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THURSDAY RIDE REPORT PLUS A BIG WEEKEND OF CROSS RACING - FROM PUKING UNDER THE LIGHTS TO GOING SOUTH FOR FINE WINE HAND-UPS

Sean Davison glad to be back after a harrowing  Bastard ride on Thursday night.

Anything Goes Thursday Crazy Bastard ride was fantastic in that I thought I was going to fucking die at around 7 mile and Corrigan. I kid you not. It all started when I got to the lot late and only Sean D was there waiting to ride. Saddled up rolled out and was having a wonderful ride, on slightly wet roads, when the wind from hell hit us a nearly put is in a ditch. Jeeeeeesuuuuuuschristo I thought that was it. We hid by a garage (nobody home) until it let up and then flew back to the cars, headed to the HC and guzzled Guiness until we felt human again. Great ride, great fun, if you missed, well you missed it.

Putting a soaked and muddy foot down.

Some were worried we wouldn't make it back home alive and waited a call that we were okay. Other could have cared less .... 

NOW ON WITH THE RACING!

Anyway it looks like an awesome weekend of cross racing is in store and I for one am going to try the East-West Double. The action starts out  on Saturday night, October 1st, with a fine Tailwind race under the lights at Munson. The schedule of this particular race (Munson) is turned upside down because of the night racing with the Elites starting at 6 pm and ending with the Cat 4's at 9:30 pm, so check it out before you roll. Don't miss your race! And remember there is plenty of time to sober up after Saturday Football tailgating and whatever, drive over, race and then vomit like you were going to anyway. This is an exciting night race and you should really give it a go.

Here's a video of last year's action. See if you can catch all the shots of Amy Haney, Cupcake, and myself. I don't think that there's a shot of Jeff The Slayer, but he won a tough 45+ race here, last year, going away, and I'm sure he's going to come back and try to repeat.

On the following day there's a new KISSCROSS making its debut in Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo is awesome, and very civilized, so I'm thinking we'll be having Chablis and Truffle hand-ups. Can't wait to spit that shit all over the official like I did that Twinkie hand-up in Lansing last week.

We'll be giving some special awards for all the Bastards that make both races. Yes, you will be made an example of, kids.

SINGLE SPEED TUESDAY REPORT AND GOT MUD? LOOKS LIKE THIS COULD BE THE YEAR.

Good ride last night, with plenty of Bastards warming up their fat tires for some unknown reason. Still had my favorite SS buddy, Mr. Kim Lee on hand to keep the SS Tuesday tradition alive. We're not giving up until they pry our single speeds out of our slightly cold and clamy hands and fill them with free beers.

 Not much to report on last night's ride other than the entire group took a wrong turn and I was the only one that remained on course. Of course I received plenty of phone calls minutes later wondering where the hell I was. It went done like this:

"Where the hell are you?"

"Are you lost?"

"Are you lost?"

"No you stupid shits, you're lost!"

"We can't be lost we're all here!"

"Do any of you know where you are?"

"Not exactly."

"Duh."

(Sound of  iPhone being put back on the hook.)

In other cyclocross news here's a well done promo from the USGP. I'm not sure if any of the footage is from last week's race in Madison, but it could have been. Anyway, nice video, good mud. I've got a feeling we're all going to be seeing some of the gooey stuff this year. Just sayin', sayin'.

U.S. gran prix of cyclocross from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.

Also just in video from Sunday's Stomach of Anger Race. It's the front end of the B's, but you'll notice as some of the Cat 4 Women cross the line that one of them is getting a load of heckling from a team mate(?). Yeah you know who I'm talking about. Listen in, Hecklehorn-Cupcake listeners, as Laura gives her mom a good heckle-horn hiding.

Check tomorrow in for an upcoming list of rides and racing for Thursday and the weekend. 

SINGLE SPEED TUESDAY IN THE RAIN? PHOTOS FROM STOMACH OF ANGER

Single Speed Tuesday? The way the rain is falling I'm going to need to put floats on that thing. Check back later for an update.

Also just in: more photographic proof that the race in Lansing did take place. And was fun. Again, all thanks to Big Mac Daddy Bastard's camera and posting skillz. You'll notice in the shot an arm holding (you can barely see it) a shot of whiskey in one hand and a heckle horn in the other - all for a galloping Big Mac. Another nice shot - Surly running the barriers, holding his new bike up and inspecting a loose from skewers. Hey that's multi-tasking, isn't it? Anyway, enjoy, and start looking for your rain coats.

