Another installment of Tuesday Night Bike Polo

Another tuesday night, another evening full of bike polo in Shelby Park.

We weren't sure if we'd have enough people to play but we decided to go ahead and try anyways. We played a few games 2 on 2 with Troy, Dan H. Doug and me. Then Clint showed up and we subbed him in for a game and then Bryan B. showed up and it was on. 3 on 3 action filled the next couple hours. We all had a blast. Tons of laughs, some crashes, some sympathy crashes and much more laughing.

We're hoping to make this a regular Tuesday night deal again and it looks like we will have some more fresh blood, I mean new riders that wanna start coming out.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Spring Blossoming

OldGreg and Freshie kicked off the 09 Spring with a house warming party at their new casa de party deck pad on the Southeast side of town this past Saturday. Many friends and Yazoo crewers were on hand to help drain the keg of Yazoo Pale Ale. Bon fires, tables of food, hula hoop action, Klunkers / Kelly Clarkson dance party with Gregger (think sprockets without Deter), and bad pours by OldGreg.

OldGreg's first pour. Luckily it was a "pour your own" keg.

mmm... nothing says Spring better than Pale Ale, well maybe the Hop Project, or the Hefe, or the Firefly Ale, or the Porter, or the Nitro Stout, or the Dos Perros...

T.roy and Beth hula-ing down with DrunkGreg imagineering a hula.

Mexas traveler gRant finally gettin' some sugar around the campfire.

Meanjoe, gRant, and KRS-1 hovering near the keg like moths to a flame.

Some at the party might have missed the mark (several times, like not even close)

But all in all it was a Slam Dunk!

The crew getting back into the Swing of Spring

Tuesday followed up the fun with the return of Bike Polo over on the Eastside. We were able to get the numbers up for a 3 on 3 match with 2 new players, Slumlord and Slumlordess Joe and The Hannah. They quickly came up to speed and several matches commenced. Some good self inflicted crashes and some not so self inflicted ones kept the missing Oklahoma Mannondale in our minds.

The Han and H in between sets.

Celebratory beverage break in between games.

More bike-centered fun is to be had next Sunday. The Nashville Scavenger Hunt is back for 09 with bigger and mo-funner plans. Get a team of buddies together, grab a bike, sign up (it's free), and come drink and ride on the East side.

May brings the 1st Annual Casa de Troyos. I hear there'll be block sprints and tacos. Check the beer team list for details.

This thing still on?

We're not dead yet! (Plenty of fresh hoppy beer coursing through these veins)
I feel happy! I feel like going for a walk... or as some call it, the Snake.


I'm all packed and ready! See you there.

Catching Up

Quick photo update on some of what's been going on with the Yazoo Racing crew:

things are finally working out for bike commuting beer drinkers

this came from how to avoid the bummer life. I am doing my part.

All the best.

Jut

Dirt Sweat and Gears... good times

The dust has settled and Dirt Sweat and Gears 2.0 has come and gone. It was a complete blast and I'm already looking forward to next years race. I choose to ride this 12 hr race on a 4man team so I had a bit of a different experience than the other Yazoo team riders. It started raining (pouring actually) around 3am and didn't stop until around 8:30. This was the 4th muddy race out of the 5 I've ridden this year. I couldn't think of a good excuse to prolong riding, so I volunteered to start the race and ride the first lap in the muck.

Muck it was, a slick layer of mud on top of a thick layer of sticky clay. After the LeMans start, the trail meandered through a couple pastures where most riders were trying their best to stay upright and also to ride in the grass and avoid the mud. By the time I hit the single track, my bike was completely full of clay and my derailleur was started to seize up. There were trains of riders walking up all the climbs. We all had a lot of great time for jokes and trail heckling. The clay was so bad it would not come off your tire without a lot of manual labor and people were being stopped going downhill by the clay on the sides of their tires catching in the frame.

Lap times for the mortals were significantly slower than anticipated. I rode a 1:55... atrocious for a 10.5 mile course! Thankfully after the second lap of riders tore through the trail, the clay was getting packed down and the sun was out. By the time I was up to ride my second lap (around 3pm) the trail was buff and in perfect condition. There is nothing like taking 40 minutes off of your lap time, a few hours later. The trail conditions did a completely 180.

It was fun hanging out in all the booths that were setup between my laps. Yazoo had a keg in the Swiftwick tent as well as Terrapin. Dirt rag was setup , as well as Princeton Tech Lighting, Ride for Reading and SORBA MidTN. Local shops were providing pit crews for the pros and Harpeth Bikes was neutral support and had quite a bin full of broken derailleurs and hangers. Sharpie had a great tent placement right near the finish line. I really enjoyed hanging out and watching all the duo and solo riders coming in and going out. Honest, I was quiet jealous watching them ride all day, while I waiting for my chance for a second lap. Next 12 hr race I go to I will definitely have to ride solo or at least on a two man team.

Clay and Grant put on a flawless race and an amazing weekend of fun! You could feel the excitement in the air all day and the awards ceremony was hilarious. I think something like 12 bikes were given away, along with all kinds of other swag. I won a pair of Ergons, a bike lock, and a late-issue Thomson gift card. The party at the campfire after the awards was bumpin' and went way into the night, or you could say the morning. After passing out in some random person's folding chair, I called it a night and hit the tent.

I woke up hung-over but fondly remembering the day before. Got to go and eat breakfast with some celebreties; Curtis Inglis, Ohio Rob, Fuzzy and DJ Birch. Lots of comfort food, great stories and crappy coffee... a great end to a great weekend!!

See you all at DSG 3.0 in 2009!!

Yazoo represents on the South side

Chickasaw Trace race conditions were less than ideal. The race started out with wet spray in my face from the riders rear tire in front of me as we motored down the 'road'. After the muddy drop in by the guard rail it was Tokyo driftin' for the next few miles. Then it got rocky, slick and technical and tough to click in the pedals, the suffering was beginning.

Roller coaster section was a lot of fun, then the trail went uphill. Either I had no traction, and even walking was tough, or I had a ton of traction in the peanut butter mud and my bike seemed to weigh 50 lbs. The suffering had really started kicking in. After a few more roller coaster sections, the other climb was upon me. I looked up and saw a train of 5 riders walking; alright back to struggling even walking in the slick muck.

By the time I finished the first lap, I felt like I'd already ridden two. I got a much needed bottle hand-off from Dan and I tried to recover and drink some calories. The second lap was more rough than the first as the thick mud was clinging to every part of my bike and my body. Strangely I even wondered how I would finish... this is only an 8 mile course. The mud was surely demoralizing.

The Yazoo team was setup by the starting line with tents, beer and socks. Sharpie was spreading the good word about Swiftwicks and Mark from MOAB had the trailer out. We all enjoyed some great Yazoo porter as we got cleaned up and then watched the awards ceremony. Thad showed up determined and won first place with the faster 2lap time of all the classes. Adam (MeanJoe, one of the newest Yazooers) rode very well and stayed on Thad's wheel through the finish line and got 2nd and the 2nd fastest 2lap time.

Every Yazoo rider rode hard, Thad, Mike N, Pumptrack Jim, Adam, Jeff (other newest Yazooer) and myself. Dan, Fred, Sharpie, Greg D., Hillary, Jeanie and PTJim's wife all did a wonderful job supporting us! Can't ask for a better team!!