Monster Track 2008 Main Race Cancelled.

From Squid's own mouth. I think it's the right decision, given what just happened, though I know it must have been hard. Everyone should definitely hit up the Goldsprints (I mean, you David P) and then head over to Kissena for some VeloCity 2008 track action.

Saturday March 1st, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The organizers of Monster Track 2008 have decided, after careful consideration, to cancel this year’s main race.

This decision did not come easy and was debated at length. Our reasons are many but the overall factor was that the race has become unmanageable due to the large participation and our concern for the participant’s safety.

As many of you know, Monster Track started as a race held for a small, close group of NYC bike messengers. It has now become an overwhelmingly all-inclusive event. This, on its face, may seem like a positive direction for a race but in the context of a solely track bike alleycat it brings many problems. First and foremost, the safety of the racers is compromised. We believe that this is not a tenable position for race organizers.

Although the main race is canceled, please join us for Gold Sprints on Friday evening, Fixed Gear Competition (track stands, skids, footdown, freestyle, sprints, etc.) on Saturday and the Velo City Tour, at Kissena Velodrome on Sunday.


Schedule of Events:

Friday March 7, 8PM
Goldsprints at Third Ward
195 Morgan Ave. Brooklyn

Saturday March 8, 1PM
Fixed Gear Comp and injured messenger fundraiser at Rocky’s
South 5th St. at Kent Ave. Brooklyn

Sunday March 9, 12PM
Velo City Track Competition at Kissena Velodrome
Booth Memorial Ave near Kissena Blvd. Queens

I miss the track...

I love these photos of the track at the Zurich 6 Day. Check out more of Kay's photos here.

BMX in Caracas.

Yesterday, as I was walking home in Caracas, I stumbled upon a bunch of people building a big mini-ramp, right in the middle of Plaza de la Castellana. Turns out there was to be a big skate/bmx demo that night. I went back as it was kicking off, and it was great. Local hero Daniel Dhers was there, tearing up the ramp, and there was some good flatland stuff going down too. The flatland tricks made me miss having my track bike around. I know, I know, BMX tricks and fixed-gear tricks are not the same, and I know some BMXers inexplicably hate the fixed-gear scene, but whatever, it's all cool to me...

Flatland.

Skills.

But can he do a one-handed foot-through leg-over skid on a track bike?

Daniel Dhers being introduced to the crowd.

Dhers waiting for it to start.

Dhers about to decapitate that rollerblader... Sorry, Sean.

WTF?

Also, there was some brilliant live hip hop from a Caracas crew called Los Cuatro Poderes (Four Powers), and some breakdancing. I have absolutely no idea what the event was for, but it was pretty deadly. Also, my little camera took some nice pics, and I didn't get robbed on the way home. Bonus.

Sad news.

I just heard that a cyclist was killed in Chicago on Sunday morning. I didn't know the guy, and I don't have all the details, so I'll just say that I'm sorry for his family's loss. Please be careful out there people.

New stuff from Rapha.

Rapha have some new jerseys coming out for Spring. I want the Belgium. Get on it, Team Fashion.


Thanks to Minx for the heads-up.

Sabbatical.

I'm off to the beach for a few days (don't hate) so here's a picture of some nice saddles to keep you occupied. Ha!

Hills and Burgers: My Life in Caracas

Alright, alright, settle down! So I’m sorry I haven’t updated in a while, but moving to Caracas wasn’t exactly easy or free of problems, you know! But, everything is going really well now. The apartment is lovely, the city is exciting, the food is amazing, and there are hills here. Hills! The last hill I rode was the wheelchair ramp up to the Shedd Aquarium entrance. Pathetic, but that’s what counts as a hill in Chicago. Caracas is a bit different.


First things first: I had a crash. I went out for a cycle with Amy last Sunday and got sideswiped by a longboarder who carved right in front of me. I hit the curb and went over the bars. I was grand, but I got road rash on my shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and foot. I hit my head too, but of course I was wearing my helmet so I was okay. No photos, I’m afraid, but I do have a photo of what I put on the road rash when I got home: duoderm. It’s some kind of “second skin” that keeps a wound clean and moist and helps it heal really quickly. It worked great; I recommend it for anyone with road or track rash. Also, it’s made out of fruit pectin, so essentially you’re using a Fruit Roll-Up as a bandage.


