Self Indulgence

In the '90's and early 2000's I used to show up at the start line of most of the local road races. I even participated in some of the races. That is to say, as more than pack fodder. I had a lot of fun and met some great people. I thought then and I still think now that anybody who wants to race a bicycle on the road has a character flaw. It's incredibly hard and the hours needed to be competitive preclude a lot of other activities. My wife is happy I no longer race.
Anyways, I was thinking about some of the more successful years I had racing, and I realized they were aboard my Serotta Colorado Legend TG bike. A very fine steel frame. It wasn't the lightest bike, but I was always convinced the geometry and tube configuration on this bike gave it an efficiency that made up for a little extra weight.
I bought the bike at Moo Cycles. In 2005 I bought the shop and named it Hyde Park Cycle Sports. And now the shop has evolved into one that carries steel bicycles predominantly. That seems like some sort of full circle coming.


At the start of the 2003 Birds of Prey Road Race.
Testosterone so thick, you can taste it.
















The return leg of the Birds of Prey race. Very cold and very windy. Tucked in safely as is my usual strategy




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The Eagle Hills Circuit Race. Designed by a real sadist. Too many laps with two sharp climbs per lap
















Bicycle road racing has the potential to be as much fun as one can have without laughing. It is a huge rush to fly along at 30 and 40 M.P.H. close enough to touch elbows with the rider next to you, and with people just as close in front of you and behind you. Part of the thrill is the fear...there is not much cushion from the blacktop in those lycra clothes.... and the survival level concentration. As long as everybody is a decent bike handler and of about equal abilities, the peleton is like one organism. Like a flock of birds or a school of fish, the shape of which constantly changes, but stays cohesive. At least until the repeated hard efforts start to thin the herd.

The religion of bike racing requires followers to observe certain daily rituals. Eating is an exercise in getting the right balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the optimal amounts. One must submit to the bicycle, with differing degrees of intensity, every day. And don't forget recovery and sleep! Eat, ride, sleep and repeat.

No racing for me anymore. Now it's back to the roots! Loaded touring!

Nitto/Berthoud project

I've been wanting to use a small pair of panniers on my front rack with my Berthoud front bag for bike touring. Because this guy looks cool. And I want to be like him. I don't like his handlebar bag though. Too high.

A constructeur type rack with a solid attachment, to more than just the dropout eyelets and the fender, I thought. I have a Nitto Campee front rack here and the side low rider mounts are removabale, so why not take them off and use that?

The Campee comes with stays to attach to cantilever brake studs, but I was able to get some 150mm stays and attach them to the mid fork braze-ons on my bike.

A standard rack mount bracket will become the new light mount. It screws into the holes where the low rider mounts were. I simply need to cut it off, grind a nice smooth radius on the end, and attach the light

The rack sits lower than if it were attached to the canti studs, but this is what I was after. I used a p-clamp to attach the fender to the rack, mostly to keep the fender from rattling and to hold it a little higher off the front tire.








But wait.... will the light clear the Berthoud panniers?





Oh Yah!!!
Now, the Berthoud panniers use the Rixen Kaul Klik-Fix attachment which appears to be very solid. But the red, spring loaded retainer clips protrude above the top of the bag and the rack. Since I want to use the top rack mounted Berthoud bag in conjunction, I probably need to cut off the protruding portion of the clips. I think it should still work fine.


Since I'm pretty sure nobody who has read this far will be able to sleep until they see how this turns out, I will post the final results forthwith. Or pretty soon, anyway.