No Car... No Sweat....

Dear Readers,

No word from my super cool and hot ex-girlfriend. I'm kinda okay with that. I was starting to feel a little stalkery. My buddy noted that there had been a lot of pictures of me with her on the social medias.  We'll see how this thing works out, but right now I'm not chasing this...

.........

So my car is getting service today. Monkey dropped me off at work with my bike, and the plan was to ride down to the dealer after work and pick up my car.

I had a 9:00am meeting at our other building a mile down the road. I got into something and when the meeting reminder came up at 8:50 I grabbed my keys, threw my stuff in my back and I charged out the door.  I bound into the parking lot, looking for my car.  "Shit!" I exclaimed as I instantly realized that well, I didn't have a car. I ran back into the building and grabbed my bike. I charged out the door and started my one mile time trial to the other building. 

I was a little sweaty, but I made my 9:00 meeting no sweat...

<

that was funny. okay, maybe more silly. How do you forget you don't have a car?

thanks for reading.

respect

vanderbacon

Not Racing Cross this weekend...

Dear Readers,

So my super hot ex-girlfriend called me Thursday night. It was late. At first when the phone rang, I was afraid something was wrong. When I spoke to her, I think she had been drinking. I wasn't sure if she was drunk dialing me, or if this was a booty call. In all seriousness I really thought that I might have been over thinking things, and that in reality my super hot ex-girlfriend was just looking to be friends. Now I don't know what to think. I was half a sleep, and kind pissed off that she was calling me and being kinda weird on the phone. It was late, I had to get up early and go to work. So I asked her, "Is this a booty call? Why are you calling me?" Not my smoothest move. She hung up on me. I didn't talk to her all weekend. Maybe I screwed this up...
                                                                           ...............
No racing for me this weekend. Family was in town, and I planned to put in some fun rides. All of that came together nicely. The trails over at Fairhill are pretty much perfect. Craig was in town and while he hasn't done a ton of mountain-biking in the past few years, it was fun taking him around. It was my pleasure to be a tour guide. Sunday Nick, Craig and I set out, and about 45 minutes in joined up we joined up with Jen and Monkey. The more the merrier. Mountain biking in September, who knew that was even a possibility...

thanks for reading.

best to you.

respect
Vanderbacon

Baltimore Rock City- Charm City Cross (what's a couple of dinners)

Dear Readers,

I had dinner with my super hot cool ex-girlfriend this week. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking right now, but the truth is you gotta eat right? Why eat alone? Okay, okay I didn't really buy it when she said it to me over the phone either, but I went to dinner with her anyway. Twice. Conversation was good, she really gets my sense of humor. We went to that cool hippie place in town. After dinner she offered me a hug, but I think she was almost gonna try and kiss me. Maybe not.  I'll say, her hair smelled outstanding...

Charm City Day 1

Full Gene Simmons or Hasselhoff at your service

Friday night doing a prep ride with my buddy Dan, I mentioned that I had been on 1x10 with a Wolf's tooth front ring for a year with zero drops. Which pretty much cemented the fact that on the first lap of Saturday at that crucial time when groups were forming, that I dropped my chain. karma's a bitch...

Not a picture of Nick's head but of Monkey Photo Bombing his run through the barriers...

Once I got it back on I will admit I probably burned a match or two too many trying to get back to my place unsuccessfully, Then I started to settle in and ended up in an excellent group of 5-7 guys with Vinny S and I battling back and forth. Vinny was awesome to be in a group with. He is an excellent bike driver, so I was happy to sit on his wheel when I could, and when I'd come through I'd wish him well. When  he'd  come back past he'd pat me on the but and say, "good stuff, keep at it"  Final lap, Vinny went off the front of the group, and the group picked up the pace to respond. I was dangling.. I held tight, and as we came into the sandpit the final time, I attacked burning my last match.

The guy to the right missed Sven on Svenness sand riding video clearly...

Picked up 4 spots and rolled into the finish mid pack, totally stoked and big smiles...

Charm City Day 2

It was fucking hot. Course was tough again, and had a killer climb on the back side. I switched to a white summer jersey. By the end of the first lap the jersey was zipped way down and I was going full Hoff or Gene Simmons. I was committed to getting a good start, and for the first two laps, I was rolling good, felt really good.

if you heard a loud boom on the 3 lap of the Killer B race, don't be alarmed, it was just me.

Third lap, I dropped anchor. Up that steep brutal, out in the sun climb to the mansion, I started to cramp in my quads. As I cleared the top, I felt chills and had goosebumps everywhere... I was pretty much dead in the water at this point, and frankly circled the drain the rest of the race. With one to go my buddy Chuck offered me an awesome beer feed with ice in it, and I'll be honest, I took the feed, and it was the best beer ever. Now, I haven't seen the results yet, but I think I got away with this one, now if I was DQed, well I'll own it.

the real reason I keep runkel levers on my bike...

