Nice Marmot

. . . is the name of Bert's entry in the 2008 FGBC Classics Pool. He was golfing in Myrtle Beach last week and missed the deadline, not to mention the action over in Belgium. Or so he claims. At any rate, I've decided to exercise my rights as race director and accept it. This brings us up to a total of 18 teams.

After the weekend, he has 290 points. 275 of those points came via Thor Hushovd's 3rd place finish at Het Volk on Saturday. Overall, he sits in 8th place, just ahead of Vic's White Russians squad. So far, he's also exacting some sweet revenge on Jonny B for the CX Pool. Let the rivalry continue.

Nice Marmot

Danilo Di Luca - 13
George Hincapie - 4
Thor Hushovd - 4
Erik Zabel - 3
Bert De Waele - 2
Alexandre Botcharov - 1
Alexandre Usov - 1
Andreas Klier - 1
Arnaud Coyot - 1

A provisional startlist is now available for Saturday's running of the 2nd Monte Paschi Eroica. Subject to change, of course.

OTT: The Hold Steady, Massive Nights

Tuesday Night Ride

I'm thinking maybe a ride in the forest. It's so much nicer to ride there in winter, and winter's almost done. Really. So we better do it now.

OTT: White Light Riot, Choice Theory

Sedition Revisited

Here are the quiz scores. Colin sent this last week, but in my excitement about the two races in Belgium this weekend, I forgot about it. Looking through the scores, many of you will want to forget about them too.

Name Score Comments

Vic - 50% Half right
Unger - 23% 5 of 9 responses correct
The President - 18% 4 of 6 correct
Johny S - 0 Smart alecky answers-obvious lack of respect for the subject. Verrrry disappointed
Adam - 18% 4 of 6 correct
Paddy - 27% 6 of 11 correct
Johnnie N - 14% 3 of 7
Johnny B -14% 3 of 3 (100%?)
Brad - 41% All attempted
Jaun - 55% All attempted
Johnny G - 59% All attempted
Dave (just Dave) - 9% 2 of 6 attempted
Hal - 40% 9 of 11!
Dave Larsen - 64% Well done
Luc 45% - That’s my boy!!!
Ian - 68% A pro
Aiden - 41% A good showing for team “mature riders”
LeAnn - 54% Only entry from the distaff side-Naomi?
The good Doctor H - 55% Nuff said
Bonus questions: no attempts both correct Leg - Miguel Joyal; CUSB - Etienne Gaboury
Lemay designed the concrete structure – not the statue itself

OTT: Two Hours Traffic, Sure Can Start

Steven De Jongh and the Quick Step Shuffle

Tom Boonen's Quick Step Team got out-foxed yesterday by Gilbert and Nuyens. They were not about to let that happen for a second day in a row. Instead, they put the collective hammer down and reminded everybody that they're easily the best classics team around. They managed to get a massive seven men in the big break of the day. That's everyone but poor Paolo Betinni who abandoned the race within the first hour after crashing for the second straight day. It was not Boonen, however, who won the race. Rather, plan B (or was it C or D or E?) was put into effect. Steven De Jongh was in the right place at the right time, following Sebastian Langeveld's attack in the last 2 km. With nasty side winds, the rest of the bunch were never able to catch them as they dangled just a handful of seconds off the front. With his gaggle of teammates behind him, De Jongh didn't need to work with Langeveld, and found himself towed to an easy victory in the end. Langeveld finished in 2nd and CSC's Mathew Goss took 3rd. Boonen finished 4th. More from CN, VN, and Pez.

After two races, the Spring Classics Pool is eerily reminiscent of the opening few rounds of the cx pool. Chris's Team Creedence Tapes and Andy's Team Vee Vant Ze Money finish 1-2 for the second day in a row, and jump out to a sizable early lead over the rest of the field. Team Is This Your Homework, Larry? directed by Arlene is waiting to pounce though, as is Ian's newly renamed Team Little Lebowski Urban Achievers. I think it's safe to say that these races aren't nearly as predictable as cyclocross, so nothing is settled just yet. The next two races are in Italy, so expect the Italians to make their presence known. With 350 points at stake for the winner, things can change in a hurry. See the full breakdown here.

Watch the last 5 km here, courtesy of cycling.tv (embedding disabled).

