TNR Report

Last night was the fourth race in the nordic cross series. We kicked off the evening by meeting Lyle under the Maryland bridge, where he produced a pellet gun from his ski bag. The rules were simple - hit a paint can in one shot, get a 2-minute head start. In two shots - one minute. It turned out to be trickier than one might expect, and only Graham, Luke and Vic managed to hit the can.

After the shootout, everyone raced to four menno landmarks around the city, and ended up at Lyle's place where a bonfire, dogfest and wine awaited. Most people rolled in at the same time, but a few seemed to get lost on the way...

We had the good fortune of being joined by Colin and Tomek as well. It was Tomek's birthday, and he lit a birthday smoke much like mongo does in Blazing Saddles.

After warming up, the second half of the race started: a sprint to the club house with a concluding beer sprint, though we ensured there was no trickery involving unlocked bikes this time.

In the end, we averaged the finishing order from Lyle's place with the beer sprint results, added points bonuses for marksmanship, and Lyle applied a surprise penalty to those who left their lights on outside as a demonstration of bad form.

The final results were:

CommunionCat Results

Craig 25
Graham 22
Vic 20
JP 19
Chris 18
Luke 16
Jonny G 15
Brandon 14
Tom 13
Brad 12
Mark 11
Lyle 10
Colin 9
Tomek 8
Darryl 7


Overall Standings after 4 races

Chris 83
Mark 77
Jonny G 73
JP 68
Graham 61
Vic 52
Lyle 51
Craig 48
Darryl 48
Luke 46
KK 25
Andrea 18
Brad 17
Dave E 15
Brandon 14
Kelly 14
Tom 13
Daniel 12
Vanessa 11
Colin 9
Penner 8
Tomek 8
Bill 7

CommunionCat

We are happy to present the fourth installment of the FGBC nordic cross series; get ready for COMMUNIONCAT!

Today marks the 451st anniversary of Menno Simons' death. As there is a high number of mennos in our midst, it seems only fitting to pay tribute. And pay tribute we shall. You'd be correct to expect GUNS, maybe some BOOZE, and a few other special surprises that you'll just have to wait and see.

Meet at the usual place but at NINE - please note the early start! Also please bring a pen/pencil

CX Pool Roundup

Whoa! That was some show of force by Neils and his boyfriends. Marianne Vos was pretty impressive too.

In the 2011-12 FGBC CX Pool, the winning performance wasn't nearly as demonstrative. In part, because amazingly nobody in the pool picked Albert. Hal and Jay had to share the win. They had 1200 points apiece. King Andy was just 30 points back to finish third.

In the overall race, Andy has moved into second overall. He has 12,830 points and managed to take a sizable chunk out of Jonah's lead. But Jonah's lead was a very big one and he still has a 585 point cushion. Chris O is in third overall with 12,590 points. But I am just 10 points back. The makeup of the final podium is still wide open as we head into the final few weeks of racing. Andrea has reacquired the lanterne rouge.

Full results and overall standings here.

Best Day Ever?

Probably not. But it was still a very good one. So good, in fact, that we have no photos to substantiate such a claim. We were too busy having fun. And doing math. Fortunately, others are better at multi-tasking. The ABES have some photos. The Cycle Chick adds some narrative. And Tom K supplied a few moving pictures. That'll do until the Secretary finishes editing his latest work.

In case you weren't there: the coffee and company kicked ass in the morning. As did Neils Albert and the rest of the Belgians. And the Cricket kicked ass in the afternoon. As did Mike and Tomek, albeit in a different sort of way.

It all continues tomorrow night with the fourth round of the Nordic Cross series. Lyle and Mark think they've come up with something good. Stay tuned for more details.

Arrowhead goings on

So It looks as though some of our pals are well on the way, down at the Arrowhead 135.

