Sunday, November 06, 2005

hit the racing...


(just another pic of my fixie)

circuit this weekend, over in bay village. i was humbled last time, so i raced in the c class. the c class started 5 minutes after the b class. i did pretty well. the african god was in full effect. there was another ss rider there. nice. the course was fast. around some baseball courts, through some parking lots and down a steep hill. pictured here...



this is john coming up to the hill...



...this is michael coming down. (i'm glad i had a suspension fork)
after this it was over a "bridge" turn left, and run your ass off up a steep hill. this is what surprised me. i was able to catch anyone ahead of me here. running. me. catching people. nice. at the top turn 180 degrees and ride back down into a field. after the field there was a climb up a small paved walk way. i caught a lot of people here too. out into a parking lot and around to some barriers. remember to dismount. swing bike out to the side. climb back on bike, and put your hands on your handle bars and pedal. good. down onto the side walk and a quick ride up back onto the grass...



back and around again on the field, through to the parking lot...



...around to the finish.
i did pretty well. the leaders in the b class only lapped me once. and my pictured colleagues in racing did only a couple more laps than i. i can't help but think, "how much better could i do with a c-cross bike." with gears. but no. c-cross season is just a couple months a year. i'll just beat the hell out of my almost 10 year only ss frame.

it was a better atmosphere than my last race. better people. we spent time b.s.ing with others. the other ss rider broke his pedal. couldn't finish. saw a rider in the a class that i saw out on the road a couple of weeks ago. said hi to him. hope he did well. after the race, it was time for beers. had to go over the railroad tracks for that. yeah. we had to "slum" from bay village to westlake for a beer. don't want any taverns in bay village. stopped at the moose head tavern. good place.

friday night got my fixie up and running. took it for a nice little jaunt around the streets and was practicing my skidding. it's freaking hard, but so freaking cool. soon will come the day when the brake is there just for show.

when does a hobby stop being a hobby, and become an obsession? when does it stop being an obsession, and become a solid part of your life?

see you next ride. next race. next time...

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, let me get this straight. I asked you if you wanted to come over and help me with my stuff and you could have brought the Surly (or any of your other bikes too) and we could have worked on them as well! But, NO! You had too much stuff to do! What the heck man! "you cut me deep Shrek, you cut me real deep."

4:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Paul, Nice post! Overall, it was a good race (or in my case a "detox ride". I'm still feeling the results from my bone-headed crash... The beers afterwards dulled the pain for a bit. I'm guessing that next weeks race isn't going to be as nice in the weather department...

5:16 AM  
Blogger hamad said...

john: it was a good race. not only does the beer help with pain, but gives your body much needed carbs. the weather is always good for a c-cross race.
uber: piss off. i did and do have a lot of stuff to do. so cry me a river. don't be an edmund. check yourself, before you wrech yourself.

5:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

DAMN!
That's a little harsh!
Having some PMS issues today?
Don't you dare call me an Edmund!
I just wanted to spend some qt with you and you give me shit!

6:23 AM  
Blogger hamad said...

who gives what to who? examine.

5:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

who made who?
who made you?

5:31 AM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home