"See, in the south, they say y'all, not 'you all.'  They don't say the O or the U.  So, I tried to talk like them.  'Waitress, please, I'd like some chicken noodle s'p.  I said, I'M IN THE S'TH AND I WANT SOME S'P!" --Mitch Hedburg

 Hey everyone, It's Boyle.  I'm not dead, I just moved to North Carolina for...um...the offseason, I guess.  And I did my first cyclocross race!

I'd never even seen a cyclocross race before this one.  I built myself a bike, and even got it to work.  It only has one functioning front chainring, because I broke the left STI lever when I was putting the thing together.  I predicted, correctly, that I wouldn't need the 53.
 

Cyclocross in Chicago is a fall sport.  It would be a fall sport here if it weren't for the fact that there is no fall.  Every day here is between 85 and 95.  The south is currently in such a severe drought that it is illegal to water your lawn in Raleigh.  It is also illegal to water your cyclocross course.  Having never seen such an event before, I must say the course looked like a cross between a murder scene and a spiderweb, with orange and yellow caution tape all over the place.  I started running to prepare for this stuff, but of the 5K course there was only about 10 meters of running, as there were but two barricades per lap, and they were right next to each other.  So you only got off your bike once per lap.  Except for when I dropped my chain, during which I got to do my special cyclocross hopping-back-on thingy twice. 

 Anyway, I rode around for a bit, it got really hot, and I finished.  I think I was last.  'Cross really is a lot of fun, even when you're just sort of putzing around out there.  The next race for me is going to be next weekend in Richmond, Virginia.  I'll probably just try and finish that one, too.  That'll pretty much be the plan until I get some fitness back, but by then it'll be time to train for the road season.  Enjoy Chicago, everyone.  Enjoy your water and relatively cooler weather.

Oh, and I actually figured something out too...if you're at a 'cross race you can't just dump your car keys in your jersey pocket since they might bounce out and you'll be stranded in Raleigh.  So, take a safety pin, put it through your keychain, and pin that to the inside bottom of your jersey pocket.  Those keys ain't goin' nowhere.

-el boylito