Confessions of a Downtube Shifter

March 21st, 2009. The day seemed innocuous enough, with the sun rising in the east, clear skies, and temperatures that were slowly making their way from downright cold to fairly tolerable. There I was, perched atop my steel-framed steed on the line of the Philly Phlyer D1 Circuit Race with 50 other D1 racers from the ECCC, wondering to myself, "What the hell am I doing here?"

I had plenty of reason for that thought. At that moment, I had never participated in a road race, much less a large group road ride. I was a mountain biker. Road riding? What a foreign concept. My bike, a 1990 Schwinn Traveler, was a rescued relic from the garage that I had dragged back to State College with me that semester in hopes of giving it a new lease on life. The lugged steel frame was an antique in comparison to the modern carbon and hydroformed aluminum frames on the bikes of other racers in the ECCC, but it was a complete road bike. Aside from a tuneup, new tires, and bartape, it was 97% the bike it was when it rolled out of the showroom in 1990, downtube shifters and all.


So, there I was on the line at the Philly Phlyer. On a bike nearly as old as I was, and I had not gotten much of a chance to warm up. Oh boy.

Less than a mile later, I was taken out of contention. A strong headwind coming off of the Schuylkill caused the pack to bunch up at the front, and with the combination of tight quarters and a low level of average experience, it didn't take much for good ol' Murphy to rear his head and wreak havoc. In this case, a rider from Columbia discovered that his training wheels had fallen off between the starting line and now, which caused him to subsequently lose his balance and careen into fellow Penn State rider, Steven Derkits. Gravity took the wheel from there, throwing bikes, bodies, bottles, and egos into a tumultuous heap that lay directly in my path.

Given that I had rather unintelligently positioned myself smack in the middle of the pack with riders on all sides, I was left with no choice but to clamp down hard on the binders and try to navigate around the mess ahead of me. The laws of physics were not on my side that morning; I locked up both wheels on the damp tarmac and slid uncontrollably into the mess of bodies and bikes.

As I picked both myself and my bike up, I found that I was in fine physical shape, but the bike was missing a several spokes from the front wheel, the bottle cage was tweaked, and the rear derailleur hanger had been bent out of alignment. I thought I was finished. However, after further inspection, I discovered that my tires still had air in them, and my wheels still spun, so I found my bottle, slapped it back in the cage, and jumped back on the saddle to finish the race I had begun. I managed to finish the race without getting lapped, not too bad.

While I came away from the circuit race with a few missing spokes and a bruised ego, I had gotten a good enough taste of road racing that fueled the desire to come back for more. After all, this was only the first day...

Sunday was the day of the criterium. The air was thick with an impervious foggy mist that managed to penetrate every last dry fiber of clothing on your body. It laid on the road only to be drawn back up through the contact patch of every 700x23 tire and flung into the eyes and mouths of many racers, including myself. Pedaller Bike Shop in Lansdale had managed to replace the missing spokes from my front wheel and true things back into shape. I had a bike again! My father had crammed a canopy into the back seat of his thousand dollar jalopy and brought it down for the team to huddle under between races. It was there, in the middle of the mist that race stories from the previous day were shared and nutella was eaten while the trainers hummed happily away.

Again, there I was, poised and as ready as I could be with 20 minutes of high-intensity suffering ahead.

And with the blow of a whistle from Joe Kopena, we were off. Immediately, there was road spray everywhere, covering my glasses to the point that I could barely see anything ahead of me. I slid my glasses down on my nose a hair to create a slit between them and my helmet so that I could still see, but keep most of the spray out of my eyes. 20 minutes, right? Alright.

Before long, the pack split into two groups. Riders from Penn State were scattered throughout the field. I made an attempt at bridging the gap with one or two other riders, but we were largely unsuccessful in doing so. It was probably for the best that we gave up, as a couple riders lost traction and slid out in the very next corner, causing a small pileup. At this point, I decided that I would play things a little safer and just try to finish the race with all my spokes intact, especially considering the miserable and treacherous conditions. Besides, I found that I was pretty blown up from my bridging attempt; it wasn't worth expending what little energy I had left at only the halfway point in the race. So, I decided to sit on a wheel or two until I got a little energy back in my expended legs.

