Tag Archives: Features

An Epic Ride Around Roanoke with Stratton of Keirin Culture

August 26, 2010 Jon 1 Comment

Recently I visited a long time friend of mine, Stratton Delaney, owner of Keirin Culture & Kazane Bikes.

My time in Roanoke was limited so we opted for a morning ride. I was entrusted with a steel Rossin and

Stratton rode a carbon Kazane Arashi. I had a feeling we’d be tackling some serious scenery. And we did.

Our morning started early. We stopped by Keirin Culture. Got our bikes and cruised over to Breadcraft.

After some scones and coffee we embarked towards our first climb, Mill Mountain & the Roanoke Star.

People have put on time trials here for years there. Former pro Brian Walton still has the record.

Below you see the star among the power lines. Its alluring appeal made the climb no less difficult.

The vertical rise of the course is slightly over 900 feet and switched back time and again.

This always tricks you into thinking you are on the last turn. nope. nope. still not. keep climbing…

The finish line is located next to the overlook at the base of the iconic Roanoke Star that earns the town its

namesake as the “Star City of the South”. Below you’ll see the world’s largest illuminated man-made

free-standing star. And, to think as I crested the summit I thought it was a cell phone tower. Not quite.

Obviously we’re stoked.

After a refresshing almost chilly descent, we got on to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Its a National Park road that stretches from near Charlottesville, VA all the way to Asheville.

Stratton claims that it’s one of he best roads in the country to ride on. I can’t say I have ever seen better.

The views were amazing and paired with rolling terrain & well preserved pavement, I couldn’t ask for more.

Except for well, more climbing.

Next was Explore Park. It has some really good mtb trails. In fact, its a mountain biker’s dream come true.

Infrequently, when we were descending so fast or climbing so hard, I managed to snap some shots.

Its not hard to see the appeal here. If Rapha Continental is looking for a uniquely challenging and scenic

locale for their next East Coast stop, they need not to look any further. Roanoke really blew me away.

Each climb rewarded us with yet another grand view. And we didn’t even cover all the bases!

All told it was an unreal amount of beauty and perfect dose of pain for a morning ride.

Thank you Stratton for the tour of what Roanoke’s country roads have to offer!

More photos from the ride are here and more about Stratton & Keirin Culture is here.

Photos from the Grant Park Criterium

August 25, 2010 Jon 1 Comment

Above is Team Mountain Khakis rider Joey Rosskopf (@JoeyRosskopf) on an epic breakaway that

earned him 2nd overall in the PRO 1/2 Georgia State Criterium Championship in Grant Park.

More photos from the day are on my Flickr and several CAT 4/5 photos are posted Chris Kelly’s site.

The PRO Race was blazing fast and it was a great opportunity to shoot close up shots.

Below is a Team Type 1 rider brings the hammer down. Which racer is this?

The day’s results can be found here. I raced in the 4/5 as my road category has not yet caught up to track.

Ultimately lapped but 20th overall, I took the dismal day in stride and look forward to my next road event.

Below are Dick Lane Velodrome regulars and Atlanta natives Joe Eldridge & Oscar Clark battling it out.

What an awesome day of racing! Big thanks to the organizers, sponsors, racers & spectators!

A Visit to Bilenky Cycle Works

August 24, 2010 Jon 2 Comments

Earlier this month my wife Stacey and I were on a road trip with our son Otto.

We passed through several states visiting friends and family along the way using a trusty Garmin Nuvi.

This trip was not unlike our honeymoon 2 years ago except on that journey Stacey and I were on a tandem.

A tandem built especially for us by Bilenky Cycle Works. There was no doubt that while in Philly,

We would need to stop by this legendary den of lugged steel and coupled bikes for couples…

Above two of the most famous track bikes built by Bilenky:

Alan’s Hetchins Tribute and last year’s NAHBS showboat originally built for Tim of Streetlocal.

