David Millar & Why Bike Racing Sucks.

Nineteen ninety-three was the year that David Millar became my favorite cyclist. Previous to that it had been Eddy Merckx, and it is hard to be an American cycling fan and not love Lance Armstrong. At the age of 23 Millar won the prologue of the ’01 TdF and was even able to hold onto the yellow jersey for a couple days. But the reason he is my favorite cyclist has nothing to do with his victories and everything to do with how much he complains.

The other day I was at a dinner party when someone asked me what the deal is with bike racing. My response was: “Racing is what happens when you suck every ounce of fun out of riding a bike.” Following David Millar’s career it becomes very apparent that he understands this at a pretty visceral level:

2001 World Time Trial – Millar raises his arms in victory only to have Jan Ullrich defeat him.

2002 Vuelta Stage 15 – A rough day Millar crashes twice within 5 minutes due to poor road conditions. The second crash featured a team car running over David. While his bike was shattered into piece, Millar is able to get back in the race and get to the finish in 9th place. However, instead of finishing Millar dismounts, tears his number off his back, and places it just before the finish line before walking off effectively abandoning the entire race in protest.

2003 TdF Prologue – Millar drops his chain and gets 2nd place by only .08 seconds. Millar blames his team manager. Controversy ensues over whether the Malta born Scot chose to ride sans a derailleur or if it was his team manager.

2003 TdF Stage 19 TT – Millar wins over Tyler Hamilton by .09 seconds on a wet course that describes as “treacherous” and a “skating rink.” Later he confesses to using EPO at this time and the win is taken away.

2004-2006 – Millar is banned for doping after confessing to police.

2006 – Millar is back and while racing the Vuelta finds that he is now allergic to the sun. Like me, Millar sees the joys of racing in long sleeves year round.

2007 – Millar joins Slipstream-Chipotle (and becomes part-owner) and wins the British road & time trial championship which means Millar gets to wear a sharp looking jersey at all his races.

2008 Giro Transition – The Slipstream bus becomes hopelessly lost in Italy. Millar realizes that one of the prizes they’ve won is a Garmin GPS and guides the team to the next stop.

2008 Giro Stage 5 – Millar is in a select group and heavy favorite to win when disaster strikes and his chain breaks. Click the picture above to see the full video of his reaction.

Griffith Park

Arrived late last night at LAX. Bike made it in perfect shape (good job TSA). The hardest part of assembly was gasing up my tires without a proper floor pump. My sister & her husband live right near Griffith Park in the neighborhood of Los Felix so I woke up & rode to the iconic observatory. I ended up doing the climb twice for a total of 5 miles and a brutal-for-me 800+ feet of climb. Excellent riding all around. Tomorrow I’m going for a more epic trip. Camera phone snapshots on my flickr.

Back to Posting

I last posted over three months ago for no reason other than I didn’t feel like I had anything to write. The tip I always hear from all types of professionals is to do what they love everyday. I’ve read this in reference to everyone from sculptors, songwriter, photographers, and writers. I’ll say it right now I don’t like writing.

Anyways a lot has happened since. I moved teams at work, Went to a funeral, the company I work for decided to split into two companies, I got a nose job, Got sick, Lost touch with some people, reconnected with some others, Spent a lot of late nights at work, Grew a horrible beard, Finished building a mountain bike, Shaved that horrible beard off, Dropped out of one race only to participate in another, Worked on my apartment, I went biking in Decorah, IA, Helped my friend move to WI, Had a great time riding trails with my friends and generally spent a lot of money in a year where I was planning on saving some.

On Wednesday I leave to visit my sister in LA. I’ll be bringing my bike and have 3 days of riding planned. Otherwise, the plan is to eat a lot & generally relax.

Reading: Bob Dylan: Chronicles, Jonathan Lethem: Fortress of Solitude, & Alex Robinson: Box Office Poison.

Watching: The Wire, Weeds, Lost, Deadliest Catch, The Office & The Giro d’Italia

Listening: Chuck Ragan, Neil Diamond, John Prine, Nick Cave, & Hot Water Music

Late hours

That past couple of weeks I’ve been working a lot for long hours.  A couple times when I knew I’d be leaving the office after 10p and the temperature was minus zero I’d take the CTA in the morning and get a taxi home.  Most of the time I would ride home, maybe taking a detour to clear my head, and go to sleep right away.

I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be keeping this schedule, but it is at least nice to know I have a place to work that I for the most part enjoy.  Even if every article I read uses the adjective “embattled” to describe us.

My first time voting in Cook County; in DuPage you get a receipt and a sticker.

Books

click here to go to Flickr where a bigger version can be seen

Weather.com has the current temperature at 6 degrees with winds up to 41 mph causing wind chill temps at - 17 degrees. In other words a perfect night to stay in and read a book. Or at least take a picture of all of your books and nerd out statistics-wise.

