Holy Week Part II- Providence

Saturday's race was very hot. It didn't go as well as planned, and well I did my best, I knew I had left something on the table. Chills on Lap three had me blow a pretty strong start. After a quick feed I started to crawl my way back a bit, but it was really a little too little, a little too late.

Craig, Beth, Diane, Taylor, Fartercus and I had a wonderful dinner at probably one of my favorite places to eat in the world the Cuban Revolution. I hadn't been here since Nationals in 2006, but remembered it and was more than excited when we all ended up there. Food was ridiculously good. We'll be back sooner than 6 years, trust me on that...

Craig and I were having a beer or two, and talking about the race he leans into me and says, I think I can hop the barriers. I'm kinda talking shit, so I say yeah, they are doable but is the reward worth it?

Yeah, that was fucking rad. More rad was when we came into the barriers on the first lap and he did this in traffic, picking up ten spots. Craig would have his best verge/necx result this weekend  This is his second year of cross racing...

Monk raced hard Saturday, had her usual danger scout reaction to the fly over "why couldn't they just put carpet on both sides?" and busted out a solid race. After running the Gauntlet, (Nittany, Charm, Gloucester, and Providence) she decided after doing 3 laps Sunday that she was pretty cooked, and with lots of racing to go, didn't race. Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor. It's a longer, but still intense season a head.

Sunday, my race went really well. Strong start, battled in groups, sat on wheels, attacked when it was smart, I rode cleanly. I rode the race I wanted to ride. Fast forward to the last lap. I'm dangling off of the Chabot group just slightly. On the road stretch, about 1/2 through the lap, I make contact. There is a group of 3 chasing, but not likely to catch our group. Up the steep hill with two stairs, which I have been riding the entire weekend, we come up on a junior who let the first 3 guys in our group go through cleanly, but clearly didn't see me as he plays Terry Tate with me and takes me out. I was shocked  I may have  used some unkind words here in frustration. My apologies, junior racer.

I get up and get untangled, and now, I'm caught by the group chasing us. I start out kinda upset, then get angry, as the first guy in the group attacks through the pit passing me. I stand and respond. We weave through the last technical section, I sit on his wheel, and use some of that "New England Shit" when the guy behind me tries to move up in the group. I move my hands to the drops. This is been maybe my best race all year, and clearly my best race in New England ever. We hit the road, and the leader in front of me jumps, I respond and come around on the right, I get clear of him, but notice a wheel coming up on my right, I dig deep once more, and pour it all on. I see the line, I throw the bike. I win the group.

I am fucking stoked. Later, I find out that the result, was my best New Engand (Verge/NEPX) result ever. A freakin' birthday miracle I tell you. A birthday miracle.

A couple of other quick ones:

Kitten T-shirt Standard issue here on C3

warming up with Nick, Craig and Auer. Craig is leading Auer second wheel and I'm third, we come through a fast wide corner, and Auer goes to the front sits up and smiles back at Craig and I. He says with a chesire cat grin , "nobody wants to be the jam on a Vettori sandwich!" Awesome..

Speaking of Nick, Nick and Jen both came up to race this weekend. Both did very well. I think it was the biggest field of women Jen has raced with... She had fun. Jen's pretty rad.  This was Nick's first weekend of cross racing, and he did really well on his mtb w/ cross tires. Not really a surprise, as Nick is an amazing bike racer. More impressive was after he broke his chain and knew to run to the pit, some dude along the way offered him up his cross bike: A Moots Ti cross bike, with full red components  Now, we saw Nick, then we didn't, then next thing we know he's there on a Moots Ti Cross bike. 

Kids race was rad. That is all. (ryan sorry I missed your picture, I was getting ready to take it when your chain popped off)

carter

or Fartecus if you like, through the barriers

Taylor w/ Haile in tow!

As always great to see so many teammates and friends. Benny da Jewlar had a super solid weekend of racing, as did Auer Power... Really fun stuff.

love this shot, Chabot w/ Benny closing

Monk and I made a point to get out early Friday so we could enjoy the good weather and city a bit. Providence is really an amazing place, and we had a wonderful time. Our hotel was really rad, as you can see checking in when we had my honda fit stacked with race gear, a Ferrari, a Porsche and a Maserati. Baller Althetes, that's how we all roll...

