Podium Girls

Yesterday I was riding along the lakefront riding tempo on the TT bike and catching and dropping people left and right. I catch one guy in a white assos jersey who looks like he is waiting for me. I put in a dig and turn around and he is still there. He looks like a pretty good athlete, I'll see long he can last. After that I put in a power move to drop him, he moves around me and takes a pull. WTF??? this never happens on the lakefront. This guy must have raced before. We keep testing each other out without exchanging words. I hit a bump and drop my water bottle. He waits ahead and we keep up the two man TT to the end of the path.

At the end of the path we ride easy before turning around. Finally we speak. I ask who he races for and he points at my jersey and says "your team."

No shit. I never knew. Nice to meet you David. Glad you're on our side.

We cruise north at a pace not as fast as the way south, but still pretty fast and stop at the Soldier Field Crit.

These are only training crits from what I understand, but the set up is really nice. There is a race announcer and they make a big deal out of the awards. There are even podium girls at this race that take a picture with all the top finishers.

Now that's what I'm talking about. More races should make a bigger deal out of the awards presentation. I mean, sure, our accomplishment of winning the local weekly crit is pretty small in the grand scheme of things but still we worked our ass off for that little piece of glory. The least a promoter can do is recognize that acheivement and have some podium girls to congratulate us and have the crowd cheer for us.

It's a lot better than annonomously picking up an envelope of cash that is basically a refund of your entry fee (if that) at the end of a race.

After that I finish up my ride and go for a run.

Oh yeah, last but not least, I would like to welcome the newest member of the team, Russ Kuryk, to the Get a Grip fraternity. He is new to bike racing but he is also a member of the Well Fit Elite team. He is a strong cyclist and he should move up through the ranks quickly. He plans to make his debut at the Fox River Grove Cycling Challenge this weekend.

David, Russ, I look forward to racing with you guys this year.