I really really want to do one of these.. Team Nrrd?

Agreed. What a great event! Really well organized. The course was better than the one in June, lots of cool single track and a few good climbs. I did 5 laps, 2 of them at night...I had to run my light at low power so it would go the distance-kind of scary screaming downhill with a crappy light, disorented from oxegen debt and sleep deprivation. Really fun all the same. My last night lap was right before dawn, so the sun was just rising as I finished. Pretty cool.

I can't believe the guys doing it solo-unreal. I was pretty worn out doing 1/4 of the laps some of those guys do, and I got to eat and rest for 4 hours after each one.

How long was each lap (time/distance)?

The lap was around 16 km. I did my day lap in 1:00:30....my night laps were 2 minutes slower. The fastest day lap was in the low 40's! night lap was 52 minutes and change. 10 minutes off the fast guys at night. Not bad for an out of shape mechanic with a fondness for beer.

Nicely done! I hope so see pics of the mayhem soon. :)

What would you guys say was the ratio of MTB to Cross at that event? Would you choose the same set up for next time?

I only saw a handful of crossers. The Surly guy was uber-dedicated. I rode the last 1/3 of my 1st night lap with a guy on a Specialized cross bike. He was smokin it and I have to admit I spent more time behind him than in front. I might bring a cross bike to complement my Mtn bike next time but unless you are really competent on a cross bike (meaning dismounting and remounting as well as handling) I would stick with Mtn...at least on this weekends course.

I saw maybe 3 cross bikes with a number tag on them the whole weekend. In hindsight, I have to say the MTB was the way to go. I *could* have riden the course with my 'cross, but I would have been way slower.

Oh yeah...the line of the weekend courtesy of a couple of guys argueing about a poor pass and bad etiquette.
"Why don't you relax a little and let me know when you needed to pass?"
"Sure loser...if you can't race right why didn't you just stay at home?"
" Whatever guy...its not a road race eh...nice tude!"
I howled at that as did a bunch of toher people standing nearby. The general attitude of folks at this event was great.

jeez.. damn roidrage racer types. :P

My quote of the weekend was road-rage related. Saturday night on Bloor street, one driver yells out the window at another (male) driver: "F**K YOUR PU$$Y!" I can't stop saying it.

EDIT: stupid auto-censor.

I saw that dude on the second big climb. He made it about 2/3 of the way up a climb people with 22X32 low gearing were walking up. This guy was turning the crank like a pipe wrench, just pure low RPM torque-like he just refused to let gravity stop him. It was awesome.

Ha ha....classic! I must say though, the general attitude at these races is very courteous. Many people I passed would actually cheer me on-like "give it hell man" or something. Refreshing. A couple of guys were stupid, but the vast majority were really friendly.

My housemate had his grey miele 12 speed stolen on saturday evening down by queen street. Its ~56cm, shimano 600 group, sakae bar/stem/seatpost/cranks, columbus tubing, red vittoria tubs, red bottle cage, clips and straps. Its from the 80's but its mint condition and looks pretty hot. If anyone sees someone on one thius bike or any bike slightly similar looking bike (ie. has drop bars and wheels) throw a U-lock at their head because Ivo is just miserable that his baby is gone.

The sad thing is I kept telling him and telling him to buy a better lock but he is just so Polish (he emigrated here when he was 15) and penny scrimping that he couldn't stand paying alot for a lock :rolleyes: at least he has a backup bike


edit: My mommy bought me a bell sweep r helmet on saturday and its sweet
http://www.bellhelmets.com/images/products/510.jpg

an addition to our past sushi talk: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...=1057147809818

I ate there on Friday night. Great place. Looking forward to going back again. Although I'm FAR from being a sushi expert. I actually only had a couple pieces of tuna sashimi (+ bbq squid + veggie tempura + rice + miso soup + salad + red bean ice cream).

shiznaz: I really love those helmets. I've been debating picking one up too. As I told you Saturday night, I've had my current one for about 5 years and it's in pretty rough shape (mostly aesthetically). Mike is my witness to how nasty it is since he saw what my Rabobank cap looked like after a day. :P Funny enough I was eyeing the white one... guess I'll have to choose differently now. ;)

Find one that is less "aero", they are safer because they won't have as many snag points on the rear. Those ugly perfectly round helmets from wonder years are better than the super aero, pointy thing helmets we have now.

