Steve's Road Racer

Got a little start on my next customer's frame.  Steve is out of Oklahoma and I'm building him a road racing frame.  He made a quick trip to Mountain Home a couple of weekends ago and we took a few measurements for his new bike this spring.  This is gonna be a pretty straightforward build, tight and light.  Its gonna be roughly a 54/55 cm frame, lets call it 

54.5 cm, and we're gonna use a sloping top tube to keep it tight, and a top of the line Easton carbon fork to make it light.

As always, I start every build with a good foundation.  Sometimes I imagine you guys can get pretty bored with some of these photos that are all similar from build to build however I do it so that the customers can see whats going on with their frame.  Some people may or may not care about seeing this stuff but I do it to show them the work ethic that goes into each and every frame that I build, and it also gives a little subject matter to blog about.  It would seem pretty boring if all I did was post pictures of finished painted frames and it would be abot a month in between each post.  Sometimes thats about what it feels like now.  You can paint a house to look nice from the outside but for myself, I prefer to know that its well constructed under the paint and thats why I post these photos.

I'm ovalizing the tubes on the main triangle like I did on the BMX build.  This frame has an OX Platinum down tube that I made bi-oval, more tall and narrow at the head tube and wider at the bottom bracket just like the S3 down tubes. The top tube is ovalized at the head tube junction, and the seat tube is ovalized at the bottom bracket.  This OX Platinum down tube is actually lighter than the S3 by a few grams because the S3 down tubes are larger diameter.  The OX is butted 7/4/7 which is super-light but with a little more meat on the ends for brazing.  I love this down tube and use it on almost every build unless its a really big rider that needs something meatier.  I have used this down tube on frames for riders up to 225 lbs. and have never heard any complaints about the frame not being stiff enough.  If they're over the 225 mark I would probably go with an 8/5/8 and maybe a bit larger diameter.  No worries with this frame though as the rider is a comfy 175-180 lbs.

You can kinda see the ovalization here but its a bit difficult.

This was lunch that day.  It was pretty cold that day and I threw everything I could find on top of this burger.  Cheese, sauteed tomatos and onions, and a fried scrambled egg on garlic toast.  Here lately I've been trying to add a couple of pounds to my frame.  Since being sick a couple of weeks ago I've been down a bit.  I burn more calories running around the bistro than I do on my bike.  Anyway, I'm about there.  I don't have a strict diet but I do try to eat decent foods for lunch and dinner and then there is always some sort of dessert thrown in there.  Anne says I'm addicted to sugar and its probably true.  I was doing pretty good for a couple of days but then yesterday I popped and ate almost an entire box of Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls on the way home from the store. Why do those things seem to just melt in my mouth? We only live about 3 miles from Wal-Mart and I opened the first package before putting the car in drive.  I had 5 out of 6 packages eaten before I got to our neighborhood road.  That means I ate roughly 10 Swiss Cakes in 2 miles, thats 5 a mile while also having to open them.  I just left the last pack on the truck seat.  I think I may go get it now.  Be back in a second.

FACT:  I can eat a McDonald's Fillet-O-Fish in two bites.  I can actually shove the whole sandwich in my mouth but then I can't chew and the 911 operator can't understand me while I'm choking.  I think it was last winter when I about choked to death on a peanut butter sandwich.  True story.  I was out in the shop working on a cold day and came in for a few calories so I made a quick peanut butter sandwich.  Now my mother says that her doctor told her that she has a condition where her esophagus shrinks and she has trouble swallowing sometimes if she doesn't eat slowly enough.  I may have something like that but I really think my problem is that sometimes I just try to swallow too much food without chewing it up.  I do that when I'm in a hurry, especially when I'm driving (not good).  So anyway, I was taking a little lunch break in front of the computer while shoving this peanut butter sandwich in my face.  Well, you don't really feel the food backing up in there until its already backed up.  By the time you know its not going down chances are that you've already eaten a couple more bites and now thats not going anywhere either.  Some foods go down better than others, peanut butter and bread is the worst. So it got bad enough that I went into the bathroom and was gonna try and get this thing up out of my esophagus since it clearly wasn't going down.  No luck.  Wouldn't go down and wouldn't come up.  "What do I do now?"  Well, I grabbed a glass of water and decided I would try to wash it down. Believe it or not, I was actually still very calm at this point as I've had this happen a number of times in the past but this time that big gulp of water put me into a spot of bother, I began to choke.  This was the first time I've ever been choked up this bad.  I started losing my breath, and yes, now I'm beginning to lose my cool, actually the cool was all gone at this point and panic was setting in as I'm bouncing around the bathroom thinking, "Please don't let it end like this."  There was no one around, no one except for Pinky, our little Shih-Tzu.  After hearing all the commotion I guess he decided to come in there and see what was up.  I looked down at him through my heavily watering eyes and he was wagging his tail as if I was playing some sort of game.  He was probably thinking that I was playing that game, you know the one, where you give your dog peanut butter and watch him try to get it off the roof of his mouth.  He probably thought, "Yeah, how you like this game now cowboy, its real fun isn't it?"  Well, finally a big gasp and a big cough sent it flying out and as I looked at myself in the mirrow, a little frazzled I might add, I told myself I was gonna slow things down, maybe try to eat a little more like the French people do.  Ok, thats pushing but i do try to take a little more time chewing than I used to.  I still get in a hurry sometimes but I'm trying to keep it out of the bathroom if you know what I mean.

I was doing a ride the other day and this 12" Crescent was on the side of the road.  I stopped and went back hoping that it was a cheap Chinese made tool and I would just leave it there for someone else but unfortunately it said, "The Original Crescent", made in the U.S.A.  Well, I couldn't just leave it.  I already have a 12" crescent wrench but I think its one of the cheap Chinese ones so this was an upgrade.  These type tools don't carry well in the jersey pocket as they bounce all over the place when you get out of the saddle, they weigh about 6 lbs., ok, a pound and a half, but its a heavy pound and a half.  Luckily I was only about 30 minutes away. Its the closest that I've gotten to suffering on the bike in quite a while.  Hopefully I'll get the rear end finished up on Tuesday.  I got a new schedule at work so now I have 3 uninterrupted days to get some frame building done.  This should help things out quite a bit.  Thanks for stopping by.  Chao.

BMXer Finished?

Alright.  I've been waiting for a long time to get this frame finished up.  "Is it finished?"  Ummm, well pretty much.  I still need to braze on some brake posts and I'm waiting until I get the brakes  to do that so I get everything positioned correctly and then I was gonna put a seat stay bridge in there today but i decided to wait because I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with something straight or curved.  Everything on the frame is kinda straight/angular so I'm probably gonna lean in that direction.  Regardless, it won't take long and I'm waiting until I get some parts in  before putting the finishing touches on it.  After spending this much time trying to get everything right I'm not about to just throw the last couple of pieces on just to be done, its gotta be right.  One day I'm gonna take this dude to a bike show, oh yeah, and I've already been checking out the landscape to pull off a jump for testing purposes.  My neighbor is a school bus driver so I'm thinking about asking him if I can borrow the school bus for a little Sunday afternoon jump, then on Monday morning when the kids start loading up there'll probably be a big caved in spot where I landed and then bounced off doing a 10' nosedive off the back of it.  "MEDIC!"  My mind isn't even from the same planet as my body is. In my mind, I'm going outside and wanna take my jet-pack down to the 7-Eleven for a Slurpee and a candy bar, meanwhile my body is going,  "You can't even walk down the stairs to get to your jet-pack."  I'm talking as if I own a jet-pack.  The main thing to remember when you're operating a jet-pack is to keep your head up so that you remain straight up and down, cause if you tilt your head down a little bit and hit that rocket trigger you're gonna end up doing some X-Games shit like Wile E. Coyote.  Next thing about jet-packing you want to have dialed in is make sure you have the carburetor jetted correctly, especially if you plan on jetting around at an altitude of 100 feet or more (...and who wouldn't, why would you even own a jet-pack if you weren't planning on flying high?).  You don't want it spitting and sputtering like the 2-stroke dirt bike of some novice motocross racer at the local backyard track.  You might even consider having it professionally tuned before going out rocketeering but I'll leave that up to you as I don't know what kind of mechanic you are. Lastly, a good thing to remember about jet-packing is to keep an eye on the fuel gauge.  If you're getting a bit low on fuel you might want to bring the altitude down around the 20 foot mark so that just in case you do run out you'll only end up with a couple of broken ankles and some skinned up elbows, but remember, when you're flying at these lower altitudes you need to keep an eye out for power lines, they can ruin a good jet-packing trip real quick.  Nothing quite like going out for a walk with the dog only to find some sky-surfer in a tank-top tangled and sizzling on some power lines while your dog is licking up the remains of a Slurpee and chewing on a flip-flop.  How many times, how many times, how many times have they told you, "Don't drink and drive!"?  Thats dumber than trying to give a rattlesnake a bath. ("Thats a strange analogy Dimitri."  Well maybe I have a story about giving a rattlesnake a bath.  Tune in tomorrow and see.) You can't fly a JET-Pack with one hand, that was the first rule in the instructions book.

