Thursday Anticipation: Special Friday Edition

Sometimes we like to observe Thursday on Friday. That makes Saturday Friday. And by the time the whole thing gets sorted out, we get a long weekend out of the deal. I could use a long weekend right now.

1) There is racing on tap. The sweetest jersey in the world will be there. As for how many, that is not clear.


For the roadies, there is also an ITT in BHP.


2) Mother's Day is for stage racing.



3) Dallas's favourite race starts in one week. Which means vicarious racing is about to return. Look for more information on the 2010 FGBC Giro d'Italia Pool, coming soon.

4) But most importantly, the Spring Ride is only 4 weeks away. The Weasel is preparing for his annual expression of camaradarie with the FGBC. Bill, Paul, KK, and I checked out the accommodations on Wednesday. It is going to be awesome.

Bruxelles Photos

Courtesy of the Cricket.

TNR Report

A ride in search of a destination. We never really found one. We tried the Susan Auch speedskating oval. And the skatepark just behind it. We even tried the dump. But none of them seemed to suit the mood. So the Secretary led us back to the klubhaus for an early start to the confabulatory portion of the evening. If there was a highlight to the ride, it was the discovery that the pole on the much ballyhooed Omand's Creek bridge has been removed. While a little underwhelming for the $1 million dollar active transportation makeover we have been hearing so much about, it is still a significant improvement.

This made the president happy.



Speaking of the president, he demonstrated a rather unusual way of shouldering the bike during the cross lab portion of the ride.


Those who know him know that the president does not always do things the way everyone else does. But somehow he seems to make it work.

The Secretary, however, was not impressed.



We were welcomed to the klubhaus by a very sweet shirt. This led to all kinds of Lebowski-esque banter. Until she admitted she hadn't seen the entire movie.



When we finally got to the long anticipated topic of The Challenge, KK and the Impaler revealed that some RRR members (the ones who never actually ride with us) did not like our ideas for a new and improved version. Wierd. Even wierder, however, they noted that this discussion took place through a series of behind the scenes emails. The FGBC prefers to conduct its business out in the open. We have nothing to hide. That is part of what makes us exactly what we are. We eventually came to realize that what these guys like most about the classic Challenge formula is that it gives them an opportunity to make fun of us behind our backs. That is cool. Making fun of people is, well, fun. But we will continue to make fun of them via the more publicly accessible vehicle of this here website.

Whether we have actually decided to revisit the original version of the FGBC - RRR FGD Challenge remains somewhat unclear. The option of replacing it with a season long discussion about what The Challenge should look like remains on the table.

The tunes were dialed in.

Meanwhile, over at Team CMU

Coming soon: A History of Cycling at CMU. In a series of 140 character episodes (twittersodes?). Not necessarily in chronological order.

It is a rich and varied history. You might even find yourself included in one fashion or another. So if you're still looking for a reason to sign up for that Twitter account: twitter.com/teamcmu

TNR

Maybe we should ride some bike.

And maybe we should get the details of The Challenge sorted out. Then again, maybe we should just forget about it.

My place at 9:30 pm.

Vicarious Liege

It was a good day to be named Alexander, or at least some Slavic or Spanish variation. They made it a clean sweep of the podium yesterday in Liege. In the vicarious version, however, it was a good day to be named Cousin Adam. He concluded the 2010 FGBC Spring Classics Pool by winning his fourth consecutive race. Not only that, he moved up two spots to finish on the final podium. That was impressive. Too bad he had to launch that vicious attack from so far back. He was the only one able to tame the Fraggle over the last three races. And too bad for Jonny B. He dropped down into the 5th place spot previously occupied by Adam after having been in second for the last five races. Prince Dan moved up to second overall, thanks to a strong third place showing. And the Fraggle finished second once again to retain her commanding lead.

Full results and final overall standings here.

So that's it. We are done until the beginning of May when the 2010 FGBC Giro d'Italia commences. Stay tuned for more details.

