Happy Halloween-Time to Storm Those Greens

Dawn has yet to break but anticipation here at Rogue Sub-Headquarters is palpable!

The Igleheart(bullseye) and the SS(blitzen) are as ready to go as they'll be. 5 sand traps!!! 5! Fast power course today with lots of places to check whats on the saddle and stomp on the pedals.

Surely more to come

Wisdom from the land of Embrocation Cycling Journal: Prep

If its not possible for me to be the guy in this tale, then Im going to need to have his ass kicked for him for being the person we all sooo strive to be.

Embrocation Cycling Journal: Prep

A few more recollections on USGP Derby City Cup

A few videos from last weekend to show some pro views on the races. Nobody has video of Kirk taco-ing Zacks wheel, thats the one I wanted.

Behind The Barriers- w Jeremy Powers

Behind The Barriers- w Chris Jones on how to pronounce "Rapha"

USGP Wrap Up-Prepare to be underwhelmed by this post after the amazing weekend!

We'd been waiting with baited breath for the USGP. are you kidding me? A brand new course, in a brand new place and Bruce Fina's at the helm? Hell yeah we were excited!!

day 1 as always was its own unique course. short, technical and really super hard! You can see from the pictures how tough the course was. Unrideable sand(even by the pros) vertical switchbacks. you name it, Bruce threw it at us.

Heres a shot of The Mantis, pro rider for Embrocation Cycling Journal and fun guy to heckle. Note the wristband from last night's binge. Class touch, that.

Whos that behind Kennedy? Thats Ezra. Fastest Singlespeeder there. His registration for Day 1 was the best I've ever heard

First Name-Blue Bike

Last Name-Bearded

Im a big fan. He rolled up to us in the chute waiting for the SS race. We looked at the blank bike and the beard and we all knew he was fast. Nobody rolls up like that unless they are. If he'd been on platform pedals Id have gone home then!

This is Chris Jones taking a digger in the sand. You want a better picture? Go to the Rapha Contest here and vote for picture "F". Help our friend Drew at On Your Left out with this one.

And Chris, even if we say RAAA-Fa instead of RAH-FA, we're still good peeps. Pope and I pitted for him and Zack McDonald who paid us back on Sunday by doing BMX tricks off the mound leading into the barriers. Nice touch.

Here's me riding as fast as I can away from a picture of Papa John. The pink RAAAA-Fa hat must've been good luck.

Sooo dry and dusty. Whats the motivation to go on? Oh yeah, Fatty stocked the Rogue tent before he left town!

Anybody remember my bet for when the new team bikes would show up? Yep. Saturday, while we were racing. I dunno if it mattered. I'll be posting about how amazing this thing is later! Zack showed up with boxes of custom steel goodness and cupcakes. Nobody's topping that!

Heres a good shot of Zack's ass on the green monster. Im thinking stride may have been an advantage for him here? Although it freaks some folks out, the monster is probably the easiest part of the course. Gravity wins every time. Stay on her side.

Ray, or "little caeser" as he's now known, rocked the course and left his mark. He insists on eating really shitty pizza the night before a race. Im thinking natural ingredients may not be his thing. Whatever. Its working.

Heres Seiler cruising thru the barriers. You can see the huge hump leading into them. Crazy hard. You can see that he's thinking about that conversation we had that one time that meant so much. Was Segal right? Damn...ooops barrier!

Did anyone ever tell you how cool Georgia Gould is? Trust me, they undersold it. She is easily the most approachable pro athelete I've ever met. she strolled by the rogue tent and hung out, just shooting the breeze and swapping stories. Everywhere she goes, she leaves a trail of new fans. she even came back for cupcakes......Really!

She was balancing her bike and USGP trophy from kicking total ass both days. One of us asked if they could help. She was already next to us. Spooky, really. She thought she could jump tape faster than I could eat my cupcake. Listen sister, we are all big fans, but we do have our strengths. Mine were the cupcakes and the special treat that Debbie Bain brought. Chocolate chip cookies baked by Meredith Miller. They tasted as though they were baked by a woman with amazing legs. Its in the chips!! Georgia was so dominant that it was unreal. she Owned. Pure and simple.

