Hey, remember me?

   About a month ago I started rebuilding an Atala bicycle with a cyclocross setup, and although I had been really busy lately with repair jobs in the shop, my component search had been ongoing. While some of the parts were found fairly quickly and easily because there was a decent selection available, it took quite a while to find the Campagnolo aero seatpost that I like so much to complete the project.

   I always liked the look of the Campagnolo Triomphe rear derailleur, and after some research I was excited to find out that much of the same gruppo was included on this bicycle. The brake levers and crankset already matched up, so It was only a matter of finding the rest of the set, including both derailleurs and the downtube shift levers.

   The white brake lever hoods helped to influence my decision, but I wanted the classic pro look of the white saddle and bar tape for the Atala. I matched up a new Selle Italia saddle with some Fizik tape that both had a perforated leather look. The original owner had some gel strips on the bars for additional cushioning, but I thought the overall appearance was too bulky. Since I don’t ride in the drops much, I removed all strips but those on the upper bars. I thought with the narrow vintage bars, softening up the vibration to my hands while riding off-road might be a good idea.

   All of my bikes have a compact crankset, since I don’t have a need for the big, honkin’ 53 tooth chainring that professional legs churn within the peloton, and the hilly terrain in my home area makes a 34 tooth inside ring helpful for climbing. Unfortunately the compact setup is a fairly recent development, so coming up with vintage Campagnolo parts to fit my needs is practically impossible.

   The root of the problem is something called BCD, which stands for Bolt Center Diameter. This is measurement of the diameter of a circle that would intersect all of the chainring mounting bolts. A standard 53-30 tooth set of chainrings would have a BCD of 130 mm, while a compact crankset would have a BCD of only 110 mm to compensate for the smaller size of 50-34 tooth rings. Just to be crazy (those Italians again), my Campy crankset is 116 mm BCD!

   After extensive research for some type of equipment compromise, a Campagnolo Gran Sport “touring” crankset with 116 BCD appeared on eBay. While I didn’t really want the quirky look of its small diameter 41 tooth outer chainring on my bicycle, I decided the 36 tooth inside ring would be “close enough” and keep me from having to mismatch with something modern on my build.  I then sold back the unneeded rings and crankset to nearly balance out the cost.

   I had been wondering for a while what model my bicycle was, and made some inquiries on several online Forums. After some useless responses from the regular internet “trolls”, I found out that Atala bicycles derived their model names from the type of tubing used in the frame and the component group level. My bike would then be an Atala Cromor Triomphe!

   By the way, I am posting today because I'm heading down to the shore tomorrow morning, and I won't have my laptop with me (oh no!). I'm actually cycling down because the rest of my family is already in Stone Harbor, and I didn't think we needed to waste the gas driving a third vehicle there. They took two cars partly to haul their bikes and all the stuff they wanted to take, but also because my older son Colin will be commuting to help out at a film camp in Cape May all week, and my wife didn't want to be stuck without any transportation.
   I will start the 92 mile ride at my brother-in-law's place in West Conshohocken to cut off some of the distance, and head off towards Philadelphia on the Schuylkill Trail. There is an access point to Race Street just beyond the Art Museum, and I will make my way across the city to the Ben Franklin Bridge and use the pedestrian-(and bike)friendly crossing of the Delaware River there.

  Once in Camden I will head south on Haddon Avenue and then turn right and ride down Mount Ephraim Avenue and the Black Horse Pike for a few miles. I'll take the opportunity to get off of the busy roads for a while by connecting with the Blackwood Rail Trail in Hilltop. Just above Grenloch Lake I'll be back on the Black Horse Pike for a short time, until I veer south onto Route 655 just east of Glassboro.
   I'll hook up with Route 47 in Franklinville, and that will be the road travelled the majority of the rest of the way. There is a shortcut opportunity around the 65 mile mark by taking Route 347, but it is very remote out there and that particular road is notorious for dangerous driving habits, so I will choose the extra handful of miles in the name of safety!
   Just south of Dennisville I will turn left onto Court House South Dennis Road, which will link directly with Stone Harbor Boulevard at Cape May Courthouse. I'm hoping for a rare land breeze so I don't have that usual nasty headwind as I head across the causeway onto the barrier island, but I don't expect miracles. I know I will be struggling in those last few miles, and I won't need any hindrances at that point!