(Just click on this photo to access Adam's full Flicker Album)

CRAZY BASTARDS GO TO VEGAS BABY PLUS STOMACH OF ANGER REPORT

Big Mac productions has outdone himself with a "film," not just a video, on Cross Vegas. How one guy could shoot all this alone, amazes me (okay it looks like Sarah helped alot). Well done Big Mac! And thanks for flying the Crazy Bastard colors! Well done!

BRIEF STOMACH OF ANGER RACE REPORT

Lots of Bastards showed up and represented with some great rides, and groovy cross style at the first Stomach of Anger Race. While the new course was a bit bumpy, you couldn't say that the SOA hadn't done their work. Grass was mowed down, raked, it was well marked, and had a wonderful bunch of turns, berms, the some off-camber, and a whole lot of fun (once you let the air out of your tires). By the end of the day it was getting a nice groove to it and should be in even better condition by the next race. The promoters were, great, neat swag for the winners, the scoring was top-notch and all you had to worry about was having fun. On side note, this looks like its going to be a dedicated cross park for the city of Lansing, similar to the park in Louisville.

As far as Bastards and West Siders we had Scott Nason doing his first official cross race coming in at the very top (4th!) of a big 35 plus Cat 4 field.  Well done Scott. Big Mac was flying in a super tough Cat 3 race and had a great race despite a lung full of bubonic plague. Patrick Drueke, who has been racing all over the place, was also in the brutal B/Cat 3 race.  Good to see you Patrick! ANOTHER LATE ADDITION: Scott Walburn also hit it hard in the blazing fast Bs and took 11th out of 30+ racers. Nice job Scott!

 Nancy Lange was competitive as always and I believe she made the podium in the women's Cat 4. Cupcake (aka) Laura M took the win in the women's Elite Cat 123 race and even did a shot of some really nasty whisky while clearing the barriers. NOW THAT'S style! Craig (Flying Bats) and Fast Freddy took on the States Top Elites, as well as top 45 plus guys in a huge battle. Freddy took 4th in a really, really hard battle. Anyway it was a great race - nice to see old friends, race hard (man I am so tired today!) roll tires, knock wheels loose, crash, and all the fun that is cross racing. I hope to have some photos as soon as Andrea Tucker posts her photos, later today.

Next week: MUNSON NIGHT RACE!

If you like racing under the lights, this is the place to be. But more on that later. It's only Monday.

Cross Racing Weekend

As soon as I get the photos back from Walgreen's of last night's Glue Party I'll be posting them. As for now  here's a little video of the pre-ride of the USGP course in Madison. Should be a lot of the Tailwind folks there, along with Kim Thomas right now. Good luck to all of them, we'll post any notable results when we get them. Hope to see some of you at the Stomach of Anger tomorrow. Could be fun, we'll see.

Now take you sighting-in lap.

Tubular Gluing Party and Barrier Clinic Tonight

What a can of tubular glue looks like if you use it in a confined space without proper ventilation.

Planning on a little Tubular Gluing Party, and possibly a little barrier clinic tonight at the Bastard Headquarters starting at around 6-ish. I'll have a few beers in the fridge, some cross porn, and barriers if you feel like hopping around.

Let me know if you plan on coming. Bring those wheels - I've got some glue!

Also: If I get time I'll be putting up a report on the ride last night - the best part - the party at the HC afterward. We are such social butterflies, we bastards ...

Awesome Cyclocross Video Action and Anything Goes Thursday Ride

Just to keep your cross passion fueled until this weekend of racing (USGP Madison Wisconsin / Stomach of Anger Lansing) here are couple of videos to chew on. The first is from the recent Star Crossed race. It has my favorite title of all time: JOEY'S OK. While Joey may be "OK" in a sense that his head and extremities are still attached to the the big, meaty part of him, his dismount skillz are not quite there yet. I'd like to see his remount.

Back to Chicago one more time. Here's a video of the first lap of the 4Bs. As it has been said, that while the leader's amazing bike handling skillz, or lack of, are amazing to behold, the fact that it takes almost a minute for one of two Cat 4 races to pass by is really something that should be appreciated. There were two of these races, this one the most "fun" as you can see by those racers in tutus and flannel shirts, bringing up the year. Pick up your cow bell, you heckle horn and join in.

Tonight is Anything Goes Thursday, and I'm not quite sure what that means. Anyway, I'm not planning on riding hard tonight, but I'm sure that there will be some flyers up front testing each other like lab rats to see what kind of pace will make them whimper and cry or rollover and give up first.

