Why bother racing?

Q: Whats the point of racing when you are going to get destroyed by a large crew of strong cat 1s and 2s?



A: Because its fun.

Steel City Showdown

cool shot from 3/4^

I guess I can do a race report. Even Dave Steiner is doing back to back race reports, so I might as well.


First of all I just have to say that the city of Pittsburgh is pretty nice.

Okay on to the race. I signed up for 2 races, because if I'm gonna make the long haul out of state, I might as well get a killer workout in.

3/4 race- Had 80 pre-regged. So somewhere between 80-100 starters. Very large field. It seems by lap 2 we had 60, lap 3 40, and soon we were down to maybe 20. On the final lap that I could use a free lap a bag flew into my drive-train, It took me and a camera wielding spectator what seemed like forever to fish it out of my pulleys. Bell lap comes, remain calm, didn't feel like Kamikaziing a whole lap, though that may not have been a bad idea now that I think about it. Final climb up the hill and I put the Gwatts down. Had to tap the brakes for just a second as a rider came a little too close to squeezing me into the very sharp bridge supports. Got back into Gwattage mode, and had it. 2 guys knicked me at the line. And I guess 1 was up a few seconds. So I ended up in 4th. I'll take it. I need points, and I need money. I really need to work on my bike throwing skills.

1/2/3 race- Was pretty beat after the previous race. Lined up planning on tailgunning it. Which is pretty much what I did. The race was slightly different. There was a crash 3 seconds in from the start- no exaggeration. Again the field got shattered pretty good in the first few laps. I held on for dear life and dropped out with 8 laps to go.

hanging on for dear life in the 1/2/3^

Introducing the Gart-Lobster

I decided I wanted a cx racing frame.
I decided I wanted custom.
I decided I wanted aluminum.
I decided I wanted Rock Lobster(Paul Sadoff) to build it
I decided I wanted the Scandium Team frame.
I decided I wanted a shorter top tube.
I decided I wanted a BB30.
I decided I wanted it in blue.
Then I decided I wanted it in Mint Green.

Paul specializes in no BS cyclocross racing bikes. This will be a fast bike. Hopefully I can justify riding it next season.

Can't wait to build this thing up!!

Nicknamed the Gart-Lobster by my fellow knucklehead lake effecters:




sorry for the cellphone pics.

FOR SALE

THULE T2
2 bike
1 1/4"
lock included
$250 obo - spread the word.

I am now so euro by default

I now have had my SIDI ownership increase to four pairs. I am now uber-euro by default.

I just copped some new Spiders for cross/mtb. These have cyclocross designed in them. They have a reinforced toe box, and replacable tread.

my weekend of different excercises

I did a few new things this weekend.

Friday I participated in a game called 'gold sprints'. This game was quite a bit more fun than I thought it would be. A sweet new Specialized Roll was on the line. I made it to the final round, where I was defeated-no whooped by Pete Dy.

Saturday I participated in my power testing. Hit 197 bpm. Felt like puking, never really hit that level of exertion before on the bike. Power numbers are locked up in a high-security number-dungeon.

Sunday I participated in the Run with your Heart 8k trail run. One dude just took off and ended up winning by about 5 minutes. I was in 2nd and 3rd position with this one guy for the first 1.5 miles, than I dropped him hard on the climb. On the final downhill around mile 4.5 he caught up. It came down to a finish line sprint for 2nd. And just like my sprint on the bike i suck. Ended up in 3rd. I am now retiring from running.

i rode my bike today

long boring nothing to do with bikes or anything post

So Hey Scott! How have you been?

Oh, not bad, I haven't had my car since before Thanksgiving, but its cool.

Why's that?

FFFFFUUUUU.

Okay. Well my car has been running perfect since I've owned it the last 65k miles. I just had a small suspension issue that needed to be taken care of. (axle)- couple hundred bucks, whatever. My dad says he'll take it into his work- an an-named dealer, and maybe save a few bucks. Well, the parts been back ordered a couple times, okay, about 2 weeks later its supposedly done. Maybe. Paid 600 already.

Dad starts car up to see how it drives, it is fucked. completely. Misfiring, stuttering, etc. so they keep it another week or 2 and pretend to work on it. Dad gets tired, takes car across street to a mazda dealer. Mazda dealer replaces a lot of stuff. Few weeks later, get a call saying its ready. Go to pick it up, start it up and it sounds weird.... okay, its been sitting awhile. Drives weird... okay, its been sitting awhile. Total cost is now up to $3200.

Drive home stop at bike shop, car dies in parking lot. Go to autozone buy new battery, doesn't fix issue. Call tow-truck, take it back to dealer. Still there.
To make matters worse, my dad likes his job and doesn't want to lose it.

So to sum it up. It's cost $3200. Car is still in the shop. My car came in working great, came out completely ruined, and I still don't have a car.

woe is me.

So for now, I am just lusting after wrx wagons in case my car is totaled and someone 'makes them pay'