Today's Top 30:

1 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step - 4.27.03 (43,362 km/h)
2 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank - 0.02
3 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team CSC 0.04
4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step - s.t.
5 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Liquigas - s.t.
6 Borut Bozic (Slo) Cycle Collstrop - s.t.
7 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus - s.t.
8 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC - s.t.
9 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel - s.t.
10 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner - s.t.
11 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Quick Step - s.t.
12 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française des Jeux - s.t.
13 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Française des Jeux - s.t.
14 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank - s.t.
15 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step - s.t.
16 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step - s.t.
17 Frederik Willems (Bel) Liquigas - 0.12
18 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas - 0.18
19 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step - 0.29
20 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence-Lotto - 0.40
21 Jurgen Van de Walle (Bel) Quick Step - 4.03
22 Jimmy Casper (Fra) Agritubel - 4.49
23 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Française des Jeux - s.t.
24 Steven Cozza (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30 - s.t.
25 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - s.t.
26 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r-La Mondiale - s.t.
27 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence-Lotto - 4.56
28 Martyn Maaskant (Ned) Slipstream Chipotle - H30 - 4.57
29 Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel - s.t.
30 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Silence-Lotto - s.t.

Today's Results:

Creedence Tapes (Chris) - 520
Vee Vant Ze Money (Andy) - 495
Is This Your Homework, Larry? (Arlene) - 285
Bunny Lebowski's Toe (Dallas) - 280
White Russians (Victor) - 270
Obviously You're Not a Golfer (Charlene) - 255
That Rug Really Tied the Room Together (Tomek) - 225
Little Lebowski Urban Achievers (Ian) - 155
New Shit (Matt) - 140
A Roadie for Metallica (Bill) - 85
F*ck Sympathy (David S) - 85
Uli Kunkel (Adam) - 80
That Good Sasparilla (Rachel) - 70
Shomer F*cking Shabbas (Donna) - 55
Shut the F*ck Up Jonny (Jonny B) - 5
These Men Are Cowards (Paddy) - 5
You're Out of Your Element, Jonny (Jonny G) - 5

Overall Standings:

Creedence Tapes (Chris) - 1190
Vee Vant Ze Money (Andy) - 1135
Is This Your Homework, Larry? (Arlene) - 820
Little Lebowski Urban Achievers (Ian) - 695
Bunny Lebowski's Toe (Dallas) - 465
New Shit (Matt) - 420
Obviously You're Not a Golfer (Charlene) - 325
White Russians (Victor) - 280
That Rug Really Tied the Room Together (Tomek) - 240
Shomer F*cking Shabbas (Donna) - 235
A Roadie for Metallica (Bill) - 190
These Men Are Cowards (Paddy) - 95
Uli Kunkel (Adam) - 90
F*ck Sympathy (David S) - 90
That Good Sasparilla (Rachel) - 70
Shut the F*ck Up Jonny (Jonny B) - 45
You're Out of Your Element, Jonny (Jonny G) - 10

Next Saturday's race, the Monte Paschi Eroica, looks pretty interesting. It's all on gravel roads. They're billing it as Italy's answer to Paris-Roubaix. If nothing else, it looks like it's at least as dusty.


Read about it last year's inaugural edition here. And why not watch highlights too:

Monte Paschi Eroica 2007
Uploaded by baygonite

OTT: British Sea Power, Waving Flags

Hurricane Gilbert Blows into Gent

Philippe Gilbert won this race in 2006. Last year he was treated for melanoma and had a bit of an off season. But he stormed back today, following a blistering attack by Stijn Devloder with an attack of his own with 50 km to go. He caught the day's big breakaway group and soloed the rest of the way for the victory. Nick Nuyens, one of the few to follow the original attack, came in 58 seconds back for 2nd place. Thor Hushovd took third. Full reports from CN, VN, and Pez.

In the FGBC Spring Classics Pool, the first things that needs to be mentioned is that I've taken some liberties and supplied team names for all teams. Aficionados of fine movies will surely recognize a theme. Feel free to change your team name, but stick with the theme please.

As for the competition, Team Creedence Tapes (Chris) came out on top, edging out Team Vee Vant Ze Money (Andy) 670 to 640. Team I am the Walrus (Ian) is right there as well, with 540 points, while Arlene's Team Is This Your Homework, Larry? sitting just 5 points back at 535.

