Monday, September 29, 2008

Buried treasure!

Whilst digging through the box of clothing that is sitting in my office today, I found a *brand new* still bagged XL size TwinSix/Waltworks jersey. $50 (shipping included) takes it - first to email me gets it. I only have one.

There's one size small left as well, but nothing else. Hopefully Brent will get around to ordering another run sometime soon!

In other news, I think I broke my hand at Sol Vista yesterday. It hurts a lot. Crap.

9/29 Edit: The XL jersey is spoken for. Small is still available (for $30!) to anyone that wants it.

Friday, September 26, 2008

2 posts in one day! $84 tires?!?


Some of you have heard about this new tire from Schwalbe. I find their bombast to be quite entertaining, and furthermore I have a prediction about that tire: nobody who starts a race on it will finish said race. Unless it's a course consisting entirely of grass, or (smooth) pavement, or everything has been covered with a 6" layer of felt and astroturf.

Heck, my fat 150# self can flat a 600g Ignitor at the Boulder short track (very smooth) by punching holes in the casing - I can't even imagine the kind of damage you'd do to this thing. It's almost 200g lighter than tires that I consider hilariously unreliable (Stan's Crow, Kenda Karma, etc).

They probably should call it the "Hillclimb Harry" or "Puncturing Phil".

Every Schwalbe tire I've ever used has sucked unbelieveably. I imagine this will be no exception. They'll sell a ton ($83.55 for ONE TIRE?!?) to the sport-class weightweenies, though.

Also probably to Nick, who is an honorary sport class weightweenie and also has to have at least one pair of every knobby tire ever made.

Picture Rock Trail photos


I only took a couple - this was just before I got really sick (as I still am). Had that start-of-a-sore-throat feeling during the ride and figured I was in trouble...

In any case, the trail is very fun and a good connector to Lyons. Kudos to BMA and everyone else involved.

Monday, September 22, 2008

650b snapshot and musings on trail design


First off, just to grab everyone's attention, here's Martin's 650b full-squish bike. 4" travel front and rear (don't tell Fox, but the tire *just barely* clears that crown!), super fun. He loves it, especially now that the tires are running tubeless.

Now, excuse the clumsy segue, please:

Millertime, Wu-J, and I rode a new trail out towards the Magnolia universe yesterday. The ride itself wasn't bad - lots of shit-talking (er, I mean "comraderie") directed at Wu by myself and Miller, lots of getting lost, some sweet singletrack, and finally a brand new trail that allows a HUGE descent to a destination we really wanted to arrive at.

I should note here that I'm being deliberately vague, as the trail is of course hugely illegal. And no, for the few folks who know what I'm talking about, I have no idea who built it.

So the trail is a typical illegal DH rider trail, basically - starts at the top of an easy spot to shuttle to, takes the fall line, has some super-ghetto homemade jumps and illogical lines allowing you to fall off 10 foot drops, etc. Sort of a fun trail, even on the rigid bikes. But there were a few problems - I'll do my usual bullet-point whining:

1. No effort has been made to hide the trail. Without giving anything away, it would be VERY easy to find it by accident. Finding it with even the slightest bit of information as to its location is a breeze. Nice work, guys - I'm sure nobody will throw a fit about *that* anytime soon. Is it so hard to carry your bikes 50 feet?

2. The trail doesn't have much in the way of turns. Turns are fun. Even for DH guys. Make 'em sweepers if you want to go fast, make 'em tighter if you want to wrestle the bike through some corners, but make the trail *turn*, damnit! Sliding straight downhill through loose dirt isn't much fun for anyone. If you don't know how to build a good trail, either learn how (go ride at Sol Vista and see what Wentz has done for starters) or DON'T BUILD IT.

3. The end of the trail is a half mile hike-a-bike (yes, even if you have a downhill bike) that ends in someone's back yard. Literally. I'm assuming this was chosen as a route because it allows the easy crossing of a body of water, but it's also a virtual guarantee that the trail will piss off the neighbors and get shut down. Wading won't kill you, guys.

4. The first rainstorm will turn this into a giant rut. Some of you may remember another pirate trail named for a javascript:void(0)desert plant that took the fall line without much deviation. Seems pretty fun for a month or two, but once the rains come...

