Mr. Belvedere still hates you, but we love Buddy the leg breaker

Dear Reader,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I had the great pleasure of riding my bike with Buddy the leg breaker, Kid Chris, Nick, Shane, Rombach (toughest man on the planet) and Kurtee last weekend.

"big deal" you say. "you ride with those guys ALL the time..."

Yeah, well yeah, but after a few months of crushing souls minus an ACL, Buddy the leg breaker will have surgery this week to be made whole again. I'll miss riding with him, and he called his shot as we headed out for the "Mr. Belvedere hates you loop" for his last ride.

A few thoughts:

1. Mr. Belvedere hates you much more in December than in June. This was much tougher than I remembered.  We had two LONG peppy sections that stung my legs everytime I walked up the stairs the rest of the weekend.

2. We turned onto Old Elk Neck road and it looked like someone smashed 100 cases of beer all over the place. There was glass every where. Perhaps fitting, Buddy got a flat on his last ride for a while.

3. While changing the tire a kind woman drove by, slowed down to take a good look to, we assumed  make sure we were okay. Just then the kind young woman flipped us the bird and sped off. Welcome to cecil county.

4. As we rode into North East we saw lots of road closed signs. It became clear that the Christmas Parade was coming through town, and sure enough we rode right through it. We greeted the crowd with our best pageant waves. We were greeted by kind smiles all along this section of the route.

At the end of the of the ride, it was all smiles, as Buddy explained how much he loves parades, and we wished him the best of luck wtih his surgery. It was a pretty damn good day...

looking forward to riding with Buddy very soon...

thanks for reading.

respect
Vanderbacon...

losing things, riding a trainer in a parking lot, and stuff like that

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I lost my wedding ring this weekend. Ouch. In the scope of an otherwise incredibly awesome weekend, I lost my wedding ring. I'll admit that put me into my own sort of fit and personally inflicted havoc. But, at the end of the day, I'll say that it was all for a good cause. Now the good news is this: I have a friend named Benny da Jewlar. Benny is da Jewlar for cyclist everywhere, 

and Benny was able to help me out with a new ring. Thank you sir. BTW even if you aren't a cyclist, I would highly recommend Benny as a jewelry resource. 

"How the hell did you lose your wedding ring?" I'll get there...

Thanksgiving morning started out with a spectacular ride with these gentlemen. A couple of nice hours over at fairhill making a special spot in my belly for a lot of food later.

While Diane can't ride a bike yet, Blake, Consorto, and Kita also rode out of our place and we hung out for a bit and shared things we were thankful for... and few Fat Tire Ale's courtesy of Mr. Sean Mealy!

Cyclists are demented and sad, but social.

Everyone headed out to their respective festivities. Might I add I thought it was really one of the best ever from my brother and his wife at their sweet new house, and yes even from the outlaws.

"Great, now how the hell did you lose your wedding ring?"

Okay, on Friday Henry's Bikes was holding a CF foundation fundraiser. Essentially they were going to have people riding trainers in front of the shop for 24hrs. I had signed up to ride from 4:30pm-6:00pm. In the course of rushing there, and trying to find socks, and.. well I lost it. I scoured the Henry's Parking lot. I scoured my car. I scoured my sock drawer. It's gone. I'm quite sure an evil little gnome took my ring into some odd black hole. bummer

Good news is that the CF Foundation Raised just over $7000!
And frankly, I think the event could do more. Could get more spinners! We could do $10k next year. I look forward to being a part of this again next year!

That cute guy in the back with hi-vis booties and no wedding ring- yeah that's me...

So at the end of the day, I got to be apart of a pretty amazing event, got to see lots of friends, and have a really wonderful long weekend...

As Kelly Cline said, "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store, Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more. Happy Black Friday"

thanks for reading.

best to you

respect
vanderbacon

A little radness for Thanksgiving

Dear Readers,

My name is Vanderbacon. Here is a little radness for your turkey day.




have a great thanksgiving.

 best to you.

 respect fatmarc

And the elastic snaps...

Dear Readers,

My name is Fatmarc Vanderbacon. I have just been popped. The elastic has snapped.

Have you ever found yourself racing in a group during a cross race and you're struggling to keep in contact? On the wide open spots the guy at the front drills it, and you find yourself in your drops starring at the wheel in front of you, just hanging on. As the power section ends, you are gapped just so ever slightly off the group, but still perilously close to the group. In the tricky bits, you can get back on, but there's not enough there to move up in the group, not enough to really improve your position, you're hanging on. The group heads back to the next power section and again stretches out single file.

You're at the tail end of the accordion, and the extra energy needed to sprint out of each corner to get back in the group starts to take it's toll. Another tricky section, and you're back on, and as the course opens up, the kid on the front drills it, and you can no longer hold that wheel. The gap is too big.

