I wouldn’t call myself a “fanboy” of too many things (George Hincapie, Bacon, and Jeff King notwithstanding…), but when a rare opportunity comes to ride with the big boys, you sure as hell take it. Plus, I needed an excuse to take off of work today and make it a three day weekend.

If you don’t already know, Sunday is the Harlem Crit. If you’re in the city and you race, you should sure as hell be racing it. If you don’t race but like to check out cool sporting events, you should sure as hell be watching. This year the race is being promoted by John Eustice and sponsored by Michael Ball and Rock Racing. With people Like Ball involved, it ‘s sure to be an awesome event that’s full of action. and hot podium girls.

Somehow our coach Alex got in touch with John Eustice and got us an opportunity to go for a ride with Fast Freddie, Michael Ball, and the rest of the Rock Racing crew. What better excuse to take a day off???

we all got together at tavern and eventually few of the Rock racing guys rolled up. about 30 teammates and bike racing peers skipped work to go for a ride with these guys, and off we went. The Rock racing guys were really approachable and everyone got a chance to shoot the shit with them. I think the average cat 4 racer dreams of a chance to casually ride with someone like Freddie Rodriguez and nonchalantly engage in generic bike-banter. you want to talk and act like its totally normal and no big deal, but then the minute they ride off, you squeal like a girl and almost pee your pants. you know who you are.

Actually, my teammate and local Tech-dork Michael Beckerman proceeded to query all of the Rock racing teammates on their max wattages. he’ll be publishing his findings shortly. I was more concerned about how much bacon each of them manages to get in their diet. (not enough)

After one or two laps a few more characters rolled up. All of a sudden Michael Ball is riding with us, along with a few more rock racers, Ivan Dominguez, and Garcia from Toyota-United. It was a super-ultra-mega-meta-hyper pantheon of awesomeness. the ride started getting a little faster at points, with some of the overzealous CRCA guys (cough, cough, Colin P) wanting to sprint up Harlem hill with Freddy. That was pretty funny to watch, as it was probably the most patronizing sprint I’ve ever seen anyone perform…

All of the Rock racing guys are super-pumped for this weekend, and rightfully so. As fun as Harlem was last year, this year is going to donkey punch it right out of the park. Crits like the Harlem race are Perfect venues to bring spectators back to cycling, which is what it needs. The average Joe six-pack on the street doesn’t know how exciting a bike race can be to watch, and this is the perfect opportunity to show the general public why we do what we do. the Harlem Crit is going to be the Epitome of fast, furious (and probably crash-filled) bike racing. people are going to want face-time on the Jumbo-tron, and the attacks are going to be nonstop. It’s going to be one of the hardest 30-minute races of the season. I’m so pumped for it i could pee myself (but i won’t).

After four laps, we stopped by tavern and the Photo/autograph/butt kissing session began. The guys were really cool with being swarmed by men in tights, and once we got it out of our system, we said our thank yous and goodbyes. And then like magic, the Rock Racing Escalades Rolled in on ‘dubs and whisked them away. too cool.

Love him or hate him, Michael Ball is doing great things for our sport. He’s bringing it back into the public spotlight in a way that no one has the balls to. He’s also also a master at bringing back the “rock” hand symbol. I miss using the “Rock” symbol, and frankly, the hand symbol i’ve been using as a substitute has been pissing some of my friends off and messing up family photos…

Sure he’s a bit controversial, and challenging the status quo is bound to attract some haters. I think those people should wait until Sunday to cast judgment. It’s going to be awesome.

After a fantastic day of riding with pros and not going to work, I was so overcome with joy that I whipped out the hula hoop that i keep with me at all times and put it to good use. It’s a good thing I’m prepared for such situations.

See you on Sunday.