Season Review

With the possible exception of a few cyclocross races, the 2008 racing season is over. Time to take a look back.

The season began poorly with my big crash at Sea Otter, in which my new Specialized Tarmac SL received a fatal down-tube injury. I crashed again in my next race, but fortunately, the replacement frame survived. That pretty much quenched my thirst for mass-start races. The only exception I made was for the State Road Race Championships - an epic battle with the elements from which I emerged as a very wet state champion, thanks in large part to my teammates' help.

After the RR championships, I focused on my main goal for the season- the Masters National Time Trial Championships. Thankfully, that went well. I ended up taking bronze and setting a personal best. My teammate, Scott Latell, came up from his home (and a very busy work schedule) in North Carolina to keep me company and serve as my soigneur deluxe. It was great hanging out with Scott and not having to worry about anything but turning the pedals. Plus, there's no better post-time-trial drinking buddy than Scott.

After Nats, I came back out for a few Superweek crits. Those went reasonably well. Most notably, I didn't hurt myself or break anything.

The next highlight of the season was the Door County Century, which I did with my wife, Kelley. It was her first 100-mile ride, and she did awesome - that is, she did awesome after I diagnosed a rubbing brakepad 15 miles into the ride. The rub was my fault, but she was so relieved not to be dying that she forgave me almost immediately. In fact, she even had the energy and nerve to punk me in a sign sprint.

The final big event of 2008 was the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival - a 40-mile mountain bike race in northern Wisconsin. With a field limit of 1,700, it's the biggest mass-start mountain bike race in the world. I hadn't done a MTB race in four years, and I hadn't done Chequamegon in about 12 years. Despite a poor start and a flat tire with five miles to go, I managed to finish in 236th place, achieving my goal of finishing within 30 minutes of the winner. Plus, I had such a good time that I'm thinking about devoting the second half of next year's season to endurance mountain bike racing.

So praise God - it's been another good year. There's still some great riding to be had, but it's never too early to look back and think ahead.

You have to ride on a day like today.

Today was one of those perfect days for a ride - sunny, no wind, and just cool enough to necessitate arm-warmers. I saddled up the new/old Waterford and went for a nice cruise out to Pewaukee Lake and back. I'm really enjoying having that bike back in the lineup. It's probably going to become my go-to ride, supplanting the Specialized for everything but races and competitive group rides. If it does, I'll probably have to rig up some sort of power-measuring device, which would kind of spoil the retro aesthetic. Eh, I've got an entire off-season to ponder that one. Until then, I'm hoping for a few more rides like today's.

See the pumpkins in the background?

The phoenix rises!

My attitude towards the machinery of cycling has changed pretty significantly this year. First, the North American Handmade Bike Show renewed my appreciation for the pure form of the bike and for the craftsmanship that goes into a handmade frame. Second, my crash at Sea Otter taught me how easily a high-tech, carbon fiber wonderbike can be destroyed. These two lessons recently led me to send my dear old Waterford back to the factory to be repaired and repainted.

The Waterford is by far my most treasured bike. The tube shapes, lengths, and angles are all custom. I bought it through Spring City Cycle back in 2000 - the year Carl Zach, Mark Hughes, Scott Latell, Tom Driscoll, and I formed the Spring City Velo cycling club. That was a significant year in many ways. It was a breakthrough season for me as a cyclist, but it also included the tragic accident that claimed Carl's life.

Back to the bike. When I built it up, I gave it a Salsa Shaft seatpost - the long, mountain bike version. I never took the time to cut it down to a suitable length, and apparently I didn't remove and regrease it with sufficient regularity. As a result, it ended up getting well and truly frozen inside the frame. Two bike shops failed to remove it, and in the process, rendered the frame unrideable.

The frame (and a matching steel fork I never used) remained in mothballs for years. I really don't know what pushed me over the edge, but I finally got sick of seeing my favorite bike lying naked and useless on my basement floor. I called Dave Hellekson at Waterford, and he invited me to send it in for a quote.

As I expcted, the seat tube and seat lug needed to be replaced. That necessitated a repaint as well. Fortunately, the quote was lower than I expected, so I pulled the trigger. The hardest part was deciding whether to have it painted in the original scheme (burgundy with cream panels and gold/black decals) or something different. I ended up going for a new/old look, with a "pearl in black" basecoat, white outline decals, white detailing around the lugs, and white arrows on the top tube and fork.

In keeping with the retro theme, I chose a Brooks saddle and a Nitto bar and stem. Other components include a SRAM Rival drivetrain, some off-brand faux-carbon brake calipers I bought for $15, SUNringlé Accelerator X2.0 wheels, and Conti GP 4-Season tires.

So here it is, in all its renewed glory: