The PA State Championships were last week followed by the final race in the PACX series. And today concluded the last weekend of the local cross season with Phillipsburg Riverfront Cyclocross. While everyone else raced P-burg, I stayed home to get caught up on my growing list of things to do. I am fried. It’s been a long year full of ups and downs. I didn’t really accomplish any of my goals, but I did have some memorable races.
Now it’s time to regroup, set a course for next year, and enjoy some fun rides between now and then. I’ll also be spending time on a project that’s been brewing for the past few weeks—embrocation. Yes, that sticky, gooey, slimy, oily, waxy, smelly, hot stuff cyclists put on their legs. I’ve been cycling most of my life, but only started using embro a couple years ago. Now I look for excuses to use it.
The thing with embro is that it never seems to perform exactly the same, some days burning from the moment you put it on—other days waiting ’til the post ride shower to light up your legs. So, as I pondered the possible reasons for this, I began to develop theories why, which in turn got me thinking I could make my own.
As it turns out I can. I am in fact making my own embrocation. Some of my friends are already testing it and I’ve been getting some really good feedback. Right now I’m working on the performance issue, trying to get the burn started earlier and tone down the shower firestorm. I’m also developing some complimentary products designed to enhance the “embro” experience—so far with good results. There are four different products in the pipe and three of them are close to ready.
Almost a perfect weekend… Doubled up again at Iron Cross Lite, finishing 6th in elite masters and 5th in the elite race—that’s right 5th. It was a good thing there wasn’t one more entry, I would’ve been out of the money. At least I stayed on the same lap as the winner.
Sunday I opted for the derby. I was just going to sit in and spin, at least that was the plan. Once we hit Fleetwood guys were on and off the pace which pissed me off, mucking up the plan. At the bottom of Topton hill the pace was easing up so I pulled out and let my momentum carry me up. I could see five up the road and pissed as I was, burried it and tried to ride across to them. I was pretty surprised, I made it. The rest of the ride I was in the red, but at least it was steady. They dropped me gearing up for the sprint, but I didn’t mind, it was a good ride anyway.
Then it was back to the real world, after riding all weekend I actually had to get some work done around the house. The lawn hadn’t been touched in a while because the tractor has been giving me trouble. The hydrostatic transmission was just barely working and the hydraulic fluid keeps foaming up and overflowing. I was thinking maybe it was so low the pump was pumping air—it seemed a reasonable enough explanation.
So I added some new fluid, started it up and hopped on. Better, but still not right. Okay, maybe a little more fuild… I shut it off, add some more fluid and hear a faint noise. Sort of a drippy, running fluid noise. Looking under the tractor I find the source of the noise in the form of a growing puddle of hydraulic fluid. Great, $5 a quart and it’s pouring right through the trans.
So much for simple fixes. I remove some of the body work to find the hydraulic oil filter coverd in oil. But where is it coming from? I can’t see because there is a drive shaft and flex coupling in the way. In fact, the coupling is right over the filter. In fact, the flex coupling is touching the filter. Grabbing the coupling I find it is loose, really loose. So it’s been wobbling around smacking into the filter until it wore a hole right through.
Crap. That means I spend the afternoon walking the yard with a push mower, not the best recovery. At least it’ll be an easy repair, assuming I can find the part, which I do on Monday, for $100. So, now the lawn is mowed and I have the rest of the week to think about recovery.
Two races into cross season and the legs are starting to feel good, finally. Cross racing is the kind of effort my legs seem to be built for. They feel better than they have in months. Earlier this week we ended up climbing a bit on the lunch rides, and it just seemed effortless—like there was no chain, as they say.
So, it figures that the first bout of allergies this fall are followed by coughing fits, producing lumpy, gelatinous projectiles—looks like bronchitis. Beautiful. The way this goes for me, I’ll feel crappy for a week then cough and hack for a month. Ever feel like you can’t catch a break?
Last night was the last night of the training crit, and I was hoping to go. The way my legs have been feeling I was thinking I might score some points, but figured it would only aggravate the bronchitis. I needed tires for my truck anyway, otherwise it’s not going to pass inspection. Since the local garage I had been using tried to screw Tracy out of $1000 last spring, I haven’t found anyone else I trust. I opted for the WalMart Super Store, thinking at least the tires will be cheap. Well, they were, and it’s good to know you can get crappy service anywhere these days.
