shhh....

i didn't say anything

clothes-lined

I'd have to say it's no secret that I have what you'd call a philosophical disagreement with the idea of critical mass. Personally, I feel that it's polarizing in the wrong way.

But I'd also have to say this is NOT the way to deal with it --

close, but no...

Boy I wanted that jersey.

The Peoria Bicycle Club hosted the state championship (USCF) crit again this year it returned to the great venue of downtown Peoria. The technical "hourglass" (oo la la) course is a perennial favorite and for good reasons. This year in addition to challenging corners, depressed manholes and slight up's and down's, there was an often hard to predict and strong wind.

I had a little chat with Coach Randy before leaving for the race. He suggested a strategy that would put my strengths to good use and put the endgame in my control. I got on the trainer bright and early Sunday with a plan to win and confidence that I could pull it off.

On the trainer warming up, an emergency services vehicle pulled right up to the intersection I was at looking for their assigned spot just as the church bells from a block over began to toll. An eerie reminder of the events of last year gave me a heavy heart and a knot at the pit of my stomach. But I was here to look forward, to put the past in the past and race the race. Plans for the day moved my head to the task at hand.

Rolling up to the start line I saw familiar faces. The master's 4/5 field has some regular participants that I genuinely enjoy racing with. The majority of the field was 40+ and there enough Team Mack guys around to create a nice blue/red hue to the start finish area. There wasn't a big XXX'r presence, but I was happy to see the black kits punctuating the field

True to form Mack got up front right away, wanting to control the race. For almost the entire race, at least 2 of the top 5 spots was occupied by Mack. Early on they drove strong tempo and sent several attacks off. Knowing the race was short and Mack was well represented, I covered several of them. Teammate Mike Seguin had the same idea and went with a few I wasn't there for. Ultimately none got more that say 100m off the front and by the time the free laps ended it was clear that nothing was going to stick.

We get the bell with one to go and the pack starts to surge, shuffle a bit through turn two. Between 5 and 6 the field widens across the road and I'm on edge waiting for the lineup. I wanted to come out of turn six in the top 5 wheels. Mike Seguin took the outside line, and looked to see if I'd grab his wheel. Very tempting but the field had been going to the gutter on the left side on that straight all day as the wind came across a bit from the right.

I thought it better to stay out of trouble and not boxed in but exerting a little more effort on the right. I took the inside line, sacrificing a few spots and a wheel I was confident in to secure my path for attack. It's about here where my head starts to question the plan. Do I have enough in the tank? Is that headwind too much to go? Can I really commit to this? I think it's always true that a good plan always sounds great before the race but executing in the race is the real challenge and the fun.

So I went before the last intersection on the backside. The plan was to create a gap before the second to last turn, hold it through the last turn and hold off the field all the way to the line. I got about 5 pedal strokes into my move, looked across to find that someone else had the same plan. Voytek from Lot was out of the saddle emerging from the pack on the other side. He came from almost the gutter on the left side, meaning he had better protection from the wind BUT also a few people who could respond more quickly.

We converged at the 2nd to the last turn. I was thrilled to see teammate Mike Seguin on Voytek's wheel and just as I got there he opened enough room for me to slide in. Voytek really turned it over on the slight incline going into the last turn, in a bigger gear than what I chose and that was probably the defining moment for the last few hundred meters. He exited the last turn at the front and I couldn't get around him. I was all in. When I heard Steve Feehery coming by me I got out of the saddle for a second only to find my legs weren't having any of that. Later found out he came from behind Seguin who was behind me...Steve was flying.

And that's how we crossed the line 1-2-3. Hats off to Voytek who had a great plan and a nice long windup for the end and Feehery who had a great finish. I can be disappointed about not getting the jersey, but happy to share the podium with those guys.

Huge thanks to Seguin, who gave me that wheel at the end. That was big.

Much thanks to the Peoria Bicycle Club and everyone who sponsors and volunteers at the Proctor Crit. This is a very well run race and a great venue for our state championship.

Presumed guilty?

I can't shake the feeling that as there are more and more cyclists on the road that there's also a growing presumption that the burden falls on THEM to prove that they are not in the wrong when there's an incident on the road.

Recent events:

1. Last night at Diversy and Halsted, I'm at a red light. I am fully stopped with my right foot planted firmly on the ground, standing. Next to me, Tamara is dead stop too. Standing. From the south on Halsted a police car turns the lights on and quick blurts of the siren. She rolls up slowly into the intersection and rolls her passenger window down and yells, "You MUST stop at RED LIGHTS!" I looked around, truly confused thinking there might be someone else ready to charge the intersection, no one. Pedestrians were clearly amused, two were shaking their heads in a "I don't know what that was about" kind of way.