I will be taking a week off from writing, but maybe I'll have an interesting story or two to share next time.

Skyfall...Ka-froooooome!

   Not that I really have anything against any individual cyclist on Team Sky, I just don’t like the way their tactics take the racing aspect out of pro cycling. Using power meters to gauge effort as team members relay on the front of the pack to keep the pace high and discourage breakaways is just plain boring. Sure, you can argue they are the strongest team, and (most of the time) it works, so the other teams need to get better - but won’t the other teams just try the same thing as they improve? Yuck. 

   To combat this pattern, team managers have to be creative and not be afraid to try strategies that may seem risky in order to break up the “grind-away” mentality that is becoming too familiar. I admire the management at Garmin-Sharp for throwing everything at a race in order to win, not just occasionally finish on the podium behind the favorites. Trying a break at a strange part in a race will sometimes fail, but at least you are trying something, and it just might pay off with a victory!

   In this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné, a prestigious pre-Tour de France stage race that is often run over the same roads as its “big brother”, Chris Froome (Sky’s team leader) and Alberto Contador tried to knock each other out with devastating attacks late in the mountain stages, while other contenders limped across the finish line each day, limiting their losses. Froome had worn the race leader’s jersey since the first stage until Contador took back enough time during Saturday’s mountain stage to move into the overall lead.

   During Sunday’s final stage an early split occurred involving 23 riders, several of which were in the top ten, including Romain Bardet (7th), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (5th) and American Andrew Talansky (3rd). At the time, Contador and Froome were too concerned with each other and shrugged off the situation. With plenty of firepower still remaining in the peloton to chase the break down, they probably thought it was just another one of those foolish moves that always fail.

   The Garmin-Sharp squad decided to shake things up. Former Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal sacrificed himself by expending all his energy to help make the break stick - his teammate Talansky started the day just 39 seconds down on the leader. Contador had exhausted all of his teammates in the effort to keep the break close and was now by himself. Froome was looking to be at less than 100%, and with a couple of teammates still up in the break, he refused to work to bring down the gap.

   As the two favorites looked at each other and argued a bit about whose responsibility it was to chase, their deficit to Talansky’s group increased to well over two minutes! Contador became desperate and finally attacked the Sky team leader and his two remaining teammates. Froome cracked and had no response – even with teammates from the original break dropping back to help, he lost chunks of time and tumbled down the standings to twelfth overall!

   To his credit, Contador rocketed up the final hill and nearly closed on the break, but Talansky held off the late charge to steal the leader’s jersey and claim the biggest victory of his career. A daring strategy paid off by attempting to win the race, not just finish on the podium!

   On a different subject, a couple of weekends ago I rode a metric century (100 kilometers) during an event organized by the South Jersey Wheelmen. The event was run over a mostly flat course on the Delaware River side of the Garden State, generally around the areas of Salem and Alloway Township. I said mostly flat because there was a section around the midway point of the ride that contained a series of leg-sapping rises. Compared to the inclines I regularly ride near home, this type of terrain normally wouldn’t have been much of a challenge, but because of the distance that I still had left to ride, these hills really took a toll.

   I’ve done some rides in the 50 mile range around home, so I really wasn't expecting to be so weary. I was riding this event on my own, and I think I started off at too enthusiastic a pace. Without any “teammates” to draft behind – and there was a pretty consistent breeze of 5-8 mph – holding at around 18 or 19 mph for the first hour was probably unwise.

   I also ended up riding 120 kilometers because of some misdirection, which didn’t help with the fatigue factor.  My unfamiliarity with the area certainly contributed to my problems, but there were also some errors on the cue sheet that caused confusion, along with some missing street signs.

   The organizing committee had painted some direction arrows at the major intersections, which worked well on the whole on the larger roads. However, there were some streets with a lot of cinder and other debris from recent storms accumulated in the shoulder area, and I ended up backtracking a couple of times after missing the directional markings.

   The most humorous (well…looking back, it was funny) incident occurred on a road that had been recently repaved, right over the course markings! I was riding at that moment with some gentlemen from Keswick Cycles, a shop I knew well from when I lived in Ambler, PA. Someone was riding back towards us, looking very confused and waving at us to stop. He had recognized a road name at an intersection ahead and knew something was wrong. We had been enjoying this wonderfully smooth new road about 1½ miles past the necessary turn and had to backtrack once again!