Spend two and a half hours in WalMart some time, I dare you. A friend sent me this link the other day, enough said: PeopleofWalMart.com. Anyway, it was about two hours longer than I had hoped and honestly, I could have done the two tires by hand myself in that time. At least they’re done now, but I missed having a beer with the guys after the crit. It’s probably for the best anyway—doubling up again in the masters and elite on Sunday, so I should try to get over this bronchitis, or at least not make it worse.
The 2009 Van Dessel Gin and Trombones, in Belgian colors
So, race one is under my belt. I doubled up in the Masters A and UCI Elite and got a pretty good ass kicking all around. I was as prepared as I could be equipment-wise, but not up to speed yet in the legs department. Including this weekend’s race, I’ve only been on the cross bike three times so far this season. All in all though, things went ok, the course was great, I cleaned the barriers, made 7 of the 9 laps in UCI Elite before being pulled and the new bike was fantastic.
The Lion of Flanders
Tapered steerer/head tube
Wheels Manufacturing BB30 adapter
I had been waiting for the Van Dessel Gin and Trombones for a week, and just got it three days before the race. After collecting the parts for weeks in anticipation of its arrival I was eager to get it built for the first race. I stayed up late Thursday night to put the new bike together and it was beautiful, painted the colors of the Belgian flag with The Lion of Flanders on the seat tube.
This is G&T number two for me, having raced one the past two years. There are a few changes to the bike this year that make a great bike even better. Often I look at “improvements” with skepticism, thinking “now there’s something no one asked for and no one needs.” The new G&T has a couple and proves me wrong:
Tapered steerer tube: I never thought much of these 1 1/8″-1 1/2″ steerers, but the difference is notable. The larger bottom bearing allows for a beefier fork crown and the whole front end seems to feel more solid as a result. Planting your front wheel on a line is something you can do confidently, even under hard braking. On the subject of braking, there’s another thing: reduced lower fork stuttering—as in none. And while the whole front end looks huge, it feels light and lively. I might not have asked for it, but it’s a huge improvement.
BB30: I didn’t really have any opinions about these, except that cranks for this new standard are not cheap—in fact, quite the opposite. Aside from that, as I searched for the parts I found there seems to be a national shortage on BB30 bearings unless you’re forking over the cash for a crankset that includes them. The assembly was really simple and I didn’t need any special tools. Performance wise, I think the bottom end does seem stiffer, but not remarkably so. I should mention that I didn’t use a BB30 crank, I used an FSA K Force crank with Wheels Manufacturing BB30 adapters and BB30 bearings.
Larger diameter top-tube: The new top-tube feels more substantial when you grab it to run through the barriers, but ultimately it helps strengthen the front end. How much of the improved handling in the front end is attributable the top-tube and how much to the new fork is just a wild ass guess to me, but result of the two paired together is all that really matters.
Van Dessels sells complete bikes spec’d any way you like as well as frame sets. I got the frame set and built it up myself. If you are interested, check them out at www.vandesselsports.com
Here is my build:
Shifters: Campagnolo Chorus Carbon 10spd Derailleurs: Campagnolo Veloce 10spd Cranks: FSA K Force Carbon 34-46, w/ 24mm spindle Bottom bracket: SRAM standard bearings with Wheels Manufacturing adapters Brakes: TRP EuroX aluminum with Inplace Adjust pads Handlebars: Ritchey Classic OS, 44cm Handlebar tape: Cinelli cork Cables: Gore Ride-On fully sealed brake and derailleur cables Stem: FSA OS 190 Saddle: Ritchey WCS Streem V2 Seat post: FSA FR 230 Tires: Challenge Griffo 700×32 tubular Wheels: Easton EA70 X tubular Cassette: Campagnolo Chorus 11-25 10sp Chain: Campagnolo Chorus 10sp
Overall, I couldn’t be more happy with the bike. It performed flawlessly in both races, now if I could just pedal it faster. I ended up 40th out of 70 in the Masters A, exactly 3 minutes out of first. Due to rider call-ups I ended up starting somewhere in the middle and that was pretty much where I stayed—I need to work on my starts. In the UCI Elite I started in the back row, but had a better start. I think I managed to get by 15 guys or so in the first kilometer… and in the course of the next 6 laps most of them passed me back. I think a few DNFd, and I was probably the last finisher. Which is ok for my first elite race—I’ll have to wait for results to be posted online to see where I ended up for sure, but DFL is better than DNF.
