Start to Finish

The Sketch

The Stencil



Black Completed

Black up close

Finished Product

The Friendly Skies

One cancelled flight, reroute to Chicago and a lost bag marked the end of my week in San Fran for Macworld. With 40s and 50s replaced by 13 degrees and a windchill of 2 this morning, the lack of riding prevailed over the colder temps. The hands could have used a little more love, but otherwise it was two-wheeled happiness again.

"Once more into the breach, dear friends."

The Streets of San Francisco

Assorted Snobbery: We Are Devo

Just returned from seeing Devo at the Warfield.  I had forgotten how much schtick they rolled with, even Boogie Boy made an appearance.  Of course, there was a certain sadness to watching middle aged fat guys rewind the tape for Office for Mac and have Boogie Boy close things out with a strange anti-computer mini rant.  Devolution indeed.

On the positive side, SF is truly full of bikes, including lines of cyclists this morning cruising their commutes, most on practical machines for the trade.  Here's hoping the iPhone shots come out well tomorrow.

Blackout

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"The Monkey on Your Back is the Latest Trend"

While I am no proponent of "resolutions," there's also no question the holidays and associated timeoff provide a refresh that was sorely needed this year. With a year long pursuit finally coming to close at the office and newly issued technical gadgets and gizmos, one more trip seems to be all that stands between consistent saddle time and a build up to what will hopefully be a nice 2008, both on the bike and off. It certainly doesn't hurt to have temps jump into the 40's and find yourself riding with friends in sunshine either.

Post title curteousy of The Moldy Peaches. Sense of irony? That would be me.

Sharpening Sticks. Polishing Stones.

Easing Back Into Traffic

The Spectrum

Perhaps the best decision I made in 2007 was the one to let go of the blog, without qualification and without plan. In fact, most of the posts since I went 'under the bridge' were actually Mrs. Snob.

Of course, that's not to say that nothing's been going on and the lowlight and highlight of the cycling year's end turned out to occur within about 45 minutes of each other. With my cross season already fully collapsed and a bad right leg still causing me issues, I decided to go superfan for CX Nationals. The single speed race came early and cold on Sunday and as the event staff prepared to call racers to the line, I milled about silently watching and trying to keep warm. As they started to call racer's up, Marko, Cam Chambers, Sir Tony and Sam were all right together doing what they could to stay warm; Marko rocking the BKB skin suit, Tony in his Trek kit and Cam rocking a damn fine argyle sweater vest. After only a handful of racers moved to the line, I heard my name get called and repeated. Fuck. Sam graciously put an end to it and let them know I wasn't racing and moved himself into the second row. I wouldn't have stood a chance in that race, but the prerace chatter would have been worth it. Despite my working to remain undercover, Cam saw through the winter layers and shot me a hello which made things better... and worse.

Once the race started though, the superfan showed up and it was game on. Tony took off in his usual bat out of hell style, Marko, T Brown and Cam fired hard and things were rolling. Sam, Carp and the Kitten Factory King pushed hard in the cold. (and boy did I get a lot of strange looks when I yelled "Kittens!!")

Of course, Marko took the race, Cam podiumed wearing a pair of these, and there were more folks from Lincoln around than one could count. Good times.

Throw in the holidays, family, good books, Lake boots and a new Wii and it's game on again for 2008.

Merry... Happy... Etc...

Christmas Come Early

Santa's already been to our house and dropped off a whole lot of sweet 6 inch cuff wool War Axe socks.

And for most of you, you haven't gotten a chance to see the War Axe Bicycles logo. Check them out for that reason alone. Supa sweet.

Are You Smart Enough to Read This Blog?

(sung to the tune of Are You Strong Enough to Be My Man)

Credit to Marc for the Blog Readability Test.

Back to Basics

The fall has always been a time of year I've marked in some subtle way, like some people take note of birthdays or the turning of a new year. I often point to the weather, which is a little like someone freshly twenty-one blaming their drunken orgy on their birthday cake. This blog and the blogging world are things I have been weary of for a while and so a change was in order. I try to have enough class not to burn bridges, but I've always been one to step off course, walk down the embankment and sit for a few hours watching driftwood catch on the pillars rising out of water. I would never wish for a perpetual autumn, but it's time to sit and let the water pass by for a while.

