The Road to BGI

The name's Toby, and I'm one of the managers of Bicycle Garage Indy.  I'm here to talk about road biking, but I'm interested in lots of other things as well.  Ask me about bikes, books, baking, and my beautiful wife and daughter.  Get in touch anytime:

tholsman@bgindy.com
317-842-4140 x572
Bicycle Garage Indy

My longtime readers will no doubt recall that my favorite race of the year is the Bloomington Grand Prix.  It's a challenging, technical course with lots of spectators and emotional resonance.  This year it drew huge fields--65 guys in my race!  A lot of things make it special, but the biggest thing is that every bike racer in Indiana wants to win it.

I've been thinking about this race ever since a mechanical last year kept me from being in contention.  It's the one I dwell on when trying to finish the last interval in the garage in January.  However, I knew my fitness would be somewhat compromised by the Holsmans' week-long trip to Tennessee just before the race.  I really shouldn't be doing long, steady hill rides the week before a goal crit, but on the other hand, how often do I get to ride in Tennessee?  So I did the vacation-type epic rides, had a great time, went kayaking, had a Cuban cigar with my dad, played in the river with Kaia, etc, etc, great vacation but not necessarily the greatest race prep.

So I woke up on Saturday morning feeling not very ready.  But nil desperandum.  Headed down to Bloomington, picked up an espresso at Soma, met up with the whole family (who stopped to see me race on the way back from TN, which was AWESOME), went for the warmup ride, ran into Neibler, RJ, and Schroeder. . . all of a sudden I was feeling a lot more positive.

Off to the start line.  It was a fast start with a first-lap prime for the coveted Kilroy's gift card.  Naveen John from Sustainable Cycling went out hard and would continue to do so for the entire race.  65 riders + short course + nine primes = hard, fast racing.  I don't think anyone ever got more than 50 yards off the front.  I saw Neibler go down by the Sample Gates pretty early on.  He had also just had a bout of intestinal flu, so that was the end of the day for him.

My lethargy from the morning caught up with me about halfway in and I started to lose position, sliding from the front all the way to the back third of the field.  I finally remembered to take a gel, got my legs working again, and started working my way back up through the field.  The behavior and smoothness of the race was a pleasant surprise.   Usually this race has quite a few agressive/scary moments, but instead we just rode hard and fought for position without making each other unsafe.  Nice work, everyone.

(Aside:  check out Naveen in the white/green, bridging up to the small group going for the prime.  He really dominated the race and set his guys up to take the win.  Great riding.)

That is, until the last lap.  I had gotten up to about 15th with two laps to go, and then got caught behind a pulling-off leadout man.  That cost me a quick ten places, and 25th when they ring the bell is just about impossible to deal with.  I was still hoping to squeeze into the top 10 (along with everyone else from 11 to 25), and sure enough, the guy in front of me caught a pedal on the outside of the dreaded corner at 6th and Dunn.  No time to react, nowhere to go, I went straight into him, three other guys went into me, and thus we'll spend another year wondering what might have been. 

So what did we learn?  A crash at that spot at that point in the race is a near-certainty.  You just have to be at the front to have any shot at this thing.  Period.  So this winter's training will be all about being able to maintain that high effort to be in the prime position at the end.

Teammates:  I hear that RJ got taken out in the last turn.  Schroeder rode very well in the top 10 the entire race and wound up at about 7th.  I saw Ian in the last 5 laps and then we got separated; not sure where he wound up, but I think he managed to keep off the pavement.

I'll spare you the photos of my scabby knee, but here's one of the other victim:


That's right--the Cannondale CAAD9 is toast after a too-brief tour of duty.  Luckily I have another on the way, and so it shall rise, like Phoenix from the ashes.

Next up:  probably the Lawton Loop crit on August 1. 

Thanks for reading!

(Toby Holsman is the Operations Manager for Bicycle Garage Indy)

Well. loyal readers, not much to report these days, other than that we will be riding as usual this Friday.  Meet at the shop at 7.  Back by 9. 

A handful of other things:

Attended the annual Bike To Work Indianapolis celebration, which had a great turnout despite rain in the forecast.  Well done, Bicycle Indiana!

Bicycle Garage Indy got a visit from ProTour rider Dominique Rollin today as part of his trip to the Zipp factory.  Nice fellow!