   Naturally the last five mile stretch to the finish was into the wind, and at this point my legs were fairly howling! It was not a lack of energy, since I had brought along plenty of my own gluten-free energy supply (except for bananas, I know these events always have taboo contents for celiacs at the feed tables), and I had been very conscious about drinking enough. I had just been going too hard for too long – not a lot of coasting on flat roads.

  

   I have to laugh when I look at the routes taken by some of the “fun” rides that are organized in the area around my home. One particular event, The Iron Tour, circles around some of the historic iron furnace areas in northern Chester County and has some ridiculously long, steep climbs that the average cyclist would intentionally avoid. Although I’ve never entered this particular ride (why would I want to pay to punish myself that badly?), over the years I have seen riders out on the road with a face like he or she is (to coin a phrase from one of the EuroSport commentators) “hanging onto grim death”.

   Simply by judging some of the equipment choices and body types, there are some folks who look like they ride consistently and are wise enough to do these rides at a very sociable pace. They laugh a bit with each other as they face the difficulties of the hilly route and rest regularly along the way. I simply don’t get it when folks do events like this each year as their only exercise challenge. It makes me feel like they really don’t want to ride a bike.

   Cycling should be enjoyable, not excruciating! Wouldn’t some regular workouts of shorter rides over more manageable terrain be the wiser choice? I always try to encourage people to get out on the road, but paying an entrance fee just to completely suffer is something I’ll never understand.

Bianchi Bonanza!

   I’ve expressed before in this blog that my interest in vintage Italian-made bicycles is not limited to Colnago and Pinarello products. Bianchi is the world’s oldest existing bicycle manufacturer, and their famous Celeste green machines have been ridden to victory by legends such as Fausto Coppi, Felice Gimondi and Marco Pantani. Although the company, like many of the large bike manufacturers, has farmed out much of its assembly operations to Asia, the story is that their Reparto Corse (racing department) bicycles still come from their Milan headquarters.

   Bianchi now markets mid-range, affordable bicycles worldwide, yet still puts out top-of-the-line models, such as those supplied to the Belkin pro team. I certainly don’t need to add to my personal collection, but recently I have come across a bunch of Bianchi bicycles that have “project potential”.

   A woman down the street had hoped to purchase the Cannondale hybrid I sold a couple of months ago, but it was a bit large for her, so she asked me to keep a lookout for one that might fit her. A family that lives on one of my regular cycling routes had for sale a pair of red Bianchi Timber Wolf mountain bikes that had hardly been used. One of the bikes had a woman-specific frame that I knew would be just right for my neighbor.

   The owner explained that the bikes had been a gift from her children nearly twenty years ago, but after a short ride or two, the machines just sat in the garage. Except a good amount of dust, the paint and parts were nearly perfect. Strangely, only the tires on the woman’s bike were rotted, and this bike also had a crack in the base of the saddle.

   The men’s bike had a nice bunch of accessories included, such as a pump and saddle bag loaded with the appropriate tools, and the owner even provided the original manuals that came with the bicycles.  I talked down the price a bit, knowing that the parts that needed to be replaced were relatively inexpensive, and I am confident I will be able to make bit of money back when selling the pair.

   Back home, when I wheeled one of the bikes down the street to show my neighbor, she was excited. Rachel told me her kids had been bothering her to ride on the local trail, but discovered her bike wasn’t up to it. Her intention was always to pass the old mountain bike down to her daughter, but she now thought it might be beyond help. I asked if I could take a look at the bike, even though I certainly didn’t want to talk her out of a sale. However, I’m building a reputation in our neighborhood, and if I can save her some bucks by repairing her old bike, I figured that would be smart move.

   Turns out some people were eyeing this Bianchi already. The sidewalk down there had a constant flow of kids and parents, and as we stood there talking, folks were wondering what we were up to. Rachel was becoming my own P.R. director, “He lives just up the street, and he fixes and sells bicycles.” I think that I have one or two potential customers!

