BLBBRBK Photo Dump

So, this past Sunday, the BLBBRBK fatbike relay race finally happened. After 3 straight years of cancellations, I was doubtful of it's fruition, but it actually happened. The race started at 10am. I was, for reasons unknown, under the impression that races would be going on for a good portion of the day, and so I leisurely left Chicago for Campton Hills around 11am. When I arrived at the forest preserve around noon, I found that quite a few people were already heading home for the day. I was fearful that I had already missed it all, but that was not the case. In fact, I arrived just in time to see the Double-Wide Boyz tie for second place on their custom Double-Wide Designz "ButtGrease" SS fatbike with NO CHAIN! Somehow the chain popped off the cog (most likely due to the fact that it was manufactured for Wal-Mart), yet they were able to dominate regardless. #doublewidelife. I think I'm going to dedicate a separate blog post to the glory of the ButtGrease, since I took quite a few photos of it and would like to keep this post "family friendly". Anyways, the weather was relatively nice. It was sunny. The cold was bearable (compared to the current temp). It was a good day for a fatbike race. I had a nice time. Now for the pics:

4th Time's a Charm - BLBBRBK 2014

Well, after 3 failed attempts, it looks like this is finally the year for BLBBRBK (pronounced: Blubber Bike), the North Central Cyclery/Axletree fatbike race/ride/relay/whatever you wanna call it. We planned for the first one in 2011, when I still worked at NCC and lived in DeKalb, but had to cancel due to a lack of snow. We had attempted every year since, with no success for the same reason. After moving out of town, it's actually going to happen, just not in DeKalb anymore. There's more info on The Facebook event page. I don't own a fatbike obviously, but I feel somewhat obligated to go to this, as it's been so long in the works. I imagine a "fatbike event" will be just as much fun as a cyclocross race, just a lot colder. Bring more whiskey I guess.

BLBBRBONK

Yep, that's right. We once again had to cancel our fatbike relay race due to a lack of winter. BLBBRBK may have been the greatest fatbike race that never was. It's a real shame, but destroying forest preserves is just not cool. 

Although, this did give me the chance to take out the pen and paper and figure out what a walrus dying from starvation would look like... Disturbing...

See the "official press release" here.

BLBBRBK 2013 - A Fatbike Relay

The date for this year's BLBBRBK (Blubber Bike) fatbike relay race has been announced. It will be happening at 11am on January 20th. Last year, we attempted to do this, but unfortunately there was just not enough snow. Let's hope the weather works in our favor this time.

There will be teams of 3, riding 3 mile laps for 3 hours. The team to do the most laps wins. Should be a lot of fun!

Read official info here, and RSVP here on the Facebook page.

Above is a new flyer that I threw together in a couple minutes using my illustration from last year.

T.J.'s Blazing Taint Alleycat Race

Last Friday, T.J. hosted an alleycat race out here in DeKalb. The race started downtown at 11pm and ended at our watering hole of choice, Lord Stanley's Annex. Despite the cold weather, there was a good turnout with a bit over 10 people showing up. The goal of this alleycat race was to be the first person to obtain all checkpoints before arriving at the finishing checkpoint. You can take any route you'd like, and the first person at the finishing point with a photo of themselves at each checkpoint wins. Obviously, the shorter your route, the faster you'll finish, so knowing your way around town really helps. Only T.J. knew where the checkpoints were before the race and handed them out at 11pm. Darrien and I got a late start, but still managed to finish in decent time. It was an enjoyable event.


T.J.'s list of checkpoints.


We decided to take a quick nap at the first checkpoint, hoping it would give us the advantage of energy.


Cheesy checkpoint photo.


1st place went to Team Double Wyde Boyz.


Bryce came in second.


Kyle was third.


Kevin was fourth... and wore shorts.


Team Double Wyde had an advantage with these custom aero helmets they had finished minutes before the race.


Bunch of bikes parked outside the finish point.

Hopkins Cyclocross 2012

It's cyclocross season once again! For the past few years I've always attended the Hopkins race, which is sponsored by our shop, and I've always had fun standing by the course heckling the racers and drinking beers with friends, but this year I decided it was actually time for me to start racing. Being the owner of an All-City Nature Buy left me without any excuses. This was my first race ever and I honestly had a blast. It was painfully exhausting, my gear ratio was a bit too high and I spent most of the single speed race out of the saddle, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The single-speed category includes racers of every skill level (Cat 1-4) and so I was up against some tough competition. I started out in the very back of the pack, but somehow worked my way up to 21st out of 28. I'm pretty satisfied with my results, although next time I'll probably just race in the 4B category. Yes, I'm definitely racing again. It was too much fun not to.

  Pre-race beer to get the legs loosened up!

 
A portion of my "support crew", and fellow members of The Barb City Dandies.


The Llama cruisin' down the flyover on his SS Bianchi MTB





My last lap. I was feelin' the burn.




Post-race, looking extremely exhausted with an excited Jakey La Kruz in the background.


Big hug from T.J.


One of the best cycling kits: Team Kinky Llama.


T.J. grillin' up a storm.


Jakey's Fuji Porteur bike. The frame came from our dear Ari.


Kiddie race with Derek and Agatha cheering them on.


Picnic courtesy of T.J., with Darrien, Derek, Agatha and the Llama.









Derek and The Malort Princess. You can't see it in this photo, but she found a "princess dress" at a garage sale on the way over to the park and bought it for 50 cents. She then wore it all afternoon. We had a really fun day...