Anyway, the hills here are a blast. We live on the northside of the city (g’wan de northside, wha’?!), and it only takes a couple of blocks going north before you’re going up some fairly steep inclines.

The Cote Mil, which is a big road that runs east-west on the very northen edge of the city, 1000 meters above sea level, closes down on Sunday morning for a ciclovia. The ride up there is tough, but then you get to experience a beautiful ride along the edge of the city, half way up the Avila, looking down over Caracas. We had a great ride up there this morning, and saw a lot of roadies and mountain bikers along the way. I still haven’t really figured out a good weekday ride, because the traffic is mad hectic around here during the week, but I need to get cycling everyday, because the food here is too, too good…


I'm going to be as big as a house if I keep eating these street burgers!

Fingerprints? Am I being arrested?

That's Amy's bike in front. Yes, you feckers, it is nicer than mine. Anyway, we moved into our own place the other night. It's small, but really nice. It doesn't have the internet yet, but we're working on it. Like everything else in Venezuela, getting the internet connected will be a huge bureaucratic rigmarole that will take days of queuing and almost certainly involve giving fingerprints, and possibly also DNA samples and retina scans. No joke.

Now that we've moved in I can unpack the bikes and finally go for a ride. I have a route worked out that will take me from our place north into some quieter and hilly suburbs. Hills? Jaaaaysus...

So, until I figure out how many tissue samples we have to give before we get the internet, I won't be updating the site as often as before. But, stay tuned, because coming soon: a report on last summer's VeloCity Tour event in Chicago which includes a story about me making a pig's mickey of a finish by showing off; more inane banter; a report on my first ride in Caracas (report contingent on me surviving); some exciting sponsorship news from Team Pegaus; and an interview with Declan O'Loughlin of Pezula Racing, a brand new Irish professional cycling team. Not bad, wha'?

In the meantime, keep the rubber side down!

Think you know cold?

Tour Da Chicago, Stage 1. All photos by Chris Dilts.

Beard of Icicles, MFer!! Ben Fietz of the Chicago Cuttin' Crew.

Andrew Nordyke of the Chicago Cuttin' Crew.

The temperature, in Celsius, on the morning of the first stage of Da Tour. Mental.

Me Wantee!

The brand new Dolan DF3, seen here in world champion colours. Gorgeous. Head over to velodrome.org.uk for more details.

nezuelaUpdate*VenezuelaUpdate*VenezuelaUpda

I saw my first roadie yesterday! Been here a week, and had only seen some mountain-bikers and BMXers until last night, when walking to get some food we saw a guy on a beautiful Felt F2, wearing full Felt kit. He was a young guy too, so possibly a racer? Is there a Felt sponsored team in Caracas? Does this guy just really love Felt? Interesting... It puts my mind at ease, because it means that there is at least one other road cyclist in this area. I was starting to get worried. You would too if you saw the way the feckin' drivers here ignore all stop signs and signals! The intersections are pure chaos.

Also: today at 2pm we have a meeting with a guy from whom we want to rent an apartment. I know, I know, that's probably more important news than my seeing a roadie. Whatevs. So yeah, at 2pm today we could be signing a lease on an apartment. The place is small, but nice, and the building has a pool. With luck, photos soon.

Tour Da Chicago 2008.

"Da Tour is what street racing in Chicago is all about." I stole that quote from Yeoman. An annual series of messenger-run alleycats that starts in January and goes till March, Da Tour runs right through the most brutal and bitterly cold weather of Chicago's winter. The winners of each race get points, and the Tour has an overall leader with a prized, though rank, jersey, just like any other Tour.


2007 Tour winner Andrew Nordyke, wearing the jersey. Photo by Luke.

The time-trial prologue was a week or two ago. The first stage was this morning. It was 11 degrees Fahrenheit in Chicago this morning. That's -12 degrees Celsius. WTF?!? Tough as nails...

