Beyond My Bicycle Budget

Does Johnnie Walker Black taste better than Red? In the past when I was a scotch drinker I also worked in Canada. Canadian whiskey prices were much lower above the border than in California where I lived. So I became fond of Walker that was priced out of my California budget. Ask any bartender or cocktail waitress if the bar customer can tell the difference between "well whiskey"  and expensive label drinks after a couple of shots. I would suspect the answer would be no.

Fuji Pro and Schwinn Paramount 1938

I have been riding bicycles for more than a few years. I don't drink scotch any more but I have two sailing friends that drink scotch. One buys his at Costco the other imports his from Scotland both taste the same too me. Back to the bicycle thing, I prefer my wheels to have matching rims, tires and hubs. My fixed gear rear wheels collection includes one clincher, two sew-ups (tubular). I can make an almost pair of tubular but not so with the clincher. I need to purchase a matching pair. Prices vary from dam cheap to several thousand.

Painting Bob Jackson 3 years ago

My last matching pair were Zipp with a carbon disk rear and Zipp rim with Phil Wood hub and bladed stainless spokes. The most expensive Zipps out there now are close to $4,000.00. I am still stuck in 1950s price range.

Schwinn Paramount

My knowledge of current prices comes from reading Bicycle Blogs and Internet searches. My budget is beyond purchasing bicycle magazines to look at and there is no reason if I can't afford to purchase the mag I sure as hell can't afford the shiny stuff inside.

This clip is from YouTube and is my son Dylan recently jumping stairs at UCI. The reference to El Toro is the stairs at El Toro High School which is located in Lake Forest. Before Lake Forest became a city the area was called El Toro. The Main street is El Toro Road, El Toro Library and Post Office then they got fancy and changed the name. There isn't any natural forest there or any real lakes. The El Toro Stairs add rails and attracted zillion of skateboarders then later twenty inch bikes. My daughter Frances went to ETHS but you will not find that in her bio. The area around the campus is somewhat hilly and when the school was built they did't grade it level so the parking lot between the Gym and office building has a small slope on it. Same with the stairs from the lockers down to the office. Many years past I was skateboarding with Frances and she fell there and banged her head. Neither of us wore helmets, probably no skater did then. Anyway Frances has not been right since then. (Father Humor).
N. Y. Bike Snob makes a living bashing Freds and I enjoy reading it. This morning I was reading a local blog where the author described the pleasure of shelling out almost 2k to buy a Brompton so he could use public transit and save the operating cost of his fossil fuel 4 wheeler. A fold-up can be purchased at Big 5 Sporting for $199.99. If one has the money to buy a Brompton please don't think I am whining it is good for the manufacturer to sell product. My neighbor suggested I get a folding bike and suggested Big 5. I have ridden the trains here in Los Angeles with my bike and there is ample room but I don't do rush hour so a fold-up doesn't fit in.

My current bicycle collection stands at seven. Included is one Specialized S-Works Cross Country that retailed for around five thousand USA dollars. My out the door price after discounting was $3,500. Now that was several years ago but the current S-Works CC is $11,500.00 plus sale tax in Los Angeles, California adding $1035.00. The S-Works shown in the link in a 29 inch whereas mine is only 26 inch.

These price increases don't make too much sense but I am not a MAMIL or a saddle based weekend jolly.  All these clever descriptions (middle age man in lycra) can be confusing as I first thought it was another reference to something similar to Rapha or Assos. After receiving a nice compliment yesterday about my tanned legs I coined a new acronym "OFSSL" (old fart still shaves legs).

Currently I am trying to get some Thorstein Veblen books and since he existed before e-books I might just have to ride up to my local library (it is all up hill) and get an old fashioned style book with pages. Velben Goods and the Theory of the Leisure Class. Being of a discursive nature Velben got me thinking about reading Vance Packard books and his bashing.

This is not me riding.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROCKS OUT AT IMS June 25, 2010

This watering method is unusual but works. Fred Facchini built the water trailer several years ago when we were running the track at Winchester. Last night we were discussing the entrepreneur enterprise of painting the golf ball size rocks that pop up from the track surface red and selling them as souvenirs similar to the pet rock craze of years past.

The 91 freeway through the Santa Ana Canyon has been a broken bottleneck for many years. There is some widening going on east of where the toll road dumps into it and if you leave early enough you can get through it without too many delays. 

Last night on the return trip back at the junction with the 15 night construction closed the trap down to one lane around Main Street making the journey through Corona a sea of red tail lights.

I got awarded a plaque for being Division 3 Track Champion for 2009. I can sit that on the shelf next to my trophy for being the track champion at Industry last year.

Billy Hamill brought two junior bikes out and had two First Division riders put on a demonstration. Not sure what the displacement is but the bike look very slick.

I am sure we will hear more about Billy Hamill Speedway Academy. Check out the video Andy made of Billy at IMS the other night by clicking on the underlined link.