You've just been popped.

That my friends is what has happened to my life in the past two weeks. I will admit my group includes my awesome wife, school, work and cross. The intensity in all areas has been up for a while now. The addition of Logan may have been a silly, but incredibly cool mistake. But here's the real deal:

I have three classes left in Grad school. I expect to be finished on March 8, 2014. When I started school, I had real fears of what I could and couldn't do. I was a horrible undergrad student. So, here I find myself with 3 classes, roughly 3 months of school left, and it has been a wonderful experience. I have worked very hard, learned a ton, and it's helped me grow in my profession, and in my confidence. I very proud of my efforts here.

 Right now, I have a 4.0 GPA. This would have been inconceivable to me when I started this adventure. But there it is. I will own, that while there never was a goal to finish with a 4.0, at this point in the game, it has become one. I'm working hard, not sleeping a ton, and frankly, I want to graduate with a 4.0. There I said. I want it. It's a real goal.

Now look, I have perspective on this. If it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world. The experience has been one of the best of my life. That said, I also don't want to half ass this, and let that slip away.

The past couple of weeks have been very hard. All area's of my life were demanding lots of energy and frankly, sitting down with Diane and talking about what was going on was really helpful. Something had to give. Cross is over for me this year. I'm a little bummed, because frankly I think I've been getting stronger as the season has developed, but I also recognize that when I went through a mental check list of my priorities, at this point I just don't have the mental energy to finish up the season. There aren't that many matches left in the book.

As Diane reminded me, "look man, you didn't think you'd be racing at all, you did 20 races last year, and 9 this year... That's pretty good..."  She's right. And so, and so I'm closing the books on my 2013 race season, dreaming of my 2014 cross season, and I'm gonna do my damndest to make that 4.0 happen.

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Nothing New To Report...

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I once thought a had beat a cold. Then I worked an 11 hour day, followed by staying up all night with a new puppy. Then I became really sick and missed a double weekend of racing that I had been looking forward to for a very long time. I did sleep like 18 hours on Saturday, so I have that going for me...Oh, yeah and I totally underestimated my take home exam. Holy 6 pages of essay questions, and 51 really tricky multiple choice, and 3 case studies. The cases might have been my favorite. I figured the exam would take 90 minutes, 2 hour tops. I am embarrassed to admit how much time I spent on that bastard... Frankly, I'm not even sure how well I did... Erg... well, this class is really good, my grade might get really interesting this week...

Left work today in a rare state of fury tonight. And not the good kind. In the end it will all work out... The downside was that I was really in no state to ride my bike tonight. The upside was I got to watch Diane play some guitar, which since she can't ride a bike right now, she's been doing more of... I do enjoy watching that...

Hoping to get our early tomorrow before work and catch some quick trails...

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

FSVS Cross at Fairhill: My home course?

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. It would appear that since we have added Logan to our family, sleep has become even more of a thing of the past for me. At 5:15am this morning, I was super stoked as Logan jumped up, and I was abruptly awoken as Monkey let everyone know,"Logan's up" Potter and Layla jumped to attention too, as I commented, "don't worry I got 'em" and I charged down stairs with the thundering herd in tow. I got them all out safely, and an hour or so later Monkey came down and said, "sorry buddy I thought it was 6:30..eer I could have taken them down.." Ah, life with a puppy. Good thing they're cute, otherwise, I might eat them.

Saturday, I raced the FSVS cross at Fairhill. There are some awesome benefits to having a cross race less than 5 minutes from your house. These include doing a couple laps on the course the night before, and, in theory, a little more leisure time around the house before heading out to the race. I can't forget the getting kitted up in the warmth of your home, instead of the abrupt coolness of being wrapped up in a towel in a field, on the cool November day.

Rad Picture from  my buddy Saul..

That said, someone asked me if I considered this my home race. Oddly, I responded, "no, not really" In the past, I would always consider Granogue my home course. These days I'll admit I don't feel like I have a home course.  I want Fairhill to be my home course. Hmmm I'm gonna have to work on that...

The Fairhill Course this year was my favorite version of the course yet at this venue. The lap was a little shorter than the previous years, and  had a great flow. My one complaint, and I get that it's a selfish one that benefits my skillset, there was only one dismount a lap, (the barriers) and just that one place to force folks off the bike, or to make a choice about riding a section. As I told the promoter, and my buddy Mike CZ, the course was wicked fun to race, and I really liked it, it just needs a couple of more tricky bits.

As a side note, my father told me years ago, don't complain about something unless you are willing to contribute to make it better. This advise is how I ended up on the MAC board, and promoting races by the way- THANKS DAD.  So I gave my feedback to CZ, but also  committed to CZ that next year, with Grad School in the rear view, to be more help, and you know slip in a tricky bit or too. Honest to god truth, the course is rad, it just needs another set of planks or a run up to be one of the best courses in the region.  It was SO MUCH FUN. I vow in 2014 Fairhill will be my home course.

