Going with the Flow

If now were two years ago, I would be losing my mind. My season would be shot. I’d be a bit depressed. I’d be beating myself up. I would be whining. A lot.

But these days things are different. After taking a new job that limits my riding, and injuring my back (again) a couple of weeks ago, I’m still in good spirits. My weight is up a little. My muscle mass is down a little. None of that matters.

I’m realizing that nothing is the end of the world. Fitness comes back. Injuries heal. Races come and go. “There’s always next year.” And the year after that, etc.

Right now I’m focussing on having fun. In a few hours I’ll be headed up to Big M for the Lumberjack 100. Not to race, but to spectate and (hopefully) patrol, if my back feels up to it. I’m just as excited as I would be to race.

I’m spending time getting my lovely girlfriend into cycling. She’s an animal. I see lots of long bike rides in our wonderful future.

I’m building bikes. A lot of bikes. Bikes for me and bikes for friends. I’m considering taking that a bit further and doing some business with it for a little bit of money.

I’m taking the time I’ve recently said I wanted to slow down and enjoy the scenery while I pedal. Mostly because I have to, but I’m OK with that. I asked for it and it was given to me, albeit in a way I didn’t expect.

All of this stems from the fact that all we have is right now. I don’t know what my cycling future will bring, and I don’t need to know. I have plans and desires and I will get to them all when the time is right. For now I’m just surrendering to the flow.

My revised plans for this season:
- Cross-dressing at the Tree Farm Relay
- Cyclocross!
- Maybe an off-road hundo at the 12hrs of Addison in October
- A decent Iceman time
- Build as many bikes as possible

I’m a little behind. Here’s a quick recap:

Cyclocross

Love it. Gonna keep doing it. I suck at remounts. That’s what she said.

Massive Fallout

For the first time ever I actually rode all four trails in a single day for around 60 miles of riding. The weather was fantastic and the ride went without incident.

Iceman

Didn’t hit my 2hr goal, but I’m OK with that. Got a flat in the first few miles after bumping into someone’s chainring. Rallied, learned a lot, came in around 2:30. Spent the rest of the weekend drinking.

Boom, hot dog. There’s the end of my season in a nut shell. 2010 was a crazy year and I accomplished a lot. I’ll chalk it up as a success.

What’s Next

As those of you who ride bicycles know all too well, winter is upon us. This is considered the off season and rightly so. It’s cold, it’s dark. Hide yer kids, hide yer wife.

I’ve taken up a new cycling endeavor during this off season: track. The Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario is one of four indoor velodromes in North America, and happens to be only a couple short hours from my residence. Last year I took their Track 1 session and had a blast. This year I retook the Track 1 session and decided to ride the wooden wave (not a euphemism) throughout the winter.

A couple of us went back for a recreational riding session. The sense of security one gets from Rob, the Track 1 session leader, barking orders at you as you fly around the track is subtle until one enters the ‘drome by one’s self. We were a little scared to say the least.

Rob grabbed a couple of regulars and said, “Hey, these guys are going to follow you for a couple of hours.” Luckily for us they were totally cool with that. Unfortunately we didn’t get any names. One guy really held our hands throughout the session. He reminded us to hold our lines, to stay on the black line (the lowest line on the track), and eventually told us how to peel off the front of a pace line.

“See that orange line? Follow that up the track and then come back toward the end of the pace line.”

When it was my turn to peel off, I did so and shortly heard a soft, “ooooohhhhhh.” My new friend drifted below me as I moved back and said calmly, “don’t get too close to the blue line.”

There are four lines on the track: black, red, blue, and yellow. The lines go from low to high with the lowest being just a foot or so off the ground to the highest being roughly 10-12 feet off the ground in the turns. When transitioning off the front of a pace line, one rides between the red and blue lines. During these sessions there’s usually two pace lines going at one time with the slower riders on the black and the faster riders on the blue. (See the video linked a couple of paragraphs above)

I had apparently drifted a bit too close to the blue line and had nearly interrupted the pace line of faster riders. I glanced over my right shoulder and saw a long line of riders. I then gently, in a state of controlled panic, drifted back down between the red and blue lines. All of this took place in a few seconds, traveling at about 20mph along a 50 degree bank.

Riding that speed on a wooden track with a fixed-gear bicycle between two lines of people is fucking amazing.

We did this for a few hours and upon my return home I promptly sold my underused Surly Crosscheck and ordered a KHS Flite 100. I am totally hooked.

I bought a temporary membership at Forest City, and Bloomer Park in Rochester has an outdoor velodrome. Bloomer is only a few miles from my home, so my plan as of now is to ride Forest City through the winter and then get a membership to the Bloomer velodrome during the summer. I plan to race a little as back up to my planned endurance mountain bike racing. It should be a great way to mix things up during the season to keep things fresh.