They're back at it again tomorrow with Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. Look for some of the guys who missed the winning move today and ended up saving their legs (Boonen, McEwen, Betinni, O'Grady, etc.) to be in the mix. Then again, you never know. That's the beauty of these races.

Video:



The Top 30:

1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux - 4.55.25 (40.417 km/h)
2 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Cofidis - 0.58
3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole - 1.06
4 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Ag2r-La Mondiale
5 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas - 1.12
6 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel - 1.13
7 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence-Lotto
8 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC - 1.16
9 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner - 1.53
10 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française des Jeux
11 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis
12 Michael Friedman (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30 - 1.58
13 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC - 2.07
14 Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram - 4.26
15 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Silence-Lotto - 4.31
16 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step - 4.37
17 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
18 Murilo Fischer (Bra) Liquigas
19 Anders Lund (Den) Team CSC
20 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence-Lotto
21 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Agritubel
22 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano
23 Kevin Ista (Bel) Agritubel - 4.49
24 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Willems Veranda's Continental Team
25 Koen Barbé (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
26 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi
27 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) Team Milram
28 Filip Meirhaeghe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
29 Loyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale
30 Huub Duyn (Ned) Slipstream Chipotle - H30

Recall that the points are awarded as follows:

350
300
275
250
225
200
175
150
125
110
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5

All other finishers also get 5 pts.

Today's Results:

Creedence Tapes (Chris) - 670
Vee Vant Ze Money (Andy) - 640
I am the Walrus (Ian) - 540
Is This Your Homework, Larry? (Arlene) - 535
New Shit (Matt) - 280
Bunny Lebowski's Toe (Dallas) - 185
Shomer F*cking Shabbas (Donna) - 180
Roadie for Metallica (Bill) - 105
The Chinaman is Not the Issue (Paddy) - 90
Obviously You're Not a Golfer (Charlene) - 70
Shut the F*ck Up Jonny (Jonny B) - 40
That Rug Really Tied the Room Together (Tomek) - 15
Uli Kunkel (Adam) - 10
White Russians (Victor) - 10
Who's Got Your Undies? (David S) - 5
You're Out of Your Element, Jonny (Jonny G) - 5
That Good Sasparilla (Rachel) - 0

OTT: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Black Tongue

Spring Classics Pool: The Teams

7 more teams came in yesterday. Which brings to total to 17. Nice. This should be fun. The boys are racing as I type. It continues tomorrow. But it's a long season. While some are focusing on these early few, others time their peaks for later. So don't despair if you don't see your boys in action right away.

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to find names for these teams. This way of presenting them is a tad on the boring and straightforwardly functional side. So send me your teams names.

Later today, we'll have standings.


Chris

Nick Nuyens 8
Juan Antonio Flecha 7
Philippe Gilbert 5
Alessandro Ballan 4
Fabian Wegmann 2
Tyler Farrar 1
Steven De Jongh 1
Stijn Devolder 1
Manuel Mori 1
30


Paddy

Alessandro Petacchi 9
Stefan Schumacher 4
Fabian Cancellara 3
Erik Zabel 3
Allan Davis 3
Vladimir Gusev 3
Fabian Wegmann 2
Sebastian Chavanel 2
Thomas Voeckler 1
30

Ian

Robbie McEwen 9
George Hincapie 4
Thor Hushovd 4
Fabian Cancellara 3
Leif Hoste 3
Christophe Mengin 2
Sebastian Chavanel 2
Thomas Voeckler 1
Fabian Wegmann 2
30

Dallas

Enrico Franzoi 1
Fabian Wegmann 2
Leif Hoste 3
Vladimir Gusev 3
Robbie Mcewan 9
Paolo Bettini 8
John Gadret 2
Yaroslav Popovych 1
Mario Aerts 1
30

Jonny B

Paulo Bettini 8
Frank Schleck 6
Robbie Hunter 6
Stefan Schumacher 4
Fabian Wegmann 2
Danilo Napolitano 1
Yaroslav Popovych 1
Mark Cavendish 1
Max Van Heeswijk 1
30

Matt

Davide Rebellin 9
Stefan Schumacher 4
Allan Davis 3
Stefan Wesemann 4
Leif Hoste 3
Stijn Devolder 1
Sebastian Chavanel 2
Fabian Cancellara 3
Johann Van Summeren 1
30

