LBL Update

Here is a spy photo of the shirt for LBL. These are "vintage" workshirts with the King Of the Road image on the back, and the CiTy BiLLy corporate logo & a personalized name tag screen printed on the front. These workshirts have been used- some have tears which have been mended, there's a wide variety of colors, but they've got street (or velodrome) cred. If you've signed up for the ride already, & would like to provide me with what your name tag should read, that'd be great: drop me a note. It's not too late to sign up for LBL: drop me an e-mail telling me you're coming, print out the registration/ waiver & mail it(along with the $10 registration fee) to:
Lonnie Mulder
1844 S. 41st Lincoln, NE
68506
Note; for those of you who have pre-registered, if you would rather have a t-shirt, please let me know.

The check's in the mail

Today, I mailed out the "goodie bags" to everyone who has signed up for LBL. Just a couple of CiTy BiLLy items to get your hearts fluttering (yeah, right). There'll be more at the ride. In ride related news, Gore will not be able to give us sag support aboard his Harley. We are scrambling to find a suitable replacement.

A Man & His Bikes-the Singlespeed

This is the first mountain bike I ever owned, a Diamond Back Ascent. I bought it in 1993, & thus my love affair with cycling began. I rode this, complete with knobbies, on 70 mile road rides. I rode it in Winter Park, on the MOPAC for miles & miles. I eventually upgraded some of the components & then decided to convert it to a one speed, complete with WTB dirt drops, which required some getting used to. I now use this bike as my foul weather commuter.

A Man & His Bikes-Ventoux, the flying bike

This is the most eclectic bike I own. I was looking for an old Petaluma made Salsa road frame on eBay, & was contacted directly from a seller in Michigan. We negotiated & I ended up with the beautiful frame with a Kinesis carbon fork. The original Salsa steel (is real!) fork could not be found. I scoured eBay & found a Steelman fork & pulled the trigger. About the same time, I totally fell in love with old school Campagnolo components & through multiple eBay purchases, was able to score pretty much a full gruppo. The wheelset is not the original wheelset: in the roofrack fiasco, the back wheel was severely bent. Luckily, I scored a totally sweet wheelset on eBay: Bullseye hubs with Campy Ypsilon rims. The headset on this bike is a Shimano Dura Ace that has been specially machined- it started out as a threaded headset, but is now threadless. This bike is extremely light, hence the name "Ventoux": she's a climber.

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Now playing: Miles Davis - In a Silent Way/It's About That Time: In a Silent Way/It's About That T
via FoxyTunes

A Man & His Bikes-Croll

This is as close to a custom bike as I have. When I was riding a mountain bike frequently, my LBS raced on these frames. Croll frames were built in Minnesota, originally by Walter Croll, who was a master. He built road, cyclocross, track & mountain frames. This frame was built after Walter sold the company. It was semi custom: many sizes to choose from, including short & long chainstays (east & west coast geometry), 853 tubing. The paint was my own selection, a beautiful forest green with pearl white panels. House of Kolors paint is a paint used for show cars & while it has to be seen to be believed, it probably is not the wisest choice for a mountain bike. Chips appeared within a few days of build-up. To combat this, many vulnerable areas (the bottom half of the downtube, for instance) are covered with a paint protecting clear tape. The bike is built up with XT components, save for the Truvativ crank. A Marzocchi Atom Bomb fork handles shock absorption & a Thomson seatpost (the first I bought) holds the WTB saddle. As you can see, this bike is more of an eye-candy bike at the present: I don't even have pedals installed. Maybe someday, I'll start riding mountain bikes again, but with my paltry bike handling skills, maybe not.

Now, to cleanse the pallette:

I'd forgot completely about this band, & then stumbled across them just the other day. Forgive the outrageous costumes & cheesy staging of this video. These are power pop masters, "Jellyfish", with "That is Why" from the very early 90's.

