Spectation 2012

Spectating.

There's not much too it.

I showed up at the Spoke Easy a little after 5:00PM and started drinking Fat Tire from a Christmas mug I borrowed from work (I'm taking it back today).  I spent the next two hours chatting with excited alley catters and discussing the negative aspects of being a fat skinny person with the owner of Sweet B Unrefined desserts.  When the race was ready to begin, I headed over to the remote start, poorly marshaled an intersection, and then headed back to the Spoke Easy for more beer.

And that's how you spectate an alley cat.

I did take out my phone to take one terrible picture and then spent the rest of the evening being regaled by tales of glory and missed opportunity.
The next morning, I did not feel like waking up and riding 16 miles to the North Carolina Single Speed Championship Race.  I pretty much assumed I would just skip it and make the best of a 70° fall day, but then The Pie woke up and told me I should go.  So at the last minute, I hopped in the Fit of Rage and sped up (or down?) I85 to arrive just before the start... or at least the intended start.

Faster Mustache's Kurt Rampton had a saddle issue, and being a Charlotte celebrity, the race was delayed to allow for his late inclusion. Once the race went off, I jumped on my bike for some aggressive spectating.  That meant yelling lots of positive reinforcements such as "GO!" and "GO GET HIM!", perhaps a couple instances of mechanical assistance, and very little to no soul stealing VIA image taking.  I can't yell and scream and take decent photos, so why try?

I managed to catch the lead riders in at least six places on the course before returning to the start/finish to hear more tales of athleticism.

photo cred: Gwyneth Lodge Rampton

Winners won (a man with a twitter account worth more than $18), others didn't, cross racing followed, a mountain biker on a single speed won that.

photo cred: Gwyneth Lodge Rampton

Tim "The Gentle Ginger" Anderson crushed all comers with his jersey agape and by hopping all the barriers and riding up the rock infested run-up.  It was an impressive win after slugging it out to a 5th place finish in the Open SS race just minutes before.

And that would fill my need to be a spectator for 2012.