of seeing folks ride like it doesn’t take skill. I’m tired of seeing guys that are more worried with getting faster than they are about getting better.
I traded messages with a friend.. we host a slow long Saturday ride up the coast. We’ve decided to change the focus of the ride to being about the group riding old school, perfectly aligned 2 abreast with nary a wheel overlapping. I love the Lance effect and all… but how you ride is what matters. It’s easy to get strong, it’s an endless conversation with yourself and the bike to get connected. Ride beautifully. It’s what matters.

You may think it’s ok to die riding because its doing something you love. I call bullshit. Dying having overcooked a turn is a real shit way to die. We’ve all over cooked a turn in our lives… its not worth dying over and knowing how to save it is a basic skill. Yes it takes luck. Yes people die every day in any number of stupid ways, and people die on their bikes.

Work on your descending. Dont get suckered into anything above your level. Dont be afraid to melt a rim or pull off and think about the next set of turns. And really think about those big group rides. If the nature of the ride is that being off the front or the top ten folks is the only good place to be… tap out. It’s not worth it. I love Rapha products. I’ve come to love them. I love the branding and the adverts… but you know it isn’t real. Don’t show up for that ride thinking what you see on the website is real. Riding isn’t a sentimental act. It’s not romantic until you’re off the bike and the photos are processed and printed. Ride present, ride smart, think critically and make your own luck.

I saw a picture of the guy… he looks like he was a lovely fellow. His bars were too high, too many spacers. I’m willing to bet his stem was too short. How you sit on a bike matters. How your bike fits matters. How much weight you have and where your center of gravity is going down a hill matters. It’s life and death.

Thanks for indulging my rant. I’ll probably take this down later.

*edit. I’m inclined to add that i dont represent any company veiw here. i dont speak for any entitiy or person involved with Vanilla. these are just ideas in print about something tragic for all parties. any conversation is important.

"

2011 Jamis Bosanova Review.

2011-11-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

This review is long over due. I've been riding the Bosanova for about 18 months. I have more miles on this thing than any other bike I've owned. About 7000 miles right now. Have I had to replace any parts, no, have I have had a flat, no, have I broke anything, no, well...I did crack the rear fend while bunny hopping a curb, other than that, this bike is spectacular. Not only were those 7000 miles hard, they were heavey. Me with my 32 lb. kid on it, plus the rack/seat...going pretty hard on roads like Cambridge, SW Blvd, Paseo, 39th, broadway, all roads with cracks/curbs.

I've put a little chain-l on the chain about once a month and other than that, there has been no service needed other than air in the tires. The tires on this thing are phenomenal. The first time I saw this thing I new I'd be pinch flatting all the time with 700x28 tires on it, I was wrong. This bike comes stock with 25mm wide rims, thus making pinchflatting obsolete, even while running 45psi with the kid on the bike. They do have all the miles(7000) and have not flatted.

Vittoria Randonneur Cross with Double-Shield puncture protection, 700 x 28c

So far I have not had to make any adjustments to the bike, haven't had to true wheels or regrease anything. The bottom bracket has never made a sound and still rolls smooth.

Handling the bike is great, it is different geometry from the aurora models(Jamis touring bikes), it is cyclocross ready. If you want a 24lb. racing cx disc bike, just take the fenders off and get muddy.

I ride sram red on my race carbon road bike, going from that to tiagra 9 speed took some getting used to, but no time did the tiagra dissapoint me. Always shifting well, even under loads.

When I first started riding this bike, I planned on going on it for about 6 months, get through the winter and then clean it up to sell. I doubt I'll ever want to sell this thing.

The 2012 bikes have upgraded tiagra parts with 10 speed now. Retail is $1275, get it at volker for less. They will be available to order soon. click.

A few sizes in the 2011 model are still available at a fantastic price.

BLVD. Cup

2011-11-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Got to the venue about 50 minutes before the start. A few people joked that I was early, and I was...

Found my bikes, got registered and watched a few minutes of the 3/4 race. 46 starters. A lot. Keck got 3rd.

I road aroud a little, but didn't get a warm up in like I should have.

The course was open, with little room for recovery. The only real technical spot was this small bank along the road. Up and down, up and down, all off camber, just went on forever.

26 starters in the open race. A good size field for a local race.

I got a descent start, and kept my 4th position for the first 2 laps I believe. Then I started slipping a little. Just lost my power and was breathing pretty hard. No time on the bike all week.

There was a sand section at the end of this long charge around a baseball field. It took me by surprise the first lap, I had no idea it was there, got through it fine each lap, except with 4 or 5 to go had a crashed rider right in front of me, lost a little time.

With 3 to go Coe and I were together with Marshall chasing. We went through the barriers and Coe crashed, he did not finish, though I heard he is ok, just bruised. Thats his first dnf ever I believe.

Without Coe, I new I need to pedal hard the last 2 laps to hold off Marshall and keep my 6th place $40 paying spot. I did. I road pretty conservative through the technical spots and sprinted the open charging areas.

