Ann Arbor/Ypsilante back roads

The weather has been progressively warming up and the riding more consistent. Having recently moved to the A2/Ypsi area I have been exploring the back roads North of town. Each ride I come across a new road and route. The roads are mainly packed gravel with a great mix of hills and terrain that are perfect for the Cross bike. I'm enjoying the new surroundings.

Sample Route

Area 51 at the top of Dixboro Road:

2008 Hardware

I stopped by the shop yesterday (my happy place) and Daniel had a few things he had been holding for me. The first was the 2008 CPS (Championship Points Series) trophy which was a departure from the behemoth trophy of years past. I'm OK with it and it represents a great deal of effort to hang near the top in this class.

This trophy was a Greyhound's team trophy for riders who logged 4000+ miles. It represents a great deal of memorable training miles. It was a good season for me.

March 2, 2009

Two days into March and it still doesn't feel a bit like Spring. Although it is sunny the mercury is at 11 degrees with a 13 mph wind chill. I have a handful of outdoor rides under my belt with the majority of my time spent on the trainer and lifting light weights. I am bored out of my skin! Tonight is the Iceman Cometh registration at 1900. It was re-scheduled after the Friday night website meltdown forced the change of date. The days are getting longer and warmer and I am so ready to check out the countryside North of town. Cheers.

UPDATE:
Thank you for your efforts to get registered for this year's Iceman Cometh Challenge. I know that last Friday and tonight were both very frustrating and disappointing.
We appreciate your efforts to participate and your passion for the event!

Dear Craig,
We have suspended the online registrations for the moment due to unprecented activity on the SBO site.

Now we have to step back and will be spend quite a bit of time in the next few days scrubbing the registrations that were sucessful tonight. Those sucessful entries are 100% valid.

However, there are still quite a number of corrections that need to be made in order to have a good solid list of particpants. Once the database is in order, we'll post a list of the riders that are currently registered.

Regardless, of the method we use to move forward from here, it will be some time before we'll be able to announce just what that method will be.

Honestly, right now, I am leaning towards going back to the "Old School" method of paper entries for the remainder of the field.
Thank you again for your patience!

I know you have a choice about which events you attend throughout the year and I can only say that the 2009 Iceman will rise above this registration disaster!

Now go ride and work your frustrations out!

Steve Brown

Syringe Fan?

These shots are from the 2009 Tour of California and I found myself confused by several aspects of the photos. What was this fan thinking? Was he pissed at Pro cycling and the fallout from the drug scandals? Did the fan think he was being funny and how did other fans perceive his presence on the side of the road. I think I would have found myself giving this tool some grief. Anyway, it's sad to see and know it's out there. I'm glad he ended up in the snowbank.

Tour of California February 14-22, 2009

LEIPHEIMER WINS 2009 TOUR
Levi Leipheimer (AST) wins the Amgen Tour of California for third straight year. David Zabriskie (GRM) finishes 2nd and Michael Rogers (THR) completes the podium in 3rd place.

UPDATE: It was a great week of racing with some fantastic coverage. I found the live streaming on the Amgen website combined with the Cycling TV coverage were ideal for keeping me updated during the stages. The Versus coverage was late at night and didn't fit my schedule. The California scenery was incredible and I'm a little sad the race has ended. Next up, the Giro.


This event is quickly becoming a top notch draw for professional cycling. Mark your calendar. Check out the links below for continuing coverage:

Amgen Tour of California

Cycling.tv

VeloNews

From stage 3 another reason to never overlap wheels:

Lumberjack 100

Registration opened up for the Lumberjack 100 on January 1st and 300 spots were filled by January 27. WOOT! This event keeps getting bigger and better every year. The vibe is fantastic and the course features some of the best Michigan singletrack out there. It's great to see an event become so successful un such a short period of time. I can only hope it doesn't become as huge as the Iceman Cometh. What a great incentive to add some focus to my training.

Mohican 100

I just registered today and couldn't be more excited! LINK
It looks like I'll be taking a different approach to my race schedule for 2009. Funds are thin and I want to maximize my mile per dollar ratio by doing longer events and cutting out the CPS races from my schedule. The shorter USAC XC events that fill the calendar here in Michigan are great for conditioning and I hope to fill the void between the endurance events with a few of these events. My goal will be to complete at least 4 of the events of the NUE (National Ultra Endurance) calendar to place in the overall standings. I better start training...

Nutella Hazelnut spread

I have been yearning to try this product for a long time and finally took the plunge and regret not trying this stuff sooner. Nutella is wonderful! With it's roots in Europe, Nutella is a staple on the breakfast tables of professional cycling teams loading up for a long day in the saddle.

Description:

Too much is not enough, when it comes to this chocolate flavoured hazelnut spread. It can make anything taste good and the best things taste unbelievable. Bread, a rye cracker, fruit, a Parisian crepe, a teaspoon, or simply your very own finger - whatever is at hand, you'll be tempted to dip it into this pot of sinful creamy goo.

The brand is pretty significant too, because imitations don't always get the hazelnut side of the equation right. (Trader Joe's own brand chocolate hazelnut spread is no comparison, for example.)

Tour Down Under

Man alive, it 80+ degrees in Australia right now and the Tour Down Under had just kicked off with the Cancer Council Classic benefit on Sunday. Lance is back and Robbie McEwin takes the win. It's great to see bike racing again!