Total books: 367
Technical (UX, CS, and Art/Type): 27
Comic/Graphic Novels: 82
Not read yet: 13

Will never read: 4
- Webster’s New World Dictionary
- English / Chinese Dictionary
- Concise English / Chinese Dictionary
- Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities

Book I own which I hate the most: Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities

Authors with the most books:
- David Mamet: 9
- Charles Bukowsk: 8
- Chuck Palanhiuk: 7

Top 5 Most Read:
1. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood
2. Carl Sagan’s Contact
3. Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air
4. Alan Moore’s Watchmen
5. Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice

Sunday morning I headed out to go race Stage 1 of the Tour Da Chicago when I got a flat within spitting distance of my front door.  Getting a flat always involves some calculations in terms of what to do next.  This time my options were:
1. Fix the flat right there, go race, & pray I don’t flat again.
2. Go home & grab my tubular wheel & again pray I don’t flat again
3. Go home & change flat in the warmth of my apartment
or 4. Go back to bed.

Later, after my long, much needed sleep, I went to ride my trainer and found it totally broken.  Instead of the low roar that used to drive my downstairs neighbors crazy I was hearing a piercing scrapping noise that drove me nuts.  I tired my best to fix it, but I’m pretty sure it is trashed (I’ll try & warranty it)

Believe it or not my biking expenses have really lowered in the past couple years mostly since I own most everything a biker like me needs to get by.  My racing bike is in pretty great shape & other than a few tubes & a new chain I don’t have to really worry about it.  My jacket & shoes are getting a bit sloppy, but they’ve got a year left in ‘em I hope.

Winter Biking

Today was a tough day to commute.  The morning news had low temperatures at below 0 with the wind chill factor and fresh snow had fallen the night before.  On top of that I had a long day of work scheduled which had me leaving the office at 9pm.    I’ve been a 4-season Chicago rider for several years now and every year I learn a few new tips, but for the most part I’m dialed in.

– Get full fenders.  It keeps both you & your bike dry & clean.
– Keep a set of clothes at work.  I do this year round, but it is nice to know if you get wet you have something  to change into.  Especially socks & shoes.
– It get’s dark early so bring a red blinky light.  I have one attached to both my bag & my bike
– If you ride fixed, go free.  Some people may argue that a fixed gear will help you maintain traction & that there is less to go wrong than on a singlespeed and I won’t say they are wrong.  I will say that it is nice to be able to wear a big bulky pair of boots and that if you are taking a turn being able to coast & stick your leg out in case you slide out is clutch.  I go singlespeed so there isn’t too much else that can go wrong mechanically.
– Trade out your clipless pedals & cages/straps for some platforms.  Mine have the bonus of having reflectors.
– Good wool socks will last a long time & are usually enough to last a 30 minute commute.  I wear SmartWool which are pricey, but are really high quality (they don’t fall)
– Look for a snowboarding helmet in the spring on closeout.  Or get a skateboarding helmet and for extra warmth tape up the air vents.  I got my Giro snowboarding helmet for $30 at REI.  Buy a bit bigger so you wear a hat underneath even if you do end up looking like Dark Helmet.
– Use a front light!  It is against the law to ride without one.
– Use wider tires & lower pressure.  Again some will say that thinner high pressure tires cut through snow to the pavement.  I find that in slick or ice situations it helps to have more contact to grip the road.  Also you can roll over cracks with a lot more confidence.  Especially those crazy steel grated bridges.
– Know your route.  Does the kinzie bridge freak you out?  Take the sidewalk.  What about the Chicago ave bridge?  Don’t forget about the stairs on one side.  Michigan ave is great as long as you remember the tire sized gaps that start & end each bridge.  Remember those giant potholes on Milwaukee you’ve been dodging all summer?  Well now they are hidden by a layer of slush
– When you get home from your commute be careful not to grab your bike with your bare hands.  That stem has been out in the freezing cold for 8+ hours already.  Getting frozen to your bike sucks.

Favorite Discoveries of 2007: Music

For this installment I list not only the album, but also my favorite track.

Music:

Chuck Ragan: Feast or Famine (2007) - Don’t Cry

Wilco: Sky Blue Sky (2007) - Hate it Here

The Weakerthans: Reunion Tour (2007) - Civil Twilight

Gillian Welch: Revival (2001) - One More Dollar

Crooked Fingers: Dignity & Shame (2005) - Call to Love

Award for “I initially thought this sucked, but now it is growing on me” goes to:
Against Me!: New Wave (2007)

Favorite Discoveries of 2007: Books

There was a time when at the end of the year I could list off what was the best new whatever of the year. Lately I’ve noticed I struggle to even name a single thing I enjoyed that was actually new for the past year. So instead I give you my list of my favorite things I “discovered” this year.

Books:
Dave Eggers - What is the What (2007)
Jonathan Lethem - Men & Cartoons: Stories (2004)
Bob Deans - The River Where America Began (2007)
Guy Delisle - Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China (2005)
J.K. Rowlings - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows(2007)

Special “White Whale” award for book I still can’t finish:
David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest