Three-fer nothin.

It's three-fer-Thursday on a drizzling, gray one. Nevermind the fact that I can't rally today due to bill-paying logistical constraints (work.) But three people have, indeed, turned up here at the rancho. Jbird, Erico Moortani, and the mighty Geoff Keenanstrong (fresh off his power training winter in Oregon), all showed up and did what people do when they show up here - rallied on trails that I loosely maintain and then banged on my window to see if I could join them. So I'll call that something, if not something truly worth reporting.

What is truly worth reporting, however: a Nolanpalooza top ten finish.
Indeed, the big man hopped aboard his big man onespeed and educated the good people of Fontana on mashing and corner skidding the way they teach 'em at BRS. The Icycle got done, kids.

and no, I don't mean that weird thing they do on a hockey rink every winter in Toronto.

I mean legit, singletrack in the wintertime. This ICYCLE.

Nolanpalooza takes 10th in SS at the Icycle.

In case you clicked that link and checked it out and read "night downhill race" and wondered if that was a typo, it's not. It is, however, an option that needs explored in a more detailed investigation, and I hereby commit to that.

Another thing I commit to: a brownie crit.
From our boy Danny Flow via text, because that's how kids communicate these days, "impromptu brownie crit tomorrow afternoon/evening? Or must we wait until Friday?"
Can I first start by saying how proud I am that Danny is just throwing around words like "impromptu" via text? Kid's got mad skills, on and off the bike. I can hardly wait until he turns 18 so I can start photoshopping pictures of him for this blog to cut him down to size without fear of kiddie-exploitation laws or whatever.

But back to my point - Brownie Crits. I failed in every way this week to actually get one off the ground. Next week - count on it. Details to follow.

Moving on, the mighty Captain America from right down the road is rumored to be off to race the Transflorida mtb race next week. You read that right TRANS FLORIDA. Like, across it. So I set about researching that action, jackson, because the rumor also included a loose description of alligator-infested river crossings, and given Markley's status as a man of the hardest kind of metal, I feared for those gators' safety. Though it would be nice to know that Markley would have something to eat if he were to run out of copenhagen and krispy kremes.

Anyway, so after an inordinate amount of wasted time researching the subject, this is all I've got on Transflorida. Lackluster. However, browse on over a page or two, just past The Naked Indian Ride and The Cross Florida Individual Time Trial, and you'll find yourself at something that does, in fact, seem to be happening in Florida next week that is right up Captain America's counterculture, masochistic alley. The Hurrican 300.

So it's possible that The Captain is doing that next week, but at this point I'm just perpetuating a rumor that was pretty dubious when it got to me in the first place. Again, stay tuned, and I'll try to provide some clarity.

Last but not least, a moment inside the mind of KenTank at this very moment.

"mmmm. look at these incisors. it's like someone overfed a lab rat with rocks. mmmm. pull that one, gooood. I bet that hurts. wow that's bleeding an awful lot. I wonder if Dave is riding Lodi with me. I should ride sherando again this spring. suction. wow that is a lot of bleeding..."

Yeah, you're thinking what I'm thinking. It's time to get the man some clarity on our proposed duo partnership before he has to start cauterizing some arteries. Again, stay tuned.


Gravel on Sunday, sports fans. You know the drill.

You gotta get up to get down.