Scott Ritchey Cyclocross

2008-11-03T15:55:00.001-08:00

For those who grew up on skis, one knows what a blue bird ski day is… Well yesterday was the blue bird day of Cyclocross! On Saturday night we had a good rain fall followed by a Sunday race under a warm partly cloudy day! It was time to test out the old mud handling skills. I feel that I’m still getting a late start on my season which is bumming me out because it’s going by faster and faster. Hopefully it’ll come around soon and I’ll be in the lead pack again. Until then the chase is on… The rest of the team wore their badges of honor with smiles on their faces and mud on their legs! Keith was a little late for the race, so opted to toe the line in the Single Speed Division. It was all good until he had a mechanical that put him out. Cody had a race that he felt wasn’t his brightest, but it keep him in good standing on his overall series podium. Both Nick and Nate were just out side of the mid-pack having to battle with the congestion of the race with their starting positions.

All and all…. Good Times! J

Let the games Begin!!!!!

2008-10-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well it's here! The 2008/09 Cyclocross season... We've got new Bikes, New Kits, new results!!! More to come when I have the time to sit down and spill the beans :)

Yeah Boyeeeeeee!! Another one for the collection :)

2008-01-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

Here are some Photos that from recent races...

2008-01-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Little creative work :)

2008-01-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

Was screwing around and came up with this little tid-bit..

Ahhh... Redemption!!! :)

2007-12-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

...nuff said :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9UIim10O5M

It was also a great weekend for the team with Keith D in 3rd in Master's As, Nate breaking into the top 10, a 9th place with Cody hot on his heals, 11th... as well as Nick in his come back from the last CCCX race where he took a fall and cut his knee open needing some serious stitches :(... And even though it would keep the normal man down it's great to see the passion for the sport bringing him back out to battle in with the Elite men!! AWESOME!!!

Crappy day/Crappy Result/Fun Thanksgiving... Burp!

2007-11-30T15:01:00.001-08:00

It's the big fat truth to you "Pay To Play"... Can I take a step back...
Well, a day before I was in the Party boy mode and having a good time until race day where a mixture of DOH, and UGG took it's toll! I had a bad start, I had a bike Mechanical due to someone un-clipping on the start sprint and having a pedal in my spokes and a Stop on the course to clear out my derailure from a Log that jumped in for a ride... GOOD TIMES>.. All and all, I finished 15th on a day that cleared my head letting me know that I have to be 100% if you want the results.. this is not like the Men's B's where it was ok to show up hung over off my A** and just ran of the calories from the night before... these are the big boys.. :)

CCCX#4...

2007-11-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

DOH!!! Well aint it murphy's law... when one posts how to glue, that's when they roll..

(but it was, not the ones that I just glued and my fault in going into a corner to hot)

Long story short... CCCX#4 was a day that I didn't warm up to well and didn't feel it... I was going for an inside pass and rolled a tire... it was a move that was too sharp and... well would and should have rolled a tire... my bad... anyway, it was enough to take my mind out of the race at hand. I just rolled with what I felt I had that day.. not much.. ended up 17th. I put about 50% into my effort and felt guilty afterwards... Lesson learned..

Pilarcitos #3 McClaren Park

2007-11-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is a cool shot that Nick took on his phone :)

...and one by Steven Woo.

Gluing Tires.

2007-11-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

Because some times courses are a little bumpy for carbon deep dish rims (you know right tool for the right job, you don't want to crack a rim), I decided to build up a nice new wheel set, Yes!!!… A Ritchey Protocol Ltd, tubular wheel set that is… And because I have to glue tubies I thought I’d share with you my learning on the subject over the years of racing cross..

Below you’ll find my Tools of the trade.
1) One can of Mastik’ One 2) One Package of the Tufo Gluing tape (not-extreme, just regular) 3) One Acid Brush (keeps things less messy)

So Before you begin, it's great idea to stretch your Tubular tires out prior to you muscling them onto a rim. By doing so I will mount the tire on a dry rim with out glue and pump them up and let them sit over night. It just makes things a lot easier before you are involved with glue. As well as I've seen people really pulling on their tires (tube in one hand while stepping on the tire) watch out, you don't want to ruin your tube before you ride it now do we?

Step 1: Take your rim and make sure it’s clean…. A can of Acetone and a rag will do the trick. I then usually put my wheel in a truing stand to keep things nice and neat and easy to work on/with.

Step 2: Take your Tufo Rim tape and a sharp razor blade. Cut the Tape in ½ leaving on the backing., you can see what I mean from the image below: After you cut it, start sticking one side to the center of the rim as shown in the image. Now this is a great trick for keeping cross tubulars on because the rim diameter is relatively small and these days with people running 34mm tires it gives a little grip in the center of the tube. I've pulled off too many tires in my day and have seen only the sides of the rim were making the glue contact... Yikes! This fills in the gaps, as well as the tape, well it's really sticks! I'm really using the best of both worlds if you will...

Step 3: After you have gone all the way around the wheel with the tape, go over it with a Sharpe or something similar in shape that allows you to press the tape to the rim to make sure it has a good grip on the rim, you don’t want it tearing off…

Step 4: Start your painting your glue.. Make sure you get a good thin coat on the sides of the rim that is exposed.

