Wednesday 10 June 2009

Big Brass Ones


Even our bib numbers are cooler than they need to be. But that's just how we roll on this thing.

No more needs be said specifically about the question of whether someone who's done no work in a break has the right to contest the sprint. The various people who've weighed in have come down about where I expected them to, with Jared Nieters offering (in my opinion of course, and not surprisingly) the most seasoned and pragmatic thoughts on the issue.

Sailing has its own Eddy Merckx, except he's not Belgian, he's Danish. He's also a few years older than Eddy. His name is Paul Elvstrom. If you meet someone and they claim to be a big sailor and they don't know of Elvstrom, there's your answer - poseur. He's won like 6 Olympic gold medals (unlike in some other sports, it's only possible to win one per Games - you do the math on how long he was good) and probably 30 world championships (you can notch a few of those per year). His influence on training for sailing was as profound as Tudor Bompa's (sp?) was on cycling, with the technical influence of Srs. Campagnolo, Binda and Christophe thrown in for good measure. Atop all of that, his ethical influence prevails, and is the basis for my admiration of all of his accomplishments, for here is his well known quote on sportsmanship:

"You haven't won the race if, in doing so, you've lost the respect of your competitors."

Final thought is that there are two types of people in the world - those who pee in their wetsuit... oops, sorry, different conversation. There are two types of people in the world. Those who add to the equation (and by that link I don't mean just promoters, I mean Karen specifically and those who raise their hands when things need doing generally) and those who take away from it. The people who constantly expect to have the world do for them can pretty well go choke on a fat one says me.

One guy who I got a lot more respect for last was night is Donald Brew. This guy's been going through field sprints like syphillis through Napoleon's army, and his upgrade from Cat 3 to 2 is probably borderling mandatory at this point. He's claimed to hate hills. So why was he one of the very first people to register for the Altarum Lost River Classic p/b GamJams? I'm guessing that the answer to that question and today's title post are one and the same.

Register for the race, it makes the promoter feel good to know that the thousand hours he and others have spent on something isn't going to be divided among 32 participants.

Judd Walencikowksi is hereinafter officially to be known as the first person ever to register for the Lost River Classic.

6 comments:

Jim said...

I respect sprinters and big dudes who register for hilly races. Same reason you respect a dog that's foaming at the mouth, or an angry husband with a shotgun.

Anonymous said...

You know, yours is one of my favorite blogs for a reason. Thanks for the shout out... and yes, us larger people deserve a kudo for getting up those hills! At least thats what I say at Wintergreen and Mill Mtn!

x said...

Why do I have a feeling that Donald is still going to leave a trail of pain up those hills?

Dude starts his sprint before the rest of us have time to apply chamois butter.

So bummed to miss the race, so glad to have a valid excuse to miss the pain though.

Tim Rugg said...

I am very excited about this race and hope it gets a lot of early response. Big thanks goes out to you, Jay, NCVC, and everyone involved making this race come together. I'm going to sacrifice myself in the 1/2/3's!

Drew Armstrong said...

Rugg vs. D.J. for: "large-balled though possibly foolish decision in order to showcase hard-man qualities."

Hope you guys can keep plugging the race on your blogs. All help is good help--and full fields would rule.

DJ Bike Police said...

I signed up because as much as you've talked about this race, there was no way I was gonna miss out on all the fun.
Racing is fun, and being around others who think racing is fun makes it more fun.
I hate hills but I won't get better at them by avoiding them. I'm hoping I can pull off a win like Cav at San Remo style.