1.)  Keep both hands on the controls at all times!

  You f**cked up.  You decided to save a few bucks and opted for the model without the cup holder.  Good luck with that.  At the bistro they're always playing Elton John's "Rocket Man", you think I haven't thought about jet-packing a little bit.  When I die I want them to put me in a Sky-Cycle like the one Evel Knievel jumped the Snake River in and just light the fuse, don't even worry about giving me a parachute or any knee pads, heck, I might be up for that even if I'm not dead, but if I'm living  I want the knee pads.  Imagine how Travis Pastrana's face would light up if he woke up on Christmas and there was a JET-Pack under the tree.  Lets get back to this frame.

Little front end shot with the camera tilted as usual.  I always have to throw one of these photos in.  The integrated headset fits nice and snug.  I'm gonna get a different headset for it when I build it up but I had this FSA just laying around in the toolbox so I thought I'd throw it on.

Ahh, just remembered that I forgot to face the bottom bracket.  Wait, I think I did already do it, its just been so long ago that I forgot.  I often wondered if I'd get this thing finished up but after a while it sort of became a mission and I was thinking that I would have to get this frame finished before I die in order to rest peacefully.  Technically its not done but I feel pretty good about it in the coming days.  God willing.

I just noticed a little spot I need to smooth out.

This wasn't the way I would've normally done the seat stays.  I would've put them on the back of the seat tube like I normally do but this is the way the old Schwinn Stings used to be so thats the direction I went.

I do like the flared ends on the tubing.  It gives it a little extra something and I plan on using it on the next build as well.  If I had shown more of the top and down tubes in this photo you would be able to see it better.

Paragon stainless track dropouts.  Not exactly the angle we were looking for as these are road dropouts but the stays butted up pretty well and there is still a little meat that can be taken out.  If I did this again I would have custom dropouts machined and would probably go with some fatter stays but this frame is so solid it doesn't even feel like a frame made out of tubes, it feels more like a solid piece of steel.

I like this shot as I like this fork alot.  This fork and I have become close friends over the past couple of weeks.

I like this shot alot also.  After seeing the frame from this angle and realizing the curve in the fork blades I may go ahead and use a curved seat stay bridge.  I think it'll look alright.

