185: Sven Nys Does it Right.

The Golden Globes were the other night. Did anyone watch that? I did and I thought everything about it was funny. Possibly lost a few Twitter followers at the same time, but whatever, you were not taking those awards too too seriously were you? I think that Ryan Thomson summed it up best in a text to me later that night "It is like the Cat4 of the Awards shows." And I could guess what CAT1 and 2 are, but what do you think CAT3 would be? Toronto Film Festival Awards? Banff?

Here were some of my favorite moments of the show:

1) Ricky Gervais openly drinking on the screen - right before introducing Mel Gibson.

2) James Cameron speaking in Na'vi (I typed "Nabis" and then looked it up) his retelling of Pocahontas is supposedly phenomenal, but when he spoke, I swear I heard papyrus. (found via Viewers Like You on Twitter)

3)Mickey Rourke

3.5) I'm not even going to mention the T. Phinney cancer blunder, because the NY Times Twittered about Michael C. Hall's head wear. That's the New York Times. Phinney is a child and should have his cell phone taken away. NYT, well they should know better. Thank god for this guy. I wonder what actually happens in "Media Training Day?"

Truth*

4) TJ trying to bust me out for being a hippy and watching TV in PDX. Are you fucking kidding me? Television is hilarious. I just watched a Hershey's ad with two Mermaids (well, one was a Merman) swim through a chocolate ocean to find a treasure chest full of almonds. Life cannot get much better than that. Besides Hippies watch tv and have golden retrievers, and drive jettas, and "make" dreads with their hair.

5) That Ninja Assassin got overlooked. And so did Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (can someone tell me why it took so long for us to hear that Lorenzo Llamas AND Debbie Gibson are in this?)

Besides, go easy on me Cycling Fans. This is what I went to school for, studied if you will. I tried to take every class I could about Cycling, but then I realized that there were no classes about Mountain Biking or the Specialized Rock Hopper which were the two things that I was really into.

So, I took film classes instead and then rode through homeless camps on my Rock Hopper down by the river on my free time (truth.) But this is also why I think I like You Might Find Yourself so much. You can pretty much post any photo of Toshiro Mifune and I will be hooked. Or T. Malick (what indeed is up with Tree of Life?), or an interview with the guy who designed the Funny Games movie poster and how Tim Roth wouldn't have worked with it. Those are all good things.

But so is this...

P.S. have you guys been following this Sven Nys book? Molly let me borrow it at the beginning of the cross season. Ok, well, it might have been earlier in the summer, but check it out MC, I still got it. This book kills me too. Sven does it all and goes the distance in terms of skills, and even in a few cases bikes. He'll take a turn on the MTB...or should I say VTT?

He finds time to put his toe in the "Zand" and I'm guessing talk about the implications of finding that dreadful adversary on the cyclocross course. I for one am a big fan of Zand... seems like a feature that the West Coast cross races are really lacking. Gloucester had it, Northhampton and Beacon CX had it... and no one can seem to find a sandpit out here.

But Nys also talks about running which is nice. Seriously here, could we not have found him a Rabobank Track Suit? Or little running shorts with a slit up the side? Actually, I do not think that fans of Sven would even know what to do if they saw him in "Street Clothes." Last year when Molly and I were travelling there we did see some clothes from the Sven Nys Collection, but those have mysteriously disappeared from the interwebs. Fear not, I have the catalog (do you have it MC?) Somewhere and will dig it out...


Don't worry, I saved the best for last. Think about this one next weekend when you are watching the World Championships unfold (Stybar! Stybar!). Think about his son Tibeaux who has been watching daddy's every move (I mean look at that armor.) Please, every parent that is out there, make a book like this about your profession and then give it to your child.


But really, the payoff here is that Molly re-created this photo (from Memory no less.) I smell new rider cards coming on. Maybe something with Dolphins, Sven-like poses and maybe Debbie Gibson? You Down?



*sorry about the poor photos.

165: Tim's Bike and Preview of things to come.

This weekend is the big dance, and as I prep to head out into the frozen winterland that is Bend (can we please do this in Hawaii or Arizona in two?) I thought I would give you a little look at Tim Johnson's dance partner. When we went for our ride last Friday while my friends distracted him with donuts and conversation Jeff Curtes (check that out) and I snuck off to snap some photos of his Cannondale CAAD9.

