The OVCX season has finally ended and we said good bye to the River Road Country Club. This race was the final cross race to be held at this facility as the city of Lousiville is turning it into a dog park (boo). I had an excellent and successful season, exceeding my pre-season expectations. A wrap up post on OVCX season will follow in a few days.
Louisville is a 4 hour drive and with the race starting a bit earlier due to the post-race party, I had to leave pretty early. My car was packed from yesterday so it was a matter of just putting my bikes on the roof and hitting the road. I woke up, drank some coffee and ate my typical breakfast then I went out to the garage to load the bikes. I hit the opener and then i heard a loud snap and the door didn't open. Turned out I broke the coil spring on the garage door. I guess its nearly 10 years old and it was 12 degrees out so it wasn't too much of a surprise.
I arrived at the course just after 11. I grabbed my number and roamed around the course while the 3's were racing. I snapped a few pictures and suited up for some pre-ride. The course was super slick from a combination of frozen ground and greasy top layer of mud. Front Fango was no go so I popped on the XM and hooked up tons better. My rear Fango is pretty worn so it pretty much functions as a file tread.
Front row start but I wasn't able to utilize it. I need to work on starts for next year. But no worries, I had great legs and was able to motor through the traffic and put myself into the top 10. I worked a little too hard in the beginning and faded slightly. I was unable to catch the wheel of the nice group racing for top 10. After a few laps, I was able to turn it on again and got in a good pace. No one caught me and I kept the gap to the group ahead in check. Maybe if I had one person to work with, I could have gotten back on but no such luck. I settled in for 12th place.
Afterwards, there was a end of season party complete with raffle, pizza, awards, etc. I ended up 6th place overall in the OVCX Elite Men's class! It was a great season and I look forward to racing OVCX in 2010.
Now on the way home, I saw an interesting accident. There were several cars pulled over, one a truck with a trailer and behind it, a BMW with a crushed hood. There were people out on the shoulder with a buck. So now the question is, did the BMW hit a buck, or did the buck bounce out of the trailer and hit the BMW? Regardless, must have sucked for owner of the BMW.
I have a week off from racing since I'm not going to Bend, OR for Nationals, so a week of hard training. Last Cap City race is on the 19th and first Winter Trofee race the day after.
498
10240
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Cap City Cross Smith Farms
An exciting day up at Smith Farms for Cap City Cross. I trained pretty hard this week so I wasn't entirely sure how my legs were going to go. My legs felt good yesterday on my openers ride but that's not always a good litmus test for how the legs go 45 minutes into the cross race.
The race was a short drive as it was just inside of 270 and 33. I packed up my car in the morning and was out the door by 10. I woke up to snow so I was a bit worried about the roads since no one seems to know how to drive in snow. Another issue was I had my needing replacement summer tires which suck in snow even brand new.
I arrived pretty early so I got registered took a quick pre-ride in my street clothes and hung around and took some pictures of the C race. I lost track of time and tried to suit up to get on the course but was just too late. I was however able to get a few laps in prior to my race. The course was pretty straight forward with nothing too tricky.
I had a second row start which I wasn't used to but it didn't prove to be a disadvantage. Gamm fell asleep on the line and missed the GO and I was able to get by him. I found myself 3rd wheel behind Matt Weeks and Shawn Adams. I knew I wasn't in the right place and if I tried to keep up, I would blow up to the point of no return. When I got gapped out, I chose not to try to chase back on. Unfortunately, I ended up in no-man's land and just kept the pressure on the pedals waiting for the chase group. John Proppe and Gamm came by and I was unable to grab the wheel. Then Garth and Andy Hague caught up and I settled into their group.
A few laps went by and Gamm was off his bike fixing his wheel. He popped his rear wheel out and had to reset it. As soon as he got back on, he just flied past all of us. John eventually came back to our group so we had a nice four man group of me, Garth, Andy and John. The four of us rode together for several laps and Andy was the first to come off. We chugged along for another few laps and two to go, John attacked and Garth chased. He then went off course on a turn into the tape and I was alone to close the gap up to John. Luckily we were heading into the twisty section where I could make up some ground. I caught back on it was down to the wire.
The finish consisted of a short downhill into two turns, a set of double barriers, a 90 degree turn, then around a small barn to the finish. In the previous laps, I always got gapped out on the barriers and I was having some troubles getting into my pedals. So I knew I had to lead into the barriers and be the first to the turn before the barn to have any chance.
