From CNN :: and a response.

I stumbled onto this on CNN.com last night about the Critical Mass ride in Vancouver, Canada [which is one of many Critical Mass rides done each month in a number of major cities]



Just a few response to the motorists the 'iReporter' interviewed...

'It's great!'
One of the more common responses I have experienced when those not riding see or experience larger rides go through urban centers and disrupt the regular flow of traffic. This is one of the main reason for the Critical Mass rides is to raise awareness for cycling and get more people involved. There is strength in numbers and this is a great way to get people's attention.

'I love this, I'm get myself a bike'
Once again. Just great to see and hear when people simply see enough 'everyday' people riding around that they want to join in. Cycling has unfortunately gained the stigma of the helmet wearing and spandex sporting athletes which isn't always putting a great step forward for the sport. Riding just to ride is why we all started in the first place, the freedom we experienced the moment the wind hit our face, I would argue, is the hook that keeps most of us going.

'Nightmare. They should obey the same rules we do and there's a cop that let them do it too... And we're late!'
This passenger is exactly right. Cyclist should and must obey the same rules as automobiles. But often cyclists aren't given or afforded the same rights to the road by the same people who demand they obey the rules. Thus why a critical mass is important in getting people to recognize the importance of cycling but more importantly cycling safely. Which, by the way, the Vancouver ride is with the police escort. By having the law enforcement, i.e. city government involved, it makes sure the event remains safe to all who are involved.

'I think they picked the wrong time of day to throw this protest, I don't why the city allows them to have it... Pick a time of day when, like a Sunday or some thing to throw this protest, not a Friday before a long weekend.'
Now all I want to do is ask this driver is what good is a protest that no one sees or disrupts the normal flow of the day? How else do you raise awareness or get people talking about and issue unless you bring it to ones attention? Maybe that's just me.


Overall, I'm on the fence as to whether or not I approve of Critical Mass rides. Sure, it's fun to go on and I basically partake in one each Wednesday Night here in GR but as we've encountered with these rides, often there are people who don't want to obey traffic laws and do more harm than good for bicycling advocacy with their actions. But then again, people are riding and is that really a bad thing?

3 Essentials

If a part becomes a transparent part of your daily riding routine,

then I would say it is doing its job.
:: Guitar Ted, via The Cyclist Site

It was quite the coincidence that I spoke to a customer on Saturday about the importance of a properly fitting shoe and he responded with 'Spending money on a solid seat and shoes is always worth it' and at that moment all of this dawned on me. Then Saturday night stumbled onto G-Ted's review of some grips where he made the statement above and everything clicked. In my mind, the 3 essential things to be dialed in on any bike are first ones saddle, then the grips and shoes [in whichever order you want]. Outside the saddle, the other two are often overlooked as essential items to have dialed in.

Saddle

Now, there are plenty of differing thoughts on what makes one saddle better than the next. From Bontrager's Inform to Specialized Body Geometry to the 'try it and ride it' approach, each hold some truth although I would lean more towards Bontrager's approach more than anything. Stressing that specific size, adjustment and padding is more important that removing saddle structure or cut out. Saddle width is the key measurement I have found for saddle comfort. Figuring that out, as you can see on either on the Bontrager or Specialized website, while considering the typical riding position adds up to the right saddle. But there is one solution to all saddle problems... getting out and riding it. And most saddle companies now offer a 30 to 90 day like it or return it policy, take advantage of that! But you owe it to yourself to ride a saddle more than once and to try different positions on the saddle. I have found that if you have to adjust a saddle more than one or two 'clicks' from level you might have the wrong seat and that sliding the saddle along the rails does more for comfort than anything else.

Grips

Grips. Now, I'm extremely bias. I believe Ergon Bike Ergonomics put out the best product on the market. Period. This is an area that until companies like Ergon came around a few years ago, very little thoughts on how to relieve pain to a riders hand were considered outside of using bigger grips or a riser bar. I discovered Ergon via Jeff Kerkove back when Ergon decided to sponsor Trans Iowa and provide all 50 of the riders with free grips. This created quite the buzz around the shop and from that moment on, I believe all of us at Europa have been sporting them. Why? Because they simply work. There is a reason why companies are copying their design. These grips relieve the stress from the nerve that goes through your palm that creates the numbness and pain when pinched during riding. From the casual rider to the endurance racer, one can not go wrong with these grips.

Shoes

Shoes would be the last on my list of must have or must do between these 3 Essentials. Why? The novice cyclist simply wants to jump on the bike and ride where as the more avid rider or racer understands the improved efficiency and control one gains with a cycling specific shoes. Of course, when you bring up shoes, it is more than that and brings into the discussion of pedals but for the sake of this argument we'll simply concede that each have different preferences on what pedals a rider should use. A solid shoe for me, has a stiff sole, a 3 strap system with one ratcheting buckle. Each company out there offers products that have these options and depending on your foot type, how they fit comes into play. But when trying on shoes the two things I stress to customers is to look for and feel a good snug heel and plenty of space in the toe box. From there, to each their own on what works for them.


