New Wheels

It such a nice past time to come home after work and built-up a wheel. In the office one has worked with paper on abstract processes but here the end result can be touched and looked at.


For the past three months I have worked on the built of a new wheel set for the Olmo frame. It took a while to acquire the right components and as usual I made some mistakes. During the last week I started to built the wheels after work. It is nice to sit in the evening on the balcony outside the kitchen with a glass of red wine and work patiently on the truing. It very much helps me to relax and after a wheel or so I am much nicer to my family. One glass of red wine although is enough.


Both wheels (the second set I did on my own) are now completed and I took some photos in front of the "Ajisai" in our garden. In Japan "Ajisai" are blooming during the rainy season., however in Bremen they tend to bloom between April and October what is equivalent to the rainy season here.

The hubs are Shimano 600 AX from the mid-Eighties, the time of the first aerodynamic cycling craze. In the next photo you can see that the flange of the hub is not flat but has little cut-outs to accommodate the spoke heads. 

This has been designed to prevent the spokeheads from protruding from the flange, thus making the whole component more aerodynamic. It also defines which spokes run on the inside, and which on the outside of the flange.


The spokes are standard off the shelve Swiss revolution 2.0 mm spokes, with 1.5mm main section.


The rims are from new Rigida, type DP18 in silver with braking surface. Today the variety of new rims offered in the market is surprisingly low. There are a bunch of Mavic types, notably Open Pro, Open Sport, CPX22 and CPX33, some DT Swiss, some Rose and some Rigida but not much more. The same is true for spokes. Apart from DT Swiss and Sapim there isn't much left in the market. Riders and OEM manufacturers today tend to buy System wheels which is a pity.


I included (invisible) standard blue Schwalbe rimtape, my favourite one due to the color, thickness and flexibility and Continental race tubes. Tires are again from Schwalbe, type Durano which is available in many colors and not that expensive. The valve caps are eloxy type which brings luck - my personal "o-mamori".


The total cost for this is about 180 Euro, including the tires. This isn't exactly cheap, one can easily get a Shimano system wheel set for the same amount of money. But the pride and the opportunity to fully customize the set makes it worthwhile.

Here we see the 5-speed Uniglide cassette from Shimano. This used to be the predecessor of today's Hyperglide system which is now widely adapted. The Uniglide was only popular for a short period when makers shifted from screwed cassettes to freewheel bodies.

Next week the Olmo frames will arrive at my house and I will work on the new bikes with the new wheelset. I hope they will be ready for riding next weekend.

Saturday Bremen Tour

Oh, the bikes have been mixed up? Which rider owns which bike?

The Weserexpress Ride today mustered three riders, Tobilive, Shadowman and me.


We left HaW at 14:30 and headed out in direction Fischerhude, Wilstedt and Worpswede. The pace was brisk at the beginning; Shadowman and me were riding GA1, whereas Tobi was already moving up into GA7. The second stretch led us at much slower pace to Burg, the Lessumwehr and from there back along the river Wuemme to the HaW.


Highlights today were:


The high speed team chase between Wilstedt and Worpswede when the three of us rode almost us perfect as HTC Columbia for Mark Cavendish (or Positivo Espresso 2005 in Saiko).


The explosive acceleration of the three of us when a group of non-professional cyclists tried to hang on to us in the mountains (i.e. the bridge over the federal highway before the Platzhirsch). This led ultimately to a snapping chain of one of the amateurs, followed by balls hitting a saddle and cries of pain.


Tobi meeting his dream girl on a Bianchi between Worpswede and the river Wuemme. The Bianchi she rode was an older model. And she as well.


Shadowmen and me finding out that we do not only have very similar family names (the crow and the raven) but also the same profession: civil engineering. This led to long discussions about bid rigging strategies which slowed the pace down. Good for Tobi.


To be repeated.

Giro d'Italia 2011 at Ravenna

The Dutch girl at the reception of the hotel told David and me that the Giro D'Italia had a stage this year finishing at Ravenna. 


Once home I checked the official site and Youtube to find a video about the stage with some landmarks we might recognize. It seems that David and me unwittingly rode a portion of stage 12 when we headed out for dinner from Ravenna to the Adriatic coast at Punta Marina. Cool. Somehow I noticed that special feel and magic of the road when riding there. I guess.

