Paris Roubaix
Italian national team coach and classics legend Franco Ballerini died in a crash in a rally car race. What a shame. Ballerini was one of the best classics racers of the 1980s-1990s. And, he proved to be the missing link needed to get the Italians in line for the world championship. Italian cycling is going to suffer tremendously from this loss. He was the future grand old man. The Italian equivalent of Bruyneel–only with a better racing pedigree. No more. Rally car racing?
Captain Tour of America, 1983
Happy Birthday to Uncle Gary!!!! Ground Hog Day is always special!! See you at the HOG!
Ye Old Steel Hardtail
Well, the weather has dipped down again, so I’ve hit the trails the last couple of days. Trail of Tears has some really nice trails which are all rock-based (mostly). So, even with recent snow-melt and rain, you don’t even make a mark. Which is good, because I’m not sure we’re supposed to be there…Yesterday I scoped the full loop of “Hickory Hill” in the north side of the Forest. It’s really cool, with one really bad walk up (but, hey, I gotta get ready for Ground Hog, right!). Today I did the same loop with Chief and Molteni. I missed one turn-off to the big walk up and we did a longer section of the creek-bed of the Red Shale Hill loop (which is really more this white quartzy and limestoney rock, Chief was tripping). That one has some extreme hills, apparently, from the signage. Given that the Red Shale Trail says “Danger, Steep Grade” and neither the Hickory Hill nor Lost Trail loops say that (despite having horrific walk up sections), I’m not sure that doing Red Shale is a good thing. But, if the O recovers from his fever, I may do that solo tomorrow just to find out….
Damn, if this keeps up, I’m gonna have to do an XC race or two. I’m finally getting to where I can actually climb and ride on the old Team Marin. It’s a nice old bike, and I bought it right before moving to So. Ill thinking that we’d be riding off-road a lot. But, I really never got into the idea of driving to ride bikes in an area where you can ride from home and hardly see a car. So, the old 2001 Team Marin Columbus Ultrafoco XT machine with XTR rear Der and hubs (I swapped for the stock Dt’s–maybe a mistake) has mostly just sat in my basement. But, now that I’ve been doing some rides, it isn’t so bad. I have it down to 15 minutes to Cedar or 30 minutes to Trail of Tears. When the temps are under 34 (which is when the trail is either frozen or probably barely thawed), that’s not a bad time penalty for not having to ride to Cedar (and the May 8 storms ruined the Pomona cross paradise which was closer).
De definitieve beslissing valt pas volgende donderdag, maar Louisville
Shitfire! None other than Sven Nys is expressing hope that the 2013 Cyclocross World Championships will be in Louisville!! This is huge. It’s gonna happen. And, it makes sense. Cyclocross has largely floundered in Europe outside of the hotbeds of Belgium and the Netherlands. In contrast, the sport has grown exponentially in the United States, which is a growing market for cycling in general. The French don’t care. The Spanish don’t see the point. The Italians think it’s funny. The Germans are Nazis. The future of cyclocross is in the Czech Republic and in the United States. And, how did the CZ get so into cross? Well, there is the not so small matter that they have hosted the World Championships several times already! And, now, they stand poised to win both the men’s and women’s races on their home turf with Stybar and Nash. Good money is on Stybar for the win, and while Nash isn’t on my podium picks, she’s got more of a shot than Katie “Fucking Cramps” Compton.
The Compton thing really has me bummed. The woman has had this problem for years, and while the specific issue isn’t understood the cause and consequences are. Anytime she has to take days off and sit on her ass in an airplane she gets horrific cramps and they may not subside for weeks. I’ve had a similar condition. When I was a runner, I developed these immediate onset cramps after my knee surgery. It followed a period where I was not running for several weeks, and tended to sit on my ass in front of a computer for long hours. The cramps aren’t from exertion–they strike immediately as soon as you try to use your muscles with any degree of vigor. It is paralyzing, and they don’t go away. There isn’t a damned thing you can do. I understand. What is frustrating is that a world class athlete like Compton, who would have been an odds on favorite for the World Championship can’t do what was necessary to prevent this from happening. What would that be? Live in Europe. If Compton had gone to Europe after Nationals and never left, this wouldn’t have happened. But, what are you gonna do? I’m thinking Compton’s net salary from cyclocross is somewhere in the range of $40k-80k, and living in Europe would reduce her (and her husband’s) net salaries considerably. Ah well, there’s always Louisville!
Gary M’s been boning me to write something, so I must comply. The freeze has had an interesting influence on training down here in So. Ill. Oh baby, what a freeze. I think we may have had one freeze about like this in 2003 or so, but it’s more than I’ve seen since moving to So Ill in 2001. Mental midget global warming deniers are having a field day, what with their inability to discern weather from climate, and their lack of knowledge of multi-wave panel forecasting and backdated interpolation. Ah, but this is the wrong blog for that….
