creamcity.

that ain't a joke, they will shoot back.

i really love milwaukee.

it is the midwest's hidden gem.

so, it has been a little while since i've had the opportunity to spend some time there... if you didn't know, i lived in milwaukee back in 2000.

me and katrina packed up the car and rolled east on 94 for 5.5 hours to the cream city for k-murders wedding. just in case you are wondering, i am not into weddings. but i'm pretty sure i'd do just about anything for k-murder, so it was no problem.

as a bonus i planned it out so i could hit badger cross in madison on the way back to minneapolis.

friday was a blast, got some thai food downtown, then rolled to riverwest and hit up the river horse's vip room to chill out with the locals and do some catching up. then off to the southside, to cactus club, to see von munz' art show that was opening that night too.

saturday was a full slate of milwaukee awesome, followed by the big event.
we got breakfast, coffee, did some shopping, some more coffeeeee...



and drove over to the big show.
it was pretty sweet, we drove past a couple different groups of people biking along in suits and ties. wonder where they were going?



kevin promised the ceremony would be short and sweet.
it was medium length, but still sweet. i won't hold it against him.
...he did have vegan meals available.

everyone partied down, and it was a great time.
now, the newly re-named, mr. and mrs. sparrow get to fly off to paris.
lucky bastards.


just married.

oh well, i got to drive to madison.

badger cross was sick.
i was diappointed to be missing boom island in mpls, but this event more than made up for it.

it had rained lightly all morning. conditions were very similar to orono cx a few weeks ago.

the course was pretty cool, and woulld have been really fast in dry conditions, but was just thick mud by now, and was a fun challenge the whole time. the first part of the course was on some grassy walking trails, nice and wide, but with the mud most people were fighting for the very edges. then we hit a run up with some logs across it, ridable if you were a bad-ass, but not worth it if you were going to mess it up.

the rest of the course was all kinds of tech, 180 after 180, (some off-camber), and a quick jog through the playground.

the rain held off during the 1/2/3 race, and i lined up in the second row.
i didn't really have a plan going into the race, it had previously been, "follow marko".
but, marko went to ohio for some uci action... damn. since i couldn't convince james to come cxing the other night at the riverhorse, the only lalonde around was jesse.
i didn't think i could hold that wheel, but not knowing anyone else in field, i figured if i was lucky, i could stick it for a bit until things strung out, and be in a decent spot.

the start went really well for about 30m, i was maybe 5th wheel, then i dropped the chain somehow.
wtf?

the start was a paved road for a ways, so i was hella dropped, but was able to just catch the back end before we hit the mud.
so much for my decent start.

the mud was super tacky, and fun to ride, and the 180's were very very slick.
lots of people were hitting the ground, so i was making up a few spots.

then my wheels slid out too.
boom. i love the soft landings in cross! the crowds were loving the fast guys falling over in the mud, and the atmoshere was a blast.

so after the start, and then the bobble in that 180, i was well out of any fight for good postions, so i rolled around having a good time and trying to catch who ever was in front of me.

the conditions were superfun, and the course was one of the best i've done this year.
tons of fun.

saturday:



sunday:



downside? racing for an hour, and then jumping in the car for a 4 hour drive is not fun...

oh well.