Il Falco

I have to keep reminding myself its February. But its impossible. My biker brain wakes up, sees the bigball of yellow outside and I want to ride. Like lots. It feels like May in New England right now. I have been riding 5 days a week. I should be doing hot yoga, getting fat and sledding with my kids. Instead I am riding in the drops pushing the pedals over at 40 rpm with Il Falco. Yeah Il Falco is Matt Aumiller's new nickname. We shall see if it sticks. But I guarantee he earned it. Matt and I have been plotting much radness of late. Started with the Ronde 2.5, morphed into Zank SSCX series and now well now I could tell you but then I would have to kill you now wouldn't I? Well suffice it to say. I got an email saying meet me at Blue Hills at 8 am. We will do hill repeats. I believe the number he said was 7. Ummm do you think he realizes just how old, fat and slow I am? Maybe its best if he doesn't. So I kiss my beautiful wife and roll out at 7 am. Its a great ride over. I get there a touch early and in Hank the Tanks words decide "I will do one" A couple of other dudes are on the access road as well. I catch my 1 minute guy right at the switchbacks where the road kind of kicks you in the nuts. NBD as he is in a hi-viz rain cape and seems more tourist than racer. Like me I suspect his faster friend was taking pity on him and trying to make him faster. He gave me a "great job" and I paid the favor back.
I descended at what I thought was a good pace. Still no Matt. NBD. The good thing with this type of ride is even if your ride partner is late (well I was early) you know where the dirty work will happen. No one, even if they want to, is going anywhere other than up that horrible piece of rock. I text Matt and tell him I am going to do a lap around Blue Hills. Its a bit longer than I thought. But damn its gorgeous. Later Matt and I would be talking about the climb and riding around BH. Before I could even say anything he said "it reminds you of out West doesn't it?" It really does. Like a 1/100 scale model of Mt Diablo. Seriously. Obviously the scale is what is different but other than that. Very similar. This will be my crucible. My Goat Hill if you will. So we do one climb together tranquilo. Then we do one in the drops, seated at like 45 rpm. Holy shit. I have never done that before. Then Matt earned his new nickname. As we start dropping down the access road he just goes bombastic! The ONLY person I have seen descend like that is Joe Breeze. Seriously. No brakes, using the whole road. Full euro style descending. Guy is a demon. Impressive to say the least. So I am gonna put it out there. I am going full euro, eastern bloc training from now on. Well without the testosterone patches and blood bags.
My next little project is hinted at above. I love my current road bike. I really do. When I say I am getting a new one people always look at me like I am crazy. My S3 belgie blue Sycip is a thing of beauty. Jeremy was doing the handbuilt thing long before most of these dudes even where out of high school. I love that guy like a brother. But the man who mentored him and built my first cross bike? That would be Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster. I had Paul build me a cx frame 3 years ago. I can't believe its been that long. Ever since I got that bike I have been telling him I was going to put in an order for a scandium "carbon bike killing machine" of a road frame. Well I sent that check. Let' see if I can cash it. I think it needs to be belgie blue just like the Sycip.
I also got a chance on Saturday's ride to finally go to Cafe Fixe. I have heard of it of course but never been there. In true Roger De Vlaeminck style we rolled up to the team ride with lots of miles in our legs. Ok maybe not. RDV used to put in like 200k before meeting other riders. I think we got like 45 k. But anyway. We roll up and I see a big group of Threshold, then like 40 dudes in spandex crammed into the tiny cafe. We meet up with Ben, Seth, Andrew and Billy and they give me an escort home. Such a great way to get the riding started for the weekend. This will be my saturday from now on. Such a great time

I also got this little gem in the mail. Soft Like Kitten is my "secret team" I "met" Robert through a couple of friends. Stevil and Michele. I can't think of two more opposite people than those two. But they share one thing that is for sure. The love of the bike and are such great people. And friends. Robert has put together a great crew up in the PacNW. They are doing some really cool things. Wish 3,000 miles and some wasteland didn't separate Boston and Seattle. I know I would love hanging out with them. For now I will wear that hat on all my hardman rides. Or just at Cafe Fixe drinking doppios and eating pastries.

