"Keep Those Tires Rollin' " Bicycle maintenance tip of the week

Your bike tires are the main contact point between you and the road so keeping them ready to roll will make your cycling sessions safe and reliable. Here are some tips to keep those tires rolling smooth and fast:
- Keep your tires inflated according to manufacturer’s specifications. Making sure that your tires are properly inflated is the single most important thing that you can do to prevent flat tires and premature wear. All tires come with recommended tire pressure ratings so follow them closely. Low tire pressure can lead to pinch flats and dangerous cornering, while pressure readings that are too high for clinchers will lead to a rough and inefficient ride, and with some wheels will even lead to damaged rims and blow outs. Many people think that high tire pressures will decrease rolling resistance and improve performance. This is a misconception. For most clincher tires, a pressure reading of 100-115 will achieve optimum rolling resistance and provide better handling and a more comfortable ride. Rotating your tires is not just limited to your car. Switching your bike tires from front to back every 1,000 miles will maximize the life of a good quality set of tires.
- Keep those tires away from the sun and nature’s elements when not in use. Excessive light and outdoor conditions can damage and weaken the rubber in your tires leading to cracked and weakened sidewalls. Keeping your bike and wheels indoors when not cycling will help extend your tires’ life span.
- When installing new tires or tubes, use baby powder to keep the tire and tube from galvanizing together over time.
- Frequently inspect your tires for damage and stuck debris. You can often spot problems such as cut sidewalls or glass stuck in tires and easily repair or place the tire before your next ride. This simple preventative measure will save you flat tires and headaches on future road rides.

September -- what a month

There are so many great happenings in September it is incredible.
1. Green Mountain Stage Race. The TARGETRAINING Elite squad is racing in Vermont, as is Max Veiga. The race goes 4 days with four stages: a time trial, a circuit race, a long point to point road race and a criterium. Look for results here. And check the TARGETRAINING Blog for more on this.
2. September TT Saturday Centuries(100K). Every 7 AM from TARGETRAINING.
3. Westport Kiwanis Triathlon. Sunday September 7th at 7:30 AM. Sprint triathlon in our hometown. What fun! Please see here. Great for entire family.
4. Threads and Treads Tour de Greenwich. September 14th. This is a blast, but be careful out there. See here.
5. Charter Oak Charity Ride September 20-22 (Friday-Sunday). Great cause -- building and running a school for Bridgeport CT children who now due to the program make it to college. Founded by Andrew Boas who is a caring individual and is passionate about education and cycling. 80 miles each day. Great group of people. Great scenery. Great ride. Please see here.
6. ITP Triathlon September 27th in Darien CT. Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura ("ITP") is a very rare bleeding disorder. The ITP Foundation helps families with children and adolescents with ITP who need financial assistance to manage and treat the disorder, and raise funds to further ITP research. TARGETRAINING will be at this triathlon in force. More to follow. Mark your calendars for this great event. It is slightly longer than a sprint triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 15 mile ride, 5 mile run). Jordan Rap from TARGETRAINING won it two years in a row but this year you will see Dom Gillen and team there.

Round and round with no brakes

This past weekend I had the honor of officiating at the New York State track championships held at the Kissena Velodrome in Queens, NY. I bet most of my faithful readers didn't even know there was a velodrome in Queens. I used to race down there about twenty years ago every week for food money. Let's just say it kept me thin! It is actually a pretty decent outdoor set up and the racing is fantastic. The event was two days long and included 500m and 1000m time trial events, points racing, match sprints, scratch racing, pursuits and of course my favorite: the keiren.

That's right, just like on TV.

The thing that stuck out most in my mind were the people involved. From Alan the tireless and generous promoter to the development team coaches to the sun baked referees to the fans in the bleachers; everyone was super supportive and excited to be part of the program. But let me tell you the most amazing people there were the racers themselves.

These men and women were some of the nicest athletes I have ever met. Track racing is a small community and they all know each other by name. No matter what the situation, they may be rivals on the high pitched banks, but they are all best friends on the infield between events. They are also some of the most diverse and eclectic group of riders too. They almost all have beautiful artwork tattooed on their bodies, piercings, style and heritage that were so storied and layered that I found myself listening and learning for hours at a time.

There were cadets from West Point (no tattoos), messengers from Brooklyn, 50+ masters from Manhattan and engineers from Cambridge. The most impressive group were the women's field: more than twenty racers in all. Simply amazing and all of them strong and fierce competitors.

The fun part about track racing is that if you want, a rider can compete in as many events as he or she wants to at the meet. That means some of these guys would do ten or twelve races. Sure, they are only about 2 minutes or less each, but the rhythm is non stop. Warm up, race, recover, nap. Warm up, race, recover, nap. Endless highs and lows. Sound familiar?

The coolest event as I said above was the keiren. It is a 2000m long event (5 laps on the track) paced behing a durney type moto-scooter. The riders all line up in a row on the start line and the durney goes by at 30kph and off they go. The riders have to stay behind it as it slowly builds up to 50kph by the fourth lap. Then it pulls off and game on. So these guys are going at mach 5 and then get slammed by an instant head wind and start going crazy sprinting and moving and racing hard. It is super fun to watch.

One of the most notable items was the complete and utter lack of TARGETRAINING athletes, probably the first time all year that I have not seen someone racing somewhere. If any of you want to get fast in a hurry, see Viega or Matt at Tri/Cycle in Westport, CT to get a nice Cervelo track bike and get down there to race. I know I am hooked again.