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.