Wheels

I have been thinking about wheels lately, I have allot of my bikes figured out, with some odds and ends here and there that I need to take care of. I have been riding my spinergy XAero V2 for 7 years now, and I really like them, but I am thinking I need something a little stiffer. So here are some of the wheels I have been having my eye on.

Spinergy
Stealth PBO

American Classic
Magnesium Clincher

420 Black with Bladed Spokes

Then there was this Idea to build a the perfect ultralight 29er disc wheel that could be used on the crossbike as well.

Stans
ZTR 355 29er AC Disc Wheelset






Well one can dream, I am thinking one of these wheel sets will be bought in the coming year, I will let you know what I get.

First Ride of Winter

So Funny I end my last race, and not 3 days later snow is on the ground. I went into work late so I could get a little spin in the white stuff. Riding in snow is tricky, too little and it is muddy, too much you have no traction. Well I went to Wakefield, and saw only one other tire track that looked like it was from the night before I did see a good amount of Deer tracks so you know the trails are fun if the wildlife is using them too.

Capital Cross

(Photos Left by Craig)This race is my last race of the season!!! Finally. It was overdue, I have been skating on form from the SM100 and I have been tapped out since the last race I did. For this race I laid in bed for 15 minutes debating if I was going to do it. Since the weather was going to hold I decided to give it a go. I just barely made registration, and I did two laps on the course. I really liked the course layout. I would have preferred a longer climb in there, but that is not really cross. I signed up the day of, so I, along with my teammates Kent, and Loren were like in 60th position at the start. I knew I needed to gun it at the beginning, which I was not too worried about, because I seem to usually have fast starts then fade. Well the gun goes off and I gun it a little bit on the pavement, and I get to the grass in an OK spot. Two things that helped me out were not being afraid of others bumping me, and being able to do track stands instead of having to put my foot ddown. A great thing was hearing people cheer for me, and hearing Kent, who was a couple places behind me, cheer me on when we would be on different parts of the course but were near each other. Early on I got behind Matt Parse's (who ended up in third) Wheel, and thought that was the place to be, but he was really motorin' and then before the barriers I tried to get around several people and was riding the tape when my handle bars got caught in the tape. This was almost a bad thing but luckily the tape broke so I didn't get slowed down. By the time I had gotten to the run up I was sitting in 5th place. I was there for a little bit, but then Joseph Zorn and Brett K. From Drexel Cycling came around me. I was battling Brett for a lap I think. I remember getting annoyed because the places I could go faster, J.Zorn slowed, and then in the open flats they put it on. Then Drexel Brett passes me for good, and then I have the next two, Kenfrom Coppi, and Matt from BBC on my heals. I think they got in front of me as well, and it was the same thing that I was faster on parts they were slow and vice versa, but the parts I was slower on, you can easily pass. I think I am in front of them, and then I see Loren from my team coming up. After the little climb I am resting , getting ready for the run up, and the gravel. Loren goes in front of me and then in the gravel I encourage him, so we don't slow down and have the two other guys catch up. We do the steep downhill and I am getting antsy so at the next downhill Loren was nice and gave me the lane, I then took the inside line through the chicane and actually cut it pretty tight hitting a tree branch. With me in front, we get some distance, and tthen Loren was in front again, I thought he was going to be gone, but with the turns I was able to catch up to him. We then are going through the final trees and gravel to the pavement road. Loren was in front but not by much, but I was not drafting. So when we get to the pavement, I am thinking, Loren is like 135 lbs or something, I need to use my 185 lbs to my advantage. I shift to the big ring (50) and something in the back, and start turning over the gear. I think I can beat him to the line if I can get on top of this gear, so I am standing and it's starting to turn and I end up catching him. I'm still not sure but I think I beat Loren by 2 feet or something. So that has been my closest cross finish. I got 7th which I was happy with considering that I wanted top 10. It was cool riding with Loren and hopefully next year we will do some endurance Mountain bike races, and some cross as well. Ryan Bannon got second, and knew he was going to rock it, he hasn't slowed down like I have this fall (getting a new bike helps :-) ) Also Ryan has lost like 5 pounds or so. He is like 6'3" weighing in the low 170s. If I was that weight I would be kicking some A**. OK time to open a beer, the off season has begun!!!
(Photos below Kevin Dillard They Rock!)