Now it's definitely a Classic

I think an event needs to happen at least twice before it becomes a tradition, but if there was any doubt that yesterday's gravel road race deserved to be called a "Classic", they can now be laid to rest. Not only was it a challenging (even grueling) race, but the location and the community put it over the top, in my opinion. A post race meal in the community hall, Belgian folk dancers (KK has video), and the blessing of the parish priest (no injuries, as far as I know) all contributed to making the opening race of the season a tough act to follow, and a memorable event.

As for the race itself: As you turn off highway 2 at Holland, you're immediately struck by - of course - all the hills, which came to define the race. Predictions that this would be a war of attrition were borne out, as most riders crossed the line one at a time after being strung out over the course by the hills and the gravel. My version of the Cat 4 event went like this: For the first half of Lap 1, Johnny G, KK and I had managed to stay near the front with a few other riders. Then the big hills came. Then my front tire went flat. Then everybody passed me, while I changed tubes and futzed around with my mini-pump. But in truth, I didn't mind the rest. By the time I got back on the bike, I had recovered enough to push on, and crept up the field a bit to finish 7th. There were a few other flats as well - Olli and Steve both flatted in the Cat 3 event, and there were probably more. For me, it was just like Menno Cross last year - a flat at a critical point in the race totally changes everything, and yet I'm having so much fun that it doesn't matter. Post-race good times only improved the mood.

The real story was Johnny, or rather The Johnnys. S took the citizen race by storm, and brought home a jar of gravel for his efforts. And it turns out G is the FGBC's in-house climber. He goes uphill like a goat. With the hills of Bruxelles behind him, he'll make short work of those little "Rockies" in July.

The Cricket also deserves mention for driving 4 hours to lend support, moral and otherwise. He remains on the injured list for now. He should also have a bunch of pictures to post, no?
Lastly, a big thanks to the organizers and volunteers, especially Hal and Ian for putting on an awesome and unique event and setting a new standard in road racing!

Podiums are so not our style

Not that we don't want them to be. It just doesn't work out that way very often. And we are fine with that. Which is why Jonny G's result yesterday in Bruxelles seems perfect. Cousin Adam, VP Road, was there too. Maybe a report?

Liege Live

The last race of the 2010 FGBC Spring Classics Pool.

93 km to go. Video here.

Two Things

1) Sign up for a Twitter account, if you haven't already. Facebook is so 2007.

2) Follow Team CMU as we try and figure out just what sort of mess we've gotten ourselves into with this whole Vancouver to Winnipeg bike race thing.

The Cricket has promised to light it up. He's been working on polishing and sharpening up his one liners while waiting for his knee to feel better.

Thursday Anticipation

1) Something about a race or something. Anyone going?



2) 24


First recon ride goes down next Wednesday. Stay tuned for more details.

3) Rookies


Many have made it to one Spring Ride. Fewer have shown up for more than one. Even fewer have been to all seven so far. And some have tried to be there only to have fate intervene and screw everything up.

Vicarious Fleche Wallone

Cousin Adam strikes again. This time on the strength of Gilbert, De Waele, and the winner, Cadel Evans, who demonstrated that the curse of the rainbow jersey isn't a given. 645 points and a third consecutive victory for the VP Road. And he moves all the way up to 5th place. Not bad. The Fraggle is showing no signs of letting up her torrid pace. She finished second again, with 550 points. Her overall lead is now almost 1500 points. But she's still behind the pace that Mike set last yet. After Fleche Wallone, he had 7070 points. The Fraggle has 6175 points after the same number of races this year. At this time last year, King Andy and Rachel had 6410 and 6535 points respectively. Not to take anything away from the Fraggle, but its not so much that she is doing something special as the rest of us suck. If this were last year, Jonny B would be sitting in 12th. As it is, he's clinging to the second podium step. Wierd. Prince Dan finished third on the day, with 325 points. He remains in third overall, just 110 points back of Jonny B, who will need Andy Schleck to deliver if he wants to hold onto his second place.

That finish is probably worth watching. Another nice thing about Evans' victory is that it saved us from having to see another one of Contador's pistol waving victory salutes. He's pretty good at going up hills. But he needs to find a wider range of celebratory gestures. Either that or stop winning so much.



Full results and standings here.

