Fixed in Six

The latest in aero tech wheels

Boo-tay

Cornbread trying to fight through a fresh six inches

The calm before the storm

Submission Hold

Fixed Gear Project - 1, Snob - 0

I am unofficially the worst mechanic ever, and that's only because I've never been certified.

Several months ago I had planned a day to convert last year's race machine to a fixie. Life intervened and the project sat, until last night. Optimism ruled the afternoon and I set up in the new downstairs to take a crack at the conversion.

An hour and a half later, I could still not get the powerlink to release off of my chain. How a person can be embarrassed while alone in a basement may be a mystery to some, but there I was, red-faced and pissed.

Jeff stopped by and had it off in 5 seconds.

I then triple checked my needed chain length, only to make it one link too short and that was it. Hands were thrown up. F-Bombs were dropped and I marched back up the stairs. Nothing has been touched since then.

When I was young, I nearly drowned while taking swim lessons at the Y. Apparently, I had snuck behind the instructor and was mocking and miming her. When she jumped in the pool, so did I and I sat on the bottom for a long time before someone noticed and pulled me up. Swimming was for the birds after that.

Post college, I decided I needed to move somewhere to learn to surf and therefore needed to learn to swim. I paid for a Y membership and went to the open swim everyday for weeks. I would grab a lane against the wall, rudely sometimes and paddle like some drunken carnie in a dunk tank until I would panic and grab the wall, then compose myself and go again. This debacle went on until I learned to swim.

I am sure this project will be the same way. The only difference so far is that I actually asked for help. I am sure there are people at the Lafayette YMCA still pissed off at the lane hog who can't swim.

Spin

Recently, Jeff, Corey, Butch and I were sitting at Yia Yia's and talking about Chris Eatough, Craig Gordon and last year's 24hr "Worlds." (In fact, Butch even blogged about it.)

At one point, we started talking about the film "24 Solo" and how it would portray the Gordon's victory. The skeptics (Jeff and I) commented that we felt the spin would be "this is what it takes to beat Eatough." It's a truth that can be embellished to make second place almost look more noble and Gordon a bit more insane. A snippet from the updated trailer is Gordon in the hospital commenting about how he couldn't pull away from Chris.

That's not to take anything away from either guy. It's more of a comment on what happens when you stand behind the view finder and the perspective you take with you when you get there. (including the knowledge of who is paying for the film.)

I am really looking forward to the film. It would be interesting to take someone who doesn't race endurance races or someone who doesn't competitively cycle. After all, I was called (as I am sure many of you were) a lunatic for riding to work in negative temps this week. What would a "non-racer" think of Gordan's win and how will the presentation affect their conclusions regarding 24hr racing, not to mention Eatough and Gordon?

How's that for thinking too much?

Team Over-Analysis signing off.

Simple is Never Simple Enough

Simplify. We spent the weekend finalizing the move to the new Casa de Cronin over the weekend. I thought we kept things fairly minimal but clearly we do not. After three trips to the city mission for donations and a call to the trash man regarding our endless bags of crap, I felt ridiculous. It was good to purge, but still an example of how many "things" you can accumulate for no reason.

I also missed three days of riding, which just fades my mood even further. Back tomorrow with a vengence. I have a flying Canadian on my tail.

"i want to be stereotyped
i want to be classified
i want to be a clone
i want a suburban home
suburban home
suburban home
suburban home
i want to be a statistic
i want to be masochistic
i want to be a clone
i want a suburban home
suburban home
suburban home
suburban home
i don't want no dead beat pad
i want a house just like mom and dad"

Reeking of Genius

DeviantArt.com

By Kris Wilson.

Slow and Low...

... that is the tempo.

Perhaps it's due to starting out my day by riding to the shop and taking the long route with the wind chill at -7 or perhaps it's because it's Friday or better still, maybe it's just me, but I have been a half step behind all day.

