El Bandido Finale

I've been pretty burned out on the regular group ride and wet weather of late so the opportunity to do some bandit cross over the long weekend was pretty appealing. I was stuck working on Friday but made it out to the 'burbs for rounds 2 and 3 of the Bandido Finale. NOTE: If you are squeamish about humorous misogyny, don't follow that link...and realize that no one really cares how you finish. It's the fun we have along the way that makes it what it is.

I was bummed to miss round 1 but there was plenty of mud, obstacle jumping, mud, wet grass, mud, quality handups, mud and all the other fun stuff that 'cross is on days 2 and 3 (did I mention the mud?).

Day 2 was someplace out near Bartlett, the same place as day 1 but the course was run in reverse. Part of it was an equestrian competition site which made for some interesting obstacle hopping... There were parts of trees laid sideways four feet high - no, we didn't have to jump those. But we did have to jump over some triangular thingy that required me to actually hop on top of it first then leap over (with the bike). Then there was 'the trench' that had to be about 2.5ft wide and the drop off that was probably between 2-3ft down. Oh, and after that the mud started. I was happy at the end to have survived without falling off my bike, adding to my bruise collection or being lapped by the likes of Boundy and Mr. Pink. The added bonus? Andy Kerr appeared on his vintage mountain bike to say hi - SO great to see you Andy!!

Sunday's course at Poplar Creek Woods was completely different - mostly very wet grass, some muddy sections, a couple barriers, a small stretch of pavement, no sun and a fair amount of wind. Sunday was especially awesome because it was the final Bandido for the year - and there were hand-ups everywhere.

Somehow I managed to not be lapped by the always super strong Mr. Pink, seen here accepting a hand-up from one of the pushers.

When all was finished I'd scored three 6pk boxes of GU, a dozen individual Chomps and GUs and (wait for it) a 2lb cannister of GU2O. Where did I put said hand-ups during the race? Why, in the front of my too big skinsuit of course!! It was so full that my knees were knocking into it all when I pedaled. The best part of the whole race? I still finished on the lead lap even though I stopped at least twice every lap to snag some schwag - we were required to keep whatever we took.

Thanks so much to Rich for all his organizing and course design efforts all season - and all the hand ups!! BC has been the ideal thing for my road-hating head since the weather went south. Over the winter I'll definitely miss the 'racing' itself but even more I'll miss the group of racers that show up to get dirty, work hard and have fun for 45 minutes. Thanks to all of you for your positive attitudes and energy - always so great to be around y'all.

Woodstock 'Cross Report

Photo: J. Wryzca

If conditions were always as they've been the past two weekends, I'd LOVE cyclocross. Unfortunately the mild weather is more of a freak thing so my love/hate relationship with 'cross endures... We had most excellent weather for Sunday's race in Woodstock - sunny skies, minimal wind, and no mud except for a few soft places here and there. I was hating a little bit before warming up but chose to HTFU, get on the bike, suffer through warm up and head to the starting area.

The Woodstock course is very straightforward - 2 miles or so with lots of bumpy grass, some short, punchy hills, a nice dirt singletrack downhill, some off-camber stuff, a double barrier obstacle, single barrier run-up, and one of those stupid-as-hell swirly goat rodeo thingys. I can't really describe it any other way - a course feature where we sort of go in smaller and smaller circles, change direction and corkscrew our way back out. Stupid!! To those who design courses, please...STOP IT!!

I lined up with about 12 women for 45min of fantastic fun. I got the hole shot off the line and managed to get a gap that I held all the way to the end, adding time as I went. We ended up doing 5 laps which was just about enough for me. It was very cool to have a bunch of cheering friends everywhere on the course - seems to take the edge off the suffering just a bit. Special thanks to Brian Akers who lives nearby and came out to say hi and supply much-needed post-race Snickers bars. Thank you Brian!!

The Roscoe Village Bikes Crew

Special thanks also to whomever it was that handed up a bunch of turkey jerky on the run up...ick. That was kind of gross. Note to hecklers: those of us who race early also appreciate quality handups like beer, dog smooches, spam and twinkies - don't just save it all for the later races, okay?

To all my RVB teammates who raced yesterday - well done! You guys are the BOMB. As always, huge congrats to the Pony Shop and Verdigris 'cross teams on their fine finishes - they're duking it out for the team championship and representing well every weekend. Also - Wakes raced somewhere in Iowa or some such place and managed a top 10 finish. Way to go Mike! Best of luck to you at Jingle Cross!

Lastly, thanks as usual to Rob at PSIMET - another victory on Carbon 50s!

What I'm reading at the moment - 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. Up next, 'Slapstick' by Kurt Vonnegut. Tunes-wise I've been groovin' to The Black Keys and some old school Metallica (before they sold out with the black album...).

