Burlingame Race Report and other goings on..

Thanks in large part to the Rip 9 I managed to shave 2 minutes off of last year's time at the King of Burlingame time trial. It turns out that was fast enough to get me the win in the 19-39 Sport race. I didn't find out until I got back from sweeping the last race and pulling down arrows. It was a nice surprise, as was the retro style Specialized Stumpjumper jersey I picked up for my effort. Adam St. Germaine won a sweet Hub wool jersey for his efforts in the Expert race. I think he might have been faster if he hadn't ridden to the race from Pawtucket but what do I know? I have a feeling that's like a lap of Blackstone Blvd. for a guy like him.

The course was in pretty good shape considering all the rain that had fallen on Friday, the wet spots were wet and muddy but there was nothing too crazy. The course is technical enough to give mountain bikers a chance while the road sections allow the road riders to make the most of their love of tarmac. The bonier parts of the course gave a lot people trouble, but luckily there were no injuries and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Thanks to Lennon and his crew for running another great event! If you are inclined to race next year be sure to register early as the spots are limited. The word on the street is that there will be a few more slots open for next year's event.

There hasn't been too much else going on these days. I managed to get out on the road for a few miles this week and then took Thursday off to do a two hour tour of F. Gilbert Hills in the 70 degree temps. Amazing weather for April 10th. I donned the new Stumpjumper jersey and quickly discovered that a "large" racer cut is apparently made for folks built like me, except with seriously skinny arms! Anyone who knows me knows full well I'm not in possession of two tickets to any gun show, (more like two tickets to the laser light show) but wearing this jersey makes me look kinda like Rowdy Roddy Piper. The sleeves cut my biceps off halfway down and the sleeves are so tight my arms turn purple.. I guess this makes me more look like Rowdy Roddy Barney. OK, that's totally false. It really just makes me look like I hang out at the gym talking about bench presses before I go shopping for pre - distressed jeans and tight shirts. And who doesn't do that sort of stuff? I could probably wear it to McFaddens if I paired it with some shiny shoes and Rock and Republic jeans. Wicked Awesome... I'm going to wear it anyway because it's cool jersey, never mind the fact that I secretly like looking like Bowser from Sha Na Na on the bike ;)

Today's ride at Lincoln Woods was completely uneventful thanks to the lousy weather. There was a decidedly low creep factor out there today. No dudes reading the upside down newspaper in their cars, etc.. All the gates are open out there now which means the pickle parks are in business. Complete weirdness will commence any day now so if you ride at LW be sure to keep your eyes peeled, and keep it moving if you see anything odd. Don't hesitate to phone the local authorities (State Police barracks are right around the corner) if you run across naked "bird watchers" or other such shenanigans. The more legitimate users are out there the less creepy stuff will go on, that's the idea anyway.

That said the RI NEMBA Lincoln Woods ride series starts next Friday at 6:00pm. We'll meet in the big parking lot on the Twin River Road side of the park. Enter the park off of Twin River Road, take a right and the lot is a little ways down on the left. If you make the turn down toward the beach you went too far. We'll have two led rides; one beginner ride and one faster ride. Keep in mind LW doesn't really offer much in the way of "easy" riding but there is a lot of good trail in there if you know where to look. One of the points of the rides is to get folks out in the woods, and to expose them to the loops that are out there. All you need to bring is a bike and your helmet. Hope to see you there!

For those wondering where I found out about the future viability of thumbshifters, well it was from the future. If you listen closely to the below you'll hear something about 7 speed shifters and superfast cycle exercising in the reverb...