Boys doing the Barriers Will need Divx and might not play at work I will load this up tonight.



More Photos By Darren Biggs and Click here Craig Mathew

Capital Cross 2007

ThanksGiving Weekend

I did three Rides this weekend. I did two Tandem rides which were fun, the first being on Thanksgiving day, and then on Sunday. The first was still in that warm front that had come through on Wednesday. We did 33 miles in Warrenton and I dropped Heather off at her parents. The ride was a flat one, but some of the vistas were still pretty with the late fall colors. The Second Tandem ride(on Monday) was a quick 20 or so in Arlington and Bethesda. We went up Military Rd. and then some side streets in N. Arlington, then took the Capital Cresent Trail to Bethesda. Well the trail was too crowded so we ended up taking Wisconson to Nebraska to Fox Hall for the way back to Arlington. Nothing like Tandeming in City Traffic!

On Sat. I had the chance to ride with one of our new Team Members of DCMTB-- Lynne, and my friend Mark at Fountainhead. Was a colder ride at the start. We did one lap pretty easy tempo, Lynne is a strong rider, she is just working on her tech skills to match her leg speed. I really hurt my knee on the first lap. The leaves on the trail made things slippery. I was doing a turn then my front wheel washed out, and hit a tree, with the stem going into my knee. We decided to do another lap at speed, so I was off the front pushing a good pace, but I had to take some layers off cause I was starting to overheat. I then got in place with my camera to get Mark and Lynne going down Shock-a-billy hill. I used the High speed capture mode, pretty slick. Fountainhead is fun, but that trail is so completely different from 8 years ago, really rutted and some parts are just not safe for novice riders. I hear there is going to be a redesign there in the future. Well I will do one ride this week, then the Capital Cross to get my Ass handed to me, since it is the off season for me at least.

BustHead-Dirtyburg Ride

This ride is my favorite Dirt Road ride that is easy to get to. The ride is 42 miles and I found out on Sat. has about 4000' of elevation. That elevation mostly comes from small hills with one bigger climb(BustHead) and then coming back over the ridge again towards the end of the ride.

BustHead-DirtyBurg Ride

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

We had 6 of us at the start, Unfortunately the boys on mountain bikes, Kent and his friend(Chris?) were riding a little slower and needed to get back sooner. This was the first real ride for me in like a week and a half, and boy did my legs feel it!
The ride is a good one, and we were able to see some real nice foliage, along with some $$$$$ houses that are out there. The Middleburg stop is great with the bakery there(not open on Sundays though). The ride took awhile with like a 15 mph avg so that 42 felt more like a 60 mile ride. The question is my knee good enough for the capital cross dec. 4th?

Some Ride notes:

-Never underestimate the power of a sausage roll for bike fuel

-WTB interwolves are the best dirt road tires around big for cush and roll well for hardpack/pavement sections.

-BustHead is a blast to come down you are flying around 30+ on the dirt

-Bruce almost hit a deer going down that same mountain, must have been the deer running away from the hunters since it was the first day of hunting season.

-Ryan was riding strong, or could have been his cool matching white/grey camo seat that matched his grey Giant.

-Pat was riding pretty good after being off the bike for awhile with his arm issues.

-My knee held up, but I am not in top shape anymore so the last climb I had to let Bruce, and Ryan go up the road.

-This is a great Iron Cross training ride, so next September I will remember to do it.

-Bruce had one of the best lines,"Stomach full of scotchies(oatmeal cookies with buttersctchcream between them) I feel good.

Tacchino Ciclicross

3rd out of 90 in the CAT4 race.
I had this race on my calendar almost after I had done it in 2006. This cyclocross course is one of the most unique. This race has no pavement, has one longer hill than most. I also went with low gearing a 11-34 in back and 34-50 in front. I never used the 34 in back, did use the 28 though for the run up section. I decided with these conditions I would race my bike monster cross style! I had a 42mm Mythos CX in front and a 40mm in back. These tires roll well enough, and I could run them low to help with the bumps. I think I made the back a little too low because it felt like the tire was going to roll off the rim!
I get to the start and there are 90 people lined up for the CAT 4 race! I ask the guy if they have call ups, and he says yes so I get to jump to the front of the line, and am starting with Matt Parse.

