2 races in a week

I had two races the first week of June, both on Glowie, and one was my best, and one my worst, race so far. (I delayed writing the blog to see if pics from the second race would get posted. They didn't.)

First off, I had the Troy Strawberry Festival Time Trial. There were a few people from the Fort Wayne team that had taken most of the podium at the TT in Fort Wayne there, which meant a good 2 hour drive. I'd see both of them again three days later at the second in the Midwest series.  I was at a bit of a disadvantage in this race, since my road bike has a few loose spokes, and wheel truing is not one of my skills. The Strawberry festival race doesn't have a FG division, just age groups. Still, I managed to shave about a minute off my time from last year, so I really can't complain too much. (Other than coming in 60th out of 65.)

2014 Troy Strawberry Festival TT

I am in the Tour De Donut Jersey. I think it had just dawned on the one person that I was on a Fixie. 

The second race was also the second in the Midwest TT series, which I am competing in under the FG division. This was one of the hardest races I have ever done, mainly due to a particularly nasty hill. It was the first time I have ever had to get off of Glowie and walk up a hill. That wasn't the worst part. The hill, on the way back down a few miles later, had a few turns. I fought to keep the bike at about 30 MPH, because my legs just couldn't keep up with the pedals at that point, and I questioned if I was going to survive the race. The winner of the fixie division there said he hit 40, but he is also running a 50/15 ratio (compared to my 44/14) so he had it harder on the uphill (obviously, he is a bad-ass) and a little easier on the downhill, since at the same speed, his pedals rotate less.

TT2 - Bellbrook
(I know the link says I got 4th overall, it does that sometimes when somebody makes a new course the day of a race, and then there are about 5 people who all get 4th. I started 7th or so, and with the gps time, blah blah blah, etc.)

Overall, for Men at Bellbrook, I came in 86th out of 86. For the points series, I believe I am now in 4th for the FG division. First and Third from the Ft Wayne race didn't show up to this one, and the winner for this race wasn't at Ft Wayne. The next race in the series will be at Kentucky Speedway, which should make for an interesting race. I am planning on taking a second bike along and doing a second race. Yeah, I know that I won't likely end up on and podiums, I'm there to have fun. Even if that means I enter the age group division for my second race using a 1974 Schwinn Varsity. Nothing says 'there to have fun' like riding a bike that weighs more than 2 or 3 other peoples bikes combined.

Race season begins

I haven't posted in a few months, for a few different reasons. Earlier this year, there were two local fatal bike crashes, one of which happened a few miles away, within sight of one of my training loops. I also was focusing on the Flying Pig Half Marathon, two weeks ago, and my final semester of Grad School.

Today was the first bike race of the season for me, the Midwest Time Trial series. Being held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, it was a good 2 hour drive each way to the event, but was worth it. I took "Glowie" for this one, and entered the Fixie category. I came in 6th place, out of 6, in what tied for the largest Fixie field in the series's history. 1st and 3rd in the category were separated by less than 40 seconds, though I was a good 15 minutes slower than the winner.

It was a good ride, for the most part. Outbound, I was averaging around 19 MPH, but there was a price in that. The turnaround put me into one of the worst headwinds I have ever seen. I fought to stay about 13 MPH for the return 6 miles, and I averaged about 16 overall.

I actually had parked next to one of the other Fixie riders, and a few spots from a third one. It made for some interesting conversation, I believe I may have had the only Steel fixie there, though I am not sure I would trust an Aluminum frame for fixed gear riding.

After the race, I stopped at the McDonald's in Van Wert, Ohio. I was sitting there eating lunch when a familiar face stopped and said hi. It was one of the top-3 finishers from the Fixie division, and we talked for a few minutes until a third rider from the division walked in. Half an hour from the race location, and 3 of the 6 riders in the division happened to be in the same McDonald's at the same time. (While the TV in Mcdonald's was playing a bike race from California!)

I really enjoyed myself today, I really felt like I was in my element. For me, that is incredibly rare, and for those that really know me, to think I could be in a large group of people and be completely at ease and talking to any of them at random is an almost mind boggling thing.

The TT series still has 3 races for this year, and there is another TT that I plan on hitting in 2 or 3 weeks. (Its on a weekday, and there is another Midwest TT the following Sunday.) I will probably ride Fixed on that one as well, and I will finish the Midwest series on the Fixed, so I can earn all my points in the same division.

Nothing like the first long (ish) ride of the season

Snow, Ice, Driftwood. Ohio?

Today, partly due to a combination of non-freezing weather, and just not feeling well in the morning, causing me to skip leg day at the gym, led to my first 'decent' bike ride of the year. I'd love to say I got 10 miles in, but the GPS says 9.9, split into two separate trips. But it was still the first real ride of the season, instead of the short little trips I had been taking, and with the 44:14 on Glowie, my legs are really feeling it.  I actually got on the bike path, in two different sections going different directions, getting a fair amount of distance before I had to turn around due to ice and snow. (The way the second trip was going, I was actually more worried about the driftwood. Ohio really has been screwing with me this year.)