Took the first broccoli out of the garden and planted the beans and tomatoes.  Peas should be ready any day now.

Visited the alma mater to play against this year's incarnation of the Carleton Ultimate Team and hoo boy, are they good (please don't laugh.  We take it really, really seriously). 

Took a few too many days off the bike and the numbers show it.  Time to rebuild fitness.  Next race will probably be McCormick's Creek, and after that it's time to target my favorite:  the Bloomington Grand Prix!

First thing:  the Friday ride from Bicycle Garage Indy North will depend on weather this week.  Please call the shop on Thursday and ask for Adam Haines if you're interested.

Race thing:  last week, at the Winona Road Race, I was shamefully dropped one hour into a two hour race.  This week I was hoping to find out that that was an aberration.

My spring race campaign came to a close this last weekend at an Indianapolis bike racing staple, the Eagle Creek Traditional Crit.  This is a favorite of mine.  In 2007, it was my first-ever cat 3 race, and last year, it was the first cat 3 race in which I felt like I might be able to be a major factor (despite the fact that my team missed the winning breakaway).  It has a short power climb with a tricky left turn at the bottom. 

As we lined up, it became evident that the field was quite small due to a competing race over at Brookside Park.  There were 4 or 5 guys each from the Sustainable Cycling and CFW teams, and solo riders from several other squads, including me.  I started to wonder if it would be wise to ride conservatively and let the larger teams duke it out, but then I decided:  whatever.  It's more fun to be aggressive.

So off we went, and I was right in the thick of things from the beginning.  Only a few riders were content to sit in; most of the field was involved in attacking and counterattacking during the first 20 minutes.  I had decided not to go with any attack that didn't include at least one rider from CFW and Sustainable, figuring that if one of those teams missed the break, they would be forced to chase it down.  This would turn out to be a mistake.

I got into a couple of mini-breaks that would shortly get chased down by an insufficiently sharp "bridge" attempt.  No worries, that's what happens during the first part of the race.  I decided to sit in for a bit and see if the field would start to wear down and let a move get a larger gap, which they did, almost immediately, right when I was out of position, right at the exact same time as last year.  Whoops.  Off went a dangerous break of three:  Isaiah from Sustainable, Bob Brooks from CFW, and Tim from Tortuga.  The field watched them go. 

After a few minutes, the Tortuga rider came drifting back, and I started to worry.  Then Bob came drifting back, and I knew this was a problem.  Isaiah had won Ceraland in similar circumstances a few weeks back, and I expected that CFW would immediately take up the pursuit.  However, they just didn't seem to be able to get a chase rotation going, and Sustainable was diligent about keeping the pace just high enough to discourage them.

The gap was up to about 20 seconds, so the next time we started up the climb, I started to gradually pull away, hoping to draw out a partner for a bridge attempt.  No dice.  Well, the Lord hates a coward, so I hit the gas and started a make-or-break attempt to get across the gap. 

I'll spare you the suspense--it didn't work.  Ten long minutes dangling off the front.  I got within about 100 yards of him at one point and just couldn't finish it off.  The pack reeled me in after I took one slow trip up the climb, and Sustainable had things under control the rest of the way. 

I sat in for the remainder of the race and got ready for the field sprint.  I've always thought myself a pretty good sprinter, but haven't been able to produce good results in large field finishes.  This was a small pack with a couple of decent sprinters, so I figured it'd be a good chance to test myself. 

Things stayed pretty calm until the last lap when CFW started to line it out.  I snuck into fourth wheel, right behind Bob, sitting pretty--and then I decided to attack from 700 yards out, just before the climb.  Why did I think that I would have the gas to stick a move like that after a killer effort in mid-race?  I think it was self-sabotage, setting myself up so that I'd have an excuse to fail.  One of those weird decisions that you make at a moment of fatigue and weakness.  Bob caught me 150 yards from the line, and I limped across, last in the field. 

But hey, a nice aggressive attacking safe race, and a heck of a lot better than the DNF I recorded the week before.

Sorry for the lack of cool pictures--I haven't been at the same races as the good photographers lately.  I'll see if I can recruit the wife to snap some shots in between child care duties.

Thanks for reading about my little adventures!

First of all:  the Friday ride is ON for 4/30.  There's a chance of some rain, but we'll be rolling unless there's lightning or downpour.  Leave the shop at 7 AM, back by 9.


