D-Day

First, watch this:



Now, after your tears have dried up, I know you're all wondering how you could possibly have the experience of participating in something so beautiful. The hard truth is that you can't. You are not good enough. Sorry.

But we at the FGBC low stakes gambling dept. are pleased to offer you the next best thing: The 2009 FGBC Spring Classics Pool. It provides the possibility of vicariously participating in these races through a team of riders that you construct. It's free. And picking teams is just about as easy as it can be. The thrill of winning will no doubt not be as exhilarating as it would be to beat Tom Boonen at the line in the Roubaix velodrome. But on the plus side, the pain should be a little bit easier to tolerate.

You have until the clock strikes midnight tonight to get your team in. If you need to look over the details again, you can find them here. Send your team here.

We have 12 teams submitted so far: me, Matt, Brad, Dallas, Paddy, Ian, Vic, Bill, Luke, Craig, Chris A, and Chris O. Chris O joins us from Durham. He's a key member of our sister club, Bull City Cycling. He like cyclocross, singlespeed mountain biking, and hoppy beverages. He fits right in. Welcome Chris. We are now international. That gives us three Chris's. But no Jonnys or Daves so far? That's different.

Update - 9:33 am: We have our first Dave. El Presidente has submitted a team. That brings us to 13. Still no Jonnys though. I think Red River Racing could step up as well. It would be nice to surpass 20 teams. Giddy-up, boys and girls.

Update - 9:56 am: RRR steps up. KK has submitted a team. You guys sure like alliteration, don't you? In any case, that is 14. Who's next? How about someone from the Training Co-op?

Update - 10:41 am: Cousin Adam is next. We have 15. Keep them coming.

Update - 11:32 am: Andy and Darryl are in. That brings us to 17. And still no Jonnys!

Update - 1:54 pm: You can exhale now. We finally have a Jonny! G has submitted a team, with some strategic help from little E. Right on. But there are still more Chris's than Jonnys and Daves combined. Jonny M? Jonny B? Are you out there? Maybe Jonny N or Johnny S would like to give it a go. And then there's the Daves. There may be lots of them, but for some reason they tend to shun FGBC cycling pools. Dave L participated for a while, but then he declared it immoderate. Or maybe he fell in love. I can't remember. Coach Dave? Too busy riding on his trainer with one leg, I guess. Unger? There's more to life than your eight hockey pools. Juan Eppstein? We know you're a Dave at heart. Is that why you shun us? Why do you hate us, Daves? Where have we wronged you? How about a few women? E has finally broken the gender barrier. She's a tough little tiger, but probably shouldn't be expected to shoulder that burden all by herself.

Update - 3:32 pm: Naomi is in. Little E is no longer all alone. And Jonny M answers the call for Team Jonny. They're still withour their captain though. Meanwhile, the Dave's are still thumbing their noses at us. We have reached 20 teams. I don't suppose we could make it to 30. Everyone call two friends.

Update - 7:17 pm: We've received a team from Mike G. That's three from RRR. Nicely done, boys. That gives us a total of 21 teams, which equals our total in the 2009 FGBC CX Pool. Speaking of which, where is Gary? We want to see if you can do it again.

Update - 9:09 pm: The teams are still trickling in. Donna and Rachel are the latest to wade into the 2009 FGBC Spring Classics Pool. There's still about 3 hours left to go. If you're reading this, you obviously don't have anything better to do on a Friday night. Get your team in before you're stuck watching from the sidelines with a bunch of drunk Belgian dudes.