Double Draft

Ride leaders seem to come in pairs. BJ and Cook (left) specialize in speedy rides that have wine worked into the schedule. Tim N Bill (right) will take you out of town, drop you hard, but smile and say good job at the end. Crazy-Dog Productions (b. left) finds the hardest events, sets a high standard for perfomance, and they prod and needle until you either believe in yo'self or lose it.

Wes and I (b. right) only navigate through Norfolk and only at night. Our newest Wed ride goes from Ghent Conte's to Ipswich trails in Chesapeake where we ride single track with night lights.

Photo sources:

JB, Kev, Wes,cassbarbour.com

Top 10

(left, Carol holds up the number 4 indicating the 4 minutes she needed to catch me. I'm in trouble next year. Photo by John Blaszczak.)

Why do Iron Cross, the country's longest cross race?

10. Teammates don't need to block for one another but can compete. <<<<<<<

9. No pasta found on the restaurant menu. Enjoy steak and Jagermeister the night before a race.

8. Lots of cross-bikeable doubletrack.

7. The “potty mouth” crawl up competition. Previous winner: Liz. Current record holder: Art

6. The Hostel hostile sign award. Last year’s winner: "Do not under any circumstances open this door—EVER." This year’s winner: "Do not close the kitchen door—EVER." (Awesome place to stay.)

5. Racing is optional. If you would rather just ride, no one cares.

4. Lots of cross-bikeable singletrack.

3. Spotty cell reception limits outside contact and opens conversation with “misunderstood” people like Gene.

2. Team alliances blur inside the PA border. Here, VBV, AABikes, TP and HCC actually work together to snuff out Crazy’s complications and get hold of the Brenna Bars.

1. Free entry to Ironmaster’s Hostel Bad Film Festival presented by Anti-Art Director Dog. Last year’s feature: Boogey Man Current Bad Movie: V for Vendetta.


--Check out Alicia's Blog and Danielle's Blog and John's Blog for detailed race reports.

Hands full

(below, Enhanced IC logo, stolen from Alisha Lion's blog and displayed here before Kevin gets ahold of it.)

I got to looking at the list of women registered for Iron Cross next weekend. None of those only-first-name-needed back country masters are registered yet. No Erin, Cara, Mandi, or Deidre.

So I googled those who are registered. Found out there is a Webcor/ Platimum pro road racer, Alisha Lion, who also has a cool blog. Another racer and blogger, Alicia Parr, is an elite triathlete with a long ol’ list of top 3 finishes.

Another competitor, Eva G, won a 60-mile off road Paul’s Dirty Enduro in Ontario just last month. Equally scary is Jill W who was the 2005 Xterra Mid-Atlantic regional champ and who does Odyssey off-road tris on a regular basis. Looks as if Eva V does mostly on-road tris, the long ones of course. Then there is my own teammate Carol who keeps getting in secret cross miles behind my back. Shh--.

So it may need to just be Liz on Liz. I did 5:48 on a mt bike last year while in better climbing shape. However, I am using a cross bike this year, so that should compensate for slower climbing. I can subtract time for mental edge of knowing what is coming. So the goal is sub-5:40.

See some images from last year.

Echelon in rock gardens

(right, My new, used Fuji Cross)

This has been said before I’m sure. . . . Cross has settled in me, turned around the idea that it had to be mountain bike or road bike but never both. That I could not enjoy smooth speed and single track on the same bike ride.

That I could not have echelon in rock gardens.

No finesse with flame, beauty with brawn, you know it—the lace and the leather—or rather lycra shorts and whippet print jersey.

There, it’s been said again.