DIY Disasters - A How To guide to build your own train wreck (pt1)

 First off - new name for the blog. "The Triathletes Wit" worked, but it lost most of it's meaning after the whole "triathlete" thing fell off. And it's also debatable whether I have ever been witty. Changing it to "The Formerly..." also was just long and pointlessly complex. So here we are with "Crispie Pursuits"

- Crispie - Something one of my buddies calls me.

- Pursuits - As in... pursuit races on the track - but also pursuits as in random weird projects. And that makes a great segue to...

The Disaster Projects:

At this point I think I'm a relatively handy "maker" in regards to the bike space. Lots of modified / custom parts, at least so much as you can do on a cheapskates budget.  Most of them are pretty simple things, but sometimes hubris gets the best of me and I really botch a project. Long time readers (or if you just look back far enough) will remember one of my first big undertakings... stripping down my Scott CR1. I did that in the absolute most convoluted, pointless way possible and it didn't even save me any weight by the end. Still... so long as you learn something no project is a complete waste of time I suppose.

Well, this is one of my most recent, and most egregious disasters. 

1.) The Bamboo Gravel Bike

Something I have had a passing interest in over the years is building a bike from scratch, but it's been something I've long thought was just outside my skillset. I know how to weld (arguably... I know the absolute basics of putting two pieces of metal together) but not anywhere near competently enough to build a steel or aluminum bike. I'm most familiar with composites, so carbon fiber seems like a natural choice, but after reading Damon Rinards old blog posts and seeing some other folks diy bikes, it seemed like it made a little more sense for someone who grasped the basic concepts of frame building better than I do (as you'll see later on, I was right to think this) - but then, stumbling around on the internet one night, I saw it... a diy bamboo bike kit. It ticked off all of the right boxes for me... it had it's own "jig" that came with it (another sticking point I had) and it used epoxy/hemp to make the joints, which was basically the same principles as composite work. It was also all inclusive, they just shipped you what you needed and you followed along with the instructions. It was like IKEA for bicycles. It would also be a cool, different looking rig. Worst case scenario I figured I would learn a lot (this also proved true)

So first off I want to put this out there - don't take this as a "review" exactly, nor a criticism. (Not that I might not do some criticizing) Just my experience. I did not reach out for help (although I did e-mail asking about headset sizing and got a reply very quickly, so I do believe post purchase support is available and seemed positive) primarily because I really just wanted to "work through it" myself.

I purchased the Gravel Frame Build Kit from Bamboo Bicycle Club in Size Large.

The kit included 

- The Jig 

- Metal Headtube, Seattube (insert not the post) bottom bracket shell, dropouts (including bolt on solutions for a thru axle, regular skewer and rear facing dropouts) and extra bits

- Bamboo tubes in varying diameters (some extras, mainly of the thinner tubes)

- Hemp for binding the tubes

- Epoxy for the hemp

- 2 part glue for the seatpost insert / tacking tubes. 

- Instructions / some extras (gloves / popsicle sticks / etc)

Obviously you need some other stuff of your own. A table large enough to build it on (and don't mind ruining with screws/epoxy runoff) saws, files, sandpaper, a knife/box cutter, other things I'm not thinking of and the general knowledge of how to work around such items. Also, you're going to need a lot more gloves than the pair or two that come in the kit. 

The kit ready to begin

The first step is setting up the Jig. The reason you're going to need a throwaway table is that you need to bolt the pieces down to keep them from moving. For fairly obvious reasons... if things start moving it's bad. The instructions are pretty straightforward at this point, just follow along and build your sense of confidence.

Then the real work begins. A lot of measuring and test fitting, along with sanding, is the first test. You need to cut the bamboo tubes to roughly the right length... but you need to account for how much material you'll be taking off to make it sit between the metal pieces. Unfortunately, it's not 100% math...there is some eyeballing that is just going to take place. The front triangle, and especially the downtube, are going to be important to get right... as there aren't many viable pieces in the kit that will work for the DT you can't really afford to mess it up. You're also going to need to make rounded cuts into the DT in differing directions (vertical where it meets the head tube, and horizontal where it meets the bb shell) so pay attention to your angles.

In my "I'm smarter than the system" moment, I ruined my first downtube getting a little to overzealous using my drill press with sanding drums.  The second one I was much more cautious with... but it split when I was sanding it (which bamboo can do if you aren't careful... or if you just have bad luck) - which led me to a day or two at a standstill while I tried to source another piece of bamboo that would work. 

aye yay yay

Once getting the feel of the medium down a little better I was able to get the front triangle built up pretty quickly. Measure twice, cut, sand (at this point I had moved back to hand sanding as to not ruin any more tubes) and test fit.

