GWorlds

well it's over... the 2011 Gravel Worlds is in the books. most of it was okay... but the first part sucked because of a 2 mile stretch of MMR 'county road B' (minimal maintenance road = dirt road that becomes a mud bog after a rain). that small section alone brought the race to a stand still. many derailleur hangers were ripped off, and for a while i thought i had entered a hike-a-bike competition rather than a bike ride.  the sun came out and dried things up nicely and the rest of the race was just one long gravel roller after another in the heat. i can barely move today but i guess i did have fun. after all, i got to ride my bike all day :) i did 110mi before bowing out. my legs, hands, and lower back were saying 'no more'. it was a good decision because on the 15mi ride home i caught myself falling asleep as i rode. i was that spent. major props to all those who finished the whole thing... especially to the single speeders.

prepping for mud

g-worlds is still on for tomorrow. after the deluge last night and with it raining right now and till the morning... it looks like i'll have to go with the CX bike instead of the merckx. 153mi of potentially soggy gravel and muddy b-roads does not sound fun... but we'll see how it goes.

prepping for gravel

the tire that was made for the cobbles.

front clearance... no problemo.

the back... they barely fit. i have about 3-4mm to spare :)

gravel worlds is this weekend... and it's gonna be epic. last year i did half of it on a whim, staying up till 2am the night before putting flat bars on my bianchi cross bike (dumb idea i know) and setting it up as a single speed with a 39x18 gear. i crashed hard in the first 20 miles and ended up bowing out at the halfway point in malcolm. this year i will try to get to bed early friday night and be well-rested and plan on riding all 153 miles of it. most will be riding cross or mtn bikes but hey... i'm a roadie so i gotta represent, so if there's no downpour the night before i'm going to ride my merckx corsa! :) i've been testing the challenge parigi-roubaix clinchers on a few rides since last week. they say 27c but trust me... they are fat! 29mm when mounted on a mavic open pro rim to be exact. my initial impressions of this tire are pretty good. it turns your road bike into a gravel/dirt road machine. you just float over everything with these bad boys. we'll see how durable they are... most reviews aren't that good when it comes to puncture resistance. if your frame can fit them i'd say give them a try, they really are comfy. my corsa has clearance for them, but it's the campy brakes that are making things tight. the front is ok... but the back has about 3-4mm clearance. if there is any mud on saturday's course it will be interesting to say the least. :-P

euro bike night

for a number of years (i think it started in 2004 or so) the first wednesday of each month is euro bike (motorcycles) night down in the haymarket. it's grown to where they block off the whole street for it and lots of people show up around 5:30 or so and hang out till about 8 or 9. well this month a small group of well connected bike aficionados (an ex bike shop owner, a few collectors, and just all around cool biker peeps) started a 'euro bicycle night' right across from the moto one... on the dock of the mill. i was happy to participate in the first one... and i proudly hung my '89 bianchi up with the other bikes. whether you have a euro bike or not, come on down next month!

night owl...err... bug

these guys sure do get big toward the end of summer.