Assorted Snobbery: Tyler Durden Asks...

If you could fight anybody, who would you fight?

The Endurosnob Awards 2008

It's that time of year again and, apparently, some of you are ready to begin nominations judging by a few emails I have gotten. Third verse, same as the first. Nominations in the comments and we'll hold the actual voting throughout the next couple of weeks.

Fiendish reminder: Photos can simply be sent to me via the email in my profile.

As I always point out, the idea is to give people props and respect.

Category One: Endurance Cyclist of the Year.

Category Two: Single Speeder of the Year.

Category Three: Photo of the Year.

Category Four: Blogger of the Year.
-----
As always, I'll get the ball rolling:

Endurance Cyclist of the Year. Dick Hickey. (Myth and Legend.)

Single Speeder of the Year. Jesse LaLonde. (The Cheq victory topping an already great year.)

Blogger of the Year. BikeSnobNYC. (The meteor is burning brightly. I hope he can keep the material fresh.)

Like last year, I'll save my photo selection for the actual voting.

Bring it.

Two for the Money

I noticed today that a few of Lincoln's finest hit the VeloNews wire. Syd, Nate and Jesse P all crushed grooved. I shot the fellas an email and Jesse P. fired a couple of pictures back to me, both of which are on a shortlist of the best photos I have seen all year. Plus, the come with great stories.

Nate apparently bounced around like a kangaroo in both the SS race and the A's. At one point, he was pushing the patience of a Cat 1 roadie who asked him point blank if Nate was going to keep jumping the barriers. "Yep" was Nate's simple response.

Yes Virginia, Evil Unicorns can fly. Think you cleared it far enough, Nate?


Jesse was locked into a cat and mouse battle of his own during the A's, patiently waited until the final time through the sand to bury himself and take second place on the box.

RRRaw PowerRRR!!!

Cycleworks Trek Demo Day

It was pretty chilly out at the lake after work, but Damon, Butch and Kris hung tough out at the demo day today. I showed up late and took one shot which is worth about 1000 captions. Butch mid-story, Damon looking a bit skeptical and twilight falling across the lake.

Caption Contest Anyone? (If anyone can actually guess what was being discussed, coffee or beer is on me.)

Decompression Sessions

In an effort to restart my increasingly strange system, I took Mrs. Snob on a date to Haymarket Yoga on Saturday. Despite a great length of time since I've enjoyed a session, I quickly found the familiar flow into the various "painful but oh so enjoyable" positions to be had. Ohhmmmmm is right.

I made the mistake of feeling a bit cocky and, right on cue, we moved to the hamstrings and as the various people around me found their ankles and feet, I gently reach out to my shins. Thanksfully, the vibe had properly stolen all of the competiveness from the room and I settled in to enjoy whatever I could do.

Today, was further active recovery with a spin about town. Just chilling. I also looked further at 08 and now think that WWDC will shot down the NUE series for me. Plenty of other great stuff out there though.

Well, It's Morning...

... but I wouldn't say it's good.

I feel asleep a little after 7pm, missed a chance to ride with Sam and woke up at 2:00am. Now what am I going to do? Post, apparently.

In case you missed it, it's time.

Time to get your postcards ready for TI. Mine has an "Appetite for Destruction."

Time to check your schedule for Kanza. Saturday, May 31, 2008.

And time to decide if you want to take a stab at the NUE. (If I still lived in Indy, it would be a logistical piece of cake.)

Of mild interest is the fact that I first learned all of this from a site I had sworn off, MTBR. I guess I have now reached lurker status there again as it doesn't seem to be the land of intentionally leaked news.

I was going to end with a pithy comment about Dali's Persistence of Time, but now it seems trite. Enjoy your friday. Mine's apparently already started.

Assorted Snobbery: Cleared

My doctor called me today in order to give me the results of the tests on my various bodily fluids. I like my doctor because he listens. Not in the passive "mmm hmmm" 'I hear you but am not really listening' cliche way people speak of when it comes to doctors, but in the "this guy is paying attention and we're having an actual conversation and my input is valued" sort of way.

He also seems to take really good notes because he ticked through all of the concerns Mrs. Snob and I had one by one, even the ones we threw in from deep left field. You can't take good notes without paying attention.

"So, to sum it all up, you're fine. I think your problems sleeping have finally caught up with you. Spend time sleeping in or getting to bed earlier if you can. Eat whole foods. You'll come back pretty quick. Have you wife pay attention to your sleep. We might want to test that, but otherwise you're good."

"So, your saying I'm a wimp?"

Laughs. "No, I'm saying you're worn out."

I laugh. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"No. Do you have a history of paranoia?" You could hear the grin in his voice.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Of course it is. I'm a doctor."

I laughed so hard my eyes watered. I love my doctor.

If I end up taking that test, at least I'll have bad music and worse magazines to put me to sleep.

An MTB Season in Review

Between having the energy of a turnip and Butch emailing me about his recent updates to the Cycleworks Site, I spent some time this weekend taking stock of 07 and continuing to consider how to schedule 08.

The CV for 2007 ended up looking like this:

Ouachita Challenge: 14th SS.
TransIowa: T-7th SS. T-16th Overall.
Dirty Kanza: 2nd SS. 10th Overall.
Branched Oak 12hr: Team 1st Overall w/ Corey.
Lumberjack 100: 20th SS. 79th Overall
24hrs of Nine Mile: DNF.
Manawa 12hr: 1st Overall. Unlimited Class.
24hrs of Landahl: 1st Expert Class. 3rd Overall w/ Mod, Nate and Sam, aka The Evil Unicorns.

I feel like that list should be longer, but I think it's all there. Now for 2008? There always seems to be something that stick in my craw over the winter and gets the bulk of my focus. Last off-season was evenly divided between TI and 9 Mile. This off-season, 9 Mile is already front and center in my mind.

Simply put, I think I choked on single track for most of this year. So, along with the continual, sometimes futile effort to shrink my carcass, more true single track seems to be called for in prepping for 2008.

Besides, anyone who regularly reads this blog has to be tired of me bitching about my lack of skills when riding rocks. I know I am.

As far as the rest of 08, only a return of the Evil Unicorns (destination unknown) has seen pencil turn to pen, but I am looking forward to figuring out the rest over the next few months.

Nebraska CX Day One

Side Notes: I made this with Windows Movie Maker which I found to be brutal. I'll be switching over to the Mac for Day Two. It will be my own little PC vs. Mac experiment (even though I am already bias.)

Assorted Snobbery: Mono-tonal

Visited the good doctor yesterday and got the wonderful news that I either have mono or a "very mono-like" virus that has been going around. I then proceeded to pass out bodily fluids like welfare cheese. Apparently, the ladies who work the lab don't find the Snob very funny. As I walked in, I noticed one reading a People magazine whose big cover story was, "Diva? or Down to Earth." I sat down and said, "Just to be upfront, I'm a Diva." I barely get a grin in return and she starts asking me my name and SS#. As we're going through the motions, I look at the computer screen in front of me and can see from the task bar that someone has a Duran Duran webpage up. As the my pulse starts filling up the vile, I go for it again with, "Okay, who's been Googling Duran Duran?" A second nurse gets a shitty look on her face and snarls, "It's better than today's music." Now I am the one who's laughing, but keep the assorted comments flying through my head to myself. Gotta know your audience, but the temptation to ask her if her name was 'Rio' was strong. Mrs. Snob thinks their attitude was "chops" prejudice.

Test results should comeback today.

SuperFan Powers: Activate!!

Check the dismount!! Though for some reason, "I hate you guys" was Charlie's refrain when she passed us.