Jeff shot the photos that appeared here on the Rapha Blog.


Jeff and I both remarked out loud that we thought it was interesting that Cannondale has not supplied Mr. Johnson (my 5th grade band teacher) with a Carbon Frame. Not that it really matters at this point. With the full Red group, XTR pedals, and ZIPP race wheels (not pictured) the bike is light as can be. Some nice personal touches with the custom T Johnson frame decal and the "Team Issue" ZIPP clincher wheelset.


These Ellie Mae Duro tires looked to be the best choice for the day though. Mostly road riding to get to Forest Park and then a little bit of off-road dirt and gravel. Never seen these before but they looked nice with their directional tread and tough looking sidewall. The funny thing about them, if you dig through the Duro Website is that they do make a ton of tires. Even ones for Golf Cars. Do they not call them Golf Carts in Georgia? I do like the Green TRP's though.


Lets wrap it up with a few sponsor shots. Stu Thorne, the creator and owner of Cyclocrossworld.com is the man behind the man in this case. He puts together all of Johnson's bikes and makes sure that the tyres are well glued and aquasealed up, ready for action. With a well documented and storied history in not only the New England scene, but Cross in general the two seem perfect for each other. Or is it because their both from the North Shore? Control Tech provides the steering support and Cannondale, the bikes.


What would you call this bike? It is not decked out as some superfly race machine. Although it is undeniably a race machine. We do not see the overly Gucci components and the totally decked out rig that a. you would expect, or b. we have come to associate with being a Professional cyclist. Possibly, that lends itself more to Johnson's Working Class Hero persona than some of the other bicycles that are on the Pro Circuit.

Either way, this weekend will be the showdown of all showdowns, right?

Will Powers be able to ride support for Johnson? Even if it comes down to having to settle? That would be the right way to go right? Will Cyclocrossworld be able to hold on to the rising star for next year? Will Chris Jones be able to sneak away on the frozen Tundra? As we have seen he does really well when the conditions make for a fast race.



Molly Cameron has also been known to slip and slide through rough conditions and although she did not have the best races out here at the USGP her form has been continually rising throughout the season. Besides, look at how she slipped and slid in this video where she bested some of the worlds premiere Cross racers.

Could be a game for anyone at this point. Yikes.

164: USGP — Day 2 (in pictures)

Start

Bacon

With Fries


Speed

Jones

Ira

Paul


Spectacles


Yak


Rock


& Roll


Work


Tree


Tonk


Red


TJ


Odd


Finish

162: Tim and USGP Day 1.

Tim Johnson, you were right, those who guessed. I was going to try and play it off like it was Steven Hunter or James Selman, both celebrities in their own right. But, alas, it was Tim Johnson. It was great that he could take some time to hang out with us and cruise around on some cross bikes in the woods. Or if you are CD, do some mountain bike time trialing.

The best part about hanging out with Tim though was that he really did want to hang out. Steven said later that day that talking with Johnson was like spending some time with your riding buddies. Or something to that effect. You talk about riding, you talk about cars, you talk about women, you talk about the sex offender iPhone app. You know, the usual.

Then we took a group shot, tried on some t-shirts, made CD answer the phones for us and that was pretty much that. Then it was time to eat again. The cold weather makes me hungry. Maybe it has something to do with waking while it is still dark outside and trying to keep up with this guy and at the same time trying to keep warm. For some reason it is really cold here these days. Which is apparently a change from the East Coast and something that I was hoping to leave behind.

USGP – Day 1

The next day was USGP time and I was psyched to head out to Portland International Raceway to check out the racing. All the big guns were in town as this is a great "warm up and shake the legs out" for those cyclists traveling from around the country to race in Bend next weekend. What a smart move and great way to go for the local racing scene.

As we entered the venue Steven and I wondered out loud to each other why this isn't a Bridgestone sponsored Flyover on the course? It certainly is long enough, and you could just build a ramp down at out the other side. Or something to that effect. Too bad G. Peterson's mismangement of Bridgestone Cycling ruined the U.S. of A. for them, otherwise we could have gotten them in on the action as well.