Donna

Paolo Bettini 8
Luca Paolini 4
Leif Hoste 3
Salvatore Commesso 1
Damiano Cunego 8
Olaf Pollack 2
Jukka Vastaranta 1
Benoit Salmon 1
Enrico Gasparotto 2
30

Vic

Tom Boonen 19
George Hincapie 4
Bert Roesems 1
Bram Tankink 1
Aart Vierhouten 1
Christian Murro 1
Andreas Klier 1
Fabio Baldato 1
Alexandre Usov 1
30

Arlene

Johan Van Summeren 1
Stijn Devolder 1
Mark Cavendish 1
Marcel Sieberg 2
Leif Hoste 3
Alessandro Ballan 4
Karsten Kroon 4
Phillippe Gilbert 5
Marcus Burghardt 9
30

Tomek

Stuart O'Grady 11
George Hincapie 4
Stefan Wesemann 4
Staf Schierlinckx 2
Thomas Dekker 3
Fabian Wegmann 2
Olaf Pollack 2
Enrico Franzoi 1
Lars Michaelson 1
30

Bill

Paulo Bettini 8
Juan Antonio Flecha 7
Stefan Schumacher 4
Stefan Wesemann 4
Fabian Cancellara 3
Mark Cavendish 1
Salvatore Commesso 1
Alexandre Botcharov 1
Lars Michaelson 1
30

Rachel

Kim Kirchen 8
Filippo Pozzato 5
Gert Steegmans 5
Luca Paolini 4
Nico Eeckhout 3
Gabriele Balducci 2
Aart Vierhouten 1
Gabriele Bosioso 1
Luca Solari 1
30

David S

Oscar Friere 13
Damiano Cunego 8
Thomas Dekker 3
Bastiaan Giling 1
Danilo Napolitano 1
Jesus Del Nero 1
Jukka Vastaranta 1
Stijn Devolder 1
Pieter Ghyllebert 1
30

Adam

Paolo Bettini 8
Frank Schleck 6
Stephane Schumacher 4
Vladimir Gusev 3
Erik Zabel 3
Bert De Waele 2
Fabian Wegmann 2
Mark Cavendish 1
Stijn Devolder 1
30

Andy

Sergei Ivanov 1
Stijn Devolder 1
Steven de Jongh 1
Sebastian Chavanel 2
Leif Hoste 3
Fabian Cancellara 3
Phillipe Gilbert 5
Fillipo Pozzato 5
Davide Rebellin 9
30

Jonny G

Robbie McEwen 9
George Hincapie 4
Robbie Hunter 6
Thomas Dekker 3
Erik Zabel 3
Fabian Wegmann 2
Alexandre Usov 1
Lars Bak 1
Jesus Del Nero 1
30

Charlene

Tom Boonen 19
Nico Eeckhout 3
Murilio Fischer 2
Danilo Napolitano 1
Yaroslav Popovych 1
Luca Solari 1
Kevin Van Impe 1
Stefan Van Dijk 1
Geoffroy Laquatre 1
30

Spring Classics Pool: Races This Weekend

Omloop Het Volk on Saturday. Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday.

Teams due by 11pm today. Once they're all in, I'll post the teams.

OTT: Alejandro Escovedo, As I Fall

Thursday Anticipation

Deadline extended. Teams will be accepted until Friday, 11pm: fortgarrybikeclubATgmailDOTcom. We have 10 teams submitted so far. But there's still room for more. Everything you need to know is here. Het Volk is on Saturday. Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday. Starlists available here. Also, see CN's Het Volk preview. Pez has one too.

[update: 2/28/08, 2:48 pm] Note the change in race schedule. Milano-Torino has been moved to fall. It will be replaced for our purposes with the Monte Paschi Eroica.

T minus 9 days:


Race organizer Johnny S sends the following note. Note that he would like a response to help assist in the planning. Please respond. If you don't have his email, drop a comment below. Also, plan to bring $5 to help pay for the facilities:

Good times on a bike...

Team relay race in the park, caged knockdown matches, slow race tournemant, rink dogs, wii games for giggles, plenty of home baked prizes, a clubhouse/church, beer and basketball on the big screen. Small town fun and games. Saturday, March 8.

TIme line:
2:30 registration and team draws at the seeds of life church
3:00 races begin
5:30 back to the clubhouse
- bragging, bitching, awards, rink dogs, wii, byob and a some food of any kind to share
8:00 bball game

Family friendly event.

