Wurst Cross New Braunfels 2018

 The stressful start to Saturdays Masters 40+ Race
2nd place!

Cypress trees along the Guadalupe River

Brent Turner rode on to beat me in a thrilling sprint finish 

We were alone up front the whole race

Drooling

Up

An' over

Guess I'm not using these anymore 😳
Sunday Cat 3 Race 4th 

 S

Beautiful pics by Jim Hicks

And thanks for jumping my dead battery after the race!

3 years of Octobers

2018 Richard Moya

1st place chainless cat

2018 Georgetown 4th

Jim Hicks Photography

 2017 2nd at Webberville 

Sparing with team Chris Hill and Tim Granshaw of DNA

First bike race for Doodlebug 

2017

Broke my chain in second place the second day of Webberville 

2017

 Frank bike commutes as well as I

2017

2017 Elgin (below)

2016

4th at a swamped Decker Lake

Twilight of the Wooly Mammoth

 

2013

A Papa was born

Base miles scrounged after work in the dark 

Around Manda or Querney jams

Dark and lonesome

 

Cashing in for a few top 10's

Taunted in Elgin, someone yelling "Old Man River!"

Harsh

 

Winning break at Pace Bend 

3 to go

Lost legs

Regret 

If you get rad on a tree in the woods and no one is there to see it , did you really get rad?

Friends, I've won couple pro cat four cross races this season.
Stefan Rothe has befriended me on a social media site, I'm going to add that to my season results if I ever decide to upgrade. Of course I'm going to sandbag until UCI forces me to cat up as directed by my life coach Pool Side.


The victory ride home from Webberville-X was enhanced by Jamaican Gold, which got a signal boost from KOOP's tower in Hornsby Bend, So I got a few extra miles of good vibrations. My recovery supplements took the edge off some of those vibes. I was in good, deer friends.

Here's my bro Coyote Mercury's blog about his birding adventure at some of the ponds that the Bend supports.

Manda Butterball Style

Manda is as close to a Belgian day race that there is in Central Texas I suppose. Set in rural, working poor country, settled by Swedish immigrants.


There are long flat stretches along treeless wind swept fields. It's seems to always be windy and overcast.


Generally the race gets strung out as the wind plucks riders off the back like a John Deere combine harvester or something like that, and comes down to a survivors finish. I had the luck to be a survivor and finish in the top 10 this year.


P.S. All the other 2011 spring classix were marred by mediocrity:

Tour of NewBraunfels
Survived the winds and finished with the selection.
Allsatian
Formerly a classic road race turned suburban sprawl circuit race.
Recklessly lead the charge up the finishing hill. Swallowed by the pack across the line
PaceBend/Walburg
Did about 5 minutes of each due to injury from improperly carrying heavy objects by bicycle.
LaPrimaVera
Pack finish both days.
Fayetteville
Saturday; Pack finish for RoadRace and middle of TT (6.6miles@16:20) sitting top 20 in GC at the end of the day. Following the advise of my director's sportiff's to be more aggressive this season, I cursed the entire field for passing me over the yellow line, while I elbowed my way to the front before the final turn.
Sunday; I found myself in a 5 man break for 2 laps with 2 min on the field which eventually caught us and spit me off the back before the finish.
Manor
Woolly Mammoth and Party Time animated this race. Lots of attacks and a 5th field sprint, 12th overall. The last K's covering the talented Jaime Dayo, who did not disappoint, with a bike throw for 4th. Party Time took the win in a 2 man break ahead of Jaime's 5 men.

P.P.S.
A clean machine.

Sherief on the dang T.V.

Some of you may know Sherief. He's handy at any shanty bike shop teardown function.
He's a fine Randoneerman.
He' skipping school now to visit his family in Egypt.
He's missing some very exciting times in Austin with the weather and things.

That's a black eye to be proud of. Still pretty too. Kinda reminds me of some bike wrecks I've known.

Jenny's slippery train tracks. Man, was that one hard to watch unfold.

Greg's uneven train tracks
Maureen's hit and run.
It's a struggle sometimes.

Looking Pro

My interpretation of "dressing up" for 4th grade graduation.

Shoes: White
Socks: UP
Jams two-piece: Rocking hard
Hair: Feathered

Thank Bejezus there was a photographer!

P.S. I'm the kid in the front row third from the left

I felt the need to stand out from the crowd at an early age.