Well the start goes off and I am off. I didn't get the best start had to try twice to get in my pedals. Then comes the barriers pretty much right after the start.

I get to the Run up/Ride hill which I rode every time, not that it was faster to do so but I didn't have to unclip.
I get to the back side of the course and I am in the lead after Steve Wahl flatted(bad luck cause I think he would have won) I am in the lead with Matt, and Mike (teamates) behind me I get to the tight turn and over cooked it and went straight into the tape. I should have just went nice and easy though there, and made the guys pass me. After this the two of them were in front of me the whole race. I would get closer to them and then fall back.

I did actually bridge up to them at one point, but I think I used up too much energy and then I could not stay with them. It was cool though having the announcer talk about you for 30 minutes! If sponsors were there they would have had their names announced big time. I could hear him saying things like:
-"Looks like Darren Biggs is losing ground to the tag team of Capital Hill Bikes"
-"The Rubber Band is stretching"
-"This CityBikes rider will not give up!"
-"He is clawing his way back"
-"Darren Biggs of DCMTB CityBikes has made contact with the leaders!"

the lap counter got screwed up so when it should have been 3 laps to go, it was the bell lap. I got kinda messed up there, cause I went into survival mode when I thought I had 3 more laps to go. At the last lap I eased up a bit, and the front guys battled for the win(with Chris beating Matt this week after Matt won last week's DC-DX),

luckily Ryan Bannon didn't catch me. Ryan would have been a hard man to beat, and he almost caught me and he crashed three times, while I had a pretty much solid race besides that one bobble. I had issues with my knee earlier in the week, but it didn't bother me race day so the question is do I continue to race? Also if Mabra counts cyclocross races as mass start races I could move up to CAT 4 for road if I do the rest of the races.



Here are a bunch of pics that I took of the Masters,CAT3/4, and Elite and Jon and Heather took of the Mens CAT 4 race.(Click on Slide Show to go to viewer)

DC-CX

The DC-CX was being put on for the first time this year, and we as a team did a really good Job. I think Matt, and Marc deserve allot of the credit. I think if we are invited back we will have an even better race next year. I started the weekend off by helping the team all day Saturday raking, marking, digging the Brick Walk (gwadzilla way). While I was doing this I found out that I would be racing the "B" race not the "C" race because we ran out of numbers and I was the sacrificial lamb. I was kinda bummed cause I wanted to be in the mix of the race, instead of fighting getting dropped. At the same time this was our race that we were putting on so I wasn't really worried about a good result. I was given a good call-up because I spent a while bringing home the Mabra trailer from the Hagerstown race.
I started really well I think I was in the top 10 for the first two laps.

As usual with cyclocross I started to lose my steam after those first two laps. I was riding with Chris Scott for a bit he even gave my butt a push to keep me going. Chris also had a goof up that cost me a couple seconds, where I did a trackstand waiting for people to get moving again.

No worries there I lost plenty of time on my own. As the race wore on I was falling back and back. Bruce started slow and then caught and passed me, I wish I would have riden with him maybe I would have done better. The course was fast and a lot of people liked it. I was proud of myself for how little I used my brakes, almost wrecked one time because of it. I think I only had one bad barrier jump, and I rode the course strong, but my season has been too long, and my knee got aggravated again(started with the IRON CROSS).

My goal was top half of the Mens B field, and to not get bottom third. I placed 19 out of 32 so I just made my not getting in the bottom third. I think cross racing is like when I race expert at the W@W not really what I train for so I end up not doing as well as when the races are longer (12-24 hour relays). Next year I will race Bs for the couple of cross races that I do, but next week I am going to Cs again at the Leesburg Cross race, which favors my power over speed. Well check out the pictures that Jon Janis from Note to Jon fame took of the Men's B Race in the slideshow below. I give some commentary as well. Click on any picture in the slideshow to see hi-res.

