Flats

It's a fact of life - if you do a lot of riding, you are going to get flat tires.

Every year at the Interbike Trade Show there are a few companies touting their flat-less, non-pneumatic tires. That these tires are going to revolutionize cycling by eliminating the dreaded flat tire. Despite the claims, these innovations never seem to catch on and, the over one hundred year old technology of the pneumatic tire roles on!

And that leads us back to the flats. In a typical year, my wife, Professional Triathlete Paolina Allan and I get on average 2 - 3 on-the-road flats, in thousands of miles ridden. Last, year was typical - we had exactly three flats for the year between the two of us!

Paolina had two on one day and one ride - one going up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ and another coming down Mt. Lemmon. The picture above is me changing #2. #1 was a staple through the tire, and #2 was a small razor sharp piece of scrap metal that again went right through the tire. I note in the picture above, another group ride's support van had stopped and loaned us a floor pump - very kind of them.

I had one, on the day we road the Ironman Canada bike course in August. Just as we started to ramp things up heading up the Yellow Lake climb, I ran over a metal screw, that perfectly punctured through the tire. In all three instances the change-over to a new tube was made quickly, and we were on our way in a few minutes.

These three flats, were total flukes and, just plain bad luck. On message boards and forums I see many triathletes and cyclists are plagued with flat tires. What I do to minimize flats is as follows and it seems to work for us:

- Ride on the best rubber that you can afford. I see this often - people riding $5,000 bikes and really cheap tires. Up-grade your rubber. It's win-win: Better ride and less flats.

- Make sure your tires are installed properly. It's not that hard a skill. This should be a basic. Know how to do it, at home and on the side of the road. Practice it! Outstanding guide for clincher tube changing at the always informative Park Tool site.

- Always check tire inflation and pressure, before every ride! Buy and use a good floor pump for home use and for on-the-road know how to use a Co2 cartridge (always carry two) or mini pump.

- Between rides check your tires over carefully. Look for cuts, and small micro pieces of glass and metal imbedded in the tread/tire. Use a pin to dig the small things out of the rubber.

- Scan road ahead for obvious things that cause flats. If on a group ride, alert following riders to these issues. Don't get too obsessed about this, as you also need to focus on riding and other things.

- Try to find a tire and rim/wheel combo that goes on and off easily for both your every-day wheels and your race wheels. Some combos are terrible and require the strength of three men to make a change. You don't want that combo.

FWIW - we have had great success with the Vittoria EVO CX tires. These clincher tires are "expensive", but they meet all of my key tire criteria:

- Have amazing feel for the road.
- Roll straight and true and offer fantastic grip in corners.
- Despite claims of others, reasonably durable. Again, only three flats last year!
- Go on and off our regularly used wheels very easily.
- Are readily available in most good bike shops.

Despite all of this, flats happen. Be ready for them! Don't sweat it. Know what you are doing. Make the change, and get on with the ride!
How often do you get flat tires?

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Black Socks

Are you a member of the Brotherhood of Black Sock Wearers?

The Rules seem to have mixed feelings on black Socks for cycling. However, I think they have been overly influenced by a certain cyclist from the State of Texas.

My use of black socks for cycling goes back a number of years, and way before, Big Tex started doing it. It was based more on utility and pragmatism than anything else. Back in the early 90's I was living in Vancouver, B.C. For those who know Vancouver, know that it rains a bit in Canada's Lotus Land, and you are often out riding in what locals call "Liquid Sunshine", more than you would like. There were some regular group road rides that I would attend, and I noticed that the hardest of the hard-core guys, like mountain bike ace, Bruce Spicer would wear black socks. I would always return from these gritty, wet, winter rides with my nice white cycling socks, now several shades of grey - a grey that would not wash out, no matter how many times through the washing machine, I note. So I went black! Problem solved.

I can't take full credit for it, but when Sugoi started to make cycling socks, when I was working there in the late 90's, I pushed in a planning meeting, to "Make sure you offer those socks in black". Made sense, Sugoi was a Vancouver based cycling apparel company - we knew about riding in dirty and wet conditions.

Since then, the sock business has exploded - it's a new sub specialty product category all itself these days. If you walk into a cycling or running shop you'll be faced by a wall of socks, from a variety of manufacturers, and a rainbow of colour options and designs, beyond the basic white sports sock. There are even anatomically correct options for your left and right foot . . who knew?