As for the rest of the off season I plan to ride outdoors as much as possible. I’m also visiting the roller rink a couple times a week and skating with some of the more experienced folks. It’s a fun way to get some exercise in and work out different muscle groups in my legs and core. I plan to do some weight training as well and, when the weather breaks, get out for some very, very long rides. This year is all about 12 hour solo races with plans for longer races in the coming years. I can’t wait.

FAQ

Now that you own a fixie, are you going to start drinking PBR?

No.

Are you going to roll your pants up all the time?

No.

Are you going to put short little bars and take it off sweet jumps?

No.

Are you going to ride it to the bar?

Maybe.

Do you feel elite?

Yes.

Baaaaaahhhhhhh I’m HOOKED. My first hit was far from free, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll be back for more smack!

I did my first cyclocross race at the 2nd day of the Tailwind Michigan Double Cross. I got there way early and nervously signed up. My mind was all atwitter about barriers, that big ass orange crush stair ramp thing, run ups, all the new stuff I didn’t know about. I waited for my friend Jeff to show up so I could follow him around the course like a scared little duckling and follow his every move.

We suited up, numbered up, and warmed up. My shoulders and neck had been extremely sore and tight that week so that added to my flabby nerves of anti-steel. We did three laps and I realized some important things during the warm-up: barriers are easy, the orange crush is easy, and cyclocross as a whole is hard. I was excited to start!

I lined up with the 39 and under C group. I hopped right up front so I could get in the mix right away and see what it was like. They blew the whistle and I settled in to roughly 8th place, about mid-pack. The pace was high but not yet lung busting.

The first lap went great. The lead group gapped me but I cleaned the lap without issues. I was told after the race that my transitions were super smooth, which made me happy. I have some work to do on remounts but my dismounts and run-ups/hop-overs were easy and clean. I dig it! During this race I left my compact road rings up front, 50/34. I left it in the 34 but really felt the need for lower gearing. I can see how a 1×9 setup would be very useful in this type of race. I like dirt road randonneuring too much to drop the versatility of a double chainring setup, however.

My second lap had me zoning out. At one point I ran through some tape and had to back up. I lost at least one spot which I made up later in the race. THAT felt good. I really enjoyed the technical nature of this style of racing. While I have been steering away from shorter cross country mountain bike racing, this style of sprint/balls out for 30 minutes was very rewarding. It was fun, interesting and the spectators are very motivating. It was a blast. The 30 minutes FLEW by. It really is a sufferfest, but Jeff put it best: you can do anything for 30 minutes. Afterward I didn’t quite puke but I did heave a couple of times. Success. I can’t wait to do my next race.

I finished where I started, 8th out of 15. Mid-pack. I’ll take it!

Cyclocross (CX) is something I’ve been interested in over the last few years. I never dove in, choosing to say each year, “I’m going to try that this year.” When the time came, I did not try that. I was a liar, and I am sorry.

This year is different, folks. This year I actually AM trying CX. I tried it last night! True story! And you know what? I loved it. It hurt and I wanted to puke over and over again but I loved it all the same. In that way it’s like Taco Bell, just without continuing the pukey feeling after the activity has taken place.

I jumped on the chance to pick up a nice, used CX bike, a Redline Conquest Pro. This is the bike set up all roadie like:

It’s so pretty! This is the 2nd aluminum road bike I have owned, and I can now say that I like the stiffness. Don’t be dirty, you know what I mean.

My previous road bike was a true roadie. Tight clearances and all that. I’m loving the CX geometry with the stiffness of a nice road bike. It flies, and I just think and it does what I want it to do. My cadence is improving and I’m having a blast huckin’ around on the 32c WTB Pathways. A nice, hefty tire for dirt roads and pavement.

So back to last night, my first true CX experience. Nothing crazy, nothing outta sight, but a nice little practice session with some teammates. We got a quick rundown on mounting/dismounting and set up a small course to practice on. We set out to do 10 laps. I thought my friggin’ cardiovascular system was going to explode and blow a hole through my lower back (NAME THAT VAGUE MOVIE REFERENCE). It was great! This is the aforementioned steed set up for solid CXness:

It’s so pretty!!! It handled great. My dismounts went pretty well with only a few bobbles. My mounts took some time to get the hang of. I kept looking at my saddle and over judging the hop, sometimes hopping way too high. One time I swung my left leg back and my foot got caught in the rear wheel. My newb card was shipped immediately.

I see myself setting up a tiny CX course in my yard and practicing as my neighbors look on in disgust. I will be wrapped – so sweetly and completely – in my spandex of choice, hopping on and off my bike, riding through my brown shit-stain of a yard. Sounds like heaven!