Weight Weenies

Back when I was working in bike shops for a living, there existed a creature that exhibited an obsessive compulsive desire to know the weight (in grams) of every bicycle part ever made. This creature was "The Weight Weenie". The weight weenie would ask questions such as:

Hey mister, which is lighter Dura Ace or Record?
Which should I buy the hakuna or the matata, which is lighter?

Even at my lightest, I tend to fall in the Clydsdale category of cyclists. There is almost never a time I can't stand to lose 10 (maybe more) pounds. These questions always amused me. I must admit a certain fetish with the lightweight tid bits like everyone, but there are some people who really get into this stuff and will spend hundreds of dollars to shave a few grams off their rides. Man, there aren't a whole lot of legal things that cost that much! Taking off the old love handles will drop some pounds off your ride and doesn't cost a thing - in fact think of all the beer money you will save.

Anyway, think i'm joking about the weight weenies? Cruise on over to: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/ and see for yourself.

Now, how long will it take me to save for that Scott?


Technorati tags: cycling, bike parts, weight weenies

Mud, Mud, Mud

That was the order of the day this weekend for my first reconnaissance ride on the C&O canal towpath. The towpath is a 184 mile off road trail between Cumberland Maryland and Georgetown in Washington D.C. The path is actually next to the canal which was originally used to float barges between those two centers of commerce with the help of mules and a series of locks. Most of the actual canal has been taken back by the forest now. The path is a combination of packed gravel and dirt, but much of it has been damaged by a variety of storms over the years resulting in widely varying degrees of bone jarring riding, which I discovered this weekend.

A locker room conversation with another 30 something, office working, family-man got us thinking of a one day canal attack...the whole 184 mile Monty in one day. I think I casually mentioned that I always regretted not participating in a one day ride that a bunch of guys did when I was working at a local bike shop just out of college. I always regretted not trying to do it so the idea for a sequel was born. I am a planner so the idea of some recon rides sounded good.

I hit the towpath around 7:00 on Sunday after a Saturday full of thunderstorms which drenched the path and turned a 10 mile section into a mud bog. The first 20 miles were spent hammering along in the big ring hitting on every cylinder. The mud bog section was a nightmare. Mud, then gravel, then hardpack, then mud, then gravel, then hardpack. On and on…ever try and maintain some speed through mud and 3 inches of gravel? I reached the turn around and took a break before heading back the 25 miles to my car. I hadn’t realized what a beating my knees and wrists had taken from the big gear, stop and start riding through the mud. The last 15 miles back through the mud bog were excruciating. All in all, I was pleased with the effort and felt good about the ride.

Here are some stats:

• 50 miles of beautiful forested riding completed
• 2 barn owls, 2 egrets, 2 huge woodpeckers, 3 deer, 8 ducks, 100 squirrels sent running for cover
• 2383 calories burned
• 1 pair of cycling gloves ready for the trash heap
• 1 pound of mud caked on my bike
• 1 night spent with Ben Gay and a heating pad
  

Here are some interesting C&O links:

• The National Park Service site about the canal
• The C&O Canal Associate website
• The C&O Canal biking guide

Moldy Turd or Golden Nugget? - Issue 2

eBay proves that there is great truth in the phrase "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Here is a random sampling of odd cycling related items for sale on eBay this week.

	Can't bring your bike to Las Vegas? Bring Las Vegas to your bike with this spinning message board for your wheels. Freaky-stylie.
	Look Ma' - no downtube! Suspension bridge technology for your ride -sweeeet.

Anyone know what these are anymore...? You guessed if folks - old school toe straps. A very golden nugget indeed!

The perfect gift for all the smoking cyclists on your holiday list! A desktop, mountain bike lighter.

Check back regularly for new issues of Moldy Turd or Golden Nugget?


Technorati tags: cycling, moldy turd or golden nugget ;-), bicycle

2006 Paris Roubaix Shows George Hincapie How It Got It's Nickname

No matter what they call it, "The Hell of the North" or "The Queen of the Classics", the Paris-Roubaix race never ceases to offer bizarre enertainment value year after year. This year was no different. Poor George Hincapie - this was his year. He looked incredibly strong for the first part of the race and team Discovery rode a strategically perfect race. 17 riders in the break after the forest in Arenberg with three riders from Discovery and a very isolated World Champion Tom Boonen without another team mate in site. Then in one of the cobbled sections it looked as if Hincapie stood up on the bike. Next thing you know George is in the middle of one huge "oh shit!" moment. He veared off the rode with the bike out of control and then flipped end-over- end.

That left Leif Hoste and Vladimir Gusev for Discovery along with Boonen and Pete Van Petegem and the rest of the group. Well it turned out that one of the rest of the group (Fabian Cancellara of CSC) took an early break and managed to stay away from the group. Cancellara remained strong and turned into the velodrome alone for a very nice solo victory lap for the win. Next to enter the velodrome were Van Petegem and the two Discovery boys. Van Petegem ran up the banking trying to split the Discovery riders, but in the end he wasn't strong enough for Hoste who came around him. So then it was Hoste, Van Petegem and Gusev over the line. Next came Boonen sprinting hard for 5th to live up to his World Champion status.

Then in another bizarre twist, Jean Marie Leblanc disqualifies 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers Hoste, Van Petegem and Gusev for blowing through a closed rail road crossing. So it ends up with Cancellara for the win and Boonen 2nd.

In the follow-up interview Johan Bruyneel indicated Hincapie had a small crash near the start of the race prior to his catastrophic failure later on. The comentators were saying his handlebars snapped, but it looked to me like the whole steerer tube snapped. Really bad luck for George Hincapie - this was his year.

If you don't know about Paris-Roubaix, it is probably the single most punishing one day race on the pro calendar. With 27 cobbled sections totalling almost 53 km of cobbled riding, and a total race distance of 259 km it is a brutal race. Whether in throat choking dry conditions or slippery and treacherous mud, the Hell of the North always lives up to it's name.

I'll be rooting for you next year George!


Technorati tags: cycling, paris roubaix, fabian cancellara

Madonna del Ghisallo - Patron Saint of Cyclists

In our car centered culture it can be hard to remember that we don't always carry around a protective carapace of 2 tons of steel. Everyone who rides a bike has stories of beer bottles pitched from pickups by yee-haw rednecks, or the just-learning-to-drive teenager squeezing them off the road.

I have never been the most devout person in the world but I do have my beliefs and feel that you can never have too much help or too many people looking out for you. For cyclists there is even a patron saint. Madonna del Ghisallo is the patron saint of cyclists (so decided by Pope Pius XII in 1949). The church and cycling museum of the Madonna del Ghisallo is located in Italy overlooking Lake Como. The museum contains bikes and jerseys donated by many pros thankful to the Madonna for looking out for them.

Besides my watch and wedding ring, my Madonna medallion is the only piece of jewelry I wear. So far, so good, I have not had a cycling incident since I started wearing it - even that time I took my hands off the bars in a downhill curving descent to get a GU gel... That particular piece of stupidity should have resulted in some oozing road rash.

Thank you Madonna del Ghisallo! I believe.


Technorati tags: cycling, madonna del ghisallo, religion