Martin Wins SCOTT Cougar Mountain 20!

Event Name:	SCOTT Cougar Mountain 20
Date:	10/30/11
Description:	Twenty mile trail run.
Men's 20 mile:	1st - Martin Criminale

Here is a more detailed report.

MFG #5 Magnuson Park, our two series leaders hold serve

Tutu gets second place!  Credit Gabe Templeton.

Evidently the wrong color.  Credit Gabe Templeton.

Red tutu = 2nd place.  Credit Gabe Templeton.

Event Name:	MFG #5 Magnuson Park
Date:	10/29/11
Description:	First time on a new course focused on east side of Magnuson park near the swimming beaches.  Beautiful weather!
Cat 3 Men 35+:	2nd - Lane Seely [Series Leader] 5th -  Jeff Woerner
Cat 3 Women:	10th - Alexie Montaland
Cat 4 Men:	2nd - Greg Kauper [Series Leader] 14th - Dean Jasper
Cat 3 Men:	5th -  Olivier Humbert
Rocking Kids Race:	1st -  Lauren Kauper 1st -  Rowan Xavier Dean
Notably MIA:	1st -  Ryan Dean 1st -  Andrew Eisen

INSERT BRIEF RACE REPORT HERE
Well, the Tutu has obtained near-magical powers now.  Two men, two series leaders, one tutu and BOTH finished 2nd place while wearing it.  Occupy MFG on November 13th at Woodland Park - let's show them the 99% wear Tutu's!!!!  Let's feel the power!

Big props to cheering section:  Neal Goldberg, Gabe Templeton, Suzie Kauper

Tutu Man and five others post top tens at Speedway CX

Dean had his best ride to date - solid 8th and no spills!

Another top ten for Woerner.

Cat 3 35+ series leader Lane Seely.

TuTu man remounting after the tricky stair section.

Andrew hitting the banked "whoopsie-do"

Newly 'stached, Dean - 9th place

This past Sunday FareStart delivered 6 top ten finishes - pretty good considering only 7 FareStart riders were out racing.  In the Cat 4 men's race the strategy was to try to keep Starbucks from going 1-2 again and allow Greg to focus solely on containing the series leader Justin C.  Dean and Ryan took turns putting pressure on the number 2 Starbucks rider.  Greg finished 2nd, ahead of Justin - retaking the series lead heading into tomorrow's Magnuson Park race.  Dean managed to finish with no spills and a new best placing of 8th!  Ryan was on his wheel for 9th.

In the women's Cat 3 race, Alexie Montaland finished a solid 9th place continuing her strong run through the CX season.

In the hotly contested Cat 3 Masters 35+ men's race, rumors swirled regarding whether upgraded riders were still racing in this hotbed of competition.  In any event, former FareStart rider Brad K. rocketed out of the holeshot and held out on his own for the entire race finishing second.  Lane and Jeff held tough for 6th and 10th respectively.

Thanks to FareStart race team board member Gabe Templeton coming out to cheer the team and take most of the photos shown above.

TUTU Man falls to lowest result of the year at Silver Lake

Removing all shreds of dignity, area Cat 2 motor in a Cat 4 chassis falls to his worst performance yet.

Photo credit Dennis Crane Photography

Greg Kauper, pictured above, was inspired by chartreuse socks at a local store and after purchasing them felt an inexorable desire to match them with a tutu.  And then to race his bike.

Despite the formidable facial hair in progress, Greg had his statistically worst placing of his nascent 'cross career with an 8th place at Silver Lake.  Coincidence?

We asked Greg what the most satisfying aspect of racing in tutu was and he quickly replied that "guys don't like to be passed by a guy in a tutu". Ya think?

What inquiring minds really want to know is whether Greg bought only ONE tutu or did he get several? Each one a different color of the rainbow?  I don't have the answer to this or other nagging questions associated with this photo so will simply have to see what the inbox provides for me after MFG #4 this Sunday.

Martin Podiums!

Martin Criminale, no stranger to podiums when pedaling a bicycle built for one OR two - can now add a half marathon to his impressive palmares.

Showing most of the field his heels, a rather muscular looking Martin channeled his inner Justin Angle, replete with hand-held bottle to a blistering time of 1:26:14.

Furthermore, he opted to wear a shirt inspired by the hit TV show "Portlandia" and put a bird on it!

To celebrate, Martin promptly ate this:

and this:

Congrats Martin!

For the unedited, more accurate portrayal, please see Martin's blog here.