I find it somewhat odd, really. The Pure Fix bikes come with 700x28 tires, and my KHS currently has 700x25 on it (originally was 700x26) but I feel like the tires on the fixie can handle a LOT more than I trust the tires on my road bike. I don't know why I feel those 3mm make a difference, but with snow on the ground, I didn't have many seconds where it felt like my bike was going to slip on ice. Falling off the bike, that's a different story.

There is a hill on the bike path that my wife doesn't really like, and she only recently got to where she can ride her road bike up it without getting off. Today, that hill was NO FUN. Also, that hill still had some ice and snow on it. Compared to the KHS Flite 223, I would have been in the gear between the 5th and 6th highest, or about 4 gears harder than it was with the stock cog. I still got up the hill and stayed on the bike, but it wasn't easy.

I might get out again Saturday for another ride, I have a 5k run in the morning though, and we are probably going out of birthday dinners that night. Gotta keep busy I guess.

When I find that Gremlin....

Oh the things I will do to it. Nasty, nasty things.

Last week, I ran into an issue when changing the gearing on my Pure Fix Zulu.  It is rare, and that is why businesses have warranties. Got a new wheel today (and a few other things I had planned on getting anyways) today, and got it installed. Now, the new wheel didn't come with a tire or tube, which makes sense. As I removed the ones from the old wheel, I thought to myself, "When you replace a tire, you put a new tube in it. I wonder if that holds true for the wheels too..."

Short answer, "yeah....."

I had the wheel, with tire on, sitting in the doorway to the room I do my repairs in, aired up, looking good, and I was getting the bike cleaned up. (I should have done that yesterday, but I hadn't gotten around to getting to the store to buy baby wipes, so I was using Simple Green. The smell brought back memories of working at Chuck E Cheese.)  BANG. I didn't even jump at the sound. After the trauma of last year and the week with 6 tubes in the KHS, I got good at changing tubes. I thought this one had gone decently well, although the valve didn't come out as far as it did on the old wheel. (The new wheel does look nicer, but a hair deeper rim on it.) I hadn't though much of it, but yeah.... I don't know if the LBS has the right tubes, since they were 60mm valves, and I hadn't gotten around to picking up a spare tube yet. (again, 60mm valves, not as easy to find.)

On the plus side, I wasn't planning on riding today anyways.

The bike was upgraded after this, since not having the tire ready didn't really have any bearing on the other stuff. I was able to switch the handlebars to a nice pair of white bullhorns, and added a rear brake. The brake came with some nice little black shimano clamps, which were great except one of the screws had the screwdriver slot poorly formed. It's just a normal screw, so I should be able to grab one from Home Depot or something for less than the gas to drive there. Really, installing the rear brake was really not that hard, it might need some tweaking once I have the tire on the wheel again though.

I do need to grab some handlebar tape still, which I had planned on getting white (The glow in the dark tape never seems to be in stock...) but with the bars being while already, I am not sure if I will go with white, black, or maybe a black/white camo combo.

(I am glad I mounted the wireless computer mount to the frame, I didn't have to find more zip ties that way.)

I really owe a lot of thanks to Pure Fix, it is rare to find a company that is easy to work with when it comes to warranty stuff. I can't wait until I get the new tire on there and can go out for a spin, even it that means using the trainer.

Clean the stable?

Right now, my stable has 3 whips, along with 3 of my wife's bikes, and the kids' bikes. I am not sure if my oldest son's bike is in the house or not, and I think my youngest's is outgrown. There is also a kids fixie (with training wheels) somewhere around here, but it is something like a 12" tire size. (Solid, not pneumatic.) On top of this, my mother-in-law's bike is in the house too, after a crash last year. I do have an aluminium Cannondale at the local bike shop, it has issues. Good components, but it might need a new fork and stem. Really, I plan to sell it off, it isn't a benefit to me at this time, nor do I see it becoming one.

I found out that I can order Pure Fix frames from Bicycle Stop in Springfield, which is only about 45 minutes away, give or take. Bicycle Stop isn't my favorite shop, personally, but when I next plan to get a new jersey, they will be the first place I'll go. (Depending on my need, I have go-to bike shops in various order, starting with Parker's in Piqua for almost everything, Carty's in Sidney for older Schwinn parts, Family Bike Shop (Troy) and Tipp Cyclery (Tipp City) for random other things. I don't like ordering parts for the most part, and half of the tools I have bought at random, from a variety of the above places. (Last time I bought parts at the bike store in Huber Heights, the shop guy seemed annoyed that I was going to do the work myself, so I avoid there unless I need a water bottle, or I am taking my wife's car to the repair shop next door.

(I should mention Countryside Bike Shop over in Greenville, nice little newer shop, only been there once to pick up a new BB for my KHS. They had it in stock, which beat Performance Bike who didn't have it in stock. (That was a fun few days, I had to have the threads on the KHS redone at Carty's, and he didn't have the BB in stock. Arty (Parker's) was on vacation that week, and I hadn't gotten the Pure Fix yet, so I did some driving that week.

