Not going so good... But nice pics from Jim

Chasing Twilight

Chris Kamm,

"You must be this tall to ride the Madison!"

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mediocrity!

thanks racerhead. I love bikesnob. Read more!

Friday 5/23

Gotta put in a plug for my wife's band

One of the supporters of the Cane Creek cycling team, Dehlia Low, is playing at the Black Mountain Center of the Arts as part of the Musical Heritage series. 7:30-9:30. Check it out if you're into Bluegrass or want to support a sponsor of cycling.

7:30-9:30
25 West State St Black Mountain, NC 28711 828/669-0930
$10

Now it's kinda been fun watching my wife's band and everything associated with the bluegrass music scene. My wife will come back from a jam session and tell me how so and so was playing too fast or how someone kept on calling songs that no one wanted to play.... We always have a chuckle about how similar it is to a group ride where someone's always riding too hard or taking us on some absurd route. Where ever you go, there you are!

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Why I'd rather be Risi than Zulle.

Crank up the volume and take in the atmosphere. You can't even see the racing in the 1st video, but that's not what it's about...
Video 1

This video sums up what I loved about racing in Europe. It has it all: trick mechanic work, unabashed old world sensibility of techno with polka/oompah, Alu Shamal wheels: if I were twenty again I'd want to be a sechs Tages Renner.
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Sprint lessons 5/13

Rumor has it there are tensions on the ECD team...j/k



Like a fighter pilot diving out of the sun, Reddoch is about to bounce them from 5 O'clock....

The third race in the Mellowdrome Cup series made me reflect on some of the things we've been working on this season, specifically all the undergear work we did in the preseason.

Even though banging out a big gear can feel great during a race, as endurance racers many of our longer races involve repeated accelerations in which being able to quickly turn a lighter gear is really helpful. Those of you who race against Darin might have noticed his uncanny ability to match any acceleration: it's really difficult to jump around him on the back straight since he can instantly whip up the gear and ride you around the turn. Some of it's probably genetic, but he also spent time in the Spring and Winter training in lower gears and lots of work behind a motor. It also fits with his style: you rarely see a big attack from him but he fights for every sprint. Beginners take note!


Gaming the sprint. How wide can you go?

Running a lighter gear on Tuesday also helps us incorporate some fun sprint strategies. Typically during a sprint, I'd make a run on the back straight and Darin would accelerate to the lead with me on his hip. Any riders who wanted to come around had to come around 3 wide, and we'd get on the throttle in a very controlled fashion if anyone got close. The light gear also makes it easier to float your legs and makes a last second roll on a little easier.

ps thanks again to Jim White for the great photos!
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Festival of Speed, race report

Well went down to the Festival of Speed in Atlanta and had one of those moments. As I sat glued to the tail of a string of riders in the points race, my bike bucking and rolling to the undulations of each concrete slab, I had one of those "what the hell I am I doing" feelings.
Back in the day I would sometimes have those moments when someone was killing it on a climb, but it was rare to have that happen on the flats -- and if it did you'd know that you were getting the snot pounded out of you. I guess the shorter events went ok. I rode a pretty uninspired scratch heat but rode a conservative race to 2nd in the scratch repechage. It would have been nice to see how I fared in the other shorter events, but honestly, I don't think I had the guns today.

It was great watching the other race well though -- Robin jumped into a great move in the snowball, Annette was always tactically sharp, and Leslie quick as usual.

Jason was awesome in the points race: after attacking for some early points in the points race he faded to the back. But he then had the courage and strength to attack for the final sprint and ended up finishing 2nd.

Aaron was nailing it all evening and you could see his confidence growing race by race. I'm pretty sure he took 2nd or 3rd in the point a lap and he also finished 2nd in the miss and out. It's great watching Aaron learn to be proactive in his racing rather than waiting for things to happen.

Of course, the damper on the evening was the big crash in the women's race which took Jeanne to hospital. From the infield, it looked like someone blew out a tire and fell, causing a chain of events. One woman crashed into the rail and Jeanne ran over a fallen rider that sent her cartwheeling down the track. It was really one of those unfortunate incidents that sometimes happens in racing. Get well soon Jeanne! Read more!