There was a Last of the Mohican's race in which Buck Blair hit the wall in the first bend rather hard. I didn't see the actual crash but I was standing right by the wall where Buck was laying. He didn't look well and his lovely wife Venus was in the grandstand next to the corner but couldn't see Buck laying there as the wall was blocking her view. Well, after Bucky finished his evening nap in the shade of the crash wall he got up and proceeded to win the contest.

The reason I didn't see Buck crash is: I was fascinated by Wonder Woman Brandi McElroy wrenching on their sidecar inside the track gate and was going to get my camera when Buck hit the wall.

Fast Eddie Castro always gives his best and that was good enough to win the Scratch Main. It was his kinda of track. There were lots of crashed last night which makes the frame straightening a growth industry and I am sure Dale Facchini, Tyson Talkington, and Buck Blair are sore this morning. Jimmy Fishback also sent his bike flying but he is a lot tougher that his bike.

There was both Handicap and Scratch Mains plus the crazy sidecars. I am not sure where it is safe to watch the sidecars. During an earlier heat a golf ball size rock flew over the crash wall and hit the rider standing next to we as we were watching. So for the sidecar main I went to the center of the track as the flying rocks were out ward bound but sidecars don't always stay on the track and for some unknown reason they keep taking shortcuts through the middle of the track trying to get back in front.

Tim McGrath did a repeat of Wednesday's second division win at Industry and I had him stand next to the posted program clock to prove that we really can stay up that late. Best Bud T-Rod insisted that I shouldn't be out of my nursing home that late and I am probably AWOL.

No one has ever successfully explained to me why sidecars race in the opposite direction and for the record, no one have ever successfully explained the crazy phenomenon to me.

The handicap main had several restarts, several crashes, and was a battle between Fast Eddy and Tyson Burmeister with Tyson taking the checkered flag.

When there is a restart in handicap races the riders are restarted according to their position at the finish of the last lap. Tyson was flying with every restart with Fast Eddie in hot pursuit.

Industry Speedway June 16, 2009

This Wednesday was the third night of racing at the Grand this season and the third time I tried leaving early to beat the afternoon traffic. I guess everybody else had the same idea and as soon as I got to the 5 freeway it halted. Well the freeway didn't actually halt but traveling on it did. Trying surface streets would only make sense if you were riding a bicycle and I wasn't on one plus I was towing a trailer with my lay-down on it. Taking the bike off the trailer and riding it in the car pool lane wouldn't get me very far with the small fuel tank and I don't think laying it down to avoid a stopped car would work either.

I

The bad traffic Wednesday afternoon wasn't a local mishap but seemed to be everywhere. The Butterfly Effect whereas small items can change the outcome at a great distance could be the problem but I like to think of it as the Snail Effect where one fender bender at Green River in the Santa Ana canyon backs up northbound  travel on the other side of the mountain.

Well, when I got to the track the place was still quite empty as the majority of riders were still on their way. The races are held in The Grand Arena which is in the Industry Hills Expo Center which is located in the City of Industry, California, a large commercial suburb in Los Angeles County. The city has very few residents and the last census listed only 777 living there but over 80,000 work there in the over 2,000 businesses.

Every week the track surface is new and different. The Expo Center has it own staff to prepare the surface and do not lack in the equipment department as there are several other horse arenas outdoors that surround the large stables there. They also have plenty of water and use it before the races start which makes the early races more of a mud slip and slide testing the riders in each corners. The program usually has a half-dozen races with the lower division riders racing before the riders introduction and the national anthem.

The program is printed in advance based on the previous week's sign up sheet and call ins and was set to have two races each in Division 2 and 3. But of course that was scrapped and seven riders were placed in a single race in each division putting two riders back on the ten yard line at the start. In my first race I was set on the ten yard line which has an advantage and a disadvantage. In the back I can watch everybody fall down in the slick muddy corner but I get coated by the mud flying off there tires but I have to still get around those who have managed to stay up.

I am not sure of the reasoning for putting be back. I often dwell on that, am I faster than the rest or do they just want be out of the way. The water seemed to be doing a good job of keeping the dust down and several riders too. After several races and the rider's parade was over the first division riders hit the slick track and I am there to testify that Flying Mike Faria was two wheeling in the snot in the corners. Then the ground crew came out worked on the track.

My second race was before the slime was removed and I was placed at the tapes instead of the rear. To every one's surprise I got the hole shot and led the race until the last foot where Kevin Johnson passed be at the finish. Someone said I had a half a lap lead at one time but I blew it. Each time I went into the turn between bends three and four I would go a little wider trying to stay up and kept losing ground to Kevin behind me.

In the main Johnson and I were placed back on the ten to play catch up and in my last two races it was no longer slick and the track was fast. Both Buck Blair and Charlie Venegas were dueling through out the night with Charlie getting the first turn in the main ahead of everyone else and staying there.

In reviewing the pictures on this blog most are easy to understand. The picture of Jeff and Hicks shows a new product Jeff is currently developing that is to be used as a personal flotation device for those riders that who can not swim.