Hello everyone - sorry for the late post, but even more sorry for what I'm about to post. As your humble organizer is still playing catch up at work (and recovering from Spearhead), we are going to have a greatly slimmed version of the throwdown tonight. Greatly slimmed means almost no flags, even less paint, a quick course-map review and a group course pre-ride. It's also a homecoming of sorts - one of my personal favs and an easy course to follow, even in the pitch black.

So, if you can make it, we will be meeting at 630 in the parking lot next to the Krispy Kreme on Bardstown Rd (close to the Waterson & Sullivan Univ.) We'll hob-nob for a few, roll out at 645, start racing at 7 00. It's still a greasy mess out there, so be prepared to slide around a bit.

Sorry for the late post - we'll see you tonight.

Oh hello there! It's so nice out, I didn't think I'd see anyone here.

Once again, it's Thursday and you know what that means................ Boy oh boy, don't we have something fun for you tonight. First and foremost - this will be one of those nights you definitely want to bring your alias and while there isn't a costume requirement, I wouldn't wear that team kit, either.

Ealier today I got this call from my friend Simba. He had just finished up his breakfast and was lounging pool-side when he had a flash of an idea.......SAFARI! Just load up the family Land Rover, put on some khakis and a funny hat and head out to look for lions on the savannah. If you go at night, you can see their eyes in the distance and they're almost always out chasing gazelles around.

"Sounds like a cross race," he said. "A bunch of alpha types all chase the prey around in the tall grass, trying to wear them out - and then - when they're super hungry and all jacked up on adrenaline, they attack!"

"It does sound just like a cross race" I told him. So tonight, we're going over to Simba's house for a little throwdown. In the wilds of Africa, poachers are often shot and killed on sight, so we'll probably need to be a little more careful tonight. We meet here: 4107 poplar level road, louisville, ky 40213. Park close to poplar level, don't leave any valuables in plain sight and definitely don't forget your lights. There are a couple of tricky spots, so run helmet mount if you can swing it.

Meet between 6 and 6 15, we roll at 6 15ish and racing starts at 6 30. We'll race for 45 minutes or until the cops show up.

For those of you that couldn't make the Halloween throwdown last night, we've got some results and a post-race-wrap-up.

Ripping through the inky autumn darkness with what many called "spooky speed and surprisingly perky falsies", Dr. Bill C outgunned (and out-shotgunned) the competition to snag the win at the innagural Halloween Throwdown. Team Louisville's own Chris "the heavy-hitter" Nevitt stayed close to the top spot for most of the race, but a critical beer-lap error cost him the win (he chose a bottle vs a can). Opting for raw power over malted barly, Aaron Hawkins tried to hold on to his early race lead, but his impressive 5.5 minute lap time was no match for the 15 second free-lap guzzle-fest that ultimately decided first and second place.  The chase group - led by D.L. "funny femur" Hauber - kept the pressure on for most of the race, but by lap three, many racers started dropping out - lured away by the promise of fizzy goodness and the sexy tri-fecta of Naughty Night Nurse Betty, Ravishing Raggedy Ann and Savory Swiss Miss. (can I get a yodel?) 

RJ "Ricola" Harris set a blistering pace early on, but an authentic-woolen-leiderhosen malfunction caused some unanticipated chafing and he was taken to the medical tent. He appeared to be recovering well after 1000cc's of brownwater and by the end of the race was seen chatting with reporters. Evel Kennevil took a break from jumping buses and chose instead to come out and jump sand traps and Santa decided to get one more race in before the big holiday push. Joe the plumber came by - still fired up from the Go Sarah!! rally in Jeff the night before - and Boosty Collins scorched the course before rolling back to the beach area to drop some base lines. Back at the beach, Varsity wrestling champ, Steven "the package" Webster kept things interesting in his UK-Blue uni-tard and Mac "Spartan-not-Trojan" Shwab peppered passing racers with lively commentary and good old-fashioned cheers.  

Huge thanks goes out to all that helped with course set up and general tom-foolery and a giant "welcome" to all the newbies that came out and joined in the fun for the first time (we promise, we're not really that weird).  

Many folks will be taking costumes to the Gun Club this Sunday, so make sure to spread the word. Nothing fits in at a gun club like a pair of red vinyl pants!

Stay tuned for photos and updates and start getting ready for next week's event.

Thanks again, everyone.

Satan.

Throwdowners

Not to be a downer myself, but I am posting to let everyone know this week's throwdown will not involve riding laps in the grass. Many of us will be out helping with USGP course set up and some of us (like me) can't seem to make it a full week without getting roped into a silly meeting on the sacred afternoon. (honestly, who the hell calls a meeting at 5 15 on a thursday? is there no hope?)

That said, we will be meeting around 7 or 7 30 at the BBC Taproom on the corner of Clay and Main to discuss the rest of the season. Many of you have asked about using courses that you have cased out or seen others using. To this I say: BRING IT!!! This is the very heart and soul of the throwdown. More courses = more interest = more people = more courses and so on and so on and so on. It you have a course you'd like us to use, please tell me about it. I won't share it with anyone - it will be folded in to our standard delivery strategy and remain top secret until the day we race it. Trust me, there is no such thing as too many courses.

