Inner peace behind bars.

I'm a sucker for a good two minute piece on Vimeo. Maybe that's because my brain can only stay focused for that long? 

It takes a business owner a few years of working for free as the sole employee of the shop; wrenching, selling, leading group rides. (If you have friends willing to help for free, that's a bonus too.) Don't forget cleaning the bathroom! All of this needs to be done before the IBD should consider hiring its first full time employee. I call this organically growing the business.

Yes there are instances when a business can prove this process wrong. Most of the time, the independent bicycle retailer who toils for their first few years with very lean overhead, maintains focus on community outreach to other cyclists through events and group rides-- ends up paying their bills on time with their bike companies and 'growing their tribe' faster than those who unlock the front door and just flip over the Open sign. I've found that this is the formula for a sustainable business-- the 3Cs.

Speaking of organic growth and nailing it with community outreach, the guys in Raleigh, North Carolina-- Oak City Cycling Project have put together my favorite shop video of 2013.



If you're in the central NC region, hit them up either late on Wednesday nights or during First Night Fridays. You will find a cold beverage and good discussion is waiting there for you.

Sit down and shut up.

Like a well worn pair of comfortable jeans, I installed this Selle Italia Flight saddle on the Bianchi Cavaria 'cross bike last season. This saddle was knocking around in the bottom of my tool box since the dismantling of my Voodoo Bokor (last of the US made ones) and once I realized that a Fizik Arione saddle is a poor choice of a saddle on a cx bike, this seat stepped up to bat.

Do the math. Started using this saddle back in '99 on the Voodoo. It's 2013. The plastic is bound to get a bit brittle and maybe weakened by sloppy remounts by my 6'5" self. DCCX was the end of the road for this saddle. I finished the last two laps with the broken saddle. RIP of friend.

2013 Nittany Lion Cyclocross Race recap Saturday.

This past weekend marked the first #cyclocross race of the season for me. I approached this event as a 'learner' as in getting back into the swing of #cx racing, the bumping of bars, and the demand on my anaerobic threshold. Best of all, seeing some old faces I've missed since last season.

This race was new to me as well. I've never raced at Nittany CX, I moved up a category and now have an extra lap to do versus the previous two seasons of cyclocross racing at one lap less.

Against tradition of installing new gear on the race bike before a race, I installed a new set of Clement LAS clinchers. With a liberal dose of baby powder on the inside tire casing and on tubes, I used the evening before the race as a shakedown run at the local park just to test the corning limits of the tires. Let me just say this, if you've never run file tread tires on dry days, I highly recommend you give them a try. The grip angle is amazing and for the race I ran 26 psi front and 28 psi rear while using the HED Ardennes LT wheels. Such a wonderful ride, I'm extremely happy with this wheel set up.

The first lap had a very hectic start across a gravel section of road into a hairpin left turn, the group was very bunched until we made it into the NW part of the course where the group thinned out a bit. Unfortunately I was gassed bad enough that I mis-timed clipping out for the barriers and slammed into the first one, taking a dirt nap, lost a few spots, the bike was fine and I shook it off and charged the rest of the lap.

There were only a handful of people who passed me so it was a case of riding within myself the rest of the race, dissecting parts of the course and working on taking them as quick and efficient as possible. After all, cyclocross racing is about finishing with the least amount of mistakes made.

Why is that you say? Considering my/ your heart rate is at 173 bpm the full 50 minutes of the race, it's easy to have your body become disconnected from your brain. When that happens, corners sneak up on you too quick, remounts become sloppy instead of fluid and jumping out of a corner under hard acceleration is trumped by the guy behind you because he hears you feather your brakes into the corner that he's since trusted his tires to gripping and leaving the brakes alone; getting a half a bike length of a jump on you.

I'd have to say having the extra lap this year or at least this race allowed me to settle into a rhythm. Next race will be Cross Vegas 2013 and the end of the month marks the first of the #mabrasuper8cxseries at Winchester AppleCross. I'm looking forward to hearing the MC'ing skills of InThe Crosshairs at that one!

Best of legs to all the guys and gals in the Mid-Atlantic, looking forward to cheering you on from behind the tape when my laps are over!

It takes a clinic to build a village.

JGMCX clinic. spotted- 2007 Bianchi Roger, possibly the first production SS cx disc bike in the US?

The beginning of August was kicked off with the Jonathan Gantz Memorial Cyclocross Clinic, located in lower York County, Pennsylvania. 

About 50 local and some far, cyclocross fans, racers, and those curious about the sport assembled at Spring Valley Park to start brushing up on their 'cross skills; hear some wisdom get dropped by Wes and Jake of the Haymarket bike race team and reconnect with cycling friends who only pop their head out of the ground this time of the year. 

Food and refreshments were provided by the York Area Mountain Bike Association so a big thanks goes out to them and Sean Durgin who manned the griddle, serving up pancakes to the attending cyclists.  Sean, or Skip as he's better know as in the area, and I go way back to 1990. He was a classmate back then and took me mountain biking for the first time.  Or at least he was on a mountain bike and I was still riding a bmx bike, but not for long.  That summer I traded my old road bike for a mountain bike and shredded the trails at Rocky Ridge all that summer. 

Clinics are popping up all over the US and what cyclists are understanding is that cultivating a cycling community is important to the health and growth of local cycling. And if you can attract junior cyclocross riders as well, that's the future of the sport right there!  Hosting a clinic with your local bike club will create new friendships, introduce recreational riders to area racers and hopefully breakdown any elitist-preconceived notions the weekend riders might have against those who pin on a number every weekend.  That being said, out of all the bike racers I know, the mountain bike and CX racers are the nicest, most approachable people in my directory.  That's an observation, not a criticism. 