The season wraps up on Sunday with the final monument of the season, Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Big numbers at stake once again. The overall title may be all sewn up. But there could still be a significant shakeup to the standings.

TNR Report

The cobbles season over in Belgium is done. It was awesome and we miss it. So we hit the cobbles at the Forks for a little race of our own. It was quite a bit shorter than the usual Belgian fare. About 255 kms shorter, to be exact. But there were still casualties. There were broken bikes (the poosher) and torn flesh (Josh). There were also a few vehicular near misses and navigational flaws. This was no doubt due to the fact that the organizers of this race neglected to publish their "race bible" sufficiently far enough in advance.

The Assassin won, slaying JP in a hard fought sprint up the parking garage. Good times.

I think the results looked something like this:

The Assassin
JP
Chris
KK
Thomas
Jonny G
Josh
Graham
Mark

There were plenty of DNFs. Too many to count.





At the post-race head count, it became evident that we were missing Big Luke. This took some time to sort out. But eventually we tracked him down. He was on his way to Burger King to pick up his post-race meal.

With everyone accounted for, it was off to the klubhaus for the highly anticipated Challenge related shenanigans. But they did not materialize because the President failed to show up. That is lame. Very lame. But we will try again. Probably as early as next week. By then, we will have plenty of results to work with. In addition to Rated RRR, the 2010 FGBC Spring Classics Pool will be done by then. And some will have raced in Bruxelles. This will no doubt give those charged with the task of team selection something to think about. In retrospect, this is working out nicely.

Fleche Wallone Live

60 kms to go. Video here.

TNR

The ride will be sweet. It always is. Except maybe when you break your leg. Or fall on your bum. But the post-ride gathering will be even sweeter. There will be drama. Lots of it. And maybe some awkward tension too. It all has to do with The Challenge. To miss it would be really dumb. Possibly even dumber than the sweetest jersey in the world is sweet.

9:30 pm at my place.

Just a Little Wimp

That's what the Fraggle yelled out at Jonny B when she roared by him on the Cauberg yesterday. As it turns out, the poor guy didn't stand a chance. His man for the Ardennes classics, Andy Schleck, did not deliver, finishing back in 18th place. Neither did the Fraggle's for that matter. Evans only finished 13th. But with Gilbert and Gasparotto teaming up to bookend the podium on either side of our man Ryder, she took home a truckload of points and pushed her lead back up over 1000 points with only two more races to go.

But Jonny's a solid guy. He will bounce back. Just like the Fraggle's friend Wembly. Most importantly, he is comfortable with losing. That's why it was a no-brainer to welcome him into the FGBC fold for the 2010 campaign. We are counting on him to temper the Fraggle's ferocious appetite for kicking ass.

The Fraggle may have cemented her victory in the 2010 FGBC Spring Classics Pool. But she didn't actually win the race yesterday. That honor would fall to Cousin Adam. With 810 points, he claimed his second consecutive victory, beating the Fraggle by almost 100 points. Too bad he got off to such a mediocre start. After Paris-Roubaix, he was in 21st. Now, in 11th place, he's knocking on the door of the VIP lounge where the top 10 gather to sip Leffes, tell battle stories, and compare their cobble-inflicted contusions. Matt finished third on the day. He had 650 points. Brad and Olli laid the day's goose eggs.

In addition to the Fraggle solidifying her lead over Jonny B, the overall race also saw Pete get turfed from the top three. He dropped down to 5th place. Prince Dan now sits in third overall. And Matt is just 100 points back of him.

Full results and standings here.

We're back at it on Wednesday with Fleche Walonne.

AGR Live

The volcano seems to have prevented a few from getting to the startline (Valverde, Sanchez, Wiggins), but most of the climby guys are there. They just hit the Cauberg for the second time. The next time it becomess the finish line. Live coverage is on. Lots of options here.

Also make sure to check out the very sweet race website.

Sweetness

Not us:



Him:

Saturday Morning

We will ride. Out west on road and gravel. The Impaler's efforts last weekend are deserving of a sequel. We will explore some possibilities. This has the added bonus of allowing us to downplay any impression that there is "training" going on in the FGBC, which would only serve to further alienate the Secretary.