Doppio

The Lion and the cockroach have had an unholy alliance of late. Hup and Cambridge (now Broadway Bicycle School race team) have always had a shared bond. What we (Hup) may lack in ironic mustaches, tattoos and model like hipster good looks we make up with a love of steel bicycles, hardman/hardwoman training, cyclo-cross, good beer and cupcakes. And then there is of course the kits. Which team has more kits is debatable. I would have to give the edge to Hup but I am not 100% sure of this. Both kits are sick. Both kits use choice iconography and dramatic use of color/design. I won't lie I love the CB hi-viz green. They pretty much got that ball rolling long before it was the in color. Two of my all time favorite people to ride with are Scott Rosenthal (Hup) and Matt Aumiller (BBS). On saturday the three of us set out to do recon for the Ronde 3.0. All the details for the Ronde 3.0 are here. We had some great ideas. And I won't lie to you this years Ronde is LONG. And hard. We logged about 70 miles. 7 hours. About 5 1/2 actual riding time. We stopped for coffee at mile 30 and lunch at mile 60. We cracked a bit. Nothing major but we kept joking about how hard it is. But its supposed to be hard. I will also say it has an amazing flow to it. And the new trails we found are off the hook.
Friday night all the weather channels were saying we were going to get 3-6 inches of snow. I was beyond jacked up about this. I was a little nervous as I knew it would be a long day of riding saturday but there is nothing like riding a cx bike on fresh powder. Its a great feeling. I rolled out of my house to some small flakes. I met Rosey and Matt at Cutler at about 8:30. They both looked like they were ready for war. We popped into Cutler and did the usual loop. There were small sections that had some snow but not much at all. By the time we popped out on the West Roxbury side the snow had basically stopped. We got through sans Zombie attacks and with zero incidents. We had to do a hot lap on the pump track which as always is a blast.
We headed to south street and then into needham town forest. Again everything was going according to plan. No flats, mechanicals etc. That is actually saying something as some years Cutler eats bikes and rear mechs alive. We have our first close call rolling out of NTF. Someone. I assume a park person put a really low cable across the end of the trail. You could barely see it with all the brown leaves on the ground. Luckily Rosey stopped right in time before certain death....we avoided our first problem with little more than a "wtf? Why would anyone put that across a trail?" But its a good reminder that the Ronde has no rules. You never know what the fuck you are gonna see on these trails. I will say this Boston is blessed with so much open space. Out west 90% of this would be illegal. And if you built trails on it you would risk going to federal prison. Not that I know anyone who would build trails on any of this stuff.....
We jet over to Ridge Hill and through Wellesley. I show off the newly built fun zone that is up top on the loop. Some resourceful bmxers have built a pretty badass drop in zone up there. We railed it and kept moving. After popping out in Wellesley center we decided to stop for a doppio and an apple fritter. About 30 miles in we were feeling good. I took some bike pile pictures. Which I might add still blows my mind. We were basically on our own mini NAHBS cx tour. An Igleheart, a Zank, a Rock Lobster. 3 edge forks. 3 lazer helmets. Badass.

After the doppios we were feeling pretty perky so we upped the pace a touch. Rolling up clif road I started to feel a crack coming on. Aumiller was putting out some serious watts on the road sectors. And I was just trying to hang on for dear life. The key to the Ronde IMHO is managing both the terrain and your energy. You can make up some serious time on the road sectors. Or you can rip the legs off your teammates. Its a balance. With Rosey and Matt we are able to find that balance point pretty well. But a word of warning pick your teamates wisely. You will only be as fast as your slowest teammate. We hit the reservoir. We aren't sure if we are "allowed" access here or not. No one tazes us so it must be ok. We get to Weston and hit the craziest hike a bike I have had to deal with in quite some time. We get to the rail bed and Rosey pins it. What is cool about this ride is it plays to different peoples strengths. When ever Rosey sees a straight gravel or dirt road it is on! I like that about Scott. For the record the trails are in amazing shape. Not too wet. Pretty solid. Very little ruts. On the rail bed my bike starts complaining. I really don't see what the problem is. Just because I haven't changed the cables and housing since October it should work. Shouldn't it?
Rosey crushes the Lincoln road strava segment. We come out on 117. We cross over to Concord and go into Walden Pond. Oh man. I have been wanting to explore Walden forever. The ghost of Thoreau is all around us. Or the Blair Witch. It gets a little foggy in there not gonna lie. We come upon a very helpful trail runner. She just moved to Concord from Colorado so that explains why she is so friendly to three bikers who are looking a bit rough around the edges at this point. She points us in the right direction and off we go. We drop into trails that could be in Colorado. Beautiful. We come out and deadend at rt 2. Hmmm. We see a sidewalk on our left and take it. Its a bit sketchy. Aumiller hits sand and crashes. I feel horrible that I wasn't able to hold him up but he is a lot bigger than I am. He is unscathed. Just a bit dirty (er).

