Just did my first race with a timing chip. The race promoters used an RFID chip from Times-7 strapped to our forks. The chip is clearly meant to strap on to your left fork blade, but since this was cross, it had to be put on the right fork blade resulting in the text on the unit being upside down. I'm sure some users got it backwards and had that thing dig into their backs or fall off while shouldering the bike. The mounting process was simple and the double sided tape left no residue and was easy to remove from my carbon fork. Not sure how the timing function worked though since the posted results had only placing, no times. I'm guessing they just used it to back up the spotters or resolve podium disputes.

Either way, as cross racing gets more popular (and there has been record attendance at every race I've been in so far this year), we may see more and more of this.

Give George Yellow

Hey, I love fair play as much as the next guy, and that's why I can't endorse this project to make a big deal out of George Hincapie not obtaining the yellow jersey on Stage 14 of this year's Tour De France.

Racing's racing and the clock doesn't lie.

I'm reminded of a mountain bike race I entered not long ago where a pro level woman chose to race in my (male, non-pro level) category. She took 3rd, bumping me off the podium. It was a non sanctioned race though so there wasn't much I could do about it except choose not to participate in the next race in the series. Well, spurred on by that disapointment, I trained hard and came back to win the next event. Hincapie has had a long career full of opportunity, being on great teams, surrounded by great talent. Plenty of chances to prove himself.

nippleworks usually covers bike technology, but we've been posting more road race related info on the twitter feed: http://twitter.com/nippleworks

Lawyer Lips in the TDF

What's this? Do I see Lawyer Lips on the fork of Alberto Contador's Trek Madone? What's going to happen when the Mavic Neutral Support mechanic jumps out of his Saab estate car or off the back of his BMW GS bike, front wheel in hand, and kneels down to quickly change Contador's puncture just to find the wheel caught behind some stupid metal tabs? Lost seconds, that's what.

The Race Warmup

Most American road races have to find out of the way places where they can shut down traffic on a weekend morning. That means - rural roads, farm communities, office parks. Here's a rider warming up in the shadow of a wine vat in the Central California country side at that very very hot road race from last weekend.

Microsoft Paint as a CAD software

Today's Giro d' Italia stage featured a hilly time trial along the Cinque Terre coast.  So hilly that all the racers rode standard road frames for the tricky climbs and descents, some with and some without clip on aero bars.  Time trialling on a non-aero bike with drop bars is sometimes referred to as Merckx Style because Eddie Merckx benefitted from neither of those things during his racing career and as cycling hagiography goes, was better than every racer born before or after him.  What caught my eye was some of the interesting clip on aero bars like this tuning fork model under Damiano Cunego and this wild carbon creation under David Millar.  Turns out that's the brand new 3T Zefiro.  The Zefiro is a cool product that places silicone pads on the top of a drop bar for armrests and integrates carbon aero tubes.  The tubes look like they do not extend very far, making them legal for mass start events where you may end up soloing in the wind.  This would also be a good solution for amateur triathletes who own one road bike and need something more versatile and ergonomic than a set of aero bars for their century rides.  I went to check it out on their web site and it's so new that the pictures they're posting are basically mock ups.  The models sold to the general public will have either gray or red accents.  The bar, so far, has probably only been made for Garmin/Slipstream pro cycling team, and therefore has sweet blue and orange argyle accents.  So, the rushed and enterprising marketing team at 3T has used the equivalent of Microsoft Paint to spruce things up:

Kind of reminds me of something BikesnobNYC would do.

Photos from http://www.thenew3t.com/

Let Levi Ride

As I was standing along the Laguna Seca race course, waiting for the men's pro circuit race to begin, the announcer said "we'll get underway here just as soon as Levi makes it down to the starting line."  Things were being held up a bit because that guy up there, pro cyclist Levi Leipheimer was MIA.  He eventually made it down to the start but not before a lot of grumbling from the pack.  "Start without him!", "why are we waiting for queen Levi?"  It was a bit of an uncool situation but admit it guys, the race isn't going to start without him.  Races make money through entry fees and sponsorship and big names bring both.  Leave the comments in the bar and do the talking with your legs on the course.  This guy is bringing positive attention to your sport.  

In the end, a local boy, Andy Jacques-Maynes won the race after a long, hard breakaway and lots of people gathered around the track to watch the also-rans go by and give valuable eyeball time to the sponsors on their jerseys.

2nd Mara Abbott Sighting

I have a knack for taking pictures of people that aren't exactly what you'd hand out as head shots at. Team Columbia pro Mara Abbott is now the victom of two such photos of mine. Back in August I spotted her after her win in the Boulder Roubaix. Today, I saw her at the Tour of California Women's Criterium, suffering in the rain with all the other competitors. Of note are her deep dish wheels. Columbia was pretty much the only women's squad running high profile carbon rims in the crit. Lots more pictures from that event and the surrounding festivities to come.

Race Tech from the SF Twilight Criterium

Martina Patella's VAC Blue team bike:
Interesting to note - Blue didn't set up all the riders with a full carbon bike. That's not to say it wasn't offered. Notice the carbon TRP brake calipers.

A Team Cliff Bar bike:
So, the interesting thing here was that a one of the Team Cliff Bar guys was walking down the street with a non Orbea bike (looked like a TIG welded aluminum frame) painted black with white block lettering that said "ORBEA" that looks like it had been printed out on a laser jet and cut out with an hobby knife. It would be interesting to hear the story behind racers that get sponsored gear but choose something else and then have to cover it up.

SF Twilight Criterium

First up, the woman's race:



Then, the men's race:





Great race to watch, interesting neighborhood with a big turnout. The race announcers were out in the middle of the street, hollerin' up a storm and people were giving away cowbells for maximum noise production. A little race tech info coming up on the old blog.

Boulder Roubaix 2008

I volunteered for this year's Boulder Roubaix road race. It was a slop fest.

Put on by Chris Grealish and DBC Events, the Boulder Roubaix is a road race, mainly on dirt roads north of Boulder, CO. This year, it was held on the second consecutive day of nonstop rain. Temps were in the 50's. What's the ultimate bike for a race like that? I'd guess that it would be a cyclocross frame with road bike gearing and a pair of fat (700x25-30) road tires. Maybe something like Continental Touring Plus in a 28 width. Of course, the fastest riders would probably be on road bikes with sew ups if they had access to them.

Some riders took my advice:

Everyone tried hard, and a few abandoned:

The woman's race was lead by a pro from Team Columbia. Here's the transcript of nipplework's first ever pro interview:

me: Did you win?
pro: Yea! I had a rough start though.

me: Congratulations.

pro: I think I'm going to use this spot to change.

The pro, as it turned out, was Mara Abbott from Boulder, CO who also won the North Boulder Park Criterium the next day.

Sorry I didn't get a more flattering picture, Mara! Best of luck and may you add the maglia iridata to your stars and bars.