What Should Dean Wear?

Based on the voting in the poll this week, (What should Dean wear with his skin suit at the year end party) it looks like Dean will be wearing a top hat at the year end party with his spidermonkey skin suit..... will he do it?

Thanks to ABD for putting on a super fun race!

At the start line I look down at my front tire, a 37c gravel tire. It is caked in about 600 grams of mud. It is now I understand what makes a mud tire, a mud tire.
The start is on and 75 people launch out for the 3x lap of a 2.2mile course. I had second row positioning and pretty much hold my spot coming into the first barrier. With a good hour long warm up I have no problem going at full speed and working my way towards the front. Within two or three minutes I am about 7 or 8 riders from the front (the long straights are really working to my advantage).
As I make it to the final 100meters to join top 5 (this is significant as I have never been able to see the front action at a cross race), I can see that Ben Levitt is off the front by about 30 meters and only gaining. I’m thinking good for him, my ride is going to win this race. Coming into lap two, the group of 4 of us is going slightly slower than I want to be going and we appear to be gaining ground on Ben. In the period of about 10 seconds on the straight, the Pony shop Guy and myself catch (and pass) Ben and drop the rest of the group. As Pony shop and I head into the woods, I pass him. I put in a big effort knowing that if I can create a gap now, it might not be able to be closed. As I emerge from the woods, I am flying solo (two men enter, one man leave). Now if I can just keep up the time trial pace for the next 15 minutes, I have first place locked up. The fact that this course was not so technical made this a lot easier and I was able to pace myself at exactly my threshold without blowing up.
Coming into the final little climb, where the Cuttin Crew had set up their couch, the spectators were all over the course. This must be what it feels like at one of the Tour mountain stages (for about 3 meters). The crowd is screaming “Sandbagger” as I approach. By now my mind is in Binary mode. I see bacon being handed up on this section (was it supergirl?), in binary mode, my mind says bacon, jake no eat bacon, no take.
I cruise to the finish, do a post-up and bask in all of my sandbagging glory. Thanks to ABD for putting on a super fun race!

-shake and bake

jake

Bartlett CX Men's 4B Race Report

Here's my race report from Bartlett:

The start was good, of the top ten call-ups there were only 3 or 4 (including Dave Cushman) so Jake and I were second row. The start was a long left leaning straight but then going into a hard right turn, when the whistle went I stayed to the left and was in a good position going through the first turn. I could see Cushman and Bryan Lee (Pony Shop) ahead of me and a couple of others. After the first set of barriers I was maybe top five. On the flats and straightaways I was getting passed right and left, Ben from xXx, Pegasus, Tati and then Jake flies by me. Coming out of the first woods section I got passed by two more and that was pretty much it for the rest of the race holding steady at 15th. Eventually I get caught by two more, but hang on to their wheels. Near the end of the 3rd lap before the climb I started psyching myself up for a strong finish (thinking back to the Supermax test) and passed the two guys I was tailing in the turns before the climb and started my sprint on the long straight going into the climb. I make it through the yelling and screaming of the crowd on the hill and make the last couple of turns, legs burning and cross the finish line to Jason Knauff?? ca-CA ca-CA'ing into the microphone.

Good times. Congratulations to Jake on his win!

JPC

Thanks to Mike from xXx for posting these pics on flickr. Some great one's of Ben taking some hand-ups on the hill here.

Here's Jake on his way to taking the win.

Here's me, suffering, I didn't even see the money.

Chicago Criterium presented by...

Sad news from the western front as the Mayor's Office of Special Events failed to include the Chicago Criterium on its 2010 calender. However, this leaves the oppurtunity for a title sponsor to step up... Might I suggest a Chicago based one:

Keith's 2010 Tour de France Preview

Last week, the cycling Illuminati gathered in France sans bib shorts and cycling shoes to learn what the 2010 Tour de France had in store for them.The TdF route presentation is always a spectacle of skinny guys in suits forced to smile and look pensive for the cameras as the route is revealed.