Look at the dirt on my face. Thats what my lungs probably look like. Think about whats on the bottom of the Ohio river...thats what we were aspirating all weekend. YUCK!!!!!

doug rode strong on Saturday, or at least compared to me.
short courses w lots of dismounts are not my strong suit. Sunday's course was more my thing.

Day 2 was a longer course with more power sections and fewer dismounts. Being on Fatty's bike and not totally comfortable, this made for a better day. You can read results and rankings at the USGP site, but hopefully this little tryptich provided by TALLGIRL PHOTOGRAPHY has brought it home. We came, we raced, we drank beer and ate cupcakes. When it was all over, we were all amazed at the new venue. Sure the parking sucked and it was dry as a bone. Little things that you hae to deal with in the first year. I just got back from Wed night cross and everyone there is blown away that we have this facility! As young Mr Bain said, "there's a million courses on this course". Of course.

Thanks for all the pix TG

SSCXWC Tales and Ales

Simms Edges Studley, MacKenzie Takes His Third SSCXWC – UPDATED: Photos, MFG Race Report, Podium Results

Storm it with Parbo

Joachim Parbo wants to help you Storm the Greens

And you thought the CX-y goodness was going to slow down... After a wonderful weekend of CX action at the USGP Derby City Cup, come spend time with Danish Cyclocross Champion Joachim Parbo. Learn new skills or hone the ones you have as we roll towards Storm the Greens.

Clinic content - 2hrs(beginners, children, experts, weekend warriors):

• Plan turns and efforts smart, save energy, race fast.
• Tricks on how to read the course to your benefit.
• Drills that will make your riding smoother and more efficient.
• Personalized advise for each participant, correcting errors
• Cyclocross bike fit (quick personal fitting if needed)
  

Start time: Tuesday, October 26th - 5 PM @ RRCC, home of Storm the Greens.

Possible Q&A afterwards @ restaurant
Racing, training, eating and sleeping
Technical discussion, brakes, carbon wheels, tubular tires etc.
(parents of children welcome)

Pay on site, cash only:
Children below 16: 15 USD
Adults: 25 USD

Parbo bio:
4x Danish CX Champ (2006, 2007, 2009 & 2010)
MA Political Science
Bike Path Inspector & Events Coor, City of Aarhus

World Top 50 rider
Best Worlds result - 31st place
Best World Cup result - 21st place
Raced in 14 countries
29x USA UCI top-10 results

USGP Insanity Begins!!

USGP Weekend is here!! You can tell by the sights of Georgia Gould rolling down River Rd and Curtis Tolson motorpacing Tim Johnson.

Its on, even a nice write up in the local fishwrap, the Courier-Urinal

Cyclocross park wheels into action

BY CHRIS QUAY • CQUAY@COURIER-JOURNAL.COM • OCTOBER 21, 2010

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Taking an undeveloped wooded area on River Road and turning it into to a world class cyclocross course — that’s how city officials and cycling enthusiasts described the development of the new Cyclocross Venue at Eva Bandman Park Thursday morning.

“We’re proudly opening a new venue that is putting Louisville on the map,” Mayor Jerry Abramson said during a ceremony commemorating the opening of the course.

The course — which will host the Derby City Cup this weekend for its first competition — cost $125,000 to build and was designed by Bruce Fina, executive director of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross.

“This truly is a world championship course and venue,” Fina said at the opening.

He said the course has garnered international attention, which led to it being named as the host for the 2012 and 2013 Masters Cyclocross World Championships as well as the 2013 Elite Cyclocross World Championships, the first time those events will not take place outside of Europe.

Cyclocross is a form of bicycle racing that combines different terrains, such as hills and wooded trails, and requires the cyclists to sometimes carry their bikes over or around obstacles.

