Pot Stirring

 

So there’s this:

‘Cross season is winding down in the NW, but we’ve still got a few weeks to spread this sparkling new logo around. We’re hoping to print up some t-shirts before the Bend GP – post a comment if you’d buy one.

Has SF formally relegated the Rapha winners from their 1st place spots at SSCXWC? Does that mean that Brian Myers has stepped up onto the “podium?” Hopefully this Relegate logo will get some attention and make it happen.

Ryan from Go Means Go proposed that a new rule be added to the race for future years: “No pros.  This isn’t a USA Cycling event-  from my understanding they aren’t allowed to race unsanctioned events- but it happened.  I like that there are pros bringing attention to SSCXWC, but at the very least they should be in a different category.” I appreciate that the pros who’ve shown up to this event have, for the most part, had fun with the spirit of the race. A few years ago Ryan Trebon wasn’t able to be at the Saturday qualifier so he won both the A’s and SS races earlier in the day so that he could participate in the ’08 SSCXWC. I don’t have any idea if he would’ve gotten the tattoo, but he didn’t win so it isn’t relevant. I’ve got no problem with pros showing up. I only take issue with the race becoming a marketing endeavor and I don’t care if it is pro teams showing up or the race promoters themselves.

SS ‘cross is going to continue to gain legitimacy in the cycling world. Hopefully folks like our own Craig Etheridge will be traveling next year, competing in (and winning) 1-2 races on a single speed. Others will learn that SS riders have (and always have had) a place on the start line with geared riders, and more and more companies will try to sell us SS specific crap. And some of us will continue to race SS because 2pm start times give us ample opportunity to recover from a hangover. We’ll warm up wearing coveralls to cover the fact that we’re only planning on racing in tighty whiteys. We’ll write race numbers onto bare skin with sharpie markers. Some of us will be in the front of the pack and some of us will be in the back but we’ll all win (Except in the strictest of terms of course – Craig, Brian, and Aaron will mostly do the winning while the rest of us lose horribly.) We’ll keep SS fun and accessible and less-than-serious. In leiu of “Keep SSCXWC Weird” bumper stickers, we’ve got this: Relegate.

Hodala!

 

13 Replies to “Pot Stirring”

  1. I’d buy a shirt. I’d also argue that having pros race and win is no problem, as long as they take the ink. No ink, no win, period.

  2. I’ll buy one.

    If you don’t get the ink, the win doesn’t count. Pro’s are fine as long as they’re willing to abide by the rules.

  3. Just ride your bike, life is too short to worry about all of this. And someone will always be better than you, even if you get a tattoo or a trophy saying otherwise.

    1. Not to worry, Concerned Citizen. We can ride our bikes and shit talk at the same time. We’re SS’ers – the only thing we worry about is where our next beer is coming from.

  4. I think it’s unfortunate that Rapha put their cyclists in this position, at the same time the cyclists should have known what the rules of the race were, as they did not observe the rules, I think that they and their sponsor deserve some public shaming.

    I’d buy a shirt.

  5. Slippery slope re: denying pros participation from future events. How do you define pro? 98% of the women who are considered ‘pro’ probably aren’t technically professional because they’re not living off of cycling– are you going to deny them participation because they receive sponsorship support like bikes, clothing and parts from companies? Are they really considered pros if they’re not earning a living from the sport? The same could be said for many ‘pro’ men, too.

    I’m livid that the Rapha folks skipped out of the awards ceremony and didn’t honor the event per its tradition. I’m equally turned off by the fact that Rapha had a field day with the post-event PR that was totally above and beyond what they put in to the event. But I don’t think that pros should be summarily denied participation in the future.

    By the way, there’s no USA Cycling rule that I know of that says pros can’t race ‘unsanctioned’ events. Perhaps someone is confused about UCI regulations for Pro Tour teams, but those regulations don’t apply to SSCXWC or other similar events for cyclocross.

    1. I completely agree. As I mentioned in the post, I love that the pros come out and make asses of themselves. No one should be denied from racing SSCXWC (unless you’ve won it and never received your tattoo).

  6. It is a slippery slope. I raced SSCXWC last time it was in PDX and Trebon and Wicks were both there. But the difference was Trebon ran his dog for a lap. And Wicks gave beer hand downs to racers. That is how the pros should act in a silly race, part of it, but in no way out to win.

    As for the bike did he lock out the derailer? If it dont shift then it’s an SS, only heavier and more prone to failure. Molly Cameron won Crusades this year on a locked out geared bike.

    A no tattoo = DQ should be a new rule going forward.

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