Test fitting was my first taste at the limitations of the jig. Look... jigs are very expensive pieces of equipment, so thinking cnc'd fiberboard screwed to a flat board would be a good substitute is obviously flawed thinking. That said, it works, you just need to be kind to it and not try to force anything, because the fiberboard will not necessarily hold exactly where you thought it did if you forced a tube into a tight fit. I ended up reinforcing mine with some L-brackets.

Once I had the DT roughly where I wanted it I tacked it on some of the 2 part and then filled the gaps with a mix of epoxy and sawdust, making a not so tasty peanut butter substitute.

The next step is inserting the seat post...insert... and getting it glued in place. I was lucky and the tube I chose for the seat tube and it very nearly fit as it was. If it's not a snug fit you need to put some hemp in there to take up the slack... I put a single layer of fiber in there and epoxied it in.

Basically the same process described above for the rest of the front triangle. Again, keeping everything snug without bending/breaking anything is the challenge.

For the most part, the front  triangle went together without much of a hitch. Confidence level... high :D

Of course, next time I'll start diving into the rear triangle, where it all starts to fall apart.

As always, thanks for reading!

 

2022 - We're still here

 Hopefully this post finds everyone well. It has of course been a while as has become my normal the last few years. 

Honestly there is not much to post about because not much is happening, or has been happening in some time. I've got some hope that things will change in 2022, but here we are staring down February and things are still a little... well you're aware of how things are I'm sure.

I know I had promised the ultimate cheapskates di2 build part 2, but honestly... there just wasn't much to say, definitely not enough for a blog post. I put everything together and it worked, which was welcome but unexciting. I made a dummy shifter for the other extension (3d printed and then wrapped a layer of carbon over top of it) and other than not reading the manual (I didn't get a manual) and not understanding how to check the battery level, no hiccups.

I used it twice, at the TN State TT and the Oak Ridge Velo in 2021. I would write a race report but again, nothing worthy of it's own post... The long and short of it was, I went in out of shape in general, but VERY out of shape for a 40k effort. I felt pretty good for about 5 minutes, tolerable for about 20 minutes, and then I really suffered the rest of it. It's one of the tougher events I've ever completed... I really wanted to just stop at the turnaround on the first lap, it was that bad. I did manage to stay under 60 minutes, but I think I averaged around 220 watts... far off some of my past performances. Still, just to finish was a personal victory for me. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm likely never going to snag a State TT jersey, so I don't have that burden of disappointment any longer.

Even channeling my Inner Bigham didn't help

The  Oak Ridge Velo TT I was in possibly even worse shape for, having spent a week in the woods in Montana. It was thankfully only about 10k, so although I again did suffer, it wasn't all that long. Fortunately my training the last year or so was more suited to a sub 20 minute effort and I was able to "fake it" a bit more convincingly than I could in the 40k.

The track... I don't even know if I remember how to ride it. Certainly if I ever had a good line around the black, I've lost it. It's almost impossible to believe I was traveling to Rock Hill at least once a month a couple of years ago. Now I'll be thrilled if I get to go to the track at least once for a long weekend this year.

It honestly leaves me in a weird spot mentally. I would blame it on Covid, but really the roots were planted before 2020, although I think it certainly brought it forward at an accelerated rate. I do enjoy track immensely, but the harsh reality is that location at the minimum, among other more global issues, seems to mean I'm not really a trackie. I enjoy time trialling, but again, due to location I'm really limited to a handful of events every year at the maximum.  I've also lost a lot of the "spark" to suffer for long bouts of training... anything over an hour or so and I'm just ready to be done with it. I've really been enjoying lifting with my wife... something I'm not ready to give up again. I've had the urge to run nagging at me more and more the last year or so... something I'm not sure my health will allow, although I'm willing to try again in a healthier way than what I was doing a decade ago. Sadly swimming is mostly off the table (again primarily a location issue) but I suppose if I could get some miles under the legs and keep on the bike a bit, I might be able to survive a few hundred meter pool swim. 

Still that's a lot of if's and my mood seems to change with the weather... so no promises you'll see my name on a 5k or sprint tri start list in the near future... but it's something I'm thinking about again.

Thanks again for reading. I know every post I say I'm going to try to get some structure back to this blog, then a 6-12 month break... but I really am going to make an attempt. I do find it therapeutic to put some of my thoughts into text. 

