8.12.2005

08.12.05 - weekend of bike maintenance

looking to sneak in some repairs this weekend - need to get the el biko's washed and prettied up for their big date at the NORBA next weekend. ew, i can't wait - i finally get to use my semi-pro license. funny - i've been racing against pro's for so long that to do an actual NORBA with classes that eliminate those guys from my classes are odd.

some pro's/interesting riders i have raced against (please forgive spelling errors!)
1. rob acovati - fast pro road rider. used to race a ton of crits with him at the old pittsburgh zoo courses. was sponsored by khs at the time.

2. matt eaton - super fast previos pro. claim to fame was the first american to win the milk race over in britian, i believe. was a khs rep for years and also raced against armstrong, lemond, etc. used to do these super long road rides with him and a group of guys from pittsburgh and then be cooked for days.

3. gunnar shogun - west virginia pro mountain biker and cross freak. used to race with diamond back, now races for fort. had this cool vw bus and was the first pro i ever met and raced against. the first time i beat him i talked about it for weeks.

4. kyle dixson - super fast pro mountain biker. used to race for jamis.

5. danny chew - mega mile nut case road biker. think he used to be pro at one time and i know he was once a member of the US national team as a junior. he is such a fruit cake that to call him a fruit cake would be an understatement. he won RAAM once, maybe twice. he talks so loud that i think you can hear him in the next state. one of his claims to fame is that he has recorded EVERY SINGLE MILE he has ever ridden, whom he road it with and the EXACT route - this is so he can document his journey to ride a million miles in his lifetime. if you think you are nutty, this guy has you beat. by a million miles.

6. joe papp - pro road biker. crit specialist. used to race a ton against him in the days of the old pittsburgh zoo criteriums.

hmmmm..... more on this subject later.

so - NORBA next week. kind of pumped up for this race being a national event and such. since ESPN is going to be there and the marathon is going to be the race, i hope SPEEDGOAT/ASYLUM/ERNESTO gets some good press. jennifer is going down with me, and pit crew member #1 (otherwise known as "dad") is coming down to make sure things run smoothly. then, off to the folks to crash out and then up to the rochester new york area to race the suicide 6. as this race is near my sister's condo, the entire family (honorary pit crew members #3-#8) will be there to see the new york enduro series come to a close. and just to note, dan the man (pit crew member #2) has been tapering up his work schedule so that he can get extra practice for the trip up to whistler next month. there he'll have to fight off nasty bears and deal with a freaked out goat high on red bull and hammer gel.

anyhoo, bike washes tomorrow and some minor repair stuff on the bikes. been thinking a lot on the upcoming cross season as well and have been thinking of selling off my giant cross bike to pick up another moots cross.

why another moots? well my friend, i think the question should really be, why not?

and with that - i depart. thanks for checking in sologoat fan.

sologoat out.

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