Good stuff and bike lust

I've been doing a little reading today. A new entry in the Adventure Racing magazine was noted both in my e-mail inbox (thanks Bruce) and on the web at Grant Killian's G-Rant.

It's a nice effort by the USARA to put out something that is a periodical focused on the sport. And believe me it takes a lot for me to say anything kind about USARA. I had a major league alienating moment with the management team a couple years ago. However, part of their mission statement includes an objective "...to aid in the continued positive growth of the sport of adventure racing". Maybe this will make a solid contribution towards that end.

However I'm sure it has more to do with motivations such as Checkpointzero dumping coverage of the USARA rankings in favor of its own series. See Yak's "do you see them posted" comment near the end of the thread. You can tell Yak's posts by looking for the image of Michael Douglas in his heart warming portrayal of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. Honestly, if this is the personality type (self described as "opinionated and big mouthed") that Inov8 and others are reacting to positively then I'm feeling bad for the tribe. A big national series with decent prizing that collaborates with local promoters is a damn good thing. Having somebody at the front of it that would accept success with a little more dignity and charm would be better.

For somebody who treasures the long, difficult races and understands that the spirit of the sport is being that better person who can eat a little more pain for the sake of the team or help those around them or gracefully accept help when it's needed there's something disconcerting about some of the folks that are taking the lead. Maybe a crash course in bushwhacking a bike to the top of a mountain without a trail after three days of racing in just above freezing rain would help. :)

I'm going to end this with a happy thought. My new Niner Air9 arived last week. I'm feeling the big wheel revolution and my XTR pimped creamsicle colored 22-pound dream machine is going to be on my mind all weekend while I'm snowshoeing my ass off at Snowgaine.

Jambalaya!!!

Also known as "whatchugot?"

I dug around in the AR refrigerator and pulled out enough random teammates to take a run through WeCeFar's Swamp Stomp last weekend. Bruce Swanson, Tracey Robertson and Eddie Cremonese joined up and we raced as Team NYARA. Despite rumors of my complete and total defection to GOALS ARA, I am still on the NYARA board and they'll kick me off it when they pry my compass from my cold dead hand. There are loads of highly detailed reports with map links etc... out there too, so I think I'll skip most of the details of the day.

1. Ron Eaglin has a good write up (as always). I swear he must be typing as he's racing because just about anytime I do a Florida race he has a report up before my return flight lands.
2. Good discussion of the Snickers Marathon victory over powerhouse EMS on the Trailblazers board.

We had a good run through and took a little time on the big trek to help out a team that had forgotten some mandatory gear (headlamps and water purification).

Coming in I had hoped to squeeze into the top 5 (knowing full well this was a tough field). We came up a little short on that objective with a 7th place. But not outlandishly so.

I haven't covered anything like this distance since all the way back in May when I finished the Michigan Expedition. Good to know that the legs are coming back up to full strength finally.

Next up my favorite event of the year: CNYO Snowgaine