Westside Update 3

The finale of footdown round 2.






Lucky Pierre and Wheelie Guy getting ready for the Slow Race.


The start of the TagTeam Alleycat.


Chas at the Polo Haus limbo stop.


Sharky doing the limbo.


It's it's a good thing we don't test for steroids at messenger races. Just kidding, I know that Sharky is clean. He stays fit by the force of pure worry.

Mason was just too tall.


That's better.


What a curse to be tall. It took Augie a few tries to make it under the bar.



Yeah, Chicago!


Kenichi lengthening his dropouts with a hacksaw and file.


Drew and his fork.

Puppy dog!


This guy got bonus points for crashing through the limbo.

Westside Update 2

I didn't notice this until I left polo today. I suspect Magnum had some involvement.


Dabby and the hooch bungie. The So Pathetic Brewclub sponsored us with a malt liquor concoction featuring 10 pounds of carrots, ginger, orange juice concentrate and maybe some pineapple. I really enjoyed mine. I heard it described as organic Sparks but I think it was much better, sort of a ginger-citrus iced tea with a lingering earthy aftertaste. Plus anything in Grolsch bottles just tastes classy.



We're all friends until the foot down starts.

The lovely S. Murder, champion of pretty much everything. Has she won more titles than Yvonne Kraft yet?


Dee crosses it up.

Messman gives Tom the shoulder.




It was an all Mancos final featuring Doom vs. Bailey.


I like Bailey's style. He could be Team WRECK material.

Westside Update

late night update! wi-fi has been spotty so I'll get these pics up now. Please forgive any spelling or grammar errors, I'll fix them later.

So much for posting every day. My pirated wi-fi has been out for a few days (what's up BARB@HOME? Let's keep that router turned on) and I've been too busy drinking, racing and schmoozing to take many pictures anyway but here are a few.

This is the only picture I took on Friday. I guess it's sometime during the opening alleycat, which I happened to win. More out of luck than speed I assure you. I was sucking wind and falling off the back halfway through but I kept going and everybody else made routing mistakes so I ended up first. Ah, the glory, it's been too long. I won a sweet Raleigh jacket courtesy of Matt Case, and of course the respect of my peers.
I intended to forgo the Strip Club Classic in favor of water and sleep but of course I got talked into "just one beer" and ended up riding to the Dancin' Bare, Magic Gardens and Union Jack's. Each seemed progressively weirder, or maybe it was just me. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for naked girls, but the strip club milieu just doesn't do it for me. I heard that Cowboy "won" by getting dancers signatures at all the bars and several that weren't on the list. That makes Team WRECK 2 for 2 so far.
I skipped the early Saturday events, opting for sleeping in, time at the dog park, catching up on the New Yorker, 4 liters of water and one of gatorade, two large meals, both featuring bacon, and a short nap. I still didn't feel quite right by dusk but I ventured to the Mill House anyway.

I got there just in time for the foosball tournament. Dabby and I played well in the first round then got utterly destroyed by Spence and Timmy.

They may not have been playing under the Team WRECK banner but I still consider it a W. 3 for 3.

I'm not sure who introduced the Stare Down as an event this year but it was a crowd favorite for sure. I didn't see the final match but I'm guessing Bjorn won. His style was intimidating to say the least.
Sorry Chas, I thought you were just practicing. No flash photography!

At midnight we rode to the Burnside skate park for Beefa's Hell of the Southeast Criterium. At this point I handed my camera to Johnny, so the rest of these photos were taken by him.

There's that Boston confidence.

View from the ramp.


What am I smiling about?

Dabby and Sharky at the start.


A sketchy corner. In fact the whole course was sketchy, there was even a crash on the neutral lap. Train tracks, curbs, parking lots, cobblestones and drunken spectators were just some of the hazards. I wasn't exactly in race shape at this point in the evening and quickly fell off the back. I'm not sure who won but Drew said he got second. TW represent! Unfortunately the scene at the finish line quickly devolved into chaos. Beefa and Zak had words over how the race was run and ended up scuffling a little. No pictures of that, unfortunately. C Murder also got into it with some drunk girl who wandered out into the course at a bad time. Of course I felt compelled to try to mediate both disputes and ended up getting everyone to apologize but I don't think they really meant it. When we got back to the Mill House we heard there had been a big fight there while we were gone. Why do I hang out with these knuckleheads? Ah well, two more days to go.

weekend wrapup

Hola, amigos! Haven't rapped at ya for a while...
I could make some excuse about being busy or my camera batteries being dead but I don't want to sound like Dabby. By the way, Dabby, if you're reading this (and I know you are) please post some of your pictures and video from the weekend, I want to see them on a bigger screen. Update : done and done.
I have to say that for all the bitching I do about "bike culture" I certainly had a fun bike centered weekend. The mustache ride was incredible, then after too little sleep the team hit the dusty trails of Scappoose for a mini-epic. Mary Lou made his triumphant return, cleaning a 3 jump set on the north shore and Drew enjoyed the 'Poose for the first time, at one point exclaiming "Why haven't we been coming here all summer long? Fuck Washington!" I agree, fuck Washington, the 'Poose is where it's at.
As you well know nothing is better after an exhausting mountain bike ride than a little bike polo. We got back so early that polo hadn't started yet but we gave it a kickstart and some spirited games were played. A little too spirited for me in fact, perhaps people are getting amped up for the Westside tournament.


On the way to the Mustache ride.


Self portrait with mustache. That's about 5 days growth. Just enough to make you take a second look and think "eww...creepy"

The start of the 3 legged race. After this my batteries died, which is perhaps for the best, as some of the things I observed later would not be fit for this blog audience. I can tell you that Disco won the beanbag toss, I won foursquare, some guy from Washington DC won best mustache. I can't remember who won the 3 legged race but it was very entertaining. We all won when some nice woman approached us at Laurelhurst park and said "Our picnic is winding down and we still have beer, can you guys help us drain three kegs?" Perfect timing once again.

Tom got these sweet tapes from a free box.


This looked so good that I took a bite before remembering to take a picture.


Do you see that peak in the middle, the fifth layer of mountain? I'm going to ride my bike there soon and get a picture of the farm. Aunt Karen sys it's Dorn Peak, I thought it was Condenser Peak, that's a cooler name.


This is an attempt at being artsy. See how my shadow echoes the form of the house and eucalyptus?