Hey for all I know it was public service announcement day. Maybe at the next intersection she yelled something to someone about carrying conceled weapons or maybe aiding and abetting at her next stop?

2. Last weekend. Diversy approaching Logan. Gigi and I are far to the right and need to get over into the turning lane. We look back, no cars behind us for over a block. We both signal and move across to the turning lane. We're tired, it is a headwind, Gigi starts to slow a bit on the hill. The light over a block back turns green, BMW comes roaring up right behind Gigi who is now clearly where she's supposed to be to make the turn, just laying on the horn. I roll up to them at the next stop light, they yell at me that we shouldn't be "cutting cars off" riding "in traffic" and "aren't there bike paths for you?"

3. Lastly though when I last saw the author he was taking a picture of me as I was having my you know what handed to me in a race, pulling off the course, generally he seems like a nice and sharp guy so I'll send you to his blog:
http://thefattym.blogspot.com/2008/06/our-day-in-court.html


Today is my first meeting with the Assistant State's Attorney to prepare for trial in a case against a motorist who has been charged with 6 felonies after an incident involving him in his pickup truck and ~15 cyclists riding responsibly and fully within the law in Lake Co.

So in a way, that's good news for cyclists who face these types of incidents all the time on the road. Six felony charges is nothing to sneeze at.

Know the law. Pursue stuff in the courts when it is appropriate.

High Viscosity

Sherman Park...it's ON!

Like riding round a lovely race track did ya?

Smooth turns, lovely pavement, eh?

Charming, scenic WI yah?

Beloit, charming?

Ah you know what I have to say to that! We're Chicagoans, let's race Chicago. Southside. Park District. Neighborhood spectators. Perhaps some uneven pavement. Maybe a soccer player or a wedding party to dodge. Let's not all go scampering off to WI.

Here's the word:

Come race with us in Sherman Park

Alderman JoAnn Thompson and XXX-AthletiCo Racing are pleased to release the flier for the annual Sherman Park Criterium.

This year’s earlier race date of June 14 allows Sherman Park to be a part of every racer’s season with more events, longer races and more primes. Come celebrate local racing by participating in one of the few bicycle races to take place within Chicago’s city limits.

Primes are pouring in from our sponsors such as Mission Bay Multisport, Saris, Clif, Zipcar and many more. Mission Bay Multisport will provide maintenance and wheel pit support. Zipcar is pleased to once again provide pace car service. Goose Island will be providing food and drinks for purchase, and Chicago Scenic Studios has stepped up its support and will be providing the staging and technical services.

Race safety is a No. 1 concern for us in 2008. Among the measures we are taking we will have an ambulance on the premises, and we are increasing marshalling to protect riders and pedestrians. We’re thankful to Johnny Sprockets for aiding this important effort.

Please see the flyer for race details. Registration is available online. Registering online saves a few dollars per race and guarantees a spot in races that are likely to fill up.

Volunteers can enjoy a second race for free. Contact race director Brian Stockmaster for more information or for any other questions.

Face meets pavement

My training so far this year has been great. Came into the winter with some pretty aggressive goals for the season -- trying to drop a total of 25 pounds (am 16 pounds down now), do some aggressive early season road racing, hit the track this year with ultimate target set on competing at masters track nationals in early September. I also have the added "advantage" of taking last season mostly off, so while I'm behind a year in my developing fitness, I'm up a year in perspective and desire to kick ass this year.

This Saturday's ride was part of the evolving master plan. Wanted to do a big ride on Saturday before first crit of the year on Sunday. Have been working on getting more assertive on climbs, and breaking my forever-held mindset that I just can't climb. Incident occurred at the base of University Hill in Highland Park. I was with a group of ~25 riders maybe halfway back in the pack. Came into a corner focused on improving my position in the pack, so that I had a fighting chance of keeping pace with the inevitable acceleration that was coming from the strong guys in the front. Riding that route as much as I do means that I can dodge potholes like a pro. The thing that I didn't anticipate was a line of gravel and sand in the middle of the lane. Hit that line of gravel and sand, front wheel washed out and blam I'm on the ground face-first. Didn't put my arm out to cushion the blow, which is probably a good thing as I surely would have broken my collar bone if I had. Did sustain a nasty cut above my right eye, which required 5 stitches to close. And have to figure out how to conduct business this week in my "day job" with extremely visible injuries including aforementioned stitches, shiner to the right eye, and a chin that is not so recognizable as such.

