The last MN cyclocross race of the season was held down in the Cities this Saturday and it was a major event!!!! Tons of racers and spectators...It was a resounding success with hundreds of racer and maybe even a thousand spectators!!!! Free food, free "peace" coffee, free "Summit" beer, great music, even human-activated globally-warmed weather, plus the super-fast guyz put on great athletic efforts for the top spots!!! Who could ask for anything more...
Kudos to Hollywood Henderson, his great bike shop [Hollywood Cycles: 722 West 98th Street, Bloomington, MN ] and the other sponsors, and all the wonderful volunteers and participants that made this such a great event!!!!
An amicable, yet realistic group of Duluthians traveled down to the big Twin Cities on Saturday to partake in the final psycho-cross festivities of the Minnesota cycling season. Included in this cadre of Nordlanders were Dave Shuneman, Scotty K-J, Shawn Gort, Mike Weispeining, Mike Hall, June Sayers, and the aging author. “Amicable” in that ya just can’t fine a better bunch of fellas to spend a day at the races with; and “realistic” in that we all knew that the competition would be fierce and that the best a guy could hope for was to not wrought flagrant dishonor onto himself or the great city upon The Lake, and perhaps most importantly, to not take out a fast guy at the start or when getting lapped…[Note: In CX A-races, the author has taken the process of getting lapped by the really fast guyz to an unsurpassed level. Using novel techniques such as pushing the faster guy onward or even jumping completely off the course in expert fashion as the leaders attempt to pass on tight sections of the course).
With the talented and skilled CX racer, Harry Anderson conspicuously missing-in-action, all the Northlanders demonstrated unremarkable performances (official results are not available at this time) and yet were well within the top echelon at publically enjoying themselves and encouraging the other racers after their respective races were completed. Also notable groups that were especially adept at public displays of enjoyment (both natural and chemically enhanced) was the contingent from Saint Cloud and the group that was encouraging free shots of whiskey at the double barriers on the top of the course. The author in mock protest to the continual attempts by the powers-that-be at US Cycling to shorten the race times and/or distances for the elder statesmen of cycling, completed both the B race and the A race (nearly two hours of cx racing!!!), displaying his unique propensity for painful mediocrity in both competitions. Plus I wanted a Top-Notch aerobic workout to end the 2007 season and to also kick off a committed, concerted, rejuvenated effort to get really fit, no, I mean...dangerously fit for the Arrowhead 135. In the “A” race, the highlight for me was getting lapped by crowd favoite Doug Swanson twice (the undisputed MN CX Champion for like the fifth year in a row). The first time he caught me, I used my right arm to give him a strong burst forward as we were climbing the stairs and on the second time I gave him an enthusiastic, “Go Doug Go!!!.” Methinks Doug Swanson is the consummate athlete and all around great guy. Team Lalonde caught me only once, but I took the initiative to jump on Jesse’s wheel and hold it for at least one minute during which time I was totally “livin’ the dream, baby!!!!” The Lalondeez are so wEiRd, so fASt, and so aLterNatiVe that a guy can't help but to be intrigued...The highlight for me in the B race was holding Jim Bell's wheel for the first lap and then watching from afar as Jim Bell, Bill Kuster, and Greg Goblirsch all in their 40s, finished well up at the top!!! It seems so weird and counterproductive to me that with all these old guyz cleaning up in all aspects of racing why there would be an effort by the governing body of US Cyling to shorten the times or distances for veteran races???
Now that the racing season is over, itz time to get into shape, I am up to nearly 180 lbs., itz time for me to get my act together and really focus on some big time BASE training and eating right for the Arrowhead and hopefully the Trans-Iowa!!! So little time and so many races :) Racing in a park in the Cities or at a ski resort is one thing...riding 135 miles on a desolate trail in the dead of winter out of I-Falls with no one around, requires a little more from a guy...