The ultimate cheapskate budget di2 TT build - pt.1 - intro

 We're back, at least for one new post! (currently we're on like annual post schedule haha)

So, like most of the world, 2020 was a wash in events. (obviously, very minor complaint in the grand scope of things) For me personally that meant no velodrome travel for sure, and in the "used bike boom" I ended up selling my Fuji Track Elite. 2021 is looking like there will be at least some form of return to "normalcy" for racing, but I'm still not convinced much travel will be happening. So in my mind the most likely return to some local'ish racing is time trialling. The only problem with that... all my dang time trial bikes were sitting in some form or another of neglect and/or disarray. In all fairness, so am I, so everything is going to be a slow build :)

My Speed Concept sat there in the corner of the garage, a thin layer of dust coating it... it's old plasti dip ruined and peeling in multiple places. Alright then... let's get started.

I'll spare you the full breakdown, but I stripped the old dip, roughly blocked the entire frame (120grit) and oh yeah, cut the stupid duotrap mess out of the chainstay, then layed up some carbon the make it less annoying when trying to fit a disc wheel. Using Spray.bike carbon primer and paint, we were able to shoot some new life back into the tired old Gen1 7 series SC.

Step 1 -  Set up a non-embarrassing fit.

Honestly that was my first sit down on the bike after just guessing some measurements. Screw trying to meet any regulations, I just want to go fast, so I set it up similarly to my old triathlon position from my first trip to A2 (a decade ago lol) albeit I'm considerably less flexible (and considerably more brittle) than I was back then.

Step 2 - deciding on a build

Look, I've been wanting to build a Di2 setup for years, for a bike and tech nerd it's always appealed to me. But I'm also a cheapskate (it's why I always end up using like 7800 I've had for 10 years) so it's always been like "yeah, I'm going di2" - 2 minutes of looking on online swap meet later - "ehh, back to mechanical." But this time was different. I had a mission. And that mission was... I really didn't want to re-cable the rear derailleur on the speed concept again. :) 

So then I thought... alright, lets do this as cheap as possible. How cheap can I get this bike shifting.

I thought $500 would be a challenging, yet attainable number. So that's where I started.

Budget - $500

I did some consulting with some folks that actually knew something about di2 (and Slowtwitch where some folks showed off some truly brilliant hacks that I'll be borrowing in the future) and after checking and re-checking some compatibility charts, I figured I could get by with just 6 pieces.

- Shifters

- Junction A

- Battery

- Battery Charger

- Rear Derailleur

- Cables (I'm counting them as one damnit) 

Going into it I knew the hardest bits to obtain at discount would be the battery and the charger. These are things EVERYONE needs pretty much regardless of what kind of build you are going for, so there is very little reason for them to ever sell at discount.  I briefly considered building my own battery (and charger for that matter, as I have most of the necessary stuff to make one in my garage) but after consulting with some folks smarter than me, I came to the conclusion that at least to begin with it would be wise to not cause myself any more headaches than necessary. 

So I put out the call for some gently (or not so gently) used components. My friend Emil had an extra junction A, and we were able to trade around on some wrench work I do for him.  I don't know what you'd consider that in terms of dollar amount... but since they are my rules (I'm like the Iron Cowboy with my rules) I'm counting it as $0 and you can't stop me.

Another friend (Thanks Rudy - shoutouts galore!) had built a fair number of setups for folks in the past and had some extra parts in his box. OG (from Beginnertriathlete!) discount code engaged, and $125 later, I had secured a battery (the older internal style) and a rear derailleur (6870) as well as some random cables. So far, we're off to a good start. The rear derailleur was the thing I was most concerned with budget wise, as ideally I'd have wanted a long cage shadow/xt (as I only have a 1x setup I'll need a large'ish rear sprocket to bail out on) but as most of them are easily $250+ it just wouldn't have worked for the budget. We'll talk more about the RD later.

So now I needed a charger and shifters... and off to ebay we go after not finding anything that would work was cheap enough on Online Swap Meet / forums.

I found an open box single tt shifter floating around on ebay, after sending an offer that was accepted ($70 after shipping/tax) I was down to the charger.

