project pink bike - not project runway

dan the man on the next speedgoat project pink bike.

sologoat out

195 heart rate

last tuesday was a first for me, the tuesday night RATL race up in cleveland - otherwise known as the world championships because it is well known that many a rider will kill themselves for a burrito prime. on a course that is flat (but with many a bump and a few turns) average speeds fly upwards toward 30mph - and with it being the last race of the year, it was going to hurt.

race started out fast and the pain train was rolling full tilt for the full 15 laps. at the beginning i thought i would throw down one of my solo stupid attacks but the speed was just too crazy and i thought it would be better to hang on with the group. this was confirmed as i glanced down at my heart rate monitor and saw 195 on more then one occasion.

with about 8 to go, i moved up to the front to keep out of the danger and to keep from having to chase back on in the corners. while going stupid fast, paul martin launched an even more stupid fast attack. at that point i decided i would go with all of paul or shawns attacks. from that point, paul attacked every lap until we had a 7 man break with about 3 to go.

a few more attacks, 2 are shed. we are all pulling hard and into the last corner, i laid down an early sprint attack from waaaaaaaaaaay out - had the gap of about 5 bike lengths until 200 meters to go. would fade back to 5th to collect a few $$ and some assurance of my fitness for the remainder of the season.

felt good getting back into the game. time to work on some bikes.

sologoat out

stop - hammer time

chris from niner smacking the crap out of a fork that fuzzy or dj has to ride next weekend. just joking.

and now for some randomness:

- in racing news i have decided to bail on the racing this week and give the leg a little bit of a break. in a mad rush to get back into fitness, i haven't taken a break in about 5 weeks.

- i will be heading out to durango the week before vegas to watch justin from princeton tec and a few other hundred people or so compete in the single speed world championships. i raced it years back and at the starting line some dude was smoking a cigarette and just downed a beer bong about 30 seconds before it started - and the night before a few guys got hurt as they were somehow involved in a fire jumping contest behind the bar where registration was at. i think alcohol was somehow involved in the injuries....

- on the cross schedule, gary dugovich has 2 planned this year along with another somewhat affiliated race in the area - and freddy fu will also have their race as well again and i am hoping like hell my fingers won't feel like falling off from the numbness.

- another cross bike added to the stable. this one carbon. stay tuned.

sologoat out

pivot mach 429 build up

complete build up of my pivot mach 429 up on the Speedgoat Blog. check it out.

rest week in store for me, racing coming up soon.

congrats out to gerry for taking another single speed win without having to eat people. check out his blog for the details of how to pedal for 100 miles with one gear and end up beating all but 4 of the geared guys in the field.

sologoat out

2009 cleveland cross series dates - UPDATED (again)

Cleveland cross series dates and races announced a few days back. See dates below, updates/directions to be posted later on the bike authority and lake effect cycling websites.

hats off to julie and the bike authority gang for developing the series - great to see the list of races expand out to 8 races all within an hour or so cleveland.

and - especially pumped up about the kent university races. should be pretty sweet to actually do a race in my neck of the woods, literally about a 5 minute car ride away.

dates are tentative - check back as the dates get closer.

now.... which carbon cross bike should i race this year.... hmmm...




2009 BIKE AUTORITY/LAKE EFFECT CYCLOCROSS SERIES SCHEDULE (AS OF 08-18-09)


1. Sept 13(Sun) Wendy Park, Cleveland Lake Effect Racing

2. Sept 26(Sat) Kent State University, Stark Campus Stark Velo

3. Oct 4(Sun) Leroy Township Cross Chagrin Valley Racing

4. Oct 17(Sat) Cross My Heart and Hope to Die, Willoughby Spin Bike Team

5. Oct 31(Sat) Chagrin Cross Weekend Solon Cycling Team

6. Nov 1(Sun) Chagrin Cross Weekend Solon Cycling Team

7. Nov 14(Sat) Kent State University, Kent Main Campus Cross Lake Effect Racing

8. Nov 22(Sun) Kirtland Park, Cleveland Lake Effect Racing

9. Dec 6 (Sun) Boughton Farm - Copley Lake Effect Racing (series finale bash!)


The Promoter will calculate the overall Series prizes using each racer’s highest points from 6 of the 9 Series Races. NOTE, HOWEVER, that you must race in 3 of the 4 Series Races (# 1, 7, 8 and 9) promoted by Team Lake Effect, and 6 of the 9 Series Races to be eligible for the overall prizes.


for full detail, check out the Team Lake Effect website - check it out HERE.

pivot demo weekend wrap up

back from the weekend pivot demo - everything went well, including the weather and we got a good turnout for saturday. even got to catch up with an old friend from back in my 'burgh days of racing the ACA wednesday night crits don mosites.

and - got a few tidbits of secrets of upcoming interbike stuff. very cool stuff. guess some of it could be predicted based on what's out there already, but either way - very cool.

also had some good talks with chris cocalis with pivot - very interesting guy with a lot of knowledge. and a former fellow accountant.

more pics up on my flickr account.

that's it - gotta roll. haven't been home in 3 days and i got to relax a little.

sologoat out

08/06/09 update - tired

been a hectic week at work and on the bike - finally starting to get in some good miles and efforts. still finding it odd to be in the gym in august. low key racing should start up next week as i make my first ever appearance up at the local road racing training circuit up at west lake.

the speedgoat pivot demo is this saturday - come out, ride a pivot, meet pivot owner chris cocalis and walk away with some free schwag. starts at 11 on saturday.

also - cross season just around the corner and plenty of parts to obsess about, including the new super kewl chain guide made by pauls. and belive me, it is as cool as you would think as any part ever made by pauls.

also - thanks goes out to lance at TRP Brakes - i'll be running the euro x carbon's this year along with the carbon cross levers.

it was interesting watching 2008 cross worlds last year and to see a comeback of the cross levers on some of the bikes. i can bunnyhop pretty good but never really felt all the confident with my hands on the brake hoods or on the drops - the trp levers will now let me adjust my speed and keep my hands in a position where i could attempt to hop over the barriers.

prepare to watch me hop with grace or take a tremendous header. should be fun either way.

with that - gotta roll. see you on the trails.

sologoat out

win some princeton tec lights

you can submit a photo of your princeton tec light setup and win some new product here.

check it out.

and - don't forget - pivot demo on saturday with pivot at speedgoat. special guest chris c from pivot will be on-site.

i'll be leading some of the group fun rides/intervals. get ready for linn runn uphill time trials, or just chill out on some of the sweetest single track PA has to offer.

sologoat out

see you in vegas