While I never really did gain any of my strength back, I managed to hang on through the end of the race. I never gave up. When I rolled over the finish in a breathless sprint, I was soaked to the bone and my legs were killing me, but I also finished upright with my skin and spokes intact. I consider that a victory in it's own right.

I don't intend to frighten potential racers anticipating their very own entry into the madness that is the ECCC road circuit. Crashes happen and bikes break; Murphy happens. I'm not about to sugarcoat it for you and tell you it's all trophies and smiles. I'd rather tell the truth. However, these weekends are much, much more than just the sum of racing, suffering, and potentially miserable weather.

More than likely, you will walk away from an ECCC race weekend with a huge grin plastered on your face. You don't need to buy a fancy bike with all the gizmos and gadgets, either. Go ahead and dig out that old 80s road frame and give it a tuneup and new tires. It's all about throwing your inhibitions to the wind for a weekend and cramming yourself into a car with 4 bikes on the roof and people you may not know, jamming out to Russian techno, getting your bike fixed by Vanya, and crushing souls with Biopace and downtube shifters. You learn to bring your own supply of toilet paper, or make very good friends with someone who has a stash. You find out who exactly Coach Young is. You discover the merits of Black Mo', locate the pain cave, and learn about the mystical powers of Moshannon spring water. You get to watch Steve Derkits fall off of Rollers while wearing Kanye shades, hang out with a very dynamic Frenchman, and cheer on your fellow teammates in blue and white.

You have the chance to race for the best damn team in the ECCC this year. There's no thinking twice. Do it!

What did you do this Sunday?

The weather outside is crummy. It's cold, wet, and dismal, but it doesn't stop the Rough Riders of PSU.
We're getting closer and closer to our first race, and these monsters know that it takes more then a few hours on the trainer to get ready.
Hopefully we can get an even bigger show up for our next ride!

March 5th approaches, and PSU ups the hurt.

What did you do this Friday? This group of rough riders fought the cold, climbed some hills, and put out some serious wattz. With easily double the amount of people from the previous week this Friday Fun Day turned out to be great. The weather was beautiful, and Wyatt's beard was in full bloom. If you weren't able to make it to this week's ride hopefully you can make it to the next!

WE ARE! PENN STATE!

Snow? What snow?

With the ECCC season opener at Rutgers only 5 weeks away, there's no good excuse to not slap on a pair of fenders and booties and get out and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather in State College. Yes, I said warm. 32°F constitutes a heatwave 'round these parts in the middle of January.

Wyatt, Dan, Adam, and Ernie (L to R) at the summit of Purdue Mountain.

Top 10 Reasons to be Excited for the 2010 ECCC Road Season

It's hard to believe, but the 2010 ECCC road season opener at Rutger's University is only four weeks away! To help get everyone amped up for what is sure to be an awesomely stellar season, I've decided to count down what I feel are the top ten reasons to be excited for this year's collegiate road season.

10. Team Time Trials: Hammering at full throttle in a race against the clock with three of your best friends is definitely one of the highlights of every racer's weekend. Unfortunately, there's no hiding the sad truth that many cat 3, 4, and 5 racers rarely get to experience the thrill of competing in a team time trial. Luckily, collegiate racing gives everyone an equal opportunity to drop their weakest teammates from a pace line.

9. Great Race Schedule: With the exception of Yale and Dartmouth, all of the races are within a 5 hour drive from Penn State. This should definitely save some gas money and will undoubtedly encourage more racers to compete at each race weekend.

8. Idris Fiery Ginger Beer: This doesn't really have anything to do with cycling, but I have to admit that coming up with ten items to write about was a bit more difficult than expected. So to fill the number 8 spot, here's a picture of some Idris Fiery Ginger Beer that I found at Wegman's this morning:

This refreshing beverage is made in the United Kingdom and can be found in the international isle of your local grocery store. And before Club Sports sends me an angry email, I should note that it is non-alcoholic.

7. Vanya's MPV: Aw yeah. You know it had to make an appearance on this list at some point. Coming in at the lucky number 7 spot is Vanya's sweet whip.

6. The Bikes: Last year saw some pretty sweet rides in the ECCC. Both Vanya and Zack were rocking down tube shifters on their steel framed bikes, Arnaud had a sweet new Madone, and for at least part of the season, Keith got to race on a very durable Token. To up the ante for 2010, Drew is going to be sporting a beautiful Bianchi 928, C-Rodg is going to have a sweet Jamis to crank out the watts on, and Wyatt decided to hop aboard the CAAD9 bandwagon.