I bid on a few that were just auction style, but most of them ended up bringing either as much, or in one case...more... than a buy it now nib. I feel like if I had held out I could have found a used one a little below the  $100 mark, but I had saved enough on the JuncA/rear derailleur/battery combo (thanks again Rudy and Emil!) that I just bit the bullet and bought a new one. After shipping/tax - $130

That brings the total to

- Shifter (came with it's own cable) - $70

- Junction A - free'ish

- Battery - $60

- Battery Charger - $130

- Rear Derailleur - $60

- Cables - $5

Total so far - $325

(obviously I just broke up the Batt/RD/cables - as they all came together, you can split it as you like)

In theory, that should shift right there with no other money spent. It's likely since I'm foregoing a junction B, that I may need to purchase a longer cable to run from A to the RD, but I'm waiting to get everything in hand before I buy that.

Also, something will have to change on the rear derailleur. My plan is to buy a cheap OSPW (token/digirit/KCNC/etc) that will allow for at least a 32t max on the rear. A 36t would be nice, but I can always go down a little in chainring size if I have to on hillier courses.

So can you build a sub... $400 di2 tt setup? To quote the Beatles "with a little help from my friends" (and some bargain shopping, and obviously some concessions) it seems like the answer is yes.

In the next episode (hopefully before 2022) I'll have everything in hand and we'll see if it actually works :) 

Thanks for checking in and reading. I would blame it on 2020 but obviously this has been an on/off (mostly off) project well before that. I'm considering moving to a video format in the future, but I really have a voice and face for text based communication so we'll see.

The Iron Price

You want to race, get deep in the thick shit and show everybody how strong you are? Throw down for that $20 gift card to Taco Bell in the prime sprint?  Take that Cat5 podium and taste the sweet nectar that is the tears of your opposition? Or maybe just take that Strava city limit sign KoM.

Then you have to be willing to pay the iron price my friend. And you better like that shit, cause brother (or sister) you're going to hit the ground, sooner or later.

Maybe it's a little fresh in my mind. I was involved in two wrecks over the weekend, albeit I only went down in one of them. (My friend James rolled a tire at the end of the day in our practice match sprint on Saturday... broke his clavicle and some ribs... and some bike equipment. Right before Master's Nationals in CA. Shit totally sucks) First race of the Rock Hill track series (12 lap scratch race) and about 10" into it (still on the neutral lap, made it from the start to turn1) a rider in front of my friend Dyllon and I clips a pedal going too slow into the turn. He slides out, directly in our path. First rule of track cycling... you can't go under a rider slider... it never works out.

You see that shit happening and time slows down, Bullet time like the Matrix, except you aren't Neo, you're the poor non-agent policeman he pulls some crazy kung fu time and matter defying kick you in the face fella... ie. You're about to get shit on. You play out a few scenario's in your mind in hyper speed... can't go up the track, not going fast enough. Can't bunny hop two people. Can't go low... fuck. Hold on to the bars. This is going to hurt. Not again. Hope my bike is going to be ok... Hope it doesn't scare my wife too bad...

Personally, I almost black out in the crash itself. I always have. It's like my mind just partitions that away so I don't have to re-live it. I'm on the ground.  Stuff doesn't feel great. Hear people running, bikes untangling.  Somebody tells me to take it easy... yeah, gotcha. I sit up, take stock. Shoulder hurts a bit, left hand is bleeding freely. Cheek hurts, and ear burns. "You're bleeding quite a bit behind your ear, did you hit your head?" Did I? Hell if I know. When you're not terribly smart to start with it's hard to know.  Deciding my lower body is functioning properly I get up and we move to a bench. The race has re-started at this point, they definitely aren't waiting on my busted up ass.  Somebody tell my wife I'm ok. Oh, there she is. Hey dear, look at your dumbass 35 year old husband bleeding through his spandex. Did you get any good pictures? Where do you want to eat tonight?

"Your collarbone looks broken" Oh no, don't worry, that's the plate from this one time way back when I broke my collarbone... why does it stick up like that? Oh that's from the last last time I wrecked on that side and dislodged it. It just looks bad. "What cut your ear so bad?" That? Let's see... helmet doesn't have any scratches or bashed spots... sunglasses aren't broken. Oh... that's just the back part of this expensive Kask helmet digging into the back of my ear when it went forward, thanks a lot Kask. Dyllon's ass saved me from smacking the ground with my face. Give me ass over pavement any day. Ear stops bleeding eventually... band aids on the fingers. Alright, now to the important part... how does the bike look.

Dislodged wheel... broke my computer mount for the saddle, tore the side of the saddle very slightly. Scratches in the (brand new) handlebars. Nothing seems broken. The pro/1/2 race is ending, almost time for the second 3/4 race to begin.

