Single Speed Project

I’m not sure what initially brought on the idea to rebuild an old bike but early in February I got the urge to search for an old “fixer-upper”.  Knowing my parents are pack rats when it comes to keeping things, I contacted them in search for a rustic bike that would suit the purposes of taking an old bike and turning it into a single speed.  I was in luck when searching the attic at my parent’s house where my pa and I came across an obviously old and neglected bike.   As I struggled to get the heavy steel bike with bent rims out between the superfluity of boxes, I couldn’t identify the brand of the bike besides the vintage seat that had a small metal tag riveted to the back with “Schwinn” pressed on it.  The bike was repainted sometime decades ago and the original badge or emblem on the frame was non-existent.  All I could go with was the seat tag.

I got the bike home and dismantled the bike down to the bare frame and fork.  I noticed that the serial number was stamped into the head tube and began with the letters "HC".  After scouring the Internet for details on old Schwinn bikes (still not knowing if it was a Schwinn or not), I came across a website that explained how Schwinn used letters at the beginning of their serial numbers to indicate the year and month the bike was made.  Evidently, beginning in 1960 Schwinn began using the two letter system to indicate the year the bike was made.  The first letter designated the year and the second letter designated the month.  Being that my frame’s serial number was HC, I was able to decipher that the bike was an original Schwinn manufactured in 1967 (H) in March (C).  From here I moved on to finding out what the model of the bike was.

While again scouring the Internet, I ran across an old Schwinn advertisement that detailed every model of Schwinn available in 1967.  Being that the bike had all original components, I was able to identify the model by validating the features and specs of the bike against the advertisement.  This vintage Schwinn bike I found in the attic wound up to be a Super Sport.  Sweet, a vintage 1967 Schwinn Super Sport!  A perfect bike to fix up into a single speed.

 

On to the dirty work… the bike needed a lot of upgrades.  I didn’t want to use the original bottom bracket and cranks, so I worked with Karrie at Extreme Ski & Bike to find a bottom bracket conversion kit to allow for the new style of bottom brackets to work with this frame.  Finding the part wasn’t hard, but installing it was another story.  I’ll elaborate.  In 1967, the steel tubes utilized for the frame were punched into the bottom bracket assembly and welded on the outside leaving small lengths of those tubes extending into the bottom bracket housing.  The conversion kit has three bolts running from side to side to keep the parts held in snuggly.  The tubes in the bottom bracket housing restricted the insertion of these bolts through to the other side, so we had to file down the tubes on the inside to allow for the conversion kit to work.  No easy task with only a rat-tail file to use.  We got it to work though and we progressed quickly from there.  We added a Sram Courier GXP Crank, Shimano brakes and some Alex rims for wheels that has a flip-flop hub.  That’s right, I can go fixie if I have the urge!  The rest of the components are basically all original from the brakes to the stem and handle bars.

Next up… paint.  Many hours were spend in the garage sanding down the frame to bare metal.  Many hours…  Next time I’ll just take one somewhere and have it sandblasted (well worth the time and money).  Two and a half days later I had a bare frame ready for primer.  3 coats of primer, 3 coats of paint, and three coats of a clear lacquer were applied over time to the frame and fork.  The painting couldn’t have gone better.  Until… I dropped the fork seconds after applying the final coat of lacquer.  Literally finished with the painting process and the fork went bouncing off the garage floor.  FAIL!  The fork was FUBAR and had to be completely redone.  After another 3 hours of sanding, the painting process was completed over a two day period.  Painting finished!

Finally, the build up process was underway and the parts went on smoothly.  The end result was a fantastic looking single speed bike that was ready for a test ride.  The test ride though has been delayed because of 14 inches of snow that fell immediately and I finished wrapping the bars.  I did however complete a quasi-test ride in my basement, travelling a whole 50 feet from one portion of the basement to the other.  Success!  

The project spanned a 3 week period but was in my mind one of the best projects I’ve done.  I couldn’t be happier with the results.  Look for this vintage single speed cruising around the Washington/Ozaukee county roads come spring and summer.

