The Cannibal

No special bike, no special helmet, just one man against the clock. Incredible. As seen on Belgium Knee Warmers.

New Rapha Fixed Shirts

Rapha has released some new t-shirts in its Fixed line. This is the "toolset" design. Check out the rest here.

Refreshing Wave of Keirin!

It has been almost 40 years since women were barred from competing on the Japanese keirin circuit, but when ChrisP sent me this link I thought they might be starting again.

A Japanese keirin race with women track riders. This looks promising.

That's definitely a women's keirin... but the Love9 thing is throwing me off a bit... as are the relatively skimpy uniforms...

I was wrong. Apparently it's not the return of professional women's keirin to Japan, but is instead Love9, a group of cheerleaders/popstars that occasionally ride a demo race before the start of a men's keirin. I had super-genius friend of mine DavidP translate some of the page, and this is what it says: "the dream story started in Jan '07 when a refreshing wave of keirin was sweeping across Japan and we wanted to make the dreamy Japanese-born sport more widely accepted. 6 girls got together and cheered floridly for racers."

So there you have it. This is not the return of badass professional women track riders to the kerin circuit in Japan. Pity. However, we have learned that track racing is officially "dreamy" and florid cheering is all the rage. Also: refreshing wave of keirin.... Mmmm!

Love9 posing with Theo Bos.

Love9 posing with a Godzilla-legged winning keirin racer, and some fat bloke.

Check out the official Love9 page here.

The bike I always wanted...

The Raleigh Super Tuff Burner. This bike was officially "rapid" and "gift" when I was a kid. The closest I ever got to having one was riding Paul Clarke's Ultra Burner around the "circle walk" in Portrane on my summer holidays. Raleigh released a 25th anniversary replica edition last year, and I'm half-tempted to get one. Yeah, it's not going to be the best BMX in the world, but just look at the feckin' thing! It's so styling...

Paid In Full

I just woke up and saw this on the ReLoad page. Sweet.

NJS On The Track

Another great night for Team Pegasus at Northbook velodrome, and this time the standout performance came courtesy of Michelle Dykstra. She absolutely killed it, winning the 10 lap scratch with a sprint that made the crowd go "woah..." and coming second in the points race. Did I mention it was her first night racing at Northbrook? Hell. Yes. Also, Henry did great, grabbing 3rd in the Madison with partner from xXx.

Sweet Watanabe, but can it do bar spins? Michelle and her bike in the infield, getting ready to race. Photo by Jessi!

Oh yeah, and Phil Liggett was there... You know, no big deal or anything, he was there and he called the race Michelle won. What a great night!

Phil Liggett at Northbrook. He's in town to do a benefit for the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation tonight, Friday the 23rd of May. Photo by j.dot!

The Most Badass Track Pic Ever - Redux

Remember this picture?
Taken by John Allen, it shows Craig MacLean of Team PlowmanCraven, covered in blood, leading Jason Kenny of TeamGB in a team sprint. When the photo was taken, no one really knew what had happened. Where did the blood come from? Did he bite his lip? Was he coughing blood from the exertion? Well, I put the pic up a while ago, just because it's feckin' mad looking, and what do you know but Craig MacLean himself actually checked out the blog and sent me the following email:

"Hi Simon. I just checked out your blog and saw my gruesome photo on there. The real story with the blood is that I'd had a bit of a cold which had obviously weakened the lining of my nose. As I came out of the start gate in the team sprint I felt it run down my top lip unaware at this point it was blood. As I tried to clear my nose going down the back straight I was oblivious to the fact I was spraying myself and JK behind me with blood and not snot!"

So, there you have it. He wasn't coughing blood and he didn't bite his lip, but he did spray blood all over himself, the other cyclist, and the track. Definitely the most badass track picture ever. Thanks a lot for the email, Craig!

Coming soon...

Looks like issue 3 will be hittin' the streets any day now! Keep your eyes peeled, and in the meantime check the site here. Hmm, I wonder if I can get Andy to ship a copy to Caracas for me again...

