April 20, 2010

MMI 9 Saturday

Saturday was race day. Here's what went down

breakfast
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Mark and Austin

outside Breakaway
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sign up and trophy
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that's Von Munz and Sparrow behind the table

manifest
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the race was setup with four deliveries, two of which were round trip. There were two quick stops and four "call ins" you had to be at Breakaway during a half hour window to learn the stops

Like the Stupor Bowl the start was a mystery and we ended up on top of the reservoir. Not having the slightest clue how to get around Milwaukee, Wayne (owner of Breakaway) hooked me up with his smartest dude, Matt Ungerman aka Jade Leader. At first Jade was a little leary of having a tail, but as the race went on he seemed pretty stoked to have another guy fighting the wind with him. Milwaukee is both hilly (compared to MPLS) and the day was wicked windy.

I won't bore you with the details of the race, but Matt and I finished 2nd and 3rd. We missed out on first place to James Lalonde by four minutes. The bummer thing is that we had to fix a flat and without that inconvenience may have taken the whole thing. Of course you can say "if I rode a perfect race I'd have won" all day, and in the end you take what you get and we were pretty fucking stoked to have finished so well.

Towards the end of the race I told Matt that there was no way I was going to sprint him for it, as the dude with the route it was his town, and his honor to come in first. He replied that he wanted me to take it since I was on the sharp end most of the day. We went back and forth on this and in the end he allowed me the honor. Huge thanks to Matt, it was a blast to ride with you. Thank you so much for the good route and the good times. It will be my honor to have you ride with me during Stupor Bowl, I owe you one.

The finish outside of the Hi Hat
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First Female
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that's Shaggy of Shag Bags fame on the close right

Austin Horse
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Austin finished top ten routing himself. That's pretty damn good in a town you've never been to before

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prize table
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first place Shag Bag and bike awarded to first female
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at awards everybody got HJ's from this guy
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Kevin Sparrow of Cog showing some love
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First Place Men: James LaLonde
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loving this photo. If you don't know who James is, look it up. He's one of the fastest cross racers in the Midwest and has been Single Speed CX National Champ. Dude's a serious hoss in the world of "real" racing.

Second Place Men, First Place Out of Town: Jeff Frane
awards

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Third Place Men, First Fixed: Matt Ungerman aka Jade Leader
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The race was super well run and a ton of fun. Thanks to the organizers and thanks to my guardian angel.

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