When I first started this blog, one of my ideas was to do a post noting all the people who've helped me out as a cyclist. Remember, back in the stone age there was no internet and no professional coaches, just a few books and a club-based mentoring system. I found this sport on my own, but was lucky to meet a bunch of great people early on. My first team was the Boston Road Club and my first team captain was Kent Landrum, pictured above. Leading a gang out of the city every Wednesday night, Kent would bring the group to HoJo's at the foot of Blue Hills for our weekly slugfest. Sammy Morse was a helmetless bike messenger then. Jim McMillen and Jack Davies used to beat us up on the climbs and in the sprints. Adam Myerson was a 14 year old who wasn't afraid to give it right back to them. We had a host of others on those rides. Kent wasn't the greatest rider in the world but he was a dedicated racer and a huge supporter of mine when I was first starting out. He stopped racing a few years ago but once in a while I see him at the running races, and we had our annual reunion at the Canton Fall Classic 10k on Sunday. Very fitting that this is just a mile or so from the old Wednesday night ride meeting spot.
Oh yeah, there was a cyclocross race on Saturday too. Went well for me, sure, the fields were small for a Verge races, but most of the top guys in the points chase were there. The course was, um, a little wet. Hope somebody got some good mud pictures. I missed a pedal at the start again, totally sucked on the holeshot, and was second to last out of thirty starters after the first minute. Then it got better, and I rallied my way up to 9th, my best cx race of the year so far. I'll credit discovering some good lines and strong running for the results. Above, in the tent trailer post-race, we have me, Garabed, and Timmy, who was also a BRC team mate of mine from way back in 1987. Timmy and I, along with the Cronoman, have been on all four teams together, BRC, Nashua Velo, the Bike Link, and now BOB. That says something.
Maine was cold. Timmy is a smart guy. Thanks for reading.
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