This photo was still on the camera when I uploaded the pictures.  We had a little ice pass through the other day but luckily it wasn't too bad.  I was hoping and praying we wouldn't get another dose like we did back in 08' or 09', whenever it was.  I don't care for ice, snow, or even cold weather for that matter.  Nothing like having to clean up broken trees off your rooftop, as if there's not enough stuff to do already.  My hat is off to all the people who live in areas where you have hard winters cause I'm just not made for it.  I would love it if it was 90+ degrees everyday.  San Diego would be nice however I'm not much into driving in traffic but you can probably live car-free pretty easily there.  When I was in Granada, Spain I really enjoyed walking or riding everywhere.  No car, no gas, no insurance, just walk or ride out the door and go wherever you're going.   Loved it.  Fortunately we're almost through the winter and daylight savings time is in a week or two so that gives us some extra daylight for a little after work spin or a little extra time in the shop or whatever you want to do. I can't wait.  I got a new road frame to start on next week and I'm ready.  The season is here and I want to get off this cross bike I've been riding since July and see how I really feel.  I've had even less time on the bike as I've had in the shop so I'm not expecting much but I'm ready to get into a little better shape.  Warm weather just helps my mentality.  I love just throwing on a chamois and short sleeve jersey and rolling.  Also ready to get my new shoes dialed in.  I'm wanting to try and get my body back up to speed and see if it can give my mind a run for its money.  "Are you kidding me?  Good luck with that."  Thanks for checking things out and sorry about the long absences.  I'm fixing to get the MEECH website updated with a new gallery or two but it will probably be a couple of weeks before its completely finished but its in the works, you got my word.  Vaya con Dios.

Guns N' Roses - Perfect Crime - Indiana '91  This is about the way I feel by the time winter ends.  I'm not sure if this is appropriate for a Sunday morning but if you never saw Axl in his prime this is a good example.  PED's?

Finished Fork

I've been out in the shop most of today trying to finish up this fork and I finally got it done.  I will still have to braze the threaded sleeve into the head tube later but I don't know exactly where I'm gonna cut the steerer tube off at so I thought it would be a good idea to wait till I have a stem before doing that number.  Measure twice, cut once. But anyway the fork is done and I threw a wheel in it for a quick check and its perfectly straight.  I was truly relieved because this fork was built mainly from my eye than anything else as my fork jig didn't want to accommodate this setup.  The only time I used the jig at all was to hold the dropouts on the fork blades while tacking them in place.

Instead of just brazing some dropouts on the fork legs I had Bob cut a little 90 degree ledge on them so that they fit on and under the fork blade.  Just a little added safety since this is my first BMX project and I wanted to be all sure that everything stays in place as it should.  I brazed them on with a nickel-silver rod instead of a bronze brazing rod as the caps on the bottom of the fork legs are made out of stainless.  Bronze and stainless don't mate well but the nickel-silver is very similar, it melts at roughly the same temp and you even use the same flux.  I could fillet-braze a stainless steel frame if I wanted to and I've thought about it on occasion but just haven't pursued it for lack of interest in stainless and more interest in carbon,  which hasn't really been getting much attention here lately.  However, my carbon dreams haven't died yet.  Never say die.

Yes, I like it. Thanks for cutting the dropouts Bob.

Brazed for a lifetime of punishment.  This fork is so solid.  I took a fork blade in each hand and tried to force them apart and couldn't budge them, I'm not exactly Hercules though.  Regardless, this is by far the stiffest fork I've ever built.  Solid steel!

This may not look like much but it is the nicest fork I've ever built.  So much time and effort getting everything perfect since the jig really was no help.  Talk about measuring twice, try measuring so much that you forget what it was supposed to be in the first place and then you have to start over measuring.  There was no stone unturned in making this piece.  Its quite the relief to be done with it as this was actually harder to get right than the frame was. Now I need to do the cleanup on the frame.  I had planned on doing them both today but since I didn't get this done until like 2:30 the frame is gonna have to wait till the weekend. The weather should be a little better then and it will be much more enjoyable.  The shop was a comfy 35 degrees today as I had the garage door up and was basically outside. I hate working inside with the door shut because the noise can't escape, I'd rather freeze.  You'd think it would be the other way around as I don't hear that well. Normally I only work like that if the temp is above 40 but today I just decided to tough it out.  Its not that big a deal actually because people are working outside in it all day long.  A winter storm is supposed to be moving in tonight but I'm hoping it won't be as bad as they are predicting.  Fingers are  crossed.  The first frame I ever built for a customer was during the ice storm of 2008 and I don't think the temperature got out of the 20's for over a week after that. The power was out at our house for nine days but luckily my mom's power got turned on after only two so you can guess where we went.  I've got to put in a couple of days at the bistro but hopefully the frame will be finished up this weekend.  Now I'm gonna go and try to put in an hour ride to stretch a bit but I'm having to force myself to do it.  Oh well, I'll feel better afterwards. Salud!

