Top 10s?

Two weeks in a row I've finished in the top ten in a road race. Not too bad since these are just training races.

Marcroft Cycles is chugging along and starting to create a little bit of a buzz around town. No time to write a real blog entry, I've got bikes to build.

Who Doesn't Blog??

Everyones got their own blog, web site, my space...ect. Damn it, next thing I know my grandma will be blogging about how her grandson never visits her.

Blog Slacker

It's been a while since I put anything up on my blog, but give me a break, I'm not a pro cyclists. I'm not required to update every other day.

Here's what's up. I finished my two frames last week. Powder coated and ready to rock. I got my road bike together with all the high zoot shit ready to race...15.7 pounds! That's steel bitch! I raced it today and it works great, very stiff. Next up is building up the TT bike and then the beta/bro-deal bikes. All the feedback I've gotten from others is positive, but you never know what they are saying after I'm not around. Let's hope it's not too bad.

Look for the website to be updated with content very soon. My goal is to have that a little more mature in the following week(s).

Racing in the northwest is in full swing. The Banana Belt World Championships have started and let's just say somethings never change. Nobody will initiate or work in a break but they'll sure as hell chase your ass down. Both races have come down to a sprint finish. Damn I wish I could sprint. On a positive note I'm climbing very well. I reached a milestone last week, 134 pounds. My wife is none too happy about it either, but I'm slowly becoming a climber. I think I'll be in good shape for the hilly stage races in the following months. I can't wait to drop a dumptruck load of pain on the refigerators in the group.

First Race of 2006

I'm getting ready to do my first race of 2006. Luckly it's just a TT. It will be the first time all winter that I'll have gotten my heart rate up to my AT, man that's gonna hurt.

It's too bad I won't be on my own TT bike for this race. It's sitting here on the floor ready to go to the powder coater. Oh well, there will be plenty other opportunities to show it off.

Getting Well

Well I caught the flu last week. Sweaty, shaky, stuffy, achy flu, and it sucked. I haven't been on the bike for 6 days now and that sucks. The weather was beautiful last week but I was sick, that sucks. I seem to be getting better now.

Since my training has been in the toilet, as luck would have it, I'm super busy with Marcroft Cycles. My mill is up and running and all my fixtures are here, finally. So I've been methodacally going through all the steps to build a bike. So far so good. All the fixtures are working without any problem and I have all the tools to get the job done. I'm buildng my TT race rig first since the tubing is a little less money, then I'll build up the mack daddy road frame for next year. I think it will change some peoples idea of what a steel frame is like.

Got It

I picked up my Bridgeport mill yesterday. The final piece of equipment. It won't be long now before I have my demo and Beta bikes on the road.

Crapped Out Weather

I'm usually not ne to complain about the weater but I've had enough rain for the year. Every frickin ride is in the rain. I looked at the alminac for January and we've had like 9 extra inches of rain above the average for the month. How much does that suck?

I hate my rain bike right now. It's heavy, not aero, barely shifts, and rides like a wet noodle. I think I'm going to market the ultimate Oregon winter training bike. It'll be Ti with disc brakes, big tire and fender clearance. The cockpit geometry will match the riders road race bike. I think I could sell a ton of these around here.

What A Releif

so, my dad and I went to Springfield to check out a Bridgeport mill. I wasn't getting my hopes up for this machine to be the right one. When we arived at this dudes place he took us to hs back yard where he had the shop. This yard was nasty, tons of leaves rotting on the ground, an old dune buggy in the corner of the lot. This wasn't you normal setting for buying a machine tool. As we entered the shop he explained to us that he was in the proccess of moving back into tis shop from his old location in Eugene. Fair enough, that explains the mess. We made our way to the far end of the building into a bay that was filled with machines. New mills, old mills, CNC mills, mills that had gone though fires, probably $150K worth of equipment. We zig-zagged between machine to the one he thought I might be most interested in. I was a beauty. I had to restrian myself from yelling out within the first 30 seconds, "I'll take it!" We talked back and forth about the mill and its history and what needed to be done to it, then I said "1300 bucks huh, well, I guess I'll take it." Hell yah I'll take it! I scored big time. He told me later that if he did any work to it it would be listed for $2000+.

This is the final piece to the Marcroft Cycles puzzle. I'll be up and building bike in my garage by the second week of February. It looks like I might actually get my demo/race bike done for the first race of the season.

Mill Arrh Time

I realized I needed too get a mill of my own when I was leaving the shop I was using with nothing to show for my 5 hours of work other than a bunch of frustration. This sent me into panic mode. I need to find a mill of my own. I've been on the phone to every used machine tool seller in the state trying to find a good mill. You would think with all the industry around I could find one with the quicks but you'd be wrong. After spending a better part of the day on the phone leaving messages I found one in Springfield that I'm going to check out this Saturday. I hope it'll work for me, I've got a pile of Marcroft decals to get on frames.

Bo-Yah!

I'm in business, well sorta. At least the welder is up and running.

I'm checking out a used milling machine tomorrow. If I get it I will be completly self sufficient and can work at my own pace. Where the hell am I going to fit the machine though?

Power On

It looks like I'll be welding this weekend. I have everything I need to fire up my Lincoln welder. I'm pretty stoked to get that thing dialed in because I'll have mittered tubes for my road and TT bike I'll be racing next year to weld up. It's going to be bad ass.

Pizza

I haven't posted for a while now and Anthony was giving me shit about it so here's a post just for him.

In my fatty days I've been known to put a hurt into a large pie from any and all pizza joints. Now it's a treat to mack a slice of heaven so I have to make it count. Here's my top 5 pizza places in town.

