More on the CycleSound

I put the CycleSound on my road bike for my morning ride. It's pretty easy to install, but if you are going to use it on more than one bike, it's probably worth it to get a second mount. The unit has a rear zippered access flap that encloses the battery compartment (6 AA). There is just enough room here for a spare tube (23c) and one CO2 cartridge. The bottom has a zippered pocket where your music player goes. In addition to my 2nd generation iPod Nano, I was able to fit a couple of tire levers and another CO2 cartridge. There wasn't enough room for my inflation pump, although there would be for one of the smaller inflation chucks. Under this zippered pocket is an open mesh pocket which might be convenient for small items, but it didn't seem very secure to me.

The sound quality is quite good and the volume is loud enough to hear, but is limited so that you can hear what's around you. I have no idea as to the unit's durability, but it seems pretty well designed and put together to me.

Here's my playlist from this morning.

Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Classical Gas - Mason Williams
Krafty - New Order
Beer - Reel Big Fish
Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
The House Is A Rockin' - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
My Back Pages - The Ramones
Here It Goes Again - OK Go
Lump - The Presidents Of The United States Of America
Who's That Girl (She's Got It) - A Flock Of Seagulls
The Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
Bicycle Race - Queen
My White Bicycle - Tomorrow
Pop Song 89 - R.E.M.
Nice Guys Finish Last - Green Day
David Watts - The Jam
Take On Me - Reel Big Fish
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Runaway - The Misfits
You And Me - The Moody Blues
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
Breakaway - The Producers
What Ever Happened To Saturday Night? - Rocky Horror Picture Show
Can't Get Enough Of You Baby - Smash Mouth

Some music to warm up to and then mostly upbeat stuff to keep it lively. I don't think I'll be riding with music on our morning rides--it's just not our style (although the spin instructor in the group thought it was a great idea). However, I think I'm going to keep the CycleSound on my commuter bike.

A couple of final thoughts. Having the iPod safely tucked away inside the zippered pocket gives a clean look and prevents getting a cord stuck in your dérailleur, but limits your control. I like the idea of a wireless remote control (like this one) for the iPod which would allow you to skip songs, and turn it off without having to take it out of the pocket. Another use would be to turn your CycleSound into a speaker phone with a bluetooth headset (would this work?). I wonder if an iPhone would give you both music and a speakerphone? The mind wanders...

Rockem!

The funniest t-shirt I'll never wear. I just don't have the guts.

Back in the Saddle Again

Today, I had my first road bike ride since some minor surgery two weeks ago. It was just an easy ride today, 20 miles at around a 15 MPH average. I felt good and plan to ease back into harder rides. No racing plans except for fall cross season which is way off and, perhaps the Sherman Park Crit as an incentive to get in shape.

Commuter Bike

My first bike commute of the year today made more enjoyable by the CycleSound system I won at Ride-Strong. First impression is that it is easy to set up and easy to use. The sound quality is quite good. In case you are wondering, today's playlist (round trip) was:
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Krafty - New Order
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Beer - Reel Big Fish
Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
The House Is A Rockin' - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
My Back Pages - The Ramones

It's a really short commute. Yeah, and Bowie doesn't belong there--I'm going to have to work on the playlist order a little.

Thanks to Tyler at Ride Strong for getting this to me so fast.

Places To Go

Thanks to the creative people at Imodium, you can now enter a location, either by zip code or city/state, and get a list of bathrooms in that area. Add this to a web-enabled phone and it could be quite handy on a long ride. Visit the Bathroom Finder.

My Camera

I am on hold right now with Canon customer service trying to resolve the problems I am having with my Powershot A570. I am using some tips I learned from The Consumerist on How to Mind Control Customer Service Reps (great article!) and the supervisor, James, has just put me on hold after listening to my tale to "see what he can do".

At this point, I want a new camera and to never have to deal with the Canon repair facility again. They took my camera, repaired what was wrong and then broke something else. They returned the camera to me without even testing it or the problem would have shown up. I returned the camera (on their supplied UPS label) and got it back with that problem solved, but with a brand new problem--the focus lock no longer worked. I called and they emailed me another UPS label. I sent it and a week later got it back. And the focus lock still doesn't work consistently.

James transferred me to Roderick who, I was told, is their highest ranking customer service person and he took my information. He is sending me an overnight label to send the camera to the manager of the repair facility so they can check the camera out and see what's going on.

Final resolution...to be determined.

Why I Hate Ticketmaster

Ticket cost: $22.00
Convenience charge: $5.75
Order Processing Charge: $4.80
The least expensive option for delivery is $14.50.
Total is $47.05.

Groan

Had my first $50 fill up earlier in the week. Makes these gas rewards credit cards (h/t to consumerist.com) even more appealing.

Threadless

Two of my favorite cycling-related shirts from Threadless:

Trails

Traillink.com is a good resource for finding trail information on the web. It's searchable by location and doesn't require a subscription like this web site.

Camera Problems Part 4

Camera Problems Part 4
Originally uploaded by frankshapiro

I have camera and customer service problems.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Gas Saving Tips

Cyclist and the price of gas
Originally uploaded by richardmasoner

With gasoline prices like these, who would you ask for tips on how to save gas? How about UPS? Would you believe that one of their tips is to make fewer left turns? Or, you could ride your bike. They didn't think of that one.

You Too Popeye?

How to Really Escalate Customer Service at a Big Company

I like The Consumerist for its take on customer service issues. If you ever find yourself at your wits end after lengthy customer service calls, escalations to "supervisors" and you are just plain not being heard and not getting fair treatment, you may consider something they call an Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Even if that doesn't work, it has a nice ring to it.

Game Theory and Doping

This interesting article from the current issue of Scientific American is by cyclist and writer, Michael Shermer, Ph.D. It's worth reading for its excellent analysis using game theory of the pervasive use of drugs in cycling. He then uses game theory to propose a number of recommendations for cleaning up the sport.

Funniest Typo Ever

The Large Hadron Collider is a gigantic scientific instrument which may revolutionize our scientific understanding of the universe .

It is not, as has been reported, called the Large Hardon Collider.

April 1

Don't believe everything you read today.

Graphic

The Indexed blog takes Venn diagrams to a new level. This one relates to cycling. And one that just plain silly.

Complaint Department

Hey, I'm just a guy that likes to ride a bicycle so I'm no expert, but keeping last years' winner out of this year's Tour de France just seems stupid to me. That goes for the third place finisher as well-- some guy named Levi Leipheimer.

Via Trust but Verify I see that WADA is mad at UCI for suing their former president (a certain Dick Pound) for injurious and biased comments against UCI. There's also stuff in this article about the French Cycling Federation (FFC) sanctioning Paris-Nice outside the oversight of the UCI and using the French anti-doping agency, AFLD, to be in charge of the doping controls for the event. The UCI warned that they would discipline any rider that participates in the event.

