I lost a good friend to cancer last night. I know most readers of this blog didn't know him, but I wanted to write about him anyhow. Besides we did ride together once and this is a bike blog.
He was gifted photographer, a great friend and most importantly an extraordinary father. He leaves behind 2 beautiful daughters. His passion for his craft and for his family was inspiring. His self deprecating humor and quick wit were entertaining. All this made him one of the best friends of my adult life.
The saying goes, "may the best man win." Sunday had shaped up to be a heck of a fight. The WCA 40+ Cat 4 cx championship came down to a dead heat between Tim V. and me. We didn't have to win the race just beat the other guy to win the overall. Whoever finished first won the jersey. Unfortunately I could tell early on that it wasn't my day. It was, in fact my worst day of the season. So the better man definitely won, or at least won our little race within the race. Congratulations Tim, you deserved it. Thanks to all the guys I raced against too it was a blast. How can you not love cross? See ya next year.
For anyone interested in an update from my last post, I'd love to give you one but I'm still waiting for an update myself. When I get more info I'll definitely post it.
The day after a guy in California is convicted for stopping short and injuring 2 cyclists, a guy in New Berlin clips my hand and then stops short in front of me while swerving toward me and the side of the road. Thankfully I wasn't going 30mph down a hill and there was a ditch for me to ride into. I'm not saying this incident is comparable to the California incident, other than this guy is every bit the menace Dr. Thompson was, I just got lucky. Hopefully there will be consequenses to dissuade him from using his car to force others off the road again.
I've been pretty busy lately and I've neglected the blog. A lot has happened since my last post, I won my first cx race, had a less than stellar race, and enjoyed a great halloween party, (thanks Gus), among other things. But I had to post about this.
Maybe, just maybe, this will teach other like minded criminals to think twice before using their vehicles as weapons. Hopefully the fact that the judge ordered him held until sentencing means he plans on giving him some substantial prison time.
In one of the stories about the verdict they mention that the doctor claimed they were riding 3 abreast. How can 2 cyclists ride 3 abreast? Maybe that's one of the reasons the jury called BS on his defense.
It seems like every Sheboygan WORS race I've ever done it's been a great sunny fall day. It was a little cool but that's what fall in Wisconsin is all about. Speaking of fall, I took too many of them in this race. I was battling for second in age group when a bad line put me on the "Sheboygan slickrock".
Then on the last lap a phantom root grabbed my wheel and cost me 3rd place, but 4th in age 23rd overall in Sport is a good way to end the MTB season. Johnny G. decided to test the waters in Comp. Sport distance is still good for me for now. I'm actually looking forward to the shorter race distance of the cross season.
It's cyclcross season again, and that means suffering. I think it's the hardest thirty or forty minutes (depending on category and race organizer) in cycling. It is fun though when you get a good course set up. Lapham isn't my favorite course, but it's good practice for the rest of the season.
I say bike lanes. What? Fall is a great time to ride not just to see leaves change color but for the fall colors in the foods you find and the different places you find to ride. Cyclocross brought us to the Madison area.
Produce brought us to the Captiol square. Mrs. Bikesafer and I rode around Madison after a stop at their farmers market for some heirloom tomatoes to go with our fresh basil from the garden, 18 year old balsamic, olive oil and fresh mozzerella.
What an interesting place to ride. Bike paths all over the place, and bike lanes on almost every busy street. Not just bike lanes, we have those in Milwaukee too, but in Madison most of them are clear of debris and potholes, and more importantly DOORS. Almost every bike lane in MKE is unrideable because of the proximity to the door zone. We also rode in our first ever protected and contra-flow bike lane on University ave. It was a good ride.
But with fall not only the leaves seem to change. The drivers are starting to get cranky. I got an earful yesterday from Mr. SUV, who passed into oncoming traffic to get to the stop sign a few seconds ahead of me only to wait there to bitch at me about "us guys", (cyclists) getting out of control. I also learned that in SUV land, cyclists aren't allowed to use the roads. As he drove off, the wife or mistress or whatever yelled "you gotta be safe". Yes I agree, and how safe is it to pass (anyone) if you have to go into oncoming traffic?
I lost a good friend to cancer last night. I know most readers of this blog didn't know him, but I wanted to write about him anyhow. Besides we did ride together once and this is a bike blog. 