Good beer for free afterwards. The blvd. cup was once again a well promoted race.

My brother got married on Saturday, thus my absence from the 360 cup. Here's a little jewel from the reception.

Racing.

2011-11-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

BLVD. Cup today. Pretty much the cx world championships of Kansas City. I am looking forward to this race. Best party race plus good organizers. Its at Stump Park in Shawnee.

My brother got married yesterday, so I missed out on 360 cup.

Pictures of the Lapierre Frame. Compliments of http://artasamurderweapon.blogspot.com

Hard Courses.

2011-11-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

What is the mentality of the average cx racer. Someone who would actually own that label. How do they look at courses, what do they say about them? All I ever hear about is how hard a certain section is or how dangerous a certain obstacle was. CX is supposed to be hard. Its supposed to wear you out so bad in 1 hour that you don't want to look at a bike for a few days let alone pedal. I'm tired of the grumbling.

You say you don't like that little 30m section of sand? How about a whole course, of sand. A 200meter drop, on sand, then turn around and run back up...

Some superprestige action. Please watch.

Watch more video of European Cyclocross 2011/ 2012 on cyclingdirt.org

Shimano XC60 Review.

2011-11-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

I've been riding Mavic Chasm shoes, the same pair, for 3 years now. Since then I have tested maybe 9 pairs of shoes, none of which seemed to be any better than the old beat up shoes that I have, until now. The Shimano xc60, just now shipping are everything I've wanted. Great fit, super light, super tough. The main thing I like about these shoes is the toe box protection. My main complaint with the Chasm, and almost any other mtb shoe is that there is no protection from rocks or stubbing your toe, or braking toe nails. The xc60 have superior protection, almost like a steel toed boot for your toes. The shoe is designed perfectly to maximize comfort and stiffness...like how carbon frames are vertically compliant/laterally stiff.

The materials are super durable, very easy to wash, and have a lifespan of what most shimano shoes have...forever.

These things weigh in at 367 grams for the 44. They are 9 grams less than the Fury($350) and 30 grams less than my chasms($240).

You can't beat the price either. The xc60 cost $240 retail which is a really good price for a really light, well fitting carbon soled shoe. It is also available in wide(E) sizes.

Email me this week if you want a pair, super cheap.

Down the road I may pick up a set of these insoles. Custom arch and you can customized either foot independently.

Selling lots of ZIPP! Please consider a locally owned, racer owned bicycle store when making your purchases, you'll get a better deal.

BC#3

2011-10-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

Boss Cross is known as the best racing series in KC. Joe/Jeremy always put on a good event. The course they put together at the Raytown/BMX track is the best/unique course ever. MO State champs/bc#4 will be there too.

Got to the venue about 25 minutes before the start of the ss race. Decided to race it, figured it would be good to get 40 minutes of course riding in before the open race. Kent and I road together the first lap, I was trying to get him to slow down the whole time, a sub 7 minute lap would have us doing 6 laps while a 7+minute lap would have us doing 5 laps. Not sure if we ended up doing 6 or 5 but I was really hungry by the end of the race. Kent won easily. I pedaled easy, probably using my brakes two times each lap, getting 2nd. By the end of the race I was starving. Forgetting to eat sucks. I had a good dinner, quality wise, but not quantity, plus a little more to drink than usualy. Breakfast was a small piece of banana bread and lunch didn't exist. These are things I need to think about. Eating.

I had an espresso shot right before the open race. There were some talent at this one. I felt pretty good. The first half of the lap, Smith, Me, and Travis stayed together, when Joe S. caught us, he attacked with just Smith and me with him. I stayed with them for 2 laps, just the 3 of us. We had maybe a 40 second gap after 2 laps. Then, I got hungry and couldn't pedal. Coe/Mills/Specialized dude caught me, Mills and Coe were going back and forth, finally Coe dug in on the back straight away and I couldn't keep up. When you get dropped like that, you feel so bad, and you can't keep going 100% of the time, so I got caught by Bill, stayed with him for a little while, then dropped my chain and later road off the course. Then Travis caught me and dropped me pretty quick. I was in no mans land. I was hoping Travis would catch Bill and they would cat/mouse there way the last 3 laps and I could catch them, instead, Bill and Travis were hauling the whole time with Travis winning the sprint. Kyle S. ended up catching me with 2 to go. I tried to hang on, but had nothing left in my legs. Hopefully Racing 100 minutes in a span of 120 minutes gets me ready for Tulsa and IOWA.

Thing about disc brakes. Not only do they add 4 lbs of weight to your bike, they also don't work! So sick of hearing about them.

"Weekend conditions showed weakness in CX disc where they should shine: pads wore out in 2 laps + heavy drag from mud & sand in pad/rotor." Follow
Van Dessel.

