So… Carl sends along this e-mail saying that he made the New York Times.
I was like, “What?”
Then I went to the NYT site and went…. “whoa”.
Click here for some awesomey goodness.
The whole set of photos is a hoot.
Oh… and here’s his SSWC Race Report:
——-
Friends, Countrymen:
Since A.Craig was in Beijing last weekend for some kind of sports festival thing, the hopes of a Nation would rest on my shoulders at one of the most (un)important events of 2008; the Single Speed World Championships(SSWC), held in Napa, California. This would be my fourth attempt at SSWD (SingleSpeedWorldDomination), and as it turns out, my most successful attempt to date.
Last week I left early and carpooled to Napa with the Web Cyclery 29′r SS Tandem duo of Henry and Amy. Friday morning was a group ride from Fairfax up into the trails near the fabled “repack” descent. I was excited to try out the Skidsteer on the trails. For those of you behind the times, the Skidsteer is the future: a coaster-brake only race bike. I reengineered a Shimano coaster brake, with a custom aluminum body with a bunch of integrated cooling fins, and a titanium axle, for good measure. Mike Olsen did all the machine work, and it came out beautifully. Stan at NoTubes.com built up a wheelset with his 287g rims and shipped them out express so I could toss them on my XTC hardtail in time for this trip. First riding impressions: having a naked handlebar with no levers of any kind looks really cool. And coaster brakes are dangerous. I hadn’t yet ridden a mile when I had a collossal crash because I accidentally braked. This would take some learning.
Highlight of the ride in Fairfax was hanging with the group on the fast, fun singletrack descents. At one point I was riding behind a fellow who kept glaring at me every time I’d lay down a big skid into a switchback. Since I was decked out in Giant team kit, he thought I should know better than to skid the crap out of their well maintained trail system (since skidding creates ruts and braking bumps and such). When we stopped for a break, the guy who was giving me the evil eye got a look at the Skidsteer and congratulated me instead of punching me in the sternum.
After a swim and some dinner, Henry, Amy and I rode our bikes across the Golden Gate bridge for some Urban Assault. I’d never ridden around S.F. before, and it was a treat. I caught a great picture of Team Tandemonium hitting the deck (litterally) down by the marina and we ended up sessioning Lombard street between carloads of enthusiastic Asian people. One Korean guy, after asking to have his picture taken with us, told me “You bike must have very good braker.” I couldn’t agree more.
On Saturday I pre-road the Championship course on the Skidsteer. The course was on the same trails as the Napa World Cup back in ‘98, but with dusty summer dirt instead of Spring World Cup soil. Very technical and loose and even scary on the cable-less steed. Nearly any soft place to crash was ablaze in bright red poison oak. An eyes wide shut experience. I was able to ride everything, but barely, and slowly. I decided that I would race with some good old-fashioned XTR disc brakes. Couldn’t really enjoy the company of Wicks and Brown during the race if I was gonna be lying on the ground dead.
Race day started out foggy and had me concerned, as my “race kit” consisted mostly of dental floss and good intentions. Fortunately the sun burned through and the weather was perfect. The Scottish contingent was suffocating from the heat. It was probably 79 degrees. After the usual LeMans style start, I was in maybe 50th place of the 400 racers. A little pedalling and cape crusading later, I was at the front with Barry and Mark Weir.
Photo by Carson Blume courtesy of the man in latex
Mark had a nice low gear and a 6″ travel bike. He was haulin’ ass. Weir led most of the race while B.Wicks and I were cheered on by the sizeable crowd, who were undeniably turned on by our dead sexy outfits. On the last lap I caught and dispatched Weir for the lead. At the top of the last descent, with an insurmountable gap, I stopped for a small sip of beer. With a half mile of flat gravel to go, I slapped Curtis, the race organizer on the bum as I lapped him. Curtis said “Good to see you guys” and I looked over my shoulder and saw Weir on my wheel. Cheeky bastard. At that point I had ridden 98% of the race in way too big of gear (34/16) and Weir had been picking daisies with his 32/18. So I pedaled away from the lycra-clad God Of Downieville, leaving him a view of my best parts and a fluttering cape.
After 30 minutes spent sipping beers and scrubbing my entire body with Tecnu poison oak remover, I headed to the Tatoo parlor with women’s winner Rachel Lloyd to receive my hard earned reward. I was almost disappointed to see that the tatoo was kinda small. Almost.
Photo by Carson Blume courtesy of Mr. Spank Pants himself
At last years event in Scotland, the Napa delegate won the distinguished honor of hosting SSWC08 by winning a stationary bike race/scotch drinking/jig dancing competion. Curtis Inglis and his merry-makers did a bang-up job of putting on this year’s race. Kudos to them. The host of next year’s race (as determined by bowling and Mrs PacMan omnium) is Durango Colorado. I’ll see you there.