Caracas Velodrome Pt. 2

My quest to ride the velodrome here in Caracas continues. I shall call it my VeloQuest.

My first visit to the velodrome was amazing. Here was an incredible track, surrounded by its own ten thousand seater stadium, in the middle of Barrio La Vega, with no sign of anybody riding it. I was going mental that I didn’t have a track bike, and three months later I’m still going mental. That beautiful track is just sitting there, 30 minutes away, and I can’t ride it.

Velodromo Teo Capriles, Caracas, Venezuela.

Priority number one was to get a track bike. Shouldn’t be too hard, I thought to myself. After all, in my local bike shop the other day I saw a CSC Team Soloist Carbon Cervélo, with full Dura-Ace and Zipp 303s. If that can exist here, then surely I should be able to get a simple track bike, right?

But I haven’t been able to find one… not an acceptable one, at any rate. Only two shops I called even knew what the hell I was talking about. One of those said it could order me in the London edition Langster (not a track bike, and irredeemably ugly). The other shop is a Felt dealer, and they carry TK2s… for about $1,000 more than they are in the US. I don’t even want a TK2, let alone for that price. Turns out they didn’t have any in stock anyway.

So, I’m thinking that my best bet might be to get a cheap Sparton frame shipped to Caracas from Chile, where they are made. That probably won’t cost too much, and then I can try to have parts shipped to me from Ben’s, our team shop. I dunno, it’s the only plan I have right now.

Velodromo Teo Capriles, Caracas, Venezuela.

But even if I put a bike together, would I be allowed to ride it at the track? The last time we were at the velodrome, where the Venzuelan Cycling Federation have their offices, Amy kindly talked to the people there about me riding the track. At the time, no one had any real information they could give us, but they did give us the name of the guy in charge of the track program, so we decided to give him a call. I say we, when of course I mean Amy. My Spanish is what you might call non-existent. And so, with me in the background prompting her with questions I wanted to ask, Amy called the VCF. Of course, the guy wasn’t there… and it emerged that he wasn’t just the head of the track program, but the head of the entire national cycling federation… and then they gave us his cell phone number. Wow. Still haven’t called it, but it was nice of them to give it to us! Oh, Venezuela.

The bank of turn 3, Velodromo Teo Capriles, Caracas, Venezuela.

They were able to tell me one important thing. There are, apparently, daily practices at the track, from 4pm to 6pm. They’re run by a mysterious character called Prof. Pirella. I have no idea who the practice is for. It could be for the national squad, but it could also just be for whoever shows up. You never know, they may even have some loaner bikes. If so, I might finally get out on the track…

Great title

I'm sure the book will live up to it too, Anquetil was mental.

Now that that snow has melted...

Chicago tricks. SeanC. Photo by j.dot. More soon.

Team Pegasus Wins Monsters of the Midway

ChrisP of Team Pegasus won the cat 4 Monsters of the Midway crit in Chicago yesterday. Damn, son! Apparently, we was in a breakaway group but got bored and went on his own for a spectacular solo win. His race report should be up here soon.

Chris winning in style. Photo by Amanda Barbato. Check out more of her great photos here.

Plus, Henry of Pegasus came 3rd! Well done, team!

Track Season Opening Night!

The track season kicked off at Northbrook last night. To commemorate the occasion, here's a couple of pics of Henry from Team Pegasus winning the Win'n'Out. Way to go, Henry! Jesus, look at that sprinting face!

Henry gunning it to the line in the first lap of the Win'n'Out, neck and neck with Jeff Perkins of Chicago Cuttin' Crew. Photo by Ed White.

Grit your teeth! Henry wins the Win'n'Out as Perkins looks over in rapt admiration. Photo by Ed White.

I should be out there racing with Henry. Not that I could keep up with him, but still... I'm gutted to be missing the season.

Irish Team Wins Giro Stage!

Go on ya good thing ya! Matteo Priamo of CSF Group-Navigare winning the 6th stage at the Giro d'Italia. Photo by Damien Meyer.