1st lap

2011-10-31T07:34:00.001-07:00

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Ouch

2011-10-30T16:39:00.001-07:00

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BC3 Today.

2011-10-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday, yesterday, I helped the roanoke trails people for a few hours. CLICK. Pretty fun time, if you are free saturday from 9am to 12, go there, drink some coffee, and start cutting/hauling brush/suckle from the woods while chainsaws are blasting.

After work saturday, I went on a road ride. I had about a 2 hour slot before eating and my wife was shopping, this is a very rare situation where I am free so in order to maximize every free minute, I got my road bike out and started stomping the pedals. Perfect weather, a little wind, some good motor pacing, and my legs were free again, first time in a few weeks.

BC3 today, still deciding whether to do ss and open or just open.

Frame came in.

2011-10-28T19:35:00.001-07:00

Got the frame in, the Lapierre Cyclo-X frameset. It looks amazing. They spent a lot of time making this thing look good. Sad thing is it is heavy. 1440 grams for the 57cm frame, claimed at 1150 for the 50cm, fork weighs 514 grams. Way more than expected. The fork is painted which adds the weight. I have there ec90 easton fork in the stock easton version, it is 450 grams, makes you want to blast the whole frame and fork to see how light you can get the set.

The frameset comes with the seatmast top, it weighs 154 grams, which is about what my 3t doric ltd stem weighs, you can buy a ritchey stubby, for $40, it weighs 115 grams. The size is 34.9. The seat tube being integrated adds a ton of stiffness to the bike, especially when pedaling through corners seated.

The other thing I noticed, was that if you run derailleurs with cables, you must run the housing the entire length, no stops, same for the brake too, it goes through the entire length of the tt and out that back, which looks really good.

If I had di2, I'd be real tempted to rock this bike. I'm more into having a light bike right now, so I'm sticking with the blue sl for now. It can't be beat as far as I'm concern.

So, if you want this frame, 57cm(56 top tube) for a steal, with pf30 bearings, headset, fork, email me, volkerbicycles at gmail.com. Pics will be up of it soon.

Bike Brand Building 101.

2011-10-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

It pisses me off when there is a crazy good frame out and hardly anyone knows about it. The U.S. distributor has 100 of THESE in there warehouse, just hanging out. Why aren't they moving? Why have you not heard of them or seen them at races?

Try to google 2012 lapierre cyclo-x, or carbon lapierre cx bike, try to find anywhere on the web! You won't. By luck, a French National Champion came to the U.S. and won a few races last September, and there are 1, maybe 2 articles about him and his bike. Had he not won, there would not be anything. Just a bike from the future, super light, internal di2 routing, pf30, removable cable stops, disc ready, all this for the price of a normal carbon cx frame.

We've got one in the mail, gonna show up friday. I'll take some good pics then for you. If its as light as they say, 1150 for 50cm, 1200 for the 57cm, then I'll swap my parts over to it, see how it goes.

This is a really clean looking bike. the rear brake cable runs through the top tube and out the back of the integrated seatpost. If you run di2, there are no stops on the top tube, you don't see any cables at all.

So, my point is, this is what happens when a bike company decides not to sponsor any pros, not to promote there brand through grassroots team or word of mouth, just got lazy and bought a ton of frames that now they have to sell at a discount. Thats' right, discount, email me for a really cheap price, volkerbicycles at gmail.com.

This wasn't Lapierre's fault, they are not in charge of what is going on in the U.S., its the distributors responsibility. Lapierre, has a ton of them in Europe geting muddy every weekend, here in the U.S., not 1.

KC Weekend and radcross.

2011-10-24T08:38:00.001-07:00

Had a busy weekend, had lots of catch up work, a few wheels to build, tubulars to glue, and bikes to fixed. A weeks worth of work for 3 days. Also got some dress shopping done with dr. wife sunday morning, fantastic.

I had planned to race Berryman for a year, it looks like a fantastic race, but I couldn't get done what I needed to Friday in time, plus my ride wasn't coming back from Steelville, MO till Sunday. Leaving dr. wife in KC alone with 2 kids for 40 hours straight might not have worked out. So I had to give my ride the bad news.

So its 5:00pm on friday and a good customer comes in saying he's leaving for berryman in an hour, had room for me and was coming back right after the race, that would have been perfect, had I known, but didn't and had to decline his offer. My bike wasn't ready, I had nothing packed, and there was still lots of work to do. Maybe next year.

Instead I got some good sleep friday night, woke up early, had good breakfast with Dr. Wife, 2 kids, then went to swope for 2 hours of mtn. bikes before hitting work for the rest of the day. Legs felt great, I definitely could have finished berryman well, I hadn't ridden all week, didn't really do anything except mind the babies. That's changing, starting a new work schedule this week where I will spend some inside time doing lunges, leg excercises, core strength, all the good stuff.

Free Peloton online copy here.