I let John pull me through half of the last lap and then I attacked into a barrier/runup on the backside of the course. He must have bobbled on the barrier because I had a huge gap into the twisty turny section. He eventually caught up since I held a little back to prevent myself from blowing up before the finish. I led into the barriers and beat him to the corner. I came around the barn and sprinted it in for a nice 4th place finish.
Now its time for me to rest up and an early morning drive to Louisville. Lately, my legs haven't showed up on the second day so hopefully they do tomorrow. I don't feel too tired or sore so I hope I can turn it on for another day.
147
9742
The race was a short drive as it was just inside of 270 and 33. I packed up my car in the morning and was out the door by 10. I woke up to snow so I was a bit worried about the roads since no one seems to know how to drive in snow. Another issue was I had my needing replacement summer tires which suck in snow even brand new.
I arrived pretty early so I got registered took a quick pre-ride in my street clothes and hung around and took some pictures of the C race. I lost track of time and tried to suit up to get on the course but was just too late. I was however able to get a few laps in prior to my race. The course was pretty straight forward with nothing too tricky.
I had a second row start which I wasn't used to but it didn't prove to be a disadvantage. Gamm fell asleep on the line and missed the GO and I was able to get by him. I found myself 3rd wheel behind Matt Weeks and Shawn Adams. I knew I wasn't in the right place and if I tried to keep up, I would blow up to the point of no return. When I got gapped out, I chose not to try to chase back on. Unfortunately, I ended up in no-man's land and just kept the pressure on the pedals waiting for the chase group. John Proppe and Gamm came by and I was unable to grab the wheel. Then Garth and Andy Hague caught up and I settled into their group.
A few laps went by and Gamm was off his bike fixing his wheel. He popped his rear wheel out and had to reset it. As soon as he got back on, he just flied past all of us. John eventually came back to our group so we had a nice four man group of me, Garth, Andy and John. The four of us rode together for several laps and Andy was the first to come off. We chugged along for another few laps and two to go, John attacked and Garth chased. He then went off course on a turn into the tape and I was alone to close the gap up to John. Luckily we were heading into the twisty section where I could make up some ground. I caught back on it was down to the wire.
The finish consisted of a short downhill into two turns, a set of double barriers, a 90 degree turn, then around a small barn to the finish. In the previous laps, I always got gapped out on the barriers and I was having some troubles getting into my pedals. So I knew I had to lead into the barriers and be the first to the turn before the barn to have any chance.
I let John pull me through half of the last lap and then I attacked into a barrier/runup on the backside of the course. He must have bobbled on the barrier because I had a huge gap into the twisty turny section. He eventually caught up since I held a little back to prevent myself from blowing up before the finish. I led into the barriers and beat him to the corner. I came around the barn and sprinted it in for a nice 4th place finish.
Now its time for me to rest up and an early morning drive to Louisville. Lately, my legs haven't showed up on the second day so hopefully they do tomorrow. I don't feel too tired or sore so I hope I can turn it on for another day.
147
9742
Sunday, November 29, 2009
John Bryan OVCX Cap City Ohio State Championships
Pretty much one word can sum up my ride today, SUCK. I had planned out my entire cross season for the state champs and well, I choked on this one. In reality, I probably put too much pressure on myself for this one race. I was checking out who was registered for the race, checking out results on crossresults.com for people I didn't really know, etc. I gotta take it as it comes and I just had a bad day. Nothing I can really do about that. Enough with the bitching and here's the story.
The day started off on the wrong foot. My iPhone alarm didn't go off and I woke up at 7:20. I was suppose to pick up Daniel at 7:30! I scrambled and loaded my bikes, filled my Stanley bottle with luke-warm coffee, grabbed some food and nuked up some oatmeal. Luckily Dan just lives down the street and I picked him up and we were on the road by around 7:45. Being a beginner cross racer, he's only got one bike and a bag of clothes instead of me having way too much stuff.
We made good time and arrived at John Bryan State Park around 9:45. Plenty of time for Dan to register and warm up. I decided to lounge around and set up camp. In the mean while, my friend Zach rolled in and we chatted and such.