Good luck fellers.

here's the link...http://www.arrowheadultra.com/index.php

World CX Championships at Parlour

This sunday our good friend Nils will play host to the FGBC by opening up his cafe, Parlour Coffee, for the second time outside normal hours. At 8am, the World Cyclocross Championships will be projected on a wall for our viewing pleasure. In addition to the finest espresso in town (FGBC tested and confirmed..), he is also going to pickup an order of pastries from Stella's Bakery on the way. Please invite your friends and help show our appreciation!


***Please note that as we will be using his Ethernet cable to run the video feed, debit/credit payment will NOT be an option - cash only!

Parlour Coffee - 468 Main St, next to the Woodbine Hotel.

Barn Cross Details

What is it? It is an indoor cyclocross race. But really, it's just another excuse to get together and have some fun.

When? This Sunday, Jan. 29, from 1pm to 5pm.

Where? Misty River Ranch, just outside the city on Hwy 59. For directions and a link to a map, look here.

How much does it cost? Cost is $10 to help cover the cost of the rental.

Why? Because it will be awesome.

Who? All are welcome. Feel free to invite others.

Other pertinent info: BYOB. Champions will be crowned. There will be hardware.

Any questions? Drop a comment below.

TNR Report

The River Trail is back! It was awesome.

TNR

According to the WFP, the river trail is set to open today. It's pretty clear what we need to do for the ride.

9:30 pm at my place. With a pit stop at the Junk-shon shortly thereafter.

Later on at the klubhaus, we have an indoor cyclocross race to plan. Bring your best ideas.

CX Pool Roundup

There were three races this weekend. The field was split between Zonnebeke, Belgium and Rucphen in the Netherlands on Saturday. But everybody came together for the last World Cup race of the season in Hoogerheide, where Stybar and Pauwels proved they are the power couple of the moment and Marianne Vos showed that nobody is even close to being able to compete with her. She has now won 15 consecutive races. Not bad.

Brad and Hal tied for the win in Zonnebeke. With 150 points each, they finished ahead of a group of six who tied for second. Terry narrowly beat out Andrea for the win in Rucphen. Ian grabbed the final podium spot in that one. In Hoogerheided, Jay had a pretty good day with 740 points and a big win. Hal was second again to squeeze his way into the top 10 overall. Too little, too late. Vic finished third and now looks to have an outside shot at grabbing a piece of the final podium.

The J-Train continues to lead the overall race. He has a 855 point cushion over me. But the next three spots are pretty close. Andy, Chris O and I are separated by less than 200 points. So the makeup of the final podium still looks to be pretty wide open. Chris O has his work cut out for him though. In addition to Wellens, he lost Sophie De Boer yesterday when she got tangled up in a nasty wreck with Caroline Mani.

The World Championships are up next Sunday! Remember, there are 500 points for the win in this one. If ever there was a race to show up at, this would be it. We will be gathering to watch it live with coffee and pastries at Parlour Coffee. The race starts at 8am Winnipeg time.

Full results and overall standings here.

Thursday Anticipation

We have some exciting news to pass on, boys and girls. The Good Times Syndicate otherwise known as the FGBC/RRR has once again teamed up to bring you a very special event:


Brad the Impaler has secured a venue. And we are busy working on the details for how the event will unfold. It will likely involve several shorter races in a heat format. More details will be rolled out in due course. In the meantime, how about a few videos?

The original inspiration came from the indoor cyclocross race held in Hasselt, Beligum. It looks a little something like this:




Our event--though it is a championship event--will be run on a slightly smaller scale. You can expect something a little more along these lines:




Attentive readers will no doubt be aware that Jan. 29 is also the same day a few other cyclocross champions will be crowned. The CX Worlds go down earlier in the day. The Hipster and I are working on a plan to secure an appropriate venue so that we can gather to watch that together. Stay tuned.

In other news, we have chosen the weekend for the annual winter 24 Hour Race and Film Festival. 24 Hours of Bill Murray will take place on March 3-4. It looks like the venue will shift back to the Secretary's place.