I've been using a evo phone the past few weeks for email/surfing...finally decided to pay the $30 to get the wifi so I can type on the computer more. Its worth the $30 for sure, but I will be trying to root/tether it eventually to make it work free.

So far the doctor likes her job, she works 10 hour days 4 days a week at a public health clinic while I stay home with the boys. Its not as bad as you think, it could be better, but it is what it is for now. She is getting lots of experience, I think she said she did more work her first week than in the 7 years she was in school. Pulling teeth, root canals, fillings, all that, come on down to Pittsburg, KS to get worked on if you like.

$13k in payouts in tulsa!

Check this pro out. Yes, those sunglasses go over the helmet straps!

OK, Radcross.

There some races scheduled early in the year, but the promoter decided to cancel his events. Luckily for the people who race cx in KC,
local cycling put on a great event in shawnee.

The course was a true "drivers" course. There was really only 1 section you could power through. The rest of the course had tight turns, that constantly scrubbed speed. It wasn't who was the most powerful this time, it was who could get through turns quicker, and not crash. I crashed I think 6 times.

I showed up 20min before the start, barely road the first 2000 meters of the course, wasn't warmed up at all...and never really did warm up. My legs never felt fatigued, just couldn't get above 70% the whole race.

The start was epic. The official said, "you will go on my word...go." And thats it, no yelling, just simply said go. And we were off. I got right behind a rider who immediately jumped to the front, but then his left pedal came out, scary, we slowed down a bunch and got passed. I was back in 10th place going into the grass, and started moving up.

I don't recall much of the race. Lots of falling down and chasing back on. Tape was down for half the race, and I road off the course twice.

I ended up 4th, behind Joe S., A coe, and S smith. If I had raced the race of my life, I'm sure I would have been 4th in the end as well.

Keck won the 3/4 race.

Buta wearing the new xc50n shimano shoe. The n stands for nordic, the shoe is complete sealed, no mesh. Its great for cx. Retail is $160, but volker beats any online prices. I'll be riding the xc60 soon, they are super light, lighter than the $350 fury, lighter than all of shimano custom fit shoes too. Retail is $240, but get them cheaper. They go up to size 50, plus they do all there sizes in a size E(wide) size option.

Buta finished behind me in 5th. There were 17 riders so thats impressive. He is a fast learner. Thats what it takes to be a good bike racer, learning. There are a lot of bone-headed riders, who have been racing forever, refuse to learn, they believe they know everything, that won't work. You keep watching how guys faster than you go, how they take turns, how they keep momentum, where they pedal hard and where they save energy, and it doesn't take long, you'll get faster, just know you have to learn.

1220 gram tubeless clincher wheelset. 180 lb. rider limmit. 20/24 hole cx-ray spokes. $650 for black spokes, $625 for silver. c-4 hubs. 17mm rear axle, aluminum freehub. The front hub weighs 80 grams, its the best hub out there. Wide/tall flanges, large bearings, these things will last a really long time, plus build a super stiff, strong, smooth rolling wheel.

My care package for this week.

367grams

2011-10-22T21:41:00.001-07:00

Shimano xc60

Super light. 44 fury shoes from mavic weigh 376, chasm, 395. Plus these feel more comfortable, and there is a much stiffer toe box and carbon sole. Gonna try them out soon. Been riding chasm shoes for 3 yrs, ready for something new.

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1220 gram clinchers.

2011-10-21T16:41:00.001-07:00

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someone say another 100 grams?

2011-10-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

Frame is 1200(57), fork is 450, that's 100 less. Plus its pf30. Plus its di2 ready and disc rear, not that I'd use either. Now were talking sub 13lbs for jingle cross.
Like this.

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Weight

2011-10-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Thinking...

Zipp carbon bars. -68 grams
Gore light housing.-40 grams
Slr carbon saddlr.-30 grams
Reynolds c4 32mm wheels. -100grams
Red 11-26 cassette. -60 grams
Force r Der. W/kmc pulleys. -50grams
Carbon Sram left lever. -20grams
Eggbeater11 ti pedals. -35 grams
Ritchey 260 stem.-25 grams

-428 grams. Making a 14.4lb bike 13.5lbs.

riding sc's bike.

2011-10-18T08:04:00.001-07:00

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joules

2011-10-17T14:24:00.001-07:00

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Rolled up to the start about 30 seconds before the whistle blew. Bad start, but everyone was strung out going slow. 1/2 way through the 1st lap I double flat. Its not too far to the pit maybe 1/2 mile, I get sc's bike. Same frame size, but seat 3cm lower, bars 2cm taller, and stem 3cm shorter, plus it weighed 3lbs more and had 15psi less pressure than I had in my tires. By the time I finished the first lap I was probably 2min behind the leaders. I passed a few people and finished the race. I have never spent so much time outofthesaddle.

cheaper than nutella.

