Internet Famous, No. 2

Internet Famous: The Professor

Boone Riding with the BCC Boys!

Boone Day 1 by cdkorps at Garmin Connect - Details

Geoff and Ben.

 Notice the gigantic air mattress. Hmm, who owns that?

Getting ready for some grinds!

Cedar Bluff Ride by cdkorps at Garmin Connect - Details

Cedar Bluff Ride by cdkorps at Garmin Connect - Details

we still ride bikes

Local weekly rides.

Tuesday nights at 5:30. Fast. About 25 miles at race pace.
Thursday nights 6:00. Mellow. About 30 miles at about 17 mph.

Both rides continue throughout the summer, departing from Durham Cycles on 9th Street.

Nattys

Ever feel dejected after getting crushed by Mustachioed Matt or the other Duke guys on the Tuesday Night Ride?
Don't worry, you're in good company.
Duke's men just won the collegiate national team time trial.
Check it.
Nice work fellas.

One Family

ASHEVILLE

2016!!!

start training.

busy bees

It's taken me a long time to write a short update, but DFL always beats DNF, right?

Item 1: NASCROSS at Orange County Speedway
The second running of the Durham-area cyclocross race was a hit. Great course, great turnout, and even some cyclocross-ish weather. Mad props to the Garneau Custom folks and the Durham Regulators. I think Ryan was the only one of us to race bikes (excluding the excommunicated Linus) and he scored a solid top 10 with bald tires on a wet course. I had to work later in the day so I was only able to jump in the 5-mile cross country run presented by the awesome folks at Bull City Running Company, the fine folks who are behind the Run-DMC inspired RUN-DRM t-shirts. I got smoked by one of the BRCR ringers and had Regulators' Russell nipping at my heels the entire race. In the end I managed to bring back a little of my patented Waluga Junior High School XC kick and beat one of the two high school kids I had been chasing the whole race. Next year, we're pushing for an earlier date and are hoping for even more participants and spectators. Actually, at cyclocross races, spectators ARE participants!

Item 2: Trips For Kids February ride
Ben, JD, and I joined Andrea, Tristan, Chris, and the whole Triangle Trips for Kids crew for some muddy mountain biking at Carolina North (aka the Chapel Hill trails). JD brought his son Luke, an even smaller but equally gnarly version of himself to rip the trails on a bmx bike. And special thanks to Patrick from Duke Cycling for joining us. If you're interested in volunteering, check them out.

Item 3: Word on the street is that the Pirate is getting married. If this makes any sense to you, you're probably stoked.

Item 4: Luna Chix
As a big fan of women's cycling and Luna Bars, I also wanted to plug this local women's team I heard about through my friend and and new recruit who we'll call Al B. Scher.

Item 5: Bike racing comes to 9th Street
Duke Cycling is hosting a collegiate bike

So I have heard...

to no tubes, or not to no tubes?

so i've been back on the cx bike for a few forest trail rides--only 4 1/2 months after the collarbone break! man, i've missed riding in the dirt. i'm still riding cautiously and slowly, but since i'm not really "training" for anything, slow is swell.

however, i am contemplating some equipment issues that are needlessly slowing me down. true, lots of bloggers complain about how radder equipment would make them faster, which is all totally, completely, and absolutely true. more new expensive carbon stuff = more faster! but i'm talking about something that even the retro-est of grouches would agree will slow you down: flat tires.

here's the situation: i was (futilely) chasing Linus over the Old Oxford Road cobblestones and i double-flatted with my tubeless tires (Stan's 340 rims with Michelin Mud2 tires, about 40psi). i converted to tubeless cx tires to hopefully avoid pinchflats and actually get a more tubular-like ride for training (without destroying tubulars on the trails and having to walk home, broke and disgraced). it appears that on both the front and back tire, i kinda tore one of the tread-nubs (technically speaking), creating a small puncture in the tire. the stans sealant eventually fixed it up, but after another ride yesterday, it either re-ruptured or i tore my tire a new a(ir)-hole. either way, the sealant eventually (kinda) sealed up the problem, but i hate regularly stoping mid-ride to fix this reoccurring problem.

so my question to you, dear readers, is: what's the deal here?
are michelin muds not the right tire for road and gravel road riding?
am i just riding wrong on too much sharp gravel?
am i doing something else wrong (wrong pressure or need more sealant)?
is going tubeless stupid for cx training?

i like tubeless for mountain biking. i also realize that these michelins are not technically specified for tubeless riding, but lots of folks have had good luck with them. any help is greatly appreciated.