Bike race #8.

Rollers. Wait by pool table. Rollers. Wait by pool table. Rollers. Wait by pool table. Rollers. Drink beer.

Last week I had the privilege to race on Dave Perry's fantastic italian rollers. Riding these feels like someone has lifted your bike and you're just riding on air.

The even was called "spillage in the village" and there was plenty of spillage. Race details as follows.

First qualifier, my back wheel taps the wall behind me. This sends me flying forward off the rollers. Bizarre. I'm allowed to redo the qualifier when this is pointed out to the official.

Second qualifier. Feels like I can only get 8 pedal strokes out before slipping off the rollers. No biggie. After I come off, I realize that the drums are still spinning at around 40mph when I try and rest my hands there.

First race. What the #$^&>? Why do they put me up against A. Lacorte? He's faster than me by a mile and in it to win. That makes me nervous. I get 3 pedal strokes out and fall off the rollers. Big disappointment for the crowd. But then I see Lacorte slow down to ride easy. This makes me a little angry, so I plop my bike back up on the rollers and I ride my legs off just so he doesn't get a free ticket.

Second race. My friend Tito is spotting me. I ask him to help me get a couple of test starts in. Things go a little more smoothly. The official asks us to get ready and we're off. After a few seconds, the crowd is in a serious frenzy, stomping the floors and banging the ceilings. We must be neck and neck I think. Tito tells me that the race is mine. I relax a little... and there is my big mistake. I am caught. After the race is over, I think I've won but the referee tells me that I would have won this heat if the race was 990 meters. Unfortunately the race was 1000 meters. I feel better after I get home when I find out that I lost to Dave Wiswell, a pretty good rider.

There are some videos and photos up at nyvelocity.com.

Here's my race.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JbO1glVv4c

And videos of the crashes, including the one where I go flying forwards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe3Z4ffIYTM

Is this really only race #8? Next roller race need to focus more on the smooooooth start than the jump start.

Google maps mashup : bike race and event locator

I almost forgot about this, I programmed it a couple of months ago. http://www.alphabetware.com/gmaps/

It's a simple bike race finder that uses data from Bikereg.com to show the races as events marked on the map. It can be useful if you're a racer and you're willing to travel - but want to find a race nearby, or if you are trying to decide between two races to see which one is closer, or you want to see how far away a specific race is, etc, etc...

Visual Resistance

This stencil is just around the corner from home. I saw the culprits putting it up. It reads, "we own the street" and has an image of a track bike. Nice job!

Kissena Velodrome... World Cycling

I was happy and surprised to see a picture (with me in it) on the homepage of worldcycling.com. It was submitted as the photo of the day. I'm the biker in 5th position, green jersey. This photo is the same day of the snowball race that I wrote about earlier.



The kissena club liked the picture since this photo is taken at the kissena velodrome, and they posted it on the kissena.info website. I guess they would have liked it more if I was wearing a Kissena jersey... I'll buy one for next year.

Learned inspiration

I read an interesting article today. It explains that humans love to learn. The article says that neuroscientists at USC and NYU found out that trying something new: such as exploring a ride we've never done before -- causes our brain to release endorphins that make us feel good. And new information that triggers the most memories also produces the most pleasure.

In college I did a summer psychology internship with a professor who wrote a book about his theory of 'learned helplessness'. That's the reason for my topic, 'learned inspiration'.

Biking home from my job on 59th and lexington today I decided to take the long route in spite of the fact that I've been trying to take it easy lately. I hopped on the bike and rode through central park up to 72nd street, then down to 55th street, over to the west side bike path, and all the way around to battery park then north again to get to home sweet home on the good old lower east side. It was foggy and humid but not quite wet out, about 58 degrees.

This relatively short 45 minute bike ride brought on a wealth of learning and new experiences. On the west side bike path, I saw two guys on segway scooters with puffy balloon tires. Since I'd never seen the X2 I must have been staring... when oops! I bike off a curb and I'm riding with traffic on the west side highway instead of on the bike path. No choice but to keep going until I get back on the path (about 300 yards). Keep riding, keep looking over the water to the New Jersey skyline it's really quite beautiful in this weather. Off in the distance, I can make out the Asbury Park Ferris Wheel. Then later, as I'm detouring through Battery Park I head towards a ramp to avoid some steps... but I don't quite make it and the bike HOPS off the ramp. One foot comes off a pedal and I'm wobbling along holding my balance with just one foot on one pedal. Thank heavens for the brooks sprung saddle I'm riding!

