Chicago Trick Pics

Thanks to Jessi for the awesome pics of Aaron, Riki, Henry, and Stan. Looks fun, but I guess no one does skids anymore? I'm so out of the loop...

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.