Looking for Host Housing for Pro Team for Downer's Grove Aug 14-17

Chicago Area friends: I'm helping the directeur sportif of a women's pro team find host housing for the Downer's Grove race weekend August 14 -17? If you can help, email velogrrl1 at gmail dot com or leave a comment with your email for more info. I will pass along your info to them as well. They would prefer to house 6 people (4 racers and 2 staff) in the same place, but would split up the racers into groups at different houses if necessary. Even if you only have room for 2 or 3, contact me!

24/9 regrets, and the story behind the race

I just ran across a link to this newspaper interview with Kevin Eccles, post-24/9, on the WORS board, via Mountaingoat. I made the difficult decision this year not to go to 24/9. I convinced myself that it wouldn't be the best mountain bike party of the year like it has been in the past, since it was no longer Nats, and since Granny Gear had taken it over and raised the fees (which would mean a lot of people wouldn't go). I mean, you couldn't even figure out what the fees actually were without starting the registration process! So I went on hearsay, that they were very high, seeing as how they weren't easily accessible. But really, I just knew I would need a weekend at home in the middle of the long season after alternating between traveling to WORS and WEMS races in WI every single weekend!

And I did need that weekend at home. I did the Chicago Criterium, which felt like a special opportunity to me. Not having raced in Grant Park in a long time, I knew it was an opportunity that might not come around again for me. And I got to watch a pro race in downtown Chicago, not something that happens every day.

But I still felt like, as someone on the WORS board put it, I was "missing the prom". I really missed being there. Even with the controversy over the new promoter and the negative comments by people. It turns out that there would have still been many friends and acquaintances to cheer on, many of whom ended up in close, exciting battles! It may be going back on the calendar for next year, probably as a last minute decision. If you haven't read how the race started, you might enjoy the article. It tells the basics of the story, though it left me wanting more details.

TV Coverage of WORS race yesterday

If you haven't seen this yet, check out the Milwaukee TV coverage of the Alterra Coffee Bean Classic WORS race yesterday at Crystal Ridge.

A big thanks to Ty and the Alterra Team crew for putting on a great event! They did an awesome job putting on the race and even ordered up a beautiful sunny day for us to enjoy!

Tom Held's Off the Couch Blog mentions how WORS deserves more publicity than it gets.

Photos are currently being uploaded to Flickr. The set for the Alterra race is here.

I will also be uploading some pics from the pro road race at Elk Grove on Saturday after the Alterra pics are up.

Chicago Criterium

Captions soon, I hope. I can barely keep my eyes open at this point!

Eau Claire WORS - Photos from the Rock Garden Gauntlet aka Jekyll and Hyde

Mark LaLonde (Planet Bike), above, Jesse LaLonde (Gary Fisher), background left, and below pic as well, and Jason Sager (Jamis) battled it out for most of the elite race. They were always close together when they came through. Yes, the Jason Sager of "Free Jason Sager" fame, who went on to win. Mark got second and Jesse got third, I believe. Mark kept things interesting on some laps when he chose to hop off and run the hill cyclocross style. I'm pretty sure he was able to pass riders on the hill with this method. It was impressive to watch. The speed with which all three came through the rock garden was impressive, period. It was almost as if the rock garden wasn't there...

Jesse flying through the rock garden.

Up the hill!

This was Amelia's last WORS race before she and Tom (see pic below) move to Utah, where she'll be going to grad school. I wish Amelia and Tom good luck in their new life! Hopefully they'll make it back to the Midwest often!









Rocks, rocks, and more rocks! This area was the downfall of many!

By the time you read this most of the pics will be up on Flickr. The rest should be up in the next day or two.

The most interesting set is from the Rock Garden shortly before the finish. Even if you don't ride the dirt, you should check these out for an appreciation of how much coordination is involved in riding on a gauntlet of sharp and pointy rocks.

I had so much fun sitting on a log and watching the chaos and mayhem!! I was spellbound, I didn't want to leave. There was some amazing bike handling going on in that gulley! Truly, some of you were dancing on the pedals to get through that looooong rock garden, up the rocky hill, and to the left. Just making it up the hill was an accomplishment, even if you didn't make the turn.... even making it to the hill was good, in my book. It seemed like the hill was where the most people bailed or got tangled up with another rider, either just after the bottom or else the top where you had to make the turn.

The other set is of the Sport Start, the Elite/Comp start, some venue shots for the photo contest, and the Citizen Awards. Some of them are in the Photostream but not in the set yet.

I'm going to put up some of my faves here, check back later!

Ride to eat, eat to Ride

Another way to "experience" the Tour vicariously. Are you up for the challenge? If nothing else, this article about eating like a Tour de France rider will make you laugh. Cuz really, subconsciously or consciously, don't many of us ride to eat??

