We are welcoming Scott Peterson back again for more custom insoles. We couldn’t fit everyone in during his last visit! There are still a few openings this Friday and Saturday. For those who don’t know Scott, he is a pioneer in custom cycling footwear. He and his father were among the first to address this area. He has worked with many of the top professional racers in the USA and is Nationally known and respected. He lives in Bend, but will be in Portland this week. If you have foot pain or numbness when cycling, this is worth looking into. If you have any questions, let me know. More info on the Upper Echelon website under “news”.

Scott Peterson says: “We have a few more open slots for Friday and Saturday starting at 9am, taking the last at 4pm. If you know someone who’s interested, please have them contact me at my email address: pppsam@msn.com

We’re doing it for the special rate of $200 per pair of custom cycling orthotics.

We will not be doing bike fits since there are already excellent bike fitters in Portland; this will be for orthotics only.”

This is a once a season Portland Bicycle Studio - Upper Echelon fitness promotional session.

This is a special offer as the footbeds are $200 instead of the standard $450. And you don’t have to travel out to Bend, Oregon to have him build them for you! These are 100% custom for you and your shoes. If you have ever used his “power footbeds”, you understand how great they make your feet feel and the increased power to the pedals that you receive.

You may contact Scott directly at the number above or give me a ring at Portland Bicycle Studio to schedule your appointment - 503.841.8006

Portland Bicycle Studio is the Portland, Oregon source for Ridley bicycles.

Take a glance at this machine.

Let’s talk about cyclocross bikes. I am really excited to take on the Ridley brand this season. The cyclocross bikes are world class. The road range is world class.

A complete full carbon 1192g cyclocross frame set starting at $1500.
A complete race ready sub - 17lb. cross bike at $2600.

The Cyclingnews Ridley 2010 preview has some more details.

Shoot me an email or give me a call, we will talk cyclocross.

Portland Bicycle Studio
503.841.8006

I got an email from Francois a week ago:

“Bonjour, FMB vous présente ses nouveautés 2009. Cordialement, Francois”.

Looks like FMB is releasing some new treads!

yay!

Wait a second. These are tread patterns that already exist on other tyres. I can’t keep it straight. But I know someone who can;

I met up with Donn from Challenge tyres this afternoon. The cyclocross is in full effect.

As he explains it: “I’m playing Switzerland (read: neutral party) in all this. We love Francois, he has been to our factory. We are selling him our treads for FMB use.”

“But Donn” I say, “why the hell would I buy a Challenge tyre from FMB?”

Hands in the air: “Hey, don’t look at me.”

One could argue that a handmade FMB coton casing is superior to a handmade Challenge cotton casing. “only by someone attuned to the subtle nuances of various tubulars and their properties” - why thank you Donn.

But, with that said, I did tell him: “the Fango? meh.”

“alright, I’ll get a little defensive about the Fango, I mean, I had a lot to do with the design process. It has won a lot of races! It is a great tire!”

“Fair enough Donn, fair enough. I’m not saying it sucks, I’m saying it does not give me enough performance over the traditional Grifo tread. Who needs killer cornering knobs when you are sliding through all your corners anyways?”

“Well, what can Challenge do then?”

“Design another badass tread design. A mud tread design! Something for the NW. Something for mud, not like a Racing Ralph, kinda like a Rhino but not quite like a TUFO.”

“fine.” he says. And, proceeds to show me photos so secret and so fresh on his laptop that he is also seeing them for the first time.

“boo yah.” I say. “convince Alex to keep those side lugs and you are in business.”

-

I also got a call from TIRE ALERT! yesterday looking for a source for 700×30 latex inner tubes. He can’t find a source for them. And, I can’t seem to find a supply of them either.

I had Francois build up and send me some last year for my own stock to send along to TIRE ALERT! when I had FMB and Dugast repairs that needed latex tubes as TIRE ALERT! was not putting latex back in my fancy cx repairs.

How many times can I write TIRE ALERT! in one paragraph?

-

There you have it. I’m not even going to touch on Vittoria, Continental, Geax or others. I like the traditional, the time tested and race proven. I’ve seen some dope tread designs out there but, I’m convinced that any Euro on any day of the week can win a muddy US cross race on file treads and 15 psi. So, at a certain point tread design it is not the issue eh? We just need to be riding faster and handling our machines better.

I cut the SHIT out of my legs shaving in a hurry yester-morning. I was running late; I had a date with Matt and Saska to watch DiLuca embarrass every other bike racer in Italy.

And I badly needed to con Matt in to making me an espresso on his sweet little Breville.

I’ve had far too busy weeks recently. Barely riding my bike, racing here and there, working, hiring and recovering from being sick. Story of my life, no?

I received a sweet package in the mail the day before and figured it would be a good time to try out this exciting gift.

Winston’s Knickers.

The tubular tyre has been a fascination for me since I learned about them. I still get excited When I make orders from Francois at FMB, I’ll send a little care package along, some coffee beans, some local flavor.

Imagine my surprise when a package arrived from new friends bearing something similar: home made Embrocation from Mary in Louisville! (or rather Mary’s BF)

I took the time to take the embrocation into the garage and lovingly rest it upon my moto. I inspected the aroma and texture.

Then applied.

I was off to the local training crit. It was windy; very windy for Portland and looking like a spring rain would hit us.

The embrocation was perfect for the brisk windy conditions we raced in, it kept me taken care of during the race and did not sting the shit out of my raw, bloodied legs.

I can’t say I did the embrocation any justice with my mediocre riding in the crit…

Thanks Mary!

Hooking each other up with gear and creating and putting good energy back out there is what it is all about.

there was a road race yesterday that I started in Silverton, Oregon.

Some local PRO talent was in town and put the screws to the rest of us hacks. The racing was hot and besides giving the race to the first breakaway that went, I felt pretty crummy the whole time. I started trying to heckle people into chasing. Which kinda worked!

There was a little crash near the last lap and I put a hole in my tyre while riding around the carnage. I rode a little bit further on the flat tyre, as the follow/wheel car was busy dealing with the poor kid who broke his collarbone.

It was hot, the field was rolling away.

“I guess I am done.”

Quite the anticlimactic end to a brutal little race.

If I could do it again, I would have chased Mark Blackwelder down and jumped in the creek with him.

I’d like to tip my hat to the riders who have been selected to race the 2009 Cyclocross world championships for the US national team. I think Brian Matter and Matt Shriver busted their asses all fall and had some really good rides in Europe. I appreciate that Tim Johnson got a selection spot too even though everyone knew he is not planning on racing. That dude is badass and deserves that acknowledgement.

I’ve been asked why the hell I did not get selected to the US National team for the world championships?

The plain truth is that I was not riding well enough. And even had I been, making the team would have been a long shot. I missed a bunch of racing in October and was pretty low on the UCI rankings.

I had a couple decent rides in Europe and a handful of utterly worthless rides. I’ve got no excuses and am looking forward to next season.

I think the US team going to worlds is one of the strongest so far.

Jeremy Powers has shown phenomenal progression and adaptability in Europe. Every race he started he was in the lead group or making the chase happen.

I gave Trebon one of my fans cards and signed it: “stop whining. love, molly” I think he appreciated it.

The North American ladies are crushing it over there. Katie looks solid to win worlds, Rachel Lloyd, Sue Butler and Wendy Simms are toughing it out and coming up with some stellar results.

I’m excited to see how worlds plays out in a couple weeks.

I’m wrapping up a couple weeks off the bike tomorrow. First thing I am going to do is shred some single track on my mountain bike.