Urban Short track Race #1

Well the first race in the series is in the books. Well almost in the books, I still have to put up the results, but the racing is in the books anyway. The weather held out for us perfectly, and it seems like a good time was had by all. Congrats to Nick Barbieri(Backwoods Racing Project) and Debbie Baker (Bishops Bicycles) who won the Mens and Womens Pro/1 catagorys.

Despite some technical diffuculties on the back end and some vandals playing with course markings between races, we have received generally positive feedback and the serries will roll into its next race on December 3.

We will have a couple of changes for the next race, the biggest one is the way we do timing. This race we used a standart Criterium timing which works great when you have a large peleton of riders. As it turns out, the whole system breaks down when you have riders spread over the course. For the upcoming race we will use a timing format typically used in 12/24 hour races. You will have 30 minutes to do as many laps as possible. If you come through the start finish at a time less than 30 minutes you will be expected to go out again. Over 30 minutes and you are finished. This should clear up a lot of confusion. So our appologise to the riders who we accidentally made do an extra lap, (a list which actually includes or Cat3 mens winner), but we should have it fixed for the next event.

We will also be putting award cerimonies on the schedule for next race so we won't miss any of our finishers as we try to do improptu awards.

Anyone who has other suggestions for us, we welcome your comments, this was just the first time out and we have a lot to improve on, but at the very least this was a good jumping off point. See you all in December.

Urban Short Track Racing in LaGrange

A while back we tried to put a criterium in the downtown area, but there was just no good way to lay out the course without disrupting major traffic paths or cutting across the active train track. After leaving the idea on the back burner for a while we found the soulution...

What if we used Mountian Bikes instead?

This simple idea lead to the creation of the Urban Short Track series that will be going on all winter. Racing will be done primarily on mountain bikes but we expect a few yahoos to try them on CX bikes. Courses will run on roads, alleyways, sidewalks, ditches, down stairs, through buildings, on footpaths, single track, fields, yards, retaining walls, basically wherever we can get permission to ride, we will.

Short races will keep riders from freezing, and spectators will be able to jump into restaurants and shops to stay warm. Our first event will actually be able to seen quite nicely from the window of Karen's Book Barn and Java stop.

So if you are local you will need to come check it out either to race or just to spectate. I also need some volunteers to run crossings so if you are up for it, we will have some swag for the volunteers as well as the racers. See you out there.


Entry fee: $10/race or $60 for series
Online registration available here: http://store.goosecreekcycles.com/Product3062
Smack talk on the forums here: http://goosecreekcycle.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1340
We are looking for sponsors to sponsor either the whole series, individual Race days or individual events. Let me know if your business might be interested in cash, product or time donations.

This weeks bling

Fresh off the stand this is a beauty. Nic named the Darth Vader bike, this is a top shelf Niner JET9. Full XTR, SID XX fork and Stan's NoTubes Crest 29" Wheels. There are some bikes that are just fun to build, and there are some details that just boggle ones mind, like hydraulic fork lockouts and Niner Carbon Bars. I could talk about this bike all day, but until you pick one up and ride one there are just no true words. The bike will be on its way out the door today so if you want to see it, just stop in. These are available for order and require about a week of lead time. Price available on request.

Can you fix this??

I don't know if this falls into the "epic fail" category, or the "next time leave it to the pro's" category, but what just came through my door is something I hadn't seen before.

If the guy hadn't been injured pumping up the tire it would boarder on funny, but what you see here is what happens when you put WAY too much pressure in a tire mounted on a single walled rim. I wish I had taken a picture before it was removed from the bike, but what you are looking at is a rim that has been split down its center. Somehow the tire is okay, but we will be replacing the wheel.

The repair itself was actually a bit tricky because the first thing we had to do was remove the freewheel. Normally with the entire rim for leverage freewheels pop off with just a little man power. In this case trying to find a way to get a good grip on the hub and apply that much torque to the freewheel was a bit more of a trick that I would like to admit. Thankfully Jake was around to demonstrate just exactly how a sailor cusses.