Fork Work

I was able to get in a couple of good hours out in the shop this weekend so I just did a little work on this fork.  I got the blades all fillet-brazed up and made some caps for the ends.  I kinda surprised myself when I was checking the lengths of the blades and I didn't even have to hold the fork up, everything was perfectly straight and level.  No big deal I guess because thats the way its supposed to be however I didn't think the fork would stand up so easy, kinda like a bowling pin and hanging the level on the side didn't even budge it.  This is a one beefy fork.

Here are the ends of the fork after I brazed on a couple of caps.  The caps didn't start out looking like caps, they were just little squares of stainless steel that I brazed on and then cleaned them up.  Its a shame but they are gonna get messed up again after I braze the dropouts on but I wanted everything to be really clean and smooth so that there is a good tight fit.  You bar no time or expense if you want it to be the best.

I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out.  The work is almost invisible and its polishable.

Ol' Pinky turned "big 10" just recently and so I thought I'd throw in a quick pic that wasn't bike related.  We bought him a cupcake and I had to doctor it up with some big "10" candles. He's not very good at blowing them out, he about caught his face on fire.  "GRAB THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER!"  Just kidding.  He's like me and could care less about birthdays, I guess its better than the alternative.  If you look close you can see Louie in the background fixing to pounce on that cupcake while Pink's not lookin.  Louie has been a real terror to the squirrel world here lately.  He must've found some secret ambush spot because he's been bagging about one a day.  I don't like it but what can I do?  Mother Nature is what it is. You'll be glad to know that Pinky threw the entire cupcake up right after he finished and guess who got to clean it up.  I'm guessing too much sugar. Be back in a couple of days.  Chao.

Wednesday's Work

I can't believe how long its been since I actually did some fillet-brazing and while I wasn't worried about forgetting how I did feel a little rusty at first, but in the end I was able to lay down some of my nicest fillets.  I think that because I was still a little sick that I was just  extremely careful, took my time, and was really focused and they turned out better than I would've imagined.  Still got the clean-up work ahead but the better the fillets the less clean-up is needed.  Ever heard the saying "slow down to go fast"?  Sometimes its true.

Its hard to tell here but the seat tube is ovalized with the width of the BB shell and I like the way the fillet looks on it and the overall look.

Nothing new here, just a brazed chain stay junction and a lop-sided camera angle.  I'm always leaning a little to the right with the camera for some reason.  I have to make a conscious effort to line everything up because what appears to be straight to me at the moment is usually just a little off.

Some photos make it easier to overcome.  This isn't my chosen seat stay design for a BMX or mountain bike frame as I'm always concerned about strength, but I brazed these things on as strong as I could and if they come off they're gonna have to rip the sides of the seat tube off with it.  I really want to see this shot after its cleaned up.

Quick shot of the integrated head tube.  The integrated look is a favorite of mine however it does add a small amount of extra weight, just a small amount, I probably shouldn't even of told you.

These are the Park integrated cutters.  These are actually my favorite little stash in my tool box.  They don't get used much so it always seems like a special occasion when I break them out.  They are nice cutters and they leave a perfect fit for the integrated bearings.  

I finally got some new road shoes.  I opted for new old-school look with the laces.  I haven't even had time to put cleats on them yet.  We'll test 'em out here shortly and I'll give you the lowdown.  All I can tell you now is that they are very light and fit like gloves.  Well, gotta take ol'Dizzy for a run before I go to work so I'll catch up to you a little later.  Enjoy.

