Barbecue, Texas Style

Last week I got to spend the week in the great state of Texas.  And it's a great place for biking, beer, and barbecue.

I didn't get a chance to do any biking, but I did have plenty of opportunity for beer and barbecue.  One of my favorite beers in Shiner Bock, made at the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas.  This is a lager, but it's a bit hard to describe.  Just go buy a six-pack and try it.  If you don't like it, I'll drink the rest for you.

As far as barbecue goes, I got a chance to go out to one of my favorite spots, The County Line (on the lake) in Austin.  Some people have criticized this restaurant as not being "authentic", since they have silverware and plates.  Authentic or not, it is mighty tasty.  I decided to go out on a limb and get the three meat plate with pork ribs, sausage, and brisket.  If you're not familiar with central Texas sausage, this is a smoked sausage that is smoked and cooked on site.  Some call it Elgin Hot Sausage after the Southside Market in Elgin, Texas.  Tasty, tasty, tasty.

Running, Bourbon, and Burgoo

This blog is usually covering biking, barbecue, and beer.  However, I will shift temporary focus to running, along with bourbon and burgoo.

My brother called me a couple of weeks ago and said he had a spot on his team for the Bourbon Chase Relay.  250 teams compete in a 200 mile relay starting at the Jim Beam Distillery in Kentucky.  Teams are made up of 12 members.  The winning time is around 20 hours with many teams coming in around 27-30 hours.

Each team member runs three legs.  These legs range between 3-1/2 and 8-1/2 miles, with each runner totaling between 11-1/2 and 21 miles.  Most runners have a total of about 16-17 miles.  It's called the Bourbon Chase as the race passes through six different bourbon distilleries including Maker's Mark, Four Roses, and Woodford Reserve.

Drinking of bourbon is prohibited during the race, but evidently many samples are supplied for the post-race party.

I'm hoping the post-race party will include burgoo, a local Kentucky stew that is sometimes served with barbecue.  Burgoo is often made with mutton, but chicken, beef, pork, and other meats are often used.  Lots of different vegetables may be present, not limited to cabbage, corn, beans, tomatoes, or okra.  It sounds similar to the Brunswick Stew of Georgia or the hash that is served in some of the South Carolina barbecue joints.

If you're interested in the race, see more information at http://www.bourbonchase.com/

I'll post some observations after the race in October.  Look for us in the results.  Our team name is Asphalt Assault.

Triathlon?

I competed in my first triathlon last weekend in Wood River.  This was a 500 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 4 mile run.  The swim was held in a pool.  Competitors completed 9 lengths of the pool in a serpentine fashion.  The bonus:  less than 5 foot deep at any time during the swim.  Also, competitors were started every 15 seconds so the swim was relatively uncrowded.

As of the 1st of the year, I could only swim 10 yards.  A week before the triathlon, I was able to swim 450 yards without stopping.  Granted, this was the backstroke, but it was still swimming.

I'm still learning to swim the crawl.  I bought a video and book from an author named Terry Laughlin.  He specializes in teaching people how to swim long distances with a minimum of effort.  The lessons have been good, but I am still having trouble getting the breathing right.

However, the basic premises of his methods work just fine for the backstroke as well.  So, this winter, I will be working a lot more on the crawl.

I did finish the triathlon.

Since I started 7 minutes after the clock started, I received a time of 1:19:16.  This put me in the top 100 out of 397 finishers.  I achieved my goal of finishing a triathlon before I turned 50.

Good things about the triathlon:

• Good snacks
• Early start
• Lots of supporters

Not so good:

• Biking in wet shorts
• Running in wet shorts
• Running after biking.  I much prefer biking after running in the triathlons.

So I guess it's time to really ramp up the swimming so I can do an open-water triathlon next year.

Edwardsville Criterium

Last weekend I made my return to criterium racing.  My last race was in 1991. 

The Edwardsville Rotary Club has done an excellent job in turning this into a premier event.  The course is a flat, but technical course going through downtown Edwardsville.  The 0.7 mile course featured 7 turns, meaning that you were never going in a straight line for very long.

