Rollin' tough and stuff with J Shough

February 28, 2011  /  Maria Larkin

So there's a man that retired out there with plenty of experience in this messenger game that has the work ethic but has also gotten hooked on the racing aspect of it all. Josh Shough is a family man that has dedicated himself to training and working hard to be the hardest and toughest dude out there. More than respecting and applauding such efforts, we want to be a part of it all. Luckily Josh doesn't mind accepting company. Hence we have the first man to introduce to the 2011 Cuttin Crew, Mr. Joshua Shough.
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categories / Uncategorized, Uncategorized

Ladies First!

February 27, 2011  /  Maria Larkin

Minny-snowta is known for being ruthlessly cold so it only makes sense the people that come from there are exceptionally warm and nice. It also helps to have a good engine and know how to roll tough on two wheels in any environment. Marie Snyder knows exactly what's up in both departments and we're damn lucky to have her bringing her talents to the Crew this year!

(photo credit thanks to the TyK project)

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categories / General/Welfare, General/Welfare

!!2011 is the best year ever!!

February 24, 2011  /  Maria Larkin

(Photo thanks to Luke Seemann)

Cut back to late Fall of 2007 and a group of dudes gathering in Adam Clark's garage to put together an obnoxious bike team consisting of the greatest assembly of bike geek invalids this side of the internet. (Fun fact: we were this close to being named Mayor Daley's Race Winning Task Force.)

That marked the time the seat harnesses lowered and we each grabbed the grips in naive anticipation for a ride on this crazy roller coaster. We've encountered countless transitions, lessons, experiences, successes, losses and had plenty of shenanigans...

2010 was just a small slice of it all. J Rho kicked off her addiction. Brean is kind of a big deal. 42nd place drew some attention. When Nico wins, everybody wins. It's all J-Pain does. When she doesn't, she does the next best thing. Who knew Brean could be classy? There was an absolute treat to be had in Wisco. Cleaning house was cool in Fall, too. Avi validated his master's upgrade for serious. DERRUMBA! BACK TO BACK! We checked out the new hot scene. The new guy repped out West. Double Up. We popped a massive cherry.

We also won't ever forget the world lost a great man last year.

Here we are in 2011. Here to prove that not all ideas get thrown out before the end of the first go 'round. We are a bit more grown, a bit more cast about, increasingly ambitious on an individual and larger scale, but we are still just as strong and gorgeous as ever . We've got some fresh new faces on the Crew to announce and, true to form, we'll be unleashing them along with all our fun/legal exploits upon all 3 of our loyal readers slowly and surely. Until then just remember..

!!2011 IS THE BEST YEAR EVER!!

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categories / General/Welfare, General/Welfare

The afterglow of AFTERGLOW

December 20, 2010  /  Maria Larkin

(Velogrrl's flickr) Well, Chris Jensen said it best. The only thing he understated was all the time and work he personally invested and for that we should all give him a big hug and a hearty thanks. It's quite a big deal for us at the Cuttin Crew to have been a part of a USAC sanctioned event and without his guidance as well as the example set by Half Acre Cycling we certainly would have not been able to make that leap. Thanks to them as well as all the other enablers that, through work like this, have made this passion an easily accessible reality within our growing community.

That said it is also important to give a second bit of credit to our event sponsors: Yojimbo's Garage, Tati Cycles, Twin Six, and Sportcrafters.

As for the day of racing? It was cold. (But not THAT cold.) Unfortunately it did happen to freeze over a lot of the wonderfully challenging off-camber sections as well as really neutralize the worst sand you'd ever could imagine having to ride through. On the flip side everyone brought their smiles and dealt with the elements.

(Bill Draper's set) The sketchiest drop in the world was compromised a bit by the ice but 166 people turned it into a whole lot of lemonade by the end of the day. With such choice announcing staff it was probably easy to turn out the crowd pleaser in everyone. (especially with techniques such as J's and Cousin Mikey's...)

There certainly wasn't a shortage of hype thanks to the Kirby's shaving ability and the day's hotly contested tandem race.

Aside from the laughs there was some great racing to be had as evidenced again by Mr. Draper. But also take in this cool run through of the first lap of the 1/2/3's (courtesy of Ryan O'Connell). See if you can tell what drop I'm talking about. (PS - 8:40 is a helluva lap time!)

When the race was all said and done, the night had really just begun. And Cousin Mikey, with twisted psyche, put together one great evening of fun.

Thanks to several more generous people (especially them bonebellers and those scantily clad tandemers)  there was a good amount of dough raised to help West Town Bikes and their Youth Program.

All in all, it made for a great weekend. And many thanks to those that came from far and wide to help as well as participate in some good racing and good fun...

Cause ya know what? THAT'S what it's all about!

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categories / Cyclocross, Cyclocross