Oregon 'Cross September 11, 2009 3:43 PM Subscribe
Matt Haghey guest blogs, subject Cyclocross. Read all about it. Well done, Matt.
And yeah, me and Byron that runs Bike Hugger go back a few years and I'll be guest blogging from time to time there and I get to cover the 'cross, bmx, and mtb beat at Interbike for Bike Hugger this year.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:55 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:55 PM on September 11, 2009
Who is this Matt Haghey of whom you speak? Is he of the Edinburgh Haghey's?
posted by netbros at 4:02 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by netbros at 4:02 PM on September 11, 2009
I find this interesting. The article is pretty enlightening too. I was thinking that cyclocross was an exclusive hard core biker kinda thing. Very cool!
(Do the have a class for older chubbier guys, I wonder?)
posted by snsranch at 4:36 PM on September 11, 2009
(Do the have a class for older chubbier guys, I wonder?)
posted by snsranch at 4:36 PM on September 11, 2009
Yeah, I started out as an older chubbier guy.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:41 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:41 PM on September 11, 2009
Ha, thanks for the inspiration! After searching a bit, I haven't seen anything organized here in San Diego, but it's definitely creeping down the Cali coast. This is very cool stuff. I'm glad fixedgear made the post.
Woo hoo! Let's go ride bikes!
posted by snsranch at 5:28 PM on September 11, 2009
Woo hoo! Let's go ride bikes!
posted by snsranch at 5:28 PM on September 11, 2009
Cool! I was one of the semi-rare lady cyclocross racers back in the day. Now I just stick to xc mountain biking - much easier on the crotch...
posted by shrabster at 5:30 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by shrabster at 5:30 PM on September 11, 2009
You might be surprised, mathowie, at how many find this interesting. I had seen your photos but hadn't really known what was going on. Your guest blog fills that out a bit. Thanks for the post, fixedgear.
posted by deborah at 5:43 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by deborah at 5:43 PM on September 11, 2009
After riffing on that misspelling, I belatedly noticed that you can't spell "Haughey" without "ghey." And in other news, I'm apparently 14, & thinking going by "mathowie" sidesteps this marvellously.
posted by Pronoiac at 6:23 PM on September 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 6:23 PM on September 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
I totally found this interesting. Thanks, fixie.
posted by Lutoslawski at 7:56 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by Lutoslawski at 7:56 PM on September 11, 2009
This might have made an interesting addition to a biking post on the blue about cyclocross or amateur/competitive racing, something along those lines. Still, cool write-up Matt.
posted by empyrean at 8:10 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by empyrean at 8:10 PM on September 11, 2009
This is relevant to my interests and, hence, interesting to me.
posted by killdevil at 8:55 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by killdevil at 8:55 PM on September 11, 2009
Hell, i'm 270 and *I* ride a cross bike ...not very quickly at all...
posted by iamabot at 10:02 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by iamabot at 10:02 PM on September 11, 2009
You guys do veldrijden?!
What's next America.
Korfbal?
posted by jouke at 10:09 PM on September 11, 2009
What's next America.
Korfbal?
posted by jouke at 10:09 PM on September 11, 2009
jouke, I download pirate copies of Sporza every sunday night in the fall so I can see Sven Nys take on Lars Boom and Niels Albert. Being 36, I naturally cheer for Nys instead of the just-out-of-U23 guys.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:48 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:48 PM on September 11, 2009
On the one hand, I'm interested in getting more into mountain biking out here, since it's something I used to do back in Michigan, but have been kinda intimidated about here, you know, where there are actual mountains for the biking.
On the other hand, if I were Matt's editor, I'd send that back for major revisions. I mean, things like saying, "It's easy to see why Portland is so big into cyclocross -- it seems there is something happening every weekend from late August to mid-December all over the state," is circular. It's popular because there are a lot of events? What does that show you about why it's popular? Why are there events in New Jersey, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Oregon and nowhere else?
Sorry, I'll stop with quixotic 'Let's edit the internet' bullshit, especially since Cyclecross looks totally sweet and I wouldn't have known about it otherwise.
(From the looks of it, it reminds me of riding across the golf course near my parents' house, where part of the fun is getting chased by groundskeepers in golf carts, jumping creeks and chain link fences.)
posted by klangklangston at 10:59 PM on September 11, 2009
On the other hand, if I were Matt's editor, I'd send that back for major revisions. I mean, things like saying, "It's easy to see why Portland is so big into cyclocross -- it seems there is something happening every weekend from late August to mid-December all over the state," is circular. It's popular because there are a lot of events? What does that show you about why it's popular? Why are there events in New Jersey, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Oregon and nowhere else?
Sorry, I'll stop with quixotic 'Let's edit the internet' bullshit, especially since Cyclecross looks totally sweet and I wouldn't have known about it otherwise.
(From the looks of it, it reminds me of riding across the golf course near my parents' house, where part of the fun is getting chased by groundskeepers in golf carts, jumping creeks and chain link fences.)
posted by klangklangston at 10:59 PM on September 11, 2009
Though I do kind of hope the photo for the article is of Matt. I can't tell, because all white people look pretty much the same to me. But dude's buff.
posted by klangklangston at 11:03 PM on September 11, 2009
posted by klangklangston at 11:03 PM on September 11, 2009
Thanks for the suggested edits, klang, but I wrote the whole thing off the top of my head in about an hour, so what you see is the first draft with many painfully stupid sentence constructions.
I was going to do a ton of corrections today, but I read it and the sentences in many paragraphs reminded me of an out of breath 10 year old kid trying to say everything in his head as quickly as possible: "oh and then there's this other thing I like and and and then there's this other thing I also like and and and..." so I left it.