Second:  I've done a little bit of racing so far. 

Marian, cat 1/2/3:  This was a primarily collegiate race on the roads around the velodrome.  There was no separate cat 3 division, so I decided to take my chances in the 1/2/3 race.  Ten minutes later, I rolled off the course in disgrace, having been dropped on the brutal crosswind back stretch.  I felt somewhat less shamed when Adam Leibovitz, an outstanding Marian College racer, tweeted that the race had been really, really hard.  OK, the less said about all that, the better.

Ceraland:  This was my first cat 3 race of the year and one of my favorite race venues.  You can tell by my race face:



The MOB Squad riders are Mario, me, and Scott Gramke.  The Tortuga rider on the left with the salacious expression is Geraint Perry, the fastest Welshman in Bloomington, maybe all of Indiana. 

The positive vibes of the race would continue.  There was a bit of the usual "hold your line" bickering that comes with the first race of the year, but that quickly subsided and things got down to nice fast aggressive racing, largely courtesy of the Sustainable Cycling team.  The mood and energy of the race was generally quite positive and energetic. 

I'll save you the suspense:  55 minutes into the 70 minute race, just as I was starting to feel like a late attack could succeed, both of my quads completely locked up.  Couldn't even make it up the hill.  I rolled off the course, rested for 15 minutes, and felt totally fine.  Kind of a weird result.  I resolved to give it another go the next day at. . .

Mooresville, cat 3/4.  This is the longest running race in the Indianapolis area.  I had been wanting to do it for years and never made it, so I was stoked to test myself on the famous "pack splitter."  What a great course!  Fast, safe, sweeping turns, and a steady climb that was definitely a factor.  I had decided to take things easy to make sure I wouldn't have any more cramping problems.  So of course I found myself off the front with a couple of hardcore triathletes five minutes into the race. 

Oh, well--nothing ventured, nothing gained.  After ten minutes or so of participating in attacks and counterattacks, things settled down a bit and I decided to be totally chill until 30 minutes had gone by.  As luck would have it, the pack had just finished a spirited chase of a small breakaway, so I hit it hard and counterattacked.

I know I'm not the kind of rider who can just power away from the field for 30 minutes, so I had been hoping to draw out some like-minded folks--but nobody came.  After 20 seconds I looked back and the field was completely out of sight.  At this point I wasn't sure what to do.  I knew the solo breakaway was unlikely to succeed, but you can't just sit up when you have that kind of gap, so. . . off we go!  

12 minutes later the field got tired of toying with me and reeled me back in.  I had done a good job of staying just under the redline, so after a few minutes I was ready for some more action.

Things stayed together until the final bell, and then a small group of five riders (including Isaiah Newkirk, who had won Ceraland out of a late break the day before) got a gap at the top of the climb.  I knew this was trouble and tried to jump across, only to find the entire field on my wheel.  No one else was willing to pull, so I took one more futile dig, got passed by the entire field on the downhill, started the climb dead last, sprinted past a bunch of people and wound up 12th.  Two of the five riders from the break got first and second, and the rest got swallowed up. 

Eh, not bad.  I certainly could have had a better placing by sitting in, but it wouldn't have been as much fun.  Thanks to everyone in that race for making it hard, fast, and safe!

Thanks as always to John Bennet for his excellent photographs, and to Dan Daly for coming all the way from Pennsylvania to host these classic Indiana races.

(Bicycle Garage Indy, (Indianapolis & Greenwood) sponsors Team MOB, Nuvo Cultural Trail Cycling Team, and Speedway Wheelmen. BGi Blog Ed.)

So here's the new bike (or "whip" as my younger, cooler friends liked to say in 2002.  I have no idea what they're saying these days):


It's a Cannondale CAAD9.  I bought just the frameset, since I had an old Campagnolo kit lying around. 

So how does this compare to last year's Trek Madone 6.5 Pro?  The Madone weighed just under 16 pounds; the CAAD9 is about 18.  That can be attributed to the lighter carbon frame and the top-of-the-line Shimano Dura-Ace kit.  The Campy kit works just great, but it's a couple of steps down from their tip-top, lightest-available stuff. 

The Trek handled and accelerated beautifully, as does the Cannondale.  The Trek was somewhat smoother over a long, rough ride, but I can't say it's prevented me from having a blast riding the Cannondale.  I've done three races on it so far (more on that later) without a single hiccup.

