Backwards/Forwards - A 2010 Retospective

The end of the year is one of the few times that I attempt to get philosophical. It is the time where I look back at all of the pleasure and pain that was endured and to delve into the future and try and conjure up what it might have in store. (For all you non loyalistas this is the equivalent of a Cliff notes version of the blog.)
2010 was an incredible year, not so much in the performances that were put down (although 628 & Cathedral Pines were sweet) but in all the cultural experiences (Giromania), great times that were had (Sedona, Singlespeed-a-Palooza, relocating Dark Horse Cycles, Raystown Lake, Beer Cross), freindships that were further built up (Doctor Wesley McLearn, Obamador, Monte, the Kegerator), the trials and tribulations of having to deal with my first season riddled with injury (hip & ribs, missing Cxmas) and the birth of Marci de Sade's daughter Isabelle (who no doubt will be a force to be reckoned with on the Cx circut).
Not one to break with sacred traditions, the crew of Dark Horse Cycles gathered at the future home of the new HQ to kick off the 2010 season with the New Year's Day ride/barbecue/Kegerator training session. What didn't surprise any of us was the lack of Mike "MIA" Davidson, what did surprise us was when his cougar, Katie, pulled into the parking lot of HQ and with a look that only a boy toy could appreciate and announced "if any of you losers even try to take my toy out for a ride I am going to grab you by the nuts, rip them off and put them in a jar on the mantle next to Mike's". Well by the time the last words came spewing out of her pie hole we were all clipped in and heading out of the parking lot faster then you could say "lick my sack and call me Jesus". It wasn't going to be a good year for the Mikesquatch!
Still smarting from the late season injury (and not yet knowing just what was going on) I was not going to let it deter my plans for the year even after a visit to the surgeon revealed just how extensive the damage was and what the solution to my problems would be.With Top Chef, Braveheart and I prepping for our WADA sponsored trip to the Giro (Operation Space Cake) in Amsterdam,we all decided it was time to finally get into a road race to better understand the mindset of the racers to ensure proper research would be completed over the span of the weekend in the land of bicycles. Enter the Tour of the Battenkill, the queen of spring classic racing in the Northeast. But before we could embark on this new aspect of racing it was off to Sedona to meet up with Doctor Wesley Mclearn of Team Seagal, the sweet singletrack of Sedona and of course the now infamous "El Charro", simply the best margarita to be had.Fully trained from almost a week in the desert we set off for TdB fame (Top Chef and I both making the top 20 in Cat 5) a week of recovery and then to what is now a benchmark race on the East Coast - Singlespeed-a-Palooza where I Singlespeed-a-Booza'ed my way around the mudfest and had a total blast.After 4 days cruising the canals, consuming copious amounts of strong Belgian & French beer, touring the Red Light District, doing our best to complete the Zagat's Guide to the Coffee Shops and riding bikes around the city at all hours of the day and night we all came to the conclusion that the entire peleton was doping (how could you not in this city). If we had to pick one city in the world to work in we could suffer with doing it here. Sure it might lack the culture of NYC but you can ride everywhere and everyone was a lot more mellow (gee what a surprise).Returning from the Giro, the NECS had a bit of a cycling epiphany and at the behest of Top Chef the subsidiary corporation, Millionaire's Riding Club (MRC) was formed so that those of us that grind it out Monday - Friday would have a crew to road ride with, push the boundaries in distance training (and add membership to the guppy gallery) and throw in some alternative riding at Diablo.
By the time August rolled around, the Mayor and Raveinator were getting established in the new Dark Horse HQ (with the Mayor in command).Meanwhile JJ (the newly crowned Fat Chick with Hot Girlfriends), Mrs C-Dubs and I were rolling into Coburn for Pennsylvania's version of running with the bulls, the Wilderness 101. Conditions were perfect with Mrs C-Dubs making the first 40, C-Dubs throwing down a pr and Fat Chick popping his dirty century cherry with a Terri Ti Saddle busting time of 11:30!
With a successful summer of riding in the books I sashayed into the Labor Day weekend looking to put the finishing touches on my conditioning for the Vermont 50, where a good chunk of the team was to be deployed to inflict maximum carnage and wrist snapping on the field. Well the only sashaying I did was to the doctors office to check out the ribs I broke that Friday on the season's first night ride (worst of all is they were broken on a hike-a-bike section), well so much for the Vermont 50. Next up was the trip to Raystown Lake where Major Mike lead the charge as we slaughtered the trails like cattle in a Chicago meat house. This was followed up with the Dark Horse 628 Challenge, a mtb orienteering non race in the Forests of Stewart where the never before seen Poecilia C-Dubus Montalbania Reticulata made multiple appearances and was pushed (literally) to victory by Monte.Taking the knowledge and pain I learned to endure from my stint with Monte it was off to the 6 Hours of Cathedral Pines. Here we were blessed with 10 mile laps of sweet flowing singletrack with less then 300' of climbing per lap. Six hours and nine minutes later I had 70 miles in the books and the top step of the podium, along with Mrs. C-Dubs and this sweet hardware.Well riding for 6+ hours in 40 degree weather and then standing around for 3 hours waiting for the computerized results did my hip no good and soon everything had tightened up so much I could barely get a leg over the bike. This didn't manage to deter me from having a go at Beer Cross where Senor Agua defended his title with a beautifully executed projectile vomit into the trash can if front of yours truly.The real problem was the combination of Cathedral Pines, setting up Beer Cross and then riding it the next day killed my hip and I was barely able to walk. It was with great sadness that I had to inform my good friends in St. Louis that the Grinch had stole my Cxmas.
So where does this leave me for 2011? Well to start out the season I will be heading to St. Louis for unfinished business at the Middle Fork XC Non Race with Team Seagal. Having completed early season training and perfecting wrist snapping techniques it will be off to the Tour of the Battenkill. From there it will be in for a check on the condition of the hip to see if the slicing and dicing will have to take place this year of if I can possibly hang on for another year. Then it is Singlespeed-a-Palooza (and you're a loser if you don't make this one), followed by numberous MRC century training rides before heading to Coburn for a 9th straight go at the 101.
At the urging of Major Mike some of us will head back to Pennsylvania for the countries longest Cx race, Iron Cross, to be followed up with the 628 Challenge, 6 Hours of Cathedral Pines and Beer Cross. If I am really feeling sassy there could even be a return to St. Louis to for the inspiration of Beer Cross - Cxmas. So until the New Year comes and we set out on our annual ride, have fun and party hardy.