Case in point. I see on the TransIowa page that Jesse is listed in the Open class. So, as I am emailing with him about the new BKB kits, I ask why he's running gears and it takes a bit of back and forth for me to catch on that he's still rolling one gear. He simply signed on for open. "Why segregate?" Why indeed.
----
Donations are something I take pretty seriously, though I try to keep it somewhat personal or community oriented when possible. Something stuck me today. A comparison. For me, it's a polar opposite, but I know you could argue differently.

One man failed a drug test, has a large contract but would like assistance. It's impossible to know the truth. I won't pretend to or hazard a guess. But, I will not donate. Floyd.

The other qualifies for CX Worlds. Is likely racing on a small contract and a love of the sport. His governing body isn't footing the bill to get him there so he'd like a little help. To me, this is meaningful. I'm in. Tristan.

That probably should have been two posts. See? Slow.

IF Redux

It's about that time.

Fix Me

On Sunday, Corey felt that my booties were due to be replaced. You be the judge. (I wonder why I get accused of wearing gear into the ground?)

In case you're wondering about the Post Title, Yes, I have been listening to Black Flag.

Hand Me That Axe

I sent my registration in for the Lumberjack today. I love that area of Michigan and am really looking forward to racing there. We have stayed in Onekama, which is just a half hour north of Manistee, for a week nearly every year for 10 years. I've always ridden solo and certainly never raced.

I'm feeling optimistic about 07 and it's off to a great start. A lot of good people are already going to Ouachita and my prediction is TransIowa sees weather just brutal enough for a handful of finishers and more epic stories than you can read safely at work.

I am thinking about adding another 24hr race to the schedule, but am unsure of which one. Suggestions?

The only thing I am not feeling good about right now is the Ohio State Buckeyes. Come On, Godfrey!!! WTF?

Assorted Sidebar: The Snob says Screw the BCS. Boise State should be National Champs.

Six Hours of Wind

Started the day at 6am with Mr. Avey. We started out on gravel but the wind and cold pushed us back toward town where we did a little dance with several patches of black ice before heading back. 8am Jeff rolls to a Triathlon clinic and I meet Corey, Wills and MG for windly gravel love out to Brached Oak and back. Corey and I ended the day at Meadowlark for a coffee just as Marc and the Lincoln Plating crew headed out for a ride. We laughed at the fact that it looked like we would be joining them when we had already been out for six and four hours respectively. That's actually not a bad plan as the Sunday rides get even longer.

Good day. Six hours in saddle. Dog tired. Sleep required. Hopefully a good night's sleep will also equal a descent post.

Beholder

"Sugar, he's going down swinging"

My construction avoidance commute takes me by a new coffee shop called the "Tin Cup." Several weeks ago I had noticed a lovely Vanilla frame outside its doors. Today I paid more attention and noticed they have bikes hanging from the ceiling inside. Any locals been inside this place or know its story? Seems like it might be a good place to grab an espresso.

Speaking of Vanilla, Molly Cameron is currently in Europe racing cross against the Belgium elite. His posts are good reads if you have the time to visit (and since you're bored enough to be here, I know you do.)

Editorial Note: I can't read, apparently. The coffee shop is called simply, "The Cup."

High and Dry

The holidays are over and I couldn't be happier about it. Some people like the change of pace the holidays bring, but I like my humdrum life and am happy to get back to it.

I did take my mtb to Indiana over the holidays. 50s and 60s. Wool Jersey. No cars but a lot of free-ranging dogs. One little mutt followed me for over 5 miles. I kept waiting for him to hit that unknown turnaround point all dogs seem to find, but I don't think the little man had one. He had worked up a good lather and his short legs had problems keeping up on the downhills, but he hammered back on when things flattened out. I thought he would make it the entire distance back to my brother-in-laws. Unfortunately for the little guy, we encountered a pack of six dogs laying in the middle of a gravel section and the game was up. I hope the pup had left something in the gas tank because the pack followed him into the woods when he scampered off.

