*Congrats Rich on your big win!*

Click here for pics

Click Here for the write up in BIKE Magazine

Purpose: 

To have fun, to race, to sweat, breathe hard, to ride hard, to challenge ones self. This is the anti-race race. Don't kid yourself it's hard, you may crash or puke (or both) but we are down for the fun and camaraderie more than the podium. Well, there is no podium but I think you get the point. 

We will be hosting 4 Sunday races in the month of January. Each race will have a meet point at 7am and race at 8am. Most races will be short 1 to 2 hour affairs. Meet points and descriptions of each race will be posted so you know what to expect. If you want you can go check out the courses ahead of time, not that you need to but if your really need to know you can.

This race series is open to all comers. Men, women, kids, we don't discriminate. Come with a smile and leave with a smile (and perhaps an impressive scar.)

Race dates: January 3rd, 10th, 17th, &24th. 

A note on races:

Spectators: 

Some of these races are fun to watch and can be easily accessible for speciation. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being best the ability to spectate will be rated.

Meat Pylons: 

We're not the only ones out there people, so you will need to yield to horses and peds as best you can. The higher the number, the more Meat Pylons you'll have to deal with. Ride safe and be respectful of others. On cold days, expect the number to be lower. It should be cold. Bring water, you'll need it.

Race #1 The Bunny Hill

 
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Meet point

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

6401 Platt Avenue
West Hills CA, 91367

January 3rd

7 AM meet time, leave for race @ 8:00 AM

Spectators: 10

Meat Pylons: 6

Looping course with a combination of fire road and single track, total length is around 3/4 of a mile and we will be doing 8 laps. A few features to be wary of are on the first leg of single track there is a sink hole that you'll need to be watch out for. Also there is a small but steep and technical climb that you'll have to ride or run up each time, the rest is easy, buttery single track through a bunch of trees. After the hill, go past the fence and hang a right. There are several parallel paths on the back side of this course that do join together, be wary of merging riders. Should be relatively bike and ped free on the back side free but will have peds and dogs on the starting leg, watch your calves.  

Race #2 The Humpty Hump

Meet point:

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on the South West corner of Reseda & Ventura Blvd  Jan 10th 7:00 AM

Spectators: 3

Meat Pylons: 5

We are going to race from the top of Reseda Blvd to the end of Dirt Mulholland at Topanga Canyon. Once you hit the pavement, you'll turn around. There's a gate about 2/3 of the way through that you'll have to go around. The course is fire road and is a series of undulating hills so you'll be descending and climbing most of the time. The total length is about 7 miles long. 

 
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Race #3 Nature Walk Through Hell. 

Cafe Donuts

19362 Rinaldi St.

Northridge CA 91326

(corner of Tampa & Rinaldi)

Spectators 7

Meat Pylons 6

 Each lap is about 2 miles long & should take 20-30 minutes to complete, we'll do five laps. There are a few technical, steep but very short accents and a couple mildly technical, steep but very short descents on the trail. There are a couple spots where you go down and come right back up again, this course involves the most bike handling skills out of the set. You'll have to watch your downhill speed as the trail runs adjacent to a stream bed and falling 5 feet or so onto some rocks will really suck. You can build up some serious speed down hill and then have to make a hard left next to a stream or fall off into the rocks. There's also a low lying tree over the trail at one point so you'll need to duck or you'll knock yourself out. Once you get to the top of the trail  head on Sesnon, then you'll make a left on the single track adjacent to the sidewalk and go back down the trail until you join back up with the main trail. Once you get to the start you'll climb the paved hill and then take the single track to the right. This completes a lap. You'll be sharing the course with all the other racers going up and coming down, so pay attention. Don't get off the trial at any time, if you do this means you're not on track. Most of the trail is mild climbing, and some tricky descending, but is deceptively difficult as you will see when you run it. 

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Race #4: The Fruity Loop

Jan 24th 7am

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

6401 Platt Avenue
West Hills CA, 91367

This is a two-part elimination race. The first race is for everyone detailed below. The second race will be held in the dirt parking lot where we're parked. The top 10 finishers will have to do 10 laps in a dirt oval on a 16" child's bike (provided). This will determine the winner for race four, so make the elimination race and decide the standing in the lot. So stick around once you complete the first race for the final battle for coaster brake supremacy!

