Crossing the Lines

 I have brought my CX bike from the dead.... Me and this bike have been through so much together.. It came from my wife's boss back in Breckenridge,, Amy was sick of racing cross and thought that if she sold it she would stop cold turkey.. It came laced up with a full Ultegra  group but in my heart of hearts It was meant to be a single speed.  Trough some modification it transformed.. First Cx race was the Brecktoberfest ,,Racing the 4's and doing well the chain popped off 4 times I did finish but was dejected.   The next day went better racing in Frisco crossing the line 2nd and I was hooked. That season I had some success with 2 wins and worked hard to get upgrade but the AcA would not have it. Did a few more Cx races before we moved to Wisco. Since moving I have done a few and still enjoy the time when I get to line up. But more than anything this bike has been for me another way to escape. Many many miles on the crushed gravel along the Mississippi ... long quite training miles with road tires on it... and even managed to get into the top ten in the H8ter race in Madtown.

 The bike gets used and abused.. The wheels are off my old Lemond and have 10K miles and with all the winter commute miles the hubs cry and scream while they spin.
Me and the old Red Machine have ridden the single track of HpT and morning group rides.. It has taken me places.. Would I love a nice slick Steel ride.. Well yes I would because steel is real,,,,,,,,,,,real nice. The Aluminum frame can make your teeth rattle and punish the taint.. But if you close your eyes and spin hard you can day dream your day away on the back of an old friend. 

This week has been a good awakening of a cyclist that I may resemble. I live too far away from the places where CX racing happens. Two hours of each way driving for a 60 min race is hard for me to swallow.... I read I watch and keep up with the CX world and @times feel like I am missing out on something,,, I even watch over and over Pure Sweet Hell while I sit on the Rollers in the middle of Jan.
I go over and over in my head how fun it would be to line up and hurt for an hour of misery.  
But I remind my self all I have to do is open the garage and head out in any direction and start my wheels moving,,, and before I know it I will be free from all that weighs down the mind.                                  I spend the whole summer driving all over the upper mid west racing and making my self hurt and wounder why I do what I do.. The fall is my time down here this is my time,,, and I got to make the best of it.  Bikes are freedom and freedom is a Revolution that is worth fighting for.