Taking Style to Eleven?

Yo Suckas,

Taking my bling to 11 on the Ft. Steilacoom runup on Sunday.

Photo by Joe Martin

Check out all Joe's photos from Sunday's race.

Action!

Going over the barriers at Kelly Creek.

Photo by Joe Martin

Forget about 11 - I'm going to 14

14th place that is. Two weeks in a row, two different categories, two 14th place finishes. I don't know if you can really say huray for consistency. If I'm really racing then I should be trying to improve my finish. You know, like trying to finish 11th and feeling bad about finishing 14th...

Well, I will take 14th for now and keep on cranking away at getting faster and stronger. Coming up next is Ft. Steilacoom. Home of the Kona Knapp Time Run Up. If you have not experienced this yourself you need to visualize something that pushes the envelope of "UCI Approved" run up length. If you have felt the pain you will know what I mean when I say I think I will cough up a lung if I have to go up that thing 6 times (even worse if it is 7 times) on Sunday.

Way Faster... Looking

First cross race on the Speedvagen today. I finished 15th. Up 4 spots from our first race two weeks ago. I can't say the move up was all because of the Speedvagen. But I sure felt good on the bike today. The Vagen is an amazing machine. I had a Unicorn on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Everything the devil egged me on to do the Vagen was able to handle. Thank you Unicorn Master!!

Eye Candy

Here are a few pics of my Speedvagen - code name "Sparkles"

It rides as nice as it looks. Now I know what the power of the Unicorn is all about!

Eleven has arrived!

Yes indeed. I swooped down to Portland and picked up the Speedvagen today. It is amazing. Sacha and the crew at Vanilla were totally cool (what else did you expect?). I can't wait until the 14th. That is the next race in our cross series here in Seattle. I might not be much faster, but I am going to look damn good doing whatever it is I do out on the cross course!

Let the Suffering Begin

Sunday was the first day of the Seattle Cyclocross Series. I suffered mightily! On the Bianchi I might add.

No mystical falcons, unicorns or other such figures delivered the Speedvagen to my doorstep before the race on Sunday. I do hear that the Speedvagen are being assembled by mystical servants of the Unicorn in some far away land. When the bikes are complete they are delivered via Falcon to the humble recipient of each fine cross racing machine.

I'm not sure the Speedvagen would have lessened my pain, but I would have suffered in much more style. Yesterday was mud like I have never experienced in Seattle. Portland, yes. Seattle, no. We are off for two weeks and then back on it again on October 14th. For this race, I am sure to have the power of 11 unicorns to call upon so that I may smite down my opponents...

Speedvagen at Interbike

Hell Yeah! Look what I found...

Check it out peeps. This page has photos of the Speedvagen in all its glory. Scroll down a bit toward the middle of the page and check it out. I can hardly contain myself!

If you are signed up for Robin's Egg Blue then this is what you are going to be getting.

Retirement Ride?

Was this last weekend the final ride for the trusty San Jose? I can only cross my fingers and pray that the Speedvagen is complete by Sunday. The latest word from my Speedvagen mole down South is that the frames were sent off for paint on Friday and should be back at the Vanilla Workshop this week. I continue to hold on to the dream that I will be racing the first Seattle Cyclocross Series race on the Speedvagen this coming Sunday.

Speedvagens Unite!

Hey,

Any of you cyclocross racers out there that are fortunate enough to be one of the original 30 - you need to get yourself on over to the unofficial Church of Speedvagen website. Check it out at the VAAGEN This is the blog for all Speedvagen racers to congregate and talk all about our exploits.

Cheers!

So Whatever Happened to...

You might be asking yourself this question: So whatever happened to that old Raleigh Grand Prix that was going to get turned into a fixie? Indeed. I finished that project long ago. I just never bothered to mention it to you!

Here is a link to photos of Baby Blue on the Mobius Cycles website. By the way, Mobius kicks ass. They are super cool and located right in the heart of downtown Seattle.

Labor Day Cyclocross Championships

The Labor Day Cyclocross Championship race was held today (hence the name). I didn't win my division, but did finish the race in 13th place. Not bad for my first Single Speed Cross race and running with gearing much more suited for commuting to and from work than for cross racing.

The weather was great, the course was great, all the kids won medals in the kids race and my whole family had a blast.

The Vanilla team came up from Portland and took the first two spots in the Elite Men's race. I know you can't buy speed, or skill, but dangit I am hoping that the Speedvagen brings me at least a little bit of the mojo that Shannon Skerritt and Molly Cameron have on a cross bike!

