Brockville 'Cross Report, Almonte Extended Play, Halloween Fixed Frolic

Jamie looking good on his feet after the mud pits (photo: Martin)

Jamie, Martin, Mike and I were in attendance on Sunday morning in Brockville for our weekly dose of 'cross action. It was a medium strength Mad Alchemy day; I slathered up the Secret Coffee concoction and added knee warmers. Lets call that 'Canadian knee warmer' style. Embro+kneewarmers. Unfortunately, I failed to treat my feat similarly, which was a little problematic splashing through two mud pits every lap for ten laps. Yeah, ten laps...I got lapped by the top 3...doh. Should have worn my gore-tex socks to keep the feet warm, but it wasn't too bad. This was my first 'cross race with any significant mud action, and its my third season! Granted, the first two were a little spotty, but still.

Not so good. Not strong enough to pedal the second half of the hill here (photo: Martin)

Better. The hill is supposed to be pedaled. Mike gets it right.

I think none of of Tall Tree crew were really on it on Sunday. Jamie was out of if from the start, Martin hurt his back, and I just felt kinda out of the mix for a bit. Sure, I finished 5th in my category (Masters A), but I felt like I underperformed. I think I backed off a bit too much when I experienced the ol' white tunnel vision. Slipping back a bit I lost motivation and thought to myself: "Why do you like this, you suck at it?" Once getting over this mental weakness to some degree, things looked up, and I improved a bit. There was a demoralizing hill though, that I was forced to run a few times, as I did not have enough power to drive my 42/27 climbing gear. Jamie was similarly demoralized with his 42. I don't recall Mike complaining about anything in particular, so I suspect things went ok for him. I can say I liked what they did with the flat terrain; the gyros were pretty cool. Martin took some great photos; more to come. The photos from cross_photo can be found here. Lots more great shots to be found there.

Agree, these are in nearly random order; that's what happens when I modify posts...chaos...chreods? Here I am, looking like I know what I'm doing, pre-white tunnel (photo credit: cross_photo).

A couple wicked (cold) splashes! This hole was deep enough to take you out over the bars. I nearly launched one time through (photo credit: cross_photo).

Mike churns is out (photo credit: cross_photo).

Jamie between pit and barrier (photo credit: cross_photo).

Mike post barrier post pit (photo credit: cross_photo).

Jamie...more pittage. Should pittage be one of the criteria used to evaluate the quality of''cross courses? I think so. A good 'cross course should have a high pittage factor. I'd assign Brockville a 7 on 10 for pittage. BTW, its pronounced the french way: pittajj (photo credit: cross_photo).

This was quite necessary, and felt good. I spent a little time in the recovery position, a la Kent, but Martin missed it, perhaps to spare me embarrassment (photo: Martin).

Almonte 'Cross Extended Play - this Sunday!

On Sunday we'll be racing in Almonte, my personal favourite venue. Its a technical course that suits me better than the others. If should be a good one for all us mtb riders. Unless its raining and miserable out, we'll follow through with the plan to ride the Roubaix route after the races. A good number have confirmed; the pace will not be 'race,' but a moderate cruise. Jamie and I did the route last year on our race bikes. It should be a beautiful ride. If you wold like to join us, bring extra clothes, bottles, food, tubes etc so you are good to go. It will likely be a DZ-Nuts kind of day; in my preliminary tests, I've found the stuff a little more long lasting than the Mad Alchemy Pro Chamois creme. However, the latter does not cause a cool tingle, likely a boon on cold days! It'll be fun. We'll be easy to find.

Halloween Fixed Frolic

On the 25th we'll roll out for the annual fall fixed frolic. The poster is up, and its fantastic. Greg has once again produced a terrific product. It sure is nice being surrounded by talented people! Stay tuned for more info. The ride starts at 10am, and will be about 100k, pretty much flat.

Oh, and one more thing, a great Andy Hampsten video.

Brake Chatter/Judder: A Formidable Foe

Sometimes riding bikes with less than cutting edge technology provides opportunities to chuckle about the problems others face with their fancy schmancy equipment. I'm using an early 1990s Pinarello for my 'cross riding and racing, and its a pretty darn good steed. Sure, its not built for me, or anybody else with size 46 feet. Yes, toe overlap sucks. But its the bike I have, it has a lot of character, and its orange. It also does not suffer from brake chatter.

I only started hearing about brake chatter a few years ago. It seemed like the combination of cantilever brakes and 'cross forks was all of the sudden creating havoc. People would pull their brakes and the front wheel would lurch back and forth, skipping off the ground. It was nuts. As a mechanic, I looked to the typical potential causes: rim irregularities, loose headsets, brake pad adjustment, brake pad compounds and cable geometry. No one change seemed to sufficiently solve the problem. Carbon forks were usually the spec, though I have seen it on a few good quality steel forks. I started to do some online research last year.