However, my eyes are always drawn to the black socks. My current preferred socks are the DeFeet Aireator Black High-Tops (pictured above). Simple. Basic. Black. Never get dirty. Always look the same! However, as you can see, on a quick perusal of the DeFeet website, their socks come in many different colours with all kinds of funky and cool designs. With socks these days, you can go crazy! Check out these retina wreckers from my friend Joe Foster from Sock Guy.

Now, when you see another cyclist wearing black socks, I am not sure what it is but, it's usually a veteran, someone who's been around for a few years. The kind of fellow rider that you just have to give a nod, to, to know that he/she get's it! They've been around the block a few times. They are comfortable in their own skin, and on the bike. You can be comfortable sitting on their wheel, or next to them in the group. They'll be calm and cool! And perhaps most importantly, they don't have to worry about keeping their white cycling socks, white!

Are you a member of the Brotherhood of Black Sock Wearers?

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Cervelo For Sale

Full disclosure - I have been a Cervelo friend, fan and owner since almost day-one, so I'll get my biases out of the way right from the get-go.

More neutral and good analysis can be found by long time industry observer and the Publisher of Slowtwitch, Dan Empfield here, as well as on a bike industry blog the Inner Ring, or a good search on Google.

The news on Christmas Eve that Cervelo was seeking a financial partnership with the Dutch company PON, with a possible option to buy, came as a surprise to many - Official News Release. However, for those in the know and for those who know the challenges of growing, and growth in this sort of business it was no real surprise, but an inevitability. Rapid growth, of the kind that Cervelo has experienced over the past 10 years comes at a high cost. While all appears good and great on the surface, great product, impressive sales, and in Cervelo's case winning races, beneath the surface the financial strains can be excessive. Everything, and everyone has a breaking point, and it reaches a point when the principals, realize it's time to move beyond the honeymoon of that post-start-up period. That's the fork in the road where Cervelo is at.

It's been a great ride, for the company that Phil White and Gerard Vroomen founded in the mid 90's as a side-bar to a master's engineering thesis project both were working on together at Montreal's McGill University. They have barely set a pedal wrong along the way. They have been true innovators in bike design and engineering. The bikes have sold extremely well. FWIW, their bikes have won just about all the biggest races in both road racing and triathlon and finally and perhaps most importantly, the Cervelo brand has an extraordinarily dedicated and enthusiastic customer base.

I agree with the other analysis of this that the new financiers, and potential owners, PON would be foolish to somehow toss away all that success.

For White and Vroomen (Note - Vroomen left the day-to-day operations of the company mid-summer, but is still involved with Board of Directors), it can be an emotional process. This is something they founded, started-up and nurtured along. Most companies reach this fork in the road at some point. For a greater insight into how this feels for founders/owners two great reads right in the sporting goods space are: "Raising the Bar" by Clif bar founder Gary Erikson, and "Let My People go Surfing", by Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard. In both cases after much deliberation and a few false starts and stops, both Erikson and Chouinard decide to retain the ownership of their companies. There is not a right or wrong with this - it's a highly individual decision based on the situation that the owners/founders find themselves in when they reach that fork in the road.

It sounds very cliche, but to take a company and a business to that next level, whatever that level is, often takes considerably more resources and a very different mind-set than the original owners and founders have. Despite the Erikson and Chouinard stories, walking away can be very hard for the founders, but sometimes that is what is best for the brand. That happens a lot too.

What will happen with Cervelo and PON remains to be seen. The news is still fresh. However, as I said, the folks at PON would be foolish to tamper with what on several key levels has been a highly successful bike company and brand! Cervelo is set to launch in a few weeks the next generation of it's ground-breaking aerodynamic P-series time trial bike - the P5. For the immediate future and on into next year, my guess is that it will be business-as-usual with Cervelo setting precedents and creating good industry buzz, Cervelo bikes selling briskly, and then come the racing season in both triathlon and road racing, Cervelo bikes winning many races!

How do you feel about the potential sale of Cervelo to PON?

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Merry Christmas 2011

Some music for the season(click first)

Paolina and I would like to wish all our family, friends and online followers a Merry Christmas & Seasonal Greetings. Safe travels and training wherever you may be! Onwards to 2012!

Triathlon on a Road Bike?