I would say that I was DFL, but on the last lap I did come upon a poor soul who looked much worse than me. Perhaps the beer feed energized me. I charged over the flyer over and held him off through the sand and to the line. If I could find this guy, I would have bought him a beer...I'll say one of the things I love about cross no matter where you are, you're racing someone. That was a super fun course, just sorry I couldn't do anything with it...

 I came to a stop and I sat down on the ground next to Monkey, Jenn, and Hailey. I was covered in goosebumps and my legs continued to cramp up. Ugh. I'll be honest, that might have been my worst cross race ever. disappointing. not representative of what I can do. I think I have decided that I'm not racing cross above 80 degrees again...

Notes:

Thanks to Paul and Lisa who pitted for me both days this weekend and made sure I could take water. Paul gave me great encouragement including the best of today, "dude, come change bikes, this one can't possibly be slower!" I laughed...

A number of folks came up to me and told me how much they dig my blog and what I'm doing here. That was super cool, and I appreciate it. I've always have fun with the blog, and while I know many awesome blogs have died, I love blogs and blogging. Thanks for the kind words. Totally stoked.

If there is ever an Andy Gorski fan club-I was to join... Dude made my weekend..

So despite feeling like total ass Sunday and being totally disappointed, it was an amazing and fun weekend. I'm bummed, but really had a fun time. Great to race, and hang out with so many of my great teammates and friends and to be a part of one of my favorite events. Charm City Cross. If you missed it, you really did...

Stoked to have Mr. Bowman and Mr. Morrison has house guests Saturday night. My apologizes for my overly vocal puppies and for Logan stealing all of Bowman's socks!

aw crap, my phone is ringing. I think it's my super hot cool ex girlfriend. I probably should take this...

thanks for reading...

respect
vanderbacon

thanks for Jennifer Sears, Joe Bothel and Rick DeLoys for photos...

Brown Speed

Dear Readers,

I ate too much chick pea salad for lunch yesterday. It upset my constitution pretty badly. I had originally planned to do my efforts around the local park but in this case discretion was going to be the better part of valor...

I got home and took some pepto... I still wanted to ride and get my efforts in, so I set up the trainer and kitted up, with of course the bib straps down in case during an effort something went horribly wrong...

In the end, there was a little rumbling, but no other issues...

not the ride I planned, but I'm happy with my efforts...

cross practice tonight. (no chick pea salad today)

let's rock.

respect
vanderbacon

It's just coffee

Dear Readers,

I bumped into my super hot ex-girlfriend today at star bucks. It was cool, not awkward at all. We sat down and talked for a little while. It was nice to catch up. We talked about music and TV. Totally normal stuff. She likes my new hair cut. She said she's missed me and would  like to get coffee again sometime this week. We'll probably catch up sometime next week. We are totally not getting back together.

Independence Cross (formerly beacon cross)

Beacon photos courtesy dennisbike.com

The Bridgeton, NJ is a very unique and wonderful course. Formerly put on by the Beacon team and now the Independence team I was stoked to get there to race this year. The sandy nature of the course and the Amphitheater of Doom are unique to the venue, and makes it special, fast and technical. The promoters go out of there way to have 4 dismounts/choices a lap. Did I  mention a beach run? Chapeau gentlemen, thank you for keeping cross real.  (I'm not a fan of grass crits-they just don't suit my strengths)

Kelly leads our group off the beach..

But I digress. Two weeks ago, if you would have asked me about racing cross, I would have said, "fuck cross". Then these guys got me all crossed up and excited. I originally planned on riding my mountainbike at Granogue. BUUUTT.. Well, now I'm gonna have a season, not racing every weekend, not chasing points- but racing for sure... Once I decided that I was racing, well, I know how hard cross is, and how hard Granogue is, and how hard the first cross race of the season is so I signed up for Independence Cross (formerly Beacon) as a shake down race....

I've had a request for some traditional race reporting, so here's how it goes:

Amphitheater of Doom Lap 2...

Got a good start. Tagged onto the back of the lead group. Close to midway through I found myself in a nice group with Kelly and Big Time. We were chasing the leaders who were just up the road a bit. Fergie came through about halfway through and the pace picked up, I was off the group and dangling... Pat from Guys motored by me on the long straight. Going into the final lap I could see Lombardo coming back. He's stronger than me, I'm not gonna get too many chances to chase him, but today I was gonna try to keep him honest. I felt like I could get to him. I charged after him, figuring I'd leave it all out there, and I slid out in a sandy corner. While I didn't totally hit the deck, I admit I lost my mojo in the corners a bit and kinda muffed a couple others... The chase was over as I rolled in after him with a big smile on my face. That was a good ride for me...

I will say the 8:00am start was a little tough, but getting home by 11 was pretty damn rad...

Granogue.