Since my own personal bike does not suffer from chatter, nor does my Cross Check beater, and I'm not working in the shop these days, I had no opportunity to try the theory I settled on. The theory is that the chatter is caused by irregular tension on the brake cable between cable hanger and straddle as the fork flexes back and forth. The proposed solution: mount a cable hanger to the fork. Kinesis has just come out with a carbon 'cross fork that includes such a hanger for this purpose. Today I cam across a blog post that further details this problem and proposed solution, and it appears it works well. Check it out. If anyone knows of such hangers that don't look like cheap crap, let me know. Brake chatter be gone.

http://re-turn.blogspot.com/2009/08/cure-for-cantilever-cross-fork-chatter.html

Great video from Levi's Gran Fondo

My team and I encountered Don Peterkin from Golden BC while riding the Quintuple a little while ago. He wasn't participating in the 'formal' event, but rode along with us and other teams for a while. He was riding a great vintage Roubaix bike.

Don sent an email today with a link to a great video from Levi's Gran Fondo. He posted it in Podium Cafe (http://www.podiumcafe.com/2009/10/6/1073779/cyclists-making-adifference-at)

It is indeed a great video. Specifically, the young boy riding, Liam, is incredible. He looks very confident and graceful on the bike, and rides quite fast. He also is evidently having a great time. Awesome. I bet if he had a bike with a low q-factor/tread, he'd be even better on the bike. Poor kids and their feet so far apart...

Here it is:

Mix Mash: Brittania Madison, Sneak Peak and more

Sunday marked my first race in the Eastern Ontario series this year. It was certainly one not to be missed; the Madison format is quite exciting. While Will, Thom and Brad were all out of town for Will's wedding, and others from the team indisposed for various reasons, Tall Tree representation came down to Jamie, Pascal, Martin, Mike and myself.

Last year Jamie and I tackled the race together and came out well, 16th place. It was his first 'cross race. This time round Jamie had some practice under his belt and was flying. I managed to get us into a pretty good position by the end of the first lap, around 6th or 7th, and Jamie held it through his lap. After that, a few of the other teams clawed their way forward and we dropped back a bit. Nonetheless, we wound up in 10th, which we are both really happy with. Our improvement came down to Jamie's increased speed for sure, as I'm pretty sure I was slower than last year, in the late stages of a strong cold.

Pascal teamed up with Martin (aka, Wolverine), for his first ever cross race. That's the beauty of the Madison format, it really pulls people in. On Steve's lent Cross Check (thanks Steve!), Pascal underwent a quick primer on dismounting technique and then he was off. He took to the discipline really well, evidence of the kinesthetic intelligence he has developed over his years on mtb and road bikes. He remarked on really getting in to a groove on the run-ups, which are probably one of the most challenging obstacles for most. I find them pretty hard to do well. So Pascal ended up having an awesome time, and is keen to take a crack at another race in the series. Sweet, another buddy to share the cross experience with; the more the merrier.

Speaking of this sentiment, I just read an interview with Jacquie Phelan in the latest Bicycle Quarterly, where she mentions she found roadies in her racing experience tended to prefer smaller fields - the fewer the riders, the better the opportunity to podium. In contrast, she found mtb events she did were the opposite; people were always happy to have more involved - the more the merrier. Our crew tends to be of the latter mindset, the more the merrier. Is this an mtb thing or a love to ride bikes with other people thing?

Also in this issue of BQ is some excellent analysis of tire and fork suspension on road bikes. This deserves more 'ink' here, I'll post again soon on this. Also, Jan Heine interviews both Phelan and Charlie Cunningham. Both interviews are illuminating. Cunningham's ruminations on the planned obsolescence of bicycle technology is well timed. Again, this is a topic to elaborate in another post, and since I am a nerd for philosophy of technology type stuff, I'll revisit this. Let me just echo Todd Fairhead, proud owner of a Kirk custom steel road bike and wearer of Tall Tree colours, 'steel keeps me from lusting after then newest greatest carbon stuff.' That is, if you get yourself set up on a classic steel bike, all the 'progress' in materials becomes irrelevant. That's kind of liberating. This is the thesis anyhow. I can't say I am all the way onboard in this regard.

On the topic of classic steel bikes, here is a sneak peak of mine. Well, nothing really sneaky about it, its a peak. The setup in this photo is not all the way realized as planned. For example, the green housing will become white (magically). I also have hammered Honjos on is now. This is close. I'll post on its details soon. I'd like to have opportunity to take it for a proper ride before really speaking about its ride quality. A loop of the parkway would be a good start, then a full 150kplus day on the backroads. It'll happen before winter.

Halloween Fixed Frolic II

OCTOBER 25th

Lube up the chain on your fixed gear and join the Tall Tree team and friends for a ramble through backroads west of Ottawa at a conversational pace. This is a no-drop ride, but riders are expected to be prepared to deal with their own mechanical issues, bring water and food. Dress for the weather. Costumes optional. Last year we stopped for lunch. This time we won't; we'll just get coffee and whatever after and hang out. Check back for more detail. Poster coming soon.

Time: 10:00

Tall Tree Cycles - 255 Richmond Rd.

Distance: Approx 100k

Cost: FREE

Please email talltreerides@gmail.com if you have any questions.