Hey, I'm out front, I'm all alone, my tail has no light and I don't know how to get back to Townsend Park. Whaaaaaaa!

Should you crack under the strain of Anything Goes Thursday, we've hired a SAG wagon to pick you and your bike up. I think that's Jurrien's pinky in the the back.

Some team members will be riding our new team bike tonight, seen above in the boxes. These will cost our top riders $00000.00, because well, they're stolen.

Last night while participating in a race in which I didn't race (?) I was asked about my new whip, which wasn't clearly seen in earlier photos. Well here is a better shot. I' hope you're satisfied now.

 Hope to see you tonight. We won't need lights with sunset at around 7:40, though something blinky might be good to let the world know you're there. We roll at six, it should be a pleasant night for a ride - see you there.

Single Speed Tuesday Report - Dude Where'd I Put My Bike?

Dude where did I leave my Single Speed? Maybe in Chicago? I left it locked up next to the Red Line - as in the Red Line Subway Line, not the bike brand.

Single Speed Tuesday was once again a thing of single speeding super-funess. My legs felt crap, but what better way to churn out the battery acid than one looooong spin on one lonely gear. While we were joined by a host of other riders sporting multiple gears (hey we don't don't hate on people just because of the number of gears their bike has, we have other criteria for that) there were a good number of single-speeders there to pay homage to the SS Tuesday tradition.

This rider has probably has rocked the most rides on an SS - yes it's our own cow loving friend Doctor Mr. Kim Lee. He was there last night, no flats, no problem. Now how about a warm cup of milk, Betsy?

Maybe I was wrong, maybe this guy has done the most rides on an SS since he rolled all last winter on his Super-Fly SS rig. Anyway, right up with the flyers last night, Matty Ice. Well done, Ice Ice Baby.

Here's Doctor Awesome on one gear - Doctor Ben Doctor. That's DBD to you, mister. Ben rolled at the back in steerage last night, though we know he could have ripped the legs off the front group and fed them to them like like deep fried smelts in a basket. Nice guy, thanks for the easy roll DBD.

Also joining us, just back from a Heckle Horn engagement in Chicago, the fun loving and dirt loving Cupcake. Yeah she's just getting warmed up for a season Heckle Horn Hilarity, kids.

Not seen, but equally loved, or not, Werdy (thanks for hauling me back) Lee, Dave H, some Speed Merchant guys that didn't bother to check in at the door, Killer Mike K ... and this guy:

Well, hope I didn't forget anybody. Anyway, here's a little video that I just picked up on the Double Cross from this past weekend. Hated to miss this, the course was great, and there's a great bunch to race with. The following weekend I'll be there for the Munson Night race. See you for anything goes Thursday ride. Still rolling at 6 - no lights or tie required. Yet.

2011 Michigan Double Cross Short from Hans Nyberg on Vimeo.

Single Speed Tuesday - Are You Ready to Roll to Next Race?

"Get in that ASSSSS!" Chicago Cross Cup Racing at its finest -  well, maybe.

Big thanks again to our friends at Chicago Cross Cup for the great race this weekend. Jackson Park is always a blast, and if you ever get a chance to make on their series race, this is the one I recommend - maybe just because it's in the shadow of downtown - but maybe because the weather is so mild you can really enjoy the city and the "scene" more comfortably as a spectator and a tourist. Want to see more on this race check out yesterday's post below.

You don't need to ride on the sidewalk, or walk your bike in Chicago. Unlike Grand Rapids, Chicago is a truly bike friendly city, with real, respected bike lanes. I love riding downtown Chicago. I rode all over downtown - financial district, theater district, museums, even on Michigan avenue. Was never honked at once - or run off the road (bike lane).

Time to race - and pack all the shit that goes with cross racing - bikes, wheels, repair stand, power washer and wheels, wheels, wheels. With a number of out-of-town races coming up for the next few weeks (Lansing this coming weekend) there will be a lot of this going on.

 Packing for yourself is a mess too - lots of shoes, helmets, gloves - and of course a heckle horn.

Tonight is Single Speed Tuesday, in case you've forgotten in all the fun of the first week of cross racing. Let me know if you have any results from you race this weekend and we'll lob it up here so everybody can be amazed at how awesome - or sucky you are. See you Bastards tonight - remember you don't need a Single Speed to ride on Tuesday.

Cross Weekend Report: Chicago Cross Cup - No Park is Safe!