Bilenky (@BilenkyCycles) has been building frames a year longer than I have been alive, since 1983…

Meeting the needs of the individual cyclist – this was the premise on which our company was founded. In 1983 BCW recognized the need for specially proportioned frames and components for female cyclists; this initiated our entrance into custom frame manufacturing. We broadened our scope to meet the sizing challenges for riders of all shapes and sizes. What followed was a series of targeted products to answer the outfitting needs of recreational, fitness and utility cyclists. Our Metro 5 commuting bike, featured in 1984 and 1986 issues of Bicycling magazine, incorporated all-weather functionality. We refined the geometry and construction of emerging mountain bike frame designs in the late 1980’s. In 1994 Bicycling magazine again recognized us as one of the nations’ top custom bike builders for our fully equipped expedition touring bike, “The Midlands”. The 1990’s heralded us as the premier manufacturer of fillet brazed framesets. Reviews in Bicycle Guide, Bicycling and Tandem Magazine.

The frameshop is staffed is builders spanning decades of experience and numerous specialties.

Meet the framebuilders and staff of Bilenky Cycle Works here.

Stacey & I arrived right at lunch time after making a morning drive from New Jersey to North Philly.

I brought a case of locally brewed Lionshead as a gift and as we had interrupted lunch time, we let the

crew continue eating as we slowing explored the workshop. Above is supremely nice mixte.

Notice the drum brake front hub! Such a smooth ride. Complete with hammered fenders!

Below is a Midlands Touring rig adorned with a well weather Carradice perched up a custom rack.

This steed was heavily used yet aged much like a a loved Brooks saddle. Only improving as miles add up.

Below is a Viewpoint tandem in its final stages of creation. This ingenius Bilenky design is their own:

“unique semi-recumbent tandem with independent stoker pedaling, great view of the road for both riders.”

The Viewpoint’s fork amid tools and devices all playing invaluable roles in everyday duties at Bilenky.

I expected trove of meticulously organized bicycle building minutia but this shop still blew me away.

Everywhere I turned was another neatly packed stack of parts and pieces.

It was quote overwhelming, yet engrossing as I even tried to imagine the number bikes ever built here.

Here is a nice shot of the Bilenky crew scarfing lunch. It also illustrates the shop’s atmosphere quite well.

I turned another corner and noticed these tubes. No doubt spanning decades of tube R&D and each

undoubtedly identifiable to the trained eye. The process of going from what you see below to this is unreal.

More photos photos from our visit are on my Flickr. For even more photos check out their collage here.

Keep up with the latest Bilenky news at their blog. Lastly, if you are anywhere near Philly at the end

of October, head over the the Philadelphia Bicycle Exposition. Its going to be a last and worth the trip!

Thanks for having us guys! Next time I will try to keep my eyes open for the photo!

Velo-Utilitarianism, the Civia Loring

August 19, 2010 Jon 2 Comments

The Civia Loring owes its name to Loring Park, right outside of downtown Minneapolis.

It is no surprise to me that this bike came from such a mecca of velo-utilitarianism.

I mean how many bikes in Minnesota lack a rack or fenders? Any?

This their idea of a track bike and this is how they get to the track.

My point is that riding in Minneapolis requires an even keeled ratio of function and flair.

And that is exactly what Civia achieved with the Loring.

Let’s breakdown the build:

Frameset
Fork	Loring Steel

Drivetrain
Crank	Truvativ Isoflow 3-piece

Components
Fenders	Loring Bamboo
Front/Rear Rack	Loring Aluminum/Bamboo
Handlebar	Loring Swept 80º
Brake Calipers	Avid BB5 mechanical disc
Brake Levers	SRAM FR5
Headset	Cane Creek SC-1
Stem	Truativ XR 12º rise
Seatpost	Truativ XR 350mm
Kickstand	Pletscher two-leg
Saddle	Brooks B-67

Wheels
Wheel (Front)	Civia disc hub, 36-hole, Mavic XM117
Wheel (Rear)	SRAM i-motion 9, 36-hole, Mavic XM117
Tires	Panaracer Pasela 26 x 1.75 with Tourgaurd flat protection

When I heard my local shop, Loose Nuts Cycles, would be Atlanta’s sole Civia seller, I quickly looked up this new to me name.