This year was no different. The elites, from Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador to Mark Cavendish and Thor Hushovd, all showed the requisite concern during the presentation, and gave the stock quotes to the media about how this years route is either interesting or difficult, or favors the climbers or time trialists.

At first glance, two things stand out about the 2010 TdF route: the grand depart and the Pyrénées.

Following the lead of the 2009 Vuelta Espana and the 2010 Giro Italia, the Tour de France will start in the Netherlands (Rotterdam) for an 8km prologue/time trial. If you like to play the ponies, call your bookie and bet it all on Fabian Cancellara. One of the only for sure gambles in cycling. And since there are no time bonuses again this year, Fabian could legitimately hold onto the maillot jaune for the first week of racing.

And what a first week it will be. From Rotterdam, the race will snake its way through the Netherlands, Belgium and finally into France. As a nod to the Spring Classics, which feature the greatest one-day races on the cycling calendar, the TdF route will subject the riders to crosswinds, punchy hills and cobblestones. The three days in Belgium will pay homage to a style of racing loved by many fans, but despised by skeletal general classification riders, or basically anyone expected to place in the top 10.

Even though the roads are mostly flat for the first week, the likelihood of splits in the peloton increase ten fold due to crosswinds and narrow roads.The third stage, from Wanze to Arenberg even features 13 kilometers of cobblestones. Watching the skinny mountain goats panic and struggle on the cobbles is guaranteed to be good entertainment for all not named Iban Mayo.

Upon entering France, the race settles into a more traditional route, with the requisite flat stages guaranteed to feature lots of sunflowers, devil sightings and Mark Cavendish wins. One twist is the race visiting the Alps before the Pyrénées, which is a nod to the 100th anniversary of the race visiting the Pyrénées.

To celebrate the anniversary, the TdF neutered the impact of the Alps a bit by including only one summit finish in this mountain range, and pushing the drama to the final week. And the final week should be chock full of drama with four consecutive mountain stages in the Pyrénées (two summit finishes)and a 51km time trial. If you are looking for a way to spend a weeks vacation, call off now and spend it at home watching the race.

So there is the route, but who is going to win? In my opinion, the only path to victory for anyone not named Alberto Contador is in the first week. If youre a contender, you have to pray for shitty weather and huge winds, and then try to crush Contadors team. If he's still with Astana, chances are their team strength will be poor, so the other teams have to really do some damage while the race is in Belgium. Still, at best, all you can hope to gain on him is about minute or two in the first week. And Alberto can take easily that right back on any of the summit finishes.

In the end, I think Alberto wins easily again. The first week could make it real exciting if Lance and Andy Schleck use the strength of their respective teams to crush Astana in the gutters, but thats a long shot. In summary,pray for wind and rain in that first week.

Keith

How to Advertise Your Sponsor On Your Car

From Burlington Iowa, the Burlington Road Race, this is the precursor for the Snake Alley Race.


This is the Snake.

Poll of the week

Poll of the week: Who would you most like to take a ride with:
Liz Hatch
Andy Daley
Lance Armstrong
Greg Lemond

And the winner is.... Liz Hatch!

I dont know how she won, i would have assumed everyone would have picked andy daley, what does liz have that andy doesnt?


Check out the Blog tomorrow for a new poll.

Trent is FAST!

DSC_0193, originally uploaded by JDGalles.

Trent wins 2nd place in the Mens Cat 5. He clearly enjoys being in the pain tank for a 7.75 mile time trial. It must have been the Orange Jawbones!

Euro Pro Appreciation Day

As the leaves continue to turn and the ride to HP starts to resemble that of a Fall Classic, don't be warded off from a ride just because of the weather. Don't forget that Euro Pros attack in weather that makes this morning's forecast seem like a Family vacation at Myrtle Beach. In an effort to honor the Euro Pros, Andy and I paid om age in subtle ways this morning on our two man time trial to HP.

We decided to do the ride without fenders because sectors on Paris-Roubaix would frown upon not embracing the wetness. My 'No wet bum' policy was certainly out the window. Saddles bags were definitely out the door. Carrying your flat kit in a bag in your back pocket is so Euro, saddle bags are for domestics. The first bottle was filled with Malto and the second with Green. Shots of espresso before the ride and Pelligrino at the half-way break.

The weather, albeit wet, dark and dreary...was surprisingly tolerable. Making sure your kit still matches in inclimate conditions is very Euro. Clashing gloves would be laughed at the 300th km at San Remo. Today, paying respects to Euros even stretched to us mumbling Flemish as cars passed in what we considered to be 'espaxio ou contento'.

Next time the weather turns bad, just remember the Euro Pros and throw your leg over the top tube and GO RIDE!!

If you're not first you're last

One of my favorite cycling blogs out there is http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/, this morning there was some intresting advice from Professional rider Ben Greenwood of Team Rapha:

"Criteriums offer a fantastic chance for some opportunistic rule bending. The normal regulation is that a rider can have up to a maximum of 2 separate laps out for a mechanical or crash with only 1 lap allowed for each incident. Crashes can be abused as they normally happen round the back of the circuit, away from the judges eyes. This means they don’t actually know who’s crashed and who is just pretending. All a rider needs to do is rub a bit a chain oil on their leg, roll their shorts up a bit and turn their helmet slightly and the judges will be pretty convinced."

This was part of a post about how pro riders bend the rules in the peloton. If you want to read the entire post click here: http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/10/bending-the-rules/

TDF 2010 Presentation

A couple worthless observations from the Tour de France Route presentation that occurred this morning.


How uncomfortable of a picture is this?

Would it have killed Andy Schleck to throw on a suit this morning?

2009 Race Season Lessons

A Top Ten List

1) Always remember you shoes! (alright I learned this lesson via my teammates)

2) Its okay to share a changing towel, its how you bond as a team

3) Sometimes the lap card means minutes, and sometime it means laps, at the beginning of a Superweek race the lap card actually means 35 laps!

4) Crashing is not fun, but its going to happen, hopefully your first race crash will make it on to you tube so you can obsess over it

5) Once you get dropped you should try to enjoy yourself, otherwise what are you racing your bike for, its not your job

6) When race season ends you need to get a cross bike, otherwise you just feel left out

7) Traveling to races is fun, traveling with Ken is smelly

8) Getting knocked off the course during a race due to a crash in front of you is not considered a mishap by USA cycling, and no matter what you yell at the official the rule is not going to change.
9) Your best race effort will most likely not result in your best race result

10) Snake Alley is steep and bumpy, Kansas isn’t flat, the Hill in St Louis is really long

Honorable Mention:

- If you make a bet to wear a skinsuit you better win the bet so Dean has to wear the skin suit

- If you race in a 312 kit people think you might have 312 after the race

- By the third or fourth race you finally understand the difference between "being on the front" and "staying in front"

- Liquigas gloves are awesome

- Chamois Cream is a man's best friend

- Buy a couple pair of bibs if its your first race season (you will thank me later)

- There is no such thing as a "comfortable saddle" just some that arent as uncomfortable as others

- JJ Peppers is the shit, but sometimes at JJ Peppers the cops shit on you

Link of the Week

Hey all -

I am working on some fun stuff for the blog over the next couple months, one of the things i am going to start doing is the link of the week. Each Monday I will post my favorite cycling link from the previous week. This week's link comes from Bicycling.com, http://bicycling.com/blogs/thisjustin/2009/10/12/rites-of-passage/

Bicycling has put together a list of some of the "rites of passage" we experience as cyclist. I guarantee that you can relate to a number of these.

Enjoy

Zens

Coasting is for sissies!

Chicago 'Cross Cup: Dekalb 10/4/09 4b

So, on lap two I was picking off the last people I was going to get for the race while trying to hold off the guy from Dog Fish. As I was heading through a tight section with a few trees and tight turns right before the start/finish line, this kid yells out to me: “NO COASTING!” and then “COASING IS FOR SISSIES!” That was funnier than me grabbing the entirety of that guy’s “equipment set” along with the dollar dangling from his zipper.

This guy was a total slut...I thought it was my good looks and my terminator like jawbones, but I later found out he liked John, too.

So, I finished 9th and I really, really like this sport. But then again, the weather was awesomely perfect.

I’ve heard ‘cross is like a reverse crit, a time trial, and a circus. I think people have gotten it pretty close to right.

The course was great, really a lot of fun to ride. Some parts were quite narrow and I can understand why some would complain about a bad start position ending your race early. Also, I can kinda understand about not being able to “safely” pass in enough places. However, I never really felt that—at all, actually. Except for the single track section passing was never a problem created by the course, only the rider.

The start was not as nutty as I thought it was going to be. I was thinking along the lines of a triathlon swim start. We line up, they start us off and we’re flying at the first turn. John is like way ahead of me by turn two, and I was thinking about going up there, but then waited...why? Probably because I don't care all that much about a result at this point.

By turn 3 things were getting strung out and the leaders were well in front of me. I was still simply following the people in front of me rather than trying to get ahead of them. By the time we hit the tight technical hill just a few jittery racers had begun to annoy me. It was then that my competitive nature was rekindled and I began to actively try to get past people and make an effort to get to the front. However, getting to the front was not going to happen. The leaders were in view until we saw that tricky hill with 4 very off camber turns for the first time. Then once they went through a single track section behind a baseball diamond, the gap became impassible and it was over for anyone not in the lead group.

The barriers: my first time over was very, very ugly. I forgot what I was supposed to do—unclip the right, no left, wait right? Finally, I swung my leg around, unclipped, carried, jumped…set bike down and got on the damn thing one way or another…I passed the my last three people at the first set of barriers on the second lap and then it became an individual effort, and that I liked.

John and I played leap-frog in the second lap and we stayed closed enough to give each other shouts of encouragement at a few parts of the course. That was pretty cool.

Cross is fun. It was a blast to zip through the park. There was a little of nervousness because it was my first race, but honestly I can't see myself getting too nervous again. It is a super cool atmosphere and ultimately, though you are racing against other people, it is really more of a challenge within yourself. I'm totally hooked cause I had a great time. But, honestly, it really sucked to go over the second set of barriers—what the hell was with the nasty shit smell in those woods? Seriously, it was awful!

Thanks for driving out there John, and thanks Chip for helping me out with my chain before the start!

Previewing the future

Hey monkeys-

A preview of a couple things that will be put up on the blog in the upcoming weeks

1) A season wrap up from the race team as a whole

2) Time Trial Recap - Yeah thats right Dean is wearing a skin suit!!!!!

3) The individual racers season wrap up (over the winter months i will be posting season recaps from anyone who wants to send me something)

4) Some exciting sponsorship annoucements.....

Monkey, Monkey
Andrew

Shea 9th, Castro 12th ... Hopkins Park CX 4B's Race Report

Hey Everyone,

My report will be fairly short, I'm hoping Shea will write up a more comprehensive one since it was his first CX race on his newly built up cross rig.

We got out to DeKalb around noon because we didn't pre-register and there were only 10-20 spots left in the 4B's and 4A's was filled. Luckily we registered with 10 spots remaining. After pre-riding the course and warming up we went over to the start area around 2:45 along with the other 70+ 4B's. They called up the top ten finishers from Jackson Park, Austin from RVB was going to take Cushman's 8th place spot since Dave was out of town .. They called the rest of us up and I got a spot in the 2nd row on the far right, which was ideal since about 30 yards down there was a hard left hand turn. Shea and Austin were right behind me. Start whistle goes and I make it to the turn pretty close to the front and through the first couple of turns I see there's about 5 people in front of me, Chase Wolford from Rhythm Racing (rides for IIT too) is in the lead. Heading out to the baseball fields and the off-camber twist and turn I realized I couldn't hold my current pace and had to back off a little. On the first pavement section I hear someone coming up and cheer me on and I see out of the corner of my eye it's an RVB'er and I'm like, "go, go, I can't keep up .." and Austin flies by me. Somewhere near the start of the 2nd lap as my lungs are screaming and my legs are going unresponsive I see a monkey kit coming up and I shout, "come on Shea, get up here!" He eventually did and then passed me. I kept Shea in my sights and we got to cheer each other on through the multiple switchback sections. Overall, after sitting pretty good in 6th in the first 5 minutes of the race, I lost 6 more spots and ended up in 12th. Shea did great and got 9th! My lungs still hurt, but I'm still smiling by how much fun it was and how well Shea did.