A bit of a summary while I waited to race. Glen and Kyle won the Tandem division with 3 total contestants. 6 crazy dudes doing a cross race on a tandem. Kyle's gonna wear out that state champ jersey. Robert Sroka took the holeshot and never looked back in his win in his junior division. I don't think he did so bad in the Cat3's either. A battle between Chewning and Markstein in the Cat3's for Ohio. Markstein suffered an unfortunate dropped chain that dropped him to second. Rodkey won the overall (no surprise there.)
And Dan Brown. He started in the very back and made his way to 4th place. 3rd place in the state! And with FLAT PEDALS!!! Flat pedals and back row start!. Lets get him on some clipless pedals and see what he can do.
Now my race. With the combination of a good overall position and being the first to register for the race, I had number 8, good for front row start. Last week I missed my pedal and shot straight out the back but this time, I was able to clip in and be around top 10 going into the grass. Unfortunately, I forgot to start my Garmin so I missed all the data for the road start section. I maintained my position for the first few turns of technical stuff then I crossed wheels, I tried to recover and popped out of my pedals. (Pedals are being sent back for warranty tomorrow.) That one bobble cost me 10 spots. At this point, I was panicing in my head and tried to gain back/maintain spots. But that really didn't work and I just kept bleeding positions.
I got settled in with Kyle, Andy, Moy and Nevitt and rod with them for a while. Chris attacked and got a hold of Hubble and they were gone. A few laps later, Garth came flying by with Moy in tow. I thought Kyle would get on their wheel but he was on the verge of blowing up. I missed that train and just rode it out till the end. Nate and Andy ended up passing me in the closing laps but at that point I really didn't care. My legs hurt, my back hurt and I was ready to go home. This course was all about power with a little bit of bike handling skills. I came out with a lot of bike handling skills with no legs today and it really showed.
On a lighter note, TJ did a great job with this race. The course was great and things went without a hitch. Gatch did a fine job announcing.
Anyway after cooling off a bit, its just a race. There are many more races to come and there is no reason to be too disappointed. I'm only 23 (24 cross age) so I have many years ahead to get stronger and faster. I have to tell myself this time to time when I get beat by other fast young (and older) guys.
A few more races left in the season. Next week I'll probably go do the Cap City race and then head down to Louisville for the OVCX final. Week after that, its National Championships in Bend, which I'm not going unless someone is willing to foot the bill. I could travel to the north atlantic to do Ice Weasels or Beer Cross, but I'll stay at home and maybe try to whip up an informal Athens Cyclocross Championships to pad my ego. Then its the Cap City Final on the 19th and I'll probably go do the first NE Ohio Winter series race on the 20th. Then in 2010, I'll kick it off with the 2nd Winter race, Southern Cross on Jan 9th and Cross-a-nooga the 10th. I think that should be enough racing.
263 miles on the car
9595
The day started off on the wrong foot. My iPhone alarm didn't go off and I woke up at 7:20. I was suppose to pick up Daniel at 7:30! I scrambled and loaded my bikes, filled my Stanley bottle with luke-warm coffee, grabbed some food and nuked up some oatmeal. Luckily Dan just lives down the street and I picked him up and we were on the road by around 7:45. Being a beginner cross racer, he's only got one bike and a bag of clothes instead of me having way too much stuff.
We made good time and arrived at John Bryan State Park around 9:45. Plenty of time for Dan to register and warm up. I decided to lounge around and set up camp. In the mean while, my friend Zach rolled in and we chatted and such.
A bit of a summary while I waited to race. Glen and Kyle won the Tandem division with 3 total contestants. 6 crazy dudes doing a cross race on a tandem. Kyle's gonna wear out that state champ jersey. Robert Sroka took the holeshot and never looked back in his win in his junior division. I don't think he did so bad in the Cat3's either. A battle between Chewning and Markstein in the Cat3's for Ohio. Markstein suffered an unfortunate dropped chain that dropped him to second. Rodkey won the overall (no surprise there.)
And Dan Brown. He started in the very back and made his way to 4th place. 3rd place in the state! And with FLAT PEDALS!!! Flat pedals and back row start!. Lets get him on some clipless pedals and see what he can do.
Now my race. With the combination of a good overall position and being the first to register for the race, I had number 8, good for front row start. Last week I missed my pedal and shot straight out the back but this time, I was able to clip in and be around top 10 going into the grass. Unfortunately, I forgot to start my Garmin so I missed all the data for the road start section. I maintained my position for the first few turns of technical stuff then I crossed wheels, I tried to recover and popped out of my pedals. (Pedals are being sent back for warranty tomorrow.) That one bobble cost me 10 spots. At this point, I was panicing in my head and tried to gain back/maintain spots. But that really didn't work and I just kept bleeding positions.