Springfield is a nice bike shop, and in a lot of ways, it rivals Performance Bike. It does have the downside most local shops have though, were you are not quite taken as seriously or as well taken care of if they don't recognize you as a real cyclist, and not somebody who will just say screw it and go to Walmart. Now, being that most of the bike shops around here know me, most to the point of knowing my first name on sight, I don't have that issue locally. Springfield is just far enough that I may only be there once or twice a year, and usually I am in the area for other reasons. (It doesn't help that they are closed on Sundays, which is the usual time I go to Springfield.)

Still, I am excited that I can get the Pure Fix frames (and the bikes...) from them for MSRP. This is great, even though sales tax is involved, because shipping is expensive, and I never have the money when the sales are going on directly from Pure Fix. I've had my eye on Pure Fix's Dual tube frameset for a while now, and the cost isn't bad. The problem was shipping here would be about half the cost of the frame. Now I can drive to Springfield, and give them $100 bucks, and pay the rest when it comes in a week later. (The rest being $10 because the frames are $110 and whatever sales tax comes up to. My county has the lowest sales tax in the area, but I think it would be another 7 bucks or something. They said I could just do half down and the rest later, my mind likes thinking in rounder numbers though.)

After that, the only big cost is the wheel set, and I have a few options for that. Still, I am running out of room in the house for more bikes, so I am thinking that I might have to sell another one, which sadly means that the vintage green Schwinn Varsity may have to go. Nice bike, decent upgrades, and not sure I want to sell it. Makes me wish I had a garage to put my bikes in...

Glitches like me

So, the switching of the rear gear didn't go quite as planned. I really don't want to go into the fine details, but that is why warranties exist. Being something the LBS had never even seen before, so it does fit in near perfectly with my habit of having problems with the bizarre when it comes to bikes. At any rate, new parts are inbound, due to great service at Pure Fix Cycles. I would say the entire thing, from me finding the issue to getting it resolved, was really fast. I called them at 3:59 in the afternoon, and the email with the shipping info for the part was sent at 4:56 that same day. (To be fair, this was between 1 and 2 in the afternoon at Pure Fix's California HQ, and I am in Ohio.)

So today looked to be a great day to go riding, but with Glowie on the stand for a few days, and my cold weather gear still in the drier, I mounted the KHS onto the trainer. This took me about 5 minutes to adjust it, since I had it set for the fixie. I got in just under 3 miles while playing Mortal Kombat on the PS3, but since I hadn't played that game in about 2 years, or since before I replaced the PS3 two years ago, all the fun stuff was locked and I couldn't really remember how to play. (I bet it may have been more fun if I had set the trainer up in front of the PS2 and played Need for Speed...)

Still, I have not been on the KHS since I got Glowie back in October, though between a flat on the KHS where I had to patch the tire (not the tube, I may have to replace the tire which I just got last summer) and the 28 tires on the fixie feel more stable in the Ohio winter we have had so far that the KHS's 25 tires. This made getting on the KHS, while on the trainer, something surreal. The fit is a little better for me, but the seat is horrible, and the wires for the brakes, shifters, and computer just look like a mess. (I have a wireless computer mounted to the top tube of Glowie.) I am almost tempted to put the KHS road bike up for sale, though I don't know if doing the Double Donut 64 mile race would be sane on a Fixie. Then again, sane is not often a word associated with me...

I did move the saddle position on the Fixie to closer match the KHS, I will have to switch the stem again back to stock, but next weekend, I expect to have the Zulu dialled in near perfect.

(Then again, I could sell the KHS, and if I can sell the Cannondale that is surplus, I might be able to afford a Ti frame... or maybe an Oscar. That thing is shiny.)

New parts

Glowie is going to be going under some mods this week, as I just got a new part in the mail today, a 14t Fixed Cog.

Since the Pure Fix fixies ship out with a 16t rear gear, this will give me a bit more power to the bike. Also, it was cheaper to buy a new rear gear than a new front gear...  this will give me a 44:14 (22:7 or sorta Pi ) ratio instead of the original 44:16 (11:4 or 2.75) so I think that is about a 14% increase in speed per the same cadence, which means the cadence for 10 mph becomes just under 11.5 mph.

The gear itself was on the Pure Fix site, but I had a coupon, so it was free (not counting shipping.) I think next might be some bull horns, which will probably need some bar tape as well.

I will probably switch the gears out tonight, not really looking forward to finding the new sweetspot for the rear wheel.

I haven't been on my KHS in months now, I patched one of the tires, but still weary of it. I probably will have to put new tires on it, or at least 1 new tire. Oh well, could be worse I guess.

(I also picked up a small backpack like bag for a buck with my order from Pure Fix, they are handy enough for some of the things I do. I think this is the same material as the reusable grocery store bags...)