So for those of you who are thinking about pumping up your own tires out there, just remember, tire pressure is like gambling. Know when to stop before you start.

Local races are fun

Just rediscovered how cool it is to race locally. The Apex Mini Triathlon was this weekend and I talked myself into it despite that fact that I don't swim, I only run when chased, and I just sold my road bike. But only in a local race can you convert your mountain bike to a road bike and head out just to enjoy the day and try not to drown.


What I discovered is that I had forgotten how cool it is to race locally. Aside from being able to show up with crazy rigs and be under trained, you find that you know a good portion of the people there. This is not because it is the same people following a circuit that you have been on all year, but because they are friends of friends. People you work with, guys you saw on a club ride once or people you just happen to run into in your every day life. So thanks to the gang at Oldham County Parks and Recreation for putting on this event again, and thanks to my wife for convincing me to come out and do the race. I will be back again next year and next time I will be able to swim.

For those of you who are interested the Photo above in a Niner EMD9 fitted with 700X23 tires. You can do this? Yes. I was a little unsure at first if the rims would be a little wide to accomodate a true road tire, but they beaded up just nicely. If you try it though you will want to make a note that the bike has considerably less pedal clearance this way, so don't pedal through the corners as you might otherwise.

Cannondale is annoying again.... (aka. don't buy a KT013)

Ok, I remeber back in the day when Cannondale was using CODA stuff and it bothered everyone because it was compatible with exactly nothing. I guess the idea was to make consumers replace Cannondale parts with Cannondale parts and to bother shops that were not Cannondale dealers by making them retool to deal with those few Cannondales that came through the door. Although they have dropped the headshock, the Lefty still poses some problems, but they have struck again with the HollowGram Cranks.

Cannondale claims that to remove the crank arms from the bottom bracket spindle you will need a specail Cannondale KT013 Crank removal tool. This tool runs about $50 and consists of two really small easily lost peices. In short, it is one of Cannondales annoying little ways to push you back to your Cannondale dealer, because no normal shop is going to bother stock this silly tool. On the other hand. If you look closely and use some creativity, you don't really need the tool, you can adapt your standard Crank puller to do the job.

WARNING: Do NOT simply put in a washer and try to pull the crank with your normal puller. Once you add the washer to contact the BB spindle there will not be enough usable threads on the crank for the puller to grab onto and you will strip the crank.

What you can do is the following.

1. Take a CCP-44 crank puller (the 22 will probably work as well) and remove the tip. (you know the part at the end that is roughly the size of a nickle that pushes against a splined axle)

2. unscrew and separate the handle/driver portion of your crank puller from the part that locks onto the crank (your puller is now in three peices)

3. Remove the Crank arm fixing bolt and washer from the drive side crank.

4. Thread the Crank arm fixing portion of your crank puller onto the drive side crankarm. (Note that this will have the same amount of contact as cannonales tool, so you won't have to worry about damaging the crank.

5. Now here is where you will have to be a little creative. Find a metal rod or bolt that will slide through the center of your tool and into the bottom bracket. I use a socket extender with a skateboard kingpin stuck in it, but an old hub axle cut to length might work jus as well. Insert you metal rod through your tool, through the bottom bracket so it comes in contact with the back of the Crank arm fixing bolt on the non-drive side. At this point, the bolt should sit inside the part of your tool that is threaded into the drive side crank.

6. Now thread the driver/handle part of your tool back into your crank arm tool. Tightening the driver will push on your bolt and drive the crank arm off the bike the same way it would if it were contacting the splines of a bottom bracket.

You do not need to remove the non-drive crank arm to service the bottom bracket, but if you remover the non drive fixing bolt, you may find that the other crankarm comes off on its own as the BB spindle is pounded out.

