Surreality

What a weird-feeling week it is turning out to be. Especially today. A 40 degree drop in temperature! Tonight I made it to Home Depot, finally. I was in there for much longer than I expected. It was getting a little colder when I went in, but I left my hat and gloves in the car, thinking that I didn't want to carry them around. Later, when I walked out a few minutes before they closed, there was a blizzard outside! Literally! The snow was blowing sideways at like 60 mph (well, not quite)!! The most surreal thing was, the snow was so bad that I had no idea where I was. I felt totally disoriented. I didn't recognize anything, and I had no idea where I was parked. It just seemed like I was in another world. I couldn't even see where to go to get out of the parking lot once I blew across the lot into the car. Everything was white and the wind was whooshing and I couldn't even see Mt. Trashmore and the park across the street. Once out on the street I still saw white and more white. I could not tell where the yellow line was. When I caught a glimpse of it peeking out I realized I was halfway into the other lane, oops!

I went to do some looking and research for some renovation and ended up with an informal lesson from the sales guy, based on his experience. ( I like learning this kind of stuff. ) This was in the bath department. Besides finding out what the best brands of faucets they carry are, in his opinion, I also found out which faucet styles guys choose and which ones they hate, as well as which ones women prefer. I found out what faucet the sales guy always shows moms with kids. (single handle, he says) I found out which granite vanity top colors men like, which one women always choose but men never do, which one old ladies like, and which one no one ever buys! As well as which one couples agree on as a compromise. Men prefer cabinets with knobs. Women go for handles, and drawers are a big plus. Light colors for women, dark for men. Men supposedly will tolerate a less than manly countertop and vanity if they like the faucet. Litttle old ladies like vanities with legs, so that they can clean underneath. I found out what vanities are likely to come apart and get moldy if they are right next to the shower. I pointed out that the bathroom cabinetry line that the guy said was real wood really wasn't. He hadn't realized that. Hmmm. Maybe he's not the Professor of the Bath.

I didn't realize how much bathroom trends have changed, I don't normally pay attention to that stuff. Some of the newer style sinks and cabinets are really cool looking, but not always so practical! Alot of the trendy vessel sinks don't have an overflow hole, for one thing. And the design of it really limits your counter space. I saw a really cool hammered copper vessel sink that the salespeople have nicknamed the "armadillo sink". Cuz it looks like it has scales, I guess. His impression is that alot of his customers were buying for rental apartments. The people buying for their own home spend alot more time making decisions, going to lots of different places, and might come back to the store 4 times before they decide on everything.

The bad thing is I had every intention of going straight to the gym from Home Depot - but I made the mistake of stopping at home. I never made it to the gym, unusual for me. I try to go every day, except on days that I get out for a ride.

Other out of the ordinary things - in the space of two days I got a request from a friend to photograph her artwork, and an offer from another friend to join the business that she is thinking about starting. I have been told that when your life isn't going the way you had planned (for example, being injured and having to change your focus on racing), other things present themselves. But sometimes people are too stubborn to recognize those things and take a different path.... As I said that I was not qualified for the photo job and didn't have the right equipment, and as I said I wasn't sure I had time to get involved in a new business, I wondered if these were things that were supposed to lead me in a new direction.... new-agey as that sounds.....

As for last weekend, I got to get out and play in the snow twice before the big melt. Saturday was 2 hours of snowshoeing in a lakefront park and on the beach, and Sunday was x-c skiing for 2.5 hours in the same place. I hadn't x-c skiied in years and years - I felt super ackward on my new skiis! I have had them for a while but didn't get to try them out last year. Different type of boots, bindings, and skinnier skiis, than I used to have. The old ones had metal edges and were wide for backcountry trailbreaking. I will miss that, but I won't miss waxing!! The new ones are waxless and I will probably use them a lot more because I can just grab them and go. If we get enough snow, that is. The boots are Rossignol and have zippers, which I could barely zip once they hit the ankle. Really a struggle. I know for sure that I am not ready to go skiing somewhere like Kettle that's really hilly. I have memories of struggling uphill at Kettle and being out of control on the downhills trying to turn at the bottom and miss trees!


Those crazy snowshoers....

Your next bike?

For you singlespeeders, here is your next bike!

