Thursday, March 29, 2007

cloak & dagger.

spy photos, as promised:

here is the masi, all dolled up for 2007!

stripped of it's ultegra components, and graced with campy record. (mostly).




yes indeed.

carbon record levers. record cranks. record front derailleur. chorus carbon rear derailleur.
easton ec90 carbon bars...

the deda stem remains, as does the selle slr saddle, ritchey post, and...




shimano pedals.
(i think this may be against some laws in europe... but it's only until my fancy pants time pedals show up).

also new (to me anyway) are the velomax wheels. light as a feather.





it's like a sea of carbon and awesome.
bring a life preserver!


quite the project, considering i had never even ridden campy before and was not sure if i'd like it.
initial rides have been very good, and i am finding the switch a bit easier than i expected.

i'm pretty sure i will like the campy shifting set up in racing situations, but we'll find out this weekend for sure!

speaking of that, this weekend is the season opener for me. i'm travelling down to iowa (yeah, i know), for some sweet racing action!

i'll let you know how it goes.

also! mark your calendars!

don't miss the big big action at grumpys-roubaix on april 15th!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

pop quiz.

what race was this?

first correct answer gets something fabulous.


(this should be pretty easy).


1
Peter Hanna SPBRC
2 Brian Koeneman Birchwood/GIS
3 Chris Mehus Minnesota Junior Cycling

4 Chia Kung Unattached
5 Adam Froemming MBRC

6 Brandon Gavic Super Team Racing
7 Scott Flanders MBRC

8 Dan Swanson Unattached
9 Aric Hareland Super Team Racing
10 Tim Mulrooney MBRC

Monday, March 26, 2007

Friday, March 23, 2007

light. i see light at the end...

hola amigos!
i know it's been a long time since i rapped at ya, but i got a lot on my plate these days.

it's march madness!
that means all my hard work over the off season is about to reach fruition.
and i know i'm not alone.

months and months of going to the f'ing ymca every other day, stacking plates on the bars, trying hard not to be a "grunter" even during the heaviest lifting...

hours on the trainer, in the basement, sweating buckets, intervals, rollers freaking out the cat, sprints, and hours upon hours on the the road, solo, in a group... whatever. needs to get done.

and not only that, but getting the new bike, putting it together, tires, bar tape, chain, so many ducks to get in a row...
switched the whole road bike over to campy too... (spy photos soon)!

now it's finally march and it is my job to tie all this crap together in a nice little package, that i can deliver to the finish line.

...of course that means more ymca, more (but lighter!) lifting, more riding, and even a little racing.


dear may 17th,

here i come.

love spencer.


p.s.

if there is one thing i've really come to appreciate over this winter, it's:

this + this + this = delicious!

Thursday, March 22, 2007

it's funny because it's true.

8:34 PM Tim: strats said she wanted to punch me in the face?

8:35 PM me: haha

8:36 PM me: i forgot about that...


8:36 PM Tim: why did she say that?

8:37 PM me: c'mon. you got a face made for punchin'...

8:42 PM Tim: seriously?

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

gotta go set those euros straight...

in case you didn't know, i am going to be traveling in europe for most of june.
mainly in france and also in spain.

so naturally, i've spent some time recently researching racing and whatnot in europe.

not an easy task.

of course there is the french cycling federation, but like the usacycling site, it is not a great resource... at least not for finding races, or learning about what one needs to have to race in france.

you know minor details.

i did find all the velodromes in and around paris, i'll probably just show up there and see whats going on.

i would like to race on the road too.
i think i need a uscf international liscence, but it's hard to say.
i've heard stories of americans just using their drivers license as a racing license with no problem.

let's face it, i'm not looking for uci points....

if i can't figure out how to race in france, so be it. i'll enjoy "just" riding too.
i'll just be that much more annoyed to miss my double points at the first radius night...



p.s. where are your results?

Menlo Park GP - WOMEN'S 3

1 Shaun Baesman (Protech Racing)
2 Ileana Garcia-Parker (Webcor/Alto Velo)
3 Vera Divenyl (CRC/Hill & Co.
4 Karla Kingsley (Grumpy's LGR)
5 Nina Patterson (Left Coast Racing Team)

Friday, March 16, 2007

fully operational.

fyi:

the death star is fully operational.
several members of the mcf alliance were lost to bring you this information.



