Race news, frame news, and new news

Remember my Light on a Stick™ idea?

I hope so. I just wrote about it yesterday. Well some of you might have scoffed at my idea and perhaps some others of yous might have said you've seen something similar, but someone somewhere is impressed by my handiwork.

Can't read the fine print?

Apparently the folks at Princeton Tec got all Twittery when they found out that I invented the Light on a Stick™. They have not bothered to contact me concerning further development of the product, but I think it's an absolute certainty that we'll see the 2012 Prince Tec EOS Light at the End of and Extension Device™ at the trade shows this fall.

It looks like I'll be racing sooner than expected in 2011. I thought Single Speed Arizona was going to be my debut, but opportunity knocked, I answered the door, I invited opportunity in for some tea and lady fingers, opportunity got a little happy handed, I rejected its initial advances, and when an offer was put on the table sans hanky panky, I accepted. It looks like I'll be jumping back into the local short track scene again this year...

And while supporting the local race scene I'll be sporting local colors as well...

Mystery appendage being warmed by mystery appendage warmer

I had fun racing with the Bolt Brothers team a couple years back, and when given another chance to race as part of a cohesive unit in the asses and elbows world of local short track racing I found it hard to say "no." I wanted to say "maybe", but that was not an option.

Remember, I suck at short track racing. Long gone are the days when I was able to mix it up in the top three. One would have to go back to the 2006 season, when the single speed field was much smaller and my dream of an overall series victory was all but ruined when I broke a rib in an unfortunate bike cleaning accident. Nowadays I'm gunning for mid pack, but I do have a plan this year (which I'll share after I try it). That, and since I'll miss the fourth race of the series while I'm in Arizona, I might try the super sport category some of the time. Why super sport? That's where you go if you are too fast to race sport but too cheap to pay full pop for a one year USAC license so you can race expert.

Why race the short track AGAIN? It will give me something to focus on for a month or so keeping my mind occupied with all kinds of anal retentive race related thoughts.

Speaking of which...

I'm thinking about the Southern Cross coming up at the end of February as well.

A 50'ish (I like "ishes" almost as much as I like "esques") mile loop down in Georgia that I've never done before. I can't see why I won't do it, except for this:

"You can use cyclocross bikes or mountain bikes though the course will favor cross bikes."

You know I don't have a cross bike. I asked Santa (Claus, not Cruz) for a SWOBO Crosby, but when I woke up on December 25th it was not under the tree.

Asshole Claus. I woulda so won on this bike.

So without a cross bike I'm just gonna have to show up on whatever bike I have with a 2.35 Rampage up front and hope for the best.

Speaking of whatever bike I might have...

I got some camera phone type photos of the progress on the new bike.

A rear dropout... a sign of an almost complete frame. It (the frame, not the driveside dropout) still does not have a rear brake mount, but I am told it will have one before it gets to me. Being that this bike is aluminum, it still has to be heat treated, reamed, painted, stickered, and more than likely, teabagged before I will ever see it.

How excited am I?

Race wheels have been shod with race rubber.