Bike Crush

2009-11-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

I did't get to shoot much of the A's. I planned on it but that's when my new career of "workin the pit" was born. It was like a dream come true yet had all the elements of, well, my worst nightmare. You just can't put that kinda pressure on an edgy guy like me. I freak out, like totally fucking lose it when I have someone else's really serious anything in the fate of my small little hobbit hands.

It went down like this. There I was, jamming around past the sketchy off camber downhill section that held the rowdier section of fans and wandered in to the pit. I usually try to get at least one shot of the pit and/or the pitsters, so this was pretty standard procedure. Sacha White from Vanilla Workshop was standing there with 2 bikes. The mistake I made here was making eye contact with Sacha.

-Cory, can you work Kevin's bike?

-Whoa, what? Yeah, no, uhhh, ok, wait, no, I have never done this before.

-It's easy, just hold it and when he comes through just grab the bike he is riding and hand off the new one. Make sure the pedals are in the right position and give the seat a push to make sure he has momentum.

Yeah, cool, it's only the last race in the Crusade series and he is in 4th lace. No problem. The thing is, I owe Sacha so I am in no position to say no. I go to his place of business all the time and use his tools, mess with his dog, have his employees work on my bike, distract his employees, and, basically if I were Sacha I would have a restraining order on me by now. So yeah. I had no choice. Kevin never came through but, what was my point? Oh yeah, I didn't shoot very many photos Sunday. Here are the one I did.

Thanks to everyone for a great season! My team, Veloshop. Molly Cameron (don't even know where to begin) Ahh, this could go forever and nobody is going to read it anyway. Thanks!

No Title

2009-11-15T19:03:00.000-08:00

It was saaaaddddd Molly. But you know what? PORTLAND LOVES THE SHIT OUT OF YOU. That crowd was bonkers. Not to mention the win could not have gone to a nicer kid. In the end I think it's safe to say that your season was really really really amazing. You are a class act. And you let me drink your coffee. AND my mom said you were cute!

(photos tomorrow)

Cross Crusade 2009 #7 Portland International Raceway

2009-11-08T23:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks for letting me stick my camera in your face/armpit/line/dogs grill!

Warf Rats

2009-11-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

blew that thing up from Cobra Dogs on Vimeo.

Me and Scott Ramsey Feeding the warf rats Halloween night. They were 2" round cheese puffs and homeboy ate the thing whole in .001 of a second. Astoria, Oregon.

Cross Crusade 2009 #6 Astoria, OR

2009-11-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

I catted up and did better than my previous category. STOKED. Battled it out with a hotdog and Fred Flinstone and got 14th. I'm a big fan of pre race night actions that make me do better so from now on I have to drink whiskey while watching the Tom Cruise version of Mission Impossible with Scott Ramsey. Every Saturday night (while wearing compression socks, obviously). Mellow.

Cross Crusade 2009 #5 Astoria, OR

2009-11-02T21:22:00.000-08:00

Can I get sentimental for a second? Just gonna throw it out there. Feel free to just skip down to the pics.

I was born in a sleepy little town called Astoria. We moved to Portland when I was 3 yrs old but my grandpa stayed and my father lived there as well. I have very fond memories of riding my bike in the hood (literally 3 blocks from the Goonies house) and exploring the jagged, rainy, windy, northwestern edge of North America all day long. I was what you would call a real life "goonie" Gramps was a WW2 Navy vet and went on to be General Manager for the Port of Astoria. He was what you would call "married to the sea". My father was Assistant DA in Tillamook by day an old folky hippy the second he walked out the door. He is what you would call a "Neil Young song". They both passed away this year so the trip was special to me. I don't have any family left in that town and no reason to visit. I was afraid the nostalgia of it would wear off on me eventually with no physical reason for me to ever really go back. So yeah, the Halloween Cross Crusade is that connection for me now. And a great one it is. Thanks everyone for a really amazing time. I would really really like to thank the cutest family ever next to the Veloshop tent for taking care of me after my nasty crash on Saturday then yelling "go alligator!" every lap on sunday. Amazing. And Scott Ramsey for being my partner in crime and changing my tires giving me the best air pressure EVER.

No but really.....Was that a weekend or was that a weekend? Do people outside of our culture think we are completely nuts doing what we do?? And how do you tell people what we do? The closest I have come is "bike racing redneck hybrids" Are we outcasts or are we what should be a mandatory entry under "North West" in the dictionary? Could you imagine getting some Hollywood jaded snob (or anyone, really) and putting them in Tent City at the barrier section and saying "this is what we do on weekends when it rains"?

Enjoy.
Cory

As always, if you uses any pics, all I ask is that you credit and link to this site.

Cross Crusade 2009 #4

2009-10-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Didn't shoot a ton Sunday, but what I did shoot, I tried more to capture "Oregon" than I did "racing". I love our little scene. Love it.