[the most recent photo of the most powerful battlestation ever assembled in minnesota. it is now rumored to be fully operational.]

in other news, anyone else want to behead the worthless piece of crap that did this?

i do.

looks a few others want to see justice too.

i am seriously interested in donating something to the cause. i think maybe just kicking the culprits ass would make me feel better than adding to the reward amount... we'll see.

also, anyone else see that philly's pride and joy Rocky Balboa was caught with 22 large of hgh?
i bet he wasn't even that fast in a flying 200m...

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

uh oh.

here comes trouble.





looks like the cavalry has arrived.


more spy shots soon... keep your eyes open.

scooping smithers, one story at a time.


Tuesday, March 06, 2007

damage control...

i tried to resist, but sr and tuffy butchered their respective "top protour kits" lists so badly, that i am forced to respond.

a few posts below, i spoke on the current condition of team kits. focusing mainly on the lack of creativity, and generally trying to stay away from the "ranking" of jerseys...

i did however reveal my personal favorite, which sr (no surprise) and tuffy (slight suprise) have latched onto.

that favorite jersey belonging to credit argicole.

the photo of the jersey in action at the toc that i posted was special too, it was saul raisin in his return to the peloton. i don't know if anyone picked up on that. the fact that the team did not drop him from the roster as soon as they heard he might not return to cycling shows a dedication that goes beyond the dollar signs of pro cycling, and demonstrates one of the many reasons ca is my fav team.

so now with some watered down team rankings out there, i feel that it is time to step in and fix some misconceptions about style.

*warning* if you are squeamish, please do not continue.
you favorite jersey will prolly get a new one torn for it...

the (dis)pencer presents, pro tour jeresys 2007:


20. astana.
dead last for good reason. this jeresy sucks. this jersey looks worse than most "semi-custom" jerseys you see a bunch of punters rocking on the red ribbon ride...
it sucked as the liberty-serguros jersey. it sucked as the wurth jersey. and it sucks now. way to drive a unique national jersey in the ground.

19. unibet.
this is the best you could come up with? seriously? they gave you protour status and this is how you thank them?? it's like taking all the worst jersey ideas you could have and rolling them into one.



18. t-mobile.
this jersey is awful on so many levels that i am amazed that there are jerseys that are worse.
the magenta is bad. the sponsor uses pink in their logo,so they are stuck with the color. i think they wanted to "toughen" up the look so they wouldn't be the joke of the peloton... but they still are. oh, and matching this hideous beast with black shorts?? t-mobile make brittany spears look sane.


17. saunier duval.
what a sad, sorry fall from grace this jersey has had... it was so close to perfection 2 short years ago... and now this. i think maybe more than just the spanish riders are on the dope...


16. francais de jeux.
this team gets all kinds of "props" for the "fresh" white jerseys. why?
white has to be the worst possible choice for a jersey and bibs. just a touch of moisture on the ground and it's all over... you may even win the race, but you'll still look like you shit your pants when you're on the podium.


15. euskatel-euskadi.
they need to get rid of sammy sanchez so their kits can continue to match their performances.
this kit has not changed much for years, and i can't figure out why. maybe it's better that way, remember the special tt kits for the tour a few years ago? all white with orange highlights? (shutter...)


14. lotto.
at least this team carry on with their tradition; bad to worse. half black, half red in the 90's, to a vomitious white/blue/orange in 2000's, to this. it had potential, but it falls flat.


13. rabobank.
number thirteen, you'd think we'd be starting to see some decent jerseys by now... but no. we are still full into "well this sucks a little bit less than the last one" mode... the only thing i can say, is they probably don't worry about how bad this kit looks, because the name spends so much time on other jerseys anyway, e.g. world champs on road and cx, national champs on road and cx, etc...


12. discovery.
this was the bottom of the pile on both tim and tuffy's lists. don't get me wrong, it is a crappy jersey, but have you seen the ones listed above? i think a little personal bias went into those choices. i think if the designer wanted to go with black they should have went all the way. cut out the blue, it throws everything off and distracts from the point of the jersey. (the earth, and space). all in all, not bad, and a hell of a lot better than last years version.


