If Time Trials are the Race of Truth,then Cyclocross is the Bed of Truth.
Time trials are pain pure and simple. Dial in what you can stand then try to crank in more. Cross is similar but with surges unlike the steady state effort of a TT. There's the running. Steering on slippery off cambers. The dismounts and remounts.There's that pure joy of hitting the perfect lines lap after lap at redline. Not losing any momentum on a run up. This is my bed,tomorrow I make it or leave it a mess.
For my non-cycling readers. This is probably about as much value as brand new set of golf clubs to you. If you get the chance go see a cross race.

The NY CROSS CONTINGENT
What was a rainy day with thunderstorms predicted turned into a perfect night for cross practice. The grass was still wet making the off cambers a bit slippy. For our little band of crossers we had a big turnout of 12. With only three on mountain bikes. The women almost outnumbered the men.
Henk built us new equetrian style barriers to practice with.
We also tried out a possible new start for our Nov. 12th race.
The usual train formed at the front, The "Four K's". We rode a steady pace then Mike K. attacked. One K fell off. The other swapped leads as Dan K, tried to slow the train. Everyone took their turns and it came down to my self and Dan K sprinting for the line. Hmmm and I wasn't going to go hard today. Oh well, Cross just suckers you in.

Pics for the perfect day.
Pops did a "recon" ride on the motorcycles today. It will be a nice new loop. Looks like I'll be able to ride the bike to work tomorrow.
I just want to celebrate another day of living.

A perfect day. Number 913 retires on top.
I've been fighting a sinus infection since the Univest GP. But today woke up to a warm gray morning for my final mountain bike race. The New Milford race is only a half hour away. No three hour drive like thenother MASS series races.
So Pops, Bob and I load up the Jetta City( a collectable) and drive on down. The past weeks weather must have taken it's toll on attendance. As we pulled right in for parking. A quick trip through registration, a swag bag and t-shirt. Time to get the bikes ready. I'd pre-rode the course two weeks ago and new it would be a mudfest. Id did test running a 34/20 gear last year a 32/20 was perfect. But I felt I could pull the taller gearing this year. I took the holeshot. But this turns in to a downhill road so I ran out of gear quickly and most of the field caught or passed me. Then it started to rise and I got my gear back. Karl Wagner had pulled a good gap. I was second into the woods and closed the gap quickly. I took a different line down the rocky wet downhill and was right on him. When he overshot the turn. I hammered the hill to try to get a gap on everyone. I could hear all the shifting behind me. Over the top and I was already into the back markers of the 45-49 age group. Now it was try to get through them as fast as possible and get out of sight. I was cutting good lap times and feeling good. The effort was clearing my sinuses out(for the time). Iwas able to ride all the hills. The last time up the lake hill wore on me but it brought home the win. This race always has good prizes. Frames, forks, headlights, Hayes brakes. But by the time the Masters get there it's pretty picked over. So I got a Titec El Norte, Riser bar, seat and Adjustable seatpost.m Pretty sweet. Compared to a pair of grips for second at another race.
We had a beer,dug the band and did the awards. Thanks guys for a great season of racing. Gave Paul our raffle tickets and headed home to clean up for an Ale House night. It was fun to chide the guys who now had the 3 1/2 hour drive home.
The Ale House was out of most good beers. This seems to be Saturday night problem. But we made due and had some excellent pizza. Gifts were passed out for birthday people. Connie got some "Space Bubbles" these are bubble that don't pop when touched. Tish always has a fun item for us to test. Well Connie blew bubbles into the air . They went everywhere causing lots of laughs. But the best was two landed in this young guys hair and gave him small mickey mouse ears. His table cracked up at him and he wasn't getting it. After this we headed to Shenanigans to see Dirt Farm. Henk and Connie had never seen them. They had a new playlist and started out mellow,then rocked the house. A perfect ending to a perfect day.
I'm looking forward to cross now.

Biker Slang.
In answer to a comment. I'll define the trems. Grimy old knuckle. A knuck,or knucklehead is motor designation for Harley Davidson. It was nice to see one that's just ridden.
Billet Barge, is a bike thats basically built with all CNC'ed aluminum pieces,buy this and that and bolt it on. No soul.
R.U.B.S Rich urban Bikers. Guys with too much money that buy a motorcycle(s) ( because it's the new cool thing to own and play badass on the weekend. Oh look at me in my leather,do rag, cigar and attitude. For full effect they join the HOG ownwers groups so they can have "colors" (Like the Hells Angels) and call each other Bro. Oh and I didn't shave for that bad ass look. But have to on Sunday for work. Again no soul.

The other bikes. Lansdale bike night.
After the Univest we hit Iron Hill for food and beer. Both excellent. Nuff said. Then we headed over to Bike Night. The whole of Main St is shut down and filled with bikes. Some of the better looking bikes were right on Main. Lots of R.U.B.S and Billet barges. Nice to see the grimy old knuckle. There were a few panheads too. Old school bikes, before TV made choppers popular.A sweet old Silent Grey Fellow. The Stunters were on hand too. After a bit it was way too many people for me. So we headed home for some well deserved rest.

