Based on the voting in the poll this week, (What should Dean wear with his skin suit at the year end party) it looks like Dean will be wearing a top hat at the year end party with his spidermonkey skin suit….. will he do it?
Tag: making statements (page 1 of 2)
Sad news from the western front as the Mayor’s Office of Special Events failed to include the Chicago Criterium on its 2010 calender. However, this leaves the oppurtunity for a title sponsor to step up… Might I suggest a Chicago based one:
From Burlington Iowa, the Burlington Road Race, this is the precursor for the Snake Alley Race.
This is the Snake.
Poll of the week: Who would you most like to take a ride with:
Liz Hatch
Andy Daley
Lance Armstrong
Greg Lemond
And the winner is…. Liz Hatch!
I dont know how she won, i would have assumed everyone would have picked andy daley, what does liz have that andy doesnt?
Check out the Blog tomorrow for a new poll.
As the leaves continue to turn and the ride to HP starts to resemble that of a Fall Classic, don’t be warded off from a ride just because of the weather. Don’t forget that Euro Pros attack in weather that makes this morning’s forecast seem like a Family vacation at Myrtle Beach. In an effort to honor the Euro Pros, Andy and I paid om age in subtle ways this morning on our two man time trial to HP.
We decided to do the ride without fenders because sectors on Paris-Roubaix would frown upon not embracing the wetness. My ‘No wet bum’ policy was certainly out the window. Saddles bags were definitely out the door. Carrying your flat kit in a bag in your back pocket is so Euro, saddle bags are for domestics. The first bottle was filled with Malto and the second with Green. Shots of espresso before the ride and Pelligrino at the half-way break.
The weather, albeit wet, dark and dreary…was surprisingly tolerable. Making sure your kit still matches in inclimate conditions is very Euro. Clashing gloves would be laughed at the 300th km at San Remo. Today, paying respects to Euros even stretched to us mumbling Flemish as cars passed in what we considered to be ‘espaxio ou contento‘.
Next time the weather turns bad, just remember the Euro Pros and throw your leg over the top tube and GO RIDE!!
A couple worthless observations from the Tour de France Route presentation that occurred this morning.
How uncomfortable of a picture is this?
Would it have killed Andy Schleck to throw on a suit this morning?
A Top Ten List
1) Always remember you shoes! (alright I learned this lesson via my teammates)
2) Its okay to share a changing towel, its how you bond as a team
3) Sometimes the lap card means minutes, and sometime it means laps, at the beginning of a Superweek race the lap card actually means 35 laps!
4) Crashing is not fun, but its going to happen, hopefully your first race crash will make it on to you tube so you can obsess over it
5) Once you get dropped you should try to enjoy yourself, otherwise what are you racing your bike for, its not your job
6) When race season ends you need to get a cross bike, otherwise you just feel left out
7) Traveling to races is fun, traveling with Ken is smelly
8) Getting knocked off the course during a race due to a crash in front of you is not considered a mishap by USA cycling, and no matter what you yell at the official the rule is not going to change.
9) Your best race effort will most likely not result in your best race result
9) Your best race effort will most likely not result in your best race result
10) Snake Alley is steep and bumpy, Kansas isn’t flat, the Hill in St Louis is really long
Honorable Mention:
– If you make a bet to wear a skinsuit you better win the bet so Dean has to wear the skin suit
– If you race in a 312 kit people think you might have 312 after the race
– By the third or fourth race you finally understand the difference between “being on the front” and “staying in front”
– Liquigas gloves are awesome
– Chamois Cream is a man’s best friend
– Buy a couple pair of bibs if its your first race season (you will thank me later)
– There is no such thing as a “comfortable saddle” just some that arent as uncomfortable as others
– JJ Peppers is the shit, but sometimes at JJ Peppers the cops shit on you
Hey all –
I am working on some fun stuff for the blog over the next couple months, one of the things i am going to start doing is the link of the week. Each Monday I will post my favorite cycling link from the previous week. This week’s link comes from Bicycling.com, http://bicycling.com/blogs/thisjustin/2009/10/12/rites-of-passage/
Bicycling has put together a list of some of the “rites of passage” we experience as cyclist. I guarantee that you can relate to a number of these.
Enjoy
Zens
As rain poured down tonight and the reality of summer’s ending settled in, I realized the race calender had only one remaining race-dot. For a roadie like myself, the Fall Fling signals the end is no longer near, but present. No Monkeys raced in last weekend’s road race and crit…but this Saturday’s Time Trial has attracted a few riders in search of a Skin Suit. (I capitalize Skin Suit in order to not inadvertently discount its formal nature). Yet not as a Pirate is in search of treasure for spoil, these riders in search of a Skin Suit have deeper intentions. I behold: The Skin Suit Challenge…
Discipline: Individual Time Trial in B.F. Egypt
Distance: 12.5km (7.75 miles)
Contestant 1: Dean Okun (SpiderMonkey Cycling)
C1 Bike: Pegoretti
C1 Aerobars: No
C1 Wheels: Deep Dish
Kansas University Alum: `86
Contestant 2: Andrew Zens (SpiderMonkey Cycling)
C2 Bike: Madone-sweet discovery logos too
C2 Aerobars: No
C2 Wheels: Non-Deep Dish
Kansas University Alum: `07
The moonshine lit juvenile quarrels involving story telling and gentlemen bets led to this very challenge: loser wears the long-sleeve SpiderMonkey Skin Suit to the end of the year Formal (did I forget the humiliation factor?). Andrew heads out of the gate 60 seconds before Dean with a racer half-way in between. Both riders have declined comment on whether they will be wearing a time trial helmet.
At about 20 mph for 60 secs Andrew should have about 500 meters on Dean. The wind will play a definite factor as well as cornering ability. Weather could be bad so I assume both will race with virtually no skin on their body getting air during the race; something they haven’t done since Super Spring Crit in Beloit.
I wish I could say that the the coverage starts at 10am with Paul and Phil then onto the sweet shots of the team buses with Ben Stiller breaking time trial bikes and guys with ice vests drilling it on the trainer, but I can’t. However, Andrew and Dean will be rockin’ an iPod on respective Cyclops’ having a Zym under the 312 tent while I enjoy a few 312s myself…
Something tells me they will be joking when they start warming up and then the reality of the Skin Suit sets in.
-CaCAW
Check out Matt Riezman’s race report from his first racing experience….
http://amalgamattion.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-first-race-report-ronald-reagan.html
Thanks,
Zens
Great work by Jason and Matt on their first race starts this weekend!
