The Lungs They Are A Burnin'

The final race of the 4 race mini-series was tonight. We got a lot of rain during the day and I was hoping for some sort of epic mud-sucking, wheel spinning, leg churning muck fest. It didn't happen. A few hours of sun dried out the course enough that they moisture caused the course to be nice and tacky. This made it very fast and cut out the throat coating dust that has plagued me the last two raced. Word must have gotten around about these races because a lot of the fast guys that race the Utah Cyclocross Series decided to show up. I was mildly concerned that the B class would get packed with fast B-packers from UTCX. Either I've gotten faster or they were still getting their 'cross legs under them; I didn't get lapped by anyone but the top 3 A racers.

The race started out awesome, I was in front going into the first turn, blazing fast and feeling good. Knowing that I don't do too well when I go out to hard I let one or two guys get in front of me just before the run-up. Next we headed down the fast, rock filled, hill. I feathered the brakes, dumping a little speed, to keep from duplicating last week's pinch flat disaster. I found a good line through the rocks and got onto single-track carrying a good amount of speed. The tacky dirt held my tires as I zipped around corners in the drops. I came through the ditch and found Jen and the girls cheering for me as I headed up and around the main building before we dropped onto the only paved section of the course.

I was going fast and putting some distance between me and the guy behind me. Just as I slowed to enter the turn that dumps us back onto single-track I remembered to take the outside line to avoid the large mud puddle on the inside line that I normally take. Through the barriers I was still feeling good and having a great race.

Lap two put a stake in me. As I headed to the run-up, to where Jen and the kids had moved, I dumped gears so I'd be ready to pedal at the top of the hill and my derailleur started making horrible grinding sounds. I looked down to see it flopping around and though the worst; broken derailleur, figures. I stopped, checked it out, found everything working well and headed up the run-up. I had lost a couple places with that little mishap, but I was determined to get them back. The extra running and effort put in didn't go well and the two that got past put too much distance between us. I finally got back in a groove when I got to the barriers. I bungled the re-mount and "hurt" myself in a private way. I took a good 5 minutes to recover while I soft-pedaled around the course. Finally feeling good I put some power back on the pedals around a corner and nicked a rock with my pedal. I managed to stay upright but had some trouble getting my foot clipped back in to the pedal. This lap was a disaster. I made it through to the tricky gravel section ending with the big log used as a barrier; almost lost it with too much speed.

The rest of the race went alright. I held my place until the last lap when the one guy I had been working to hold off finally got past me. I busted my butt to reel him in. I thought for a minute I'd get it done through the final section of single-track, where I had the edge on him but my lungs were burning(I'm getting over a chest cold) and I just couldn't catch up to him. He kept about 40 feet on me as we got to the finish line.

I fully intended to have pictures for this one. Even brought Jen, my personal photographer, but we both forgot the camera battery in the charger at home. I had fun. Jen and the kids had fun, ringing the cowbell and cheering all the racers up the run-up. I won an ipod shuffle in the raffle thus getting more than my entry fees back. I really enjoyed the Euclid mini cyclocross series and hope they do it again next year.

DNF - Gettin' It Out Of The Way Early

I headed up to Heber with my buddy Andrew for the 2nd installment of the Euclid Wed. pre-season cyclocross series. I pre-rode the course and found the lower pressure in my front tire was helping me stick the corners really well; I dropped the psi to around 30 in the front and 32 in the rear. During my pre-ride I was behind a guy on the new Stevens Carbon Cross bike and he had an Ipod with a speaker playing rap or punk(I couldn't hear it really well) in his jersey pocket. I can appreciate a guy that races with is own soundtrack.

Race time came and I lined up next to my friend Kyle, who had downgraded from the A class to the Bs. I made sure to give Kyle a hard time about his downgrade and threatened a severe mocking if he won. The go sign was up and we were off. I hadn't paid attention to where I lined up at the start and realized after we headed out that I was on the far outside so about 6 people got ahead of me by the first turn. Up the run-up down the hill and through the fast first section. This first section has really become my favorite part of the course. You can carry some good speed through the corners and have a lot of fun. There are a few short steep ups and downs to keep things interesting then you're through to the next part.

After I settled in to 5th place I was maintaining my lead on the 6th and having a great time. My heart rate was pegged and I was panting, but I was maintaining it and feeling ok. I had gotten comfortable with all the loose corners, maintaining speed and letting my rear wheel drift out a bit to scrub off speed as necessary. This helped me keep from losing momentum through each corner.

About 30 minutes into the race I was done; pinch flat! I manage to get a flat and DNF at least once each season. You may be wondering, "but Ryan I thought you had tubulars, how on Earth did you get a pinch flat?" I'll explain this mathematically:

(30 psi x 30 mph) + large rock = pinch flat

I had come down that rocky hill going pretty fast. Hit the rocky flat section at what I now consider a somewhat reckless pace; I wasn't really in control. Then I heard a big PING and almost immediately my front wheel started washing out. I brought the bike to a stop and confirmed that I had in fact flattened the tire. Amazingly my discount tubular wheels came through the abuse with flying colors, no dents, dings, and still totally strait and true.

