Ice Weasels 2018
Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2018 7:28 pm
Wow, that was a blast!
Thanks to Mike and Adelle for cranking up the MRC Team compound with the Chaud and the tortilla soup.
Thanks to everyone else for the food and beer.
I love it when the MRC bike rack is so full of bikes that we have to lean the extras on the sides. It was great having the full crew hanging out and cheering on our teammates. What a way to end the season.
Killer B 45+
The course was a lumpy frozen tundra so I decided to go with the vittoria drys.
I managed to get into the grid a row ahead of where I probably should have been, and then when the BMB guy ahead of me missed his clip in and veered right I shot threw and had the whole shot!!! For about 20 yards then I ran out of enthusiasm and let the masses wash over me.
Condon went by yelling, common Busick, let's go! I was holding OK about 6 riders back but then Eric L washed out on a corner and held us all back, opening a gap to Condon's group. A couple of the riders ahead of me apparently could only go fast for 1/2 a lap, but were pretty good at blocking the course so I watched Condon slip away. I finally dropped the laggards going by the tennis courts and started my pursuit of Condon. At the start of lap 2 I was about 20 seconds back. At the start of lap 3 I had it down to 10 seconds. By this point the whole southern half of the course was starting to thaw in the sun, making for a slick layer of mud on top of the perma-frost. This was not good for my dry tires, which went every which way but straight.
I swung my leg over to dismount for the run up and managed to put my right foot through the tape right at a stake. The tape wrapped around my ankle and tore me off the bike. I staggered back up, grabbed a white russian, tossed it back and then carried on.
Now I couldn't see Condon anywhere. I reeled in the other two guys who had been with him, but apparently Mike had dropped them and moved on. Damn, I guess today is Mike's day.
I kept racing along with Ian depressed that MIke had finally bested me. I grabbed another white russian, but now Ed Parson's was with us. This gave me some motivation and I kept trying to distance him but he'd claw his way back. Going into the barriers the final time we were side by side, then we remounted and made the turn for the finish line. Jimmy was running along side me screaming for me to sprint, but I couldn't clip in, my peddles and shoes were totally clogged with the mud from the run up.
I went to congratulate Mike, but he was like "oh no dude, I had to pit two times for flat tires, didn't you see me when you went by??"
Single Speed.
I enjoyed myself after the 45+ race, sampling the tasty beers, having a couple bowls of Mike's tortilla soup, and just generally feeling pretty good. I spent some time trying to jumpstart the Rasputitsa Bus from my truck, but I think their battery was ruined by running the inverter to make waffles for everyone.
Breeze Keller came to our tent after the pro race and asked if we had a pump. I put some air in his tires, and was shooting the shit, when I noticed a large, motley group of people hanging out at staging. Oh, crap, That's my race!?!?! I grabbed my bike and worked my way over.
Details here a a little fuzzy. I managed to work my way up through the crowd until I was behind Condon and Cactus. Cole passed me a beer. We started and I was with Cactus for a while, then a couple bikes back, the I rode the skinny at the barriers while Condon held everyone up with a fancy pirrouette which moved me up about 10 spots, but my heart (and certainly my legs) weren't in it. A beer handup from DeZutter committed me to the dark side of CX hand ups. After grabbing a shot of who knows what from the Fritz tent Katie pointed me to someone on the other side holding up some sort of whiskey bottle, which I gladly took a swig of and jumped back on. 50 yards later I was wonder what the hell I just drank. At this point I could hear either an Abram's Tank or a fat bike behind me so I pulled to the right to wave it through.
"Oh no, I'm not going much faster than you" Micheal Cole said as he went by. "I think I might be drunk"
So I cruised along with Mike until I hit the ice patch after the Tennis courts and went down HARD on my right side. I staggered up and started chasing Michael. Followed him across the skinny for the last time, hoping he didn't blow it, and pushed him across the finish line to end my 2018 CX season.
Thanks to Mike and Adelle for cranking up the MRC Team compound with the Chaud and the tortilla soup.
Thanks to everyone else for the food and beer.
I love it when the MRC bike rack is so full of bikes that we have to lean the extras on the sides. It was great having the full crew hanging out and cheering on our teammates. What a way to end the season.
Killer B 45+
The course was a lumpy frozen tundra so I decided to go with the vittoria drys.
I managed to get into the grid a row ahead of where I probably should have been, and then when the BMB guy ahead of me missed his clip in and veered right I shot threw and had the whole shot!!! For about 20 yards then I ran out of enthusiasm and let the masses wash over me.
Condon went by yelling, common Busick, let's go! I was holding OK about 6 riders back but then Eric L washed out on a corner and held us all back, opening a gap to Condon's group. A couple of the riders ahead of me apparently could only go fast for 1/2 a lap, but were pretty good at blocking the course so I watched Condon slip away. I finally dropped the laggards going by the tennis courts and started my pursuit of Condon. At the start of lap 2 I was about 20 seconds back. At the start of lap 3 I had it down to 10 seconds. By this point the whole southern half of the course was starting to thaw in the sun, making for a slick layer of mud on top of the perma-frost. This was not good for my dry tires, which went every which way but straight.
I swung my leg over to dismount for the run up and managed to put my right foot through the tape right at a stake. The tape wrapped around my ankle and tore me off the bike. I staggered back up, grabbed a white russian, tossed it back and then carried on.
Now I couldn't see Condon anywhere. I reeled in the other two guys who had been with him, but apparently Mike had dropped them and moved on. Damn, I guess today is Mike's day.
I kept racing along with Ian depressed that MIke had finally bested me. I grabbed another white russian, but now Ed Parson's was with us. This gave me some motivation and I kept trying to distance him but he'd claw his way back. Going into the barriers the final time we were side by side, then we remounted and made the turn for the finish line. Jimmy was running along side me screaming for me to sprint, but I couldn't clip in, my peddles and shoes were totally clogged with the mud from the run up.
I went to congratulate Mike, but he was like "oh no dude, I had to pit two times for flat tires, didn't you see me when you went by??"
Single Speed.
I enjoyed myself after the 45+ race, sampling the tasty beers, having a couple bowls of Mike's tortilla soup, and just generally feeling pretty good. I spent some time trying to jumpstart the Rasputitsa Bus from my truck, but I think their battery was ruined by running the inverter to make waffles for everyone.
Breeze Keller came to our tent after the pro race and asked if we had a pump. I put some air in his tires, and was shooting the shit, when I noticed a large, motley group of people hanging out at staging. Oh, crap, That's my race!?!?! I grabbed my bike and worked my way over.
Details here a a little fuzzy. I managed to work my way up through the crowd until I was behind Condon and Cactus. Cole passed me a beer. We started and I was with Cactus for a while, then a couple bikes back, the I rode the skinny at the barriers while Condon held everyone up with a fancy pirrouette which moved me up about 10 spots, but my heart (and certainly my legs) weren't in it. A beer handup from DeZutter committed me to the dark side of CX hand ups. After grabbing a shot of who knows what from the Fritz tent Katie pointed me to someone on the other side holding up some sort of whiskey bottle, which I gladly took a swig of and jumped back on. 50 yards later I was wonder what the hell I just drank. At this point I could hear either an Abram's Tank or a fat bike behind me so I pulled to the right to wave it through.
"Oh no, I'm not going much faster than you" Micheal Cole said as he went by. "I think I might be drunk"
So I cruised along with Mike until I hit the ice patch after the Tennis courts and went down HARD on my right side. I staggered up and started chasing Michael. Followed him across the skinny for the last time, hoping he didn't blow it, and pushed him across the finish line to end my 2018 CX season.