And this brings me to the quote of, well, the month and maybe the year!! "Cycling isn't a sport. It's more like a really, really expensive eating disorder." Velosnaps brought this gem to our attention, and isn't there a grain (or a bushel?) of truth to it?


On another note, I was hoping to go watch the Soldier Field Crit, but ended up getting sidetracked by other things. I also had the feeling it might rain, since it had been spitting much of the afternoon, was cold, and very gray. When I finally made it out for a ride, it was 8:15 and I had my lights with me so I could stay out for a while. I hadn't ridden on Sheridan in a couple of days and was surprised to see bike lanes on the newly paved section from Isabella to just past PDL. It was such a strange feeling to see them there. I think it will be a good thing. I found myself missing the fresh unstriped pavement without the distracting line, however. Then I found myself wondering if in rainy weather on the fast group rides someone could slide out on the lane stripe or on the bike logo if they make a wrong move? maybe that's not even an issue, there must have been some kind of stripe before? I wish there was a way to "suggest" the presence of a lane without having the raised stripe and the raised bike logo. It is such a treat to have that smooth pavement after the minefield that we had to ride every day before the construction! I'm splitting hairs, though...

WORS #2: a few pics from Rhinelander

It's pretty lame that I have already done about 5 mountain bike races (and, shockingly enough, 3 crits and one road race) and haven't posted a race report yet! It's not for lack of things to say, I have written plenty of posts in my head. This post will continue that reportless state, however. (The road events were an experiment, by the way, after years away from road racing.)

In the meantime, some have wondered, when hearing I was headed for the WORS race in Rhinelander last weekend, why one would drive so far for a race. In answer, I am going to put a couple of pics up that were taken for the WORS photo contest. There may be more later. I was in the feed zone for much of the elite race, so I got very few action pics. I ended up with lots of venue pics, sponsor banner pics, and candids (contest categories). Blogger is not letting me upload many pics, it keeps getting hung up, so those three will have to do for now.

I wonder if the economy has gotten so bad in the north woods that even the ticks are trying to hitch rides to the big city to look for work. That is what I had to think last night when I found a tick attached to my shoulder. I panicked and headed straight for the tweezers! At least this time I knew what it probably was. Whereas on Sunday driving home I felt what I thought was a scab on my neck under my chin. I plucked it off and looked at it ...... ewwwww, a brown bug with lots of legs!! I realized it was probably a tick and my knee-jerk reaction was to fling it away from me. A moment later I realized that was a terrible idea - now I was going to wonder where it was and if it was crawling on me for hours while driving home!! I tried leaving the door open at the rest stop for a few extra minutes, hoping it would leave. Really loud music may or may not have induced it to crawl into hiding somewhere in the car. Or, it may have been the same one that ended up on my shoulder, in which I guess I have to grudgingly appreciate its persistence. It had almost made it's way back to it's original spot on my neck. It's surprising that in years of mt. bike racing I have never gotten a tick - or at least have known about it - until now. If you went to Rhinelander, check yourself and your gear for ticks!!

Which one are you?

This link about the types of bike commuters just came my way. You'll notice the date. If you are a commuter you'll recognize many of your fellow commuters here.

My condolences to Holly K. on the sudden loss of her dad this morning.

Up Close and Personal at Paris Roubaix

This video link fell into my mailbox. It offers a brief window into the up-close craziness of Paris-Roubaix 2009! It really gives you a sense of how close the spectators are in some sections.



Here's another one with some crashes etc. out on the open road.



And, this is probably what my face is going to resemble this weekend as I take on my first mt bike race of the season. I haven't even been on my mt bike yet, at all. I did just get a little check-up at the bike shop this week, so hopefully it's good to go, even if I'm not!!

Good Luck to everyone headed out to CA for Sea Otter!! Should be super fun, whether you are racing, working, or both!

Podium Shoes

I just learned something new today. I kind of suspected something like this existed, but now I know for sure. Podium Shoes! Contador is wearing them in this photo, surrounded by, of course, podium girls.

That's a niche market, if I've ever seen one!

Can you see running to your car to change into your podium shoes at a WORS race?

By the time you read this you will have heard the news that Kettle is open for riding today! Holly is out there riding today and says that the trail are bone dry with lots of leaves and about 5 downed trees. Sounds like she's having a blast.

It's too bad that these days I am only posting about things like podium shoes. I have some deadlines and a test to study for so hopefully after that I'll be able to do a recap post of everything I haven't been writing about for the last month or so!

New Products just in time for April

Some things you might want to check out today if you haven't seen them yet.

New heated saddle line from Sidi. I think Julie is going to be one of the first ones to try a prototype. You can ask her about it.

But this is something that could be truly revolutionary. It's the inForm® Full Carbon Clavicle Upgrade. Now, if you have a mishap and break your collarbone, there will be no wondering what's holding things together. You can have the best, just like Lance.

