Hand-Ups

It's been a week full of bikes, beer, polo, beer, friends, and bikes. It started out with a night ride, a bike polo night, followed by a night at the brewery with the DSG Squirrels, Swiftwick, SORBA, and the big DSG donation check. The MOAB boys were able to make it up and I showed them the art of fine beering and dining by taking them to their first ever trip to Rotiers.

Work and work commuting took up most of the rest of the free time. They've been resurfacing, re-bridging, and pretty much making the commute unbearable the last few weeks. Gotta love lane closures where 2 busy interstates are merging, 3 times, during rush hour.

This weekend was the highly anticipated Cross The Way race out at Kurt Page's farm. Rumors of tight turns, moto-cross style jumps and berms, and mud were all verified shortly after stepping tire onto the course. It was a fun, technical handling required course with a fast and flowy back half and a tight, narrow, and twisty front half. You could recover in the woods and pin it once you crossed the gravel road. It was awesome. Thanks for letting us play in your yard Kurt.

DtheP.

Will the real Jeremy please stand up?

Tag!

Stanley!

The Max.

DtheP (skinsuit!) ripping apart the pro race.

Graham doing the Graham (back2back racing)

Now for something I'd like to get off of my chest. The SS race at Cross The Way had probably the largest class ever in the series, which was great. There were first timers to cross, first timers to ss, old vets, and fast young guns. Perfect. Some started to dictate "rules" at the start of the race ie. "you must drink a beer at spot X", you must do this, you must do that. Well, that is all well and good but first of all, we're singlespeeders, rules don't really appeal to us. Tell me I HAVE to drink a beer and you've guaranteed that I won't.  Beer hand-ups are great and a staple of cross, but don't show up for the first time and start dictating rules. Or do but then don't cry when we don't obey. Or tell us not to drink any beer, and then we'll drink.

What? No beer hand-up Jimmy?

Secondly, the guy around me was really trying, as was I. We were having a good race. We weren't winning, but we were in a battle and enjoying it. If I'd have stopped to drink a hand-up at the barriers (bad spot really, give us a ride-by hand-up not a running-by with a bike in one hand hand-up) and had beaten the guy, how would that make him(or me) feel his first time out? Or conversely, had I stopped to drink and he beat me how is he supposed to feel proud of defeating a dude who stopped each lap? We were having fun, we weren't taking ourselves too seriously, we were chatting and smack talking, it was fun as racing should be. Sorry if me not taking a beer ruined your day, but for me, it made mine. And for the record, the dude on the hybrid (Michael on his first ever SS and 29'er) nipped me by a fair amount. Nice ride Michael.