David Singlespeed Unrau

I’ve posted my photos from the 2008 Ontario Cup MTB XC Championships. The championships were held September 7th in Midland. You can also browse the rest of the race photos in the new gallery software.

Registration for Iron Cross VI opens on July 1st.  They are capping registration this year to keep the numbers under control, so make sure you register early.  The rules regarding the team cup do not seem to have changed from last year!  See the event organizer’s site for more details.  Event registration here.  All you True North folks, make sure you enter your team name as “True North Cycles”.

We rode a couple of loops of the Albion Summer Solstice 24hr race course on Saturday. The course is very similar to last year, with a couple of minor changes and some new links between sections that have been on before, but in different orders.  There are no big hills, and a number of flat open stretches - so slap a big gear on that singlespeed.  I was riding 34:18 and it was not too steep.

I though I would post a picture of the bike I’m spending the most time on these days, as it is my favorite bike! The bike is my custom True North cyclocross bicycle. The frame is Columbus Cyber steel, and is just magical to ride, both on road and off. The frame is set up with Campy 1010 long angled dropouts, so you can ride it fixed, single or with gears. I don’t think I’ve ever had gears on it though. Currently the bike is built up with a FSA gossamer crank, Dura-Ace octalink BB, True Temper Alpha-Q CX fork, Paul’s touring Canti’s, FSA SLK seatpost, Selle Italia SLR GelFlow saddle, FSA headset, Ritchey stem, TTT Morpheus Handlebar and some old Chorus Ergopower shifters that I gutted the shift mechanisms out of for some ultra-light brake levers. The wheels are just what was lying around - a surly fixed/free rear hub laced to an Open Pro rim and a Campy Zonda front. The bike is set up fixed with a 42:16 gear, which seems to be good for just about everything around here. I’m running Panaracer Pasala 700×32C tires, which are awesome. They might be slower than 700×23C tires, but not enough so as I can tell, and at 60 PSI they are far more comfortable, and handle gravel with no problems.