KINGS

It was 90 degrees all weekend! What the heck. Horrible cross racing weather. The course was super dusty and dry. Why did I crash? That hurt. Cincinnati is horrible for allergies. Maybe I'm allergic to Cincinnati. It made living horrible. Also, why did I suck both days? Damn near DFL on both days. I felt anemic during the race. Next time I come down here I best be putting the whoop on some people.

On the brighter side of things, the weekend wasn't a total waste. We met a micro-nuclear scientist who had a 'chromed' out Raleigh back home in Myrtle Beach, and I tried I-HOP for the first time in my life.

Great job to both Nate Loman and John Proppe for having made much much bigger dents into the tough competition.

I will not be able to make Stark KSU because of work this weekend. Unfortunately that may put me out of the required 6 races needed to be included in the overall series points. (not that I'm in contention for the top spots) With this weekend out, a dnf at wendy, and doing USGP over the NEOCX series im already out 3.

Keep the rubber side down boys and girls.

Oh, Wendy

Why, must you be so cruel to me? I've raced you three times now and have yet to finish. 3 flats in 3 years.
2 years ago was my first cross race- I made it 500 feet and flatted.
last year I made it about 1/2 way
Today I made it about 2/3s
At the rate I'm going- and according to my calculations being double checked by the Lake Effect Laboratory; by 2013 I should be able to complete a whole race @ Wendy Park without getting a flat.

$65 the past 2 weekends and I get DNFs. I don't know what I did to piss off the cycling gods. I mean, yea I ran Bontrager wheels on my Specialized, and I haven't cut the steertube on my trek yet, but does it really warrant the pain you are causing me?

I plan on being extra nice to the gods this week. I will wash my bikes, wave to every cyclist I see, and try to commute to work almost every day. I need to redeem myself so I can do well at KINGS CX and get PAID! 15 deep.

Besides for getting a flat, the rest of the race sucked for me. I got a bad start, and knew immediately that today wasn't my day. So I guess without the flat I still would have had a bad race at Wendy. Thank God for Melt afterward.

Great Job to Matt Weeks for killing it. and John Proppe for getting some cash for 6th.
Great Job to Team Spin/RR Donnely for putting on a fun race regardless of my bad luck.
And a Get Well Soon to my teammate Robert Sroka for the nasty fall he took.

cross culture

While everyone knows that cyclocross is the most fun sporting enviroment outside of base-ketball, that game where you do the slam dunks in an arena full of trampolines, and american gladiators; I believe some people are forgetting one important aspect.

Yes, I'm sure you know that heckling is a great way to piss off/make your friends smile while their turning their lungs inside out. For example when we were heckling Szabo to death the other day. Right after my very boisterous 'quit playing in the sand- what are you david hasselhoff?' to(which I pat my self on the back for quick thought wittiness). Szabo then preceded to die. Not really, but his leg cramped up and he was in pain. We got alot of dirty looks. But it felt great, knowing that beneath the agony that he was going thru, we helped make his day.

Secondly, everyone knows about beer. It tastes good. Open up a bottle, it may smell like cyclocross. Nothing tastes better after a hard 60 minute effort than a cold beer. Like that delicious Yuengling Mr. Bill Marut was so kind to offer. Nothing has ever tasted better in my life. Know whats better than beer after the race? Beer during the race. Sometime in the history of cyclocross some genius had a great idea to hand-up beer to racers during a race. Thank You to whoever thought of that.

Lastly and most importantly is facial hair. Now, I have been seeing some lack of facial hair at the first local race. Which is understandable, seeing as it is the very beginning of the season, however I hope to see an increase in facial hair participants. I know not everyone can do it, some because of their job, some because it itches, and John Proppe because he hasn't reached puberty yet. But I ask you all to put in a valiant effort.

Get Growing!

journey

I am embarking on a bicycle journey. I need a new bike. No, I want a new bike. No, I need a new bike. As not only an employee of a local bike shop, but a person who's hobby has grown to encompass nearly all parts of his life, I should get a new bike. I had thoughts of a caad10x, then I really, really wanted a Super-X. Then the more I thought about it, I wanted something a little different. For cyclocross racing I want something fun, different, and just plain cool. I will be slowly building up what I see in my eyes as the ultimate cyclocross racing bicycle. I will be documenting the entire build process on this blog. Due date of 2011.