I'd forgotten how fun a CX race can be....

Today at approximately noon without a Blackwater convoy, unarmed, and purposefully leaving the safety of the GREEN ZONE (Congdon), I, with reckless abandon and blantant disregard for body & soul, rode my trusty steel Kelly thru the Sunni Triangle (Central Hillside,West Duluth, and part of Smithville) heading for the Lake Superior Cycling Team's Cyclocross Race over at the base of Spirit Mountain. While there were many mega-dual exhaust Triton V-8 extended cab monster trucks that ardently support the troops and proclaim that God Blesses the USA cruising about, I made it w/o incident, rode the race, had a blast, and then rode home again thru the Sunni Triangle [howz that for some 'run-on' sentences :) ]...It ultimately was a great day with almost four hours on the bike. Plus, I was just totally pumped to see two of my all time favorite students there at the venue...Neal Smith and Bryan Lindquist!!!! (Note: Of course, I care deeply for all my students; as our esteemed leader sez; "No child left behind."and every kid in ESKO is above average!!!) Seriously, Thanks guyz for coming...it made my day!!!!! I felt kinda bad for the LSCC guyz cuz they put on a great race and only a handful of the A riders from the Twin Cities showed up...LSCC guyz like Tone, Mike Hall, Shawn, Mike W, Hanson, Bart, and a host of other super wonderful volunteers all did a great job!!!!

I guess maybe there was a big race somewhere else or maybe the big-city boyz were having their toe-nails done or a bikini wax? Or maybe they were all scared off by the prospect of a hill or two on this northern course or worse yet a section of single-track, like the kind in a mountain bike race--no doubt scary stuff for big city boyz w/ fancy-pants bikes use to racing in manicured city parks!!! Doug Swanson showed up though and there aint nobody better than him in my book!!!!! His lovely wife Ann also was in attendance. So, I guess if ya got the fastest CX guy (and one of the most amicable) in the Midwest, it don't really matter who else shows up....Plus my good buddy, despite a big crash and a resulting bruise the size of a golf ball, Scotty Johnson had a great effort finishing second behind Mr. Swanson. Also Kudos to Joel Calahan for a fine effort. Joel is the guy that gave me his only tube in last year's Arrowhead 135 (I'll never forget that as it was one of the most generous acts I have ever been witness to!!!) Also, I wish more Ski Hut guyz would have shown up, but maybe they were all at the tanning booths or having a tupperware party or training for another Dooooathlon? As for me, I shamelessly jumped on Hollywood's wheel and just hung on for the whole 60 minutes....I love that Hollywood!!! The world would be a better place if there were more groovy cats like Hollywood... The guy is sooo "mad beat!!!" He'z a total groovin' beatnik, dig it!!![Please excuse me, but I am currently reading Jack Kerouac's On the Road, so itz very cool to be BEAT. FYI: Kerouac is the founding father of the Beatnik movement]...Can ya dig the beat!!!! In any event, the course was a blast-- fast singletrack, some mud, some gravel, a couple of hills, the barriers; essentially a consummate CX course in my amateurish opinion...

PS...Thanks to my favorite young couple, Kate and Rosscoe for several handups...Now there's a nice pair of young people!!!! Well I Gotta go...need to rehydrate as a man builds a powerful thirst after survivin' two rides thru the whole expanse of West Duluth on the main thoroughfare, I'm lucky to be alive...gotta go so I can count my blessings!!!!