This Bud's For You, 6 August

For the hottest month of the year, tonight was pretty darn nice. Meaning not hot in the least. That, plus a clear win from the front of the bunch, sent this weeks Bud's Ride crown back to the camp of Incycle p/b Full Circle Cycling:

it may not look it by the relaxed attitude, but he just won the Bud's Ride

You know, i didn't move out to Claremont until 2003, and before that time i only knew of the Bud's Ride by reputation - no first-hand experience with, and very little second-hand. More than that, it wasn't until about four years ago that i first had an opportunity to turn my cranks in the Wednesday evening hustle. So tonight during the ride back to town i was most certainly stoked to hear a tale of the olden days, a whole ten years in the past, 2004 to be exact. 

That night was an especially fast one, with the tandems pushing the pace to over fifty miles per hour on that fast backside descent. This in itself was not unusual, tandems have long been creating such mischief in the local group rides, such as the Rose Bowl. (Interesting how the drivers and stokers always seem to be amongst the fastest riders alone - people like Chris DeMarchi, Thurlow Rogers, Mark Rich, etc.) Anyway as i said it was an especially torrid night back in '04, and the rider telling the tale related a tumble he was forced into taking when his fork snapped by that high overhead overpass. When his tumble came to a stop, bones were pointing every which way, including some directions they were not meant to be positionally aligned. I have crashed down to the pave at over thirty, but over fifty gives me the shakes just thinking about it.

This is good stuff - not the crash, mind you - the story i mean. Bud's Ride history. So next week, or any of the weeks after that, lets hear some more. When you notice i am next to you, lets hear one of your best from the past, any past really - two years or twenty, it doesn't matter.

that's more like it, taking the bunch sprint behind the leaders, with a pose that says "effort"