Click MORE for overall results and results by race.
Overall Race Results

1. ben b -first paulace
2. jason
3. justin
4. matt – first fixed
5. sam-fixed no brakes
6. aran
7. daren
8. tim
9. paul
10. chris
11. jon b- fixed
12. tom
13. shaun
14. danny k
15. mike a – fixed
16. liam
17. Jeff
18. becky – first woman
19. mike g – fixed gear no brakes
20. tony
21. trevor – first don johnson impersonator
22. mag – fixed
23. ben t
24. jon j
25. jon h
26. Katherine
27. Boson
28. deva
29. koala
30. matt b
31. alfonso

race # 1:  Muddy parking lot

1. danny k
2. jason
3. ben b
4. chris
5. matt
6. justin
7. sam
8. aran
9. trevor
10. tim
11. jon h
12. paul
13. jon
14. daren
15. liam
16. jeff
17. tom
18. ben t
19. mag
20. tony
21. mike g
22. becky
23. jon j
24. mike a

Race #2:  Riverside park

1. justin
2. jason
3. ben b
4. trevor
5. matt
6. liam
7. daren
8. sam
9. tim
10. aran
11. Katherine
12. jon b
13. chris
14. jon
15. ben t
16. Boson
17. danny k
18. tom
19. tony
20. becky
21. mike a
22. jon j
23. mike g
24. jon h
25. shaun
26. jeff

Race #3:  Federal Hill

1. justin
2. jason
3. ben b
4. daren
5. danny k
6. sam
7. chris
8. matt
9. aran
10. tim
11. paul
12. tom
13. shaun
14. mike a
15. jeff
16. tony
17. jon
18. mike g
19. becky

Race #4: Wyman Park

1. ben b
2. justin
3. matt
4. aran
5. jason
6. chris
7. sam
8. tim
9. shaun
10. daren
11. mag
12. jon j
13. paul
14. jon
15. mike a
16. tom
17. becky
18. mike g
19. tony
20. jeff

Race # 5:  Patterson Park

1. ben b
2. liam
3. matt
4. jason
5. daren
6. sam
7. shaun
8. paul
9. aran
10. tim
11. justin
12. tom
13. mike a
14. jon
15. becky
16. mike g
17. jeff
18. mag
19. tony

Oh, if you haven’t been turned on to google reader yet, it’s a really good way to keep up with your daily web stuff and it’s particularly good for reading things that don’t get updated regularly.  It’s worth a try, and maybe you’ll even put this on there.

So here is a  recap of what’s been going on the bike front:

• CCVCX Summer fun series never happpened.
• I have been racing ‘cross, I made it out to a bunch of races this year
• charm city, where I did OK.
• 
• cross vegas where I got crushed, but it was really cool just to get to race it.
• ed sanders which was muddy
• 
• kelley acres which was a very interesting course
• granogue which is still a favorite
• wissahickon which was way better than i expected
• dccx which is now the best event of the mabra series
• rockburn which was my worst race so far and extremely hard but fun.  I crashed before a sand pit and ran through it with my bike shouldered backwards.
• coming up are tacchino, taneytown, and capital cross.  training has been thin so poor results are expected, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy myself anyway.
• there have been a few updates on my team’s blog so you can check their for more details.  It’s really grown, there are between 10-15 members now depending on how you count.
• I am in the process of getting all the paperwork submitted for a real-deal legit post-season cyclocross race in College Park on Feb 1st sponsored by Proteus Bicycles.  It’s going to run backwards with the Men’s Open going first.  The last race of the day is the real selling point.  A Single Speed Only ‘cross Race.  Tom Palermo is donating a fork to the winner!  So keep that date clear!
• The BMORE CX Stage Race WILL happen again in 2009.  The date is up in the air because I want to make sure that I don’t conflict with another underground event.
• If you are planning on buying a bike in the next week or so, you might want to wait because the shop where I work has a huge sale coming up and there will be some ridiculous deals.

Here is an update of things on the music front:

• the comp.  yes, it’s taken me forever.  I’m about to get it mastered and it should be coming out.  HELL is actually on Hiatus until January 09.  I want to make sure that it comes back from Hiatus because if it doesn’t, that might change some decisions I make in terms of how many to press etc.
• I’m in 2 bands now.  one is playing a show this friday @ in baltimore.  the other is playing at the black cat on the 25th.  The 21st is a rockin’ show.  the 25th is a screamin’ show.
• Brace Face Mini PunX release.  Apparently the band has restructured.  So maybe it will get recorded, maybe it won’t.
• 
• Some bands that I have been really into lately:  Pedals on our Pirate ships from Richmond, Cringe from Baltimore, The new Dillinger Four.  your friend google will take you to their webpages I’m sure.