My race went well, I had a ton of fun, suffered a lot, bled out my eyes-got a good start, settled into a nice group, and waged a pretty epic battle with Werner the entire race which ultimately, I would lose on the last lap. It was fun. I wasn't great today, but on this fast course, and I get fast isn't my strong suit, I left it all out there, and I was happy with that...

Finally dispatched by Werner, I  make a final ride up the finishing straight- Photo By buddy KITA

Monk and I were happy to host Eric and Brett Friday night. It was great to see those guys, and frankly, they may have moved into the top spot as easiest guests at the house. Super Good Times.

Thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon.

Caffeinated Cross- Hangin' with Ferg

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I once had the opportunity to be one of two "killer B" riders on the Fort Factory Team. That year I had the pleasure to follow around my teammates sponging up as much as I could from my more experienced teammates. That year, I learned a ton from that team, those riders. I am grateful for my time on their team. In my opinion, if there was  was a Mount Rushmore of Mid Atlantic Cross it would probably be Yozell, Shogren, Elliston, Fergie, Auer and Ruether. I am happy to have a relationship with all of those guys.

Yesterday, as I was unpacking the fit, Fergie pulled into the parking field.  I haven't seen him in probably a year. We started chatting, and he said he hadn't been riding much, and questioned racing. The race was in his home town. I encouraged him to race, that it was fun, and that racing cross is fun in of itself. The process is always good. Battling is always good.

I have always enjoyed pre-riding with Ferg. He sees lines, and breaks down a course in a manner that I don't always. He's been doing this so long, he is just so generous with his knowledge and such a resource.  I appreciate his experience and guidance.. Plus it's really fun to ride with him. The day at
Caffeinated Cross was no difference. Thanks Ferg.

I was sandwiched between 2 MTBNJ riders for most of the day...

Caffeinated Cross is a first year race about 45 minutes from my house. I want to tip my hat to the promoters. The course was super fun. It was balanced with some open long straights that require lots of watts, and lots of tricky off camber, tight corners, a log, some steps, and awesome loamy corners. So  much fun.

My race went well. I can't say I had magic legs like last week, but it was a good race. I started strong, maybe a too strong. Mid race I was pedalling squares and battling with a good group of guys.  The final two laps I got myself together a bit and tried to bridge back to Trevor, who passed me when I was pedalling squares. And who was dangling just off of me? Yup. Ferg.

Now, I know if Ferg had been in form, I wouldn't be in the same race as the guy. But here we were, one to go. Trevor right in front of me, Fergie right behind... And that's how the group settled out. I was happy with my ride, with my effort.  As I rolled across the line and tried to get off of the vomit comet, Ferg rolled up to me and said, "good ride, no gifts today... no gifts.."  My day was freakin' made.

Afterwards Ferg and I spun down a bit and collected our pit bikes. We talked about our races, debriefed a bit, and broke down how things went. This something I've done with Auer often after races, and with my brother, and in the past with Ferg. It was awesome. I gotta be honest, I was happy with my ride today, but getting the chance to hang out with Ferg, well that made the day.

Hope to see Ferg at the races again soon.

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Objectivity

Dear Readers,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I remember when I was doing my undergrad, taking a class on the bible. The professor introduced  the class stating that we were going to study the bible as a piece of literature not a religious work. He continued that we would discuss the origin of the stories, the historical context, and possible authors. The professor finished his opening saying that he respects  religious beliefs, and acknowledged that some students cannot study this text in this fashion. If that was the case, this might not be the class for them. I also clearly remember a couple of born again Christians in this class who stated after the professor's introduction that they were born again Christians, and the bible was god's word. I can remember them saying "amen" or "Praise Jesus" after passages that the professor read that night. After getting the stink eye from the professor, and frankly many of us in class, they continued the practice in a whisper...

It was a little surreal. I'll admit I kinda thought at first it was a joke, or they were putting us on. In hind-site, they were not, and after the second meeting of class I think the kids realized, this wasn't going to be a good class for them. They couldn't separate their beliefs from the class and focus on the literature.