Tell me again why this is good for the sport.

Technology Meets Swimming

In the "Things-You-Never-Thought-About-Department" we discover that a new swimsuit designed by Speedo with help from NASA and lots of other organizations containing smart people is helping swimmers set new world records. Video of the awesome suit is here. Predictably, swimming's world body, FINA, is concerned about the advantages this suit conveys and will be meeting next month to discuss the thickness of the material used and, possibly, the ethics of using it at all.

I wonder if doping is also a concern in swimming?

Wait, was that Dick Pound's beeper I just heard going off?

In the Beginning...

"In the beginning God created the bicycle, saw that it was good, then went for a nice Sunday ride on the bike lanes He'd made the day before, and they were good, too, because they were new and He had the angels keep them clear of debris. Later, of course, God would get cross and have the flood wash all the good ones away."

--Cycling Plus, January 2001

Another Thing I'm Not

I just learned that I'm also not one of the "World's 50 Most Powerful Blogs" either. Yeah, me and forty two million others...

Setting Out

Saturday morning. I'm still learning how to use my camera and what the best default setting would be for when it's in my jersey pocket. I like to use the continuous drive mode while riding, but this limits which shooting modes I can use. I am also learning that most changes to default settings are lost when the camera powers down. The net result of all this is that this shot was overexposed. I did my best to fix it in Photoshop and felt it looked better in black and white. Still not happy with it. Also, I missed a later shot of the xXx-Athletico paceline when I inadvertently put the camera in timer mode, not continuous drive mode. Damn gloves!

Oh, and it was a great day for a ride too!

The Pornography of the Bike

Holy #$%, this movie is in town tomorrow night! Here.

Fed Up

I agree with Donna. All the infighting, the drug problems (both real and alleged) and the whining have me fed up with pro cycling. I'm going to use that extra time to ride more, stretch after riding and maybe post more to this stupid little blog.

Weblog Awards

The results of the 2008 Bloggies are in. No, I didn't win (thanks, Barb for nominating me). The best sports blog was Fat Cyclist, so props to him. He was, of course, humble about wining. The runners up were Kickette, The Big Lead, Up in Alaska, and Deadspin.

RideStrong

Go here. Sign up. Maybe you'll win a bike.

Up in Alaska: Aftermath

Up in Alaska: Aftermath Congratulations Jill. You made it. I really enjoyed reading about your adventure. Except how it made me feel like a wimp for not riding here in the relative warmth of 20 degrees knowing that at the end of my ride was a hot cup of coffee. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

Sexiest Sports

What sports make you most attractive to the opposite sex? The Quirkology website has offered the results of their experiment, involving "6000 people indicating which sporting activities would make a member of the opposite sex more attractive." The results? The highest percentage of men claimed that they were most attracted to women into aerobics and yoga and least attracted to women involved in bodybuilding, rugby, and golf. The highest percentage of women found themselves attracted to men in climbing, extreme sports, football and hiking. Women were least attracted to men involved in aerobics and golf. There was no [see comments for update] information provided about cycling, because we know that shaved legs and tight clothing gives us an unfair advantage. Which might also explain why men and women agree that golf is one unsexy sport.

Blood for Oil

Posted on flickr by evithalani

I first saw this here. No further comment needed.

March Ride

What a great day for a ride! It was 40 degrees when we started and 35 miles later, it was 50. The snow on the ground and the sunny skies made for a beautiful ride. And, I have a new camera. As far as I was concerned, this was the first ride of spring.

Leap Day

This will be my last post on February 29 for four years. Take that!

More Snow

And if I had this, perhaps shoveling my driveway would have been more fun (h/t to Fritz at Cyclelicious).

Winter Training

I don't usually read Dave Barry's column for training advice, but in this column, he makes a compelling case for sleeping more as a way to build muscle mass. Winter, of course, is the perfect time to add this to one's training regimen (assuming one has a training regimen).

Song Idea

It's too cold to blog, but I think I can ride.

(sounds vaguely familiar somehow...)

Sad News

Sheldon Brown has passed away at age 63.

By Hand

Hand crafted beer - Tasty.
Hand made bread - Delicious.
Hand thrown pottery - Beautiful.
Hand shoveled driveway -

- doesn't have the same appeal.

Top of the Bridge

Rode the North Branch Trail yesterday on the mountain bike. On 4 inches of fresh powder, I had to let nearly all the air out of my tires for any traction and still it was quite the workout. I took this on the bridge over Caldwell and Oakton.

I Love My Bike

One reason why it is especially important to make sure your saddle is at the right height.



Anyone understand Dutch?

Dangers

I stumbled across this cool chart:


And decided to see what happens if I look for cycling. As a control (geek alert) I googled (or is that Googled?): "Died in a skydiving accident" and "Died in an elevator accident" and found that these numbers had increased by about 10% since this chart was made. The results for "Died in a blogging accident" has increased to 46,000 hits (yes, 46 thousand), due, I'm certain, not to the increased dangers of blogging, but to bloggers citing this chart.

Anyway, the results for: various cycling terms are as follows:
bicycle: 4460
cycling: 1430
biking: 395
pedaling: 0

Sadly, the first item that comes up in the search for "died in a cycling accident" is the death of Stereolab vocalist Mary Hansen in 2002.

OK, in a post that was supposed to be humorous, I seem to have taken a turn for the morbid. I'm going to stop digging now.

On Schedule?

According to the Chicago Tribune which cited the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Chicago's "climatologically" coldest week of winter arrived on schedule this week.

And today is the 23rd anniversary of the coldest day in Chicago history. It was my first winter in Chicago and I woke up to a temperature of -27 degrees and wind chills down to about -90.

I didn't' ride that day either.

A Place For Your Unused Bikes

I just learned that Working Bikes Cooperative will be collecting donated bikes at the January 19 Chicago Winter Bike Swap. So bring your old, tired, used, unused, disused, useless, lonely, misfit or just the bikes you no longer need.

Last Chance Appeal

Floyd Landis's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will be on March 19. I've not been keeping up with for months so I'll just point that date out and refer you to TBV for all (and I do mean all) the details.

I wonder what major league baseball would look like if their approach to doping were the same as cycling's?

Morning Ride

35 degrees, cloudy and a stiff west wind made this a great day for my first 50-mile ride of the new year.

Cyclocross 2008

Through my friends at Chicago Bike Racing, I see that there is a tentative schedule for the 2008 Chicago Cyclocross Cup. There are 7 races on this schedule (Moline is new for 2008) and in the comments section at the CBR post comes word that Beverly Bike-Vee Pak may also try an add a race as well. They are having a a USAC sanctioned, non-competitive cyclocross ride on February 10 to "see how it goes". Flyer here. I'll be there.