The sport is beginning to catch on in the states, but it has been more popular in Europe. “We’re going to blow the minds of the Belgians, and the Czechs and the Dutch when they come here,” Fina said of the world championships.

City officials, including Metro councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh, D-9th District, Karl Schmitt, executive director of the Louisville Sports Commission, and Mike Heitz, director for Metro Parks, spoke at the opening.

“We hit a lot of singles and doubles,” Schmitt said about attractingsporting events to Louisville. “Every once in a while we hit a home run,” he said referring to hosting the cyclocross world championships.

The course sits on 59-acres just off River Road minutes east of downtown.

It was designed with a “360 degree” approach so that riders can get views of the downtown skyline, the Ohio River and Beargrass Creek at different points on the course.

Cyclocrosser Brian Segal, who helped open the new course for the first time Thursday in a symbolic ribbon breaking over one of the course’s grassy knolls, said he was impressed.

Segal will compete this weekend in the Derby City Cup. “It’s fantastic,” he said, giving kudos to Fina for his design in “taking a blank piece of land and turning it into a world class course.”

Reporter Chris Quay can be reached at (502) 582-4241.

Hizzoner Makes It Legal!! Eva Bandman Cyclocross Venue

The pictures tell the story. There you have Mr Bruce Fina, Tim Johnson and Hizzoner Mayor Jerry making it legal and officially opening up the Eva Bandman Cyclocross Venue. With the exception of Duane there was nary a pervert in site. Maybe the sand features scared them off? Its a gorgeous course thats going to kick my ass. In fact it already did as I tried to ride an acute elevation change on the single speed in baggies....going to run that when on the non-geared bike.

There were interviews with the Courier-Urinal and everything. I'll link to it when they run out of news and print it.

More to come...And Then PARBO NEXT TUESDSAY? you gotta be kidding me!!

Remember that lack of motivation? This should kick its ass right down the street.

Stay tuned chilren, this story has some legs on it.

Let The USGP Rumpus Begin!

Its finally upon us. The USGP Derby City Cup is this weekend!!! Damn right its worth 3 exclamation points. We get our first chance to race on the new course @ Sandman(without being called Vandals), a chance to watch top pro level cyclocross right here in the village and we get to party with our friends at the Rogue tent.
Let me just say that the later the day goes, the stranger the strangers in the tent seem to get.
Don't forget that this event doesn't build itsself, so go pound stakes and wrap some tape. You're building your own course here. This way you can scout the best heckling spots.
Also....attention gamblers...we will be taking wagers on how many laps I will get in the SingleSpeed race before being pulled. I have a feeling meester dug will be the bookie for the day. So bet and bet often as the proceeds will go to the Little Rogue Urban Achievers or as we call it "the lush fund"
Let's face it, this is the first time you people can make eye contact with someone @ Sandman. Stand proud and bring your cowbells and vuvuzelas.

predictability and change

Einsteins Definition of insanity is something to the effect of "doing the same thing over and over yet expecting a different outcome"
That pretty much describes my race @ Bloomington CX this past Sunday.
Blow the start>fight back to the middle>Contador the crap out of the Pope>finish w too much left in the tank.
Let's face it, the only thing that was really flowing on Sunday were the excuses, and they we recycled(we're green here bitches)
The course was fast and flowy with nary a technical section to be found. That should suit a guy without technical skills, but....ahhh you read the top.
Can I really bitch about racing my bike on a gorgeous day, battling w Pope and Shamrock Tom then riding thru the changing leaves of Brown Cty on the way home? Apparently yes, but its gauche so forgive me.
I knew the weekend was helter skelter when, while riding mtn bikes w Kid A on Saturday we ran across Anthony Slowinski on a cx bike. Clearly the earth had tilted off its axis and pandemonium was imminent.