Paddy says June in Manitoba is beautiful.

... And to All a Good Night

Early to Rise

Early to a Rockstar energy drink.

Killed some time on the bike with Mr. Avey this morning. As usual, the conversation excelled and spawned the Swiss Army Knife comment, "Just read a Kafka novel and shut the fuck up." That one's got multiple uses, (at least in the mock arguments I invent in my mind.)

In less surly news, it's fun reading how many Friends of Snobbery seem to have some product behind them this year, even if the news has only been hinted at so far. Congrats everyone.

Finalized my shopping for Mrs. Snob yesterday and the last store I entered was playing the Pixies instead a Christmas music. I had to thank them warmly before I left, but they said people had actually been complaining about it five minutes earlier.

How can you not love shopping to the music of the band who gave you SurferRosa?

Ikea Home Nesting Instinct

I am a victim, but not of the Ikea type.

Spent most of the evening trying to get the new house organized. Funny how that started with organizing cycling clothing, gear, and trying to decide if the shop is in the basement or the garage. (Basement won after little thought.)

Gary Salutes the BKB.

Dan Jansen Reviews beer (per Joe.)

2007 Year of the Beer

Two down. TransIowa and Ouachita are booked and confirmed for 2007. Friends, Bloggers, countrymen also seem to be confirming left and right. I've said it before and I will say it again. 2007 is the year of post-race smiles and tilting a few back with friends. Gnawing of teeth and grinding of flesh to be followed by laughs and tales of divergent paths.

I'm not excited yet, but I am smiling.

I Heart Headwinds

Just under five hours of ride time.

Welcome to Elmwood, NE.

We're All In

Per G-Ted on the TI blog:

"... we wanted to err to the side of having the lottery than not, but........it looks as though we do not have to have the lottery! Yes, that means you all got in. We are still processesing the roster info at this time and we will have it posted up as soon as we possibly can. Stay tuned and congratulations."

Game On.

Trick Question

Perhaps by winning the lottery?

I sent only one postcard. Mistake? We shall see.

Paddy says if his name is pulled, he's coming. Can you win your own preem? If so, I suspect he'll share.

CreepyFriendly sent a card. MW sent something early. (I never know what blog to link to with MW.)

Who else has applied? Anyone else just through out one card?

Knowing my luck, there are 101 cards and I am the runt dalmation who'll get left at the side of the road.

Tagged.

I was wondering if this would work its way to me and Syd has apparently taken care of it. Six interesting things about the Snob that most people don't know (but yet I am willing to blog about.)

1. One of my degrees is in Creative Writing, but while I often think of things to write about, I rarely write. For a short period of time, I sent submissions to McSweeney's. After getting a few efforts to their "Open Letters" section glowingly reviewed but rejected, I sent a submission to the "Letters" section and they took it and only made one major edit. (If you do a find on page for 'Cronin,' you can see it.) I haven't submitted anything else anywhere since.

2. I suffer from a ridiculous duality of both not caring what people think and occassionally taking things far to personally, even if it's pointless. For example, if someone were to say behind my back, "Don't talk to him. He's the enemy." You will have likely just earned yourself an enemy who's happy to assume that role for you, even if I don't really know you in the first place and you may have been joking anyway.

3. I am adopted and my biological mother is currently in an aslyum.

4. The two fictional movie characters I identify with most are both played by Matt Damon, which creeps me out a little.

5. I am a hypocrite when it comes to forgiveness. I believe that most people lack the strength to truly forgive and I have a hard time forgiving them for that.

6. When I lived in Chicago, I would occassionally hustle people on DePaul's campus by playing them in basketball for money. One of the standout lines from those days was some guy on the sidelines yelling out, "He Dan Marjele'd (sp?) that MotherFucker!! He Dan Marjele'd that MotherFucker!!" after a little 5'9" white kid went up over a much taller guy for the score and game ender.