I have now ridden my mountain bike thirteen times as much as last year! Great new trail locations at Trail of Tears, and Cedar is a blast in the snow (but really friggin’ hard). Next up on the trail maintenance front is to get some honest acceptance from places like the State Forest and Giant City State Park. It is completely ridiculous that the trails are closed to bikes. This ain’t STL. Total WEEKLY traffic on any given trail would probably be 30 bikes, at peak. That’s far less damage than would be done by two fat-ass rednecks on horses with a couple of cases of beer in the saddle bags and a few illegal guns….you know, just in case something jumps out that you want to blast…like some spandex wearing faggots on bikes.
I gotta say, I’m making a comeback. I had the swine flu and have had some other mild icky colds, but in spite of those, I’m feeling pretty good. I won’t be riding in the pack this season. Unless I hit a dog.
By Thursday, We'll be able to ride from the Spillway to the Cliffs...on the frozen lake....
Ah, the new year. My only thrill is that Davie will return from Brazil and be even worse off than the rest of us poor saps who stayed and became somewhat acclimated. We have not broken freezing since December 31. But, the good news is that I’ve rediscovered my passion for mountain biking. Actually, I never really had a passion for mountain biking, but when it’s really butt-ass cold, I can’t ride on the roads, so I ride my mountain bike. It’s a bit like masturbation, or prison homosexuality. There’s something you’d rather do, but can’t. Actually, I really like riding the trails, but I hate driving. And, I hate riding mountain bikes on the road. Since it was rather warm last year, I only rode my MTB once—and that would be on December 31st, when we packed up and had a birthday party (for me!) in Trail of Tears. The really good news is that we founds some AWESOME trails in TOT. Of course, they’re probably illegal, but, fuck them. Dipshit morons who refuse to pay taxes get to wander around and blast animals with guns, or ride horses, or cart out dead animals on ATVs, and we can’t ride bikes? I’m thinking with all of the budget cuts, a bunch of old guys riding the trails is the least of the IDNR’s worries….
To Celebrate Zappadan, the Barking Pumpkin!
Yeah, I know. But, I didn’t buy much cycling stuff, and I stuck to the tried and true necessities. I can’t exactly flip coins and say, hmmm, which do I think was the worst among the Wipperman chains, Ritchey Speedmax, Conti Competitions, or Conti tubes that didn’t make my “Best Purchase”. In contrast, I’ve only had windows 7 for a few weeks, and I know it sucks!!!
I had two major computer crashes over the summer, and once I got my cash flowing I picked out a system to replace them. Standard dell laptop with some externals to set it up with a keyboard and monitor. Nothing fancy, but not low end, either. I do a lot of heavy computing, with some rather torturous programs like LISREL, HLM, STATA, LEM, along with SAS and SPSS. And, Well I’ll Be Fucked. What do you know. As I sat down to install LISREL and HLM….they don’t work on Windows 7. STATA? NO. LEM is an old dos/windows 95 program, I don’t even have the heart to try it.
Oh, and my workhorse HP 1000 Series printer, the best thing I have ever bought in my life, with the exception of my Pegoretti…..ISN’T SUPPORTED BY WINDOWS 7.
Great. So, Now, I’m just going to have to hope that my four year old XP laptop doesn’t crash (or my office XP machine). And, I’ll have to maybe pray and beg that Stata, Lisrel, and HLM will come out with compatible versions (and that the Dean will buy them for me…that’s not a foregone conclusion here in the minor leagues, unlike at major universities where new machines show up on people’s desks complete with all the new versions of all the software). And, I’ll have to buy a new laserprinter? There is nothing wrong with my laserprinter!!!!
Ah well. It’s day five of swine flu for me. No Washington Cross to finish the season. I have to do graduation for the Christmas event (and even if I’m ok, I won’t be up for racing). I posted record high temperatures, hitting 105.1!!! Wooooo hoooo! And, on the same theme, Mag’s back!! He actually did a race in California. Good to see him getting out and racing, so he doesn’t act like a jackass on the bike trails. Pretty funny videos on his blog, lots of pre-race angst….
Big Congratulations to Gina Champion, who won the IL cyclocross championship last weekend! And, Big Daddy Mark McGeen took the Wisconsin title. Justin Armstead, Andrew Hines, the Shilling family, Chief Reimbold, Diamond Dave, Gary M also had great races. And, a special salute to Ron Bridal for overcoming an illegal callup of Chicago Mafia Yokels and SMOKING the 3’s race!