Meet at my place, 8am.

Gravel

Lots of talk about riding bikes on gravel these days. Here is the official song and video:



That looks like it would make for a nice race course.

Remember this? Good times.

Thursday Anticipation

1) Het grote Ras (The Big Race)


From the promoters:

The first bike race of 2010 is coming up on April 25th. This year’s season opener, organized by the Olympia Cycling Club, will be something special. Hosted by the Belgian-Manitoban community of Bruxelles (about 90 minutes southwest of Winnipeg), the course comprised of some of the most scenic (and most hilly) roads in Manitoba.

Styled like the “spring classics” that take place in Flanders at this time year and involve steep hills and rough cobbled roads, Manitoba’s own Belgian Classic will substitute gravel for the cobbles and includes sections of the Trans-Canada Trail. A winding lap of about 30 km will challenge riders with over 1,000 feet of climbing over nearly a dozen short, steep hills. Nobody will leave unchallenged.

The event is classed as a Manitoba Cup race and we’re expecting all the top riders from around the province to compete for series points. Elite riders will complete 3 laps, with novices and intermediates doing 1 or 2. A participation-oriented tour, led by experienced cyclists, is also taking place the same day for riders who want to try out the course at a more leisurely pace.

The Manitoba Belgian community and the town of Bruxelles are both involved in the event. A short awards banquet in the community hall following the race will include a performance by Winnipeg’s Belgian Folk Dancers. Locally-prepared Belgian beer stew and other treats will await hungry riders and spectators. Tours of historic St. Gerard’s church and cemetery will be available throughout the afternoon, and a large playground is nearby.

More event details, including course maps, can be found at www.olympiacyclingclub.ca.

We’re looking for riders, spectators, and a few more volunteers. If you have questions or would like to help, contact Hal Loewen at hal_loewen@shaw.ca.

AND: A few people have asked about equipment. For the race categories, you are required to use a road (or cyclocross) bike. The roads are in excellent condition, so regular road tires (700x23) should suffice (a group ride last weekend that included about 7 people on 23mm tires did not result in any flats). That said, 25-28mm tires would probably be more comfortable and would be less prone to pinch flats. There will be a separate “open” category race (1 lap) for anyone wanting to race on a mountain bike. Oh, and… glasses and gloves are recommended to protect against the odd little stone that gets kicked up.

2) After that mouthful, this one is self-explanatory:

TNR Report

Another solid turnout. And another sweet ride. We will easily surpass 4 G at this pace, and maybe even get close to 4.5.

We were graced by the presence of another long lost friend.

The shift change has finally paid some dividends.

The Secretary led us on the first cross lab of the season.

The pace was high by Tuesday Night standards. But we received a bit of a reprieve by way of a visit to the skate park behind Varsity View arena. It was all smiles until some smart ass was the victim of a poorly executed wheelie. From there, it was a leg burner to the end of the Hart Trail and back to the klubhaus, punctuated only by a visit to the golden arches for energy products.

Good times at the klubhaus, as usual, even though a bunch of young punks stole our table. The highlight of the night was witnessed only by the Secretary, as he watched Brad the Impaler mess with his wheel for 30 minutes before realizing he could simply hitch a ride back to NK in the President's van.

Tunes? A bit of a diversion. It was mostly 90s: Pearl Jam, STP, Nirvana and, from the new century, FGBC favourite, The Hold Steady.

Vicarious BP

Cousin Adam, the FGBC's VP Road, has won himself a road race, albeit a vicarious one. He placed four riders in the top 30 today, including Gilbert and Freire in the top 10. When all the beans were counted, the number on the ledger underneath Adam's name was 455. Not bad for a race in which many of the big players were absent. Bill and Prince Dan tied for second place. They had 325 points apiece. Goose eggs were laid by Brad, Chris D, Dallas, Hal, Jonny G, Mike, Miriam, and Tom K.

No change to the overall podium. But the Fraggle has extended her lead by 100 points on account of Gilbert getting the better of Freire.

Full results and standings here.

