I’m not knocking it, just saying it’s a great way to work on your walking-up-hills skills while you spend time with your bicycle.

There are obviously fewer degrees of separation between us than I thought.

I’m honoured to consider myself one of your cyber-friends, and in my alternate life I’m a rower. This is not the ‘rowing’ you recently described as a uphill cycling style, but what on your side of the pond you describe as ‘crew’.

See http://www.row2k.com (and check out the Huskies racing with pink Ws http://www.row2k.com/features/features.cfm?action=read&ID=371 )

Anyway – to get to the point; I’m now old enough to be classed as a Veteran (I think the US translation is ‘Masters’), and I’m very familiar with the ‘I’m just cruising’ tactic. Rowing has an added bonus; although you’re travelling backwards, you can see anyone behind you, so if you can coincide ‘Guy’s, I’m going to take it easy today’ with a few surreptitions rowing strokes, you can start the race with the opposition in sight, and behind you !

I’d recommend Stephen Potter’s books on ‘Gamesmanship’ – but you’re racing single speed in an open category, so I can see you’re an expert already.

Thinking of you and yours

Paul W

You need to accuse *everybody* who passes you or finishes better of being a sandbagger.

If a Beginner Junior passes you, he should be racing men’s. If a women’s Beginner passes you she should be racing sport. If a men’s Sport racer beats you, he should be racing expert. If an expert beats you, he should be racing pro. And if a pro beats you, that sandbagging bastard should have been out of the country preparing for the next world cup race.

You, of course, are not sandbagging. If anybody asks, you’re racing up a class from where you normally do – Open Clydesdale.

Maybe that works in your neighborhood anyhow, assuming you have enough Clydes to have multiple classes. Most of the Clydes where I live also race expert, and are distinct from the other experts only because they weigh 50 pounds more, are 6 inches taller, and request beer handups during races. They are not slower unless there are actual mountains in the race, so that class is no refuge. So I take the only respectable way out, which is to race Athena Class. Sure, people think I am in the Single Speed class due to the Terry Skorts and sportsbra I wear, but with my man boobs and shaved legs I can “pass.” As a woman. I still don’t actually literally pass anybody on the course but at least I can sometimes finish on the same lap as the leaders, as long as the big girls aren’t railing it too hard. Yet I still get those nagging questions about why a mountain bike chick like me would have shaved legs and reek of Old Spice, but I ignore the playa haters and just focus on beating the Women’s 70+ Masters, and the >10 Disability Kids riders. It ain’t easy but I find if you’re willing to sink low enough, eventually you’ll find your own level.

Good luck in the race!

also, my Fat Cyclist T-shirt arrived this morning… yeahhhhhhhh.

Trek are having a launch party for a shop here in Beijing on monday, now I know what I’m going to wear!

(the cat says thanks for the bag it came in!)

…just sayin’…