TNR Report

It was cold. But we rode. Straight to the klubhaus. We talked about some stuff. Listened to some tunes. Enjoyed some Darkness. Told some stories. Recited a few lines from the Big Lebowski. Made some big plans. Dreamed some big dreams. Talked some trash. Watched a little tennis. And hockey highlights. It was good.

TNR

Between the partying and the racing, it's been a while since we just rode our bikes. Let's get back on track tonight.

9:30 pm at my place.

CX Pool Roundup

There were two races this weekend. I took the win in Lebbeke with 235 points. Brad and Hal tied for second with 150 points apiece. On Sunday, at the world cup race in Lieven, Ian had 685 points to take the win. Radomir Simunik's surprising third-place finish helped Jonah continue his run of good form. He had 660 points to finish second. And Terry took the final podium spot with a 600 point day.

In the overall race, Jonah's lead is now up to almost 1000 points! I have moved into second place ahead of Chris O by 95 points. King Andy remains fourth, but seems to be drifting further and further away from the top three spots. He is now 270 points from the final podium spot. Matt continues to hold the lanterne rouge. But Andrea is still lurking close by.

Full results and overall standings here.

Otegem

In the US, the National Championships represent the conclusion of the cx season. In Europe, it's just another race in the middle of a busy season, albeit a pretty important one. While only a handful of US CXers travel to Europe to continue racing, everything continues as usual the other side of the pond. And they don't waste any time getting back to the regular grind either. A good chunk of the men took to the start line in Otegem on Monday, the day after they competed in their respective national championship races.

Kevin Pauwels got back on the winning track, after a streak of less than impressive races. That was good news for Jay, the only team in the 2012 FGBC CX Pool to have Pauwels on his team. Jay wins the vicarious version of the race in Otegem with 150 points. Miriam was second, with 125 points. And King Andy finished in third place. He had 90 points.

In the overall race, Jonah picked up 80 points to pad his lead over Chris O, who came up with a big fat goose egg. The J-Train now leads by 560 points over Chris. I remain in third place, 80 points behind Chris. King Andy is another 80 points behind me.

Full results and overall standings here.

Up next, we travel to Lieven, France for the 7th round of the world cup series on Sunday.

Gluttons Cross Report

I can't commit to any words that might describe this. But here are some photos.

Daniel overshot the 500 g minimum on his first plate. By almost 500 g.



The Impaler participated by phone this time around:



All of a sudden, things got rather quiet:



Signs of a cheater?


The BF was declared the winner. But some were concerned that he may have cheated. Jonny G, in particular, threatened to file a protest concerning a post-finish line bike lockup. Others raised questions about some unfinished business with the Darkness, pictured above. It is unlikely that any of this will go anywhere, however. That would require too much work. And that is not really what Nordic Cross is all about. So congratulations Lyle! We can't wait to see what you throw at us in the next race.

The mighty Juan Eppstein finished 7th! We have entered a new era.

Results:

Lyle 25
Mark 22
Chris 20
Jonny G 19
Andrea 18
Darryl 16
Dave E 15
Vic 14
Graham 13
Daniel 12
Vanessa 11
JP 10
Brad 9
Craig 8
Bill 7
Penner -3


Overall Standings after 3 races:

Mark 66
Chris 65
Jonny G 58
JP 49
Darryl 41
Lyle 41
Graham 39
Vic 32
Luke 30
KK 25
Craig 23
Andrea 18
Dave E 15
Kelly 14
Daniel 12
Vanessa 11
Brad 9
Penner 8
Bill 7

Gluttons Cross: The Rules

Less than 5 hours, boys and girls. No more snacks from here on out. Unless it's chips. Chips don't count.

8pm at the East India Company.

Some have asked about rules. Here they are. But that's not to say there won't be amendments and/or new rules created while we eat.

1) A plate is defined as 500 grams of consumable food. No, this does not include the plate. Bones, shells, or anything else not consumed must be weighed out before a plate is deemed official.