My wife, Stacey, and I, spent years on track bikes without brakes much less racks nor fenders.

Now with our son Otto in tow, we desperately needed a dose of velo-utilitarianism.

Reaching for the Loring was a no brainer for us. Well worth the investment.

Comprised of a solid frame, reliable components and all the right accoutrements right out the box.

We’ve since both logged innumerable miles running both Otto and errands around town.

Our first addition was a BoBike Mini. BoBike makes the best bike seats for kids bar none.

This allowed us to keep and eye on Otto as he tagged along. So far he has loved every ride.

For more info on the Loring visit civiacycles.com

To see some Civias in person and determine which is right for you stop by Loose Nuts.

For more photos of various Loring builds check out flickr.

And lastly, here’s an albeit outdated bike check from Civia themselves:

The Grant Park Crit is Sunday | Aug 22

August 17, 2010 Jon Leave a comment

The 2010 Grant Park Criterium will be held on August 22, 2010. It has been selected as the site for the 2010 Georgia State Criterium Championship.
For the second year in a row, there will be both Men and Women Beginner races.
No race license is required.

If you ever wanted to try criterium racing, this is your event!

Prizes will be awarded to the top 5 in each beginner category.

more info at grantparkcriterium.com

A Race Breakdown: The B Chariot ~ Wednesday Night Recap #8

July 29, 2010 Jon 3 Comments

Last night was record night at the DLV. Though no records were broken, the racing was just as fierce!

This Wednesday Night Recap will focus on but one of the races of the evening:

B Category, Chariot A

Let me start by saying: I fucking love Chariot races. Though my last two have sucked (AKA I didn’t win)

But, there are lessons learned each time. Let’s review using this race as model.

Notice Pete’s sneaky grin below? That cracked me up. Ok, back to the Chariot…

Below is THE moment the bell rang.

Off the start Scott Patton (far right) and Bill Thomsen (in green) get a great jump.

If you scroll back up you’ll notice their right feet are at about 45°.

In fact, EVERYONE has their ‘right’ foot forward but Chris Kelly (on Bill’s right.)

I don’t know the significance of right vs. left on the banking but the cranks arm angle is key.

One moment later and so much has changed. Crank arm angle is now eclipsed by brute strength.

Scott extends his lead, Bill gains and up track birthday boy Jim Hodgson begins to mask his face!

It is here that one is distracted by ZIPP (new DLV sponsor) wheel bling

and might be inclined to assume the 3 victors of this race:

1. Scott 2. Jason & 3. Bill

Maybe…

But so much can change in only one lap.

Notice that Scott is down on the apron. Sometimes starting low is a bad card.

If you are not off the front, other riders wil swoop down from up track make is very hard to catch up.

Any advantage of using the track’s bank for gaining speed is zapped for him on this race.

But, as even as this Chariot started, out all bets are off and the banking is rendered pretty useless.

Let’s watch the final sprint from turn 4, where it is all decided. (…wait isn’t the Chariot itself a final sprint?)

There you have it. From a solid start to a crushing lap long sustained sprint coming down against

Jason Atwood, Bill Thomsen of Thomsen LTD decimated a field comprised of riders less than half his age!

Hell yeah Bill!

In other news of the night:

Team Kazane was united for a night. Stafford & I finally got to try to work together
FM:RACE swept the B Field!
Justin Barber, in a perhaps permanent & long time coming CAT A effort took 1st overall.
Results are here, more photos here & the last Weds Night Recap is here.

Lastly, If you have time Sunday: volunteer at the DLV’s first ever Junior Track Classic

Outback Bikes Presents the Omnium

July 24, 2010 Jon 3 Comments

Talk about overdue! The Omnium occurred way back on July 10th! It was an epic day of racing at DLV

and certainly deserves a full write-up no matter how delayed.