All things considered, not so bad. The injuries will fade in a matter of days/weeks, and I can get back on the bike at least inside tomorrow. I missed a race that would have been a good one for me, but there will be many more.

Lucky, I know. But is that true? I've spent countless hours on the bike, and the weekend's crash is only my second. There have been many more possibilities for crashing that I have avoided through solid bike handling. And I have to think that something about my training kicked in during the middle of this weekend's crash, in that aside from the unfortunately very visible injuries, I really could have fallen in a way that would have caused much more serious damage. Not to mention that I had teammates all around me, and not a single other person went down which I attribute totally to those ppl being cool under pressure. Freak things can and do occur. Part of what makes the risk possible for me is the knowledge that most of the time you can avoid problems by being strong and smart on the bike.

So I'll watch the wounds heal, and I'll endure a few more hours on that blasted trainer. No big deal, and good to get a crash out of the way.

44 miles but only a few K did it.

Really I'd love to not write a race report., because I'm more than a tad disappointed. I feel compelled to cover the last few K not only for my own self-analysis but also because there's something to be gained from it for others, hopefully that will include teammates who did a lot more work in the race than me who would've felt maybe more justified had I ended up on the podium.

But before that last time up the hill a few notes:

1. Newt did an outrageous amount of work into big headwinds. Jeff H, Brian M, Chris S were up there as well and it was not a fun place to be. I took precious few pulls. These guys get hardman awards, but also a little, "hey reflect on it and what would you do differently next time?" The front was all X all day until the last climb. Pulling all day long on a flat crit course vs. a hilly lots of wind RR for 44 miles...different animals.

2. Half Acre gentleman on the green Steelman rode hardman upfront too. Later claimed it was because he was uncomfortable any further back. I hear ya -- two signifcant pileups left a fair amount of skin on the road. Until the selection was set, I wasn't going more than 8-9 back.

3. Okay here's a phenomenon I'd like to correct amongst all competitive cyclists. IF you're gonna fight me for a wheel and you get that wheel...DON'T FRIGGIN GET GAPPED 10 seconds later!! For crying out loud how many times did I have to go around someone and close a gap into the wind after that same dude was fightin me for 7th wheel like a minute before?

Okay first 40 something miles of the race goes basically like this...somewhere less than the 75 registered racers go off. Each big headwind turns to hard tempo, field dwindles. Curvy climb up the backside near the horses, field dwindles. A couple dudes snuck off the front early and there they would stay. Crash, scream, GRAVEL!, crash.

Now onto the feedzone hill...last time up. Go in feeling pretty strong. Field of what maybe 23 at this point shuffles as we pass slower riders on the right. 1/2 way up maybe 7th wheel, some jockeying, I'm thinking, "okay any second this is gonna pick up." But it barely does. I'm psyched. Right looks uncrowded, move over there to try to pick up a few spots for last hill.

Then suddenly rider going HARD, like not sure he was still turning the pedals, in reverse from a field up the road RIGHT ahead. Elbow to elbow on my left so I follow the guy ahead of me and pass on the "shoulder" (read: grass/gravel) on the right. Get around him, back in, feeling solid. Whew. But the next rider in reverse appears immediately and I try the same thing, this time the shoulder is less forgiving. Gravel deeper, softer. Front wheel slides. Washing out...slowing *dramatically*. Pull it back on the road by the skin of my teeth to immediately encounter a popping rider. Narrowly get around him... this time to the LEFT, nudging a guy next to me. I've lost position to where I'm right where it's splitting.

Click one gear up, dig deep hustle to get back up, almost knocking the last poor nice woman trying to offer a feed. Get just back to beyond the split on the little flat. Have to move up maybe six spots (one of which required a trip over into someone's driveway) to crest final climb 5th wheel in the pack. One more push at the top gets me around one more guy. But those apparently were the last matches in my pocket.

Bomb the descent. GAG guy gets by me. I still think, despite calves cramping in flames, top of left quad stabbed repeatedly with a dull butter knife, I GOT this. Sketchy turn lose a spot. Then cobbles. Suddenly barely hanging on the wheel in front of me over the little bump. Losing it and I don't just mean the wheel. Lost at least one more postion before the turn. Turn the last corner and I'm so over the limit I'm surprised I actually made the turn. Just hung on for the final straight...made feeble effort to stand but it almost sent me over the bars. I went by a few, apparently only one from my field. A few go by me, apparently all from my field.