Man you guys make me want to race mtbs/crosses.

ftw

Did you know you get more aero benefit from an aero helmet than you do from a full aero wheelset ($200 vs. $2000)? Not that I think I really need to factor in such things, but just though I'd throw in some food for thought. :)

edit: Keith: what happened to that True North demo thing? :)

I have the matte black Bell Sweep with the detachable visor. Love the anime-like vents on the back!

Very nice nice!

:)

Whatever, those things totally overheat my head and frankly look ********. Maybe you should get a helmet before you go badmouthing mine! Anything is better than just your shapely skull. I've been using my helmet for 3 years but the sizing mechanism and plastic bits are held together with duct tape and the entire strap system is disconnecting from the helmet. That and I've been throwing it in my bag with my locks, sitting on it, and dropping it excessively. The foam is in pretty bad shape.

The point bits on the helmet seem more like crumple zone style F1 nose cones than anything. Any of the snag points would just break off if you really went down.

I got the white because it was the only colour they had in medium at curbside. Feel free to rip off my style as I wanted the black/Titanium coloured one anyways

In that case:

http://www.cyclesdeoro.com/images/In...y/PICT3020.JPG

ematei is a great place. easily the best of the queen street crap, not to mention that it also predates all of the aforementioned crap. the sushi and set lunch/dinners are ok but try ordering their "tapas" style dishes exclusively with beer next time. don't order the large bottles. it's cheaper to get singles. oh snap.. i read the article and now it sounds like i'm rehasing it. hahahaa.
their ramen is pretty good too ($6.50) ....it's an izakaya (traditional japanese pub) but it could do with some izakaya pricing... read: could be cheaper!!

K I got told.

Note: Spectrum powder coaters are too good to answer they're ph0ne.

Yeah, I'm actually regretting not getting the ramen. I was considering it but decided I wanted tempura (and I'm not a shrimp eater, hence the veggie). Oh well, just an excuse to go back! And yeah, I was thinking it would be a cool place to go and just eat at the bar with the businessmen sometime.

edit: is eating out cheap in Japan?

aww man, shrimp tastes goood... i can't generalize for all of japan but you definitely don't have to bust the bank to eat out there. tokyo and osaka, for example, are unfairly labelled as hyper expensive cities but there are cheap places abound. then you can get really regional and tasty and that doesn't mean expensive.
izakayas are supposed to be cheap places where you can get a nice variety of food along with your beer..and not the other way around which seems to be prevalent here. you can get the higher end stuff but that's kinda contradictory and generally at the cost of a rowdier atmosphere..which is what you want! ematei has great food but lacks atmosphere and ironically, you don't get much of the younger japanese crowd there. they're smart enough to know that korea town is the better bargain!!
the most authentic izazkaya i've seen outside of japan is in nyc of all places. it's called kennka (it means fight) and it's in st.mark's place in the east village. cheap food from an authentic menu, and pints of super dry for $2.50!! complete with rightwing proganda music blaring over the PA and make-your-own cotton candy.

sounds awesome, I NEED to go up an do the next 24hr.

The Angry Solutions (Angry Johnny's and Cycle Slutions) team did well 9th place in their catagory.
Seven people I think, five guys and two ladies.

Andrew Meamura aka Maki or here on bikeforums Veteran Youth had the 4th fastest night lap out of everybody and the 9th fastest day lap. And Ted, who i think cavernmech only knows also got a top ten lap time.

I haven't heard much from the others on how the race went since most of them are catching up on sleep.

Hi everyone, I'm going to leave the track day (for sept 16) open until this weekend and then I'm going to get into the nitty gritty of figuring out cars, getting track time etc. So if you think/know/want too come please try and figure it out before the end of the weekend and add your name to the list, which I've put at the bottom of this post. Please note that you'll need to have track 1 in order to come on this trip, unless I can figure out something with the velodrom but I wouldn't count on that in the least.

Alright updated track listing for Sat Sept 16th
So far:
1: Offhoff
2: Somnambulant
3: Operator
4: Ill Mitch
5: Cavern
6: Shiznaz
7: Eyefloater