This was my second festival racing in the A category and first rolling on newly acquired Kazane wheelset.

It was also my first to be featured in the riders to watch column. Still not sure how that happened!

Above is my trusty Hufnagel amid a strong mix of carbon & alloy. I may have been the only competitor

to bring steel to battle that day in the A’s but I feel steel serves one well at our track.

I was camping out in the Peachtree Bikes tent with intimidating adversaries like national champions

Steve Carrell and Tony Scott of the Peachtree Bikes team and PRO Tim Henry of Team Type 1.

It was a great place to relax between races but once we were on the track it was all business.

Attrition? What attrition? All the nutrition a racer or spectator could ever need for the white-knuckled

action at the Dick Lane Velodrome was provided by the lovely ladies at Cake Hag.

Read that menu! Drool!!!

I slept on photographing the C & B races! Above is a nice shot of former B now A

and Cat B Ominum overall winner of the day Jan Kolar of ( @JanJKolar ) of BBC Racing (left)

and third overall winner GW Wenzel. For more race photos of not only the B’s but the whole day

check out Trish’s photos at Southeastern Cycling

I did manage to snap some solid photos of the Bicycle Little League races. These kids really will inspire you

with how hard they push it and their earnest efforts are duly recognized here at the velodrome.

Check out these sweet medals!

Pictured below are some shots from the Little League podium. You’d be surprised how quickly these guys

end up racing on Wednesdays and even go on to conquer state, national and international races!

Its a wonderful program that our track offers and it FREE! More info on the BLL here.

Once again Scott Patton of Fixed Gear Fever did an excellent job announcing! Check out a recent video of

Scott, a regular racer here at the DLV, battling ATL traffic on the daily with 11 Alive’s Commuter Dude here.

Back to the CAT A riders that brought down the hammer throughout the afternoon and evening.

Below is Travis Turner of RBM Cycling. Travis is a familiar face here at the track and road events in Atlanta.

Alexander Gil of Team NitroShot is teammate of Roger “Spiderman” Hernandez who was in town for the

Keirin last Festival. Alexander obliterated the competition in the flying 200 the night before with a 11.79!

National Champ Steve Carrell riding for Peachtree Bikes is a long time DLV veteran but had not been racing

recently at the track. This did not slow him down at all. Steve, along with Adam Payne & Tony Scott won

the Men 30+ Team Pursuit at the 2007 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships in T-town.

A fan favorite and local PRO Joe Eldridge ( @JoeEldridge ) of Team Type 1 brought some serious heat in

the sprints. One of Joe’s career highlights is winning RAAM as a part an 8 person team in 2007.

Haling all the way from Seattle (he drove!), Dan Harm ( @chasingharm ) raced for AeroCat Cycling

alongside Emile Abraham. Dan has “a theory in life that you can only make the best decisions in life

once you experience everything”. Check out this interview on PezCycling News with Dan including his near

Olympic achievements here. We’re glad you mad the trip Dan! Yet another Dan was…

Dan Holt of Team Type 1. A total BEAST. Holt ( @DDHMoney ) crushed hit scratch heat the the Point-a-lap.

Also technically hailing from afar, Holt makes his off season home in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates,

where his wife, Janelle, is a meteorologist at the local airport. He, along with teammate Joe, represented

Team Type 1 quite well earning 2nd & 5th respectively.

Emile Abraham was the overall Omnium winner. Emile is well known racer here in Atlanta. He is one of the

most accomplished cyclists ever to come out of Trinidad and Tobago. He will tack this victory upon a

list of velo accolades not the least of which including 9 road race championship titles in Trinidad

and a silver medal in the men’s individual road race at the 2007 Pan American Games.

Read more about Emile in this PezCycling News interview.