We head over to Concord. Hit the Bedford rail trail. From there we hit all the good stuff on the way to Lexington. In lexington we stop at Panera and get lunch. We see Joy and Cindy and I go say hi. So many people got out last saturday on cx bikes. I swear people are riding there cx bikes in the NECX right now more than they do during cx season. Not to get off topic but I think cx season sucks for riding. There I said it. You end up having to train so specifically. And you end up racing every weekend. So you miss going on big cx rides with your friends. To be honest riding saturday with Matt and Rosey was better than an entire cx seasons worth of racing. Anytime Matt speaks french to me over lunch it is a good day ; )

We leave Panera and head over the hill into Belmont. At Belmont we say our goodbyes. I get home around 3:30. Holy crap. If there is anything better than spending all day with good friends riding cx bikes I don't know what it is. Thanks to Rosey and Matt. Such good friends. And such good riding partners. Team Camelstache will be bringing it. Get your teams together. Get riding. As Eddy would say "ride lots" Its gonna be a long day. Lots of bail outs if you have to. Again what is amazing about Boston is that all of these great trails are soooo close to towns. I think you will need to stop for food. But that is me. Wellesley is a good stop point for water, gatorade etc. Lexington or Concord is a good idea for lunch or to grab some food. I rode a Clement LAS rear tire which I loved! And a mud 2 front. I think that is the perfect combo to be honest. You need a front knobby so you can enjoy some of the great trails. But its nice to have a file tread in the rear for the pave.

Hope to see the whole NECX on April 15th. Will the Vagiants come out of retirement and crush souls? I sure hope so...

Is it safe?

It just hit me what we need to do to make the roads safer for cyclists. It hit me as I almost hit a cyclist while driving my kid to school in the manvan. The irony of that and what that would have done to me is not lost on me. But I digress. What we need to make the roads safer from the masses anyway. Not the asshole, aggressive driver that endangers everyone on the road. The responsible driver. Like 80% of the driving public if you will. And obviously I am being generous here. What we need to make the road safer for cyclists is for drivers to drive like cyclists. What does that mean? Does that mean texting and driving because you race a bunch of crits and you can process information faster than say a soccer mom? No. Does it mean taking another driver into the tape during rush hour or shutting down gaps cause gaps only open? No. It means driving with the understanding of what a bike can do on a road. Mainly how a rider navigates traffic and how fast it can move in certain situations.

So my personal horror story that wasn't this am. So I am tired. Shit I am always tired. I drive Syd in cause she missed the bus. I am not rushing. But Syd is talking with me about her new theater troup that she just started. She is really into it. I am not distracted but there is a white noise going on. As I get closer to school there are a ton more distractions. Kids biking, walking, moms with strollers, dog walkers, construction trucks. Blah, blah, blah the burbs. Then I see an embro rider come tearing down the hill I am about to turn onto to get to Syd's school. It is a very steep hill and on a bike or car you can easily get to 45 at the bottom if you don't brake at all.

He is on a hi-viz Igleheart or Gaulzetti. Again I am driving so I can't process it too closely. I make the turn and a part of my cyclist brain clicks on. It says " damn that must have been pretty sketchy for that embro rider" He was probably going 40. He had to deal with kids on a crosswalk, a crossing guard, cars rushing to work and to get kids to school. A lot of potential for disaster. So I make the right turn. I get stuck behind the traffic that the crossing guard has stopped. Again I am not in a rush but Syd is talking to me. I get the wave and head up the steep hill. The drivers behind me are impatient as they know I am going to take a left and stall them as they are rushing to work or whatever. Cars are coming down the hill at me at about 40. Gaps are tight. Its busy cause its rush hour. So you have to time it. A good gap is there. I am about to turn left. And an alarm goes off in my head and I think about that embro rider. Low and behold there is a commuter tucked in right next to the van coming towards me. I didn't see him at first because he was slightly behind the vehicle. I didn't turn. He would have been screwed if I turned. The car next to him could have slowed easily. Could the biker have? Who knows. I am glad we didn't have to see how good his brakes and reactions were.