Since I couldn't jog around the Microtel with the Radman this morning, I switched to SuperFan mode and headed back to Swanson with Mrs. Snob and Rad, intent on using my new Sergeant Hulka voice to full effect. If you can't race with your bros, it's time to get your yell on.

With a sprint finish and a few "race within the race" pairings, it was a good day. More good footage as well so stay tuned for that and check http://www.nebraskacyclingnews.com/ for results.

Sir Wilhelm warms up business casual.

One Lap Wonder

Only managed a bit over a single lap today.  Felt a bit off mid-day yesterday and that carried through to today.  Suffered for a while but when my throat starting burning in a decidely unracelike way, I hoped a curb and pulled out.  It is what it is.

Switched to superfan mode with a lot of pics and vids being taken.  Hope to put something together during the week.  Isn't that what YouTube is for?

Tomorrow is an unknown.  I'll let the morning decide.

Operation Degradation

With the race categories for the first weekend in Nebraska's Cross series a little tough to decipher for the Killer B in me, I've decided to follow some training advice Sam gave me a couple of years ago and "go until I puke." I know I'll get my ass handed to me. The only question will be how hard my hands will be shaking when it happens.

Photoshop Addiction

In an effort to help get some stylish t-shirt designs rolling for War Axe, Mrs. Snob and I recently downloaded a 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop. I know Photoshop is old hat for some, but if you like to dabble in the artistic and aesthetic, Photoshop will suck you into a blackhole.

Inspired by 'A Poet's Life.'

Spooky Cross Blitzkrieg

Breaking my unwritten and highly questionable rule regarding miles driven for time raced, Nate, Corey, Jesse P, and I drove to Cumming, Iowa for Spooky Cross today. With Corey planning an article on the trip for the Lincoln Ve-Low, I'm opting for the tightly focused version as a race recap.

Nate's description of our effort as a cross "blitzkrieg" was spot-on. We arrived roughly 25 minutes before the start. This was just enough time to register, kit-up and spin a touch before the start of the race. I rode down the starting road a bit, into a short section of the completed mudded-out grass and back up to the start. Since I am a notoriously slow starter when actually warmed up, I perched at the back of the Killer B's as we toed the line. Nate joined me and we laughed about standing at the back, but the word that a first lap prime providing a pair of Oakley Radar's to the winner had Jesse moving to the front prior to the gun. I kept smiling and stayed put. No one was quite sure of where Corey was and we assumed he was already at the front.

At the gun, Nate and I started weaving our way forward. He jumped through a lot of people before we hit the mud but I eased back, which was a mistake as the group came to a crawl with riders unsure of how fast to hit the transition from road to soup.

Anything not road was rain-soaked bog. I was over-geared (as were Nate and Corey) at 38x16 and just started mashing. With no preride or warmup, I was tentative and the legs were pretty unhappy. A long section of the course followed a lakeside path, followed by a long climb that would have been rideable dry, but not in the soup and not with my gear. I slogged away and tried to stay patient hoping to get loose and make up some ground as my body got into gear.

Near the end of the lap was an intentional run-up with small 2x4s being used to keep people from riding it. This also would have been rideable on a dry day but was certainly a run-up today. As I topped out, I was shocked to see Corey coming around me. At this point, both my hamstrings were on the edge of something dismal and a brief exchange with Corey lead him to say, "Spin it out." "I can't," was my reply, which was more of a "how the fuck am I suppose to do that?" in tone.

Somewhere passed the halfway point of my second lap, my body returned a bit, I felt confident in the muck and dropped a few fellow back of the pack riders primarily with my riding in the mud and an improved approach to running, along with my mounts.

Halfway through the last lap I had one more carrot left ahead of me, but then I got lapped by the lead riders and got frustrated. By the time I got my head out of my ass, I had to let the brakes completely go on the muddy downhill heading straight for the lake and nearly took a swim because of it. I cruised it in from there for an unknown finishing spot. We also saw "The Jackal" who seemed to be riding strong and finished on the lead lap.