In other news, there will be a 'cross race in Viroqua, Wisconsin on January 19. That's about 4+ hours away, so I don't think I'm going. At least, not this year.

Chicago Winter Bike Swap

The Chicago Winter Bike Swap is this next Saturday (January 19) at the Old Orchard Country Club in Mount Prospect. Details here. There is a bike swap in Madison, Wisconsin this Saturday (the 12th).

Rule of Thumb

I did a quick check of the eponymously named web site Rules of Thumb for one about cycling. The closest I found was #2250: "An ideal weight for an endurance athlete, in pounds, is twice his height in inches." Being 5'11" that would make my ideal weight 142 lbs. This leads me to #3042, "The Two Keys to Dieting: Consume less and/or metabolize more. Any diet plan, supplement or gadget will only help you do one of these two things. Ultimately, you can save a lot of frustration and money by doing nothing more than consciously and continually choosing to eat less and get more exercise."

Starting tomorrow.

Driving Under Presure

BBC News reports that a French company has developed a car that runs on compressed air, will be produced by India's Tata Motors and it may be on sale in Europe and India by year end. More details here, but essentially a fill up (recharge? pressurization?) will cost about $3 for about a 125 mile range. Perfect for a city car or a second car for those of us in the suburbs. Also noteworthy is that its exhaust is non-polluting.

Warm Out Today

How's this for an apres ride picture? It was an unseasonably warm 47 out today. Tons of snow melt made the roads wet and gritty. Everyone was kicking up rooster tails of salt water, even fenders were of limited help. Even so, it's a treat to get in a 40 mile ride in January without shoe warmers, tons of layers and gloves the size of medieval gauntlets.

The World Has Changed

Check out this wonderful commercial (h/t Fritz):

New Gear

The New Year

This is one idea for the new year:

And here's another:

Perhaps there's a way to do both?

New Years Resolutions

More miles.
Less stress.

My wish for you all.

The Basics

Found myself over at Lifehacker which I found via Warren T's blog. I read several of their best posts of the week which lead me to this excellent four-minute video on composition.

Bike By Shooting

I've been under the weather the last two days and not able to enjoy the warm weather we are having. This photo is from the last ride I took before a virus brought me down. Ahhh, memories...

True or False

We need to drink eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy.

Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.

Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser.

We use only 10 percent of our brains.

Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.

Eating turkey makes you drowsy.

Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals.

Answers here.

Surprising Warmth

Yesterday, it was an unseasonable 48 degrees. The snow melt made the roads wet and gritty, but other than that, it was a great day for a ride. I took the Bianchi and put on a pair of clip on fenders and was good to go. I got in 47 miles, split in half by the the required coffee stop. A really nice treat for a December ride.

Today, several thousand of my neighbors and I are paying for this. Sometime after 2:00 this morning the winds (gusts up to 49 MPH if you believe my local weatherbug station) and cold kicked in and I lost the electrical power at my house. I just called ComEd again and there is no new information except that they are working on a damage assessment.

Snow Riding

Yesterday, I woke up to 30 degree weather after two inches of new snow fell. We were planning to ride anyway, so it was just a matter of route and equipment that needed to be settled. The snow made the roads dicey, so we decided on the Green Bay Trail. The part of the trail near me was ice and frozen snow under the new stuff and it was bumpy and slippery and threw my mountain bike around. BT's Surly Puglsey, however, was slow and steady and just rolled over it. When we got to sections that were plowed before the new snow fell, my bike did have a speed advantage. Overall, we were out for two hours and, according to his Garmin, we covered 15 miles.

This morning was a different story. We got another five inches of powder last night. Instead of going cross country skiing, we hit the trails again, this time near Harms Woods.

Today, the Surley had it all over the mountain bikes. Again, slow and steady progress. Also, it didn't get thrown around like my bike. The only way we could make any progress on the mountain bikes was to drop the tire pressure way below the recommended minimum of 40 psi. It was grueling, but although colder today, the sun was out and it was a beautiful day.

To give you an idea just how wide the Pugsley tires are, I took this picture. The snow was actually a bit shallower here, but you can see the difference between the Pugsley tire tracks and the mountain bike tracks.

You can see from this photo just how deep the snow was. You can also see how much I was sliding around. It turned out that I had much better success riding through fresh snow rather than trying to ride on places where it was getting packed down by others. The bike got tossed around less and I was able to keep it under control better.

Here's another shot comparing how much more control the Pugsley had over the mountain bike. And, no, I'm not going to entertain any comments about our relative bike handling skills.

It was quite a workout. You had to keep pedaling to keep the bike moving and upright. Even in a low gear, it was still high resistance work and I had to occasionally stop to rest. At the end of the ride, I felt like I had done about 5000 leg presses.

Next time, however, I bring my skis.

But What I Really Want to do is Direct

Make a bike movie and submit it to the 2008 Bicycle Film Festival. Submissions are due by February 19th. The entry form is here. The BFF usually makes it to Chicago in late summer.

Illinois State Cyclocross Championships - Results

The results are posted for the Chicago Cyclocross Cup Race #6 at Montrose Park. The good news is that I came in ahead of 12 other Cat 4 racers. I just won't point out that there were 45 of us that finished that particular race.

A plethora of great photos of the races were taken by and are posted on flickr by Luke, Ed, Julie, sierraromeo, Carol Ann, and Ansgar. If you know of any others, let me know.

Kudos to Turin Bicycle Shop for a great racing experience and to the organizers of the ChiCrossCup.

Le Comedie du Bicyclette

I just got back from a performance of Le Comedie du Bicyclette AKA The Bicycle Men at the Lakeshore Theatre. This is a rather hard to describe musical comedy. It is essentially the surreal comedic nightmare of an American cyclist whose bike breaks down in a small French village. This production of the show features Dan Castellaneta, a voice actor of some note. For me, just knowing that Mark Nutter wrote the show was enough of a draw. I had seen him in several shows in the 80s when he wrote and performed in a troupe called Friends of the Zoo.

Verdict? Go. Have fun. Enjoy the show. I did.

Thanks to Luke at CBR for the tip off that the show exists and to VCR Bike Team via a friend for the tickets.

Montrose Park

Up until the Montrose Park race, the weather had been mild, if not downright nice. And, although I don’t really like playing in the mud as much as this guy, I was pretty much expecting to experience a range of fall conditions. Even the Lansing race, just three weeks ago, wasn’t all that cold. At Montrose, there was snow on the ground and it was (somewhat) cold.