That's right, Irish continental team CSF Group-Navigare won today's stage at the Giro! How great is that? It's feckin' deadly is what it is! Olé, olé, olé, olé! Okay, so the team is only registered in Ireland... and virtually all its riders are Italian... and the manager is Italian... and all the staff are Italian... and the team is based in Italy... but whatever. The jersey is green, isn't it? What more do you want?

[update] I just learned that LPR Brakes, the team of Danilo DiLuca, Paolo Savoldelli and stage 7 winner Gabriele Bosisio is also an Irish registered team. What gives??

[update 2] David Harmon, Sean Kelly's partner in crime at Eurosport, said this morning that CSF Group-Navigare are registered in Ireland "for bizarre tax reasons." Ireland: Tax Haven to the Professional Cycling World Since Whenever.

Theo Bos' Helmet

The Casco Attack. Limited Edition. It has a hand sewn leather interior, and a hand riveted aluminium frame. Probably only available in Europe, where it costs €230, or about $355. Ouch.

Here's how it's described on the Casco webpage: Der Attack ist eine puristische Interpretation der Rennsporttradition. Die handgenähte Echtleder-Innenausstattung, sowie der handgenieteter Aluminiumrahmen unterstreichen den außergewöhnlichen wie exklusiven Charakter. In limitierter Auflage erhältlich.

Now, I don't speak German, but I'm pretty sure that translates as "badass."

Little 40 is on This Sunday

Apparently they got rained out last weekend, so the Little 40 race in Bloomington is this Sunday, the 18th of May. Still only $3. Check out the spokecards here.

Alleycats are weird. I'm terrible at them. I think I came DFL in the last one I was in, and that was because I got lost, three times, in Chicago, a city I've lived in for seven years. Lame.

My Gloves. Let Me Show You Them.

Oh, and speaking of things Italian, check out my gloves...

The arrows tell me which way to go. Cipo gave them to me. He told me people would be jealous and hate on me accordingly, but he said I shouldn’t let it bother me. So I don’t. In your faces.

Il Pirata

These have been around for a while, but watching the Giro has me wanting one pretty badly...
Originally seen on Tracko, these shirts are made by Laek House. This sport needs more characters like Pantani. Also, what the hell is going on at the Giro this year? It's a crash fest! Benatti said that the riders were unhappy with the roads in Sicily, which narrowed so suddenly in points that they caused at least one of the crashes on the first stage proper. Hey, at least a trackie won stage 4...

Ireland on the Track at the Olympics?

I haven’t posted on David O’Loughlin’s attempt to qualify for the Olympics in a while because, frankly, the news isn’t that good. The Irishman performed incredibly well at the 2008 Track World Championships in Manchester, coming 6th in the Individual Pursuit and absolutely shattering the Irish record he’d set the previous autumn. However, the UCI recently informed O’Loughlin that it was only taking to the Olympics the top 5 finishers from the Worlds. Argh! He missed out by one place…

David O'Loughlin in his Irish colours, riding the boards in Manchester. Photo by Stephen McMahon.

To put this disappointment in perspective, it should be noted that David only started racing track in 2006; before that he’d only raced road. Plus, there isn’t even a proper track for him to train on in Ireland; anyone seriously interested in track racing has to travel to Britain to train.

But all is not lost! David is the first reserve rider, and if any of the top five drop out, he will qualify and Ireland will have someone to cheer on at the track in Beijing.

David at Manchester again. Wouldn't it be great if Ireland had a proper velodrome? Photo by Stephen McMahon.

So, even with this disappointing news coming from the UCI, the Pezula Racing rider is 9th in the UCI World rankings in Individual Pursuit, he came 6th at the recent World Championships, and with luck he’ll represent Ireland at the Olympics this summer. Oh yeah, and he's Irish National Road Race Champion. Pretty incredible.

Plus, equally incredible, I found a Pezula Racing cycling cap in a bike shop in Chicago! Deadly! I had no idea Pezula even had any caps, but they do and Cycle Smithy has some for sale. Get one and support this great Irish professional cycling team.