2) If your plate comes in under the minimum weight, a two samosa penalty will be applied. The samosas are small there. And you still have to go back and make sure your plate is over the minimum. If you go over 500 grams, it's your own damn problem. 1000 grams of food still only counts for one plate.

3) The first plate and the first pint of Darkness represent your entry into the race. You are not racing until the plate is finished and your glass is empty. Note that some alternatives to the Dark might be deemed acceptable. Little Scrapper, for instance. But not just anything. Best to ask before you order.

4) Every subsequent plate gives you a three minute credit at the start of the riding portion of the race. So, for example, eat 3 plates and you get to start riding 6 minutes before someone who only finishes one.

5) Each additional pint gives you a one minute credit at the start of the riding portion of the race.

6) The route will be the same as last year. It will include as much river trail as possible between the restaurant and the klubhaus. Hal and I rode it last night on the way back from the MCA meeting. The trails are in good condition, except for the presence of some very big cracks that could perhaps swallow up someone such as the Cricket. The route will not be marked and there will be no maps or cue sheets. We will try to explain it the best we can at the restaurant.

7) The finish line is represented by the bottom of the glass of the first pint of Darkness you consume at the klubhaus.

8) If you can't hold your food down, you are out of the race. If you hurl and fail to clean up after yourself, Brad the Impaler will punch you in the face. Puking at any point in the evening (yes, even after the finish-line pint) constitutes a disqualification.

9) Fat Bike penalties will be applied. How much? We don't know. But it will be more than the amount of time those silly things will save you during the ride over to the klubhaus.

Finally, in case you have managed successfully to block it from your memory, here is how things played out last year. It was easily the best edition ever.

For the record, the Nordic Cross standings after the first two races look like this:

Chris 45
Mark 44
Jonny G 39
JP 39
Luke 30
Graham 26
Darryl 25
KK 25
Vic 18
Lyle 16
Craig 15
Kelly 14
Penner 11

KFC, J-Pow and the J-Train

Those were your winners today at the US National Cyclocross Championships in Madison. Compton and Powers won their respective real races. Compton won for the eighth time while Powers picked up his first Stars and Stripes jersey with an impressive victory over Ryan Trebon. The wins by Compton and Powers helped Jonah reach the top step of the vicarious podium. To say that he won, however, is almost an understatement. He destroyed the field as if he were Sven Nys racing against the Cat 4s. Not only did he get 250 points each from Compton and Powers, Jonah swept the entire women's podium today. He has Antonneau and Duke on his team as well. And last but not least, he had Travis Livermon chip in 80 points courtesy of his 9th place showing in the men's race. Not a bad day at the office. It all added up to a 1005 point day for the young J-Train. Kim was a distant second. She had 710 points today, thanks to Compton, Powers, Page and Studley. And Ali rounded out the podium with 700 points.

Jonah's big day launched him from 4th place into a rather commanding race lead. This marks the first time someone whose name is not Andy or Chris has led the 2011-12 FGBC CX Pool. Jonah now leads Chris O by 480 points. I am in third place, another 160 points back of Chris. King Andy is still within striking distance of the podium. He is 90 points behind me.

It seems like a big lead. But with the World Championships coming up and 500 points up for grabs for both the men and women in that race, there is still opportunity for some large point swings. There are a couple more World Cups left as well. It doesn't help Chris O's chances that Bart Wellens very nearly died this weekend with an infection that seems to have gone after his heart. Thankfully, it sounds like he'll be okay. But the likelihood of him racing his bike again this season appears to be rather slim.

Full results and overall standings here.

Gluttons Cross

Nordic Cross resumes next Tuesday with the only race to appear in every edition of the series. Vic has reserved our usual spot at the East India Company for 8pm. The rules will be more or less the same as they were last year. But there will be a few small changes--lengthening the gap per plate by an additional minute and applying the fat tire penalty we adopted at the Nordic Cross planning meeting. And of course, we always reserve the right to make changes on the fly.

