dannykdc

NC CX Weekend One! (will post more pics eventually)

2010-01-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Chris (ncvc) and I rolled down to North Cackalack for 2 days of cross racing in the frigid cold. we were told it was unusually cold, a random weekend around freezing where it'd usually been in the 40s.

Jay Morali, Kevin Dillard, and fellow R1V'er Thori were also present from the DC area (maybe among others?)

thori

Saturdays race was in Salisbury NC, and mostly made up of fast grass sections, 2 wooded "single track" sections, a forced run up (2 stairs) and lots of places with no tape... (anyone cheat?).

After getting my bike stuck in the trainer and taking a last minute pee, i rolled up to the Men's B start, right as the Mens Elite were rolling out. AKA- almost missed my start. Chris caught this on the helmet cam we borrowed from Bill. It was a small field of about 20 starters, and i was off the back immediately. I dont think i had the fitness i wish i did, but one thing i did have that i didnt have all season was my nerve back, and some technical riding skills. i took turns well, and didnt bite it at all until the last lap, while getting lapped by the elite breakaway, (gave them some room, at an off camber, and slipped out, bummer)... ended up getting 14th. felt okay, probably shouldn't travel for races without being in shape, but who cares, it was a cross race and felt like it. good people hanging out, a great course for spectating... drove to greensburo to stay with friends.

next day was in mooresville? i dont remember. This was an interesting course... lots of long straight aways that were mostly flat, a section in the woods with the ground being entirely made of traction stealing pine needles... and bumpy frozen ground. and a dumb 90 degree turn that was about 4 feet wide right before the finish... Thori looked great in the masters race and got 3rd place... i lined up to race on time, got caught behind a crash close to the start and spent the rest of my race trying to make that space back up... but ended up botching a short steep climb, where i was forced to pick a more difficult line, and as i went to put a foot down and not fall over at the crest i came down stepping on my chainguard pinching my chain... tried riding it out, and after wrapping up the chain a few times i pulled off exhausted and feeling okay with my mechanical. Chris was sitting great, 2nd wheel after hole shot, then falling back into a chase group of 3 after the a duo off the front... but ended up botching the barriers and redirecting his chain around his bottom bracket shell twice somehow. DC mechanicaled out of the Mens B race together.

Small Fields, a bit faster than i expected, and being way out of shape... but ive been concentrating on turning and looking through turns and weight distribution over the bike...and feel good about my handling... now all i need to some legs and learn how to remount better and ill be something worth racing against.

One race Sunday this weekend, and One in greensboro the 24th, (raleigh race was cancelled) and ill be trying to get to greensboro if not both. hope to see you all there.

We also ate at sheetz 7 times this weekend. WaWa is for suckers and carpetbaggers.

making this look good.

Pics from K. Dillard on Demon Cats

COOL NEW STUFF FROM.... TREK!?!?!

2009-09-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

Treks got some awesome new bikes in their 2010 line... heres some highlights...

The Belleville is a cromoly town bike with a really classic look, with color matched front and rear racks, fenders, chainguard and integrated stem/bars. Driving an Internal 3 Speed hub for simplicity, but headturning classic trek paint scheme and an unconventional front triangle makes this bike quite a looker... i bet it weighs a ton but is really fun to ride, and to just look at.

The District Carbon is simply ridiculous. OCLV carbon frame and fork, FSA energy carbon cranks, carbon hardware cockpit, etc etc everywhere carbon... but its a BELT DRIVEN SINGLE SPEED!!! i doubt anyone will buy one of these but its definitely unique. not sure if the belt drive can be set up fixed gear...

weird.

WHY?

2009-08-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

why havent i made an update in along time? i dont do anything anymore? why? cause i got crushed by a car at work on Aug 4th, and before that i was on vacation doing some bike touring with Hank in Nova Scotia... yes i got hit on my 1st day back downtown.