Sick Days

Sorry for the absenteeism the last few days.  There just hasn't been much to blog about these last few days.  I've was sick for  four or five days and am shaking the remains of that off now.  Prior to getting sick, and yesterday as well, I had to go to my hometown of Jonesboro and get some dental work done in order to fix my implant that has been coming loose.  None of this is worth talking about its just that during all this I've been thinking about how I've been neglecting the blog.  Anyway, I'm home and heeled up for the most part and gonna be back in the shop today finishing up the fillets on this BMX frame.  How long have I been saying that?  I feel like half  the days in my week have been stolen from me. The last six months or so have been a bit frustrating.  Have you ever been in a huge crowd of people, like in the mosh pit at a concert, and no matter which way you want to go you can only move in the direction that the crowd moves?  Or perhaps you've been in the ocean before and no matter how hard you try to swim in one direction it just keeps pulling you further away from the beach.  Thats what is going on right now with me.  Its almost as bad as being on the back end of a tandem.  Just rollin with it until I can get back to where I want to be.  I've got more frames to build and paint than I've ever had before so thats a positive thing my good friends and now I'm gonna just try and build on it.  I've been working 4 years hoping that my frame business would take hold and just as soon as it starts trying to get a grip I've had to pull the reigns in.  Nightmare!  Ahh, but those longer, warm days are on the horizon as is road racing season.  You guys better be riding.  Don't wait on me, I'll try and catch up down the road and should you ever find yourself in the ocean being pulled further from the beach try swimming back in a diagonal line instead of straight in, this worked for me the one time I was in that situation. Maybe I need to be trying to figure out a diagonal line to taking care of all this business i can't seem to get done.  I'm gonna think on that one.  Chao.

A MEECH in the Wild

This is photo of Branton Moore's MEECH that was spotted out in the wild of Fayetteville, Arkansas.  This bike, like so many other MEECHs, is extremely well cared for.  Cleaned, lubed, and ridden hard.  Taken for regular car rides, vacation destinations, and best of all to the races.  This is textbook care for your MEECH.  Thanks for the photo Branton and thanks for riding a MEECH.  Hail to the Highroller Cyclery.  Love you guys.

Wooo Hoo, New Files!

Just opened up this package yesterday.  A frame builder's dream come true, all new files and handles.  I've been needing new files for like a year now, probably longer however I just kept grinding it out and making them work.  I'm almost embarrassed to say that this is really the first set of new files I've gotten in the 4 1/2 yrs. that I've been building frames.  I knew nothing about files when I started building and so I started off with three files, a 10",12", and a 14".  I didn't even know that there were files with different coarseness and so I built probably my first 15 frames with a set of second cut files.  Geez, the pain I've caused myself.  So after a year or so passed and I discovered there were different cutting grades I purchased a set of 3 bastard files or first cut and I've been using those 6 files every since until this day.  Now granted, I've purchased a few other files from time to time, small files, round files, etc., but for the best part of 4 1/2 yrs. of building bikes I've used the same six files.  One of the highlights was when I first moved to Mountain Home. I still had not been building a full year and on one particular frame I was having some problems and I got my friend Bob Davis to come over and give me a hand.  Bob is 83 yrs. old and has a machine shop full of over 100 files just laying around all over the place, not to mention thousands of tools that I don't even know what they do.  So anyway, he is sitting down with a cup of coffee and I'm filing on a tube all the way across the garage when he said, "We're gonna be here a while because that file has seen some wear."  Then I told him it was less than a year old and he looked at me with a puzzled look and said, "Yeah, but whoever had it before you used the dickens out of it."  And then I says, "I bought this one new."  And the conversation ended with him looking at me and just shaking his head in disbelief.  It felt kinda good inside to have impressed an old-timer like him.

