Vague Idea Racing: Winning isn't everything

But it certainly is a lot closer to "everything" than second. Honestly it just plains blows third outta the water, and unless your Dave "Fourth Place" Cormier it makes fourth look like dog poop. I'm not talking about bike racing of course, where I find any place that finds me at the finish line ahead of half the field acceptable. I'm talking about contests... more specifically winning contests.

I know what you're thinking. "Doesn't Dicky win some major contest every year?" Well, the answer is no... sort of. I did win the 2006 Race Face Ultimate XC Challenge in 2006 and get the chance to represent Race Face alongside The Wonderboy at the 2006 Trans Rockies with the help of your votes. In 2007 I was selected for the Santa Cruz Hell Ride and given the chance to ride with Mark Weir in Downieville and win a Santa Cruz Nomad. No doubt Mike Ferrentino (Santa Cruz wise guy and much-better-writer-than-me for Bike magazine) selected me since so many of you read my highly influential blog, thus I do owe that success to you, my readers. Just last year I won the Breck Epic Blogger's Grant and got a free entry into the Breck Epic thanks to your support and votes. Notice anything?

I did not win anything in 2008. Zero, nada, zilch. There was a contest that I tried to win, but I failed. Tomi and I tried to get into the BC Bike Race on the premise of riding seven days of BC singletrack rife with North Shore structures on fixed gears. We were not selected. Who was? I have no idea either, as they must have been quite boring and didn't bother to share their experience with the class.

That's what's important here. I think that the more blog readers that vote for me the better the odds the celebrity panel will know who the true winner is without tossing dice or drawing straws (which happens to be how Canadianicans pick their political leaders). The mostest important thing is that if you vote for me AND THEY SELECT ME I will come home with a week's worth of blog fodder and a whole bunch of video to edit of me and Stabby riding lift assisted trails for a week to ten days. If I win you will be entertained. If not I will spend that week of blogging discussing what's in the two blue bins under my bike rack that sits across from my desk at Bad Idea Racing Headquarters. The actual winner of the contest might end up going to BC, riding for ten days, take Polaroids, write in a journal, and then put the photos and journal in a time capsule which contents may never to be seen by our generation. Sad, isn't it?

Some of you might be thinking "The Dick, riding in a bike park? WTF mate?" Some of you will recall that before my blog days I had an infatuation with Death Bikes. I owned a Santa Cruz Bullit the first year they were available. My addiction grew as time went by and eventually I was riding a 42lb Craftworks FRM125 with a 7lb Marzocchi Z150 fjork.

Who hucks the gnar? Dick hucks (hucked) the gnar, fool.

What about Stabby? I have him to blame for that whole phase of my life. When I first saw him on his Rocky Mountain Pipeline complete with its wicked Dia Compe cable actuated disc brakes (we're talking late 90's here, so give him a break) I was hooked. I dropped his bike off a three foot camping pad at Tsali, grabbed my AMP Rsearch B4, dropped it, broke it, bought a ti frame, got bored quickly, saw the two page add for the Bullit, and thus began my free ride infatuation. Stabby was the inspiration for it all, and we've had plenty of great times pushing our own personal limits together (it wasn't as gay as it sounds).

Does Stabby have the skills to take advantage of a trip to BC?

I should think so. Stabby's got some booster boots.

Yes, it's been years since we've done some of the more stupid things we used to do, but a few days of riding lifts, shredding the gnar, and sipping Kokanees should shake out the cobwebs. No, I will not be riding the Meatplow or the Death Stick. We'll get the rental bikes that are included in the prize package, and we shall ride them as one drives a rental car, with absolute reckless abandon and no concern for personal safety.

Go check out my entry into the contest. If you are an avid reader here you will not be disappointed. There are plenty of spelling errors and enough grammar issues to merit a C+ in a junior high English class. I assure you that upon my triumphant return from BC you can expect more of the same quality reading.

So vote for me... and essentially Stabby. I could try to win you over by saying that Stabby was in my pits at many 12/24 hour races (including my win at the 2006 24 Solo Single Speed World Championship... VICTORY!!!), but I'm not gonna get all sappy and try to guilt you into voting (see how I snuck that in there??). Yes, the voting is on Facebook... whatever. I am aware that Facebook will eventually replace going outside and doing things, but as I learned in Terminator 3 you can't deny the inevitable future of Judgment Day.

You can vote once a day, and the voting portion of the contest is over Monday. What I ask of you is that you vote one vote each day until Monday for a total of three votes. I got a late start on this contest, and I need to crush all comers with an onslaught of angry blog fans. I encourage you to join an angry mob. It can be a lot of fun.

Don't forget, you can leave a comment of high praise when you vote and you can share your vote with your facefriends encouraging them to join the angry mob. Misery loves company, mobs like to be more mobbier.

In the words of the Violent Femmes...