6 days at GW hospital... and now just lots of time at home organizing my netflix cue, watching episodes of quantum leap, reading, trying to reacquire my coffee addiction, figuring every way there is to cook eggs, physical therapy, constantly being frustrated that I'm off the bike, feeling myself getting weaker and seeing my legs losing muscle, growing lots of hair on those legs, playing guitar again, Ebaying constantly to finishing up bike projects (86 fat chance wicked "no shimano"), doing yard work when i feel up to it, and living vicariously through evil steve and elliot's work experiences...

after about 2 weeks of not wanting to know i finally checked out my bike... i was riding the work road bike... my 98 litespeed nachez... damage done... destroyed front ksyrium equipe wheel, ritchey 1" threadless carbon fork, right hand Carbon Campagnolo Centaur 10speed brifter, and most likely the Ritchey Pro Bars... everything else seems okay... i really love this bike and hope that the frame is in okay condition so i can rebuild it...

decided that i think im going to rebuild my SSCX racer from last year into a messenger bike... replace the full carbon fork with a cromo disc fork i have, put fenders and riser bars on it... make it more worthwhile than a bike that sits on my rack 99% of the year. need to get a 130spaced flip flop hub and rims...

im lucky to have a Physical therapist who is a cyclist, hes a mtn biker but he understands my frustration and we always have good conversations about cycling... i go to sleep everynight with my road racer to my left (with brand new rewrapped bartape that i havent even ridden as i wrapped them the night before i got hit...) and to my right my Kelly Cyclocross bike in the process of being built... need to figure what crankset im gonna use this season. yes i am racing this season...

in nova scotia (see www.flickr.com/henryhank for nova scotia touring pics!) we stayed with friends in halifax, and hung out at Nauss's bike shop, and i read alot about cycling history and am once again obsessing over French Bikes. thanks canada, the land where NOS Mafac Racers grow on trees... and influenced by a rene herse restoration in "the golden age of handbuilt bicycles" or maybe it was the same authors "photographic history of the competition bicycle" i am taking my 1962 raphael Geminiani track bike thats original fork has been long ago destroyed (yeah... it was my fault...) and am going to convert it into a french porteur style racer... seems like a great idea as the book points out this was common practice my french frame builders at the time, to convert a racing bike to a work bike with a longer rake fork, and brazeons... so hopefully with the help of Palermo Bikes in college park i will embark on this project soon.

ill try to update more...

crashed on out.

2009-06-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Reston Crit this morning.

This is an awesome race... why does there have to keep being crit races that i like? I was supposed to hate crit racing, that was gonna be like... my thing!

Great, pretty fast, lots of turns... felt pretty okay... sat in the field, no one was making any good breaks the whole race... started moving up with 6 laps to go, by the last lap I was sitting around 10th wheel coming around the sweeping left hand turn downhill that transitions into the uphill... i took the outside line, planning on attacking on the final set of uphill turns... and saw out the corner of my eye, a rider taking the inside "bounce" on his front wheel, taking the turn too tight maybe, chatter, overcorrect and take out a rider to his side just as I'm passing, i dont see it, but i feel my back wheel get taken out from under me, probably yell as i slide on my right shifter, helmet and glasses and nose towards the curb... as im catching myself and springing up all i see against the sky is my own blood spraying forwards... kinda cool. I only saw three riders, but must have caught 2 behind us... and one rider was in pretty bad shape and had to be taken away in ambulance, hope all is well with this rider...

too bad this is how i end a race that i felt pretty well about and really enjoyed racing... stopped in the bike lane on the way out with soda (who got 2nd place and had a $25 gift certificate)... my leg is knotted up pretty bad, and some nice wounds... on face and hands and elbow and road rash on upper leg... lucky i just sewed up my kit, and there were no new tears in it.

Best of luck to the rest of the team, hear jay was coming out to race. i had to get home and pour nasty junk on these wounds ice/heat my knot and watch lots of seinfeld.

A Month's Worth of Overdue Cat 5 Race Reports

2009-06-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

at home from work today as i am taking a class trying to finally actually graduate from college after a few years of not taking classes and i am writing a final. i just spilled an entire pot of coffee in the kitchen and would rather blog than write right now...

