Start of the season

So finally got my first few races under my belt. Had a really great start to the season and although this is my first season of racing the results are already showing. I've been putting in a tremendous amount of work. Early mornings in the rain off to the gym or hours on the training trying to keep the boredom at bay has paid off. My first race I finished second overall and first in my category,19-29 years. This was a great boost to the start of the year but there and then I realized if I want to compete in the expert category I will need to put in some more effort and gain tons more experience. I started slower than expected and got stuck behind some of the younger guys going into the first single track. There my technical skills came in but I was held up until the next hill where I start making amends. The track was not that technical but really flowing and fast so I made it up to four by the end of the second lap. On the last lap I put in everything and finished just 30 seconds off the front.

This last Friday there was another race in the center of Israel near J-Town. So we made a weekend of it and headed to the center. Mirit's brother also joined in the fun and pipped me on the podium. I finished forth overall and again first in my category. So 100% category record is intact and actually feeling that at the current rate I may be racing in the expert section sooner rather than later. I will need to still get quite a bit of learning in because I'm sure I'm far from their level but I'm learning and enjoying every race, which is the most important thing.

Two things I've learnt from my first two races is that you need a fast start. Doesn't matter if you think you're pushing to hard you need to get to the first bottle neck before the slower guys. You'll find that you'll catch your breath some time during the race when you've found your pace. The second and probably more important is that once you've pushed hard to get to your position then click down a few notches and concentrate on enjoying the ride. I made the mistake in the last race of pushing hard to get my position but then continuing to push. I lost my concentration and came off on a slick corner. this probably cost me the race overall because my chain came off and all my momentum was lost.

24 Hours of Old Pueblo

Here's the race results I was able to get off Cyclingnews for the 24 hours of pain, madness and by the looks of the photo's absolute fun. there is a ton of photo's on the site and if I can find any more I will post the results. Kona Open Wheel Racing (Barry Wicks, Luke Brechwald, Chris Sneddon, Matthew Slaven) came in over the line first for the Men's Open Team with 21 laps. They were followed in with the same amount of laps by Tres Hueddos Y Un Coyote (Jason Quenzler, Damian Calvert, Marty Moriarty, Adam Hoppe) and taking the last spot on the podium was Rocinante (Chris Mears, Todd Cassan, Mark Gilbreath, Grant Folske). Well done to all. On the website is a full list of all the categories with lap times.

New Shimano

The new year is just over a month old and already we're getting waves of next years releases. According to CyclingNews Shimano's new lineup will see a few variations in there component offerings. Their current LX range will basically split into two now, one covering the touring side of riding and the other will be more concentrated on free-riding to cross country racing. This new line will be called SLX and from the pictures I've managed to see they look really stylish, we'll have to see performance of these new components later on in the year. Found some of the pictures of the customary Google search although there are some really great photo's here.

I was though more interested in their new hub technology which promises more stiffness and is apparently lighter than it's predecessor, 15% in torsion and 350g in weight to be precise. Fox has been the first to jump on the band wagon and from the looks of things it looks fantastic. May take some getting used to but Shimano have maintained that the system is similar to the current quick-release system so getting the hang of things will not take to long.

RedCarbon

What an awesome name!!! RedCarbon!! These will be beneath Julien Absalon this season in the hopes of taking him to even more victories. Last year he was riding. With Fulcrum’s Red Metal Zero Disc he and fellow Orbea Racing finished top of the podium on many an occasion. These are stronger and lighter so watch out Mr. Sauser. Checking out the Fulcrum website I did not even find the wheels there yet so these must be pretty new.

With eight few spokes overall, four in each wheel these have a lower weight with lower rotational mass. More speed? Should we not be adding weight to the World Champ? The wheel's are also asymmetrical, basically meaning that one side is a bit wider than the other. The rear rim is asymmetrical on the freewheel side to improve torque transmission, while the front wheel is asymmetrical on the disc side to improve wheel rigidity during the braking stage, thereby increasing the bike’s steerability. Coming in at under 1500g these are going to be quick, not sure though if I would be tempted with a set of these because of the fear of cracking something. Probably make an excellent wall decoration though.

Other sites with reviews and sources of info:

Bike Radar
Bike Mag

Which rider are you??

One of my favorite blogs has to be Bike Snob NYC, the name says it all. This time he summarizes in his particular style as to the types of cyclist putting the rubber down.

Just imagine

Saw this pick on the Cyclo-cross worlds. What I wouldn't do to come home at night, open the garage door and see a wall full and beautiful as this. All those choices, but I guess thats what it takes to be a world champion.

Hope Moto V2 Disc Brakes

This blog is more aimed at the cross-country moutain biking side of riding but when some interesting comes along that may have some potential I ask myself, why not post about our rock hopping mad cousins. So whats this post all about,the brand spanking new Hope Moto V2 Disc Brakes, unless the headline didn't make that obvious. Why do you ask have I decided to post about a brake designed for our downhill brethren? Well they decided to use a technology long awaited by the cycling community and more used in the motorized cousins, vented rotors. What does this all mean? Well because there are two blades they allow the air to flow between them thus dissipating heat at a higher rate. Thus equaling better braking. Dyno tests show a difference in temperature of 15% between a standard floating rotor and a ventilated floating rotor. The weight of these finned beauties in a bit high and more suited to freeriding and downhilling but I hope to see these work their way into the cross-country mountain bike scene sooner rather than later. Singletrack has also run an article on this so go check it out.