Fast forward 20+ years. Outside of my exciting cyclocross career, I actually pay the bills as a Human Resources Professional. I like to think of myself as being a strategic partner, and frankly in our organization I believe the value of HR is appreciated. In school, I'm currently taking a Strategic HR class as part of my program. While I am learning a lot, and enjoying the class, a lot of the time there's material and discussions around issues and topics that I have some real world experience with... It's been a struggle to not share all my experiences, or thoughts on issues... I recognize I  may be one of three people in the class that work in HR...  I'll admit there have been sometimes when I squirmed a little in my chair or found myself looking at my role and my team's role in our organization. There are some real world learnings for me.  I've also heard a few things that frankly I felt like were just bullshit. Needless to say, this experience brought me back to my Bible class in undergrad. Now, my HR beliefs and practices surely are not on par with these guys faith in God, but I do have some very deeply held beliefs about culture, development, and human resources' role in a company. Having those beliefs examined and poked  has been an interesting experience. One thing is for sure, it's changed how I look back to those kids in the bible class. As an adult, I find it challenging to have my deeply held beliefs that I have had 40+ years to develop questioned, I can only imagine how tough that could have been as a 19 year old still trying to figure out things out. Odd. Anyway, just something
I was thinking about.

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Crossasaurus Awesome

Dear Readers,

My name is Fatmarc Vanderbacon. I like to ride and race my bikes. I have a new puppy named Logan. Yes, that is a reference to Wolverine. I have two other dogs as well, Potter and Layla. Potter of course for Harry Potter and Layla for the Clapton song.

In cycling circles, when someone has a particularly good day they will often refer to it as " it felt like riding without a chain." As a cyclist, we hope for maybe 1-2 of these days a year.Truth is they happen less often than that for me. Maybe it's on a hard training ride where you get to lay the smack down on the local hometown hero. Maybe it's on a race day, and finally everything comes together. These are always great days. These days are very rare, and frankly all the hard days, all the times you pedal squares, push yourself until you get dropped, get pissed off pulling the group in the headwind, only to have them attack you once your are out of it, all the times you suffer up one more climb are all validated on these rare are wonderful days.

At Crossasaurus Awesome,  I had one of these days.

The narrative of my season has been chase to the group of guys I lovingly refer to as my group. The narrative has had me hang on back of the group, or get popped off the group and battle my way to the finish.

Today, I started in row 3 of 5, and by the end of the first lap found myself at the back of my group. I kinda knew how the story would end if I stayed on the end of my group. So I moved up. It stuck. The race was a 7 lap race, and with 3 to go, I thought to myself, "self, this is going really well. I feel good. really good, don't eff this up".

 I had by far my best ride of the year. I was stoked.

So look this race was called Crossasaurus Awesome, here are somethings that made it extra awesome, you know besides, feeling freaking rock star on the bike today:

• Monkey and Potter came for the race. Potter's first race in over a year. And yes, he has grown a lot in a couple of years. No, he hasn't eaten Logan
• Gorka? in the hammock on the run up hill, casually saying hello every lap as I came by, "hey fatmarc how are you? would you like a donut?" 
• Bob Joos in the pit giving me updates and cheers
• Nick battling at the front of the race,but cheering me on across the switch backs. 
• Our master class is just a good group of guys, my group specifically was cool. Trevor, Johan (birthday boy) Matt, Werner, and Greg (who chased me down going into one to go) all had kind words after my race. Community rules. Class acts all the way...
• The course is so fun, fast and hard corners, and the gorilla suit... it was awesome...
• Thanks to Bob P for hooking me up with a sweet parking spot too...

I am totally wearing my Crossasaurus awesome shirt to work today...

It was a good day... I'll remember this one for awhile

thanks for reading.

respect
vanderbacon

Star Rock Cross or Meet Logan...

Dear Reader,

My name is fatmarc vanderbacon. I am pleased to welcome Logan, our newest puppy to the family.

Our friend Laura volunteers at shelter a little north of allentown. She had posted some cute shots of a new puppy at the shelter on Thursday. Diane and Laura had been swapping emails about the new pup. Diane and I have been thinking about a new pup for a little while, and with Diane's injury and season now done, she was stoked to make it happen.

Now, I will admit I thought we'd work this out sometime next week. That said being that Logan was at a rescue, there were no holds, no guarantees. On Friday night we decided we wanted him in  our family. So we made a plan.  So the plan was set:  I'd race Star Rock Cross and then we head out from Lancaster to the rescue North of Allentown. We wanted this dog.

I was up early, loaded up the car and we were off. On the trip to the race, I started doing math. Driving times, venue to the rescue weren't good. Then also realized if we made it to the rescue and some other family had adopted Logan just an hour before... Well, It'd be totally a bummer...

So on the way to the race, car fully packed, bikes on the roof, I realized that, we might not make the shelter in time... So I did what any sort of rational person would do. Maybe I have to turn in my cross card, but I decided to not race and head out to the shelter.

Of course I went to the venue because I had to meet up with the director. I had to swap a shifter with him, and pick up some stuff for a teammate. I saw him, I explained my situation to him. The director is a kind man and a good friend. He was sad to not have me racing, but completely understanding of my choice. I am lucky to ride for a kind and understanding man.

So Logan is home now. He and Potter are wrestling in the center of the TV room, and Layla is reminding them who the boss really is...

thanks for reading...

respect
vanderbacon