Cross Crusade 2009 #3

2009-10-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

I shot 400 photos and all I got was this crappy flickr set. After all, I am just using a point and shoot. I don't know what it is about me not using any fancy gear at cross races. I think I am more inspired if I just walk around with a little beat up DMC-LX2. If I see something rad, shoot it. Otherwise I leave it up to PDX CROSS for the good shit.

My race. Well, I took the weekend off the weekend before due to my back being sore. I didn't ride once leading up to this weekend but I felt really good for some reason. Started really far back and hammered. Made my way up much closer to the front and flatted just after the pit. Like 10 feet after the pit. I looked at the official and he looked at me. "nope, sorry" he said looking like he was truly feeling bad for me. I was having so much fun, too. O'well. I have just as much fun eating free oatmeal and bugging A racers before they race when they are all stressed out.

That was an awesome course. I hope we have it next year. Although, why is horse shit becoming a theme in our races? It's Oregon, and it's cross.

PS: if for some reason you do not want a picture of you or your kid/dog/horse/ that I have posted, please let me know (cory.grove (at) gmail.com) and I will take it down.

Cross Crusade 2009 #2

2009-10-13T10:43:00.001-07:00

Didn't race today. My back is kinda jacked. Still, I have to go hang out and heckle. Have to. I have 2 new things that I love about our CX races. Kiddie Cross and watching the Women A racers pass the super nice dressed Mens A racers. Oh, and watching Ryan from Veloshop being the loudest person there. So loud that Eric Tonkin even looked at him (see photo) while pedaling his heart out trying to catch Babcock. He would make me go faster if he would show up in time for my race. I need a Ryan.

ouch

2009-10-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

(click picture to see it bigger)

He was OK! Promise.

Full posts coming soon from Alpenrose and RHS. Check back, book mark the homepage, or follow me on twitter to be updated. Didn't race this weekend. Back is a little sore. Saving it for THE MUD.

xoxo,

cory

poop

2008-11-17T12:29:00.000-08:00

Poop, lots of poop. I came down with a nasty stomach bug. I felt like poop, and unfortunately pulled the plug after my warm up lap. No racing in the poop for this guy.

Anyone else having trouble with the slideshow playing? Any feedback would rule. Did I just say rule? I really need to drop my outdated lingo. I should probably get rid of dude, totally, and right on while I am at it. Thank god I never took up "hella"

Right On! ,

cory

MUD

2008-11-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

3 hours of sleep, no stretching, no water, missed my call up.

3rd place! Finally. Is that my new tech?

Photos on the other hand..... I just could not get in to the swing of getting good shots. I eventually gave up.

Barton Park? More like Mother F%#$er Park!

2008-11-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

FLATTED AGAIN! Ahhhhhhhh, that was hands down my favorite course but come second lap I was flat. Booooo.

Place Finished: DNF

Astoria Race #1

2008-10-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

Myself, Scott, and Wille headed out pretty late Friday night up to Astoria for the H-Ween weekend of racing. I slept like total shit but for the most part felt pretty good Saturday morning. I finally fixed my chain dropping problem and had a pretty good race. I was getting cocky on the downhill section and hammering that thing faster and faster every lap. That eventually lead to me getting a reality check and going down, twice. The last lap I really got dealt with and tweaked my back pretty good but still managed to only loose about 5 places from my actual start. Still, my back was way too jacked to race on Sunday and I was a little bummed.

Scott ended up getting 4th in Single Speeds. Heck yes! Wille reeled it in with a rad 14th place finish.

Fun Fact: I was born in Astoria!

Place Finished: 15th

Rainier HS

2008-10-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

The race went ok. I got shafted in the new lottery system and got called to the start dead last. Good thing this course is wide as heck as I some how managed to get up in the top 10 in the first half lap. Ok so this is my 3rd ever race and I REALLY wanted to throw up. Some times you feel like you want to throw up but this time I actually pondered pulling over and doing it. That course handed me my ass on a platter. I am still having my chain dropping problems I was having at Alpenrose. Same thing.. dropped it 3 times, same place, every time.

What a kick ass course, though. Although, I have decided that dry courses are not my bag. I am down with the mud. Bring it back.

Wille came closer than ever at catching Scott in the SS race. Scott even had a flat and still rode like a bat outa scapoose. I love and hate watching that guy ride. He really looks like is doing nothing and not trying and still hauls so much ass.

Place Finished: 30

2008-10-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Damn you Wilsonville! No love. None. Flatted the 2nd lap and Wille got sent to the hospital with stitches. PDX CROSS got a really cool shot of the pain.

I forgot my camera this time.

Place Finished: DNF

First Race Jitters

2008-10-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Wow. My first race. Holy shit was that fun! Here was my last 3 laps: Pass 15 or so riders, drop my chain, pass same 15 riders, repeat. 3 laps. Frustrating? Yes. Did I totally forget about it the second I was done because it was so much fun anyway? Indeed.

Place Finished: 30