I got settled in with Kyle, Andy, Moy and Nevitt and rod with them for a while. Chris attacked and got a hold of Hubble and they were gone. A few laps later, Garth came flying by with Moy in tow. I thought Kyle would get on their wheel but he was on the verge of blowing up. I missed that train and just rode it out till the end. Nate and Andy ended up passing me in the closing laps but at that point I really didn't care. My legs hurt, my back hurt and I was ready to go home. This course was all about power with a little bit of bike handling skills. I came out with a lot of bike handling skills with no legs today and it really showed.
On a lighter note, TJ did a great job with this race. The course was great and things went without a hitch. Gatch did a fine job announcing.
Anyway after cooling off a bit, its just a race. There are many more races to come and there is no reason to be too disappointed. I'm only 23 (24 cross age) so I have many years ahead to get stronger and faster. I have to tell myself this time to time when I get beat by other fast young (and older) guys.
A few more races left in the season. Next week I'll probably go do the Cap City race and then head down to Louisville for the OVCX final. Week after that, its National Championships in Bend, which I'm not going unless someone is willing to foot the bill. I could travel to the north atlantic to do Ice Weasels or Beer Cross, but I'll stay at home and maybe try to whip up an informal Athens Cyclocross Championships to pad my ego. Then its the Cap City Final on the 19th and I'll probably go do the first NE Ohio Winter series race on the 20th. Then in 2010, I'll kick it off with the 2nd Winter race, Southern Cross on Jan 9th and Cross-a-nooga the 10th. I think that should be enough racing.
263 miles on the car
9595
Friday, November 27, 2009
2009 Holiday Wishlist
It's that time again! Its holiday shopping season! I know that the holiday's are for giving, but how are you to give if you don't know what they want. To make the ever hard decision what to get your favorite bike racer, I've simplified it for you.
The car:
My Matrix is sweet, gets good mileage, good size interior, pretty much maintenance free. It's prefect for 2 guys going cross racing or 3 road/crit racing. However, the tiny 4 banger doesn't have much umph on the highway and its a little cramped when you have lots of guys in there. Something bigger like a newer Matrix or Venza. Or a turbo/supercharger kit so I can cruise the highways better.
The computer:
Macs are hot right now. I've been a life long Mac user but unfortunately, I've been Mac-less for the past year. three options here, 13" MacBook Pro, 27" iMac w/ Intel i7, or Mac Mini
Who doesn't want the hottest group out there? Dura Ace Di2 please... 2 groups please, the B bike's gotta have Di2 too, I mean look at Niels Albert... He's got 6 Di2 bikes!
Tires, tires, tires.
2 pairs of Dugast Typhoons 700x32 or
2 pairs of FMB SSC 700x32
1 pair of Dugast Typhoons 700x34 or
1 pair of FMB SSC 700x34
2 pairs of Dugast Rhino 700x32
1 pair of FMB SSC Sprints 700x32
(Shit that's $1500 of tires!)
Cold hard cash. Bike racing is expensive. Entry fees, gas, hotels, replacement parts, food, it all adds up.
My road shoes are falling apart. I could use some new yellow Mavic Zxellium shoes or Specialized S-Works shoes
A new gear/duffle bag. Traveling every week has worn out my bag and needs to be retired. Something to carry a weekend's worth of clothes and bike gear.
One of those fancy hitch racks that hold your bike by the tire. I could probably save some gas by moving my bikes from the roof to the back of the car. Those Thule T2's, Saris Thelma's, Saris Cycleon-Pro's look pretty nice. (1 1/4")
The car:
My Matrix is sweet, gets good mileage, good size interior, pretty much maintenance free. It's prefect for 2 guys going cross racing or 3 road/crit racing. However, the tiny 4 banger doesn't have much umph on the highway and its a little cramped when you have lots of guys in there. Something bigger like a newer Matrix or Venza. Or a turbo/supercharger kit so I can cruise the highways better.
The computer:
Macs are hot right now. I've been a life long Mac user but unfortunately, I've been Mac-less for the past year. three options here, 13" MacBook Pro, 27" iMac w/ Intel i7, or Mac Mini
Who doesn't want the hottest group out there? Dura Ace Di2 please... 2 groups please, the B bike's gotta have Di2 too, I mean look at Niels Albert... He's got 6 Di2 bikes!