This system works well, and is a way to use a common $15 tool to do the job of a custom $50 never to be used again tool. Save you cash for buying cool new parts from you bike, don't let Cannondale sucker you int buying a new tool you don't really need.

Sketch of how this works is attached due to people not being able to understand what I was saying.

Related products: CCP-22

Push Catagory 1-3 Road Glove Review

Push Cat 1/2 Road Glove $18.99

Ok, every now and then we stumble upon a "value" product that outshines it high end competitors. Now keeping in mind that every hand is different and some people will just like one glove over another for no apparent reason, and forgetting that we have a number of customers who will roll into the shop on full Carbon rigs and roll out with this inexpensive glove over its high end competitors, lets look at what we like about the glove.

The true goal of a road glove is to not know you have it on, and wonder why your hands are so comfortable. This glove uses a minimal padding approach. The theory being that if you have too much padding it will bunch up and become uncomfortable. While a minimal padding will be more like just having tough hands. This in conjunction with your normal handlebar tape will provide a comfortable ride.

On the filp side, the glove that covers the back of the hand really serves no purpose except to hold the glove on. Oddly enough, this is the area that we really like over the high end competitors. Many high end gloves focus so much on creating a light weight breathable material for this part of the glove that durability is dramatically decreased. I have seen many high end gloves damaged simply from pulling them on and off. The cat 1 /2 Glove uses a nice light weight material comprable to many of its expensive competitors, but the stiching that holds it on seems to be more rugged, so with equal comfort you get a more durable glove. Built in pull tab and "easy off" fingers complete the package.

The back of the thumb as with most gloves has the "Snot Rag". A soft material great for wiping your nose, which has always been a requirement for every glove I own.

The glove is designed as a road glove, but also works well for Mountain bikers who wish to use a short fingered glove. So if your looking for a nice set of gloves and don't want to have to shell out $30-$40 every time you crash, this is a great option.

The Glove sells for $18.99 and is available on our site HERE

Ok, sometimes it is just better not ask why some things get posted to this blog. Anyway I was talking to a customer about this fork and this ended up being the easiest way to get a picture out there. This is an RST Neon T10. It is available in either a 26" or 700c version. Steerer tubes are sold separately which gives you the option of putting whatever steerer you want on there. 1" , 1 1/8", Thereaded, non- threaded whatever. For about $100 bucks it is a great deal to get your commuter going again.

Have fun now. Be fast in spring

Ok, have you just gotten off your trainer for the fourth night in a row? Starting to get a little sick of riding in the basement? If you are, you are not alone. Far too many people rely way to heavily on their trainers to get through winter.

So if you don't have the luxury of going to the opposite hemisphere for the winter here are a couple of things to remember about winter training.

1. Your trainer is a useful tool, but if you rely on it 100% you will be burned out and slower come spring.

2. Winter is a great time to cross train. If you peek at the pro's winter training schedules you will see that they are putting in some varied cardio workout as well as time in the weight room. These other activities are great for balancing out oposing muscles that can get a little lopsided doing just one activity

3. Pull out the mountain bike and ride outdoors. Mountain biking (even for you road riders) is ideal in the winter because you move a little slower and work a little harder so that you stay warmer. Also for those of you in northern climbs there is the added benefit that you have new loops as snowmobile trails often cross lakes and swamps in places where you would have had to turn around in the summer.

3b. Get a set of lights. Riding at night adds a little variety, and with shorter days you may need to do it anyway. Also because it is colder at night, the ground is more likely to be frozen which allows you to use the trails without damaging them or sinking into soft snow. Our pick for lights this year is the Nightrider Minewt150. With 150 lumens and a price tag of $78.75 the Minewt is super affordable and pleanty of light for most applications.

MiNewt 150

4. Make your training fun. Remember that your goal for winter training should not be to get super fast for next season. Your goal is to balance your training and come out of winter without losing strength that you gained last season. Think stronger not faster. If your winter training is not fun and interesting, you will just be burned out come spring.

See you all out there on the trails