This is most likely the fastest race our of this series. Mostly on light climbs and flat fire roads you may want to switch up your gearing so you can gain time in the easier sections. The overall course length is 3.3 miles about, we're doing 3 laps. It starts with a bit of a climb and then will have some mild descents and flats where you can really pedal out. The course will be a series of right turns. There is one faster decent on the back side of the course so make sure your coaster brake is all ready to keep you on the trail. There is a mild climb on the back side of the trail after you reach the bottom of the descent. please study the pics below so you can get a feel for the course, you can make a wrong turn and get off course, the trail points will be marked just in case.

                      We start here with a climb.

Look for these signs as this will keep you on track. 

Right turn at the water tankers....

It should be the second right, look for the sign. Don't go straight or you'll wind up in Agoura Hills.

You'll need to take a right here going down, this is the decent so get your brake ready. Right turn at the trashcan after a climb. 

Go straight, back up the hill repeat three times. 

Rules for bikes:

Gearing: 

Single speed only. No internal geared hubs (sturmey-archer, bendix two speed kick backs etc.) no derailleur of any kind (A chain tensioner is fine but not recommended). No external gearing. No gears. No fixed gear. Each race will be different from the last and you may want a different gear ratio for each race and you can have any gear ratio you wish. We have found that 30-36 in the front and 18-22 in the back is the range best suited for this event, see what works best for you.

Drive system:

The rear hub must be a coaster brake. Single speed coaster brake only. No two-speed kick backs, etc (I know what they look like) Some coaster brakes are better than others, do your homework and get a good one. See below for more info. Cranks of any kind may be used as well as pedals.

Braking system:

Coaster brake only on the rear wheel only. No hand brakes of any kind. No secondary braking system of any kind. No drum brakes, no cables, rods, levers, etc of any kind. You pedal forward to go forward and back to stop. Nothing else.

Frame:

Preference for old double bar cruisers but there are no frame restrictions. We have found that cruiser frames and lower end frames with a horizontal dropouts work the best. Frames with a rigid dropout are difficult to get proper chain tension. We recommend the following types of bikes:

Single speed mountain bikes

Pros: take new bike goodies well

Cons: Can be costly

Cruisers 

Pros: Cheap and look cool too! Already have to correct spacing for a coaster brake.

Cons: Don't take mountain bikes goodies like threadless forks etc. Most have 1 piece cranks. Heavy.

Any 26" bike that has a horizontal drop out. 

Pros: Older Mountain bikes are cheap and plentiful and easily adapt to our purpose. 

Cons: None really, an ideal choice for this event. 

Forks:

Any.

Wheels/tires:

You can have any kind of hoop/tire combo. I suggest a light wheelset that you've laced a coaster brake into. Something rugged is good, I've done each race with cheap alloy cruiser rims, they have held up fine thus far.

Handlebars etc.

Everything else is left up to the individual rider.

Here are some examples of bikes that would work great for this event:

This is a custom job. A bit over the top unless you want to go that way but you can build a purpose built bike like this one or take something else and make it work. The gearing on this bike is 34/19 for now. I'm going to test it out and see if I need to change things. The bike has performed well, the rider, not so well.

Here's my old trusty 1964 Schwinn. It normally has V brakes and a freehub single speed set up but for this race I laced up some old Arayas ala bmx with a Bendix red band. The gearing is 36/20 and I've been able to climb up some pretty steep hills this bad boy. Once you learn some control with the break, you'll seldom skid. You just have to descend slower than you would on a regular bike. I've had this bike for years and beaten the hell out of it, old Schwinns make Ideal platforms for this kind of event. Note the "1 1/8 threadless fork in the frame made for "1 threaded. The bottom bracket clearance is a little low, it's something to look for. This bike does have 180mm cranks however, standard sizes should be no problem. Most of the races are on fire roads so low bb clearance is not a big deal.

Which hubs are good? (the tech section)

Not all coaster brake hubs are built alike. You'll need a good one to hang tough in this event. 

Newer hubs:

Shimano, they are ok, best around for a new hub and easily found. They spin really good and stop decent. For easy of accessibility and function, the Shimano hub is a solid choice.

Hi Stop, Falcon, CSC etc. very common hubs found on most newer coaster brake wheels. These tend to get a little sloppy after a few hard braking sessions, repacking them does little to remedy the problem. Not recommended but will work if that's all you have.