Hop back on the bike "Are you sure?" We drove all the way out here to race... might has well try to race.
I ride around the practice track with just my left hand on the bars, making sure my arm isn't going to give out on me at a random inopportune time. Seems like it'll hold. We line back up on the rail "Everybody make sure you're going fast enough to get around the turn this time" a slightly nervous laugh rings out.

After this race (I managed to get 4th in the win&out for what it's worth - nothing like adrenaline to keep things moving fast) the guy that clipped his pedal finds me and apologizes / asks if I'm alright.

--- Real talk --- This is what you do after you're involved in a wreck with other people. ALWAYS. If you're not fully sure what happened or it was a "shit happens" scenario, you find whoever was hurt and check on them anyways. This is your responsibility. And if you did something that directly caused it, be doubly sure things are good.
On the same note, if you're the person that got wrecked... when they come and apologize (so long as it wasn't malicious of course) that's the end of that shit. You're good.  You signed the waiver, you knew it was a risk. Don't hold a grudge or be a dick about it. Move on. Bike racing (triathlon, cross, mountain biking, running, spartan, etc etc) is a fun, beautiful sport but it's also dangerous as fuck. Don't try to convince yourself it isn't. Read that waiver you signed... you could DIE. They don't put that in there just to scare you.

Jump back in for the points race. Shit is high tension now. Everybody is tired, everybody makes mistakes when they are tired. Field splits... Points races are wild because everyone stays in, so if you get lapped you're still in the field. So speeds can be drastically different. (Did I mention there are no brakes ;) )  We run it a bit, eventually the prime lap comes up and I put in a massive effort to stave Dyllon off at the line (for a sweet $20 gift card might I add) but I've blown my load. I try to take it easy for a lap or two but can't get my wind back... shit still burns/hurts... to hell with this. I pull out. Great decision! Probably the first one I've had all evening.

I have a couple of beers and try rubbing some dirt in "it." Not sure what to rub dirt in, but it sounded good, and I'd had a beer or two, so I try it. Didn't seem to help. Still sore as hell, and now it might be infected.


Look, this isn't a scare you post, it's not a pity me post. This is a reality check post. Bike racing is dangerous. You're going high speeds on two 19-25mm slits of rubber wearing a helmet and spandex, oftentimes in close quarters with people are tired, bored, nervous, or just plain fucking sketchy.  (You aren't safe triathletes... you have to pass a shitton of people in aerobars that often don't even know which side of the road they are supposed to be on... and go through aid stations with these people... and of course the stereotype is you suck at bike handling anyways...)

I'm a safe, defensive rider that is past the point in his life where he is willing to take a chance on a gap that might not really be there, or take a sprint for top15. But I still wreck. Shit happens. It sucks. Often it's not my fault... sometimes it is. It happens to newbies that forget to unclip and fall over, it happens to Chris Froome when he takes his hands off the bars... it happens to everyone.

Decide if that is for you or not. Talk to your partner about it if you have one. But FFS, don't lie to yourself. Be willing to pay the iron price!

Has it really been that long?

Preface: This is going to be different, more foul mouthed, more raw/honest. If you're offended easily, I'm glad you came to check in on the blog, but from here on out, things are going to be different, this is your warning to turn back. -Chris

I have re-written this post about 10 times in the last month or so.  Trying to figure out what the next evolution would be. If you've been paying attention / checking in on the page you'll have noticed some of the layout has been changing to reflect the current state. In this post, I'm going to go over my thoughts on the next "phase" of this blog and just talk about some stuff that I've been wrestling with.

First off, I look back on my old posts and see that there are some quality technical posts sparsely strewn into an otherwise mediocre attempt of an ok athlete to hype up middling results. While the blame for that is definitely on me, I'll say that the culture of Age Grouper Hype Men (and Women) definitely rewards (can you call whoring yourself out for a discounted kit a "reward?" I suppose we all want to be a part of something.) us for making something out of nothing.  "Check me out bro, I just won overall at the YMCA Tri A Tri, next stop Kona! #Zuut #WATEINC #CerveloJ5x²" Yes, I was that fucktwit. (*by the way, in the new iteration of the blog where I am more "honest" and real, I cuss. Liberally. Just like real life.) Look, if you like part of the culture that goes along with these teams, I have no beef with it. And really, is there ever a feeling that compares to that first time, after sending in thirty applications to age group teams, figuring out creative ways to tell the company their product changed your life, (Seriously bro, Snowman Jizz flavored Goo changed my fucking training! Sponsor me!) that you finally get that confirmation email that you've been accepted to the team. It's on par with the first time you got tongue, or smoked that cowboy killer behind the school gym... amirite?