I am a bit fuzzy on everyone's spots from there. Jesse P hit the podium in 3rd or 4th. Nate was roughly 8th and Corey, who rolled the largest gear of all of us was somewhere around 10th. Syd also toed the line, possibly in 9th? You might check other spots for further (and accurate) results as Mark and Troy Krause were also there to enjoy some time in the soup.

If only it's rider knew what to do with it.




No mud on the bibs? I am sure the backside's not as pretty.

Corey, what the fuck are you doing?

The Head Tilt

With an eye on Nebraska's CX Season, I've been trying to put in some harder intensity in order to keep for coming completely unglued when the gun goes off. With a throwaway race this weekend, I tried to crank it up before work this morning. About 25 minutes or so in, I could feel my head start leaning over to the left as the pain monkey climbed higher and higher onto my back. Before long, my left ear may as well have been resting on my shoulder.

The headtilt. At some point, after scientist's have unlocked such genetic mysteries such as disease control and what causes boys to jump up and slap door overhangs, some incredibly bored scientist is going to search the double helix for why so many bike racers seem dress their helmet to one side while inside the pain cave.

Of course, they still won't be able to test for performance enhancing drugs with any clarity, but at least will have some completely superficial concern solved.

Snobbish Aside. If you were in the European peloton, why not take a sample of your own each time you were tested? Have some viable third party hold your golden glow, marked and labelled. If the UCI or other concern claims they've got you and you know your clean, you pull out item number two. Have it tested with your lawyer's present and tell them to fuck off. Of course, there is probably some problem with this. Expense. Against the rules. Who knows. It would be interesting though to pull out your own C sample. Of course part two, you would really have to be clean.

Das Commute

I decided for no good reason to document the commute this morning. The only rule was that all pics had to be taken rolling and posted in order. Typical, somewhat boring, slice of life.

Obligitory Shadow Shot


Rolling near downtown.

Fire Drill? No, Fire Safety.

Which side is the wrong side?

Saltcreek. East of 27th.

Nothing says TI and Kanza like Casey's.

North 56th. Brace for passing semi's.

ecommerce wizardry in the house.

and done.

Knowing the Score

"It's always best when things get whittled down," I said.
"which doesn't mean it's simple," I added.

There wasn't much to say for a while after that. It was 3am. Tired from an evening boiled down to conversation, vinyl and a turn-table. Boiled down like so many times before. Immediate. Simple. Shared.

Like Chicago with it's studio apartments, bands in small bars, drums set on milk crates and Maker's Mark mornings. Crouching in the corner of the practice space. Not saying a word. Not playing a note.

Always the music, always the friends, often the booze.

And for hours it had been gone. Amid the punk and the guitars and the beats. I had forgotten. It wasn't until I was on the couch that it filtered back. The anger that floats in and leaves like a dull breeze in summer.

4am came and slowly I remembered. You can't warn someone about something they already know. Everything boils away to nothing, eventually.

"So it was a good night?" she asked.
"It was."

Jesse Hits Velonews

Just opened the new issue of Velonews. Hincapie on the cover. Hit the Table of Contents and my eyes draw to an all too familiar face. Page 92. "Single Minded."

Congrats Jesse. You earned it.

If I Were A Plastic Wristband...

...I'd be happy to be a "Motherfucker from Hell":

More Questions Than Answers

While I couldn't be more excited for Cross season, this is still the time of year when your mind wanders to next season and thoughts of what races keep you excited and what goals you'd like to acheive.

Next year hasn't really come into focus in the way this year was defined long before the calendar actually flipped to 2007. TransIowa and 9 Mile dominated the off-season landscape. Nothing sits out there in the same way for 2008.

Instead, I'm just asking myself a lot of questions.

The 100 miler series? It would require upping my technical game so I am not wasting so much energy on the bike. Maybe a stage race? Pricey but worth it once? I'm also into the idea of trying the Vapour Trail despite the altitude disadvantage.

Then there's the Evil Unicorns... what 24 will we show our casually competitive faces at next year?

As always, suggestions welcome.