Who is bringing the scale?

DarkCross: The Movie

Kickoff Party Report

If 2012 is even half as good as the party that served to mark its official launch, it is going to be a very, very awesome year. Good job, boys and girls! That was fun. We should do it again in about a year.



Toward the end of the evening, the Hipster received an email from our man Lawrence with photos of the first new FGBC wool jerseys to roll off the production line. To call it super sweet would be far too modest.

A Very Special TNR

How special? So special that the usual Tuesday Night rules and regulations have been suspended. The President says we need to party more. So tonight we will party. We're calling it the FGBC/RRR 2012 Kickoff Party.


Good times guaranteed. See you tonight.

Typical Group Ride...

Imagine if they still made top tubes like this??

See you all at the kickoff tomorrow!!

CX Pool Roundup

Two races in Chicago and one in Belgium. Chris O won the two Chicago races and I won the GP Sven Nys.

Chris O continues to lead the overall race. But the next three spots got shuffled around once again. I've moved into second place, 165 points behind Chris. Andy has moved back into the top three. He's 65 points behind me, but just 10 ahead of Jonah.

At the other end of the standings, Andrea has passed the lanterne rouge back to Matt.

US Nationals is up next. That will count towards the CX Pool. But the European national championships will not.

Full results and overall standings here.

Finally, if you haven't already seen it, check out the latest video from the women's world cup series. In addition to the usual sweet footage of the racing, it features the coolest flyover I've ever seen--downhill structure built into the side of a ridge. Altona?

New Year's Eve CX Report

Well done, boys and girls. That was very, very awesome.

Some were faster than others. But in the end, we were all winners. Because we were racing cyclocross on New Year's Eve.

CX Pool Roundup

Three more days, three more cx races. How sweet is that?

Hal took the win at Azencross. Ryan won in Bredene. And Ian had the best showing today at the Fidea Classic in Leuven.

In the overall race, we have more changes at the top of the standings. Chris O continues to lead. But Jonah has moved back into second place. He sits just 30 points out of the top spot. I am in third place, 60 points behind Jonah. Andy has dropped down to fourth, but is still lurking close by. He is 25 points from the final podium spot. The top four teams are separated by just 115 points.

Also, for the first time since Nov. 11, we have some changes at the bottom end of the standings. Matt has had a lock on the lanterne rouge for almost two months. But Andrea wrested it from his grip today with a 25 point performance in Leuven. She is the only person other than Matt and Tomek to occupy last place.

Full results and overall standings here.

New Year's Eve CX

We will meet at 2pm and plan a course together. Race starts whenever we decide we're ready.

All are welcome. Spread the word.

TNR Report

There was a ride. I'm not sure where it went. But it was no doubt a good one.

At the klubhaus, we received a late X-mas gift in the form of a free round courtesy of the management. We elected to go even darker than the usual Darkness with some goodness courtesy of Mr. Arthur Guinness.

We sketched out plans for some new course features that will put DarkCross 2012 so far over the top it is unlikely we will ever get it back.

We also confirmed a few key details for the FGBC/RRR 2012 Kickoff Party that will take place next week. The most important detail is that it WILL happen, despite the fact that some important matters pertaining to the planning of this special event disappeared into the dark matter of the President's brain over the holidays and went unconfirmed. The Secretary kindly agreed to pick up the loose ends. Look for more details coming to your inbox very soon. Cousin Thomas asked for help in determining whom he should ask to be his date for the evening. We weren't much help.

But before we get around to celebrating the arrival of 2012, we still have to close out 2011 in proper style. We will do that with a cx race on New Years Eve. Probably some time in the early afternoon. Check back for more details.

We also returned to the Impaler's idea of HorseCross. We gave him the go-ahead to look for a venue.

And then Vic gave us a summary of the 9000 songs that are on his ipod. There is less opera than you might think.