Paul, Lisa, and Ben brought back Granogue this year, and it was amazing. It was weird really only having to worry about my race, and not about the event. It was weird and wonderful. The course was great. Paul, Lisa and Ben were very kind to me and I really appreciated it. Returning to Granogue was extra special for me... To show Honor to me, Paul and Lisa gave me a front row call up for my race.

Photo by Kita Roberts Professional Photographer and one of two official photographers of Granogue Cross...

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to cash in on it at all... In reality, I felt like I had a top 20-25 in my legs, but my bikes didn't agree. Got a good start, at the bottom section of the lap, I had drifted back to about 8th, but was feeling good. I shifted into my easiest gear as we rolled into a slow climbing section, and the chain overshifted and freakin' wedged between the cassette and the spokes. I couldn't get it out so I started running... The entire race started rolling by me.  I think I was DFL when I made the pit and grabbed my pit bike. I tried to stay cool, and get into TT mode, I got back to the tail end of the race and started picking off riders. I told myself, "time to play pac man let's see how many guys I can gobble up!" I was picking off riders, and feeling good about the world.

thanks to Heather for this shot...

Lap three, I rip through the bridge section, and flat my front tire. Unbelievable. As if my race wasn't already over now it was really done. So fucking disappointing. But at this point I'm committed to finishing this travesty of a race. This is when the highlight of my races happened:

Photo by Kita Roberts Professional Photographer and one of two official photographers of Granogue Cross...

First- as I ran towards the big run/ride up- "the wall"-  Chappy- a dude I have tons of respect for and is having a great season had the best heckle of the day "Dude, just think of it as running another 5k!" I laughed through my frustration... Thanks Chappy...

Photo by Jenn Sears..

Next- When I ran to the bottom of the big run up- there was this amazing trombone player. As I ran up the hill with my flat tire, he played the sad trombone music... I stopped halfway up the hill and looked up,and saluted the fans on the wall... the crowd cheered louder than I could imagine...

I smiled, and as I started to run again it got louder and the trombone player played charge! I was frustrated, disappointed, but at that moment fully in love with my crazy hot ex girlfriend with a huge smile across my face...

I changed bikes and finished out my race...

Frustrating for sure, I had high expectations for today... There's always next week...

BTW- everyone cheering on the big hill was awesome. Thanks for being rad. Thanks for reminding me why Mid Atlantic Cross is so amazing! So many hugs today. It was a beautiful thing...

Special thanks to my buddy Bob Joos who worked pit for me today, and really had to work his ass off.. I am very appreciative of his support and frankly getting my bikes working again.. If he hadn't have gotten my first bike working again, when I would have been done when I had to pit a second time... His encouragement each lap kept me going.. Thanks Bob...

this guy worked his ass off for me today!

so that's my story... Joy, Pain, Sunshine and Rain... motherfucking cross rules...

thanks for reading.

respect
Fatmarc Freakin' Vanderbacon

Return to Granogue

Dear Readers,

October 2011 was the last running of the Granogue Cross race. I was proud to be a member of that promotion team that brought Granogue Cross to life for 10+ years. That last year was very hard: UCI double,UCI Junior race coupled with other things going on in my life it, made for a brutal weekend. When it was over, I was exhausted and relieved it was over versus exhausted and triumphant. I felt like I struggled through that entire week just spent.  During our run, we established Granogue as the crown jewel of the mid atlantic cross scene, and one of the best races in the country.  That 2011 course was what I felt was one of the best Granogue Courses ever. (Chapeau Tom McDaniel and Lauri Webber) I was bummed that I didn't get to race that course in 2011.

Nick Sears  runs the barriers. I'm practicing what will be my best area this cross season-

Cheering!  Not Heckling... Kelly Cline Cheer Coaching is paying off!  

Late last fall, a group of friends who has always helped Velo Amis in the past, stepped up and wanted to bring Granogue back into the Mid Atlantic fold. Granogue would be returning to the fold for 2014.

Granogue is very special place. Racing cross there has always been an incredible experience. I was super stoked to have the opportunity to preview the Granogue 2014 course this week.

Spent the evening chasing these guys around...

 Here's my review of the course: It is rad.

I joked with the promoters (Lisa, Paul and Benny) that this was by far my favorite Granogue course ever.

This guy is taking to cross like a bee to honey...

(I)Paul smiled and said, "that's because you aren't promoting it isn't it?" I smiled coyly. I'll admit that not promoting allowed me to play much more freely on the course. Bombing around the estate, I appreciated the fresh look at the course that was taken. Best described the course is the same Granogue but in a totally different way. I am really impressed with the fresh look Paul, Ben and Lisa have taken at the venue.

A series of shadows in the park...

Riding around, I suffered as only someone who has struggled to propel a bike across grassy fields could understand. It was wonderful. The course is challenging and incredibly fun. It's hard:  there is elevation change, running,off camber, and hard bike driving sections.  It is completely different from anything that has been there before, but at the same time it's Granogue. After previewing the course, I am really excited for race day and the new tradition that these guys will be forging.

still smiling. What a great night.

respect
marc