Off the subject of bikes for a second....

ok. since i moved to portland we somehow get the Oregonian delivered to our front steps every morning. i usually just throw it on the counter for my roommate to read. but this morning some force was driving me to look through it. blah blah blah. i sumbled upon an article that made me laugh so hard that i almost shot coffee out of my nose. i think (dis)pencer had somthing to do with this....

It Has Arived.....

the first of the speedvagens are pulling out of the stables. these things are amazing. intergrated thompson seatpost. intergrated canti bosses. and a brake cable that goes right through the seatpost!!!! sweeeet! two words.......BAD ASS.



are you excited about cross yet?

i owe super-rookie $20 bucks.

let's see if he gets it.

on to the good stuff... for most people around here, sunday was the season opener for cx.
it was a big party. like cross should be.
i think everybody was there. (except timmer, who knew there were still tt's to ride in september?)

lgr showed up to the races with myself, rookie, and little guy.

i had a race in the legs. and the littleguy was doing his first a race.
the vegans would have a tough time at the porkchop cx race in st. cloud. (ain't that ironic).

and rookie has given in to the dark side, embracing the driveside dismount.

so far, i have managed to get a decent warm-up in before the races, which is almost more important for cross than any other type of bike racing.

this has helped me avoid that pesky burning-and-heavy-as-logs feel my legs got so often last year.

so, while that aspect is going well, my starts at both races so far have been weak.
weak.

so weak i spent this first lap in st. cloud right by super rookie.
oof duh.

my start used to be one of the highlights of my race... now look;



good spot, on the front row.



look at all the traffic in front of me!

split second of hesitation, and it's over. then there is simply too much traffic to move up, so it takes laps of trying to hop from group to group, as the leaders have ridden away...

i need to get my head in the game a bit more, cuz in cx your race can be, (and often is), lost in the first 30 seconds or so.

oh well.
it ain't the end of my life or anything.

so, if you haven't heard, they made this hard course even hard with an additional big run/ride up.
i felt ok on it, and rode it every time.
ironically, i ran the other (old) run up every time, even though it was the easier of the two to ride. i passed a ton of people that way.
i should have probably tried to run the first one too... my run seems better this year.

my leg tried to argue for the first lap or so, due to the double race weekend. but they came around and i made up spots slowly, but steadily.
...to a point.

then i was stuck. so i settled in to just finish, and not lose any places.
finished 20th overall, out of 54 starters.

i really think this course is good, but man is that ground bumpy!
i probably could have went with a good 10 psi less than i ran. that would have helped.
especially since i knew there was barely any pavement on this course.

notes for next year!

lg did great and finished the a race strong, 16th or so overall - 3rd in the a2 class!

up next:
hudson! best course of the season!
orono! sand, baby! i'm think this one will be my first a race! woo!

smithers owes me $20 bucks.

i surprised myself and actually made it up to moorehead for the redrivercxparty.
it was a good time and you missed it.

friday night lodging was courtesy of ray ray, at the falcon palace. (or, something like that).
complete with deer antler chandelier, and 80 inch flat screen tv. so rad.

i wanted to take some photos but my batteries were dead... oh well, i'll just have to get descriptive.

saturday was racing time!

so, if you haven't been to this race before, (and i know you haven't), the course is really cool.
it mostly flat, and very well designed.
it featured 4 (yes, 4), separate short forays into the woods for some greazy muddy single track.

the race started fast, and i had one of those, "not the best" starts... ugh.
so i'm sitting mid-pack when the race enters the first bit of single track in the form of a twisty, slick, mud decent, and the race splits.

me in the back half.

'shit, i knew that would happen", is about all i can think for the rest of the lap as the group of 6 ride away.

at the end of the lap there was a short steep mud run-up, that put us on a nice paved road for the final 500 meters or so, when my group hit this the first time it was chaos. people were dropping chains, and shit. dumb.

so i get on the gas once i hit the pavement, cuz that's what you do when you hit pavement in a cross race, and take a peek back to see none of the group is bothering to come with, or even chase.

huh? i was just trying to pick up the pace. now i'm out there, so i gotta go for it, and the full on bridge attempt was on.
i can say that my attempts at bridging are a step up from the city of minneapolis'.

the leaders had come unglued from each other and were spread all over by the time i got anywhere near them about a lap later. i hooked up with some stragglers, and form a group going for places 4,5,6.
they were better in the woods, but i was better on the flats...
so given the paved finish i'm just sitting on wheels basically assured 4th.

you know, cuz i'm a bad ass sprinter.

but it was not to be.

after sitting on just right the last lap...
we hit the final mud run-up...
get to the pavement...
i get on the bike clean...

