Wow, the season really is about to start. Usually by this time of year I've done at least 6 races. This year Hillsboro will be race #1, numero uno. Should be interesting. My fitness is decent enough; we'll see how I fair in the snappy conditions of a typical bike race.

Speaking of Hillsboro, I just decided to race carbon wheels there. Brave. These wheels have been risen from the grave though:



I cracked both of these up last year riding circles around Wisconsin's capital building. A little epoxy though, and I think they are ready to roll. With a little (lot of) help from the lady-friend, I was able to get all the awful glue off too. Which brings me to my next point:

Tubular glue fucking sucks.

Messy, obnoxious, ugly waste of time. This is why I've finally decided to take the leap and order Tufo tape. Here's how I finally convinced myself:

Everyone talks about how you lose precious watts to hysteresis with tape. I agree, you probably do. Spongy tape probably sucks up a watt or two relative to a nice firm glue job.

However, every year I lose at least a watt or two inhaling nasty fumes in my living room dealing with tubular glue. Not healthy.

Further, it's damn near impossible to get a tubular mounted straight with glue. The tire messily gets on, and is instantly in love with wherever it sits. It doesn't want to be centered. It wants to sit crooked and lopsided. This means your tire isn't round nor straight. So every time your tire rotates, you have to power your entire bike vertical the 3mm that your tire is out of round. Multiply that by about a billion (the number of times your wheel revolves in a race) and you've practically added a whole additional hill to your race.

6 watts gained in hysteresis, a half dozen lost in out-of-roundness.

Tufo tape also holds darn near as well. At 125 PSI, the Conti Glue rolled on average at 66lbs of force. The Tufo tape rolled at 63lbs. Based on the ridiculous amount of effort it takes me to remove a tire with a traditional glue job, I'll "risk it" and give up the difference in bond strength.

Oh, and Tufo tape is easy. even retarded triathletes can use it.

Sold.

"Put pics of your bike on your blog when you get some free time, all the cool sponsored kids are doing it."

-Sir Cerbachalot

Ok, done deal:

It's been a while. Between work, riding, and the shenanigans of life, I've been pretty busy.

BVDG was in town last weekend; that was pretty sweet. I can't get enough of face-smashing with a P-R-O. Bennett looks the part these days--something about him screams P-R-O. Maybe it's his spent-a-month-in-Arizona-tan in March. Maybe it's because he's so darn strong. Not sure. Either way, we rode hard for a few hours, and I was le tired. Bennett got the worst of it though, because he was le blind. The light from my blindingly pasty white legs burned right through his P-R-O shades. His retinas will never be the same.

In other news: daylight savings has brought newfound zest to my life--it signals the start of spring, warmth, and most importantly, Wednesday Night Worlds. I showed up for the admittedly chilly face-smashing kickoff this week and I remembered two of my favorite things about bike racing:

I love to attack, get a bit of a gap, and sit down. When I see someone attempting to get across to me, I stand up again and slam it for a bit, and then sit down again. Just as the person starts to get a whiff of my draft, I stand up and slam it again. If I do it right, they slowly float back to the pack with their tail between their legs. Domination is amusing.

Another thing I love is: Someone else attacks to bridge to a move. I hop on the gravy train as they pound the pedals. As they are gasping for breath, waving the elbow looking for the reprieve of my sweet 6'4" draft (expecting camaraderie and love all-around) I stand up and slam my way across to the break without them. Ah yes, the first time this was done to me, I learned a great lesson. Now I too can be a big-mean-bully-on-wheels.

Bike racing is SO awesome.

Other news: I owe several people emails. I'm lazy. So if I owe you an email, it's probably because I'm too darn sloth-like to type it out, but simultaneously too damn awkward to call you out of the blue. If you are one of those people, I apologize. Medical School interviews are going well. My new team bike is Rad. Working a real job sucks. That about covers it. Peace.

I'm only posting here because I get harassed if I don't.

Peer pressure sucks.

Anyways, thought I'd show you guys this:



Swankity. More here. A good idea, probably requires a bit more thought and engineering.

Go Mick!

My buddy Waylon started a little Chicago-Based Cycling forum for discussing "the scene".

Hop on over here if you are so inclined.