1. Wed July 30.  Riverdale MD.  early evening.  this is very close to my birthday.  Feel free to chip in and buy me a Surly Karate Monkey or a Kona Kapu because everyone knows that I don’t have enough bicycles.
2. Sunday Aug 10.  Columbia MD.  EARLY morning.  later that evening, or perhaps as a matinee show, I haven’t decided, there is a rock and roll show for a band called Pedals on Our Pirate Ships in Baltimore.  One of my bands will probably be playing as well.
3. Sunday Aug 17 ccvcx finals in Baltimore MD.  This will be another “stage race” event.  There will be 3 stages.  Each stage will have a recommended rehydration point.

A few more details.

• ride whatever bike you want.  cross bike is ideal.  road bike with knobbies or rigid mountain bike after that.  suspended mtb or regular road bike will still work .  and as always single speed is strongly encouraged.
• this is NOT a very serious event.
• Don’t want to race?  Come Spectate, take pictures, bring a cowbell, rehydrate with us.
• to “register” you have to e-mail me directly at jim(AT)charmcityvelo.com  you will receive all other important details that way.  I would like to keep a running tab of who’s coming so I have a general idea.  Even if you have my normal e-mail address that I check more often, e-mail me at that one so I can keep everything in one place.
• flyer will follow.
• at this point, this is VERY tentative.

http://charmcityvelo.com/monumentcuesheet 

• Well Joe and Julie of Single Speed Outlaw say that it’s not so bad. Julie warned me about a tricky descent and how I need to just let go of the brakes and trust it. I met internet celebrity Joel Gwadz, and he said that it’s an easier course to race than to ride because you want to keep your momentum up on it. I guess that makes sense.
  

1st lap:

• this is horrible. really really horrible. I never want to do this again. In fact, I don’t even know if I want to do another lap after this. This is ridiculous. That mud is entirely too deep, and there is way too much of it. This descent is terrifying, I’ve been getting better at descending but this steep loose rock business is for the birds. I don’t know what’s worse, steep descent or crazy long climb? How am I going to do this for another 6 miles? Oh, the course is 12.8 not 17? (I guess I should have double checked that one) That’s much more reasonable.

Rest 1

• Apparently Zach’s not coming. We decide that the best plan of attack is to have a “Zach Lap” figured in. The rotation goes me, Kevin, Ben, Rest for 2 hours when imaginary Zach is riding, then back to me. This makes my lap times look really long, but they already looked long so it doesn’t really matter. Lowered my tires to 40 psi (I don’t know what they were at, but it was too high) and had Wes soften up my fork a bit. Hour long nap in the hammock made a big difference. As I waited for Ben to come in from his lap to tell him the plan, I ran into Dr. Stacy, an old rock climbing acquaintaince who has done this race a lot of times now. The only other amusing moment is Wes’s infatuation with the Granny, the race mascot (a young lady dressed up as a grandmother rolling around giving everyone temporary tattoos). We couldn’t tell if she found him charming on slightly disturbing.

Lap 2

• Ran into Karen from Dirt Rag at the bike rack. I was going to stop to chat about the Aydin track on the Ride Like Hell Comp, but it turns out that she is on a 2 person team so I’ll save the chit chat for later. No time for chatting when you are a badass. I went out at 8 and it was going to go from day to night during my lap. Best case scenario, I would make it to the steep rocky descent before that happened. She came from out of nowhere and whipped past me at the first muddy section. I was by myself again for a while and then I hit the pine trees. This was clearly the best part of this course, smooth singletrack with really nice bermed turns. It was really just beautiful, then it opens up on this awesome ridge. I really didn’t appreciate it as much on the first lap, but the second time around
  I realized how cool it was. Dr. Stacy flew past and then it was on to the descent. Didn’t make it in time to avoid using the lights, so it was a little dicey. I went down a few times but nothing dramatic. The last half was covered with toads. It was pretty surreal. Finished my lap at about 10:45.