First rule of Goo, tell all your friends about Goo, Brah! We got cheap kits to sell!

Ok, I'm starting to get off track. That was basically my long roundabout way of saying I'm sorry for all the shitty filler shill posts throughout the years.  I'll expand on that a little more later in this post, but for the most part, I'm happy with most of the how-to's, and maybe a few of the reviews, but really it is the posts like my struggle with OTS and DNF'ing my first race where I was closest to my honest self that I see a spark of pride at what I wrote. I want to write more about what things are really like, or at least what they are like to me.

Now I'm going to take one quick aside'ish and talk about banner ads and adsense in general, the bloggers starter kit of selling out. MONETIZE that bitch! Look, if you're a small size blog like this one (all time hits 150k, 1k last month, most of those probably bots or a wayward search from Pornhub) don't become that sellout for the big time. In 3 years time of having that stupid targeted banner ad on this page I tallied up an impressive $23.35. If that's not worth annoying the shit out of any real person that might have found the blog by accident I don't know what is. Moral of the above couple of paragraphs... shilling is stupid and I'm not doing any more of it.

That said, let's tackle the reviews portion of this blog.
I want to read back through all of them and tell you that I was wholly honest about my reviews up until this point. To put it diplomatically, I'll say I was in general pretty honest to point out what I saw as flaws but overall I was definitely more or less positive on anything I reviewed. One of the most popular posts OF ALL TIME on this blog is on Osymetric Chainrings, and a follow up on it. It was positive enough that Osymetric USA had a link to the review for a few years (maybe still? I dunno) and while I linked to TomA's much more scientific review of them (Look, if you come to this blog for good data like that, I will fail you. Go check out Tom or some other smart guy's blog) I basically ended it saying "I think they feel good and power seems to be up."
Of course power is up asshole. You've been training. If it's going down there is a problem. (and that doesn't even touch on the issues of Osy's and power meters, but I did touch on that in the post itself)
So I'm sorry if you bought placebo products on my suggestion. I wanted to be a sick ass reviewer, and figured the best way to do that was not to piss off the product creator by saying their shit sucked.
My one consolidation to you is that from now on, if I post a review of a product, it's going to be one of two things
1.) Something I really believe in
2.) A total piece of shit I'm going to bash!

Overall it's not that bad. 8/10 

On to a more positive note... I look back and I'm overall pretty happy with my How-To section. I think most of them are filled with more "a,b,c,d" and less bullshit. I hope to continue those, as I think some mediocre pictures off my phone and some explanation together can on occasion help people out. Now that I'm focused on Track, maybe even more so, as track cycling is a small subset without the kind of overwhelming Q&A that comes in Triathlon or road cycling/TT circles. So, I guess that's something to look forward to. Or skip.


So my view for the future of this blog is something a bit more realistic. I'm still going to have rambling posts about nothing and about racing in general, but they're going to be honest posts of a former triathlete trying to figure out track racing, Or whatever the hell else I end up doing. If something scares the shit out of me (Real talk, learning how to Madison is scary as shit.) No more puff pieces talking about how great thou art by finishing 1 out 1 in my division. (thou? thy? I? I art doesn't sound as good) 

That's my vision for the blog going forward. Hopefully you'll stick around as the motherfuckin' saga continues. If not, I'm sorry to see you go, but I just don't want to write trash any longer. (Well, it's still going to be trash, but honest trash. That's better, right?)

-Chris

Unexciting Start

Not just a great title for a post, but also how I describe my standing starts on the track. Other words that might fit are "lackluster" "uninspired" "terrible."

It turns out, years of muscle memory starting at a pedestrian speed (either for a longer time trial or with a running start before hopping on a tri bike) don't really lend themselves to the violence required for a hard and fast standing start on the track.  At the CCA Regionals at Giordana Velodrome a few weeks ago I learned this the hard way.

Ignore my kilo... that would be for the best at least... as it was dishearteningly slow for the watts I invested into it. 

My first lap in the 4k (as well as the kilo) was about 4 seconds off the pace of pretty much everyone else in that list. My second lap was also a little slow as I had still not got up to top speed. After that point I put down pretty good lap splits until the very end where I started to fade (it was another 1k longer than my masters races) but overall it would have looked much better if I had just done an even slightly better start.

