About the Blogger
As a kid growing up in Princeton I was a competitive swimmer, competitive cyclist, and sometime runner. I used to hang out at Kopps Cycle and raced for the Century Road Club of America. During high school all I cared about was racing on my bike. But that all changed while attending a winter training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado in the Spring of 1980. While I was at the month-long camp as an Olympic hopeful then-President Carter decided the US would boycott the Olympics that year. So I quit racing and attended college in the Fall of 1980. I didn’t even bring a road bike with me to college. Following my college and post grad education I got licensed as a CPA and as an attorney.
I am now age 50 living in Princeton and enjoying the fruits of my athletic endeavors as a kid. Although I don’t race anymore, I regularly workout doing at least one of the three sports I used to excel at when I was younger. Until a few years ago I was mostly walking and swimming. Of course I was doing some bike riding, but it was so sporadic and limited that it hardly counted.
In October, 2010 I joined Princeton Freewheelers (PFW) and within a week rode my 20″ wheel Dahon folding bike on a Don Sprague flat 35-mile C+ Etra Lake ride on a Monday. Then two or three weeks later I rode my folder again on a Peter Harnett hilly 55-mile B Hopewell ride on a Sunday. Both rides went well, and I decided to continue riding with PFW in 2011. In April, 2011 I rebuilt my old steel road bike with compression shifters and rode the Ed Post 50-mile B+ Cranbury ride on a Saturday. That ride also went well. Since then I have enjoyed numerous PFW rides ranging from C+ to A. My favorite rides are the hilly ones, but the fast flat ones are kind of nice, too.
This year I have accumulated 20 ride leader sheets for PFW. The first 10 were for B rides I lead out of Princeton mostly on Sunday mornings starting in February. The second 10 were for B+ rides I lead out of Princeton mostly on Tuesday evenings starting in June and ending in July. I’ve also gone on some club rides offered by other ride leaders this year: Peter Harnett, Jack Palis, Laura Lynch, and Ed Post. This Fall I am signed up to participate in the Hartford Marathon and Philadelphia Marathon, both running events.
/s/ Jeff Lippincott
August, 2012
jlippinbike 
Nice reading. I have seen you overcame the chain drop by going for a 39T chairing and a shorter chain. May I ask you how many links you removed from the original chain?
regards,
stefano
Shortening the chain does not eliminate the chain drop problem. However, it keeps the chain from wrapping around the rear wheel WHEN/IF the chain drops. Interesting you should ask how many links to take out when shortening the chain. When I first shortened the chain I hastily thought I’d need to take out as many links as the difference between 53 minus 39. However, this is too many. I recommend you put your bike’s gear in the 53×11 (biggest gear) and take note of how the rear derailleur is positioned. Maybe even take a picture of it if you are wanting to make certain of the position. Then use your chain tool to break the chain in one location. Next, remove the 53 tooth chainring and replace it with a 39 tooth chainring. Now wrap the chain through the rear derailleur, then around the cassette, and then around the new chainring. Make sure you have the chain on the 11 tooth cog in the rear. Stretch the chain to meet itself so the rear derailleur is in the same position it was when you were using your 53 tooth chainring. You will see overlap at the ends of the chain. The links that represent the overlap are the links you have to remove. My recollection is you will have to remove 4 links. But it was some time ago that I did this operation, so I’m not sure. Good luck!! -Jeff
Just discovered your blog Jeff. Will have to spend some time reading and virtually catching up.
My initial thought is:
ROCK on DEVO! Very glad to see another 50+ college buddy keeping fit for the long term.
and just to keep the bar raised: Running and biking is all good. But the most fun that can be had is in the participation and completion of a Spartan event.
Tuggle
Mark!!!
Great to hear from you. Sorry I didn’t reach out when you linked with me on LinkedIn. 😦
Until I read your comment above I had never heard of a Spartan Event. I just checked out a YouTube video on it. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSTNXTyBNMA#t=55. Not sure I’m up to all that. I can barely do a triathlon! 🙂
Best, -Jeff
Great blog! Will be trying new bike paths here in New Hope.
Jeff , I was wondering what to do at the end of a race when you have a national champion glued to your wheel?
Hans, it’s been a long time. Seems to me you already know the answer to your question since you were successful on occasion in beating me to the finish line back in the day! I’ll send you off an email in a minute. Great to hear from you!!
Hi Jeff. I’m sure you wouldn’t remember me but when you were about 14 I was 18 and was on the Princeton U cycling team. Our coach was Frank Quinn. I had long hair and rode an orange Peugeot PX-10. There was a tall southern boy named John Williams who had an accent to match his nickname “Dixie”. You came on some training rides with us and as I remember you rode our asses off. All we could do was console ourselves that you were a kid and had nothing else to do but train, whereas we were busy college students… Ha ha, typical sour grapes!
I have no idea why but your name came to me this morning while I was out on a training ride on the Tama River in western Tokyo. I just remembered the baby-faced little kid with grown-up legs. I am 61 now with wife and three grown-up kids, left the US in 1987, and have lived in either Tokyo or London ever since. I Googled “Jeff Lippincott cycling 1977” and found you, then just happened on some ride you posted on an app, and recognized the face with 35 years of aging. Glad to see you’re still riding! And you can probably still kick my ass on the bike!
Best of luck,
Peter
p.s. I still have my Princeton U cycling jersey from 1977.