Steady Progression

Three solid months of training are now under my belt, mainly consisting of base mile workouts including tempo, steady-state, fast pedal, and one-leg drills.  Everything is progressing to plan and I couldn't be happier witht he consistent results from the FTP tests.  Yesterday I conducted by second FTP test since starting training at the beginning of November.  The results were beyond expectation which proves that the training plan laid out for me is exactly what's necessary to continue to increase my fitness during the base/build phases.  Consistency and dedication have been the name of the game including focused attention to detail during the various workouts.  February is sure to bring about more interesting workouts and a appropriate and progressive increase in workload to help ensure continued enhancement of fitness and power.  February will be a fun month and with the weather beginning to warm up as spring nears will only cause more excitement to get out on the road!  Can't wait!
FTP test results from last two tests:

Date:	12/30/2010	1/27/2011
Test Ride Time:	20:04	20:01
Distance:	7.56 mi	7.61 mi
Ave. Speed:	22.71 mph	22.77 mph
Ave. Cadence:	93 rpm	93 rpm
Ave. HR:	184 bpm	179 bpm
Ave. Power:	319 watts	329 watts
Watts/kg:	4.14	4.38

Guilty As Charged

Contador has been provisionally suspended from racing for 1 year by the Spanish Cycling Federation.  Yet another potential legend of the sport goes down because of doping.  When will the sport be clean?  Honestly, I don't believe cycling or any other sport will be clean because it's inherent that some individuals competing become so overwhelmed with winning they'll take their chances with doping to remain on the top step.  A one year ban though?  That's it?  Seriously?  It has to be inevitable that the UCI will appeal the ban with CAS and push harder for the full 2 year ban.  A positive test is a positive test, no matter who you are; a Tour winner or the support rider that no one knows exists.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the course of the next month or two as Contador will surely appeal the ban with more convoluted reasoning for what "really" happened on the second rest day of the Tour.  A note for all those dopers out there: if you dope, you will get caught and face the consequences.

Update for the New Year

Okay so my communication though this thing has been almost non-existent.  It’s been exactly 132 days since the last post, about 4 months…   

So what have I been up to?  To be honest, a little of everything while trying to stay out of trouble!  2010 wrapped up with some travels abroad for work and traveling for the holidays to visit family and friends.  2011 kicked off quietly but is already beginning to shake things up.   My wife and I are expecting our first child on St. Patty’s Day and we’re growing more excited as the days and weeks past.  As most already know, we’re having a boy!  That’s right, adding to the men’s cycling team.  I have to train harder now because I will need all the power I can get when he decides it’s time to show his dad how to ride a bike.  Before I know it he’ll be pulling me down the road while I sit in the draft sucking up every bit of oxygen available!

Other than being excited for the addition to our family, we’ve recently replaced our inventory of vehicles.  I decided it was time to trade in the Trailblazer for a vehicle that better suited our expanding family.  A van now sits in the spot my Trailblazer used to assume in the garage.  That’s right, a van.  I couldn’t be happier it.  Everyone should see how easy it is to get bike in and out of there without removing any wheels!  Our other vehicle, the Hyundai Elantra was involved in a fender-bender that my wife had a few weeks back.  Luckily, Amy and the baby were just fine after 24 hrs of monitoring at the hospital.  The little car did its job and protected what I value the most, my family!  We’ve replaced the Elantra with a Toyota Camry that I will use and my commuter car to and from work and cycling events.

On the cycling end of the spectrum, things have been progressing well.  My coach has been setting me up with a great plan that will surely bring out many great successes this year and assist me with reaching the goals I’ve established for 2011.  Winter trainer riding is definitely not for the weak-minded though.  Spinning through hours of torturous steady state intervals and tempo workouts are only subdued through watching the Packers dominate their opponents on their way to the Super Bowl.  Training loads will be increasing in a calculated manner to help promote efficiency and power output over the next few months until we all meet outside for the first race in early spring.  Breakaway anyone?!  I’m in…

I’ll look to update this thing more often.  Check back at the end of the week, post FTP test.

The Off-Season

The 2010 racing season has now come and gone.  While being over 5 months long, the season sure seemed to fly by.  While some established goals were met, others fell slightly short.  Those shortfalls though only lead to new goals to be achieved next year.  

The fall has arrived and the cool chill of the air now forces us all to throw on the arm and leg warmers.  Long and moderately paced rides have replaced the strenuous race preparing rides previously scheduled week in and week out.  The long rides provide for a great opportunity to reflect on this year’s achievements and allows for the development of realistic and attainable goals for the 2011 season. 

Maintenance and cross-training become top of time, but one cannot forget about rest.  The frequency of rides decrease allowing for the body and mind to rest and recharge the batteries from the weeks and months of torture.  This has to be the best part of what we would call “The Off-Season”.

For now we dream about what could have been if we made different choices during the racing season and learn from the mistakes we’ve made.  Everyone will strive to be better than the other, that’s the cyclist’s way.  A selfish motive it is, but it’s one that drives the best out of each and leads to higher levels of competition.  Dedication to goals, structured and disciplined training and support are the key ingredients to a successful season.  Take even one of those elements out and the attainment of goals quickly become out of reach.  Maintain, cross-train moderately, rest and recharge...  next year will be another tough and grueling season.  Start off on the right path with during the “Off-Season”.

Results and Palmares

The 2010 racing season is now over and I've been able to achieve a personal record of 40 races completed.  While a long season, it was a fun season.  Managed to place 1st overall for the Cat 3 WCA series, rank 1st on USAC Cat 3 points in Wisco, and rank 3rd nationally for USAC Cat 3 points. 

For those that don't know what palmares (French) means, it's a list of races a rider has won or a list of achievements.  While I was not able to reach the top step of the podium this year, it was still a successful season.  Next year I'll be working harder than ever to reach that top step with support from my wife, my newest race fan - my son or daughter, family, teammates and friends.  Also, I'd like to congratulate my teammates for another strong showing for Team Extreme Cycling throughout the year and earning 2nd place overall for team points in the WCA.  That's essentially like a win! (ISCorp always has more participation in all events)

Palmares
1st overall - WCA Cat 3 points
1st overall - USAC Wisconsin Cat 3 Criterium points
3rd overall - USAC National Cat 3 Criterium points
6th overall (tied) - Tour of America's Dairyland Omnium points
2nd - LaCrosse Criterium
2nd - Fond du Lac Criterium
2nd - Attitude Sports Criterium

Results

Date	Race	Cat	Place
3/27	Burnham’s Spring Crit	3	6th
4/11	Great Dane #1 Crit	3	9th
4/17	Menomonee Park Crit	3	10th
4/18	Great Dane #2 Crit	3	5th
4/24	Whitnal Park Crit	3	7th
4/25	Fitchburg Crit	3	7th
5/1	Circuit of Sauk	3	8th
5/2	LaCrosse Crit	3	2nd
5/8	Muskego Park Crit	3	8th
5/15	LaRue-Denzer-LaRue	3	8th
5/16	Wheels on Willy	3	16th
5/22	Chiropractic Crit	3	9th
5/23	Sussex Crit	3	7th
5/28	Wapello-Burlington RR	3	16th
5/29	Snake Alley Crit	3	16th
5/30	Mellon City Crit	3	19th
5/31	Quad Cities Crit	3	10th
6/18	Theinsville Crit – ToAD	3	6th
6/19	Giro d’ Grafton – ToAD	3	9th
6/20	Appleton Crit – ToAD	3	5th
6/21	Road America RR – ToAD	3	26th
6/22	Sheboygan Crit – ToAD	3	9th
6/23	Waterloo Crit – ToAD	3	7th
6/24	Greenbush RR – ToAD	3	23rd
6/25	Fond du Lac Crit – ToAD	3	2nd
6/26	Downer Classic – ToAD	3	10th
6/27	Waukesha Crit – ToAD	3	11th
7/16	Capitol Reef Classic – TT	3	17th
7/16	Capitol Reef Classic – CR	3	12th
7/17	Capitol Reef Classic – RR	3	17th
7/24	Mt. Evans Hill Climb	3	30th
7/31	Tour of Elk Grove	3	10th
8/7	Grayslake Classic	3	8th
8/14	Glencoe Grand Prix	3	22nd
8/21	Attitude Sports Crit	3	2nd
8/22	Race the Lake	-	47th
9/3	Lafayette Square Crit	3	28th
9/4	Tour des Hills	3	19th
9/5	Giro dela Montange	3	11th
9/11	Ride the Rock RR	-	11th