Hell Yes Sprints Feb. 9 + 23

Hell Yes! I love this site and look forward to checking out this event in Feb. I think I really want to go just to have a few of those $1.00 PBR's.
Jimmyrigged

Addison Oaks XC video.

I found this video from last Fall's Addison Oaks XC. Matt does a great job producing these and generally walks the race course while filming. This looks like the Sport class. I see a lot of teammates featuring the blue plaid of our team kits. I like the Led Zeppelin and enjoy seeing the green forest again.

Stella Artois commercial

Best commercial EVER!

Helpful technique videos

2008 Individual bike stats

2008 is a done deal so I thought I would break down the distribution of my 2008 miles among my bikes. I know, it's a bit much but I wanted to capture this information before the clock rolls to midnight tonight and resets the odometer.



2008 RedLine Monocog Flight
2008 Odometer: 702.3 miles
Lifetime Odometer: 702.3 miles


2007 KHS CX200
2008 Odometer: 3,877.0 miles
Lifetime Odometer: 5,747.8 miles




2006 Sette Reken
2008 Odometer: 183.3 miles
Lifetime Odometer: 1,659.8 miles





2005 Kona King Kikapu
2008 Odometer: 640.7 miles
Lifetime Odometer: 1,611.1 miles

2008 is a done deal.

As 2009 approaches it's safe to say 2008 was a fantastic year of cycling. I did my first 100 mile race, I broke into the realm of 29'er singlespeeding. I spent a great deal of time on my road bike increasing my distances and speed. Easily my best year yet. Click the image to enlarge. Best wishes to all for 2009!

2007 YTD Mileage totals:


2008 YTD mileage totals:

2008 Iceman Pro Teaser

Bike Art

I am enjoying my brief cycling hiatus while shuffling around the house this morning I glanced over at the wire bike sculpture propped up on the desk. A friend had given this to me several years back and I decided to learn more about it. It is a single 6 foot length of wire sculpted to resemble a mountain bike. It was created by Wired...by Morris.
Dub-dub-dub
Check out the detail.

09 Team Kits

2009 marks the third year for our team and we will be sporting a new look as well. Nice looking graphics.

Winter riding with a steel frame

I have been doing all my winter riding on my singlespeed which has worked out fine so far. No gears or suspension to mess with. My concern has been condensation building up on the inside of the frame when I bring the bike inside after a cold ride, creating rust inside. The solution was to Frame Saver my rig. I would recommend removing all components and be prepared to make a mess. This stuff resembles melted crayons and make sure to apply it liberally. Rotate the frame to move the product into all the nooks and crannies. Wipe off any excess from the bottom bracket threads and painted surfaces. From the product website:

Out of Sight, Out of Mind - Rust Never Sleeps
by Peter Weigle
Steel frames rust, that's all there is too it. They rust when scratched, chipped, or abraded in any way. Most people know this. What they don't know is that steel frames also rust from the inside out. That's why I am so amazed that manufacturers go through great pains to paint the outside of a frame but the completely ignore the inside surfaces of the steel tubes. The steel inside the frame is almost always left raw and unprotected. If a little moisture enters the frame, the environment within will resemble a terrarium. The humid air and water droplets will be attacking the steel and you won't even know it. Left untreated, the frame will be destroyed.

To help prevent rust inside steel tubes, Frame Saver® was developed. It is a product that was long overdue. It coats the inside of the steel tubes protecting them from the corrosive elements that find their way there.

True, bicycles have been around for 100 years and there are plenty of early examples of frames that have lasted lifetimes without rust, so why all the fuss now? Because in the last couple of decades there have been major changes in materials, equipment, and bike usage that have made internal frame protection even more important.

Today's high performance frames are being made with extremely thin walled tubing compared to frames of the past. There used to be a safety margin should the tubes rust. Not any more! There are a few construction details found in some frames that have trapped water and caused premature failures. Frame builders who do repair work, painters and mechanics, are seeing a higher incidence of rust-throughs these days, and it is only going to get worse, unless these frames are rustproofed on the inside. Most new bikes are equipped with sealed bearings, which mean fewer overhauls and fewer chances to look in the bottom bracket to see what is going on. After many carefree miles, many mechanics and owners are shocked when they pull the bottom bracket bearings and find rust-colored sludge, or flakes of rust, inside the shell. Hopefully, it's not too late to save a frame in this condition.

Mountain bikes are supposed to be used in extreme conditions. Stream crossings, fall, winter, and early spring rides all involve, among other things, water.

Even if you don't ride in the rain or cross raging rapids, moisture still finds its way into a frame. Take your bike out of a warm house on a cool, damp day, or on a hot day return your bike to a cool, damp basement for storage and what happens? As the warm air inside your frame cools and contracts, it pulls in the damp air past the seat post, threads, and vent holes. This may only be a minute amount, but do this many times over the course of the season and the cumulative effect can be devastating.

It would be misleading to suggest that every steel frame is a risk because there are many factors involved. It is impossible to tell from the outside, which frames are screaming for attention. Why take a chance? With the cost of bikes these days, think of it as cheap insurance. Prevention is easy. An application of Frame Saver® will add years to a frame's life and peace of mind to its owner. May you both ride happily into the next millennium and beyond.

Break the Cycle teaser video

Kewl Downhill video. Check it out.
Music credits: (in order of appearance - Artist/Track)
The Frames - In the deep shade
Joe Echo - Come get it wrong
Joe Echo - Where we wanna be


Break the Cycle Trailer from Andy Yoong on Vimeo.