I shook it off by going to the dog park and testing out the new Racing Ralph tubies while drjohn sat on my wheel. That hot lap of mine may have been the slowest recovery lap he's done in a while. I'd like to think that his good performance Sunday was at least partially due to riding w a limiter. His fresh legs had to be to my credit.(Seiler said to celebrate the small victories so I'm going with that one)
Sundays race had some good RRP highlights w Grizwald taking the win by dominating the field and taunting them from off the front. I have no idea if that really happened as I was so far back that tales of the front only drifted back as legend and were in printed scrolls by the time we got there.
So today our friends @ On Your Left take away the gears from the trusty Salsa as we try to further handicap myself. Should be a blast although the SS cats for USGP suddenly have Curt and Osgood from the TSB and a bunch of other fast guys. The relief in that is that while I'm dying my thousandth death in the 4 race, I should only have to worry about completing 1 lap in the SS race before getting pulled. I'm hoping its a complete lap....
There's a chance that we'll be debuting the Iglehearts @ USGP so stand by for updates on the arrival of the delicious steel steeds. Remember I used the word "chance"

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Wow, that karma shit really works, huh? Thanks to Doug for the link. Damn thats funny

CHAMPIONS DOG RUN FENCE RELOCATION SCHEDULE

As noted in the October Newsletter, the front section of the Champions Dog Run will be relocated so that it does not "hang over" the boundary line between the portion of the property operated by Metro Parks and the portion operated by the Louisville Water Company (LWC). LWC has contacted us and told us Phase I, which will include relocation of the front fence section and dog run entrance, will begin on Wednesday, October 20 and should take about two days to complete. To prepare for this we have made out the following timeline. Please review carefully.

Sunday, October 17 - LDRA gate materials and signage will be removed.

Wednesday, October 20 - LWC contractors to begin fence relocation work.

Friday, October 22 - Estimated date of completion.

Saturday, October 23 - Cross country event at Champions Park so the dog run was going to be closed anyways.

Sunday, October 24 - Gate materials and signage to be reinstalled.

We appreciate everyone's cooperation and patience. If any changes come up we will be sure to send out another email.

new toys/changes for the second part of the season

As I've mentioned, we have the Igleheart Team bikes showing up this week, and I cant wait. This is my first custom bike and getting to pick each part, and having the communication with Christopher Igleheart throughout the build process has been an incredible experience. One of my last minute preparations has been to get some new rubber on the wheels for the new ride. I have a set of the racing ralphs getting glued up @ On Your Left and they do look grippy-tasty. Report to come.

But what to do with the Salsa? I've been pretty excited about the new OVCX SS mini-series thats been announced and the Eno hub is the solution that we're going with to turn the con crosso into a solo geared machine. We'll see how it shakes out but this is a bad mother waiting to be fleshed out. It'll be paired with an open pro rim, so we are sticking to the classics. More info and pix to come.

USGP Clinic-cool stuff

Superstar Cyclocross Clinic w Meredith Miller and Jesse Anthony p/b Specialized!

Join Meredith Miller and Jesse Anthony of the California Giant Berries / Specialized Team on Friday, October 22nd at 4:30pm for a very special debut ride of the new cyclocross venue at Eva Bandman Park!

You'll get pro insight from two of the best in the business on how to approach the course and its new features for race day. Even cooler - you can check out Specialized's cross bike line up while doing it. SRAM equipped and ready to demo!

Space is limited to 25 participants so don't delay! Register on BikeReg.com here:http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=11410

USGP Next Week? Holy Crap! What Can We Do To Help?

Funny you should ask. Here's a note from USGP honcho Joan Hanscom with an urgent request for help. You folks know that this community has come together each year to make this happen. Rumour is that people working usually get lunch as well. Just a rumour.
Here's the cadence of events, I'd love to see some new faces out there instead of just the same stalwarts of the community.

Take it away Joan-

t's that time of year where I coming begging for help! The USGP is running at the new cyclocross venue and we could use some hands getting 'er ready.
>
> Whitney Vogel is coordinating volunteers (whitneyvogel@insightbb.com) so if you are interested in the opportunities below and would like more information (with specific times) you can get in touch with either of us:
>
> 10/18 - 10/19: Green Monster Building!
> 10/20 – 10/22 Course Set Up / Fence Post /Signage
> 10/23 & 10/24 Parking
> Registration, Course Marshals, Runners
>
> 10/24 Course Tear Down
>
> Thanks so much in advance for anything you can do!