The photo isn't of me, but I took it last December during the USGP nationals.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:10 PM on September 11, 2009
I was going to do a ton of corrections today, but I read it and the sentences in many paragraphs reminded me of an out of breath 10 year old kid trying to say everything in his head as quickly as possible: "oh and then there's this other thing I like and and and then there's this other thing I also like and and and..." so I left it.
The photo isn't of me, but I took it last December during the USGP nationals.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:10 PM on September 11, 2009
"but I read it and the sentences in many paragraphs reminded me of an out of breath 10 year old kid trying to say everything in his head as quickly as possible: "oh and then there's this other thing I like and and and then there's this other thing I also like and and and..." so I left it."
Well, and some of what I might change is out of the scope of a brief piece like that. While I'm interested in the broader context, folks reading really just want to participate in the events. So I'm not your audience, not least because I live a thousand miles away with the nuclear mutants in LA.
Also, I do endorse the breathless 10-year-old for blog writing, which is pretty much how I talk in real life (crossed with the inarticulate upper Midwest accent—I can slip into Palin-speak a little too quickly for anyone's comfort).
posted by klangklangston at 11:53 PM on September 11, 2009
Well, and some of what I might change is out of the scope of a brief piece like that. While I'm interested in the broader context, folks reading really just want to participate in the events. So I'm not your audience, not least because I live a thousand miles away with the nuclear mutants in LA.
Also, I do endorse the breathless 10-year-old for blog writing, which is pretty much how I talk in real life (crossed with the inarticulate upper Midwest accent—I can slip into Palin-speak a little too quickly for anyone's comfort).
posted by klangklangston at 11:53 PM on September 11, 2009
Heh, matthowie, that's quite amazing to hear; that you download belgian programs to get updated on cyclocross. How's your Flemish?
Sounds like you'll want to do a biking vacation in Belgium and the Netherlands. Ride your road bike on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix aka the Hell of the North. And bike with the family around the Netherlands over the safe biking paths. Maybe using comfortable dutch style bikes. The kid can sit on a bike seat, in a trailer or ride on a trailer bike. That's very safe here and done all the time.
I have Canadian friends who are avid bikers and who simply love the dense network of safe picturesque biking routes all over the Netherlands. According to them it's quite unlike anything in the world.
Personally I think that Danmark and the north of Germany are probably quite similar.
posted by jouke at 3:25 AM on September 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
Sounds like you'll want to do a biking vacation in Belgium and the Netherlands. Ride your road bike on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix aka the Hell of the North. And bike with the family around the Netherlands over the safe biking paths. Maybe using comfortable dutch style bikes. The kid can sit on a bike seat, in a trailer or ride on a trailer bike. That's very safe here and done all the time.
I have Canadian friends who are avid bikers and who simply love the dense network of safe picturesque biking routes all over the Netherlands. According to them it's quite unlike anything in the world.
Personally I think that Danmark and the north of Germany are probably quite similar.
posted by jouke at 3:25 AM on September 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
You guys do veldrijden?! What's next America. Korfbal?
I'm thinking more along the lines of some La Trappe and this.
posted by exogenous at 6:49 AM on September 12, 2009
I'm thinking more along the lines of some La Trappe and this.
posted by exogenous at 6:49 AM on September 12, 2009
This will be interesting to six people on metafilter
Seven. Saw it before it was posted here--twitter link, maybe?
I haven't seen anything organized here in San Diego
The San Diego Bike Commuter site has an occasionally updated thread; apparently there are some "underground" races sometimes. I have heard that UCSD is a popular place. That thread also mentions a race by the Velodrome and a race in/by Camp Pendelton. Might try it for fun myself. If I don't have fun, at least everyone else watching will have a laugh at me schlepping my 30 pound monster.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:04 AM on September 12, 2009
Seven. Saw it before it was posted here--twitter link, maybe?
I haven't seen anything organized here in San Diego
The San Diego Bike Commuter site has an occasionally updated thread; apparently there are some "underground" races sometimes. I have heard that UCSD is a popular place. That thread also mentions a race by the Velodrome and a race in/by Camp Pendelton. Might try it for fun myself. If I don't have fun, at least everyone else watching will have a laugh at me schlepping my 30 pound monster.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:04 AM on September 12, 2009
Seconding jouke - bicycling in the Netherlands is one of the most pleasant and peaceful holidays I can imagine.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:50 AM on September 12, 2009
posted by Meatbomb at 9:50 AM on September 12, 2009
ride your road bike on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix aka the Hell of the North. And bike with the family around the Netherlands over the safe biking paths. Maybe using comfortable dutch style bikes.
I know a lot of people want to see the Tour de France or ride the L'Etape du Tour but going to the cobbles in Northern France is my number one biking-related dream thing I must someday do. The riding around Netherlands on a dutch commuter bike is a definite second.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:51 AM on September 12, 2009
I know a lot of people want to see the Tour de France or ride the L'Etape du Tour but going to the cobbles in Northern France is my number one biking-related dream thing I must someday do. The riding around Netherlands on a dutch commuter bike is a definite second.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:51 AM on September 12, 2009
Ah, the beer bike. That always makes me smile when I encounter one in town.
posted by jouke at 11:40 AM on September 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by jouke at 11:40 AM on September 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
That thread also mentions a race by the Velodrome. Thanks RikiTikiTavi, I'll check that out.
posted by snsranch at 5:31 PM on September 12, 2009
posted by snsranch at 5:31 PM on September 12, 2009
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posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:49 PM on September 11, 2009