I know that I always wondered if the surgeon should have put a titanium plate in my wrist/arm instead of a stainless steel one to hold things together while the bone graft "took" after a nasty criterium accident. It was a Sunday, though, and that's what they had in stock at the small hospital in Wisconsin. It didn't even occur to me to ask if they could use a titanium plate. And carbon, I don't think that was even in the range of possibilities. Now you can ask for your bodily repair parts by brand name, and they will match your bike parts. It's so Pro.

This One makes you Fat

This landed in my inbox today, courtesy of Dana B. in Minneapolis.

Here's a video of a really good "save" on a fast downhill, as well.

Don't Hate me because I'm a Bicyclist

Check out this anti-cyclist podcast about "The Bicycle Trail of Death" on the March 25 post. This was originally broadcast on a radio station. Scary. Thanks to Tim S. for pointing this one out.

On a happier note, I made it out for the first two segments of Half Acre's Kevin's crits. Monday was chilly and gray. Tuesday's races had a little rain, but not too bad. I had thought about racing, although I haven't done a crit in a long time and feel out of shape and out of practice. For various reasons, I ended up going to help out instead. On Monday I helped at registration. It was obvious how much it helps to have almost everyone preregistered! On Tuesday Erica and Mike had it down to an art and didn't need help. It seems to me that our first time crit promoter friends at Half Acre Cycling have done a really nice job of pulling off five races in a week! Think about it, who else but stage races and Super Week attempts to do that?





Thanks to Half Acre Cycling for being such good citizens of racing and creating an opportunity for the less experienced categories to get some race experience compressed into a short time.





If you started out by racing at Kenosha last Sunday, you could do eight (!) races in a row from last Sunday to next Sunday! And then you'd need to sleep for a week...

Mash-Up Video

Amazing that someone had the patience to do this. Kinda interesting mash-up video!

Victory Salute Like a Pro

It's getting to be the time of year where some of the tips in this article about how to Victory Salute like a Pro might come in handy. Theoretically.

If nothing else you'll get a kick out of the pics of all the various victory salutes.

Upside Down Car

As I was driving home from the gym, there were all these police cars with flashing lights passing me. And a fire truck went roaring by as well. When I got home there were flashing lights everywhere about a half block away. I went to check it out. This is the second time in the last couple of months that I have come home minutes after a serious accident almost, but not quite, in front of my house.

I don't quite understand how it got upside down. It obviously got hit on the side you can see. The car was pointed in the wrong direction, but otherwise was not at an angle. It was lined up with traffic, just pointed the wrong way. The cops asked me if a Jeep that was parked on the side was mine, so they must have thought that car was somehow involved. It looked just like another parked car to me. The ambulance was just sitting there, so the driver must not have been hurt, or else another ambulance must have already left. (Update: A neighbor said she heard a terrible sound, and it took a while before any emergency vehicles showed up. Then she saw them putting someone on a stretcher into an ambulance, which left. That had to be the red car's driver)

I didn't want to get any closer to get better pictures because I was afraid the cops would tell me I wasn't allowed to take pics, or try to take my camera. I turned off the flash for that reason. More pics on flickr.

NAHBS, yeah!

The trip to the North American Handmade Bicycle Show was super fun! I guess it's always better to leave wishing you could stay just a little longer, and feeling like you didn't get to see everything and talk to everyone. And to think I almost didn't go, since I was still feeling awful from being sick all week. I wanted to post pics here, but I don't have time for a long blog post now. I did spend some time uploading many of the photos to flickr. There should be a few more later in the week. My pics are only a sample of what was at the show - I spent more time talking to people than taking pics, so there are a lot of cool bikes I missed getting pics of.

Curious about who won the awards at the show? I was too. We left just as the awards were starting, so I didn't know who won until today.

If you'd like to see more alot more photos and in much greater detail from some people who were at the show longer, you can go to Olive Loves Cool Bicycles.

Yikes!

Someone I know who sends out interesting email articles and links from time to time sent out a fresh crop yesterday. There were some thought-provoking and disturbing articles/videos about our economy and also some about the direction our health care system is headed in. If you have an interest in the dire (as in, don't listen to the video if the economy is already keeping you awake at night) economic predictions you can find one of the links here. I had not heard of these people until I got the emails, so I know nothing about the trend forecaster or his track record. Hopefully he's wrong.

On a side note, I was going to post some pics of the weekend (COG party and x-c skiing) but my printer is not recognizing my memory card. Says memory card error. No idea why. I've never used this type of card before. Grrr.

The Yellow Devil

If you haven't seen it yet, here is an awesome photo sequence of Lance pushing the Yellow Devil into a snowbank at Tour of California! The yellow devil has traded a pitchfork for a different, more controversial, implement. It may have been in the TV coverage - but I missed it.

Ooops!

Disregard the post you may have read earlier here about an upcoming race. I wrote it very late at night and wasn't paying attention to the dates. I have been too wrapped up in things other than bike racing!!