2011-10-11T13:32:00.001-07:00

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3rd

2011-10-10T19:40:00.001-07:00

Skipped the 50min ss race to have good energy for the open race. I didn't have the energy till levon gave me a much needed espresso Clif gel. I was in good position after a lap, but dropped my chain. Lost 8 spots. Battled back, dropped it again. Caught 4th/5th passing them, but slid out around a 180 going to fast, scratched my leg. Got back up to 3rd, closing in on 2nd when I road off the course due to the wind and bad tape. Still road hard the last 2 laps to keep 3rd.

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First Friday.

2011-10-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Today is the first friday of OCTOBER. That means, THIS! Its a good one! Plus, we'll have free beer.

New hours and changes.

Downtown store open tuesday-fri, 12-6, sat. 11-3.

39th still the same, 11-6 m-fri, 10-4 sat.

I won't be at either store monday-thursday. We've got a life change going on and we will be out of the city on those days but will be back thurs. night till sunday night. It will be like I'm not even gone, except I'll not be at the monday "recovery" ride, the tuesday universe race, or the wed. swayze cx race.

If you need anything from me, you can always touch base at the volkerbicycles at gmail.com but I will not be working on your stuff those days, unless you bring it down to me in Frontenac, KS.

Someone asked if I can do chris king or dt swiss hubs, the answer is yes. Pick any r45 color from KING! They ship in 5 days, and there are 10 colors or so, they are light, the rear is about the same as the c-4 and front is 30 grams more, but stronger. If you want bling, these are it.
CK R45 hubs or DT hubs add $300 to the $700, so $500 up front, $500 when they are rolling.
Rims are 38mm 20/24 or 16/20, 50mm in 16/20 or 20/24.

Barriers

2011-10-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

Its worth it to watch the whole thing, but if you can't watch from 7:55 to 8:10 and see how a belgium world champ can go over barriers.

"Behind The Barriers" Season II Episode 2 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.

BC #1 and #2

2011-10-03T07:06:00.001-07:00

I raced 2 times both days. I felt really tired saturday, I barely road on friday...maybe I should have road more?

The ss race, the colavita team took the top 4 spots out of a 15 rider field. Kent and I were together, then we hit this root section that I had not preroad, and I fumbled, he was gone. He crushed it and dan and I road together, I wasn't feeling good and didn't want to lead, and he was tired from the 5th place in the masters race...so we just cruised. He beat me with Lyles coming in behind us. Kent never slowed down in the ss race. It was 40 minutes, a really long time, especially if you are planning on racing the open race (60 minutes) 15 minutes later.

I was late to the start line for the open, 2nd row. I got a good start for being in the 2nd row, maybe 6th place, worked my way up to 3rd behind Tilford and Coe, I didn't last long. Soon the big shark guys passed me along with Travis and Mills.

I don't recall much from this race. I had no rhythm, no motivation, just trying to finish as fast as I could to get it over with. Most people I talked to agreed that the saturdays course was harder than manions. Just speed trapping dirt/gravel sections and hard turning. Last year I liked it more because instead of gravel, there was pavement...so you come out of grass, it the pavement, get speed/momentum, then bomb back into grass with all this speed. Not this time.

Sundays race was better, the boss cross people had music playing today, and we actually brought some food to eat so I didn't starve. The ss race I was a little sore, I didn't ride hard, just enough for 2nd, Kent killed it and beat me by a few minutes at least.

In the open race it was different, many of the fast dudes from Lawrence were doing a 100 mile gravel ride, so we had a smaller field, still Coe, big shark, Travis were there.

I was 2nd row. They changed the start to be "safer." Instead of sending us 200 meters on grass into a 90 degree turn(on grass), they sent us 300 meters on grass into a 90 degree turn on gravel, it was very bad. Travis opened a huge gap, 10 seconds by the time we were out of the gravel, I had a really bad start, probably 12th out of 15. Just no place to move up and the guys in front of me weren't going, even though I was yelling at them to go. I must line up behind Travis next time.

After some battling we hit the sand and I passed some, then some more, I was in 7th or so, then a crash, not a bad one, rider down, rider in front of me runs into him, and I into him, I got going fast and caught up to 5th in the sand, road in 5th, then in 4th, then started losing a little power, though I still had a big gap. Finally, I crashed, it wasn't at speed, it was a hard corner and I just messed up, put a bunch of black/blue marks and red cuts into my legs. It hurt, I lost some time, I got going again and with 1 to go Cameron caught me, we road together, he was going hard to get rid of me, finally we were 300 meters from the finish and I just couldn't keep pedaling, I was tired. I think I was 7th.

Its going to take some patience to get faster. I'm hoping by November I am a little lighter and quicker on my feet. The sand sections killed me this year, my legs just didn't like it.

Thanks to all you who helped watching Benon while I raced, I hope he was good. And to you cat 3s who got lapped by people faster, please be aware that it is not easy to lap you, it is really hard. Guys are litterally killing there legs and bodies to get the race over with as fast as they can while some of you are walking through sand and coasting through flat sections....just saying, its not easy for fast people, they are hurting way worse. My legs hurt so bad right now, it is unbelievable.