Courier Collectives Pt. 1

Not every messenger is lucky enough to have someone like j.dot looking out for them. By all accounts the job is hard, demanding and dangerous. Add to that the vagaries of bosses, and you have a job that must often be tougher than it is worth. So, it makes sense that some messengers would come together to take control one aspect of their job: ownership. In an irregular series of posts, I'm going to be looking at courier collectives: messenger owned and managed courier companies. I asked a few different courier collectives the following question: What makes you different from every other messenger company out there? Here's the response from JP at 4Star Courier Collective in Chicago.

"We don't compete with each other over commission. Every other company has camaraderie and genuine friendships, we still do, but this company is quite literally a team. We can coordinate hand-offs like nobody's business and not have to worry about who gets what cut of what because we have this team atmosphere in which we get paid if the job gets done and it gets done right. That's why we collectively work together and use what each of us brings to the table to kick ass and rock out. It's like the A-team except no one gets shot. Wait, has anyone ever been shot on that show?

Our motivation is different. We are directly accountable for keeping
clients happy because they are the ones making our paychecks instead
of a boss. If anything happens with them it is because of us. I've had
bosses ruin relationships with clients and that just pissed me off
because I'd like the people and it would be one less source of work.
We have a very low overhead in comparison and we have no employees.

One thing that makes us exceptionally different is we trust each other. No one in business can understand that. Laws were made to protect people from their business partners and rules and regulations and fees and all that crap because there needs to be a governing body to make sure that people don't screw each other over in business. We don't need some outside body protecting us from ourselves, we just trust each other and respect each other.

You should see how much this pisses off competing companies. Many companies are trying like crazy to rat us out for some supposed illegal practices when, in fact, we're just being honest and simple, equal owners, it just blows their minds. Each of us takes a turn dispatching and working on the street. We don't back down from work, which is why we're always carrying the ridiculous shit like a 4 foot by 3 foot cardboard flat at least twice a day. We have a different kind of stress but since it is like a team we help each other out and keep a good sense of humor."

There you have it. That's what makes 4Star different from other companies. I'll be doing more companies later, so stay tuned. Thanks for the great response, JP! Oh, and no, no one ever got shot on The A-Team.

Starts Tomorrow!

Who's your pick for the pink jersey? A lot of people think Klöden might take it. Personally, I'm hoping Gilberto Simoni will win. But does his Venezuelan-registered team, Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli, have the strength and depth to take on teams like Astana and Liquigas? Only time will tell...

Maybe This Guy Can Help?

I just saw these spokecards over on Tracko. You can get them here.

"As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account. Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country. Building more livable and sustainable communities will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

I mean, he was at the Little 500 for Jaysus' sake! Maybe he'll show up to the Little 40 also?

Another Cyclist Killed in Chicago

This time I really I can't believe it. Another cyclist has been struck by a car and killed in Chicago. That brings to 3 the number killed in just the last few weeks alone. The unnamed man was struck from behind by an SUV on Sheridan Road in Winthrop Harbor. The driver didn't stop. Police are looking for a dark coloured SUV with damage to the passenger side and front corner.

I'm stunned and disgusted. So much for Chicago being a cycling friendly city. Bullshit. This has to stop. Ryan Boudreu, Blanca Ocasio, Matt Manger-Lynch, Tyler Fabeck, Amanda Annis, and now this unnamed man have all been killed on the streets of Chicago since August. Killed. Dead. That doesn't even take into account the number of cyclists hit and injured, which must be through the roof. Something has to be done...

[update] The dead man has been named as William Vidakovic. Police are asking anyone with information to call them at 847-872-2131.

Little 40

Best spokecards ever? $3 is pretty cheap for a race, so if you're nearby you should head over to this on Sunday, May 11th.

