I’ve won a ton of trophies in my lifetime.  Before cash as prizes, every race gave out trophies.  A crazy amount of unique ones.  I have trophies made of wheat stocks, ceramics.  glass, plastic and metal, of course.  And lots of rocks.   Most of my favorite trophies are from South America.  They are ornate.  And seem handmade.   But, Friday, Brian Jensen gave me one that the  promoters of The Hell’s Kitchen Road Race had given him to give to me.  It was a trophy for winning the race last year.  About as unique as they come.  And perfect for me.  If every time I won a race they gave me an engraved tool, I’d probably try just that much harder.

Last week, I was gluing some tires on for a friend before the Tour of Kansas City.  I hadn’t glued many non Vittoria road tires on for awhile.   I won’t mention the brand, but it took some time to get these guys straight.  Then, after I pumped them up to full pressure, they wanted to turn inside out on the rim.   That is a first for me.  Anyway, I was amazed how much old glue was on the braking surface of the rims.  It took me nearly a half hour with steel wool and toluene to clean them (aluminum). In his defense, he had used them previously for cross and probably had mounted some Dugast  tires that are nearly impossible to stretch on.  But, I couldn’t understand how anyone could brake with so much glue on the rim.  I looked around a bit during the Tour of KC last weekend and was surprised that it wasn’t that unusual.   I guess there isn’t a class on gluing tubular tires onto rims, but if there was, rule 2 or 3 would be-no glue on the braking surface after the tire is mounted.  None.  Zero.   Use solvent to clean the rim completely or better yet, don’t get any glue on the rim to start with.

I was gluing a super light Bontrager tire, I got from Al Clark at Trek, to a super light Bontrager carbon wheel.  I don’t think they’re going to be making the tires, but they should.  I think a lot of guys would like to ride tires weighing less than 260 g.  Anyway, check out the picture below.  That is wheel, tire, skewer and magnet on the scale.  Pretty light, huh?

Trophy - engraved pitch fork. Willow and Wink more interested in camera I guess.

Unique and functional.

Complete front wheel total weight of 653 grams.

in‧dis‧cre‧tion

[uncountable and countable] an action or remark that shows a lack of good judgment, especially one that is morally unacceptable:

So, I have to reconsider.  I guess it was an indiscretion technically.  The problem for me is that  the reason WADA went back to the Dec. 24, 2007 (and why do you have EPO in you urine on Christmas Eve?) urine sample  was because  there were problems with his current biological passport.  So, 2008 & 2009 went unchecked.   That seems more than an indiscretion.   Indiscretion connotes a minor infraction to me.  These “indiscretions”, to me, seem nearly criminal, not mere infractions.   That these “indiscretions” are becoming so commonplace does not make them right.  Let’s not condon behaviour by using language that inappropriately characterizes the nature of the conduct by minimizing it.  Words matter.

So, since I’m nitpicking  Cyclingnews.com on their choice of words, I might as well continue.  They had a article about how up to 7 more guys are going to be announced positive before the Tour.  I’m a little sick of the whole exposure thing on drugs when the limelight is on the Tour.  Anyway, they have a photo attached to the article.  Below is the photo and caption.  It like they are saying, “Athletes realize that they need more oxygen to compete, so they will train and make sacrifices to win.”    Cyclingnews has always been on the forefront of the “war against drugs” in cycling.  Seems to me that they have tempered their stance a little recently.

The Tour should be more interesting now that Tom Boonen is racing.

It’s nearly midnight. It seems to be the way of bicycle racing nowadays. Criterium racing into the dark. I like it. But, being all jazzed up at 2 am is not that conducive to recovery. Anyway, tonight, July 4th, was a criterium in downtown Lawrence Kansas. It is a great downtown. Lawrence city council has their act together and has never allowed a mall to be built. So, the downtown is thriving, unlike the majority of other cities across the country. The criterium was a figure 8. Wide open corners that you could take 3 abreast. A little altitude gain on two stretches. Lots of wind from the North.

The women’s field was small, but aggressive. Catherine Walberg, Kenda, won the race in a sprint over new National Master’s Champion Sydney Brown, Mercy. I really enjoy watching the women’s race, but it kind of detracts from warming up properly. I wish sometimes they would race the women after the men.

Anyway, for me, it was great racing close to home. I was called up to the line first, which was nice. There were about 70 guys in the PRO 1-2 field. A pretty quality field for the size. The crowd wasn’t so big for the 7:30pm start. But, by a little after 8, everyone was coming downtown for the fireworks display and there were tons of spectators. The race was pretty aggressive from the gun. I was going okay. I’m not really sure still. I was in a couple moves, but I didn’t think it was the right combination. I knew this race was going to be hard for us to win. In theory, I’m the best sprinter. And there are a few guys faster than me here. But, that didn’t matter tonight.

