Cool, I don't have to wait for 20 minutes before the race to start lining up because I'm getting a call up. That was weird everyone rolling up on me from behind at the start. Am I in the right gear to start? Oh shit, I'm clipping in with the wrong foot! Shitty start. Power up, catching.Get up Lew. Do I double up on the steps or single step with my stubby legs? The fly over wasn't that bad. The guy right behind me sounds like he's having a heart attack, he's breathing so heavy. Oh it's just Brian Morrissey. I can pass him. Up the flyover double stepping, not bad. What the hell just happened? When I sat on my bike at the plateau of the flyover, one of my testicles shoots up into my throat. What the hell is poking me in my butt? Shit, the nose of my saddle is attempting to sodomize me! Should I quit or stand for the next 2 laps? Onward. Come to a complete stop after every dismount, so as not to impale yourself. No energy standing up. Anybody got a spare bike I can use? Why would anybody follow me up the stairs? Turns suck standing on every one.
After the race I feel nauseated, not because I exerted myself, but because I just go whacked in the nuts.
Elvis Cross here we come!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Jackson Park
Cross season has begun! Let the goofy handups commence!
Some background on how me and my son, Alex got here. Alex is a Cub Scout and was given the opportunity to camp in a tent at Northerly Island for the Scouts 100 year anniversary. So he and I made it a bicycle weekend. On Saturday morning we left by car for my firehouse near the South Shore Cultural Center. We unloaded the bikes and carrier, and loaded all of our camping gear into it and headed downtown. Now Saturday morning started out fine, but the forecast looked grim. Just as we got there the heavens opened. I thought we would be stuck in our tent for the entire stay, but the rain let up and we had a great time thereafter. At night they had a concert by Smashmouth and the best fireworks display I have seen this year. They really put on a nice event for the kids.
Sunday morning we were awoken at 6. We loaded up and started heading to JP. I unhooked the carrier and now had to wait for our events. I tried to get into the 30+ but it was full. I never went over how to get over a barrier with my son until that morning. I couldn't believe his learning curve. It's unfortunate there aren't more options for small kids, my son is 9, for good bikes. I got him a used Novarra Pulse which is 23 lbs! It was the only 26" bike that I found. I couldn't find any cheap Redline 24" and didn't want him to grow out of it too fast.
Onto racing. Alex was first. He went from "I can do this" to "I am tired" to "I don't think I could finish" in the couple of hours leading to his race. He started out slowly, which I am happy he did. I didn't want him to poop himself out early and not enjoy himself. On the first barriers he did great. then he started to catch some kids. He fell towards the end and lost a spot, but after the race it didn't even phase him. All he wanted was a drink of water afterwards.
My race, the 4A's started with us lining up 25 minutes before the race, just like every other race year preceding. It's like a flock of vultures circling their prey waiting for the first one to dive onto the line for everybody else to follow. What's the sense of warming up? A lot of new and old faces, a good amount of conversation, and one very necessary act took place at the lineup. At this time I told Brian Hague what to expect seeing as this was only his third cross race and the first one in the past two years. Bob was there jawing with Rob Curtis and Elvis were there also.
I started on the third row. The race starts and I start my move to the front. Two riders went down separately and I was able to get around them without slowing down. I think that helped me immensely. I got to 5th and was really able to hammer in the straights, but I can not turn to save my life. I ended up finishing in 9th which is still my best finish in the 5 years I've been doing this.
Hague comes in 1st! I knew he had an engine and this proves it. It's nice to have another area guy on the team. So he's in a battle for the top position when he goes down and drops his chain. He reengaged rhe leader, when the Iron Cycle guy chain pops off, putting Brian on top of the podium. Congrat's to Brian on only his third cx race ever.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
ELVIS CROSS
First, please forgive our website malfunction. We are up and running again.
The Beverly cyclocross race is back again this year in the form of Elvis Cross! We are also getting support in the form of manpower from Psimet. Same course, with the same hard ass hills. Don't forget FREE fried chicken and peanutbutter and banana sandwiches just like the King liked. Also $5 off registration if you dress like the King himself. Hope to see you there!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Smack Down
I just sent a e-mail to Rob from Psimet to give him a heads up on the cross race being put on by XXX. XXX has a 2 person tag team race coming up on Aug 29th that is sure to be a blast. I will be trying to get someone from the team to ride with me so I can take on Rob with one of his team mates. It should be fun to watch 2 slow fat guys talking smack and getting passed by everyone. To me that’s fine, as long as I don't lose to Rob.
Monday, July 12, 2010
SUPERWEEK SO FAR
It all starts with the Beverly Classic. This one was a little different for me because it actually contained people I have raced with. The field was smaller than what I remember, but the pace and primes almost every other lap were the same. I thought that it was impressive there was $3500 dollars in primes eventhough that number was down from a once $5000. Some of the guys I have raced with who were in the field got popped in the first 4 laps, but 3 others hung on to the end. Two of those guys who hung on, I just raced against in the Tour De Villas.
Couldn't do Geneva, worked that day. I heard there were some nasty crashes though.
Homewood: Cat 4/5 Having just got off shift at 7AM, I was a little tired to say the least. Traffic was light and I got there in plenty of time for a change. Seeing that it was a warm morning I didn't want to warm up too much and I'm glad I didn't. Our race didn't start until 45 minutes after the posted time so there was a lot of warm up laps taken before the race. I would rather have a safe race experience with the oil washed down in the one corner and course marshalls stopping traffic from coming onto the course than not having those things done.