That makes three totally new experiences, 1) the guys on the segways, 2) riding off a curb into traffic, and 3) meandering through battery park detours in an unfamiliar maze of paths. Not to mention the amazing views I have of the manhattan bridge as I head up the east side bike path.

Then a fourth new thing happens. I'm biking on Delancey street under the Williamsburg bridge. I already know about the shared use street markings... and I am mildly amused by the fact that I'm riding over these things... until I make a left on the arcane and little Lewis Street where am completely surprised to find markings on Lewis Street too.

This is great I think to myself, if I keep riding all over the city eventually street markings and bicycling-good-karma will appear everywhere I ride, Woo hoo!

Finally a quote from circleAcycles, "There's lots of gear and lots of money to be spent, but the only thing you need is to ride. Ride places other people drive; ride places you used to drive. Ride."

delicious wists

Wists is the social shopping network. Nice, when it works.

What is it with eBay these days?

Here they are trying to emulate Woot. Ebay created a section called 'today's big deals'. A great idea for sellers... but look at the implementation for buyers.

What?... No RSS feed? I guess I am supposed to check this page every day. As a consumate online shopaholic, I'd really prefer a live bookmark - like the ones I have for newegg and woot. You know, the orange 'live bookmark' link that appears on pages like this:
and lets me view the feed like this:

Success has many fathers, failure has just one.

2006 Season is Over

Should have followed my own advice and excercised greater caution.

Fell off the bike on Monday night and broke my clavicle. I also damaged my new Giro helmet, and am thankful for that piece of styrofoam protecting my noggin.

Today as the orthopaedist was explaining things to me, I fainted. Funny since I was fine for days - with the pain and everything else. I guess I just couldn't swallow her explaining everything to me while looking at the x-rays.

Her and an assistant had to lift me onto an exam table, propping my legs up with pillows, and the assistant applied cold compresses until I regained my senses a few minutes later. Fainting is not fun.

Stronger legs and caution advised

I'm getting stronger or the others are getting weaker. Races seem easier.

Bad news #1.
I raced at the velodrome on 8/9, and would have gotten points in the snowball... but... I was DQ'd!

Reason was for passing in the sprinters lane on the inside on the next-to-last lap. I didn't argue. I had the sprinter's lane from turn 4 (when no one was in it...) I accelerated hard out of the turn, and as two riders started coming down into sprinter's lane I had to squeeze down below the line as I was passing them. The only way to avoid the uncomfortable squeeze would have been to lock up my rear wheel. What made this whole thing silly was I ended up riding onto the grass just before turn 1 rather than risk taking everyone out. I got back on track after everyone passed me and finished a wheel behind the 4th place finisher. Oh well.

Bad news #2.
...racing on Saturday morning in prospect park someone on a green Mendocino crashed in front of me and we both went down hard. It sucked. We were going about 30-35mph, at the bottom of the hill near the lake. I have a quite bit of road rash and I'm going to see the doctor today because I almost fainted after jabbing my abdomen into a doorknob by accident. The good news is that it seems like the (new) bike was not badly damaged, only the saddle ripped, brake lever scuffed, quick-release scuffed, and wheels need truing. What a great first ride on the new bike!

Gory Pics
Shoulder and arm - the red spot that looks like a nipple is actually road rash on my back.



Abdomen



Torso and leg


Yeck!

7th place gets a medal

At the "Al Toefield memorial race" on 7/22 I was able to place 7th out of a pretty big pack of about 40 riders. The nice thing is I got a copper colored medal tied to a red-white-and-blue ribbon. It's made of real metal, although I doubt it's actually copper.

