Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Dept. of Urban Planning

Gianni, our man on the inside, sends along the following:
In case you hadn't heard, the City of Winnipeg is in the process of developing a Transportation Master Plan. You can find information presented at a recent Open House along with a link to a survey on the future of transportation in Winnipeg here.

If you want to go straight to the survey, go here.

The feedback received from the survey will help inform the plan, so it's definitely worth taking a few minutes to complete.

TNR


9:30 pm at my place.

Here is the plan: we will take one week off to recover from the recently completed cx season. Next week we will kick off the 2011 snow crits series. We will race every third Tuesday until the snow melts. This week, we'll scout for potential courses. We should probably reacquaint ourselves with the Junkshon too.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Bart Wellens is a Badass


As it turns out, nothing's broken. This is good news not only for Wellens, but also for his helmet sponsor, Lazer, which was quick to take credit for his good fortune. He has to wear braces on his neck and wrist for a couple weeks. But as Tatyana Storm says, de cross gaat door. He'll be racing again on Sunday at the next round of the World Cup in Igorre, Spain.

CX Pool Weekend Roundup

A very busy weekend on the vicarious racing front. The World Cup series returned, with the sand dunes at Koksijde, Belgium. And then it was up north to Geiten in Holland for the 5th round of the Superprestige series. In the US, the NACT series wrapped up in Sterling, MA. And there was also a three race weekend in Iowa City called Jinglecross. Most of the men, it seems, headed to Iowa City. Jeremy Powers and the women made their way to Sterling. With that kind of split, it only makes sense to include both sets of races. In total, that means we had eight races in three days. Good times.

Taking account of a few ties, we also had eight different winners: Chris, Josh, Rachel, Jay, Jonah, Jonny B, Charlene, and Ian.

In the overall race, Gary began the weekend by losing his lead. But by the end of the weekend, he'd taken it back. He's got a 50 point lead over me. And Jonah's moved up to third overall, pushing Olli from the podium. But only by 25 points.

Full results and overall standings here.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Belgian SuperX Report

We have said it before. Snow is good for Cross. It is one of our core convictions. We have not one, but two, race series designed around it. And a wool jersey too. We may get things wrong from time to time, at least in theory. But yesterday confirmed just how right we are about our belief in the awesomeness of racing bikes in the snow.

The J-Train does not yet share this conviction. In fact, one of the few things that was discernible through his sobs was a bleating lament about his hatred for the snow. We suggested to him a number of times that he might quit. But he is a stubborn little guy. It kind of reminds me of someone. Some day, he will cross paths with loathsome soul who will come up with a race designed to crack him. It will probably be called Wrath Cross. It won't work. The J-Train is no Juan Eppstein.




As for the rest of us, our collective mood was considerably more buoyant about the opportunity to race our bikes in the snow. Brilliant rays of darkness were sprinkled throughout the chaos that ensued on the traction deprived course. That was nice to see. It was especially gratifying to see the Hipster there with a new bike. He bought a license just so that he could take in the final race of the season. There were, however, some notable absences. The Fraggle was studying. Or so she said. The Secretary was likely out saving souls somewhere. And the President, who knows? He was probably playing with his new truck. Cousin Adam was no doubt up to his elbows in baby shit. Or legal documents. It's the same thing, really.

Thanks to former FGBCer Halberto and his new boyfriends for putting on another great show. Special thanks to Morgan for his dedication to the task of shoveling snow onto the course. It made for some good crashes. All of this confirms the wisdom of extending the cx season straight through the end of November. As far as cx conditions go, this is about as good as it gets. The format was interesting. The B racers and the always responsible Citizens were granted a head start, leaving the A field to huddle together like penguins trying to stay warm for what seemed an interminable length of time. Some of the B racers seemed less than thrilled as the Dark Lord and his minions roared by trying to find the front of the race. But it did give the whole thing a nice twist. We never did find the front. But the Cricket came close. Paul B won it. That guy is alright.

Our man with the camera, Dave Benson, was kind enough to share some photos of the dark side in action. See more here.









Gianni is not technically part of the dark side, even though he knows he should be. Nevertheless, he did serve up the photo of the day:

Friday, November 26, 2010

Best Crash Ever?