Monday night ride tonight! Leaves at 6pm.

Faster.

2011-09-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

The thing about recover for me is, I am always recovering it seems. I think I road more on sat-tues than I have in the past 3 weeks. So taking a little time off on wed/thurs is like a every day normally, but hopefully I'll keep this up and get faster by january.

I'm going to go ahead and say that my goal is to buy a uci license and race Nationals in January. It is a huge goal. Two years ago I started racing open, and got beat down alot. Last year was a little better, still got beat alot, but had a few good races that I am not embarassed about. This year, we'll have to wait and see.

It is a long ways from January. 3 months. Time to start doing research and figuring out how I am going to wip myself into shape. I'll probably try a few new things I will write about, more core stuff and leg lifting in october I think. Then try some periodization.

Boss Cross is tomorrow and sunday. I had my best race at this course last year. Can't say the course suits me, but I do not hate it.

Recovery

2011-09-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Doubling up both days at Manions had me on the bike for about 3 hours both days. It was a blast, I didn't feel too bad monday so the weekly recovery ride was a little harder, I had my 30lb. baby bike with benon on it, so 60 lb bike vs. a 17 lb. bike made for a training ride which was ok with me. Over 1 hour on the bike there, then tuesday hit me good. I was pretty sore. Still raced the universe race on my ss bike and won. The course this time was pretty awesome, except the long brick descent on a public road....

Next week is on SWAYZE on Wednesday. It should be good. Really good. I'll probably have tuesday as a recovery day since I normally feel fine a day after the racing, its the 2nd day that hurts.

BOSSCROSS is this weekend. Its the best race in KC. 60 minute open race, after a 40 minute ss race, it will be hard!

I'm looking for a baby sitter, for 12:30 to 3 to watch Benon. Any body out there?

Manions

2011-09-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

Racing went ok this weekend. I haven't trained much at all in the past 2 months, so I didn't expect to go hard, but I did. I doubled up both days. Saturday went well, I got 4th in the open race and 2nd in the single speed. It was a lot of time on the bike and I'm really glad I was able to race. I don't remember much from the open race. I was holding 3rd place for a while, then I crashed. Then I got into some grass and had to spend at least 30 seconds pulling grass out of my cassette derailleur.

Sunday I was pretty torn up. Everything was sore, and my ss bike broke before the race even started, I was frantically finding parts and tools to replace my crank when finally I realized it wasn't to be....but wait, DANO had his ss bike there, it was awful, but it was there. I raced it and sprinted for 2nd, got it at the line, it was exciting.

The open race I was going good, 2nd lap I was 4th behind COE, Jensen, and Don while riding with stolte. On his wheel he started to slide, we were hawling into the section right before mr. stitches and I ended up going down. Bent my shifter, dropped my chain, started running, it was bad. I got passed by a few guys. If it were last year I would have gave up, I had raced a lot and was tired, but I started racing again. I passed a bunch of guys and kept pressure on stolte until about 2 to go, I started fading, and my rear brake cable was getting caught on my stem when I turned which locked up my rear brakes. I lost some time, I was still in 5th but with 1/2 lap to go a Bobby was comin up on my. Eventually after the little up/down/up/down/up/down section after the barriers he caught me. I went really hard around the 180degree roundabout horseshoe turn coming into the finish, but he still got around me, so I got 6th.

The course was probably my favorite course I've seen. People said it was hard, but maybe they have never raced in Iowa, or any where outside of KS/MO.

Gateway and Fast Wheels.

2011-09-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

Doesn't look like many dudes showed up, maybe they were all scared, only 20 some guys in the elite field, and no single speed results....good thing I didn't drive 5 hours only to not be able to race. Results.

Coe got 2nd, thats really good.

Ordering more carbon wheels.

You want them, let me know....Pay me $350 now, $350 when they show up. 1140 grams, 20/24h cx-ray spokes, c-4 usa made hubs with phil wood bearings, 38mm carbon tubular rim. Very light, very fast. Order deadline is October 1st, Wheels rolling by october 21st.

Reynolds 29er wheels, carbon. They make me laugh, they are huge! They are also really light, and feel super stiff, internal width is around 24mm...really big.

34/16

2011-09-21T07:34:00.001-07:00

Going back to 34/16. 32/14 didn't last long at all. Part of it was the 175mm long crank arms, other was the q factor, super wide, probably 2cm wider. I raced my ss last night at universe race, The gearing of 32/14 was good for the first 2 laps, but it got hard with all the short steep hills. I think since I am planning on doubling up most races if I race ss, I need to have a much easier gear.

I think I clipped my pedal almost every corner, having a super wide q factor and longer crank arms does that, so back to 34/16 I go.

I raced a flexus cubus tire in the front last night. It felt really grippy. At speed it didn't slow me down like I thought it would.