Tires, tires, tires.
2 pairs of Dugast Typhoons 700x32 or
2 pairs of FMB SSC 700x32
1 pair of Dugast Typhoons 700x34 or
1 pair of FMB SSC 700x34
2 pairs of Dugast Rhino 700x32
1 pair of FMB SSC Sprints 700x32
(Shit that's $1500 of tires!)
Cold hard cash. Bike racing is expensive. Entry fees, gas, hotels, replacement parts, food, it all adds up.
My road shoes are falling apart. I could use some new yellow Mavic Zxellium shoes or Specialized S-Works shoes
A new gear/duffle bag. Traveling every week has worn out my bag and needs to be retired. Something to carry a weekend's worth of clothes and bike gear.
One of those fancy hitch racks that hold your bike by the tire. I could probably save some gas by moving my bikes from the roof to the back of the car. Those Thule T2's, Saris Thelma's, Saris Cycleon-Pro's look pretty nice. (1 1/4")
Sunday, November 22, 2009
OVCX Indianapolis Double Weekend
Another long double weekend, this time in Indianapolis. Two 16th place finishes, twice I was one out of the money.
Saturday's race was at Southeastway Park, about 15-20 minutes southeast of Indy. I drove out in the morning to arrive around 1pm. The course had a few wide open sections, a huge nasty run-up, and half the course was twisty windy stuff. I guess the promoters had to make do with what they had. I actually favor more technical courses since I am able to offset my lower threshold power with my bike handling skills. I'm also pretty good with the punchy stuff, able to sprint multiple times out of corners.
The course was fairly dry except for the turns. There wasn't much mud, but the ground was slick. During the pre-ride, I switched to the Vittoria XM in the front and it seemed to work out well. XM up front and Fango in the rear. I did sacrifice some speed with the XM, but it gave me more corner grip, which was overall faster. Rhinos probably would have been the hot tire to have, but it'll have to wait till next year.
Front row start and a decent start had me up in the front group for a while. It got me settled in a good spot where I just kept the pedals turning hard to maintain a good position. Eventually another rider caught up to me and we were battling it out till the end. I led into the sprint and handily beat him. In pure disappointment, I had ended up 16th. If I had known, I would have rode harder as the 15th place guy was slowly coming back to me. I would have caught him for sure if we had one more lap and we kept going at the same pace.
I packed up and headed over to Chad Birdman's house. I got cleaned up and later on we went out to celebrate his sister's birthday at Benihana, a Japanese Steakhouse. Very, very, very good food. The steak I had pretty much melted in my mouth. It was expensive, but well worth it. I never have a problem paying premium for good things.
Sunday's race wasn't till 3pm so I pretty much had all morning to just chill. I slept in till about 10 and just bummed around, watched TV and played with Chupa (Chad and Whitney's chihuahua). Brookside park was a quick drive so I left at noon. I raced there last year so I was fairly familiar with the course and very little had changed.
I had another front row start but I completely blew that one. I missed my pedal at the start and just shot out the back. The first quarter of the course is not very pack friendly so the farther up front you are, the better. My usual plan of attack is to get a good start, then drift back to where I will finish up. But today, I ended up in the back, suck! Brookside is also a very roadie style course. Lots of straight aways and it definitely helps to either have help and draft, or have lots of horsepower. Unfortunately, I didn't have either (Santa, I just want 30-50 watts FTP this year.)
I found myself battling it out again with the same guy as yesterday, I believe his name is Cory. We were together for the last few laps. We eventually got lapped but I wasn't too disappointed about that. I definitely felt I was stronger than he was but in the end, a mechanical failure put the end to me. My left pedal locked out and I couldn't clip in. I had to stop and fix it and the gap opened up. I tried my hardest to try to get back on but there was not enough room. The real bummer was I could have been 15th and made some gas money.
Next week is the Ohio State championships at John Bryan State park. This is the race I have been training for and hopefully all goes well. Thanks to Chad and Whitney for letting me stay at their house this weekend!
533
9332
Saturday's race was at Southeastway Park, about 15-20 minutes southeast of Indy. I drove out in the morning to arrive around 1pm. The course had a few wide open sections, a huge nasty run-up, and half the course was twisty windy stuff. I guess the promoters had to make do with what they had. I actually favor more technical courses since I am able to offset my lower threshold power with my bike handling skills. I'm also pretty good with the punchy stuff, able to sprint multiple times out of corners.
