This past weekend was the 2008 edition of the Furnace Creek 508 and the fir st year for the Classic Rendezvous division. As you might remember from the previous thread the CR division required a steel lugged frame, maximum 6 c ogs in the rear, true friction shifting and toe-clips with straps. There we re only two entrants in the new category which was disappointing, but judgi ng from the comments before, during and after the race there was a lot of e nthusiasm for the class. At almost every turn in the road I was greeted wit h âgo old-schoolâ or âgo classic dudeâ or m ost often âcool bikeâ. Iâve ridden this race before on carbon, brushed titanium, painted titanium and aluminum frames and neve r had a compliment on my bike. I guess old school must be cool again!
I took three bikes for the race: a NOS early 80âs Fuji America buil t from frame up, a mid 90âs Walter Croll 531C converted from eight to six speed and a stock 80's Colnago Super which was original (even brake pads) other than the saddle and tires. My intent was to only use the Colnag o for climbing as it has great geometry, but I realized late in the game th at the nagging creek in the front end was coming from the much discussed 1R stem. The last thing you need on your mind is a stem failure when itâ s dark out, youâre fatigued, and the road has steep drop-offs on both sides. The Colnago never left the van. I rode the Croll on most night descents as it has nice quick steering and great brakes. But, the star of the weekend was the old Fuji. It turns out that the classic long wheelbase, a little frame flex and 28c tires made for a very comfy ride as the hours wore on. Not to mention that nice looking bikes just seem more fun to ride. I had found a NOS 48-38-28 Biopace crankset that not only had great clim bing gears, but this is the first time Iâve ended the race without wrenching knee pain. I know thereâs much controversy about elliptic al chainrings; I can only say that in this setting of long slow plodding cl imbs it worked great.
In the end I finished in 44 hours and 3 minutes. Certainly not any kind of course record, but almost four hours faster than the last time I competed o n carbon and titanium. There are always many factors like weather, trains, etc. that make it hard to compare one year to the next year. What I can say without a doubt is that not only was I consistently faster, but I arrived feeling much less worn from the trip on the classic bike. Keep in mind it âs all relative; if you look at the photos âfreshâ is not a word that will come to mind. But, in some sense itâs grati fying to take 25 year old technology and not feel like you were handicapped in any way. I would gladly take the extra few pounds of weight in trade fo r the ride quality and confidence of a good old steel ride in the future.
Iâve attached a link for a photo of the Fuji in action near the hal f way point in the race. One way to boost this class is not to get ultra gu ys to ride CR bikes, but to get CR guys to ride ultras. Youâve got a whole year to trainâ¦
http://good-times.webshots.com/
Also, thanks to all the CR folks who took time on-line and the phone to ans wer all my questions and the great advice.
Steve Gray
Las Vegas, Nevada
USA