Only One More Week

OK Suckas,

Only one more week until the first cross race of the season here in Seattle! Things get cranked up with the Labor Day Cyclocross Championships at the one (and only) South SeaTac Park. Get ready for dust, sand and more dust. The action will be hot and (did I mention?) dusty.

Everybody that is not out of town for the three day weekend will be amped up and ready to let 'er rip. So lookout below. There are sure to be plenty of spectacular crashes, pileups and other miscellaneous disasters. And that is just what I plan on perpetrating on the unsuspecting masses...

Long Time Coming

Well, it has been more than a year since I wrote anything here! Where has the time gone? Who the hell cares, let's get on with things...

Cross season is quickly approaching and I am planning to race the single speed division in the Seattle Cyclocross Series. To ensure my commitment to the season I am dropping silly money on a Speedvagen from Vanilla Bicycles out of Portland Oregon.

Check out this link for more details on the Speedvagen -> http://www.speedvagen.com

Check back for more details on this outstanding project and my cycling sickness...

Century #3 - 2006

We did it!

My friend Chris and I completed 100 miles on our fixed gears. We road from Sea-Tac north around Alki and then South out to Orting and back. We had great weather and it was quite the feeling of accomplishment to have covered 100 miles on a fixed gear.

This also turned out to be the retirement ride for my Peugeot. I have now completed building up my Raleigh and have completed two rides home from work already. I have decided to use this as my commuter for the remainder of the season. More on that later...

Chilly Hilly Fixie Style

Well now...

I thought I was going to get my Raleigh all built up as a fixie prior to the Chilly Hilly ride. Unfortunately I was denied. It turns out that the Brits at Raleigh did their own crazy proprietary fabrication on bottom brackets. So, I assaulted the Chilly Hilly on the Peugeot fixed gear. My friend Chris and I ended up riding a metric century with the Chilly Hilly route comprising the middle 32 miles of our ride which included 2700 feet of climbing (and descending).

We had a great day - slightly overcast, but no rain until the ride from the ferry dock back to Sea-Tac. And a great crew - about 12 riders, 2 others on single speeds, one pulling his son and many more friends and family on multi speed bikes. Everybody had a great time.

Now having completed the metric century we are confident that a full century, fixed gear style, is in our future. Stay tuned, that may end up being the March Century for 2006.

Century #2 - 2006

Recovery!

It took a while, but the effects from the Seahawks losing the Superbowl have finally worn off. What better way to rid yourself of the demons than a nice century?

My friend Chris, his son Spencer and I rode our February century on Sunday. It was an awesome day here in the Pacific Northwest and we explored a part of the PNW we don't ride too often. Thanks to my friend Nick, we had a great route and only got lost one time... This ride started in Renton, wound its way through Issaquah, Redmond, Woodinville and back to Renton through Carnation, Fall City and Duvall.

Highlights of the ride included Chris using my tire pump as a valve extractor on the tube of his front wheel before we left the parking lot. Lots of sunshine and a brisk ride down the shoulder of I-90 from Duvall heading back in to Issaquah. We even finished the ride before dark.

All in all it was an excellent ride and a great way to recover from the angst of the Superbowl.

The Next Project

This is my next fixed gear project. I bought this Raleigh Grand Prix when I was in Junior High School, so I have an extra special connection with this one. Right now this thing is a tank. The bike weighs in at about 30 pounds. That is probably because it still has all the reflectors that came on the bike as well as the kick stand!

My goal is to have this converted in time to ride it for the Chilly Hilly the last Sunday in February. I have a flip flop rear hub so will be riding it single speed style for that ride. I'm more worried about the down hills than the up hills. I don't think I can spin fast enough to keep my feet on the pedals...

Cyclocross World Championships

The Cyclocross World Championships were held this weekend in the Netherlands. If you haven't heard of cyclocross, it is one of the most fun things to do on your bike while feeling like your heart and lungs are about to explode. And did I mention that some of the best riders in the world are right here in the Pacific Northwest?

The racer in the photo above is Ann Knapp, she is from Des Moines Washington and placed 9th in the Elite Women's race today. She was the top US woman, finishing just ahead of Lyne Besssette (of Canada). Lynn dominated Women's cyclocross in the US this year.

Ann is a great rider and an even greater person. She is always cheering people on and encouraging them to do better. My dad got to know her pretty well while he was rehabing from a broken collarbone last year (that is an entirely different story and I have to take partial credit - blame? - for that accident).

The top US Men's finisher was Jonathan Page. This was his third or fourth year of racing in Europe and he has consistently been a top 20 finisher in the European races this year.

Read more about this at Cycling News or Velo News

Go Huck Yourself

Some of the world's best free riders will be in Renton WA this weeked for THE GATHERING I am heading down there with some buddies to check out the action on Friday night.