Paris-Roubaix April 12, 2009

Another fantastic Spring Classic! The "Hell of the North" lived up to all of the hype. I have a new respect for the riders that complete this race without crashing out or having a mechanical. Tom Boonan made it two in a row and 3 wins total.

Velonews article.

How the Race Was Won - 2009 Paris-Roubaix Video Analysis from Cosmo Catalano on Vimeo.
One of the cooler trophies out there:

Easter weekend

Daniel's rendition:

What a fantastic weekend to celebrate Easter and squeeze in a couple of great rides. Saturday I took advantage of the great weather and rode from the in-laws house in Rochester, MI to Bloomer County park and rode a lap. Conditions were a bit soggy so I decided to head north to Stoney Creek Metro park for a couple of laps. Stoney was dry and the trail was in great shape. I then rode up to Addison Oaks County park for a lap and decided the trail was too soggy and headed back to Stoney Creek for one final lap. After 3.5 hours of riding I needed to get back for dinner. For Sunday, I headed over to Pontiac Lake to meet Daniel and MV. My first lap was a disaster. I struggled with my pace and finding good lines in the singletrack. I blasted a sharp rock and quickly flatted. All fixed, I was back on the trail when I had a mechanical with my rear derailleur. I finished the lap and re-grouped back at the car. I ran into Pimpin, we chatted and I headed out for a much better lap. Pontiac is always a great training ground and I was glad the "hell lap" was behind me. The singletrack feels great to ride again.
Pontiac Lake singletrack has plenty of teeth:

Why I ride...

I ride to get away. To get out of the house, away from the television and everyday life. Riding makes me feel alive and satisfies my urge to move under my own power as fast as possible. With so many places to ride and endless miles to cover, I will never run out of opportunities to ride and put the smile back on my face. Here are a few shots from some recent backroads rides.
Huge oak tree on the road in Oakland County, MI

Stoney Creek Metro park

Church on a dirt road:

Cool barn north of Ann Arbor, MI:

More barn, although this one is "artsy".

Keeping with the rural theme, a historic farm:

Tour of Flanders

I watched this race yesterday and it was an incredible sight. Belgium is a place where bike racing is a way of life and everyone comes out to see the local boy kick some ass for a 2nd straight year. This photo says it all. Click the photo for a larger image.


(CNN) -- Local favorite Stijn Devolder retained his Tour of Flanders title under clear blue skies on Sunday, powering away from his rivals for a comfortable victory in the 261.5km spring classic in northern Belgium.

The Quick Step rider made light of one of the toughest tests in cycling to break away with 15km remaining, finishing nearly a minute ahead of Germany's Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo) -- with Silence-Lotto rider Philippe Gilbert third.

Belgium's premier race, which features 16 steep climbs -- many of which see the peloton ride over bone-jarring cobbles -- was brought to life with 50km remaining when Italian Manuel Quinziato, Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel and three-time runner-up Leif Hoste led a six-rider breakaway.

However, they were gradually caught by race favorites Devolder, compatriot and dual winner Tom Boonen and Italian Filippo Pozzato.

Devolder made his decisive move over the crest of the penultimate climb, the Muur-Kapelmuur, and by the time he had reached the final climb, the Bosberg, he had an unassailable advantage.



The rest of the breakaway riders were eventually caught by the peloton and German Haussler won the sprint for second place which was marred by a nasty crash on the final straight into Meerbeke.

It snowed today...

Just when the weather was starting to give me hope of warmer days to come, it snowed last night and this morning. It reminded me of this Nike commercial from 2005 and how the conditions out don't seem too bad now. HTFU!

Lance Armstrong - enjoy the weather!!! - Funny videos are here

Lance Armstrong crashes out of Castilla y León

From Velonews

Armstrong crashes out of Castilla y León
By Andrew Hood
Posted Mar. 23, 2009

Lance Armstrong crashed hard in Monday’s opening stage of the Castilla y León and first indications appear that he seriously injured his shoulder and might have broken his right collarbone.

There are no official reports yet as the crash just happened at about 150km into the stage on narrow roads, but the Astana rider was crouched on the side of the road cradling his right shoulder.

Armstrong went down in a crash featuring at least a dozen riders as the peloton was cranking up the chase late in the stage. He was seen entering an ambulance cradling his right shoulder.

Next. The April Fools joke?

Today, Lance Armstrong and Bontrager released more detail regarding Armstrong's recent collarbone surgery. While it was previously reported that Armstrong's right clavicle was screwed and plated back together after his March 23rd crash at the Castilla y Leon stage race in Spain, Armstrong and equipment sponsor Bontrager, jointly announced that he was the world's first recipient of an inForm® Full Carbon Clavicle Upgrade.

Originally slated to be released at the AAOS (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeon) Convention May 18-24th in Las Vegas, Bontrager moved up the launch date of the inForm CarbonClavicle™ to aid the return of Armstrong to the peloton.

