(dis)approval.

so.

here we are.

the 1st annual 2008 season is just ahead, and we are crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

skibby is the new president of the mcf, and i think i may be the president of gp.
we may be ready to make some small moves towards thinking about forward progress.

since everyone loves meetings, (and judging from the attendance numbers 2008 in no different), and meetings are obviously the only place where get things done... i think the mcf is ready to take it to the next level in '08.
luck for us there are still a few more meetings to get 'er done.

so, in order to move forward, we must learn from our errors.
i think it was abe lincoln that said that. or jfk.

and in order to learn from our errors, we must figure out what those errors are.

so i present, the (dis)approvals.
(dis)pencer.blogspot's least favorite things about the 2007 cycling season.

most (dis)approved criterium;
well, for 2007, i'd say it would be a toss up between the excel crit, and hutchinson. neither of the crits happened, and took up valuable space on the calendar. but, maybe it's a moot point since i doubt anyone out there was willing to promote another event. lsc, hollywood, and even lgr promoted several events and likely could not host another one... and god help us all if gp or birchwood with their 150+ memberships were going to do any race promotion...
as for races that happened, the crits were actually pretty well done.
i'll award the (dis)y to hutch, for cancelling in '07, and making us race in a parking lot in '06.

most (dis)approved time trial;
i've never raced a blackdog series event, but i have raced on blackdog road.
the event is the charity tt. i'm all for a good cause, so i continue to attend... but race promoters, auc, make it a tough as possible to want to come back.
kudos for their determination!
lack of computers, and organized/efficient registration make this event notorious for it's long, snaking, single-file line through the parking lot. the race itself on blackdog road seems to be run well enough, but then how hard is a tt to run, really?
though improved from 2006, the hours (literally) between finishing the race and results being posted make this a two-part event; the long, drawn-out suffering of the tt effort, and the long, drawn-out suffering of waiting for the results.

most (dis)approved road race;
i used to think the seemingly haphazard, tossed-together-at-the-last-possible-moment, style of durand was the most ridiculously organized race.

but, i had never done ken woods before.

now, neither of those races get the nod because of the courses, those are just fine. more or less.
we are talking about the registration lines, and associated crap like that. i'm not big on the startline set-up at ken woods either, open roads and masses of bikers don't usually mix.
but i guess it worked out ok.

most (dis)approved cyclocross race;
this is a doozy. another very, very, close call.
lake rebecca is always a shoe-in for long reg lines, short holeshots, and boring courses.
and, ham lake; who's reg was short, sweet, and computerized... but who's holeshot was shorter, (almost to the point of pointlessness), and who's course was equally as unchange-able for future races. i like courses that can be tweeked from year to year.
but, based on the reg nightmare at lake rebecca, they will get this years (dis)y for cx!

most (dis)approved track race;
360? madison? blackjack? pursuit?
so many choices...
i'm going to go with... beeeeeeeeep!

most (dis)approved "of the year" competition;
the horror.
roy, ttoy, troy, cry... wtf-oy. where to start? each system is flawed. but you know me, i think the whole system is flawed. (remember, every nation has been destroyed).

cry points should go deeper, top 8 is tough in most fields. but i don't blame cry tabulators for one second. can you imagine the extra work?! no thank you.

ttoy, well aside from needing a graphing calculator to decipher the results, and how they're tabulated... it's fine. i wish it was just a points scale though. but i'm dumb.

troy, a good effort for a first year with a all-inclusive format. (years past did not include lower cats). obviously weighted too heavy for cat 3's, as the final results show.

and, roy. oh roy. you win the (dis)y.
i love the idea, but i don't know if it'll ever really make sense. i hope this years cats will help. and maybe some of the promoters that depend on you for numbers, will throw you a bone by using laptops, etc., to make calculating easier.

most (dis)approved election;
mcf election happened recently. while we approve of the change in presidency... there was absolutely no attack ads. boo.
the mcf election as a whole gets the (dis)y. plus no write-in votes for me?? wtf.

most (dis)approved blog;
smithersmlps.com.
the rule was broken. i had a bunch of the old posts bookmarked for later reference.
where are they? gone.
total bs.

most (dis)approved ending of a blog;
skibbys. because it started again.

most (dis)approved mn cycling website;
as the local association for usa cycling, the mcf has a website at mcf.net.
what a pile.
hard to look at. hard to navigate. ugly. and with no self-hosted results database, history, photos, or other useful information, i think the mcf.net site needs a major overhaul, or a minimization. you know, a nice readable calendar, a message board and a mission statement.
thats it. get rid of the half-assed attempts at anything else.
other site do a better job.
maybe a faq on where to find beginner info, etc., online... rather than trying to do it yourselves.

most (dis)approved trait of the mcf;
giving dates back to clubs that fucked it up the year before.
goddamn it, stop doing that.

most (dis)approved bike racing team;
the big one.
that doesn't promote races. (well, barely).
which one is it?
white? blue?
fuck it. both.
two (dis)y's for this one.

most (dis)approved off-season transfer;
well, this was going to be ian s., going back to grandstay... but then i saw the new inferno kits.
yowza.
i'd have left in a hurry too. (becasue i care alot what my kit looks like).

so, in lieu of that, i'll say the (dis)y goes to...
all the women that went over to paula plants new team!
what the hell?
what about lgr?? trust us, you'll get used to tim, (or learn to tune him out).

most (dis)approved use of mcf money;
this is a softball.
the (dis)y for worst use of mcf money goes to; non-use of mcf money!
$20k in the bank, and i'm standing in line in the rain to register?!

most (dis)approved team kit (local);
urthel? birchwood polka-dots?
no...
sorry pete, but it's the gs cheesareeno kit.
not cuz it's a bad kit, but simply because there is just too much damn blue in the peloton

hmmm... is that it.

who knows. check back later.
but, that's it for now.

so, let's use this to move forward for a great '08!

alright positivity!
already.