A Man & His Bikes-the Panzer

The year was 1979-I was a senior in high school & saw a movie, "Breaking Away". I was instantly hooked. I drove to Omaha, to the Bike Rack & purchased this Trek 714. Reynolds 531 frame with a combination of Sun Tour & Shimano components. Two things were immediately apparent: the bike did not fit me (stem too long) & the Rigida rims were not up to the task at hand (I used to carry a spoke wrench with me on rides, because the wheels would go out of true constantly). I used this bike as my primary transportation when I went to college. Then, due to the fit & wheelset, I quit riding for almost 10 years. This bike languished in my basement. Finally, in 1993, I bought a mountain bike (another chapter in this series) & began to ride again. I started to educate myself about cycling. I had a local mechanic rebuild the wheelset with Sun rims & voila!, that problem was solved. eDBiLLy gave me a stem & the bike started to shine. I bought a set of fenders from Lincoln Bicycle Company & began to commute on my "new" old bike. Hence, the headlight & tail light were installed (the Scott drop- in handlebars provide a perfect perch for the headlight). I was lucky enough to get a Brooks Swift saddle & it now adorns the "Panzer". Why name the bike after a tank? When you ride this bike, the stoutness of the frame is reassuring: it's not a go-fast bike, but you have the feeling it could get you anywhere, no matter the weather or road conditions. Therefore, when the KeRNeL, Russ & I decided to ride a 300K brevet, this was the bike I chose.

A Man & His Bikes

I'm going to start a set of posts on the bikes I ride. I have some pretty eclectic tastes & I thought folks might get a kick out of it. My number one steed is my Guerciotti fixed gear. The frame was bought off a local bicycle mechanic for the paltry sum of $40. It had been ridden hard, with various scrapes & dents (primarily on the chainstays). A little sandpaper & Testor's paint fixed her right up. I read an article in Bicycle Guide magazine about 15 years ago about using a fixed gear bicycle as a winter trainer & thought this frame would be a perfect candidate. I scored a Shimano Exage brakeset along with a 105 crankset out of the backroom (off another old bike) at my LBS. I bought a Suzue rear hub & began my wonderful trip into fixed gear riding. I had never liked riding a road bike before: I rode mountain bikes. But this bike put the love of asphalt in me. Along the way, it has been highly modified. It now has a Thomson seatpost (set it & forget it), a Chris King headset, Salsa stem with Bontrager bars (I had to have something Bontrager on the bike-Keith is one of my cycling heros). The original Guerciotti fork broke on RAGBRAI, and is now replaced with a chrome Colnago. The wheels are the biggest cycling extravagance I've ever allowed myself: Mavic CXP-33 laced to Phil Woods. I think of this bike as the CiTy BiLLy team bike. It features an original eDBiLLy deer whistle mounted to the fork. I can't tell you the countless deer this has saved!

the Real Deal

Those of us who have struggled through a jazz tune via "The Real Book" will have a special appreciation for this: the Bill Evans Trio with "Waltz for Debby". KeRNeL, this one's for you!

Training

Here's a video showing the sacrifices professional racers make. It makes me feel like the couch potato I am & motivates me to get on my bike. I got in a good ride on Tuesday, but it looks like Saturday may not be spring-like. On a different note, eDBiLLy & I are going to work on LBL shirts this weekend. I'll start sending out goodie bags next week for those of you who have dropped me a note. Sign up this weekend & you, too, will receive some CiTy BiLLy schwag.

Update on LBL

In years past, we have always enjoyed a Spilker somewhere in Cortland (here's the KeRNeL doing it up right). This year, we're going to go straight to the source! On the way to Beatrice, we're going to take a tour of Spilker's brewery, hosted by the man himself, Sam Spilker! For those of you who have never seen the beer making process up close, this will be a treat. For the grizzled veterans who have stood outside Spilker's on previous LBLs & wondered what's inside, well, now you'll know!

Spring is in the Air

Great weekend! Omloop Het Volk on Saturday (cyclingtv.com), with a birthday party at eDBiLLy's Saturday night. Sunday was Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. I love Belgium! Work continues on LBL, please join us! You don't have to pay the $10 until the the day of the ride, but I do ask that you let me know as soon as possible that you're going to ride. As an enticement to get you to commit, I'll start sending out goodie bags in the next week or so with a couple of CiTy BiLLy items in them.