Beverly Bike Vee Pak - First Appearance at ChiCrossCup
Finally! The last of the photos from Sunday’s cross race at Jackson Park are finished. I have uploaded 330 pictures from the 4A and 4B races here. The 4A pictures are merely a continuation… additional 4A pictures are posted with the rest of the photos here.
A few highlights…
Cliff Golz (Pony Shop) - Setting up the Step Through Dismount
xXx Racer - Smiling his way up the hill
Super Crosser!
I have 289 pictures posted here for the following categories:
Mens 3, Womens 1/2/3 (photos taken by Cliff!)
Womens 4/ Juniors (photos taken by Cliff!)
Mens 1/2/3
Mens 4A
I still have a few more 4A pictures to work through and the 4B pictures, but unfortunately, I’m an old lady and it’s past my bedtime. I’ll get the rest up as soon as I can.
I took way more pictures than I expected. I guess that’s the curse of having 7 gigs of memory… The trade off is that I have lots of pictures, but its going to take me a while to work through them all and get them posted. Sorry! I hope you can be patient.
The good news! I took the most pictures of the Masters race, and those are now posted. Check ’em out! Hopefully I’ll be able to get the rest posted tomorrow night.
Lou Kuhn, Pony Shop
Ken Dorado (Get-a-Grip): Posing for the Camera
When I’m just taking pictures at a race, it’s so much easier to get ready the night before. Camera? Check. Battery charged? Check. OK, I’m ready to go.
But, I’m racing tomorrow, which means I have more stuff to pack up. Camera? Check. Battery charged? Check. Helmet? Clothes? Shoes? Wait, what if it’s cold?…Shorts or knickers? Eh, just throw it all in the bag and call it good.
I have a fancy new monopod that Pat bought for me as thanks from the team for my photos. I have to remember to pack that up, too. What else am I forgetting?
Good luck tomorrow, everyone! And, be sure to check back here (or CBR, if Luke is so kind as to link to me) for pictures from the Jackson Park race. I’ll try to get them posted as soon as I can…
I stopped by cross practice today on my way home from work. I watched the group go through the course a couple of times and then Lou stopped by and offered to set up some barriers for me to practice on. PVC barriers are so much LESS intimidating to me than the wooden barriers that they use in the races. I was surprised to find that I did okay getting on and off the bike and I even managed to run over the barriers. Last year, I was lucky if I could lift my bike high enough to get it over the barriers!
It’s rare that I’m in front of the camera, but Lou took a picture as proof that two girls showed up to practice on the same day. 🙂
Photo courtesy of Lou Kuhn, Pony Shop
On my way home from work tonight, the Wednesday night group ride rode by going the other way. I was surprised to see one person without a helmet. Why anyone would ride a bike without a helmet is beyond my comprehension (especially when riding on the road and at the speeds that these guys go!). I hope he rethinks that in the future, but somehow I doubt it. I remember when Cliff and I rode a few times in Michigan (back in the day) and he made fun of me for wearing a helmet. Eventually, he, too, got a helmet and now can’t believe he ever rode without one. People! Wear helmets!
I went to a bridal shower for friends the other day, and took my camera along. I have spent very little time taking pictures of anything other than cycling, so I had very low expectations. But, with a little help from Aperture, the pictures came out surprisingly well!
Cutting the Cake.
On nice days, I take my bike to work on the train and then ride it home. On days like today, when it’s raining, I drive to and from work. On the way to work, I take the Edens to 41; however, in the evening, traffic backs up and moves really slowly. To save myself at least fifteen minutes of commuting time on the way home, I drive the route that I ride, taking Sheridan and St. John’s most of the way.
Today, while driving home, I realized how different the route looks from a car versus a bike. When biking, I know almost every curve and hill. I know where to slow down, the spots where I’m likely to run into traffic, and I notice most of the street signs along the way. When driving, I’m too focused on the car in front of me to really notice the street signs or how much time I’ve spent on any particular stretch of road. For instance, Westleigh Rd from Lake Forest College doesn’t seem that long on my bike because I know it so well. But, in my car, I realize I’ve been on Westleigh for what feels like a long time before rounding the bend at the old Barat College campus. I sometimes find myself worried that I made a wrong turn somewhere because I wasn’t paying as close attention as I probably should have.
If I’m not paying close attention, and I know how dangerous that can be for cyclists, what about all of those other drivers out there who may be paying even less attention and have absolutely no regard for cyclists on the road? That’s a scary thought! I really need to start paying better attention behind the wheel, and I can only hope that others are doing the same.
Winter is my least favorite season. Every time I move, I try to move somewhere warm, but it just never seems to happen. Thankfully, it’s gotten better over the years: Alaska to Mass. to Minnesota to Chicago. Okay, I guess “better” is relative and it all depends on the year. Anyways, once winter sets in and the days start getting shorter and the darkness comes earlier and stays later, I have a really hard time motivating myself to do much of anything. If I’m lucky, I can roll my ass out of bed in time to hit the gym before work. More often than not, though, I stay in bed and barely drag my butt out in time to just barely get to work on time.
This winter, I hope, will be different. I enjoy my job a lot more this year than I did last year (let’s face it, I was pretty miserable last year) and so far, I enjoy getting up to go to work each morning. Hopefully that feeling will carry me through the winter. And, I’ve never been much of a winter sports person, but this year I hope to try out cross country skiing. I followed Junebug as she blogged about cross country skiing and it sounds like a good time, and a great work out. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll make it through the winter a little easier if I can find something active that I actually enjoy doing in the snow and cold. We’ll see.
Cross season starts in a week, I think. I need to look at a calendar to be sure. I haven’t been able to go to cross practice because of my commute, but I hope to stop by tomorrow night on my way home from work. I’ll have slicks on, rather than knobbies, but I can at least watch and try to learn as the guys go through the course. On Sunday, Cliff taught me how to do the step through dismount! I’m not early comfortable enough to expect to do it well in a race, but I’m going to keep on practicing.
Cliff crashed a few weeks ago while out on Judson. He totaled his bike so his road season is definitely over. He had hoped to race in the Fall Fling series, but that won’t be happening. So, we’re turning our sights towards cross season. I’ll be out taking pictures at as many of the Chi Cross Cup races as I can.
And, just as cross season finishes up, we’ll be heading out to Puerto Vallarta for a week-long vacation. We leave a few days after Montrose. Perfect timing! While we’re there, we hope to hook up with Alex from Outdoor Vallarta and Vallarta Bikes to do a low-key ride.
Velosnaps 