Cycling Utah Club Guide
Cycling Utah recently contacted me and asked us to provide a new description for their annual club guide. Do you think I nailed it?
Founded in 1995, The X-Men is a Park City-based road, mountain bike, and cyclocross club, with individual members and pockets of resistance all over the country. We’re open to riders of all ages and abilities who are brave enough to don our iconic stripes and lightning bolt kits, and make a statement. There is a problem with non-conformity, though. Pretty soon people want to join and be part of your movement. You start something new, because you are sick of riding for the man, then you wake up and realize you are the man. Because of this, we’ve been deliberate about making ourselves hard to understand, and even harder to get in touch with. And another thing. We’re not super organized. We all mostly have real lives outside of the make-believe world of modern cycling. It would be a mistake to call us retro, despite the fact that we often tell stories on rides from the old days. We are proud to say that not a single current member rides with an SRM. At least not in public. Power is in the heart, folks. Bike races are won with willpower, not a spreadsheet.
Do We Have Any Crushers In The House?
Just a word to the X-Men faithful, the 2nd annual Crusher In The Tushar race is getting close to full. As of a Facebook post today, they are 80 spots away from selling out. I highly recommend this event to anyone who wants a good reason to ride their cyclocross bike in July. It would be great to see a whole swarm of Super Heroes at this year’s event, although the commitment should not be taken lightly.
Sign up for the Crusher in the Tushar
Contender Cyclocross Clinic
Years ago, the X-Men put on the first cyclocross state championship race Utah had seen in a long time up in Park City. Some old time racers said it was the first state championship cx race since the 1970s. Last year, Matt Ohran (promoter of UTCX series) and I were trying to figure out the timelines, because he started his series a couple years after that first race, and he was trying to remember how long he had been doing the series. I think it was around 1994 when we did that first race. There were not many of us, maybe 15 racers total. Cris Fox did cross on his titanium Nuke Proof mountain bike. Pro racer Max Lawson who was racing for Jamis at the time, had some sort of touring bike cobbled together into a cross rig. There was a guy from Park City named Ron, who we all called the Happy Crosser, because we’d see him riding a vintage Alan cross bike all season long on the mountain bike trails.
There weren’t many places to ride cross bikes that weren’t mountain bike trails, so every once in awhile, we used to gather at Sugarhouse Park for “cross practice” which involved riding as hard as we could around the outside of the park and dismounting and running up the steepest hill we could find. Me, Max, Glen Adams, Craig Thomas.
Keep in mind, my memories of these early days of cyclocross in Utah are spotty.
Dr. Cross, (Darrell Davis) has taken that idea of cross practice at Sugarhouse Park, and turned it into a really valuable clinic for first timers, as well as seasoned crossers who need to get out and brush off the cobwebs. He sets up barriers, does some basic instruction and tips, and takes groups of all abilities around the park. It’s important to note, that back when there were only 4 or 5 of us meeting down there, we were riding rogue. Darrell has done a lot to work with the powers that be at this park to ensure a good relationship between us weird bikers and the other users of the park. It’s worth signing up for this season long clinic, even if you only drop in a few times. Check it out:
It’s time again for the Contender Cyclocross Clinic at Sugarhouse park.
http://events.sportsbaseonline.com/CONTENDERCXCLINIC2011/
Notice that as was the case last year, it’s pre-reg only and the price is unchanged.