The 24 Hours of Rodney Dangerfield and that God Foresaken Lap

When I took off for my fourth lap at Granny Gear's 24 Hours of Landahl, the spirit and feel of the race were already well set. From Evil Unicorn perspective, we were rolling with substantial minutes in hand leading the Expert field, but were seven minutes behind first overall. It was a gap that likely wouldn't have existed had I not already been fighting with my tires and, frankly, I felt responsible for it.

From Granny Gear's perspective, the EU and other teams at the head of the race were a bit of a sideshow. The drama and storyline coming from the PA was the story of "The Toast," Josh Tostada, who was ripping through the solo series and the battle between the two series leading teams, The Athens Wrecking Crew and City Bikes from DC. In many ways, this was rightfully so. The series was potentially going to come down to this race after four races and the Evil Unicorn were only throwing a wrench in the works (but, we were happy to try and do so).

What ended up somewhat lost though were some great rides by some other teams. The Bike Tek team rolled us all in the end, posting consistent times and getting labelled as "concrete baggers" by a few of the other teams. There was also 4 Fast Over 40, a team of Masters riders including Cameron Chambers' Dad Doug, ripped the place to second place overall as well. As we sat at the awards ceremony, I thought of the Rodney Dangerfield line. The guys that killed it weren't getting the sweet swag, but did deserve and earn some respect. (Not to mention, another rockstar single rigid team, PC Load Letter, which included Craig Stoeltzling rocking the joint on a fixed gear.)

Which brings me back to my fourth lap, our 16th as a team. As I've documented to the point of overkill, my skills in the rocks are suspect and my first three laps were full of dabs. I had gone from trying to save my energy for the rocks each lap to just making my way through them and then trying to unload on the open and flowing sections of the course. As I rolled out though, I decided to bash my way through the rocks, no dabbing, no unclipping, just trying to ride through mistakes and go.

Through mile four, things seemed to be going well, I was nearly out of the first highly technical stuff and had, despite pinballing around, ridden nearly the whole thing without a foot down. Unfortunately, on a quick uphill left, my back tire found the edge of the large rock and rolled my tire completely off the rim. Knowing there was no way to reinflate it, I threw a tube in and stayed on the march. The tire was a touch soft due to my hurry to get rolling again, but nothing crazy soft so I stayed with the plan and kept hammering.

I felt good in the circumstances as I hadn't been passed, even during the flat and was entering the portion of trail where I could wind it out. Just before entering the last section of rocky single track, there was an open field where I regrouped, spinning out the gear and drinking a little water to hit a mental reset.

I rolled the hard left into the trail, kept pushing past the "shooting range" sign and flow well until the somewhat rocking stuff turned to the truly technical. I knew I had about a mile left of the rough stuff and was looking forward to emerging on the open plateau again. I should have never considered it. PSSSTTT!!! There was no question now. I didn't even look at it at this point. I just started running. I passed another guy working to fix a mechnical and he said, "That's the smartest idea I have seen all day," referring to my running the section. I replied something about the wheel and the running not being by choice and he wished me luck.

As the trail openned back up, I ran to the top of the short climb and then did something fairly stupid. I tried to pump my tire back up. Tubeless with a handpump insist going to work, of course, and about half way through tilting at this windmill, I got my head out of my ass and started running again.

Four guys passed me as I ran. Tostada asked me if I needed help, which was cool. I pulled off to the side as he passed which may have save me from puking, then resumed the position, flailing along trying to keep a good pace.

The final section of each lap was through an open field toward the start/finish tent and I felt like a complete dumb fuck running in. As I neared the table, I saw Mark anxiously waiting, mumbled something about my rear tire, and tossed my bike about 20 feet to the side in frustration (it, of course, pulled a 'ghost rider' and simply rolled through the tent, coming to a soft stop in a completely anti-climatic fall). I got the baton and card out, got Mark on his way and collasped against a pole, waiting to catch my breath.

I sat there for quite a while. In some ways, it was simply to recover. Primarily though, I was waiting for the other Expert teams to come through. We ended up keeping our lead by about 12 minutes in the class, but our chance for the overall was shot.

