Steel Stout Test

Steel Stout Test, originally uploaded by loosenutswheels.

Chris has been grinding a lot of ledges on his big-wheeled fixed gear murder machine. I sure do miss t-shirts and dry ground in the wintertime...

Cross Season Winds Down; Ramps up for National Favorites

Cyclocross season is drawing to a close. For all but the handful of hardcores competing at the National Championships this weekend in Bend, it's time to settle in for the winter, put on an extra layer of insulting body fat and take some time off the bike to catch up on reading, relaxing, and sleep.

Overall, our first Cross Crusade campaign was pretty successful. India wrapped up the series win for the Beginner women and scored a much-coveted Crusader's Cross to wear about her neck as well as a bountiful prize pack that included a race bag with waterbottle carrier and all, some S-Works road tires for the training miles, some water bottles, Hammer bars, and a cool little multi-tool. I finally got myself into the points with a 17th place finish at the last race of the season and wound up 35th on the Mens B leaderboard. Not too shabby for a poor mechanic on a beat-up old singlespeed. A little sidenote: the season opener at Alpenrose dairy saw 1,483 racers, making it the biggest single cyclocross race in the WORLD, EVER. Wow.

But, with the end of our little regional series comes the beginning of the big national races. The USGP of Cyclocross had its final stop in Portland last weekend. We missed Saturday's racing, but made it up to the Portland International Raceway to watch the best cyclocrossers in America race in the unseasonably dry and chilly conditions. The women's race was inspiring, with Katerina Nash coming back from an early crash to solo in for the win ahead of Meredith Miller and Amy Dombroski. Portland local and regular 'Cross Crusader Sue Butler took a respectable seventh.

The men's race played out like a dogfight, with Todd Wells going off like a rocket from the gun. The only two riders who could get on his wheel were the duo of Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers of the Cannondale team. Hometown hero and Cross Crusade sandbagger Ryan Trebon was gapped from the start and gave a good chase, but the speeds at the front were too high for the lanky speedster to gain much ground. Wells pushed the pace the hardest, despite the repeated attacks of the Cannondale teammates. In the final two laps, punches were flying from all sides in a melee of attacks, but the three stayed together until the last few tight, hardpacked corners before the paved finishing straight, when Powers swooped to the inside line to edge Wells from the lead. He surged, gained a small lead and took the win over a hard-charging Wells and teammate Johnson. Mountain bike strongman and Bend, OR native Adam Craig fought his way from the back of the field to a fourth-place finish ahead of Trebon and fellow fat-tire pro Geoff Kabush in sixth. Trebon managed to snatch enough points to cement his USGP championship.

All in all, this race was an exciting prelude to 'cross nationals next weekend in Bend. With the exception of Jonathan Page who was racing in Europe, all of the big names of American cyclocross were accounted for in Portland. Trebon, Powers, Wells, Page and Johnson will all be gunning for the coveted Stars and Stripes jersey, along with dark horses like Adam Craig to keep things interesting. Always one to root for the underdog, I'm hoping for a good finish by Bend local and mountain bike shredder, Craig. He's got a laid-back attitude but some serious fitness and bike handling skills that should serve him well on what will probably be a snowy and slushy course at the Deschutes Brewery in Bend. Does he shave his legs? Maybe. But we can't hold that against him, can we? Can he hold off the Cannondale power trio of Powers, Johnson and Driscoll? Can he stay outside the spidery reach of his long-legged fellow Oregonian, Trebon? Will Jonathan Page return from Europe with all the fire and tenacity of a thousand Belgian cyclocross fans? All these questions and more will be answered this Sunday in Bend at the Cyclocross National Championships. See you there.

SSCXWC '09!

Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships were held this past Sunday in the pit of mud, blood and beer that was the Portland International Raceway. Here are some quick news flashes:

MUD! Lots of it. Everywhere. In every consistency and depth, at every angle and incline.

BEER! Lots of it. Mostly cheap, in red, white and blue cans. Pabst was also an event sponsor and served up only-slightly-overpriced pints.

THUNDERDOME! Craziest thing I ever rode through. S&M freakazoids and undead zombie people swinging from the rafters throwing beer and marshmallows.

BACON! Bacon handups should happen at every race!

JACKALOPE! In a nod to Jerry, the great and glorious Loose Nuts Jackalope, I felt it appropriate to don my best Jackalope attire for the festivities. Some spectators knew who I was, some were a little confused. "Go... Deer with ears guy!," "Go Bullwinkle!," and, "Holy shit it's the Easter Bunny!" were only some of the cheers I recieved.