Of other things to note, with the power I produced for the ride I went slooooowwww. Most of the calculations I ran it through spit out a 5 even or slightly under for the watts I was making... so something was/is off. Looking at the other times I suspect a big portion of it is that the track at Rock Hill is getting significantly slower at a pretty fast rate. You can feel it getting lumpier even compared to when I started a little over a year ago. It's certainly not DLV levels of bumps, but it's not smooth either. 

Another thing to consider is some of my equipment. (We're going to assume my SRM was reading correctly as it was zeroed before the start) I was trying out some 3T Revo bars in hopes that they'd help with my start (seems they didn't, or perhaps it'd be bad to see what it looked like without them) - but it is definitely possible they aren't very slippery bars, there is a lot going on with them. (although I do appreciate the on the go adjustibility) My skinsuit (the new Velotec) fits really well, but It's been beaten into my head over the last 10 years that "fits comfortably" usually isn't a good thing for a skinsuit. Having shredded my BodyPaint 3.3 though, that's sort of where we're at. My rear tyre changed from a Vittoria Pista Evo to a more durable (although certainly slower) Continental Tempo2. There's also my position, which has gotten a good deal wider and higher than it has been in the past.

My experiments with width have brought out some good results in the ability to produce power within single digits of my road bike power (something I've never gotten close to before) but it's something I haven't put a ton of work into and definitely needs tuned to be optimal... if it can be optimal. I'm guessing from my Aerolab analysis that I'm giving up roughly 12-15 watts in cda to gain roughly 18-20 in power production... so a net positive but not by much. Albeit a wider position may allow me to ride a tighter line, be more comfortable, etc etc. Still, needs work.
Mostly, I think I may need to work on my head position on the track. I'll post the video below so you can see how I'm periscoping... a lot of that is because I suck at lining up the turns on the track and have to look up not to ride the red line (which I do a bit of anyways) but some of it is just how my head sits. It's possible a longer tailed helmet like the Wasp might be better than the Aerohead for me.

Still, overall everything went pretty well.  I've got a lot of work to do. My short term goals are to improve my standing starts as that's where a lot of "free" time will come from, and also to bring my top end power up so that I have a bit more "punch" when I need it. That'll take up the next couple of months, then it'll be a build to bring my 4-5 minute power up while in position, while riding a tidy black line around the track.  The longer scope goal is to get back to planning an attack on the Master's hour record. There have been setbacks this year, but if there is a silver lining it's that it will give me more time to become more confident in my abilities to take on the challenge and set a solid record. Time is on my side (unless some other stud breaks it first and puts it out of my reach)

As for the site/blog, I'm hoping to get things back on track this winter and return to more how to's and reviews. I've got a nice list of things built up but just haven't gotten to any of it yet.
Other things I'm going to consider (depending on how big of a job it turns out to be) is trying to build a part of the site that carries on the legacy of Aeroweenie.com where lots of data was compiled to one place where you could quickly find the white papers/data you were looking for. It's still a resource I use although it sadly isn't kept current.
Finally, I have had a lot of interest in some of my 3D printed projects. I may begin selling some of those projects for those that have interest. Mainly the "nubs" that exit out of the extensions for trackies like Bridie O'Donnell famously used in her hour attempt. (I see that the Tanfield's / Bigham also have some ends in their track bars, although a different design)

There you can see some of my prototypes, each with different amounts of stack/reach they add to the bars. It's not a certainty, but something I might do if there's the interest. I think the 3D printing place that did Bridie's was charging over $100... mine would be considerably cheaper.


Anyways, thanks for reading! I always appreciate it a ton.

- Christopher Morelock

Still here (Some short State Championship Reports)

I'm still here!

It's been a long time since the last post. There has been a lot going on, and honestly, some really low points for me. It's been a real roller coaster the last couple of months, but I'm hoping to have come out the other side for the better.  But, for this post I wanted to put down some of my thoughts on the State (Track and TT) Championships for Tennessee.

Most of my season has been derailed after a high speed crash (my front tyre blew out) at the track a couple of weeks ago. Most of the damage was just to equipment  and skin, but I did a real number of my hip and hip flexor. After two weeks I can spin again on the bike without much pain, but the damage to my fitness has been done, and I've had to pull out from my hour attempt in Aguascalientes this year. Hopefully I can salvage some of the rest of the year and gain some strength so that when I start planning next year I'll be ahead of my target as opposed to right on/below it. Another season of track craft certainly won't hurt my odds.

