HOLLAND RACE REPORT

Great day for a cyclocross race. And a great place, glad I was able to make this one - the course, utilizing the football stadium was, IMHO, the best one ever. Though I've missed the last two years. Anyway, glad I made it. This was the wild-ass entrance to the stadium where you could ride, hop, run, walk, take the stairs, the elevator, or just give up.

But if you gave up you wouldn't discover all the great prizes inside the stadium, or the Holland Soup Bowl of Cyclocross as I like to call it.

Here's the first prize you found, hecklehorn in hand, sharp wit, and attitude waiting for you at the top of the stairs.

Yeah, it's Cupcake with Hecklehorn in hand, ready to dish some dissin'. She had a great race right up until the moment she laid her bike down ... and then picked up her horn in anger. Yeah she hurt a lot of people, but that's what it's all about folks.

Other treats awaiting our brave racers inside the Holland Soup Bowl of Cyclocross was this guy. No, he's not a vagrant pouring sterno into his thermos, in fact I'll bet whatever he's mixing was probably pretty damn good.

Mixie-mixie- yummy-yummy-I got high powered booze in my tummy.

Yeah, it's our own CD, scopin' the scene at the top of the Soup Bowl.

Thanks to Jack Kunnen there was one shot of me racing. Here I am with a bunch of my buddies jammin' our way to the top of the bowl. You could ride this section if you were able and willing to hop a log - but not on the first lap. You were essentially next in line for check-out. I had a good race and I'm sure that I finished up on the podium. But like the TdF it appears that results take some time to process. I guess they're waiting for all the drug tests to come back from that French lab they use.

Nice view of the bottom of the bowl, which I think is a football field. The course design was absolutely a gas to race - and watch.

Here are the elite dudes coming down the outside of the bowl and headed back in. It's a wonder I snapped this they were going so fast.

The kit says foolish, but he's not really. Here's the man behind a lot of that sweet course design, and the wrenches at Velo City. Yeah kids, it's Mr. Foolish. You are pretty in pink, my man ...

A great little stair climb to get your ass out of the bowl. Here the guy in the lead has decided that the stairs take too long and has decided to go back down and take the elevator. I'm thinking that the other climbers are telling him something like, 'EXCUSE ME, EXCUSE ME, PARDON ME, MIND IF I GET BY? HEY ASSHOLE GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!"

Or something along those lines.

Mike Seaman shows us how to properly ascend the stairs. No cursing here. Nope, just one foot in front of the other. Hup-hup-hup!

After the race free shit was thrown to the crowd. Here it looks more like they are waiting for raw meat to get tossed out. Watch your hand, they'll bite it off!

The apres race party is the best in Holland. Racers and fans gathered at the Holland Brewery for beers, chili, and of course .... SOUP!

While the party was fun, everytime I took a picture of someone, the dman fun left their faces. Not glad to see me? Here's the fun-loving Mike S, looking not so fun-loving at Holland Brewery. People hate me, they do.

Even fun-loving Fast Freddy wasn't glad to see me. Though he did offer me some of his delicious chili. Thanks Freddy - now smile dammit!

After the race, after the party, the crowd went on a wild spending binge at Velo City. Here's MC Hammer trying to control the unruly mob that descended on his shop. It almost got ugly, people wrestling over compression socks ...

One last thing - glad to see a recovering Bastard back on his feet (note cast on left foot). Adam (Big Mac Bastard) was on hand to watch it all go down in the Soup Bowl with his side-kick Libby who was showing us her sweet ass in this shot. I thought if anybody would give me a smile for a nice photo for today's blog it would be an English Setter named Libby. So I bought her a hotdog, some chips, a beer, and some chili.

And what do you think I got in return?

Nice. Did you have to be such a bitch, Libby? Well I guess you are. Thanks for coming. Now go away little man.

Still thinking of riding tonight. The temps don't seem too bad, but it looks a tad wet.

Remember it's NO FENDER TUESDAY!