With 10 laps to go, Stefan Roth, Mercy, and Health Blackgrove, Hotel San Jose, got off the front. I recognized the threat pretty quickly, but by the time I got to the front, they had a few hundred meters. I thought I didn’t jump too hard and was pulling the field, but after a half a lap I realized that I was away. It was way too windy for me to bridge a 15 second gap to those two with their power. I kept going until the field caught, but there were about the same distance. Anyway, soon, there were 6 Mercy guys and 4 Hotel San Jose guys at the front of the field. A done deal. But, the field wasn’t quite done. Brian Jensen, went up the front for a super fast lap. Dewey did a turn. But, they were still at 15 seconds with a lap to go. I thought that the Champion/Porsche guys, with Frank Travesio, would help. Guess not. Adam Bergman had been sickly the last week, but I knew he was going to take off from way out. I wanted to get a jump on that. So with 4 corners to go I jumped. But, Travesio jumped first. I ended up catching him with a couple corners to go. I wanted to lead into the final corner, but couldn’t decide where I could get by him. By the time I decided to pass him on the outside, we were into the corner and he was swinging way too wide. In the meantime, Adam must of been on me and took the corner on the inside and had me up against the fence. I ended up 3rd in the field sprint, 5th in the race, with Travesio finishing in 3rd place, then Bergman 4th. Health Blackgrove won easily over Stefan and it was too bad, because they were only a few bike lengths ahead of us at the line. Pretty good finish for the crowd.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day of bike racing. The course is mainly on the KU Campus. It is 4.5 miles and has a ton of climbing and lots of technical corners. The race is less than 60 miles but has something like 8000 ft of climbing. It is going to be the nicest circuit race that I’ve done in years. The start finish is on Jawhawk Blvd. and the race serpentines through the campus, by the frat houses, around the football stadium and even detours up a hard climb through the chancellor’s driveway, underneath a portico type thing over his drive. It is so cool that the city has the ability to close this many streets virtually the whole day. Every category races the same course. It will be privilege for all racers to get to experience this fantastic venue. The pro race is going to be epic.

The start on Mass. Street.

Cornering-Joesph Schmalz, Frank Travesio, Health Blackgrove & me.

Not the best head position for criterium racing.

like it.

From Cyclingnews.com after Stage 2 of the Tour-

Until a kilometre to go, when Cavendish’s team took over it had looked hectic as other teams’ trains tried to get in on the act. And Cavendish reacted angrily to an incident at 2km to go, when a Skil-Shimano rider – falsely identified by Cavendish as Kenny Van Hummel, though it was apparently Piet Rooijakkers – appeared to make contact.

“He had his hands off the bars and hit me in the final 2km,” said Cavendish. “I’m going to have to speak to him about that – it’s a really dangerous stunt. It’s a privilege to be here riding the Tour de France and you shouldn’t be doing things like that.”

The Tour of Lawrence was a complete success. For a first year event, nearly everything went flawless. There was a bit of a timing problem on Saturday night for the criterium, but everything was worked out.

Sunday was a circuit race on the KU Campus. It was over 4 miles and very, very hard. It was similar to racing a hilly criterium from the gun, with two hard climbs. One climb was a big ring 1/3 mile hill and the next was a shorter, but much steeper kicker that went through the chancellor’s driveway. And her driveway is steep! There were lots of downhill technical corners. Lots of technical corners in general.

Anyway, the race started pretty quick. Nearly 70 starters. I knew there was going to be a slinky effect because of all the turns and terrain changes. I was pretty active during the early going. I made a bunch of splits. Never got into the right mix though. I was having a pretty good day. Eventually, Brian got away in a group of 7. I thought I would bridge up eventually with a Champion/Porsche rider, since they didn’t have good representation up front. That wasn’t to be. Heath Blackgrove and a couple others went on the steep hill and I missed it. That was 9 away and I was left in what was left of the fragmented field.

Finally, with a couple laps to go I managed to get away from “the field”. I rode a lap by myself and then on the next to last lap, Carlos Vargas attacked and caught me. I rode with him until a 1/2 lap to go and then I cramped. I didn’t really see it coming, but it was a pretty hard race. Carlos dropped me and I struggled to the line. Finally, on the “Chancellor’s Hill”, 800 meters from the finish, a couple guys were charging. I put in a good effort, but Frank Travesio from Champion/Porsche caught me at the line. I finished 12th. Pretty disappointing. Sean Sullivan, Hotel San Jose won outsprinting Dewey (thanks Dewey). Brian ended up 9th out of 9. He was so into covering everything, trying to win, it eventually caught up with him. But, I applaud the effort. All or nothing. That’s the way we should all race.

On 13 July, 1967, while climbing the vaunted Mt. Ventoux, world champion English cyclist Tom Simpson veered to the side of the road and collapsed. Attempts to revive him were futile. He was evacuated by helicopter to Avignon, but was already in cardiac arrest brought on by dehydration, heat exhaustion, amphetamines, and brandy. As he lay on the side of the road, his last words before losing consciousness were “Put me back on my bike“.

Three kilometres from the summit, in a landscape of stone, where the mountain becomes most arid, the Briton began to wobble. The drama was imminent and it came a kilometre further on. Simpson climbed in slow motion, his face blank, his head tilted towards his right shoulder in his familiar manner. He was at the end of his strength. He fell a first time. Spectators went to him, putting him back in the saddle and pushing him. He went another 300m, helped by unknown arms, then fell again. This time, nobody tried to pull him upright: he had lost consciousness.

Tommy Simpson Memorial on Mt. Ventoux.