What's wrong with this picture?

A puzzle for you:



















Maybe you need a closer look:



Big surprise: FSA said they've never heard of this. The customer came in complaining of poor shift quality since installing a chainring purchased at another shop. It took me a little while to figure this one out, since missing pins is not something I usually look for. Ramps are there, but nothing to complete the shift. At least their warranty department is easy to work with. I'll keep you posted on the results.

Happy Thanksgiving

It just ain't Thanksgiving without Turkey Cake.

It doesn't taste like turkey, though, in case you were wondering.

I didn't start it....

That was Josh. But I thought it might be a cool idea for people to post pictures of their bench or work area (or desk, if you must have a real job) and comment on their own use of flair.

1. Poster of Einstein on a bike: Hey, if it's good enough for Albert....



2. Poster of Peter Van Petegem: One of the most gnarled, grizzly bike racers I've ever seen, not counting Steve Tilford. Perennial tan courtesy countless hours spent training on the bike in all types of weather, I'm sure. A real Baddass (that's one word). Now that he's retired, I'll bet his perma- tan lives on. Skin cancer is too intimidated to grow on him. I also like the tag line from Lazer above him: "Use Your Head".. Like he ever needed to.



3. Centerfold from Pegoretti catalog: I can't get the idea of owning one of these pieces of art at some point in my life out of my head. It would have to be custom, with me travelling to Italy and living there until it was finished. Perhaps assisting with the build. I would want the frame custom to my specs, but the finish to be a surprise. I don't even know if that could be done, but that's my idea of a "dream" bike, so whatever. The one in the picture is "Love #3"... because you supposedly have 3 great loves in a lifetime. There is also a goofy poem written in Italian and translated in English about bikes and freedom.



4. Framed CABDA wheelbuilding certificate: Yeah, I mostly put this up to tick Matt off. He occasionally teases me about the methods I use to build wheels, and the fact that I went to school for it. "CABDA style" is when you lace one side and then the other. At least it is around our shop. The frame is to make it look more official, but as an unforeseen consequence, lots of people have asked me how I've been supporting cycling since 1948. I tell them "yeah, I'm sixty". They usually don't ask me anything else.



5. Atomic Clock: Okay, it's not flair, but a guys' gotta know when to go home! Also, I forget to eat (or try to eat) lunch if I don't keep looking at the clock occasionally.



6. Picture of some Phonak racer throwing his bike at the line: Against an old guy on a city bike. Hilarious! I think it was in a Craft ad somewhere.



7. Photo of LA and Floyd on Brasstown Bald: I was there with Dru and took this picture myself. Floyd is leading here, but a few seconds later, LA demoralized him with a surge on the last kick upward. I have never ridden Brasstown Bald, and after standing on that mountain all day, don't care if I ever do. I could barely walk up the damn thing.



8. Bicycle License Plate: That's my name. Don't wear it out.



9. Fortune cookie Fortunes: We get Chinese food almost every Saturday from the place across the street. Nearly all of the fortunes suck unless you add "in bed" to the end of them, but I've saved two. One says "Be broke or wealthy, but never accept mediocity" Obviously, they don't spell check these things, but the sentiment is incredibly powerful. Take it as you will. The other says "You will always have good luck in your personal affairs" A pretty bold statement, coming out of a cookie.



10. Sticker of T-Mobile rider: Not sure who it is, just thought it looked cool. Why is this a sticker, though?



11. Evolution of a cyclist bumper sticker: My friend Nick sent me this, he lives in Portland (OR) now. I don't like stickers on my car, but above my workbench is fine. Go figure. I want to come out with one that says "Start seeing Cyclists" like the motorcycle people have. I might put that on on my car.



12. Picture of guy in tent with bike while girlfriend sleeps outside on ground: Katie actually gave me this one, so I guess it's okay to have it displayed. She would probably try to do the same thing to me, so if I ever go camping with her, I'm bringing two tents. Posted long before this image made its' ten million rounds on the internet, so I'm leaving it up 'til it comes back in favor.



13. "Cluelessness" inspirational picture: My mom gave me this as a present, and I think I mentioned it in a previous post. Lots of questions fly around the bike shop, and most of them have no direction. What a waste of time. I'm not sure if looking at this sign everyday is helping me deal with that, or fueling the fire.

Well, as you can see, I didn't even make it to the minimum fifteen pieces of flair. I guess I'm fired. Unless you count me flipping you the bird as flair. Wait, that's still not enough.

Efficiency

I like to do things right the first time, so that I don't have to repeat them. Also known as "I hate to do things twice". Efficiency appeals to me. Maybe it's genetic- I am of German descent. We all have a limited amount of energy and resources we can devote to a task. Budgeting these resources can be one of the most difficult things we do as people. Even time devoted to writing these words could be spent in other ways, but it's hard to tell which would be the better pursuit. Cycling appeals to me for many reasons, one of which is its' close relationship with efficiency. With relatively little wattage to work with, a human body strapped to a machine with wheels and gears can accomplish much more than the body on its' own. Still, the rider is faced with many choices and must decide where and when to expend his energy. In a race situation, this can mean enduring painful feedback from the body for a certain amount of time, with the knowledge or belief that the pace will eventually ease and recovery will be possible. There are some events where this is not possible, where a rider must exhaust himself completely, and one of them is cyclocross. When I line up at the start, I know that approximately one hour of pain is about to be unleashed upon me as my heart rate and energy expenditure flirt with red line for the entire duration of the race. Minimizing mistakes through smooth technique over the barriers and difficult sections of the course can help make you faster, but you will always be bouncing off that virtual barrier of hurt. So why does cyclocross appeal to me? For me, it eliminates that extra choice of when to spend my energy. The time to spend is NOW- and for the next hour. No budgeting needed, other than to last for the duration of the race. No matter where I place, I know that there's no need to go back and do anything again, because there is no energy left to do it with. That's when I know it was a good race.