The course was fairly dry except for the turns. There wasn't much mud, but the ground was slick. During the pre-ride, I switched to the Vittoria XM in the front and it seemed to work out well. XM up front and Fango in the rear. I did sacrifice some speed with the XM, but it gave me more corner grip, which was overall faster. Rhinos probably would have been the hot tire to have, but it'll have to wait till next year.
Front row start and a decent start had me up in the front group for a while. It got me settled in a good spot where I just kept the pedals turning hard to maintain a good position. Eventually another rider caught up to me and we were battling it out till the end. I led into the sprint and handily beat him. In pure disappointment, I had ended up 16th. If I had known, I would have rode harder as the 15th place guy was slowly coming back to me. I would have caught him for sure if we had one more lap and we kept going at the same pace.
I packed up and headed over to Chad Birdman's house. I got cleaned up and later on we went out to celebrate his sister's birthday at Benihana, a Japanese Steakhouse. Very, very, very good food. The steak I had pretty much melted in my mouth. It was expensive, but well worth it. I never have a problem paying premium for good things.
Sunday's race wasn't till 3pm so I pretty much had all morning to just chill. I slept in till about 10 and just bummed around, watched TV and played with Chupa (Chad and Whitney's chihuahua). Brookside park was a quick drive so I left at noon. I raced there last year so I was fairly familiar with the course and very little had changed.
I had another front row start but I completely blew that one. I missed my pedal at the start and just shot out the back. The first quarter of the course is not very pack friendly so the farther up front you are, the better. My usual plan of attack is to get a good start, then drift back to where I will finish up. But today, I ended up in the back, suck! Brookside is also a very roadie style course. Lots of straight aways and it definitely helps to either have help and draft, or have lots of horsepower. Unfortunately, I didn't have either (Santa, I just want 30-50 watts FTP this year.)
I found myself battling it out again with the same guy as yesterday, I believe his name is Cory. We were together for the last few laps. We eventually got lapped but I wasn't too disappointed about that. I definitely felt I was stronger than he was but in the end, a mechanical failure put the end to me. My left pedal locked out and I couldn't clip in. I had to stop and fix it and the gap opened up. I tried my hardest to try to get back on but there was not enough room. The real bummer was I could have been 15th and made some gas money.
Next week is the Ohio State championships at John Bryan State park. This is the race I have been training for and hopefully all goes well. Thanks to Chad and Whitney for letting me stay at their house this weekend!
533
9332
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tire Alert Tubular Tire Repair
Everyone hates flats, especially when it is a tubular tire. Even worse when its brand new and only ridden for a few rides. Well that is exactly what happened to me. In my second race, I flatted a brand new Challenge Grifo XS. Stan's was no match for the hole in this tube.
So here comes Ron at Tire Alert. Ron rips apart the tire, takes out the old tube, removes any debris that caused the flat and sews in a brand new tube. After exchanging some emails with Ron, I decided to send my tire to him to get fixed up. I inquired about latex tubes since it is not an option on his website and he told me he is not equipped to install latex tubes. He said that latex tubes require a special cloth liner which he cannot do.
Anyway, I opted for a 48mm long, lightweight, removable core tube. I sent away the tire on a Friday and received the new tube a week from Monday. Pretty good turnaround time. The tire returned with a new tube and new basetape. The basetape used is not as thick as the original Challenge basetape but should be fine. There is also a bigger bulge from the stitching but shouldn't be a problem.
Basetape with one coat of glue
For $25, I got a pretty much brand new tire. Oh yes, the $25 includes return shipping. So if I factor in the initial shipping cost, I got my tire repaired for $30, way cheaper than a new tire.
So if you have a nice tubular that has a bad tube, I highly recommend giving Ron at Tire Alert a call and get your tubular tire repaired.
4.5 stars
Pros: Cheap repair, options on tubes, new basetape, all inclusive price
Cons: No latex tube option
www.tirealert.com
So here comes Ron at Tire Alert. Ron rips apart the tire, takes out the old tube, removes any debris that caused the flat and sews in a brand new tube. After exchanging some emails with Ron, I decided to send my tire to him to get fixed up. I inquired about latex tubes since it is not an option on his website and he told me he is not equipped to install latex tubes. He said that latex tubes require a special cloth liner which he cannot do.