Cross it up,
-Darrell
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-01
- Ankle, your ass has been iced. #
- First cyclocross ride of the season today. On my road bike. #
- Free pair of X-Men socks to the first person to identify who this Captain America jersey belongs to, and for the… http://fb.me/DOZYgl5N #
- Doing a fall cyclocross kit order in a few weeks. Who needs a long sleeve skinsuit? #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-25
- Are we seeing something magical from Schleck? #
- Calling Captain America: RT @Vaughters: Nice ride by Julian today …and look for a crazy surprise from a quirky American tomorrow… #
- No broken bones. I am back on the bike, but have to go easy for awhile. Good luck to all the X-Men who are doing… http://fb.me/vWBibHBk #
- The weight of the world hangs on the shoulders of a skinny guy from Luxembourg right now. #
- Going to see the doc today to check on my ankle. Hoping to be pedaling again soon. Swelling is down, but it still feels like poo. #
- Promoter Kenlan was asked by VN about Floyd racing: I’m more excited for Burke Swindlehurst racing in his 17th Cascade Cycling Classic. #
- Don't know what hurt more: trying to squeeze my swankle into my Sidi Ergo, or getting passed by every jackwagon in a t-shirt on the ride. #
- Dave Fox on channel 2 news Talkin' Sports just called it the Yellow Jacket. Don't report on the Tour if you are clueless. #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-18
- Oh Hell's Yeah: RT @Velocentric: hang on, @slctbird made the Marathon Worlds Team? That's HUGE! Congratulations! #
- Browsing this site gets me prematurely all wooded up for cyclocross season: http://velothreads.com/ #
- The only thing I admire about Vino is his bike. #tainted #
- Vino attacks on the Maddie. Of course he does. Predictable. #
- Was there a soccer game today? #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-11
- Remember when Indurain cracked in the Tour? #
- I'm sure Versus editors are scrambling to make Armstrong farewell highlight reel to play after this stage is over. #
- The Armstrong era has officially ended. Too bad to see it go down with so many crashes. #
- Who is doing Big Cottonwood Canyon Hillclimb tomorrow? Another event dedicated to the memory of T-Mac. I'm only… http://fb.me/CUsCMray #
- RT @ride559: even if Contador had a puncture in the final stretch Vino is still an asshole. #
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-04
- T-Mac's kind of race: strung out from the gun, primes every lap to keep it fast. Would have liked to win to honor Terry. 4th will have to do #
- Pre-race ritual T-Mac style: cranking the crap out of Van Halen 5150. Going to show the young kids some X-Men old-school crit racing. #
- I just signed up for the Terry McGinnis Memorial criterium on Saturday. I am going to have to bust out a vintage… http://fb.me/ALmdTiVv #
- RT @Motorad666: @lancearmstrong Also remember the name Tanner Putt, who finished 2nd to Craddock at Nationals. He deserves a shot… #
- Here's a link to a photo of Tanner Putt up on the podium after the Junior National Championship road race in Bend: http://fb.me/C5sddFzp #
- Name the two racers and the race. First one to get the correct answers gets a pair of X-Men socks from DeFeet… http://fb.me/C9r0I6Hb #
- Really excited to hear the news that Tanner Putt scored a fine 2nd place at the U. S. National Championship road… http://fb.me/BelPXllB #
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Who Wants To Be A Moviestar?
I got this request to forward on to all the X-Men, regarding an upcoming film project. If you want to be an extra in this film, email John and let him know:
Hi there,
We are reaching out to you and your team regarding potential involvement with Peloton The Movie. The feature film is tentatively scheduled to start shooting on July 15th in and around Salt Lake City, Park City and Ogden. We are interested in having your group participate as extra riders in the film. Anyone interested in participating with the project should email pelotonthemovie@gmail.com directly, so we can add them to the mailing list. We encourage you to forward this message to your group and feel free to email us with any questions, information requests or concerns you have.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks,
John Lawrence & The Peloton Production Team
2150 S. Main Street #101
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-27
- Lone Wolf sighting in the woods of Deer Valley. http://fb.me/AXKU4n6N #
- Who is doing the State Road Race at Little Mountain this weekend? Who is just hanging out in Park City? Who wants… http://fb.me/AerKpYEj #
- It was good to hang out with some old friends from DeFeet International who were in Park City for PressCamp 2010…. http://fb.me/D4wtvMlB #
- Good to see an old friend, @CoopDefeet here in Park City. Get your ticket for the August 5 Rush show, and we'll hang with Alex. #
- How much you want to bet that Vladimir Karpets warms up to the sounds of the Scorpions on his iPod before races? #
- And just like that, I'm back to my late 1990's race weight. Dipped just below the elusive 150 lb barrier this morning. #
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