The Difference

Elevation Profile Day 4, Transalp 2011

Elevation Profile Bremen, everyday

Schwalbe Ultremo Transalp Tire Special Edition

Tour de France Stage 13

Fantastic ride from Thor Hushovd at the stage today. A very exciting TV moment in the office thanks to ZDF German televison live stream.

The Precise Moment

This photo captured the precise moment in Urbino on July 5th, when David considered seriously for the first time to purchase a Canyon frame. Although I cam very satisfied with my disguised Canyon bike, I think it is only fair and appropriate to ride Paris-Brest-Paris on the Cervelo bike that did all the qualification work for the event.
To use more reliable wheels than the Rolf Vector paired spoke ones might however an idea worthwhile to consider.

Requesting Applications -- Directeur Sportif of Positivo Espresso France Chapter

Jerome B. and Didier H. arrived in Modane early Sunday afternoon, just as I had returned my rental car to the extremely efficient crew at the SNCF train station in the center of town that also acts as agent for Avis.

I joined them and Jerome's brother Matthieu and his family at a restaurant nearby.  Matthieu had graciously volunteered his services and driven Jerome and Didier to Modane.  He was planning go pick them up at Alpe d'Huez after the event, and otherwise was providing them with support and training advice (which they generally ignored). They introduced me to Matthieu as having volunteered his services as the new Directeur Sportif of the France chapter of Positivo Espresso.

Our first decisions involved what to eat and drink to properly prepare for the race.  While at this point -- 15 hours or less before the start -- the German riders were taking a very scientific approach, the French chapter is a bit more relaxed.  Cheese fondue is a Savoyard specialty, and would please the whole family.  And this was really the beginning of a celebration, so perhaps some sparkling wine, and some white wine, and some strong cider.

The fondue was excellent.  After we were about 3/4 of the way done, Matthieu's wife offered some excellent advice -- "you should not drink water while eating the fondue, since it will make the cheese harden in your stomach".  Thus warned, I stopped gulping down water and worked harder on the white wine.  After another half glass, some more advice.  "Actually, you should not drink white wine either, or any other cold liquids, while eating the fondue".  This is advice I will long remember, having ascended the Galibier and Alpe d'Huez with a large solid ball of cheese in my stomach.  In any event, it was a delightful meal, and as David J. once said, for this event we ride to "complete", not to "compete".

Le Directeur Sportif

Our Etape team, support staff, le directeur, and two younger recruits,
after the fondue has been cleared from the table.

In any event, I rode my bike (500 meters elev) up the steep hill to Valfrejus just after the lunch, and it was difficult out of all proportion to the distance and climb.  I had managed Stage 3 of Transalp - Stelvio, Passi di Foscagno, 3600 meters climbing, 110+km, without any problems.  Tomorrow's etape would have similar characteristics, but this was not a good sign. (Perhaps the situation was worsened by the "frites" with steak we ate that evening).

The big day dawned, we busily readied and I went outside with my luggage at 5:45 to hand to the travel agent/tour operator's luggage pick-up.  No van, no person, no signage.  Finally another member of the same tour showed up, equally puzzled.  After several calls to a mobile phone we were told to leave the luggage at the building reception.  We did so, and I passed a somewhat angry younger Frenchman as I was leaving with Jerome, Didier and my bike, grumbling about having been there since 4 AM.  He must have been hiding in his unmarked van somewhere to stay warm.

Anyway, the Etape is an impressive event.  The scenery was incredible over the Galibier, and I could actually enjoy it on the 50 km descent from the top of the Galibier to the bottom of Alpe d'Huez.  That was definitely the main highlight of the day.

A second highlight was the first 14 km -- a slight downhill, and I was out in the front of my start group, taking turns pulling with a very strong young Brit (wearing a Brooklyn NY red, white and blue jersey?), and we worked our way well through the next start group and were the first of our 500 rider group to make the turn onto the climb to Col du Telegraphe.  They say that Etape participants are now 52% French, 48% foreign.  The Brits are dominant among the foreigners, from what I could tell, though I did hear a mix of other languages (Spanish, Italian), 2 German Transalpers recognized me in my "2011 Finisher" Jersey as they passed, and most of my tour group (doing both "Actes") seem to be Brazilians, most of them couples.

