HALLOWEEN PSYCHO-CROSS

And there were some truly scary folks about today. Russell in his schoolgirl outfit, diaper boy, Pegasus-Speedo racer to name a few. Ahhh, Washington Park. What a perfect day for a bike race, 40s-50s and sunny with a nice cool breeze. The Trocaderos always seem to get the nice days for their race. Four years I've raced there and four years of great conditions. Well, it could have been a bit better with a little rain or snow but I'll take this anyway.

40+ 4s for my first race of the day. I figured if I mugged with this guy I'd get some good mojo going and maybe place higher than my usual 4th or 5th.

'Twas a nice thought. Here's the one fragmented sentence race report: Official says go, I blast off for the hole shot up the hill, keep the momentum for about two thirds of the first lap when Tim Mr. Get-the-f*ck-out-of-my-way Theobald and his posse of neer do wells comes by me like I was having a picnic in the park, shit!, push, push, push, I'm never going to catch them but I'll keep trying and at least not let Lewis catch me, do some nice full speed bunny hops, have some fun and roll it for 5th. Again. man, I'm gettin' a little tired of 4th and 5th place. One of these races I'm gonna make it to that de-lux podium in the sky-i-i. Or something like that.

I should have mugged with this guy before the start as that would have been some good mojo indeed.

The man was on a mission. Wasn't nooooo one catching Mr. Tim today. As for the rest of the miscreants, Russell was nowhere to be seen and neither was Steve R. I'm thinking that the costumes just added a bit too much drag to catch those who were, as Randy says, haulllllllin.

Not to be content with just one ass-whupping, I jumped into the 4s race with the aforementioned Lewis shortly after the end of the 40s. Better to not cool down too much, ya know. Lewis and I rode around and heckled each other for most of 3 1/2 laps before deciding to throw down and show those young whippersnappers what us old guys were made of. Didn't quite end up showing anybody anything but it was a good time after all. I think my best lap all day was the 5th lap of the 4s race; I railed every corner and actually felt pretty strong. Of course I did my best to hack up both lungs after finishing. Something about extra effort and a cool, dry day that does a real number on my old, tar encrusted lungs.

Next up Kletch and Estabrook. I think that the Kletch course is a super top secret Polska training ground 'cuz I haven't been able to find it. Rumor has it that Maciej has put together a tough course- I'll believe the rumors. Estabrook is always a good time and a sheer power course as there's no elevation gain to speak of. Lewis suggested doing a quad day: 40+4s, 4s, 30+ and 40+. Either he's been hitting the wacky tobaccy or he just bought stock in Amgen. Or maybe both. I could see mayyyybe doing the triple with the regular 40+ but the quad? I jes don tink so, Lew-ees.

Props go out to Casey, Patrick and the rest of the Velo Trocadero team for yet another fine edition of the Halloween race. Nice decorations this year too. This next bit is going to seem a bit odd, but I have to give credit where credit is due and that is to the officials this year. Whatever new system Heidi has put in place is actually working. Results are posted quickly and I haven't heard of any disputes this season. It's great compared to previous years where you'd wait around for an hour and the results would still be all ef'd up.