Monthly Archives: February 2016

My Cycling Dream Team

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Cyclingnews has been doing this dream team thing for the past few weeks.  They have asked a bunch of retired pros what team they would create if they could pick some former team mates, from any team they rode on, to make up their ultimate perfect team.  So far they have had a bunch of English speaking guys like Allan Peiper, Robert Millar, Phil Anderson, then the token Spaniard with Carlos Sastré.  Plus, like yesterday’s post addresses, David Millar. I guess British Cycling isn’t that thrilled about David’s picks, as I wasn’t yesterday. Or Lee at Crankpunk.  He has some choice opinions, of course.

Anyway, I thought I’d make up my own dream team.  Here it is, in no particular order.

Greg Lemond

Enough said.  The best cyclist I’ve ever personally witnessed race. By far.  Just having him as his own one man team would beat David Millar’s whole team in most races.  I’d take Greg’s form from anytime from when he was 17 to when he was shot in 1987, so to when he was 26.

Bernard Hinault

Bernard could fill in as a GC rider when Greg wanted to vacation.  Otherwise, he would have to be a climbing domestique the rest of the time.  I don’t think that would sit that well with Bernard, but since he has to ride on my team, then that would be his place.

Andy Hampsten

Since Andy is a Grand Tour winner, he gets to ride for GC too sometimes.  But in reality, he gets to go up the road on suicide breaks to cherry pick mountain stages so Greg can relax.  Plus Andy knows where the highest quality food and wine is just about anywhere in the world, so I’d use him to refine my palate.

Phil Anderson

Super domestique and classics guy.  He knew where to ride at all times in nearly every situation. He positioned himself better in the field than any rider I’ve seen.  He would be the guy to negotiate any deals that needed to be made on the road.

Michael Engleman

You might not know of Michael, but I rode with him for a few years, lived with him in Boulder and know him about as well as anyone, I think.  He could climb with the best riders in the world. Better sometimes.  I personally witnessed him ride wheel to wheel with the best riders in the world at various times in his career. He would be a climbing domestique.  I think racing in Europe would of been better for him than the States, but he never really had the opportunity for that. Another plus, he is well read, so he could be my current book to read picker.

Brian Jensen

Brian is a current team mate of mine.  He has been for the past decade.  He has more power than he knows what to do with.  He came over to the US from Denmark as a long distance runner.  He started cycling relatively late compared to most of us, in his mid 20’s.  Brian can set tempo like no one I’ve seen.  He would be responsible for all the flat riding.  His wattage is off the charts, as anyone that has had the “pleasure” of being in a break with him can attest to.

Roy Knickman

Roy and I go way back.  He is like Brian, a ton of power and always looking for somewhere to expend it.  He was and is so crazy about the sport it is contagious.  Roy and Brian setting tempo would kill the rest of the field.

Tim Hinz

Hardly any of you know of Tim.  He is from Ames, Iowa and was an alternate on the 1984 Olympic Track team when he was a junior.  He has 3 medals from Junior World Championships, but really never had a chance to see how great of a cyclist he could have been.  Tim is one of my best friends and since that is the case, I pick him to ride with me on my team.

And me.

I have to be on my own team.  I wouldn’t miss it.  I like racing and I think I could keep these personalities in line, somewhat.  Maybe not Andy.  Or Bernard.  These guys all have their own quirks and all could use some direction.

Team Director – Michael Fatka

Michael isn’t what you would think of as a normal team director.  He is sort of an inventor and organizer.  He let the riders make nearly all the decisions about any given race.  I figure if you have the right guys on your team, there really isn’t anything someone in a car can offer. Michael took care of his riders better than any modern day team director I’ve known.

So that is the Cyclingnews 9 rider team.  But since this is my post, not Cyclingnews’, I don’t have to follow Cyclingnew’s rules, so I want a few more.

 

So I’d take 5 more guys –

Hugh Walton.  Hugh was faster than he even thought he was and just needed a few opportunities and could have won a ton of major races that finished in a sprint.

Davis Phinney.  Davis is nearly like Lemond.  He did what he did about better than anyone else. He could win US criteriums and stages of the Tour.

Ron Kiefel.  Ron would compliment Brian and Roy during their pull fests.  Plus, he could ride with Phil at the classics.  Super strong and loyal rider.

Michel Vaarten.  He was also super fast like Hugh.  Was World Champion in the Kerin, but when he put in the miles, he was a force on the road.   Plus, a super nice and funny guy.  Great to hang with, so I would, hang with him.

Thurlow Rogers.  Thurlow and I rode a long time together with Roy, Andy and Tim, so it would be a shame not having him around.  He could do just about anything he wanted on a bike. He couldn’t climb with the best, but good enough to make it to hard finishes.  Get him to the front with 3 km to go and let him go and the field would be hatin’ it.  Super leadout guy.

Okay, that is it.  Davis and Ron are kind of a stretch since we only really rode on the same team for one race, Cyclocross National Championships in Pacifica California.  But, that still works. Actually I think Ron rode the Coors Classic for SRC in 1979 ( I didn’t get selected and rode for Anchor Steam Beer).   I need Davis and Ron because I like to ride criteriums, so along with Hugh and Michel, we would have an unbeatable criterium team.  UHC wouldn’t stand a chance.