New Bethlehem Crit
So i somehow convinced my housemate Joey to wake up at 3:30am and drive out to Bethlehem Pennsylvania for the New Bethlehem Criterium. The next Monday was his birthday, and although neither of us are vegan anymore its always worthwhile to visit Vegan Treats Bakery and load up on vegan sweets for his Bday. Vegan Treats distributes to Vegan Restaurants mostly and NYC and Philly but a few items can be found in DC at Java Green (if not other places as well), and turns out was four blocks from race registration. Realized about 10 minutes away that i had left my waterbottles next to the sink... so i bought a jug and drank 3/4s of it before the race. Kevin Dillard was also there from DC and ran into a buddy Andrew id met through cyclocross (whose also grew up in the south and into hardcore) who had recently moved philly.

I really liked the course here, for its limited space it had everything a good crit should have (except for multidirectional turns). Layed out like a square where each straight section was about equal distance, four turns and about 1.3miles a lap. A few hundred feet from the start/finish, the 1st turn is a 90degree left into a slight downhill. The downhill moves into the 2nd and best turn; a dirty wide off camber, with many lines to pick, but each one had its own suprise, of a bit of gravel, or a manhole cover, or a steeper part of the camber... this is where alot of action took place in the races i was able to watch, attacks, bridging, etc... another straight, into an uphill left turn into a steady climb, then a 90degree left to a straight away back to start/finish. 18laps.

Race started at a good pace, with about 35 or 40 of us. Didnt see any moves too early, and for whatever reason around the 4th lap at the uphill turn i found myself in a good position with no reason not to attack, so i did. Made a good jump up the hill with one other following, he caught my wheel at the next turn and we accessed the situation as having gotten ourselves a decent gap. We were off the front for 2 more laps, until 2 other riders (one being a teammate of the other guy with me) bridged up. We communicated really well and shared the work even better, im pretty sure i pulled the same straight away for the next 11 laps. Joey called out the time ahead and i think we had 40 seconds on the field at some points... pretty sure there was a crash in turn 3 at some point though.

4th turn before last lap, and i found myself in 4th wheel, with our group still way ahead in the break... 2nd wheel rider made an attack on turn 1, and rider 2 chased, rider 3 (2's teammate) blocked me out of a chase until the next turn and by that point even though i was out of the saddle i knew i couldnt catch them. Finished 3rd, and felt really great about it... learned alot and really enjoyed being in a race where a breakaway worked. Got a trophy with flames on it.
Ate way too many donuts and drove back to dc, only to get into my friend kiki's car to drive down to richmond for...

Haley Pontiac Chipotle Bryan park Crit
Got a good amount of sleep, remembered water bottles, and had a teammate (Derek) as well as my parents there for support. Woke up at 7am in RVA to it raining, and fearing the race would be cancelled, but it wasnt.

Didnt have my trainer, so Derek and i warmed up on the road a bit as races were underway and due to slight delays were being pushed closer together.

Was NOT a fan of this course so much. Bryan Park is a beautiful park, and theres a great "big ring" cyclocross race there too... but i wasnt feeling the race soo much... Rode the carbon wheels for the 2nd day in a row, and on road was made up of tiny stuck in stones (which would have ripped your legs apart im sure) and i felt like i could feel everyone through the rims, and hear them all too, my wheels were loud as shit this race.

im not in good enough shape to do alot of work 2 days in a row i guess. Only 8 short laps, so Derek and I tried attacking from the get go, but we (and no one else really) could get away. I'd do some work on the front, but didnt have the legs or focus to be able to sit back in... Honestly i felt a bit sketchy. I had to bunny hop over a snake while on the front of one lap too.

If anything Derek and I's attacks and being on the front alot made us atleast seem like a threat. Came down to a sprint with about half the field at the uphill after the last turn... thats probably the only time my legs felt decent, but not good enough to place... 6th for me, and i think 9th or so for Derek. the officials only counted top 3, so we found out by Sam (derek's wifes photos).
Good to hang out in Richmond afterwards with my Parents and then with friends who i havent seen in a long time (years for some) who i really care about.