Did I mention that it was muddy? I still don't know who won but I'm pretty sure it wasn't me. There was also some kind of race-within-the-race between Seattle and San Francisco to decide which city will host the SSCXWC next year. Either way, I'm going to do my damndest to make it next year too. Might have been the most fun I've ever had racing my bike. There was intermittent rain all afternoon, so we didn't get any photos of the actual race. A couple of post-race shots are up on the Loose Nuts flickr page and I'll be scouring the buckets of photos sure to be dumped out on the interweb for pictures of me in the heat of battle, goring other racers with my noble antlers. The PDXCross guys have some great "dirty pictures" as always, BikePortland has a pretty good gallery up on their flickr page with some good pictures of the Thunderdome and scary MadMax racer people.

Cyclocross Crusade!

It's been so long since my last post, so much has happened that it's impossible to really catch up. Our internet situation has been sketchy at best and often nonexistant. But, cyclocross season is in full swing and Sunday has quickly become the one day of the week that makes the other 6 livable. It's the hardest and the easiest day of the week all at once. Physically, it's brutal. I could never put my body through anything close to the stress and trauma of a 'cross race on any other day or in any other place. Mentally, it's incredibly easy. There is absolutely nothing to think about. No work, no money, no rent or bills, no loneliness or frustration, depression or confusion. Any physical or mental processes that don't make the bike go faster get turned off. I'm not hungry, I don't need to pee, I don't care if the snot runs down my lip. All mental energy is directed towards straightforward tasks like choosing lines through corners, timing passes, dismounting and remounting and hammering the pedals with everything that I am and everything that I want to be. Mistakes in judgement are obvious when your wheels slide out from under you and there's no time to stop and deliberate in a 45-minute race. You keep going, you persevere, no matter what happens. Anybody who DNFs in a 'cross race has some serious explaining to do.

The Cross Crusade is a very different beast than the Georgia Cross. I suppose that's so obvious that it should go without saying, but here are some of the unique features of the Crusade:

HUGE fields!

Seriously, it's crazy! My field of Mens B and Singlespeed riders has averaged around 200. I think the biggest field I raced in all last year was about 80, less than half the size of the smallest field we had this year. The first lap is a totally insane cluster-coitus where anything resembling a curve or narrowing of the course causes an 1-285 style pileup, and by the 2nd or 3rd lap when the slowest riders start to get caught by the eventual winners, there are no gaps anywhere on the course. I could fight my way from the very back of the group and catch the leaders last year, but even with an extra 15 minutes added to my race, by the time I make it through the scrum, the lead group that took the holeshot from the start is long gone. I've yet to see the front of a race. The first race of the season had a total participation upwards of 1,400 riders including everyone from the elites all the way down to unicyclists and kiddie crossers. Tons of women too! According to my eyeballed estimate, the women's field at that first race (one single race) outnumbered the cumulative number of women who raced over the entire 8-race series of Georgia Cross.

No Podiums or Prizes for the Victors.

This one really threw us for a loop when India finished second (cough! sandbagchough!ger)in the Rainier High School race. We hadn't seen any podiums or award ceremonies or anything, but maybe we just hadn't stuck around long enough... I asked one of the officials if there were podiums or single-race prizes or anything and she told me, "nope, but there's a big party at the end of the season." Hmm. We were disappointed at first. If I had worked my butt off to pass people and work my way up to finish one of these highly competitive races in the top three spots, I’d want some damn glory please! A small token would be nice also. An inexpensive medal or even one of the little ribbons they give to the kiddie-crossers would be fine, thanks. I’d like something to show for my efforts, similar to a bruised hip or swollen elbow after a hard crash, something to take home and hang up to remind myself that I managed something special on that particular day, something to take to the shop on Monday to show my boss, coworkers and customers that I can ride as well as I can wrench, something that I could show to friends or family that proves that all this time I spend riding, building, fixing, and suffering over bikes is worthwhile, something to prove to people who know or care nothing about bicycles or bike racing that I’m good at what I do. But, there are no podiums, prizes, primes, medals or other material rewards for a good showing in a Cross Crusade race. The race organizers certainly try to discourage sandbagging, so perhaps this is part of that plan. It's not a series for the glory hound that stays in the lower categories so they can feel like a big shot. That's not to say that the series isn't competitive. Even in the lower categories, riders fight tooth and nail for every position, whether its first or forty-first. I guess having a good ride and doing your best is its own reward.

Really FREEKING Fast!

This may have more to do with my category upgrade than the geographic location we're racing, but I was blown away by the speeds in my first couple of Mens B races. I was hauling ass through bumpy, loose, dusty, rough-as-all-hell sections of course, way outside my comfort zone just trying not to get passed and stay in contact with the riders ahead of me. I've started to get used to the speeds and realized that I'm much better at carrying speed around corners than a lot of the guys I'm racing against. That might be a skill carried over from riding a singlespeed mountain bike on long trail rides where any momentum lost requires a ton of energy to regain. I'm not the most powerful rider, but I've gained some quickness out of the corners that helps me get the jump on some of my competition. What worries me is the speeds that the guys out front are hitting. My best finish so far still keeps me out of the series points and I've yet to see the front of one of these races. That's no surprise, but has taken some adjustment after soloing off the front to a handful of wins last season. Right now, I'd just be stoked to finish within sight of the leaders, maybe get myself in the top 18 and earn some points.

