West Bound and Down Non-Stop to CX Nationals

"PigPen this here's the Rubber Duck and I'm about to put the Hammerdown!"  The Best Bike Blog Ever has a Bear in the air.  Follow the road to nationals with a Cincinnati spin from correspondent Corey Green.  


As a special and exclusive feature, a group of parents, coaches, and Lionhearts junior cyclocrossers will be making the trip to Bend, OR to partake, participate, and soak in USA Cycling's 2010 Cyclocross nationals.  You're invited to mount up and come along for the ride.  Woot!


Cincinnati to Louisville, Indy to Columbus, you're no stranger to road trips.  But this 4500 mile round trip road trip might be more of a mission.  Can they survive life in a Toyota Sequoia?  Can they survive the Super 8?  Can they survive the cornfields?  It reminds me a bit of a movie.  Convoy?  Naw.  This is serious.  Definitely, Smokey and the Bandit.  The original, not a cash grab sequel either.  Before we get it in gear, meet the cast of characters.


I'm Corey Green, Cyclocross National Correspondent for The Best Bike Blog Ever.  There are three of us heading out to Bend via I-80 in a Toyota Sequoia (shameless sponsor plug).  The journey starts in less than a week and will commence promptly after the Zipp wheels from the OVCX raffle are won by a Lionheart and placed in the trailer.  I have 2250 miles, at 70mph that's plenty of time to glue them while riding shotgun. Conveniently Smokey and the Bandit has three main characters providing us with a perfect parallel.


As you remember, The Bandit set out for Texarkana to purchase Coors for some Georgia wheeler/dealers. This anthem and the first official reference to the phrase "boogity boogity boogity" should help you remember the plot.  



Since The Best Bike Blog Ever's budget was only enough to restore a 1987 Yamaha Jog scooter and not a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, we won't have a diversionary vehicle. But we will have a Toyota Sequoia with a 5.7L V8 engine pulling a trailer set up for bikes graciously donated for our use by the Team Turner/ProChain Cycling Team. It also means that Bandit, Snowman, and Frog will have to inhabit the same Sequoia for a non-stop 2250 mile trip from Indianapolis to Bend.  (Joe Biker Note: read that twice...it does say non-stop doesn't it?)


Cast:

The Bandit will be played by John Petrov. John is the father to a sort of well known cyclist named Spencer Petrov. For those of you racking your brains, yes, he is one of the 12 year olds riding next to you for about 2 minutes at the beginning of your Cat 4 race. John, like Bandit, has organized the drive to and from the west. Reports also have him as the best looking of the three of us as well as being the ladies man. There will probably be some debate on this as we drive.

Snowman will be yours truly, Corey Green. I have two girls racing in Bend at Nationals, Kenzie will be racing for the second time at Nationals and Madeleine will see the big stage for the first time. I will also be racing in three races out west, mostly for recon of courses to share with the kids. My dog won't be coming, and hopefully I won't start talking like Jerry Reed while I am on this trip.

Frog will be played by Gregg Shanefelt. I can already visualize Gregg arguing with me about not being a female and that Sallie Field looks nothing like him, but Gregg was a last minute acquisition to the trip, which means he plays Frog. However, if Gregg shows up this weekend with feathered hair, his participation might come under review. Gregg will be racing in the Elite race on Sunday, which means...Snowman gets to watch the Elite race at Nationals from the pit lane. 10-4 to that.  Hopefully I will remember to help Gregg if he decides to stop in the pits.


In true Smokey and the Bandit spirit we might or might not be taking orders for Deschutes growlers. We have a trailer, we may as well top it off with something. Hopefully we won't be interviewing anyone for the part of Buford T Justice on the way to or fro.


Look for updates as the trip and the racing week progresses. Last year there were a lot of sights and we didn't even stay for the Elites on Sunday. This year we have the entire last day of events to partake.


Joe Biker Note: Sincere thanks to Corey, Gregg and John.  Access passwords will be changed the day after Nat's!  Seriously, have fun, be safe and be funny!