Step 5: Put a good thin coat of glue on the base tape of the tire, go all the way around. Make sure you get every part, not too thick or it might make the base buckle, and could lead to your base tearing off the tire. This process is easiest when you have a good amount of air in the tire, it’ll almost flip the tire inside out

(The next 2 steps have a 15min waiting time between…)
Step 6: Repeat Step 4
Step 7: Repeat Step 5
Step 8: Wait 15mins then again Repeat Step 5

Step 9: Take off the back of the Tufo Tape, Can be messy

Step 10: Let the air out of your tire MAKE SURE YOUR TIRE TREAD IS POINTING THE RIGHT WAY!!!!!!
and put on your tire, starting of course at the Valve and pulling at the tire tight along the rim at the same time keeping the base tape lined up with the center of the rim. This can be hard and tedious, but at the end you’ll get it on BUT AGAIN…MAKE SURE YOUR TIRE TREAD IS POINTING THE RIGHT WAY!!!!!! I’ve made this mistake in the past… DOH! (photo shows wrong way on the front wheel, I just noticed that, but it's not glued on yet.. wheeeew as well if you make the mistake, do it on the front, you can always flip the QR)

Step 11: After you have the tire on, go around and line up the tread, you do this by pulling and manipulating the tire to get it right… it’s work, but it’s important! IT some times helps if you have a light amount of air in the tire to make it easier to eyeball the straightness.

Step 12: Next I deflate the tire and get out a broom… WTF, you might be thinkin’ well someone told me this part once and it seems to work nicely.. What you do is take the wheel and roll the rim on the broom handle pressing with a good amount of force. What this does is presses the tire onto the tape and glue.

Step 13: Pump up the tire, "Mr. Challenge" the owner of Challenge tires said this to me personally… Pump the thing up to 140lbs and let the tire mold itself to the rim… Let it sit for 24hrs and check it.. you should be good…

I give a tire at least 24hrs to set up… I try to give it more if I can.. it’s always better to give yourself more set up time.

Now this is how I do things, It’s not the way to do it, nor a guide on how to glue, so if you are reading this and decide to follow my steps, do so at your own risk.

...Wait! I almost forgot! If you ever need to take of your tire, be patient, small baby pulls... don't go pulling super hard, you can destroy a once repairable tire and maybe even a rim!

That's it, enjoy!!!

Pilarcitos #3 McClaren Park

2007-11-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, I take it back... I thought the last race was hard, in comparison. #2 was easy.. I wasn't feeling it on the day so I pushed for a good start and put it in pace mode until the line.. I managed to keep the 7th spot! Good times!!! Learned one thing though, really bumpy descents and carbon wheels don't mix.. the wheels took the beating, the body... Wow! Was I sore and I pretty much watched the guys in front of me roll away on the downhill... I'm not that bad at descending :(

The course itself was a run up hill, then a climb up hill then a grind up hill... bumpy down, then up again until you were tired of climbing... at the top, heck throw in a log to run over... why not! Then ride the bumpiest down hill ever, almost not fun, ... Ok, just not fun... to the bottom then repeat... JOY!

Pilarcitos #2...OYE!

2007-10-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

What a hard race this past weekend... Bummmmpppppppy! I started the day feeling Good, Of which I found out means BAD when the gun goes off. I seem to feel better when the pain is already in the legs... Anyway back to the race itself, I got a call up from the 10th spot in the last race, YES, no “jockey-ing” for position… Well, the gun went off and I was on.. Surprisingly I got into the 3rd spot of which was over joyous, never being that far up in an Elite race, Thinkin' to myself this is it, the non-traffic runway that you've been waiting for... YEEEEESSSS!!!!! Well it was all good until the 1st barrier.. The first guy (Known fast guy who's been in the stars and stripes) Bunny-hops this barrier that runs just below my knee-cap in height! Yikes!! I of course, not having the Gonads, I take the 2nd place guys style and dismount and run over it like someone who believes in self-preservation... I'm over the barrier and remount my bike just to go into a sharp 90deg turn on a grassy section.. well that's where it all happened.. can you spell Rookie? WASH OUT.. That's right.. I think I was, I was not riding as relaxed and smooth as I normally do being in that lead group.. This washed-me-out(AKA go down/fall) right in the lead of the main pack.. I'm lying on the ground thinking, this is where I get trampled and crushed.. but nothing... So I get back up as quickly as I can and re-group. I jumped back on my bike like a cowboy in an old western movie, thinking.. well that wasn't as bad as I thought.... but when I got back on the bike and clicked in to go it, I realized I had no power.. well Ok, NO CHAIN! ....DOH!!!!! Good bye lead group... :( Hello Catch up land...
Sooooo, I managed to pass a few of the guys out there having the same argument in their heads of "why do I subject myself to such pain??" and playing my "I'm having fun" psychology game that keeps them off from trying to stay with me. I think this tactic put me somewhere in the top 10.. at some point I heard a "you're in 9th" from a bystander... Nice... well then I was passed by a guy, 10th, then I passed someone... 9th... Then last lap... I passed a guy with a flat who was just finished a bike swap and he jumped on a second behind me... My mind was yelling he was in front, he's stronger... He's going to get you... So I yelled back... yeah, but he's hurtin' like everyone is... so there! I'm going to try and keep him off my back as long as I can... what the heck, feel like crap when you are done! So I go… in that effort, I catch up the guy in front of me with just a flat section of pavement to go to the finish… I got on his wheel and gave it what I had left to follow him to the finish line… All and all it played out perfectly for me. I drafted, pulled out of his draft and sprinted him to the line and at the very last minute lunged my bike forward… He didn’t… I won!!! I think I edged him out by a tire and put myself in 7TH!!!!!!! BooooYEAH!! This also put me in the 7th spot of the GC in the series... Nice! :)

My Blog

2007-10-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Blog page, I am going to try my best to tell you what I know about cross if you're interested :) In this page I'll give you an idea of my training, racing, tech info and every once in a while a bad joke ;)