There are lots of people I would love to know more about, but I am not going to tag them. The way this is going, it will happen anyway.

Large Ass Tree

This is the large tree in the family Snob's new front yard.
The weekend's stats look something like this:
Hours on Bike: 7
Boxes Moved: Not Enough.
Projects Found: Too Many

"Hell No, I'm Not Stopping" - Endurance Cyclist of the Year

Craig Gordon - Wrecked himself at "Worlds" to bring down the reigning king, Mr. Chris Eatough.

Mark Hendershot - To quote Joe P yet again, "old, bold, lewd and tattooed."

Dave Harris - Killed it at the KTR. Got folks riled up regarding 26 vs. 29. Check out his 2006 Visualized.

Nat Ross - If he's in it, he's in the top five. His CyclingNews journal tells the story.

Harlan Price - Won the National Ultra Endurace Series. 20th at the Ruta. Rocks the IF and hangs with Elk.

Matt Wills - Never met a long ride he didn't like. Kanza finisher. G-Ted Death Ride aristocrat. Local Ruler.

Lynda Wallenfels - My recommendation is to visit Lynda's blog and look down the left side. You'll notice a lot of this: 1st, 1st, 1st....

Rich Dillen - Viking on parade. TR SS. "Worlds" Victory. Nominations in every category.

Engima Code One-Eight-Seven

I've been mildly obsessed lately with finding artwork for the new crib. What you see on the right in the one item I have already picked up. I am considering trying to get in touch with AOMIII or Steve Smith. I've got the perfect wall to try to fill in.

Rode for just short of four hours today. I believe when I left the windchill was sitting around 20, but aside from my feet, I felt good. Saw PC early in the ride and KW near the end. Perfect timing. One made me happy to be out and the other motivated to finish thiings up as planned. Now, if I can actually get to sleep at night things will be golden.

One pixellated Paddy post-card has hit the mail. I haven't felt very clever lately.

"You Can Feel Anything You Wanna Feel...

... And call it real."

Everything falls under the category of "in-process." New house, restructured gig, and trying to prepare for 07 in 06.

So, of course, the best way to mull things over is to stay up very late, listening to Sebadoh, Firehose, and Iggy & the Stooges.

There's also sitting on a trainer and discovering your left leg has arguably the worst pedal stroke on the planet.

"I can't complain though I racked up in chains. I can't complain."

Brillant, eh?

The Genius of Jeff and Mark is apparent yet again. MW, can I get a leadout? Send your Postcards to the Edge by the 15th.

How about Founder's Ale at the halfway point for Joe?

"Take the Damn Thing Already" - Photo of the Year

Blogger made me work for it, but here are the photos chosen for 'Photo of the Year.'

A.

B.

C.

"Take the Damn Thing Already" - Photo of the Year (Cont.)

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

J.

Mrs Snob Said...

"I saw a black Christmas tree and thought of you."

Still Not Warm

How's this for a rookie mistake?

I went out intending to log a bit over 3hrs at a nice snail-like pace. It would help if I would have checked the weather. A brisk 50 degree temp dropped to 40 in an hour and I was completely unprepared. Add a northwind with a little pace to it and I was hurting. My hands and feet were going numb and I had that wonderful feeling in my chest you get when the cold cuts right through your clothes and attacks your core.

Complete and utter genius. It's only five days until December. Why should it be cold?

"One Fucking Gear" - Single Speeder of the Year

Dave Nice. Proved you cannot keep a good man down. Stolen gear during the the GDR and just keep riding and smiling.

Dan Jansen. Rocked the SS category in the Ultra 100 Series and famously hit 30+ no handed on the SS. (into a headwind, uphill both ways).

Jesse LaLonde. Graves Disease? Fuck it. He came strong anyway. Stars and Bars of the team variety at 9Mile. Super Fan for his bros. (and I didn't even mention the BKB.)

Your Mom. Face it. She rocked that Schwinn in her day.

