Victoria 'Cross Fun.

Cyclo-Cross has to be fun... It couldn't possibly not be fun.
Lets review why:

1. You get to ride your bike. (this is always fun)
2. You ride a bike that is rigid, has drop bars and has skinny tires over rocks and roots,
through sand, grass and mud. This is sometimes sketchy. Sketchy is usually fun.
3. Those hilarious outfits.
4. On occasion you will be called upon to jump off your bike and jump over some
silly obstacles, or run up a set of stairs in your cleated shoes, carrying your bike.
This is quite ridiculous, and thus quite enjoyable.
5. Your legs and lungs will hurt. And that makes beer taste even better.

Shayne through the woods.

Justin Through the Field.

Justin lays the power down up a hill and puts

some distance between himself and his pursuers.

S.A. into the light...

Post race chill.

VXC rides/races every Wedensday night for the next while. Drop by the shop to get some info and come out and ride.

Fixed gear, cyclocross, maestros

Check out Shayne and Mitch strutting their stuff yesterday. Shayne is riding his Specialized Langster Vegas and Mitch is popping a wheelie on his bitching Trek CX machine. The skills are undeniable.
There are events coming up, where these skills will come in handy: For example "Pedal and a Pint" and the "Annual Unofficial Rider's Alley Cat Race." No dates have been decided yet but the weather is getting pretty nice and everyone is a little jittery and ready to rip it up.
In Mitch's case, the jitters are mostly because of his new found and delightful caffeine addiction, but for the rest of us, we're just itching to go out for a spin with our fellow cyclists.
I'm currently plotting out a course for the "cat," so be ready for real alleys...

Night ride!!!

Great right last night, and lets face it, when do you ever have a bad ride? The ride could only qualify as a borderline, group ride. Me and Justin made it out from the shop, and made it up our conventional climbing route: Skull, inventive, little face, centerfold, switchbacks. We were just about ready to go when we saw a light shining trough the trees and the hard breathing that most people would associate with Ryan Leech. I recognized the breathing as another Ryan, that is to say Ryan "Lavadome" Wickam. He had forgot his shoes and was late, but hammered up the trails to try and catch up with us. We let him take a breather before heading out again, and when Ryan stopped seeing double, we continued up the trail. It was a beautiful night, and surprisingly warm which resulted in slick trails and quite a few bails. Ryan took the "Rock star crash trophy," with his SUHE (spectacular up-hill endo), and I have to say that I feel blessed to have been able to witness this phenomenon for the second time in under a month. I almost managed to bail into the drink on one of the bridges and if I had succeeded in that I surely would have taken the "RSC Trophy" for myself. The park was busy with at least four groups on the go, which was awesome to see. We rode for about two hours and got a good burn going, and then had a beer in the parking lot with one of the other groups.

Cowboy logic of the day: Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.