Favorite Discoveries of 2007: Music

For this installment I list not only the album, but also my favorite track.

Music:

Chuck Ragan: Feast or Famine (2007) - Don’t Cry

Wilco: Sky Blue Sky (2007) - Hate it Here

The Weakerthans: Reunion Tour (2007) - Civil Twilight

Gillian Welch: Revival (2001) - One More Dollar

Crooked Fingers: Dignity & Shame (2005) - Call to Love

Award for “I initially thought this sucked, but now it is growing on me” goes to:
Against Me!: New Wave (2007)

Favorite Discoveries of 2007: Books

There was a time when at the end of the year I could list off what was the best new whatever of the year. Lately I’ve noticed I struggle to even name a single thing I enjoyed that was actually new for the past year. So instead I give you my list of my favorite things I “discovered” this year.

Books:
Dave Eggers - What is the What (2007)
Jonathan Lethem - Men & Cartoons: Stories (2004)
Bob Deans - The River Where America Began (2007)
Guy Delisle - Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China (2005)
J.K. Rowlings - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows(2007)

Special “White Whale” award for book I still can’t finish:
David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest

The last race at Montrose marks the end of my cyclocross season. 7 races in total which all in all isn’t so bad. Performance-wise this has been an extremely frustrating year since I feel like I did exactly as well as I did last year with no improvements whatsover. In theory I should be proud of the fact that I did as well as I did after spending 2 - 3 months essentially immobile. Afterall it took a lot of practice of my off-road handling skills, and dismount/remount technique to make up for my lack of fitness.

In the end I should be looking forward to next season when I will hopefully be able to increase my fitness & still maintain (or even improve on) what skills I have. And while there are no longer any USCF/ABD races for quite awhile I would still check back every once in awhile since I have a couple cool surprises in the works.

Hint: one of them will ensure I have plenty of base miles for next year.

Montrose Harbor - Race Report

There are three really great things about the Illinois State Champtionship race at Montrose Harbor: 

1. It is only 20 minutes away from my apartment

2. Racing in front of friends

3. It is the last race of what is usually a hard season for me

There are other reasons of course (great course!), but it really hits home how much work it is to race up in Wisconsin every weekend (remember I am not a morning person). 

Getting to the race at around noon it was pretty cold, but really not that bad compared to Hale’s Corner.  The Turin people had impressively shoveld out the course which I first thought was kind of lame, but then I remembered how awful the race was last year with all of that ice.  So good job Turin keeping it sloppy!  I missed my opportunity to pre-ride the course before the Cat 1/2/3 Men raced so I stood around and watched the racing abit and checking out the course.  Other than a few sections it was exactly the same as previous years.  My prediction is that I would straight up crash 5 times, wipeout at least 10, and get 2 mechanicals.  My goal was to minimize those stats.

After sitting in the car trying to keep warm I rode out on the road around the course for awhile warming up with Jacques right up until the everyone was lining up at the start.  I picked a spot in the back knowing that with how I’ve been feeling it wouldn’t really matter that much.  This being my first Chicago race this season I was shocked at how many men were in the 4A’s.  I sort of figured it would be this large with the 4’s being split into the A’s & B’s, but there were at least 50 racers.  It was also really cool seeing so many xXx-ers like Luke, Jacques, Kirby, Jason, Ben, Max, Andrew, and everyone else I forgot.  

The start was nerve wracking with a lot of elbows getting thrown for positions and pretty soon the race was strung out singlefile.   Even with the course all dug out it was single track the whole way.  If you wanted to get around someone you had to ride around them in the chunky slop which took a lot of power.  Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but whenever I stand up in the slop I always seem to lose control of my steering so instead I power through seated.  This actually suits me well since I’ve been practicing climbing from the saddle ever since my leg got broken. 

The hardest part of the race was the long run up Cricket hill which ended with a 3 pack barrier, then you turned aorund and had to run again.  Every lap I would run slower & slower, but one thing I noticed that was that as tired as I would get running it had almost zero effect on how hard I could pedal.  How is that possible?  Are those muscles really that distinct?  Maybe I should learn how to not drown & try a triathlon sometime?

There were lots of people on the course.  A group of xXx-ers were hanging out by the chicanes shouting the right line to take to xXx-ers (I think I heard/saw Brit?) and at the top of a short steep hill was Ansgwar (Formally xXx, Currently Metlife) taking pictures.  When he was there I was able to pedal to the top no problem, on the last lap he disappeared and I faltered and had to dismount.