Only three more races to go before the FGBC Spring Classics Pool closes for the season. We have now reached the point where the climbers come out and strut their stuff. The Amstel Gold Race goes down on Sunday. Fleche Wallone follows on Wednesday. And we wrap things up with the final monument of the spring season, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the following Sunday.

De Brabantse Pijl Live

Fabian is not there. So someone else might actually win a race. Freire once won it three times in a row. But not in the past two editions. He's had a good classics campaign so far. Jonny B has Freire. The Fraggle does not look to have too many riders racing counters with Gilbert, who is looking for his first win of the spring. Hopefully the race will get a little tighter heading into Ardennes week. Live video options here.

TNR

My place at 9:30 pm.

Rated RRR Report

In case it isn't already clear, let it be stated for the record Brad the Impaler is awesome. That was a super sweet day. Well-conceived course, and also well-marked. And the post-race dogs and bonfire put it over the top. Way over. Good times.

Warm-up stretching

The President's bike was in its usual state of disrepair. But we got it going.

The Impaler got the mood just right with a pre-race anecdote about Marian theology.

I'm not sure how many took to the start. Maybe 14 or so. But it didn't take long until some early flats reduced that number to 8. And 8 quickly became 6 when Juan Eppstein and John Paul couldn't hold the wind-assisted pace.

It wouldn't be a classic without a few church ride-bys.

Just when we realized that the KK was the lone RRR rider surrounded by a swarm of darkness, he launched an attack. It happened to coincide with the course's one small hill, which was actually more like a false flat. Cousin Adam managed to keep pace, but KK was the first to reach the top of the 50 ft peak, picking up some coveted King of the False Flats points. There was a bit of panic behind as the Cricket and I tried to scramble back. We made it, eventually. As did Jonny G. But Big Luke was gone. KK continued to pull for a while, which was fine by us. When he swung off, Cousin Adam hit the gas hard. All of us were caught off-gaurd, though some more than others. The FGBC managed to hang on. But KK got caught in an ill-timed moment of inattentiveness. Just like that, he was gone. Which allowed the rest of us magically to find some additional energy. The pace was kept high thanks to a very amateurish effort at forming a pace line. But it worked. When we turned back into the wind on Hwy 44, it was game over for the RRR classics stud.

The four of us stayed together until the final kilometres with Cousin Adam serving capably as navigator. This was good for the rest of us, as we would surely have ended up lost. With 2 km to go, Adam took off again. I managed to hang on, but the Cricket and Jonny G did not. From there it was more alley cat than road race. A close call at an intersection on Raleigh almost allowed the Cricket back. But the driver of the blue minivan waved us through, even though he had no stop sign. And then Adam was the casualty of an unfortunate turn of events at a congested four-way stop. He tried hard to make it back, but came up just short. The Cricket and Jonny G were third and fourth. And KK rolled in about 5 minutes later. Impressive. I think we were the only ones to complete the entire course. But a number of others rode most of it, succumbing either to flat tires or navigational errors. It is not clear what Vic and Penner succumbed to. But they nevertheless put in a solid effort.

Special recognition is due to John Paul, who was under-geared at 34x16 and perhaps over-tired with his big fat 29er setup. But he hung in there until the heat got turned up in a bid to prevent Juan Eppstein from hitching back up.

Special thanks are also due to Mike and Lorne. They showed up on course in a red minivan a couple of times handing out cokes and ringing cowbells. Nice.

Among other things, the conversation around the bonfire spent some time trying to sort out the rules for the 2010 FGBC - RRR FGD Challenge. It would not be accurate to say we are there yet, but perhaps a little closer. It will be awesome. Especially the simultaneous FGBC/RRR vs Everyone Else Challenge.

Vicarious Hell

I need to find a new boyfriend. Being in love with Fabian is just a little too trendy right now. It's not that I love him any less. I just don't like sharing. Applications will be accepted until the day before the Amstel Gold race.

