Blogs that suck time

my pooTUBE
my pUtube
my poopics

SWOBO
avoid the bummerlife

need to reach me? pedalhome at hotmail

Friday, September 28, 2007

clicking heels

What we came here for ~

Sabine received her award at a very cool shindig put on by the OIWC. It was a room filled with interesting, passionate women from the cycling industry - women who work with, design for, produce and promote viable, dynamic products for millions of women, millions of potential buyers. And VelosNewz had a booth within spitting distance. Wonder if we'll see any coverage of it. uh huh.

I did see Richard Frieze, however ... which i thought was pretty hip.

But if he was there, that meant he wasn't announcing at the criterium scheduled that evening. Which was a shame - because folks, let me tell you, when Sabine and i rolled up to that ridiculous parking lot crit and heard the douche who was announcing it ... jayzus, it was like a form of punishment having to bear that onslaught of idiocy.

but, that's just my bitterness talking.

after Sabine got her award and gave a fantastically charming speech about fun, and bike riding, and getting jiggy with life ...

i realized i didn't want to be in Vegas anymore - couldn't be here anymore. this place is a devouring parasite.

ah well ... Interbike still presents opportunity to see some very cool people. So, i'll let the remembrances of them roll around in my head as i count the seconds until a plane jets us the hell out of this pit.

24 comments:

Ippoc Amic said...

Very cool, and why is VB not wearing her wig?

Anonymous said...

congrats Sabine!

Ron Castia said...

Sabine is an inspiration.

People who inspire typically do not set out to be an inspiration, they just want to enjoy what they do. The inspiring part happens as a side effect...usually a reluctant one.

That's how it works.

Congratulations on having fun, and making a positive contribution because of it.

PEANUT said...

CONGRATS sabine! It's great to see you get some well-deserved recognition.

EB said...

Yay for Sabine! Is there a transcript of her speech for those of us who couldn't be there?

PAB(a.k.a.CID) said...

video!

we want to see the video!!

~ lauren said...

yay! that's so exciting. sabine is very inspiring. super congrats.

yeah, let's see the video please.

Anonymous said...

The Crit supposedly had 6 announcers.

I would be curious to know, if you would so kindly indulge, how they ranked. I didn't even know there were 6 "real" race announcers in this country.

If the Freezer would have been Alpha...then...uh, okay.

I would like the list in ascending order of worst to best. And your answers should be in the form of a question.

I hope you're not bagging on who I think you are. That will make many sad.

dr-nitro said...

Bitterness over the fact that you weren't asked to announce the crit, sprinkled with a bit of jealously?

Careful the sin of the city will start to creep through the skin.

And kudos to Sabine. Too bad that y'all had to drive all the way out to strange lands where people prance about in all white, longsleeve white skinsuits to get the award.

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

i have no idea who the announcer was during the race - but there was only one.

i saw dave towle doing a tv gig and gave him the pleading eyes of ... 'please take over for this ridiculous pinhead.'

and the course set up was an amateurish nightmare. they had a crowd walk through on the blind corner after the finish line. there was some lady who got face planted by one of the staff yanking the stop rope in front of her as she walked.

the "corners" were shit in design and there were double digit crashes in each of the two men's races.

including one with cipollini going ass over tea kettle.

it was a farce. $5000 prime with 2 to go? that's what took out 3/4 of the field, a well positioned DHolla in the process.

gotta give it up to Kelly Benefits - they raced the best.

and shitball award goes to Rock RePubic ... i think everyone of those wannabees crashed out in that thing.

Allison Krasnow said...

Yea Sabine. As a relative newby to bike racing, I'm always inspired by women like you who have been leading this sport for so long.

Anonymous said...

Ok then. Hadn't read that in the news. And I missed the Sh%tball Awards on ESPN this year so...

Ball and Rock Racing are a curious element. Shame if the event was irresponsible though. Vegas has such a safe reputation to keep up.

Did they have an Escalade pace car?

Anonymous said...

NOW YOU KNOW HOW WE FEEL WHEN YOU ANNOUNCE!

YOU THINK YOU KNOW SO MUCH AND ARE SO ON, BUT REALLY IT IS JUST YOUR JACK IN THE BOX SIZE HEAD FULL OF EGO THAT IS PAINFUL TO LISTEN TOO.

Anonymous said...

Really Dave Towel should throw in the towel. He is more annoying then you. He sounds horrible on TV and in person.

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

DaveT is the best announcer out there.

the guy knows the sport, knows the people in it ... all of them, and can spot them from 2 corners away.

he plugs sponsors well, is professional to all levels of riders, and has a love of the sport that infects both crowds and viewers.


Friese dawged on me a bit at Interbike for not saying anything good about his announcing ... which was hogwash. i didn't say anything good about his dancing ... completely different subject.

what Friese does well is build. he promotes. when he works a race, he knows how to lead a crowd towards that orgasmic, race ending moment.

him and daveT working the CrossVegas race worked well. if you were there, you'll know what i'm talking about.

Anonymous said...

"Douche", "shitbag", "pinhead"...you're all class.

Unless they chucked $5000 worth of marbles across the course and I didn't notice, the riders crashed themselves out on that lap. The 4-5 riders that hit the deck slowed up some, but not all the field. That's racing.

