Y'know........big weekends aren't all that unusual for this boy, but this last one was XL even for me. I did my first 'cross race of the season on Saturday, the usual mud-n-slop-fest @ Manhattan Park in GR. I love the idea of cyclo-cross....which makes the fact that I suck @ it so much kinda hard to take.I've been outta town and/or injured for the first 3 races in Buddy Rick's KissCross series (www.kisscross.com) and I was lookin' forward to making the last 2. I had no illusions about my fitness and low expectations.I was just hoping that I wouldn't be last or hafta drop out. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in the middle of the pack and enjoying myself once we got the race started. The course was great.......lotsa mud, some boggy single-track, a big downhill that fellow Crazy Bastard MD had broken up w/ a set of switchbacks, a hard-all-Hell run-up on the same hillside that featured a chunks-blowing mudbog @ the top, a little pavement.........6 laps was plenty for Mrs Clark's favorite son to be sure but the bike worked aces, I kept it upright and rolled in 24th outta 40-ish. Fellow HUP-sters Mossimo and Doez were 11th and 30-somthing-ish respectivly, aforementioned Crazy Bastard Dettman was in the top 15 I think and newly-sponsored VCC rider Danielle was 8th overall and 1st woman. I hung 'round for the A race for a bit, watchin' Russ slay all and Nate kick arse in 2nd and hit it for home. I rode in shorts and took the opportunity to conduct an "Embrocation Comparison Test" I had just gotten 2 new kinds of heat cream to try, SportsBalm, which all my West Coast "cross buds swear by and Qoleum, which MD uses and I have comin' in for the shop. I did up one leg w/ each in the hope that I could tell you one was better that the other but........the results were inconclusive. Both were okay, I coulda used a bit more heat but I was okay. More tests!
After a bike-wash session and a rest it was off to the Sandbar in Saugatuck for a Last Call gig. Good night.......great crowd, lotsa friends showed up, we played pretty good, big fun! Made for a l-o-n-g day though, since we played 'til about 1:40AM and it was nearly 3:00 before I got home.
Sunday was the Chilly Chili Ride @ the shop. What a blast! Someone told me they stopped countin' riders @ 70! Big crowd, mebbe the biggest Fun-Raiser ever! Lotsa folks from GR......thanks in part to Danielle and fellow Crazy Bastard Jim talkin' our rides up w/ their buds.Thanks guys! The route was good.....26 miles goin' east from the shop, down PawPaw and around past Ridgepoint and up through Overisel then over to Graafschaap and back in. There were the inevitable splits and different groups but who wants a pack of 70-some riders on the road anyways? There was the typical "We show up for the rides but never set foot in the shop" performance from the Jade crew but that's cool......more food for everyone else.I do wonder what's in it for them, though. There were 11-12 pots of chili and soup waitin' here when we got back, not to mention lotsa brownies, cookies, cornbread and beer courtesy of our friends and neighbors @ The Curragh next door.(Thanks Dave!)Everyone hung out here for a coupla hours, shootin' the shit and talkin' bikes.......it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The next ride is the Pavement Poundin' Pizza Party on the 10th of December. Mark your calendars!
I got a chance to finally debut my glow-in-the-dark dirt road fixxie on the last Crazy Bastard ride last Thursday night in GR.The ride was faster-n-usual but I was able to hang, pretty much anyways. The paint job doesn't actually glow w/ the light of all the high-end headlights on everyone's bikes but it did look cool and all dangerous-like leanin' up against my Jeep before we headed to the Inn for the post-ride repast. I was testing out a new light: the "Joystick" from U.S.E. It's about the size of an El-Mark-o marker, totally self-contained and burned for the 2:15 duration of the ride w/ light to spare. It rocked.
Lotsa other cool stuff happenin' @ the shop........got some sweet Gunnar frames in...Jane's extra-sweet Seven touring bike went home, lookin' all gorgeous-like in natural ti, black and pink...there are lotsa Chrome bags in route...the new shop kit is being produced as we speak...Lee got my Niner s/s finished and I'm gonna get a chance to ride it asap...........Man, bike life is good!
Rememeber, if yawanna get our e-newsletter lemme know at velocity587@hotmail.com and I'll hook ya up. You can always check out www.club-velo.com too for up-to-the-minute scoop on shop happenings.
Later...........MC
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment