The title says it all.  I’ve flatted 3 times in the past week.  That is a record for me in races.  I need to check out the tires.  I know one was a cut and one was the valve stem, but the 3rd is still on the wheel and I haven’t looked at it yet.

Yesterday’s flat was a drag.  I woke up before 6 am feeling pretty much like racing.  It was a 87 mile road race around a local reservoir.  Kind of hilly and kind of windy. It was a pretty good group of guys and I was really looking forward to helping young Alex win the race overall.  But about 2 miles into the race, my rear tire was soft. There was one pickup truck with wheels and by the time I got a new wheel I was way too far behind, so got my wheel back and rode back to the start on a flat.

The racing was good though.  It all came down to time bonus sprints because the Olathe Subaru guys kept the field together, even though it was aggressive.  Dylan Postier beat Benn Stover for the stage and overall win.  Alex was 3rd, 8 seconds back.  Pretty close.

I posted that crash below at the Red Hook Criterium yesterday.  It is so funny because that is the first most people had heard about these races.  They have been going on for a while.  I was looking into going to one a couple years ago.  I missed the boat because lots of good “real criterium” riders are doing them now.  Daniel Holloway, Aldo Ino Ilesic, Colin Stickland, who won, even Tristan Uhl, Texan MTB/Cross/Road Racer, was in the top 10.  I envy those guys for making the effort to go there to race.

It is too bad that the motorcycle crash is how most of us were exposed to these races.  I like the energy and freedom this race series is exhibiting.  I talked to a couple of the Lupus racing guys last weekend at Joe Martin and they said that they had done Red Hook races and that they had to be super focused for the whole time.  Picking the right gear, they are fixed gear races, qualifying and then the race.

I sometimes wish that “normal criterium” racing would take some deviations and try to capture some of this enthusiasm.  I think that any night criterium on a short course, with a ton of corners, is super exciting. Brakes or no brakes.

Fatboy racing on MTB was exhilarating.  I remember after winning the Fatboy in Scottsdale, Julie Furtado, who had done some crazy exciting sports herself, from downhill skiing, MTB cross country, National Road Champion, etc., came up to me and said that was the most exciting bike race she had ever seen.  I could see in her eyes how much she loved it.  The race was a lot like a Red Hook race.  Less than a minute course, at night, lots of lights, on MTB’s with skinny tires. And the course was lined 5 deep with spectators.  There is no downside to that.

So, before you start judging these Red Hook races as ghetto bike races and a silly fad, give it a chance.  It is bike racing and these guys have a ton of skill.  I very much doubt that Alberto or Chris would make it a lap without paying their dues.  I like it and would like to ride one sometime.

   
Tucker was a very happy puppy  

 

 

I got a good story for you.  The story, to me, emphasizes exactly the reason that we need to do our best to make our sport healthy.  And by healthy, I mean drug free, good officiating, reasonable entry fees, and fun. And fun might be the most important thing.

A couple weeks ago I got a call on Thursday, when I had already raced the time trial at Joe Martin, that a local guy from Topeka, Andrew, was looking for a ride to Fayetteville.  I told him that all the guys I knew that were coming had already left.

Andrew works a couple jobs, he works at a coffee shop and also at the Topeka Community Cycle Project.  He also goes to college at Washburn, a local university.

Anyway, Andrew’s car has a head gasket problem.  He has an old Volvo.  So he was looking for a ride.

I didn’t see Andrew until Sunday.  It turns out that he got a ride with someone from Topeka to Kansas City.  But the problem was that his ride from Kansas City to Fayetteville wasn’t until Friday, late morning.  That was his only option, so he took it.

He decided that he would just camp out at a Walmart on Thursday night, where he was supposed to meet his ride on Friday. He got down there late-ish on Thursday night and soon realized that his plan wasn’t that great.

He said that there really wasn’t anywhere to hang all night, with his backpack and bicycle.  He had assumed there was going to be a bench or something, out of the way, but he couldn’t find a place he felt comfortable.

So, he went back to the camping department and bought a sleeping bag for $10.  And he got on his bike and looked for a place to sleep.  It had rained a ton and the ground was pretty wet.

He finally found a place by a storage locker place.  It was quiet, and there were pine trees, which had dropped needles, so it was dry.  He crawled into his sleeping bag and got a few hours sleep.

He got to Fayetteville on Friday and had a hotel room floor to sleep on.  He caught a ride to the time trial, but didn’t have enough time to pre-ride the course.  He was racing the Cat 5 race.

He had a pretty bad time trial, but went on to finish 2nd, out of a 3 rider break later in the day in the road race.  Then he got 3rd in the criterium and finished 4th overall.  His team affiliation at Joe Martin was Poverty Studies.

There are tons of Andrew’s out there.  I meet them all the time.  I was him.  The sport used to really take good care of guys like him.  It took care of me.  I can’t tell you have many floors I’ve slept on, how many rides I caught, how many generous promoters gave me free entries.  All these people allowed me to get to the point where I could self sustain.

I don’t think the sport does such a good job of this anymore.  We’re not horrible, but I don’t think society, in general, is so generous as it was in the past.  We need to make sure we, as a sport, acknowledge the need for generosity and old time ways.

To be successful, our sport relies on volunteers, host housing, etc., at a grassroots level.  And the grassroots level is what eventually makes the professional level viable.  And the professionals draw more riders to take part.   It is a symbiotic relationship.

Anyway, here’s to the Andrew’s out there.  The guys that make the sport interesting.  The guys that are the true blood of cycling.