After Col du Telegraphe, it was a long, long slog.  I was in extremis, stomach not feeling good, borderline cramps all the way up (which only really "zinged" me a few times on Galibier, but on L'Alpe d'Huez required me to dismount and rest twice flat on my back, 10 minutes each, before continuing).  L'Alpe d'Huez was hot -- little to no shade -- and not a pleasant forest road like the steeper Mortirolo.  The heat made the cramps worse, and my face was white as a sheet by the upper part of the climb.  At least I did not walk.  And if my start was very stylish, my finish was not, as the stomach problems worsened to the point where I had some "dry heaves" just as I turned into the final straight away -- not exactly the image the crowd wants to see as they cheer the riders at the finish, but an appropriate reflection of my day's effort. 

I finished in 7 hrs 41 minutes, number 5548 out of something like 6443 participants who made the time cut off.  According to some press reports post-race, there were 9000 riders who started the stage.  At the start itself, the announcer said 8500.  And on the A.S.O. website, it mentions "over 7000".  Whatever the real number, one or two thousand riders did not finish.

Oh, and I broke another spoke on the flat section approaching the bottom of Alpe d'Huez.  I was only 1 km from the Mavic station at the last feeding stop, and so rode it there.  They did not have spare wheels. They would not fix it.  And they said they could not cut the paired spoke so the wheel would be rideable -- prohibited by their operating rules.  But at least they were willing to lend me a tool so that I could do so, and finish with only a few minutes of wheel-caused delays.

Jerome and Didier announced some dissatisfaction with the level of support and the advice (they had ignored) from the Directeur Sportif, and we decided we will hold interviews on Bastille Day, July 14, at Matthieu's house in Grenoble, to make a final selection of the French directeur.  Apparently another candidate will come from Avignon for the interviews, one of whom both Didier and Jerome speak very highly.

The Latest Fad

We saw lots of various items of compression clothing on the leaders at Transalp this year.  They are much cheaper and much less inconvenient than the fad of 2009 -- electronic muscle stimulus gadgetry -- and I think equally unproven.  But they make your legs feel stronger and leaner, and without them, it is clear that you will be written off as not a serious competitor.  It was easy to pick some up at the Etape exhibitors' village this afternoon.  I got a pair of the "medilast sport" Chausettes Pro-Sport Speciales Cyclisme, for use while riding, and another (2nd half price) of the Speciales Recuperation designed for recovery (recommended for 90-120 minutes use).  I was promised that in only 90 minutes, my legs would be good to go!  They had orange, red, black and white ... but were out of the ugly green ones we saw in action on Transalp.

UPDATE: I wore the black socks on Acte 1 of Etape. They are supposed to "activate" the blood flow. They felt good for the first 2 hours or so, then I started to notice the fairly tight, binding feeling at the top--around the knees, and I wanted to cool down as I climbed and the day heated up. I ended up folding them down around my ankles for the rest of the ride, where they did not cause any problems at least. And my feet were one of the few parts of my body that did not cause me any concern during the ride -- good blood circulation, no pain or numbness. There were way too many variables on Monday to consider this a valuable test.

UPDATE #2: I wore the white "recovery" socks for several hours Tuesday night, after a short but painful rear wheel test-ride Tuesday that included some hills in the suburbs (well, surrounding communities) of Annecy.  I must say that my legs feel really good after wearing the recovery socks.  So the first impression is that they do improve circulation and just might work to speed recovery.  I'll try them again after the 208km race on Sunday and gradually try to see if this theory holds up.

UPDATE #3: Also, I had dinner Tuesday night with a 40-year old Brit rider in this tour group who completed Monday 3 hours faster than me, and said he used race time trials with Chris Boardman (big, big local hero in Britain, for those of you who are not familiar with him -- almost as many Brits with Boardman bikes on Monday as I saw Germans with Canyons at Transalp). He mentioned that he had had a blood clot in his legs a few years ago, and used compression socks to help it clear, eventually.  That got me thinking about things like "economy class syndrome", and the use of compression socks to avoid blood clots during surgery, and for people who have had lymph nodes removed as part of cancer treatment and are subject to swelling in the legs.  There may be more science behind this trend than I had thought, even if there is not "proof" that they work. Maybe I should be wearing them on the plane back to Tokyo?

