this was my first bike, an amf. this isn’t the actual bike, but it’s the model. after learning to ride it and removing the training wheels, the handlebars snapped off the gooseneck going down a hill, a la hincapie at roubaix. lost some chin skin that day. still loved it.
that’s me and my buddy jim johnson after our second-place finish in our age class in the two-man team time trial at the maine time trial festival.
but that’s not the real story. i’ll try to be brief.
jim and i have been racing together for years. we are simpatico. throughout those many seasons, jim’s always had issues with his hip. after five years of beating himself up on the bike, he had major hip surgery last fall. i won’t pull punches (jimmy’s always wanted to be a boxer). it was hard on jim. i think the initial thought was that surgery could improve things. when the doctors got in there, so to speak, the damage was more extensive than they’d expected. jim was in for a long recovery. much longer than anticipated. he never thought he’d ride again. he couldn’t walk for months. he spent months in a body brace, first getting around by crutches, then a cane. i’m two years older than jim.
despite all of this, many months ago, jim asked me if i’d race with him at the time trial. THE COMEBACK OF JIMMY. of course i would. in the intervening months jim stopped riding many times because of the pain. we called things off at least once. but his doctors kept encouraging him, he kept riding when he could at a pace he could sustain and today we took the line.
and it was the most meaningful 26.2km i’ve ever raced on a bike.
and jimmy smashed it.
and i was lucky to be there to see him do it.
kid’s still got it.
(and yep, jim was hup for a day.)
also, this.
wiggins will win le tour tomorrow, barring incident.
lots has been made on the twitzer and in the media, to a lesser extent, i think, about the strongest man in this three-week race and whether that man is wiggins or froome, what man is going to be allowed to win, and why. this argument is interesting, stretches from talent to sacrifice to teamwork and even nationalism, and is largely irrelevant.
sky built their team around wiggins from day one. years ago. many years ago, if you consider the days on the track. what’s happening with wiggins’ win - and it could only ever be wiggins’ win - is about planning, execution and return on investment. of course sky are going to ride for wiggins. that has been the plan. this is a team who know how many steps there are from hotel to bus. they don’t deviate. this was going to happen, or it wasn’t. but it was only going to happen for bradley this year. because that was the plan. this isn’t about an englishman from ghent winning the tour, or a kenyan with a charming accent coming second, girlfriend sniping all along the way. this is about return on investment. the investment in wiggins.
and it’s paid off.
and that’s the end of it.
paraphrasing.
after the rider leaves the start, the following questions, responses and ultimate results.
example the first.
question: “can i sustain this pace?”
response: “yes, i can.”
ultimate result: too slow. you lose.
example the second.
question: “can i sustain this pace?”
response: “no, i cannot.”
ultimate result: too hard. you’re cooked. you lose.
example the third.
question: “can i sustain this pace?”
response: “maaaaayyyyyybeeee?”
ultimate result: just right.
smart man, that chris.
also, this is great:
these auctions were managed by frame and wheel, who do an excellent job prepping, cleaning and shipping the equipment.
all done! thanks!
enjoy thy bidding.
i raced the 2011 tour of the catskills, august 5-7. i suffered a dnf mechanical from which i was lucky to walk away, on the third and final stage.
i initially sent the following as an email to #464 (moshe silverstein, speedwell racing), whom the wheelvan driver had identified as the owner of the wheel that failed under my bike after i received it from neutral service after i flatted early in the 56-mile final road race. unfortunately the driver got the number wrong, moshe informs me.
so… i’m telling the internet. if your wheel broke under my bike, i’m sorry.
hey [dude],
i believe i got your ultegra wheel at stage 3 of tour of the catskills. if not, well, find this hopefully amusing.
if so: sorry your wheel broke.
i flatted at 6mi, about 200m shy of the only bump before the long descent into rollyville. i got an ultegra wheel. it seemed okay. the change took about a minute. not great, not bad. it could have been worse.
i knew it would be tough to chase on and resolved to just keep it steady out of the valley and hopefully catch dudes as they popped at 21mi+ from the succession of hell left in store. long day.
as i went up a slight ascent around mile 19 or so, i heard a *pop* from the rear cluster. i assumed it was a missed shift. i looked down at the cogs and thought, “hmmm… that doesn’t really look like a missed shift. that looks like the gear i wanted to be in.”
oh well.
i crested the hill and began the short, fast descent down in to a narrow bridge. a few seconds in to this the rear of the bike started to shudder violently. i tried to brake. it sort of didn’t work. this seemed bad. really bad.
totally bad.
not michael jackson bad.
bad.
i kicked a leg out, assuming things were going to go sideways. or something. it was not going to be good. the bike continued to make a hell of a racket. i’m trying to brake with the front brake. down a hill. going pretty fast. i can hear a spoke smashing around in the rear triangle. i see the face of my two-year old daughter. she wants me to not die because she likes to talk about poop.
i decide i’d really like to talk to her about more poop.
somehow i manage to stop the bike without going down, or over, or around. this is good.
i get off. a spoke is wrapped around numerous other spokes on the rear wheel. there’s a lot of bare carbon on the inside of the rear triangle of my bike. where now bare had previously been paint. meanwhile, back at the ranch, i’m thinking i might be able to ride to the next marshall, but the wheel won’t really turn.
i figure out why.
the brake caliper had sheared from the frame and was sorta/kinda stuck on top of the tire tread.
sweet. i don’t have to race any more today. i just have to get 20-something miles back to windham. somehow.
i watched three officials drive by as i crazily mimicked “radio someone, pretty please?” i stepped in front of a fourth car. they stopped and told me “there might be?” a sag. at some point. maybe. we can’t say for sure.
i walked a few hundred meters to a marshall. he was a red sox fan. we talked the politics of being a boston fan in new york (it’s apparently cool in the catskills, because the fans in the area are jets vs. giants fans and mets vs. yankees fans - interesting). i’m from maine. i’m a long way from home.
the marshall phoned his wife, who was also a marshall, and she says there’s a kid who’s abandoned a few turns back. his mom is going to pick him up. his mom will pick me up too. his mom does in fact pick me up.
that’s what she said.
i got back to windham and gave your wheel to the wheelvan guy, with a note to call me if… “there was a problem.”
i’m sorry your wheel broke. i rode it up and down some hills. i weigh 130lbs. i think it was gonna go anyway, but that’s just me.
i hope your wheel is better now and that you’re not mad.
as for me, i’m happy to be alive and my daughter and i are talking lots of poop.
best,
mike golay
hup united
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[image from peloton #5.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lon5fboMw21qe2affo1_500.png)