Cheddar Bunnies

OK, while I was sitting here typing I was eating these. I just ate the whole box. I have to admit that I only bought them because they are rabbit- shaped, but they are really good. Apparently, they are made with organic wheat and also have no trans fat, which i guess is good if you're going to eat a whole box of something.

My Head Hurts

Todays race was crazy. I don't know what else to call it. It was mentally challenging. (Or is that me?) I started out fine and felt pretty good for about half of the first lap, and then everything changed. I should blame it on not pre- riding the course, but when I saw what was in store for us, I made a point of NOT pre- riding it in order to keep me from bailing on the whole race. The thing that I'm talking about is pictured here:

It was a flyover, and though I've seen them in races before, I've never actually ridden one until Sundays' race, middle of the first lap. What you can't see from this picture are the stairs on the back side of the ramp. Also, there was about a six- foot area in which to remount your bike before you barreled down the ramp. The transition area at the bottom of the ramp turned out to be a little too harsh for some, and resulted in several broken seatposts and saddles. Dru was one of them, and on about the 4th lap, his race was over, and he was at the tent getting bandaged up. He told me later that another racer was struggling to clip in at the top of the ramp, and swerved in his direction, causing him to change direction and miss his pedal. When he hit the transition at the bottom of the ramp, he came unclipped from the remaining pedal and sat down hard on his seat. At this point the seatpost snapped, he slid backwards and the remaining seatpost shards gouged him in the stomach. I noticed him out of the race at some point, but I didn't know he was injured until the finish. I had my own problems with the flyover on the first lap. I had finally made it to the top, and was clipping in and waiting for the ramp to clear, when I noticed a guy running down the ramp on the right side (I was on the left side). As I started down the ramp, he proceeded to run with the bike to the left side of the run out area at the bottom of the ramp. I had already started my descent and could not avoid running into the back of him. I collapsed in a heap at the side of the course, and said a few words for anyone listening before righting and remounting my bike. Luckily, I only had a few scrapes on my right leg and a bent in shifter, which I remedied later in the race. After the race, I had plenty to think about, but I was so exhausted mentally that I just put the events out of my mind. I know the flyover took some work to build, but if you're going to try to be like the big boys, you should build it right. I don't know much about building it, but it took me all of one ride on the thing to figure out that it was built incorrectly. The stairs were too steep to allow a smooth dismount and climb. The top portion was too short to allow for slower riders to get clear and for all riders to get clipped in, which caused a problem when coupled with the too- steep ramp and resulting hard transition at the bottom. It was a cool idea, but poorly executed. I'm sure that the people who built it can address the problems for the next race, and the flyover will be all that it can be in the future, but this time around, it just gave me a headache. On the plus side, Justin (descending the ramp in the picture) led most of the race, and finished in 2nd place. A great individual result, and a big showing for the team. I continue to be impressed by his ability to improve at every cycling discipline.

Flickr

Another Race Recap

Today was a tough race. Come to think of it, every race is tough. I should stop bitching, but I probably won't. The course was really rough, and took its toll on me early. I felt like I could barely hang on to the bike in the last few laps. The tires worked well on the grass sections- lots of traction- but not so well on the pavement. I guess they are technically mud tires after all. I could have run a little less pressure too- maybe my arms wouldn't be so sore right now. A few people showed up in costume to do the race. One guy(or was it a girl) was in a bear costume in the "c" race, but I think they only made it a lap before they had to take it off. I don't know how they even did a lap in that thing. Dru did both the "c" and "b" races, but when the start whistle blew for the "b" race, I didn't see him at the line. A few seconds later, I noticed him standing at the side of the course, just past the start line. I yelled at him to "get the hell out here" and he jumped in as soon as everyone had passed. I guess he didn't care too much about results at that point, because he never passed me, and after the race I learned that he was taking beer handups from some guys on the hill. On every lap. I was sort of pissed, because the only thing they offered me was a $1 bill hanging out of some dudes' fly. No way was I taking that.
Flickr

A little late

A little late, but Katie and I carved pumpkins (jack-o-lanterns?) for holloween. Mine is the one on the left- the scared rabbit. Maybe you get it. Going to the STL to race tomorrow, but I've felt a little low on energy lately, so we'll see if I can beat my requisite one person this time. I finally got the new Challenge tires glued up, but they're mud tires and I don't think there will be mud. They don't look too aggressive... maybe they'll be OK. I don't have a front wheel to go with the rear I just bought, so I'll have to put off gluing the Tufos 'til I get a wheel to glue them to. 'Cross season is gonna be over before I get the equipment sorted out, I think!