I know what I did. I just don’t know how stupid it is yet.
With track season still fresh in my mind, I put in for a Cyclo-Cross upgrade on my racing license this week. I just checked and it was approved, I’m a cat 2 in cross now. Not that I had such a great season last year, but I was coming around by the end of the season. I didn’t get the points but I still carry a cat 1 on my license from mountain biking, so that automatically qualifies me as a cat 2 for cross.
My thinking was something like this… If I want to get faster, I should race with guys who are faster, right? I’m putting way too much time and money and emphasis on this, I know. I have a new bike coming in any day so I’ll have a spare for the pits, I have enough money tied up in tubular tires and wheels to buy groceries for a few months—sounds pretty ridiculous when I put it that way—and I’ve written every race date on the calendar so Tracy knows not plan anything else.
So, I checked the pre-reg list for the first race, Nittany Lion Cross. It has a UCI elite field which means basically “international standard for really fast guys”—my class now if I race the cat 2 straight up. There are only 13 guys registered so far, the other classes have near 50. What the hell was I thinking? There will be no hiding in the field there… when I get dropped 2 laps in—if that—it’ll be pretty obvious how much I suck. No anonymity… “there goes Brad, right out the back.” The only saving grace is the wonderful, built in excuse I’ve got lined up already. I’m racing the master A class an hour earlier.
I know. I’m not just stupid, I’m really stupid. But I like a challenge, and I like races that are hard, and I like events that make you suffer. Somehow, in my warped world there is honor in that, it’s what makes you a better rider, a better person. Some people love winning, and they win a lot. I don’t think it makes them a better rider, I think it makes them more upset when they don’t win. And what’s the point winning when there is a whole class or two or three better than you anyway?
I’m forty three years old, that’s not old but it’s the wrong side of young—and on the rare occasion I win or do well it is because I manage to tough it out, not because I am better of faster. That’s what I take pride in. Stupid maybe, but I’m signing up for my lumps next week. One of these days it’ll pay off.
For the past couple of months I’ve been fooling with video—trying to learn about the production process, shooting, editing, sound—the whole thing. I’ve been especially interested in capturing the cycling experience, from the cyclist’s point of view. I have 3 cameras I can mount on bikes or helmets now. The newest is a GoPro Hero Wide, 170° wide angle, which I’ve coupled with my latest saddle mount. It seems to work pretty well. This mount does a pretty good job of isolating the vibration.
With Tuesday, passed the four week mark in recovery from my worst crash ever—in the first race of the first night of track season. I wasn’t hurt too bad, all things considered. One pour guy was in the hospital for three days with a separated shoulder, fractured vertebrae and three broken ribs. I took the bulk of the 33 mph impact (exact speed courtesy of my Garmin) with my forearm and hip, with a liberal dose of “track” rash on my knees and shins. The right side of my ribcage got a serious tweaking as well, and I still feel it in the ribs if I move just right.
The thing that has bothered me most, though, is the sense of absolute exhaustion I’ve felt in the past weeks. The long recovery has been tough and completely caught me off guard. Guys crash all the time, right? You see it in the tour, bang! They’re down. They’re up and riding again… for days. I’ve learned the track is a bit different, there is little opportunity to scrub off speed before impact so you hit the deck with a truckload of momentum. I didn’t simply go down either. I hit someone laying/sliding on the track in the back, more or less going over the bars—and seemingly flung onto the concrete.
That’s blunt force trauma, something I’ve never experienced before. Apparently it takes a toll on the body. I could still ride, just not at any kind of intensity. For the first week and a half any time I laid into the pedals my heart rate shot straight up. Four weeks later, I’m starting to feel a little better, starting to be able to push it. I went to the Tuesday night Pro-Am series at the track and was able to hang with the front guys most of the night, but a month with no intensity takes it’s toll. With no real kick in my legs it was left to everyone else in the sprints. Still, it’s good to be able to work hard and get the burn back in the muscles… and there’s always next week.
So, I set this up a few days ago and still can’t decide what it should look like. Trying to find a block of time to fool with the template has been difficult too—I’m involved in too many things. Every night this week there has been something going on and I haven’t gotten in before 9:30.
Last night was the velodrome Community Advisory Board (CAB) meeting. I got home and just wanted to get to bed early, but I needed to finish up editing video from last Saturday night’s racing at the VPCC. Rather than let it hang over my head for another day I stayed up and got it done.