Thanks Joan.
Let's make this thing happen like we always do. Plus, you won't look like a tool pre-riding if you're out there building. Just sayin.

Dont Mess w Debbie-More UCI Reporting

Seeing that I've done damn little racing, I'm counting on those in the circle to keep me looped. This is kinda cheating since she left this as a comment, but it stands on its own....and I've mentioned the cookies, right? Exactly. I'm not messing with the supplier of baked goodness over posting privileges.

Next time let me know aforehand and we'll do this up proper!

and now, a word from Mrs Bain(reprinted entirely without permission or even a warning shot)

Will and I talked on the way home about seeing if you'd let us do a guest blog for the UCI 3 weekend. I see that already happened and he doesn't have time anyway, with school & training & racing & mowing the lawn & texting friends & facebook & all those other teenagery things. However, I wanted to add a couple of things. First, Jason said he didn't have a witty title for the Devou race but Will deemed it "The Great Depression." For anyone (besides 12 yo Spencer)that is a very apt title! It was even depressing for the spectators, starting with the mile or so hike from the car because the cop wouldn't let anyone thru to the parking places you could see up ahead. Apparently the fact that cars were leaving didn't justify letting anyone else thru in. By jove, the fire dept said it was full & he considered it full until everyone left! The set up was not as nice as last year, and last year was no picnic. They didn't let us anywhere near that nice museum with indoor plumbing :-). The 2nd thing I'd like to add, is that Devou & Java Johnny both kept alive your designation of the Men's Cat 4 Open/Children's Race...and it wasn't my child who won this time. Congratulations are in order for 12 y.o., 81 lb, Spencer Petrov, who seemed to float thru the dust & over the bumps of Devou Park and to the awesome 13 y.o. Ian McShane who tore thru a great course at Java Johnny's on Sat! The streak was disrupted at Harbin Park by some upstart guy from California whose name we don't recognize. We have no idea who he is but we've theorized that he's probably some pro's mechanic who decided to jump in & race on Sunday morning. Most of the Cat 4 Louisville children (including mine) raced the junior races on Sunday so they could get home in time to finish their homework & let their mothers' prop up their poor tired feet after running around in the dust for 3 days :-)

Well said...now about cookies for USGP.......what goes w Bourbon? I mean, you've seen our tent.

UCI3 - and that's a wrap!

Dear sweet little baby Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt all hammered drunk, this past weekend was one big ass long pain train of CX. And I mean that in the best possible way that only a CX'r can understand. Oh, guest blogger Jason here. I got no pictures of Saturday (I did not race) or Sunday (I am lazy and did not take any) so you will have to go to facebook, twitter, cx magazine, velonews, podium insight, or just about any other semi-legit media outlet for your viewing pleasure. Here at LTP you are lucky you get a guest blogger, much less a real blogger with real insight and pictures.

Saturday night after the race my family and I and Heather F. and the JK-47 headed to my folks place to hang with the Van Dessel Factory team. I volunteered my parents to be host housing and they got Jennifer Maxwell, elite female from Van Dessell. Julia Casals and Tony Billota (her teammates) joined us for a cookout, some beers, and story telling. They left with some sweet RRP t-shirts and I left kinda drunk and not really looking forward to suffering through Sunday.

Sunday saw race day 3 start with a frantic phone call to me from the venue. They needed 7 large bags of ice stat. I was all that stood between racers, spectators, and potentially warm beer! So I got the family unit home and down for naps and loaded the truck with gear and headed across town. I got ice unloaded, parked and changed just in time to see the Cat 3 men go off. Michael "Dudikoff" Seiler rode well and got to climb onto the second place stairs for his effort in teh 45+. Steirwalt finished off his weekend by notching 3 consecutive top 10s in the 3 35+ group. He will be on a few podiums as the season goes on. My prediction is Gun Club. The elite masters were up next; Mark Legg and two other dudes rode around by them selves for a while with Legg crossing the line first. Elite women saw KFC go 3 for 3. Strong rides werw put in by all the OVCX regular ladies on Sunday. J-Pow took the men's race ahead of Trebon and a Rapha rider.

