The bike

When I attended the FSA Grand Prix (if you've never heard of it http://www.fsagrandprix.com/) this year and walked away with a new bike.

The bike is stiff and light (which is what I want in a bike) with some added aerodynamics. The bike that I was racing on before weighed out to be about six pounds heavier; the Omnium being 15.5 pounds. The bike is so stiff and light that I had to up my gearing because I would spin out during races. As an example with the Giant while putting my foot on the pedal, (as is customary) I had to use a good amount of force to get the bottom bracket to flex . Even then I'm too sure that it wasn't just the wheels that were flexing and not the bottom bracket. On my old bike I put my foot on the bottom bracket it self and not putting too much pressure on it was able to get it to move. This means that the whole time that I was racing Cat 5 and Cat 4 I had a bike that required a ton more effort to go fast.

The bike has and will be a fantastic racing bike. All I need now is to get some better wheels then Ill be flying. New wheels will allow for a stiffer ride with more power going to the wheels and on to the track.

The setup:

Giant Omnium (probably 2007 or 2008)

Crank: Dura Ace 165mm

Bottom Bracket: Dura Ace

Bars: Cinelli Pista

Hubs, rims and spokes:

Dura Ace low flange 32 hole.

Mavic Open Pro

DT Swiss

Saddle: Specialized Toupe

Note: I have since cut the steer tube and taken the name Jeremy off the bike. That is the previous owner and as some of you may know, not my name.

Life in the fast lane with no brakes.

It sure has been a very long time since I last posted here. A lot has changed and I guess now is a good time to sit back and collect my thoughts and reflect on all that happened this past spring and summer.

For starters I took up racing. More specifically I took up track

racing. There is a velodrome about 5 miles away from my house (Marymoor Velodrome WWW.Velodrome.org.) Being so close I would normally pass by and look at the track on my daily commute (Note: while of my fixed gear bike.) I decided (with a lot of encouragement from the owner of the local bike shop) to race. I figure that I already had the basic bike and all I needed were some new pedals, tires and a race license from USA cycling.

After racing a couple of races I was hooked and was doing well. I wanted more and was racing on a weekly basis; and twice a week once I got to Category 4. I quickly got an idea as to what I thought that I could do and established some goals.

Goal #1: Keep an eye out for teams that were performing and looked like a good match for me. I noticed three good teams that seemed like a good match for me and were interested in me. It is pretty easy to talk to potential teams and teammates when you are in the infield at the track and races are going on (there is no crossing the track during races.) I found my match in Thumbprint racing and am now on their roster for 2011.

Goal#2: Go from Category 5 to Category 3 in my first season as a racer. I knew that this was going to be a real challenge for me and this kind of feat was normally reserved for the special kind of racer. I think that I needed that kind of challenge and motivation to race. I would only gain more motivation when people would tell me things like "you can't do that," and I would respond by saying "just watch." I didn't make this decision just because I could; I knew that I had the power and mental ability to do this. As it turns out; I was right, and made it to Cat 3 just a little past half way into the season. This was an incredible feat and I knew that I had just done something special. I had just gone from no race experience to racing with the big guys on Friday nights in "The Show."

I had an amazing first season made possible by will and determination and a ton of help from friends, family and the great racing community. I am now actually training (yeah I didn't do much of that) this winter and will see what I can do with more strength and structure.