On a recent trip to Arizona, I spent four days riding the new Cervelo S5 road bike (Thank you to Tribe Multisport in Scottsdale, AZ, and Cervelo for the loaner). This may be the most straight-forward, kick-ass road bike on the market. If Cervelo's numbers are right, it's as aero as many of the TT and triathlon bikes out there. Which got me thinking during the Ironman Arizona (IMAZ) race, where I spent a lot of time out on the bike course, watching triathletes ride. I noticed a micro trend: Triathletes doing the bike leg on a road bike, set up as a road bike, with no aero bars.

The other thing I saw was something that I have been seeing for a while now: Many triathletes riding state-of-the-art fully aero triathlon specific bikes, but riding a lot of the bike leg sitting up-right, hands on the base bar.

If you put the two groups together - road bike riders, and up-right tri-bike riders, it might have been a quarter of the race field at IMAZ. Maybe more!

This got me thinking - for these folks, why not just race the Ironman on a road bike? For sure there are people in Ironman races these days, who are looking for every advantage, wanting to go faster and faster, going for a top place in their Age-Group, and possibly qualifying for Ironman Hawaii. But there is also a large cohort of people these days doing Ironman races who have no thoughts, plans or goals along those lines. They just want to finish. This is a lofty and admirable goal in it's own right. However, with all due respect, these hard working and dedicated triathletes have more in common with Sportif category cyclists - not really racing, but not touring either.

Would these triathletes not be better off on a well fit, aero road bike such as the Cervelo S5? Surely they would be more comfortable and the bike would be much better handling than many of the set-ups I saw out on the IMAZ course. Many seem to ride these tri bikes in what appears to be very uncomfortable, unbalanced and precarious positions. If they can't maintain that classic aero position for more than half of the race or more, what's the point?

Sure, if we are to believe the numbers, athletes who choose to ride a road bike, as a road bike, will be giving up a few minutes of time on the bike leg due to the less aero body position on a road bike - but again, with all due respect, what's 5 - 10 minutes in a 12 - 17 hour day?

I know that many will think me crazy for having these thoughts or putting this forward, but from what I saw at IMAZ, I am just putting 2 and 2 together here and throwing in a bit of common sense.

What do you think - would it make more sense for some folks to just do triathlons on a well fit (aero) road bike?

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eMail to CBC re: Don Cherry

Dear CBC Sports,

When is enough, is enough for you with Don Cherry? I know that it's all about the ratings and the numbers as, I know that Cherry's, Coaches Corner segment is perhaps the most watched 5 minutes on CBC TV all week. However, it's reached the point that he's an absolute disgrace and embarrassment not just to you, but to the whole sport of hockey.

The man has lost all touch with reality. At one time, many years ago, he was remotely funny, but now he's just sad, and pathetic. Do the right thing and get rid of him, now! He's supposed to be a HOCKEY ANALYST - so get someone on there that really knows hockey - today's version of hockey, not how they played 30 years ago!!! Don lives in a time bubble and he's NEVER moved on from that. The game moved on from where Don is at, years ago.

How much does the back-lash against his offensive, and bewildering tirades (often not even about hockey), have to go on, until you take action. I always turn off the TV, or leave the room whenever Don comes on now - and I know that I am not alone in my disgust for his diatribes.

Best regards,

Steve Fleck
Aurora, Ont.

Hardest Job on Race Day

The zebras gather for a final briefing.

It's stressful. It's pretty serious. It may be the hardest job on race day. You could impact the outcome of the Pro and AG races or take someone right out of the race. It can get dangerous. It's a thankless job. It's a volunteer position. It's being a draft marshall on the bike.

After every one of the big, really competitive Ironman races it's often the number one complaint - the drafting on the bike. Thousands are often racing, yet a small handful of volunteer officials and moto drivers, also donating their time, and bikes, are used to rule over all of this.

For two years in Hawaii at the Ironman World Championships I was a draft marshall on the bike. One year I was assigned to the very front of the Age-Group men and the next year I worked closely with Head Race Referee Jimmy Riccitello working the front and main group of the Pro Mens race.

Many of the complaints for Ironman Hawii (IMH) stem from what goes on in the first 20 kilometers of the race. However, I don't think many athletes listen at the pre-race meeting when they are told, that due to the tightness of the course and the volume of traffic, that loop that they do around Kailua town proper, will not be marshalled. This is for their safety and the safety of the moto drivers and the draft marshalls. It's not until the race get's out onto the Queen K Hwy. proper and starts heading north to Hawi that the draft marshalls will start to scrutinize what's going on. Personally, I think this is a fair way of doing this, as it gives athletes a bit of a neutral buffer zone to sort things out before they really get down to business

The picture at the top is of Riccitello, going over a few last minute details and instructions in the Draft Marshall staging area on the Queen K Hwy just as the race starts to head north to Hawi.