Ride Sally Ride
What Hasn't been said about this race already? What maybe people havent talked about is that there was a crash in my race in the exact same spot that required the emergency crew to be called as well.

Like how i called Bethlehem a square, im going to call this one a triangle. Three boring turns, practically all flat, with no centerline, so no yo-yoing which probobly made for the crashes cause the 4s and 5s were bunched up and sitting real wide almost the whole time.

I saw alot of sketchy riding, I chased a good move from an NCVC rider, and upon accessing our gap and me telling him "lets go with this, weve got room" dude totally backed off... bummer. so i sat in and finished mid pack trying to stay in front of crashables.

Michael Murad Memorial Road Race
My first "Road Race" ei not a crit or circuit, and it was pretty awesome. Thori and I were the only 2 R1Vs there and i caught my damn bib shorts on a nail on a fence and ripped them the hell up. sucks. not enough season left to justify getting new ones when i just ordered our CX kit, time to tap the inner punk kid and just sew a 9 Shocks terror patch onto it.

Still not totally sure how to race a road race... but i didnt feel immediately more confortable in the ride then in most crits. Did some work on the front, chased and caught some breakaways, chatted alot... it was good. nothing too eventful... other than meeting Thori i guess who is an incredibly strong rider.

At the end i found myself with good position, and from my right a rider made a really strong attack and was moving way faster and than the other sprints that were just beginning... so i shifted my gears and weight out of the saddle and hopped on his wheel only to see him nearly crashed out by some elbow to elbow rockemsocksm stuff ahead pushing him almost off the road, causing me to have to change plans... and not having a good wheel to pull me right in, and a bit of hesitation at the near crash, sprinted for what i thought was 6th position but i ended up in the books as 8th... either way i won some socks.

I hear the Cat4 race was really exciting and we had some top finishers... had to leave after the womens's races so dont know how else R1V did...

---Been Listening to:

Merchendise EP

Mediafire Download
from florida, part of the Cult Ritual; Cult Maternal thing... but probably the most poppy that ive heard from the 'collective'... still pretty eerie...but part of a new batch of punk bands that i feel like it actually worth listening too.

Ft. Richie Report...

2009-05-10T19:40:00.001-07:00

Every friday after work ive made half ass plans to hang out with zack but up until this past weekend had not actually accomplished that act of hanging... turns out my old housemate lives across from his new place, and there was a party there that i wanted to attend.

also, turns out that saturday was the ft. richie crit, and chris and i had really done nothing to get a ride up there... but! we got a car last minute but it was going to get dropped off at our place sometime in the night, but chris informed me our benefactor may bail. So i go to party, its pretty awesome, 12:00 rolls around, no call about car being dropped off... 1:00, 1:30... then... right before 2:00 ... "hey dude, think im at your house... theres lots of bikes here... dude, does anyone you live with have homer simpson slippers? sick, im at the right place... droppin the keys through the mail slot." so im off towards home, getting back around 2:30. Only then do i start to pack for the race, and afterwards cannot sleep at all.

after an excercise in "chris carraway" plannaing, we get out of town around 6am from some house in hyattsville he is dog sitting at, and my headache and acidic stomach start a kickin...

The area around Ft. Richie is beautiful and would make for some fantastic riding. rolling hills transitioning from wide to narrow roads, in low spots running along creeks, and in middle elevations the types of small towns i want to someday live in... then at any height you can see farm land separating the small mountains and forests. I couldnt believe that we were heading to a crit not a road race.