I got there around noon, plenty of time to register, visit with friends and get in a practice lap after the women finished their race. It was a technical course, challenging and fun. This was also my first time racing in mud, so it was going to be interesting to see if I could keep the bike upright or if was going to be one wipeout after another. For a really good description of the course (with pictures) see Tristan Schouten’s blog. Jim also has a nice description of the course at his blog. Other blog reports of the race here, here, here (pics and video!) and here. This guy will have something soon. I'm sure there are plenty more. Feel free to put a link in the comments. Maybe I should have trained harder and blogged less..?

I spent most of the next hour warming up on the road, occasionally stopping to watch the race. With about 20 minutes to spare, I went back to the car, drank some water, dropped off my ski gloves and decided to keep my Lake 300 winter shoes on figuring that dry feet are more important than lighter shoes. I headed out to the start.

There were about 40 of us and I was right smack in the middle. There were the usual preliminaries and we were off. Right off the back someone bumps me and somehow we both stay upright, but it was a slow start for me. Well, slower than usual.

By the time the 4As raced, the course changed from icy and slippery to muddy and slippery. The turns around the trees were treacherous, but I managed to keep the bike upright the entire race. I love how you can get a cross bike sliding all over the place and still keep it upright if you just keep on peddling through it.

The first challenge was the double barrier at the base of Cricket hill. Running up, riding down and running back up this sledding hill killed me. The first run up it told me I wasn’t in any shape, running-wise, to be doing this hill more than one time. Each lap it got harder until the last lap it wasn’t a run up the hill so much as a trudge. Note to self…

Sometime during the first lap, I felt my saddle shift. It didn’t feel uncomfortable, but I was sitting pretty far back on it most of the race. At the end of the race, the saddle was pointing upwards at about a 30 degree angle. Turned out to be the end of the line for that saddle post as the teeth in the clamp had worn down. Anyway, I don’t think it affected my race much, except it may have contributed to me catching my tights on it on one remount. I didn’t fall, but it wasn’t pretty either.

The race went pretty well for me. I executed the dismounts, carries and remounts with some measure of confidence and grace. I pulled off a couple of passes in tight spots and generally rode smart, if not very aggressively. I didn’t have time to stick around for the race results so I’ll have to wait for them to be posted on the web site. I figure I came in somewhere around 30th.

For my first racing season, I happily achieved the following:

Finished all six Chicago Cyclocross Cup races.
Got at least 8 points as a Cat 4 (A group).
Met some quality people and had a ton of fun.

Some of those quality people caught me on digital film (either by accident or on purpose). Thank you Luke, Ed, Julie, Ben, Kristin, Carolyn, Brendan and anyone else who shot me.

For next year, I need to:
Polish my cross skills.
Work on strategy, power and fitness.
Take a few more risks in the turns.

Oh yeah. There’ll be a next year. Count on it.

I love this sport!

Distractions

While I'm assembling my thoughts on the race today, I came across some bike porn that distracted me. Should have something on the blog tomorrow.

Hmmm...What To Serve

Food for thought.

Motivation

I've been listening to the Scientific American 60-Second Psych podcast for a few weeks now. The most recent episode has some useful information about how to motivate yourself to work out. They summed it up this way:

Those who have a negative view of their bodies, were most persuaded by fear messaging, like, “If you want to fit into those jeans, better get those thighs on the treadmill!” But those who have a positive view of their bodies were the most persuaded by encouraging messaging, like, “Wow, you do a great downward dog.”

Of course, you could alway hang one of these on your wall.

Cross Country

Not being the proud new owner of a Surly Pugsley (you know who you are), I had to settle for some time off the bike this morning. Luckily, the snow was perfect for cross country skiing and I was able to get out for a bit. You might call the picture on the left the cross country skiing equivalent of a panda portrait. Then again you might not.

Wimped out

I checked the Sunday forecast early Saturday night and decided that I wasn't going wake up early and drive 80 minutes to race in the freezing rain (freezing snow would have been OK--that's my story and I'm sticking to it), so I stayed late at a party instead. Woke up with a headache and, even though it was 40 degrees and not raining, I decided to skip the Daniel Wright Woods ride as well so my day was a total waste.

News

Hey look! Cyclocross made the Chicago Tribune Magazine and the New York Times. Although the web site doesn't show the picture, our friends at Chicago Bike Racing point out that the picture in the Sunday magazine was not the rider whose name appeared in the caption.

Lights!

I really like my Light & Motion ARC light for illuminating my way when needed. Even when a friend just recently acquired a new Lupine Betty with its 1400 lumens (vs 675 for the L&M), I don't feel any light envy (or heavy jealousy). Of course, if you want style points, you can get one of these.

What's the Weather

I was wondering what the "normal" weather was for this time of year. I'll settle for average temperatures since what is normal, anyway? I found this cool tool. Put in your zip code and out pops a histogram of monthly average high and low temperatures.

Seeing the numbers in metric doesn't help at all.

Not that I thought it would, but this doesn't make getting up in the dark to ride in the winter any easier.

Pre Ride Check

Last night in a rare fit of forethought, I decided to check to make sure my bike was ready for the ride this morning. With a 5:00 (sharp) departure, the bike's either ready, or I ride alone. Since I cleaned the bike and lubed the chain after the Sunday ride there shouldn't be much to do. Or so I thought.

While topping off the front tire, the top of the valve broke off in my fingers. OK, change the tube. Better now than right before the ride, right? Next, I topped off the rear tire, wiped down the chain and...hmmm...the saddle looks a little...off. I take the bike off the stand and sure enough, the saddle is pointing up at about a 30 degree angle. I wonder how that happened. No matter. A few quick adjustments and it's back to where it should be. Finally, I reinstalled the rear fender and tail light and gave the chain a quick wipe. All done and now off to bed.

So at least my bike was ready for the ride this morning. Turns out my body wasn't. I nearly got dropped on the ride to the trail head. Then I did get dropped on the trail. I took the shortcut through Old School and got caught in the Savannah. I was cooked, baked, done, fried. Probably braised and sauteed, too.

And, worst of all, I couldn't even blame the bike.

Trail Ride

For a nice description of the Sunday Daniel Wright Woods ride see the Go Faster Jim blog. This gives me an excuse to post a post-ride picture and compose a baiku (I think Fritz's beeper just went off).


Sun warmed frozen trail.
The spray of mud hits my frame.
Still life with crank arms.

Lan Oak Park Cross Race

I got a late start so I didn't race the 40+ Masters race as planned. I would have liked to see how this strategy played out. Would gaining familiarity with the course compensate for the energy expenditure of a 45 minute race? My guess is no, it wouldn't, at least not for this course. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Getting to the race was easy. With the work on the Dan Ryan nearly complete and light Sunday morning traffic, I got there in about an hour. I arrived during the women's 1-2-3 race and got a chance to take a few pictures and take a ride around the park. As soon as it ended, I jumped on the course and got in two laps to check it out.

