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.