I knew I'd find a link between today's title and today's picture, which are really about wholly different topics....
Today's picture features the latest crop from my garden: potatoes--and dirt. If you come home next spring from a race, along about TST time, and find some sprouted spuds in your cupboard, (assuming they were organic) chop them up with a sprout ("eye") to each piece and go stick them in some dirt. Keep mounding the dirt on top of them as the leaves sprout above the ground until you have a heap that's maybe 8-10 inches above the rest of the garden. Water them occasionally, maybe put some composty stuff on top to keep the moisture in, and voila--you'll have spuds by the state TT championship. (Scrub before cooking!)As for rumors and secrets and gossip, 'tis the season for dirt on what's up for next season. This is about the time of year when everyone ceases to be excited about this season and starts to get amped up on plans for next season. Rumors abound. New teams. Riders changing teams. Handwringing over what decision to make. People proving the old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence (or, in this case, in a different jersey). It's great stuff. You find yourself saying the wrong thing to the wrong person but not figuring out it was the wrong thing to say for a day or two when you learn some new tidbit and about a gajillion pieces fall into place.
If I neglect to say it before Wednesday's time trial and this weekend's road race, good luck to everybody who's going to nationals in Orange County. A bunch of Northwest women are headed south: Allison, Dana, Hilary, and Suz come to mind. I hope you are all have great races!
19 comments:
www.thumbprintracing.com
Not a very informative site just yet, but imagine it's "team Seattle race blogger"?
What colors is ThumbPrint going to be? More Red?
No, I think Carter used all of the red dye for the next 4 years.
It's on backorder, I'm sure.
:-)
And what about Hagens Berman taking on estrogen? And did Avanti find a sponsor? Please make Carter get new shorts for next year.
But who is swapping teams? Any meat to these rumors? Pru always knows.
Patience... patience...
PruDog is at some secret weight-loss waterpark adventure, but his radar registers only cat 1-2 men, whereas my "sources" indicate that Thumbsdown (one cynic's revisionist label) is oriented more toward cat 3 men and women, peons dismissed from PruDog's lofty realm. Could be wrong, things change, people can't make up their minds....can't name names because the president(s) of the team(s) that may be gutted would rake me over the coals again for the bad press....
There are a handful of sandbaggers in the cat3 fields that are probably over the limit on mandatory upgrade points. If you review the top spots on the WSBA rider rankings I believe the only one in the top 6 has upgraded (Yanni?). Is that true Martha? Where is the glory in beating up Cat 3s all year?
Is Hagens Berman the only team to upgrade more than one rider in '08?
Yes, lots of teams have upgraded more than one rider, but maybe not men cat 3-2. Teams aren't listed in upgrade requests. Interestingly, hardly any women (apart from SIX of my teammates--and those all had to be extra legit!) have made the 4-3 upgrade this year; thanks to the cat 3 women's series, about as many have made the 3-2 jump. I expect a boatload of upgrades as the season winds down, though....
Lest you think nobody upgrades, there have been 413 requests so far in 2008. That means 20% of USAC licensees (road, track, cross) in WA have requested a category change since 1/1/08. Not EVERYBODY is "sandbagging"!
I love all the comments about the Carter kits. I attribute it to jealousy. There are a lot worse kits out in the WA peloton (IMHO). A few of the teams need some serious updating.
Hagens and estrogen? This is not the first time this has been brought up...If the right people do it the right way that could be very fruitful for a few ladies out there.
I would also say that the cat 3 field is down this year as far as quality goes. Not a slam against anyone it's just my opinion. None of those guys in the top 6 have mandatory points so why should they upgrade? Ask a few of the current cat 2s who upgraded last year how much "fun" it is to race.
I see it happen all the time. People rush to upgrade and then quit racing after a year or two of getting thrashed in the 1/2s What's the point? This is supposed to be fun for us. If you are not happy about getting your ass kicked in a cat 3 race do something about it. Train harder and race smarter.
Chauvin talks BS about the cat 3 guys like he's done more than 5 races this season.
Jealousy? get a grip. The carter kits look great, no doubt but c'mon man... it's not like YOU designed them. Hone doesn't have anything else to do with his time but play with different shades of color.
The mens 3-2 upgrade is too feared by most people. Casey and Veneble upgraded from a 3 early in the year and has already gotten a couple top 10s and are both plenty comfortable with the next level. Unless you're a "pure sprinter" (read: FAT) chances are you'll do just fine. The only big difference is the length of the races and the climbing pace.
The women's 4-3 upgrade is a HUGE jump for 90% of the races. Smaller fields with stronger, more agressive riders. Yikes.
Who hijacked this comment thread anyway?
Hagen's typically grabs a big name or two a year. This year that includes women? That might shake things up.
Wines isn't bringing anybody in. We tend to promote from within until guys are poached.
Hagens you are so cool saying comments like that about Mike but doing it under the name "Hagens". Put your name out there. What are you afraid of?
Also, I've raced plenty. I may not have been at races you did but I was racing (not well at all). I really did not talk BS about the cat 3 guys either. I just said they are down this year. Look at the results from Walla Walla (the only true stage race WA has now). It was dominated by guys from Canada, Eastern WA, and Idaho. The fast 3s upgraded quickly (like Venney, Ryan Brown (from a 4), Jason Wilsey, Wingfield and Bing). My big point was in reply to what "cat3" said about sandbaggers.
Did you know, Stoked, that for some reason when I click on your profile, when you comment on other weblogs, I don't get a link to your 'blog at all?
I have to, gasp, manually type in the URL.
Nice diversionary tactic. :) I've had so many problems with gmail/blogger (it posted one post on BOTH of my blogs) that I probably disabled something I shouldn't have. I am sorry to make you type instead of click!
I liked the potatos by the way.
Yummers!
Amusing that a picture of some taters provoked so many comments!
I have to say, I thought of you and this post this past weekend when there was a leadout that just didn't make sense at the time. Guess it's the same across the country!
Post a Comment