I took the walk of shame back to the car, racked the bike, and cheered on my friends. A bit of a bummer, but it was still a fun night. Now I get the pleasure of tearing the tire off the rim and gluing a new one on.

The Dream is Alive

As anyone that reads my blog, or Facebook posts, can attest, cyclocross season can not come soon enough. So I was utterly ecstatic when I found out that there would be a four race, Wed. night cyclocross series in September. I planned on using the four races as training races, keeping with my current training regimen of weight training and periodically riding my bike. In all seriousness, I'd ride my bike a lot more, but life has gotten pretty busy and I can't find the time. I could/should ride the trainer but I haven't been able to mentally get behind that idea quite yet.

Sadly I missed the first of the Sep. races due to scheduling conflicts but I'm making sure the rest of my schedule is clear. The races are held in Midway/Heber, not exactly sure in which city limits the course resides. The races are sponsored by Euclid Outdoors and are held on their property. Makes me jealous for the people that work there, they have a standing 'cross course on which to practice. I'd much rather spend my lunch hour doing interval hot laps on a 'cross course than in a gym listening to some meat-head grunting out one last squat rep.

I got to the venue and found it was a pretty mellow affair, $10 and no number plate needed. I found my good friend Kyle, the owner of the SBR bike shop up the road from my house. He was getting ready to do his first cyclocross race ever and he had a brand-spanking-new bike (Bianchi). I got to chatting with a guy that I usually finish near in the Utah Cyclocross Series (UTCX) and decided I'd just stick on his tail and see how things go.

I decided to race the B category, even though I usually race C's in the UTCX, because I figured the C class here really would be beginners unlike UTCX where the top guys are really fast and should be racing B's. Though the course of the race I found this to be a good decision. After a couple of warm up laps I was waved over by Kyle who was about to pump more air into his tires and asked me what psi I was running, he and I were using the same tubular tires. He had 38 psi and thought he should put more in. I told him to suppress the roadie in him and drop the pressure. In 'cross and mountain biking lower is better (faster). I convinced him to go down to around 30-32.

At 6:30 we lined up at the start line. First were the A's, about 8 or 10 of them lined up and went off at the GO. Next were the B's, I think there were about 10-12 of us. We hit the pedals and shot forward on the gravel stretch of road ahead of us. I was feeling good in 2nd place (and had enough in the tank to take 1st if I wanted to) as we rounded the corner, two wheel sliding through the gravel; it was awesome! I held my place though the short steep run-up but just about dropped the guy behind me. I stepped on the big log that had been placed in front of the run-up and it rolled, I was fine, but he almost dumped it. Sorry dude. After that we hit a very fast rocky downhill section, about 60 yards long. I was really glad I had the tubular tires at this point. If I had clinchers at this psi I would have surely gotten a pinch flat, when I felt my wheel bottom out numerous times.

Next up some fast singletrack through the sage brush, the turns were just shallow enough to carry some speed. A short time later some short turns set me up for a quick drop into and back out of a ditch. Coming out of that section the course routed us around the main building on the property then down the paved drive to the northern dirt section of the course. This is where things got hard. This area probably made up 75% of the course and was full of extremely tight turns and loose dirt. This meant I couldn't carry any speed at all through turns. So it was on the pedals, brake and lose all momentum, then full power back on the pedals. I don't know how many laps we did but by the end I was really feeling the effects of this on again off again power suck. As you got close to the finish line the course heads strait through some gravel toward a fence and tight left hand turn blocked by a large 18" piece of wood. The scrap lumber at this venue was used rather effectively. From here it was 50 yards to the start/finish line.

I was going through the race just fine. I had lost a couple of places and was now in 4th place or so. I was taking some pretty good lines and doing my best to maintain momentum through turns when it became clear that that the guy behind me that I was trying to shake was moving up on me. I thought, "this guy must be following my lines because there's no other way for him to stick with me." A few moments later he passed me, it was then that I saw he was one of the A racers. I didn't feel so bad about getting passed and felt silly for thinking he must have been stealing my lines. Before the race started the promoter told us that all classes would be racing for 45 minutes so when the first A races came through after 40 minutes he'd call for 1 more lap. After innumerable laps and endless suffering I kept waiting for the 1 lap to do call. I came through the Finish area where more people were standing around and mentally begging the promoter to call for one last lap. He said something that I couldn't quite understand, it must have been the panting and heart pounding in my ears that blocked it out. I didn't sound like "one lap to go", but for the next half lap all I could do was go over what he said again and again, "could it have been one more lap?"

I suffered through the next lap and came through the Finish area where I was now sure I was going to be told we were done. He waved me through telling me one more lap, "this guy is trying to kill me." Somehow I always have a little gas left on the last lap to go just a little faster. I think it's a mental thing, knowing that I don't have to save anything else for the race. I finally made it to the finish line proud of the race I'd just ridden. In talking with the promoter I found out that the first A racers had come through the finish line earlier at the 39 minute mark, just shy of 40 so that meant we were all going to do 2 more laps. I think I raced for 55 minutes, 5 - 10 more than usual. I think total lap count was 8, maybe 10-12 miles.

