more ice '18!

       photo: Jules Benson

       photo: Mike Festa

                                   photo: Anne Rock

        photo: Jules Benson

I put Anne's card up on our mantel, next to a photo I took of the Belmont tree many winters ago, and the little cowbell I don't remember what race I picked it up at.
Long live the spirit!

Cheers!,
it is time to train, clean, focus, the fall will soon be here,
And a big hug to  everyone, everything I get outta cycling, cyclocross, and riding in philly.
dlowe.

a Sterling Pig

Sitting on some step, to some old building, leaving a big sweaty ass print,  I pointed, "see that old guy, with, the stars and stripes, on his kit"
with some fellow cyclist friends,
explaining
He was in my race.
and that, seemed more than enough for me.
not how I did, or how I corned the 2nd corner.

I chatted it up with Curtis Southern, chacthing up, I took it all in as he told me how it went down
at road nationals, and crit nationals, and how it went  for him this year.
and He does plan to go for it CX nationals, the 60+ age group,  the man's fassst.
I've raced him a bunch, mostly getting my ass kicked.

there has to be a Kinship,
to our beloved sport
What I need, from it,
I need to make grow.
There are lifer cx racers,
and Cat's that just want to win a prize, and be done with it.
and a ebb
a tide, sometimes driven by excitement, inclusion, popularity,
I can't stop racing,
and riding
and anyway, I just like to listen and talk racing with peeps
I like riding
with friends, and strangers, chatting it up, and always being surprised about something
how they got into cycling,
or that they had a pal that raced in the tour

I made my way to the "beer garden"  a nice, low-down, bit of plastic fence, to signify,
who's in to drink and who can't,
and sat at a round wood table, maybe pulled up from the storage room of the old building
with my vanished ass print on it's step.
a while by myself,
then with a couple of friends,
a townie that when he could, grab my ear and tell my something of grand importance of himself.
I watched the race go by,
and a friend do a good warm up for racing.
I had a second beer, two slices of pizza,
a nap when I got home,
and dreams of how'd if I played it a just bit different,
I'd of won that day.

with that I'd say, the Media Hometown Cycling Classic, is that.

Cheers!
dlowe

Belmont racing night

You'd think, that I would have some pictures of the racing, trails, riders, from tonight's ride.
I don't, tonight racing at Belmont was excellent, a point to point race,
ending on the top of the Plateau,
at the visiting beer garden.
A wonderful night, with a good breeze, and a clear view of the city of Philadelphia.
A night like tonight, makes me glad to live close to the city, to live close to Belmont,
to be able, to get on the bike, ride over to the trails, and, ride.

The thing about racing for me now a days, I want to win, but it's more
I guess when I was 15, I thought about being 16 and getting my drivers license.
and when I was 17, it was being 18 and being able to by 'low" beer.

tonight,
riding back from the Belmont,
on the sidewalk in the dark
much like a kid,
I thought about, how much I love so many people in my life,
how important they are,
smart, clever, cantankerous, pains in the ass.
and milestones,
What age am I at, and what do I put out there in front of me
I ride like a 12 year old not knowing any better, for the vigor, and wonder lust,
that I still have and can't help.
I am going to loose people, dear loves,
and one day I will be lost,
so what the fuck,
I'm not going to live counting down the days, or worry about it,
I going to live tomorrow to make memories,
for myself,  or for others when I gone,
I want to live big, nicely, and love it while I'm at it,

Funny thing about mountain biking, gets me going, the corners, close calls, rock, logs,
or the trickles of blood from not exactly making it right.
My training, has changed over the years, I've added to it a bit,
to regal in the ride, the people, work, to dig deeper,
to try and see the quick moment pass by in slow motion,
and tonight, that is what I have done.

Cheers!
dlowe

Getting the Monkey

I love when its racing season, when the ideas are plump, and low hanging.
blogging is never easy for me, writing is a chore.
and the off season, the cup tends to be bone dry, with no words, soul,
few post
and I fret,
I like the feeling of a good post.

I love the Monkey Hill time trial.
This year, I put in a bit more effort, and prep.
I flew out of the holders hands, a point .0025 early, I stood on the pedals and despite his heavy metal t-shirt he had no chance of holding me to zero.
I was up on top of the pedals, so early, really strong, crushing it to the 1st left turn,
I wove through the pots holes, hit
the corner into the cobbles a tad slow,
muscle the way across the rattling rocks,
and made the right on to the first paved road.
Soon, I was blind,
some of it was allergies,
some, it's a grand state!, was over my head in effort.
I just stayed in the drops,
A rare day on the bike, when nothing matters except going hard.
and I did,
till the final turn
to the Monkey Hill.
I finished 3rd, but I feel, I robbed myself going up the cobbles,
losing at least 10 seconds with a missed shift,
the last bits, up to the line,
was days, heavy slow never going to end
almost to a stop to cross the finish line.
Not 1st.
3rd.

and of course It's nothing but a warm good feeling, thinking back on all the Monkey Hill TT's.
I have done.
I'll be back next year, and all my years after that.
Seems like a good place to race cx, and its a great named race,  The Monkey Hill.
it'd be prize, to win, for sure.

Cheers to second attempts!
dlowe