Super Rookie’s World

I will be among the first to admit that I am not the most timely when it comes to impressive works of art, fashion or other hip things. However, I am more than capable in determining what is damn good way to spend $5. Public Enemies, the John Dillinger biopic starring Jonny Depp and Christian Bale, is a wonderful movie that is well directed, by Michael Mann, and fantastically shot by Dante Spinotti.

At many points during the movie I felt that I was actually watching John Dillinger, and not Jonny Depp. This is perhaps the best way to identify a great actor and Jonny Depp is easily one of the best actors of our time. Bale does great opposite Depp as the lawman, Melvin Purvis. You can read real indepth reviews elsewhere on the internet, but if you haven’t seen this movie in the theater and plan on watching it on DVD, I can only encourage you to see it in a theater with high quality surround sound and a full wide screen presentation.

Nonetheless, one of the things I really liked about the movie and its presentation is the use of a pretty crazy font on the movie posters, credits and lead in script. I know that may sound dumb, but it really sets up the identity of the film prior to watching it.

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At the end of the movie one of the characters mentions the film, “Little Miss Marker” starring Shirley Temple. Not many people know this, but this movie is one of the few to ever feature footage of actual Six Day Bicycle Racing (from Madison Square Garden!). The film focuses around a small time bookie who likes to take up a seat on the rail at the Garden and run bets throughout. Eventually, Shirley Temple comes in and makes the movie all cute and forgetful, but for a few minutes you get to see actual scenes from Six Day races at Madison Square Garden. The movie was remade in 1980 starring Walter Matthau and Julie Andrews. Naturally, to keep up with the times the small time bookie is filmed at the horse track (as by 1980 track racing had faded into the distance).

There, my cycling friends, is your little piece of cycling in movies history.

I have less than a month before I need step up my game for the student teaching gig this fall.

Oh, wowzers.

Sarah has less than a month before she quits her job.

Oh, wowzers.

We are slowly arriving at a crossroads.

Oh, wowzers.

My Behind-Bars/Little Guy Racing team won our category at the 24 Hours of Nine Mile outside of Wausau, Wisconsin. My team completed 19 total laps which was good enough for 20th overall out of 150 some-odd teams (excluding 12hour racers). My teammates for the weekend were Megan and Jeff. We were blessed to have Sarah and Jeff’s wife, Hope come along for the festivities and help us keep our sanity.

Our goal going into the race was to get in some good training and do 19 total laps. Little did we know that we were going to face a tough challenge in our “Just For Fun” category by a 4 member all-male team! We were neck and neck with this squad throughout the 24 hours and even lost the lead to them on a few occassions, but we continued to claw back and solid laps by all three of us sealed the deal at the end. It should be noted that Jeff pulled some crazy laps and kept our team moving through the night with two solid laps when Megan needed a break and I was having lighting issues.

Not only did we win the “Just For Fun” category, but we also would have won the “5-Person Co-Ed” category if we would have entered. In the other major four person categories we would have gotten 6th (sport).

It was a great weekend.

Many thanks to Sarah, Hope, Megan, Jeff and Harriet (the dog) for helping make this weekend enjoyable.

Lap Times-Tim:

1. 1:11:48
2. 1:12:29
3. 1:18:15
4. 1:31:07 (Night Lap)
5. 1:17:03
6. 1:16:28

Lap Times-Megan:

1. 1:14:02 (2nd Fastest Women’s Lap All Race By Just 13 Seconds!)
2. 1:17:56 (Rain Lap)
3. 1:36:29 (Night)
4. 1:29:09 (Night/Sunrise)
5. 1:18:07

Lap Times-Jeff:

1. 1:09:43
2. 1:09:30
3. 1:10:34
4. 1:22:39 (Night)
5. 1:21:53 (Night)
6. 1:28:53 (Night)
7. 1:21:45
8. 1:19:01

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On a personal level I am satisified with my riding. Since I didn’t have to pace myself like I plan on doing at Afton I was able to go as fast as I could for multiple laps. My consistent lap times despite a lack of sleep seems to be a nice sign. I never felt like I was at a loss of energy during the race. The support/planning and execution of the race were flawless except for one glaring issue: lighting. I need to get this problem solved as my antiquated halogen lights could not compete with the “sun-like” lights of my competitors.

