I Dug Hard.

Photo: Luke Seeman

This season was indeed incredibly well done by everyone who promoted, participated, and raced in the Chicago CX Cross Series. In perusing the tantamount database of online photos – the photo captured by Luke Seeman above sums up how I felt this cyclocross season on a personal level. I heard great support shouted out by my friends and family, I never failed to hustle when I needed to most (in front of the crowd naturally) and the prize was always off in the distance, attainable, and yet not – just like the dollar bill handup wrapped in bacon in the picture, so tastily close. Last year I was a mid-pack hero, and had no training plan other than commuting to work and surviving by the good graces of dirtbaggin’ skills. This year, I remain a mid-pack hero, and I actually did train my ass off and did intervals for the first time in years. Compared to my typical nemesi from last year, I held well and surprised myself here and there. My faithful endurance training served me well in keeping up good form for two races every Sunday and through the U.S. Gran Prix races. I even relished in the awakening of my running legs and my youthful spunk became evident anytime a runup or a sandy section appeared before me – I was destined to please the crowd with how wicked fast I can negotiate those sections. If only that speed were always present. The best heckle I heard – “At least your wheels look fast!”. The final review in the 3 part HED Stinger 60 review is coming up soon.

The Blue
The blue jersey I wore was the Guatemalan National Champion jersey. It is an original from the late ’60s and I don’t typically ever wear it as its more of a collectors piece. I wore it for my family who are far away in Central America and they sent me best wishes for racing and they wished they could witness it. It made me feel like they were a part of it.

How’d I do?
My performance was definitely indicative of a trend that is very welcome for legitimizing the sport of CX. Competition is pouring in from all levels of other disciplines of cycling. Roadies, despite their awful handling ability, and occasional flashback to criterium shout outs (“hold your line!”), have the legs and determination to excel at CX and bring the participation up to a truly new speed. Mountain bikers are realizing that it most certainly pays to get a lighter bike and to continue training after the summer season to even hold a hope for contention of top 20. CX is the great blend of disciplines that has even caught the attention of coaches who realize that its not just a fringe discipline and that some folks are looking for more than just staying in shape through the fall. If this year was any indication of anything, it’s that next year – there is going to be an incredibly faster scene that what everyone witnessed this year.

Please don’t forget to carry over the bacon handups (and leave the gefilte fish at home, please).

What now?
Well – its dirtbaggin’ time! Are you saavy on the googles and know of a thing called Facebook? If you are, then get hooked on our Fan Page, as we’ll be posting up events that you can participate with us and we’ll include details such as meetup points, type of ride, and even if there’s family participation available. Just because its snowing doesn’t mean you stop riding, it means you get creative in your riding. While some folks may spin away content on their trainers in the basement watching old footage of europeans climbing some obscure mountainside through a hailstorm on gravel roads to win the 1930 Giro d’Italia ‘wishing’ they there that hardcore – some of us will be zooming on frosted ground along frozen river beds and hidden wonders of the winterized forests. Come join us, and we’ll promise to have fun and you’ll can start building on some great handling skills for the next season of cross, seriously, why wait til next fall, right?

Rock y Roll en Espanol
So there is this strong dude who apparently has a hidden talent of transforming metal tunes into danceable salsa. “Los Borrachos” have a show on December 19th at the Elbo Room and its a great opportunity to not only witness some creative action beyond the spinning kind but also help us ‘Decemberists’ celebrate some birthday goodness. Stiggity and I are both December babies, and it turns out that a huge number of our very close friends are also December babies. So that means super awesome people are born in December. So let’s get together and celebrate and listen to some “Por Quien Suenan Las Campanas!”.

Elbo Room – December 19th – 9:30PM $10.00 Cover

Paul Michna has been producing some seriously nice HD quality snippets of the CX season – we leave you with what everybody is raving about and its aptly titled, “Pain and Pleasure”. That is exactly what CX is about. Many thanks to Paul for highlighting our madness for all to enjoy.