The race goes off and I am still having a difficult time clipping in. The new Look Max's I use are so smooth moving that any forward movement gets them rocking more than my old pedals. So I loose a couple of positions, no big deal. Well this puts me behind a Team Mack rider who in turn one puts his inside pedal down and ends up high siding off his bike. I am directly behind him hitting the brakes just waiting to hit him, but his momentum carried him to the outside of the corner with me just avoiding him. So now I am all alone with about 9 guys off the front. I decided right after I regained my speed to go and chase them down, I was finally able to latch back on just before the turns started. Now the group I was in were 10 strong and in 4 laps we swelled 20. I wish we could have worked better to keep it 10. There was communication, but nobody really wanted to pull through. With about 3 to go, another crash in turn one. With 2 to go a crash on the second right after the straightaway. On the last lap I was able to gain some positions in the turns. Everybody took the turn where the oil was tight and I came around wide by myself picking up places and being able to pedal through the turn. Onto the s/f I liked how you could cut real close to the guard rail on the inside of the manhole cover. I was a little surprised that the sprint didn't happen after the turn but closer to the finish line. I came in 6th with some more gas in the tank.
Cat 4/5 35+ For me it was a little too long in between races. I like an hour off in between, but this was more like 2. On the line I marked a couple of riders who I have seen in the past do well, no real big team presence though. I wouldn't say this race was tamer, just safer. A couple of times a guy would get off the front with somebody blocking, but they were all pretty short lived. With 2 laps left a Wheelman trys to string out the field. I knew that on the back stretch I had to move up before the turns which I did. At the bell I'm sitting about 5 back. Around turn 2 (which started to develop loose gravel from the patched hole) I was 3rd wheel. We started the sprint this time right after the last turn and kept our same positions for the finish-3rd.
Richton Park: Me and this course have history. Last year on the last lap I caught the pack sleeping on the bell lap. I exerted all my energy and got off the front by myself. In turn 2 I touched my inside pedal shooting me upright and off the course. The pack finally passed me as I got back on the course. Oh well that was last year. Same course and the start was on time. Had problems clipping in again, but had good starting position. The pace was fast, but I could deal with it. I took an early flier in an effort to string things out early and settled in. Two guys were doing much of the pulling and not asking for any help. I could see these guys were strong, but didn't mind them pooping themselves out. With 5 to go the racing begins in earnest. Luckily I didn't get myself boxed in and each time I was able to get close to the front. On the last lap I moved up on the back stretch a little and on the outside between turn 3 and 4. I was about 5 back after the final turn. The sprint started far back and I was able to come in 3rd. Tony
Couldn't do Geneva, worked that day. I heard there were some nasty crashes though.
Homewood: Cat 4/5 Having just got off shift at 7AM, I was a little tired to say the least. Traffic was light and I got there in plenty of time for a change. Seeing that it was a warm morning I didn't want to warm up too much and I'm glad I didn't. Our race didn't start until 45 minutes after the posted time so there was a lot of warm up laps taken before the race. I would rather have a safe race experience with the oil washed down in the one corner and course marshalls stopping traffic from coming onto the course than not having those things done.
The race goes off and I am still having a difficult time clipping in. The new Look Max's I use are so smooth moving that any forward movement gets them rocking more than my old pedals. So I loose a couple of positions, no big deal. Well this puts me behind a Team Mack rider who in turn one puts his inside pedal down and ends up high siding off his bike. I am directly behind him hitting the brakes just waiting to hit him, but his momentum carried him to the outside of the corner with me just avoiding him. So now I am all alone with about 9 guys off the front. I decided right after I regained my speed to go and chase them down, I was finally able to latch back on just before the turns started. Now the group I was in were 10 strong and in 4 laps we swelled 20. I wish we could have worked better to keep it 10. There was communication, but nobody really wanted to pull through. With about 3 to go, another crash in turn one. With 2 to go a crash on the second right after the straightaway. On the last lap I was able to gain some positions in the turns. Everybody took the turn where the oil was tight and I came around wide by myself picking up places and being able to pedal through the turn. Onto the s/f I liked how you could cut real close to the guard rail on the inside of the manhole cover. I was a little surprised that the sprint didn't happen after the turn but closer to the finish line. I came in 6th with some more gas in the tank.
Cat 4/5 35+ For me it was a little too long in between races. I like an hour off in between, but this was more like 2. On the line I marked a couple of riders who I have seen in the past do well, no real big team presence though. I wouldn't say this race was tamer, just safer. A couple of times a guy would get off the front with somebody blocking, but they were all pretty short lived. With 2 laps left a Wheelman trys to string out the field. I knew that on the back stretch I had to move up before the turns which I did. At the bell I'm sitting about 5 back. Around turn 2 (which started to develop loose gravel from the patched hole) I was 3rd wheel. We started the sprint this time right after the last turn and kept our same positions for the finish-3rd.
Richton Park: Me and this course have history. Last year on the last lap I caught the pack sleeping on the bell lap. I exerted all my energy and got off the front by myself. In turn 2 I touched my inside pedal shooting me upright and off the course. The pack finally passed me as I got back on the course. Oh well that was last year. Same course and the start was on time. Had problems clipping in again, but had good starting position. The pace was fast, but I could deal with it. I took an early flier in an effort to string things out early and settled in. Two guys were doing much of the pulling and not asking for any help. I could see these guys were strong, but didn't mind them pooping themselves out. With 5 to go the racing begins in earnest. Luckily I didn't get myself boxed in and each time I was able to get close to the front. On the last lap I moved up on the back stretch a little and on the outside between turn 3 and 4. I was about 5 back after the final turn. The sprint started far back and I was able to come in 3rd. Tony
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