veloblog: bicycling in Greensboro, NC and the surrounding area

The Rider

Stuart Larry David likes to quote from The Rider:

"Racing is licking your opponent’s plate clean before starting on your own."

That's but one memorable line from the best cycling book ever written. Why is it the best?

1. It reflects the experience of a suffering on a bike better than any prose should.
2. Lance isn't in it. 
3. The author, Tim Krabbe, knows about the joys of suffering in an intimate way.
4. It takes place at a time when racing was all about effort and guile, and not about the bike.
5. It puts you there, in the saddle, climbing European cols.

Technorati Tags: krabbe, the rider, novel, cycling, europe, suffering

Five cycling doodads that are just beyond the pale

1. Rapha Rider's Journal. I don't mind spending two bucks fifteen to record my rides, but I draw the line at laying out money to write down details of the next 250. Come on, there's gotta be a limit.

2. Assos Beach Towel: "...from a functional standpoint you get all the post-swim absorbency you'll ever need from a towel." I hope the copywriter was giggling while typing those words.

3. Assos trackPants lack only one thing: A double reinforced seat so your ass never wears through $250 bucks of fabric while making firm, long-term contact with a sofa.

4. Cycle Sherlock cap. A reasonable price to pay for an item that tastefully declares, "I was born 100 years too late!" Note: Nobody sporting one of these should ever say a bad word about lycra.

5. Primal Wear arm warmers. These suggest a lack of commitment to one's sport. Needles, ink and a stiff upper lip are the real answer.

Five Thoughts from Le Cirque

Five post-Cirque thoughts:

1. Simon Firth of Bilenky said what was on my mind when he asked Sacha White if the future of handbuilt bikes was in the hands of the messenger crowd (I'm paraphrasing). The stalwarts of frame building came out of  road racing, but the work of many new builders seems to be informed by a different aesthetic, and you see this expressed in the form of some pretty cool townie and fixed gear bikes. Those builders are open to exploration, too, like with Johnny Coast's work for Velo Orange.
   
2. I want a fixie. Bad. This is feeding my obsession.
   
3. Maynard, there were a hell of a lot of art bikes on the road last weekend. Too bad you missed the spectacle.
4. I should have mentioned that I posted some show photos on Flickr.
5. Oh, to spend a day browsing among all this.
   

Technorati Tags: cirque, cirque2007, cirqueducyclisme

Bike Florida report is forthcoming

I'm catching up after being gone for more than a week so my Bike Florida report is still in the works. I did finish a quick article for the GVC newsletter, but the blog version's going to be a little more candid. If you have any favorite synonyms for "clueless" send them my way. I'll be sure to use them.

Apologies for the poor pics that came out of the on-the-road blogging experience. I didn't want to carry a camera, so I made do with a Treo 700P for photos/blog authoring and posting.


Technorati Tags: bikeflorida

It's your group. We're only part of it.

Want to remind your friends that the group ride exists for you, and they're merely tagging along? Here are five helpful tips:

1. If riding in a single paceline spend the duration of the ride hanging out to the left of the group. Go ahead -- that's your lane to use to move up and down the group as you like, and it's everyone else's responsibility to be aware of you.
   
2. For God's sake, don't maintain a constant speed when it's your turn to pull through.
   
3. Remember that the right response to a car passing the paceline is to clamp on your brakes or simply stop pedaling. That'll remind everyone behind you to stay awake.
4. When the group stops at an intersection use the opportunity to improve your position in the paceline. Only the crafty get to ride up front.
5. Remember that the phrase "Car back!", when shouted from the back of the group, is your signal to erratically veer to the centerline and sprint past as many cyclists as you can. Bonus points for doing this on a hill or where cars might otherwise be able to pass.
   

Five things I learned from my Fit Kit session on Friday:

1. My current bike's top tube is 2.5 cm too long.
2. I'm sitting way too far behind the bottom bracket. Blame a too-slack seat tube angle and saddle that's pushed back on the rails.
   
3. My bars could stand to be every so slightly narrower.
4. I ride with my saddle about 2 cm too low.
5. I need shorter cranks.
   

Next step: Turn those measurements, and the shop's experience, into a new bike.




Technorati Tags: fitkit

Thinking of 2007: Five rides I want to do

It's that point in the season when I start thinking about next season, and the rides I want to do. Here are the ones that are on my mind, at least for now:

1. Bike Florida - nice weather and lots of miles, early in the season.
2. TOSRV - this one's been on my list for a long time, and now it's scheduled on a weekend that works for me. Two centuries in a weekend - what's not to like?
3. Burnsville Metric Century - This convinced me I need to ride around Burnsville more often.
4. A week in Italy - shouldn't need an explanation....
5. Cycle Oregon - an alternative to Italy.

I've also been mulling over what to do with the very popular Roaming Rides. We were drawing about 30 riders every Thursday, which made it one of the more popular club rides. It targeted folks who wanted to ride at
a brisk conversational pace (the "B" rider, in clubspeak), though we ended up with a mixed bag - racers
looking for a recovery ride, weak to very strong rec riders, and some
who were drawn to the social aspect of the ride. Overall, it was a
success, and now I'm toying around with some changes that - I hope - will make it more varied, interesting, and accessible to different kinds of riders. Feel free to toss your ideas this way.







Technorati Tags: cycling, burnsville, tosrv, bike+florida, italy

Five Best Pieces of Cycling Gear I've Owned

A lot of cycling equipment has passed through my hands, but a few pieces stand out:

1. Limar 907 helmet. I found this in a bargain bin at Performance. Unaware that it was the handiwork of the Cult of Emma, I snapped it up for a mere $40. Cool, comfortable and lightweight, it is the...best...helmet...ever. At least for my head.
2. DeFeet Un-D-Shurt. A superlight, inexpensive underlayer that makes the hottest, most humid days a little more bearable.
3. Continental Sprinters. Once upon a time I only rode tubular tires and they were almost always Conti Sprinters. There's no clincher I've ridden that compares. And I habitually got 4,000+ miles out of a set, over horrible roads - many gravel.
4. Pearl Izumi wool tights. I've worn my one pair, no longer available, for more than 12 years. On the coldest, windiest days, they keep me warm.
5. I'm reserving this spot for the as-yet-unowned Rapha Sportwool Jersey, because I've yet to find the perfect jersey and this looks like the ticket.

Five things I need to do to my road bike before the season really begins

1. Put on a new chain. Check. That leaves four things.
2. Retape the handlebars. The current tape is fine, but it's beginning to bore me. The new tape will walk a fine line between visual stimulation and non-distraction. Or it'll be whatever I can get cheap.
3. Repack the headset bearings. Easy to say, easy to do, not so easy to get around to doing.
   
4. Buy the perfect set of tires. I do not know what the perfect set of tires is so I'll buy whatever strikes the right balance between cool and cheap.
5. Replace the brake blocks. Another easy to do not so easy to remember to do sort of thing.
   

My five wishes for the cycling media, in the year 2006

1. That someone - anyone - at Velonews notices that Cyclingnews.com has relegated them to irrelevancy. And that they use their presumably superior resources to retool the mag into something that isn't simply a repeat of what its readers have already seen on the Internet.
2. That a writer slips this past the weight weenies at Bicycling: "A fifteen pound bike or one that weighs 20 - who can really tell the difference without a scale? And other than us and our advertisers, who really cares?"
3. That Dirt Rag just keeps on keepin' on. Just because they're the only US cycling mag with a good sense of humor.
4. That L'Equipe just keeps on 'quipin' on. Just to annoy Lance.
5. That a few more writers venture beyond safe territory and learn about cyclocross, randonneuring, and cyclo-touring.