Today, Molly came with me to the race! Yay! We drove from our apartment to the parking lot in Prospect Park and I did a terrific job of not impressing her. My friend Brandon was racing, and he had the idea that we could form a breakaway in the first lap. So I joined him knowing that he's strong but not so strong that I can't keep up with him. We were away for less about 1/2 a lap, when I broke two spokes and nearly took out the whole pack. I had no idea what happened but it felt like my rear wheel locked up for an instant -- and then I couldn't coast because there was a spoke wound up in my freewheel. Soon enough the pack swarmed around me while I was yelling Woa! Woa! Woa! as I tried to pedal through it. The whole experience was a little harrowing but harmless. Once the pack had safely passed, I pulled over and looked to see the damage, then rode into the setup area to ask about swapping wheels. There's no free lap in this race I was told, so I swapped wheels anyway and just rode off the back of the pack for a good workout.

I need to figure out how many cat 5 races I've entered so far...
at least 2 at FBF
4 in prospect park
these 6 count toward upgrading to category 4, and there's a few at the velodrome.

Updates...

Raced on 7/15/06 at PP. Took a flyer on lap 4 of a 5 lap race... thinking we were at the last lap I sprinted for the finish and then looked back to the pack 300 yards behind me, gearing up for the upcoming climb. Having spent all my energy on a sprint I couldn't climb very well, so most of lap 5 was catching up with and working my way back up the pack. Finished somewhere in the middle. Need to listen for the bell next time!

Got a new chain by Sram. The KMC was squeaky and stretched, the new chain shifts like a dream and no more squeaky!

Tried to race at the track on Wed., but slow subways (all local) guaranteed late arrival. Might try to race fixed on Monday night(s) at PP instead?

Racing tomorrow in PP for the Al Toefield memorial race.

We ride bikes because we're dorks

Last night I rode with 7 guys from a USCF club that I joined. It was your typical roadie stuff... shaved legs, expensive gear, fancy hand signals to indicate that there's a tiny shard of glass in the road, etc. Aside from that, a nice group of guys. We talked about metabolic heart rate, protein, watts, etc.

Today I went to the bike shop around the corner for help removing a freewheel. There were a some messenger guys there. In contrast to typical roadie stuff was the typical messenger stuff. A crusty guy with dreads holding a paper cup and having beer breath handed me an invitation to a goldsprint on Friday, and a nice postcard for the rumble through the bronx ride. We talked about how fucked up they were and the girls on the postcard. Here's a scan of the postcard.

In conclusion, everyone who rides a bike is a dork. Self included.

Lactate threshold <> Influenza

Turns out slownes was due to the flu.

Recovery meant resting a lot, drinking soup, tamiflu, etc until today. Rode for 1hr 20minutes, about 15-18 miles easy pace.

Slow day in the park. Lactate threshold?

I'm back to my regular pace huffing and puffing to maintain 15.5-16.5 mph up the hills in PP. I dunno what's happened? I have a feeling it has something to do with the way I've been training, maybe pushing it too hard too often, riding too near my lactate threshold all the time. Some folks from the Kissena club group suggested I read this, looks like a good recommendation.

good day in the park

Short ride = anything under 35 miles. For some reason the legs were all muscle today. Swallowed the hill (in prospect park) a full 2 miles an hour faster than I usually do, and wasn't even breathing hard. I typically huff and puff to keep pace. What gives???

Schwinn Madison Track Bike, historical data and catalog photos

If you're curious about the provenance of your vintage schwinn... Here are catalog pictures and specifications from 1985 and 1986. Looks like the Madison was sold from 1984-1987. Here's a link to my post on the schwinn forums.

Turns out my frame was manufactured in Greenville, South Carolina in March 1986. Fancy that, she's an Aires too.

Peugeot PX-10 happy life as a commuter

Here's a picture of the PX-10 frame I bought on eBay and built-up a couple of weeks ago. Serves it's purpose - rides fast, feels light, and I hope you agree - it's ugly!
There are no gears on this bike, the derailleur functions as a singlerator. Commemorated below.

I didn't get dropped from the prospect park race last night and it felt a lot easier. Maybe something to do with the three hours I spent riding the mtb bike during the blizzard on Sunday warmed my legs and lungs up for it.

Winter bike race for fixies only

The last time I was at the bike shop - I learned of a bike race being held on thursday nights in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.