6 turns, that felt more like 5, a slight climb that's forced reduction in pace created the only technical spots (ei crappy cement slabs, poor roads, and man hole covers, with 2 90 degree right turns) to a wide open left turn into a fast sweeping back section into an almost banked/slight drop right turn (ei fast) towards the last sharp right turn into the start finish.

only minutes before lining up did my body shape up and stop feeling like crap... and i started totally cold, i took 2 practice laps like it was a cyclocross race basically, then rolled up on derek's wheel at the line.

race was a good pace, first two laps were sketchy as it seemed most everyone hadnt spent much time on the course... but soon everyone realized that you really didnt need brakes at all... these two things probably are exclusive to the cat 5 race, as we arent that fast to begin with... and are always sketchy.

half way through derek made a jump and i blocked pretty well for him, but it was a bit early, after we caught him, he and i sat on the front for a bit, somehow missing a prime (did we even have any?) and ended up about 15 back as the tempo upped into the last few...

im learning a bit, and need to just get out there more... need to learn to conserve energy better... (last race i got dropped, this one ended and i felt like i hadnt even ridden yet) and learn to keep part of my mind on the lap count, i really thought we had one lap left until a few hundred feet from the line, picked it up a bit and finished 10th position, and felt like even though i dont have the sprinting legs to have won a battle for the line, with my head in the right place i could have made a move a bit earlier or been in a better spot.

basically, this race has got me stoked for more road racing, and i just realized that ride sally ride opened a few hours ago and i need to try and get into it before it fills up.

*Next race for me, Michael Murad. May 23rd.

From a Work Week...

2009-05-03T16:20:00.001-07:00

Took the time to charge the camera and bring it to work all week. Kept forgetting i had it with me and didnt take many pictures...

The Cheat

Outside Quick

Work Bike at the In House

Andy didnt want to be photographed...

Tired...

Route 1 Arrow

2009-04-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

Ruh Roh... Road season starts on Sunday for me.

2009-03-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

found myself watching talladega nights two nights in a row on tv. hoping this snow creates some sort of exciting events tomorrow, that could range from potentially not having to work because DC govt is closed hence my clients wont be in... to just having a fun day sliding around, or riding the SS cross bike at work.

selling my cross bike on craigslist... prob gonna buy the redline conquest pro, and put my trp brakes, ritchey WCS fork stem and post, fizik saddle, and chris king wheels (relaced to tubulars) on it... seems like the cheapest and best idea for race season...

Cross My Heart + Super Bowl of Single Speed Cross

2009-02-03T17:25:00.000-08:00

Superbowl of Single Speed Cross Start

Cross Season now gets to officially come to an end with what ive decided was my favorite race... The course wasnt anything too spectacular, it made for decent races but the location, the people, the music, and the overall feel was fantastic. Proteus, Jim and everyone else involved did a lot of hard work it seems. There seemed to be a perfect mix of serious racing as well as all around fun.

elliott

Chris, Elliott and I rode out to the race in the morning, which is something id like to try to do alot more next season. That also dictated that i only bring my Single Speed. The ride out to college park was the longest id ridden that bike before as it had only recently been completed.

me in the run up.

Preriding the course there was still alot of ice on the ground, and i raced the C race comfortably wearing full tights as it was probobly still in the 30s. It later warmed to the upper 50s, melting some of the ice, and after a few races creating a lot of mud. I changed into what david told me they call in england "Bib Knicks" for the singlespeed race.

ride vs run

I finished 8th in the C race out of about 60 riders, and i felt pretty great, still like i could have done better... but that said i was exhausted for the SS race and finished 11th out of 22 and felt nothing more than just plain exhausted. all in all I think i raced smart, i learned from my mistakes, and made the proper corrections. Ended up being off the bike a lot, and feel like running instead of riding was often a good idea. Maybe it was the mud, maybe my physical condition, but in the SS race i was choosing to run things i hadnt even considered not riding in my first race. far from perfect, but im more than happy.

j willy

it was good to see James and tanner out and racing. both said they had a good time, maybe we'll see them again next year.

In other news, my band The Guilt's demo was featured on Maximum Rock and Roll's Best of 08 radio show. sweet.

Stole these images from Bill at In the Cross Hairs

good clean fun

2009-01-31T18:08:00.001-08:00

holy crap this is so weird. check out jeff grant playing drums too

Face to Face-Disconnected

2009-01-31T17:35:00.000-08:00

90s Punk Music Videos were SOOOO good. the quality is almost more endearing than the music.