Cool Hunting - Puma Bicycle and World Bicycle Relief

I get an email newsletter called Cool Hunting Daily about what's new and cool. I opened the January 25th issue, and the first thing I saw was an article about a new Puma urban mobility bike (customized by an artist) that they are auctioning off on Ebay to benefit World Bicycle Relief. Pretty cool.

Also, congrats to Julie on the great profile of her recent accomplishments on the Chicago Bike Racing site Friday.

(Regarding Pam spray to prevent mud from sticking, mentioned in Julie's interview, there was a also product for a while called Mud-Off that was meant to do the same thing. Does anyone remember it? I won a big spray bottle of it once at a race, which I think I still have. I carried a can of Pam to some of the races this year, but forgot to use it when it would have helped the most!)

And, thanks to Ben for his Friday blog link to a fun bike video that had me laughing every time I watched it. I sent it out to a bunch of non-blog readers and alot of them liked it too. Even if you have already seen it, watch it again and smile.

Is Blue the New Green?

An article in the Chicago Tribune's Tempo section (print edition, Thursday 1/24) discusses whether or not blue is going to overtake green as the environmental movement's new hue. A trendspotter is quoted as saying that "green is used up, played out and weighed down by associations with the "beards and sandals" activists of yesteryear." Blue, on the other hand, strikes her as fresh, distinctive and relevant.

On a different note, a friend sent me a link to a video of a police motorcycle contest. Even if you don't ride a motorcycle, you have to appreciate this guy's handling skills! I don't think he knocked over a single cone. The Police Harley he is riding probably weighs 800 lbs, but he makes it look much lighter. I had to watch this one a couple of times. (Good thing they don't use that course for the license test.) It'd be interesting to see how he'd do out on the trail on an mtb, if he had the fitness to go with the skills.

I ran across an ad for the the Police Bike Store when I googled "police Harley", looking for a pic. This site sells police bicycles and accessories. It's a whole world that I have never thought much about. Check out the police bike lights, complete with sirens! They also sell a Fuji helmet with an integrated lighting system. I wonder why there isn't a commuter version of that on the market - maybe there is? Too heavy?

Cycling on ESPN

There's a long feature on Slipstream on espn.com. Complete with witty comments from Dave Zabriskie. They are profiling Jonathan Vaughter's efforts to have a successful "clean team".

Fore

I am not a golfer. I imagine most readers aren't either. But I read that this is really fun and addictive, so I had to pass it along for those of you who need one more computer time-waster! It's called World Golf Tour. It works in a browser - you don't have to download anything. Supposedly you can play with your friends. I only have tried the tutorial. Check it out, if for no other reason than to see some refreshing greenness and sunlight on one of the coldest days of the year. You can even hear the birds chirp.

You are what you Eat

You can be one too.


(I found this link blogsurfing. M and M's are long time friends of mine!)

Like Pulling Teeth

I might have a chance to sell some stuff at a friend's table at the bike swap this weekend. I have always had a hard time parting with bike stuff, I always think I might need it. I haven't taken the time necessary to get organized and sell stuff in the past. And bikes are just hard to part with, period!! If I go to the swap it's a chance to start getting rid of stuff I thought I would use but haven't.

I have never sold anything at a swap or on ebay, and I am wondering which way would bring a better price? Most of the stuff I would sell is in brand new condition, but older, except for a few used things like suspension forks and saddles. I have used parts, too, but I really don't have time between now and Saturday to dig them out and get them cleaned up and ready to sell.

An example would be top of the line road racing clinchers that are older, but brand new in the box. If they retailed for $60ish, what can I get for them? Would I do better on Ebay or at the Swap? Craigslist? What about a set of older, but never used, shimano road racing wheels? I'm not sure if I should just keep them if I can't get a decent price, and have extra wheels. But that's the logic I have always used, leading to a crowded basement ... and mavic is working really well for me right now.

How does clothing do at a swap? Mostly new stuff that didn't fit and couldn't be returned. Are people only interested in parts or is it worth it to bring a few pieces of clothing?

At a swap, do most people have only a price on the sign, or do they add an "or best offer" on their sign?

For a whole bike, is a swap better or ebay? If it's a nice bike that might have some fans, I would think more people would see it on ebay.