Bottom line, the folks that built this trail did a crap job. And it's a bummer, because the topography and location are *perfect*. Maybe at some point some nice person will reroute some of it this fall, who knows.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Fox fork for sale and a rant about racing


First off, I ordered the wrong fork for my neighbor Martin and I'm selling the one that I ordered by mistake:
Fox F120 RLC (26" wheel!) fork. Brand new, steerer uncut. There are a couple of marks at the top of the crown where my tool slipped (doh) when removing a crown race (the fork was installed on a bike but never ridden). ISO disc tab and (removable) v-brake mounts. $450 takes it, shipping included. Picture above. Feel free to ask questions.

Second, some of you may have heard about this. In essence, USAC is moving from a "beginner/sport/expert/semipro/pro" setup to "Cat3, Cat2, Cat1, Pro". They've changed the names of the amateur categories and eliminated semipro. All in all, not that big of a deal. But the *reasons* they cite are hilarious. Let's go point by point:

"The new categories, which closely resemble those used in other disciplines of competitive cycling, have been created to offer USA Cycling mountain bike members a more competitive racing environment."
Translation: "Nobody races mountain bikes anymore, so we're combining some categories to keep the field sizes up."

"The terms ‘Beginner’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Expert’ carry little relevance outside of the mountain bike community, which makes it difficult for sponsors and the public to relate."
Translation:"For some reason nobody wants to watch a group of really skinny people dressed in brightly colored garments ride uphill (as well as, approximately 10% of the time, downhill, albeit not much faster) for 2 hours at 4.5 mph. We're confident that these new category names will get us an invite to the X games!"

“Our pro fields are tiny compared to our European counterparts. We have the numbers in terms of ridership, but we’ve been referring to them as Semi-Pros.”
Translation:"US mountain bikers suck. Really, we need better dope, but in lieu of that, we're hoping throwing a bunch of fresh-faced semipros to the sharks will somehow make our molasses-slow top pros go faster. They'll, like, spend more energy lapping people, and stuff like that. Or something. Pass that bourbon over here."

"Semi-Pro members will be offered an automatic upgrade to Pro throughout the 2009 licensing period"
Translation:"Dude, we can charge all those sucker semipros $160 for a UCI license. Erm, I mean, help develop them as professional riders within a proper competitive environment."


Now, in all seriousness, what the heck are they thinking down in Colorado Springs? Is anyone out there under the impression that the existing pros and semipros are going to become magically faster by combining the categories? I mean, most of the pro and semipro riders I know (with, um, yours truly as a bit of an exception) train pretty hard already. You've gotta develop new talent from the ground up, and *participation* is what can make racing popular (and maybe even lucrative).

So here are my suggestions for USAC.
-Keep the existing category names. Mountain bikers don't *want* to feel like roadies, mostly.
-Throw out semipro if you want, but offer a cheaper NON-UCI pro license for domestic pros who aren't serious enough to go to a World Cup or need to be drug tested (ie, the folks who will show up for local races, but never a UCI-level event).
-Make junior and collegiate licenses free. Encourage promoters to make entry fees free for juniors as well.
-Offer beginner licenses free for the first year to encourage people to try mountain biking.

Here's the bottom line: Cycling needs to learn a lesson from triathalon (you have no idea how hard it was for me to type that): ours is a participation sport, not a spectator sport. Nobody in their right mind will stand around at the start/finish of some godforsaken trail loop to wait to see their favorite racers once every 45 minutes, no matter how much the category naming system has changed. On the other hand, cycling is great exercise, very social, and (relatively) inexpensive to do. If you want to offer big prize money and see Americans on top of World Cup podiums, make sure a *lot* of kids and their parents get psyched about bike racing.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Congratulations Yuki!!!

No race report yet, but Yuki just WON the solo men's division of the 12 hours of Snowmass! Check out the photo (there's an article too, but all it talks about is Lance).

In other race news, Eszter and Sarah had a great collegiate race at Sol Vista, finishing 1st/1st/4th, and 5th/5th/7th, respectively, in the competitive women's A category for XC, STXC, and DH. Nice work, ladies! I should have a pic or two to add later in the day.

-Walt

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Breakin' the law!


That's right. A first for the Waltworks blog. A video. My computer is smoking and making a terrible moaning noise, but I think I've successfully uploaded it.

And no, none of this has anything to do with bicycles. Sorry. But it does involve sneaking blackberries through the fence of the golf course. Which is pretty sweet.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Epic weekend...


This'll be brief, because I really need to get out to the shop and get some work done, but the weekend wrapup was:
Friday: Ride over Rollins Pass to Winter Park. 50 miles, 8k feet of climbing. Follow with copious amounts of Sierra Nevada anniversary ale.