All in all it was a good race. I was covered in dirt and dust and ready to do it again next week. Sorry no pictures. By the time the race ended it was getting dark and my camera phone doesn't shoot well in the dark. I'll get some next week.

Fist Attempt At Gluing Tubular Tires

I knew Jen would be out all day caving with her uncle in Rock Canyon so I decided to go about my virgin entry into the world of gluing tubular tires. You see, years ago (I'd need to check for sure, but my guess is around 100 years ago) the only option for pneumatic tires on a bicycle was a tubular tire. These tires are also called sew-ups, because the tire case and glued on tread are sewn up with the tube inside. No one had come up with the clincher tire and the tire bead, and mating lip on the rim, so gluing tires to the rim was the only option.

The main problem people had with tubular tires were flats. If you got a flat you had to peel off one tire and put on another, much more cumbersome than simply fixing a tube. If you look at old pictures from the Tour De France, and other cycling pictures, you'll see cyclists climbing nasty gravel roads with several tubular tires hung over their shoulders. Today, flats are still a problem, though less so with the advent of sealant.

It just so happens that with modern advances in tire technology tubular tires still offer the best ride, especially in cyclocross where low pressure is king. The pros for tubular tires are lighter tire, less rolling resistance due to the high thread count tire casing that conforms to the ground, and lighter wheels because they don't need the extra material forming the lip for the tire bead. The cons are tire prep and gluing, has to be done a minimum of 24 hours in advance, flats, and cost. Where a quality clincher tire costs ~$50 - $75, a tubular tire costs $100 - $175, or more for ultra premium tires. I managed to stock up on tires when bonktown.com had them on sale for $35.

I started out the day outside, with the kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk, I sat down in a chair with my new tubular wheels, some rags, rubber gloves and mineral spirits. The wheels needed to be cleaned before I could get to gluing. Once the wheels were clean I set up shop in my still unfinished addition where I have our old kitchen table set up. I got my glue, acid brushes (thank you Harbor Freight, 36 for $3.00), and my tires and wheels.

I found the gluing to go along fairly well, though the extremely dry Utah air seemed to suck the moisture out of the glue even before I got it spread out on the cotton tape covering the tire stitches. This resulted in a little thicker coat than I wanted, but it looks like it will be alright. While working on the second coat of glue on the tire I started to have this feeling like I was participating in a rite of passage. That thousands of people had gone before me and done the exact same thing. That the formula of gluing the tires had been refined over the years until it was distilled down to the process in which I was now engaged. I suddenly felt this connection with all of the men(and women) that had gone before me. I was gluing a sew-up tire, something that was both legendary and ordinary all at once.

Later this evening I got to work on the final stages. I had coated my tires with two coats of glue and now had to, somewhat quickly:

put a second coat of glue on the wheel,

put a strip of "Belgian Tape" on the rim over the tacky glue,

put a final coat of glue on the tire,

finally, stretch the tire onto the wheel.

It is on this final step that all romance was lost from the process. Everything went well at first, placing the tire in a basically strait line down the rim, lining up the base tape so it was showing even on both sides of the tire. Then I got to the final third of the tire and it stopped going onto the rim. If you've ever struggled getting a really tight clincher tire onto the rim without tire levers then you've experienced about 25% of the difficulty that I was faced with. Not only did I still have a large amount of the tire still no seated on the rim, but it was also covered in rubber cement that I was supposed to try not to touch or all my work would be for naught. I tried standing on the rim and pulling the tire up and over. I tried holding the tire and wheel against my stomach and pushing the remaining tire up onto the rim, everything I tried failed. I fought with this tire for about 15-20 minutes struggling with all my might. I gave up on trying to save anything, braced the rim on a chair and pushed and pushed, with my now bruised hands, until I had it. I had to quickly get to work straitening the tire out on the rim. With all the pushing, pulling and other ways I man-handled the tire it was really crooked. The glue was setting, or maybe set I'll find out tomorrow, so I got the tire straitened out the best I could and called it good. I used what I had learned to make the second tire go on much quicker. It still wasn't easy but I got it on in 3 minutes instead of 20.

I can look over and see my two wheels leaning against the wall now and I'm glad that no one had to watch fight the mighty battle in which I had been embroiled. I'm glad I took on this new task. I learned something new. I always enjoy learning a new skill, even if it's not pretty or easy the first time through. I don't know if these new tires and wheels will make me any faster, my time may have been better spent doing intervals on the trainer. I don't have a killer competitor instinct that makes me chase down anyone that dares to pass me. I don't expect I'll ever be one of the really fast guys that others admire. I enjoy the technical things I can work on, better equipment, better technique, or even just better lines chosen on the course.

I was going to submit this post to Cyclocross Magazine, but I let it get a bit maudlin and self indulgent. This ended up being more about me than tubular tires. I hope you enjoyed it, I know Hamish did.