On the vicarious racing front, Dallas picked up his second win of the season. His was the only team to reach four digits, finishing with 1070 points on the day. He'd fallen back a bit after a strong start to the season. But he's back in podium contention now, sitting just 75 points back of 3rd place. Jonny B continued his impressive run by finishing second with a 960 point day. Tom K rounded out the podium. He finished with 845 points. At the other end of the results sheet, five goose eggs were laid. Chris O, Ian, Paddy, Vic, and Adam all failed to score a single point. Mike and Larry weren't much better. They had 10 and 20 points, respectively.

In the overall race, the top three spots remain unchanged. But the gaps have gotten considerably smaller. The Fraggle had another mediocre day. And this time it actually made a difference in the standings. Jonny B has pulled to within 375 points of the overall lead. This is shaping up nicely for the last week and a half. It may very well come down to the choice of Ardennes me. The Fraggle's fortunes rest on the fragile shoulders of Cadel Evans, while Jonny B elected to go with last year's top points guy in the Ardennes races, King Andy Schleck. Pete remains in third place, 440 points back of Jonny B. Dallas is lurking though. And behind him, Tom, Charlene, Prince Dan, Jonny G, Matt, Hal, and Charlie are all sitting within striking distance of the podium as well.

Full results and standings here.

P-R Live

About 100 kms to go. Arenberg is coming up. Plenty of live streaming options here.

60 km of this?

Yikes. Add another 200 km for good measure and it all adds up to one big day in the saddle. My boyfriend is going to try to pull off the rare Flanders-Roubaix double. Check back tomorrow for live video links.

These guys are in way over their heads

More here. Including additional photos of KK's bike which, for one who claims he'd never don the sweetest jersey in the world, looks surprisingly FGBC-ish. Much more FGBC than the bikes of the FGBC. Which actually makes it not very FGBC-ish at all.

The Friendliest Jersey in the World

It may not be Wolseley yet, but running into cyclists that you know is becoming a daily occurrence in the northeast part of town too.
When Steve and I ride home from work together, we'll usually take the bike trail between Raleigh and Gateway. Yesterday, after starting off from a light, we noticed that a couple riders had jumped onto our wheels. This won't last long, I thought. We started pushing a pretty good pace, but the shadow beside me wasn't going anywhere, even though Steve can pull pretty fast. After pacelining through a couple street-crossings like this, we finally had to stop at a light. That's when the Poosher tapped me on the shoulder. No wonder we couldn't drop these guys! He and his friend were riding their 29ers out to BHP for the evening.
Then today we were hailed by a fellow on a pretty red Peugeot who turned out to be John Paul! He'd of course noticed the fine colours of the FGBC and marked us as comrades. He joined us for the rest of the ride home, and we heard all about how little riding the Secretary has been doing lately (tsk tsk). Also, it sounds like he's in for Sunday's race, which is awesome.
Maybe it's the nice weather, or maybe the north isn't the cycling backwater of the city anymore, but if you're wearing black, you're in good company these days.

Thursday Anticipation

1) Battle Royale


It is just around the corner. There will no doubt be some rule tweaking yet. Tweaking the rules is part of the fun. For example, there was some talk at the klubhaus on Tuesday night that, in addition to the usual intramural hostilities, we should launch a campaign that would see the FGBC and RRR jointly take on everybody else. We will see. But the good news is that we will have a scoreboard soon.


2) Vicarious Cobbles

Sunday is going to be a very good day.

How about a preview? Mid-80's American style. Narrated by John Tesh. Yes, John Tesh. With a soundtrack reminiscent of American Flyers. And Uncle Phil looking all Kermit the Reporter.



Finish here.

And, for good measure, how about a pictorial aid?



3) Spring Ride

Only 50 more days until the most exciting pre-ride pit-stop of the season.

TNR Report

Good turnout. Maybe 14 or 15. Enough, at least, to fill up all the bike racks at the F&H. We got reacquainted with some who haven't shown up in a while. And met some brand new TNRers. The Secretary was there for his first post-Hummelt Hockey ride. And he brought the Puch out of winter storage.


Cousin Adam was on hand to show off his fancy new cx rig. And there were more Joshes than Jonnys. At least until we got to the klubhaus, where Jonny B was waiting inside and one Josh elected not to join us, thereby restoring the balance.

