On Any Sunday (in portland)

I got an email last monday from a friend about a Cargo Bike Criterium at the Mississippi Street Fair. When I had the time to look into the race, registration was full. I emailed a photo of Thomas to the promoter and was promised race details on Wednesday.

In my head I imagined a traditional Crit with Gavin as my co-pilot. The details of the race indicated an abreviated course from the actual race route later in the evening. Then the part about no kids under 18 and that each lap racers' had to pick up "cargo" from a recycled home improvement store on the course. Thomas would not work, I decided. I would need to put the boat back on the Bullitt bike.

To stir the pot, I then found this promo post with racer bio's. No pressure! I decided the boat would not work as it weighs 58 lbs. I needed a new boat.

I called my dad and persuaded him and his crew of two grandsons to take a day off a bathroom remodel and build me a new boat. They worked off the original and were done with construction around dinner time on Friday. At which point the finish work was left to me. I sanded, primer'd and painted on Friday night and Saturday morning. Then bought another shade and re-painted Saturday afternoon as the first coat of "red" came out orange. Sunday, race day, the paint was still tacky but definitely red.








The boat turned out great and only weighs 15 lbs! That's 10 less than Thomas and 40 less than the first boat.

The event, the Cirque du Cycling, is a fantastic neighborhood celebration including far more than just a criterium. There was a street parade, a family bike ride, freak bikes and generally freaky people. Imagine the Santa Cruz Crit as part of the solstice parade at the Garden Mall. Freaky for sure.

A made the banner for Thomas on Sunday morning for the parade while I finished the boat and G found his conductor hat. Then lost it. He then made sure Thomas was polished and parade worthy. We were off to circus right at nap time and to his credit, G was a trooper. He waved and blew his train horn during the parade and decided he would do the race instead of me.





For the race, we were staged in 5 rows of 3. I drew #13 meaning I would start at the back of the pack. It was difficult to tell who was fast and who was not. Much of the competition looked road-wise from being messengers by day and daredevils by night. I may have been the only one without a tattoo.





When the whistle blew I had a big job to fill gaps and move to the front of the group. The pack was more like a group of humping water buffalo than a smooth peloton. I nosed the boat through small gaps between riders and came out of the first U turn on the front to put my head down and drill the pace the 3 blocks to the cargo pick up pit. I was first in to grab a sink, throw it in the boat and race on.



On the 2nd lap a guy in a much larger gear, but on the same model bike ripped past me and I knew I could't match his pace. The Bullitt bike comes stock with a 39x20 gear on a 8-speed internally geared hub. A 39x20 is about a 50-inch gear meaning for every revolution of the pedals the bike goes 50-inches. With the internally geared hub you get variation based on that sized gear. Regardless, I took the 20 tooth cog off last year and put a 23 on giving me a lower 44-inch gear. This is better for climbing as it's less torque on my hip. The guy that blew by me, come to find out, took his standard issue 20 tooth cog off and put an 18 on. An 18 makes a 56-inch gear which ultimately means he can blow by me faster than I can pedal. Which is exactly what happened.



I knew then I wasn't going to win but 2nd was possible. The guy I was racing for 2nd with was styling a full aero kit and grinning ear to ear. He was fast. I couldn't simply ride away from him, but my bike was shorter and could corner tighter. It was also lighter and I could accelerate quicker. None of this mattered however, as for the last cargo pick up, I thought I could grab some dryer vent tubing on a fly-by and put an unclose-able gap on him.



It didn't work and I almost capsized the boat. Ultimately losing more time than had I stopped for less heroic pick up. At this point the 4th place guy was nearly half a lap behind so I rode a less painful pace for the final lap to complete the race in 3rd. Yet in my haste to collect cargo I forgot one of the mandatory pick up items; a automatic door closer hinge. So in the end, I may have been DQ'd. I will never know for sure as official results have never materialized and the legend of the race will surely outlast any factual results.

Gavin was excited to get back in the boat and ride around some more after our race. Though when it was finally time to leave, before the category 3 race, he was not on board. For the first mile or two home, all he wanted was to go back to the race. Then he fell fast asleep for my tired ride home.




photos courtesy of ANewms, bikeportland.org, and sam_churchill.