Until the Snow Ends

(First things first, I wrote about two weeks ago but never really publicized it, so no one read it.   Read it now , or not) Hey!  Orchard Cross is a good race.   I hadn't done it in a long time (it was actually the first time I ever ran the chainstay cam ), and now that it's over 2 hours from where I live, I almost went to Bennington for Wicked Creepy Cross (which is another great race... oh New England)... but the siren song of hanging out on the edge of the money with bunch of fellow cat 2 scrubs was more than I could resist.  So away I went! The course is noticeably improved from "back in the day," which is to say a bunch of unfun power sections were taken out and replaced by twisty things.  There was still quite a bit of pedaling and sketchy-loose-rocky-sandy turny stuff, so it was legit.  As Adam Myerson said, "this is like a Belgian B race." One of the "B race" attributes of the course is that it gets narrow really fast.  I do n...

As has become traditional, I skipped the Providence Cross Fest weekend.  While I'm sure it's a good show and all (gap jump photos can't be wrong!), paying $60 to get pulled in 45 minutes isn't my kind of value proposition... especially when I can barely function after Night Weasels  anyway. So!  All that not-racing left me with a burning desire to race dem bikes on a double weekend.  Which is a good way to feel, man. Mansfiel d Hollow Cyclocross This is one of the oldest still-running cross races in New England -- it might be the oldest, actually.  Maybe Putney goes back further?  In any case, the promoter gave us a nice speech on the start line about how cool it was to see Frank and Mark McCormack still racing there, since apparently 25 years ago they were the juniors who were begging him to get into the elite race. The course is fabulously all-around solid, too.  It's a pavement start stretch away from being a venue for a UCI race... but we "o...

Holy crap, Holy Week.  Um.   Four years ago , when I told Chip it would be super rad to have a night race on the Wednesday between Gloucester and Providence... I should have clarified:  it would be super rad for SOMEONE ELSE to put on a night race between Gloucester and Providence.  SOMEONE.  ELSE. Note to future Colin:  don't plan on getting anything done in the latter half of September. I did manage to race my bike, or at least pay money to pin numbers on, in the days leading up to THE NIGHT WEASEL.  Let's talk about it. Midnight Ride of Cyclocross I am so incredibly glad this race exists, because it means I get to actually participate in one of these night races I think are so rad.  Even better, it is as close to the perfect cyclocross course for me as can be obtained.  My results here are hilariously misrepresentative of my ability. Why?  The grass is SO SMOOTH and there are SO MANY corners.  The entire race is basical...