It was obvious even to my rookie eyes that this was going to be a fast course. There were no really sharp turns, one single barrier and one triple barrier section, two roundabouts on asphalt and a long sand pit. One of the roundabouts was made interesting with tree roots pushing up the tarmac and some leaf cover, although this was more visual scare than actual problem.

I was advised to carry the bike through the sand pit and I noticed that many of the Pro 1-2 and Cat 3 men did just that. During my preride, I decided to try to ride through it figuring I had nothing to lose. My first attempt was nearly perfect and gave me what turned out to be a false sense of confidence (note foreshadowing). On my second attempt, I nearly collided with three riders who were carrying their bikes, so I had to dismount. OK. Even though I won't be able to steer through the sand, I'm going to have to find a way not to hit someone in the sand. This just might get interesting.

I finished warming up by doing laps around the park. Took a few photos of the men's race and had some last minute water and a gel (yummm...banana flavor). 42 of us lined up at the start and after the usual announcements we were off. I got a better start than usual, but it wasn't long before I found myself in the back third of the field. If I'm going to do better next year in this series, I'm going to have to work on my fitness and power. For now, I'm going to take pride in little victories like passing a rider, or taking the barriers cleanly or not coming in DFL.

My first attempt at the sand pit was a stunning success. Not only did I ride clean through it, but I passed 3 guys in the process. My second attempt wasn't quite as good. And, wouldn't you know it, someone photographed the whole thing:


On the next lap, I wasn't going to make the same mistake, so I made a different one. I came into the sand fast, lifted my front wheel on the entry and gave it all I had. I exited the sand pit so quickly and was so surprised and happy with the effort that I wasn't paying full attention to where I was heading and I nearly missed the jog left around the tree and had to hit the brakes hard to avoid a collision. I'm not sure if the guy behind me was amused or pissed (or both), but no matter, I'm two for three in the sand. Another small victory.

In the second half of the race I was one for three in the sand. In retrospect, I realize that my main problem was that I needed to keep my weight further back so my front wheel didn't dig in. I'll try to remember that for next year.

On my last lap, I marked one rider that I might be able to pass. As I entered the sand trap, I was gaining on him (he carried his bike), but I had to dismount near the end and he exited with a few bike lengths on me. He had a little trouble with the left turn after the jog around the tree and I got on his wheel. As we rounded the backstop fence the course opens up into what is mostly a straight section into a gentle turn to the finish. With about 200 yards to go, I jumped out of the saddle and sprinted around him. As I passed him, I heard him say: "Oh, just go ahead". He was more cooked than I was. Another small victory.

I took 31st place. Not as good as I had hoped, but a decent effort. Montrose Park is the next Chicross Cup race on the 9th, but I might do the Wisconsin race the week before. Yeah, I'm hooked.

Celebrity Bikes

Ned Flanders' bike.

Chubby Checker's bike.

ID on Trial

Last night I watched "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial" a fascinating documentary that covered the trial in Pennsylvania where a group of parents sued the school district over the inclusion of intelligent design in the science curriculum. The show does an excellent job of explaining what the Theory of Evolution is (and that the scientific use of the word "Theory" is much different than the common use of the word) and how the history of ID demonstrates without much doubt that ID is just rebranded "creation science". If you haven't seen the show, you can watch it online after November 16.

Recovery Ride

Earlier in the week, I needed a break, a solo ride, an easy ride, to clear my head and legs (respectively). I decided on the North Branch Trail, a route I haven't taken in quite a while. This turned out to be an excellent choice as it had been recently repaved and the fall colors were gorgeous. It was dark on the way out, adding to the quiet and the solitude. At one point, my light reflected green in 5 pairs of eyes, deer on the trail who scampered away when I got close. As the sun came up I was able to see more of the forest and lagoons.

Another advantage of a solo ride was that when I saw an opportunity for an interesting picture, I was able stop and take it on my own time. I had to detour into a parking lot to take this shot.

I got back on the bike and continued home. As I crested a small rise I saw a deer over on my left. She stayed perfectly still as I approached and slowed down. I stopped when I was even with her and carefully reached to get my camera. I was sure the sound of it powering up would scare her away. Well, as you can see, it didn't and I was able to get a few pictures before the deer decided to run off.

I've heard it said that a true recovery ride is one that is so slow that you take a secret route so that your friends don't see you and mock how slow you are going. That secret route just might have other advantages as well.

Letter to the Editor

This letter (in italics here) appeared in today' s Chicago Tribune. The letter writer is from Highland Park.

Do you ever find yourself driving and out of nowhere a bicyclist cuts you off? Bicyclists are a huge nuisance.

Swap bicycling for driving and cars for bicyclists and the statement is just as true. Oh, and if you ever just "find yourself driving", I suggest you give up your keys before you start to drink or take your medication.

Why do they perpetually insist on riding on the streets?

Because that's where they belong. I am assuming that the writer means adult bike riders.

Do they have a death wish?

I'll assume that's a rhetorical question.

Have they ever wondered why sidewalks were created? Clearly, to bicyclists, they serve no purpose.

Sidewalks belong to pedestrians. In some suburbs, anyone over the age of 12 can be ticketed for riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. In Highland Park, not every road has a sidewalk and not every sidewalk is permitted to bicycles. You might want to read this.

It's for their own safety that they should stay on the sidewalks. I know I have almost hit a bicyclist before, as have many.

Seems the issue here is your poor driving skills. May I suggest you read these tips for motorists. I won't even press the obvious point of how dangerous distracted drivers are to other drivers, bike riders and pedestrians.

The frightening thought is that just a few seconds more and the biker could have been hit.

Why suddenly the passive voice? Guilty conscience?

Why don't the rules of the road apply to bicyclists?

They do. You might want to read those rules of the road again. Or once even.

Just because they aren't in an automobile doesn't give them the right to ignore a stop sign. These bicyclists are asking to get hit by disregarding the rules of the road.

Ah. Here's the heart of the matter. You don't like seeing bicycles ride through stop signs. I have news for you. That is, indeed, illegal (point for you). But please, no one is asking to get hit. And not all bike riders do this. And of course, you come to a complete stop at all stop signs, right?

And the funny thing is, we as the drivers are accused if bicyclists were to get hit because they are considered pedestrians.

Ummmm...no. When a bicycle is on the road, they are vehicles. See that link to rules of the road above. And if a bicyclist gets hit, your main concern is that you might get accused?

To me, this is a joke. Bicyclists should just ride on the sidewalks.

I'm not sure that even a sidewalk would be safe when you are behind the wheel. You need to deal with your road rage, improve your driving skills and, above all, share the road. You should also know that the Illinois vehicle code was recently amended to require motorists who are overtaking bicycles to leave at least three feet of room until safely past the rider.