IRON CROSS V

All photos by Charles Armstrong

Darren Biggs DCMTB/City Bikes 51/205 overall 32/97 Men Under 40
Time 4:38:31

The Iron Cross………….. I had heard about this race about three years ago. The longest cyclocross race in America… Well to let you know it is not really a cyclocross race , but a race that is best ridden on a cross bike. The race is framed after the Three Peaks race in England which has been run for over thirty years. I believe the race was canceled this year cause of the scare of hoof and mouth disease. The big interesting thing was the 5 time winner Rob Jebb and podium placing countryman Stuart Bowers of the Three Peaks race in England came to the IronCross V to race the event. The Brits came not to play, but to smack it to the yanks! They got 1st and 3rd I believe.

I had talked to a bunch of people about this race, and last year I was about to do the race with Sid. Sid and I did not do the race, so I vowed to do it in 2007. I have had a long season. I have raced two or three times the amount I have ever raced in a year. So I wasn’t really looking forward to the IronCross, but I said I would do it so I did. I was able to talk Mark into doing the race, after he and I did the West Virginia Logger ride(on our cross bikes) in May
We did the the IC in one day so I had to get up at 4:50am!! We picked up Roger Massi on the way to the race, and he was a good traveling companion, with his knowledge of the race (he has done it 3-4 times) and general friendliness. We got to the start with plenty of time to spare. We got our stuff together, did our drop bags (will do mine better next year) and got ready for the start. The weather was chilly but fine. I wore toe warmers, a vest, arm warmers, and heavier long finger gloves. Mark wasn’t dressed as warm so I gave him my long finger gloves, and I put my lighter gloves in the drop bag.
Mark from my City Bikes team was there as well, so it was cool talking with him and lining up with him at the start. They start you down a gravel road, and I started with slower riders, which I will try not to do next year. The gun goes off and we start off going through the IC lite course that they did the day before. There is a spiral of death they call it in the course. Pretty funny, you basically go round and round for a long time, then over two barriers and you are off to the course.
My ride from what I remember:
So I start out passing a bunch of people, and am riding the road that goes to a walking trail, I am pushing myself but not too much, and I am loosing ground to a lot of people. We are going up this climb that goes a ways, I really pushed it up the climb to the KOM/QOM top with this Hagerstown guy Tim Lung on my back we get to the first trail section and he gets in front of me, but I basically would see him from time to time in front of me with him finishing 3 minutes ahead of me. The first single track I was loving my inline lever on the tops of the handle bar. My mountain biking skills were coming into play as I passed a lot of people in there. There was only one section that I bailed on doing, and I thought I would be faster if I didn’t crash. This went to another road section with some painful long rollers (this would be the case the whole day with the pavement sections). The fire road /trail to the run up I was able to get past several people on the climb with my low gear and power abilities. The run up is no joke! I stopped here and took off my vest/arm warmers. My back was hurting from pushing on the bike, so it was my back that hurt the most for the run up (next year more sit ups!) The run up is long and sucks the life out of you.

After the run up is CP2 (I was 42nd place at this point) where next year I will put a bag to leave extra clothes at. After this part you are doing ridgeline gravel roads and it is pretty scary at times cause you are going over 30mph on the downhills just praying that you don’t hit a pothole, or one of the rocks that has worked its way to the surface of the road. I finally get to CP3, by now I am passing every now and then. I was making time on people by catching them on the down hills, or on the longer climbs especially the trail climbs. At CP3 I was out of fuel, and liquids so I had to get a power bar and refill the camelback. The bad thing was I had to piss, that made me lose like seven spots, or all the people I passed. The next part was a hill that was a doosy! I was in my 34-32 going at times as slow as you can go in that gear. I passed everyone that passed me while I was pissing. One big motivator was passing Steve Wahl from Hagerstown bikes, he beat me at a cyclocross race 2 weeks prior. After the long climb there was a scary downhill that had some tight turns. The course marshalls let you know they were ahead so I took the downhill easy, which was the right move. At CP4 you take a right onto the funniest part of the course, basically double track/single track trail that is totally ridable on a cross bike. I was tired so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have normally. There was a short run up here, then a hill that I rode up very slowly, but passed three others walking. After this was a pavement downhill to the finish, but there three or four rollers that were just killing your legs that you had to get over before going through the Spiral of death again and then doing two barriers and done. Well no more long races for me this year!!