Plenty of places to sleep if anybody wants to crash in our little hamlet.

Spread the word - plans are shaping up.

Let me know if your interested.

[update: 2/28/08, 11:59 am] I just received a note from El Presidente: Friday night is "Indian Meal Night" at South Forty!! So if anyone is planning to head down south a little earlier, let him know so he can reserve you a seat. A weekend in Altona with curry, bike racing, and college hoops. Sounds perfect. I'll check the schedule and see if we can make it work.

T minus 92 days:


Ice Bergen didn't make it last year. Hopefully he'll be back this year for the 6th edition.

OTT: Teitur, Boy Can She Sing

Ice TT Results

That hurt. My legs and lungs are still burning. But it was good times just the same. Better in retrospect, of course. 13 racers showed up for the first annual FGBC Ice TT, including 4 first-timers. It was more like a snow TT in the end, since the ice was just freshly zambonied and impossible to ride. We stuck to the walking path. Fortunately, it was packed down pretty hard.

There was a slight timing malfunction--i.e., I accidently cleared my stopwatch. It seems that the times were about 1-2 minutes faster than the times listed below. But the time gaps are correct.

Good times at the clubhouse, as usual. Always nice to walk in to Skynyrd on the hi fi.

Results:

Chris - 13.55
Luke - 14.56
Luc - 14.58
Craig - 15.08
Jonny G - 15.13
Ian - 15.29
Benjamin - 15.40
Dave L - 16.01
Scott - 17.02
Jonny N - 18.00
Jonny B - 18.57
Colin - 20.00
Deanna - 20.42

I was too busy recording times to take action photos. But here are a couple for the archives. More from Scott. Luc should have more too.




OTT: Mark Geary, It Beats Me

Got Thighs?

Ice TT tonight. Be there.

Snow Crit #5 = ITT

The Tuesday night race scene continues tomorrow. But this week's Snow Crit involves a bit of a twist. In fact, it won't be a criterium at all. Rather, we're doing an individual time trial. On ice. It's the first (annual?) FGBC Ice TT. The race of truth, baby. Or would that be dare? From The Forks to Omand's Creek via the world's longest skating path.

Meet at the coffee shop in Johnson Terminal at 9:30 or so for pre-race fuel and to figure out how we're going to time this thing (bring a watch). Or, if you want to ride over together, be at my place by 9:15.

I ran in to Tenacious V yesterday while out for a walk on the race course. He said there's only two more weeks of Hummelt Hockey left. Another sign that spring is just around the corner. The new FGBC season begins in earnest shortly.

OTT: Spoon, Believing is Art

Dave Z's Moustache

... is awesome. Almost as awesome as Johnny S's 'Stache Cross stache. Kind of makes you wish it was 2007 instead of 2008 and we were racing. Kind of.



His teammate Steven Cozza's looking pretty good too:


DZ and the boys are racing the T of California right now. DZ's sitting in 6th place after yesterday's ITT with two stages remaining. Leipheimer looks to be cruising to a repeat victory. But the important thing is that the racing has begun. Spring is just around the corner. In a few weeks we'll be doing laps on the road at BHP.

OTT: Ian Ball, The Elephant Pharmacy

This one's for Jonny B

Team Organic Athlete to ride Calfee bamboo bikes:

LA SELVA BEACH, CA (BRAIN)—Organic Athlete has formed a new partnership with Calfee Design that will see the first vegan cycling team racing on Calfee bamboo bikes.

In a unique partnership, Organic Athlete is teaming up with Calfee to not only ride the bikes, but to co-promote and develop the brand. The result is a team whose message of personal health and social change now manifests itself in the form of a green, renewable bicycle.

"I've been riding a bamboo bike for over a year now. I can honestly say it's the best riding bike I've ever had," said Bradley Saul, founder of Organic Athlete and a Category one cyclist. “I’m pleased to have the team on the bikes.”

Organic Athlete, a nonprofit membership organization, started its elite cycling team in 2007 with a focus on vegan athletes; athletes that eat whole, plant foods and avoid animal products. The team shows through competition that it is not only possible to live on a plant-based diet, but to thrive, even to succeed at the highest level. Five athletes will be riding the bamboo bikes this year.