“The original intent of the Bontrager inForm line was to use medical research to aid us in creating better cycling contact points, such as saddles, shoes and grips. But when we did the research into the most common cycling related injuries, the broken collarbone proved to be an area where we could actually help cyclists get back on the road sooner,” relates John Balmer, head of Bontrager Development.

The CarbonClavicle™, available in 4 male sizes and 4 WSD (Women's Specific Design) sizes for both left and right shoulders, is an actual carbon fiber replacement of the clavicle. Developed with the aid of Sports Medicine Specialist Dr. Mark Timmerman, a Bontrager consultant, the inForm CarbonClavicle has greater shock absorption, greater impact strength and a greater tensile strength—while being grams lighter than the OEM bone.

“The installation on Armstrong was completely coincidental, but I must admit, the Bontrager marketing team was doing high-fives when we heard about Lance's crash. It really was a marketing god-send. I mean, could there have been a better way to launch the new Bontrager medical Upgrade line?” explains Chris Clinton, Bontrager Marketing Manager.

The installation procedure is substantially quicker than the conventional collarbone repair procedures of stabilizing, drilling and pinning, as this is a full replacement. Essentially, the broken bone is completely removed and the carbon one is anchored in place. Armstrong's procedure took approximately 30 minutes and will reduce his recovery time from 3 weeks to typically 5-7 days for the sutures to fully heal.

The delay in releasing details was due to an extended approval process with the UCI, which has now ruled that since this piece is structural yet provides only minor aerodynamic advantage over the traditional bump of a healed broken clavicle, it falls with the current parameters of the UCI rules.

Future sponsorship plans include full support and pre-emptive upgrades for the full Trek-Livestrong U23 team. “These guys are early in their careers, and if averages apply to the team, we think we can prevent about 10 or more future breaks across the 12 members of the team,” adds Clinton.

Backed by the best in industry Bontrager 5 year warranty, inForm CarbonClavicles will be available through referrals from Trek and Fisher dealers exclusively. Retail prices will be set by the retailer.

Spring is here. Get out and ride.

TK Lawless Fabulous50

I have just wrapped up a week of honeydew work at our house in Edwardsburg, MI. E'Burg is a small, rural village located in the SW corner of Michigan and offers plenty of open roads which are best suited for road riding. I did, however, map out a great gravel road ride for the MTB that takes me to TK Lawless County Park for some excellent training miles with a little bit of singletrack tossed in. No driving is necessary as this ride takes me from my door 20 miles to the trailhead. TK Lawless is a tight 10 mile trail that offers a variety of features with very little traffic. I am usually alone out there during the week. During this time of year, the leaves cover the trail and without much activity the trail is often obscured. Riding the singletrack after a long winter took some adjustment but it was a thrill to get up to race pace and I only bit it twice (my front wheel kept washing out). It sure beats riding in a straight line. It's all good and I was still able to get my choirs completed.
ROUTE

Greyhound Team Time Trial - Part 2

Well, the results are being tabulated and it was an awesome day for our kick-off event. The first event always reminds me of the first day of school. You see old friends and meet new ones as well. The turnout was good but we still had a few key players missing in action. The weather conditions were ideal although the head winds heading back to the finish made it hurt. A lot. My legs felt strong but I noticed my difficulty maintaining the level of intensity without wanting to puke. With all the training miles I have so far this year I still lack the intensity found in most competitive events. A HUGE thank you goes out to Kevin and the volunteers and also to Jenni and Dan for the Buddy's Pizza Party. What a great group of people. Go Greyhounds!
Ritzy sporting his Mello Johnny:

Mike Woods and his spanking brand new BMC:

Orange Peel briefing the riders:


Afterwards @ Buddy's Pizza:

Racing Greyhounds Team Time Trial

From our team Forum:
"It's that time of year, Ladies and Gents, for you to break out your road bikes (or any bike you wish) and join your fellow Greyhounds for the first Greyhound event of the year. This Greyhound sponsored event will be a Time Trial run on March 22nd, and start at 5 PM, this doesn't mean show up at 5 PM, it means the first bike off the line will be at 5 PM. The course will start at Helms Haven and will go to Nankin Mills, turn around, and back. This is your chance to get a taste of what it's like to get ready and preped for a racing event. Basically this is a race against time, also known as the Race of Truth. It's just you and the clock. Do you have what it takes to go all out from start to finish? Come on out and see. There will be a pizza party afterwards for all participants at Benny's located at Merriman and Joy".
MAP
Here is the starting order based off last year's power rankings. I'm just glad the only people who start after me are easily the fastest so I won't mind getting passed by those few. I have a lot of riders to reel in though. Although I'm riding a loaner bike with fenders and blinky lights it should still be a good time.

