rainy sunday
April 7, 2008
Brooke blogs coherently about our rainy Sunday morning ride…
April 6, 2008
CCCX MTB #5, Toro Park, CA
1st, Katy Kintz, Junior Women 18 & Under
2nd, Patricia Kintz, Sport Women, 45+
4th, Daphne Hodgson, Sport Women, 45+
Ouachita Challenge 60-Mile, Oden, AR
17th, Lindsay Rodkey, Women
Santa Cruz Criterium, CA
6th, Sarah Kerlin, Women 1/2/3
4th, Thea Rusthoven, Women 4
Patriots Trail Road Race, SC
1st, Kristen Weinacker, Women 4
13th, Jamie France, Women 4
Treasure Hunt
April 6, 2008
By Monica Tory
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Ever heard of an alleycat? It’s a cross between a scavenger hunt on bikes and an adventure race, and it’s just a whole lot of fun!
As part of a team, I “raced” the recent Hopcat-sponsored Alleycat, and can’t recommend it highly enough! Sure, we didn’t place so well (40th of 45), but then again I know we had more fun than everyone else out there! When you don’t know the town, you can’t expect to win an event like this … especially when you’re the only team whose courier bags are loaded with chocolate eggs to hand out along the way……Mmmm. Dove chocolate eggs. Hershey’s dark chocolate eggs. Chocolate dipped chocolate eggs…
Whoops! A little off topic….what was I saying? Oh yeah…when you don’t know your way around town and are carrying pounds of chocolate, you don’t need to worry about winning & can just enjoy the experience! And what an experience it was.
Zooming around town with 70 or so other cyclists, working out clues to find out where to go next and what interesting “tasks” would come up next….all in between the “getting out of church hour” and the start of St. Patrick’s day celebrations! Good thing I had the trusty handlebar mounted beer cozy that I picked up from Bicycle Discovery in San Diego – it came in very handy! Ever had to chug a beer while eating Peeps ? It was surprisingly yummy. How about sprinting through convenience stores, gas stations, etc., speed-shopping for canned cat food? Surely there must have been a grocery store SOMEWHERE out there. Really … why do the gas stations carry dog food only? There were many interesting tasks, a few locations that you had to be at within a certain time-window, and some really creatively cryptic clues to get you everywhere else. It all added up to one great ride, and a lot of interesting stories told to new friends at the post-ride celebrations held at Hopcat and Founder’s afterwards. Can’t wait to organize an Alleycat of our own in the coming months!
CLICK for results.
p.s. I don’t know what Sheila Moon had in mind when she designed the shoulder pocket on her hoodies, but it is the perfect place for a camera!
REALLY. it is better than a huffy.
April 5, 2008
Ok. Picture the scene…. the high of the day is a mere 10 degrees F. It’s the 4th or 5th cold spell of similiar temperatures this winter. The cats are all sitting on the other human in the house, who happens to be warmer and less squirmy than you, so you’ve got the laptop warming your lap, and you’re dreaming of spring. while shopping on eBay. You see a shiney bike that seems to be an incredible deal, and a teammate’s husband has introduced you to sniping. So.. you bid. 2 weeks later, you get a bike for a sweet deal… that will hopefully… oh please oh please fit well enough.
This seems to be the way I end up with most my rides. Having obtained my first real road bike (Bridgestone RB-2) from a drunken grad student who was storing his bike in my basement… there is no other way. So… after doing my first group ride of the year, i wander off to get the bike running… shorter stem, wheel trued, minor rear derailleur adjustment…. easy… right? HA HA HA. no. turns out my handlebars, which were measured at 31.8mm are a little smaller than 31.8, and only fit well on the too long for me space age looking carbon stem… after having 3 people say… WTF? and searching the Q’s knowledge base on this… we found the one stem that was short enough for me, and tightened down enough on the handlebars… so that it worked.