Me, Thurlow and Bernard down in the RCN in Columbia.

Me, Thurlow and Bernard down in the RCN in Colombia.

Tucker likes sleeping with his head hanging.

Tucker likes sleeping with his head hanging.

 

 

Noises On Your Bike

This entry was posted in Comments about Cycling on by .

I’ve written a couple times about noises a bicycle can make and how important it is to know the sounds you bike makes.  When you hear something that isn’t normal or doesn’t sound right, it is important.

Yesterday we were out riding for a long-ish ride and a guy had a China rear carbon wheel that was Campy, with an off brand titanium cassette that weighed nothing.  His cassette was coming loose when he got to our house and it took me a while to find a tool to tighten up the lockring, which surprised me.  I almost never don’t have the correct tool to work on a bicycle.

Anyway when we were heading back towards Lawrence, his bike was making a bunch of noises that I didn’t recognize.  I’m not sure if it was a combination of titanium and the weird wheel or what, but nearly every time he shifted, it creeped me out.  Very rarely do I hear a noise coming from a bicycle that I don’t recognize.  It was unsettling.

I looked at post I did a few years ago about bike noises.  Since it is nearly Spring, well a month from now, but if it is warm enough to get out, then make sure your bike isn’t making any weird noises.  Even the slightest strange sound can make a huge impact.  Especially with carbon.  A small carbon crack, which normally wouldn’t make a much of a noise, could be disastrous.

Here’s my previous post  (The best part of the post is the link at the bottom to help diagnose your noises if you aren’t up to speed on what noise is from where.)  –

Back when there was friction shifting, hearing your bike was super important. You can somewhat feel when you are centered on a cog, but it is really listening that verifies it. I think that riders that started racing before the index shifting came about, all listen to their bikes much more than riders after.

I thought of this as I was working on my car yesterday. A main way to discovery issues with automobiles is through sounds. I can’t believe how many friends I have that pull up in their cars, or I’m getting a ride, and I hear a “bad” noise in their car. 90% of the time they say they can’t hear it.

As a cyclist, I can’t stress how important it is that you know what your bike sounds like when it is working perfectly. That is the sound that you have to know. Then, any other sound that comes from you bike is something that is wrong. It might be just a little, small thing wrong, but it could be something huge. Either way, the odd sound is never good.

I know almost all weird sounds that bikes make. All bikes, steel, ti, carbon, they all make their own sounds when they aren’t happy. I have to admit that the creaks that carbon frames make are sometimes super hard to figure out. I don’t like any weird sounds. I hate it when people race with their valve stem knocking on their carbon rims. I don’t know how people can stand it for the whole race.

Hearing is perhaps more important in MTB racing and cross. I’m constantly listening for disastrous noises, especially when I’m riding through thick mud or brush. Hearing a stick in your wheel might just save your race. I remember racing The 12 Miles of Hell a long time ago, and Megan Long, a cycling phenom, started beside me. She had her iPod on, music blaring. I couldn’t understand how she was going to race a technical MTB race with no ability to hear the noises her bike and the ground were making.

The same think happened a few years later in Redland’s Stage Race. I was riding for the British National MTB team and Liam Killeen was riding great. The stage that finishes up Oak Glen was important. I told Liam I knew the finish well and it was super important to be out of the wind the last few miles before the corner turning up the climb. I told him that I would look after him for those few miles and get him as far up the hill as I could. There were the normal bad crosswind leading up to the climb and we were doing great, in the front echelon, never in the wind. About 1/2 a mile before the left turn up the climb, right when it is critical to hold your position, Liam sits up, riding no handed and pulls his headphones out of his pocket and starts messing with his iPod. We lost a ton of slots by the time he was ready to race again. I got Liam around the corner and rode up the gutter and dropped him off right at the back of the front few guys that already had a gap. Liam went right by them and the last thing I saw was Liam pulling 4 or 5 guys up the climb.

When I got to the top, I was anxious to find out how Liam did. I saw him and he said he finished 2nd or 3rd, was jumped by surprise at the end. He said he didn’t hear them come by. I was thinking, “No shit, you were wearing headphones!” I can’t imagine sprinting at the end of a road race listening to music on headphones. Completely unimaginable. Listening in a sprint is nearly as important as seeing. Actually, hearing all the noises from behind is much like having eyes in the back of your head.

Anyway, if you don’t know your bike’s sound, then learn it. And learn it every time you put on those fancy carbon wheels too. If you know those sounds, then you’ll be able to recognize that something is amiss. You might not know exactly what it is, but you’ll know you need to get it fixed. And then do that too. One of the negatives of riding all this super light, carbon, exotic material, is that you don’t want to be riding it when it is compromised the slightest. And nearly the only way to diagnosis a lot of the potential disasters is though sound.

Here’s list of noises that a bike might make when it is not correct, courtesy of Sheldon Brown.

If you ever raced with these, then you know how important that hearing is during a race. The tactics and importance of shifting at critical times was something that decided many races.

 

Tucker is getting braver every day. He finally got up the nerve to visit Dickens, the dog that lives in the yard behind us.

Tucker is getting braver every day. He finally got up the nerve to visit Dickens, the dog that lives in the yard behind us.