Scouting the Next Race

The descent from Galibier toward the South.

It seems like only last week I was riding the Transalp with MOB, David J. and Juliane P. 
But the summer European cycle racing schedule is relentless.  The Tour is already nearing the end of its first week, and my next event is on Monday, July 11 -- L'Etape Acte 1. 

We race the Tour de France's Stage 19, from Modane over Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and then the climb to Alpe d'Huez, 3500+ meters of climbing, together with 6000 others.

Geoffrey as we scout the climb.

My older son Geoffrey flew over from London this morning so that he could help me plan race strategy and tactics, and of course, scout the course.  I drove from Modane/Valfrejus through the Frejus tunnel (45 euro round trip toll for 20 minutes each way through the base of the Alps) and on to the Turin airport to meet him.  After settling in, we drove to the top of the Galibier, a mighty climb indeed, rivaling the Stelvio in its statistics (though somewhat lower at the Col), and presenting an incredible, grand landscape on this mostly sunny July late-afternoon. 

Another team's scout.

There were many cyclists trying out the climb -- way too much riding too late for a race in 3 days, but I guess what else can you do if you skipped Transalp and fell off your training schedule?  

There were plenty of cows and sheep, even at the highest elevations, and several sheep dogs watched patiently from the roadside as the cyclists climbed.

If Rapha is here, this must be the event
Dominic and James K. did last year.

I am staying in Valfrejus, where the exhibitors will be this weekend and where we will check in/register on Sunday.  My condominium is there, just behind the Rapha truck.  Jerome and Didier will join me on Sunday.

Anyway, I cannot wait for Monday.  The weather forecast is good, and the legs feel at least superficially recovered from the last climbs of Transalp!

More of the mighty Galibier -- goes on forever.

The Book of the Transalp 2011

For each day of the Transalp we were provided by Schwalbe with this adhesive elevation profile strips which we would attach to our frames and which would guide us through the day. without them, I wouldn't have made it.

Here are the official videos from the Transalp day by day.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

They had one cool song at the start of the race, something about "Jungle Jive", anybody any idea?

I also will try to get us on the official link list of the Transalp home page. Many blogs are listed there, but most of them are too.... serious I think.

70.000 HITS

50.000 hits achieved on  this website achieved on June 26th, just the day the Positivo Espresso members started at the Transalp 2011. Wow, who would have thought so in 2007?

-  5.000 hits from 14.11.07, the start of the site to 26.09.2008, 316 days,

- 10.000 hits to 21.05.2009, 228 days

- 15.000 hits to 18.11.2009, 181 days

- 20.000 hits to 21.03.2010, 123 days

- 25.000 hits to 14.06.2010, 85 days.

- 30.000 hits to 24.09.2010, 102 days

- 35.000 hits to 17.12.2010, 84 days

- 40.000 hits to 25.02.2011, 70 days

- 45.000 hits to 03.05.2011, 67 days
- 50.000 hits to 26.06.2011, 54 days
- 60.000 hits to 18.10.2011, 114 days
- 70.000 hits to 29.01.2012, 103 days

And the Winner is ....... The Clock !

After Ravenna David and me went to two of the most cycle unfriendly cities in Italy.

The first one was the medieval town of Urbino, located inland of Rimini on the Adriatic coast. It is not that the inhabitants of Urbino have something against cyclists. Most of them are young, as an university for the fine arts is located within the walls of the city and they are most friendly to every visitor. It is just that the town was built on the top of a hill and almost every road has an gradient of 20% or more. Unfortunately I have deleted by mistake all data from my camera SD card, so I have to take a photo from the net to provide the necessary impression.

But I guess that will give the general idea of the city's layout. Once a child was presented a bicycle in the town by its parent for his birthday. He leaned it against a wall to thank his father. When he turned his head again it was gone and some seconds later one could hear a strange sound beyond the city wall far below. So the legend goes. It is the Mortirolo of the cities. David and me indulged in arts and culture there but our time was cut short by the deadline for the rental car return in another town in Northern Italy.


When we arrived there I thought that the tarmac of the major roads might be a little bit too wet for my taste. Also no cyclists were seen in the streets. Later we learned that cycling is indeed not allowed within the city. As is roller skating, skateboarding and scooters. Instead the town has two major themes if you look at the buildings:
Ground floor: Decay, mould and mortality
First Floor and above: Art and culture.