A couple of component highlights: 
-the Prologo saddle, which is a new brand for me, is pretty good!  It comes stock on many of the 2010 Cannondale road bikes, such as the CAAD9 5. 
-I love my Speedplay pedals.  This is the sixth bike that I've installed this same pair on, and they're still going strong.
-Fizik bar tape:  the best.

The Madone was a better bike but carries a commensurate cost.  The CAAD9 is probably the best value you can get in a racing bike.  I'm stoked to be riding one.

Next time:  the early race season, and how I've been training for it.

(Complete Cannondale CAAD9 bicycles are among the performance Cannondale bikes Indianapolis available from Bicycle Garage Indy North, in Indianapolis, and Bicycle Garage Indy South, in Greenwood - the BGi Blog Ed.)

Decent weather + morning daylight = let's ride tomorrow.  Meet at the shop at 7:15, rolling at 7:30.  Mild Indianapolis mornings are hard to come by in March, so grab the opportunity!

Chances are that we'll get a little wet, so you might need a fender, like this one from SKS.  Or you can just wrap up with your favorite rain gear, like Pearl Izumi's Zephyr vest.  I wear the Cannondale Morphis jacket all the time during the spring.

In other news, the pro racing season is well underway, and my favorite, the Tour of Flanders, is fast approaching on April 4th.  It'll be followed directly by my racing debut at Ceraland on April 17th.  I haven't been using the power meter much lately, in favor of just enjoying the sensation of being outside, but I'll be sure to get that fired up again soon and start posting my eletronic self-worth for all to admire/scorn.

But the bottom line is:  let's get riding.

Goal:  to win at least one Cat 3 criterium this year.
Winter plans:  determine what would be needed to do that and implement it.

Two components to winning races:  fitness and skills.  Unfortunately, during the winter in Indianapolis, it's hard to practice the race skills that are needed for this goal.  So this is the time to focus on fitness.  

I'm a big believer in maintaining high-intensity workouts all year long.  Here's an article from Pez Cycling News discussing it in more detail.  So right now I'm trying to develop sustained high intensity, but not too high--just trying to stimulate my aerobic system a bit and get ready for higher-intensity efforts later on.

Tomorrow I'll be doing this workout on my Cycleops JetFluid:
My standard warmup (20 minutes)
10 minutes at 270W, followed by 5 minutes easy.  Repeat twice more.

65 minutes, short and sweet.  The interval pace should be hard enough to make you breathe fast and deep.  You could talk if you had to, but you'd rather not.  If your breathing gets ragged and short, back off.

One other note:  most people are hesitant to disclose their power numbers.  I can understand that if you're a pro who has a serious disadvantage if the competition knows how strong you are, but I don't think I care whether my cat 3 competitors know.  Bring out the measuring sticks and let's compare, says I.  It's better motivation for the winter, and after all, we don't really know until we get to the finish line, do we?  Bring it on!

If you're like most Indianapolis cyclists, you've been stuck indoors to on the trainer lately (you do have a trainer, don't you?  Good).  My last post was about indoor cycling training strategies, so let's take a look at how we can apply those.

I've found it very helpful to have a standard 20-30 minute warmup that you have memorized and can do without thinking.  Here's my standard warmup.  It seems complicated, but once you do it a few times, it'll be easy to remember:

start with light, smooth pedaling, gradually increasing cadence and gear.
3:30:  1 min of fast pedal (>110 rpm) in an easy gear)
4:30:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
6:00:  1 min in a big gear, starting at a hard intensity and increasing to very hard by the end of the minute.
7:00:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
8:00:  1 min in a big gear, standing pedaling slowly.  This is to stretch the back, give the butt a break.
9:00:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
10:00:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
10:30:  repeat with the other leg.
11:00:  30s in the same gear with both legs.
11:30:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
12:00:  repeat with the other leg.
12:30:  90s in the same gear with both legs.
14:00:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
14:30:  repeat with the other leg.
15:00:  30s in the same gear with both legs.
15:30:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
16:00:  repeat with the other leg.
16:30:  90s in the same gear with both legs.
18:00:  1 min in a big gear, standing pedaling slowly.
19:00:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
20:00:  ready to start the rest of the workout.

It'll help you get mentally and physically ready, and then you only have to do another 40 minutes or so to get an hour total.  Seems more attainable already, doesn't it?