We were happy to have Norm, Allison and Eric from MTBNJ join us at our compound. Totally great people, and fun to race with...

 Finally, with what Diane and I called the Gauntlet (Nittany, Charm, Gloucester, Providence) behind us, it was time for the Holy Week Playoff beard to come to end."the Playoff beard" if you will has served me well.
Beard season, will come again next year for sure....

no way I was selling that mustache...

thanks for reading...

respect
fatmarc

Holy Week - Part I

Craig chasing Gewilli...

Prologue:
If you are crosser- if this is the season you think about all year. If you love cross. You owe it to get yourself to Gloucester. I've been to nationals, I've been out west, I have lots of favorite races. Gloucester is the best. Everything that everyone says about Gloucester is true, and more. I have been to lot of great races, and we have some awesome ones here in the Mid Atlantic  And I'll admit, there's times when I'm in New England and I think: we are on par. But Gloucester, the venue, the crowds. It's amazing. There's an extra gear there that no one else has. I think it's crowd sourced from the racers and fans.. but man, it's awesome.  If you go, hope that you  are lucky, really lucky you get some weather conditions. These are the courses and conditions are what make cross great. I won't lie I love racing in this stuff...

monk with one to go...

Chapter 1: A Place to Lay Our Heads
About a month ago, Kelly and Diane were wrangling around where to stay for Gloucester. Kelly found a place and emailed us. "two doubles- here's the information" A double room for Diane and I is way more than enough, and with Craig and Beth and the kids coming down accommodations would be perfect.

Other than a tsunami coming across the George Washington Bridge the drive was a pretty easy one. When we get to the Sea Lion Motel, I give Kelly a call and ask if both rooms were in his name. He said, "there's only one room, two double beds!" I start to hyperventilate a little and then tell Kelly, "I thought we had two rooms!" Clearly, Chris, Kelly, Diane, Me, Craig, Beth, Fartecus and Taylor are all not fitting into one room. Diane and I laughed, we took 2 doubles to mean two rooms two double beds... A swing and a miss...  A couple of quick phone calls and Jeffy and Brian Bahnson were happy to provide us with a little floor space to crash in... No stress, Lots of laughs, and a change of plan... This is going to be a good weekend...

Chapter 2: Race Day 1

Monk got off to a good start battled in huge groups and raced hard all day. With one to go she had finally worked to the front of a  big group. As they headed into the off camber slip in slide, I commented to myself,    "diane just worked another late lap magic run" as she was one of the stronger riders technically in the group, but could be out gunned in the power sections. Then she yard saled it. Full on Pete Rose slide. Diane one side, bike the other. Group gone. Diane finished up strongly, but was a little disappointed with her last lap. BUT she had fun and the racing was rad.

fartecus and I.

I was stoked to have Craig line up right behind me, and we chatted about our strategy for the start, starting in row 8-9 respectively. The gun went off and it was on. I got a rock star start and moved up pretty well. Ended up in a group with Benny da Jewlar... We battled forward, battled back. Some very physical racing, it is after all called  "that New England Shit"  I got put into a tree at one point, but blew by the guy on the run up. Going into the last lap Ben came to the front and got a small gap. I would chase, but he'd come in a couple spots ahead of me.  I have to be honest, I was really stoked. It was my best ride of the year, and I did everything thing that I wanted to. I raced my race, and I was stoked.

Craig got balled up a couple of places, but still put in a rock solid race. For his first NEPCX Elite masters race I was super proud of him. He's just gonna keep getting better...

scratching Craig's nose

proper hydration is important

Interview here.

Chapter 3: The Hanson Brothers

Lots of questions about racing with my brother. I love it. I am so excited he's racing, and I love racing in groups with him. Someone asked if there was a lot of competition between us. I said I gotta be honest it's less like trying to beat each other, and more like us versus our group. I like to think of us as a little bit like the Hanson boys from SlapShot.  Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but how could I pass up this reference.

Craig railing the corner ...

