But it was sure one hell of a party to kick 2013 off with!
Hwood and I left on a cold Wednesday night to drive down to Louisville for CX Worlds and hopefully, if the traveling cooperated, race in the SSCX Derby Thursday night. Unfortunately, the roads in mid-Iowa were super icy, so we had to call it a night in Cedar Falls and wait for the conditions to improve. Come morning, we were back on schedule and headed south for the festivities.
The majority of the drive was a breeze, but we hit white out conditions in Indiana that slowed our pace, but we made it thru safe n' sound, arriving in Louisville in just enough time to drop of the camper at the KOA before heading to our race. Much to our surprise, when we looked 4 spaces over, none other than the Flecks had set up camp. I knew we were in for a good time when Jeanne greeted me with a smile and "We're gonna get arrested!"...
We got to the race just in time to register with 30 minutes to spare before race time. The race started at 7pm, and the course was awesome... fully decked out CX style with a huge stair case, mud, a fallen tree to discount for, trails lined with tiki torches, and even a short barrier with propane flames that forced you to dismount and jump thru the flames! Oh yeah, and the fog-filled, lazer lit, Belgo tent!
They lined the ladies up front so I went for the hole shot as best I could. I was sitting as women's leader and comfortably in the top 15 of 80+ riders out to take on the challenge for "Most Fun". Hwood took the lead as we got onto the pavement, heading for a helluva stair case. Luckily, we both donned headlamps last minute because we found a slick, dark, rocky downhill at the top of the staircase, allowing Hwood to ride away for a bit. He stayed on the gas and was able to finish in the top 10 (I'm thinking 7th, but there was no results at the end).
I stayed steady-Eddie for the race, battling my own night-blindness lap after lap, enjoying the awesome features and shouts from Jeanne, Greg, and Patrick! Such a great time and what a fiery way to kick off the weekend's festivities! I pulled off a 3rd place finish and we quickly jumped back in the cars at the end as a snow storm began and returned to the KOA. We put down some beers and laughed our asses off when the pizza delivery companies refused to deliver in the 1-2" snow storm we had... so Greg grilled us up some burgers and we plotted Day 2: Masters Worlds.
The day was perfect and we had a blast cruising around and cheering on our friends. We must have had a little too much fun or major boozy breath, cuz when we hit up the bar after the races, they sent us to the second floor cuz that was 'where the action was at'... when we looked around, we were the only ones there! WTF? The beer and the bourbon was delicious, and we enjoyed some great food as slowly we noticed more and more cyclist filling the tables. Sport-profiling? Or did we all have a little too much mud on our boots?
We returned to the KOA for more beers and a little sleep before heading to the Big Big Show on Saturday... CX WORLDS, BITCHES! When we got there, there was no parking for miles, so we paid the Marine Shop owner across the street from the venue $60 for a spot in his lot. SWEET! Then, we marched off among the drones of people headed to the races, arriving with enough time to grab a beer and catch the women's start.
Jay was having a blast getting the Hollywood Cycles sign on the live feeds and we kept getting texts from people back home seeing us on tv!
As the races went on, our drunken alter egos came out and the antics began...
'Boozie the Clown' and 'Becky' assaulting a chicken.
The racing was phenomenal, and the see of screaming people and ringing cowbells from all over the world was amazing to be a part of. As the Ohio River rose along side the course and the warm temps melted the snow, the ground became muddier by the hour and moving around got sloppy.
As the men's race ended, I attempted to descend a muddy hill to the exit, only to slip and plummet to the bottom.. the only thing I was missing was a sled to make it more fun. Unfortunately, Hollywood found me at the bottom, leaned up against the levy, covered in mud, and sans my brand new Oakleys..
Drunk and covered in mud, Hwood helped strip off my outermost layers so they could toss me back in the truck. Lucky for my ego, I wasn't the only one wasted beyond control so some of the laughs were directed at the rest of the wolf pack too. We headed back to the KOA to clean up and sleep off a little of the bourbon before hitting up the Foam Party downtown.
As we neared the venue, we were warned by another MN CX'er that the bar was at capacity and the line was looping about the block... just forget it. Nah.... ala Hollywood style, we walked straight up to the bouncer, waved at the promoters, and got ushered right in. Heck, they could've queued up some theme music at that moment it was so awesome.
But we got busted and he returned the laughs...
Got my picture taken with Sven Nys, World Champ,.. but I gotta find it. Had fun congratulating the pros and then bailed to check out another bar down the street thanks to a recommendation based on an AC/DC cover band... which was a lil disappointing when they didn't play any AC/DC... Stressie is now fired as music advisor, but we still had a couple beers and laughs before turning in that night.
Still reeling with laughter over the memories,
Kristy Kreme
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