Team Pegasus Vs. Chicago Cuttin' Crew

In the competition to have the most team members on the front page of hipster party photography page EveryoneIsFamous, Team Pegasus crushed the Chicago Cuttin' Crew 4 to 1.
Pegasus has Andrew (holding the Red Stripe), Aaron (in the check shirt behind Andrew), BenVC (beside Aaron, with his arm in the air), and me (beside BenVC). Then, with his back to the camera, we have Stanley of CCC. One paltry member. Sure, the rest of CCC were probably getting a decent night's sleep before dominating another crit the next day, but whatever... we won the dance off.

Badges/Buttons/Pins

I'm going to be sending out the badges today. I know, I know, I said I'd send them out last week, but I've been busy. Gimme a feckin' break! Everyone who asked for some should get them this week. You'll also be able to pick some up at Yojimbo's Garage, No Brakes, and Ben's Cycle. Oh, and TrackosaurusRex will have a few, so buy one of their shirts and they might throw one in.

Bike Scene Gossip

So, Brean told me that while he was in New York last week he called in to a certain bike shop, to see if the stars there were going to race the track that night. Apparently, they told him they couldn't go to the track because... they had to go to spinning class. Ahahahahahaha! Seriously? You may need to change the name of the shop... :)

A Race Report for a Race I Did Not Do.

Road racing is a total freaking mystery to me. I mean, I like it, I watch it, but I haven’t ever done it. It’s clearly very different from track racing, so I’m not sure how I’d take to it. Last weekend I went up to the Withnall Park Criterium in Wisconsin with Henry, Chris, Aaron, Ben and Andrew of Team Pegasus. They all raced, along with some of the MKE Pegasi, while I ran around taking photos.

Henry and Ben warming up before the race.

It was a technical course, not your average criterium, with some tough hills and tight turns. The mens’ 4/5 field was big, around 80 riders. The hills just exploded the field early on, and by the time the leaders came around to complete the second lap there were riders strung out along the whole course. A big leading group of about 20 riders, which included Chris and Henry of Pegasus and a couple of Cuttin’ Crew guys set up a really strong pace and began lapping riders early.

Henry and Chris driving the pace.

Chris decided to go for the King of the Mountains prize, which meant going for points at the top of one of the climbs. He won all three point laps, and won KOM. Plus, dude was up there in the leading group for the whole race, attacking and driving the pace. Good job, Chris!

Chris in the pack.

Aaron's race face. Check the Cipo style arm warmers!

On the final lap, I knew that either Henry or Chris would be in contention. As the group came up the final hill toward the finish line, I could see Henry’s crazy sprinting face as he gunned it, but I couldn’t see Chris. Apparently Chris had led Henry out, but they’d made their move a tiny bit too early. Chris burned out, and Henry didn’t quite have it. He still did great, and got 9th in the sprint. The race was won by the talented but incredibly irritating Stanley of Chicago Cuttin’ Crew. He did an incredible job in the sprint, hammering around the outside of the group and winning it on the line. Good job, Stan! Hey, did you puke? Kidding!

Henry getting 9th.

The race winner - Stanley of Chicago Cuttin' Crew.

That was the race. I talked to Luke from xXx a bit, and then we hung out with the CCC guys and the MKE Pegasi. It took forever for Chris to pick up his KOM prize, and in the meantime the mens’ 3s started, so we cheered Lyle on for a few laps, then went for burgers at some creepy burger factory called Kopps. Chris’ outfit confused the locals. On the ride home we made fun of Henry for liking nerdcore. Ah, happy days. It’s good to be back in Chicago.

Yet Another Cyclist Killed in Chicago

I can't believe it... Another cyclist has been killed in Chicago, the second in ten days. Amanda Annis, a 24 year old 5th grade teacher, was struck and killed by a car in the Logan Square neighbourhood yesterday. I am stunned. What is going on?? I don't want to put up another post like this ever again. Please, everyone ride safe. Assume drivers can't see you. Make eye contact. Signal. Wear a helmet. My thoughts are with her family and friends.

[update] The Chicago Tribune is now reporting that the driver may have run a red light when he struck and killed Amanda...