Captain Kirk had his dreams of riding two races in the same day dashed by the license po-po so he took out his stomach full of anger (and who knows what else) on us poor cat 4's. Kirk took home second and put a big gap into the overall OVCX standings. Newest Rogue Tim rode up at the pointy end of the race in the open 4's and scored a top 10. The race was hot, dusty, long, and generally miserable for me. I hate the long power climbs that all the roadies love. Good thing about big fields though is you are always racing somebody. A special request from my friend Scott "Sparky" Lyle, if someone could please bring a live chicken, 2 shots of whiskey, and some eye of newt so we can cast the flat tire demons out of his bike, he would greatly appreciate it. 5 races, 3 flats. Not a good way to start a season.

All in all a fabulous weekend. It is best summed up by the scene that greeted me as I crossed the finish line in 17th place on Sunday. Barely able to keep upright, ready to keel over, wanting to curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb, Lance Brown tossed me a PBR. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Great Race Reporting from Marion Hambrick on CX Magazine

Compton, Powers Close UCI3 Weekend at Harbin Park with Repeat Wins – Updated: Full Results

Clearance Clarence

The last post was from me, guest blogger Jason, not normal non-guest blogger Brian. I just hacked his email account. And the comment about the course at Devou being the hardest I have ever raced was a compliment. Weird right? OK, one or two more posts from me then you can return to your normal programing.

Thanks for letting me share some space here!

Devou - UCI3 day one.

I got no witty title cuz like most of the racers (except those that won), I am just glad it's over.

I went to work for half a day to grind out some TPS reports, it was Hawaiian shirt day after all, then rolled down to Devou around noon thirty. I park, unload the bike, throw my bag on my shoulder and ride up to the Rogue tent area Butch and Jeff had set up earlier in the day. The women's 3/4 race was going on which involved Heather (Butch's wife). The Cat 3's were going off immediately following the girls. Butch and Heather have a 2 year old with them. So I am put on kid duty while Heather finishes and Butch warms up. That's ok because the other option was some guy in a van with a mural of a wizard painted on it.
Hez finishes her race and looked freshWe get ready to watch the 3's go. Mass start with no gaps between age groups. 150 folks all trying to be at the front. It was chaos to say the least. After sandbagging the 4's last week at Fishstix Matt finished 7th in the 35+, Jeff and Butch got the finger from the official and were pulled with 2 laps to go but still finished 15th and 21st respectively. Butch had a flat on the start, threw a minor temper tantrum, grabbed a demo bike from a shop tent, and kept riding. It was pretty awesome.

The Master's Men race was next. I got a chance to get out and pre-ride in between the races. Um, lets just say it made Fishstix look on-camber. And every uphill off camber turn was littered with acorns. Yay...

So the masters men went off, nothing spectacular happened as far as I know. Mark Legg Compton won. Shocking.

Elite women was dominated by Katie Compton. Surprise.

Elite Men took off and actually had a good race going on. Trebon wins, Wicks second, J-Pow 3rd. Much better race analysis on podium insights, bike clicks, cx magazine etc.

I line up for the fours and again mass start with all ages together. I got a great start and was up at the pointy end of the race for while. Then I hit a giant pot hole and thought I broke my headtube. Then I hit another giant pot hole and did knock my bars loose and they rotated down so I am riding all bent over when on the hoods now. A few people pass me, I pass a few people and we settle in to what little rhythm you could get out there. I can see Christian Amjorn in front of me about 50-75 feet. I try like hell to catch him but just can't reel him in. I finish 50 feet behind him for 11th. Up front Spencer Petrov put in the ride of his life to take the win in the open 4's. Spence, Will Bain, and all 50 of the red zone kids are the #1 reason I am glad I turned 35 this year. Jeff H banged out another win in the 45+. Another race, another RRP podium. We gots quite a streak going on. Congrats Jeff!