The Team Mack Waterford Reynolds 953 Stainless
I didn’t buy shit in 2009 because I was on half salary from my sabbatical. But, fortunately, I can live vicariously through my teammate Don Lowe! Wow!! As soon as I finish my book and get the advance, I’m getting one of these! The Waterford R-33 Stainless steel model! Don has his dressed up in full SRAM RED with Zipps. I think I’ll stick with Campy and go 11 speed, and run the American Classic 58mms….those were a great purchase in 2008.
But, I suppose among what little I did buy in 2009, my most amazing purchase was something relatively cheap, the new Continental 4000 Grand Prix’s. I’ve been running Conti’s for training for a long time, with a break when we were on Vittoria (when I ran the Rubino Pro Tech’s, all the other Vittorias SUCK for training). But, these are a HUGE improvement in durability over ANYTHING ANYONE has produced. I’ve posted record mileage on several sets of these tires, and it saved my ass! I was broke. I didn’t need to be buying more tires, and had only bought a minimum on the team deal. But, I still have three left in the quiver, and I should have been out before the end of summer. The biggest improvement is in the sidewall durability, which has been an Achilles’ heel for Conti’s–particularly for their more expensive 4-seasons model. But, the new 4000s not only improve on the sidewall, but also in the treadwear. I cannot stress enough how much abuse these tires can take. They don’t really pave roads down here in So. Ill, and we do a lot of gravel sections on top of the bad chip and seal. The earlier generations of Contis were not this tough. I haven’t changed my routes or training (if anything, I’m just fatter and therefore harder on the tires); these tires have improved considerably. And, they do this while keeping the sticky smooth feel of the more racy 4000 tire. I don’t use these for racing. And, I wouldn’t even if I used clinchers for racing (I’d go with Supersonics). But, they are fast enough for anything you’d want to do outside of racing, and they are ultra durable….
I’m going to curl up with a picture of Don’s bike now….
thx: pdaddy Left, Sherkat, go Left, Left, damn you!
Oh boy. That was fun. Wow, check out the helmet cam. I wasn’t going to do Mt. Pleasant, but then the cards started to fall right, and Chief offered to drive, and Molteni could go, so I decided to do the B’s, which is more where I belong anyway. Even better, we picked up Rudy on the way into STL!! He didn’t have an operational vehicle, so it was Rudy’s big Heckawee adventure. He may have to sign up with Chief….I thought this was going to be a 50% turnout Bubba, but instead it drew at least as many racers as any of the races, and way more spectators. Chief and I were cursing in the parking lot as we pulled up to a packed house, complete with parents, spouses, and grandparents. How are two old farts going to take a pee under conditions like that? Some kid sitting there on a trainer in front of his mini with mom and dad, while Chief and I were trying not to dribble our shorts before we could get to the edge of the woods.
But, it all became clear pretty soon. Wow. What a venue! You could watch most of the race from the main deck, and if you went for another bottle you could watch the racers whip through the bar! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to enjoy much of that. We were on a bit of a tight schedule. But, some people had the right idea. Russ and Adrienne came to drink wine, not to suffer and whine!
Big congrats to all of the winners, and a great result for Team Mack’s Robo, who took 9th in the A race. Wow! Robo will be the first to admit that he can’t race cross for shit, but he’s the toughest guy in any field. And, this was a tough guy race. So, of course, I sucked. I had my chance to T-bone Gary Dyer, but I missed him. Gary got up and rode like a beast after that! Darrell Bratton was doing great for a while, but he blew up and finished just out of the top 10 in the B’s. Kelley, Molteni and Berto had awesome races in the Women’s, C’s and B’s respectively, though Berto didn’t seem to make the results (he finished right behind Chief). Crowe turned up with a fancy hybrid 26 mtb/cross bike with disc brakes and 700c rims! The man did well on that thing!
I rode the big run up in practice, but I didn’t have the gas to try it in the race. I’m still a month away from having my energy back, and by then I’ll be well into the off season….ah well, maybe next year…Davey did well in Indy, posting a top 5 in the 3’s on the second day…I should have done that…..But, I would have been shelled in the open 45+, though I may have had a podium in the 35+ 3’s….but that was too early to make on a one day trip.
And, everyone’s sick around here, so no trip to Tulsa for Thanksgiving. Which sucks, and doesn’t all at once. Who knows. I may buy tickets to another cross race or two….
Stay ouf of the woods, or something awful might happen
Gun Season is this weekend in So. Ill., Nov 20-22, so if you were planning a trip, go somewhere else. Second gun season is Dec 3-6….
I’ll be heading to the Bubba in the Vineyard, I think. The Heckawees are trying to get me to go to Indy, but that’d be an extra four hours of driving….and I can’t do both days….