Anyway, if you want to get a feel for the races and a taste of the energy that surrounds these races, check out pdxcross.com. They have a ton of awesome black-and-white photographs that seem to capture the spirit of these events.

The halloween-themed race is being held in Astoria this weekend, so expect to see some spooky and bizarre costumes. We'll do our best to get some good photos, especially since we managed to forget the camera altogether at the super-fun mud fest that was the Hillsboro Fairgrounds race last weekend. I did manage to poach a couple of photos of us from happy hunting grounds that are the interwebs, so check them out on Facebook. More photos too on the Loose Nuts flickr page, so check those out. Can't wait to get those race kits!

The Ride to Work

I'm one of the fortunate people who is able to ride their bike to work every day. Every morning and afternoon I get to enjoy the best part of my day from the saddle of my bike. A few days ago I took the camera along, so prepare yourself for a barrage of photos. This was also the first morning riding with my new, super-badass Camelbak H.O.S.S. I'm not sure what that is supposed to stand for, but it's got tons of space, a rolltop dry-bag type main compartment, and rad little pockets for wallet, phone, tools, etc. Thanks for hooking it up Jimmy! Today I'm also bringing some tapes up to the shop to try to stave off FM radio overload.

So, bag packed, tires topped off, I roll out on the trusty Steamroller, headed North up Mississippi Street. I take a left on Killingsworth to head West.

Killingsworth takes me all the way to land's end where I'll take a left on Willamette Boulevard, an appropriately named road that runs above the Willamette River and the associated industrial and shipping centers on the north side of Portland.

It's a fun, curvy road with lots of nice views and very little traffic. Speaking of curvy, I'm field-testing a new handlebar setup today:

We have tons of old steel flat bars laying around the shop from old crappy mountain bikes, so Robby (the owner/bossman) thought it would be a good idea to bend this one into a fun, sweepy shape. It's pretty comfy, but I'd need a really long stem to not be sitting super-upright on my bike. Maybe for a laid-back neighborhood cruiser. Here's the obligatory on-bike self portrait:

Flattering, no? Here are some pretty flowers:

And lest you forget that bicycle commuting is no game and that every street is not a flower-lined boulevard but a blood-smeared battlefield, allow me to give you some insight into the intense level of competition you find between cyclists on the mean streets of North Portland. I approached another rider from the rear and was instantly convinced that this guy was looking for a fight, what with his battle flag, hiked-up socks in leiu of combat boots (clearly a savvy gram-counter), and ordinance-carrying rack. However, I had the element of surprise on my side, and with my stealthy-silent fixed gear drivetrain and sniperlike breath control I was able to sneak up within inches of his wheel and linger in the draft for a single pedal stroke before rising out of the saddle and leaping to his left to put the hammer down and totally school this namby-pamby urban warrior wannabe:

Slightly winded from my effort but assured a glorious victory, I settled into a comfortable pace for the rest of the ride along Willamette. The road eventually veers back in a Northeasterly direction and drops me into downtown St. John's, a little city of its own way out on the peninsula between the Willamette and Columbia rivers in North Portland.

Almost directly across the street from this sign lies the storefront of our competition:

Here's the main drag, Lombard street:

Across the street from our shop, shaded by a purple awning and adorned with lovely hanging baskets we have Plew's Market, purveyors of fine snacks, candy, soda pop and other delectables to keep us going through a hard day:

And here is our little storefront - still very much a work in progress - but with some bikes in the window:

Whew, made it. Another foe bested, another ride to work completed. Time to unlock the doors, stop sweating, wash my face, pull on a fresh t-shirt, pour a cup of coffee from the thermos and get crackin!

India's Podium!

blam_sprints_145.jpg Originally uploaded by stacy schrag

Here she is on the podium, eyes closed as usual.

Backyard Blam!

blam_sprints_018.jpg Originally uploaded by stacy schrag

Found this photo on flickr tonight, so I thought I'd share. Here I am shredding the pump track during my 3-lap time trial at the Backyard Blam Bicycle Jam, held last Sunday here in Portland. I might have finished in the top ten. Check out the other photos on this girl's flickr and pdxfixed to get a sense of the action. They also had a quick stop contest for the fixster kids, a trick competition on the pump track/dirt jumps, and goldsprints. India won 3rd in the ladies goldsprints and took home a cool bag from Crumpler, some purple BMX grips, playing cards from Chrome with pictures of famous bike messengers on them(?), and a Knog cycling cap that I get to wear because it's too big for her. Hehe.