Last year this race was dominated by the mud and attrition. This year the course was brutal hard with climbs and loose off camber stuff. I know of at least one collarbone taken out. I was talking to one of the elite women and she told me something like 8 of the elite men either did not take the start or lined up and pulled out immediately upon the whistle going off due to safety concerns. I am not casting judgments on the Darkhorse crew cuz I know most of them and I know they worked their asses off to make this a great race (and it was) but it was the toughest course I have ever raced.

Some pics, I don't have many yet so there may be a pic dump post later in the week.
The proprietor of the best bike blog ever*
making the off camberness look easy.
Above is the obligatory Bob's Red Mill picture. Not sure who it is or what race it is from.
Butch with J-Pow and Trebon, sort of. Lots of pics on Facebook, posiuminsights.com and the UCI3 site. Stay tuned for Sunday report. I am not racing Saturday so check the OVCX sites for reports. If something awesome happens and I learn of it I will post it here.

See ya on Sunday.

Popcorn you're eating has been pissed in, film at 11:00

This is your guest blogger/updater Segal mentioned checking in. Yes, he turned the keys to this jalopy over to this guy for the weekend:
I will try to provide something worth reading in regards to the big UCI3 weekend but if you want real coverage I would suggest cxmagazine.com. I leave you with the race day words of wisdom from Brother Butch: "Ride fast, take chances." See ya'll out there this weekend.

Muhammed Said Knock You Out- UCI Wknd

The Cincy UCI wknd is upon us and Im going to have to count on you folks for updates due to some family commitments. Strangely my youngest was offered a cyclocross race themed birthday party and refused. Must be his friends influence. sigh.
To those of you racing, which seems to be pretty much everyone else, I wish you good luck and some words of wisdom from those that know it best.

From the good Dr Thompson, my favorite and cyclocroissiest quote "buy the ticket, take the ride" , ('cause once youre in it, youre in it to win it right?)

And from a professional athlete to you people, I give the wisdom of the great Kenny Powers
"Fundamentals are the crutch of the talentless"
and also
"I am a bulletproof tiger, man" be that tiger.
Race well and somebody fill this space with something worth reading.
Im your host, and I approve this message even if Rick Sanchez wont.

Fighting Injustice @ Every Turn- Bandman Update, Berto and pics we snubbed people by leaving out.

Okay, doubters and haters and something that rhymes with haters, its coming together. We are just a few weeks away from USGP and today we got some cool pictures of the city's work on the grounds. Grass seed and turf have been laid and we just need some rain in this drought filled fall to make it all work out. Check it out but keep your vandal-ass off the grass until race day so we have something to race on.







Now most of you have read Mr Contadors troubles of late. I just cant resist jumping on the dog pile and posting this link. Sounds like Berts in a bit of a spot. Read that hot mess here. NY Times Outing Bert

And now a few pictures that were neglected. First heres a shot of 3 old men in a park. Im not sure what they're doing. That would be because they finished the race that far ahead of me.


We always put up a Jay-Cz shot for the ladies. If the BRM folks don't use this in a promotion they're missing the boat. Thats a cool picture!

Fishstix, Flameouts and Fun Pictures

What an amzing whirlwind of a weekend. lets set the mood for this one with a little Bad Religion, first. Just push play and the scroll down, the video is not that captivating(although neither is anything else here).



