Totally “Chuffed” to Bits!

There I sat at work the other day, bored beyond comprehension, watching the clock on my computer tick down the minutes until quittin’ time when I decided to check out CrazyGuyonaBike. I haven’t been there for some time, so the thought of lurking around there for the rest of the afternoon seemed to have given me a jolt of enthusiasm and anticipation. You see, CrazyGuy is a site where people from around the world journal about their various cycling expeditions. Some of the accounts are downright well written, humorous and fascinating — and some, not so much. Well, I decided to click on the “featured journal” to see what’s up. What I came upon was one of those stories that you just can’t stop reading. Replete with colorful text and pictures, the account of this couple’s month long tour through the South of France and interior of Switzerland seemed to take me away from the boredom of cubical-hell, and deliver me right there along with them.



I wanna Move here!



Most accounts are great chronological entries that feature the details of the moment-by-moment happenings of a day on the bike. These accounts can be somewhat interesting at times, but most often they dribble towards the boring, laborious details that don’t really tell a story. This account, The Sound of Cycling written by Cathryn Ramsden, was different. Different in a “feelings” kinda way. Not that I’m a sappy, whimpy cyclist, but I really like the way Cathryn told her story. She did a great job of balancing her feelings about their trip with the not so entertaining details. She takes you on an emotional journey of planning and anticipation followed by, the anxious possibility of being totally “gutted” due to a serious accident several months prior to leaving. All in all, it is just a great read. So I’ll quit writing about it and just let you read it. You can find it here.

One of favorite guestbook entries: “Thanks again - you gave me the perfect excuse to fritter away an afternoon's work...” My sentiments exactly!



Here are somemore really great reads

Trans Am Blues
A great read about a young guy trying to deal with life and his dream of a Trans America Bike Tour.

Moving Forward in Souther France
A nice story about a couple's month long tour through the South of France.

Mad Max goes to burning man!
This is a really cool story by a guy who tries to make it to Burning Man. Ohio to Nevada. Great read!

Are your Balls Ceramic?

What I really mean is: are your ball bearings ceramic or steel? I read an article about these new wonders of modern cycling and decided to do some investigating of my own. What I read did, indeed, spur on a little more curiosity. Would these magic balls make me ride faster? Would their decrease in weight help me get up a hill with less effort? And, was the cost justified? So after much net surfing and reading, I decided to purchase some individual balls and replace the Shimano steel balls with these new ceramics. As with most things when purchasing cycling replacement parts, there never seems to be an even number of anything that can be bought as a replacement. I mean, the rear hub has 18 little balls, 1/4" in diameter and the front hub has 22 balls 3/16” in diameter. It seems that everyone sells these little ceramic jewels in packs of 10 or 25. So, on the up side you get more balls for your buck, but what’s a guy to do with 2-3 extra ceramic balls, eh?



I guess I was on more of quest to see how light I could get my new wheels with your average stock parts than anything else. After installing the ceramics in the rear hub, the weight difference came out to around 60 grams lighter. The wheel set together came in at a respectable shade less than 1700 grams. So, now I’m down to 1640 grams for the set! Wow, that should equate into some serious kick-ass climbing advantage! Now I’m off to the front wheel. I figure I could gain at least another 60 grams by replacing the 22 steel balls with ceramic. All this for another 50 bucks or so. Not bad for a buck a gram.

As for performance and personal satisfaction by going to ceramic balls, the jury is still out. I did get a really good deal on the Shimano hubs and built a pair of new wheels for around 200 bucks, but the advantage of ceramic hasn’t really hit me yet—and probably won’t either. Geez, I think I could put a little less water in my bottles, take an extra piss, or leave my camera at home and get the same advantage. But, like I said, the jury is still out on going ceramic. Personally, most of my balls will be like Superman and remain balls of steel!

Some interesting links on Ceramic Balls:

Ceramic Supplier VXB

More Ceramic Ball Info

Yet one more link for fun. Check it out!