Craig Calfee designs his bamboo bike to give an elite bicycle racer everything needed to succeed. With finely mitered bamboo tubing, Calfee binds the frame together with a special hemp-finer wrap. And the natural strength an resilience of Bamboo gives the frame the lively feel and endless durability heretofore only attributed to carbon fiber.

Veggie Power!

OTT: Hollowblue, First Avenue

Thursday Anticipation

T minus 16 days:


The sign says "You're Always Welcome in Altona." It's so true. A multi-stage race, dogfest, and Duke vs. Carolina. They really know how to do it right down south.


Het Volk in T minus 9 days:


A few more teams would be nice. Send them to fortgarrybikeclubATgmailDOTcom by Feb. 27. Can anyone beat Andy? Did I mention that there a bottle of Half Pints up for grabs for the winner?


T minus 98 days:


We've cracked the 100 day barrier! The event of the season is just around the corner. I can almost smell the apple flavoured smoke.

OTT: Limbeck, Honk & Wave

DUKES CYCLE

Sad day for Toronto
There was a massive Fire in Torontos West End. Dukes Cycle burnt to the ground!
Dukes Cycle has been a Queen Street fixture for over 80 years.
My brother and I would always walk to Dukes when I was in TO for a visit. Always manages to leave with a little something.
We connected with an employee, Roger, who was originally from here, he was an weekly reader of the FGBC blog

Sad that a good shop is gone.

http://torontoist.com/2008/02/massive_fire_hi.php
http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_queen_s.php

2007-08 FGBC CX Pool: Done

Not to be missed amid all the excitement surrounding the local race scene was the conclusion to the cyclocross season over in the land of frites & mayo and yeasty beer. The Superprestige and GvA series both wrapped up this weekend. And Niels Albert won both races. It'll be fun to watch him battle it out next year with Boom.

Over in the CX Pool, the only question remaining concerning the overall prize is how much Andy would win by. He wins it by over 1030 points! That's more points than Laura and Swatty had for the entire season. There was, however, a change in the race for 2nd place. Despite Nys fading down the stretch, Albert's late-season supremacy was enough for Vic to leap over me on the last race of the season to occupy the 2nd step of the podium. Nicely done boys.

Superprestige #7 - Vorselaar:

Albert - 150
Simunik - 125
S. Vanthourenhout - 100
Vervecken - 90
Wellens - 80
Groenendaal - 75
Nys - 70
Stybar - 65
D. Vanthourenhout - 60
Al - 55
Bianco - 50
De Knegt - 45
Peeters - 40
Van Gils - 35
Pauwels - 30
Vantornout - 25
Van den Bosch - 20
Verstraeten - 15
Berkmans - 10
Page - 5

Race Results:

Rachel - 360
Vic - 320
Andy - 295
Arlene - 220
Matt - 215
Tomek - 155
Naomi - 150
Hal - 150
Chris - 145
Jonny - 110
Paddy - 45
Laura - 5
Dallas - 5
David - 0

Overall Standings:

Andy - 6310
Chris - 5435
Vic - 5355
Matt - 4805
Naomi - 4145
Rachel - 4015
Arlene - 3930
Jonny - 3375
Hal - 3290
Tomek - 2355
Paddy - 1670
Dallas - 1375
David - 1020
Laura - 815


GvA #8 - Oostmalle:

Albert - 150
Wellens - 125
Boom - 100
Nys - 90
Vervecken - 80
S Vanthourenout - 75
Pauwels - 70
Stybar - 65
Aernouts - 60
Groenendaal - 55
Al - 50
De Knegt - 45
D Vanthourenhout - 40
Meeusen - 35
Vantornout - 30
Tielens - 25
Baestaens - 20
Berden - 15
Van Nuffel - 10
Van den Bosch - 5

Race Results:

Andy - 355
Vic - 280
Matt - 280
Hal - 250
Arlene - 215
Jonny - 195
Rachel - 190
Chris - 170
Tomek - 150
Naomi - 130
Paddy - 105
Laura - 0
Dallas - 0
David - 0

Final Standings:

Andy - 6665
Vic - 5635
Chris - 5605
Matt - 5085
Naomi - 4275
Rachel - 4205
Arlene - 4145
Jonny - 3570
Hal - 3540
Tomek - 2505
Paddy - 1775
Dallas - 1375
David - 1020
Laura - 815

Thanks to everyone for taking part. The Spring Classics Pool kicks off on March 1 with Het Volk. Submit your teams in by Feb. 27 to get in on the action.

