Today was a good day

Obviously that is not Ice Cube pictured above but in the immortal words of Ice Cube "today was a good day." Rosey pulled off one of the greatest outlaw rides of all time today. The Rhonde de Rosey was a huge success. 67 riders, 67 miles of dirt, mud, crazy trails all kinds of tarmac some wayyy more technical than any of the dirt we rode. Rosey is going to grow weary of my cheshire cat grin I will be wearing from now til cross season.

Here's basically how it went down. When Bjarne Riis wants his troops to get ready for the spring classics and the grand tours he builds comraderie by throwing them off an inflatable in the north atlantic and making them swim to shore. Rosey sets loose a wild pack of cross dogs on the Rhonde! Rosey proved in technocolor today that cross season is never over!
The greatest quote I heard today was that cross is ruining bike racing! Love it! And it is so true. Obviously the person was joking but their point was that people would rather have fun than race their bikes around in circles around an office park crit. What would you rather do on a glorious spring day in the NE? Office park crit or slay yourself over 67 miles on a cross bike with 70 of your closest friends? Yeah I thought so. Lots of riders who should have been "racing" an uptight boring "race" thought so as well. Washington Square Tavern deserves mad props for hosting this race. Gerry the owner was so gracious as was his staff. And frankly the burger I had after the ride was the best burger I've had in my life. I for one will be a regular at the Tavern by months end. It is that great a pub. Biker friendly, great bartenders and staff real welcoming. Spot on.
My brain is all over the map. Thoughts keep flying around from the day. Its going to take a few days to get all down on the pad. The picture above says so much again about just the paradigm shift between cross racers and the rest of the biking public at large. Look at that bike pile? Seriously. Who other than a cross racer would pile Seven titanium cross bikes on top of each other? No one. Can you imagine? That is just one pile. There were 67 pro level bikes just piled on top of each and not one rider was like ohhh be careful you might scratch it. These aren't show ponies they are Belgian draft horses made for work by a real person's hands. There were Geekhouses, Sevens, Sketchy, IFs galore, Iglehearts, Vanillas! Amazing.
Like proper Belgians we rolled up early found a cafe near by to set up as HQ while we kitted up had chocolate croisants and coffee. Team Hupcake Express was incredible. Ron Steers, Mark Bernard, Eli Levine, Richard Fries and myself. We picked up a Washington Square Tavern rider along the route and he proved invaluable later in the day. Rosey sent the teams off in waves. Slower riders first, faster riders last. It was kind of a handicapping of teams. There are way too many details to go blow by blow here. Long story short the Hupcake Express was the first team in! We had the angels on our side no doubt. And yes we had a huge homefield advantage. But still this course chewed up and spit out rider's with a insatiable appetite.

Team out of bounds needs some McGiver award and Matt Roy should accept it. Wow. Talk about adversity. The first dirt section one of their riders ripped his rear derailler off. No problem Matt turned the bike into a single speed. The rider then rode his single-speed for 30 miles. Dear god it was hard enough with gears can you imagine? Was that the end of their bad luck? Mais Non. Next the now single-speeder snaps his chain. Matt Roy now tows the rider without the chain from Lexington to Arlington with an inner tube as a bungy chord. Incredible. That type of effort becomes the thing of legend trust me.

We had our share of bad luck as well trust me. My good friend Eli started the ride with a badly separated shoulder. At around mile 50 as we are traversing a narrow wood bridge about three feet high I hear rider down called out from the back of the train. My brain instantly goes "rider down?!" Holy crap. Eli fell off the bridge and jacked his totally messed up shoulder even worse. He is one seriously tough hombre. I'd be in the fetal position crying for my mommy. He just climbs back up on the wood bridge and away we go. He was in obvious pain for the last 17 miles. Hardman of the day right there. The whole team rode so out of their heads it is just awe-inspiring! Thank you to all of you! Each and everyone took their turn at the front, helped navigate some tricky section, provided great conversation and hilarity at all times. I bow down to you guys seriously!

Last bit and I need to get to sleep. Richard Fries. Holy shit. I don't even know what to say. I guess the only thing I can equate it to is when you find out just how talented your friends are and it blows your mind. He drove a pace that never stopped. Seriously. He was on Tim Johnson's old 9-ball cannondale with jets and just rode like 10 men. Once again he showed what a patron really is. He kept us safe, had us moving like a Seal team through enemy territory and provided a clinic in not only technical cross riding but urban riding unlike anything I have seen. Chapeau my friend! It was impressive to behold.

Sleep well my brothers and sisters. I am sooo lucky to call all you my friends! Hup Hup and huge thanks to Rosey, Gerry and the Washington Square Tavern, Murat, Natasha, Mo for bringing yummy vegan cupcakes and cookies, Hannah for the SSC Hupcakes, all the sponsors of the raffle and all you cross freaks for bringing it all day long!!!!