Philly!

Yesterday was the 24th Philadelphia International Championship. It was HOT! I mean, 96 degrees out there. The sun was intense. I was sweating like crazy, and I was just standing around watching the race. I can't imagine what it would have been like to race 156 miles yesterday.

However, despite the heat, it was a world-class event as usual. The crowds were less than usual, most likely because of the weather, but they were still huge. Philadelphia loves bike racing and I think everyone in the area who has even a slight interest in cycling comes out to watch.

Since it was so hot, I was expecting the race to unfold like it did a few years ago in similar conditions. In 2005, a 3-man breakaway with Chris Wherry, Danny Pate, and Chris Horner got away on the last climb of the Manayunk Wall and held it to the finish. Yesterday, breaks kept going and then getting caught all day long, and it finally came down to a field sprint with Matti Breschel winning. I was happy to see Fred Rodriguez get 3rd since he has won here in the past.

In the women's Liberty Classic, a solo breakaway managed to get away; Chantal Beltman won the race.

If you go to watch next year, the best place to eat is at the snack bar at Boathouse Row on Kelly Drive. They have excellent food for a great price, and you're right on the race course!

Tour of Somerville

My wife and I went to watch the Tour of Somerville on Monday. The organizers claim that it is the oldest bicycle race in the country, and that it is "regarded as the most prestigious cycling event in America." The last statement is definitely a stretch (think Tour of California, Tour de Georgia, Philly) but it was still a fun race to watch. Basically it is a criterium with lots of fast pro riders. The weather was great and there were a lot of fans lining the course.

Slipstream, Colavita, Time, and others were there. Sebastian Haedo won the men's race; he probably has a good career ahead of him if he follows his brother J.J. The women's race was won by Tina Pic, which is amazing because she is in her 40s.

New Jersey Pain - King of the Hill Duathlon

I raced in the King of the Hill Duathlon today. If you live in the New York/Philadelphia area, it is a challenging race that is worth checking out. The race takes place at Round Valley recreation area, one of the best parks for mountain biking in the area. There are big climbs, fast descents, singletrack, doubletrack, rocks, and roots. They also have an X-Terra triathlon that takes place at the same time. Some of those triathlon dudes are pretty fast.

The race started out with great sunny, cool weather, but clouds moved in and it started to rain lightly after I finished. The course was a little wet from the rain last night, but it has hardly any mud because the trail is rocky and drains well. The race started on the beach with a 1.7 mile run up some small hills, on roads and gravel. The pace of the group was quick with a couple of guys taking off right from the start. After the transition I hit it pretty hard on the bike leg; my plan was to stay consistent and not burn out on the long climbs, smooth and powerful on the flats, and really bomb the downhills. Over the last few years I've gotten faster and more confident on descents and that paid off. I also was with a group of fast triathletes on the major climb; they kept me moving.

The last leg was a 2.2 mile run up the brutal "Tobaggon Hill". This thing is so steep that I didn't see a single person running it. After a while, my quads started to seize up and I had to walk. After that, I had a strong finish and ended up placing. It's a fun race with a very hard course; if you want to try something different I recommend checking it out.

No time for a massage

I have a lot of respect for pro bike racers. Besides the enormous discomfort and pain they endure in the course of racing, they put up with a lot of other indignities. The doping scandals of the last few years have forced them to be monitored much more than any ordinary person would tolerate. They have to travel around the world frequently, dealing with jet lag, photo shoots, interviews, and other aspects of being celebrities.

Still, I had to laugh when I saw this quote in Velonews from Alberto Contador on the conditions at the Giro d'Italia:

We’ve been stuck in traffic here for hours. We didn’t get to our hotels until 11 p.m. and hardly had time to eat and get a massage.

I know I would be miserable if I didn't get my daily massage.

The Mysteries of Disc Brake Maintenance

Being the late adopter that I am, I just recently bought a mountain bike with hydraulic disc brakes. My previous mountain bike had linear-pull brakes, which perform great and are easy to adjust. No self-respecting new bike has this antiquated technology though, so now I have a Stumpjumper FSR with Avid Juicy brakes.


From the day I bought it, the rear brake would rub more than it should - if I spun the wheel it would slow down and stop quickly. I fiddled around with it a little by following the information in the manual. I realigned the caliper, adjusted the pad engagement, and so on. It still rubbed. So then over the weekend I messed around with it more, took the brake pads out and pulled the lever. The pistons went out to the point that I could barely get the pads back in, and I had no luck pushing on the pistons directly. I was convinced that I would have to bleed them since it seemed like air had gotten in the system.

Then I read somewhere on the internet about using a screwdriver to push the pads apart. I tried it, and somehow it worked! Now they are far enough apart that they don't rub at all, and they work great.

Tinker Juarez still winning?

Back in the day when I was just getting into mountain biking, Tinker Juarez was one of those guys that was always in the mountain bike magazine articles and ads. He stuck out to me because of his unusual name and crazy hair. He's still got both of those and he is still winning races.

Image by Ken Conley

How can a guy in his late 40s still be winning competitive mountain bike races? Ned Overend, the mountain bike racing legend in his 50s, is the same way. He does pretty well in hill climbs, winning at the Teva Mountain Games last year and usually doing well in the Mount Washington hill climb. However, you don't see any road racers that age still racing, much less winning races. Why is that? Maybe road races are much more competitive and demanding, or maybe a mountain bike racer will years of experience and skill development has an extra edge over younger riders. Whatever it is, these guys give us something to aspire to.

Thursday Evening Group Ride

I'm starting up a group ride on Thursday evenings, starting from Firehouse Cycles in Yardley, PA. For more information click here.

Bike Commute

It's spring, and the weather has finally turned nice and warm. My wife needs the car this afternoon to go to a meeting, so I brought my bike for the afternoon commute. I think it's going to be about 20 miles via the back roads home. It should be a nice ride as long as the angry aggressive east coast drivers aren't out in full force. You know the kind... they look like all the veins in their head are ready to burst, just because the driver or bike in front of them has audacity to be in front of them.

Anyway, commuting by bike is a great way to do it. I had a few jobs that were close enough to home that I could bike every day, year round. Environmental groups argue that it's less polluting, healthier, and takes cars off the road, which is true, but the real reason I liked it was because I got to work and I wasn't stressed already. Long commutes by car or train are soul-crushing.

I guess most people in this country have crushed souls (98.4%). Here are some statistics:

While in Japan 15% of commuters bicycle to work, in the Netherlands 50% of commuters bicycle and in China 77% commute by bike; only 1.6% of U.S. commuters bicycle to work [Washington State Energy Office Extension Services]

Unfortunately, right now I'm not in that 1.6%, but at least I'll bike home tonight.