A Sasquatch Sighting, Juniors and more on CX Discs Guest Blogger Corey Green of Cincinnati reports from the 2009 Cyclocross Nationals in Bend, OR:Either their bones are made of rubber or these juniors are tough. Cyclocross Nationals, solid ice course, temperatures around 15 degrees, kids falling all over the course, yet somehow they stick to it and get it done. I was supporting three kids this week - two in the juniors women 13-14 and one in the juniors men 10-12.
Mackenzie Green and Rachel Dobrozsi picked up 10th and 7th in their 8am race and Spencer Petrov picked up a podium spot in 3rd for the men 10-12. Two of these three didn't even know what a cyclocross bike was in August, all of them made some adults I know look like real wimps.
Give these kids a hand - they earned it today.
A day like today makes me wonder how many of us would really do it? Some Masters aged racers would seriously start thinking about hips and knees and "what if" scenarios. In 15 degrees, fully iced/snowy course? The wait at callups alone would be enough to make most of us reconsider our decision. Kids with 5% body fat and zero insulation racing at 8am, while Mr Husky with a painted-on skinsuit and enough insulation to stoke an average Alaskan heating stove for a month is racing at 2pm at the peak temperature. Something there doesn't seem right.
Is USA cycling trying to toughen up the youngest we have for racing in Belgium at a later age? Could it be that with the number of breweries in town (more than I have ever seen in a town of 80k) the only racers they could get at 8am are those too young to drink? Maybe the fact that the beer garden opens at 8am (and Deschutes is OH SO YUMMY) scared the organizers into adjusting the schedule to keep some away until later.
But then I saw Spencer with his medal. It wasn't gold, but he didn't care. He had won and got to stand on a podium at a national level race. All the kids forgot they were cold, forgot the pain that they had endured that morning. Those that were on the podium were flying sky high, those that were watching the podium were day dreaming about being on the podium. They were all hooked and my daughter said it best - "Dad, we will be back next year". She wasn't asking she was telling.
Lighter News - Cross Disk Update
The disk discovery by Joe when he read my draft was interesting. I hadn't read his editors note before today and I discovered that there is a WHOLE TEAM of people riding covered spoke wheels. For the life of me I can't really figure this one out. I am relatively sure that if I were to have used one of these it would look like a wheel of swiss cheese and make a lot of whistling noise as I rode around the track. My goal tomorrow is to find someone on one of these and get the scoop. I will write about it if I can find someone - stay tuned.
Messin' With Sasquatch
In a story that US Weekly would clamour for, it appears that Sasquatch has regained the trust of his mess of friends. He was photographed watching cyclocross, eating Bratwursts and sucking down Deschutes. The rare sasquatch was caught on camera heading to the wall of port-o-lets, walking eerily with the same gait as the guy next to him. Whether these two know each other or not I will never know, but look for them together in the next production of "A Chorus Line" at the local playhouse in Bend, OR.
Mackenzie Green and Rachel Dobrozsi picked up 10th and 7th in their 8am race and Spencer Petrov picked up a podium spot in 3rd for the men 10-12. Two of these three didn't even know what a cyclocross bike was in August, all of them made some adults I know look like real wimps.
Give these kids a hand - they earned it today.
A day like today makes me wonder how many of us would really do it? Some Masters aged racers would seriously start thinking about hips and knees and "what if" scenarios. In 15 degrees, fully iced/snowy course? The wait at callups alone would be enough to make most of us reconsider our decision. Kids with 5% body fat and zero insulation racing at 8am, while Mr Husky with a painted-on skinsuit and enough insulation to stoke an average Alaskan heating stove for a month is racing at 2pm at the peak temperature. Something there doesn't seem right.Is USA cycling trying to toughen up the youngest we have for racing in Belgium at a later age? Could it be that with the number of breweries in town (more than I have ever seen in a town of 80k) the only racers they could get at 8am are those too young to drink? Maybe the fact that the beer garden opens at 8am (and Deschutes is OH SO YUMMY) scared the organizers into adjusting the schedule to keep some away until later.
But then I saw Spencer with his medal. It wasn't gold, but he didn't care. He had won and got to stand on a podium at a national level race. All the kids forgot they were cold, forgot the pain that they had endured that morning. Those that were on the podium were flying sky high, those that were watching the podium were day dreaming about being on the podium. They were all hooked and my daughter said it best - "Dad, we will be back next year". She wasn't asking she was telling.Lighter News - Cross Disk Update
The disk discovery by Joe when he read my draft was interesting. I hadn't read his editors note before today and I discovered that there is a WHOLE TEAM of people riding covered spoke wheels. For the life of me I can't really figure this one out. I am relatively sure that if I were to have used one of these it would look like a wheel of swiss cheese and make a lot of whistling noise as I rode around the track. My goal tomorrow is to find someone on one of these and get the scoop. I will write about it if I can find someone - stay tuned.
Messin' With Sasquatch
In a story that US Weekly would clamour for, it appears that Sasquatch has regained the trust of his mess of friends. He was photographed watching cyclocross, eating Bratwursts and sucking down Deschutes. The rare sasquatch was caught on camera heading to the wall of port-o-lets, walking eerily with the same gait as the guy next to him. Whether these two know each other or not I will never know, but look for them together in the next production of "A Chorus Line" at the local playhouse in Bend, OR.
1 comment:
Gumbo Boy, this was great!
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