...but my cleats are clogged up w/ mud!

crap!crap!crap!crap!crap!

can't get in the pedals! shit...... watching 4th and 5th ride away.

finally got in, and ripped a pretty good sprint, but 4th was gone.
came up a half wheel shy of 5th. ended up 6th place, one out of the money.

4th would have paid $20.

it sucks no one goes to this race... i know it's pretty far, but it's really well done.
i want to lobby for it to be the state championship.
then maybe people would go.

maybe.

smithers, cash or paypal only.

I Got Track Stuff for sale.

Yo Dudes.
I Am gettin Married so i gotta sell some shit.
here we go.
1981 Benotto track bike 56 CM. Freshly Repainted.comes with used campy record head set. stll pretty smooth. look at that freakin repaint! $500 obo
and some other crap.
check it

ps. the Vagen is almost ready.

Kmurder

(dis)pencer's choice award!

so the grand tours are finally out of the pro tour.
i guess people were kinda upset over the prior arrangement.

i think it makes alot more sense as far a the pro tour standings, but will it affect the rider numbers at the gt's?

prolly not.

the real question then is why don't they just call the pro tour the world cup?
well that's simple.

it's a tiny bit different.

i do think the pro tour should get rid of their leaders jersey and bring back the world cup jersey. it is just better. the pro tour leaders jersey just looks like a young riders jersey or something not very special like that. (i can say that cuz i'm over 25).



see what i mean? which one of these jerks is the pro tour leader?
sure the world cup jersey is a little goofy, but as the little guy will tell you:

goofy is only goofy until people realize goofy is actually awesome.



(photo selection for all the way ray).

anywho, enough about that.

i would like to direct you attention to the (dis)pencer's choice award winner for the year 2007.

wait, what the hell is the the (dis)pencer's choice award, you ask?
great question, let me just say only that it is one of the most prestigious awards in the blog world, and goes to the years great post. (which is usually the next best after all of mine).

if you haven't heard of it, that says quite a bit about you.

anyway, this years award goes to...

(insert drumroll here)

cornerstone life!

for this purely amazing post!

in just one post we see topics like, cycling, espresso, pegasus', a falcon, and shit talking dopers included!

pretty freeeking awesome for someone that is not me.

kudos!
i wish the (dis)pencer's choice award carried some sort of prize, but it does not.
but, drink in the fame and bragging rights!

so so epic.

cx season is almost here!

i've got the secret weapon all dialed in.

if i can score some tubulars for it, i'll pretty much be unstoppable.

for those of you who aren't already excited about cyclocross this fall, i've decided to put together a little list i like to call:

the (dis)pencer's most memorable moments
of cyclocross 2006!

here we go!

in no particular order, they are:

1.

cx is all about total retardation. super rookie should be pro.

2.

any race near halloween.
cross is awesome.

got your costume picked out yet?

3.



after being bested at rock 1, it was doug over horner, at rock 2.

4.



"where's the fire retards!"
powderhorn cx is always awesome. nscx will be awesome too.

5.

i wasn't there to witness, but they say it was the holeshot heard 'round the world.

the ship has sunk.

navigators are out of a job.

too bad for them.

on the bright side, now we don't have to hear super rookie bitch about them anymore.

i would wish them all well, but word on the street is that they were... well....

i go on hearsay.

screw it. i'm dirty too.
messenger style, though.

sports. real and imaginary.

sports are dumb.

i can say that because cycling is not a sport.

you know, technically.

ask anyone.

it's more of a recreation, if you will.

that some spandex clad monkeys take too seriously.

so, i have a question about real sports.

i know for a fact some of you, dear readers, actually like real sports.
who knows why. but you do.

and some of you, at least act like you like/know something about sports.

so here we go.

while i was in spain, i attended a soccer match, between sevilla f.c. and villa real.
we were lucky enough to have some hardcore locals with us, that we were able answer all our ignorant questions about their league and everything.

some details may be fuzzy, but in a nutshell, here is what i learned:

• in the pro ranks in spain, there are two leagues. an "a" and a "b" if you will.
• at the end of the season, the bottom 3 teams in the "a" league, get demoted to the "b" league.
• at the end of the season, the top 3 teams in the "b" league get to move up to the big show in the "a" league.
• this way teams have a reason not to "give up" on a crappy season.
• also, fans of "b" teams have a lot of motivation to see their team succeed.
• teams are also more evenly matched, making games more exciting for the fans, even in the "b" league.
  