If you're burned out on racing,try a cyclosportif.
Bobber and I headed down to ride the Univest Cyclosportif. What's that you ask? Well,basically it's ride that's not a race,but turns into one. You can ride at any pace you want. Hammer or cruise. They had almost 400 people for this. Here we rode the pro course. Bobber did the 40 miler. I did the 60 miler. Frankie Andreu was our celebrity. I let the kids pull me to the first KOM held my own,then let them drag me to the next one. Eichle Rd. This hill was a BITCH. A 39/23 was barely enough to make it standing the whole way. It was every ugly hill I know rolled into one. But it was 5th or 6th over the top. The a small group settled in to chase the front guys. At mile 32 I pitted for food and water, dropping off my group of six. I'd woke up sick and had drank both bottles by this time. A banana,a couple bottles filled and a gel and I was off. Picked up two guys and we caught a few more. At the third KOM we shed them. Then I cramped. BAD. Rode through that and had enough to outsprint the kids on an uphill sprint. Bob did well in the 40 miler and said he enjoyed it. So what did we get for our 25 bucks? A tough challenging course. A couple decent t-shirts a hat, swag and apost ride meal. Following this we got to see the pros battle it out on the finishing circuit. Mark you calendars and do it next year.
The middle pic shows the winner. It was hard to get in to get a good shot with the crowds.

You can't always get what you want.
The hat on the left is the original. It's a hat I found at the Salvation Army(of Darkness) You can put your own message in it. So I did. I also made a "Praise the lowered" one. The one on the right is the new model.
A guy came up to me in the grocery store and said he had a Cannondale Raven and I should turn the hat around. That would do what? Alert the people behind me that their bike sucks. I wanted to say to him "It hasn't broken yet? You must not ride much. But I didn't. I also didn't turn the hat around.
It seems to work equally well with motorcyclists.

Something other than Bicycles and food.
I got to see these bikes beacuse of my "Your Bike Sucks" hat. Long story short,we both had old motorcycles and both rode bicycles. But I have the hat,the original. There are now 6 others. So don't ask.
The green pan is from my birth year. Sweet,totally unrestored,runs like a clock. All the bikes do. Enjoy.

The Half Century Celebration,Syrahs and Shirazes of the World.
With anticipation. We gathered at Cliff's for our wine tasting. A crib sheet was given to all so we'd know what we were drinking.( I'm sure crib sheet isn't wine speak) What to look for color ,nose, and flavors. We started with 1999 Wild Duck Creek Shiraz from Australia. A 15.3% juicy fruit bomb.Very Tasty. Next we went with a 2001 Epiphany Syrah Starline Vineyard,CA. Rich full bodied with hints of barbeque sauce,chocolate, espresso raost and licorice. My beer palate couldn't discern all this. Next up was 1990 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalbert. Northern France. HUGE smoky nose and flavor. I'm not a big fan of smoke. Then a Martinelli Syrah Zio Tony Ranch, CA. Full bodied with hints of bacon fat, camphor and graphite. Tasty. With some prodoong we opened the 2004 Thorn-Clarke Shiraz Shotfire Ridge, Australia.. White chocolate,blackberries, cassis, smoke and licorice. A total hedonistic turn on. We all nibbled on tenderloin sandwiches,cheeses,veggies and spanakopitas. A dessert wine was opened to compliment the cheesecake and chocolate chips cookies. 2004 Marquis Phillips Shiraz,Australia. Henk commented it smells "Antiseptic" Cliff's reply was "Septic" and over the rail it went. Our host set the standard. Each of us had a favorite and good time. Thanks Cliff.

Time Trial Chamlionships and a Wine Tasting Party.
Our local bike clubs TT Championships were last night. It had rained all day and was still misting at the start. 19 Riders showed up instead of the usual 40. I'd made up my mind that I would do this TT like a mountain bike. I haven't really had my head into TT's this year so my performances have been so-so. Then Llyod pointed a finger at me and "Said I'm gunning for you!" He'd had personal bests in a row and has beat me on a couple flat ones this year,while I was mentally grocery shopping or whatever my A.D.D was up to. Now this course is one of my favorites. 6 miles of flat,4 miles of up, then 10 of rollers. Long story short. Todd and Pat motored by on the flat that was ok. They've been killing it all year. This race is about the hill and the rollers. Sure enough one by one you start picking off the early starters on the long climb. Through the mist I could see yellow jerseys. Llyod. I caught two,not him. Inspite of the rain I hit 46 on the downhill(instead of 50) carried alot of speed through the turn(thanks to our volunteers) and buried the 12. Another yellow jersey,still not him. Then the rabbit came into focus. Turns out I was what he needed to get that motivation back as I passed and pulled away.. He set another personal best and was fourth overall proving the old dog could still TT. Despite a killer headache Henk gave it his usual all.
We capped off the night with with some leftover beers from the party,pickles and chips. A comment was made"I can't believe i'm seeing roadies drinking beer. Henk's reply was "That's because the mountain/cross guy brought them".
Now tonight Cliff is hosting a wine tasting for us. This will be fun. The never ending 50th party!
Road Race championships Thursday!