I've sold out of flexus primus tires(1 left) and sold out of fmb gripo xl. It looks like I'll either glue a cubus up front with flexus rear, or wait a week or two for the new fmb super muds to show up.

O

2011-09-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

0, that's how many miles I road over the weekend. It really sucked, I am a horrible planner I guess. I'm not going to gateway cup at this point, not in shape, and don't have the drive to race right now, or the drive to drive there. I road an hour on the monday ride with benon, it felt pretty good having been off the bike for a few days, but definitely not race shape yet.

Going to race Tonight. Hoping to have my ss built up and ready for it.

OCTOBER!

2011-09-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

GEEZ, october is less than 2 weeks away. That means, Berryman is coming up fast. I'm guessing I should start training on it. Doing a bunch of cx 45 minute workouts won't exactly have me ready for a 5 hour mtn. ride will it?

These are coming wednesday.

They are loaners for the next month. It will be nice to see how a 24h dt swiss hub and carbon rim feel compared to the 32h stan's wheels. They will be the same weight, about 1580 grams, but should be way stiffer. We'll find out.

I found out Rim was cancelled yesterday. I've heard of a ton of people going up there to race, instead of staying around and doing manions. At least 40 people I know were going. I heard the promoter say that due to scheduling conflicts he didn't want to roll the dice and lose money promoting a race. Why not have a pre registration party, or online registration, say if 100 people don't pre register, than you can't put it on, something like that. If you are going to promote a race, and make a commitment saying its happening, and then say it isn't...it sucks.

We had that date for manions last year, and the weekend for swope cx/mtn. was the weekend before manions, which is the weekend happening now, why not have it on this weekend? Nothing is happening within 3 hours of here. I don't know, I'm just sad for all my friends that were going to race RIM.

Practice

2011-09-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

Practice went pretty good last night. We had some barriers and used them in the fast sections of the course. I don't really agree with clinic, going around practicing the same thing over and over again. My mind doesn't do that well, it gets old fast and I quit trying hard.

What we did was 3 sets of 10 minute races. Even though they were 10 minutes, I raced them like I would race a 60 minute race. Gotta get my mind into racing the whole 60 minutes, not just the first 20 minutes and then exploding.

Back to practice. The barriers and runups were really hard. I went through them as fast as possible, but still lost some balance at full speed. It will take some time to get it right, but rather than practicing it over and over again at a slow speed, I'll just pray over my bike and hope I get it next week.

I really like the stan's 28h 1300 gram clincher tubeless wheelset I made for my single speed. Tubeless with piranhas is really good, I'm having hard time considering the cost of new carbon wheels and tubular tires, I will save 1 lb. of weight at least....but the braking isn't as good an adding another $1k to my bike kind of sucks.

Practice Tonight

2011-09-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Practice tonight. 6pm. 6-6:45 at karnes and roanoke, by the sand volleyball course.

CX SS Wheels

2011-09-14T08:04:00.001-07:00

Didn't have time to get my ss bike ready for Universe CX, but I did have time to get my wheels ready.

28h alpha 340 rims with velocity road hubs and sapim laser 2.0/1.5 spokes. $400, 1340 grams. 2 thin strips of stan's tape, then I wanted to experiment with caffelatex.

I used Piranha tubeless tires, my favorite clincher tires. 390 grams, but go tubeless the best, plus its a fast tread that works good even in the wet.

I used caffelatex first. Tire didn't seat and had a big hop on the opposite side of the valve stem. Did all the tricks and still no pop. I road it over to office max and back and still, big hop.

So I used stan's on the front, crack/crack, right at 38psi. Perfect.

Cleaned out the latex and used stan's on the back, crack/crack, perfect.

I raced the alpha wheels on my blue sl for the Universe race. It went really well. The wheels were plenty stiff and at 35psi the tires gripped great. I won the race. Hopefully I will have my carbon wheels glued by next wednesday, if I go to gateway cup...anyone going?

Blue SL

2011-09-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Ended up swapping out the K-edge parts and put some $5 plastic seatpost mount chain guard and put an fsa carbon outer ring guard, plus added the 42t from the 39, I'm more comfortable on the 42t.

Bike weighs 14.4 lbs with ti eggbeaters right now. Makes me want to make it lighter, not much else I can do though, maybe another lb.

Easton Carbon Bars, $250, 190 grams( $75 wcs classic bars are 240grams)

Easton Carbon Stem, $250, 100 grams, (wcs stem is 128 grams)

THESE would drop another 100 grams off my current race wheelset.

Eggbeater 4ti pedals, cost $300, but saves 30 grams.

Those all look like not a lot of weight, but when combined it adds up. 1/2 lb. at least.

Plust I could always completely dissassemble the bike, and have Spray Booth sodablast the whole thing to bare carbon. Take off all that clearcoat and paint is at least 240 grams.

Shinsplints and Universes.