The day before the race all the race officials meet up, and Riccitello goes over a number of details and makes sure that we are all clear on the rules, and that we are all working from the same rule book. Since officials are coming from all over the place to work at this race, it's interesting to hear the minor variations in the drafting rules from place to place. However, it's imperative that here, at the Ironman World Championship that we are all working from the same rule book. We are also assigned a general area/place the race that we will be working - main Pro men pack, main Pro women pack, lead wave of age-group men, 10 mins back from that . . and so on. For the Pro races we work in tandem with another marshall.

Riccitello also goes over a few things with us regarding our own safety - it can get very hot out there on the backs of the motorcycles. Make sure that we always keep our driver's, our safety and the athletes safety top of mind. It can get surprisingly hectic out there, with all the athletes, other race support vehicles, media vehicles and motos. This is particularly so at aid stations. Keep your head up.

On race morning we have time to watch the start of the swim, but shortly after that we need to make our way to the place in town where we meet( The Firestone Station at the foot of Palini Hill in town) We are then matched up with our drivers and we head out as a group to the main staging area on the Queen K. Again this is where Riccitello goes over a few last minute details. Then as the first of the Pro man start to stream by, we roll out on the road with our drivers and start following along.

The first year I did this I was assigned to the first major group of Age-Group men. The next year I worked with Riccitello on the main group of Pro Men. While being in the midst of the Pro men's race was very interesting, and actually watching the dynamics of it all, you have to stay focused on the task at hand. For the most part, all the Pro men get it. They stay almost exactly the legal 10m apart. They are helped by the little cat-eye reflectors running along the white line that separates the main road from the shoulder as these are almost exactly 10m apart. I also use them as a guide-line as well. For the longest time on the way out to Hawi, other than a few riders off-the-front, it's a long, legal line of 25 - 30 men. It's an impressive site. From time to time, there is a shuffling of the deck as riders move up or back, but again these guys know the rules and they know that they have roughly 25 sec. to sort things out and at the end of the 25 sec. count, they are all back in the legal line.

I wish that I could say that the situation amongst the lead Age-Group men was the same. Unfortunately it is not. That being said, it's fairly easy to pick out the flagrant and abusive drafters, vs the ones who are caught inadvertently in a bad situation. I am looking for intent - that's key. 25 seconds is a long time if you count it out and a lot can happen in that 25 sec. What I am looking for is movement - specifically, purposeful movement relative to the riders around other riders over the course of that 25 sec. This is why, the only way that you can fairly asses and marshall drafting in a triathlon race is from the back of a motorcycle, close to the riders moving along at roughly the same speed as the riders. It can't be done from the side of the road. Static pictures or even video from a stationary position on the side of the road is useless. Even moving along with the race from arrears of a group of riders - you can't really tell what is going on. In fact, that was a common complaint I would hear. "Look at them", a lone rider 75m adrift of a small group of riders ahead would shout at me. "They are drafting like crazy up there". Yet, when I would get up there, all was perfectly legal. You can't tell from that far back. You need to be almost beside the riders moving along at their speed and see how things evolve over 25 sec chunks of time.

Of course, when penalties were handed out there was all kinds of complaining and even verbal abuse - the latter was noted as well. Then there was the "I don't understand English", with a shrug of the shoulders! Most penalized riders had, "a story", but a few got it. After giving a four minute penalty that needed to be served at the next penalty tent on the road, I would always wait, and make sure that the rider clearly understood that they had a penalty, and that they were clear where the next penalty tent was. Only then would I leave them and move on. Failure to stop would mean a DQ.

After nearly 6 hours of that, we are more or less done. Except the one year, when just coming back into town, the motorcycle I am on, get's a flat tire and we need to wait on the side of the road for help. Once back into town I head to the officials tent and hand in my penalty note book. This is then cross-referenced with all the people that stopped for penalties at the various penalty tents along the way to make sure that they actually stopped.

My day was done!

What are your feelings regarding the draft marshalling that you have seen at either Ironman Hawaii or other races that you have been to?

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