We just watched the Zero Traction DVD tonight on a laptop here at my sister's. I can't wait to see it on the big screen! If you were at Cross Nats last year, you have to see this. And show it to your friends who might not believe conditions could really be THAT treacherous. The crashes alone are worth watching.
I spotted quite a few people I know and that you probably do too. You can see Holly K. in the pack after the pavement stretch at the start of her masters race as they enter that mud pit before the bump, for example. I saw some familiar faces on the podium, including Devon, Debbie P. and the Wisconsin juniors. You can spot Devon in some of the racing action, too. I even spotted myself, Renee C. and Dave B. in the background at the top of the stairs spectating. My race was featured but I didn't spot myself - guess that means I was too far back!
Shot in HD, they did a wonderful job of capturing the action and the craziness of the weather that weekend. Big thanks to Keith for getting the DVD here so quickly - in time for me to watch it with my family for the holiday. I wasn't sure my mom would be up for it, but she watched the whole thing, and seemed to be really into it. I'd write more about the DVD, but I am so tired, must get to bed. Besides, I know you are going to see it!
Happy Thanksgiving, all!!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Greetings from Seattle!
I have had all these plans for great blog posts with cool 'cross photos the last few weeks (well, honestly, all summer, too!! I have lots of ideas but not the time/energy to execute them) but there just hasn't been time. Getting the photos up on Flickr takes up most of the time I would have spent on blog posts. I am a slooooow post writer and editor...not just a slow singletracker! (the flickr link is at the end of the post)
This week I am away from home on someone's elses computer without quick and easy access to my photos - so I have a free day but I am not in the right place!
And, I am struggling with how to write a race blog when I have been sitting out the races! It's been really hard to not be racing 'cross and to not be a part of it. I am usually one to do every single race in a series. So this is really difficult for me, although it would have also been very hard extending my season this long after all the traveling and racing I did pretty much every weekend all spring/summer/early fall. I miss being IN the races, though I also really enjoy being there.
I had a camera problem on Sunday at the Woodstock race, so it pains me to say that alot of the pics did not come out well. When I got home, saw them on the monitor and realized how much the problem had affected them, I was crushed. I know alot of people really look forward to seeing their race pics, plus I had promised to take some for the race story. I was also frustrated at my lack of experience and knowledge in this situation.
During the first race I realized that a setting had been changed, probably accidentally by someone playing with the camera last week, or maybe inadvertently by me, who knows? Once I noticed it, I tried to change it back using the way it would have been done on my old camera but that didn't work. I asked several other people with dSLR's and they all would have done it the same way, or else they didn't know. I couldn't tell at the race how much of an effect the problem was having. It turns out that many of the pics came out too dark. I tried different modes during the day so some came out fine and some did not! I was able to figure it out at home later with the manual. I don't have the software, the experience, or the time to try to fix each pic, unfortunately.
Not only do I have a lot to learn, but I don't know the extent of what there is to learn!!
That being said, if you haven't already found your way to my Flickr and thought "what happened?", here is a link to the "sets" page and you can see the Woodstock sets at the top. I find that on this laptop I am using, the brightness is turned way up so most of the pics look much better than they did at home. I got the 11:00, 12:00, 1:00 and some of the 2:15 and just a couple of the 3:00 races.
Woodstock Cross #9 sets
Also, congrats on some great results! I didn't see the Masters race but I heard Tim Boundy won the 40+, congrats Tim! And congrats to Lou on his 30+ win!!(originally I had a typo that said Tim won the 30+, I meant the 40+) Congrats to June and Holly K. on 1st and 2nd, and congrats to Mike Sherer and Scott on 1st and 2nd in the Men's 1/2/3 race. Mike was just flying out there! Kevin K. went out strong but got a flat early in the race, which dropped him into last place. After getting a wheel that didn't have enough pressure to really push it, he battled back to regain many places. Congrats on making the best of a tough situation. So many others were riding well that I haven't mentioned - you guys made the race fun to watch. Not to mention the beer and hot dog handups, and later on the dollar handups -those add such a festive air to the race, what would we do without them? It's like two races in one, running simultaneously yet entertwined, the "real" race, and the "fun" race!!
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention Julie P.'s second appearance in a local cross race. Usually Julie is busy being support crew for Ben on the national race circuit, but she made a rare appearance at the ChiCrossCup on Sunday. And she came up with a funny but apt name for what happens when one wears too-small leg warmers - "thigh boobs" - new word for the cycling lexicon!