But in then end, with these 3 essentials it comes down to exactly what G-Ted said 'If a part becomes a transparent part of your daily riding routine, then I would say it is doing its job'. So if you notice it, it's probably not a good thing and you might want to consider changing it. Before you just start buying more and more shoes and saddles, take time to think of what exactly bothers you, what part of your hand, foot or hind side hurts and talk it over with someone at your local shop. They should be able to give you a few options for finding ways to making these parts 'transparent'.

Weekend Videos

Enjoy.

no drive. just ride. presents: C Series

The C Series

Now, this has been on my mind for some time now... at one point I thought about putting together a potential race, other times I simply training rides, then sometimes simply no drop longer distant ride. The C Series is a bit of all 3, it maybe only one of 3 some months but in the end, it's all about the love of Cycling.

C stands for Cycling
C stands for 100
C stands for Century

My hope is that this becomes a monthly ride where we ride 100 miles at one shot, some months it will be a clean 100, others a dirty 100. Meaning when it's a clean it's on pavement, dirty its on dirt/gravel. These rides will typically take place on Sundays and mainly in Michigan but I am also hoping to have a ride in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois down the road. Some will be part of larger already established rides [such as the ride in September] others we'll be on our own.

August 30th :: A no-drop CLEAN Century
September 27th :: Apple Cider Century [must pre-register here]
October 24th/DIRTY [Tentative Date]
November 22nd in Iowa/DIRTY [Tentative Date and Location]
December 19th [Tentative Date]

Start times and tentative route will be announced/posted 1 week prior to ride both here and on the C Series website [still in development]. Please feel free to email me if you are interested in receiving emails about the upcoming rides at adamlorenz@gmail.com

I Have A Need For Speed

It's and addiction, and makes crack look cheap and weak. Waking up early to sneak in some extra miles on the commute, spinning my legs out on my lunch break to hopefully get ride of the lactic acid that has built up in them, always thinking of the next race and when I will get my fix, and of course the fact that my basement and car always look like a bike shop has exploded in it. These are all signs of my addiction to speed and the racing that has inspired it. I know I don't race a Top Gun inspired bike, but this year has been a summer full of racing on the road, and I have a need for speed. I'd like to thank Adam for trying to keep things updated on here about racing, and linking to the team site. The upgrade to Cat. 2 has gone fairly well so far. My first race was a touch rough as I raced the Elk Grove 1/2 race and felt starstruck and outgunned from the start and didn't feel like I could stay on top of a gear and was unable to mentally fight for position in corners resulting in me missing the split in the field and finishing in 30th, 5 places outside the money. I know I am supposed to be happy as so many people got shelled in this race and it was a learning experience, but I am never happy when I ride like a wuss. This past weekend was a bit of redemption at the Meijer Grand Cycling Classic. This was now a Pro/1/2 race with Bissell bringing a full roster of pros to their sponsors hometown race. In addition to Bissell, Kelly Benefits sent a squad, Kenda Pro brought a bunch of riders, the Panthers fielded an army, and Subway-Avanti had three very strong riders in the field. Adding all of this talent to the already fast Michigan race scene made for a very fun day. Early on I still suffered from the feeling that I was recently upgraded and didn't know what I was doing in a field this strong. Once I settled down and realized that I had family, teammates, other racers, and of course the Founders team yelling at me to move up and do something I settled in and realized while faster than any field I had ridden in all year it was still a field I could handle and a course that suited my riding style. About halfway through I decided to stop hiding out and did some work, made a couple short lived break attempts, and helped pull back another one or two. I got caught a touch out of position in the sprint, but still managed 15th place which got me my entry fee back plus a little bit of pocket change. Ben Jacques-Maynes finished a place behind me and I am going to claim that he was trying his best to beat me(Ok fine so I know he wasn't but it makes for a good story.) Tom Zirbel won the race after spending a good chunk of the day in a break with former MiScene standout Jake Rytlewski. A great confidence building race for me, and now I can't wait for Ada and Gaslight. If you are in West Michigan stop by one of these races and enjoy watching some of Michigan's best crit racing. Dan Socie took some awesome pictures downtown, check them out here.

Land of the Free...

Recently, a group of folk back in my old stomping grounds in Iowa started a petition to ban cyclist from the nearly 30,000+ miles of 'farm to market' roads. I'm not the first nor the last to respond to this petition, and this is not the first time a group in the U.S. has tried to ban cyclists from the road [previously in Colorado]. Like many, I can not stress the amount of frustration I have towards those who are proposing such a ban. I've spent the last few days reading up on how this might play out and how the law reads in matters concerning right to the road. The main source has been the book Bicycling and the Law by Bob Mionske and much of what I will be stating comes from what he has written. I can not stress how appreciative I have been to have this book as a resource and believe it is a must for anyone spending any time riding on the road.

Let's start this by hearing what the Citizens for Safety Coalition of Iowa [CSCI] are petitioning, that is: 'to have the Iowa Legislature support a ballot initiative for the November 2010 election which will prohibit bicyclists from using state and county defined farm-to-market roads.' Stating specifically that 'Over the past ten years the number of bicyclists using these farm-to-market roads for recreational purposes has increased dramatically as have the number of preventable accidents and fatalities. Rural commerce and citizens are significantly impacted when forced to share the farm-to-market roadways with bicyclists. Because of the growth of today's commerce and agricultural business, shared roadways are no longer safe or practical in today's society.'

The absurdity of this petition baffles me. The CSCI is claiming and taking the approach that they are looking out for the best interests and safety of both the rural citizen and cyclist by pushing for this ban. The reality is that such a ban could become a battle of constitutional right, because 'the U.S. Constitution guarantees the ancient right of liberty, including the right to travel. [...] All courts agree that there is a constitutional right to interstate travel; some courts, and virtually all constitutional scholars, have held that there is a corresponding right to intrastate travel.' [Mionske, 110] Moionske goes further to stress that unlike freedom of speech, the right to travel is a fundamental right [Freedom of speech is restricted as observed by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes 'the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic'] and in restricting such travel strict scrutiny of such laws must take place [108,112].

Sure, I might be jumping and going further with this more than most in arguing that banning cycling is an attack on the liberties assured to us by the Constitution. The CSCI states that there has been a 'number of preventable accidents and fatalities' due to the increased number of cyclists on these roads. Granted the internet is not always the best place to gather reliable statistics, I struggled to find any statistic showing increased fatalities on farm to market roads; most are still typically found in towns, on paved surfaces rather than the roads in the petition.

As I pointed out earlier, the CSCI is 'taking the approach that they are looking out for the best interests and safety of both the rural citizen and cyclist'. Which then opens the door to state vehicle codes or moreover the same guideline from state to state handed down by the federal government called Uniform Traffic Laws. Because the CSCI is using what Mionske calls 'Assumption of Risk' found on page 25 where he writes:

"The law does not require a person to surrender the lawful exercise of a valuable right [use of a public street] or assume the risk of injury merely because someone else's conduct or failure to exercise due care threatens harm."

Bell v. Chawkins, 460 S.W.2d 850 (Tenn. 1970)

Suppose somebody who owes you a duty of care breaches that duty, and you're injured as a result of that person's negligence. Now that person needs a good defense. "Assumption of risk" is one such defense - it's the negligent person's way of saying, "Whether I was negligent or not, you knew the risk, and you took it anyway, so I shouldn't be held liable for your injuries."

Assumption of risk is a powerful defense in negligence cases. Even if the person who injured you is held liable for your injuries, your "assumption of the risk" may reduce the amount of compensation that you would otherwise be entitled to.

Think for a moment about how problematic this defense would be, however, if it were applied to negligence in an auto accident: You get into your car, you drive to work, somebody negligently causes an accident, and then blames you f or being on the road in the first place.

Would this argument make any sense to you? Hopefully not, and yet that is exactly what is being claimed when the assumption-of-risk defense is used in the context of auto/bike collisions. [...] [B]aring a few exceptions, courts have universally agreed that it is not a legitimate defense outside of the sporting context.

He then goes into what he calls the 'Proper Lookout' which applies to both automobiles and cyclists in that we both share the same rights to the road. He quotes from a case in Idaho Supreme Court, Drury v. Palmer [25-26]:

It is the obligation of an operator of a motor vehicle to keep proper lookout. The whole theory of motor vehicle law is based on the requirement that the operator keep his vehicle under control at all times, considering actual and potential hazards, which of necessity contemplates proper lookout by the operator. It is not only the duty of the operator to look, but it is his duty to see and be cognizant of that which is plainly visible or obviously apparent, and a failure on his part in his regard, without proper justification or reason, makes him chargeable for failure to see what he should have seen had he been in the exercise of reasonable care.


In the end, rural citizens must take responsibility for their own driving, accidents happen for a number of reasons and it is just as much of a jump to simply blame the cyclist riding on these roads as the cause. All cyclist regardless of where we are riding we MUST obey traffic laws, because if we don't and ride as though we are free to claim which ever best suit us and our time schedule or training plan, we don't deserve a right to the road.

We will always be climbing uphill in this struggle for our right to the road and we will always encounter those who don't believe we should be on the road. But let's do what we can to take the ammunition away from them.

Ride right.
Ride safe.

Starting to form a list...

Now. As I said before, I'm getting on of the new 2010 Cannondale Flash Carbon 29er 1 here this winter and if you haven't noticed, I can't leave anything stock. All my bikes have become my own in one way or another. The unfortunately reality of that means that things are going to get switch out almost immediately and now I am left with deciding when to order all of these... once I get the bike or before in preparation. I'm also debating setting it up as a 1x9 with probably a 40T front and a Rohloff upper chain guide. Thoughts? Suggestions?

But here's the list so far...

Ergon GX2 Leichtbau Carbon (in team green of course!)


Salsa Pro Moto Carbon Flat Bar

Salsa Lip Lock

Salsa Rear Flip-Off

Brooks B17 Titanium
Crank Brothers Ti Eggbeater Pedals

She's gonna look purdee...