Packed

Mornin' Bike Riders...

T-Minus 22 hours until the journey officially starts. Actually, the journey started back in Sept. when I was given the go ahead to start booking it and then started the training.

The bag is packed already... partly to make sure I got it all packed and partly because it's swim practice night for the kids... time will go fast.

~c

Ted, the PRO

Howdy Bike Riders...

I'd like to talk about a fella I knew back in my LBS (Local Bike Shop) days. I only knew him as Ted. Ted was supposedly a former PRO that rode with Zoetemelk as a teammate back in the old days... the days of Merckx, DeVlaeminck and the like. Ted was from the Czech Republic and had quite a thick accent. He was a domestique supposedly.

Ted was a customer at the shop. He would only talk to me for some reason and he only brought his bikes to be serviced to the shop when I was there. I think it had something to do with the fact that I raced road and the other shop help was into BMX. Regardless, he'd call down and bring his stuff to be worked on. Make no mistake, all of his equipment was PRO. Colnago frames with Campagnolo C Record gruppos... all needing prep and builds... even the wheels. He would bring in the correct spokes all the way down to the bar tape and PRO cable crimps... all for me to build. In a shop that serviced the local POS Sears bikes and pretentious BMX'r bikes... it was the highlight of my day.

After a couple of seasons of building up his steeds, he asked me if I had time for a ride. I agreed. I have to say that the day I rode with him was the cap on the bottle that he had ridden as a PRO at one point in his life. He never left the big ring and his sinewy legs hinted that he had lived a hard domestique life of getting bidons and having his nose in the wind all of the time. That 40 mile ride was an exercise of hanging on for dear life. I was wrecked... and he was all smiles.

After that ride I asked him about only coming to me at the shop... his reply. "You build the wheels for me last year. I see you use spoke prep, spoke washers and checking to make sure each spoke was right length. I see you respect the parts I bring in and that you feel each spoke for tension. You ask me how I ride and how I want them to feel and you adjust the tension. You ask me if I want rear tied and soldered. These things tell me that you know what you are doing. I still ride and love those wheels and they are still true after one year."

I never did ride with Ted again. My time at the shop was coming to an end as I was heading to college. He did ask me for my number to do work for him and I did build a few more sets of wheels.. one set of tubs and a light set of clinchers for him. 23 years later, I still think about the pride I felt in my work from his comments and how if I ran into him today (if he's still kicking around)... that I'd be more than happy to build up some wheels or a bike for him.

Oh yeah... why I tell this story... on that ride we took, he told me of the years he rode Paris Roubaix and having to fetch bidons for his captain... and of hitting the deck multiple times. He also told me how hard the cobbles are and how he rode them to survive. I told him I would someday ride those roads and remember his tips to me.

I remember these details with only 7 days left until my trip.

~Curly

Business Simplification

Afternoon Bike Riders...

Ol' Curly is down to 14 days for a trip over the cobbles and many details are being settled. The bike being one of them. After much pondering over the last 20 minutes and in light of my Tour guide's e-mail suggesting I simplify my experience by "hiring a proper" racing bike for the ride... I have decided to forego the $300 expense of bending over for TSA and American Airlines and hiring one of the fine steeds from Sporting UK's stables.

Now this part is for Martaint: YES, I know it has a compact crankset... Yes, I f'n know that those wheels will probably explode under the forces that I generate from just sitting on a bike... YES, I'm fully aware that I'll have to tweak the fit a bit to make sure it mirrors my race bike in true Baratto spirit... I'd like you to consider a few other things Mr. Martaint that figure in...

• It's going to cost less than $100 for me to rent it
• It's going to cost less than $100 if I destroy it
• It's going to be lovingly cared for for my entire trip by someone else
• It's going to weigh 17lbs vs 21lbs
• It's going to be carbon and not steel
• and finally, I'm going to bring my own stem, saddle, pedals and the like for good measure

Yes, it would have been a nice sentiment to have Il Barone take on the stones and come back with some battle scars, I'll admit... but now I'll be freed the 60lbs of travel girth and the fear that my precious rain bike might get verbally and physically abused by American Airline's gorillas for the mere price of $300...

So... bring on the Verenti... I welcome this rental bike with open arms and taint...

~Curly

More Frites than you can handle!!!

Not much research needed for the best Frites in Brussels. Antoines is hands down the number one pick for frites and most likely I'll gravitate towards Andalous sauce for my condiment... and maybe Mayo...