Next time:  we'll talk about my goals for the year, and how I'm planning workouts around them.

This is the first of what will be a winter-long series about what trainer workouts I'm doing.  When I first bought a trainer, I always felt a little unsure about what exactly I should be doing with it, and over the years I've come up with some strategies I feel pretty confident about.  So I hope they help!

A few keys for success:

1)  VARIETY.  In every workout, you should be doing lots of different things.  This is partly for skills development, but mostly because it helps deal with the #1 trainer obstacle:  boredom.  Do lots of different things, and boredom will take much longer to set in.  Get some high-cadence, low-cadence, single-leg, sitting, standing, etc.

2)  INTENSITY.  The classic philosophy is that you should use winter for steady, low-intensity aerobic base training.  However, this really only works if you have a high training volume, 15 hours or more.  If you only have 6-8 hours a week, like me, you need a higher-intensity stimulus to get the desired result. 

3) PLANNING.  Never get on the trainer without knowing exactly what you're going to do.  If you try to improvise your workout, or "ride how you feel," I can tell you now what you're going to do--you're going to go 20 or 30 minutes, decide that this is boring, and that your butt hurts, and you're going to decide that you really should get around to doing the laundry.

4) ADAPTATION.  The trainer is the most controlled cycling environment you'll ever have, so as the weeks go by, pay attention to what's happening to you, and make changes as necessary.  Then see how your respond to the changes, and tweak as necessary.

5) GOALS.  What exactly do you want out of this winter?  For most people, that's pretty simple:  ride faster.  But the details matter.  Do you want to win a bunch sprint?  Improve your 40k time?  Complete your first triathlon?  All those goals call for somewhat different approaches.

Next time:  my goals, and the workout I'm doing this month to start getting ready for next year.

Bike racing is a tough sport for kids to get started in.  A lot of parents worry about the startup cost and the risk of injury.  Fortunately, the fastest-growing race category in the US is also the most kid-friendly:  cyclocross!


Most kids' bikes are not well-suited to road or mountain bike racing, but a cyclocross racer can use just about anything--as evidenced by these fellas trying to negotiate the sand pit.


The Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series has put a strong emphasis on encouraging kids' participation.  They frequently get junior-aged fields of 30 or more.  Many of the stronger junior riders compete in the senior categories and put a hurt on them (myself included)!


Cyclocross races are generally much friendlier to kids or other inexperienced racers.  There are no high-speed packs of riders to negotiate.  The consequences of a fall are generally much less than in a road race or on a rock-strewn mountain bike descent.  And you get to do lots of different fun, playful things on your bike--like trying to leap back onto the seat after running up a hill!


BGI has several riders who participate in cyclocross races in Indianapolis and surrounding cities.  This picture is of Josh Prater, assistant service manager, en route to winning the Category 3 state championship in 2008.


You can also get cyclocross advice from some of our other riders:  the South store has Shane Meadows, Daniel Bartholomew, and Bob Locke; the North store has Mark Trousdale, Josh, and yours truly.


The cross season is over for this year, but keep an eye on www.ovcx.com next year as the summer winds down--there'll be plenty more muddy, sandy, snowy, awesome action to be had.

Well, I did a couple of cross races.  Not too much to report other than
1) if you do it right, it hurts, and you want to quit halfway through
2) the second it's over, you want to you want to do it again tomorrow
3) 44x18 is a great gear for commuting, but as a cross race gear, it causes next-day back spasms.

And this is the most flattering picture I could find. 

Cross season ends once again, too quickly after it begins, with a "you know, I should have done more than two of those races, they're really pretty fun."  Mmmaybe next year.

The winter is setting in.  The Friday morning rides are essentially done in by darkness and cold.  Not a lot of people are test riding bikes.

Which means it's time to get next year started.

Every spring, you can instantly tell who's put in a strong winter of training and who hasn't.  You roll out with your friends, you get to the first bit of challenging terrain, and right away you know the answer:  "Hey, I'm going to have a good year!" or "Uh-oh, this could be a rough start."

My theory is that everybody rides a lot during the summer--it's easy.  The winter is your opportunity to make progress against your rivals, your 40K time, you average speed.  Don't give up the progress you made this summer.  Come out of the winter STRONGER than you are now.