There is so much stuff I dont know any more. I miss hanging out at a shop and learning from everyone there.

It boils down to, what is the best way to sell bike stuff? is it worth it to make the effort to go through everything and take some of it to the swap? The timing is not the best for me, I have other things I should be doing.

if anyone has experience with this, any comments or suggestions would be helpful!

Maybe if I do sell some stuff I can get one of those cordless inflators Julie saw in her mechanic's class. Oh, wait, that would be getting more stuff!

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to Holly K.!

Congratulations

Congrats to Ben and Julie on their engagement!!

Happy New Year!

Remembering

Columnist Julie Deardorf has an article in the Q section (page 6) of the Chicago Tribune print edition today (Sunday) in rememberance of regional athletes who died in the past year. She mentions both Beth and Pieter of XXX-Athletico racing, who each died racing their bikes in 2007.

Watch this

I just got an email telling me to watch this video before it gets pulled from YouTube. I have not heard about this before, and I don't know how much truth there is to it, but it's worth watching.

It's the little things....

Like finally finding the seat pack tonight (Thurs.) that I thought I had lost at cx nationals. I couldn't figure out how I had lost it, but since it wasn't turning up anywhere I figured I must have lost it when I took it off the bike to race. I'm so glad not to have to replace the stuff that was inside, including a nice Pearl Izumi super lightweight wind vest. Now if I could just find the gloves that I misplaced on Christmas evening!

Also like the day after getting home from Nats getting a box in the mail with my new brown Fisher sweater inside! I got a large back in September because that was all they had, but it was too big. So I have been waiting for a medium.

I thought I would have lots of time this week to get stuff done, since all of my family was away except for me. It didn't work out that way at all. Which is ok, I enjoyed the Christmas meals I went to alot, but I still am behind. And I have had some wierd stomach flu-like thing. Have been feeling nauseous with stomach aches, ugh. I did get out for a ride on Christmas and Wednesday - the fresh air helped a little.

One project is figuring out how to use the digital photo frame I got my mom. I got the the one with the most memory and features, so I am hoping things go smoothly getting it loaded up with pics and working.

I tried to get a Wii, but I missed the order deadline. The store (Gamestop) had stopped taking prepaid orders the day before - they had gotten a store-wide email telling them to stop taking orders. They didn't even fill all their order slots because most people needed them before Christmas. I was mad at myself because I could have gone to the store Sunday had I known it only lasted a couple of days. They said it was the only time Nintendo had ever taken orders for them and that it wasn't likely to happen again. I asked if they could try to put my order through but the computer wouldn't take it.

I have spent way too much time and money at Best Buy in the last week. Christmas shopping is dangerous for me because I see all these things I normally wouldn't see when I am busy riding every day and going to races every weekend.

I stopped at the local snowboard/skate shop to look for stuff for my nephew. They didn't have that much stuff in stock for little kids, but I found some things. I saw one of these. Rachael has the women's version (different color scheme), and I thought it was really cool when I saw it on her. They only had one left in little kid sizes, and it's probably too big, but I had to get it. I hope he likes it. It has little monsters all over it!


Roller Coaster is having a reunion gig on Friday night in Wicker Park (today by the time you read this - it's late Thursday night now). I'm looking forward to it. I will get to see a lot of the old bike racing gang that I don't see much any more. Many of them have moved away, and many of the ones that still live here are no longer racing much, if at all. Some are back in town for the holidays. Sounds like a group of us are going out to dinner beforehand, can't wait.

Finally, the Elite Men.

Finally, I have a chance (by staying up really late) to post some pics of the Elite Men at CX Nationals.

Below is Tim Johnson, about to cross the finish line in first place!

Jonathan Page is rounding the corner (below). He and Tim Johnson were in an intense battle for first place. He ended up second. Notice how bundled up everyone is (except apparently, Page's hand, brrr). Lots of spectators were wearing coveralls, mostly brown Carhartts, to stay warm and un-muddy. This pic is worth it just for the hot pink coveralls in the background. I think Holly needs a pair of these with skulls on them!

Todd Wells, who came in third, is on one of his last laps in this pic. The riders hit this part of the course shortly after the start. While I have better pics of Todd, I thought this one gave you a good view of the park and the pond.

