Gravel Road Monster Cross

Starting my wife's gravel road slayer today. There seemed to be some interest out in the inter-webs on how this all happens in the basement of this mad-man. So here it goes:

First, I start every design session with some homebrew to set the mood and get the juices flowing. : ) I do a full size drawing cause I can do it faster than on the 'puter and its nice to have a life size plot to visualize everything. I work up he overall design from studying other manufactures bikes, my own ideas on bike fit and design, and input from the the rider. This bike is going to have a mtn drivetrain, 700c disk wheels, ridged fork and clearance for 44c tires. I'm going for a sturdy, relaxed all day kind of machine, with low BB and long stays for stable handling in loose gravel, and a top tube that fits between flat bar and drops to give her the option. It will not be pink. Should be fun.

Second I face the BB since they come a little ruff from the factory. After the build, very little if any facing is needed.

Then comes the headtube. This ones going to be 120 mm and starts from a big ol chunk of 4130. It gets turned down so that the inside race is 33.9 mm and has some rings on the outside.

Checking the run out before boring the inside race:

Nearing the end of the lathe work:

And the finish product ready for welding.

Next up is setting the frame jig to the drawing, and cutting some tubes for the main triangle.

Stay tuned!

Ready for Paint

Mittering the chainstays.



Rear triangle welded up. Check out those custom bent rear stays, oh yeah! Time for the brake bridge, cable stops, and bottle bosses.

Side view and a messy shop.

Bike #3 = Custom Tange 4130 Cyclocross Killer

Custom head tube in the beginning.

The end result of some time on the lathe.

Seat tube welded on, still in the heat sink/purge device.

Bad pic of the bottle mounts being drilled.

Bottom bracket welds.

Head tube shot.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get the rear triangle welded on.

St. Kitts

My financial advisor and I traveled to the island of St. Kitts last week to soak in the rays of some Eastern Caribbean sun, and take in the splendor of the countryside. We stayed with a friend stationed there in the Peace Corp for two years. (Tuff gig I know).

Most Caribbean island nations are a stark example of the have and have not’s. St. Kitts is no exception. For sure, there are pockets of 5 star luxury, but by and large, beyond those resorts, its all slums. Too bad, as the flora and fauna of the volcanic isle is amazing.

During our stay we climbed the 3600 foot Mt. Liamuiga, zip lined down the hills of Old Town, snorkeled in Cockleshell bay, and chow’d down on ribs at the Shiggedy Shack. Driving on the left all week, while dodging taxi’s, busses, goats, sheep, cows, chickens, and pedestrians had me taxed, but the time in the sand was a worthy reprise.

A fellow cyclist came thorough, and allowed me to drag along his Travelers Check and I managed to “check out” each day for a spin around the island before heading to the beach. It was'nt great riding, but fun still.

Shout out to American Airlines who managed to lose our bags both going and coming. Great job guys, you deserve a Carib!

Frame Number Two

Back from powder-coating today. Jolli-pop candy orange. Looks pretty cool in the day light.

BTEpic 2010

This race is as good as it gets. Great venue, seamless check-in, epic course, huge field, crazy payout, tuff competition, free beer/food, live band, and lots of swag.

Tenth again two years running. I made a mental mistake and forgot to down one bottle between checkpoint 3 and 4, then went out on the final stretch with only one bottle in hand. Some major cramp-o-rama had me off the bike on the last climb from the Berryman watching 8th and 9th place ride on by. I've been riding long enough to know better...maybe someday I'll learn.

I'll be back next year to defend my streak of the only rider to make the top 10 of every BTEpic!

No Longer the Bridesmaid

WAY back in Ought-Six, unforeseen circumstances forced Dr Mark and I to enter the Wicked Fast race at the Burning without a third teammate. A somewhat relaxed field allowed us to take the win in grand style doing 5 laps each.

For the next three years, DRJ (Chris, Wes, and Bob) have gotten together, and managed to snatch victory away from my various team combinations. There’s no better adversary than the trio above , but finishing first looser for three years straight (in ‘09 by less than a minute), had me reeling for a win.

Enter 2010 and yet another chance at victory. The dry spell was ended, and the monkey is off my back. We won, but took a two new course records, two flats, a broken pedal, and nearly destroyed wheel . Instead of a long diatribe of race re-capping, how about some observations from the weekend:

· Great care should be taken when choosing a team name. Choose wrong, and you could end up spending more time in your tent than just the weekend.

· The smoke bomb cloud to start the race was thicker than ever. I wasn’t sure I had my bike until chamois hit saddle.

· Beware of the opposing teams secret weapon (Mathews!)

· Also beware of nice old dudes (Albert), they will smoke you and get you a beer after

· No-one, and I mean NO-ONE ate better than we did Sat. night. Baked lasagna, Italian sausage, and ciabatta bread, wow!

· You don’t need fancy carbon, suspension, tubeless this or that, even rubber underwear to ride your bike all day and have fun. Go Pete!

· Pressed for time, I can stuff 6 Fig-Newtons down my gullet at once

· Post race PBR is nectar of the Gods

· Burning at the Bluff = still best race of the year!