A fast course with a lot of tight corners.

These races are short and fast.  Races are run for a set time, plus 5 laps.  There were several races throughout the day starting at 10:00 am for the Junior’s and Women’s 4-5.  There were also races for Masters, Women Open, Men 3, Men 4, Men 5, and Men 5 40+.  Since it had been many years since I had raced, I opted for the Men’s 5 40+.

I borrowed a Team Godzilla/Metro Tri Club jersey from my friend Doug.  Our club was the sponsor of our race, so I wanted to make a reasonable showing.  I got off to a good start for the first few laps.

Here I am leading the pack around the first lap of the criterium.  Unfortunately, this was short-lived.

Unfortunately, my high speeds were only maintained for about 5 of the 14 laps.  I couldn’t hold the pace at the front (23-25 mph) and ended up dropping back.  I think I ended up in around 15^th of 23 riders (although the scoring was messed up and I'm not really sure what place I was in).  However, I met my goal of a good showing and not crashing.  There was one crash almost directly in front of me where one rider did not have the best line coming through the tightest corner.  He slid his rear wheel and hit the pavement.  Fortunately, I was in a position not to run over him.

If you get a chance, come out and watch this next year or watch another where you live.  The criterium is a fast, fun race to watch.

Bottom Bracket Upgrade

Some of you non-bike mechanics may be thinking “Do I even have a bottom bracket?”, “Do I want someone to see my bottom bracket?”, or “Internal may be a better idea.  This is just one of those things that should stay private.”

First of all, any of you that have a bike also have a bottom bracket.  If you have a tandem, you have two! 

What is the bottom bracket?  It’s the spindle and bearings that allow your crank and chainrings to go round and round.  The bottom bracket is housed at the “bottom” of the bike.  Typically, it is 68mm wide with 1.37x24 tpi threading.  Unlike the pedals where the left side is threaded left-handed, on the bottom bracket the right-side is left-hand thread.

Traditional bottom brackets are 4-sided where the crankset is pressed on to the spindle.  Bolts that thread into the spindle press the crankset on to the spindle.  This was fairly reliable, although larger riders sometimes “wallowed out” the crank arm, deforming the softer aluminum against the harder steel.  However, this bottom bracket was heavier and sometimes had too much flex.

An improvement came with the “splined” bottom bracket.  There are three common standards: ISIS, Octalink, and Powerdrive.   ISIS is supported by a few independent companies, where Octalink and Powerdrive are supported by Shimano and FSA respectively. 

The splined bottom bracket featured a larger diameter, hollow spindle, making it lighter and stiffer.  The splined attachment to the crankset was more secure.  This was a definite improvement to the square taper BB.

The latest innovation is the external bottom bracket.  It is called an “external” bottom bracket because the bearing cups are outside the frame.  This spaces the bearing further apart and allows for a larger diameter spindle.  This results in less flex and better power transmission.  As a bonus, it is also lighter.

Note the location of the bearings on this bottom bracket with the bearing location on the previous picture.

The external bottom bracket does not have a spindle.  It is used with a new type of crankset where the spindle is part of the drive-side crank.  The non-drive side crank arm is splined and attached after the spindle is passed through the bottom bracket.

Bolts are used to make a secure clamp to the spindle.

This is a worthwhile upgrade if you have an older bike with otherwise good parts.  Note that the bottom bracket threading is 1.37x24tpi (English) and the width is 68mm.  If you have any other threading or dimensions, you’re probably out of luck.  You may be able to find a new crankset/BB combo for around $150, but expect to pay more.  Or you can keep an eye out for people who have done upgrades and have these for spare parts.

Catching Up on the Blog, Part 2

In the midst of traveling and seeking out beer and barbecue, I have managed to do a few events this summer. 

Two days after getting back from Europe, I thought it was a good idea to throw in another biathlon.  And on top of that, I got my brother to participate. 

