Category: Wrenching

Athens/Roswell Recap, Part 1

It’s a bit late, but as they say… “better late than never.”

Last weekend, Georgia hosted two of the biggest criteriums on the racing calendar, the Athens Twilight Criterium and the Historic Roswell Criterium.  These two races are very well-attended by pro road teams, and amateurs alike, primarily due to their constant spot on the schedule year after year, but also highlighted by their inclusion in the USA Crits series and the Georgia Cycling Grand Prix series.

I was delighted to find out that Mavic was going to be in attendance, offering neutral race support services for both events.  Having been a part of their volunteer mechanic program since 2005, I was thrilled to get the opportunity to do some actual “PROBIKEWRENCH-ing” again.

There’s nothing like working the wheel pit at Twilight… it’s always so amazing, year after year, regardless of the racers in attendance or any other conditions.  It’s always pretty magical.  For instance, back in 2005, I worked Twilight with the Cane Creek neutral support program.  I got the chance to push National and Olympic Champion Marty Nothstein back into the race after a crash.  He didn’t win, but played a part in the victory of his teammate Vassili Davidenko that evening.

A few days before departing for Athens, I got a call from Team Kenda p/b GearGrinder mechanic, John Columbus.  Evidently, some of the team’s gear needed some work before the weekend, and it was all being kept pretty close to where I live.  I made a trip out to Cumming to pick up three bikes and sixteen wheels to prep and deliver to Athens.

After gluing tubulars and tuning some wheels and bikes (and pretending my garage was PROBIKEWRENCH Service Course for a few days), myself and the gear got delivered to Athens, courtesy of my wonderful wife, Niki.  I met with the Mavic guys for dinner on Friday, then we crashed at Hotel Indigo in Athens, to get ready for an interesting weekend.

Amateur racing was first on Saturday.  We arrived on course a little before 8am, already getting wet from the steady rain that hung around for the remainder of the day.  After all the amateur racing had been done, we moved downtown to Broad Street to prepare for the evening racing on the classic downtown Twilight course.

As you’d expect, the rain played a big part in most of the racing.  The women’s race went off without a hitch, except when the race winner decided to celebrate her win, pushing two other riders into the barriers about 50 meters beyond the finish line.  One girl hit the ground pretty bad, so myself and two other Mavic crew members, Collin and Pete, ran to assist.  We handled the situation until the girl’s dad arrived and she was able to collect herself and get back up and on the bike.

The men’s race was a different story.  Athens always has a HUGE field, and if it’s gonna get hairy, the Men’s Pro Race is where it’s going to happen.  Around about Lap 5 or so, the wheel pit was covered up with riders with flat tires or getting caught behind a crash.  We were switching wheels, left and right, and more riders kept coming…

The business in the pit kept coming.  If it wasn’t a flat from an unseen pothole, it was more crashing.  At one point, we had to jump back in the truck and prep some more wheels to change because we were running out.  When a rider would pull out of the race, we’d grab the wheels he got from us and use them on someone else.  Non-stop… all night long, just like the rain.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures from Twilight, primarily because we were busy working.  The men’s race was over around 11:35pm, which made for a ridiculously long day.  We estimated that we did around 100 or more wheel changes for that hour and a half criterium.  For me, Athens did it again… lived up to my billing that there’s not another race like it.

I finally got back to the hotel around 1am.  My feet were wrinkled and pruny from the wet socks and shoes I had on since 7am the previous morning… so bad that they hurt.  The day wasn’t over yet.  I still had to prepare for Roswell by drying out my shoes and packing my gear to leave the next morning.  I also had to shave my legs.  I had thoughts that I may actually race my bike in Roswell… but I’ll talk about that in my next post.

Getting My Hands Dirty Again…

As I mentioned before, Team Kenda Pro Cycling presented by GearGrinder will be in Woodstock on the 28th for their VO2 Max Testing at Lifetime Fitness on Hwy 92.  I started doing some digging around the interweb and spoke with a couple pals of mine involved with the team to see what the deal was.

Kenda Pro CyclingAs I was being inquisitive, I was approached (via Twitter) by the team’s manager, Chad Thompson, about coming to camp and building some of the team bikes for a few days in Macon.  Looks like that’s the plan… I’ll be down there on February 24/25 to help build some of the 70 bikes that the team will utilize throughout the year.  Getting my hands dirty building some pro level bikes.

It’s good to get “back in the trenches.”  Back in 2003/2004, I started planning my career around getting involved with working with profesisonal cycling races and teams.  After seeing the Mavic SSC Neutral Support Crew at the 2002 Junior/Espoir National Championships in my hometown, I instantly knew that I should chase after that kind of career.  I started setting myself up for it.  I made connections in the industry, and in January 2005, I went to USA Cycling Mechanics’ Clinic to get my Race Mechanic’s License and jump onto the pro racing scene.

I ended up in bike shops again after a couple of small stints on the road, but did some other mechanic work on the road in 2007.  I’m extremely happy where I’m at right now (Out Spokin’ Bicycles), but it’s still fun to mix it up a little bit by getting some hot new pro bikes built up.  It especially helps when they’re Masi Bikes (official sponsor of PROBIKEWRENCH.COM)…

As a result of my work with Team Kenda Pro Cycling, Chad (Team Manager) worked out a deal for us at Out Spokin’ during the team’s training camp.  Today, we confirmed that during the team’s VO2 Max Testing at Lifetime Fitness, Frankie Andreu (Former USPS/Motorola Team Racer, Versus Tour de France Commentator, and current Kenda Pro Cycling Team Director) would stop by Out Spokin’ for a meet & greet before the team’s afternoon Fan Ride.