Lessons learned:
- Pre-register, save $5!
- Plan your start position based on the first turn, don't get boxed in going into the first turn.
- Go hard at the start, but not too hard where you blow up and hang on for dear life for the rest of the race.
- Have fun and try to get some of the cash hand-ups from spectators (someone was giving out $20's)!

pics from jasonhenry (half acre cycling) on flickr.com

damn, the new oakley's look good ..
















it may look like I'm going fast, but I'm not, I'm barely able to pedal ..
















JPC

p.s. zens, witry and pollard, all the xXx'ers and cycle smithy racers were calling you guys out .. wondering where you were, maybe next year?

live blog #3

Trent is fast! Andrew is awesome! Dean is #1!

live blog time trial #2

Trent is on the trainer, the bikes are set up, and we are awaiting jason's arrival, the nerves are that bad. You guys should see all the tt helmets out here!

time trial live blog

Here from the fall fling time trial, what a different world, full disc wheels, aero bars everywhere! Get the trainers set up about an hour and a half from the start.... Who will wear the skin suit?

To Skin Suit or Not to Skin Suit, That is the Question

As rain poured down tonight and the reality of summer's ending settled in, I realized the race calender had only one remaining race-dot. For a roadie like myself, the Fall Fling signals the end is no longer near, but present. No Monkeys raced in last weekend's road race and crit...but this Saturday's Time Trial has attracted a few riders in search of a Skin Suit. (I capitalize Skin Suit in order to not inadvertently discount its formal nature). Yet not as a Pirate is in search of treasure for spoil, these riders in search of a Skin Suit have deeper intentions. I behold: The Skin Suit Challenge...



Discipline: Individual Time Trial in B.F. Egypt
Distance: 12.5km (7.75 miles)

Contestant 1: Dean Okun (SpiderMonkey Cycling)
C1 Bike: Pegoretti
C1 Aerobars: No
C1 Wheels: Deep Dish
Kansas University Alum: `86

Contestant 2: Andrew Zens (SpiderMonkey Cycling)
C2 Bike: Madone-sweet discovery logos too
C2 Aerobars: No
C2 Wheels: Non-Deep Dish
Kansas University Alum: `07



The moonshine lit juvenile quarrels involving story telling and gentlemen bets led to this very challenge: loser wears the long-sleeve SpiderMonkey Skin Suit to the end of the year Formal (did I forget the humiliation factor?). Andrew heads out of the gate 60 seconds before Dean with a racer half-way in between. Both riders have declined comment on whether they will be wearing a time trial helmet.


At about 20 mph for 60 secs Andrew should have about 500 meters on Dean. The wind will play a definite factor as well as cornering ability. Weather could be bad so I assume both will race with virtually no skin on their body getting air during the race; something they haven't done since Super Spring Crit in Beloit.


I wish I could say that the the coverage starts at 10am with Paul and Phil then onto the sweet shots of the team buses with Ben Stiller breaking time trial bikes and guys with ice vests drilling it on the trainer, but I can't. However, Andrew and Dean will be rockin' an iPod on respective Cyclops' having a Zym under the 312 tent while I enjoy a few 312s myself...


Something tells me they will be joking when they start warming up and then the reality of the Skin Suit sets in.




-CaCAW