Probably not. But it's still pretty impressive, especially given its two-part character. There will no doubt be plenty of crashing tomorrow. Good times ahead.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thursday Anticipation

1) Math is hard. We all know that. Some of us know it better than others. But it can also be useful. Check this out: 182 x 2 = 364. And this: 364 < 365. Roughly translated, this means that we have just crossed the half-way point to the 2011 Spring Ride. Yeehaw! From here on out, the next Spring Ride is closer than the last one. That is worth celebrating. So if you happen to have a pint close by, be sure to raise it and make a little toast to this important milestone.

2) That is the good news. The bad news is that half a year is still a relatively long wait. To bide our time, we have racing on tap. And lots of it. Nordic Cross and the Snow Crits are coming. Maybe even some roller racing? But we still have one more race to go in a cx season that has been nothing short of jaw droppingly awesome. With all the snow that has fallen in the past 7 days, it is sure to make a strong case for race of the season in a season that is already full of races worthy of that designation. This time last week, the ground was still bare. Weird.

Do not miss Saturday. Unless you like to be filled with regret.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

TNR Report


We rode. And so to apply the formula from this week's poster, we can now happily infer that our legs are just a little bit more sexy. It's called modus ponens.

All the talk of sexiness led some to conjure up memories of the bike fairy. She has been good to us. We will continue to follow her lead. Others found their imaginations drawn more toward nude photos of Mario Cipollini. Sexiness is a multifaceted and richly textured thing.

We rode around in Assiniboine Park. The fence that has been sealing off the new duck pond and playground construction project was down, so we let ourselves in. Good times. A perfect venue for Nordic Cross, or perhaps one of our snow crits. The toboggan hill proved much safer to ride than the one in Central Park.




Back at the klubhaus, we thoroughly analyzed the potential of a range of new ideas and projects. All of them were enthusiastically endorsed. The horse barn race will happen. Probably some time in January. And Nordic Cross will begin sometime in early December. With Gluttons Cross, of course.

The Hipster showed off a very fancy camera. The Secretary and Tenacious V talked click tracks and music. Some 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge planning ensued. Needless to say, the Spring Ride received its fair share of attention. We did not take another vote on accomodations. But we did take some time, for the third week in a row, to ponder the awesomeness of the chip buffet. We will need to find a mountain bike for the Hipster. The relatively medium aesthetic quality of our blog was noted. And affirmed as something that should not be screwed around with. And the president dropped by to introduce us to his new truck.


A very good night on the tunes front: the Clash, Cheap Trick, Allmans, and more.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

TNR


9:30 pm at my place. We will work on our sexy legs.

At the klubhaus, there is much to discuss--this weekend's cx finale, Nordic Cross, the Impaler's horsebarn jamboree, and more.

Monday, November 22, 2010

CX Pool Weekend Roundup

There were two races this weekend. Both of them were in Belgium, where the torrential rains finally stopped. It didn't take long, apparently, for the mud to dry into a concrete-like surface. There was no running in ankle deep slop for half a lap this weekend. Instead they were flying around the course on Saturday in Hasselt, where Kevin Pauwels took the surprise win. And he almost did it again on Sunday in Gavere. But Nys managed to hold him off in the sprint to the line. Stybar hasn't won a race in a while now, and Albert still seems to be waiting for his form to show up.

In the CX Pool, Olli won in Hasselt. He finished ahead of Ryan and Tomek. I won in Gavere to maintain my recent pattern of winning every other race. Jonny G and Gary rounded out the podium. There was no change in the top three spots overall. But Gary's lead is down to just 65 points. Ryan has moved ahead of Jonah into fourth overall. Meanwhile, down at the bottom end of the standings, Ian and Hal continue their game of hot potato with the lanterne rouge. Ian took it over from Hal last weekend. But he managed to toss it back into Hal's hands this weekend.

Full results and overall standings here.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Someone remind me...

Why are handups not allowed in cross?

In related news, I almost won the Minnesota State Cyclocross Championship!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

My Boyfriend, He Can Cook

That is good to know. Help in the kitchen is always appreciated. I wonder if he would be open to catering the Spring Ride.