Tristan came in eight place. Congrats Tristan, great finish! That corner had to be a lot harder with people dabbing right in front of you and following inches behind you.

Ooops! Not everyone made it around the corner. This happened to people all over the course, all weekend long! This guy apparently isn't a fan of gloves, either.

Kevin was looking really strong and then all of a sudden he disappeared! Turns out he had bad flat karma that day, as you can see.

Ben had a terrible starting position due to his last minute upgrade (congrats!) to Cat 1. In spite of that, he raced very well and had lots of fun!

Marko LaLonde raced the elite race for his second race of the day, after winning the singlespeed race at 8 freezin'o'clock in the morning! You can see Kevin behind him here.

Alister is another local racer who tackled the elite race after racing the collegiate race earlier. Snow on the front tire here, mud everywhere else.


More pics here.

Merry Christmas!!

Fast Company

Holly has some very fast company in a cyclingnews.com gallery from the women's elite race at Cross Nationals last Sunday!!!

U23 Champs Video

Here is Bjorn Selander winning the U23 National Champs, beating Jamie Driscoll at the line. Besides making you seasick (you'll see what I mean), it gives you a good idea of the conditions all the riders faced on Saturday.

Ouch!

Thanks to Lou, here is Ryan T's crash. It is sad to watch his hopes crushed in a brief moment. This explains why we didn't see him on the podium Sunday.

Tough Girls

I was so impressed with Holly (above) for sticking it out in the brutal elite race, even though her hand was hurting from two encounters with a post on Friday. Go Holly!
Devon, winner of most area races this year, just keeps going and going...
Jen G. at the top of the stairs.
Kristin W. seems right at home here.
I think that's Sam under that balaclava!

These pics are from the women's elite race Sunday. Our regional women rock! Men will come later. These aren't as sharp as they should be, probably cuz I took multiple shots all the way up the stairs. I need to work on that. And I am sorry to say, I didn't get all of the area women this weekend. Due to the timing of my race, I didn't get any pics of the women racing on Friday afternoon. Check Madcross.org, which will have more, which will be better quality as well.

See a mud tutorial below.

The short version of my race day in pictures

The really short, short version: Survival. it was all about survival.


There was ice on everything, even the grass sticking out of the snow had ice on it! I love this pic.


There were two sets of super-slippery muddy stairs like this. The mud at the bottom of this one was like quicksand, each time it tried to suck my left shoe right off my foot! I don't know how people like this woman found the energy to shoulder their bikes up this, I sure didn't! (this is not me in the pic) This is one of many types of mud we experienced on Friday.


This is another type of mud found on the course. Wet, goopy mud. This is the last race of the day, a master's men's race.


And here the mud had turned into giant puddles! Splat! This is the same master's men's race at the end of the day.

I don't seem to have a photo of the mud that looked like rutted muddy mud but was really rutted frozen mud. That is probably good because the person in the photo would probably be lying on the ground after being bucked off their bike.

The shoes I raced in. I decided to wear my Lake winter shoes instead of my regular Sidis for various reasons, including cold, mud, and ankle support running and pushing in the treacherous frozen mud ruts. (My front wheel bumped against them alot as it flopped around in the mud, which affected my handling, so they might not have been the best choice from that standpoint.) They kept my feet dry in the puddles. I almost lost one before the stairs!!

The shoes I spectated in later that day. The tops are clean only because my pants covered them. The first few inches of the pants are covered in mud, as well. My toes froze even with toe warmers, so I switched to warmer shoes the rest of the weekend.

Time to hit the Road

It's been a fun weekend. The crazy conditions, constantly changing hour by hour, made for some challenging racing and some very interesting spectating. I don't have nearly as many photos as I had planned, mainly due to the cold, but I will get them up when I get home. It was really nice to have so many people from home to hang with throughout the weekend.

Yesterday made for an exciting day of racing! Congrats to Marko Lalonde for his stellar win in the early morning (frozen!) singlespeed race! Travis Brown, always a strong contender, got second. In the men's elite race, the intense battle between Johnson and Page ended in Johnson taking the win, with Wells in third. In the women's race Katie Compton won, of course, but Rachel Lloyd kept things interesting in her battle for second. Congrats to our area collegiate racers Devon Haskell (4th overall, and possibly 1st in her division. I am told they may have put U of C in the wrong division), Mike Sherer, and others, who did very well in the collegiate events.