Results say 12th. Are you kidding?

So the left side up the feedzone hill was clearly the choice. And it reminds me last year at Spring Prairie, essentially the same thing with riders in reverse, though that was at the apex of the last turn.

Lesson for the ages: road races have multiple fields on the course. You'll always encounter someone when you don't want to.

1st race of the season. Upgrade imminent. 12th vs. 10th right now means a LOT.

patience

Less than a month...

THE BEST BIKE...EVER!

Okay lest I be accused of unintended mimicry, I am aware that there is a cycling enthusiast based in a small little town out east who makes his mark in the world by thrashing the oddities, extravagances and rush to the newfound sublime in the online cycling world.

For the most part, I don't spend that much time online reading who thinks what about brand A, fixed vs. single speed, downhill vs. hardtail, OCLV vs. steel vs. brooks vs. Selle, you get my drift. My general impression is that those with the most to say on any given topic related to cycling are just that, those with the most to say.

Lo and behold I do feel vindicated by a little research I did online re: bike frames. I've been a little ho-hum about the frame that I've been racing. Nothing terribly wrong with it, just feel like the design err'd a bit more toward comfort, err I guess they are calling it "plushness" these days.

So I'm thinking of maybe trying out a different frame. Some of the ones I'm interested have not been ridden by teammates or friends. I thought, "well hey there's got to be SOMEONE online with an opinion about some of these frames."

Cue the music...the poetry slam is about to start.

Our first muse:

"Before the 2007 Tour de France, I was an unremitting advocate of BIKE A. The bike of the 2006 TEAM A team. A unique statement of nexus between bicycle tradition and progressive contemporary design and technology, BIKE A is a winner on all fronts. A statement of that wonderous Italian art of form-meets-function via the world's most enlightened design culture.

Especially when set out with that equally stupendous Italian design statement: the Campagnolo carbon Record groupset."

then on to his new favorite:

"Bike B is dedicated only to one thing: going fast. This is a racing bike. It has no other purpose. There are no concessions to anything else. With that in mind, it is quite severe on the road. It gives a fairly harsh ride, at least compared with BIKE A but not as harsh as the Time VXR I tested a few months ago. It is a harshness that is totally desirable to cycle racers as it keeps us connected with the road; keeps us in tune with the medium we are using to stay in front. It is necessary. It is a harshness that never overwhelmes or reduces the desire to ride for three hours or more. Pro Tour races go for six or more hours, don't forget. It is not a harshness to cause discomfort or the desire to retire."

Yet another poet:

"I've been racing on a BIKE X. I've raced on BIKE Y's for a decade, BIKE Z's and now carbon BIKE M's. When I got my first '03 BIKE M, I thought that was the finest machine I'd ever ridden. Then they gave me an '07 BIKE M and I was astounded to realize that they had improved perfection! Having said all that, the BIKE A is in a league of its own. It is even stiffer than the '07 BIKE M yet just as light. The best way to define the BIKE A is refined. The ride quality is by far and away the best I've ever experienced and worth every cent I paid."

and then

"The 07 BIKE M is the best bike I've ever owned. It does everything better and at 14 lbs (57cm) it is a world standard bike. *It is the industry standard.* Having said all that, the new BIKE A takes it to the next level again with no vices or comprimises. The BIKE A reigns supreme as the new world standard for 2008."

Let's not forget this bard:

"I just got the 2008 BIKE A last Friday. WOW! The BIKE A is the perfect bike. It is amazingly stiff and smooth. It blew me away. I knew it was going to be a great bike but I completely under estimated it. It's incredible. I sold my BIKE B last week. The BIKE B was a really good bike. In the last 20 years of racing, it was the best bike I had ever ridden... until the BIKE A. The B makes the A look pitiful. Like a bike you would buy at Kmart. I thought the B's bottom bracket was super stiff. It does not even compate to the A's stiffness. The A is a rocket. It does not flex at all! The bike just jumps forward when you pedal. It climbs great....Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to slam the BIKE B so much. It was an awesome bike. I loved it and thought it was one of the best bikes on the market. The BIKE A is just that good! Phenominal! A great sprinter and climber. It is lighter than my B was too...Like I said, I knew I was going to like it but not this much. It is perfect if every way. You gotta get one."

[names/brands withheld to protect the innocent. and in case someone recognizes one of the reviews...I'm NOT about to throw $5k into a frame, it's just a funny review]