I'm hoping to head out to Jingle Cross Saturday if I have energy left when I get back from my Thanksgiving trip. I'm visiting my sister, nephew, and brother-in-law in Seattle. It's a very gray, chilly day - I want to get outside but it's not too tempting at the moment! There is a lake just a couple of blocks away which would make a great hour walk - going around the lake.
This week I am away from home on someone's elses computer without quick and easy access to my photos - so I have a free day but I am not in the right place!
And, I am struggling with how to write a race blog when I have been sitting out the races! It's been really hard to not be racing 'cross and to not be a part of it. I am usually one to do every single race in a series. So this is really difficult for me, although it would have also been very hard extending my season this long after all the traveling and racing I did pretty much every weekend all spring/summer/early fall. I miss being IN the races, though I also really enjoy being there.
I had a camera problem on Sunday at the Woodstock race, so it pains me to say that alot of the pics did not come out well. When I got home, saw them on the monitor and realized how much the problem had affected them, I was crushed. I know alot of people really look forward to seeing their race pics, plus I had promised to take some for the race story. I was also frustrated at my lack of experience and knowledge in this situation.
During the first race I realized that a setting had been changed, probably accidentally by someone playing with the camera last week, or maybe inadvertently by me, who knows? Once I noticed it, I tried to change it back using the way it would have been done on my old camera but that didn't work. I asked several other people with dSLR's and they all would have done it the same way, or else they didn't know. I couldn't tell at the race how much of an effect the problem was having. It turns out that many of the pics came out too dark. I tried different modes during the day so some came out fine and some did not! I was able to figure it out at home later with the manual. I don't have the software, the experience, or the time to try to fix each pic, unfortunately.
Not only do I have a lot to learn, but I don't know the extent of what there is to learn!!
That being said, if you haven't already found your way to my Flickr and thought "what happened?", here is a link to the "sets" page and you can see the Woodstock sets at the top. I find that on this laptop I am using, the brightness is turned way up so most of the pics look much better than they did at home. I got the 11:00, 12:00, 1:00 and some of the 2:15 and just a couple of the 3:00 races.
Woodstock Cross #9 sets
Also, congrats on some great results! I didn't see the Masters race but I heard Tim Boundy won the 40+, congrats Tim! And congrats to Lou on his 30+ win!!(originally I had a typo that said Tim won the 30+, I meant the 40+) Congrats to June and Holly K. on 1st and 2nd, and congrats to Mike Sherer and Scott on 1st and 2nd in the Men's 1/2/3 race. Mike was just flying out there! Kevin K. went out strong but got a flat early in the race, which dropped him into last place. After getting a wheel that didn't have enough pressure to really push it, he battled back to regain many places. Congrats on making the best of a tough situation. So many others were riding well that I haven't mentioned - you guys made the race fun to watch. Not to mention the beer and hot dog handups, and later on the dollar handups -those add such a festive air to the race, what would we do without them? It's like two races in one, running simultaneously yet entertwined, the "real" race, and the "fun" race!!
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention Julie P.'s second appearance in a local cross race. Usually Julie is busy being support crew for Ben on the national race circuit, but she made a rare appearance at the ChiCrossCup on Sunday. And she came up with a funny but apt name for what happens when one wears too-small leg warmers - "thigh boobs" - new word for the cycling lexicon!
I'm hoping to head out to Jingle Cross Saturday if I have energy left when I get back from my Thanksgiving trip. I'm visiting my sister, nephew, and brother-in-law in Seattle. It's a very gray, chilly day - I want to get outside but it's not too tempting at the moment! There is a lake just a couple of blocks away which would make a great hour walk - going around the lake.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Like Frozen Corduroy
"Riding those ruts was like riding over frozen corduroy. It was hard to keep going straight." Tim Johnson, in "9 Ball Diaries", in reference to the course at 2007 Cross Nats in KC. I like that description (and the visual of a course made of frozen corduroy). It was so true.
Hmmm, you'd never guess who fired up their brand new DVD tonight (Thursday) when they should have been preparing for having lunch with their team sponsor.... just couldn't resist....Thanks, Lou, for saving me a copy! I signed up online tonight for a copy of Zero Traction, too!
Hmmm, you'd never guess who fired up their brand new DVD tonight (Thursday) when they should have been preparing for having lunch with their team sponsor.... just couldn't resist....Thanks, Lou, for saving me a copy! I signed up online tonight for a copy of Zero Traction, too!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Photo Slide Show from Lansing
Here is a photo show from Lansing by various photographers on Truesport, along with an article. Holly, Scott M. and John G. are all in the pics. I would guess the same pics and article will be on VeloNews, cycling news, CX mag, etc. later on.
The Sandpit - making them work for their primes....
Missed the sandpit action on Sunday? Left before the fun part? Here's your chance to see some of what you missed, including Mike of Killjoy doing dollar bill hand ups (hand-downs?) from a chair in the middle of the pit...
Monday, November 17, 2008
Lansing Cross
Someone referred to it as a dirt crit... I guess that's an apt description. I probably would have done ok in this race, had I done it. Except for the sand pit. That's a whole 'nother thing....
This race had collegiate categories, which added some new faces to some of the races. Fast ones, in some cases. Lindsay Wilson College in Kentucky had the biggest collegiate presence - they pulled up in a big white van with a big trailer. It's nice to see a college that supports their racing team like that. Hopefully someday there will be more.
Congrats to Scott "McSram" on winning the Cat 1/2 men AND on winning the Wisconsin cross race on Saturday. Back to back wins! (and thanks for the ride to the race, too) Congrats to Kevin Klug for second place at Lansing. Both of them were riding super strong and had great rides. And congrats to Holly Klug on her WIN in the Cat 1/2/3 women's race, as well as a second place in the Whitewater, WI race Saturday!
Hopefully more later, including the dollars in the sand pit! and some pics! come back later.
The pics are not as good this week, but here they are:
Cat 1/2/3 women and 3's
Cat 4 women, Collegiate women, and Juniors
Cat 1/2 and Collegiate A men
Cat 4a's and the start of Cat 4b's (dollar bill snatching, enthusiastic hecklers and snowflakes in the sand pit found here)
This race had collegiate categories, which added some new faces to some of the races. Fast ones, in some cases. Lindsay Wilson College in Kentucky had the biggest collegiate presence - they pulled up in a big white van with a big trailer. It's nice to see a college that supports their racing team like that. Hopefully someday there will be more.
Congrats to Scott "McSram" on winning the Cat 1/2 men AND on winning the Wisconsin cross race on Saturday. Back to back wins! (and thanks for the ride to the race, too) Congrats to Kevin Klug for second place at Lansing. Both of them were riding super strong and had great rides. And congrats to Holly Klug on her WIN in the Cat 1/2/3 women's race, as well as a second place in the Whitewater, WI race Saturday!
Hopefully more later, including the dollars in the sand pit! and some pics! come back later.
The pics are not as good this week, but here they are:
Cat 1/2/3 women and 3's
Cat 4 women, Collegiate women, and Juniors
Cat 1/2 and Collegiate A men
Cat 4a's and the start of Cat 4b's (dollar bill snatching, enthusiastic hecklers and snowflakes in the sand pit found here)
"Meh" becomes a real word
The dictionary editors in Britain are excited enough about the expression of boredom "meh", that they have put it in their dictionary. whatever. meh.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
More Cowbell
'Cross is such an awesome spectator sport... and some people have spectating down to an art....John and his buddies have a warm and comfy spot right in the middle of the course.
Wait a minute, maybe spectating 'cross is a sport itself? It's even got GEAR! Check out that cowbell on steroids! And the megaphone (yes, there is a fourth person under there), and the water bottle and the Other Beverage. Plus blankets, sofa, etc. These are guys that take their spectating seriously.
Giant Cowbell!!
Wait a minute, maybe spectating 'cross is a sport itself? It's even got GEAR! Check out that cowbell on steroids! And the megaphone (yes, there is a fourth person under there), and the water bottle and the Other Beverage. Plus blankets, sofa, etc. These are guys that take their spectating seriously.
Giant Cowbell!!
Lost: One Olympic Dream
Ever wonder what happened to Sue Haywood's case against USA Cycling in the DVD "Off Road to Athens? Yesterday Velo-News gave us an update. A federal jury awarded Sue $300,000 in damages for the loss of her Olympic dream!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Northbrook Chi Cross Cup Pics
Much of Boulder Cup Day 1 is up on Flickr, I will be doing the rest as the week goes on.
Northbrook "Save Ferris" cross is up. The races I was there for include:
Cat 1/2/3 women, Cat 3 men, and 50+
Cat 4 women and Juniors
Cat 1/2 men
Cat 4a men
Cat 4b and crashes at dusk. This set turned out to be really dark due to the fading light, but there are some crashes in this one.
I missed alot of potentially good pics, especially during the Cat 1/2's where you guys were so close together. My flash took a long time to cycle after each pic.