Chapter 4: Day Two

Day two greeted us with steady rain showers. The course that was muddy and slick Saturday had been changed up a bit, and conditions now would be extra awesome. Monkey got a solid start and fought hard for the first 2 laps of her race. The final lap she found herself dangling off of a really nice group. She would get so close to attaching on, and the just get gapped off a bit. Through the final slip and slide spot, the same where she yard saled yesterday.. Diane made a move and caught the final woman in the group. As they hit the road Monk stalked her a bit, and just as the finish line came into sight, she attacked and took the spot on the line... Always a great way to finish a race...

I kinda really like this shot

Let me be clear, I love racing in slick, wet, mud. While warming up was not as fun, let me say, these conditions were perfect to race in. My start wasn't as rock-star as the day before, but I stayed aggressive in the corners, and moved up where ever I could. I dude from JRA cycles was trying to pimp me in the tape. He was subtle like a bull in a china shop, I dove to the other side and passed him into the beer garden. Up the beer garden stairs, Craig and I ran next to each other as the crowd was going insane. That was an all time awesome racing moment for me. Craig and I would ride in a group for the rest of the lap until he got caught up in a crash on the beach. I was happy with my ride, and I was sticking to my plan, the race was unfolding as I had pictured. With one to go I was dangling off of a group of 3, I kept creeping up on the final guy, in the mean time my buddy Matt had come across to my wheel. I felt like if I could get to the beach, I'd hold him off. But I spun out and Matt got around me... I chased hard, which caused me to bobble on the technical section losing another spot... As we hit the concrete I was gapped off the group and sprinted for them, but the damage was done... Mistakes aside at the end, I was pleased with my ride. Great stuff...

Benjamin Stephens shot

Epilogue
I can't say enough what a great experience this weekend was and how fun the racing was... Without a doubt I love the Mid Atlantic Scene and the various flavors you get more than any. That being said, the NECX is always so kind to Diane and I. There really is something special there. In club row next to the GEEK HOUSE guys, seeing Chip and the Hupsters, Victoria and Tony... MEGA! and JD! Just too many people to try and mention all... Such a great time... Top that with what was clearly my best weekend of racing, and I was super stoked this weekend...

thanks for reading...

respect
vanderbacon

Charm City...

This one might be a little long. I love Charm City. One of my favorite venues for sure. My team's race and as such it's the one weekend where we can count on everyone being together...It's pretty rad to say the least. Historically I have had good rides here. The courses have 2-3 dismounts a lap, and favor good bike handlers and technical riders... that being said I have a few stories to tell..

me going half hasselholf

Episode I
First, and having nothing to do with Charm City, is my niece and nephew showing up on crossresults.com.
Taylor is there in second, and my nephew.. well Fartecus Vanderbacon is in 5th...

I'm pretty damn proud. My nephew asked his father if Uncle Marc was Fatmarc Vanderbacon, and His Dad was Skinnycraig Vanderbacon, and Aunt Diane was a Vanderbacon, if he was a Vanderbacon. To which my brother said, sure you can be a Vanderbacon, what is your first name? Carter with a straight face and a gleam in his eye answered "Fartecus Vanderbacon"... AWESOME...

Episode II
I was lucky to have a number of awesome dinner invites this weekend. Sadly, being busy with the race, exhausted from traveling... AhgH... we had to pass...  But let me say, it's pretty rad to get awesome invites.
I'll be collecting dinners soon!

Episode III
One of Monk and my responsibilities is to run the kids race at Charm City. We get close to 30 kids ranging in age from 2-12. This year we had some super rad helpers, and "sand keepers" who guarded the sandpit and made sure all the kids made it through cleanly. They were Jimmy Rock, Emily White, and Victoria Gates. All super juniors in their own rights. Day two, Monkey and had to scramble to put together some more goody bags for prizes, and when we got to the course we found Victoria and Emily waiting for us to help.  The races were rad, the kids had fun, and it was pretty awesome.

Episode IV
Let's talk about racing on Saturday. Monk got a solid start, and really pushed herself hard, battled in and out of good groups, she put together her best race since her injury. I was super proud, she was super stoked.

 It was a pretty good thing. My race followed a similar format. Got a rock star start. Hung with the group for the first two laps, then started to crack a little in the middle of lap three. I was lucky enough have my buddy Norm (MTBNJ.COM) come by and I proceeded to suck on his wheel for the next lap or so.  With 2 to go my teammate Glenn Turner came up to me, and followed him in for what I felt was my best ride of this year so far...