Steilacoom CX - first hand race report

From time to time we like to post a blow-by-blow account from a racer who "did the deed" and actually raced.    Here is Greg Kauper's report on last Sunday's race produced by Seattle Cyclocross.

RACE REPORT:
After hearing Jeff W rage about the course quality I knew I had to
"cross it".
Dean and I lined up and suddenly realized...no call up! So we had to start pretty far back.

Just before the start I gazed around at the competition...there was
some but also noted the large group of 12 yr olds in JL Velo, beef
jerkey, and assorted other jr kits....

Really?  These kids were gonna line up in front of me?

I saw this going really bad, post race Jr father up in my grill asking
why I ran his kid over...luckily that did not happen.

The gun went off and Dean and I really jammed the first section and
managed to put ourselves in good position.

That proved one of my new rules of cross true: get in good position at
the gun but dont panic.

Then we used our descending and cornering abilities to drop most of
the other riders.

The race would only be three laps, and I never managed to catch one
guy who got off to an early lead.  [editor: Jake Ricker, rocking the full facial hair - point proved!]

BUT my primary rule of cross was validated: keep your head up and
avoid crashes. The entire group I was riding with crashed into each other and I
rolled past them...TIMBER!

I'm hoping to hit Silver Lake this week as Jeff and Alex  have called it
the hardest race of the year.

Steilacoom SCX #2 Results

INSERT PICTURE HERE

Event Name:	Steilacoom SCX #2 Results
Date:	10/9/2011
Description:	More wet cross action.  Folks it don't get no better than this.
Cat 3 Men 35+:	7th - Jeff Woerner
Cat 4 Men:	2nd - Greg Kauper 6th - Dean Jasper

The Hairy Truth

Road racers, much like fashion models, are all about aerodynamics and sheen.  Nothing quite says speed more than shiny smooth surfaces, like clean-shaven faces, legs and for this author one fateful day back in 1989, arms. OK maybe that was excessive.

Well as you are probably aware by now, road races are so yesterday, because right now it's cyclocross season.  The seasons change and so do the ingredients necessary to be a successful racer.  As a rookie racer in this unique discipline, I'm learning what it takes to fit in.  It's hair - and lots of it!

Kauper, who hopefully threw his razor out last night.

Take 'hairy legs' here - at a road race he gets a lot of stares, but in 'cross its like "who brought the IRS agent"?  Even the former ex-pro 'cross racers in the background of this picture look on disapprovingly.  They wonder if he'll figure out the "secret" in time to hold the series lead.

Nah, the leaderboard is littered with guys like this rouge's alley.  They know the secret which I will break down for you right now!  HAIR+TATS=STYLE and unless we're going to an insurance convention to race our bikes we need to get with it people.

"I'm fast and I save a ton of money on hair products"

"Let me show you how it's done ol chap, what what!"

Doctors say excessive hair growth is an symptom of excessive testosterone levels.  I say bullcrud, its the reverse, the more hair, the more energy a 'cross racer can pull out of the air.  Much like a sea anemone uses its tendrils to eat whatever floats by, a 'stached or bearded 'cross racer can literally pull the testosterone occurring naturally in the air into their faces and heads and then its just simple capillary action to get it to the legs and a top ten performance. Duh.

Are these two 'rocking enough strands'?

uhhhh, no way right?

And this guy?

photo: Michelle Woerner

No way - that skin is pampered, my guess is he shaves his face like those guys on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy".

So, I conclude with an open letter to FareStart and all those who love them.  If you want your racer to take it to the next level this year in 'cross you must join me in unplugging the trimmer!  Hide the razor!  Tell the barber you moved out of town because until we can bring the complete package like Ricker here, we don't stand a chance.

ps - Cycle U., is this part of 'cross boot camp?
pps- all photos courtesy of Amara Boursaw at www.wheelsinfocus.com

MFG #3 North Bend Magic Mountain Meadows

Alexie in action!  Amara Boursaw photo  www.wheelsinfocus.com

Event Name:	MFG #3 North Bend Magic Mountain Medows
Date:	10/2/2011
Description:	First time venue under the auspices of Mt. Si.  Double rainbows and huge turnout for a great race!  FareStart puts not less than FIVE racers in top 10 placings!
Cat 3 Men 35+:	7th - Jeff Woerner 10th - Lane Seely
Cat 3 Women:	4th - Alexie Montaland
Cat 4 Men:	3rd - Greg Kauper 10th - Ryan Dean