But it made me pause. If all drivers rode bikes imagine the difference it would make. All those dumb ass right hooks and bullshit accidents that happen every day in every city of the USofA would disappear or at least would be reduced dramatically. Motorcyclists have made lobbying efforts to try and educate the driving public to "look twice, save a life" makes a ton of sense to me. Who knows maybe the RoW crew can pitch it when they get to DC...

Winter White

Have you ever seen the movie the "Butterfly Effect"? Horrible, Horrible movie. Ashton Kutcher. Movie built around the Chaos theory that a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state. I think this was part of Lost as well. Stephen Kings new book is sort of about that also. Sometimes my life feels that way. Not in a bad way but in a what is real and what is not real way. Or what if I did x back ten years ago where would I be right now...anyway that is maybe too heavy for a silly blog post on a Friday after Groundhog Day. I guess the crux of it is how the internet has woven all our lives, past and present together. Last weekend was awesome. But its a perfect example of this idea. I went on a really great ride with one of my teammates. We just spun an easy gear. Talked about weddings, team transfers, just caught up. It really was perfect. On the way back on South street I sensed a larger group coming up on us. I looked back and it just looked like the Borg mothership about to assimilate us. I told Joy a crew was coming up. NBD. But when the group latch on at a light I looked back and I saw the Threshold Wolf Pack all beards and smiles. Nice! That crew just gets me going. Lots of great guys on the team obviously but they just have an energy about them that I love. Doesn't hurt that they have that big yellow Lion of Flanders on the back pocket of their jersey either.

Our own little version of the Bossburg

So as I sat in talking to Ken, then Dan we just moved through a rotation. At one point I was next to a guy in a very familiar kit. I said hi. Looked down and saw the Team Roaring Mouse logo! Ha. So I say to him "nice kit." Now this is Boston. You don't know if someone is saying nice kit cause its a nice kit or they are some chucklehead DB trying to start some shit with you. So the guy really doesn't say anything. Then I laugh and say no really nice kit. Then I tell him about my having a bunch of friends on Team Roaring Mouse back in the Bay Area and that I lived out there for almost two decades. That eases his natural fear of Bostonians and we chat a bit. I peel off and head home just feeling good about life. Sunday I stay glued to my lap top watching CX Worlds. On Monday I get an email from Dennis. Dennis is one of the two or three people who really got me into cross. He was the guy who got me onto the Sycip team, mentored me all along the way. Really was one of my best friends in SF. And he writes the best race reports of anyone I know. Frankly race reports are a dying art.

Dennis photo by Jeff Namba

Then today I am cruising the interwebs and I see Stevil has posted D's report! Along with photos! I ripped the above photo of Dennis off AHTBM. I hope Stevil doesn't find me and nut punch me....Long story short it was so great to hear from Dennis and see him ripping it up. And hear it now and believe me later. Next Fall I will be making a pilgrimage back to SC. Thinking Halloween weekend. Sure why not dig myself a deeper hole. I will be racing for the SSWC of Cyclo-cross. And if I win it you better believe I am coming home with a tattoo on my left butt cheek. Even if it is Barney...

So among all these ripples through time or the interwebs is the next part of this blog post. Team Transfer Season. Wow. I have never seen so much team shake up on an amateur level in my life. The cockroach now becomes Broadway instead of Cambridge, riders are swapping teams left and right, and the Mad Alchemy/Verge Rider Cooperative is born. I personally like the words Syndicate or Mafia but I see where these guys are going with it. Hup NE has grown! Big time. We have added a lot of new faces. Some came on at the end of the cx season and others have come aboard via friends. Or friends of friends. I am really excited where Hup NE is right now. We have the same great core of OG Hup that built this team from the get go but now we have this next gen. It reminds me a bit of X-Men and X-Men Next Generation. I will do a formal intro of all the new riders but let me just say Hup will be bringing it next year. I think we have gone from a Wolf Pack to a swarm of Killer bees...

