Image By Chris
Chuck Norris doing $2 Fat Tire handups. This is cross.
HUGE thanks go out to SCW, Mr. Kelly, and the fine folks at Indian lakes Resort for the 24 hr party someone called a cyclocross race. I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun I had. I have basically been dreading doign this write-up because there is just too much to cover and I know no one will read it all the way through. Actually after switching to the new site I can’t even tell if anyone is still reading this….if you are – leave a comment! 🙂
This course had everything I like in a cyclocross race. If I had been even remotely on form I would have excelled. Alas as my faithful readers know – I had lost my cross mojo earlier this year. Circus atmosphere for the sake of circus-ness, courses that were little more than a test of your brakes and headsets, epic loses to Bob “the Sponge” Murray (aka “Beverly Bob“), and a split up of one of the coolest crews in cross – those of us who suffered like dogs for top 20 placings in 4b’s all last year, all led to me no longer feeling the cross love.
As I had predicted earlier in the year though as the year has rolled on the “not so faithful” have begun to drop off. A lot of people that dipped their toes into the baptismal waters of cyclocross have decided that burning they felt meant they were too good to indulge in the mayhem. Sinewy faces I recognized from the road have slowly disappeared – replaced by the slightly more rounded faces of the winter peloton. Guys who wouldn’t touch a salad with “full ranch” on it 2 months ago are enjoying an all you can eat cheesecake buffet and handing up bacon, cupcakes, beer and twinkies.
As I mentioned the course was perfect. A ton of wide open hammering. I used every gear I had, and some of them twice. I found a wide sweeper on the backside that let me hammer in the big ring the whole way around and still held perfect traction. It was a big guys paradise….but the skinny guys still won – imagine that. My race was Sooooo uneventful. I hadn’t been ont he bike in literally 2 weeks – outside of a powertest at MJH2’s the previous Saturday. Mrs. P and I had a date night the night before. Needless to sayI was hung over severely in the morning. I was in a hurry so I got nothing to eat or drink before the race. Ugh. I poured in a poor performance but really got geared up by cross again.
After my race I got a chance to watch Debbie Dust (recent PSIMET wheels “rider”) hang a “W” in the women’s race – the first cross victory for PSIMET wheels! Congrats Debbie!
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- Win for Debbie Dust!
Photo: John Wrycza
After attacking the buffet we settled in to watch the 1/2/3 action.? Holy crap – great race.? SRAM Scott has been tearing up everything – this day was no different.? What was exciting was to see Ben Popper and Brian Conant give pursuit.? As a Brian Conant “superfan” (I will for now on consider Conant the Bruce Lee to Simon’s Chuck Norris) I felt it my duty to scream “I LOVE YOU BRIAN CONANT!” every time he went past.? I got a few half grins :).? What made it better was the fact that this was Brian’s 3rd race of the day (that I saw) and he had won the previous 2.? I believe this was Scott and Ben’s only race of the day.? Best moment of the day was when Ben and brian came charging into the first sand pit side-by-side both catching some high air as they bunny hopped into it.? Classic.
From there it was time to make the funny.? It was a blast.? I take the whole “don’t modify the course” thing to heart so we didn’t…..we just kind of leaned on the tape.? Result -?bacon alley.? It was right at the perfect spot where just about everyone was running.? The beer, cupcakes, bacon, twinkies, etc….were all flowing.? It was so loud I had a headache before I had even left the event.? My voice has only now begun to recover.
Me screaming at Lenski to get his butt moving….pretty much sums up the day – Photo:?Liz Farina Markel
So…..next week.? Cross is coming to a close so I just want to have some fun.? I have already been running and doing a tiny bit of core work.? Maybe I won’t totally suck this week.? One of these days someone will convince me to race the 4b’s……hmmm……