Unfortunately the Bodypaint isn't the best at protecting your skin

Ruined a nice pair of socks too :( 

But enough whining, on to some reports from the weeks (now I suppose month+) past

Track State Championship

The astute among you might have noticed some red flags already. The primary one, that Tennessee doesn't have a velodrome. (but we'd like to change that!) 

Fortunately, Dick Lane Velodrome was gracious enough to host us during their own state championship, which will bring up the second point... there wasn't a big show of support from the Volunteer state. In fact, my success was guaranteed the moment I lined up... as I was 1 of 1. Participation award - Check.

Nonetheless, I wanted to actually contest some of my division. What I didn't quite realize was that I was about to get thrown into the elite division (as there was no 35-39 Masters group) and that all Cat's would race together. As you might expect, a lowly Cat4 who's done a couple of mass start track races wasn't going to have a snowballs chance in the big league. The omnium structure was cool, although it rained out the scratch on Friday night, we made up for it early Saturday (making Saturday's schedule scratch - kilo - 4k IP - points race)

Overall, it went pretty poorly. In the scratch race things went pretty boringly, and I foolishly took the opportunity to show my stuff off the front. Unfortunately for me, I got strung out for a little bit then shelled off the back where, with the other unfortunates like myself, we formed a little gruppetto and circled the track half a length behind the big leagues. There were no pulls, and slower riders were instructed to stay on the bottom of the track. This turned into a real problem the final lap, as our little group was caught directly in the final turn. There was some yelling, and some rubbing. Fortunately, there were no wrecks, and I scathed through the finish "best of the rest."

The Kilo I fared far worse. It had been a long time since my last stint in aerobars at Dick Lane, but I had forgotten exactly how rough it was. I hit the first turn at speed and very nearly wrecked. The next two laps I had a death grip on my bars and coasted through... almost getting caught (very embarrassing) at the line. Off to a great start!

As the 4k approached, I had a gut check moment. I seriously considered putting my drop bars back on. My ego however told me I'd rather crash than suffer the indignity of doing a pursuit without my aerobars.  I lined up with the intention to just go as hard as I felt comfortable with. While the lower speeds made the bumps less of an issue, it didn't help me out any when it came to putting down a fast time. I finished 4th in the Elites... and took a fair amount of pride in that considering I did it at a well below max effort.

Finally was the points race. Unfortunately it was quite a bit of a letdown, as I had broken a cleat at some point that evening, and after a couple of laps with heavy clicking and an odd feeling in my foot, I decided to not chance it and DNF'd. It also saved me the humiliation of getting shelled again, so that's a victory, right?

All in all, a great learning experience, but not what I'd hoped to bring out of it. Of course, one of my goals for the year was to finally lay hands on a State championship jersey... and I suppose technically I accomplished that in the lamest way possible.

TN State TT
The State TT has been something I've wanted to win for years now. Something most of my friends have won on their way to better things. I was seriously hoping to improve my placing from 2017 (2nd) and felt that I had been putting in the work to get it done. Specific training I hadn't been doing (there is a lot of climbing on the front half of this 40k for a TT) and gaining weight for track wasn't going to be a big help in that respect, but I still felt I was in the running.

About 1k into the race I came upon a divet in the road/bridge connection and hit it full speed. It jarred me hard enough that my TULA bars slipped backwards (and up) a bit. It was slightly less comfortable than what I had set up to begin with, but higher hands should be a positive, right? Derek and myself had came up with a strategy and power targets for me to hit on each section... a plan I executed perfectly! I came in the last kilometer full gas, and nearly wrecked as I crossed the line. It was a race I went very deep in. I felt like I had left it all out there and had a great race.

Unfortunately, not great comparatively. I went slower than I did the year before (on 20+ more watts) and was not even on the podium (4th) at the end of the day.

For sure, it was a blow to my confidence, in everything. One of the problems with only having a few specific targets over the year is that when doesn't go "to your expectations" then you have a big letdown. But, upon review and a non-emotional look at the event, I can't be anything except happy with my performance.

It was only a couple of weeks later I took my spill at Rock Hill. Here we are a month from that point and finally I don't have pain in my hip. (Although sitting extended periods does make it sore/stiff still)  I'm melancholy about how it has turned out and what it means for my hour attempt. I wish things had turned out differently, but it's a fools errand to focus on what could have been, instead it's back to working towards something.  Fortunately I happen to enjoy the journey, so on to bigger and better things!

Until next time, thanks so much for checking in on me. Hopefully it won't be as long of a break between posts :)

- Christopher Morelock