Emile rode to a paper thin victory at the Omnium! He and the two Dans provided such a closely contested

race that it actually landed all three racers at 27 points.

(racer Daniel Banks actually made 3 Dans in the A’s!)

Can someone remind me how this tie was broken?

	Omnium Total
1	Emile Abraham	27	(2)1st (1)2nd (1)3rd
2	Dan Holt	27	(2)1st (1)2nd (1)3rd
3	Dan Harm	27	(1)1st (1)2nd (2)3rd

Congratulations to the winners for achieving such results in a strongly stacked field of very fast contenders.

Big thanks to all competitors in all categories that came out to make this trend of increased ridership

at Dick Lane a consistent one! Finally thank you to Outback for sponsoring, the race organizers, volunteers

and especially the fans for ensuring the day was one not to forget! More photos are here & results are here.

Tough Guy Tuesday Ride at 66fixed

July 23, 2010 Jon 3 Comments

Above is Mike Hall of Citrus Sports Cycling, he was one of the several riders who braved the weekly

Tough Guy Tuesday Ride put on by Michael at 66fixed. This ride was predominantly single speeds

but all geared REAL tall (we’re talkin 90′ and up), also outfitted mostly with brakes and all drop bars.

I didn’t know beforehand how heavy duty this ride would be or even that it garnered the toughguy moniker.

It started off calmly enough, twisting through downtown St. Pete. Slowly we began to gain speed…

Leading out above is Michael Davis the owner of 66fixed.

He was one of few riding brakeless and the only guy on a smokin carbon Dolan!

We crossed over the water over by Coffee Pot Drive. Still cruising steady enough for me to admire the

mansions and scenery as we headed north and picked up the pace.

Shortly thereafter a proper paceline formed. I started to really get a feel for how the other riders handled

their bikes and felt quite comfortable as each rider took his turn pulling. The tempo consistently

increased without any yoyoing nor squirrely swerving. There wasn’t much talking but a lot of spinning.

Bringing up the rear in the peloton above is Shaun repping House of Common way out in Vegas!

The whole night was straight TT style. We had an 18.6 mph avg over 33 miles with a 32 mph max speed.

Some sections included miles of 26+ mph. Imagine miles of hillless headwinds, seldom lights and ape’n it!

Above is Bob Croslin, who though pushing a whopping 53×16 still felt “spinny”. WTF?

These guys were machines. Though one by one the pack thinned and by the time we got back to the shop,

it was yours truly, Bob above and the two riders below. All on track bikes but me on my Kazane road rig.

On the flats gears gave me no advantage over the perfect pounding cadence of a track bike.

Ultimately I was very impressed with this ride! The riders were all super friendly and even waited up when

I had a flat and beforehand when a guy had an issue with his rear wheel.

Once we all met back up at 66Fixed we all traded stories from the ride and thanked one another for

valiant pulls, congratulations for brutal sprints and how beers were drank once guys pulled off.

A welcoming atmosphere paired with soul crushing exertion should be hallmarks of any training ride

and I will be sure to roll in this one anytime I am in town! More on the shop here. Thanks again guys!

DLV’s 1st Annual 2 Day Working Man’s Madison

July 2, 2010 Jon 5 Comments

Above is a visual depiction of my desperate hopes as I wrapped work at the office to head down to

the DLV for the 2nd day of Dick Lane Velodrome’s very 1st Working Man’s Madison.

It looked soggy.

The rain quickly blew over and if it had cooled anything off that rapidly faded into a heavy

muggy fog that descended upon the track. Blisteringly fast racing and high stakes Madison

exchanges only served to heat up the evening even more. Every lap in the Madison division was

a chance for glory or demise as teams strove to sling it and spin it to win it. There was also a

non-slinging A/B field for those with no inclination for hand-held propulsion.

Pictured above & below was the opening 10 lap scratch for the Madison riders.

There were some heavy duty contenders not in the Madison field.

Below are powerful veterans Tony Scott racing for Peachtree Bikes and

Wayne Whitesides of Ethic Inc. They took 3rd overall.

