I don't think I mentioned this before, but I have an article about the Breck Epic in XXC #9.

Buy print mags here. You'll be glad you did.

I was on a computer at school yesterday, and I realized that the video I put up from Marilla 'Cross wouldn't play unless you were one of my face friends. But Rob sent me the videos, and I put them on youtube. Now they work. Even if you aren't my face friend:






Morgantown Monster Mash tomorrow. Unless I get super motivated to tear my bike apart after work, I'll be racing fixed again. Hopefully I won't get lapped.

Murrysville 'Cross ('10)

Every 'cross race is pretty much the same. I ride around in a big grass field, I'm hit in the face with donuts, I get heckled for not having chest hair, something goes wrong, and I get lapped.

(It was fairly chilly. I'm warm blooded. Or stupid.)

I've been riding my Swobo for work lately, so I have it set up fixed. I really expected Murrysville 'Cross to be muddy since we had rain in the days leading up to the race. But sadly, it was perfectly dry.

A fixed gear isn't much of a detriment when the course is sloppy. The rear wheel is always churning through the mud, keeping the rider upright and moving forward. The back brake never stops working, unless the chain snaps. And that's not a problem for me anymore.
:

Back to Murrysville. There was no mud. Racing fixed was a bit of a detriment. I tried very, very hard, but I was still lapped by Steevo and Mike in the 1/2/3 race. Good times.

My best moment of the day was a few minutes after I pulled into the parking lot.

I got out of the Grumbler and called Brad a douche for warming up on a trainer.

"Don has donuts in his car." he replied.

"Sweet." I said. Don was out on the course doing the vet race. I opened his car, grabbed two powdered donuts, and shut the door.

Don came sprinting up the road. I threw one donut. Missed. I threw the second.

It slammed into his left cheek, leaving a big powdered sugar mark. The crowd huzzahed and Sheriff Gary voiced his approval. I danced in jubilation.

Colleen also raced, and had significant difficulties lifting her 45 pound Karate Monkey over the barriers. That said, unlike her boyfriend, she did not get lapped.


And Rob had all the fun:


But the day before the race, Colleen and I did have the privilege of going to the most exciting thing in Central Ohio:

Smucker's Cafe. Woah! Super Radical!

Marilla and WVU 'Cross ('10)

In terms of placing, Marilla 'Cross did not go well. I burped a tire in the SS race, and snapped my chain in the 1/2/3.

But I learned a very important lesson.

If you throw donuts at your friends, expect your friends to recruit a few dozen spectators to help them return the favor:


Every time I went through there, I put my head down and closed my eyes.


I was slapped on the ass:


Chased by vuvuzelas and sprayed with whipped cream and beer:


And mooned:


And...everyone politely cheers on the other racers:

Savages.

But I might have deserved it.

I wish I could get the other videos up on here, but for some reason the facebook won't let me. In any case, I was hit by a lot of powdered donuts and traumatized for life.

At WVU 'Cross the next day, I set my Crosby up with my fixed wheel, and clipped my pedals on the ground in at least four turns. I guess I'm going to need to get some 170 or 165mm crank arms.

I crashed going through a turn on a basketball court and removed most of the skin from my left hip. The Pflug beat me, but the Bushwaka did not.

I'm racing fixed for the rest of the year. It's more fun (minus the crashing and missing skin.)

And I hereby declare donut throwing a new WPA/WV 'Cross tradition.