OK now, group hug.

Give Yourself a...

I just like the name of this blog.

Campton Cross Race

I arrived at Campton Park during the women’s race and got a chance to snap a few photos before registering. It was another beautiful day for a race. Temperatures were in the mid 50s and there was a fairly strong wind competing with full sunshine which kept things comfortable.

As soon as the women were finished, I jumped on the course for a lap to see what I was up against. In addition to the usual barriers and sharp turns, there was a small gully to ride through (similar to the one in the Carpentersville race), a short sand trap leading into a sharp left turn and something new for me to learn, an off-camber section. By the time I rode it, the earlier rides had worn a slight path and the grass had dried out which made it somewhat easier. Still, I was tentative through it and probably should doubled back to practice it a few more times. There was also a section through trees that was muddy and required hitting the right line where the mud was packed. If you miss this, the deeper mud on either side slows you down quite a bit. This leads into a section with four partially buried railroad ties. The first of these was high enough to require a bunny hop, but most riders rode around it cutting a narrow lane between the tie and the brush. I rode around it the first two laps, but did the bunny hop thing afterwards, only hitting it hard once (luckily no pinch flat). This saved me a little time as I had to slow a bit to hit the lane around it. The last two railroad ties were low enough to just ride over. This took you into a downhill and fast approach to the last barrier before the finish line.

The mens 1-2 began to line up and the 3s were right behind them. I snapped some shots of my teammates, registered, dropped off the camera at the car and put the number on my jersey. I used pins from a previous race and wondered what all the other racers do with their pins after racing. It seems wasteful to throw them out, so I have decided to hold on to them and either reuse or return them. Also, I am happy to relate, my number attaching skills are improving. I locked the car, stashed the key on a lanyard around my neck (has anyone ever fallen in a race and gotten strangled this way?) and took off to warm up.

With about 15 minutes to go, I headed over to the starting line. I adopted a new strategy this time and lined up in the second row. Similar to last week, the start leads into a sharp turn, although this one was more of a challenge. We go from grass to a 180 degree turn which hits a dirt walking path and goes back onto the grass. I knew that with at least 40 of us it would stack up here (experience has its benefits) so I made up my mind to start off as hard as I could to get through this without losing much time. This was probably my best strategy even if I had to go slow for a while to recover afterwards.

They called the start and I got through the first turn OK and began to settle in. My cross racing skills are improving, but I still have to work on my handling skills, especially around sharp turns and crossing gullies. These are costing me time and effort that I just can't afford to waste. I am very happy with how I handled all the barriers during this race. I did trip once, catching my foot on the barrier as I jumped over, but having my hands on the bike kept me from falling and I actually remounted without losing any time. A few times I entered the final barrier at faster than running speed and still was able to clear it and remount. I'm sure a video replay would look ugly, but I got the job done. I lost the most time when I hit the sand trap poorly and couldn't handle the sharp left turn, taking out a stake (sorry guys). I was also too cautious during the first two attempts at the off-camber section, but had it mastered after that.

Near the end of my second-to-last lap, I got passed by the leader which meant that the race was actually over for me. I still took another lap. Hey, it's good practice and I must be getting better, since there is no way I could have handled another lap at Jackson Park or Carpentersville. I hung around waiting for the results, and saw that I got 28th. Not as good as I had hoped, but I'm staying close to the top half.

While packing up I got into a conversation with another cat 4A racer that I recognized from a couple of other races. He advised me to try racing in the masters race earlier in the day to use as a warm up and preride. His thinking is that it is a good way to warm up, the experience on the course is invaluable and, if you don't race all out, you have enough time to eat afterwards and recover. I think I'm going to give this a try at the Lansing race in two weeks.

I got home, started unpacking and someone seemed happy to see me.


Either that, or I forgot to feed him this morning.

Daylight Saving Time Part 2:00

As both of you undoubtedly recall, I hate the longer daylight saving time this year. It turns out, we may have the candy manufacturers to thank for this. You think I'm kidding.

The Great Pumpkin

I was listening to a Scientific American podcast last night between visits from trick or treaters. The current episode, fittingly enough, included a discussion with the author of the book, Backyard Giants, The Passionate, Heartbreaking, and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever. So, what do you think the current world record weight for a pumpkin is? It's much more than you might think.

Daylight Saving Time

I hate the longer DST year. Sunrise today was 7:22 which means that it's just getting light as I'm leaving coffee after my morning ride. That's OK for December, but it just shouldn't happen in October. Especially since we are having a nice Indian summer. Anyway, on my way home, I stopped and took this picture. Something good has to come of this.

And for Fritz, a baiku:

Daylight Saving Time.
Post Morning Bike Ride Coffee.
It's Still Dark Outside.

Sunrise Park Race

My next adventure in bike racing was the ABD Sunrise Park race in Bartlett. This was another Chicrosscup race and again I raced in the Cat 4 A group. It was a beautiful day and when I left my house, weather.com reported that it was going to be sunny, windy and in the low 50s. I stocked up on a variety of base layers, arm warmers and gloves in an effort to be prepared for the actual conditions upon arrival.

Well all my planning wasn’t enough. When I got there, it was nearly 60 degrees and with the sun out, all I needed was shorts and my short sleeve jersey. Unfortunately, I was convinced that it was going to be colder and had already dressed in knickers (which wasn’t a bad idea--protect the knees and all). Worse, somehow I didn’t bring a pair of summer gloves so I decided to go bare handed.

Fashion and technical wear decisions out of the way, I rode along the trail from the school parking lot to the registration area. I signed in and said hello to a couple of fellow Alberto’s teammates and warmed up. The course consisted of two sections of double barriers both ending on hills, a number of long straight sections, a number of sharp turns that seemed awfully narrow to my rookie eyes and a short, but very steep hill that came after a sharp right turn. I'll have to remember to get in to my lowest gear in advance for this.


This time I decided to take a practice lap and, of course, wound up starting in the back of the field of 44 racers. This did give me a much needed look at the course, but cost me a decent early field position. The race began into a long straight section which then stacked up at the first sharp turn. I’m going to have to change my strategy for the next race.

I felt better in this race than the previous ones which I am chalking up to experience (80%) and improved fitness (20%). I handled the barriers well, running to the top of the hills and passing a couple of riders who were remounting their bikes on the incline. I was also able to pass several riders on the long gentle inclined section. I ascended that short steep hill each lap without having to dismount as a few riders in front of me were forced to do when they ran out of forward momentum. During the second lap, I took a fall on one of those tight turns and this made me more tentative in the turns for the rest of the race which I’m sure cost me a few places. On the plus side, for the first time I actually remembered to check to see how many laps were left. On the last lap, I set a goal to pass the six riders in front of me, two close and four further ahead. On the incline, I overtook the duo and, with three quarters of a lap to go, started to close in on the group of four. At one point, I was right on the wheel of the fourth rider, but my tentativeness in the turns allowed them to gap me enough that I couldn’t catch them. I made a final effort over the short, steep hill and a final sprint, but it wasn’t enough. Still, this was my best race yet and I took 27th place, good enough for 4 points in the standings. These were my first race points ever and it felt good to achieve that goal.