The Dark was dialed in just right. So were the tunes. It was awesome.

TNR

Last one of the year.


I am out for the ride, but hope to show up at the klubhaus.

You can still meet at my place if you like. Or feel free to come up with something else.

Zolder

Jay wins it, thanks to Pauwels, Vos, and Steve Chainel. Dan and Andy rounded out the podium.

In the overall race, Andy has moved back into second place. He is just 20 points back of Chris O. Jonah sits in third, 115 points off the top spot. Looks like we have ourselves a race to the wire.

Full results and overall standings here.

Surhuitsterveen and Diegem

Good news, boys and girls. We have reached the part of the year where there are cyclocross races almost every day. How awesome is that?

There were two races this week--in Surhuitsterveen on Tuesday and Diegem on Friday. They will take a break over the weekend before the awesomeness starts up again on Boxing Day with the next round of the World Cup on the race car circuit in Zolder.

Ian took the win in Surhuitsterveen. He had 285 points with contributions from red hot Marianne Vos, Radomir Simunik, and Mariusz Gil. Terry was second with 240 points. And Jay had 220 points to finish third.

In Diegem, Terry was crowned king of the night. On the strength of another impressive win by Vos, along with contributions from Bart Aernouts, Steve Chainel, Simunik, and Nancy Bober, he managed to grab himself 365 points. Jay found himself on the podium for the second consecutive race, with 320 points. And Hal received an early birthday present in the form of the final spot on the podium. He had 275 points on the day. Swell guy that he is, Terry was kind enough to let Halberto spray the crowd with champagne.

In the overall race, we continue to see changes to the top of the standings. Chris O continues to lead, and even stretched the gap a little bit. Jonah has moved into second overall. He is 100 points behind Chris. King Andy has dropped to third place. He sits another 105 points back of the J-Train.

Full results and overall standings here.

DarkCross, Belgian Style

They call it Superprestige Cyclocross at Diegem. It starts at 12pm Winnipeg time, which is night time over in Belgium. Look for live streaming links here.

Station Wagon Barriers

. . . and van run-throughs!

Holy crap! Did somebody say DarkCross 2012?

TNR Report

KK's Kristmas Kermesse was more like an enduro alleycat. He sent us to six different holiday themed sites that took us to Lindenwoods, Charleswood, South Osborne, and downtown.



The order by which we visited the various sites was determined randomly. This ensured that we all traveled separate routes, which gave us plenty of opportunity to wonder whether we had actually be suckered into another installment of Wrath Cross. It also meant that some had longer routes to travel than others. It seems JP had the longest trip, clocking in at around 45 kms. Jonny spent the most time on the road, but mostly because he spent 10 minutes in the Exchange looking for Carlton St. before he remembered it is not there. Only Luke elected not to visit all the checkpoints. He picked up some pizza instead and hung out by KK's fire, enjoying Egg Nog and sambuca.



That was probably the smart thing to do. Then again, the rest of us got to ride around for two hours. That was pretty awesome.

The Hipster and I arrived at KK's place, the final checkpoint, at the same time. And JP showed up just as we left for the finish line at the klubhaus. He caught us, of course. So we sat down together and ordered three pints of Darkness, setting up a thrilling three-way sprint to the bottom of the glass. JP took it pretty easily. The Hipster was second and I limped home for third place. Jonny G came in about 10 minutes later.

The full results (including those who showed up but did not ride, just because we want to) are as follows.

JP
Mark
Chris
Jonny G
Luke
KK
Darryl
Kelly
Graham


After the first two races, the overall standings for the 2011-12 Nordic Cross Series look like this:

Chris 45
Mark 44
Jonny G 39
JP 39
Luke 30
Graham 26
Darryl 25
KK 25
Vic 18
Lyle 16
Craig 15
Kelly 14
Penner 11


There was not much time after the race for the usual confabulatory goodness. But we found a few things to talk about. And tried on our new caps.

