Vande Cross....
Brother of Jackal....
The run-up....
Kat....
Yes, John's wearing a winter coat....
Brother of Jackal....
The run-up....
Kat....
Yes, John's wearing a winter coat....The Dice Cycling Team put on another great race yesterday, this time in the Olde Towne section of Moline, Illinois at Stevens Park. It was a sweet course with a bit of everything CX. Plus it was colder than a well digger's ass yesterday. Perfect!
Jackal rode over with Judy and me since Amy and The Queen of Cross were doing "girl things' yesterday. We wanted to get there early enough to help Adam out before his race. Well, they say that I drive like an "old lady" so we showed up at the venue about 10 minutes before the start of his race. Consequently the poor (tough) guy had to race in his shorts without knee or leg warmers. I swear his legs were turning blue before it was over! He did post a good result though, finishing 6th out of 12 starters. Good job!
The womens race was pretty wild to watch with Robin Williams of Mercy/ICCC taking off from the start and holding the lead all the way to the finish. Our own Kat Porter rode an awesome race and tore it up out there. Kat and Robin both came back to race in the 1/2/3 open/ master's race just a short while later and finished very respectably! They both kicked my ass! Great turn out representing Bike Tech yesterday with Kathleen Porter, Mike Johnson, Steve Bullerman, John Adamson, Landon Beachy, Richard Gilmore, and myself racing. We had almost as many racers as the sponsoring team! Way to show, boys and girl!!!
Me? Well, I was accused by Jackal of always finishing last on purpose. I'd tell him that he has no idea how hard it is but that wouldn't be true. He recently upgraded to Cat 3 and he finished 5th overall in the open race yesterday right behind Chris Hansen of Bikes to You and just ahead of Steve Bullerman of Bike Tech. Both of those guys are strong racers. He knows how hard it is, but I digress.... He also said that if someone had a mechanical out on the course that he's sure I'd stop and help them get going again so that I could maintain my coveted position of DFL. Hey, I'm old and slow and having fun and I now have a reputation to maintain! :)
I had a great time yesterday and I certainly appreciate the support that my friends from the Bike Tech team give me and from the cheering section that seems to show up wherever I go. Yeah, Ive seen and heard you guys and gals at a lot of the races this year. You can't hide!
Seriously though, I do appreciate the support. I'm having a blast and trying to stay out of the way of the serious racers who are taking the race seriously.
We had pizza at the Sports Fans Bar and Grille in Bettendorf on our way home. We ate there the last time we were over in the Quad Cities for CX back in October. Excellent pizza and great "people watching" opportunities. It's fairly safe to take the entire family in there, even during a football game....
That's it for now.
Ride safe.
Peace out, yo!
posted by bluecolnago at 6:57 PM
11 Comments:
Blue,
ALways great to see you out there with the girls and boys - yours and all the others. An inspiration indeed and a very welcome addition to the Bike Tech contingent that we bring to the races - Bring on Jingle!
KAT
Ha! Wait till I do a cros race, Blue. I don't even know if I can run anymore or not! Look out last place, here I come!
Blue - you and the family have added so much to the cross community and what an honor to have you riding with the Bike Tech Racing Team.
More Quad Cities racing in two weeks?
We are going for at least one day Sat is first choice.
John
Looks like you always have a blast, good for you and way to go helping out...and maintain your reputation! LOL...
Lily
Your plan is working to perfection! Next year when you blast out of the pack and stomp the field, they will be scratching their heads and wondering where the Blue Hurricane came from! :^)
Adam is the man for riding in shorts despite your lack of acceleration!
P.S. Robin Williams is doing the Iowa Cross series? I knew he was a big cycling fan, but . . . ? Very cool. Get his autograph for me if you get the chance!
Blue - that's why we do it... nice job! It's really what separates 'cross from the rest. You can still do it for fun and have a good time finishing last. Well done.
blue
you don't know me yet but next year you will. I was at spooky cross and state cx. like your attitude and hope jingle goes well for you. my last race this year was state cx as i've been assigned to nome,ak for a couple of months. i'm checking out snowbikes
You're the Santa Clause of cyclocross- out there making everyone feel good about themselves. Gifts to all!
(I say this hoping that you will now take to riding races in a red outfit, funny hat and a white beard.)
Blue: CX question: Bike sizing. What is the rule of thumb with frame sizing in relationship to your road frame or is it based on standover height or . . . ? Looking at some bikes and don't know what the correct criteria is.
Are you riding a taller frame than your road bike or smaller or the same size?
kat....
thanks! :)
g-ted....
we could ride off the back together and maybe stop every once in awhile for a nip from the flask.
john....
thank you! i enjoy being part of the bike tech family. i'm thinking probably the saturday race in the quad cities, too.
lily....
oh yes, it's sooooo much fun!
oldman....
i'll see what i can do about getting robin's autograph for you. you might be surprised!
rory....
thanks, buddy! sounds like you're having a blast too!
don....
thanks for stopping by the ole' blog! we'll talk at one of the races for sure! have fun in alaska! (i ride my surly 1x1 in the snow)
fat cat....
i'm fat enough to play santa without any extra padding! when i let the whiskers go, they're pretty white....
oldman....
the top tube length is the main thing to look for. my colnagos are both 54s. the tt length is the same but i run a shorter stem on the cx bike. my cannondale cross bike is a 52 and seems a bit big yet. (brother of jackal doesn't seem to have any problems with it) i think you just want to find what's comfy for you. standover is out the window since the bb shell is usually higher on a cx bike which would put the top tube in a very uncomfortable place if you were standing over it. jackal rides a 58 cannondale road bike and his ridley is, i believe, a 56. he would definitely ride a 56 in a c-dale cx bike. email me and i'll hook you up with jackal...
Brother of Jackal is really getting into the cycling thing. Blue, as long as you are having fun out there DFL is as good a place to finish as any.
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