As someone who's been finding themselves intricately involved with terra firma a lot recently, you should know that.

Oh, for those who were wondering, Ivan won with a smart ride and a great last lap charge. Nobody was going to take down the Cuban that night.

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

"that's racing" ...

spoken like somebody who doesn't know their head from their ass.

the course was designed poorly, period. throwing 5K in on a 2 lap to go prime is just asking for somebody to impale themselves in a barrier or some fencing.

i'd guess 80+% of the guys in that field don't have health insurance. yeah, it's "just racing" for everyone but the poor fukkers who have to go out there and do it, eh?

yeah, you know what you're talking about.

and dominguez sat in all race, and put in one big effort after being 1 of a scant couple riders who made it through the final crash. the race was OVER at that moment for everyone but gilbert and dominguez.

no, dominguez didn't ride a smart race, he gambled on a final lap gallop and just was an exceptionally gifted bike handler being in the right spot and not getting caught in the crash.

the ride of the night went to Kelly Benefits. they controlled the race for the last 14 laps and pulled a crafty move with Gilbert punching away for the prime and almost the win. dominguez was just too strong. or maybe the Slipstream riders who threw it out all night and rode off the front every chance they could?

but the course sucked, the vibe sucked, the announcer sucked ... it was lo-cal. all the way.

as for my 2 crashes late in the year ... gee, i guess that makes you an authority on something?

no, it means i had a couple of crashes. big deal. you race as much as i do, it's going to happen. and, i'd say the number of races i do vs the miniscule amount of crashes i've been in actually does make me an authority on a few things. one of which is to be qualified to call you a douche.

douche.

Anonymous said...

Classy reply. Expected from someone who calls people he doesn't know or who disagrees with him names.

From CN:

Rochelle Gilmore: "I was having a great time out there"

Slipstream-Chipotle's Brad Huff described it as, "The world's largest parking lot criterium. But even though it was in a parking lot it was a good venue -- good crowd and good support."

Rahsaan Bahati..."I was expecting a bad course, but it was decent," he said. "Yeah, it's in a parking lot but they set it up really well."

Gilbert seemed happy too. Pretty sure the Kelly boys will be happy with their cut.

Ivan was just lucky. He seems to be lucky a lot.

Lucky lucky lucky.

It's clear the vibe on Planet Hernando sucked, but all those people standing on chairs, tables, and motorhomes to watch the race were not doing so in a loud, raucous sympathy protest.

Surprising that you would would use a feminine hygiene product as a derogatory BTW. Just sayin.

Instead of getting all knotted up about the perceived negatives, you might have noted that when Rochelle Gilmore's suitcase didn't show up Craft and Oakley stepped up and fixed her up for casual and race clothes while she was there. Now that's a SUCKY vibe for sure.

And Laura VanGilder won the women's race. They had one of those. Hope you got to see it.

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

those are pro's giving quotes to the media ... you think they should or would talk shit about a big money crit at Interbike?

uh huh.

but i can tell it how i saw it 'cuz its just a lil' blog in the middle of nowhere. and what i saw, i wasn't impressed with. it was dangerous (obviously, look at the number of crashes), the venue was a crap parking lot that had a crosswalk around a blind corner (did you see the woman who got endo'd by the "staff" who tripped her with the tie-off rope?), and it was $7.25 for a can of beer/soda/juice. It could be better and, fine, let's hope they do make it better.

but, that won't stop me from telling it as i saw it.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree that the announcer for the race was awful. If any of you watched the women's race (which was, by the way, exciting, but no one was there because they had it way too early), you could have heard the announcer's embarrasingly bad imitation of Dave Towle's "1togo1togo1togo1togo....."It was awful.

If they have this again next year, maybe they could put the course CLOSER to the airport. That way everyone could smell the fumes a bit better!

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

we were at the Women's Outdoor Industry Coalition awards dinner and got to the crit course 5 minutes after the women's race ended.

then they had the industry race thing - where Cipollini crashed out with a bunch of guys on the last lap.

oi.

it would have been cooler if the women's race would have been right before the men's pro.

ah well.

Anonymous said...

So the WOIC scheduled their presentation the same day and time as the Women's Crit?

Well THERE'S some support for ya.

Anonymous said...

lets face it Olaf knows his stuff, this can not be debated

but

Dave Towel would be the best announcer if he didnt have a dirty old sex fiend dudes sound to his voice.

but he does know his stuff and is into it.

Olaf, you could crash and crash and crash and you will never crash as much as me

but i race as much as you

maybe more

but i still give you respect for seeing your side of things

everyone needs love and you give a lot of love out!

Olaf knows his stuff and if any one bags on him they are just jealous.

and if you can not say something positive, dont say anything at all.

your fan

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

uh ... thanks?

but, Towle doesn't sound like a dirty ole' sex fiend.

he sounds more like Towelie on a sleep-deprived, caffeinated sugar high.

and, i'm at 83 starts so far if you abacus in the track events ... but, do those really count?

and ... i have no idea how many cross races i'll be able to get in this fall/winter. base training is too f'ing appealing right now.

but, i'll be there. the addiction must be fed.