It’s always cool to have a well-known cyclist stop by the shop for a personal appearance.  Afterwards, we’re going to ride/drive back over to Lifetime and meet the rest of the team for the Fan Ride, which should take about two hours.  There will be lunch in the cafe at Lifetime Fitness after the ride, followed by a question and answer session with Frankie, Chad, and the rest of Team Kenda.

If you want to get in on this and you’re local to Woodstock/Atlanta, come by Out Spokin’ around 11am on Sunday, February 28th for the festivities.  For more information, check out our event page on our website at http://www.outspokinbikes.com.

VeloReviews Podcast #1

We started the VeloReviews Podcast in hopes of driving a few more members to the VeloReviews.com site.  Since our first podcast two weeks ago, we’ve moved into 3rd position for the Most Popular Outdoor Audio Podcast on iTunes (as of five minutes ago).  Here’s the proof:

If you want to take a listen, you can find the direct link here: http://media.libsyn.com/media/veloreviews/The_VeloReviews_Podcast_episode_001.mp3

My Favorite Tools, Part 1

As I was digging through my small toolbox on my workbench today, I thought to myself, “what are a few of the tools in this box that are just… cool?”  I picked out two of the tools that I really love, but for different reasons.  One, because of the circumstances surrounding how I got it, and the other because of it saving my butt on a daily basis.

1.  Shimano TL-CN31 Chain Tool

I came across this tool in 2005.  In January of that year, I attended the USA Cycling  Bill Woodul Mechanics Clinic at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.  I wanted to get into working at professional races, and in order to do that, I needed a license.  The clinic was the next step in my journey to doing so.

I learned a lot at the clinic.  We had some great classes and instruction from great instructors like Calvin Jones (Head Mechanic – Park Tool), Ric Hjertberg (Wheelsmith, FSA, WheelFanatyk), TJ Grove and Andy Stone (Veteran Race Mechanics), and many other professionals in the industry.  The wealth of knowledge I picked up in just a few days in snowy Colorado in 2005 has stuck with me ever since.

The last night we were at the clinic, all the students (including myself) decided to head out for a good time at a local bar across from the Olympic Training Center called “The Finish Line.” It was a real hole-in-the-wall joint, but it was within walking distance and… what the heck, why not?  Some of us had a little TOO MUCH fun and ended up dancing with local cafeteria ladies and really making fools of ourselves, err… myself.  I had a fun time, but got a little out of hand.

(NOTE:  To this day, I still see guys from the Mechanics’ Clinic on the race circuit and all over that recall, “Hey… you’re the guy that got drunk and danced with that lunchroom lady at the Finish Line!”  Yeah… I’m THAT guy.)

The next morning was not a good morning for me.  I felt pretty horrible, and it showed.  I showed up for the last day of class with my beanie pulled down, sunglasses on, and was completely dragging.   At the clinic, several of the sponsors have product giveaways to the attendees, randomly.  A few of the top prizes included a Park Tools workstand and the Shimano TL-CN31.  I wanted the Shimano Chain Tool… badly.  It had cherry handles and sold at most shops for $120.  Not many people have a tool like that… I had to have it.  What were the chances of me winning that drawing, especially after my escapades from the night before?  Not good, I’d have guessed.

Chris Clinton, veteran mechanic and chief instructor at the clinic, was drawing names out of an envelope for the winners of the prizes.  He looked at me and jokingly said, “You think just because you’re hungover, I should draw your name for this prize.”  Of course, I shook my head… I wanted the tool!  Chris reached down into the envelope and pulled out… my name!

I don’t know if I could go without my Shimano TL-CN31.  It’s one of my favorite tools in my toolbox.  It’s exotic, it’s a very cool tool, and I have a story to go along with it… even if I did have to dance with a cafeteria lady to get it.

I mentioned a second tool in the introduction… you’ll have to wait on that one for my next blog post.

Cycling During Winter Months

Would You Ride This?

Question… How do you do it?  How do you stay motivated to ride (indoors or outdoors) during the winter months?  I’ve got a charity ride planned in the morning to benefit Toys For Tots, but the forecast is for freezing temperatures and snow/precipitation.   How do you wrap your mind around stupid-cold, crappy weather?

I remember back to 2003.  A group of Canadian cyclists made their way down south for the early spring to conduct a training camp in Clemson, SC, where I was living/working at the time.  They came in the shop, hung out, bought some parts and accessories over those few weeks, and developed a relationship with myself and the other guys at the shop that lasted quite a few years.  They continued to visit in following years, and we kept in touch via e-mail frequently.

In one of those e-mails, Don (the “leader of the pack”) sent me a picture of a group of cyclists from the club from the Great White North.  They were running a pretty solid paceline down a road, in what looked like blizzard-type conditions.  I quit complaining about cold weather at that point.

So what’s your solution for riding in the cold?  Is there a particular “dress code” that you abide by?  Do you use embrocation in conjunction with your attire?  Is there a certain temperature at which you say, “that’s just too cold?”  Please leave your feedback below.  Thanks.