The thermometer read 33° when I left the apartment. I rode out to Brooklyn and was totally plussed to see about 30 other fixed gear riders waiting around for the start at 10pm.

We did a warm up lap, then someone shouted "GO" and it was a two lap race around the park. These guys were really fast! I got dropped on a hill. Seeing other riders behind me kept me going.

It was a blast to cruise through the park with 30 other guys in the dark, blinkie lights flashing, sometimes at 30+ mph. I met a couple of nice guys who live in brooklyn and we rode back together to the williamsburg bridge.

I put in 23.1 miles that night, and I had to ask Molly to smoke outside because my lungs hurt when I got home. Today I feel great.

What makes bikes beautiful?

Simplicity. Bikes have few moving parts, and don't require much maintenance. For what little maintenance they do require, the average Joe can accomplish with a few good but simple tools. No extreme amount of brunt or might is required to maintain a bike as it would be for a car. Almost all bikes are essentially the same.

Reliability. There not many things that can go wrong with a bike to make it comletely un-rideable. But in case you wanted to see, here are some examples.

Freedom. Having a bike gives you great ability to go places quickly. Makers of the Segway state the average speed between any two points in the 20 largest cities in the world is just 9mph. I average about 14 on my bike.

Unlike cars, bikes parts are mostly interchangeable thanks to a design that hasn't changed much in 100 years. There's still idiosyncrocies in working with French, British, American, Japanese, and ISO standards.

In case you were wondering, Here's my top ten list that would come in handy for the home-bike-mechanic

1. Anything from the Park Tool Company

2. A patch kit and some spare inner-tubes. Old inner tubes can be re-used to protect metal parts from getting scratched, stretched like bungee cords to tie things down, and can prevent anything that clamps-on from slipping. Below is a picture of a thin strip of tube glued to the back of my cute little topeak whitelight bike-light so it doesn't slip, and to prevent it from scratching the bars.


3. In lieu of a an expensive workstand for you bike, hang it by the seat from a high object. Most bikes will achieve a natural balance in this position. Having a bike high up allows free-spinning of the cranks for easy lubrication of chain, derailleurs, etc. and it's much more stable and better for your bike than flipping the bike over.


4. Wheel bearing grease from any auto-parts store. Phil Wood brand lubes are the best (link to pdf), but heavy bearing grease from the auto-store is just as damn good and costs a lot less. About $1 for four ounces.

5. Needle-nose pliers (for pulling and holding cables).

6. Allen wrenches. 5mm, 6mm, and 8mm seem to be the most popular for adjusting things. Box wrenches are handy too in sizes 6, 8, and the entire 10-15mm range.

7. Truing stand and dishing tool, if you want to work on your own wheels. Building and truing wheels is probably the most advanced thing you can do working on a bike, but it's a lot more convenient to true your own wheels than to drop one off at the bike shop.

8. Chain tool. The cheap ones don't last very long. Be gentle and it'll last longer.

9. Odds and ends from the bike shop, like cable-ends, nipples, and spokes.

10. If you want to keep your hands clean get disposable latex or rubber gloves from the pharmacy (think bike-surgeon). But remember that latex gloves will fall apart if there's a lot of grease, so get at least one pair of non-latex gloves too. Latex and petroleum based products (i.e., grease) are not compatible.

Simplicty is beauty.

Spray-can black ugly 1972 Peugeot px-10

I couldn't resist the urge, and bought another frame that will become a fixie. After negotiating a price with the seller, he agreed to end the auction early since I had bought other stuff from him online.

Here's the description, "Circa 1972 Peugeot PX-10 road frame serial number 2432 713 that has had the rear derailleur hanger tab removed. Has plain Nervex lugs, fancy Nervex Professional BB shell, and long horizontal Simplex dropouts, so it will work great as a fixed gear. Includes a French threaded Campy bottom bracket which feels very smooth. Also includes a Campy lookalike Tange headset. seat tube measures 53 CM center to top and the top tube measures 55.75 cm center to center.

The paint appears to be spray can, and is very ugly black. The chrome looks great! Full return privilege if not satisfied."

I am very much looking forward to seeing this in person. French bikes can be a little difficult to work with because of the french threads and sizes. Fortunately this one already has a bottom bracket and headset installed. :)