It was fun to watch so many of our Il/WI racers in the elite races. I am not going to list them all now, I need to hit the road.

At breakfast this morning I heard that people were teasing last year's elite champ Ryan T. by calling him Ryan Tre-Boo-Hoo, because he gets so upset when he doesn't win. He crashed out of the elite race yesterday when someone hit him head-on when they broke the tape going the other direction and crossed over into his lane. Nasty crash. Someone at breakfast said they thought he broke his elbow. He looked like he was in one piece at the after-party, so I doubt that is true.

Thanks to Julie, Ben, Chris and Kim for treating me to my Birthday dinner on Friday night when we went out with a big group from WI and IL! That was really nice of you guys! We had a great table - dinner was lots of fun.

I hope everyone made it back safely! I hope Julie made it on time to her brother's graduation, as well.

Multiple Personalities

Greetings from Cross Nationals! We have a "moody" course this weekend. What you get one hour might be very different two hours later! Each race has had it's own unique conditions not quite like the one before of after it, as far as I can tell. Frozen, then semi-frozen, then muddy, then downright sloppy complete with small ponds...yesterday was kinda crazy. My race was a churned up rutted mud pit interspersed with frozen skinny-tire-sized ruts, with puddles in the low spots. The mud got worse and worse as thee day went on, with the 45-49 men running through huge puddles in a few places. In some spots the whole course looked like a big, goopy puddle. Steve Tilford ran away with that event, he was way off the front the whole race.

The Wisconsin juniors all did really well, and the WI/IL women all survived, with most doing well Friday. On Thursday alot of IL/WI folks did well in the B races, too. I wasn't in good shape for this race, but I survived. Which I guess is all I should expect having driven all night to get there. It was kind of all a blur. I hope to write more later if I get a chance.

Today we have snow and about 23 degrees (or lower) for the masters men's races this afternoon. A guy in the elevator said the U23 races were pretty snowy and slippery. My guess is that they had a thin layer of snow on top of frozen mud ruts. I am headed out soon to watch the men's master's races. I hope conditions improve for them.

That's it for now... gotta head out to cheer on the guys!

And then there's KC mud....

Seeing as how it's a couple of days before CX Nats, this would be a good time to revisit the many types of mud. I have a feeling many of us are about to become reacquainted with at least one grade of mud this weekend, if not more. I myself am having the hardest time getting ready - other things keep getting in the way. I am almost tempted to stay home.

Good Luck to everyone who is racing at Nats!

And for those spectating, it's going to be a blast. Bring your cowbells. And maybe your toe warmers...

Hipster Olympics

I just found about this hipster olympics video. Hilarious! Maybe someone should make one about hipster crossers. Anyone game?

IL State CX Champs

Congrats to everyone who tackled the challenging course at Montrose in the IL State Cross Championships today. (I am writing this late Sunday night.)

I woke up, and when I went outside to get the newspapers, everything was coated with a sheet of ice. I had been going back and forth about whether I should race today, having been sick for two weeks, off the bike for three, and not racing the last 4 ChiCrossCup races. I wanted to do it because it is State Champs and kind of my "local" race. I ended up not racing, but had a great day at the races anyway!! What a fun day. It was great seeing so many friends and acquaintances do well. Just great to see them, period. Fun, fun, fun.

No spectator's race report for the blog yet - I spent the evening (besides a visit to the gym for some elliptical) looking at photos to see which ones were good enough to go with the race report that goes out to the websites. The skies were so overcast that the lighting was extremely poor. I was really disappointed in the quality of the pictures - I'm not sure any of mine will end up being published.

Don't drink from hotel glasses...

ever again!
Yeeech!!

Get Ready for ......

Muddddddddddddd!

Cross in the NY Times

Here's a link to an article about cyclocross in the NY Times. The author does a race called Grumpy's in Minnesota.

And, here's an article on what I'm going to call Beat Bikes or BoomBox Bikes, urban bikes with elaborate sound systems attached.