Rich Dillen. "Worlds" Victory. TransRockies on just One. Great Ultra100 results. Manly yes, but I like him too. Will he unleash his Karl Rove (I am sure that's too harsh) tactics to win the Blogger election away from Danielle? It worked for Race Face TR vote.

Paddy Humenny. The only Canadian on the list (I think) and he wants to move. I guess Dallas is a shoe-in for the Canadian prize next year. Keeps killing his blog, but have you ever noticed the number of positive comments he throws out to people? Solid.

Mark LaLonde. The Darkness. A is for Action. Marko is just a mother fuckin' badass. You'd latch on to his wheel, but you can't. Stars and Bars. Results for 06 you wish you had.

Matt Wills. Long rides, short rides, you name it he brings it and makes it fun. Committed to Rigid? Check. Rocking the pink SS? Check. One of Lincoln's Finest.

CX Sunday

Strange day today. The long road start put the three one gears at or near the back from the start so it was ketchup. Had a blast though and that's the beauty of cross. Mix it up. Both days were of the "lose ground on the road and gain it back off" variety. It's not like I am contending for anything so I just tried to peg it as hard as I could, ride smoothly and see what happened.

Flew the BKB kit today. Went Balls Deep. It's all good.

Nebraska Cross Saturday

And so it begins...



Where is everyone? (Jackie Robinson's Number!!)

If there were audio for this moment, you would hear me yelling gibberish.


Horns? YES!


MOD, what's up with that foot?

The Money Tree

See, it does grow on trees.


MOD is getting paid.



Coaching Lesson Number One
"I say Gents. Good Show!!"

"Shut up and Type" - Blogger of the Year

Read this in your best starlet voice: "The Nominations for 'Blogger of the Year ' are:

Eddie O'dea. He probably deserves my vote since he put his hand in the middle of my back to get me going at 9 Mile when I blew all of my speed coming into that gravel climb.

FatMarc. Funny. Self-Deprecating. Fast.

Danielle Musto. To quote Joe: "Funny, lots of good stories and pictures, and she wins the overall from time to time at endurance events."

Paddy Humenny. Killed his blog just in time for the awards. How appropriate.

Endurosnob. That guy's an asshole.

Jason Sager. If getting completely screwed over by USA Cycling wins you this. He should win in a landslide. He's also hysterical.

CVO - Lincoln's Founding Blog Father. As Cornbread said, the most influential man in Nebraska Cycling. (He's also cool as hell.)

Guitar Ted. Sheldon Brown of the Midwest. If Jeff Kerkove is Mr.24, Mark may be Mr.29.

Jesse LaLonde. Creepy Friendly. Single Speed Nazi. Founder of the BKB. Rockstar.

Rich Dillen. Could this be the beginning of a Bad Idea Racing awards sweep?

Let the voting begin.

The Future of Fun

I just stole that title off of 'Today on MSN," so how weak am I?

Planning to remove the Cheddar and be betta in 2007? Marc's starting a little service to assist. Where are the F-bombs? Maybe that comes during the rides with your coach.

Speaking of Wild MOFO's, Sam's was scheduled to get the wrist checked today. Ah, the itch of deadskin.

Paddy's blog is dead again. What's new?

Got an out-of-the-blue email from an old friend today. We worked together at the Bicycle Garage of Indianapolis and had some good times together, including qualifying for the USARA 24hr National Championships in his first race. Now the man works for Giant, based on his email address, and somehow "caught rumor of this blog the other day called endurosnob and I knew it could only be one person." Is that bad or good?

It is nice to know that this thing has at least one practical use. Good to hear from you, Scott.

Voting starts tomorrow. No Diabold. No Ernst & Young.

I do have a Sharpie and I am not afraid to use it.

Crash

Word on the street is that the blog is crashing people's browsers. Sorry folks. MonkeyGirl is on the case though, so hopefully it gets sorted out quickly.