Justin Clark 5:00:00
Mike Adams 5:00:30
Al Lauland 5:01:00
Chris Pratt 5:01:30
Marian Davidson 5:02:00
Mike Pominville 5:02:30
Charles Russo 5:03:00
Sunshine Gramer 5:03:30
Tricia Shipp 5:04:00
Toni Roginski 5:04:30
Danielle Jankowski 5:05:00
Scott Krahn 5:05:30
Jennifer Sterling 5:06:00
Chris Russo 5:06:30
Dave Krenk 5:07:00
Jim Lovett 5:07:30
Tom Olszewski 5:08:00
Timothy Wayne Simms 5:08:30
Lynne Sienkiewicz 5:09:00
Brian Roginski 5:09:30
Sabinel Deacu 5:10:00
Chris Roper 5:10:30
Jon Ruud 5:11:00
Chad Aiello 5:11:30
Kimm Bender 5:12:00
Phil Utley 5:12:30
Wendell DelValle 5:13:00
Jason Sparks 5:13:30
Rob Ritzenhein 5:14:00
Scott Jankowski 5:14:30
Aaron Reider 5:15:00
Rick Bowling 5:15:30
Ted Welsh 5:16:00
Mark Bugnell 5:16:30
Mike Woods 5:17:00
Earl Hillaker 5:17:30
Gary Winkel 5:18:00
Jeff Jorge 5:18:30
Craig Morris 5:19:00
Kevin Dittmer 5:19:30
Brian Jankowski 5:20:00
Adam Sulkes 5:20:30
Jeff Wittbrodt 5:21:00
Mark Carroll / Jennifer Chinn (Tandem) 5:21:30

First day of Spring

Yea! Yesterday was the first day of Spring and I celebrated with a ride. It was sunny and the temperature was 37-40 degrees. Cool but nice. I rode out to Dexter, Michigan and back before work. The road crews have been out grading the dirt roads. This is fine for cars but it makes for difficult riding with the soft surface. I came across this converted barn:

Gurgling water along Gale Road:

The frogs are croaking and the wildlife is getting wild. Great ride today!

Danny and the Demoncycle

In 1972 the Highway Safety Division of Virginia published a comic book for kids about bike safety called Danny and the Demoncycle . It stars a young sociopath named Danny who enjoys riding his bike in such as way as to cause the death of innocent people. He changes his ways after having a dream involving Satan, a.k.a. Santa, and a "demoncycle" that takes him on a ride so wild that even Danny can't handle it. After that, Danny becomes an exemplary lad, following bicycle safety rules to the letter and admonishing anyone who doesn't.

This is the latest addition to the "Comics with Problems" library, curated by Ethan Persoff. This is a great site that takes me back to my youth and the paranoia that was purvasive in media at the time.

Natural Beauty Roads

Gale Road:

Tubbs Road:

As I have spent more time lately on the back roads north of Ann Arbor, Michigan, I have begun to notice these signs more frequently. I have seen them in Oakland County, Michigan and decided to check out what they were all about. Aside from the obvious message of the sign it appears as if there is a laborious process to get a road designated with this idyllic sign. I found the Washtenaw County website offered some good information of the subject (complete with map) and now I can start planning my next route to include more of these roads. I'm happy to see these roads out there for me and my friends to ride on.
Tubbs Road:

Death/re-birth of my Tiagra shifter

UPDATE 4-5-09
I have finally replace my shifter and I really dig the new bar tape.



UPDATE 3-28-09:
I received my replacement shifter from Shimano in a timely manner. The new shifter has what appears to be a slightly different port for the cable end to rest in. It actually looks improved to prevent the barrel from falling inside which is what happend to me. Check it out. Great job Shimano!
UPDATE 3-29-09
I went to install the shifter and realized I was sent a left shifter and it is the right hand (9 speed) shifter that was to have been replaced. Upon closer inspection, the photo below is a left shifter. KA-RAP!


3-13-09
I was recently enjoying a training ride on the back roads north of Ypsilante, Mi. when I started my ride back home I felt something give in the right shifter of my CX bike. This is my first experience with integrated shifters and I have a lot of experience with MTB shifters wearing out. I pulled off the road and noticed the slack in the shift cable to the rear derailleur. When this occurs the derailleur will move to the smallest cog on the back and turn your bike into an instant track bike. One speed. The following day I went to replace the cable and discovered that the cable had broke where it exits the shifter and the nub on the end of the cable had fallen down inside the gear mechanism of the shifter. The piece of cable was inhibiting the shifter from working properly. I took it to the shop and came to a decision. If the shifter is broken then why not take it apart and try to fix it. BUT, if I take it apart, will I be able to get it back together in working order? I think I would be better off building a Swiss watch from scratch. I stripped the shifter down about as far as I could and still could not dislodge the cable from within.

I stopped, slept on it and considered the cost of a new shifter. A new Tiagra shifter was around $100.00 more than I wanted to spend. I called Shimano and the tech promptly advised me to print out the warranty return form from the Shimano website and FedEx the shifter to them for a "goodwill" replacement. The tech mentioned that these shifters are not meant to be taken apart (duh) and are best if replaced versus repaired. With this in mind I quickly reassembled the shifter and sent it off to Shimano. So far, the customer experience has been fantastic. I will update when and if the replacement arrives.

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.