On another note, I have lost my voice after a long day of phone calls yesterday combined with being sick. I have a meeting this afternoon. Anyone have a miracle cure for laryngitis?

My Skin Hurts

Chills. Fever. (is that an oxymoron, to have both at once?) Ache all over. Can't breathe too well. Sore throat. Ears are plugged up.

And above all, my skin hurts.

It seems like I always get sick when I go to Seattle. I think it's a combination of being around a sick toddler and all the mold in the damp air there. And maybe all the germs on the airplane. It's frustrating! At least this time I made it home before I got really sick. Last time I was sick during the visit. I like Seattle, but I hate being sick away from home.

I probably should have gotten one of these last month. And last night I went road riding for 1:40 with lights. I was warm enough, I didn't get chilled. I went slower than usual. But I started feeling really sick as soon as I got back. Before that I had just felt really tired. I wonder if exercising in the cold was the breaking point.

Arrrgh. I have so much stuff I need to do this week. And I didn't get to ride or do the eliptical last week - this week isn't looking so good for workouts now either.....

Deranged Yuppies on their Devil's Wheels

This letter from a reader was in the print edition of the Chicago Tribune last Monday (the 19th) in the "Voice of the People" section on the Editorial page.

Bicycles on Trails

"There have been many letters lately complaining about bicycles on roads and sidewalks, but nobody has mentioned forest preserve trails. I walk on trails occasionally and many times bicycles have come zooming by. Loose gravel and curvy trails are a recipe for disaster. I do not want to pay tax money for forest preserves that I cannot enjoy because they have been taken over by deranged yuppies on their devil's wheels. If bicycles are illegal on sidewalks, then they should be illegal on forest preserve trails."

Gobble, Gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving from Seattle!

And good luck to all at Jingle Cross. Wish I could be there, I'm sure it will be lots of fun.

On Tuesday 3/4 of an hour or so into the flight to Seattle, the captain announces that a piece has fallen off the wing and to be safe, we are turning around and going back to the airport! So we turned around, went back, and eventually got a new plane. (well, it most definitely was NOT new, but it was a different one) Crazy....

Lansing CX

Congrats to Scott for winning the Cat 1/2/3's CX race today in Lansing. Awesome job!

And congratulations to the many other friends who had great rides today!

Congrats to Gina on her move to Cat 3 after the race.

And thanks to EVERYONE for the entertainment in the sand pit!
Holly (above) shows us her impressive acrobatic skills! Ouch!! I hope she's not too sore Monday morning.
Almost everyone struggled with the sand pit at some point. It was deep and there were some holes. In order to get up onto the grassy lip at the edge and avoid the sand, you had to make it through the deepest part and past a hole that tripped up many a rider. Eventually the promoters moved the stakes so that you could no longer ride on the skinny little strip of grass at the edge. They also took down that big green post, thinking that the huge cat 4 men's field would hit it! Some people took the "ride through the middle" line, some tried to get to the strip of grass on the side and avoid part of the sand, and some picked the traditional running method.
Ben toeing the fine grassy line between sand and tape.

Cat 3 men duking it out in the pit: John F. got 2nd, Brian D. got 1st, and Chris L. got 3rd. I was amazed at the speed at which the Cat 1/2 and the Cat 3 men rode through the pit. I had been watching the women and juniors race. When the 1/2 men came through on their first lap, I was totally caught off guard by how fast they powered through the sand! Practically a blur.
Kevin sand surfing.
June and Holly battling at the barriers.

More photos here.

Urban Girlz Ride

Claire and Lori had already headed home at this point.




More later.

Iceman Results (and more)

Finally, here is a link to some Iceman Results. And the story can be found here. As of now, Sunday morning, results are not up on the Iceman site yet. And there's a pic of Brian Matter crossing the finish line on the main page, you have to wait for the slideshow to cycle through the various pics. (The pic above came from the Traverse City Record Eagle website.)

Tristan 4th, Jesse 5th, Marko 7th, in the Pros. Ned Overend, now in his 50's and still going strong, got 6th! Sara K-J got 4th (battling back after a bad crash early on), Kelli Emmet was the first woman.

I noticed that Ronsta, Russell, and John Shull won their age groups. Congrats!

