(photo: Amy) It wasn't miserable like Toronto or a madhouse like Jersey, but it was certainly interesting.
Let's start with the fun stuff though. After I wrote yesterday, Chris, Tim, Dan, and I headed to the local food co-op for some beer. Chris bought a pie and a 12 of Schlitz cans. Then, we took our bounty to the showing of Zero Traction, where everyone seemed to agree that these were ideal movie-watching snacks. We ate four slices and handed around the next. We talked Matter into eating some too, which we thought was quite the boon. Ben did his own thing, he was in emoland again and had to do what he had to do. Amy showed up around 10pm but we were already two sheets to the wind.
Morning came with 3" of fresh snow on the ground. I rolled out with the guys to watch Chris race, but for the 4's they took out the big hill. They added it back for the singlespeed race, saying it wouldn't stay if they "broke someone." Well, standing there on the hill cheering for Tim, even I was afraid I'd get hit. Dan was at the top of the hill with corn dog handups. Riders would just sort of slide down it- hit your brakes and your wheel would lock up but keep sliding. Awesome. Nobody was broken, so the hill stayed and became the focus of the spectators - so much so that the announcers at the start/finish seemed to have an audience of only us folks in the pit. The filetread wheels stayed in the trunk.
By Ben's race the thing was just a slip n' slide, but the guys rode it. The course was awesome, soft wet mud that was rideable but cold n' sloppy. It tore the field apart and at the finish there were gaps of about 10 seconds between every finisher, at least. Because of conditions, with 2 to go they pulled everyone but the top 15 or so riders, whether or not they were lapped. Our entertainment for the afternoon came when the official told Brian he was out, and he shouted back "I'm not stopping!!!" and kept riding. He did eventually stop, but it was just funny hearing that, with his face covered in mud.
At one point, with about 1 to go, Ben was riding with Scott and a Clif Bar guy and the announcer started talking them up like it was the only race left, since they were the only group remaining, but Ben left both of them behind and finished strong in 12th.
The pit wasn't all that busy because the mud didn't stick at all, it sort of just fell off. Ben didn't take a bike at all but some others did. We must have all been pretty cold since work in the pit was sloppy... I saw more botched hand-ups, missed hand-ups, and just plain bad work. I even saw a pro rider get handed a bike with an un-inflated tire! Yikes.
It was a race of attrition and of bike handling skillz, and the roadies who had done well in the grass crit-style fall races struggled in the mud. I mean, in Jersey it was about powering through the mud, not handling your bike over slick slippery stuff. The trail riders triumphed, and WORS riders all had a good day. It was sort of like a local race in a way too - Pony Shop and Killjoy were out in force and there was always someone to chat with.
On the way home, a stop at Taco Johns and one at the World's Largest Truckstop. Took an hour extra to get back no thanks to the "wintry mix" on I-88. This morning I skipped the run since none of the sidewalks were shoveled and it's a base of ice with 2-3" of snow on top. Ben packed the bikes and I dropped them and him at Union Station this morning. They need to be re-cabled, again. Instead they're on a train to Portland.
Tomorrow, Portland. Then 24 hours home, then Denver, then straight to Kansas City. Happy effing holidays, right?