Old Man Stillwater

A Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads out there from Stillwater, Minnesota. Today was the final stage of the 2010 Nature Valley Grand Prix. The cycle racing throngs were comforted most of the day with a bit of cloud cover as the Men & Women did a 1.5 mile loop through town. The pro ladies did 13 laps and the pro men, 20. All those circuits included two major climbs, the Chilkoot at 24% and the Back-side hill a touch less. I am going to simply say, wait till you see the video.

Oh, wait, I always say that, don't I?

BUT THIS TIME I REALLY MEAN IT.

My host, Race Director and former Cat 1 champion Andy Dahl, piloted me on his beautiful BMW 1200 expertly around the course as only somebody who knows how to ride fast on a bike can. Tangents are crucial as is knowing when to open it up. I used a slightly different approach in holding the cam after settling for somewhat less that ideal positioning on Friday. It proved to be all I could handle as the loop never stayed in one position very long. After twenty minutes I felt as if I was out there riding with the boys myself. Once this post in done I plan on taking a peek at the video to see if what we watched from the BMW at (max) 70 mph is as good as I think it will be played back at a mere 30 frames per second.

So that's about it from the upper Midwest. It has been a wild couple of days. I hope that the Alamo guys don't look real close at the odometer. Tomorrow is a rare off day. Tuesday we fly home to, basically, change clothes and grab racing gear. Wednesday early we're off for Tahoe and some off-road action in the Sierras.

Lastly, as a final nod to the holiday of note, I have decided to start a new feature. Ya'll remember the RS500 post earlier in the week? Starting tomorrow I am posting the RCVman Top One Hundred Spinning Songs of All-Time. Starting, natch, with numbers 100-91. We'll do one set per week for ten days and see what kinda trouble we get in.

I already decided during the time spent the last two days on I-94 what tunes comprise the top ten, the problem is going to be, how to rank the following 90?

Wish me luck Dad.

Pix: The Stillwater bridge separates Minnesota from Wisconsin over the St. Croix River. The Overall Top Three Ladies. Nice work gals! At the top of Chilkoot Hill.