Last thoughts on this jumble of a blog post. This "winter" has been bananas. I don't think its possible to "overtrain" But maybe you can go too deep. I have been open about my Strava addiction. Not even sure what it all means. It just motivates me unlike any other tool out there. Some people love Powerdata etc. I like to see where I have been. And then get inspired by other riders to maybe try a new route or maybe try mtn biking in a certain area I haven't tried before. So in no planned fashion I have been building a base. Again nothing structured. Just riding. I decided this week to do the CRW 60. I have literally never done it. I have been on a lot of the roads that make it up but never done the whole loop. So I set out. Found some amazing roads I have never been on before. Then when I got to Holliston I cracked. To pieces. Just did what we do. Ate what food I had. Kept moving. I wanted to stop so bad. But I kept think WTF? Its only been 40 miles. How can I crack at 40 miles? I had already done about 250 in the last two weeks in January...I got home. Took care of myself then woke up sick. Again I have not been pushing myself. No intervals. Just a tick up in mileage and a switch from Cx in the woods to road. But I have been dealing with a lot of pressure. A shit ton. More than any time in my life. And I have been sitting in Hospital waiting rooms while people sneeze and cough all around me. So I got taken down. Need to be smart about it. All I WANT to do is keep logging in miles. It seems like the only place my mind is quite right now. Maybe that is why people end up doing more endurance when they get older. Its gives you space. And time.

Ok that is enough of my endless rambling. I blame it on the fog that is my brain right now. Kudos to my good friend Dennis for rocking so hard its not even funny. He still inspires me from 3,000 miles away. Keep writing those reports D! And please keep sending them. I will see you next Fall!

Hup! Hup!

Mud Flaps are nice

Lot going on in my little world. Cross season is ovah. Officially with World's last weekend. I missed the best party in the whole NECX but I had much more important things to take care of. That is how it goes. The weather has been crazy this winter. So I have been riding. Lots. And have cleaned up my act. Not gonna go into details but we have what you would say a family crisis going on with my moms. Or wake up call. Its working out well. As best as you can hope for in these situations. When you walk through the doors of Dana-Farber it changes you. My mom is ok. But what always amazes me is that my family rallies. Big time. We may all be batshit crazy Irish Townies but I will tell you what we come together. That was driven home from day one by you guessed it my mom. So let's say its made me focus. Big time.
Not gonna bore you with the details but its a bit of a cleansing going on. I have been lucky to have some amazing conversations with some good friends. And have been on some great rides that have really helped me focus. I consider myself pretty Zen or Buddhist. Or maybe a Hybrid. I am spiritual. I am not going to shy away from it. I pray. Nightly. I pray at the start grid of every race. Every mini-epic. Its in my DNA. But I always felt I was pretty cool with death etc. But I have been hit with this news about my mom hard. So its time to really peel back the bullshit. Take away what doesn't work. Chose health if you will. You need to be healthy and strong for others not just yourself. So that is the journey I am on right now. Its funny really. Cross may not be "healthy" for me. Its true. I come into cross season lean and tanned. I come out 10 pounds heavier and bloated. Blame it on the beer and cupcakes. Who knows. So some big changes. Beer is out. Booze is out. Soda is out. Shit. This is not going to be easy. But it has to happen
Ryan Kelly hit the nail on the head. But I will agree to disagree on the alcohol. It can be fine for most people. But please I am Irish. As Brett Favre once said I am not a good drinker. It sneaks up on me sometimes. So for now we put that part aside and focus on the positive. I have some amazing friends. Actually we all do. That to me is one of the most incredible pieces of this NECX puzzle. A huge thanks to everyone who checked in on me or asked me to coffee or let me ride with them. Its really helped. Speaking of riding. I am a Strava addict. Its weird. Its not the data itself. Or the KOMs or anything. I just like that it gives you these challenges. And you can see what everyone else is doing. For me who is pretty much uncoachable. Well. Totally uncoachable. It gives me a goal. What is that goal. Ride. And ride lots. We will see how that strategy pays off. I think it will pay off big time
Body is a wreck after riding 5 days straight last week. Got about 160 miles in. That is pretty sweet for January in New England. Plan is to surf this wave of Global Warming til the next mini Ice Age kicks us in the nuts.

