A weekend not wasted

On Saturday I hopped on my bike, rode for a less than excruciating twelve minutes, and arrived at the cyclocross race in Veterans Park without even breaking a sweat. The first order of business was to search for my people (they're not quite hip enough to be peeps).

Hank the junior phenom, Jon Benoit, and Will "I can pull a wheel outta my ass" Bolt discuss the finer points of owning a boutique, appointment-only bike shop.

I got there to the venue in time to bust out one lap on my not ready for prime time fixed/brakeless cross bike. The course was a blast (the best cross course I've seen, and I've seen like five of them now), and I even had trouble negotiating on downhill off camber turn to the point that I popped out of it and shot under the course tape due to poor fixie skills.

The first race of the day was the Masters Class, and I got to see my boy Captain Morgan whoop up on his fellow old men.

He crushed the competition even though he only had just a little Captain in him.

Captain Morgan is one of those guys I just hate. He's good at endurance races and the short shit I totally suck at (but still enjoy).

Captain Morgan won the LSD prime, but did not realize that he had to wait till after the race to collect.

I got to stick around for one more race, the CX3's and the women.... ahhhh, the women.

Here Beth Frye is launching off the front in an attempt (a successful one at that) to catch and destroy most of the male CX3's that started ahead of her. She is such a little monster, and like Captain Morgan she stomps at endurance races too, and also like Captain Morgan, I hate her.

I don't understand my attraction to cross. I really suck at it... I mean reeeeaaaaallly suck at it, but I still think it's awesome. It's like an adult version of tag with strange boundaries played out on bikes. Ask me to ride hilly nilly around some urban park on a Saturday and I'd scoff at the suggestion, but set up some course tape and say go and all the sudden it's a great idea.

I want a cross bike, specifically I want a MOOTS Psychlo X, but with horizontal drops because I'm all hard core like that. I would never be able to do a bunch of cross races though, as this time of year I am making up for all the traveling I did over the summer and spending time close to home. For example fifteen minutes before the SS Class started I left and headed home to get in the car, pick up my mom, and head to an adoption expo to watch The Pie spread knowledge on those who would seek it. Obviously being there to support her while she does some good in the world and makes a difference in people's lives has to be a priority... at least in the off season.

I consoled myself Saturday night with a loaf of Trader Joe's Beer Bread made with a .67¢ can of Simple Times Lager (tastes like shit, but makes a decent loaf of bread).

Sunday I headed to the Lowe's Motor Speedway for The Big Stampede swap meet. It's getting harder and harder to find shit that I need there, but I think that has more to do with the fact that I have fewer needs rather than a diminishing selection. I didn't find the $700 cross/road bike of my dreams or the elusive cheap mountain tandem I've been looking for over the past decade. I did find these:

They were EXACTLY what I was looking for. I almost paid retail for these things at REI a month or so ago, but I decided to hold out for the swap meet. There was ONE PAIR in MY SIZE... fate, kismet, whatever you wanna call it. The cycling gods were looking out for me. Why would I buy a pair of semi-running/semi-riding shoes? Work. These past few years I've just worn an old nasty pair of shoes that were on their last legs when the temperatures got too cold for sandals. Walking around uptown Charlotte on a pair of hard soled shoes gets old, and when it's super cold you can feel the shock all the way up your spine with every heel strike. I'm old and fragile, and my comfort has to take a priority sometimes, and when comfort comes at a steep discount I'm in.

I purchased some other less than fun crap and went home satiated, but not thrilled. I hardly consumed at a rate that would keep America safe from terrorism (under GW's plan). The weekend was full, and sadly, over.

Next weekend... the big Hush Hush ride. I'm actually nervous??? Maybe.