Montrose Harbor is 12/05. If it's not snowing, icy, muddy and disgustingly cold, I'll be there...

Indian Lakes 'Cross and Something Very Cool

Exiting sand pit #1 - pic stolen from Rob Curtis
Check out the bitchin' wheels...

Saturday offered my kind of 'cross weather - warm, dry and sunny - so I was happy to head to Bloomingdale for only my second 'cross race of the year. Have I re-caught the bug? No, not really but it was a good workout. The course at Indian Lakes was nicely designed - a few barriers, a run-up, two sand pits, a bumpy section (didn't like that), some twisty grass stuff and a very small mud puddle that fortunately shrunk a bit before we headed out for 45min of enormous fun.

I wasn't feeling super after wrecking a few times in pre-ride/warm-up, being a little too aggressive. I have a lot of pretty bruises that still haven't surfaced completely. I'm sure they'll be rockin' by mid-week and serve as a fine reminder of why I am a 'roadie.' Because I've only done one race, I haven't accumulated enough series points for good start line position but since the field was only about 15 I was able to sneak into the front row after call-ups. This proved to be crucial as I was able to snag the hole shot before the first hairpin and managed to stay out front for the remainder of the race, adding to my lead along the way.

Bikes, post race - Mine on the Left, Wakes's on the Right. Mud. Ick.

I suffered a lot the first two laps before settling in and more or less just kept on the gas the entire way. Sure, I slowed down but got smoother and was able to keep putting time on the chase enough so that I could take a mouth-to-mouth Twizzler hand-up from Scott at the exit of the second sand pit. There were a bunch of 'hecklers' on top of the hill which made for some interesting back-and-forth each time up - of course, all in good fun. From a technical aspect I didn't ride so well - my cornering was sort of sloppy early and my barrier hopping was wanting at times but on the whole it was a decent performance.

VERY COOL: Huge thanks to Rob Curtis from psimet.com for providing me with a set of 50mm carbon tubulars to race on - they're great!! Rob is a local wheelbuilder who has stepped up to support me with training and racing wheels for 2010 and the remainder of the 2009 'cross season. That, and he's a mechanic - since I am a girl with fingernails, this is a good thing. After yesterday I can say with confidence that the carbon 50 wheelset worked just as nicely as my 404s. I'm really excited about this partnership and am looking forward to representing psimet.com in 2010 - thank you, Rob!!

Wakes came out to race the 3s yesterday and ended up with a solid finish in a tough field - he headed to Iowa to race again today. Better yet - he brought post-race Oreos!! Thanks Mike! Congrats to all of the Verdigris and Pony Shop 'cross team racers who came out - they're always at the top of the results page. I'm especially appreciative of the generous prizelist offered by the South Chicago Wheelemen - I was able to actually cover my entry fee and gas expense, always a big plus. Special thanks to Scott and Roman for their quality hand-ups by the sand pit - love you! Mean it!!

I'm sore today from being bounced around so much and decided to just do the Judson ride. Wise choice - my feet are up and I'm watching the PIT/CIN game. Next week's race is in Woodstock. As of right now I am planning to do it but if the weather gets ugly, well...we'll see...

Yes I Am...

...racing at Indian Lakes this weekend. I hate mud and dirt but somehow manage to get on and off a bike pretty well. For a girl. The 14th is my XBF's birthday. No better way to manage the hate than racing hard enough to taste blood.

Yeah baby - bring it on...

Spin Heads

Last post I said there's not much to talk about at the moment. There still isn't. But I'll post the playlist for this morning's class anyway. We had a solid, hardworking group that I divided into 2 teams and assigned names to (On the Left! and The Pillowheads). We warmed up and then alternated efforts at or slightly above threshold with hard tempo for about 30min. Enormous fun.

In the Air Tonight - P. Collins
Dancing with Myself - Billy Idol
What You Need - INXS
Pressure Drop - The Specials
Sell Out - Reel Big FIsh
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
Desire - U2
Burnout - Green Day
Form a Straight Line - Sugar Shack
Genepool Convulsions - The Hives
Ca Plan Pour Moi - Plastic Bertrand
Shut Your Eyes - The Shout Out Louds
That Great Love Sound - The Ravonettes
Natural One - Folk Implosion

Not Much to Say

I know - imagine that.... The only interesting thing to share is that I'm planning to race this weekend in Northbrook. Other than that, things are pretty much status quo. That's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?

Oh - I did manage to make it to the pages of the 2010 Chicago Bike Racing calendar. Thanks to Luke for selecting the photo. He gets some really great racing shots so I'm flattered that he chose one that includes me from so many others.

I'm reading 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess but managed to also read 'Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger and 'Stranger than Fiction' by Chuck Palahniuk since I last posted. 'Orange' is a slower, more involved read so it's going to take a while to finish.