Stafford Brooke & I with Kazane Racing rolled our way to 4th in the A/B Field.

Daniel Banks & Brian Tester teamed up to make a formidable combo. Brian, the sprinter, and

Daniel, the roadie. This recipe cooked up a 1st place overall in the non-madison A/B field 10

points ahead of Team Type 1 riders: Joe Eldridge & Vassili Davidenko

who raced only on day one of the event.

In the Madison field the teams were characterized by speed, skill and strategy within the

often chaotic blur of high speed rider exchanges, bell laps and long distance endurance races of

up to 50 laps! Pictured below are Oscar Clark and Joey Rosskopf of Team Mountain Khakis.

These guys are no strangers to first place here at the DLV and

they brought the hammer down once again.

In their recently unveiled new team kits, Chris Kelly & Jason Atwood of

Faster Mustache earned 5th overall.

The illustrious Sultans of Sling, James Brookshire & Valetin Todorow

have been hard training for this event.

It paid off as they seized second place a full lap up on third place which

was grappledby Team Man Hands. Left, Justin of Man Hands &

right, Valetin of Sutlans of Sling await their re-entry into the action.

Courtesy of crytter, below is manly exchange between

Man Hands racers Justin Barber & Jim Hodgson.

Though I missed day one I can say with certainty that DLV’s first Working Man’s Madison

was a hit! A novel idea and great teaser for the action pending in Sept. at

Thomsen, LTD. presents ‘The Madison’ Jeff and the other volunteers ensured both days went

smoothly and the solid turnout made for great racing! Speaking of great racing!

Outback Bikes presents The Omnium is already next weekend! Get STOKED!

RESULTS:

Day 1: www.dicklanevelodrome.com/results/Results.php#2010-06-29

Day 2: www.dicklanevelodrome.com/results/Results.php#2010-06-30

—

Get the limited edition WMM shirt!

www.dicklanevelodrome.com/content/2010/06/working-mans-ma…

European Touches ~ Vol. 2 ~ Early Morning Black Forest Ride

June 26, 2010 Ptubschr 2 Comments

It‘s been a month since my first post here and let me tell you, a lot of things have changed bike-wise.

Finally, a few months after I bought the Kazane frame and after months of saving money

for parts, a friend of mine put all pieces together and the Kazane saw the light of day.

I have to admit that I kinda neglect my fixed-gear bike now and only use it for daily commuting,

but it is just so tempting to take the road bike and as you leave the city, you are in the nicest and most

beautiful countryside you can imagine. There are just so many places to go and so many different options

when you have gears around here, it would be a pity not to do it.

Besides a few other rides, I have been going up the „Schauinsland“ mountain about 10 times in the past

3 weeks – with it‘s elevation of 1,284 m (4213 ft) it is a nice but challenging climb – at least for me

as a rookie roadie.

As you reach the top, there are a few different ways to extend your ride or go down – this morning I

decided to cross over and descend into the „Münstertal“ valley. This turned out to be a great choice:

a road in great condition (at least the first half), great views and hardly any cars made this a lot of fun.

Leaving the valley, you come through the little town of „Staufen“, I especially liked the ruin of an old

castle situated on a little hill close by. Coming from the flat northern part of Germany, this gave me

„vacation feelings“ again, as riding my bike in this area usually does.

After all, this round had a lot to offer: a climb, a descent, some flat parts and a few little hills –

all this within about 60km.

The weather was amazing and it was great to do the ride before the heat of the afternoon.

Coming back to Freiburg I stopped at the market, just around the corner from my place,

I bought some fresh, locally grown fruit for breakfast, before I had to get dressed up for a friends wedding.

Since Jon & Stacey took their tandem with them to Europe for their honeymoon, I thought I should

post this picture of the couple:

My friends will not be traveling with this tandem, but they rode it to the ceremony – still pretty classy.

DROPINORDROPOUT