Da Troof

So you know there were a few raffles this year to help send people to CX Worlds. Right?

The one for Jeff and Gunnar. Well I bought a couple tickets for that to support them.

Then there was the one for Sue Butler that I only heard of by noticing a rare tweet by ErikV. So i bought a ticket or two for that one.

And the last thing really wasn't a raffle until a wicked cool wheel company called ZIPP jumped in with a raffle prize for all donors.

The one for Jeff and Gunnar drew first and my name wasn't among the list on the BikeReg email blast. I was honestly a bit disappointed, maybe deep down I hoped for one of those super fancy coaching packages or something. I dunno.

Then there was Sue's. Honestly I skimmed the list and send the money in not as a chance to win, but to send some support to a deserving athlete who's organizing body doesn't see fit to support 100% of the travel cost to get to worlds. I did notice the "out of town winners are responsible for shipping charges of larger items." and figured, bah, why worry about that.

Then of course I got an email from Sue on the 2nd:

You are the proud winner of a fancy new wheelset. I said I wouldn't pay for shipping on large items out of town. You are about as far away as you could be. But they are sweet wheels. Still boxed up from Reynolds. Are you willing to pick up the cost of shipping? Let me know.
Thanks.

Sue Butler

And I just about pooped my pants.

I had to go back to the webpage just to figure out what wheels i just won. But seriously. ME. I WON WHEELS? What do i need more than any other bike stuff? Wheels.

Once I Figured out that they were a set of Reynolds 2010 Strikes i had to check to see if they were Clincher or Tubular (aka Road or Cross).

Clincher. But hey. My road wheels are completely hosed. It is pretty sad actually. My good "race" wheels exploded from overuse and just age (Rolf Vector Pro circa 1998). After the 4th broken spoke on the front and 4th on the rear and being stranded a couple times... well... they aren't getting ridden anymore.

leaves me with a 105 32 hole CPX22 wheelset i bought off Il Bruce a good 4 years ago or so that I've already had to replace the rear rim on and currently is my tied and soldered commuter wheel.
then my old 105 laced to a Sun MA14 or something (label is faded) that i built up in 1997 using 3 different groups of spokes (fat pulling, super skinny static and oval bladed radial for non-drive side).
then i have a set of neuvation off branded wheels. bladed spokes but heavy as hell and I've broken a good number of the spokes in the rear already (the rim is kind of fucked), but I got them along with a useless front and the heavy ass rear wheel that I have a training tire on for $80 two years ago.
Oh and the front wheel that I rebuilt after the brake track broke open in Maine using teh Open Pro rim i bought off JLS.cx for $20 at Turtle pond last year. That rim is laced to a 1985 campy front hub with 32 2.0 straight gauge spokes.
There is of course the matching set of ultegra and mavic open wheels on my wife's Lemond that I don't touch.
leaving only my tubulars (i'm doing this all from memory).
My Tubular wheels, the Grammo CX, were sent to me to test by Thom K (now of Service Course Velo), aka free. But then the front one was destroyed in an unfortunate incident (being understated). Chip came through with a front wheel loaner and G-ride gave me a wheel destined for the garbage, an old campy rim that he raced on in highschool. But it made the tubular set complete.

This is all from memory mind you.

So. Point being. My road wheel selection sucks. Esp for racing here in New England where the competition fucking off the hook and serious, and everyone knows I don't have the talent or the time to spend overcoming equipment deficiencies. But I still raced what I got because that's what I have. I may complain but it hasn't ever stopped me from participating.

Anyway.

These reynold strikes were going to be HUGE. heavy but for a flat course like ninigret or the thursday night time trial, or something else flat and fast. These would be sooooo needed and appreciated.

Then...

well Then Chandler CYCLOWHAT announced that Zipp was coming to the party with a raffle for supporters. Then he said they were teaming with therollercam.com to broadcast the raffle drawing life.

It was tuesday at 8pm. Tuesday (this week) rolled around and I got distracted and completely forgot until Timmie tweeted a reminder. And I totally needed it.

Hopped on there.

First name out of the hat after 60 minutes of chandler trying to get TJ's connection sorted out and other stuff was Mike Golay. That son of a bitch won a Westervelebvenwahtwehgthth 8. A kick ass belgie beer. But I'd made a point to stop drinking the week before and I was holding steady so I was wicked happy someone I knew won.

Kind of still reeling about that when Timmie pulled the next name out and it was mine. For the wheels.

The ZIPP 101s.

And

I

was

floored.

WHAT?

No way.

(again - no clue about them other than the video they played about them)
$600? crazy.

Wait. That's just for the front wheel.

Holy hell.

These are nice wheels too.

Two pair of nice wheels might seem kind of crazy, but man do I need them.

I actually thought maybe I should sell them. They'd make a very small dent and help a bit but... I really would use these. I really actually NEED these.

I was going to wait until I had photos of the wheels but as good as I've been posting photos, that's not going to happen.

Myerson says repeatedly enough that I associate the phrase with him "you make your own luck." And to a degree that is true. But there is an element of random chance that we cannot control, and for that I am thankful for.

Huge Thanks to Reynolds and Zipp for putting up the goods for the causes.

I will be appreciating them oh so much this year.

heddwch
G