Yes, David and me went to the town to select the Positivo Espresso Art Prize Winner 2011. And we are proud to announce that the winner is:


CHRISTIAN MARCLAY


For his groundbreaking artwork: THE CLOCK. which is displayed at the Bienale 2011.
If you would like to have more info about THE CLOCK, please check out these Links:


The Clock at the Bienale
As explained by the BBC
As shown (excerpts)
The Artist at Wiki

After we have completed this task with great bravado, we spend another night in our **L hotel and parted ways the next day. During the course of two weeks David and me have spend almost every minute of each and every day and night together. We were only separated when we proceeded with different speeds during the Transalp race and when we went to places where men tendentiously go alone to. Not once we fought or argued during these two weeks and during the race we mostly worked perfectly well together for mutual success. Thank you, David. So here is a snippet from Pasolini's movie "The Canterbury Tales" which I dedicate to our  Alp adventure.



A Tribute to the Sambi Family in Ravenna

As the older and distinguished members of the Positivo Espresso club are virtually all connoisseurs of Italian road racing bike manufacturers (Olmo, Ciocc, Moser, Legnago, Daccordi, Somec, Gimondi...) and know the history of Italian racing idols very well I should probably not repeat it here, but among the many famous figures that left their imprint on the history of cycling, Luciano Sambi was one of the most remarkable.  

Not that he could count many great victories in his three years as a pro rider with the Italian Legnago team between 1965 and 1967, but he won the Giro di Lombardia and made a 78th place in Milano - San Remo; small victories and founded his fame as "Il geopardo di Ravenna" as he is still called today in his hometown close to the Adriatic Sea. 

He was further influential in making Ravenna one of the most cycling friendly cities in Italy, or "La Portlando d'Italia" as it is sometimes called.  Together with his son Christian Sambi, who worked as a bike mechanic with Nagai-san on the Fasso Bortolo team in the Nineties, he now runs a fabulous bike shop on the outskirts of Ravenna.  His prizes and trophies from his racing career are nicely integrated into the shop layout and displayed with pride. Reason enough for David and me to intentionally break the spokes on our rear wheels to find a pretense to visit his shop and ask for his services.

We arrived in Ravenna yesterday after a short rest in Arco and a ride along the Garda lake and a lunch of pizza at a cafe high over Lake Garda.  Ravenna is, according to world-travelling cyclist Rick Steves, not a town worth to stay a night but good enough perhaps for a day trip. Apart from this rather harsh statement one might add that the town possesses some UNESCO world heritage sites and is obsessed since the 6th century with producing mosaics. There is even a school where one can learn how to restore mosaics. 

Bicycle Town Ravenna

First thing in the morning we went to the Sambi family store on the Via San Mama 148. Many nice bikes of all kinds were neatly lined up inside and the whole store was in impeccable order. They had some spare parts on display, like handle bar tape from the Eighties that can be sold for substantial amounts of money as NOS on ebay in Germany. With the eye of a real pro mechanic Christian Sambi took a look at our both wheels and said "Cinque Ora" which is Italian and means that all of this will take some time to repair probably and anyway there is a lunch break between 12 and 4 so we should come back at 5 when the wheels would surely be ready.

Yes, she is the postman on her bike and she doesn't ring twice.

As we had nothing else to do and cycling without a rear wheel seemed somehow too dangerous and complicated, we decided that we should indulge in art and culture and took a look at the Basilica di Ravenna and some other assorted monuments. Art and culture can be very stressful and after a nice and big meal of pizza that ended with a "Cafe Normale" (which is Italian and means a Cafe Espresso that is extremely small and strong and something else than what Germans would consider as normal when it comes to coffee - and we have Tschibo, Jacobs, Darbhoven and other famous roasters within the borders of our country) we retired to our hotel room where we fell asleep while watching stage three of the Tour de France.

About 9 km before the finish all cyclists were reeled in and we could watch Thor Hushovd leading the Garmin-Cervelo train for a sprint victory of Tyler Farrer.  A great tour so far for Garmin-Cervelo!

After that we headed back to the Sambi shop, only to find our both wheels completely untouched. Our personal presence brought some action and pulled Christian away from other urgent projects and friends who were hanging out and chatting about Italian cycling in the 1960s, and within no time and for almost no money our two wheels were fixed.  We cleaned our bikes and made a wheel testing trip to the sea at Punta Marina where we had a good dinner of pizza. 