He shows up at about 8:00. Nicole, however, she could tone it down a bit.

glanz & gloria vom 18.11.2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

Bring It


Nordic Cross training has commenced. In case anyone is wondering, the Poosher confirmed that slicks are not a preferable tyre choice for these conditions.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Thursday Anticipation


Gluttony: check
Wrath: check
Sloth: check
Greed: pending
Lust: pending
Envy: pending
Pride: pending

With 10-15 cm of snow allegedly on the way later today, it is time to turn our attention to Nordic Cross. Last year we were accused of being in a gluttonous rut, at least as far as our off-the-grid racing efforts were concerned. It hit us hard, like a punch in the gut. But we like to think we are capable of handling criticism. So we decided to broaden it out by attempting to combine bike racing in the snow with the full range of seven deadly sins. But we didn't get so far. Two of our standard races were reinvented as Gluttons Cross and Sloth Cross. Brad the Impaler came up with a doozy of a race for Wrath Cross, as only Brad the Impaler could. But Greed, Lust, Envy, and Pride still have yet to be explored. We will attempt to complete that task this year. But Gluttony and Sloth will be back too. Because, I suppose, they go some way to accounting for us being exactly what we are. We will begin with our annual trip to the East India Company. And this year we won't wait until January to get it all started. Stay tuned.

But before we get there, we need to conclude the 2010 CXMB season. It feels like forever since we were racing provincials in short sleeves. But the grand finale is coming up next weekend. And it'll be a good one. If there's a grand old man of the local cx scene, I guess the Belgian Club race would be it. It goes back a long time. And it's always a classic. But this year, it sounds like the formula will be tweaked a little bit. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but there are rumours of an all new course floating around. We look forward to seeing what they come up with. Or perhaps it's all just part of a marketing ploy to return to the original course next year and have it seem better than ever. Mmmm, Coke.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

TNR Report


Big group. Especially on the RRR front. Ryan, Mike, and Larry were there to go along with the Impaler and his sidekick KK. Coach Unger was there too, for the first time in a while. That is more like it. We rode the trails to Fort Whyte. It was cold and windy but good times nonetheless.






As far as klubhaus activity is concerned, the most important thing to note is that we held a second vote on the matter of Spring Ride accomodations. It was not so close this time. 9-5 for the lodge, I believe it was. The chip buffet, however, was unanimously affirmed. So much so that Ryan and Larry went out and bought some so that we could treat ourselves to a little foretaste.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

TNR


Last one before the snow?

9:30 pm at my place.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Butter Belted Again

That's what happened to Jonny G at the GP de la Regione Wallone. KK beat him 240 - 205. Meanwhile, the Little Dicke needs a massage. His calves are tired from climbing up onto the podium all weekend. He reached the top step in the Jaarmarktcross and the two Colorado USGP races and second step in Hamme-Zogge. In doing so, he climbed up into second overall, where he now sits just 170 points behind Gary the CX Czar. Olli moves down to third and Jonah gets bumped from the podium.

Full results and standings here.

The real racing has been pretty sweet too. Nys has been kicking A in the mud. And Kabush won in Colorado.

Check out the last lap in Hamme-Zogge:

Friday, November 12, 2010

MennoCross 2010 remembered

If you have any Menno connections, please do not play this for your grandparents. The soundtrack will wreck them. It's killing me.

MennoCross 2010 from dnb on Vimeo.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Springstein Rundfahrt Report

A good day for a bike ride. Cold, wet, and snowing, with a strong headwind for the first half of the ride. Ironically, we did not actually make it to Springstein. The muddy conditions of the dirt road that was to take us from Springstein back north to the Headingly Grand Trunk Trail convinced us to bypass the town that lent the ride its name. We did, nevertheless, manage to say fart a lot during the 3 hours we spend riding around out in the country. Good times.

KK is awesome. That is a fact. His hot chocolate and waffles at the halfway point put it over the top.

The dogfest was good too. Especially when more of the FGBC showed up. The Fraggle brought platz.











Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Springstein Rundfahrt: Start List and Details

Confirmed so far:

The Impaler
The Cricket
The Dark Lord
G (sick)
Cousin Adam
Mike

Others are welcome. A response would be appreciated.

Meet at the Sanctuary of Darkness, aka the TNR HQ, aka my place. We will depart at high noon and conclude with a dogfest. I will supply dogs, buns, and fixin's. You bring the drinks and chips.

Questions? Drop a comment or send an email.

TNR Report

Shorts in November. We rode the southern part of the rapid transit corridor, from Jubilee to Osborne. From there we hit the trails on Churchill Drive. They were a bit soft and not so fender-friendly, as JP found out. But they were still fun to ride, as always. Good times.





