Two Wheeled Locust

World Single Speed Appreciation Day

By the power vested in me by absolutely no one, I officially declare today to be World Single Speed Appreciation Day. This pronunciation was made earlier today with no one there to witness, but as the chairperson and sole member of the World Single Speed Appreciation Day Steering Committee, I hold this declaration to be valid, true and absolute.  If you're celebrating today for other reasons, now you have even more reason to celebrate. 

Go give your one speed bike a hug.  Send an e-mail to your favorite purveyor of single speed accouterments thanking them for all they do to enlighten the masses.  Put aside your usual contempt and give a friendly wave to that ironic mustache messenger kid riding down your block on a Gucci track bike.  It's a feel good type of day, so why not spread the love? 

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If you've been stopping by my site looking for race reports from the past two weekends, you've probably figured out I'm in slacker mode.  It's unlikely I'll have anything substantive posted in the next week, so here's the Reader's Digest version of the last two weekend of racing action: 

5th place, Expert 40-49, Hop Brook Dam XC:  A surprisingly large turnout for the first race in the Root 66 Series.  All the Pro/Expert categories had huge fields (there were 28 in my group alone) and the weather can best be described as "shitty" (40 degrees and pouring rain).  But if you want to race mountain bikes in New England in mid-April, you gotta expect that Mother Nature might not cooperate.  My only complaint for the day is that the promoters decided to shorten our race by one lap.  Regardless, I was pretty stoked about a good showing in what turned out to be an hour an a half race.

3rd Place, 2 Person Open, Leesburg Bakers Dozen 13 Hour Race: I'm still digesting the events of the weekend...and recovering from a what turned out to be a pretty hard effort.  Les and I teamed up to do battle against some really fast guys who had also entered the 2 person category.  Props to Wes and Jeff Bahnson for taking the category and overall race wins with a total of 25 laps.  Second place in the 2 person category went to Kris Auer and Bad Andy with 24 laps.  We chased and chased but those guys were just too strong.  Good on ya, C3 just isn't for cyclocross anymore.  Les and I also finished with 24 laps, a total of 168 miles in just over 13 hours.  Great race, good times. One to put on your calendar for next year.

Torn Boxer

Lining it up

Rollin' MJ style!

The fun keeps a coming and coming like a box of Mike and Ikes!

Thanks to Tomi for the photos.  And a special thanks to Oskar Blues for Ten Fidy!

Punk'd

Last Sunday, the 2009 Single Speed Punk Bike Enduro brought single speeders from throughout the region to the Frederick Watershed for a day of semi-conspicuous consumption.  The enduro course provided a heaping helping of the best singletrack the Watershed has to offer, with ten distinct stages offering plenty of opportunity for bar-to-bar racing action for those wished to indulge.  Also on the menu was a keg of Heavy Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout strategically placed at the mid-point of the course, a nice touch that's apparently an event tradition.

A lingering bout of bronchitis kept me from firing on all cylinders, but I still managed a decent showing out on the course.  The day got off to a good start when I pipped Tomi at the line for the Stage 1 victory.  With one win in the pocket, it was a no-brainer to stay in the mix for the overall.  Subsequent stages were spent chasing the Trek-VW juggernaut, who did an excellent job of providing carrot opportunities for the rest of the field.  I posted some solid results in the later stages, but in the end, a pocket full of top five finishes and one punk (pictured above) wasn't enough to keep Jeff Schalk from taking the overall win.  Oh well.  Thanks to Rider X and the rest of the Single Speed Outlaw Factory team for their hospitality.  Good people, good trail, good times.  And good beer.  No doubt I'll be back next year.       

Wheels of Steel

My new sled!  Independent Fabrication steel Deluxe 29er frame with custom Iglehart fork.  Chris King headset, Thompson stem and seat post, Fizik Nisene saddle, Elite H2O cages, Ergon GX1 grips, Dean titanium handlebar and Japanese cherry  woodpecker bell.  White Industries ENO drivetrain (cranks, chain ring and freewheel) and Time pedals.  Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes.  Fuzzy Built wheelset with White Industries hubs (MI6 front, ENO rear), Mavic rims, DT double butted spokes and brass nipples, and Maxxis tires (Ignitor on front, CrossMark on rear).  Special thanks to Lloyd at IF for helping me to pull this together.  Stay tuned for more!

Ring of Fire

One of the hardest races I've ever done is the Dragon's Back, an event held deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia.  The namesake of the race is a ridge with a profile that vaguely resembles the spines of a dragon's back.  A 1000' climb to takes you to the top of this ridge, and once at the top, a seemingly endless singletrack traverses the ridge line.  This trail has a degree of difficulty that's off the charts, even by Pennsylvania standards, and after more than a decade of mountain bike racing, it remains one of the hardest sections of trail I've ever done in a race.

Towards the end of Dragon's Back course, there's a buttery smooth section of trail that runs through what passes for a valley in those parts.  Though it's only a mile long, this mostly singletrack trail offers a break to weary racers who have survived the rigors of racing across the dragon's back on the adjacent ridge top.  This trail known as the Ring of Fire, and when I rode it after a few hours of racing in the cold and driving rain, the irony of it's name wasn't lost on me.  The one and only time I raced the Dragon's Back was in 2003, the same year that Johnny Cash passed away.  Hearing this song always makes me think of Dragon's Back race and that particular section of trail.

