fun times with hipsters

Anthony may have gotten a brand new Team Scalpel, but I got a 1983 Schwinn Traveler 10 speed and a brand new beard. Here are some pictures from the warehouse race. It was a good time.

warehouse racin, no hobo's

So the stars all aligned that I stumbled across a link a couple weeks ago for a warehouse race in Lexington, seemed interesting. The Ateam's new Lexington insider, Turpin, also had the 411 on this event. Curtlo was informed and the plan was set. Neither of us (me or John) knew if this was gonna be a blowout or 12 dufuses standin around all trying hard to look like they didn't care about looking cool, like a reverse Zoolander walk-off. But there was the promise of beer, a chance to see turpins new digs and eat his food, that was enough right there. So I packed up old blue (the single speed) complete with 1.5 slicks and a citron colored front rim, Curtlo with his Schwinn fixie, and we headed 60 miles due east.

It was not what I expected, it was more. We arrived while the silly race (an oxymoron of sorts here) was goin on. My favorite was a Stingray with a 12" front wheel and road drops. Lovin it. I saw Bill Crank and a couple others from Pedal Power and Pedal the Planet and asked for a little direction on what we were supposed to do. After signing in, Curtlo raced in the second heat with Turpin (who went with the spandex option, nice work). The course utlilized 2 warehouses, a couple sidewalks and various bits of parking lot ending with a stair-step runup to the finish. It was a hoot, like a cyclocross race (minus the dirt) with music pumpin, beer flowin, and people hollerin. The difference being there was hardly a bit of carbon fiber to be seen, I bet pair of Zipp wheels would prolly match the combined price of all the bikes raced that night.

My first race was the 20 feet or so I did on Jims back for the tandem race, the distance pretty much sums up how well that worked. Then I raced the third and last heat of the "competitive" races (top 2 for each went on to the finals). Good start, givin that 39x18 single speed all I could, it wasnt enough muscle to keep up with some dude on his fixie. After washin out on one of the slick corners in the second warehouse, I conceded and rode it in for second (plus the breadbowl of soup, fries, burger, green beans and coffee I ate just an hour + before were threatening an upheaval). Once that was over, I sat and coughed up a lung (hardest effort I've done since October) while the non-competive class ran their five laps.

The finals were next, I still felt pretty gross, but I had to go. I gave it a good effort for 4 laps, then let fixie dude and Bill have at it, I didn't really want to barf and I didn't have the gears to match them anyway. The crowd def kept me goin as it all turned up to 11 for that last race, people were screamin like mad. I held on for 3rd and enjoyed those last 5 laps much more without trying to race. All in all, a pretty great event. Kentucky Ale provided a few kegs of free beer (which I assume really helped with the turnout) and they even gave out some prizes after at a sleezy little bar in the hood.

I was amused the next day to read on the race's forum "I know fixes aren't the coolest bike to ride this year but they're still pretty f'n fast- pro mtb man knows this now." OK, I guess he just wants to think he's on the fringe and has turned a blind eye to the fact that every hipster duffus is sportin a fixie. I suppose word of "who I am" circulated via the Pedal Power or PtP guys as I wasn't wearing a my usual "I'm a Pro mountain biker, kiss my butt" sign or even spandex for that matter. And I will also guess that being a pro instantly marks you – it says you should win and every start line is serious business; that my goal was to come, kick ass and give it 110%, even though my bike choice would kinda prove contrary to that. He makes it sound as though I had some doubts as to the power of the fixie. I thought about posting "I'm bringing my A game next time!" but I really dont care, I'd rather go back with the same bike and goal as last time, just ride and have some fun. Although...I may throw on a 14 tooth cog just to make it a bit more interesting...ha ha hah.

Yes I did

This is now mine. That means I will suck horribly this year as the correlation of good stuff to speed is as follows;



but who cares. its 22 pounds of carbon fiber, ceramic bearing eating noodles and beans to pay for it goodness.

you know what I heard

Anthony has something new.

the lust began

I think we were about 12, maybe 11. Andy had gone up to Thornberry's Toys and Schwinn authorized dealer (now St Matthews Schwinn) to shop for a new bike. He was sailing into uncharted and strange waters, he wasn't buying a new BMX bike, he was getting a 10 speed. Either a Schwinn or some new company, Cannondale, were the two final contestants. The Cannondales were like nothing I had ever seen before. Huge aluminum tubes with wild paint jobs that were cooler than words (I also thought bandanas looked good tied around the legs and breakin was an ok movie, so taste was relative to the date). For reasons that time has lost to me, he went with the Schwinn Traveler. Its was a strange color of mintish green (Bianchi calls it celeste, for copyright purposes, Schwinn called it something far less red wine and bruschetta).

So the point of this. Up until then, bikes were ridden through the woods and jumped off plywood and cinder-block ramps. The occasional big thrill, not to mention long and dangerous journey, consisted of the 4-6 miles over to Indian Hills for some big time gravity action on 20 inch, skidded bald tires - stem pad optional. Never before was a pure speed, sex machine an option or a consideration. Not sex machine in that we were gonna meet even one lady with it, sexy in a Greg Lemond Tour de France way. Sexy in a faster than we had ever gone on two wheels way. Sexy in a breathin hard doing sprints up and down the street to see who could go fastest (though I dont think we had any way of measuring said speed other than witness' eyeballs, or maybe a second hand on a watch). It was so cool how fast those skinny tires could roll and how hard that big gear was to turn.

Some years later, I discovered mtb racing and once i had become "serious," I was told I needed to train on a roadbike to get better. Funds being what they were, a road bike wasnt an option and the mtb with slicks wasnt fast enough. Andy still had the Traveler, so I borrowed it, slapped on some generation 1 spd's (spuds) and rode. This bike wasnt really my ticket into the uber-cool roadie world with its 5 speed rear cluster and friction shifters, but striving for acceptance, especially from dorks, hasnt ever been high on my list. Besides, getting dropped by, (or not dropping), a guy on an 80's 10 speed hurts a lot more than gettin schooled by a guy on a nice ride, at least then you can tell yourself "it's partly the bike that makes him better than me."

Then the time came, my first road race. Well, TT anyway. There I was, sleeveless jersey, visored helmet (once again I refer you to styles of the day) mtb shoes and 10 pound pedals. I ended up winning my class by a good margin, even besting most, if not all, the cat 3's. How awesome. That did get me into "their" world a bit, or marked anyway. A few months later, I purchased a "real" road bike and the Traveler was once again mothballed.

The Traveler came back around a couple years ago when Andy was cleanin out the basement and saw it as unused clutter. He passed it along and I kept it around for a while figuring I would use it as a comuter, but it mainly sat. So, I ended up donating it to a tenant who didnt have a car and I think he pawned it cuz it disappeared about a week later. Since I did give it to him, I didnt figure it was any of my business what happened to it. I just hope wherever it is now, it's still making a difference. Or maybe it served it's purpose already.