Today is Five Bonus Years.
So here's a poem I found on the web. I liked it.
The Clock of Life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop at late or early hours. NOW is the only time you own, love, live, toil with a will. Do not wait until tomorrow. The clock might then be still.

The Loot
Look at all those beers from all over the globe. To Carl in Florida. Yes more ramblings about food.

Tattoed White Trash, Cyclists, Folk from all walks of Life.
These are some pics from the party.

Gay or Cyclist?
Details magazine does this everymonth picking some type of person and comparing to gay men.

http://men.style.com/details/features/landing?&id=content_4865

Coffee,Dinosaurs and Very Good Beers.
The Jittery Joes won out. This weekend brought the Cheating the Reaper 50th birthday party. Tomorrow is the actual day. My card reader is on the fritz so no pics. What a good time. Pizza from Bellas. Wings from Theos, veggie platters, salads, chips and homemade salsa. Beers from all over the country and world. The dinosaur reference is to the Loomis'. Tom and Mary made the trek from Mansfield for the party. When we had our pic taken. He said call it the dinosaurs. My buds hooked me up with some pretty sweet gifts. Just everyones presence would have been enough.
Mike aka " The kid" made me two Adirondack chairs that will far outlive me. One orange and primer model that will be painted in Belgian colors.
Pops and Woofie eased my transition into slobbdom with a barbque pack. The "tattooed white trash" found me a Tour de Trailer Park t-shirt. I'll have to work on the stains. But there's already chocolate frosting on it.Many brought me fine beers from Belgium and local micro breweries.
Bob and Tish are trying to fatten me up with an M& M dispenser. Henk and Connie will be having me trying pilsners in my new glassware. Jim "Triumph" made me 5 new cd's that are playing right now.
Many were afraid that this one would be a repeat of the gin soden 45th birthday. Happy to say. No hangover, yet. Cliff's winetasting party may change that.

So I scored a Kilo.
Here I am running for the shelter of mothers little helpers. I have three choices,all good.. Dopers Suck, a dark roast, Jittery Joe's which does make me that way or shade grown Costa Rican. Two help cycling one helps farmers. All three help me.
I'll need one. Dirt Farm show tonight. 50th birthday bash tomorrow night. Chris Thater Crit sat/sun with the big dogs in town for Sunday.
Which one will fill my cup? Stay tuned.
I loaned the Carver 96'er out for testing by few local fast guys. Looking forward to the reports.

A bit more from Iron Hill
Bob of the prior post was with me and was cheering every lap. He took this photo. Even he got dirty from the dry dusty course. Great support. Thanks Bob.
I can't say enough about the Carver 96'er. Get one.

The Return to Iron Hell err Hill and my second gift of the season.
I swore I'd never return to Iron Hill after the race in the rain two years ago. Not the promoters fault,but mother natures. So it was with trepedation that I returned to Iron Hill. It was a hot dry day and the course was fast and dry. Very fun. Nice work guys.
So it's good to see my fellow racers again. I'm using a 34x18 gear figuring that will be fine. I get the holeshot and plan to runaway and hide. I can hear the clattering of full sus bikes behind and turn it up a bit. The noise lessens. I start to catch the 40-49 group. Wend my way through them amd get on a train on one of the fast downhills. No place to pass. So I bide my time. Over a few logs and the leaders yells "Shit we missed that turn". What? I turn around and sprint up the hill and find it. I'm pissed this is the second time this year.( I show that in the photo). So I catch back to George and Bill. I figure Karl must just be up ahead. I rest a bit on the one climb behind George. The attack him hard. I'm thinking I must be in second,reach for the gelflask and it's not there. Damn those things. The bike starts to feel like I'm getting a flat. I check it after I have to run a section due to traffic. Seems OK. Then on the fourth lap it's going flat. I debate trying to ride it in. Nope. I stop and shoot it with Pennzoil Fix a Flat. George closes to 50 feet of me. I'm not giving this up and go flat out to the finish. It held. but was flat again by the time I went bacjk to change. All photos by dennisbike.com. He covers all the races ,races himself. Good people and a tough competitor.

Bob and Pamala Stanley
Now Bob isn't married to her as the title suggests. Far from it. Ha!
More happy hour good times. Pamala sang Mon-Thurs at the Blue Moon.
Her ability to think was clouded daily by over the counter meds for headaches,allergies, and sinus. I'm sure the wine didn't help. She did the full gamut of songs and kept a good chatter with the crowd.
No Dirt Farm. But the Moon actually did play classic rock this year and not disco/dance all the time.