OTT: Onethousand Pictures, Take My Everything

Nordic Cross Standings

Based on Alberto's formula which varies according to the number of participants, there was a big pile of points at stake in 24 Hours of Sedition. So after the fifth race in the series, the point totals are as follows:

Chris - 490
Hal - 470
Dave E - 430
Jonny G - 320
Paddy - 300
Ian - 290
Vic - 280
Tomek - 190
Brad - 190
LeAnn - 180
Unger - 180
Darryl - 160
Dave L - 160
Luc - 160
Adam - 140
Dave D - 120
Johnny S - 120
Naomi - 100
Aiden - 90
Penner - 80
Colin - 60
Jonny B - 50
James - 40
Adrian A - 40
Jonny N - 40
Liam - 30
Matt - 10

Nordic Cross #6 is the 3rd annual Tour of Altona on March 8. Johnny S and El Presidente already have a plan--at least for the basketball game. More details to come. The game is at 8pm, I believe. So plan for an afternoon race.

OTT: White Rabbits, Dinner Party

Six more cents

. . . from Paddy, Dave L, and Dave D.

Tuesday Night Ride tonight? Ummm, we'll see. If anything, it'll likely be a little wheel work at Sanctoral Cycle.

OTT: Les Savy Fav, The Lowest Bitter

my two cents

The commemorative video may take longer than the Dr anticipates... but something will arrive. For now... I will say this was one of the sweetest Louis Riel holidays I've ever had... and post two critical pics.Deluxe turnout. Sorry If I cut someone off... it was all I could do to keep the camera from falling... (again).

What would this event be without a significant chinsicle (or three) from the Dr.

24 Hours of Sedition: Done

The 2nd annucal FGBC winter 24 hour race is in the books. Nicely done boys and girls. Let the memorial mythologizing commence. 24 participants. A record turnout. Quite a bit more collective riding than last year too, I think. And with shorter laps, more activity at Sedition Central. The sunny skies and north wind conspired to make the weather conditions less than optimal. The singletrack section rocked. The snow drifts behind the St B. hospital sucked. The twisty ramp down from the footbridge to the river was fun. The wind-polished ice was icy. The last corner on the river into the howling wind was just plain unfair. The Louis Riel quiz was educational. And the Sal's lap, to top it all off, was perfect. A well-rounded affair. There was a dogfest or two (boiled), there were chinsicles, a mandatory Big Lebowski lap (it just keeps getting better and better on each subsequent viewing), lots of sweet prizes, and generally plenty of good times had by all.

Between Ian's 2:15-3:14 am late night lap and Juan Eppstein launching a vigorous early morning attack at 5:42 am, it was even a legitimate a 24 hour race this year.

Thanks all for coming out. And thanks to Fort Garry Brewing Company, Half Pints, and Velo Artisan Bread, and Tomek/Dave L for the prizes. You know where to find it.

There was also plenty of stuff left behind at Sedition Central. The most notable is probably Brad's drivers license and Master Card.

Token photos:

Pre-race conference

The Quizmaster explains

Le Grand Depart

Early in the first lap, the mood is high

Lap 1 commemoration

Desolate river section

Mandatory Big Lebowski lap

The secretary will have his memorial movie up shortly. If you have photos, post them. Or you can send them to fortgarrybikeclubATgmailDOTcom.

Results:

Team race:

Tomek/Dave E - 21
Chris/Adam - 19
Hal/Luc - 18
Ian/Dave L - 17
Jonny G/LeAnn - 15
Paddy/Jonny B - 14
Darryl/Brad - 14
Penner/Johnny S - 13
Dave U/Jonny N - 13
Vic/Dave D - 12
Aiden/Colin - 12
James/Naomi - 4

Solo:

Chris - 13
Dave E - 12
Ian - 11
Paddy - 10
Hal - 10
Tomek - 9
Dave U - 8
Jonny G - 8
Luc - 8
LeAnn - 7
Vic - 7
Brad - 7
Johnny S - 7
Dave L - 6
Adam - 6
Aiden - 6
Penner - 6
Darryl - 6
Colin - 6
Dave D - 5
Jonny N - 5
Jonny B - 4
James - 2
Naomi - 2

OTT: Tom Waits, The Black Rider