Then we rode back to our hotel in the darkness which was fun. Tomorrow we will continue our bike adventures in the old medieval town of Urbino. Both of us hope that they will have an excellent, stylish and somewhat disorderly bike shop and a good pizzeria, both of which seem highly likely based upon our trip so far.

Assorted Photos from Transalp

On the lower part of the Stelvio climb.  Cannot even see the famous switchbacks yet.

Transalp Camp Kaltern.  The most crowded and hot yet.  987A is one of the previously mentioned Schwalbe girls.  Her teammate ... must have found other accommodations.

From the top of the Biehlerhohe.  Is one of those cyclists on the road below MOB?

After dinner nap in Naturns.

At the finish in Arco.  What will we do with no race tomorrow_

MOB summits the Bielherhohe.

Done.

Transalp finished

We start our "victory can can" dance line.

Transalp is done! We enjoy our celebratory dinner, then adjourn to the outdoor cafe in the plaza at the center of the old city of Arco, for some of the local spirits and a wonderful hazelnut gelato sundae.  Good to sleep in a bed for the first time in a week -- the isolation mat feels a bit thinner as the muscles get more sore, though it has served me (David) very well.

David and Juliane post an excellent result, 56 out of 85 (more if you include those who started the first stage).  MOB and I did not fare quite so well, due to the extra 4.5 hours resulting from the 11-hour time assessed on Stage 3 when MOB's rear wheel failed.  232 Masters teams registered; 228 raced Stage 1; 203 finished the event; ... of which we placed 197.  But for the stage 3 issue, we would have been around 170.  Next year!

The oldest participant, on the "grey wolf" team, is 72 years old.  He looked like one tough old SOB ... and was a lot faster than any of us.  He crashed on Stage 6 and was back on the bike in no time.  Chapeau to the grauer wolf and to all.

On to Kaltern

Today's stage, with 141km and 300+0m elevation gain, was the second toughest of the Transalp. Due to the length I started the climb to the Passo Tonale (600m up) very motivated but cautiously. David was some minutes ahead, then we had a huge blast downhill for 40km. Just the right steepness and nice curves. I jumped from one group to the next and felt like Jens Voigt. Then another rather steep climb followed by a very long climb to the Gaupenjoch where David and me worked together to make it to the top.

After another long and beautiful descent we worked together on the slopes of the Kaltern valley and put the hammer down at the last stretch where we overtook quite some riders. This was an excellent team performance, even better than our team time trial attempts in Saiko. We also achieved our best stage result yet and got the evening special price for least hours raced for combined body weight.

Our meat dinner was well deserved. We also detected evidence of Nagai-san's previous activities here on behalf of Fassa Bortolo (see photo). Tomorrow is the last day at we hope to finish with a good showing.

Marco Pantani Memorial Day

Il Pirata Vive

Day Five of the Transalp

Cold and light rain in the morning at the start in Livigno but later on good weather all the way. Apart from the usual no-name hills, we climbed the Mortirolo, the third most famous cycling pass in the alps aftet the Stelvio and the Gavia.

1200+m climbing, many long stretches with 20 percent gradient.  David got up in one go; I needed to walk about 300m up. It has been a long time since I walked up hills, but the Transalp is teaching me these skills again. I am not as strong as I used to be in Japan, but that's OK, I don't really need this ability any longer in Bremen. Still I know that I can finish the Transalp - ca suffit.

After the descent from the Mortirolo another 14km flat or slightly uphill. Still had something left in the battery and hammered towards the finish. Overall a good and successful day.  No photos.

Real Food

David and Juliane enjoy some real food in Livigno - big steaks for
the whole team last night powered us up the ridiculously steep
Mortirolo Pass today, by the memorial to Marco Pantani, whose victory
there on a Giro d'Italia stage thrust him onto the world stage.

We had a good day today, MOB and I finished 173 in the Masters class
-- our highest placing yet.  I was glad to do the entire 1250m elev climb, much at a 15-20% grade, without putting a single foot to the ground. (Think 2x Kazahari
Rindo). I passed many walking/resting riders, and did not see many of
those we have finished with in recent days.