Get yourself a trainer, like the Cycleops JetFluid I got last month.

Get some way to measure your performance, like the Trek Incite 11i, or the Cycleops Powertap.

Get motivated--by a video like Robbie Ventura's Race Day, by watching Lance's return to the Tour De France (in stock now), or by some particularly humiliating moment from the past year.  Man, do I look plump.  Getting caught by Tracy Tolson is not as shameful as getting caught by some less-accomplished rider, but still.

Now get on the trainer!

It's just winter!  It's not that long!  It's the perfect opportunity to do low-distraction, extremely focused training!  You can do it!

Well, thanks, Daylight Savings Time!  The forecast looks favorable for the first time in weeks, so we've got a group of people riding from the shop at 7:30.  Bring your road bike and we'll be back at 9. 

Just reloaded my winter clothing wardrobe.  My new Pearl Izumi jacket and booties are winners.

Looks like I'll finally be able to pop the cork on my cyclocross season at the Major Taylor Velodrome!  Nice to go into a race with no expectations.  Or preparations.  I also hear that there's a hill which might not be rideable on my singlespeed rig.  If the race is decided by my running prowess, it might get ugly. 

One of the nice things about this time of year is that one has an impetus to seek out different types of bike rides. 

Town Run too muddy to mountain bike?  Find an off-road alternative that isn't as sensitive to wet weather.

Not enough daylight to get your long ride in?  Get a new trainer, like I just did, and add some intensity to get maximum results out of a shorter workout.  Robbie Ventura's videos are the best I've seen.

Too cold and wet to ride fast on the road?  Consider some fat tire options that will bring the speed, and the wind chill, down.

Ride your MTB on the road.  You'll go a little slower, and maybe notice some new detours.  Or you'll ride a bumpy or gravelly road that you'd normally avoid.

After a summer of goal-oriented riding, it's time for exploring.

It's rained the last few Fridays, and it's in the forecast again for this week.  Still, I'm not quite ready to give up.  8 AM, at North, on road bikes.  Just an hour or so.  Come ride before it's too nasty!

Rain has kept the attendance down the last few weeks--it's been just me!  This week I'll be at the shop at 8 AM, and we'll get a good hour and change in before it's time for work.  Come on out.

First of all, the Friday ride is ON for 10/9/09.  Start at 7:45, back at the shop at 9.  Daylight is definitely getting scarce in the morning, so come out and ride while we still can.  There are some showers in the forecast, so plan road biking.

Second, I did a ride I've been looking forward to for the last couple of years.  My inlaws are participants in a battle reenactment north of Marion, and I rode from their house to the battleground on the morning of.

One encounters lots of interesting things while riding the bike.  For example, I saw two deer at 106th and Hazel Dell on Sunday, but they weren't the usual does or young bucks--these were big guys with eight-point antlers.  Neato!

Lots of these sights pass without comment.  Another blue heron!  A Ferrari!  A racing rival riding the other direction!  But every once in a while, there's something worth stopping and recording for posterity:


This caught my eye because of its relation to my friend and BGI mechanic JB Musselman (whose name itself is also hilarious for obvious reasons).  So I stopped and snapped it for him. 

Also of interest was the following gem that requires a little explanation.  Around these parts, the accepted method of informal bike route marking is known as a "Dan Henry:"


You find these all over the roads around here.  They're generally very helpful, except when routes intersect, and then it can be a little difficult to make sure you're on the one you want.  It is also easy to confuse with another common symbol: 

Luckily, this confusion only occurs at specific types of intersections.


You also find the occasional attempt to introduce a higher level of artistry to the Dan Henry:


The white symbol above is not uncommon, and it has the same role as a Dan Henry, except more specific:  if you have a bike with two disc wheels, and a transparent frame, then you want to go this way.  Also:  no helmets allowed.

The yellow symbol is far less common, for obvious reasons:  most robots don't bother with a bike route, since they have other means of propulsion.  Unfortunately, the artist left their message a little unclear.  Does this mean "robots go this way?"  "Danger:  Robots ahead?"  "This route only for cyclists with a robot sidekick?"  I lean toward that last explanation, since a cyclist with an invisible bike frame would probably also have access to robot technology.

We'll be riding as usual this Friday.  Meet at 7:30 and start shortly thereafter, and we're mountain biking this week.  Just for the sake of change.  Back at the shop at 9.