As you all know, Mark, Nate and Sam then shot down the reemerging dreams of the other teams by closing things out in the finest style. It may have shone most near the end of the race, but it was obvious throughout that the Evil Unicorns had each other's backs. We met each guy coming in as a team, took bikes, cut oranges, offered help, and did what we could for each other.

Sometime in the late night MOD looked at me and said, "Nine Mile, next year?"
"I've got some unfinished business there solo."
"Yeah, I get that."
"Let's find another one."
"Absolutely."
It turned out to be a unanimous feeling.

Look for the Evil Unicorns again in '08. Maybe we can even get MOD to run rigid. We've got the whole off-season to work on him.

Partridge Racing Transitions In Lincoln

As many of you know, Partridge Racing is moving to Portland. With Lincoln roughly 12 hours into the drive out, Joe stopped over for a spin, a good beer and slice at Yia Yia's and an evening in the new and improve cycling lounge at the Casa de Cronin.

Corey joined us as we took off for some limestone cruising south of town. Corey rocked his newly built Bianchi Roger with Joe rolling a heavily geared Quiring. As we pulled off of 14th the timing worked so that we met JB, MW and MG heading South. We cruised along chit-chatting at a nice tempo and I thought, "Damn, there are a lot of miles in this collective." Between, TI, KZ, 24s and 12s, it would be interesting to put a total to it.

We split up after a time with JB spinning with us to Yia Yia's and Jeff meeting us there. Slices, Suds and a great night made it hard not to close the place down, but with Joe wanting an early start and work the next day, we headed home.

Congrats Portland. Class Act coming your way.

"This post is impossible to write... ": The 24 Hours of Landahl

I'm finding posting about the 24hrs of Landahl a bit difficult. It was too rich and too dense for a single post. Today, I thought I would share some pictures, along with some thoughts I had post-race. Most of you know the times and a few details, so I'll just fill in the blanks throughout the week.

I noticed throughout the 24hrs of Landahl that the Granny Gear folks liked to get the microphone in front of people. Primarily, these were short interviews to add a little color to the race and, for the most part, we're all pretty enjoyable. As we waited for our turn to head up to the podium, I realized as team captain I might find myself on the sharp end of the mic and thought about what I might be asked and what I might say. It ended up being an Oscar speech that sat in someone's pocket, but I think it's worth saying here.

I feel lucky. Lucky to have three great guys want to go hangout for 24hrs to ride bikes. Lucky they like riding single speeds and lucky that they happen to ride them really fucking fast. Thanks fellas.

Just in case we forgot, we wrote our team name down.




"One of these things is not like the other."

Reservoir Dogs? Nope, Evil Unicorns. (As soon as I pulled the camera out, all three of these guys turn their heads away.)

MOD in the operating room, explaining why I need to learn to properly tighten chain ring bolts. (I sheared mine off during our preride.)

Brats make Mark happy. He stayed very happy in our tent city.

"Prefontaine" drops the hammer on the Lemans start.

At some point Sam switched us to military time, which caused us dumbasses to do more 'mental math' than we could handle in the wee hours of the night. Not to mention it looks like I did a 13hr3min lap.

Here's to running with your bike for three miles in a gonzo attempt to keep your lead.

I love you, but I hate you.

Hot Lap Coming Through!!! (Fastest lap of the event. Rigid. Single.)

MOD rode his ass off all weekend.

My Goodness Indeed. Sam closed the deal in high style.

Guinness Kit. Two Fisting Schlitz.

Athens Wrecking Crew (l), Evil Unicorns (c), City Bikes from D.C. (r)

Not to shabby

Evil Unicorns - 1st Place Expert, 3rd Overall.  (The Locals Owned) 

Three Mile Run

Another frustrating lap mechanically.  Burped all the air out of the rear roughly halfway through the lap.  Threw a tube in an kept jamming only to flat again.  Made a desparate attempt to refill the tubeless and then took of running.  A little over three.  I'm cooked.  I knew we had a buffer so I went as hard as I could.  Frustrated to the point of tears.  Mark took off with the lead still intact.  Nate's being super positive.  Sam has slept through the whole thing.