2011-09-12T07:23:00.003-07:00

Shinsplints are gone, thanks to THESE! 12" swiftwicks, best compression socks, they are $15 at volker on 39th.

Show up to Tuesday night Universes. Should be fun. I hopefully will have the 32/14 ss ready to go with stan's alpha 28h wheels.

Bike

2011-09-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

Practice went pretty well last night. We did 3 little 8-10 minute races I think. Barriers, run ups, turns, it was good. Didn't really bs around and "Practice" or clinic. Simply showed up and got going at race speed and didn't really stop. I raced my single speed, it was good at 34/16 for hilly roanoke, but I spun out as soon as I hit 18mph or so, going to get the 32/14 going soon. Parts are in.

I built up my blue yesterday. I bought the frame used, broken for $600, its normally $2400 so I think I got a good deal. Its 15 lbs as it sits, but those aren't my wheels, those are Matt O'neil wheels. I've got tufo flexus tires weighing 200 grams less than Challenge, reynolds/c-4 wheels weighing 340 grams less, ti skewers, 50 grams less, so we should be sitting at about 14lbs by the time I get the ti shorty eggbeater pedals on there.

Ritchey wcs classic bars, round, there is no other substitute.

Kind of nice when a customer comes in asks for new black bar tape on his bike when there is $35 yellow lizard skins tape on it looking clean...so I take it off, put it in plastic bag, toss it in the closet, and 4 months later I have a black/yellow bike that will work with the tape.

Sram 1x10 setup, Red right lever with gore kit, sram aluminum left lever, apex r. derailleur, all for $350.

Exactly 36cm of rear cable housing(yokozuna white). Sram wouldn't shift with any less.

K EDGE! ITs basically the best set up for 1x10. They make beautiful parts. Here you see the 39t, last year I ran 42t, but I think I'll be happy with 39, we'll see. The taper on the seat tube gets bigger by the bb, so any normal chain guard wouldn't fit low enough for the 39t, so K edges double chain guard is ideal.

Practice

2011-09-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

CX practice tonight, roanoke park, starts at 6, ends at 6:45. I've been running a little. Ran 10 minutes 2 nights ago and then 10 minutes the following morning. Pretty sore from shin splints and stomach aches. I feel pretty out of shape when it comes to things not having to do with riding a bike. Being able to do a bunch of situps, or ab workouts is pretty challenging, plus running itself is hard. I'm going to try and take it slow. I hate doing workouts off the bike, they just aren't fun, and don't seem to make me feel faster. I've got a little weight to lose so its time I switch it up. The back of my mind is how bad the runup on saturday's jingle cross was. I was 2nd going into it, and a bunch of skinny dudes just ran up this hill, leaving me in the dust.

check it at around 2:35. Its one thing, that you are riding up a hill, and dudes way stronger than you just ride a way, like at the Lawrence circuit race, its an awesome feeling, like you think your brakes are rubbing and your tires are flat, but they aren't, you're just too slow, but when you get off the bike, and kids just run a way from you, that makes you feel really slow.

Some people hate this feeling, I kind of enjoy it when it happens...as long as it doesn't happen that often.

I've got
this frameset for sale, $600, its really light, size is 54 but fits like a 57 or so.

Also gota Small focus mares disc frameset for $500, and a blue norcross sp xs frameset for $450.

Grifo 34s and 30s are only $45, tubulars!

Attack clincher Wheelset, 2011, Carbon! $850

This is a grand, made in America.

32x14

2011-09-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

I road around a little monday morning with my ss, pictured below. It was ok with 34/16, just practicing, but I know racing it won't be good. So 32x14 or 33x15 is the next option. I don't really want to run a half link with 33x15 so 32x14 will be it. Its pretty high for me, but I'll have it on 175 cranks, so hopefully not too bad.

I've got those r-sys tubulars for sale, they are really nice wheels, I just don't want that expensive of wheels on my little cx bike, I'd rather build up some a23 and run tubeless with piranhas.

Road swope for 1.5 hours in the afternoon, it went pretty good, no crashes, but didn't go fast either. I really wish I could get out there more.

wheelz.

2011-09-05T10:49:00.001-07:00

Make an offer on rsys tubulars w/fango 32s. Your lookin at $1600, retail. These have very low miles.

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r2

2011-09-04T07:20:00.001-07:00

Reynolds Cycling

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CX

2011-09-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Manion's is happening. All the work is coming together nicely. I have my single speed cx bike ready for practice, hopefully next week I'll be at roanoke from 6-6:45 practicing tues/wed/thurs.

Should have a blue sl built up by then too.

I've got two bikes for sale.
xenith

d29

Please tell your friends.

8am saturday ride I'm doing. Leaves from 18th/wyandotte store. My first group ride in a few weeks.

Don't forget
first friday, spray booth gallery always has the best art, in the back of volker18, usually there's tall grass beer too.

$330 brakes for $150

2011-08-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

Lightest brakes you can buy for cx.