Sunrays on a Friday

spring.

It turns out that posting anything of substance on a three fer Thursday is becoming increasingly tough as daylight hours keep increasing and I've been riding when I might otherwise be scribbling.
So, it's Friday already. Let's get into it real deep-like.

First things first - the Man (the junkerMAN, specifically) pulled the plug on Hilbert 1. Read 'em and weep:
FROM: Camp Hilbert Race Series ------------------------------------------------- Due to the rain on it's way Saturday night and all day Sunday we have moved CHRS #1 to April 10th. All registered riders for race #1 are entered into the new date. We hate to delay the start of this season, but they're calling for 3/4 of an inch or more rain on Sunday.
Say what you want about canceling a race 3 days before it might happen on the suspicion of bad weather, but I dig it. Now you are free to go out and hammer your fancypants off on Saturday instead of dieting and binge-hydrating to prepare for Hilbert the next day, only to see that thing rained out after all. Think of it as a win. You may resume your losing ways at Hilbert on April 10th. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Whetstone Ridge. Everyone's favorite Wilderness bisector ridgeline with half a dozen barely rideable chutes and terrific iPhone reception. She's a big, shaggy monster these days. Winter is always tough on the old girl, but also some apathy last summer when it came to a real trail clearing event didn't help much either. So she's in need of a serious trim. To that end:
Whetstone trailwork, Saturday 3/12. Well, that's not completely accurate. There is also a contingent of the roughest sort of roughnecks heading out on the ridge Friday night for an early start and some shenanigans with loose plans to meet the Saturday crew sometime the next day. Real details can be obtained from CAMBC all around good-samaritan, Alex Kurland. I just work here. alexanderdotkurland@gmaildotcom.

And about Whetstone. As far as I know, only one race has ever been foolhardy (with gigantic sack) enough to rally a stage down Whetstone, and they do it every year. That's right the Giro De Ville knows how it's run and how it's done, and it's happening again this year on Memorial Day weekend. So having a nice, clean set of chutes to huck oneself off makes it easier to sweep up the bodies and move on in a timely manner come the merry month of May.

And anyway, now there is another. The UROC.
I feel like it's pretty common that I link to something from this blog and then have to re-affirm that, in fact, there is no typo in what I've just linked you to. And I'll do that again here. 100k trail race, on foot, with the last dozen miles or so sending some of the toughest runner mettle in the world down Whetstone Ridge in a furious, sunset dash for a $10,000 purse.
There will be blood.
Find yourself a helmet, Scott Jurek.
So yeah, let's get that ridgeline all pimped and primped in time for a season of action, jackson.

Annnnnnnnnd, we're racing. Crit tonight, Ohill, 5:30 PM. I had a few questions on the subject that I thought I'd post a public response for in light of their usefulness.
1) What's a brownie crit?
Answer: it's a disorganized attempt at post-work, weekday, mountain bike racing. But it's not really a race. Nor is it just a ride. And the format is a little tough to explain, and it's always changing. But it's an awful lot of fun. Like most things in life - show up and act like you know, and people usually fall into place.
2) Will I need lights?
Answer: good question. No. At least, I hope not. We will, however, need to get a prompt 5:30 PM start. We'll rock a little warm up loop on whatever obscure corner of Ohill seems appropriately unused at the time, and then we'll have at it for 20 minutes or so. Done by 6:15 in time for a sunset spin back to your respective shires.


Bringing lights anyway for a bonus ride after the crit?
Craving BOTH barely lit singletrack and post ride libations?
You would not be alone in the dark. A few good men and women will loop back to BRC after the crit, bust Shawn out of that constantly hanging out at the bike job thing he does which he passes off as work, rally in the darkness, and stop for a pop somewhere on the return.

So yeah, happy Friday. It's spring, at least until Sunday. Put your race face back in the case for one more weekend, relax, and enjoy yourself.

Up, up, up.