Really excited to head down to Marin tomorrow for spring training camp. I visited Adnan back in December and we had a lot of great miles and smiles all over Marin County. That’s when I decided that I HAD to come back for his annual training camp. The weather has been incredible here in PDX the past few days but it looks like I’m getting outta dodge just in time. Sunshine and 75 here I come!
Experience the daily joy over at the Portland Bicycle Studio blog.
Author Archive for Steven
All cross racers love this time of year. The fun bikes come out, the dirt becomes tacky, then like peanut butter, and finally like snot. It’s all leg warmers, rain capes, and hot oats in the morning. For the dedicated ones, this is our real holiday season. Just like the normal folk though, what we really want are the presents!
Happy holidays from Race.cx!
Even when using a good four bolt stem and oversize handlebars, a punishing course can cause your handlebars to twist away from the sweet spot and throw you off your game. Usually careful and even tightening of the faceplate with a torque wrench is enough to keep everything in place but a little insurance never hurts. A couple drops of threadlocker between the bar and stem can be just what you need. It’s like Velcro for metal.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
After the Nommay World Cup race in France last week, Boom told the press that, “he was simply toying with the other riders.” He won it easily in his own opinion and seemed confident that he could continue to do so in future races. Watching the footage, it was obvious that he could overpower the other riders. Boom pedaled smoothly to the line on a nearly flat tire while Nys flailed behind him unable to even break the Dutchman’s cool.
This week in Zolder, Boom was not popular with the Belgian fans. Thousands of people boo-ed the world champ on every part of the course. It’s hard to imagine that it didn’t get in his head as he even took the time to flip his hand from under his chin whilst riding a paved section of the course.
He’ll need to channel that energy to the pedals in order to gain a second world champion’s jersey. It doesn’t look like anyone is going to make it easy on him.
We still haven’t found the perfect speculoos but we’re traveling the land and testing as many out as we can find. We believe this to be a well hidden secret of the top Belgian pros. When dipped in silty coffee, the sweet bread produces mythical powers. Also available in a paste.
Ontbijt Voor Kampioenen
(breakfast of champions)
Search for the perfect Speculoos
World Cup racing takes a lot of talent, endless hours of training, and sacrifice like most of us will never understand. Being a world cup mechanic sometimes just takes being in the right place with the right people right before the big day. That was the case for me this weekend before the “Coup du Monde” in Nommay France. I signed on to help Molly for the day and Parbo as much as I could. I was in for a treat when Parbo pulled out this big daddy wheel bag:
It holds four spares and will make your mechanic’s day. At one point I had this on my back while carrying a wash bucket, spare bike, and helping a neutral support haul his pressure washer down a rain soaked hill. Magical. My quads hurt more today than after any on-bike event this year. Racers, give your mechanic a hug.
Highlight of the day: Pitting for Georgia Gould during the women’s race. She hadn’t expected any help and was probably a little nervous when she realized everyone else would be pitting every half lap. Well, we more or less gave her clean exchanges every half lap and she ended up on the podium!
Driving to Antwerp today to compete in my first European cross race was a mixed bag. I would swing from elation at just being here, confused from wild driving over cobbled streets-over curbs-through alleyways-wrong way-onto traintracks, all the way to full nausea from fear. It wasn’t a big race though; Lars Boom and Klaas Vantornout were there but Sven Nys and Bart Wellens decided to stay home. No problem right? The worst part was, I hadn’t pooped yet and the race was drawing near. Anybody that races frequently understands how paramount this one simple act can be to having a decent ride. The coffee in Belgium doesn’t have the same kick that I’m used to from Stumptown but it finally did its trick just in time. Perhaps that’s the secret to the Belgian’s success in cyclocross? Time release coffee that gets your buzz on 15 minutes before the start rather than 3hrs prior. There’s a lot to learn here, for sure.
My trainer tells me that a cyclists arms are just for keeping his face from hitting the stem. I thought about telling this advice to Richard Gronendaal when he was riding the most difficult sand section of the course at twice my pace and managed to reach out and shove me into a post/course marker. Not sure he’d like to hear from me. Lesson two: less riding and more pushups/arm curls.
Lastly, Erwin Verveken is super nice. He had a bad race but took the time to talk to some American kid and put on his best awkward smile for a picture.
One of my earliest lessons when I began riding off road was to stay loose. “Don’t grip the bars and brakes so tight; your fingers should drape over the controls, not crush them.”
My first “cross ride” of the year was earlier this week and I could hear this advice in my head as I glided through a loose, rocky, downhill corner. Feeling the bike dance underneath me was like getting re-aquainted with a past lover, frightening and comfortable at the same time.
Since those early days I’ve graduated from college, swapped careers back and forth, lost and found meaningful relationships, and even gone back to school in search of the ultimate. A lot of times I feel like I’m drifting off my line. Occasionally I need to steer things back to center. Whenever I try to over correct though, I risk a mouthful of gravel.
The big spectacle is just around the corner. You’ve been preparing since January, priming your legs with hundreds of hours and miles of single track. Every year it’s an uphill battle on the cross course. For every two guys you out-trained, three more trained smarter than you. More hill repeats. If you work harder, the fitness will come. This time though, don’t just pay attention to the burning in your thighs and throbbing of your heart in your ears, see if you can move your fingers. With your mouth gasping for air, maybe you can even feel your relaxed lower lip dangling and loose. You can’t control every move effectively so make the important ones count.
Photos by Chris Brandt
Since the introduction of the eggbeater pedal, Crank Brothers has been known for simple and effective design. For the last several years I have been a fan of their products, slowly switching all of my bikes over to the eggbeater system. My only complaint has been how the eggbeaters tear up the bottom of my shoes. Especially when putting in the long hours on my road bike, I’ve noticed the expensive carbon soles of my shoes wearing down around the cleats.
$10…problem solved. It’s that easy. Thanks Crank Brothers.
Selle Italia’s SLR saddle has been an important part of my racing arsenal for the past couple of years. I have one for each of my bikes, choosing the gel-flow model for both my mountain and road bikes and the standard model for my cross rigs. I like the added comfort of the gel flow for long distance riding but prefer the lighter weight version for anything under one hour. Being the lucky devil that I am, I have two complete cyclocross bikes this year and can primarily train on one while saving the other for race day. A couple of weeks ago while on a longer training ride I found myself craving a little more luxury for my nethers and wondered if I could have my cake and eat it too. Now, I’m aware that Selle Italia makes an über-lightweight version of their SLR with carbon rails and a cutout but I already had this saddle and didn’t have the $250 clanking around in my pockets for the fancy model. The logical answer was to cut the middle out of mine.
With the saddle on the bench I was pleased to find an outline on the underside that mimicked just what I had in mind. I’m assuming that Selle Italia uses the same mold for all of its SLR range. So, out came the dremel and razor knife and after a few careful minutes I arrived at my goal. Without touching the leather, I rode the saddle as is for a few days fearing that the shell would be weakened or that it wouldn’t be comfortable. This wasn’t the case so…snip, snip, a little glue, and voila! Pure loin nirvana!
Note: For all you salivating gram counters, the whole operation only dropped 10g from the saddle bringing it down to the 135g weight that Selle Italia so proudly advertises.
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