Fall has fell...

...and no, I don't mean the trees all nice and full of color. I mean it's been raining for the past four days, highs in the 60's and has looked like this outside since Thursday...
In other words a FL kids nightmare.

Bruised, broken and burnt...

but it's done.

After the Cross race on Saturday (and the crash that happened there) Wifey took my bruised body and ego to Bear Creek on Sunday for the final race of the MASS.

I debated all morning long on weather to race or not, but after watching the start of Wifey's race I decided to put on the Superman costume one more time....but it was all Clark Kent and no Superman.

The race both started and ended fast, to bad mine did not end as fast as the guy that tore off his rear tire in the first ten feet thou (not really sure how that happened) but that would have saved me a 20 minute walk. About a mile into the trail my rear derailleur snapped in half...game over.

But I believe that everything happens for a reason...whatever the reason is that I've destroyed two rear wheels, snapped a rear derailleur and crashed more times then a five year old girl learning to ride over the last month is I have no idea.

So after my lovely walk thru the woods it was time to hang out the friends (over beer) and tell lies about how great we all were this season while the real racers finished racing.

Sour...me? No...I was not sour, bitter yes....sour no.

So on to the series awards we go....and the winner of Sport Vet 1 is....

yeah, some guy with a cool cycling cap and a black and blue knee.

Now it's time to heal a little then start getting things ready for next year. I know it's a long way away...but I have a long way to go. Let's just say my first few Expert races have not gone the way I wanted them to. Long walks in the woods dragging a broken bike.....been there, done that.

We've only got 200 days (ish) and a wake up before the first race of the 2009 season, time is short. Are you gonna be ready?

Status check...

...one, two....let's Rock

...I have no idea what I was/am doing...in the picture or in a Cross race....and speaking of The Rock....the quote of the day..."ride it like you ride his mom."

Being a jackass at race = free, being a jackass at a race and being put in your place = Priceless.

Sadness...

and no, I don't mean that crappy Enigma song that's pretty much only good for one thing...I'll let you fill in the blank on that one.

But sadness on the coming end to the racing year, on the MTB side of things that is. Sure, there's still Cross....but Cross is a different breed of racing, and I'm not sure it's my cup of tea.

One of these girls is not like the others...

and I don't mean the dude rocking the Florida Gator jersey next to me, still surprised Wifey did not try to do a little throw down on the startline...long story.

So after the not so happy ending to the Saturday race I wanted to redeem myself on Sunday....let's just say this was the happiest I looked during the 45 minutes bloodfest.

Racing the MTB on Saturday was a great idea, the course was a nasty mess of fun for me on the fat tires while all the guys on Cross bike were having a tuff time at best....that is until the rear wheel decided it was done for the day.

So after a 4-5 minutes run/walk/crap while trying to drag a dead bike I get to the pit and jump on Wifey's bike....a nice 4-5 minutes off the pace...day done.

So Sunday it is...and let's just say that trying to race the MTB again was like bring a knife to a gun fight. The Cross bikes were just laying down the speed hammer and I just could not keep the pace on my fatboy tires.
So 45 minutes of dying and crying later it was over...thank God.... and I ended up being mid pack.

So with that in mind I think I'll be bring the Cross bike to the throw down this Sat....and rumor has it there's a MTB race on Sunday too.

Torque plus flex....

equals first to last.

That was the Cross race today, details tomorrow after I get a little revenge. In a nutshell I destroyed my rear wheel again (when I was leading the F-ing race no less) but now I know why atleast.

Tomorrow I'm head hunting...

Pictures and question marks

Thanks to Jason for posting a link to a ton of pictures from the 24 hr at Seven Springs taken by Don Pagano...great sunrise shots.

Personally I like this one...
This weekend is up in the air on the racing front, kind of depends on if I can get my destroyed rear wheel fixed in time....either way we'll see.

Seven Springs and the Cross

...and by no means do I mean anything to do with church. Cyclo-cross kids, Cyclo-cross....as sick and mental as it is....it's started.

So I hit most of the highlights on Seven Springs in my first post, but here's a little more.

As the norm for any endurance race you had the questionable attire...

...lucky the Wife did not get a shot of the dude wearing the paisley dress, some form of fake boobs and a pink wig....sadly I thought dude was pulling it off pretty well. Thou I'm not sure why she missed getting a picture of the all female team rocking the schoolgirl look...plaid skirts, knee high socks...one even had pigtails, not that I really noticed.

On the the race:

Just past the two mile mark on my first lap I plowed my right pedal into something on a super fast downhill singletrack section...I saw on later laps it was a rock about the size of a cider block. Needless to say I went down HARD, and I truly thought I'd broken my leg. I knew a first aid station was at the bottom of the hill so I thought I'd just one leg it down the rest of the way.

After a minute or so I was able to start moving it and by the aid station I rode. I'd mostly forgotten about the leg when I came flying in for the pass off to the next rider on my team. As they she took off two women came over to me freaking out..."come with us, just leave your bike and come with us." My brains not really working after red lining it the past hour so I stagger with them as another teammate grabs my bike and gear.

They sit me in a chair and now I see what they were freaking on, my left leg from my knee to my ankle is covered in blood. Long story short, the sweat made things look much worse then they really were...just some cuts and two really good impact points.

The night laps were cool, nothing like doing a MTB race and hearing the Ted Nugent concert at the bottom of the resort most of the course.

My fourth and last lap was just about riding safe and burning up time. At that point we knew we had a fifty minute lead on the second place team with just over two hours to go. After my lap I took a couple shots of the resort on my way back down....this was about halfway the mountain.

The area reminded me of western NC alot, a sea of rolling green "east coast" mountains.

Proof that I can't get dressed without Wifey...

I've also got to thank the guys from Lupine Lighting System for the lighting system they raffled off....and I won. This thing is pimping and will gets LOTS of use....a huge thank you.

Now on to this Cross thing. Lastnight was the first cross practice here in Doylestown and I have to say that guys/gals that do this are a sick, sadistic group...really. I mean who in there right mind sprints for 40 minutes on a fat tired "road bike" thru grassy fields, rocky dirt roads, dismounts to run over barriers (put there on purpose) just to come to a hill so steep it's not ridable...therefore you throw the bike on your shoulder and run up it.

I know, like I said sadistic, damn near stupid......and yeah, don't even ask...I'll be back next week.

Mini Seven...

Here's a snap shot of the weekend. But we warned, the brain's only running about 50% of normal right now.....and when "normal" is about 50% of where it should...well, you get the point.

Late Friday afternoon easy pre ride of the course....atleast it was nice and flat:

....result. Seeing the kickass course firsthand and a destroyed rear rim...on the paved road heading back down the mountain to the villa no less. More on that once Bikwrench does his "CSI" investigation, good thing for back up wheelsets.

Friday night brought a Team carb load.....one part pasta, three parts beer. Three plus cases of beer over 14 racers is good hydration right? After a LATE night and an EARLY morning (ie two hours of "sleep") it was more bike love time....a big thanks to our neighbors:

....not sure who these guys were, but they seam to be good riders. If you're not a local these guys are STUDS on bikes, hands down some of the best riders on the east coast.

Back up top to watch the releasing of the hounds at noon

It was a awesome clear day....if you have three drinks and close one eye you may be able to make out the runners on the back side of the lake heading to there bikes.
Jump 24 plus hours ahead of racing with about an hour of sleep and what do you get:

A win of the five person Expert class and victory 'gift' from the second place team.

Will fill in the blanks later today or tomorrow, after I regain full motor control. But a way to man up award goes out to Jason on throwing down nine laps in the Solo class...huge props man.