This is Snob.  Snob can't keep air in his tires.

Harden the fuck up, Snob.

Forward Momentum

We seem to be back on track here in the land of the Evil Unicorns.   We moved up into second overall having made up ground the last few laps.  The Wrecking Crew keeps closing in though and on the team to watch slidding up the leaderboard.

Nate's out now, Sam should roll around 3:15 and I should be out again a bit after 4:20.

Case of the burps

Lost a lot of air out of the rear about halfway through the lap.  Lost about minutes to end place.  Fuckin' pissed but there are more laps to come.

I just heard we are first in expert, fourth overall.

5 Hours Into Landahl

Things are going well for the Evil Unicorns. They are currently winning the Men's Expert Class.


Skip is not able to post via his Blackberry as he had hoped.


Nate scorched his first lap the fastest lap time of anyone at the race. He is out on his second lap right now.


You can catch live results here.

-Mrs. Snob

Approaching Game Time

It seems not all of my posts are going up, but I'll keep trying.

An hour until start.  MOD replaced the chainring bolts I sheared off during my preride, Sam's tweaked his rig and we're ready.

Mark's leading us off.  In a moment of brilliance, Nate dubbed him "Prefontaine.". "Pre" has his game face on already.

Mark, Nate, Sam and than I.  Looks like most of my laps will be at night.

Time to "harden the fuck up."

Evil-Unicorn Blackberry Bulletins

KW passed this along. Found on Flickr.

The Evil Unicorns have mobilized this morning and are rolling toward Landahl. SS? Yes. Rigid? most. Haters in the crowd? Some. Great time? Absolutely. The boys and I are taking a page from Stuart O'Grady and carrying, to quote Sam, "a general disposition to 'Harden the Fuck Up.'"

Updates over the weekend here or on Granny Gear's site.

Sometimes, Inspiration Comes Easy

Photo stolen from CreepyFriendly himself.

As a guy who came to cycling late, I've often gotten the "well, it's a little late now" vibe from people both in and out of the two wheeled fraternity. Obviously, I didn't care and kept riding. Then, Johnny helped me put together my first single speed; a bike with "This Machine Kills Fascists" written in white out across the top tube. It was done. I knew within a few rides this "fit" and was how I wanted to ride.

Fast forward to this year and things have gone pretty well. I have some good efforts under me this season but was disappointed that 9 Mile went as poorly as it did. Unable to really ride a lot lately and trying to workout why things went the way the did, I've been a bit unmotivated and a bit surly. (More than usual, smartasses.)

Firing up the Evil Unicorns helped turn that around, running laps that weren't completely sad on Saturday helped as well, but the Top Four from Cheq sealed the deal. Marko and Jesse would be obvious to anyone who reads the blog. Steve Tilford may not be. How long has this guy been at the front of every race he enters? Not long enough, that's my thought. He's got several years on me so I might as well keep rolling.

And Brian Matter? He's rocking the hardcore mullet. What else could you need?

"One Gear is All That is Needed." Jesse Wins Cheq. Marko Takes Fourth.

"Winning the Chequamegon 40 is no easy task. But winning it on a singlespeed bicycle is unthinkable. That is until Jesse Lalonde (Gary Fisher 29/BKB) powered his way up last hard climbs in the closing miles and descended down into Telemark Resort alone in the lead, holding off former champions Brian Matter (PCW/Trek) and Steve Tilford (HRRC/Trek). And he did it with just one gear.
Lalonde rode a 36-16 gear on a rigid 29er, becoming the first rider to win the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival on a singlespeed. “It was only a matter of time,” Lalonde said about his singlespeed win. Marko Lalonde, Jesse’s younger brother and teammate, finished fourth, also on a singlespeed. Their extraordinary rides in the 25th annual Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival illustrate that just one gear is all that’s needed to win a bike race."

Check the full story here.