Whose Nutz? DZ Nutz! Pro Chamois Cream

For years I was one of those late adopters. Last one to get a cell phone, last one to get clip-less pedals, etc. "I don't need all your fancy expensive novelty gadgets to get the job done!" I would proclaim. I took pride in enduring - even thriving - in less than ideal conditions. I even resisted padded shorts for a time when I first took up road biking 10 years ago (stupid stupid). Now, when it comes to road riding, I use the phrase "if you haven't done it you don't know what you're missing" a lot. Of course this applies to padded shorts and clip-less pedals, but now to DZ Nutz Pro Chamois Cream as well. I first noticed the smooth buttery feel upon application, then a scene from Revenge of the Nerds comes to mind - "you put liquid heat in their what?!" That was the menthol kicking in, proving a nice initial motivation to get in the saddle and hammer. Before long, it was I didn't notice that was most notable...the rubbing, scraping, and chafing associated with the endurance riding I like to do. Comfort is everything on the bike, and if you have any annoying distractions while in the saddle, you can't perform. There's a reason the pros do certain things, but you don't need to be a pro like David Zabriske to add a little comfort to your ride. Eliminate the irritation and rashes/sores on your next ride...Thanks to DZ Nuts Pro Chamois Cream.

Chicago Cross Cup #4 Wauconda (Psycho Cross)

What a great weekend for cross. And day one of the two, brings Psycho Cross.

Saturday is a power course at Psycho Cross, and also my first venture into Cat 1/2/3. I figured, what the heck. Whats the worse that could happen? Man, oh, man. That was a good time. And by good time, I mean pure suffer.

Giant flyover!

It was sunny, but  holy crap was it windy. The noise from the flapping course tape was thunderous as you rode the course, and coming into a headwind across a farm field sure put a burn in your legs. This course is a speedway. Mostly flat with a giant flyover. Not my cup of tea, but what else would you want to do on a weekend off work aside from ride your ass off? Turned out that Brian Matter  had the same idea. This dude is fast. Fast as fast is. And after 40 minutes of hauling my ass around the golf course and over the giant fly over, I was pulled. Placed 19/25 but at least was the first Cat 3. Still fun, but now my goal is to race a 1/2/3 and not get pulled.

Bad ass indeed.

Enough about me, there was also a good showing from the rest of our team. Our Pretty. Fast. Becky Welbes came out with her new socks on and rode her bad ass off.

Holding her own with the fastest ladies in the Chicago Cross Cup series, she placed 8th.

Brandon Murphy came out for the Cat 3 mens race and had as

Brandon passing out of the corner! Go B go!

much fun as a chimpanzee riding on a segway.

It’s a long, fast  course. And after it was all over. B got a 45.

Good job sir. Keep up the weekly dose of suffer.

Katie Tomarelli rode her bike like a pretty woman possessed. And landed a 5th place finish for the Women’s Cat 4 race.

We can’t forget about Alex Blom, new to cross and bike racing, holding her own in the Womens Cat 4 race and finishing with a very respectable 13th place finish.

I would like to give a special great job to Meghan Murphy-Gill. WEEOOOOOOO! 

Kinky Llama Racing peoples.

 I would like to give the usual thanks to our sponsors:

Village Cycle Center, Trek Bicycle Corp, SRAM, Sidi, Giro, Gore Bike Wear, Tifosi, and Saris Cycling Group.

As well as a BIG, FAT, thanks to Ted Schweitzer and everyone else who worked to make Psycho Cross a good time.

WORS #12 Wigwam MTB Challenge, Quarry View & Evergreen Parks — Sheboygan, WI

I love Wigwam! Such a great course, so much fun to ride. Last year at Wigwam was my first XC race in 9 years , and this year I returned for another good time as a Cat-2 Comp racer.

Kinky Llama Racing has grown and this year we come in numbers. All will race, some will finish, but a good time will be had by everyone. This year we learn that broken bikes, still come with big smiles.

Kinky Llama Racing was represented by

The pure power of Felke.