Hot socks and chicks on cyclocros bikes. It's gotta be Chicago Cross Cup at Jackson Park.

The new whip. Better than me.

Packed up and rolled into the first week of racing on the road for 2011 like it was yesterday - and it was. Last week, due to the heat we had, I'm marking down to a warm-up. Thanks to all the promoters that wasted $10,000 worth of course tape so I could have a warm-up. You guys are awesome. This week is was Chicago, some rain, a little mud, hundreds of racers and tons of fun.

Great fields and great crowds that love cheering on the racers.

Fabulous first week of racing kicked off with the Chicago Cross Cup opener in Jackson Park. Must have bee 650 racers - jammed packed fields, and lots of fun. These people know how to put on a show.

 As well as knowing how to heckle. It's an artform in Chicago. I think there's a Heckling Museum of Cross downtown somewhere near the Watertower.

 Who's this in Chicago? Why it's our own Jurrien aka Etho Bastard, flying the colors of FreeWheeler in a packed field of 100 racers. 

Jurrien started DFL and ended up mid-pack which means he busted about 50 racers in a tight and twisty course. Other Grand Rapidians not seen: Kim Thomas, who took 5th in the Women's Elite, followed by Laura "Cupcake" Melendez who also had a good showing in Women's Elite. Laura was also on the podium in the Heckling department. She should could hang with the best of the Chicago Hecklers. Well done Laura! They won't forget you right away. (Check out the video of the Juniors!)

 Entertainment on course: a polka band of course. Hey, it's Oktoberfest okay.

And how about a first lap jamboree for the women's 4 field? Nothing but fun ladies.

For even more attitude: check out this 4A action - nice heckling - love the "Tokyo Drift Baby" heckle. Also - "It's a fast corner, you should be going fast!" I ran over a dude in this corner during my my race. As I rolled over his legs I looked down and simply said, "Awesome dude, you should get up!"

The Juniors also had a huge field. You couldn't believe how some of these kids could race! This clip features our favorite junior Cassidy, that Cupcake mercilessly heckled every time she came through this barrier.

You can see the attitude of the Chicago Cross Cup series in season "teaser" video below.

Get Ready from Heather Jurewicz on Vimeo.

While back at home there was racing in GR and at Tailwinds. I hated missing the Double Cross opener at Waterford. This year's course was better than ever (got to test it out last week at a practice race). Wished I could have been there. New reports on the way home had Jeff Haney (Slayer) taking the podium on Saturday and Sunday, even after suffering a rolled tubular. Well done Jeffy! Amy Haney also was on the Podium both days with an outstanding effort fighting through mechanical and a trip through the tape. It was a tough course, and you need to be tough to handle it. Way harder than the Chicago course.

Here's a video from the practice at Waterford the week before. You can see some of the obstacles and such. Long and demanding I don't know why I wished I was there ... but I did. Can't wait to get back racing that series again a week from now.

Speaking of practice, I'm going to try to figure out a day for some barrier practice. After watching a few races, I've seen, and heard, that there's still a need for some more practice and polishing of technique.

Hopefully I'll have more photos and videos of the races here, and Tailwind tomorrow.  Until Single Speed Tuesday - later.

RIDE REPORT: COLD? DARK? THE CRAZY NASTYASS BASTARDS DON'T CARE.

Like the Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger the Crazy Nastyass Bastards don't care about much, either. The cold. The mud. The snow. Fuzzy stuffed animals. Small, whimpering children. Helpless animals. Other people's sensitive feelings. Nastyass Crazy Bastards don't care. Don't believe me? Well I don't care if you do or you don't.

Well it wasn't that cold last night, actually, so who cares about the Honey Badger? Nobody. I just wanted an excuse to run this video one more time. We had a good group last night, with plenty of adventure. Jeff Z, Dave H, Jurrien (Aka Etho-Bastard), Dan Dan DB, Scott Chambers, Marshall, and a couple of new friends that I  will be getting official ID's from later.

ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE

We had some further mechanical adventures as Jeff Z had a nearly unfixable flat and was forced to to hitch a ride almost all the way back to Townsend with these people.

Miraculously Jeff made it back to the lot for some post-ride beers. Actually, they were pretty nice folks that gave him a lift from the furthest reaches of the loop, to the half-way mark.

