Equipment

Pinch flats are the worst kind of flats because you get two holes in your tube instead of just one. Some people refer to them as snake bites because that’s what it looks like. This is not the typical type of flat you get on the road because it’s caused by hitting something hard enough that the tube gets pinched between the ground and rim. It is something you need to be concerned about during cyclocross season though. Cross tires are low volume and many courses have rocky sections where it will happen easily and take you out of the race.

Old man Jack passed on a little more knowledge during our last road trip and I finally put it to good use. One of my tubular tires got a hole in it but the tire was pretty much new. After complaining about having to buy a another tire that will probably only last a month Jack told us about the super glue. Turns out that if you put super glue in the little holes of your tire it keeps them from getting bigger and prolongs the life of your tire. I'm still a little skeptical but I decided to give it a try.

Last year, I moved to Conti Grand Prix 3000 tires after the Vittoria Corsas which I loved were getting loads of cuts on the roads I was riding. The Corsa's soft tread made them feel great and handle well. To be sure, the Corsa's never punctured, but I rode in fear of spending serious time on the side of the road. The Contis were much tougher in almost typical Germanic style. They held up great and, while not as nice in the corners or soft on the road, they were pretty nice overall and I mentally felt that I was riding on indestructible treads.

This year, I moved to the new Conti Grand Prix 4000. I only have a few hundred miles on them, but they seem pretty similar to the 3000s on the road. They're lighter than the 3000s and now use "Vectran" instead of Kevlar to allegedly improve puncture resistance. The tires are also supposed to be a bit softer, although I can't tell.

This year, I decided to move from the pedals that I've used for years (Shimano PD-M540s) to a pedal with a bigger platform - more contact area between the pedal and the shoe for better transfer of power, or so the literature says. After consulting with other road bike riders and the folks at my local bike shop, I chose Look's KEO pedals. And, since I seem more compelled to lose grams of weight off my components than pounds off my waist, I picked the lightest ones they offer - the KEO Carbons. I've been riding with them for a few weeks now.

First, while I'm a road biker, I chose the Shimano pedals (made for mountain bikers) originally because they were easy to snap in and out of. Also, I liked wearing mountain biker shoes - mostly because I'm too lazy to take off my shoes to run into the house when I inevitably forget something I need for my ride. Pitiful, I know.

I would have to say that the most influential single piece of equipment in the peloton today is the race radio. In the last 15 years it has affected outcome of countless races. Old dogs feel the radio should be banned from racing (they probably feel so should the helmet).

Directors now sit in follow vehicles, watching the race unfold on a dash mounted TV screen, barking instructions to the riders. Long gone are the days when a rider needed to think for themselves. Tactics have also changed due to this and you no longer need to tape jersey numbers and time gaps across your stem.

Smaller teams and riders are using small, light, cheap, radios such as the Motorola Talkabout or similar models. These are great as long as you are within a mile or two, and aren’t trying to transmit through trees and hills. The larger teams are using very sophisticated, ham type, two way radios that work great even when the terrain gets hilly and the distances are great.

I’ve seen David Copperfield perform some pretty amazing stuff on TV. He’s done things like levitate and make Disney World disappear. Those things are nothing compared to what I experienced today. In fact, I’m willing to bet that it’s all just a camera trick. There were no tricks today when George Mullen took an ordinary bike and made it an extension of my body. First he performed a thorough Functional Movement Screen to test my strength and flexibility. Then after watching me pedal for awhile, he asked me to leave the room and go BS with the guys. When he called me back, my bike looked the same, but when I got on it, it was a tottaly different bike. I feel like I could get a speeding ticket on the Autobahn with this baby.