Next up is Campton Cross in St. Charles. And a new goal...crack the top 20.

News of the Weird

Man who had sex with bike in court.

The headline is a little misleading. A quick read of the article and we learn that the incident happened in a hostel, not the court. We also learn that the sex with the bike was "simulated" (as opposed to...what?) and the accused was placed on the sex offenders’ register. Is that because the bike was underage or didn't give consent? And if it was this bike, does that make it a crime of passion?

Carpenter Park Race

(photo by Carolyn)
After hosting 79 of us in the Cat 4 race in Jackson Park four weeks ago, the Chicago Cyclocross Cup committee decided to split the men’s 4 into an “A” and “B” race. Since this was my first year racing cross, I qualified for “B”, but I decided to race “A” for no other reason than stubbornness. Or maybe it was pride. Either way I get to lower my expectations of grandeur.

On the drive to the race, I got a call from Barry who had raced the Masters 40+ that morning. He warned me that this was going to be a lot more difficult than Jackson Park, telling me tales of ravines I would have to jump across and about the sand pit where just yesterday they held a monster truck competition. I gritted my teeth and drove on.

As soon as I arrived, I could tell that this was going to be a different experience than racing the Trash Dash the previous day. The park was beautiful and there was music playing, giving this race a festive, party-like atmosphere. Unlike the gritty prelude-to-pain of the previous day, today was inviting in the same way a bear seems to smile at you before the mauling.

On the way to the bandstand where I would sign in, I ran into another Alberto’s rider, Debbie, who had been tearing up the Cat 4 races and had just upgraded and raced 1/2/3 where she took 5th. She wished me luck.

A quick ride around the perimeter of the course showed me just what I had signed up for. This was going to be far more challenging than either Jackson Park or Whitewater. In addition to the sand pit, there were other added attractions like the two small ravines. The first had a barrier in front of it and required a dismount and carry/jump across while the other was more of a deep “V” and could be ridden (more on that later). There was a double barrier into a climb up a short steep hill and then around you go to ride up and down that same hill.

I took a few easy laps around the park on the road to warm up and met up with Franco, a strong Masters rider that I’ve ridden with on the occasional weekday morning. Knowing I was new at this, he passed on some words of advice that wound up saving me some time. First, he showed me that on the first ravine that it was better to carry (or roll) the bike around the tree so the remount can be done on ground that was flat or slightly downward sloping. If you remount too soon, it’s on an uphill and you lose time. During the race, I actually passed two guys on two separate laps this way. Franco also made sure I knew proper shoulder carry form and that I shouldn’t try to ride the sand pit. I thanked him and continued on my warm up.

I couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures, but time was short so it was just a few shots of the sand pit before returning the camera to the car and making my way over to where the riders were lining up by the start line. After the Cat 1/2s were done they let us onto the course and we lined up at the start. At this point, I could either keep my position in the front line, or preride the course and wind up in the back. This was bad decision #1. The lap would have given me some much-needed practice on the course and saved me the embarrassment of starting up front and having nearly everyone pass me long before the first barrier.

A few final announcements and the race was on. It was a fast start and I fell through the pack like a salmon coming up lame halfway upstream. One advantage of this was that by the time I reached the first barrier, I had plenty of room to clear it. Hey look, one bike, no waiting.

My first near-crash-experience was with the crossing of the “V” ravine. All the racing before me had carved two deep channels across it and I saw that the 1/2 racers were able to ride into it, lift their front wheel and ride out at a pretty good clip. Thinking I could duplicate their skill was bad decision #2 and I hit the opposite side hard, but kept the bike upright and was able to continue on. I diagnosed the problem as not enough wheelie and vowed to do better the next time around. My next challenge was the sand pit which I cleared beautifully. Remount the bike, zoom around the curve, downshift, accelerate up the hill click down three cogs to continue to accelerate down the hill and I was feeling good.

On the next lap, I attempted to ride through the “V” ravine again. This was bad decision #3 and my unpracticed wheelie skills resulted in a crash and a dropped chain, but no damage to either man (alleged) or machine. Dismount, replace chain, remount and go. Second crossing of the sand pit was a little harder, but I was still looking good. Around the tree, up over the hill and down and I began to get into a rhythm.

With a little time to think before the next barrier, I decided to carry the bike across the “V” ravine this lap. OK. Dismount, jump, run, remount and ride. Hey, I thought, maybe my problem was I was going too fast. Yeah. That’s it. Ooops, coming up fast, brake, turn into the “V” ravine, shift my weight back and voila! Success. Now I’m racing. Now I’m thinking. Here comes the sand. Dismount, shoulder carry and I’m through. A little slower, but my skills feel good. Around the tree and…that’s funny...I’m on the ground. Never mind. Get up remount, over the hill and go. I figure that I must have caught my pedal on the ground sloping away from the tree. I must not have had enough clearance (Clarence). Roger that, Roger.

Around again and it’s a clean lap. No hits, decent runs and no errors. I’m just getting slower (and Leon is getting larger). The sand is getting deeper and I pass a guy who makes the identical error on that turn around the tree that I did. I clear the hill and pass the band stand and, the race is over. All this time that I was concentrating on what’s coming up I never thought to look to see how many laps were left. I thought there might have been one more, but I’m cooked. I gratefully pull over to the side get off the bike and gracefully drop to the ground and lay there on my back spread eagled and breathing hard. I open my eyes to an Alberto’s jersey asking me how I felt. I managed a “Next time, Lucy, don’t take the football away.”

Erik wound up coming in just ahead of me. I placed 35 out of 45. Of course, I raced the day before, so I was pretty tired going in.

I cleaned up, changed, put the bike on the car and headed home with one thought on my mind. Can salmon really pull up lame?

Your Bike is Hot

While putting off finishing my blog post on the Carpenters Park race, I found this cool web site. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Trash Dash Rehash

Via the MadCross website, I was able to locate some pictures of me during the Whitewater Trash Dash. In case you're interested, the whole picture gallery is here.

Looking fully color coordinated and like I know what I'm doing.




That face. An impervious mask of concentration hiding all the suffering and pain. And humiliation. Hmmm...some company is going to have to make arm warmers that stay up. Either that or I'm going to have to get some of those, what do you call them? Oh yeah, biceps.



