Extreme Momentum

After about 30 minutes on the trainer last Sunday, I remembered why I stopped using Pedro’s Ice Wax a few years ago.  I was out of Boeshield and Prolink, my normal bike lubes, and had some of the Pedro’s left over.  The chain looked great when I put it on and things ran well, but my chain got squeaky after about 30 minutes.  This same problem plagued me when I first tried it 3 years ago. Oh, well, I should have learned back then. Some wax based lubes work well, others don’t. Pedro’s Ice Wax claims to be good in dry conditions.  I’d say it will keep your chain looking like new, but won’t last more than a short ride. Try something else if you’re looking for a bike lube.

BTW, don’t get me wrong about Pedro’s products.  They make some great stuff and I highly recommend checking out some of their other lubes…just not the Ice Wax.

My cyclocross race today ended before it even started.  I was just about to start my warm-up, when I tested the brakes and noticed the front was really weak.  Huh?  I kept squeezing it and it snapped.  I checked the cable and it had come out of it’s anchor and frayed.  #@(*#(*@!!! I tried to cut the frayed cable, but none of the cutting apparatuses that other racers lent me worked.  With about 30 minutes before my start, I gave up and headed up to the course to watch.

I ran into one of my teammates, Mike Seguin, who had heard about my situation and just happened to have a spare straddle cable in his car.  Sweet!  We headed back down to the parking lot only to find that it wouldn’t fit my brakes.  Damn.  With 20 minutes to go, it wasn’t worth trying to jerry rig it together.  I headed home disgusted, but finsally realized what had caused the problem.  I had forgotten to release the brake cable when I clamped the front wheel in place on my bike rack.  Doh!

So, here’s a tip…if you have a bike rack that clamps between the front wheel and fork (like the Thule T2), don’t forget to release the cable on your cantilever brakes!

To fix the brake, I found some straddle wires online but I might just try a derailleur cable.  Since I didn’t race, I ended up getting a run in and a race simulation on the Computrainer.  I was happy to see my legs are back to form, but in a way that makes we wonder how well I would have done if my straddle cable not snapped.

One thing this season has taught me is that there are more than a few of us middled-aged folks whom never seem to have grown up. They tend to think the world revolves around them, they whine when they don’t get their way, and nothing is ever good enough for them.  Sound familiar? If you’ve got a four year-old at home, you probably get this behavior all of the time.  However, it’s a little ludicrous for a forty year-old to act this way.

I could devote a few paragraphs to BMW drivers, but I’ll focus on my fellow cyclists instead. The majority of us are relatively laid back, extremely competitive racers, who are mostly out to enjoy the sport. Note, the “majority” qualifier.  There seems to be a few that have the sportsmanship of that kid who loses the game for the team because he wants a home run, when they really need a bunt.

This season I’ve seen a few guys yell at tractors to get off the road during a TT (and you wonder why courses are disappearing), berrate other crit racers for not moving over so can get by on the outside (umm, it’s like pack racing, dude), scream at volunteers for not being able to stop traffic (they’re not cops), and complaining about not getting their $20 prize money before they leave (they’ve already loaded their $4500 bike into their BMW SUV ). The most ironic thing about this is that most of this behavior has come from 3-4 teams. I guess these types of people tend to attract each other.  Now, I know what teams NOT to join in the future.

What drives “grown ups” to do this?  Were they spoiled, overprotected, or molested as a child?  Who knows, but my guess is that psychiatrics have found many trends that lead to these types of personalities. I hate to blame people for who they are, but come on, you’re adults.  Start acting like one.

Thankfully, most of these guys aren’t THAT good.  They aren’t bad, but the best racers tend to be some of the coolest guys around.

So, to all you whining, immature racers, either grow up or find a new sport that would better fit your persona. Like golf.