Ottawa Cyclocross in Pictures---Race 1 Cat B

Before my race, I got behind the lens and snapped these (the full set of 145 pictures is here)

Cross Rebuild

I put gears back on my cyclocross bike. I am weak of will. In Ottawa, not many ride single speed cross and there is no category for it unlike other race series I've been in. I felt there was no use handicapping my self anymore.

My Cannondale is getting on in years. The frame has a dent but is still good. The dura ace/open pro rims are doing terrific. I outfitted it with a big 12-27 cassette, which will come in handy on the steep climbs at the Almonte course. I bought a new old-stock ultegra 9spd shifter which works like a dream. I also got new Avid brakes and a new chain. All the new parts pretty much constitutes a full rebuild. After an afternoon of tinkering the bike rides like a dream.

Tomorrow is the first race. Unlike previous years I have not done any specific training. All my rides this summer have been long long long. As usual, I'm planning on hitting my stride when the weather gets really really crappy.

Non Supportable Crust

In the morning everything was still icy. The best way to go fast was to stay upright, and if you wanted to pass someone, you waited for them to crash while trying not to crash yourself. This, of course, took supreme focus. If you could stay on the hardpack you could go far and fast. Otherwise, game over.

As time went on the ice turned soft. Corners could be taken faster. Grip was perfect. The challenge then was dealing with lapped riders. To pass you went off the line and became a fishtailing snow plow.

By the end it was warm and the crusty snow became twice-baked mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. Lap times went up again as perfect grip gave way to slop.

At the finish I was rewarded with fifth place in my category, a season best at season's end.

Cross Update

I was bummed to be financially unable to come down and race south of the border with Justin, but I've been keeping busy crossing in Ottawa. I race in the masters A category (now that I am in my 30s), which races along side the elite men and women, and the extremely fast juniors. Since giving my bike two gears, I don't think I've gained much of an advantage. It has made riding a bit more fun though. The high gear I had on was painful on the accelerations, and I really feel the difference there. However, on the bad weather days I keep it in the low gear almost all the time, a de facto single speed. Ottawa cross is a great scene. Very friendly people. I have a fan base consisting of two guys I bumped into at the Madison event who yell "go Utah, go Utah" when I roll by, in reference to my yet-to-be-changed license plate. I finish each race somewhere in the middle of the pack. Every race I aim to not get lapped by the leaders, and so far I have been successful, in part because the laps are Looooooong, like 10 minutes or more. The courses are awesome. Check out the run up on that hill people (photo credit to bobotron)!

Two-Speed Cyclocross Bike

The cross courses around Ottawa ironically have more hills than the ones in Utah. As the weather is getting worse, I needed to take down my rather steep 48 X 18 gearing, which is good for flat courses, to something more middle range for bad mud and steep hills. I had recently got a hold on a Paul Components Melvin chain tensioner that can be used not only for single-speed, but also as a "dingle-speed" two-speed set up, where you employ two chainrings and a single cog. One of my principal and primary reasons for switching to single speed for most riding was because I hate rear derailures. Front derailures on the other hand, I have no problem with, as I've never had one brake on me (in the middle of a 90-mile ride in the middle of nowhere, with no chance of fixing it. Long story, whatever...). The original reason I converted my cross bike over to SS years ago was due to a crash during a race: I broke my rear shift-lever. Shift-levers are obscenely expensive, so I spent a modest amount of money converting to SS (see previous post).

First of all, the Paul Melvin is far better than the Surly Singleator for chain tension. As per my cited post above, the Surly unit needed the help of a Voile ski strap to actually keep my chain from falling off. The Melvin, with its two chain wheels keeps everything real snug, no problem. I had the other still functioning rear shifter and all the cables and housing so it didn't have to take any trips to the bike store. While I was attaching it I said "what the hell" and went dingle. I had mixed feelings about doing it. I did like the simplicity of SS. But purity didn't win out. I am a competitive person, and nobody around here rides SS, and it was getting frustrating racing in a different world from everyone else. I am also somewhat an iconoclast to a fault, and now I have a bike that matches. Also, it was fun setting it up. Now is have a high/middle-end 48 X 18 good for cruising, but still a tad slow for pavement flats, and I have a middle/low-end 38 X 18 for acceleration, bad mud, and hills. The Melvin is supposed to fit a 20-tooth difference between chainrings. With my set up I only have a 10 tooth differential. Paul Components only mentions a two chainring setup, but I wonder if it would work on a mountain triple 44-34-24? That would be a nice maintenance-free set up longer mountain bike rides in remote places...

Regarding single-speed riding, my friend Bobby Hanson once said, and I paraphrase "when I had gears on my bike, I always felt I was in the wrong gear, with my single-speed, now I know I'm in the wrong gear." Now that I have a two-speed, if I feel I'm in the wrong gear, I can go to the other wrong gear.