Young Man Winter

Ice World has no rules. As we all know. I like most sane people have some rules. One of those rules is no riding under 20 degrees. I also hate the trainer. Like viscerally hate it. I don't know how people do it. Frankly riding the trainer for extended periods of time is wayyy more brutal than riding outside. So when Andy Huff (picture above) called me out on my own supposedly Hardman fb page and on twitter I pretty much had to show. You lose all your Hardman status if you don't show up for your own ride right? The Garden Gnome said 10 degrees. But it looked sunny. Andy tweeted that he was dressed and heading to Cutler. No turning back now. I got my self all jacked up listening to Sean Paul Temperature. About 20 times....

Put on ALL my clothing. I was a bit worried about my gloves but whatever. How bad could it be? I rolled out and it wasn't that bad. Sun was shinning. Sure it was cold. But it wasn't that bad. On my way to Cutler I saw a pack of teenage girls walking wearing just hoodies. No hats. No jackets. Hoodies. Uggs and sweats. Yeah you think you are Hard. Not even close my friend. Townie girls are wayyyy tougher than you trust me. I laughed a bit inside and rolled over the hill to PTC. I got there wicked early. Not a great thing when its 10 degrees and windy. One rule of winter I do stick with is keep moving. As long as you are moving you can't freeze to death. Pretty sure that was in Jack London's Call of the Wild. Or maybe its keep moving so the wolves don't get you. What ever. I was an art major. So I go into Cutler and search out the euro chutes. The ground was frozen and fast. Found the sickest chute yet. Rolled back to the parking lot and was greeted by about 5 police cars, an ambulance and two Firetrucks. Ahhh the party doesn't start til the cops show up.

Andy was boxed in by what looked like either a.) Dog Walker road rage b.) Drunk hikers c.) an old lady who went for brake and hit accelerator. Either way a car got t-boned in the parking lot that defied all logic. All the policemen and the poor guy who's SUV was just jacked up just looked at the crime errr accident scene and shook their collective heads. Luckily they were all wearing their helmets or they would have deserved it cause driving cars is inherently dangerous...

Anhyoo. Two other hearty souls arrived. In all the excitement I started getting all Hypothermic so I jumped in the team car. Should I mention that Andy had four rolls of course tape sitting in his car. Yeah the King of Bandit cross is ready to occupy your park at a moments notice....be afraid. The Occupy CX movement is coming to a park near you sooner than you can imagine.

They finally got me out of the car after much protest. They weren't buying I already did my ride. You guys go ride I am going to listen to dancehall music here in the car...They dragged me out and put me on my bike. Mostly cause they didn't know the trails. I lead out and go into the park towards the Island. Andy and I are chatting a bit. I stop to shake out my now frozen claws of hands so I can use my brakes and notice its just me and Andy. Hmm that is weird. The other two roll up with a story about a stick in a derailler. If my brain wasn't so frozen solid this would have raised red flags. Cutler is a derailler killer. Not sure why. But it has a nasty reputation as a ripper of deraillers. I head towards the rooty stuff. Clean the crazy rooted camber. I hear some "noises" behind me and just hope no one has maimed themselves too severely.

I get into the flow once again. Just railing the turns. Get out on the board walk and over to the Island. I assumed everyone was right behind me. I stop to try and get feeling in my hands. And no one is behind me. This is starting to shake out like a bad horror movie. Finally one rider appears. We talk about how cold it is. We wait. And wait. Then head back. At the other end of the board walk we see a lone toe cover. WTF? Has the Yeti devoured Andy and the other dude? Holy crap. So now we are in full back track mode looking for blood trails and any remains. After almost getting all the way back to the main trail I see Andy coming towards us. Looks like the late rider snapped his chain and they went back to the parking lot.

I take them back out to the Island and get in a nice hot lap. Then give them high fives and say my goodbyes. I jet home as fast as I can and eat all the food in the house. I still have a wicked Ice Cream headache. But all in all an awesome day on the bike. Thanks Andy for once again getting me stoked to ride bikes!

