Say it ain't so....

So today Frank Schleck's was linked to possible doping activities. I've enjoyed watching the Schleck brother's rise to the top of professional cycling- I first learned about Frank when he won Amstel Gold a year or two back, and it seemed that he was a rising star, but not TOO fast.... but maybe that isn't true. Would really suck if this turns out to be valid.... I would have loved to see Frank and Andy tag-team the Tour next year.

But it's ok, Lance is coming back into the sport and will clean it up. I really hope that his massive ego pushes him back to the drugs he used to attain his earlier sucesses and that he gets busted, that'd be the day.

Pretty excited....

....to get one of these guys:I'm sure they'll be a vast improvement to the current Shimano cups I've been using. As smooth as ceramic bearings? Probably not, but they are going to be bulletproof. One claim is a little weird, though:

"Racers take note! With the Chris King bottom bracket and injection tool, you can train day-to-day with a durable high-viscosity grease and race with a light, fast-rolling low-viscosity grease or oil. Imagine your current Friday night leg-shaving ritual finishing with a few minutes in the garage to get your bike as smooth as you are."
www.chrisking.com/bottombracket

So I'm picturing people might train with normal viscosity grease, then swap that out with lower viscosity grease the night before a big race? Race your hand if you've ever had grease on your hands. Do you think if you tried to wash your hands off with lower viscosity grease, it would come off?? I think that when you try to push the light "race grease" into your bottom bracket, its not really going to displace the original grease much. The hand analogy does break down a bit because there is no pressure buildup around your hands... but still. Maybe the bulk will be replaced, but a good amount of the original grease will probably still be coasted on the bearings themselves. I guess if you do it a few times while moving the cranks around it might help dislodge everything.

Certainly isn't worse than just having the same grease in there all the time, but still seems like a stretch to me.

Market it as an amazing feature for service and I'm 110% on my way to buying it. Add in this weird sub-plot about swapping grease- I'm only 100% into it..... so still, buying myself Chris King BB as soon as possible. Good thing is... MSRP is only $129!!!

Hate this...

I thought of something really funny last night. Right before I went to sleep. I was in that half-daze between picturing myself as a cast member of Saved by the Bell and chasing McCloud from that show with immortal dudes with swords. It was really funny, but I have no idea what it was. Nope.... no dice.

The Muckenthaler: Cross Race #1

This weekend was the first race in the SoCal Cross Series,and I was able to start it off the right way by taking out my second cross "V".

I poached out the startline about 15 minutes early, and was rewarded with a front line start of a field of about 30 guys. I got the second spot off the start, but quickly took over the start after the first guy faltered. I traded the lead over the first few laps.... working hard to chase down any little gaps that the leader had, and eventually it was just myself setting pace, and John VD (teammate, though he had a wardrobe malfunction) and Max (Liquid Fitness rider, so quasi teammate). We kept the pace up as high as we could, and managed to make the gap we had decisive. Eventually Max fell off the pace because he was running 60psi and couldn't hold the pace through the corners.

John and I took turns making pace, and on the last lap I was able to get away from John and rolled in a few seconds clear for my first real cross win. Hopefully I'll be donning a yellow jersey for the next race, which happens to be at the same park we ride @ every Wednesday.

Here's a few photos of the pain train

I've nailed the flying remount in practice, but this downhill barrier section was so fast... I couldn't manage it in the race. I'm also faster finding the pedals when I do this little hop-step onto the bike. Hopefully I can get the real form working before the end of the season...

My buddy Ted manned up to do the Elite (123) race, and worked real hard in the beginning to stay in the top 5, and faded towards the end, but managed to stay top 10ish I think. Good first effort!

Glue is in the air

It's that time of year again... my fingers are sticky with Continental glue. Getting ready for another racing season- this time cross, so I'm being extra generous with the glue to hold on those big thick tires with 20psi in them.

I've already done a few cross practices, but I have yet to start running... though I'm not too worried because there isn't much running in these SoCal races. I did spend a solid half hour jumping on and off my bike the other day. Finally got the legit remount back. Better than my remount style last year, but definietly not as smooth as these guys:




First race of the year is the Muckenthaler this Sunday. I plan on racing the 3/4, and hopefully doing well enough to cause some people to be angry that I chose to do that race, and then race the elites the rest of the year. Hopefully I can earn this label, just once.