Rest 2

• If we all pulled 2 hour laps and accounted for a 2 hour “Ghost Lap” I wouldn’t be up again until 5. Ate a little food and then fell asleep. I set my alarm for 5. Promptly proceeded to sleep right through it. At 7, I woke up and realized that I had absolutely no desire to do my next lap. Kevin blew rear brake line and rode 9 miles on a rigid SS with only a front brake. Ben was still asleep. We came to the conclusion that we could quit right there and have had a fulfilling trip. Then I saw a few guys roll by that had just finished their laps and remembered that plenty of people were doing far much more than we were, so I couldn’t go out after 2 laps even if my 3rd would take a really long time.

Lap 3

• I went out at 8 AM, 12 hours after I started my 2nd. I thought I would be cool, but the first mile suggested otherwise. I was picking bad lines and not rolling over things as smoothly as I should have been. I was pretty much toast and thought about taking the early exit option at mile 2. I fought the temptation and then really started to enjoy my lap. It was by no means a fast lap, but it was enjoyable. I stopped to eat an energy bar as I looked out over that ridge. My last name drop of the day would be when I pulled aside so Tinker Juarez could pass me. I guess I looked pretty beat because he told me to “keep it up, dude”. Then, just to say I did it, I tried to stay on his wheel for as long as I could. That only lasted about 100 yards, but it gave me something to focus on for a bit. Nevermind that he’s 10 years older and was on his 14th lap. If anyone didn’t know who Tinker Juarez was, the announcer should have cleared that up by saying “Tinker Juarez is a 1996 Olympian and veteran racer. Anything you can do on a bike, he has done. Except maybe eating one”. I would now like to see Tinker eat a bike, just to fill out his resume.
• funny moment, trying to clear a logpile, I lifted my rear wheel a bit too much and started to go over the bars, but I didn’t. Instead I unintentionally rode a nose wheelie for about 5 feet. It was pretty cool, it would be way cooler if I did it on purpose or could ever do it again.
• My finish should have been triumphant, Kevin was going to go after me if he could get an Ellsworth as a loaner. I rolled up the ramp as fast as I could, and then didn’t quite turn enough and went straight into the rail. I knocked my bars crooked but didn’t realize it, then as I started to ride again (with my bars straight but wheel crooked) I went right into the rail again. I figured everything out and then ended up running down the ramp. hardly memorable, but better than crashing into the side 3 or 4 more times.

Kevin’s lap was crazy fast, full suspension 29′ers with gears are a bit faster and smoother than rigid single speeds with front brakes only. At the end, I realized it was the hardest +/- 39 miles I had ever ridden. I suspect I will end up riding them again next year.

If you’re interested in coming out for this, please drop me a line at jim (at) charmcityvelo.com .  it will give me a general idea of how many cue sheets to print out.

If you would like to help, the best thing you can do is tell people about it.  print out a flyer, hang it in a bike shop, stick it in the spokes of a parked bike, etc.  I’m pretty swamped with work, but that should die down soon and I will be able to put some more time into getting the word out.

Here’s the tentative route from Baltimore.  If you’re going to do the ride, please take a second to check it out, maybe trace it with a google map.  I’m sure people will be more than happy to help if anyone has a mechanical or gets lost, but since this is an unsupported ride, it’s totally worth it to review the route beforehand.  Here is a preview of the route, I will make sure that there are pretty cue sheets and all that business.

click for the route.

• cathedral street to federal downtown, pick up the gwynns falls trail
• take the gwynns falls trail to annapolis road.
• annapolis road to nursery road.
• nursery road to river road
• river to furnace to furnace again (I don’t understand the signage but it’s obvious)
• furnace to race
• race to hanover for a very short distance and back to race
• R on Park Circle
• L on Coca Cola
• L on Dorsey
• R on Faulkner (which turns back into race)
• R on Jessup (175)
• L on Brock Bridge Road
• R on Guilford (there is a 7-11 here for people who need food)
• L on Dorsey Run which goes all crazy, but eventually…
• L on Brock Bridge again
• Cross Laurel Road and Brockbridge turns to Montpelier
• L on Cedarbrook
• L on Muirkir and an almost immediate R on Odell
• L on Edmonston
• R on Sunnyside
• L on Rhode Island
• Probably stop at Proteus for water and snacks
• Get on College Park Trolley Trail where Rhode Island crosses Greenbelt Road. this turns back into a road and then…
• back onto the paintbranch trail to lake artemesia
• go around lake artemesia and get on the (I think it’s the) Northeast Branch Trail
• Get off the trail at Charles L Armentrout Drive and take that to Rhode Island.
• Rhode Island to 14th
• 14th to Constitution to the monument

then backwards

More details will follow, but here is the general idea: