Cross Season: my super-hot-cool ex-girlfriend...

Dear Readers,

If you follow the social medias of cycling at all, then you are starting to hear the not so quiet roar that cross season is coming. Pictures of cross bikes, awesome shops asking if you have your equipment ready. I have seen emails on the DCCoD list that some folks are starting up Wednesday night cross rides this week. While normally I would be one of the cyclists saying, "I can't wait for cross", this year I find myself thinking: "The TOUR HASN'T EVEN STARTED!"

Now, I will admit. I have had a very passionate love affair with cyclocross since 1997. I am one of those guys who when folks asked "do you race mountain or road?" I would answer, "cross". All year long any race I did I would say, "was building for cross. it's all about cross..." That's honestly how I looked at it.  This year not so much...

After more years than I would like to admit promoting cross races and proudly serving on the MAC board Diane and I hit the wall last fall. The time and energy we were putting in was frankly taking  the joy and our love of the sport away. The politics of sport are not fun, and as cross has become a viable cash cow, have grown.. I don't fault a promoter for trying to make some coin from cross, but we never put a single dollar in our pockets from our efforts. For us it was always the love affair, not the dollar... I got tired of being the sandbagger police and handling those emails, as well as the SSCX stuff had me torn at times, and frankly was/is exhausting to me.  But I digress: feeling frankly very drained and a little beaten: we resigned our positions from the MAC board.

Did you ever have a super hot girlfriend? Not only was she super hot, but super cool and you really liked her? And the truth is you got on really well, but not in a life time relationship kinda way? The super-hot-cool-girlfriend is an awesome person, but not your be all soul mate. So you and the super-hot-cool girlfriend broke up, but still remain friends.  And while you still admire the super-hot-cool girl friend you know you need a little time and space away.

While I expect in the future that the super-hot-cool girl friend and I will be friends, we'll always just be good friends.  In a nut shell, that's how I feel about cross right now. The upside is that my super-hot-cool girlfriend has lots of new suitors. Some who I think will look out for her and help her grow as a person, some who I think will get her hooked on meth and end up in porn. She's also got lots of big brothers with more energy, and patience and love for her to help her stay on track. I'm waiting for those brothers to put some boots to asses of the less caring suitors...


So what's the season look like? I expect that I'll do a few cross races this year (I have 5 in mind...) but I am also really enjoying racing my mountainbike, and frankly focusing on cross country. For the first time since maybe 2007, I haven't planned my year around cyclocross in the fall.  I know that I got a late start on the season this year, but I also just feel like I'm just getting into the heart of my mountainbike season, I'm just feeling like I'm starting to find my legs. So I'll admit when I turn on the social medias and I hear everyone clamoring about my super-hot-cool ex girlfriend--- I mean cyclocross, I'm kinda like- damn can we just enjoy the spring and summer a bit?  Yeah she's cool, but really....Cross will be here soon enough...

Hope that analogy makes some sense...

Either that or my mtb season is totally my rebound girl... which would change the analogy maybe... am I over thinking? Too much? hmmm...

Anyway, thanks for reading and happy cyclocrossing!

respect
vanderbacon

Oxygen Debted Interactions

Dear Readers,

I am proud to have volunteered to help out with the Second Annual Rare Disease/CF Henry's Bike Shop Spin-a-thon. Essentially this is a fundraiser to benefit CF research done while riders spin on trainers/rollers in the parking lot of Henry's Bike Shop for 24 hours on Black Friday. I rode a couple of hours last year, and was excited to help out with the effort for 2014.  Tuesday Night was the first meeting, and I sent a note to the Leader of the committee, Katrina, that I couldn't make it.

Tuesday didn't get off the start that I wanted it to, and as a result I didn't get my ride in before work. I raced out of the office after work and got my efforts in... As I was wrapping up and heading back to the car, I saw a guy in a Blackwater Bikes jersey. Black Water bikes as in West Virginia. The rider was stopped, and while I was still clearly in oxygen debt, I asked him if he was lost. "no, I'm good thanks for asking," he continued,"so you can't make the meeting tonight but you're out on a ride?" I was totally confused, and still in oxygen debt as Todd, who is also volunteering for the event  and was going to the Tuesday's meeting smiled at me.

In oxygen debt, I muttered, "7:00 is kinda late for me, close to my bed time, I told my wife I'd help her with something tonight, I have an early day at the office tomorrow...:

Todd smiled and said, "I'm just busting you..I'm going to the meeting and will send you the notes for sure..."

I apologized and explained, "I'm sorry for being incoherent right now, I just finished some efforts, and I'm in oxygen debt... "

Todd smiled again and we talked about Black Water Bikes and West Virginia.

"I'm running late I gotta jet. I'll see you at the next meeting!" I said as I took off...

Truth be told, I promised Diane I'd go grocery shopping with her tonight. We ran out of pretty much everything last night, including TP, which had to be replenished today. I wish I could have put those thoughts together and that would have been much easier to explain than muttering out the oxygen debted spew that I did.

As I sped away, I came upon a woman who looked like she had fallen and hit her head. She had red- what I thought was blood streaming from the back of her ear, down her neck and then her chest. I locked up the brakes and asked her, "Ma'am are you okay!?" I startled the runner, as she was running with two ear buds and the cord was red. I quickly realized what I thought was blood was actually her ear phones running to her phone/MP3 player She gave me a funny look and continued running. I knew it was time to just get my tired butt home.

anyway, in hindsight both exchanges were pretty damn funny.I apologize to the runner with red head phones who I may have startled, and of course good on Todd for busting my chops.

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

The 120 of Shaffer's Farm...

Dear Readers,

Kit Grid for a 12 hour relay race

Saturday morning at 5:45am, I found myself in at the Germantown, Maryland IHOP with four good friends trying to get a third spoonful of the worst oatmeal I have ever eaten in my life into my gullet. I love to race my bike, but at this particular moment, as we prepared ourselves for the 12 hours of Shaffer's farm, I laughed to myself realizing how fucking silly bike racing is...

McGill gets the hole shot...

At 8:00am I led off our team C3: travelers of both time and space made up of Buddy, Travis and I. I was very happy to hear that the traditional Le Mans style start was being thrown out in favor of a non-running start. I got a good start, and found myself pretty quickly in a select group of five. One would go off, and one would drop off by the third mile. Three of us would push, pull and dice around the rest of the lap. When it sorted out, I was the third rider in over all and our team led the 40+ race... I was happy with my effort, and began to eat and refuel knowing there was a long day ahead of us... We were set for a full day battle with Haymarket and Bike Doctor.

Twenty minutes later as Travis was making final preparations to meet Buddy and launch, we heard the promoter announce,"would a representative from team 397 please report to the announcer." My stomach sank. I felt sick. Travis and I walked over and were told, "your teammate has crashed out and we suspect broken his collar bone. There was a crash with another broken collar bone before his, Your teammate is currently with the EMT and going to be transported to the ER... As soon as we know where he's going and have more info, we'll let you know..."

Not Buddy's Best Look...

It was surreal. We've been doing these relays for years. We've had some weird stuff happen, but never had someone really injured. It was crazy. Travis and I withdrew from the race, and began putting on clothes, packing up some of the stuff (Blake, Kita, Jen, Nick, Heather, Scott, Joe and Harnish were still racing) and waited to get more info on where we could meet Buddy. As our race was done at 9:30, I did refuel with a Natty Bo.

"Holy Crap this is the weirdest day ever..."

Shortly thereafter Travis and I met Buddy at the Hospital where the doctor and all the nurses were really helpful, and really kind. They were funny too. Buddy was hurting, but took pride in the fact that the doctor said his break was "extraordinary!" Buddy commented, "go big or go home!" We swung back to the venue to collect Buddy's bike and cheer on our camp-mates (Jen, Blake, Kita, Travis, Joe, Heather, Nick and Scotty) for a few minutes and then Buddy and I hit the road... Let me say that the promoters had a number of riders go down and a number of injuries in an unexpected area due to the weather... They were very helpful, patient, did their best to keep a ugly situation under control...

