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Happy Festivus

Frank Costanza: "Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way."
Kramer: "What happened to the doll?"
Frank Costanza: "It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!"
Kramer: "That must have been some doll."
Frank Costanza: "She was."

Don't forget the tenents of Festivus:

(1) Festivus Pole

(2) Festivus Dinner

(3) Airing of Grievances

(4) Feats of Strength


Happy Holidays Everyone -- Peace !

Be There w/the Cool People

#1 William Nicholson -- solo gig tomorrow night!!

Sakana-Ya Sushi
Town Center, Fayetteville
6:00 - 9:00

A fully acoustic solo performance, only Lucky the flat-top Gibson and Helen the harp will be used. Should be a nice night for guitar lovers!

Note: You don't have to be a sushi fan to attend. Lots of other options for food & beverage.



#2 Bikes & Brews at Syracuse Bicycle (a Toys for Tots event) 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Bring an unwrapped toy, have an Ommegang, hang with bike geeks, talk politics (UCI, USA Cycling), religion (cyclocross/road/MTB), have a good time.

Save the Date: Dec 17 !!

Wayne's & Meltzer's Syracuse Bicycle and Team SCARR-Ommegang will be hosting the 2nd "Bikes & Brews" event on December 17 from 6 to 9 pm at the Syracuse Bicycle location on Erie Blvd. "Bikes & Brews" is an event to benefit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation as well as a chance to hang out with your cycling & tri-buddies before going into winter hibernation. Come trade a few race tales from 2009 and yes, sample some of Brewery Ommegang's finest offerings.

The price of admission for "Bikes & Brews is an unwrapped toy (or two).

More details to come as we get closer.

Soul Cycles Sexiness

Check out some of the new sexiness from Soul Cycles ... ooooh, ahhhhh, nice. And these are just pictures of the new eccentric bottom brackets and forks. You should check out their blog (http://blog.ridesoul.com) to get a peek at the new Gen 3 Dillinger 29er frames with the new color offerings. (I kinda like the root beer, but the scotchbrite is pretty sweeeet too.) They've also got some pics of the new "Hero" frame as well if you really want to explore your inner ride creativity and desires.

So if you've grown "road" weary, or perhaps "cross"-eyed from your current ride and need to change things up a bit, it's time for a little "Soul" searching. It's pretty hard to go wrong here kids, you're getting great value for the buck and Chad at Soul Cycles will surely hook you up with a great deal as a member of Team SCARR-Ommegang. Ride Soul my friends, Ride Soul!


http://blog.ridesoul.com/

Dave Panella KX -- Race Director's Report

Race report for the Dave Panella Memorial Cyclocross

Race morning found the Kingdom of Kross blanketed in a thick fog. The course sorcerers descended on their sections of the course to add its unique features and become the longest course we’ve had yet. Something for all from fast wide open to technical sections a touch of mud and slippery grass in the first race.

As the riders grooved in the course and the sun began to shine. Sixty four degrees? This is Kross weather? The Belgians sought out the sunscreen, while others shed layers.

Twenty nine masters toed the line for the start. Fresh off the red-eye Greg Drumm took the holeshot as they wound their way through the first chicanes. When it opened up the “King” hit the gas in the mower section and took the lead holding it through the first lap and opening a gap after the spiral. The “Train of talent” formed behind him. Glenn, Ernie, AJ, Greg, Ad and Andy. The King tried to force his hand in technical sections as the Train would draw him back on the horsepower sections for the first three laps. Drumm and Swan fired the first attacks as the King latched onto the fast moving train. As crashes would split the group it would regroup with a new leader. Then a split happened. Glenn towed me back up to retake the lead in the spiral only to be outgunned by the tough accelerations of Drumm on the straights. The battle waged right till the finish where Drumm and AJ were neck and neck. Then disaster struck for AJ. A washout and dropped chain forced him to run to the finish. Drumm scores another win and Swan’s late race aggression nets him second. Ernie Bayles scores third. He later emailed me and told me he was worried I was going to ride away with it. Trust me I was trying. It was a great race. The hour was a good thing. Let’s see more races come back to that. All in all a good show of the colors for the Ommegangsters with a 1st and 6th.

Open Men now had the stage; Josh “West Coast” Miner has been progresing rapidly this season. Always near the front and aggressive. A 5^th, 4th, 3rd and a second had him focused for a win at the DPM. We saved number one for him. A fast start saw Ramon, Josh and Felix breakaway early. Another seesaw battle followed till Ramon hit the afterburners and was gone. Josh fought valiantly and hung onto second. The rest of the field strung and were all over the course having their own private hell in the one hour plus one lap.

Beer hand ups were seen. The hecklers turned nice and offered encouragement as the laps wound down. Ramon took a convincing win with Ommegangsters Cory P back at it after a long layoff and Mike (Huggies) K fisnishing strong in 5th.

Next up was the first annual Kross Relay dash for cash. The riders were assembled and drew their team mates. They then went to their respective sides for the LeMans start. Only to find while their backs were turned. Their bikes were switched around. The pack all got off sort of together. Dave Yacobelli lead out of mower and was gone. Have missed the earlier races with a mechanical. He had the freshest legs in the bunch. Dave gave a display of his power in that lap and tagged the King for the relay. The King downed the beer and was harassed about “How did those two end up together? Rigged? Pay offs? No just a random draw. The King extended the gap and rounding the third to last lap was facing a wall of the other team riders who grabbed him and held him while Ruth closed the gap. They even let the air out of his front tire. Ruth cut the course and they let him go. He dove back into the fray almost crashing on the flat tire in the last turn, hung on for the win.

Many stayed for chili and the awards. Where prizes and Ommegang flowed freely.

Thanks to all who picked up the course while I handed out prizes and tried to get it all together.

In all it was an incredible day in the Kingdom of Kross. Blue skies, warm temps, great riders, fans, and delicious food.

See you next year. The King

Results: http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/11/15-Dave-Panella-CX.asp

NYCross.com Series Finale at Bethlehem 11/15/09

A few Ommegangsters rolled out towards the Albany area for race #9 in the NYCross.com series to participate in The Bethlehem Cup. This event also served as the finale in the NYCross.com series. Jeff W and Skinny Phil were hoping to hold onto the mythical "cycling form" one more week as they were looking at possible podium spots in the overall NYCross.com series. Eric G also accompaied Jeff & Phil in trying to squeeze in just one more race for the year.
In the 3/4 field, Skinny Phil had a "good ride" and ended up placing 2nd in the field of 24 while Eric G powered to a mid pack finish.
In the 45+ field, Jeff W finished a very respectable 3rd again showing great consistency with yet another podium finish. Results may be found at: http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/11/15-Bethlehem-Cup-CX.asp

Some race pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/PhilRebecca/BethlehemCX#

Thus with the final race in the books, the overall NYCross.com series points were tallied. The Ommegangsters did us proud with Skinny Phil ending up 3rd overall in his division while Jeff W placed 1st in his. A closer examination of the points will show Jeff frequently on the podium week to week while Phil still managed a 3rd while missing three of the nine races. It was also great to see Phil have a total breakthrough CX season (especially with the Ommegang colors on his back). Also a shout out to the lovely Mrs Jeff W as she took overall honors in the elite women's points series. Series points at
http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/11/16-NYCross-Overall.asp

Congrats Skinny & Jeff !!