Thanks to the folks who nominated for the Awards. We'll kick off the voting next week along with some ridiculous crap I made up on my own.

The Endurosnob Awards 2007

Some of you may remember that last year I asked the question, "How About Endurance Cyclist of the Year." It turned out to be a battle of communities between the Kerkove Army and friends of Dejay Birtch. In the end, Dejay walked away with the popular vote.

Let's roll the dice again (after all, today is election day) and add a couple of categories.

Category One: Endurance Cyclist of the Year.

Category Two: Single Speeder of the Year.

Category Three: Photo of the Year (Relating to the above two categories. I have my own porn.)

Category Four: Blogger of the Year.

Here's how we'll work it. Put your nominations into the comments to this post or send your photos my way. (Email is in my profile.) After a week, I will take your nominations and put the categories up to a vote in separate posts.

This was pretty fun last year and people had the right spirit, giving people props, so let's keep it rolling this year.
------
Let me get the ball rolling. (I'm saving the photo for when I send them all out.):

Endurance Cyclist of the Year: Rich Dillen. (Yes, he's a great choice elsewhere too.)

Single Speeder of the Year: Dan Jansen. (I struggled with this one.)

Blogger of the Year: Creepy Friendly. (I could probably be arrested for stalking his site.)

I also wanted to put all of the guys as Single Speeder of the Year, so much respect to all.

Clarification: A few people have emailed asking if you can nominate in only one category. The answer is absolutely. Various levels of geekdom are welcome.

Hand-Ups in Hell

Interested? See CreepyFriendly for the goods.

Season in a Spreadsheet

2007 has been on my mind a lot this week. So, with a spreadsheet pulled up and time to surf around the web-r-net, I came up with the following loose schedule:

March: Ouachita Challenge. IMBA Epic trail. Good reports from Squirrel and Mr. 24. What else is there to do in March?
April: TransIowa. This may be the last go at this one for me. The Arizona Trail is the current Devil on my Shoulder.
May: Dirty Kanza. Still bummed I missed 06.
June: Lumberjack 100. Big M and a big mug of Founder's Ale?
July: 9 Mile. 19hrs really wasn't enough.
August: Endurance 100. Not sold on this one, but August was looking a little bleak.
September: Mohican 100. Which would mean I am one race away from qualifying for the Ultra Endurance Series. Not sure what to do about the 4th race though.

Feel free to yell "pull" and shoot holes in this. I'd love the feedback.
------
Props out to the rockers who killed dreams at the Iceman this weekend. Jesse grabbed Fifth rocking the Rig. Marko hit 12th. Joe grabbed 13th in SS with big wheels and his friend Dan Jansen grabbed 7th in the Pro Cat. without a der. The good Dr. Cale also came in strong in the 50-54 group. (Now we just need to get him on the SS.)

Inspired By...

The Bouncing Souls

Penta-Pumpkin

After flying a black flag in front of my house for two months, this won't phase any of my neighbors.






Honorable Mention: Mohawk's creation from two years ago. Still works.

"The Joke's Over" by Ralph Steadman

Even if you don't know the name, you probably recognize the artistic style. Ralph Steadman has just released a memoir which covers in large part his friendship with Hunter S. Thompson. Forward by Kurt Vonnegut. Not too shabby.
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TransRockies Registration opens November 1st. I'm not sure how quickly the race fills up but if anyone is interested, let me know.

Business Tripping

Just returned from a business trip to Mini-apple-less. Yippee. In the middle of presentations I found myself thinking about...

eating healthier... could I actually do the vegan thing...
training for cross... is it too late to really make a difference...
9 Mile... better than sixth...
TranRockies... who'd be a good partner...
Is the air dead in this room?...

What I didn't know going in was that Laura Bush was speaking at the hotel we were staying at. The morning she spoke there were cops all over, the place was tapped off and I was looking around for a dead body. It was just Laura Bush.

I am not a fan.