Vague Idea Racing: The results are in...

The short track results are up from last week. I finished 10th outta 22 SS'ers. Not very impressive, but right up there in the hunt for my main goal; mid pack or better. More notable would be the fact that my placing made some difference in the world. Bolt Brothers (Bad Idea Racing supplier of bike parts, sleeveless jerseys, and stuff for over twenty days and counting) is now in 5th place overall in the team competition. Team competition??? This year there is a team category at the Charlotte Winter Short Track Series, and the top six point getters from each team go towards the team's total points. Last week I was tied with junior rider Hank Booth for the 5/6th slot with 13 points.

What does all that mean? I guess if the stars and planets line up again I'll be throwing my hat in the ring this Sunday. Knowing that I'm out there trying to collect points is slightly more motivating than working hard to stay ahead of the absolute mid pack. There's a high level Bolt Brothers meeting tonight with a western affiliate that I will more than likely be attending, so we can discuss the continuation of my slightly better than par short track career over drinks and tofu.

Despite my best efforts my Colnago did not sell on eBay. Nobody hit my reserve price of $350, so now I'm back out there with my hat in the street letting it go to the highest bidder without reserve. Such a shame to let it go, but the road bike I'm building will be a better representation of my road cycling history.

My DeBernardi frame has seen years of use as a messenger bike. I've run it with a drop bar, flat bar, and a bullhorn. It's been a 16 speed, 8 speed, 5 speed, single speed, and a fixed gear. Lucky for me the frame is completely chromed under the paint, so all those years of beating it with a U-lock haven't really affected it.

I finally get to use my Kevin Bacon Quicksilver era Silca frame pump (the De Bernardi has a pump peg).

The brakes are Exage from a 1990 Yokota I bought for $229 from Nashbar when I decided to take racing "seriously". I was a member of the Youngstown State Penguin Flyers, and quite possibly the worst rider on the team. Sorry, but training really cut into my ability to thoroughly enjoy my second senior year.

The shifters are supposed to be seven speed, but they'll work just fine for eight speeds. Besides being totally retro they won't stop functioning below 35 degrees (like my STI's did on the Ride to the (not) Beach).

I think the Ultegra Octalink cranks were an upgrade to the aluminum Nashbar "racing frame" my dad bought for me when I graduated college. Shark toothed rings and 600 front derailleur sold separately.

These are the only new parts (aside from some brake cables and housing) that will adorn the soon to be put in service De Bernardi. I picked up the pink bar tape at a swap meet years ago for a couple bucks knowing that someday it would find it's special purpose. I pried the levers from my sponsors money stained fingers using the guilt treatment. I told them that without brake levers I would have no way to actuate my brakes, and I would be risking my life every time I rode without them. No doubt they were terrified at the thought of losing their number one rider, so the day after I informed them of my perilous situation a carrier pigeon arrived at my kitchen window with a pair of Cane Creek SCR-5 brake levers in his talons. I'm so glad they used a carrier pigeon as opposed to the UPS pack gophers that Swiftwick uses. According to my tracking info my 2009 7% Faster® race socks are currently somewhere below Gastonia, NC. I'm slightly worried that they may never get here though as gophers are considered livestock, game, and marriage material in those parts of NC.

Anyways, I'm digging on these levers since they have a nice big surface area for comfy, on-the-hoods type riding. Being a roadie slacker this is where I spend 99% of my time riding (the other 1% of the time my hands are in my nose (just my fingers actually), in my jersey pockets looking for food I forgot to bring, or flailing about in the air as I Vogue my way down the road).