Some observations of the race:

* The race started really fast to me, I was expecting more of a SM100 kind of feel where people just went their own pace. Here people were trying to stay with people they were around or bridge up to others.


* The field was strong I think at least ¾ of the field were on teams, so most of the people racing the event were strong riders that were shooting for a good time, not to just finish.


* I had fretted over what tire/gears I should use for the event, but my bike worked perfect 38mm WTB interwolfs at 60psi with 50-34, 12-32 in the back. I am a spinner so next year I will go with an 11-34 in back.


* For next year I am going to make sure I do some fast road rides, cause I was not able to ride with people on the road, but was able to pass them on the big climbs.


* The course was a good mix of one really technical trail, easy trails, gravel road, and pavement.



* I think I was 24th place for the second part of the course compared to 43 for the first part of the course. So I think next year if I can improve on the first half and get a <4:30>




More Photos

IronCross-V-2007

First Fall Ride!

Fall has come finally, I did this ride before work at 7:30am. Was cold enough to wear the arm warmers and knee warmers. I wanted to ride the cross bike before doing the Iron Cross to check out my custom 12-32 cassette(a ultegra 12-27 with a 32 cog on it). I put 60 psi in the tires and really just road the bike hard though the Lake Accotink area and the Wakefield XC course. It really beat me up riding without any suspension, or the bigger tires that help deaden the bumps and vibrations. I was sore afterwards but felt good about the bike going into the Iron cross.

AVC Hagerstown Cross

This was the first cross race of the season for me and the only second cross race I have done. This was going to be a long day since I was picking up the race trailer with Kent’s Suburban. The weather was to get hot this weekend highs in the mid 80’s and humid, not really cross racing weather! There was a lot fog in the morning, with a good amount of dew on the grassy course when I did my pre-laps. The course wasn’t totally finished when I pre-road the course. I am very happy that I was able to pre-ride the course it helped me kinda get the feel of the course. I made one change to the tires I let some air out so I was running my WTB interwolfs at 38 lbs. They are a big 35mm tire so I thought I could that low without flatting. I raced the CAT 4 race which was allot bigger then I thought it would be. There was 55+ riders and almost no mt. bikes, boy has cross gotten big. Guys were riding the CAT 4 race with bling, bling carbon wheels and all.
At the start I got there kinda late so I wasn’t going to have the best position, but then the announce was like you can use the whole lane, not just the gravel road. Well we started off, and I was like in the top 6 at the first turn so I kept it going. I think after one lap I was in 3rd place. I got on to Matt’s wheel who rides for capital hill bikes I have ridden with him before so I know his ability. I am riding with him and I find out we are 1,2 so I was pretty stoked. We get on this fast downhill section, and his tire came flying off his wheel. So then I was in 1st place, this was short lived, I then started loosing ground to the other guys and was passed by several people. I then road in no man’s land for the rest of the race, and was able to pull off a 4th place. I was happy with the result considering it was my second cross race, and my pre-race predictions was to finish in the top 1/3 and my goal was a top 10 finish. The course was good in that it had a lot of turns and felt like really riding cross. I also liked that the hill on the course was very ridable compared to some courses where it is maybe ridable, so you have to choose to run or ride. I think the sandpit should have been longer to get the whole chugging though the sand or run through it. I ran the right amount of air pressure cause the tires hooked up well. I have at least 3 more cross races for the season will see how they turn out.

Hagerstown to the county and back

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

I then went and did a 35-40 mile road ride on the new road bike and that was good but the legs were kinda blown from the race. I got back in time to see most of the Men’s 1,2 race. I was able to support Marc and Chris from the team. It was cool to see Marc do really well, and actually pace himself and past some really fast guys that he doesn’t usually beat. I think Marc was thriving in the heat better then others. All the racers looked haggard, Marc seemed not to get slower as the race progressed, but kept a consistent pace. Marc ended up finishing in 10th place, that being 1st for the masters’ A class. Chris was hanging strong and gave me a couple of smiles so I think that he was at least enjoying himself out there. I think he was able to pass a couple of folks as well.