Kudos to Hollywood Henderson, his great bike shop [Hollywood Cycles: 722 West 98th Street, Bloomington, MN ] and the other sponsors, and all the wonderful volunteers and participants that made this such a great event!!!!
An amicable, yet realistic group of Duluthians traveled down to the big Twin Cities on Saturday to partake in the final psycho-cross festivities of the Minnesota cycling season. Included in this cadre of Nordlanders were Dave Shuneman, Scotty K-J, Shawn Gort, Mike Weispeining, Mike Hall, June Sayers, and the aging author. “Amicable” in that ya just can’t fine a better bunch of fellas to spend a day at the races with; and “realistic” in that we all knew that the competition would be fierce and that the best a guy could hope for was to not wrought flagrant dishonor onto himself or the great city upon The Lake, and perhaps most importantly, to not take out a fast guy at the start or when getting lapped…[Note: In CX A-races, the author has taken the process of getting lapped by the really fast guyz to an unsurpassed level. Using novel techniques such as pushing the faster guy onward or even jumping completely off the course in expert fashion as the leaders attempt to pass on tight sections of the course).
With the talented and skilled CX racer, Harry Anderson conspicuously missing-in-action, all the Northlanders demonstrated unremarkable performances (official results are not available at this time) and yet were well within the top echelon at publically enjoying themselves and encouraging the other racers after their respective races were completed. Also notable groups that were especially adept at public displays of enjoyment (both natural and chemically enhanced) was the contingent from Saint Cloud and the group that was encouraging free shots of whiskey at the double barriers on the top of the course. The author in mock protest to the continual attempts by the powers-that-be at US Cycling to shorten the race times and/or distances for the elder statesmen of cycling, completed both the B race and the A race (nearly two hours of cx racing!!!), displaying his unique propensity for painful mediocrity in both competitions. Plus I wanted a Top-Notch aerobic workout to end the 2007 season and to also kick off a committed, concerted, rejuvenated effort to get really fit, no, I mean...dangerously fit for the Arrowhead 135. In the “A” race, the highlight for me was getting lapped by crowd favoite Doug Swanson twice (the undisputed MN CX Champion for like the fifth year in a row). The first time he caught me, I used my right arm to give him a strong burst forward as we were climbing the stairs and on the second time I gave him an enthusiastic, “Go Doug Go!!!.” Methinks Doug Swanson is the consummate athlete and all around great guy. Team Lalonde caught me only once, but I took the initiative to jump on Jesse’s wheel and hold it for at least one minute during which time I was totally “livin’ the dream, baby!!!!” The Lalondeez are so wEiRd, so fASt, and so aLterNatiVe that a guy can't help but to be intrigued...The highlight for me in the B race was holding Jim Bell's wheel for the first lap and then watching from afar as Jim Bell, Bill Kuster, and Greg Goblirsch all in their 40s, finished well up at the top!!! It seems so weird and counterproductive to me that with all these old guyz cleaning up in all aspects of racing why there would be an effort by the governing body of US Cyling to shorten the times or distances for veteran races???
Now that the racing season is over, itz time to get into shape, I am up to nearly 180 lbs., itz time for me to get my act together and really focus on some big time BASE training and eating right for the Arrowhead and hopefully the Trans-Iowa!!! So little time and so many races :) Racing in a park in the Cities or at a ski resort is one thing...riding 135 miles on a desolate trail in the dead of winter out of I-Falls with no one around, requires a little more from a guy...
Feeding the Rat for the 51st Week: 9.5 hours...
Great to see you Charlie!! It was fun to cheer you on because you always have a smile a mile wide. You are a good hearted man! Good luck with the winter riding/training! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI think what's up w/ US cyling is they don't realize that the old guys(still younger than me) didn't get to train like the pro's in their early years, so didn't burn out yet, still have lots of mileage left in the motor so to speak, endurance builds over the years, so do race smarts.
ReplyDeleteBoz
Yeah...I bet you are right!!!!
ReplyDeleteCharlie