Everyone was out there though. I parked myself on this corner for the action, or maybe it was more for the conversation I can't really remember. But a race did happen and I got some action snaps of it. Tim was out there hanging tough (maybe I made him eat one too many donuts?). I also followed Sacha and CD around as they mapped out a plan for taking over the world (not really).

Then, before you know it, the race is over and I find myself standing in the parking lot. I got to catch up with Molly and Chris Milliman and ran into David Rose. Remember when I spoke about him not too long ago? What a guy. Well, now he is officially off the drink (boo) and helping to shape the young minds of people around Portland (yay). And if there is anyone out there who can whip someone into a bike racer it could be him.

More on these and other things later. Now its back to the races.

137: Stay Famous

Florida Logic:
Try to hang with me on this, because it takes off from the station pretty quickly. Maybe scan through, get the album that I recommend. Look at a few pictures (while playing the album) and then start to really get into the meat of it. What else are you going to do?

Ready?
-----------------
Cue Rhinelander.

Rich Bravo sent me this morning. Not fair. Can I just come out and ask: What is up with Northwest Racing? A little mud is all I ask. Remember last year when we could barely push our bikes through that slop in New Jersey? Destroying all our bikes and we loving it. I do not have to even clean my bike (never did) anymore, it just stays clean.

Why is it that I feel like I'm being cheated out of a cyclocross season?

One day of riding through the woods with Pals and then what on Sunday? Hammerfest through the a lung burning bone-shakingingly dry field of horseshit. Literally. Horse Shit. Everywhere. Just so you know the Granogue race is held on the Dupont Estate. No big deal, they just have someone else clean up their horse shit on an estate.

Hear me out before you get all antsy though.

I came out here to work on my mud game. The support out here for Cross is phenomenal, the races are fast as hell, and the fans some of the best that I've heard in the sport. But I'm telling you guys (Portland) we need to tighten up our game before the East Coast comes out here to, as they say, "wreck shop." The weather will be nasty by the time December rolls around right?

I'm just afraid that they're going be all lose and limber and agile from all the mud that they have been prancing through and we will not be able to keep up. These are the emotions that I wrestle with daily. Will I be able to keep up when the mud hits? Sigh.

Like this for example, loose, limber and he is practically prancing through the mud.


Both of these photos I borrowed from the NY Velocity website. Mo Bruno (2nd!) is looking fierce. Well as fierce as a sweet braided, mud covered Mo Bruno can look.

Pro's though, you can get some more of that over at Cyclingnews. Remember when we (I'm roping you into this one) went to that site every Monday to check the stories and standings of....well, bike racing. I needed facts this time.

Tim and Jeremy both won in Toronto.

Neils seemingly can't be stopped. But I am rooting for Stybar. Just sayin. The other interesting thing about these photos? Ankle weights anyone? Seems like maybe they are using some kind of Ankle Timing Chip on their non drive side leg. It must be tough to score those races over there. They are that fast. Welcome to the future.

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New Section: Been thinking about sound.
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Here is what to do for this next section. Or at least what I did and had a good time with. First get the song Duante v Armada by the band Cougar. Go on, I'll wait, it is an experience you are going to like. It starts quiet and then just kind of builds in a nice way for this...

The PDX Cross Gallery of photos from the day before sort of softened my cold east coast heart. in other words Seeing D. Sharp wearing Ray Bans kind of made my day. CD told me earlier and I just kind of willed the photo in front of me. Bam. There is was...

So, start with that one (#11) and then just go for it playing Cougar. There are some absolutely fantastic shots in there. And a great track to go with it. I mean, the guy throwing his child into the air? Are you kidding me? AMAZING.

Then I got to this shot. Molly walking away with her first ever Cross Crusade victory.

I would like to think of this shot as the decisive moment. The KO? The spot when it was apparent that this race had been won. (It is 2:58 into the song).

Wha? Are you kidding me?

I even snuck into a photo myself. Someone should sign me up for some sort of a Fantasy Cyclocross game (who is in?) I will even tell you my top five pics for Nationals... (you know how this works right?).

D. Roth took some great snaps as well. Like ones of Shannon wearing nice socks. Or Steven Hunter crushing fools for a Top Ten finish.

Side Note: The band Cougar is actually from my home state of Wisconsin. Here is the Band's Twitter (I was hoping for Cougartwit but its still good). Keep an eye on their US Tour dates.