Only a month till 24 Hours of Afton. My goal is a top10 in the Solo category.

Sarah and I are heading to Nine Mile State Park outside of Wausau, Wisconsin this weekend with a few of my teammates and friends. We are heading to the 11th Annual 24 Hours of Nine Mile. It is a 24 hour mountain bike race. The race starts at 11AM on Saturday and ends at 11AM Sunday. Jeff and Megan are my teammates for the race and we are hoping to do fairly well. Since there isn’t a 3-person category we will be in the “Just For Fun” division, but we will be comparing our scores to all of the Co-Ed teams.

This race is a major training exercise for my #1 goal of the year, 24Hours of Afton. I will be doing the Afton race solo and hope to make the top 10 overall. My performance at Nine Mile will tell me where I am in my training/fitness regimen for the Afton race. Additionally, this run through will help me remember what I need in terms of food, support and equipment for the solo run at the end of August.

I have done the 24Hours of Nine Mile once before. It was in 2004 and I had the privilege of racing with El Torino and a few other friends. That year we managed 19 laps total. I did 6 laps total that year with a fast lap of 1:02:03. It was a ton of fun and I promised myself I would go back again. I have been looking forward to this race for a long time.

You can follow our teams standings live during the race. We are Behind-Bars/LGR in the Just for Fun category.
Real Time Results

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Sarah agreed to come with me and help keep me sane and grounded during this two day adventure.

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I am at 170lbs. This is 16lbs less than I weighed in at the Durand Road Race. Things are starting to look up for my season. The tech Mountain Biking has been getting better and my road riding is coming around. I just need to work hard on my top end and then I think I can carry some form into cyclocross season. I have not felt this good since the 2005 season and THAT makes me pretty damn excited.

I love the feeling of knowing that you can win a race when standing at the start line. I want to feel that feeling again.

Tom Hagerty won the State Keirin last night at the velodrome.

He won the race in front of his entire family and beat a relativelly stacked field. Hags has had quite a few second place finishes over the years and this was a huge result for him and the team. Not too shabby.

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A little birdy told me that Little Guy won his first ever omnium in the Cat3s.

Is it true?

The Gold One told me he was returning way back in December when I saw him in the cheap seats at the T-Wolves game.

One would think that he backs up his talk. After all, he is America’s Fastest Cyclist (trademark)

Sadly, I won’t be in attendance as I have a soccer game to go to. I doubt that the Gold One will miss me.

Welcome back to the velodrome!

When you thought Jeremy Mayfield was the last straw…

Danilo Di Luca Positive for EPO

The Killer got popped again. I guess the Oil For Drugs Scandal and the resulting 3 month suspension wasn’t enough for him to stop. Hmmmmmm. I got an idea! IBelieveDiLuca.org is still available. I am sure that the testers messed up! He is innocent!

Look at him.

He is being framed.

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My cat, DiLuca, has decided to put her pink collar back on as a sign of solidarity for her namesake.

I am not going to make a super-rookie dot com guarantee, but the stars seem to be aligning for a City run to the Champions League in the very near future. All the pieces are coming together. The team has more forwards than it knows what to do with and we may just see a 4 forward attack in ‘09/10!

Closed Circuit to Brandon- It is time for you to join City. Look who is wearing the Blue!

Don’t worry. He signed for 5 years. There will be plenty of time for you to switch allegiances.

I was hoping that the latest Super-Rookie Dot Com Curse wasn’t going to be noticed by anyone, but (dis) was more than excited in pointing out that my former favorite NASCAR driver (remember the NASCAR buzz?), Jeremy Mayfield, has now failed two tests for Crystal Meth. Oh, how no one is safe. Did I ever mention that Andy Frye is my favorite cyclist?

David Beckham played in his first game at the Home Depot Center in front of the LA Galaxy faithful. As expected the hardcore fans were less than stellar to see him back. I think I would feel a similar way after a star player said so many hurtful things about my favorite organization. Nonetheless, the LA Riot Squad got creative:

Beckham asked one of the fans to come on the field. One of the fans accepted the challenge…he was later arrested.

How long will it take for Goldenballs to win back the fans he turned his back on last winter?