The Hillsboro 4^th of July Biathlon consists of a 5-mile run and a 19 mile bike leg.  (We should really adopt the metric system and go with 5k runs on these things.)  The weather was better than expected, overcast and cool, at least for southwestern Illinois in July. 

I slogged along in the run at my usual 9:00 pace, until the fourth mile, when I shifted gears and went to my 10:00 pace.  I finally got on the bike and started catching and passing people.  None of these people were my brother, whom I had generously granted a seven and a half minute head start.  I was able to make up about four minutes, but sometime in the near future, I need to determine a training plan that will get me into the 8:00 to 8:15 range for a five mile run.

Five days later found me at the starting line of the famous Tour de Donut in Staunton, Illinois.  This is a 32 mile race that awards a five MINUTE time bonus for every donut you can eat during the ride.  There are donut stops near mile 10 and 20.

This year had a record number of participants, somewhere over 1500.  I managed to get to the front of the pack at the start. 

The gun went off and everyone took off like a bat out of hell.  There was a lead group of some very fast riders.  I tried to catch these guys but never managed to get closer than about 20 yards off the back of the group.  However, there was another group that formed behind and I stayed with this group for the first 20 miles.

This was my strategy, ride fast, skip the first donut stop, and eat all of the donuts at the second stop.  The last time I did this race in 2009, I had managed nine donuts.  This year I was going for an even dozen.

The problem was that I felt nauseous after four.  So I jumped back on the bike and headed for the finish. 

I ended up finishing 103^rd out of ~1400 finishers.  With donut adjustments, I jumped up to 82^nd.  Not a bad day for a bike ride and a snack.

Finally, last weekend I headed over to Lebanon and the Great McKendree Bike Chase.  This was a low-key 18 mile race consisting of 6 laps around a 3-mile loop.  The loop was interesting as each lap had a 180 degree hairpin turn in a cul de sac, half a lap around the college running track, and a 20 yard ride up a narrow pedestrian ramp in the stadium. 

Only about 40 riders showed up for the race (90 degrees at the 8:00 am start time).  I decided to go out and stay with the lead group which had dwindled to about 10 by the middle of the first lap and to 7 by the end of the first lap.  Me and six twenty-something Gen Xer’s, all on carbon fiber bikes.  (Note to wife:  An upgrade is definitely in the works.)  I managed to stay with the young guys for about half of the race before dropping off and soloing in.  Somewhere in there someone else passed me, but by then I was hot and tired and didn’t care.  Eighth place was good enough for me.

Leading the Youngsters around the Race Course

On a bright note, our friend Kate finished first in the Women’s group.  This was her first major effort out on clipless pedals and she did not fall over with her feet in the pedals.  Good job, Kate!

Next up for me are the Edwardsville Rotary Criterium and the Wood River Triathlon.  I haven’t raced a crit since 1991 and I have never done a triathlon.  Swimming is not my strong suit, but the swim is in a pool with a maximum depth of 5 feet.  I might ended up walking the entire swim.

A report on these later.

Catching Up on the Blog, Part 1

Well, I have been neglecting the blog updates.  I’ve been doing a little traveling this summer and one of the places that I have enjoyed visiting is the Netherlands. 

Obligatory Windmill Picture

The Netherlands get a 4-star rating out of five.  There are bicycles everywhere.  There are bicycle roads and bicycle lanes everywhere.  My hotel had bicycles to rent or borrow. 

I stayed in a non-descript suburb of The Hague called Nootdorp, very near the famous Dutch town of Delft.  Delft is very famous for their blue and white pottery.

The country was very clean and also had excellent beer.  At dinner one night, I had a wheat beer called Wiehanstephan from Germany.  This is the world’s oldest active brewery, having started under the direction of Benedictine monks in the year 1040.

This was an excellent wheat beer, so I had a couple.

971 years of wheat beer goodness

The only down side to The Netherlands is their complete and utter lack of anything resembling barbecue.  Even the cheeseburgers are sort of an odd color.  No one had ever heard of pulled pork. 

So, a one star deduction for Holland.  I am looking forward to a return visit this fall.