Monk with a little body english..

Episode V
Where this is light, there must be dark. Hard day for both of us. We both usually have our best days, day two of a weekend. This weekend not so much. Monk struggled, and just couldn't get going. She had fun, but never got it rolling. Me, I had a solid start, sat just outside of 20th in the group I like to race in (w/ Benny; Travis; Matt and Norm), laps 3-4 I started bleeding spots. I was falling back and I kept trying to grab onto a group... With two to go I finally settled into a group with of I'll say 5, and I finished 3rd out of that group... I was pleased with my effort, felt like I was working my ass off to keep going fast.. and today... I just wasn't... At the end of the day, the race was fun, and I had fun, but man, I was not fast today...

a little english of my own...

Epilogue:
The season rolls on. A fun weekend, I have prided myself in consistency in past years, and this weekend, I had one of my best rides, and by far my worst... But I walked away smiling... Got to say, I love working with my teammates, the race came off really well... And heck, even going backwards we were still racing...

thanks for reading.. heading for holy week next week!

respect
vanderbacon

ps thanks to Dennisbike.com for pictures

My garage...

traveling for work this week...

I managed to find an abandoned parking garage that I could run in. I was so excited with my find, that I called Diane to tell her about it. "it's totally awesome" I told her..

Concerned, she inquired, "are you sure it's safe to be running in an abandoned parking garage in Chicago?"

Without thinking I responded, "sure I just stay clear of the police tape..."

"Really!?, Really !?" Monk asked...

good week, good conference, legs should be interesting this weekend...

looking forward to getting home, sleeping in my bed, being with my family...

I'm not the best traveler in the world...

Stayed up late to watch CrossVegas last night, I was totally stoked. As soon as the women started, I crashed out... The best laid plans...

Charm City Here We Come!

respect
fm

This is how I want to start every week:

Nothing like getting a nice note in the morning to start the week off with a smile:
Totally made my week already:

Hey Marc and Diane,

I just wanted to thank you again for supporting Em in her cycling ventures.  She pulled off a win today that was soooo unexpected that it made me, and complete strangers, cry.  Even someone from the food tent tracked me down after the race and said that she (and some of the other volunteers) had goose bumps watching Em sprint to the finish.  Anyway, I wanted to let you and Diane know that she couldn’t have done it without your help.  Without you folks loaning us the Jamis, Emily wouldn’t have been able to be there today to grab that win.  And now man, she has a memory on that bike that will last her a life time.  She rode that thing like a woman possessed today.    It was so much more than just day 2 of Nittany.  It wouldn’t have been possible without your and Diane’s kindness.   You helped make it happen.

Take care!

Bill (and Em and Cati)

At the end if the day, we were happy to lend a friend a bike, and frankly super proud just to be a teeny, tiny part of this story!   Yeah Em!  Keep on Rocking!

respect

Fatmarc

Nittany Cross

Good fun this weekend. I struggled a bit, got slapped around and came out with a smile.

Okay, I was a little grumpy Sunday afternoon, but the community makes it hard to be grumpy.

the courses were fast, and dusty... it was good stuff for sure...

watching races after my races was really good. good weekend, can't wait for until next weekend...

Monk put together a couple of solid rides with good results. She stoked to be racing w/o injury for the first time in 2 years... good on here..

cross is rad. Bad Legs, great racing, fun weekend...

respect
fatmarc

Trucker Hats are Totally Cool.

Where do you want to go after cross practice?

Two of the most interesting men in the world?

respect
fatmarc

Weekend of Awesomeness

After a few weeks of craziness, and really having my head in the midst of all the things I hate about our sport, my head was spinning and frankly I was kinda bummed out. Reading Hamilton's book didn't help out this perspective. This weekend really showcased all the things about our sport that I love. Reminded me why I'm in love with this silly-assed bike game.