And the results are in. Turns out I beat every other entrant in my race from Illinois. Both of them. I also beat three guys from Wisconsin including someone named, I kid you not, Uphill. There were also 14 guys I didn't beat including more unattached riders than a CBF Veggie Bike and Dine. 15th out of 20. Of course that's because I was saving myself for the Carpentersville race the next day. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Trash Dash at Whitewater

decided to do the Trash Dash cyclocross race in Whitewater. Even though I was planning to race the next day in Carpentersville, and I knew this would be hard on my body, I figured I could use the skills practice and it would be a kick. After all, I'm only in this for fun (not that a podium finish seems to be in my near, or any other future) and this would be an adventure, something to tell the grandkids someday (you know, while they're playing 4-D interactive holographic games and not paying any attention to me) and, most importantly, a chance to race against Cat 4 riders in my age group. In the Chicrosscup, there are Cat 4 races and Masters races, and since I give away age to the former and ability to the latter, I thought, why not give this a shot. To top it off, the race was less than two hours away and the weather report was unseasonably beautiful. Sounds great.

Mine was the first race of the day so I set out bright and early packed up with food (both pre- and post-race), water, ice (there's that thinking ahead stuff) and the needed clothing and gear. With the bike secured to the hitch rack, I set out for fun, adventure and glory. The ride up was uneventful, taking just an hour and 40 minutes, beating the GoogleMaps estimate by 15 minutes without speeding (honestly).

I registered, and had mild success with the first challenge, attaching my number to my jersey. Then, being an hour early, I warmed up by pre-riding the course. This may not be the best way to warm up, but I got to know the course very well. Essentially, we were riding on a grassy field that was as smooth as a freshly harvested cornfield (yeah, I used the word field twice in that sentence, deal with it). The course started out on a long bumpy straight away into a single barrier, then a hard left turn. Next, it's down a small hill and a 180 turn into a barrier, drag the bike up the hill and remount. After a couple of turns, dismount, over the barrier and a decision to either roll or carry the bike down the short slope and gentle curve up the short steep hill and over another barrier or remount and coast to the second barrier. I tried both and liked the second idea best. It didn't seem to cost me any time and saved me some energy. From there you ride up a gentle incline, and eventually get to the staked off left turn, right turn, left turn that I'm sure there is a technical cyclocross term for, but it just reminded me of a maze. Exit, turn left and repeat. On the last lap, after the exit you continue straight to the finish line. As I understand it, not a very technical or interesting course, but it's a beautiful day, right?

I began my last preride loop and I see two people carrying an additional barrier and stakes towards the first barrier. Even my newbie brain understands that they are adding a barrier, not attempting some kind of repair. I finish the lap, more than warmed up, and it's nearly race time, but I want to see what I'm going to face, so I begin another lap. The barriers are spaced such that you just lift the bike and roll between them or just suitcase it. I decide to use a shoulder carry, as it seems the fastest way to do this and it will give me some needed practice and it will also impress my rivals so much that they will award me the podium on style points.

At the start, I see a mix of cross bikes, several mountain bikes with front suspension and one fully suspended. What a doofus, I think. The loss of pedal power transfer efficiency plus the increased weight will put him at a real disadvantage.

The race officials offer their pre race announcements and encouragements. Oh, and one more thing they say. "We added an additional barrier in front of the first one." Groans by a number of racers who ended their prerides before seeing the addition. Advantage me. I'm so cool.

The race starts and quickly I find myself in the back third of the pack. No one has any trouble with the new set up (rats). My first racing shoulder carry lies somewhere along the continuum of elegant grace and a drunk farmer moving irrigation pipe. About halfway between, I'd say. No matter, it's fast and I settle into the pain and rhythm of the race.

I'm about an hour into the race and I check my watch and see that only five minutes has passed. I'm feeling fully anaerobic, my mouth is a dry as a sand martini with no vermouth, my legs are screaming, it seems like 100 miles to the end and I'm not passing anyone. But I'm having fun, right?

After a while, I find myself in a game of pass and be passed by the guy on the fully suspended Klein mountain bike. The jaw-rattling course is taking it out of me and isn't attenuated at all by my laterally stiff, yet vertically compliant Aluminum frame or the 45 psi I put in my 35c wheels. It makes me long for rides on smooth roads like Sheridan in Wilmette, or maybe on the cobblestones in Kenilworth. It occurs to me that the guy on the Klein is a genius.

Second to last lap, I pass the Klein hard. Take that suspension-man! I'm feeling good, relatively speaking. Hey, look at me! I passed someone. Out of the maze and just as I turn left, they open up the finish line for the winner. So I get beat by nearly a full lap, but at least I didn't get lapped. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Last lap. Klein passes me and I never see him again. So he either gave up and snuck off the course to abandon after the huge effort it took him to catch me or I was so cooked at the end that I really didn't see anything. Yeah, it's probably one of those.

Into the maze and I'm gaining on a guy in a red jersey. We exit and I launch a sprint and blow past him guaranteeing that I don't come in last. Hooray for me.

I wobble over to my car and lean on the bike rack, just breathing. Hard. I'm tired, sore, crushed and strangely euphoric. Or is that delirious? Who knows or cares. I had fun. At least I remember it as being fun. It helps me to remember that cyclocross is one of the most difficult forms of bicycle racing. Did I mention it was a beautiful day?

I don't know where I placed. The results aren't up yet, but will be here when they are. I drink, change, eat, drink some more and head home where I take a quick nap and then mow the lawn. Carpentersville is next. Can't wait.

Accessories

Not sure how to complete that Campy Record-equipped Meivici with Lew wheels? How about one of these lights? And while you're at it, get one of these phones. My guess is that you'll be driving one of these.

Ten Ways to Not Get Hit by Cars

This is worth reading, if only to review what we already know.

New StreetView Contest

Cyclelicious is running another Google StreetView contest. I posted a few links there that undoubtedly will win me the prize, but in case you want to enter, you have until Saturday. Oh, and here's another one. And one more.

Inaugural Chicago Criterium

Chicago Athlete has this story that the Inaugural Chicago Criterium will be held Sunday, July 27, 2008. This is great news for cycling fans. The rest of you should also come out. It's going to be fun.

Google StreetView

Google StreetView has come to Chicago. Check out the Segway tour on their way to the Planetarium.

Cloud Gate

Cloud Gate
Originally uploaded by frankshapiro

This is one of the pictures I took of "The Bean" last Sunday.

The Bean

I had a chance to walk around Millennium Park last Sunday and, with Google Street View coming to Chicago I just had to see if I could find "The Bean" on it. And yes, I can.

Vegas Sucks

Vegas Sucks
Originally uploaded by richardmasoner

Sticker on sign spotted at Interbike. I'd put in a vote for moving it to Chicago (Interbike, not the sticker). More discussion on this at Cyclelicious.