Medusa Pict0rs

Bronze Shield, originally uploaded by BodhiDave.

Pics are up! Video soon to follow. Click the image above to see all the ones I got.

It was a ton of fun, Kurtz did an awesome job putting it all together with the checkpoints and prizes. Well thought out and creative. I got to see a bunch of stuff, hang out with some cool peeps, pedal my ass off, and play in traffic.

I strapped the action camera to my top tube and I'm happy with the shots it got. You can see the road ahead and all it's patrons (or obstacles, if you prefer), the handlebars turning this way and that, and on the outside, my legs pumping away. I need to cut it up a bit, add music, etc, unless anyone out there wants to see the uncut version. Just let me know. Maybe we can do a little contest, whoever takes the raw footage and makes the funnest production gets a cycling cap signed by yours truly.

Today I'm sore in weird places. The backs of both thighs, the muscles around my ribs, and just on my left leg, a single spot high up on the top of my leg. I worked hard but I'm still surprised. Guess that wind was shittier than I originally thought. I don't know why my ribs are sore, I didn't even have a bag on.

Being the cunning soul that I am, I decided to stick to someone who knew were everything was, and do my part to help our little two-man team out where I could. This time I stuck with Kurtz, the man who planned it all out. Cheating? Not the way I see it. I don't know this area as good as the peeps who have been living here a while, so I do what I can. Besides, if I couldn't keep up that'd be one thing, but I hold my own.

Without Kurtz I wouldn't have done as well as I did, I just want to say that now. Many times he tried to tell me which routes to take so that I could try and place better, but sometimes I'm dumb with directions. Especially when I've been sprinting everywhere and trying not to get ran over every second I'm in motion.

Once we hit the last checkpoint, it was two or three turns until the finish, and I decided to go for it. I dodged a van or two, darted through an underground underpass (watch those grates!), and pushed hard for The Taphouse, which seems to be the finish line of choice. Even though I hadn't seen any other rider for a while, I knew one could pop out at any moment so I went hard.

As I pulled up I saw a single bike chained to a pole, and a single rider coming out of the bar, beer in hand.

*gasp gasp* "...What number?!"
"What?"
"What number am I?"
"Second!"

Woo! Second place! I got one o' them purdy full-colored cards in my spokes now. I'm happy. Chris, the first place winner this time and last, is an actual racer. Sponsors and all, I believe. So, in a tiny and vain way, I got first place out of the regular folks. At least that's what I tell myself when I'm posing in the mirror in my Batman underpants, arms flexed. But again, without Kurtz, I would have been dead last or worse.

The crowd that showed up was a good mix. Wes even showed up with his kid in tow, trailer and all, and finished in good time. The guy who owns the orange bike I covet posted about showed up and stuck to NYC Chris (which is different from Racer Chris) right up to the end. They both showed up panting and immediately started in on how they went on the most ass-backward route possible.

A guy named Jay with a cool frame, an Eddy Merckx hat, and a horrendously stretched chain participated and had at least five mechanical failures before he was done. We even picked up a guy with a green bike who was just pedaling down the road, but after the first checkpoint nobody saw him again.

There's some awesome ideas for future races and I can't wait. One of these days, I'm gonna win one straight up. You just watch. Where's William Gibson's microsofts full of city maps when you need them?

- David