Remembrance

There's a lot of reasons I ended up being who I am, and doing what I do. And there are a lot of people who helped me out along the way.

John Pavlat was one of those people.

Thanks John. You are missed.

Bah Humbug

Christmas came early.
As if I wasn't grumpy already. A two-fer from the Commonwealth.
Thanks!

Hibernation

Time to go to ground. The season is over- at least the bike racing part of it. Having long ago decided to bail on cross nationals, Saturdays Ice Weasels race would be the final event for 2008. I even contemplated pulling the bike back out of the garage and racing- but with temperatures in the 20's that just wasn't going to happen. Instead I bundled up and took pictures and video while everyone else raced. Then we loaded up the truck with the course equipment and headed home.

Sunday there was no alarm set and I slept in, then spent the day on the couch watching the live coverage of cross nationals provided by Cyclocross Magazine. I was rooting for Jon Page- but with a course custom tailored for Trebon, it was literally an uphill battle for everyone else. I missed not being there to see things in person, but then again, I was warm and comfy on the couch instead of standing in a grass field wearing 5 layers of clothing.

One thing about nationals I was glad to miss was yet more fistfights- both on the course and off. I don't know what's happening out there, but I have to say (again) that I'm really struggling with the direction that 'cross seems to be headed. For the first time in a long time I'm glad that I don't have to deal with bike racing and bike racers for a while. Earlier this year I emailed a long time friend and fellow old school cross racer about how the feelings I now get at cross races were the same feelings I used to get at punk shows back in the 80's. That the scene was dying from within- being co-opted by the very people we were fighting against.

The temptation of course is to simply pull the plug- to take my toys and go home. And in all honesty, it would be easy. When you work 14 hour days so that someone else can play for 40 minutes it doesn't take much to crack. Especially when your "customers" act like douchebags. There are plenty of other ways to make a living, almost all of which pay more for less work.

But the problem (or gift, depending on circumstance) of basing your profession on your passion, is that quitting isn't really an option unless that passion is truly dead. And while I'm unhappy with the direction we're headed, I'm not willing to climb out of the boat just yet. So it's probably good that the season is over now, while I'm cracked but not broken. I'll spend the next few months recharging and getting ready for next year. Then I'll start rowing again and see what I can do about changing our course.

In the mean time I'll leave you this:

Almost There

Final Kilometer!

Just three events and two more weekends to go. Despite the fact that it means not having work for a few months I'm actually really looking forward to having some time off.

Split the weekend between the Bay State Cyclo-cross and running our 15th annual bike swap. The swap came together at the last minute and this might be the final fall one we do. There's just too much going on, and it seems like the swap gets the short end of the stick. Most likely we'll shoot for a winter/spring date and hope to move closer to Boston. At least that's the plan at the moment.

But for now I'm just going to think about getting through the next 10 days or so. With Bay State going to a double weekend next year, and the Verge series going to a full 12 race schedule there's going to be even less free time next year.