The pile-up below took place during the Cat 4b's race. There was a really muddy turn in the "bowl" after the stair run up and people kept going down in the same spot, over and over.
Northbrook "Save Ferris" cross is up. The races I was there for include:
Cat 1/2/3 women, Cat 3 men, and 50+
Cat 4 women and Juniors
Cat 1/2 men
Cat 4a men
Cat 4b and crashes at dusk. This set turned out to be really dark due to the fading light, but there are some crashes in this one.
I missed alot of potentially good pics, especially during the Cat 1/2's where you guys were so close together. My flash took a long time to cycle after each pic.
The pile-up below took place during the Cat 4b's race. There was a really muddy turn in the "bowl" after the stair run up and people kept going down in the same spot, over and over.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Iceman Cometh this weekend, and Boulder Cup
Good Luck to everyone racing at Iceman this weekend! And especially good luck to all the people representing WORS in the Midwest Regional Mountain Bike Championships! Maybe see ya there.
I haven't had time to go download all my Boulder Cup pics to my computer or upload them to Flickr, but I do have a little prototype action from Day 2 and a little finish line action from Day 1 at Boulder Reservoir below!
Todd Wells was able to get enough of a gap on Ryan
Trebon at the end that he had his hands up in the air long before the finish line. Now that's confidence.
Georgia Gould was so far in front of the other elite women she must have felt like she was in her own race.
Racing legend Travis Brown showed up with a furry face. This is him on Sunday. I looked right at him last Saturday and didn't recognize him at first. I had heard someone saying he had a furry beard so I figured it out, but what a great way to go stealth, but yet not, the day after Halloween, wearing black (on Saturday) and sporting a beard. That beard will be a great thing to have when he races at Iceman, which is likely to be cold and wet on Saturday. See below for his prototype cross bike.
Above and below is Travis Brown's prototype belt-driven Trek XO Singlespeed. I believe there is something special about the rear hub, as well, but I don't remember exactly what he said about it. You can tell I don't know much about singlespeeds.
I haven't had time to go download all my Boulder Cup pics to my computer or upload them to Flickr, but I do have a little prototype action from Day 2 and a little finish line action from Day 1 at Boulder Reservoir below!
Todd Wells was able to get enough of a gap on Ryan Trebon at the end that he had his hands up in the air long before the finish line. Now that's confidence.
Georgia Gould was so far in front of the other elite women she must have felt like she was in her own race. 
Racing legend Travis Brown showed up with a furry face. This is him on Sunday. I looked right at him last Saturday and didn't recognize him at first. I had heard someone saying he had a furry beard so I figured it out, but what a great way to go stealth, but yet not, the day after Halloween, wearing black (on Saturday) and sporting a beard. That beard will be a great thing to have when he races at Iceman, which is likely to be cold and wet on Saturday. See below for his prototype cross bike. 
Above and below is Travis Brown's prototype belt-driven Trek XO Singlespeed. I believe there is something special about the rear hub, as well, but I don't remember exactly what he said about it. You can tell I don't know much about singlespeeds.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Happy Belated Halloween!
It's been a busy week and I haven't had much time online, with the traveling etc.. But I was excited to notice the link to one of my Milwaukee Halloween pics on Chicago Bike Racing! Thanks, Luke! Thanks to Sheri for spotting the same pic on Bike Snob NYC's blog. I read the email about Bike Snob NYC on my phone a while before I could get to a real computer, so there was some suspense involved as to what exactly was on there! I was pretty excited to see that pic up there, even if it was because it depicted something Bike Snob thinks is really stupid. It made for an interesting pic, regardless. It's way more rewarding taking the pics and making the time and effort to put them online when you find out that people are actually seeing them, and (hopefully) enjoying them... and in at least one case, even making fun of them.
Tonight (Friday, Halloween) we ate outside at Boulder Cafe and watched all the Halloween revelers strolling up and down Pearl Street Mall. This is the most it's felt like Halloween to me in years. So many costumes, some of them run-of-the-mill, some of them "why didn't I think of that?" The best shoes were the pimp's leopard print platforms with the goldfish floating in the heel. Actually, pimp and ho' seemed to be one of the most popular his n' her costumes strutting around tonight....Tawnya was on her way in from Leadville to work the race tomorrow. She was going to come hang but had to get up super early, so she just stopped her car in the median, put her blinkers on, and came and talked to us for a few minutes. I'll see her at the race tomorrow and Sunday, and a bunch of us are going out after the race tomorrow night.
