CX Crusade at Heron Lakes...sun in the sky and mud on the ground. Perfect day!

 Sunday, October 21st, 2012 - Heron Lakes (PIR) is a flat course that would certainly favor road riders if it was not muddy.  Well, it rained most of the previous week and the mud was there early in the day.  This brought a smile to almost every BMCCers face.

 

 Jamison had enough fun last week at Rainier to come out again...even though a few Mongers were a lil hungover from a late night after a Winterhawks game they rode hard and fast.  Jamison cutting through some traffic.

Kyle and Bill represent us well in Cat. C race...here is Bill looking for a line through the mud.  Pick your line well and stick with it...

Kyle sees a better line on the outside and makes a break for it.

 

 

The Monger Master C's  are stout and we are having fun racing together.  Sean got out to a nice lead and he was the only racer to get 5 laps (last one of the entire race).  Ryan and I had another nice battle...he got off to a good lead so I just kept him in sight and worked on finding the good lines.  During Lap 2 he dropped his chain and I was able to push past him...I worked hard to take advantage of this opportunity but within a lap he caught up with me.  Shit...I thought I had him beat.  He was jawing me a bunch and as I pedaled-down I put some space between us and even though I dropped a chain, I was able to quickly recover and keep the lead through the last half lap.  Another fun race brotha!!!  Maybe less jawing next time and save your breath ;)  Marc and Kyle S both had solid races and the most important thing is that 5 Mongers started the race and 5 finished. 

 

 CX Crusade is for all ages....that's one of the things that makes it awesome!

 Abram is our only Master B rider and he is working on getting comfortable in his new category.  I think his smile in this photo suggests that he had fun out there.

 The Women Mongers were numerous today...We had Steph racing in the top half of the Beginners race...here she is thinking about remounting after jumping down from the boxtop.

 

Our category C Women included Julie 'the Real Deal;' Shawna and Chris.   These ladies all finished and kept their kits clean...nice work ladies!

 

 Chris running over the boxtop.

 Julie 'the Real' Deal holding her line...a tough race for the 'Real Deal' as some other chick shoved her at the very beginning of the race which sent here off course and she dropped her chain.  By the time she got back up she had to fight through all of the Beginners to get back into the C field.  Tenacity is a characteristic of a true Beermonger.

Shawna jumping up on the boxtop...looking smooth!  Up, up, up!

Following Andrew's unfortunate tire issue during his first lap Nick was our only rider in the Cat. B race...I tried to tell him that his number was pinned on upside down but he just doesn't listen.  Jer also raced in the Singlespeed race and he also had tire issues...but he was close enough to the pit to get a new tire.  He looked solid out there for his first race of the year. 

Of all the categories in CX, the singlespeed category is full of some real characters.  One of these characters is John 'Carpenter John' Howe of Team Beer .  By this time in the day placing a dollar or two on the course in a less than desirable place (line) provides the crowd with good entertainment.  Here John tries to make a little money.

 Following the last race its customary for the Beermongers to hang-out and reflect on what a great day it was.  Here are the BMCCers holding down the good times...its the best way to spend a Sunday.

 To the best CX team in the land...bring on the good times in Bend!

Rainier HS is a great CX course....

 

 On Sunday, October 14th, 2012 the Beermongers Cycle Club (BMCC) officially started its season with a great showing of new and old riders at Rainier HS.  It may have been a week delayed but once the BMCCers get going, watch out.  We had the tent, music, Bill's 'BMCC only' trainer, some tasty food and lots of laughs.  The day got started with Jamison riding in his first race...he looked in control even as he approached the barriers.

Kyle H. and Bill rolled in the Cat. C race...here is Kyle coming up on his first barrier set.