Each stage is a different themed alleycat. Last year's Tour involved a race around the various little islands around Chicago, a race that involved collecting bricks at different checkpoints with bonus points for carrying extra bricks, and of course The Stairmaster.


Stairmaster 2007. Photo by Chris Dilts.

The Stairmaster is the only race that happens at night. It keeps the same theme, but not the same route, each year. It's a mental race around downtown Chicago where the racers have to carry their bikes up and down loads of sets of stairs. Last year we did two laps around downtown, with about 15 sets of stairs per lap. I was fucking wrecked after it. It was the only stage I did, because I'm lazy and incapable of getting up before 10am, but it was deadly buzz. Almost 100 people showed up to it.

Anyway, here's the official word from the Tour's page:

The Tenth Annual Chicago Winter Alleycat Series.
We're back and ready to dive into this wintry mix. The race schedule for 2008 looks like this:
Prologue (time trial) - January 13 @ 8 am.
Stage 1 - January 27 @ 8 am.
Stage 2 - February 10 @ 8 am.
Stage 3 - February 24 @ 8 am.
Stage 4 - March 9 @ 8 am.
Stage 5 (stairmaster) March 22 @ 7 pm.
Starting locales, race formats, and other details to be announced in the days and weeks ahead.

Here's a few photos of past Tours. Enjoy. And for the people racing, stay safe and keep the rubber side down.

Miles, all wrapped up at the start of the prologue. If you look closely, to the left of the photo you can see the irrepressible j.dot of dispatch 101. Whatup, son?

The start of a stage, Ben Popper in the foreground. Photo by BenVC.

Stan looks cold, and frankly a little miserable. Photo by Andy.

Team Pegasus

The annual Team Pegasus party is in Milwaukee today, so I'm missing it. The team is basically a bunch of friends from Chicago and Milwaukee that likes to ride bikes. We race track, road, cross, mountain bike. If it has two wheels and pedals, we will race it. And, we'll look good doing it. Which is the most important thing, right? Here's a few photos of the team in action. I miss you guys.

Obviously, this is only the important members of the team. Not pictured: hangers-on and losers. Photo by Kat.


Michelle and Aaron warming up at VeloCity 2007, Kenosha WI. Photo by PeteD.


See what I mean about looking good? Damn, son! ChrisP's glamour shot. Yes, I spell glamour with a u.

ChrisE (cough, raver, cough) at the Washington Park Halloween Cyclocross Classic. Photo by Callie.

Ben, Chris and Henry standing around at VeloCity 2007. Photo by Trevor.

Josh showing how it's done at the ChiCrossCup race in Jackson Park. Photo by Amanda.

Great photo of Henry sprinting at Northbrook by Trevor.

Shawn and Henry going into turn 3 of the Brewer's Hill criterium. Photo by Josh.

KatySnaks on her way to becoming Wisconsin State Cyclocross Champion! Photo by Kat.

Hello, I am in Venezuela.

Yes, you read that right.

Amy and I are in Caracas, Venezuela! We're here so that Amy can do her dissertation research on the Venezuelan public healthcare system. I'm just along for the ride, basically. We had a mental week, which consisted of packing to move here for a year, moving everything else out of our apartment and into a storage space, and saying goodbye to some of the greatest people ever. Our going away party was a blast. $15 all-you-can-drink and a loose Aerospoke makes for a good night out.


I'm going to miss everyone a lot. They're a bunch of degenerates and elitist misanthropes in the main, but they're good craic, and a few of them even know how to ride bikes. They got me a Campagnolo peanut butter wrench as a going away present. They even got my name engraved on it.


Classic!

Well, that's it for now. We only arrived a few hours ago, but the place we're staying at has WiFi so I thought I'd do a quick update before I crash. Coming soon: photos of me trying to re-assemble our road bikes; a report on how much my shitty wheels flex on Caracas hill climbs; more race reports from last summer's track season which are kind of made up because I can't really remember that long ago; and any random rubbish I feel like writing.

As the snow falls...

...does anyone else miss the summer?