Namur, Once More

Watch this video from the women's race at Namur on Sunday. Not only does it do a much better job of capturing the sweet conditions of the course, it also gives a better sense of what looks like a very awesome venue. And of course, it provides a nice window into a side of cx racing that receives all too little attention.




Also, the link to the last lap of the mens race has been fixed below. Thanks Graham. If you're too lazy to scroll down, you can also click right here.

TNR

Last one before Christmas. KK is planning something special for us, his contribution to the 2011-12 Nordic Cross season.

9:30 pm at my place--unless KK drops a comment with other plans.

CX Pool Weekend Roundup

Holy Crap! Was that awesome or what? Bart Wellens worked some voodoo magic to take out Nys's derailleur and grab a win for himself in Essen. And then, as if the Essen mud-fest wasn't already awesome enough, they kicked it up a notch at Namur on Sunday. If you missed the race, be sure to watch the last lap here.

In the CX Pool, Chris O took the win in Essen with 445 points courtesy of Wellens, Meeusen, Helen Wyman, and Sophie De Boer. Hal had 400 points for second place. And Andrea's 320 point day got her onto the final podium step.The J-Train took a big win in Namur. He had 520 points with contributions from Nys, Compton and her heir apparent, Katie Antonneau. Rachel had 475 points to finish second. And Laura was third, with 465 points.

For the second week in a row, we have a new leader atop the overall standings. Chris O now sits at the front of the race. He has 8760 points. That's a little more than double the amount of points Matt has, down at the other end of the overall standings. King Andy remains in second overall. He is just 45 points back of Chris. I am back in third place, another 130 points back of Andy. Jonah is nipping at my heals. He's just 20 points from the final podium spot. It's all very close. At least among the top four. Good times.

Full results and overall standings here.

Mud!

Looks like a classic in Essen. Niels Albert is back. Stybar is there too.

Live streaming options here.

What we need here is more music

Thursday Anticipation

Good news boys and girls. The President has something special planned for us. Think of it as the Dark Side's version of the holiday bonus. More information will show up in your inbox soon. But for now, make sure you are able to attend a very special event on Jan. 3 at 8pm. Attendance will be mandatory.

TNR Report

Whittier, it was the opposite of shittier. Nearly snow free singletrack in mid-December? Weird. But awesome nonetheless.





There were a few icy patches though. And one of them, combined with an errant tree sent the Impaler tumbling down the side of the high line trail and into the burrs.



The President was waiting for us at the klubhaus. Don't believe us? We have proof:



He was there, in part, because we had some big news to digest. But at this point the details must remain top-secret. Almost as secret as the story of the Darkness, which was quite finicky last night. The tunes? I don't recall a single one. That's how big the big news was. We were preoccupied. But not so preoccupied that we missed witnessing two separate incidents in which the Hipster was groped. That beard, it has special powers.

TNR

Tuesday? Again? Sheesh, when will it end? We may as well ride some bike.


Last week we went west in search of sweet singletrack. This week we will head east.

9:30 pm at my place.

This Race Kicked Ass

The Vlaamse Druivenveldrit, that is. Though you may know it by its other title, The Mother of All Cross Races. I prefer to think of it as TMOACR and consider it a distant, Flemish cousin to our very own MUCR.

In case you didn't catch it live on Sunday, you can watch the whole thing here, thanks to the crossjunkie:

CX Pool Roundup

Four races, four different winners:

Scheldecross - Vic
USGP #7 - Marcus
Vlaamse Druivenveldrit - Jonah & Vic
USGP #8 - Chris H

Thanks to Ryen Trebon's absence, the top of the leaderboard has a new look this morning. Full results and overall standings here.

Live Tweeting?

That sounds big. Almost as big as the Big Idea. The last time we found ourselves in live tweet territory, Jonny G, the Cricket, KK, Dr. John and I were chasing an ultra endurance cycling legend through the mountains and across the prairies. To be honest, we never figured out how live tweeting differed from the regular sort of tweeting. But it did help to make our effort sound newsworthy. Besides, the nomenclature came from a very big man--our resident media expert, ACE. He had already utilized his bigness to destroy a couch in the RV by that point, so we thought it best not to raise any questions about his choice of words.