Fixed Gear Follies

What will those crazy track bike kids think of next?  Like Bushwick Bill, this crew takes it to that other level.  More cool footage here.  Makes you wonder just how far the limits can be pushed on a fixie. 

Word on the street is that a full length video of this type of madness is on its way.  If you got game, you can get in on the fun by submitting your own video clip to the folks at Bootleg Sessions.  Go here for details.  FAMs need not apply.  Thanks to Wilis for the heads up on this!

Ain't That Some Shit

30 Days

I had a nice nine day streak going when Buck posed the question.  "Do you know anyone who's done thirty rides in thirty days?"  Buck was already one week into his 30/30 journey and I was all over it like a cheap suit.  "I'm in, brother!"  We confirmed the rules:  Ride for at least one hour a day for thirty days straight.

Back in my competitive running days, I used to put streaks like this together all the time.  Two to four week stretches of daily runs with no rest days to break things up were common place, particularly when it came to training for marathons.  But in the grand scheme of things, running every day for a month straight was nothing.  One guy I used to run with had a streak going for years.  Pneumonia?  Broken foot?  Debilitating hangover?  It didn't matter.  The guy laced 'em up and hit the road.  And he still managed to win local road races well into his 30's.  Runners are bat shit crazy, eh? 

When I started racing bikes, I learned that most competitive cyclists are smart enough to take an occasional day off, and after ten years of racing mountain bikes, I'm generally on board with that approach.  Perhaps I'm older and wiser now that I'm racing on two wheels instead of two feet.  Or maybe just older, since I continue to look for new ways to redefine my mental and physical limits, even if the final result may be an unspectacular flame out.  Thirty rides in thirty days?  A tough, but reasonable goal.  Only time will tell if I emerge a wiser man.  Who else is in? 

My War

Between my health and my equipment woes, my race season has been spiraling downward since the Hop Brook Dam race in early April.  That’s not to say life isn’t treating me well.  Despite all the issues I’ve had over the past two months, I’ve remained in good sprits.  A broken mountain bike frame is a lot easier to bounce back from than a broken hip.  Perspective helps keep the sanity.

In case you haven’t heard (or figured it out from my last few posts), I broke my beloved Independent Fabrication Ti Deluxe SS frame at the Michaux Maximus race in early May.  The day after the race, I was on the phone to IF to break the bad news.  Their initial reaction?  “We’ll just build you a new frame. You want a 29er?”  No explanation regarding the broken frame was solicited.  No conversation drawn out over weeks or even months about how to resolve the matter.  In a matter of minutes, IF committed to a quick resolution to a bad situation.  After all the headaches I've dealt with over the past year, it’s great to be working with a company that stands by their product and understands the needs of their sponsored racers. 

Since last summer, I’ve been screwed over twice by small time frame builders.  I recently wrote a lengthy missive outlining my dealings these two builders, people whom I now consider to be some of the shadiest wheeler dealers in the business.  After some brief internal deliberations, I decided against posting the rant. However, I stand by the basic premise of the piece:  There are few truly honest people out there building bicycle frames.  Much like the general contracting and auto repair industries, the boutique frame building business is rife with dishonesty.  Integrity is in short supply.

At this point, it seems like I’ve heard it all.  Here's one recent gem:  “Your frame will ship tomorrow.”  Months later, no frame.  Correspondence is unanswered.  Eventually, I get a response: “Your frame will ship tomorrow.”  Another month goes by and still no frame.  If you can’t deliver on your promises, how about coming through with a little honesty? 

And then there's my personal favorite from this integrity challenged builder:  “Oh, you broke your frame?  At the head tube/down tube weld?  Not my problem.  Listen, I really don't care that the frame is less than two years old.  You need to talk to the previous owner.  It’s his responsibility.  And I certainly don't care how long you’ve been racing for this company.  This is your headache, not mine.” 

Well, fuck you.  And you.  And you and you and you and you.  And fuck your confidence games and mealy mouth excuses.  And fuck you very much for the gaping hole you’ve left in my wallet.

Enough with the negative energy.  My new frame should arrive from Independent Fabrication later this week.  It’s a full custom Ti Deluxe 29er SS frame with sliding dropouts, disc brake mounts, and a custom IF fork.  The frame will be spec’d with hand built wheels with White Industries hubs and Mavic rims.  A Chris King head set, an ENO drive train, a Thomson seat post and stem, Avid mechanical disc brakes and a Ti flat bar will round out the components.  One ride on the new rig should make me forget about my equipment woes of yesteryear.

Michaux Redux

Rockin' steady at the Michaux Maximus race in April 2006.  I had broken my hip six days before the same race in 2005, and when I rolled to the line for the 2006 race, I was on a mission to avenge the previous year's bad fortune.  Out on the course, Ransom Weaver and I fought an epic battle for top single speed honors.  Ransom dropped me on the final climb of the day to take the win.  His margin of victory was forty seconds.

In this picture, I'm wearing a 1982 vintage Protogs wool jersey, a gift from my parents for my sixteenth birthday.  I wore this same jersey at my first bicycle race, the 1983 Pepsi Challenge in New York City.  The event was rather unique for it's time.  The course consisted of a five mile loop on the gently rolling drives of Central Park and the object was to complete as many laps of the course as possible in 24 hour period.  Riding in support of my uncle, Joe Shea, I completed 27 laps for a total of 135 miles.  Joe logged close to three hundred miles on his custom built Spectrum road bike.