You Tube Video on Ball Bearings

30 Years and 11 Months!

Craig at the entrance to Brown County State Park Lodge

Yesterday was one of those amazing days that you experience in life. It has been 30 years and 11 months since I saw or heard from my best man at my wedding. I’ve been actively looking for Craig Hamilton for what has to be 10 years now. I’ve searched high and low and used some of the best free sources available to find him. Well, yesterday, 22 Apr 2008 I finally did. I got bored at work and decided to try one of those “find anyone, anywhere sites.” Just on a whim, I typed his name into the little search box. As always, there were a gazillion Craig Hamilton’s located throughout these United States. I perused the list and stopped to study one entry that had an address listed in Indianapolis for a Craig Hamilton. Well, I thought, “why not give this a try.” I clicked on the name and sure enough, it was Craig Hamilton with the first address listed as Indianapolis, Indiana and the last address as Craig Hamilton, Los Angeles, California. So, I went to the magic that is Google and typed his whole name in plus Los Angeles. A few hits came up with Craig Hamilton, photographer and Craig Hamilton, this and that. I pursued the photographer link and found a picture of a guy holding a camera while shooting photos of race cars. I stared at the picture and thought, “Man, that does look a lot like him.” But that was all I had, a picture. I looked even closer and noticed the guy in the photo sported a goatee. That’s what gave it away! I was sure that was him. I sent an email to the guy who owned the site and asked him to pass along a message to the dude in the picture I thought was Craig. I gave him specific details that I knew only Craig would know so that Craig wouldn’t think I was some kinda stalker or something. It didn’t take long. I got an email last night from the guy who I hadn’t seen nor heard from in over 30 years! So, let the reunion bullshitting begin…


Craig headin' south to Brown County

Cycling content. Way back when, Craig and I rode our bicycles from my house in northern Indianapolis to Brown County State Park in the middle southern Indiana. I think it was something along the lines of 66 miles or so. I managed to salvage a few pictures from that day and they are posted here on this Blog entry. I remember that day well. It started out as most rides do. Full of enthusiasm combined with a nice cool, and windless morning. As the day went on, however, the temperatures of the roads climbed, the wind picked up, and we started getting hungry.


A Younger and Much Thinner Mozam!

Back in those days, the best bike you could get on our pay, which was basically nodda, was a Schwinn Varsity. We rode down to the park, stayed the night in pretty crappy tent, and rode back the next day. And so, Mozam’s cycle-touring career began! As a side note, cycling was basically all the transportation we had. No new cars, crotch rockets, computers, or cell phones. Just a bike. I remember riding that Varsity everywhere; to friend’s houses; to school on occasion; and just generally farting around. Who knows, with gas prices as they are, maybe those days will return.


Our "deluxe" Accomdations!


Goofin at Purdue, Fall of 1973


The Last Time I saw Him for Many Years

A Six Day’er for Vegas?

I recently read an article about U.S. Cycling Hall of Fame member Jack Simes, who wants to bring six-day bicycle racing to Vegas. So, what the hell is six day racing anyway? Well, this type of bicycle racing is done on a Velodrome using fixed gear bikes and was popular in the middle 1900’s, especially in Europe. As a matter of fact, 6-day racing is still very popular in Europe. You can read the history here. The whole thing sounds right up Vegas’ alley. Why? Well, when you read the history article you will know. Anyway, even throughout the event’s history the spectacle seems to be based more on entertainment than cycling so I guess that’s a cogent event for Vegas. I’m not sure it will compete with the good ‘ole cow-pokes or NASCAR fanatics, but if you mix in gambling and some serious entertainment you just might have a winner. But then again, who knows. This town is all about the roll-of-the-dice anyway. You could probably put bears on tricycles, race them up and down the strip while at the same time, hand out free drinks and 10 to 1 odds on the winner and still make money around here. So, I say, why the hell not. I know I’d be in as a spectator for a few races.

More Links on Six-day Racing

Bobke Strut dot Com

Six Day Racing dot com

British Cycling News

Cool Book on Six Day Racing