We made some new friends. First these guys:



Later we ran into a bunch of rowdy firecracker tossing kids on bikes at the Omand's Creek train bridge. It was almost a bit intimidating. Until we realized they were accompanied by a not-so-intimidating chaperone in the person of Tim W and his rainbow coloured eyebrow. In the end, it was all very responsible. There is no need for parents to worry. The kids are alright.

The President was in attendance at the klubhaus for the first time in a long while, which meant the conversation took a decidedly serious tone. The Accomodations Director was there too. They came with a single agenda item, namely to settle the matter of Spring Ride accomodations. The question: lodge or camping? The conversation was a bit tepid, so a secret ballot vote was called. It was close. Too close for comfort: 6-5 in favour of the lodge. In characteristic FGBC fashion, it is not clear whether or not we reached a decision. Something will work out, and the Spring Ride will be as awesome as ever. We did agree, however, that movies would be banned from the Spring Ride. Those who need to watch movies to have a good time can do so at the annual Sloth Cross 24 Hour Race and Film Festival. Lisa seemed quite intrigued by this whole affair. She was pretty confident she could pick out who voted for the lodge and who preferred camping. She had a perfect record: wrong in every single case. Somehow we were comforted by the fact that she doesn't know us as well as she thinks she does.

Tunes? Different but good: The Clash, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, and more. No Steve Miller.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

TNR


9:30 pm at my place.

Monday, November 08, 2010

A little gravel never hurt no one

http://vimeo.com/11700688

Less than 200

As in days to go until the Spring Ride. Cast your gaze on the countdown to the right and let it rest there for a moment. Yes, it will be awesome. We're almost half way there. We will celebrate at the klubhaus tomorrow night.

Provincials Report

"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, well, he eats you." That's what the Stranger said about the Dude. And that pretty much sums up how it went for the Dark Lord yesterday. Last week I overindulged on some bear. Maybe even cleaned out the whole smorgasbord. It was good. I'd been revisiting the taste in burps all week. This week it was the bear's turn to eat. A couple of crashes and a flat tire on lap 3 made it clear he was hungry. Very hungry. That was not good news for the Dark Side.

I missed the second race. But I hear JP ate some bear. That's what the sweetest jersey in the world can do for you. Cousin Thomas was also decked out in darkness for the first time. Apparently it doesn't mix well with the ABES karma he's been flirting with since moving down south. We tried to warn him.

Who got medals?

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Springstein Rundfahrt: The Map


Also here. 80 km, almost all of it gravel.

Friday, November 05, 2010

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Thursday Anticipation

There are two noteworthy events on tap. One sanctioned, one not.


Can we surpass last year's medal haul? That is the goal. All FGBCers are expected to show up and take their best shot.

After Sunday, it will be almost three weeks until our next cx race. That means we have some time to kill. The killing will commence on Remembrance Day by ending the season just as Brad the Impaler kicked it off--with a gravel road race. It might also be appropriate to conclude the race with a dogfest. Juan Eppstein, proprietor of the Fall Dogfest, left us hanging this year. But we are big boys and girls. We can do it by ourselves.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

TNR Report

We have marked our territory. It is not a huge marker. But it will do. The klubhaus staff seemed appreciative of the gesture.



As for the ride, we revisited the scene of the Death Drive. It was not nearly as spooky as the last time we were there. We witnessed no grave-related shenanigans this time around. That is good, since some of us are still recovering our wits after the inaugural 2007 edition.

Jonny G and I tried out our new jackets. They can now be officially regarded as FGBC approved.



We rode a few bike lanes, some new and some old. They don't always make sense. But we appreciate the effort.

The Dark Lord, the Girl With the Wings

. . . and other photos by Stefan Isfeld





Tuesday, November 02, 2010

CX Pool Weekend Roundup

Four races, four different winners: Jonah, Olli, Josh, and Brad. In the overall race, Gary momentarily conceded his lead to Jonah. He took it back yesterday though. And now Olli's moved ahead of Jonah into second place. Those three are only separated by 115 points. It's shaping up to be an intense three-way race. At the other end of the standings, it looks like we have a duel between Ian and Hal. Ian had been holding onto the lanterne rouge for the better part of a month. But Halberto has it now.

Full results and standings here.

Those two races in Belgium were classics. Yesterday's Koppenbergcross was raced in conditions that made our race on Saturday look positively arid. Good to see Stybar actually has a weakness. Check out the video of the last lap:

TNR


9:30 pm at my place.