Parcours - No Arenberg

Mornin' Bike Riders...

The course map and rundown is up and posted. Ol Curly was a little bummed that the Arenberg Forest was omitted from the course probably due to the severity of that secteur and the amount of mechanical help riders might need after rolling that collection of stones...

Oh well... might just have to divert over to it...

~Curly

A Baron in Roubaix

Howdy Bike Riders...

We're down to a Gent-Wevelgem and a Ronde van Vlaanderen away from rolling the stones of Roubaix. That said, I'd like to cover some of the details of the bike that's going with me.

Now Ol' Curly would be lyin' if he said he didn't secretly want to ride his 17lb carbon steed into the Roubaix Velodrome... hands in the air... pounding his fist at the accomplishment... but it ain't gonna happen. There's just too good of a chance that said carbon bike would be shipped back to the good ol' USofA into a few more pieces than it left with. So... with a few modifications, Ol' Curly will be rollin' the Baron Outsider over the Euro-stones. Here's a rundown of the mods to the bike.

First off, the bike got a good teardown and cleaning. In replacing the cables, Ol' Curly discovered that he'd really only had a few more miles left in his rear derailleur cable anyway as he had missed the nearly broken through part that entered the rear D... The bike also got a new 44t inner chainring... since there's not much elevation change, probably more important to have a tall enough inner for keeping the tension on. In replacing this chainring, Curly's gargantuan stremph busted one of the FSA alloy bolts in 2... probabaly good that it happened now...

Tires were lovingly mounted with new Vittoria tubes to the handbuilt by Curly wheelset... and a new set of copper wires is about to be tied and soldered to the rear wheel spoke crossings. If'n Curly breaks a spoke, he'll want it staying in place until he can safely fall into the gutter. Surprisingly, with 1200 miles on them, these wheels didn't need to be touched. They still sing with the trueness that comes from a Curly wheelbuild. The cassette also received a thorough polishing.

Among other mods... Scuffing of the brake rotors, new brake pads, Simicrome hub polishing, severe chain cleaning, new BB and a giant smathering of Loctite on each and every bolt that needs to stay put.

Lastly, not pictured are the new rolls of white handlebar tape and chainkeeper to keep that Wipperman in its' place. I also added a hose clamp around the base of the seatpost to add a little insurance to the seat height.

So, there you have it... That's pretty much it... A steel rain bike should have enough strength to survive the cobbles... and beers... and frites...

~Curly

Tires for the Euro Stones

Howdy Bike Riders...

With less than 3 weeks left until Paris Roubaix week, it is time to start configuring the bike to roll over the Euro stones as much ease and grace as one can when you're riding on paths meant for cattle and farm equipment.

I'll give a broader overview of the entire bike in the next few days... in the meantime, I'll toss you a few bones. Today, we're talking about tire choice. For Paris Roubaix, I've decided to go with the Vittoria Open Pave EVO CG. I usually ride the Open Pave CG in a 23 for the Summer and I've had great luck with them. I can count maybe one flat in the last 4 years and it was due to my own stupidity of riding through some glass and not performing the moving tire brush maneuver.

I will concede that if you use these tires out of the box, they will pick up cuts more easily. The workaround is to be diligent and clean your tread every so often... back filling the cuts with a little black contact rubber. Fortunately, I've learned that next season's tires need to be purchased this season and allowed to cure a little. Even more fortunate, is that I have a set of seasoned Open Pave EVO CGs nicely cured and ready for some cobble riding... and they're 24s.

I am sure that I will flat at least twice during the route... and these tires seem to be easy to change on my DT rims. Loose enough to handle with a single tire lever and supple enough to locate any perpetrating tire flatteners in the casing. They also have one helluva nice tread pattern which makes me feel more secure even though there have been many studies and marketing efforts to convince me that a slick tire has more road contact. I call BS and will always go for treaded tires.

I will not be riding with Tuffy's or Slime or any other crap like that. I know from experience that these "24s"... they actually look wider... will cushion my ride as much as possible with out pinching as long as I don't go below 85lbs of pressure. I also know that while they are "FAT" as racing tires go, they do not feel fat or slow. Of course, I have real perspective on how bad some of the roads will be, the majority will be on paved roads and I wanted a tire to be able to roll along on those as well without making me feel like I'm riding through mud.

So there you have it... Of course, I'll let you know how they worked or didn't work... but then I'm not sure there is any kind of tire that would be perfect for everything.

~Curly