Wednesday Night SuperPrestige 2011

I have been fielding emails all day, so here are the details for WNSP 2011.

We will start this training event next Wednesday night. It will run through Nationals in December. We created a Facebook invite, which we encourage you to respond to.

PARTICIPATE AT YOUR OWN RISK. There is a course set up. We make no claims about its safety. If you feel unsafe in any way, you should stop riding immediately. The course is demanding: lots of sharp rocks, off camber turns and steep descents. Be prepared.

Items of Note:

1. Location: Ringer Park, Allston, MA aka Blood Park. We will use this venue until daylight runs out (sometime in September) then we will move over to the Harvard location for the remainder of the season.
2. Start time: 6:30 pm August 17th, 2011
3. Format: 2 x 20 minute efforts.
4. Waiver: I'll have them, you'll sign one. One will serve for the whole 2011 season.
5. "Suggested"Donation: $5 to cover supplies and time spent on course set up.

Tell your friends, but only if they can Keep it Tight. Because of the demanding nature of the course and the presence of other park users, we strongly discourage beginners from riding this event. Juniors only invited with special permission from parents.

Erratic riding will not be tolerated. There is a strict 2 warning policy. Any rider creating ANY dangerous situations will be given one warning, then banned from WNSP. No exceptions.

I hope that you can join us for at least one WNSP this season. The courses are challenging and some heavy hitters show up to keep the pace high. Just like any cross race, all ability levels are represented; you'll have someone to race against no matter how fast or slow you are.

Train hard.

Annual Crash Post

When I was a young man, my mottos were "drive fast, take chances" and "live fast, die young" and "NO FUTURE." Those of you who know me well can attest that I am understating how recklessly I lived the early part of my life.

I have been thinking a lot about crashing recently. Maybe it is my recent 39th birthday that has me feeling my mortality.

In my mind, 2011 has become the year of the crash. There have been a inordinate number of crashes just in my immediate circle of friends (listed in no particular order and I am sure that I am leaving someone out in my haste).

Kyle Smith (Embrocation Cycling Journal): Skipped a gear at Wells Ave while sprinting and busted up his beautiful face, knocked out at least one tooth and broke his scapula. Currently back on the bike, expects to be racing soon. Reconstructive surgery appears to have restored da kylah to his previous splendor.

Chris Bailey (Pedro's...er...Svelte...er...Luxe Wheelworks): Jammed drivetrain while sprinting. Broken collarbone. Recovering.

Cary Fridrich (ECJ): Took an SUV to the face while riding on Beacon St in Somerville. Knocked 1/4 of his teeth out, broken jaw, various other injuries. Back on the bike, able to ride for a little over an hour at a time.

Mat Weatley (Cambridge Bicycle): Crashed at the Quabbin Road Race. Severe bruising and soreness. Bike broken. Not currently riding.

Dave Chui (RideStudioCafe): Crashed at Wompatuck last week. Road rash. Racing already.

Oscar Jiminez (RSC) : Crashed in training. Road Rash. Racing (well) with impressive bandages.

Donny Green (CB [as of this morning]): Hit a mailbox after flatting at Sterling. Not injured, all fired up to race more.

Emily Curly (Blue Steel Cyclery) (more acquaintance than friend, but I have a high level of respect for her, so she gets included): Crashed in the Rick Newhouse Criterium. Took a free lap and got back in the race to finish 5th and in the lead group (surely making Paul proud).

Adding gravity to the local crashes is the news that Wouter Weylandt crashed and died during a descent in today's stage of the Giro d'Italia. While I never heard of WW before this morning, my thoughts go out to his family and friends.

As with the post last year, I am not sure of my point. Crashing is an inherent risk in the sport. While there appears to be a crash in every race, this doesn't need to be the case.

A few years ago, someone told me that if you become scared of crashing, your racing career is essentially over. Fear and respect are two different things. Having a healthy level of respect and consideration for the wellbeing of your fellow racers does not diminish your own courage.

Enough preaching, let's race bikes now.

Be safe.

Product Review: Challenge Criterium Road Tires—They Make it a Challenge to Finish

I have reviewed Challenge tires before, Grifo cyclocross tires to be specific. Aside from the tread delamination issues that plagues their cross tires, they are mostly functional and economical.

Since that review, I have had considerable experience Challenge Criterium Road tires, both the tubular and the clincher versions. I have found both tires to be attractive, fast and grippy, but entirely unsatisfactory nonetheless. The tires are just too fragile. I have found that I flat almost half the time that I use them.

My first time racing on the tubular version of the Criterium was at Turtle Pond in 2009. I mounted the tires, rode them on clean roads once to make sure they were mounted properly and to dial in the air pressure. I re-inspected the tires before the race. In the first 25 miles I slashed the tire and flatted out of the race. The tire was unsalvageable. It was the biggest slash I have ever seen in a tire. To the best of my knowledge, few people flatted out of this race.