Congrats to all the WORS riders who rode their hearts out! I saw lots of familiar names in the results - great job, everyone.

AND, on a sadder note, I hear the underground cross series race yesterday got busted. I am not even going to use its real name here. I am sorry to hear that, I'm sure it was a secret training weapon for some. I hope they can keep it going. (I am not referring to this weekends races in WI)

This being Veteran's Day, thank you to all who have served our country. Your service to our nation is greatly appreciated.

IceMatter

Congrats to Brian IceMatter on winning the Iceman!!!

It's 1 am Saturday and I forgot about the Iceman until a few minutes ago. It's too late to call anyone who is there. So I've been doing a Tour de Blogs trying to find someone who has posted the winner. It took me a while to find one that told me that Brian Matter had won. I'm so glad one of our WORS guys won!! I really want to know if Sara K-J won the women's, but so far I haven't found that out. And I want to know how all the rest of our WORS peeps did!

I went to Brian's blog and felt a jolt of instant recognition from the photo of the "heavy hitters" he posted on Thursday. That's because I was there at the moment that it was taken, in the tent near the finish in 2005. I looked closer, and sure, enough, that's my shoulder, hair and nose at the edge of the photo. Funny. I'm trying not to feel bad about not going this year, but that sure gave me a twinge.

Raggedy Andy joins Ann in Toy Hall of Fame

Raggedy Andy just joined the Toy Hall of Fame, along with the Atari 2600 system and the Kite. Read about it here. Finally Raggedy Ann's brother joins her.

Interestingly enough - the Cardboard Box is in the Toy Hall of Fame, too.

Bicygnals

I just saw a link to a brand of wireless LED turn signals called Bicygnals on CNET. Could be interesting for serious commuters who ride at night, or it could make you look like a spaceship, not sure which?

Good Luck at Iceman

Good Luck to all the WORS peeps going to Iceman this weekend!!

New Cross Technique

I found out about this new dismount technique courtesy of an email from Lou. This technique is so advanced they will not be practicing it at cross practice.

Crossin' Estabrook

Jesse came in first place in the 1/2's.

Mike Phillips got second in the 1/2's.

Scott got 3rd.

Debbie (3rd place), Sam (1st place) and Devon(2nd place) rode together the whole 1/2's women's race. They were on the course at the same time as the 1/2's men and the 30+ men. Hence the guy in the pink helmet riding with them.

Holly was in a chase group of 4 fast women.

Goat sticking his tongue out in intense concentration. He came in 3rd in the 30+.

Kevin came in 2nd. He and Jeremey worked together most of the race for a super strong ride.

After the race we saw a guy who had on skull gloves that perfectly matched the Killjoy kit. He was nice enough to give them to Holly, who was pretty excited about her new pair of gloves!

The Unit

If there are any fans of "The Unit" out there, I read in the print newspaper that tonight's episode, at 8 pm CST on CBS, is going to be a really good one. The story line continues into next week. This columnist turned me on to the show last year, and it is much more than a military saga. It covers all sorts of morally complex issues and gives the viewer (well, me at least) an insight that I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. And it can be edge of your seat exciting!

Local Cross Photo Action

A couple of race pics I took at the local cross series race are up on Truesport and Cyclingnews.com, thanks to Imelda. I'm excited about that.

I didn't know she was going to ask me for pics, so I wasn't concentrating much on picture taking. So they aren't the best they can be. I am really out of practice on action shots, especially for cross! But I'll probably take some for them at the next race, hopefully it won't be too cold.

I have memories of camera batteries that barely worked in the cold, particularly at the various December cross nats I have been to where there was either 1) a snowstorm that closed the roads (Boston), or 2) very cold (Denver) conditions, with snow and ice on the ground that froze our gears. Another year it was chilly and raining so much there were gigantic puddles (CycloCanoe Nats in Seattle). I remember keeping the camera under my jacket in Boston to keep it warm, and out of the snow. I have no idea how this newer camera will do in the cold, I haven't really tried it in extreme conditions!!!

Cross Report to come - I spectated at both races, so other people's reports will be the best bet to get all the racing action...