11. quick step.
this jersey has lost spots in the last few years too, i think it was better with less navy. but, when your team wins everything it wants too, who gives a crap.





10. cofidis.
as i have said before, this team has come a long way. the red is a lot better, but it ain't great.
red has been missing from the peloton for awhile, and there is a reason; it is hard to pull off.
and giving due credit for trying, i don't think cofidis is pulling it off. they have laid claim to the color though, and i am excited to see if they can make it right next season.


9. ag2r.
white is good if you don't overdo it, (ala fdj), and ag2r tries valiantly to make these jerseys work with a nice match of blue with the white, and a hint of yellow to bring it out a bit, good effort. they crack the top ten.



8. caisse d'epargne.
i like this jersey, but in reality it is a cheap knock off of the csc jersey. it's like buying pants at old navy, sure they look nice... until you see them next to the real deal.
shame on caisse for not creating their own style, it is only because the csc jersey is so good that caisse manages a top ten placing.


7. liquigas.
these were the hottest jerseys on the block when they came out. crazy green and blue, bikes to match, and cipo on the team to make it all seem ok. well, cipo is gone, and color is not new, but still creative, (never seen on another team before, or since). i don't know how to feel about the stripes, but due to the proud history of good design on this team, i am going to give it a chance.


6. lampre.
this is where t-mobile and lotto have failed. if you are going to do pink, you have got to own it.
lampre rounds out 3 protour teams using pink, thats alot of pink. but where t-mobile tried to pretend it was a "tough" pink, and lotto tries to hide the pink under black, lampre owns it.


5. gerolsteiner.
never before have i seen a jersey embody its sponsor like this jersey does. if you didn't know what gerolsteiner was, just looking at the jersey would make you think: water.
excellent.


4. milram.
retro is so hot right now, and milram has tapped into that full on. another team that didn't take their good idea and go halfass with it. milram owns the retro styling, and anyone else that tries it is going to look sooooo lame.


3. bouygues telecom.
this is a jersey done right. simple. elegant. creative color, not seen elsewhere in the peloton.
it also works really well with the simple styling for the sponsors logo, which is important. you can have a sweet design, but if you slap a bunch of ass ugly crap on top, it loses it's appeal. (see astana).


2. credit agricole.
this is my personal favorite jersey. i like the simplicity, and contrast. ca owns the green color, and no one can do shit about it. (see unibet). to be successful in your design, you need to be recognizable, look good, stand out from the other jerseys in the pack, and do it all with class. a+.


1. csc.
it is hard to argue with the csc design. and it just keeps getting better every year. the black is bold, the red is powerful, and the white is clean, and lets the sponsors logos shine.
every detail of this jersey is well thought out, from the ab design, to adding wings to the back shoulders, without being corny! sleek and fast standing still, this is everything a jersey should strive to be.

the end.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

warm fuzzy feeling.

i imagine that the greatest thrill, (besides actually riding the tour de france), would be seeing your name painted across a remote mountain-top road in the middle of nowhere france...

...as you climb past it on your bicycle.


that has to be a pretty sweet feeling.




lance armstrong, third wheel - in yellow, cherishes the moment in 1999 on the col du galibier

Friday, March 02, 2007

metal.

top five metal albums, ever.

period.


1. at the gates - slaughter of the soul.
simply the best. hands down.
never before, or since has the world been subjected to the pure metal perfection that is summed up in this album. classic.



2. sepultura - chaos a.d.
this is the album that started a new metal revolution. a masterpiece of politics and brutality.
fantastic.



3. metallica - master of puppets.
this is the height of metallica's metal prowess, and although '...and justice for all' was the bands breakthrough album, this is far and away their best work.
now, they are just old whiny douchebags.
sad, sorry, sons-of-bitches...



4. slayer - reign in blood.
the godfathers of thrash metal. this is an absolutely essential album.
another in a series of supurb album covers from this band as well.



5. pantera - vulgar display of power.
pioneering a new version of agression, pantera held the torch of metal through the late 90's, when shit was getting super weak (e.g. limp bizkit).
rabid.
to the point that tragically when this band broke up, a crazy "fan" shot and killed guitarist, dimebag darell, while preforming with his new band.