5. Pizza Peddler in Aumsville. I know it's outta town but they have a garlic crust that rocks and everytime we roll through town you can smell the pizzas cooking. Mmmmm.

4.Prime Time. They deliver. It's not super greasy and heavy.

3. Lefty's. New York style pies and they have specialty pies too. My favorite is their chicken pesto.

2. Wallery's. I grew up (and out) on this pizza parlor style pie. Damn it's good. 10 bucks for a large one topping. At that price everyone gets their own.

1. Padington's Pizza. Hands down the best in Salem. Order a pepperoni and mushroom, you won't be disapointed. Maybe after I win my first race I go there and celebrate.

2006: Year of Breakthroughs, I Hope.

After this weekend of rest and relaxation I had at the beach I'm ready to take on the challenges of 2006. Kristin and I got away for the weekend. It was great to be away from the bike for a couple days. It was also good to step away from Marcroft Cycles for a bit. Now I'm refreshed and ready to rock.

Home Ownership

Owning a home has it's ups and downs. Right now with the chiminey and bathroom ceiling both leaking, it's a down. I'm not really that handy around the house so when there's a problem I have to call a pro in to take care of it. It's starting to get expensive. Maybe I should watch more 'This Old House' on PBS so I can learn to do some things by myself.

Lots Going On

Where to begin...On the Marcroft Cycles front, all is going well. Just when I start getting frustrated that my efforts are not paying off I get a few more pieces to the puzzle. I recieved a bunch of frame specific tools (1500 bucks worth!) from the guys at UBT in Ashland. My welder finally came in. My dad dialed me in on a contact at Industrial Source here in Salem. They treated me good on the price, so it looks like I have a source for all my welding needs now. Maybe if I drop enough $ there I can talk 'em into title sponsoring the Marcroft Cycles Elite Cyclocross Team in 2006...hmmm.

Starting a frame shop from the ground up is tough. Most frame builders get their start by moonlighting at the shop they're working at. Unfortunatly I don't have that luxury. I have to get everything together before I can make any bikes to sell. That means negative cash flow for a while. That will all change soon after going live. Hell my mother found someone that's interested in a frame. There are cyclists everwhere in this town, it always suprises my where the pop up.

My quest for road racing stardom is progressing nicely. I had an update meeting with my coach this week and we determined that we're on track for next season. He was able to put things in percpective, specifically my weight issue. I only need to lose 2 pounds per month to get to my ideal weight before the 'climbing races'. That seems doable.

I've been iPodded. Damn, those things are cool. Every cyclist that logs tons of miles needs one. They make time in the saddle rip by.

U2 Concert

Monday I attended the best concert ever. U2 was in Portland for their final show of their US tour. Quite a show.

Getting Caught Up

A lot has been going on lately. First off, it's been cold. Damn cold. Too cold to ride cold. In fact I'm so sick of riding in the afternoon/evening that I blew off work today and went riding. It was so nice. I tried to get McGee to come out with me but he's up to his armpits in baby duties. He did dial me in on a sweet jacket to use until my thermal Broardmark kits get here. Of course they'll be arriving just in time for the spring, when I don't need 'em. Typical.

As far as the prep goes for racing next year everything is progressing as planned. I've been getting to the gym 3 days/week and getting 18+ hours/week on the bike. All nice and easy miles. Hell, I should get an upgrade based on pre-season training alone. Of course the Christmas stars are out in force on the group rides in town. They're up there pushing the pace and feeling good about themselves. I just need to remember their 2006 is going to be much different from mine.

I got my body fat checked last week...not where I need to be. My wife thinks I have an eating disorder and a poor self image, but that's just because she fell in love with me at 175 pounds. I'm chill'n at 138 pound and 15% body fat. She thinks I'm too thin, I think I can lose 8-10 pounds and get my body mass down to where and elite road racer should be. It's tough, I've made so many changes to my diet over the years to get to where I'm at now, I don't know what to do to lose the last few pounds. That's what I get for being a fatty my whole life.

Marcroft Cycles is progressing quite nicely. I recieved my fixture this week. It looks good. I've got most of my beta riders bikes designed. My web site is in the works. I'm having some boss t-shirts done up. I'm placing machine tool orders. I'm placing bike part orders. It's all very exciting. I'm looking at going live some time in February. I'm toying with the idea of doing a press release to make the announcement that I'm up and running. Is that a little too much? I don't know. I know that I'll at least post to the OBRA list. That get's out to everyone.

Cycling Play on Words

Canada Dave sent this link to me. Pretty funny.

Funny

Tele-Marketers

I just have to vent. I'm sitting here hacking away on my PC and the phone rings. I pick up and the dude on the line says "Hey Brian, blah, blah, blah" like he's my friend, when in reality he's selling mortgages. That just pisses me off when these dirt bags talk to you on a first name basis. So I said take me off your list, and he procceeds to get lippy with me. I just told him to remove me from his call list again, and as I'm hanging up the phone I can hear him giving me attitude. Damn I wish I could remember the company he was representing. Whatever, he's sitting in a cube making phone calls for minumum wage, his life must really suck. If it makes him feel better to give me a hard time after I tell him to remove me from the call list, so be it.

Back to business. The final components are on the way to get my shop up and running, wahoo! I've been lifting wieghts on a regular basis and I'm logging the miles on the bike. Only 2 months until the first race of the season. I can't wait.

Racing in December??

I know I've been into my base miles for a month and a half, but it's a cross race 3 blocks from my house. I have to do it based on princible alone. It should be fun. I think I'll go out and practice my Huffy skids and wheelies for the crowd. Maybe I'll throw in a bike toss for old times sake.