 

 This year our Mster C's crew is a solid set of riders.  This crew includes Ryan T, Marc B., Kyle S, Sean S and myself.  Sean has been upping his game and is clearly our crews leader with many great finishes.  He had to sit Rainier out due to bronchitis but the rest of us went to battle.  Marc B. loves the mud so don't expect to see this mud hound too early in the season.  Kyle has jumped on the Mongers following a solid STX season this summer and he is getting used to having to dismount and remount.  Ryan and I had a good little back and forth during this race and on the final lap I passed him with half a lap to go.  His engine got cooking and as I slipped on a run up, that he rode, he pulled ahead again.  With the final hill climb left he motored up that passing a few more riders and putting me 5 riders behind him.  Nice job RT!!!  Helluva race.

 

 Jer and Nick in two different worlds.  Jer is contemplating racing, while Nick is warming up on the 'BMCCers only' trainer.  Jer, thanks for coming out to cheer even though you did not feel up to racing.

Chris is one of our new Mongers...she and Steph held down the Women's categories on this day.  A potential Monger, Erin, is on the outside of Chris in this photo.  These ladies had an awesome race against each other.  Inter team rivalries are the best.  It makes us all better.

Just when you have had enough heckling and laughter the last race of the day is the Cat. Bs/Single speeders.  Our representation in these categories has changed from last year.  Nick is still riding in Bs but now he is joined by Andrew.  Jer looks like he is still going to fight it out in the Singlespeed Cat., crazy MoFo.

 Nick climbing the hill, while passing some Team O guy, at Rainier that makes this course the legend that it is...only this year they added some smaller hills to ensure that your legs (at least mine) were jello by the time you hit this sucker.  One of the course setters told me that they had access to more land at the High School this year so they decided to make the course as hard as they could.  If you rode this course at least once and finished you are an athlete.

 Andrew getting his remount down...back in your saddle boy and pedal that bike.

 

At the end of the day we celebrated Bill and Nick's birthdays which were coming up during the week.  Happy Gingerful B-days Boyz!!!

Deja Vu near Denver...Mongers at the Boulder Cross Series

Well, well, well...what are the chances that lightning could strike twice?  Some of you may remember my tragic story of signing up for the wrong race at DCCX last autumn and how lonely I felt racing against the mid Atlantic's best riders...well I have been struck again.

Alissa and I went on a fabulous two week road trip following the Wageson-fest.  The goal of this trip was to visit Alissa's friends in Boulder, CO and make stops between here and there to check things out.  I thought it might be fun to race in Colorado and see what the cross scene was like so I contacted the promoters of the Boulder CX series.  I told them that I race Master C's in Oregon and asked which race I should sign-up for?  They have a much different category system then we do.  He replied to my email that the 35+ Open category would meet my age and it was well open. 

It sounded harmless enough...you know a bunch of over 35s racing around a course showing off a variety of skills.  Damn it my actually be fun I thought.  Think again, my race went off at 1:30pm and as I lined up I started to notice some really fancy, shinny cycling gear on everyone but myself.  I got a sneaking suspicion that my bike was worth less than some of their skin suits.  Oh shit not again1?!   In speaking with a fellow rider I learned that this was the right category Open 35+ but that it was full of old A/professional riders.  Sweet! 

Anyway, the gun went off and there I was by myself again...whoosh everyone was gone in a flash!  The course was flat, sandy and dusty with some technical logs to cross so I thought that I would just ride my ride.  It was fun and even though I was not rubbing elbows I was racing against getting lapped.

 Somewhere around lap two or three my race goal came into view.  Another fella was in over his head or he had a cramp.  I was gaining ground on him and I figured if I 'could not DFL' that would suffice.  I eventually passed this guy and made sure that this Beermonger did not finish last, yipppeee!  However, the smile faded as the lead riders caught me on lap 5, whoops.

So here is what I have learned about racing far from home where the categories may be different.  Rule 1 - Forget the categories
Rule 2 - If you race in the morning in Oregon you are probably going to race in the morning everywhere else too.  This is a much better determinat of which race you should sign-up for then the category.
Rule 3 - Not all Cross scenes are as fun, friendly, and laid back as the PDX/Oregon scene.  These dudes in Colorado were serious and even though we were within 15 miles of 10 or so breweries I saw no post race beers being enjoyed on a sunny day. 

I am happy to be racing with my fellow Mongers in Oregon now.