Rode (not so) hard and put away wet

Thanks to Shelby for the post-race photo

OK, so I spent my Saturday night riding laps on a frozen lake that was covered with a snot-slick layer of water that sprayed all over me in 40-degree weather. It was still a shitload safer than going quail hunting with Dick Cheney.

We had an almost-full moon, bizarre winds, and damned if Rob didn't show up in a bear suit and bag the five-minute time bonus for costumed racers. Not that it hurt my final result; I was off the back from the start and there was no way to reel 'em in, so I just settled in for a safe ride in the moonlight.

Carlos continues to class up the race a little more each time, and even provided free swag for our first night race. We had J.J. Cale on the sound system and one free roll of toilet paper for each competitor. Like the man said, everyone needs toilet paper.

This early springlike weather is disturbing, especially with two major winter races coming up in the next couple of weeks. Bike riders in the Susitna 100 may be doing a lot of pushing next weekend if things don't cool down soon. This could be a year for the skiers.

It didn't take long after Saturday's post before I heard from a Minnesota reader responding to my joke about Minnesotans being "soft" for racing in malls. VelociPete pointed out they had two ice races on Saturday alone. Check out his blog and then take a look at the bike photos on his flickr account. Those dudes are serious about their ice riding.

Bizarre, custom-built ice bikes. That kicks ass.