tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30266131169773145462024-02-06T23:28:12.699-05:00Euphoria Before Total ImplosionThis blog chronicles my travels and experiences in the competitive cycling community. I offer race reports, honest product reviews and critical views of esoteric cycling culture. The name of the blog refers to the feeling of invincibility that one feels when throwing down a decisive attack which is followed by...usually defeat, but on rare occasions, victory.RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-66587595353377959102014-07-12T11:24:00.000-04:002014-07-12T11:27:13.844-04:00
2014 Wednesday Night SuperPrestige--Cyclocross Practice
I am of 2 minds about hosting WNSP event in 2014.
Firstly, I am heartened and encouraged by the overwhelming turnout and positive feedback in 2013. I still love hosting the event and I am glad that I am able to add value to the Boston area Cyclocross community
Unfortunately, some riders used the high turnout to simulate race RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-38841895408819488822012-07-25T12:39:00.000-04:002012-07-25T12:39:19.810-04:00WNSP Starts on Wednesday August 29th at 6:30pm
"When are you starting Wednesday Night SuperPrestige"
"September...you know, when...er...cross season starts?"
I digress.
For those not in the know: Wednesday Night Super Prestige is a fast cyclocross training ride that takes place at the Smith Playground in Allston, MA every Wednesday night at 6:30 pm from early September through December. The event will be cancelled if it RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-27495258571435618742012-06-07T13:52:00.001-04:002012-06-07T13:52:20.908-04:00
Beginner Road Racing Clinic at Wells
Ave
Sunday June 24th
at 7:15 am-9:30am
Presented by the Broadway Bicycle
School/Igleheart Frames Racing Team
Are you
interested in trying road racing? Don’t know
where to start? The Broadway Bicycle
School/Igleheart Frames Racing Team wants to help you learn the basics of road
racing. Riders will receive instruction
in racing safety RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-46243897422005531552011-08-17T12:41:00.004-04:002011-08-17T13:12:27.106-04:00Wednesday Night SuperPrestige 2011I 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 RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-39743116352965373582011-05-09T16:40:00.009-04:002011-07-06T17:44:44.829-04:00Annual Crash PostWhen 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 crashRMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-5642901465018381982011-05-02T14:18:00.003-04:002011-05-02T14:30:32.509-04:00Product Review: Challenge Criterium Road Tires—They Make it a Challenge to Finish <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 0 1 441 2515 20 5 3088 11.1287 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 0 0 <![endif]--> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-60407688562527528242011-04-21T15:04:00.003-04:002011-04-21T15:22:41.053-04:00Race Review: Battenkill 2011 Cat 3 PinkThis 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 RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-53406553538154629762011-04-18T20:04:00.005-04:002011-04-18T20:19:19.217-04:00"Race" Report: Marathon Route Foolishness 2011I am the dude in the white.We rode f'n hard. 26.2 miles in under 51 minutes. It hurt bad.2 Green Line Velo riders (including Sam Rosenholtz) got a gap in the final 5 miles and we reeled them in with a brutally fast and dangerous chase down Commonwealth Ave in Brighton and continuing up Beacon right into the Back Bay. Rosenholtz tried to declare that he had "won" the "race" right before we RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-74278047315398297592011-04-11T15:53:00.001-04:002011-04-11T15:55:49.827-04:00Race Report: Tour of the Battenkill--2011--Cat 3-PinkThe joke's on you. The post is on the CB Blog. Here.RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-50482488656709198142011-04-06T20:33:00.004-04:002011-04-06T21:44:17.370-04:00Battenkill Bike Set Up--2010Most races require minimal bike prep. Usually a simple clean, tune and lube will suffice. But Battenkill is different. Racers have been geeking out about bike setup for Tour of the Battenkill since it was a reasonably priced event called Battenkill-Roubaix. Since over a third of the course is unpaved, durable equipment is in order. Tire selection is of paramount importance, since what RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-5696008089044177692011-03-31T15:57:00.001-04:002011-03-31T16:20:58.807-04:00The Rest WeekAnyone reading this blog can ride hard. Hard enough to vomit, hard enough to be sore for days afterward, hard enough to hallucinate and meet god. If you didn’t like to ride hard, you’d be reading another blog. While training hard takes discipline, most of us relish a hard ride. We live for it. We are more than willing to suffer on the bike, even indoors and in darkened basements. If we RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-10387134559627165212011-03-23T08:08:00.003-04:002011-03-23T08:31:12.113-04:00Wells Needs you this Saturday—Bring a Broom and a Shovel—Saturday March 26 8:30am <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 0 1 192 1100 9 2 1350 11.1287 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 0 0 <![endif]--> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-47125506140878423232011-02-25T14:14:00.004-05:002011-03-01T06:38:28.890-05:00RMM's 3rd Annual Guide to Local Road Teams--Part IIBack Bay Cycling Club--B2C2Membership: by request with some screening process.This is the newest of the local road teams mentioned here. B2C2 has built up a respectable road team from a solid background in mountain and cyclocross. They are a Boston based team, who competes with Cambridge for prizes such as "hippest team," "most exposed tattoos," and "most fun to invite to a party." I am very goodRMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-59731193655088283062011-02-25T10:13:00.010-05:002011-02-25T13:48:05.850-05:00The Post You've All Been Waiting For: RMM's 3rd Annual Guide to Local Road Teams--Part 1Every year this is one of my most controversial posts. The fallout generally lasts for months with riders commenting in person and online. I do my best to just present things as I see them, while acknowledging my biases. Again, I am category racer, so I will only be offering observations about lower category teams. Part II will be published this