Sing your troubles away

I read an article about Complaint Choirs the other day, I think it was in the Chicago Tribune. Then I just heard a thing on the radio about the Chicago Complaints Choir. People put their complaints about everyday things into verse and the whole choir sings it! It's supposed to make them feel better.

The Chicago Complaints Choir just sang at the Bean in Millenium Park yesterday, and they were at the Empty Bottle Saturday.

What would a bike racers' complaints choir sing about?

flats? rain? traffic? drivers yakking on cell phones? potholes? squirrelly riders? mud? bees? bad tasting energy drinks? hating to do intervals? moldy Camelbak bladders? boring race courses? rude passers? numb toes? ugly race kits? chainsuck?

Here are some videos of various complaint choirs. And this one is a little livelier (though not by much) and has a verse about cycling in the beginning. So is this one, which has better people watching.

I thought it would be more fun to watch them than it really is - i'ts actually sorta boring, though funny in spots - it must be much better to sing your complaints than to watch. You can learn about other cultures, though, by watching the ones from other countries. Apparently people in Helsinki hide from the TV inspectors who come to check your TV license!

Check out the Nintendo Choir while you are at it.

Smoque BBQ

I got an email from an old racing teammate Nickie the other day. Her husband Mike (a former UCVC road racer) recently started a restaurant in Chicago called Smoque BBQ, and they are going to be on TV Monday night. She sounds pretty excited about it. It will be on the Food Network’s "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" show, on Monday, November 5, 9PM central.

Check it out if you like BBQ.

Blogger Girl's Ride and Picnic

Great minds think alike.... (Christine, Rachael, and their toasters)

It turned out to be a great day for the Blogger Girl's Ride. About 10 women met early for a ride at Kettle. I joined them later. We moved the picnic table into the sun and had a little picnic. It warmed up nicely and a good time was had by all! Thanks to Dave for taking the group pic. And a big thanks to Regina for taking on the role of organizer! More later I hope, this is a quick post.

I have been really short on free time the last week and haven't written about last weekend's race, much less yesterday's. I am so far behind. I wish I were a faster writer, it takes me forever to write a post.....last night I spent like 3 or 3.5 hours writing up my race resume from the past year. I had to look up all the dates and results on the web pages of the various series and races and then neatly organize it. I should have done it in September, or else been doing it all along instead of waiting... Last year I did like 30 races so it took even longer then. This year I didn't do quite as many, though it will be close if I end up doing more cross races.

The Joy of Cross

Here is a must-read primer for crossers on the Bike Snob NYC blog.

He even somewhat addresses the crowd and cheering issues Julie was referring to the other day:

The Green Monster

Thanks to Greg H. for a link to a little taste of what's in store for racers in KY this weekend! SIX sand pits? The Green Monster???? That ramp alone is enough to give me nightmares..... I do think it would be really fun to watch, but not so great for me to race.

Hmmmm

I just made the (big) mistake of looking at the start lists for the USGP of Cross in KY that is this weekend. There are only 4 cat 3/4 women. An unexpected temptation. At one time I had considered going to watch the pro races. Then I decided I needed to stay here so as not to miss any series races, hoping to do well in the series. But now that I can see that I likely won't be in contention for placing in the series, trying for a 5th (or whatever) place in KY, just for the fun of being there, is an idea that has just presented itself.... crazy, I know. I didn't even know there was a Cat 4 women's race until now. I am surprised there aren't more IL/WI 1,2,3 women signed up, we have some really fast ones that could do well.

WORS Banquet

Last Photo: thanks to Superfly

The Bike Life

If you haven't already read it, you must check out MountainGoat's insightful post on "The Ties that Bind Us". It's so dead on you will have to stop and catch your breath after reading it. And then go back and read it again!

I have gone back to reread it several times. It's all so true.

He says: "When walking through your house are you always within 3 feet of something cycling related?" The concept of a Bike Room is lost on me. Over here, it's a Bike House.

The line that really got me: "Do you get bummed out about getting sick, not because you feel horrible, but because you may miss the next ride?"

So my question to MountainGoat is, "What, you don't ride when you're sick?"

And the scary part is, I'm only half kidding! It's taken me a long time to "learn" that I will get well much faster if I skip a ride or workout when I am sick... is that sick?