Halberto, Gianni, and Co. think they have something big on their hands too. Maybe not Big Idea big. But big nonetheless. So big, in fact, that they are live tweeting their information meeting about it next Wednesday, December 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Olympia. Yes, you read that correctly. They are live tweeting a meeting.

The meeting is about an event they are calling Actif Epica. It sounds exotic. Or perhaps it's just that spelling is hard. Or maybe Epica is to Epic as Sweeterest is to Sweetest? In which case it will be not just epic, but very, very epic. It also sounds very, very cold. So cold that they are bringing in an expert in cold weather safety and survival to provide some tips about how to avoid winding up frozen in a ditch.

Sound like fun? Show up on Wednesday to find out more.

Thursday Anticipation

Some are anticipating Christmas. And some among those are anticipating not-so-good times shopping for gifts. But that kind of anxious anticipation is unwarranted. Because the Dark Side is on your side. The sweetest gift in the world is still available: a pair of FGBC wool socks. They are $10 a pair. Let us know how many you want.

Merry CX-mas boys and girls.

TNR Report

There were no interventions. We opted instead for a ride in the Ass. Forest.




It was awesome. Very awesome.

At the klubhaus, we chatted some with Red, the bearded one. There was talk of flyovers. And the BF told us a story about how he was nearly beaten up over the weekend.

The tunes sucked.

TNR

9:30 pm at my place. Hopefully the wind will have died down by then.

CX Pool Roundup

There were four races this weekend. Two in Warwick, RI. A World Cup in Spain, but only for the men. The women raced in Frankfurt instead. There were also two races in LA, but they didn't meet the criteria for inclusion in the pool.

Winners were as follows:

Warwick #1 - Chris H
CDM: Igorre - Jonah
Frankfurt - Rachel
Warwick #2 - Chris H

Andy continues to lead the overall race. But he is racing without Trebon and his lead is shrinking. It is down to 245 points now. Can anyone take advantage? Tune in next week to find out.

Full results and overall standings here.

The Honorary Captain's New Lid

. . . is looking super sweet.


More here.

Caffeine Cross Report

It is now two days later and I'm just starting to feel sleepy. Just kidding. I slept like a baby. Unlike some others, apparently. Sorry Mark. You obviously need to add more caffeine to your daily routine.

The race started with a mandatory but randomly chosen scattering, just to make sure everyone split up. JP and the Hipster were the first to arrive back at the klubhuas. And they finished their first pint at the same time too. This meant they had they both had the maximum number of entries in the random draw that was to determine the overall winner. From this we learned that Lady Luck was not smiling on JP that night. He defied the odds in the wrong sort of way and plummeted all the way down to 8th place. Mark hung around for second. And the winner, with just 3 entries in the sweaty cycling cap was me. Thank you Lady Luck. KK managed to beat the odds as well. He was second last before the draw but ended up finishing 4th. Luke, Penner, and Darryl did not drink any caffeine. But they showed up and were subjected to Vic's even-more-hyper-than-usual banter. So we included them in the results as well, in the order that they showed up at the klubhaus. No fat tire penalties had to be assessed. But Graham received a bonus for helping me fix my flat tire. Unfortunately, it was negated by the penalty applied for failing to show up at the start on time. So it was a wash.

As for the coffee, the consensus was that Parlour was clearly the best, followed by Bar Italia. Joe Black's was easily the worst.

Full Results:

1) Chris
2) Mark
3) Jonny G
4) KK
5) Vic
6) Lyle
7) Craig
8) JP
9) Graham
10) Luke
11) Penner
12) Darryl

Token photos:





The next race is Dec. 20. KK is organizing that one.

Stay skinny, my friends.