coming Monday. Enjoy. North East Bicycle RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-10099694311176495082011-02-22T20:25:00.009-05:002011-02-23T10:21:22.617-05:00Georgia Death...er...Training Camp UpdateSo as many of you know, my team mate Matt Wheatley and I drove down to Georgia to hook up with the Cyclonauts to ride ourselves inside out in preparation for the upcoming spring campaign.Instead of boring you with details about rides and climbs, I'll just say that I have ridden 3 days in a row and have none of the rides have been under 3000 kilojoules, or under 7000 feet of climbing or under 80 RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-2818355684209966192011-02-12T20:13:00.007-05:002011-02-12T20:39:58.955-05:00CB is Promoting a BIG Stage Race: The Giro de FredWell, maybe its not quite a race. But it is an event. While this will compete for cycling traffic with my new favorite website, therollercam.com , if Ryan Kelly sucks up enough, I may be able to arrange a webcam feed of the event. How bout comping my upcoming banner ad big guy?I am getting ahead of myself. The Giro de Fred is an indoor stage race that will take place at the Bikes Not Bombs RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-16215263321200133292011-01-31T22:38:00.006-05:002011-01-31T22:56:41.108-05:00Yawn: A Grab Bag of Boring UpdatesIt is winter, therefore there are few developments in New England bicycle racing. I have no comment on Lance, Floyd or any of the other dopers. If I hear of any cat 3's doping, then I'll have something to say.But there have been developments with me. Boring ones. But if you are reading this blog, you are either my friend or you have no life. Either way, you'll probably continue to read. RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-82252520579050264872010-12-27T09:08:00.007-05:002010-12-27T09:36:57.124-05:00Email Exchange Between Battenkill and RMM Subject: TOUR OF THE BATTENKILL PRO/AMBelow is the text of an email exchange between me and the Battenkill Registration staff that started about 12 hours after I registered for the cat 3 race. The exchange took place over a 4-6 hour period. It appears that I have more than one interloculator based on textual cues such as terseness of language and lack of punctuation in some of the emails, while others are well composed and RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-22617669280077929702010-12-22T13:15:00.002-05:002010-12-22T13:19:05.264-05:00RMM Throws Down the Gauntlet: Why I Registered for Battenkill.I have received a trickle of comments about my decision to register for Battenkill. After my history of protesting the price of the race and the lack of rider support that the inflated race fee gets you, people seem surprised that I would participate in this event. In fact, I even got a personal email from one of the co-promoters that states: “We Are Surprised.” <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-75703223901381912622010-11-17T21:53:00.010-05:002010-11-20T12:52:54.493-05:00David Wilcox and the T Shirt ProjectI have known David Wilcox for 6-7 years. When I first met him, he was the kindly shop manager of the pre-move/renovation Bikes Not Bombs who helped me remove a seized lockring from my fixed gear commuter, free of charge (it required inhuman strength and special tools). While I was volunteering with the BNB youth program, David was always around, patient, interested and helpful. A couple of RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-89123183105979591092010-11-14T09:16:00.005-05:002010-11-14T09:40:58.207-05:00Geekhouse is Having a Party this Monday Night and RMM is Crashing It.It has been a big week for parties for me to ruin with my sullen moods and my judgmental, negative comments. But the best party for me to bring down is happening at the Middlesex Lounge this Monday night. Last year the Geekhouse party had the most interesting culture clash in cycling. Hipsters mingled and drank, while stunned, uptight roadies silently held up the walls, while sipping water andRMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-49388462182183347402010-11-10T11:02:00.003-05:002010-11-10T11:44:50.821-05:00Superb Presents Bella Bicicletta and RMM Ruins the Event by “Promoting” ItI like fancy bikes and beautiful people. Superb’s event promises to have both in abundance. It was fun last year; I was the most unhip person there, so don’t allow this communication medium fool you, this is an event for the young, hip cyclists. Expect DJ’s, booze, socializing and geeking out over bicycles.Here’s the official press release:Superb Bicycle is proud to present Bella Biciclette, RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-91118634763284327112010-11-03T15:38:00.001-04:002010-11-03T15:45:48.108-04:00Throw the Bums Out! Why Do New England Racers Need the UCI Anyways?The UCI may do some great things for international cyclocross, but here in New England they are an unnecessary pain in the ass. There are a few arguments about why making an event a UCI event is good for the sport; they all add up to a steaming pile of…First allow me to enumerate the ways in which the UCI designation makes races less logical and less fun:1. Staging order: Once upon a time, weRMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-61611837936968660512010-09-13T20:01:00.018-04:002010-09-13T21:48:15.668-04:00Race Report: Quad Cross 2010 Elites: WWRMMD? He'd PullSpecial Thanks to Pedal Power Photography for providing images (excepting Kyle's sad face). Thanks.First off, I like this race. Its very local (Cary and I prerode the course the night before the race). It is a nice challenging course with lots of tight turns and some good power sections. There are even a few places that require a bit of finesse. Its essentially a grass crit punctuated with aRMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3026613116977314546.post-37968272109675447002010-09-11T09:13:00.006-04:002010-09-11T10:15:27.138-04:00Am I the 2010 Elite Grim Reaper?Please listen to THIS as you read the post.Everyone who races cross has their own personal Grim Reaper. This is the rider who you always beat by a healthy margin. They are usually a friend and/or rival. If you have a shitty race, for instance you go out too hard and implode, the Grim Reaper catches you and passes you, confirming your worst fears. The rotation of Grim Reapers change, as RMMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02586927082756267932noreply@blogger.com5