For $25, I got a pretty much brand new tire. Oh yes, the $25 includes return shipping. So if I factor in the initial shipping cost, I got my tire repaired for $30, way cheaper than a new tire.
So if you have a nice tubular that has a bad tube, I highly recommend giving Ron at Tire Alert a call and get your tubular tire repaired.
4.5 stars
Pros: Cheap repair, options on tubes, new basetape, all inclusive price
Cons: No latex tube option
www.tirealert.com
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Infirmary Mound
Today's race was pretty close, at Infirmary Mound Park in Granville. A welcome change from being in the car forever. Instead of sleeping in, I left the house earlier than usual since Daniel, my teammate, was racing today. I left the house a little bit before 10, gassed up and on my way. I got to the park around 11:30, plenty of time to mingle, watch and warm up.
One word can sum up the course, fast. The course was very dry and flowed very well, and did I say it was fast. You would rip through corners so fast it felt like a crit. I actually had to use the brakes a few time since I would go into the corners way too hot if I didn't.
I was top 5 in Cap City so I got a front row start. I got a really good start again and the front group put a sizable gap on the rest of the field. After about half a lap, I was jettisoned from the lead group. A few people passed me and by a rough count, I was sitting around 10th place. This was my best start and middle section of the race. Unfortunately, disaster struck. I took a u-turn way too fast and the pavement dropped into grass and I rolled my tire. The tire got jammed into the brake and I couldn't roll it back on. I panicked and just shouldered the bike and started to run. However it was a long way to the pit. I came to my senses and let some air out of the tire and popped the tire back on. But now I had a long downhill on a tire with about 10psi and about to come off. I took the downhill gingerly and made my way to the pit to pick up my spare.
However, the spare bike was not without any problems. I am pretty sure that I put in the same amount of air in the tires but it felt a lot lower. It could be because they are different tires and different manufacturers. It took me a lap or two to really get a hang of it and be able to rail the corners. To make things even worse, a few laps later, my right pedal refused to clip in. I really didn't know if it was the pedal, the cleat, or I busted the shoe. But one thing is for sure, its pretty impossible to ride with a Crank Brother's Candy that doesn't clip in. At that point, I really didn't care anymore. I only had 2 laps to go (I got lapped) so I just rode at a moderate pace and finished up.
I guess my equipment finally caught up to me and gave me some troubles. I have been pretty lucky so far except for blowing up a brand new Grifo XS in my second race (which is coming back retubed.)
This week is a taper week so not much training. I will also have to glue some tires, and I thought I was done. Double weekend in Indy next weekend!
203
8799
One word can sum up the course, fast. The course was very dry and flowed very well, and did I say it was fast. You would rip through corners so fast it felt like a crit. I actually had to use the brakes a few time since I would go into the corners way too hot if I didn't.
I was top 5 in Cap City so I got a front row start. I got a really good start again and the front group put a sizable gap on the rest of the field. After about half a lap, I was jettisoned from the lead group. A few people passed me and by a rough count, I was sitting around 10th place. This was my best start and middle section of the race. Unfortunately, disaster struck. I took a u-turn way too fast and the pavement dropped into grass and I rolled my tire. The tire got jammed into the brake and I couldn't roll it back on. I panicked and just shouldered the bike and started to run. However it was a long way to the pit. I came to my senses and let some air out of the tire and popped the tire back on. But now I had a long downhill on a tire with about 10psi and about to come off. I took the downhill gingerly and made my way to the pit to pick up my spare.
However, the spare bike was not without any problems. I am pretty sure that I put in the same amount of air in the tires but it felt a lot lower. It could be because they are different tires and different manufacturers. It took me a lap or two to really get a hang of it and be able to rail the corners. To make things even worse, a few laps later, my right pedal refused to clip in. I really didn't know if it was the pedal, the cleat, or I busted the shoe. But one thing is for sure, its pretty impossible to ride with a Crank Brother's Candy that doesn't clip in. At that point, I really didn't care anymore. I only had 2 laps to go (I got lapped) so I just rode at a moderate pace and finished up.
I guess my equipment finally caught up to me and gave me some troubles. I have been pretty lucky so far except for blowing up a brand new Grifo XS in my second race (which is coming back retubed.)
This week is a taper week so not much training. I will also have to glue some tires, and I thought I was done. Double weekend in Indy next weekend!
203
8799
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