5. Spectacular Crashes and Carnage: If there's one thing that's inevitable about bike racing, it's the crashes. Many crashes result in very painful injuries and spectacular bike damage. Fortunately there's usually a camera around to capture the carnage on film. Let's hope for some epic photos in 2010, but with fewer injuries. Please race safely, everyone!

4. Matt Gross's Sprinting: He eats primes for breakfast and has the uncanny ability to position himself perfectly for an amazing field sprint in nearly every crit. While he may not be able to climb like Rasmussen, Matt's sprinting is certainly a thing of beauty.

3. Our Talented Women: Screaming into the third spot on this list is our amazing group of women. This year we're expecting to have 4 women representing us in A's (up from 2 last year), as well as several new racers competing in the B and C categories. Most significant of all, Penn State will once again be able to have a full four-person women's time trial team. Good luck in 2010, ladies!

2. Penn State's Return to ECCC Dominance: 2009 was a disappointing year for Penn State Cycling. We only won one weekend, and had very limited success at TTTs. This year, however, we are fully capable of returning as a dominant threat to UVM in the ECCC: we are able to attend every race weekend, we have one of the largest teams of women racers in the conference, and we're expecting to have talented cyclists representing every men's category from A to D.

1. RYAN SMOLKO: Lots of wattage here. There's no debating the #1 spot: Daddy is back. 2010 will mark the triumphant return of Ryan Smolko to collegiate racing. While he's trading in the blue and white of Penn State for the maroon and gold of Kutztown, his attendance at every race will definitely make 2010 a season to remember.

New semester, first meeting!

Join us for the first meeting of the Spring 2010 semester, tomorrow, at 8:30PM in room 60 of the Willard building on campus.

A spring T-shirt order will be discussed, as well as other details concerning upcoming events over the course of the semester.

Be there!

[You] Wish You Were Here

There was a lot of build up to my trip to Oregon this week. Everyone I had talked to had only incredible things to say about Bend. From their outdoor athletics to their beer, everything was highly regarded from those who visited. One individual even went as far as to say Bend was nothing short of "Heaven." With all of this build up, Bend had quite a reputation to uphold, and so far it has lived up to every word.

The town of Bend is home to about 81,000 people (according to a sign, but this number may vary), and everyone I talk to seems to be physically involved in something. Their high school jocks are not football players, but rather alpine skiers. Overweight individuals are a rarity, and in my adventures so far I have only come across a single McDonalds. The lifestyle in the area is that of full-year ski-town, but with so much more going on. The only downside in this area seems to be a lack of jobs. It is almost impossible to find a viable career in your field of study, no matter what it be, and its extremely common to find common workers with expansive educations. My host family tells numerous stories to this fact, including one about a window fitter who received his PhD from Oxford (he rightfully claims to be the most educated window fitter in America).

As for the 'Cross racing, the course originally seemed pretty tame as far as technical aspects go, but did prove a respectable distance (3.2 km). Not much elevation gain, but one stair run-up and one set of barriers. However, the weather in Bend produced a very difficult, and dynamic course. The temperature when I arrived in Bend was -16, or -25 with wind chill factored in (and yes, both of those numbers have negatives on them). I have never been that cold in my life! But the cold resulted in frozen ground (and rivers), making the course have the potential for lots of speed. The snow mixed in on top assured the riders that it wouldn't just be a straight powerfest, as you really had to have good handling to navigate the corners. As the first day of racing progressed, temperatures rose throughout the day and began melting a little bit of the ice. But as soon as the sun tucked itself behind the mountains, the portions of the course that had originally thawed out began to freeze over again. So instead of hard ground, riders were blasting through sheets of ice. More snow is expected to fall over the next few days, so it is tough to predict just what the course will be like by the time the Elites race.

I'm off to explore more of the town this evening, and partake in cycling related activities, but I'll be sure to update more after tomorrow, and especially after I race on Sunday. I'll even post some pictures when I have the chance. Tomorrow I also head over to Mt. Bachelor for some Nordic skiing! Hopefully I won't bust myself up too bad...