Sean Mealey of Keystone Velo Racing did most of the organizing for this second year event which meant the full cx course would be a blast to ride. The drills we worked on covered the basic dismount, remount, dismount to stair run-up, starts/sprints, and then the team relay. A little bit of chasing each other, over cooking a few turns, and taking random dirt naps keep everyone laughing and enjoying themselves.

Big thanks again to Mealey and KVR, YAMBA, Nuts About Granola, Haymarket Bicycle Shop and Broken Spoke Photography who captured this fine day with the best lens in the county! 

I can't wait for next year!

Building up the cyclocross bike for another season.

It's about that time.

Time to pull up the cx frame from the basement, wash it, wax it and start hanging some bits on the frame. 

Now all that's left is a build kit for the season. 

#bianchibicycles San Remo, early gen cx bikes.

The first half of this week was a bit of a surprise to me with regards to rare bike sightings. In a matter of 48 hours, I bumped into two San Remo bicycles.

The first one was at Capital Hill Bikes and is owned by one of the shop guys. Mostly stock parts, Campy Mirage, different wheels.

The next San Remo belongs to Oak City Cycling Project owner, Ken Metzger. He's up the ante with a fresh build of Campagnolo Athena. Respect.

Bianchi Zurigo Apex- another multitool for your garage.

As many of you know by now, the US is mid-way through its cyclocross race season so here's a bit of what's in our que for you, this time of the year.

Racers typically do not buy bikes from shops at full retail but it goes without mentioning that participation numbers for 'cross racing show steady growth every year to the point of the past 2 years, our largest CX race in DC has nabbed 800 registered 'cross racers for its DCCX event. That's big and worth saying that the spill over of interest for cyclocross bikes in the DE, VA, MD states has caused surrounding bike shops to stock a few 'cross bikes every season (late summer/ early fall).

Consumers like options and our Zurigo cyclocross bike gives the consumer many to choose from. The primary option is a bike that can be raced at cyclocross races. Second is a multi-surface bicycle that the cyclist can take on pavement, gravel, or dirt roads spanning farm lanes or the State Game Lands of the Mid-Atlantic. Additionally the Zurigo can be used to tackle the Monday through Friday workday commute when equipped with rack(s) and proper safety lighting.



Bianchi uses a high grade, hydroformed aluminum tubing on the Zurigo. By hydroforming the tubes, you can stiffen the front and bottom end of the frame while keeping the seat stays compliant during hard efforts while pedaling across a choppy grass cyclocross course. This process is important when you're striving to create a frame with track bike acceleration and crit bike cornering.




Keystone Velo Racing- 2011 Rockburn CX / Mealey barriers. from stickboybike on Vimeo.
Speaking of cornering, the head tube of the Zurigo is about 10-15mm shorter than many 'cross bikes from other brands. Bianchi realized years ago they needed to lower the headtube height, since the 'cross fork bottom bearing sits about 15mm higher than a road bike fork. To maintain quick handling, you need to compensate for that lift with a shorter headtube. A lower height when using a minimal amount of stem spacers allows the rider to have about a 60/40 versus 70/30, rear to front weight distribution. A bit more weight bias on the front wheel will make the bike corner faster, requiring less rider movement along the saddle to shove the front wheel through a corner or stick to an off camber section of the race course.

Another component of cornering on the Zurigo is it's bottom bracket drop. The drop dimension is higher than Bianchi's carbon and aluminum road bikes by 3mm yet lower than the leading Euro brand in the industry. Not starting too high with the drop is important as the 32c tire casing provides a couple millimeters of lift, reducing the drop dimension. Too short of a drop, and the bike's center of gravity sits high and is compromised when you carve off cambered section on the 'cross course. Our drop of 65mm is still high enough that I haven't had a problem pedaling corners using a 175mm crank length. 

2011 Tacchino CX- MARBRA Super 8 race #2

With a 46t/36t chainring combination, 11-32t cassette and a SRAM Apex groupset, you have a wide gear range on the Zurigo for on-road and off-road riding. If you install a set of slick tires on the Zurigo, like the 28c Clement Strada LLG, you now have a pavement bike for the guy who weighs 235lbs. Many road bike frames will not allow clearance for a 28c tire where as a 'cross bike generally comes stock with a 32c tire and can fit up to a 38c in many cases. The ability to use various tread styles and tires sizes on the Zurigo opens up the possibilities for a bike where you can embark on local road rides, explore cycling on State Game Land fire roads (PA has about 1.2 million acres that are SGL); almost anywhere you want to point the front wheel. 

The top tube of the Zurigo is nearly horizontal and flattened underneath. This facilitates easy pass through of the 'cross racer's elbow when grabbing the downtube for shouldering a run-up.

The Zurigo user has the ability to mount fenders and a rear rack, turning the bike into a commuting option for the cyclist looking to leave their car in the garage Mondays through Fridays. Top mounted inline brake levers provide the cyclist with braking security. This creates a high point of view and an upright steering position without lowering the rider's head by over extending their arms when having to only brake from the shifters.

Whether you aspire to pin on a number any given Sunday in the fall to try a cyclocross race or need that Swiss Army knife of a bike for getting to work and chase county line signs with friends on the weekends; the Zurigo gives you burley frame construction and a flexible platform in which to create a riding tool that changes with the seasons.