Jeanne's Hurts.

I think I speak for the Asheville clan, but I'd like to publicly thank the people at Dick Lane for taking care of us after Jeanne's crash. She's relatively okay, she broke her collarbone, and I'm sure she has a bunch of scrapes and bruises, but nothing that time won't heal. Special thanks to Steve Hill and the medically trained racers / staff who took care of her until the paramedics arrived. The organizers were also very helpful, concerned, and made sure of the logistics of getting our group to the hospital. Ted, you were great too. Last of all, anyone who's been involved in this sport for a long time knows the daunting task of going to an emergency room in a strange city far from home and Jeanne couldn't have had any better team mates than Annette and Robin to take care of her. Read more!

A question of gearing

Now that we're part way into the season, many of us start tinkering with our gearing in attempt to become competitive or comfortable. I can't tell you what gear to run, but there are some general guidelines that you might want to keep in mind. Once you find a good gear, you can pretty much do any event in that gear, but many of us make fine adjustments according to the event. For myself, I pretty much go up or down 1 tooth on the front, and very rarely do I ever change my gearing more than 2 teeth from my standard 51 x 15. So if you are into trying to maximize your performance, here are my suggestions for the following track events:
Scratch -- Bigger or standard. Most scratch races are run at the shorter non-Championship distances and end in one big sprint. Longer scratch races might be ridden more aggressively and could justify a standard gear. I think Greg Henderson won some stripes by getting away in a lighter gear.

Points Race -- Standard. Riding a big gear in a points race will kill your legs, especially if it's ridden at championship distances or against aggressive opponents. The sprints are fast, but not terminally fast, and you need to be able to respond to repeated accelerations.

Miss-and-Out -- Smaller. Repeated surges at 90%. When you lose a sprint in a miss-and-out, it's either because you are boxed or your legs are fried from the accelerations: not because your top speed isn't high enough.

Unknown Distance -- Bigger or standard. These things are never very long, and it's like a scratch race. If you're going to gamble and take off, you might be able to justify a standard gear.

Snowball, Tempo or point a lap -- Standard. Sometimes you sprint. Sometimes you have to get away. Somehow these races never end up being terminally fast -- if a rider gets away people tend to cruise and if riders go for sprints there's a lot of sitting up if you can't take the win.

Keirin -- Really big. The sprint starts off fast and you have to be able to light it up from a long way out.

These are just some general guidelines that you have to modify according to your strategy, style, quality of the field, weather conditions, etc. Back in my old Norcal stomping grounds, I remember chugging along the Walking man sprint in a 53x11 while my buddy Robert Ford turning his 52x15 like buzz saws or Matt Sarna in his 51x15 (where did he get his 51?)

Of course, if you suck you suck and fiddling with your gears is an act of desperation. And if you're going good, you can ride any gear you want and everything works! Read more!

At the Ring of Fire opener, Lisska!!!!

Kevin was, as we used to say in Switzerland, "Super!" tonight. He repeatedly stretched the B's to the breaking point until he got away with Chris Otahal(Youngblood) for the win. Kudos to Chris for riding to a strong second place, and I think we saw the return of Youngblood himself for a minor placing. Kevin, however, wasn't done: he jumped right into the A's and was soon mixing it up at the front for points and disrespecting the local hotshots. Two thirds through the race, just as it was getting pretty broken up, Kevin and Chris Emory (Biowheels), took off after a break and then proceeded to lap the field. They couldn't overcome Adam Rey (Industry Nine), but Chris took 2nd and Kevin 3rd. Kevin had some legs, but I can't say enough about Chris -- he was taking some hard pulls at the front but he still had enough throttle to hit out us Cane Creek boys ganging up on him has been teaching him how to suffer.... Read more!

Some pics from Racing 4/29

You can tell we aren't racing in California




"Greater height you must have if triple toe loop is to effective be"

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