   A short time later, Rachel ducked into her house and rolled out a circa 1993 Diamondback Topanga. This was a quality mountain bike that the company manufactured before selling out to become a store-brand bike at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Much like Mongoose Bicycles, Diamondback started off in BMX then took advantage of the mountain bike craze of the early ‘90s. Both companies were innovators in the industry and sponsored pro MTB teams. As the economy changed, the two manufacturers scaled down to consumer-friendly, “off the rack” products, although Mongoose still has higher-end models available through their website.

   Anyway, the tires on Rachel’s bike were deflated and the brakes were totally misaligned, which immediately had her thinking “it didn’t work”, but I knew these would be relatively easy repairs. I assured her that I could put it back into riding condition, and we pushed the bikes back up to my house.

   The Diamondback was mostly in need of a good cleaning, since it had a coating of thick, chalky dust - it looked like it had been stored in a room that had been used to cut drywall!  After giving everything a good wipe-down, the frame turned out to be a really attractive purplish charcoal color. The tires were in remarkably good condition, and I thought I was going to be able to return the bike the next day. Unfortunately neither of the trigger shifters was working properly, but from past experience I knew those could be replaced rather inexpensively.

   I had my eye on another Bianchi, which had appeared on craigslist a while ago until the ad actually expired with no takers. This was a 2001 SL Aluminum Reparto Corse that would have been equipped with Campagnolo components, but as with many of the Italian imports, American shop owners built the bikes with Shimano parts that were easier on the wallet. Luckily this bicycle was outfitted with quality Ultegra parts, one of the higher levels of the Shimano product line.

   After contacting the seller and hearing his price would be cut in half, I told him I was interested, but first I had to make some room in the shop and in the budget for new projects. Luckily someone purchased the Colnago Nuovo Mexico a couple of weekends ago, and I had a nice little profit in my hands as well. Last weekend I drove out to Ephrata and made the purchase, which included a bunch of extras, like the Profile Design aerobars, that I can sell off to cover some of my build-up plans.

   The Bianchi SL is a racing bike, and I had the vision of setting the bike up to simulate that of Marco Pantani’s Mercatone Uno team of the late 90’s. A feature I found on the CyclingNews website specs out the bike exactly, with mostly Campagnolo Record gruppo. There are some concessions  I will have to make, such as with the custom Selle Italia saddle and Campagnolo Electron wheelset, that would otherwise put me in the poorhouse, but I’ll try to get as close as possible for the right look. I already ordered some Vittoria yellow tires!

   There is actually one more Bianchi available in the area at very cheap price, but I have had trouble contacting the seller. This one is a fairly rare ‘90s vintage Boardwalk hybrid bike, also in the classic Celeste color. It is a bit rough around the edges, but I think a little TLC would go a long way. If I can snag it for the $100 asking price, it would be a great “back burner” project.

Alphabet Game, Part Two

To continue from last week's blog subject, here are letters N to Z:

Marty Nothstein (photo right)  The lone representative of track racing on this list, Marty was a dominant presence during my regular attendance of summer Friday Night Racing at the Lehigh County Velodrome. He won multiple World Championship medals in the sprint and keirin events, including 1994 gold in both races while nursing a broken heel. In 1995 he won a bronze medal in the team sprint with a broken kneecap! The real highlights of his career were the Olympic sprint silver medal in 1996 and, ultimately, the gold in 2000. Upon his retirement from cycling in 2006, Nothstein proved himself a true speed demon by competing in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series for a couple years. These days Marty can still be found looming around the banked turns as executive director of (what is now known as) the Valley Preferred Cycling Center.

Abraham Olano   Spanish cycling fans hoped the winner of the 1995 Road Race World Championship would become the heir to Miguel Indurain’s Tour de France throne, but his highest finish ever was fourth in 1997. Olano did finish twice each on the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España podiums, including a win in his home tour in 1998. He also took the Time Trial World Championship that year.

Davis Phinney (awesome '80s photo left)  A sprinting star on the first U.S.-based professional team, Phinney was the first American to win a road stage at the Tour de France (LeMond won a time trial a year earlier) in 1986, and won another the following season. He claimed the sprinter’s points jersey seven times at the former Coors Classic stage race, before winning the overall title in 1988. In 2004 he established the Davis Phinney Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of people with Parkinson's disease, an affliction from which he suffers. Davis is married to Connie Carpenter, gold medal winner in the 1984 Olympic road race. With bloodlines like this, it’s no wonder the future seems so bright for son Taylor, who rides for pro team BMC.