A few weeks later, I flatted out of Wells Ave when the other tire mysteriously lost air. I never figured out what went wrong. There was no visible puncture on the tire casing or tread.

I was happy to be done with this set of tubular tires. $160 of folly.

As time marched on, I forgot about my negative experiences with these road tires. I was drawn back to their attractive all white tread. Mostly my positive associations with Challenge Grifos started to overshadow my terrible experiences with the Criterium Tubular.

So I bought a set of Criterium Clinchers along with Challenge latex tubes. WHAT A STUPID THING TO DO! I should have known better.

I used the latex tubes in my Michelin Pro3’s at Battenkill without incident. I assumed that the Challenge tubes would mate well with the Clallenge clincher. After carefully mounting the Criteriums with Challenge Latex tubes, I had both tubes blow out the side of the tire before I got 2 blocks from home on a “shake out the bugs ride” before 2011 Blue Hills Classic. I put standard Michelin tubes in the tires and did the ride without incident.

I was taking Blue Hills very seriously, so I deflated and inspected my tires before going to the race.

Short story: I flatted my rear tire within the first 3 miles of the race. No glass in the tire, didn’t hit anything that hard. Just flat.

My race was over.

After the race, I fixed the flat and I rode my bicycle for a few miles, the front flatted. Again, no glass, no incident.

These tires are exceedingly fragile. One of my friends said “Challenge Tires=challenge to finish”

I want to like these tires. They are attractive and grippy, but they are the most fragile tires that I have ever ridden (including the 19mm Vittoria Pista Track specific tires I ruined on run down go cart track in NH).

Overall I have bought 2 sets of tires, and one set of tubes that all failed, at a retail value of over $250.

You’d be a fool to buy these tires, much less depend on them in a race. You’ve been warned.

Race Review: Battenkill 2011 Cat 3 Pink

This is not a race report. This is a review and an assessment of my experiences at the 2011 Tour of the Battenkill.

Before I proceed, I want you to think. Think about what you expect to read here. Got a picture? Considering the flame wars that have erupted on this blog in the past and my public disapproval of race organizer, Dieter Drake’s lack of tact and public relation skills I’m sure that you expect me to slam the ToB.

Let me be clear: I have always thought the course was great, I just never thought the race itself was a good value for the amount of money that the promoter charges for the event. I have always maintained that the promoter did not supply adequate race support given the conditions that the course throws at you and the price the promoter charges.

My assessment of 2011 is mixed.

Firstly, in my qualitative assessment, racer support in 2011 was improved since 2009 when I last competed in this race. The lower category races each had a “wheels in, wheels out” car that stayed behind the main group. I ride Campagnolo. When I gave my wheels to the driver of my field’s follow car, the driver asked me if they were Campy and then put them in a separate spot in the car, which was a nice, PRO touch. I didn’t flat. After the race when I went to retrieve my wheels from the pit, the rear wheel was missing. I changed and went back, still missing. I got some food, loitered and kibitzed and it was finally there over an hour later. Meh. Someone must have used my wheel. They were slow to return it, but that is on them, not the ToB promoter.

I have multiple friends (1,2,)who flatted in their respective races and got wheel changes quickly enough to get back into the group they were in before they had trouble. Gone were the streams of dejected riders walking wounded steeds for lack of support. In fact, I saw few people on the side of the road seeking wheels. In short, ToB’s organization has much improved their rider support, which was my main beef with the race.

Cost to awesomeness ratio. Also read: Cost to epicness ratio or Cost to fun ratio. The race is good. The course takes people apart in ways that few road courses do. It is not a pure climbing course, but you can’t do well unless you can climb. It is not as sketchy as it seems, but if you can’t handle a bike you start at a deficit. You constantly need to make decisions between remaining out of the wind or out of trouble. While there are climbs, the race finishes on a flat fast stretch that encourages tactical riding in the final kilometers. There are crashes to be avoided. Equipment choices and proper bike maintenance can make the difference between winning the race or walking many miles. In short, this race rewards strong, smart riders while throwing in an element of chance.

So is it worth a $75 entry fee? Honestly, I am not sure anymore.

I think that the Ronde de Rosey is a MUCH better value at SUGGESTED DONATION. Furthermore the donation goes directly to Bikes Not Bombs, which holds a warm place in my bitter, withered heart.

Next year: I’ll do the Ronde. Unless of course I think that I am going good enough to achieve a good result at Battenkill again (I am not actually that unhappy at 2.5 minutes down on the leader). Then I might go out and take another stab at it. Or I may start burning $20 bills and ride the Ronde instead.