In closing, I have a very important announcement. Everyone needs to pay close attention:

Next week, the throwdown just happens to fall on Halloween-eve. Don't kid yourselves, we are definitely racing and it is definitely - without question - going to be a "mandatory costume" extravaganza. It will most likely require lights, so start charging those batteries and laying out that costume. If you need help figuring this out, please watch the videos from crank-my-chain productions that I have copied in below. (it works best if you copy it into a new page). Watch any of the vids, but the ones from 10.29 - 10.31.07 are the most educational.)

http://www.crankmychain.com/2007_10_01_archive.html

If you have any time this week, please contact me to find out how you can help with the USGP set up. If you can't make it out for set up or breakdown, at least come down to race. If you can't race, then I expect you to take a bus to the state mental hospital and pick up some "fans" for race day.

Thanks everyone. We'll see you out there.

ladies and germs,

I was at Waverly doing trail work until after 5 last night and was unfortunately unable to finalize the course for smackdown no.1. Likewise, today, I have a mountain of tasks in the morning and my in-laws 45th wedding anniversary this evening. Should there be a group looking to head out for a good effort, I would suggest the course from Throwdown No. 1 - Atherton High School. I have some maps and a large chunk of it is on their cross country course, which is painted.

Also, if anyone can spare the time, please join us this afternoon at the river road course for the final clean-up. I'd love to be throwing down, too (beers and laps). Gotta keep the courses clean if we're gonna keep growing the scene.

Thanks all - drop me a line if you want some additional course info.

Hello everyone and welcome to Flanders. It's 50 and raining so I expect we'll be in good form later today.

A couple of good questions have come my way and I think the responses will benefit the participating public. All bikes and all wheel sizes are a-ok. No haters here. Schedule and directions questions answered below.

Because we're going across the river for this one, there are some slight changes from the normal chaos. For starters, we don't need to have the "official" off-site rendezvous tonight.  People can go directly to hte park. Also, we will be getting things started a little earlier. Meet between 5 30 and 6; racing will start at 6 and should be done by 7 or 730. For those of you driving, there is plenty of parking at the site. For those of you riding over, I would recommend  meeting at a central point (like the BBC Taproom at Main and Clay) and rolling in a group. Safer that way and if you're thirsty when you get back to town, BBC APA is a fine quencher (and it's 2 dolla pints on thursdays). It takes about 10 or 15 minutes to ride over and be sure you have lights for the trip back.

Again, we will be racing at Colgate Park in Clarksville. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=colgate+park,+clarksville,+in&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.240201,113.90625&ie=UTF8&z=16

Any questions, post them here so everyone can keep up.

With no races scheduled for the weekend, this thursday could be huge. Like Big Mac huge - billions served. We're crossing the river this time - to wholesome Clarksville, IN -  home to the Optimist Club and Clarksville Schwinn, but more importantly - home to one crazy-compact-cross course (note the subtle alliteration). In Clarksville, the grass is taller, the hills are steeper, the turns are tighter and the beer is colder. The new venue brings new challenges - like more travel time and less daylight - so we're announcing it a day earlier and we're starting the race a half hour earlier. For your safety, we've also started developing rules. Kind of a UCI-lite. So far we have two:

Rule 1----If you come, you must talk to other people,  not just your team members.

You can't imagine my delight when I woke up to find that while we were sleeping last night,  autumn showed up in full force. What better way to say "welcome" to this fine fall weather, than by going out and chasing your friends around a grassy field for an hour and then drinking some coldies.

Tonight, we will be meeting at the Starbucks/ Panera Bread/ Q-Doba/ Wal-Mart center on the corner of Poplar Level Rd and Hess Lane around 6 pm (5 30 if you want to get a couple shots of espresso in you). We'll roll out around 6 15 or 6 20 and hope to start racing at 6 30. Still don't think we need lights unless you're riding home. Post race wrap up at Doba or maybe - if we get really crazy - Nachbar.

Hello again everyone. We will still be racing this Thursday night, but given the fact that it's in front of a huge weekend of racing, it will be much more casual. Short course, not as many ridiculous run-ups and probably less brown water. Stay tuned!! 

almost forgot - no need for lights, unless you're riding home after. Also, depending on how you generally roll, might want to bring a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt for the post-race meeting. Tights are fine, but not always the look people go for.

OK - for all of you following at home, here is the game plan for this evening. We will be meeting between 6 and 6 15 in the parking lot adjacent to the the Krispy Kreme on Bardstown Rd (between Assumption and the Waterson/ Sullivan Univ). I'll distribute maps and rules there and we'll roll out a little after 6:15. This first one is pretty brazen, so we won't be marking the course until the very last minute (hence the maps), but I can't imagine it will be any less fun without course tape. We will be doing a pre-ride as a group and once we return to the start/finish, you'll be given further instructions and lined up by category. This is not a UCI sanctioned event, so we will also be offering a "choose your own category" category. We will race for 45 minutes to an hour and there will be a post race meeting after. Stash your IDs and your cash in your shoes, just in case the post race meeting happens to be at a bar.

We'll see you there!!

Hi folks - just checked the weather and it looks like a perfect fall day in store for this Thursday. Did some course recon again last night and I think it will be plenty light for the race, but you might need lights to get home. Also, your A-Game might be a bit more than you need for this event, so just bring your B-Game.

I'll post the "official" meeting place and time late wednesday or mid-day thursday. Course will be marked and ready. Also, as racing around in a dusty field can make a person thirsty, I imagine we'll wrap up the race with a quick trip to the local bar. Too bad about that.

Sweet!  Cannot wait for this!

for example....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_oQ93U11fg