Today was the perfect day weather wise, for this time of year. It must have been about 80 in the sun and I was able to walk around in a t-shirt. I stopped in Pro Peloton on my way to the grocery store, and found a pair of Craft wooly socks for half off. And I got to be a geeky superfan. While I was in the store JHK (of "Off Road to Athens" fame) and his wife Heather came in to for a repair, in full kit. The kit was the tip-off, I might not have noticed them otherwise. The store guy was nice enough to introduce me to them and we ended up talking about WORS and Iceman and Chequamegon and some peeps we know in common. Heather is racing at Boulder Cup and they both are doing Iceman next weekend, I think. I knew Heather said she for sure is. They both said they love the point to point races like Chequamegon and Iceman. It sounds like they are looking forward to Iceman. They were super friendly and fun to talk to. Maybe some of you have met them before at Iceman or Chequamegon.
I was supposed to be going to the store to get Halloween candy for any kids that might stop by my friend's place that afternoon. She had a work report due and was busy. But, it being Boulder, there wasn't any "real" bad-for-you "rot your teeth out of your head while raising your blood sugar" candy to be found within walking distance. None at Whole Foods (employees confirmed that they are not allowed to sell such things) and none at the drugstore (if there is such a thing as a "spa-like" drugstore, this one would qualify.) I just wanted a bag of bite size Snickers! No such luck. At the drugstore I bought some "healthy" fake M&M's in small bags (which I happen to like) and some wrapped boutique-y milk chocolate foil-wrapped monsters.
Later I went to breadworks (near vic's) and got a late lunch and sat outside at the tables for a couple of hours watching the various late lunch eaters, then the kids and parents going to the various stores trick or treating. I'm pretty sure the Dopers Suck guy was on the phone at another table for a short time - a friend used to work with him - I met him once. Later we went for a hike. You can walk to the trails from my friend's house - a huge perk of being in this part of town.
Good luck to everyone at ChiCross Cup Sunday in St. Charles!!
Tonight (Friday, Halloween) we ate outside at Boulder Cafe and watched all the Halloween revelers strolling up and down Pearl Street Mall. This is the most it's felt like Halloween to me in years. So many costumes, some of them run-of-the-mill, some of them "why didn't I think of that?" The best shoes were the pimp's leopard print platforms with the goldfish floating in the heel. Actually, pimp and ho' seemed to be one of the most popular his n' her costumes strutting around tonight....Tawnya was on her way in from Leadville to work the race tomorrow. She was going to come hang but had to get up super early, so she just stopped her car in the median, put her blinkers on, and came and talked to us for a few minutes. I'll see her at the race tomorrow and Sunday, and a bunch of us are going out after the race tomorrow night.
Today was the perfect day weather wise, for this time of year. It must have been about 80 in the sun and I was able to walk around in a t-shirt. I stopped in Pro Peloton on my way to the grocery store, and found a pair of Craft wooly socks for half off. And I got to be a geeky superfan. While I was in the store JHK (of "Off Road to Athens" fame) and his wife Heather came in to for a repair, in full kit. The kit was the tip-off, I might not have noticed them otherwise. The store guy was nice enough to introduce me to them and we ended up talking about WORS and Iceman and Chequamegon and some peeps we know in common. Heather is racing at Boulder Cup and they both are doing Iceman next weekend, I think. I knew Heather said she for sure is. They both said they love the point to point races like Chequamegon and Iceman. It sounds like they are looking forward to Iceman. They were super friendly and fun to talk to. Maybe some of you have met them before at Iceman or Chequamegon.
I was supposed to be going to the store to get Halloween candy for any kids that might stop by my friend's place that afternoon. She had a work report due and was busy. But, it being Boulder, there wasn't any "real" bad-for-you "rot your teeth out of your head while raising your blood sugar" candy to be found within walking distance. None at Whole Foods (employees confirmed that they are not allowed to sell such things) and none at the drugstore (if there is such a thing as a "spa-like" drugstore, this one would qualify.) I just wanted a bag of bite size Snickers! No such luck. At the drugstore I bought some "healthy" fake M&M's in small bags (which I happen to like) and some wrapped boutique-y milk chocolate foil-wrapped monsters.
Later I went to breadworks (near vic's) and got a late lunch and sat outside at the tables for a couple of hours watching the various late lunch eaters, then the kids and parents going to the various stores trick or treating. I'm pretty sure the Dopers Suck guy was on the phone at another table for a short time - a friend used to work with him - I met him once. Later we went for a hike. You can walk to the trails from my friend's house - a huge perk of being in this part of town.
Good luck to everyone at ChiCross Cup Sunday in St. Charles!!
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