The results are still not up to answer the mystery of what happened next.  As we came into the finish I was behind Jason and in front of Ben with some small gaps.  I heard someone yell “One more lap!” when I crossed so I kept going.  I kept asking people if I was done, but never got a good answer and when I looked back I saw Jason was done.  I still didn’t know what to do so to play it safe I did another lap.  The entire time it totally felt wrong and so I’m very curious if this will be reflected in the standings.  I should’ve stuck around to check the results, but instead I went home & Lucas & I got Chipotle.

Montrose Harbor - Preview

Photo by Lucas Moellers

Race Report - WI State Championship

Photo by Kat

 

The picture from my previous post must be from my first or second lap of yesterday’s Wisconsin State Championship race. You can tell because during the third lap I was practically crawling over the barriers instead of anything resembling a jump.

 

The morning started with a 5:45a wake up and a flurry of throwing gear in my bag & car, picking up Henry & Amanda, and thanks to running into the Team Pegasus caravan an uneventful drive up to Hales Corners. It was easily 10-15 degrees colder up north than in the almost tropical climate of Chicago and my pre-race goal was staying warm and keeping my feet relatively dry for the race. The entire park was covered with snow that started out crunchy, but was soft underneath. Once the course was setup I attempted to pre-ride the course but could barely pedal enough to stay vertical; for the first time I really regretted not having a double chainring.

 

 

At the line I did my shot of Stok caffeine creamer* and away we went. That first lap was pure torture. It was almost impossible to ride anything resembling a straight line since the crunchy snow would throw your front wheel everywhere but where you wanted it. The race before us went for 2 laps and I was definitely looking forward to doing the same, but sure enough as the lap progressed so did our speed and for our efforts we were rewarded by having to do an extra lap of misery.

Photo by Kat

 

One of the toughest parts in the race was the gradual inclines. Most of the times in a race there will be a short steep run up where it is obvious you are supposed to dismount, run, and get back on at the crest of the hill, but in yesterday’s race there were at least 2 spots where it seemed like you could run forever and never find a good spot to get enough momentum for a clean remount. I know I passed at least two racers who were struggling to clip in and roll at a standstill while I ran further for a better spot to remount.

Crossing the lap counter the first time I gave an exasperated “Fuck!” when I saw the lap counter read 2 to go and settled in for more slogging. But sure enough the pace slowly picked up and for the most part I stayed with the same group of Jason (fellow xXx-er), and Jon Raliegh. By the 3 rd lap I was able to get some speed going by finding the right lines and was able to finish 29th out of about 50 riders.

 

 

The best part as usual had nothing to do with the racing and everything to do with the people who showed up.

- Josh and his crazy horn which always sounded to me like elephants stampeding.

- Ted Burger who I keep thinking is a Cat 3 and has the best post-race hat ever

- Kat & Katy who kept shouting out variations of my last name 3 rd grade style

- Amanda who also woke up at an ungodly hour, but just to watch & take pics

- Greg Heck who popped up in the 2nd lap and scared the hell out of me & looked strong in the Cat 3 men

- Former Chicagoan & xXx-er Matt who always yells “Go xXx!” at me

- Ben, Julie, Helge, & Zack who I saw after I finished.

- …and everyone else who braved the cold to watch. There’s a reason I ended up driving all the way up to the arctic north instead of racing in Illinois.

 

 

After the race was over I puked up everything I’d eaten that day**, put on every article of clothing I brought with me, and hung out in the amazing tent Team Pegasus brought with them. The rain poured and we stood inside and had chili and apple cider while we watched the other racers. By the time I got home I could barely stand up straight so I took a 3 hour nap & ate a burrito. A perfect end to the WI ‘cross season.

 

 

* On our way to Angell Park Henry & I stopped by the travel oasis for coffee & snacks. Henry found these little creamer guys called Stok with an umlaut over the “o.” They contain 40 mg of caffeine and warn you to “Limit 2/day” and “Not for those under 18, Pregnant or Caffeine-Sensitive”

** 1 bowl of oatmeal, a can of pepsi, a McDonald’s apple pie, a small coke, 1 clifshot, & the above Stok caffeine shot

 

 

Wisconsin State Championship @ Hales Corners

Picture by Gomez.  Race report to come soon.  Congrats to Katy