2011 Blogs
With 2 rides on my new Ibis Tranny I packed up to jet to Laguna for a day at the crankbrothers office, a night in Huntington Beach with recently-engaged Nat and Aimee, then a 6-hour drive to Monterey with crankies Lisa and Richard. It was a good trip filled with stories and laughter and a gas station stop of $4.99 a gallon! More than Thursday was the crankbrothers product launch which also included the team launch…though a current team of 1, we plan to build on the numbers in the coming year. Everything, as always, no matter how far in advance you plan, comes together at the last minute. Simon and Dan of Schlamm produced the clothing within a 3-week timeline which was delivered not by carrier pigeon, but by Dan, recent partner addition to the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross. Tim and Amanda worked their tushes off to arrange custom colors on the Tranny, Lazer helmet & Fi’zi:k saddle, in addition to tons of wicked team shwag which sold like bananas (bananas have got to be the most sold food in a grocery?). Because the shirts, hats, bottles, and trainer towels were so beautifully designed by Tim, people had to ask what the 11 was all about. The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and... Eleven. Exactly. One louder. Because 11 is crankbrothers raciest line and it just so happens 2011 is the team launch year, we went with 11 for the team brand.
Thursday evening Andrew received tickets to ride in the race cars on the Laguna Seca race track. What an experience! I bet they were doing half the speed they race at, but the 2 laps were thrilling as my stomach leapt to my tongue over the corkscrew. The drivers sped up wicked close to another as if the mirrors were going to touch. Exhilarating. Almost like how I drive my Super Rupair Subaru. Once our stomachs had calmed down we indulged in the Sardine Factory on Cannery Row where I had phenomenal lobster.
Everything came together for the races: support of the Highway 2 crew – crankbrothers, fi’zi:k & Continental, the elegantly painted Ibis Tranny, a new look from Schlamm, Double D the wizard mechanic working with Feedback Sports stands, the best looking umbrella boy, a baby blue Lazer Nirvana, bling sunnies from Oakley, the XX cockpit from SRAM, and a white power control from SRM. Meanwhile I had developed some soreness and tinglies in my hand and arm in the week leading to Sea Otter. One morning I woke and had an egg on my wrist. Normally I have eggs on toast, not on my arm…so I iced, massaged, took it easy leading to Sea Otter. But 20 minutes of short track sent me back into an even bigger egg, flared up and the next day could hardly shift. I made it a lap of the cross-country before pulling out because I couldn’t shift or brake and every bump (though not many bumps as half the course was on the race track) was a knife.
Fortunately I was able to duck out of Sea Otter early Sunday morning, an easy flight to Denver where CrossPropz Paul was waiting for me with a much-needed hug. The next morning I saw my friends at Peak Sports Chiropractic; Jenny did some dry needling and Andy finished it off with Graston’s. Hunter, my cyclocross buddy at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine referred me to excellent hand doc who I met with today to get this healing process turbo charged. With a nifty splint to accommodate handlebars I should be back on 2-wheels in no-time! The comfort of friends and home is a splint in itself.