Photo: Amy Dykema

I am quite proud of my Bonebell Brethren charging up the lead and taking on the front of the pack! There is a good chance that Top 5 honors can be fought at Montrose for both of them and Nevada Dave and Stiggity have definitely worked towards their goals – its not an accident nor is just raw talent. Keeping at the lead of ‘any’ pack, takes persistence, dedication, and a plan (unless you’re Nevada Dave in which case, no rules apply other than ‘destroy at all costs!’).

I love to slide!
I love the photo above – I love it not because I’m a self deprecating kind of guy, but if you look closely, you can see the huge smile I have on my face while sliding down. I love these courses! I love that I enjoy CX so much that you will rarely see me in a pain cave despite doing 2 races on a hard course, in cold weather, and even with the nauseous sensation of vomit from a beer handup while pushing hard. It was the only time I went down in the race and it was the 2nd to last lap of the 1/2/3 race and I had been pushing every descent and corner to its limits and I finally paid for it on this one turn. I bring up the rear of the pack and pretty content doing so – someone has to do it – and I’ll do it with style – and I’ll never come in last (so far!). Besides, if all 3 of the Bonebell were bringing up the front, we’d surely be charged with a conspiracy.

Me like race.
Sunday marked the 1st time I was back in a race after 4 consecutive weekends of being away – if there is anything you learn on your own even without guidance from a team or coach, its that consistency is the key to any good work. I was on target to slowly working my way up (let me re-iterate s-l-o-w-l-y) in the Cat 3 and 1/2/3 on a weekly basis. I didn’t anticipate my travels very well and the entire, “Oh, I’ll bike while I’m on vacation and keep up” was replaced by the better mantra of “Yes, I’ll have another beer, rum & coke, and lets kill that pig and eat it.” I really felt it moreso than I usually do in a race this past Sunday. I dug deep in the Cat 3s to just not completely suck wind and I had a good battle with Adrien from Half Acre Cycling and ended up chasing a Flatlandia rider to battle for the supremacy of the Top 20, I failed and got 21. Despite how awful I felt with the lungs hacking up the new winter air – I signed up again for the 1/2/3s and figured I’d at least have an hour of power to make up for lost time. It was worth it! In fact, I’m going to pester Jim from Pony Shop to lemme watch some of that video action he took. He and I battled it out for a bit and I overtook him and I hope I did so in good fashion so that I look like I knew what I was doing in the video. In the end, we were both pooped riders trying to stay away from the hammers that were motoring behind us and eating us up.

It was a great weekend thanks to Phil who is originally from Woodstock and he invited the Sprockets crew, including Nevada Dave and I to spend the night at his family’s farm. It was a blast, it was a great time, and we ate everywhere that Bill Murray ate at during his 3 months of filming ‘Groundhog Day’. You couldn’t go anywhere in downtown Woodstock without see his mug posted on the wall. I think the urinal cakes at the diner had his face on it.

Go Phil for winning the 4As in his hometown in front of his family – a decisive win by a margin of over 30 seconds. Time to cat-up Phil.

The Bonebell Tolls:
This weekend I have to cheat and say that it tolls for 4 big teams. Why? Because – xXx Racing-Athletico had a tent up with brats and snacks. Chicago Cuttin’ Crew had the usual bus (the battery died that is how hard it rocked!) and food and beer and hooligans. Half Acre Cycling had great free beer and motivation to keep on trucking. Pony Shop has so many friggin’ riders that I can’t tell whether I’m being lapped or moving ahead in the field.

All four teams have been bringing the noise on to keep the Chi Cross Cup as absolutely interesting and motivating as possible – keep it up – we need all of us to keep this tradition going hard for many years to come. My daughter is counting on it!