We set off for Fort Whyte. But we didn't get more than 500 metres before Cousin Thomas had a flat.


Good times on the gravel, even if it was dark. We are ready for Sunday.




Back at the klubhaus, there were many sub conversations. But the one that seemed to command everyone's attention was the story of the Cricket's encounter with Johnny Law while out for a ride last weekend. $110 for riding two abreast? It didn't sit right with our legal counsel either. He recommended that it be contested. Contestation. It's so trendy these days. But it seems to make sense in this case. Either way, these brushes with the law are becoming all too frequent. That is not good.

There were plenty of numbers thrown around last night. In addition to 110, I recall hearing the numbers 200, 105, 90, 72, and 2. The number 3 came up a few times as well. And there was also 4, as in the number of Pat Benatar songs worth listening to, at least according to the Impaler. And, as if that wasn't enough, 4 as in the number of kids Cousin Adam will soon have. Yikes. But the most significant number of the evening is the one that is recorded in The Book:


Tunes? On again. J. Geils, Allmans, Zeppelin and more.

Vicarious Scheldeprijs

The revolving door podium is back. Jonny G got lucky today. He picked up 400 points for his first win of the 2010 FGBC Spring Classics Pool. Vic was second, with 345 points. And Adam edged out Mike, Larry, and Matt to claim the final podium spot.

In the overall race, the Fraggle finally had a bad day. Only 65 points for her. But she managed to increase her overall lead anyway. That's beacuse Pete had an even worse day, finishing with only 25 points. He drops down to third overall. And Jonny B is back in second.

Too bad I somehow left Farrar off the original list of riders. By the time it was caught, it was too late. All you guys who are inclined to whine about how you would have picked him can do what the Bike Snob tells haters to do.

Full results and standings here.

Scheldeprijs

One for the sprinters. The race has begun. Live coverage begins shortly. Here.

TNR

Maybe the Secretary will actually show up with his bike this week.

My place at 9:30 pm.

In case you missed it . . .

Highlights from yesterday's thrilling race can be seen here.

Vicarious Ronde

We all know how much the Fraggle likes to win. She has tasted all kinds of success on the trails and the cx circuits over the past couple of years. And yet good results in the vicarious races have eluded her so far. But her cave is a happy one today. She won her second consecutive race and extended her overall lead to over 900 points. Her 1265 point performance did not quite match Jonny B's total in Milan - San Remo. But at the same time, it's more points than Ian and Vic have accrued in the eight races so far. The only other person to surpass the 1000 point plateau today was Prince Dan. And he just barely made it. 1005 points for Dan today. Jonah rounded out the podium. He had 990 points.

Aside from the Fraggle's big day, the overall race also saw Jonny B and Charlie get bumped from the podium. They were replaced by Pete and Dan. Pete slides into second place, 905 points behind the Fraggle. And Dan is only 40 points further back.

Full results and standings here.

RVV Live

My boyfriend and his buddy Tommeke have 17 seconds. That is awesome. Can they hold on? This should be good.



Under 60 km to go. They just climbed the Eichenberg. Still pretty much together. But for how much longer?

Live coverage options here.

RVV Eve

A few videos to get you in the mood. Check back tomorrow morning for live video options.

Thursday Anticipation

1) Classic?

You want classic? Brad the Impaler embodies classic. It is a rare thing. And not everyone can pull it off. Think of the Ray Bans. And wardrobe malfunctions. You can't imitate that stuff. To be classic in the Impaler's sense of the term is not to refer to oneself or one's races as classic. In other words, the Impaler is exactly what he is. Which is to say he's really an FGBCer at heart. That is why we will be there.



2) Bruxelles

The Olympia crew refers to its race as a "classic." I'm sure it will be awesome anyway. There are rumours of gravel roads with grades upwards of 18% leading up to small village churches. Sounds like the Kapelmuur.


3) If there is one person who might be able to give the Impaler a run for his money, it would be Aiden. We trust he will join us once again at the Spring Ride.



4) On the vicarious racing front, this is a big weekend. Quite possibly the biggest of the year. Except for maybe the weekend that follows. More on all that tomorrow.