Nairo Quintana (photo right)   The young Colombian burst onto the pro scene with a second place finish in last year’s Tour de France. Although his role was to support team leader Alejandro Valverde, plans changed as he finished second overall, claiming the Best Young Rider and mountains classifications in the process. Unlike some other recent “hopefuls” who’ve tasted success then cracked under pressure, Quintana came back focused this season and prepared to take on a leadership role. On Sunday he took the top step of the podium as winner of the Giro d’Italia.

Stephen Roche   Much was expected from Roche when he won Paris-Nice and back-to-back Tour of Romandie titles early in his career, and the Irishman did not disappoint. He won a stage and finished on the podium behind Hinault and LeMond at the 1985 Tour de France, before suffering a setback with a chronic knee problem. However, Roche came back with an absolutely magical 1987 season, becoming only the second rider ever to win the “Triple Crown” of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Championship Road Race. Unfortunately, his knee issue caused a steep decline in his performance in the following years.

Peter Sagan   Many experts compare the Slovakian’s overall talents to that of the legendary Sean Kelly, and the 24-year-old has already compiled an impressive number of wins in World Tour events. Although he may not be a pure sprinter, “Peter the Great” can certainly hang with the peloton’s top speed men and has the power and endurance to beat them in races that have covered more difficult terrain. His consistent finishes near the front have earned him the Tour de France green jersey the last two years, including four stage wins. With the ability to accelerate up short, steep climbs, it appears Sagan is destined to be a great Classics rider, but he has yet to win one of cycling’s five Monuments. He has finished on the podium at Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders, but to this point has only won some of the minor classics such as Gent-Wevelgem and E3 Harelbeke.

Andrea Tafi (photo left)   Another member of the powerful Mapei team of the 1990s (Franco Ballerini and Johann Museeuw were mentioned in Part One), Tafi gained success relatively late in his career, winning the Giro di Lombardia in 1996, at the age of thirty. During the 1999 Paris-Roubaix, he emulated his hero Francesco Moser by crossing the finish line while wearing the Tricolore jersey of Italian national champion. Three years later, Tafi capped his career by winning the Tour of Flanders.

Diego Ulissi   The rising star has won a couple of stages at this year’s Giro d’Italia. His back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007 made Ulissi only the second cyclists ever to win the World Junior Road Race twice. The Italian shows the ability to win one day races with punchy, steep finishes. In his young career, Diego has won some minor stage races, and many see him eventually developing into a Grand Tour threat, in the mold of…

Alejandro Valverde (photo right)  Displaying a unique blend of powerful acceleration and climbing endurance, the Spaniard has won a variety of races on all types of terrain, from rolling time trials to Pyrenean mountain ascents. Valverde has multiple victories in Spring Classics such as La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, has won four stages of the Tour de France, and has finished on the final podium of the Vuelta a España three times, including the top spot in 2009. In my favorite race finish of all time, Valverde roars out of the field to win stage one of the 2008 Tour de France. Check it out here, but don’t watch the whole 1½  hours of coverage – just start about the 1:08 mark to watch the climb up the final hill. As camera angles change, spot the cyclist in the black with red trim, riding the bright yellow Pinarello (sweet bike!).

Pieter Weening   Tell me his name doesn’t make you giggle! Weening won stage nine at this year’s Giro d’Italia and one in 2011, when he wore the pink jersey for four days. Incredibly, his 2005 Tour de France stage win was the most recent by a Dutch cyclist at that event!

Amets Txarruka    I know it’s not quite right, but the Spanish domestique is as close as you’re gonna get to an “X” in cycling history!

Sean Yates   The Brit served mainly as a domestique on teams like Peugeot, 7-Eleven and Motorola, but won stages of Paris-Nice, the Vuelta a España and Tour de France during his career. After retiring as a rider in 1996, Sean had very successful stints as manager for the Discovery, Astana and Sky pro cycling teams.

Alex Zülle (photo left)   The classy Swiss rider won Vuelta a España titles back-to-back in 1996 and 1997, and finished in second place at the Tour de France in 1995 and 1999. Zülle was also world time-trial champion in 1996.