Okay, thats better. I like being in the company of old punks. Its good to have your peeps around. We'll dive into the race analysis momentarily but first tho, a quick thanks to
A Tallgirl for taking and lletting us use her pictures. That woman cant take even the slackest racer(me) and make them look goodish.
B The bc/tl for putting on a fine race and putting up with our constant mockery. If anyone ever read this site it would be different, but since its a large font inside joke amongst just us, we'll keep making fun of doo-wayne and the web-dood. Lets face it, outside of those sites where you can see the pedophiles in your neighborhood, doowaynes not getting a lot of play on the interwebs.
Now, on to making fun of all the peopple who are faster than I am, which would be most of you.

After negotiating our path out to J-Town in deepest nowhereville, we found the park was as rough and tumble as always, but you could see the man-hour that was spent making it more rideable. It ended up being a flowy course that was fast and pretty fun. The off camber was a great high speed clutch and the whoop de doo section leading into the hill was excellent.

I had a decent start by sucking the stickers off of Garneray's wheel and then settled in to my mid-pack pace. a crach in the early lapse(no, I meant to spell it that way) landed a course stake in my cassette. Heres a picture of me happily runnning the barriers just after.


And heres a nice shot of me after the early crash finally caused my wheel to literally come off. Half a lap left, shouldve finished on foot. Ahhh well. The good news was that the legs and lungs are back, although the race-brain hasnt switched itself on. That'll come. I was oddly at peace with the whole thing, having ridden hard and well, just tied up with crashes that slowed me down.


Since we didnt podium, Tallgirl got a nice shot of us on the grass.



The best part of this picture isnt the oddly disturbing smile, but the pissed off look on the rider behind doug. Maybe it was the pink helmet? Im just spitballin here.




The 513's came to party, and party they did as you can see here with Stierwalt and Garneree(im going to mis-spell it differently each time, I think)


Which worked out thusly.


Nice shot with Stierwalt and Griswald on the stairs.

this was Cat 4 open/childrens race win #3 for young Will Bain, I believe its because Debbie keeps bringing the cookies. Thats not some arcane cycling euphemism. His mom can make some cookies. They'll both end up in the ire of the Ohio Sandbagger blogger that called out McShane for "bagging(how you do that while racinig elites I dont get. did he turn down a pro contract we havent heard about?)


The cat 3's didnt fair too badly either, although all of us were embarassed by Seiler's refusal to put down his beer for the podium shot......

sigh. We try so hard, but......
Theres RayRay getting the hole shot. Yes racing he has game. Zack and I are workinig on the other part with him. Check out the face the bc/tl rider is making. that kinda says it all, no?


You see, its not that Butch is photogenic, but you cant not take these pictures. Like a crime scene, but really fast...and bigger than me...hmmm...I mentioned him being a handsome fellow? Okay, lets not mention this to him and hope he doesnt see it.



Webdood put up a rather humbling but addictive link where you can analyse your laps vs all the people that were faster than you. I noticed that even without finishing the race, I still scored some points, so what the hell right? check it out here.

Once again, the funniest thing I heard at the race goes to Rachael Fagerberg, our announceress, as she called the race and called out her husband Eric and his bike the
1. Homewrecker 5000
2. Doghouse 2010
He finished second and immediately dismounted into an apology.
I got into the spirit doing dolla dolla bill hand ups to Little Ring and heckling drjohn, and the other fast guys.
The battle in the elite masters race btw McShane and the guy who won(whos name we dare not speak, and dont really know) was a blast to watch. They were on the rivet and every other lame expression used to describe guys just hauling ass over a technical course. The spectation was fine as it comes.

We had to miss the final race on the card due to my 6 yr olds loss of interest. We're working hard on that. Maybe when he starts racing....hmmmmm.

2 other bits of good news to close with. First, multiple(20) time gold medal winner had this growth biopsied and was told that it could be surgically removed by unzipping his hoodie. Hes resting comfortably and family and friends are all relieved.'



Lastly, with the Iglehearts on the way(they're on the way, right?) the Salsa is about to metamorphosize..meta...fuck it..change into a single speed just in time for the fine folks at the OVCX to have made a SS Mini Series. I LOVE a Mini Series, like Roots, or Salems Lot!! I also really am looking forward to sucking at a whole new discipline of cycling.