2009-01-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

okay, so my tubes keep blowing up. what the hell. this has never happened before... and its like, days after installation, after miles and miles of riding... and then in the middle of the night. BOOM! maybe its the pressure? if anything wrong with gear itd have to be the bead being worn out on the clinchers? but thats not a cause... i dont know other than its annoying... and scary.

time to sell that stupid crosscheck. wouldnt sell well as a cross bike right now... but itd be less work. i was thinking about throwing on this NIB ultegra triple group, with bar end shifters and selling it as a sport tourer... and probobly for alot of money, but that takes effort. i could sell it as it is right now for decently cheap, but only after replacing chain and cassette... but its a 1x9 cross racer thats not geared incredibly well for the city... but i guess thats not my problem.

im really leaning towards building a cross bike next season.... it keeps appealing me more and more... gonna keep scouring ebay... but would really love a kelly steel cross bike, i think that fork is so incredibly good looking...

or on the complete opposite side of things, the condor terra x frame set...
dont even know where the hell id find one of those, but its sick.
black is gonna be my color scheme... keepin it simple.

(click for bigger)

so much time left, i need to just be on the bike more now....

deep dish pizza

2008-12-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

seriously considering destroying a pair of these next cross season.
ive got carbon brake pads lying around already... and i doubt ill put on 50 lbs by next year... and i have broken one carbon seatpost in my life... for that price though, and that weight, id risk some damage to myself and others around me.

I have those flashpoints as well the FP60...

but the disclaimer of those is "not intended for use with tires wider than 23mm..." or something... cant afford zipp404 or 303 cross, so the neuvation tubular sounds like a safe bet if i change brake pads alot. and i wouldnt be using these wheels for every race, my ksyriums or chris kings will probobly be my main cross wheels next season (if the king's blue looks good on whatever i decide my build or buy to be)... but does that then mean id need to not use the carbon rim specific pads? and id have to change them back and forth? that then points to using the FP60s occasionally... and i already own them got them for a crazy good deal, and dont worry so much about breaking them... i worry more about rolling a clincher outta them (for some reason i fear that possibility) then again... changing brake pads all the time would extend the life of the pads, and also makesure that they are properly adjusted before each race... (and im used to working on my bike alot the night before a race anyways) aah but then another question... will i be taking this serious enough to pit wheels this next year? that points back to the FP60s, or destroying alot of carbon rim specific brake pads....

ideal wheelset for the singlespeed... low spoke count black paul hubs (not sure if id use mountain or track) to a tubular rim... wheres that dt swiss road tubbie?

never to early to get prepared... ebay for a frameset? or wait to EP something from the shop? custom? kelly? igleheart? IF (can ep)? Moots( can ep too...) or buy a complete redline conquest team/pro or jamis supernova via EP... its gettin tricky... plus my singlespeeds frame is too heavy anyways... i need to find a 130bcd used carbon crankset for it to replace heavy travativ ss mountain cranks... but keep thinking a lighter frame would help.

im not thinking at all about road season... i dont even have wheels.

internet...

2008-12-26T22:37:00.000-08:00

i really would like to find a cycling forum to occupy my free time at times like these... i remember there was a fat chance forum that was interesting but no one posts there.

bike forums is okay... i lurk the classic and vintage forum and find it amusing, often educational, and even the starting point of some new obsessions... there was a thread recently presenting the 1st annual velo cheapo contest, where a bike had to be built for under $150... check it out.

like this example... some of the results are pretty amazing. i wish i had the time, resources, space and general push to do something like this... maybe next year.

those two are the best in my opinion... my style, and also... just the best anyways.

this blog will probobly become a place for me to think out and catalog my ideas for next years cross bike.

Wow....

2008-12-26T22:33:00.000-08:00

trying to stay up really late so i can sleep through most of tomorrow.... and i just saw this commercial on tv. lynchburg!!

2008-12-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

parents house in lynchburg va for the holidays.

watched sooo much house.

found lots of funny cds and tapes from highschool but have nothing to listen on...

got computer fixed, but theres nothing on it. boring...

why am i starting a blog? its gonna be as boring as this post.

please someone take me back to dc.