Team Photo!

Certainly not how any of us envisioned the day. Buddy is battered, and bruised and hurting a bit right now. I also know he'll be back, and breaking legs again soon...

Jen Sears and the rest of our little camp... Jen, Blake, and Kita took 3rd , 

Joe, Travis and Scotty took the win,

and Nick and Heather both took 3 hour wins... 

thanks for reading.

respect
Vanderbacon

So much hotness on my feet right now...

Just sayin'

respect
fm

Reading Rainbow III

Dear Readers,

Finishing up another cycling related book. This one may be one of my favorites of all. It's by Charly Wegelius a former professional cyclists who was a super domestique for Liquigas, Mapei and others. I originally heard of the book while Wegelius had did a really good podcast with Creed. Hell, that was the first time I heard of Charly to be honest. As your team's mid pack racer, I was blown away by the pod cast, and jumped right into the book when I could.

I know what your your are saying to yourself, "JESUS FATMARC, ANOTHER CYCLING BOOK!? I thought you said no more doping stories!"

Well, this one isn't a doping story. Not at all. Wegelius has a great forward where he talks about the doping culture and a few passages where he talks about the culture and what he did see. His story has been an excellent one, and hard to put down. From the outset Wegelius realizes that he's not on teams to be a winner but to make himself indispensable to the team as a worker. He does whatever the team needs to support their leader and goals. A working man's working man.. That's pretty much where I was hooked. Wegelius has a very comfortable, and honest style. It was a great read to follow him on his journey.

The next book I'm looking forward to reading is not a cycling related book. FOR REAL!
It is a rock and roll book about Guided by Voices. So I'll let you know what I think once I get into it a bit.

been getting some good miles in lately. It's been fun. Monk's starting to ride a bit too. Which is nice.

12hr race this weekend, I'm getting pretty stoked. I won't lie I generally get pretty up for these races. One of my first races ever was the 24hrs of Canaan, and frankly I've been hooked on relay style races since. Long time readers of the Vanderblog probably know this already. I'm stoked to be on the team I'm on, and I excited to race. Endurance Relays are just ingrained in how and what I enjoy about racing...
this clip always gets me fired up:

 


thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Saw the List this moring...

Dear Reader,

while certainly not the full list, I was happy to find myself on the qualified list this morning. I was starting to stress it a bit... I want to thank Jesse Hammond for getting back to me so quickly from USAC and for Tom Mahoney, who quickly identified the issue and had the list updated with Greenbrier's results. USAC often gets criticized, and I've had my complaints, but Jesse and Tom handled this issue quickly and efficiently. They did a great job of calming an OCD, mid pack master's racer... Totally exceeded my expectations...Thanks gentlemen.

best to you all.

thanks for reading.

respect
fatmarc

Ramsey's Revenge

Dear Readers,

I rolled across the finish line and slowly back to my car greeting some of my fellow finishers. It was warm and I was pretty destroyed. The Ramsey's Revenge race and course were awesome, and I had a sense of satisfaction dragging my enormous carcass across the line. Who am I kidding I was proud that I was able to muster enough gumption to finish that last lap. I was in a dark, dark place.

I make it to the car and as I open the rear hatch, I hear my phone ringing. I answer it.

"Hey Monk!?"

"Are you Okay? are you finished ? How did it go? I expected to hear from you sooner" She asks with a bit of worry in voice.

"I'm fine, the race went well. I died on the last lap, and gave up 3-4 spots in the last 3rd of the race, but otherwise it was a good race. It's a process, I'm better than I was a couple weeks ago..."

"Good. I was a little worried, I had expected you to call earlier..." Monkey responds. I can hear relief in her voice that I'm not hurt, and that I'm happy with my ride. I'll admit I was a pretty unbearable human being for a couple of days after the Mother's Day Mauler fiasco.

"did you run longer than you expected?" She follows up.

"About 5 minutes, as I was pretty dead the last lap, but in general everything was cool. They got a late start because some Hooligans decided to un-mark the course this morning and Dusty and crew had to do some emergency course repair. I gotta say they did an amazing job. Everything was outstanding..."

"that sucks someone did that but it's not totally unusual either... Just wanted to make sure you were safe and had fun." She replied.

"I had a blast the course was really fun, I had some good racing, made it over the first climb with the leaders, and through the rock gardens by the hotel it was like a wall of sound as I rode through there it was so loud, it was awesome." I added for good measure, starting to feel a bit more alive...

Lower Rock Garder. Just 15 yard up the trail was a wall of sound.

"Awesome, check your results and I'll meet you at the pool. We can chat more then. Good job babe, love you!" She said wrapping up the call.

"Love you to Monk! Be safe!" I said.

The call disconnected, and I took a swig of water from my bottle.
Yeah, today was a pretty damn good day.

thanks for reading.

best to you.

respect
Vanderbacon

I had three bad things happen to me today- and it was awesome. (Philly Pro Race)

Dear Readers,

Sunday, Diane and I went up to Philly for the Philly Pro races. As it always is, Sunday was an incredible experience and as a bike racing fan, its like a Philly Celebration of all things bike. We couldn't stop smiling all day! If you ride/race/love bikes and are in the region, and you haven't done a day at the race, I would strongly encourage that you do it.

Our morning coffee run in Manyunk.
GURSKY!!! is all smiles...

I will also admit, that I am very lucky to have so many kind and generous friends who have shown Diane and I around  the city, the race and the ropes of the day. I am grateful to the city of Philadelphia for a great day and to all of our hosts that guide us through out the amazing day. We are truly lucky to have Anne Rock as our most gracious guide. We are so lucky to have so many amazing and hospitable hosts: David and Liza who let us crash on their front lawn, Eric and Maureen on the kelly drive, Gary the driver, Dave Lowe and the Philly Ciclismo crew over on Lemon Hill. Thank you all for helping make our day so freakin' incredible.

David and Liza's front yard on the wall...

But on to the 3 bad things:

1. Pulled into Anne Rock's place a little late. I crushed the curb in front of her house, and shredded my front tire. We were running late, so we charged off to the start to see the women stage. I figured we'd just change it when we got back. (we did and it was actually pretty funny too).

2. I have a specially designed townie bike that I set up with chasing the Philly Pro Race around with Anne Rock in mind. As we raced to the top of the wall to catch the women's start,  I crushed a pot hole and my seat shifted up abruptly punching me in my nuts. It hurt badly. Like bleed out the eyes badly. Once the pain subsided, I was lucky to run into the SRAM neutral support guys who happily lent me a wrench so the seat would stop punching me in the nuts. Yeah SRAM.

Can you pick out the Vanderbacon townie special?

3. I lost my phone. Gary Thorton gave us a call and asked if we wanted to ride around in the secruity car with him following the race caravan. We were all stoked.

We weren't having fun at all!

Four of us getting ready to get yelled at by a UCI commissar. 

After two laps around the course, getting a warning from a UCI official for Anne and I hanging out of the car, Gary dropped us off.  We jumped out of the car in a rush so Gary could get back to the caravan. Sure enough I had dropped my phone in the car. Gary had to stop back and there it sat right on the seat. (thanks Gary!)

The entire day was so much fun. I couldn't stop smiling all day... As usual the day, and everyone around was super cool. The ride in the car in the caravan was the cherry on the top. Coming down the from the top of the wall in the car was more fun than any roller coaster I have ever done...

This was totally outstanding. Thanks so much.

So here's what a day of chasing Anne Rock around Philly looks like on Strava:



Yeah, I'm that guy. I'm your team's mid pack masters rider. I am a huge cycling fan/groupie. Today was bliss, and we gobbled it up. An amazing experience despite having 3 kinda bad things happen to me today. We were resplendent as we drove home at 55 mph on our donut tire. Today was pretty much perfect, you know despite 3 little things.

Thanks for reading.

respect
Fatmarc(still stoked)