The Way of the Bike

Roger Cadman and I battling it out. We look like a kind of Yin and Yang of cx. Or maybe the Half-Moon cookie of cross. It was so much fun...photo by Tiffany Remy

The bike cannot cure cancer. The bike cannot save the world. The bike is not everything. The bike can transform its rider. And it can build communities. And it can be a time machine that even if for only one brief moment of flying can fix everything. This post was going to be called "The Kids are Alright" And it was going to be an homage/shoutout to all the riders, mostly young who have taken Ernest Gagnon under their wing the last two cross seasons.

I don't know how much you all know about Ernest. I didn't really know much about him til recently. I knew his story a bit and knew he was a good photographer. But the impact these young men (mostly) have had on his life is nothing short of amazing. We talk incessantly about how to grow cross and fight over the most minor details. Its insane actually. What gets lost in the conversation is that like lots of movements cross has its own life force right now. The growth is happening in a viral way now. Look at how many women are coming into the sport. People can say they have contributed to the growth but in the big picture it is the community that has made it happen. Not one person or event or team.

One of Ernest's goals other than to get his health back was to race a cross race. Ernest is struggling with some lifelong health issues. He is trying to lose weight by changing his lifestyle. A big part of that is cycling. He has done an amazing job! He has already lost a ton of weight. And is getting his health back. But he still has a ways to go. I think he got kind of bummed that he didn't get to actually race at one of the races this year. He really shouldn't have been bummed as what he has accomplished already is beyond belief. But his friends and he came up with an idea. How about a cross relay race? And thus the Ernest Gagnon Bitter Cold Showdown was born!

A bunch of people got together and made it happen. Andy Huff is now and forever the King of Bandit racing! Typically a Bandit race is show and go. Ie., show up maybe throw a few cones down and do a flash mob cx race. But be prepared to flee from cops, angry dog walkers or groundspeople. Last Sunday the same day as Nats Andy created the Occupy Cyclocross Movement. Andy talked about the race for weeks. He found a venue. He invited everyone. We all showed up and it was like Deja Vu of Shedd Park. I rolled up and saw step in stakes and course tape. On the WHOLE course. I mean that is unheard of. That takes balls made of unobtanium. But sometimes when you want to do something Bandit you go big. And everyone including the police assume its legit. Andy, Ernest and Abel set up a sick course. Like seriously fantastic. Turns. Lots and lots of turns. And a bunch of offcamber and some sketchy stuff. Two drop ins and some great use of the broken down remnants of this old park. There were also two short cuts. The idea afterall was not to do a race that crushed everyone but that was for beginners or those new to the sport.

The NECX is awesome. But there is a piece of the puzzle we are missing. Say all you want about juniors being the future of cyclocross but beginners and women are the future. End of story. No beginners. No future. And doing it as a relay makes it so much less intimidating. Teams of 5 were formed up. About 40 people showed up to race. Cosmo came up from CT, a gang of ECV came down, Geekhouse, Newbury Comics, Hup, Mystic Velo, a ton of riders. And it was like the word got out to bring a new person to try cx. So many new faces that were willing to give it a go. Ernest and Cosmo were on our team of Abel, Parke and Myself. A lemans start was decided. Batons were issued. And they were enormous. I had a lot of trouble with the baton....I kept fearing I would crash and it would need to be surgically removed from my body. A bunch of us were on singlespeeds. It was so awesome seeing people having such a good time

Soy Sauce Jesus...or Pikachu not sure which...

The highlight of course was Ernest taking two laps! He did it. Respect to Ernest. And to Cosmo and to all the kids who supported Ernest in his dream to race cross. I really believe this is the future of beginner cx. Whether we do it as a "clinic" or as a race series I think is irrelevant. What it does it brings new people into the sport and doesn't scare them off. We really could build it into a cool thing. I wanted it to go for 24 hours and have bonfires and kegs of beer but you all know I am sick like that ; )

The other highlight was my final lap. I got to race my great friend Roger. I love that man. If there is anything the bike does is it opens you up to so many amazing people. And it forges friendships that you just couldn't build in any other way. I think it happens in surfing and a few other culty sports/activities. But cycling and cross especially are something special. Roger got me at the line by a bike length. And Susan technically beat us. Well she beat us pretty badly actually...