These first two pictures of the files and this torch are the main part of most frame builders business, steel frame builders that is.  This little torch and the files have been probably my favorite purchase of my entire life.  I truly enjoy building a handmade bicycle frame and watching someone go riding or racing on it.  Incredible feeling for me.  I love it.  Ok, a jig is a necessity if you plan on building many frames but lots of people have built their own jigs for minimal cost.  I purchased a Bringheli right off the bat because I was planning on building more than a couple.  The jig is a worthwhile investment and if you no longer want it you can probably get most of your money back if you decide to sell it.  I don't think I'll ever sell mine though.  When I die you all can put my ashes in a bicycle frame, seal it up with some nice fillets, and then ride me for thousands of miles.  Ok, I'm officially drifting now.  Lets get back to the present.  Bicycles are great though aren't they?  They have been a huge part of my life.

Seat stays are tacked and in place and that means the frame is all together now and is ready for some of the finishing touches.  Still have some work to do but its all on the downhill.

Thanks for checking things out.  Its Superbowl Sunday and I could care less who wins as I don't like either team in it, but I'm sure its big day for them so I hope its a good one.  Chao amigos.

E-Glide Story

Check this out.

Yancey's Ride at the World's Cross Championship

For starters, not the prettiest of days, but this is cyclocross racing and there really isn't anything pretty about it. Here is Yancey's MEECH after a quick spray at the World Cyclocross Championships.  It was a brutal day for everyone.  I think the pit guys had it almost as rough as the racers did.  Larry was changing bikes every half lap and luckily he had an old friend in Nate Rice, who was a mechanic in Jonesboro for a while, helping him out.  Nate is a pro cyclocrosser as well as mechanic and his race is coming up I believe today in the Masters 30-35 or 35-39, I'm not  exactly sure but either class will be pro level competition.  Anyway, Larry got a front row start after a good qualifying race on Tuesday and I think he got a decent start off the line in the main but the course was such a mess that the race was basically up for grabs for whoever had the least problems  I suppose.  Larry did say that it was a day for the guys who produced big horsepower and could just power through the slop.  They had winds gusting around 35-40 mph as a chain of storms was blowing across the central states these past few days.  Apparently by the end of the first lap Larry's front wheel wasn't evening spinning and I'm guessing those guys were running even more than they were riding.  Definitely not my kind of race.  I never was big on riding in the mud be it on bicycles or motorcycles.  I always felt like you didn't get a chance to show your true ability or speed, however I guess if I would've won a mud race then i would be happy about it.  Some guys are just naturally good in the mud and I take my hat off to them.  I really admire all you guys who get out there in this slop and put the hammer down.  Its super-hard work and its about as rough as you can be on a bicycle's components.  Larry spent quite a few hours and days prepping both of these bikes for the race and now he's gonna have to tear 'em all down and clean 'em all up after a 45 minute race.

These are photos taken by Nate and his crew in Louisville that were posted on Facebook so I kinda stole these.  Even though the bike doesn't look so bad here I think it was the kind of mud that they were racing in that made it so bad.  All mud is not created equal.

Thats looks to be about a 5 lb. blob of Kentuckey mud covering up Larry's new TRP mini V-brakes. They're red as you can see.  After building the bike up he took it for a couple of training rides and said the brakes are awesome.  Unfortunately slowing down wasn't a real problem in Louisville.  

How do you race a bicycle when the front wheel won't spin?  Can it even be considered a bike race?  Oh yeah, it's not a bike race, its a cyclocross race.  That MEECH headbadge looks good though.

This is half, if not more, of a rider's race this year at Louisville.  If you don't have a couple of bikes I think you're in trouble.

This is Nate looking a little dapper.  Larry said he couldn't have done it without his help so thanks go out to Nate and all the others who helped out.  Larry managed a top-10 finish this year and I know he was training for a podium spot all year long so I'm sure he wasn't completely happy about 10th overall but on days like this you can finish

 anywhere if you even manage to finish at all.  Bottom line is he just put in another hard race at the World Cyclocross Championships. If you are into cyclocross at all this was the place to be.  People are traveling from all over the states and other countries as well to ride in this mess, unbelievable.  Larry was there grinding it out, sporting the MEECH logo for me as he does all year long and I appreciate it.  I have to give a bow to all the racers giving it a dig in Louisville and to the pit crews as well.   Thanks for lending me the photos Nate and I hope you have a good race this year.