9/05/97
Well, I got that cheap $1 bike into a pretty reasonable and ridable condition now. I think I spent about $20 into making it a reasonable bike. I managed to find pedals for it at a small bike shop in Seattle called Bikesmith. They have a lot of old stuff. They had a really nice pair of old French pedals, but they were too nice for my bike. Instead, I found a pedal that was a match for my other pedal, but with the wrong pedal threading. I then took the axle out of what was left of the old pedal and put the axle into my new (old) pedal. This cost me about $2 for the pedal and extra ball bearings. The next day I went back to get some clips for the pedals because it was kinda hard riding a bike with out at least clip and straps.
I've been commuting with this bike and carrying my stuff in the new messenger bag I bought. I think I make pretty good time from home to school, and the riding position is much closer to my other road bike. Hopefully, commuting will keep me in shape through winter.
This last Thursday was the last Seward Park Thursday race for this season. There was a pretty good turnout with all the regulars. From the team, Michael Petty was there.
Continuing on a theme from last week, the race organizer changed the format of the race. This time, it was a points race with 1 point per lap. The prime laps were worth 2 points, and the last lap was given points like normal (6 for 1st, 5 for 2nd, etc.). The points were added up, and the person with the most points was the winner for that race.
The first through 4th positions on the season points total were such that this race wouldn't change much. Alan was pretty much assured second place. One of the regulars, Mike, and another regular (Chris?) were in about 5th and 6th, or 5th and 7th, but close enough so that they had something to gain from performing well this race. They were joking around like making sure that the other guy wouldn't undo the quick releases on the other guy's bike...
The race was alright for me. Because of the format, the race was pretty fast from the start. I stayed with the pack for about 5 or 6 laps, but since the pack never slowed down, it was kind of hard for me to keep up. Another person was having problems, so for a few laps, we traded pulls. Then as the pack came back around to lap us, it wasn't going so fast so I managed to stick to the back of the pack for a few laps, which is something I've never managed to do before. I'm not sure what happened to the guy I was trading pulls with... Eventually, the pack sped up again, leaving me to do the last 3 laps on my own. I managed to keep up the pace so that I was only lapped once.
After the race, they had a mini-awards ceremony and the awarding of the prizes. First prize went to Ky Bruning, who got the winner's jersey and two rims and two tires. Alan got the first pick out of a pile of stuff, and ended up with a Giro Helios helmet. In hindsight, I think he got a better prize than first place (except for the jersey), since the helmet retails for $130, and the rims and tires weren't the best. Other prizes included sunglasses, tires, leg warmers, etc.
I stayed to watch the end of the second race, and a bunch of the people I got to know from this year's racing rode back together from the race. It was a pretty nice way to end the race series.
I plan on doing one more race before finishing up for the season. I may go watch a cyclocross race, and maybe try one in the mountain bike class, but my main goal is maintaining my fitness and maybe saving enough money to put together a track bike. I should also work harder at school...