LET THE CROSS RACING BEGIN

With the first week of intro-cross racing in non-cross weather, it looks like the season is beginning in earnest this week. Some of you will be in the backyard at the KISSCROSS Highland race, while others are headed to the TAILWIND Race at Waterford Raceway. Having raced the Waterford Racecourse just last week let me tell you that that course is absolutely awesome - Flyover included. It's also a two day race so you could race it Saturday, and make the KC race on Sunday for a sweet double. Some other racers are making the trek to Chicago for the first race of the Chicago Cross Cup season at Jackson Park. This Chicago Cross Cup race near downtown is always a rocking affair, and has already set a record for most preregs in the series 8 year history. This morning there were already 630 riders registered, and several of the races - the Cat 4 races (We call them C races) are both closed (there is an A & a B race) with 200 racers.

While we had some racing and cross practices last week, and I think I gave a brief report on that action, I just now got some visuals for the race that Kim Thomas did last weekened. It was a big race, with national and international riders. It was the real thing with plenty of flying mud and top riders. Here's a shot of Kim showing us how its done, and a slide-show-video featuring some of the other stars that were there.

Enjoy! And have a fun, fast and safe weekend of racing.

Kim, paddling through some thin Pennsylvania slop at Nittany Cross last week.

Here's what the rest of the race looked like. Let me know what you think of the Rapha team kits.

RIDE TONIGHT - EMBRO OR KNEE WARMERS?

Looking forward to a nice ride tonight to get the legs moving before a hearty fall weekend of 'cross racing. Also, had a nice small clinic last night with successful results - we all learned something and nobody crashed. Anyway, I'm thinking about adding some more clothes tonight - don't think we'll need lights, but if you're extremely scared of the dark, you can bring them - and plenty of Co2 cartridges to share with your friends.

Just for fun here's the finish of last night's the Men's Elite Cross Vegas race - we're waiting for the real report from our correspondent in Vegas, Big Mac, with hopefully more of his editorial video goodness. Stay tuned.

SINGLE SPEED TUESDAY IN THE BOOKS - WHAT TO DO WEDNESDAY ON DECK

 Yeah, this says it all about last night's ride.

Another Single Speed Tuesday in the books and what a great one that ride was. Nice even pace, no gaps, everybody just rolling along. Great riders with enough horsepower to tear the thing to pieces if they want to ...

Just three of the characters aboard for last night's ride Fast Freddy, Flying Bats, Cupcake and Matty Ice: not seen Are Bob H, Chuck, Mike K, Kim Lee, Matty Ice, Chris Vitton (mending from injuries) myself and I forget who else right now because of all the Guinessessesss.

While I don't have a photo of Jurrien on the ride last night - it was nice to see his rig pull up in the parking lot. You just know it's going to be party time on the gravel.

NOW FOR THE ADVENTURE PART OF THE PROGRAM

OR

HOW WE ALMOST LOST MR. (AKA DR.) KIM LEE FOREVER

Was he lost? Injured? Had a mechanical? Or had he been KIMNAPPED by Meth Lab criminals?

So Jurrien and I are pedaling along on our SSss complimenting each other on how cool we both are when we look the group over (which was easy since it was altogether and not strung out over the countryside by Cat 6 style jumps) and at the same time we both say: WHERE THE FUCK IS KIM??????????????????

Horrified, we both drop off, but as we see the group start to melt away ahead of us, and seeing nothing behind us, we make a split decision, because I was farther back, I headed back to look for Mr. Kim Lee, while Jurrien chased back to the group (he's faster anyway) to tell them we LOST ONE.

So I pedal, pedal, pedal. And then I pedal, pedal, pedal some more. And some more. I keep following the route backwards for miles. Still no Kim Lee. Now the leaves are starting to change and people are putting up their Halloween decorations. Then Thanksgiving decorations. A mile later somebody is inflating Santa and Seven Dwarfs and I'm getting worried that he's been KIMNAPPED!

I get all the way back to where I last saw him (literally within feet) and there he is on the side of the road, blowing up tube number two, which is also flat.

To make matters worse he had to deal with one of these:

Kim's version had all sorts of extra crap, like tensioners and stuff so it made it that much harder to deal with. Also, he apparently paid no attention to my new rule of ...

NO MORE PUMPS!!!

Just say no to these things, will ya?

So he was trying to pump up a flat tire. Well, having taken heed of my own rule (I'm the only one I guess) I pulled out a handful of Co2s and we were on the road. Explored a few new roads and listened to Kim's amazing life and stories. I even believed a few of them, but not many. Kind of like my stories.

So it was back to the lot, where everybody was running around, gassing up the helicopter to find us, when we rolled in cracked some beers and chilllllled-the-fuck-out while telling them of our great adventures about fighting off pirates.

We the reconvened at a packed HC where we ran into practically everyone and anyone that owned some kind of a bicycle. Apparently they were riding the game area for the last time since it would seem that bulldozers are coming tomorrow to fill it in. Good luck on that one.

At the HC we met people like this:

And saw things like this ...

And talked about stuff like this ...

And of course this ...

And had a few more of these ...

... All while we plotted and planned our next few weeks of cyclocross racing and fun. Trying to decided about tonight; if anyone is interested in having a cross clinic let me know and I'll break out the plastic training barriers.

See you ... I need more aspirin now, thank you.

SINGLE SPEED TUESDAY TONIGHT

Single Speed Tuesday - Does she qualify?

Single Speed Tuesday has once again raised it's gnarly hipster head as it always does right after Monday is through with us. I'm looking forward to it, as I know many of you are - maybe. Anyway while it is okay to ride any kind of bike, regular gears or SS, the young lady above, from the Sartorialist, forwarded me this photo and asked it it was okay to join in our Single Speed Tuesday fun. Well, one look and I was horrified, as I'm sure you are up viewing this mess. While SS,  standard and even fixed gearing is okay I refuse to ride with somebody rocking one of those internal-hub geared bikes. Absolutely disgusting! It's not really any kind of bike at all in my book. What does she think this is? Florida? I'm sure you'll all agree with me and will be happy that I have banned her from the ride.

See you tonight. We roll at 6 - if you think you're going to be late, leave a note or call somebody that's riding and we'll wait a reasonable amount of time.

SEASON CROSS OPENER OR APPETIZER? WEEK ONE CROSS REPORT

TAILWIND CROSS CLINIC AND PRACTICE RACE

Great practice and training race at Waterford Raceway put on by the good people at Tailwind. Here's just a little of the action ... practicing the other side of the Orange Crush. Wheeeeeew! Some people may think that flyovers are passe, but let me tell you the newbies loved that damn thing.

Of course going down was a gas, but going up was all about getting gassed.

Lots of people on hand for the clinic, and the race. Probably 80 altogether. I think the clinic had three different groups.

Did I mention the awesome course? Yeah, it was awesome, one of the best yet in the Waterford venue, I think - fast, fun, and challenging - created once again by the master of course design - Joe Brown. I think he's smiling at his handy work.

Great instructor, and great racers, Anne Schwartz looks like she got some great form this year.

Got a lot of good practice in, felt good in the practice races and took home a little prize.

A sunburn! Getting a sunburn at a cyclocross race, even if it's just for practice is wrong!

KIM THOMAS RACES AT NITTANY CROSS

Meanwhile Kim Thomas was out racing Nittany Cross in some hell-hole place called Pennsylvania, and playing with the big kids - in some pretty nasty mud. Kim was going against some of the top women in the world, and holding her own. Well done Kim! 

While I don't have and photos of Kim in the mud, here's a fuzzy photo of some of the women running through the slop, and a video of the men killing it over the barriers.

KISSCROSS OPENER AT PLASTER CREEK

After all that it was back home again for the KISSCROSS opener at Plaster Creek. The day started cool (after getting fried at Waterford I was looking forward to some cooler temps, but it flared back up again and super-hot by the time that the A's rolled. Lots of fun, lots of people and a crazy course that was fun to ride. My only comment is that if that's the last Spiral of Death I ever have to do, I'm cool.

While I don't have any photographs of the event, you can check out Julie McGraw Photography for some sweet shots of the event. Also Jack Kunnen, our resident KISSCROSS pro photographer has photo uploading from Plaster Creek as I type this.

Also a tip of the cap to Rick Plite for the American flag on the finishing line, and a moment of silence in rememberance of 9.11 before the start. Well done Rick.

NEXT WEEK

Now that the season is on it's getting organized for the next week of racing at the Double Cross in Waterford, or in Chicago. No matter what, I'm going to need more tires and wheels. Here's one of my "wrenches" picking out some good ones for week two. I suggested the ones with tread and now holes.

CROSS VEGAS REPORT?????

Hopefully we'll have a report from some of our Bastardly correspondents out in Cross Vegas. Cyclocross Magazine will also be offering a live feed of the race. I'll put up a link here, so stay tuned.

See you all tomorrow for Single Speed Tuesday - I have more rules and regulations for the ride, which I'm sure no one will care about. Right now, it's no pumps, just Co2, okay?