As the home mechanic, who is frequently seen in skulking around mpls bike shops near closing time with a botched home repair… having the mechanic say… ‘seriously. dude. what did you do to this?’… i’m relatively grateful, i witnessed several mechanics, saying.. ‘HUH. that’s weird.’ for a seemingly simple matter.
at the same time, as an owner for a spendy ass new road bike, from a spanish bike maker with a decent reputation, the weird sized part thing… makes me think i bought a flippin’ huffy/magna/wal-mart bike. and that’s annoying. Here’s to hoping that it stays nice, so I can take the new bike out. and new bike… prove me wrong. until then. your name is Huffy.
it’s finally spring!
April 5, 2008
Manda, Laura and I with serveral other NOW/Synergy folk (and Lori Jug
from Kenda Tire who kicked butt at Superweek a couple of years a go-
gotta keep an eye on her) gathered at NOW/Snelling on this lovely
Saturday morning.
NOW gal Miriah led the group on a very civilized tour of St. Paul. One
group splintered for a longer ride to Afton, but some held back for
now.
News: Lori was on her new shiney bike, Manda is planning on when she
will have her open house, her BF has a new bike too, and I have a new
TT bike.
Man it was nice out! But I’m still wearing booties.
I hope the weather holds out for the Sunday ride!!! ( roll out 9am east lake st. and river road Dunn Brothers…. passing the Lake of the Isles dog park at 9:20ish…)
— Barb
April 5, 2008
Boggs III, 8-Hour MTB, Cobb, CA
3rd, Beth Welliver, Sport Women, Solo
3rd, Team We Just Don’t Ride Bikes, 3-Person All Women, Heather Kirkby, Jeni Brookes, Dawn Weathersbee
5th, Team Bella Sangria, 3-Person All Women, Andi Mackie, Susie Barber, Esther Kim
Martinez Criterium, CA
6th, Sarah Kerlin, Women Pro/1/2/3
15th, Erika Donald, Women Pro/1/2/3
16th, Tracie Nelson, Women Pro/1/2/3
15th, Andrea Monroe, Women 3/4
22nd, Katie Norton, Women 3/4
29th, Soni Andreini Poulsen, Women 3/4
Old Town Criterium, SC
5th, Kristen Weinacker, Women 4
10th, Jamie France, Women 4
April 4-6, 2008
April 4, 2008
NMBS #2, McDowell Mountain Park, AZ
36th, Shannon Gibson, Pro Women, STXC
37th, Jennifer Tilley, Pro Women, STXC
21st, Shannon Gibson, Pro Women, XC
27th, Jennifer Tilley, Pro Women, XC
Will Race For Ice Cream
April 1, 2008
By Tracie Nelson
SLO, Cali
Today was the Hanford Criterium.
Here’s a race that’s doing everything right: sweet course, awesome prizelist, cornball announcer, great sponsorship, and even bleachers at the S/F for the mobs of adoring fans to sit on and cheer. But the race is still pretty small, not well-known, and psssst…. don’t tell them I said so, but maybe because it’s in HANFORD.
(Hanford: A town of old trucks, farmers, pedestrians who walk wherever they feel like, and run-down shanty-shacks. Jesus is Lord of Hanford.)
So to honor this underrated crit, I pulled out all the stops: I busted out the skinsuit; donned the new helmet and sunglasses (which make me look like J-Lo, except with a smaller booty and less tan); I even slathered on the tingly leg cream (I didn’t put it on my feet this time – I learned that lesson the hard way at Pine Flat). Then we all went out and raced like mad(wo)men and had a jolly good time.
We had a random passer-by snap this shot with Linda’s cherished iPhone. I like how it makes me look 8 feet tall. Either that or everyone else is a midget (a possibility, as Erika insists she stopped growing at age 7).
After the race, we knocked up the local ice cream joint – which isn’t just any lame old Coldstone or Baskin Robbins (which will do in a pinch), but a real-live old fashioned we-make-our-ice-cream-HERE-and-serve-out-scoops-the-size-of-yo-mama kind of place.
I got a chocolate milkshake that was roughly the size of Texas. It was good.