Velosteel/perry. Allegedly good, hard to source. Never seen one in the flesh so I don't really know.

Old Hubs:

Bendix red band: Decent. Most of these were on kids bikes so they are not the strongest bendix ever made but they are a crowd favorite. Most are in 28 hole, less common in 36.

Bendix Knurled hub: The brake arm will have "1970" or "1976" stamped on the torsion arm. Found on adult bikes, 4 brake pads, very stout and common in 36 hole.

New Departure: An excellent hub if you can find one. 

Perry, commet sachs etc. decent, not really tested one of these to the fullest. 

Morrow: reputedly the best, never even seen one, hard to find and costly.

Note: the cogs on some of theses are not the same as contemporary cogs, you may have to do some modification to make them fit. The biggest cog I've found for an older hub is 20 teeth, newer ones I've seen up to 22. Shimano cogs don't fit Bendix hubs and many of the older hubs have a different mounting set up than a snap-ring. These older hubs are on a general level better than new hubs. I recommend finding one of a little used girls bike as they tend to not be ridden hard or at all. You'll need to clean and repack the hub as the grease will act more like glue than lube once they have set for a time. I use boat trailer bearing grease, it's cheap and works great. 

For more info on coaster brakes:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/coaster-brakes.html

Spacing:

Most coaster brakes are 120mm or 125mm spacing. Most single speed mountain bikes are 130 or 125 mm spacing and contemporary mountain bikes are 135. The axel on your average coaster brake will be too short to fit in these frames, you'll have to swap it out for a longer one and add spacers. This is why an old cruiser frame works best. You'll also need a bike with horizontal dropouts so you can get proper chain tension. Contemporary mountain bikes with a fixed dropout will be hard to make work with a single speed, a chain tensioner may not work due to the coaster brake action. I recommend using something cheap and old for this event. 

Some new bikes out there have coaster brake spacing and a three piece crank, ideal for this event. Marin makes a cruiser and there is another bike called a Madwagon that would work well. Do your homework. 

Also if you need to calculate your gear inches:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Chain line and chain tension:

Chain Line

This is important stuff here, so if you don't know read up. Your chain line must be near straight, and deviation will likely cause your chain to fall off. This is double bad because not only do you loose your drive system, you loose your brakes. This can be "exciting" so make sure when you're putting your bike together you get that chain line nice and straight. Converting bikes with a fixed dropout can prove troublesome in this area. You may need to add spacers or have the wheel over to the drive side more than the other side to get a good chain line. You may need to put a longer axel in your coaster brake hub so it will fit your repurposed bike. 

Chain Tension

Also very important. As you climb you'll put a lot of stress on the frame and if your chain is loose it will come off. If your chain is too tight it will bind on the hub causing drag and potentially backing off the cones in the hub leading to a component failure. Your chain should have 1/8 to 1/4 inch of slack in it once it's on the bike. Frames with horizontal drop-outs work best for keeping the wheel from moving. Eccentric bottom bracket are costly and can fail where lugs a couple of toothed washers have carried the day for over a hundred years now, why mess with success? Chain tensioners can also be employed. 

I want to join but do not have the stuff to make a bike.

No problem, I'll have good wheelsets and frames, and complete bikes suitable for this event. I can weld BMX dropouts on your steel frame. Let me know ASAP so we can get your rig dialed in before the race. Complete bikes should run in the 85-200 dollar range depending on what you want. 

Rules for riders:

No substitutions.

Bring stuff to fix your bike on the trail with you.

Helmet.

No crybabies.

Entry Fee and what you get:

The Entry Fee is $20.00 for all four races, that's 5 bucks a race. You'll have to pay the 20.00 if you make one or all 4 races.

You get a T-shirt.

You get a Patch.

Perhaps some schwag, we'll see.

Scoring:

Each rider will get a number and you will be scored as thus:

1 point for entering a race

1 additional point for a third place finish

2 additional points for a second place finish

3 additional points for a first place finish

Each first place rider will get a trophy made from old bike parts!

At the end of the series the point leader will be the overall champ. Best to show up to each race to increase your odds.

Sign up at:

Atomic Cycles

17322 Saticoy

Van Nuys, CA 91046

818 609-0113

or 

Show up to a race and sign up there!

Current Roster Winter 2010: Rich 1st, John M. 2nd, Dingo & Charlie 3rd.(tied)

Archive of old race info: Click here.