Saturday: Ride 5 hours with the Goonie crew on some of the finest singletrack in the valley. Follow with copious amounts of 90shilling. Chris (see picture) impales self on tree but gamely continues.

Sunday: Ride 3 or 4 four hours, sometimes really slowly and painfully, and discover even more excellent unmapped singletrack. Consume pizza and more beer. Beg a ride back to Boulder.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Random bicycle stuff for sale

Come one, come all! No reasonable offer refused! First come, first served! Shipping is free in the continental US, all others pay me actual cost.

-Avid Shorty 6 brakes (one wheel worth). Brand new, in the box. $20.
-XTR M970 front disc brake. Brand new, includes lever and hose (prebled) but no rotor. $130.
-Shimano 105 front derailleur (braze-on) with 31.8mm clamp adapter. $30.

Email me if you have questions. Thanks dudes.

I'm famous again

Check it out, My name is in Velonews again... Too bad I didn't have a better race - those U23 kids are fast!

Monday, September 01, 2008

The last race report of 2008...probably


I'm sure everyone has been just, well, riveted by my race reports ("So, I was riding 5 mph up the hill for 45 minutes, but this guy in front of me was riding 5.02mph - it was really exciting...") Fear not, this will almost certainly be the last race report of 2008, because the Winter Park series concluded on Saturday with the always-fun Tipperary Creek race.

Tipperary is a great course, but there are a few bits I don't like - specifically, the long flat dirt road sections at the start and finish, and the Flume trail, which is flat or slightly downhill, 8 feet wide, and covered with rocks and roots. Just about the worst possible place to be trying to spin the 34x20, in other words.

The start of the race, as always, was pretty mellow. I think the pro field loses a minute or so to a lot of the expert (and maybe even sport) categories because everyone knows they're not going to win the race on the initial 3.5 miles of flat dirt road, so we all just sit in and chat until we hit the Tipperary climb. In any case, I ran my trusty 2x2 drivetrain (38/34 in front, 16/20 in the rear) which allowed me to stay with the pack for the flat section, then I got off and swapped to the 34x20 for the remainder of the race. Some folks once tried to give me a hard time about this setup, claiming I wasn't being a "true" singlespeeder (since I don't have any facial hair or tattoos, and I don't like cheap beer, I probably don't qualify anyway). But I'm not racing the singlespeed race, nor do I care - it's a setup I enjoy riding, and it lets me hang on for those first 3.5 miles and still race with my friends the rest of the way.

So, as usual, I was dead last onto the climb, and I spent the whole climb chasing and passing people - I think I was up to about 5th at the top, but hadn't managed to catch Paco, who is usually my rabbit for the starts of races. That was a bad sign - the legs didn't really have any snap, and I was having a lot of trouble just keeping my head up to look ahead on the trail. I rode terribly on the descent and Mike West (who I had dropped by about 30 seconds on the climb) caught me and passed me easily towards the bottom. Then Flume started, and I started going backwards - Nick caught me and blew by me with about a 5mph closing speed on his 3" travel 29er, and I think about 7 or 8 others passed me too.

That set the tone for the rest of the race. I would catch and pass Nick and several other people on every smoothish climb, then get absolutely crushed on the flat bits and descents as I desperately tried to keep my head (and motivation) up. I finally caught Nick for the final time about 2 miles from the finish, and he gamely put me on his wheel and pulled my sorry ass past one last rider before the finish line (thanks Nick!) as I was aiming for the series podium and every point was important. Alas, it wasn't enough - I finished 11th (of 42 finishers) and was 4th overall for the series, just 4 points off the podium. C'est la vie. Next year, next year. I was happy to take 2.5 minutes off my time from last year, at least.

The ladies had a better race and did quite well - Sarah raged the first half in front of some of the pros before blowing up (she raced on only a couple hours of sleep and forgot her camelback) but still took 7 minutes off her time from last year to finish 3rd in expert and win the overall for the series. Eszter also rode well and finished 2nd in the pro race, and snuck onto the podium in 3rd for the series.

In any case, a great season, even if I did miss my goal of making the final podium. I think if I'd managed to race the 2nd race (I was ill) I would have done it. Not getting hammered the night before the SuperD would have helped as well, of course. But I have no regrets - I went for it, and I had some great races as well as some very poor ones.