Delaware Special Olympics Cycling Classic (at the Air Force Base in Dover, DE)
totally awesome day. Never mind when I got there at 6:30am there the gate for our entrance was locked and no one was to be found. Never mind that I went to the main gate of the base asking for directions and was asked, "sir can you please step out of your car?"  I smiled, agreed and thought to myself, "this is wear the strip search starts..." Never mind that I finally got my buddy, SO event directer Wiser on the phone and he said, "we got a little delayed with the truck, I'll be right there.." Why would there be an issue bringing a rented U-haul truck on to an Air Force Base? All of this which was all smiles really, was just the beginning of a great day.

Wiser was the man with a plan.

Can you find the Faticus and Jesse in this photo?

The Athletes were racing in a variety of time trials from 1k-20k, with many doubling up. The Air Force base had tons of volunteers, and Jesse P (PhillyCiclisimo) and I were the rider escorts, leading racers around the course, helping pace them, talking to them. It was pretty damn Amazing... Fort James was the chief timer and made sure everyone got off on time, and had a timer working with them... It was freaking awesome.

FortJames made sure everyone got off on time...

I'm not gonna say that I didn't well up a couple of times on this day. I did, but let me tell you this, they were tears of joy. You get perspective really fucking quickly working this event. I think I needed some of it. What was really clear, was that I needed to be at the Special Olympics far more than the Special Olympics needed me.

Tacchino Cross
If there is one word I could use to describe Tacchino Cross it would be Hugs. Lots of them. Like the first day of school, or a reunion, or hell... Lots of hugs. The course was super fun, and I have to admit may have inched it's way into my 5 favorite courses of all time. The racing was great, but more so it was awesome to see so many old friends, and frankly have big fat hugs.

Jim McNeely- Most Hugable man on the Planet?

I attribute that Hugable atmosphere as much to the great weather, as I do the promoter Jim McNeely. Jim makes me happy when ever I see the guy, and frankly, he always puts on a great show and frankly beyond the race, it's just a great time. Good food, drink, a funk band, and Schieken on the mic was rad.

Jen and Monk debrief..

Let me digress. In my adult life, there have been 2 people that can talk me into doing things that I hadn't planned. Worse, things that frankly if you ask me, I'd say, "no freaking way am I doing this..." My brother Craig, and Auer. I have to be honest, we are planning on racing a lot in the next few weeks, and I hadn't planned on doing Tacchino. But Auer gave me a call, and "come on down, we'll do the singlespeed race, have a couple of drinks, it'll be fun!" and thus I was there, never mind that I didn't have a single speed cross bike (until last wednesday), little details.





So Monkey, L-Web and I fit all our bikes, all our wheels, all our stuff, in the Fit and hit the road. It was a really fun, hard day. Thanks to everyone for making it happen.

Which one of these kids has gray in their beard?

Special thanks to Jon Seibold and Chip Baker who helped me get my gearing set up on my single speed cross bike, which I will now be referred to as "the C bike".... The single speed race was fun, and I might toe the line with the one gears again this season...

Jon Seibold beard of awesomeness.

Lauri charging in the Vandessel kit.

Two quick stories...

Jim and I standing by pit, handing out dollars in the dollar primes. Monkey was coming by and I was pretty excited, I was gonna hand her a dollar, stuff it in her jersey. She made eye contact at me and said, "I need a bike!" Shit. I run across the pit, grab her bike and get her out with no trouble. Not our smoothest pit, but she wasn't delayed at all. "whew"  a lap or so later when Monkey finishes up, she rolled over to the pit and asks, "hey man, where's my dollar?" we all laughed...

Dennisbike

Finally, Dennis Smith, one of the two guys that I followed to my first cross race ever, and a guy whose been helping me out along the way ever since won the 55+ race today, we were waiting for the podium and David from Arrow bikes, who I worked with at the Powers/JBV Clinic last year, said, "thanks for all the coaching last year it really paid off." I told him he was welcome, then pointed to Dennis, and said, "this is one of the guys that taught me how to do this stuff! David and Dennis (1st and 2nd) shook hands and David thanked Dennis... It was a cool moment...

Then Monkey and Lauri, who both had fun days, but not the rides they wanted, and I loaded up the fit, and headed home with all smiles....

Later, Matt M and Jaime were driving through and they joined Monk and I for dinner as we re-hashed the awesomeness of the day, as we ate food that was horrible for us, and drank beer. It was good stuff...

It was an awesome weekend.

thanks for reading.

respect
Vanderbacon