• "b" league tickets are cheaper, and games tend to be day games, while the "a" league get the primetime games and big bucks.
• i'm sure sponsor dollars drop if you are in the "b's".

i thought this was very interesting.
now don't get confused, this is still the pro ranks, there is still a minor league.

how do you think this would work in mbl, or nfl in the us?
would the fans accept it?

what if the twins had to play a midway, during the day on a tuesday because they suck?
could they still beat kc?

while the saints (or whatever), played at the big stadium against the sox?

would the excitement level be so much higher when they finally did make the "a" league?
and we could finally have the honor of watching the yankees kick our asses?

teams of course could still send shitty players to the minors, and all that.
they would still be a "pro" team, but they played against crappier teams, that they were more evenly matched with.
more nail-biters, less routs.

would it work?

i want to hear your thoughts.

and secondarily, i want to hear how you'd feel if the protour in cycling was like that.
(because cycling is a rec sport).

what if eusktel got demoted from the protour, and bartoworld go the call up.
what if skil-shimano bumped fdj?

what if it was solely based on your record?

so it begins...

if you don't know what you're looking at, you probably race the track.

sure, it ain't as fancy as some... but they get the job done.

...and they pack up so nice!

europe.

so i never put up the photos i said i would.

until now.

as you may know, i spent 3 weeks of june in france and spain, with my fiancee, katrina.
part of the time in the middle of the trip we were joined by her parents.
time of my life.

even as a very abbreviated version, this post is a long one. sorry.
but it's mostly pictures.

here we go...

step one: fly into canada...



toronto international.
nothing was tasteful.

soon enough we were in paris.
it started well.



first things first. we found espresso.
thank god.
then, a hotel.
then we found norte dame.



then more espresso.



that's katrina.



then we saw this thing...
not sure what it is, but it's pretty big.



then i got lost... i just couldn't find a landmark, you know.



but we got through... somehow.



lots of cobbles in paris. they are slippery even to walk on.
much respect to the hard men of cycling.



hmmm, what should we do?



coffee? sure!



i needed an to find a bank... no, not a blood bank!
an atm, silly!
after i managed to find a non-doping bank, we went shopping!
woo hoo!



i could have bought any number of berets or miniature eiffel towers, but i did not.



we stayed in this area of paris.
viva la revolution.



then...



and then...



oh, and mr. fancy, with the beamer... did you know your car is just a taxi cab in europe?
ha ha!



we then left paris for montpillier.
luckly, they had espresso there too.



i also enjoyed a lot of night time espresso.
living it up!



ah! more dope-free cash!
i told them i wanted my atm fees to go straight to saul or thor...
we shall see.



montpellier is pretty f'ing sweet.



espresso in the egg.
(tuffy knows what i mean).



then, a lot of sight seeing, and, oh, i don't know...
...maybe some more cafe action!



i spotted a real live frenchie in montpillier.
check out the baguette, and shitty dog!



i was stoked.
see.



we were kicking it with katrina's parents in montpillier, so while i was still into the nighttime espresso, katrina needed to take it up a notch.



katrina.



we then bid france farewell, and hopped on a train to spain.
they had espresso there as well.
fantastic!

un cafe solo, por favor.
gracias!



sevilla, spain.
make it there if you can.
below is a small part of what they built for the worlds fair.



once.
maybe not dope-free, but still supporting cycling!



see the small white barriers in the street?
that seperates the bike lane from the traffic.
pretty big bike lane, eh?
they have 'em on each side of the street.

un cafe in espana was only 1,30 euro, as opposed to paris where it was 2,70 euro!
so awesome!



we went to a futbol match in sevilla.

sevilla fc versus villareal.

final match of the season, sevilla lost, but they had a pretty kickass season from what i gathered. the fans were happy anyway.

i bought a supporter scarf.
in fact i bought a lot of futbol scarves... i'll take a photo of them one day.
but, trust me.

this winter, i'll be stylin'.

we left sevilla after 5 days, and went up to barcelona to visit my friend lev, who was living there for the summer.

barcelona was on of the highlights of the trip, for sure.
totally awesome. you have to go.
i rode a boat.



i visited a bike shop.



i visited a labyrinth.
but i couldn't find david bowie anywhere...



i also found this thing...
i guess you race bikes on it.



like christopher fricking columbus, i discovered a velodrome.



it was closed.

i tried to find a way in...

to no avail.



so, then we went to the mediterranean.
it's beautiful!



but, we had only 3 days in bacelona, before we had to get back to gay paris, for 1 more day.
and then a loooong flight home.

so we got some coffee.
ouch, after getting used to the prices in spain, plus being at the end of the trip, coffee was quite the luxury... but hey, you can't not have espresso in paris!

we revisited some of our favorite spots.



plus look a the size of that freeking pastry!
puts a pumpkin loaf to shame!



...back on the streets of paris.

and finally, one more for the road.



well, that's the very abbreviated version...

suffice it to say, it was a blast.
100%.

maybe i'll be able to go back once more before i die.