John Felke Cat-3
Tyler Cox Cat-2(sport)
Brandon Murphy Cat-2(sport)
Becky Welbes Cat-2(sport)
Jim Pittacora Cat-2(comp)
John Hunt Cat-2(comp)
Anthony Mikrut (Me) Cat-2(comp)

The day starts off with John Felke leading off in Citizen.
Turns out ol' Felke has some thunderous power coming from the two giant pistons he calls "legs", and sheared off a cog in the middle of his XTR cassette. He tried as he might, but trying to shift over a missing cog is nearly impossible. After and a half, his rig couldn't take it anymore, and a DNF was in his future. Doesn't matter to us, as long as we have a good time racing.
Racing in sport we had Tyler Cox, Brandon Murphy, and Becky Welbes. Becky, Tyler and Brandon took off like mad

Brandon making the Equalizer his beatch.

men & woman possessed. Possessed by who or what, I have no idea.

Tyler and his buddy, The Equalizer.

One of the most memorable climbs WORS has to offer is the Equalizer.
Everyone thinks they can do it, some try it, and few climb it. And those who do, get $5 on your first lap.
Tyler and Brandon both finished off without any mechanical incoviences and both placed well.
Up next was Becky Welbes, This girl can RIDE THE SHIT OUT OF A BIKE.  Excited to race and having already pre-rode the course, she was ready to rock. Unknown the her, a rock had already been ready for her. And her rear tire blew out only a 1/2 mile into the race. It looked like it had been attacked by a badger. We all learn from our experience, and we can all learn from Becky about keeping our chins up when shit happens. You can read her blog post about her experience on her site Pretty-Fast.org.

Following the sport racers, comes comp. John Hunt, Anthony Mikrut, and Jim Pittacora are going for the gold, or at least the finish, in this one. A couple mechanical issues for Mr Hunt suffers him a bit on the race, and a cleat that wasn't tightened fully becomes my undoing. The first lap the cleat was moving, by the second, one of the two screws was

Game face for llama

gone, the third was a wiggle fest on my foot, and as I cross the line for the fourth lap, the cleat was stuck in my pedal, without my foot. After a mile of trying to stay on the bike and pedal, another DNF came down our pipeline and landed right in my lap. Sad not to finish, but still very happy to had gotten in 3 laps of one of my favorite rides. Fast rides with fast people are a blast.  Rounding out our comp racers Jim stands on the podium for a 3rd place finish.
Fun was had, bikes were broken, and smiles were everywhere. This was great event. Looking forward to Iceman Cometh.
We would like to thank our sponsors for all of their support and superb products that help us do what we love to do.
Village Cycle Center, Trek Bicycle Corp, SRAM, Sidi, Giro, Gore Bike Wear, Tifosi, and Saris Cycling Group.
Our final results were:

John and the log jump. GET SOME!

John Felke Cat-3 - DNF
Tyler Cox Cat-2(sport) - 19 age group - 111 overall
Brandon Murphy Cat-2(sport) - 10 age group - 57 overall
Becky Welbes Cat-2(sport) - DNF
Jim Pittacora Cat-2(comp)
John Hunt Cat-2(comp) - 13 age group - 48 overall
Anthony Mikrut (Me) Cat-2(comp) - DNF

Cyclocross Season is Here!

It's chilly and raining, and that means ITS CROSS SEASON! 

Village Cycle Center has everything you need to have fun in the dirt, mud, ice & snow.

Get the gear you desire, from the Gary Fisher Collection Cronus, Ion CX, Ion Pro CX bikes. Along with great deals on 2011 XO-1, XO-2, and Cronus CX bikes. 

Gore Bike Wear keeps you covered while on your bike.

We carry loads of Windstopper and Gore-Tex jackets to keep you warm and dry all season.

Gore-Tex is guaranteed to keep you dry.

Keep your feet happy with a new pair of shoes from Sidi or Bontrager

Don't forget your DZ products, like DZ Nuts, Bliss, and fine DZ embrocations. All in stock at the store.

After you have the gear, it's time to ride. There are local practices all week long. 

Our team Kinky Llama Racing has a Tuesday practice in Humboldt Park at 6:30am.

Another practice is held by Johnny Sprockets Tuesday on the North Side check out

www.johnnysprockets.com for details.

Once you got the skills you need, it's time to have some fun.

Check out the Chicago Cross Cup for an amazing series around the Chicago land area.

If you want to go further, head to USA Cycling.

You don't have to race to have fun at cross. Some of the best spectating in all of cycling can be done at a cross race.

Check it out here on YouTube.com