If I am to be honest, I looked forward to racing the "big race" at FBF this season about as much as I look forward to witnessing Justin Bieber’s inevitable upcoming rebellious "gangsta" phase. This is not only because I prefer the Bieb’s older, rawer stuff, but also because—like Justin flashing gang signs in a leather vest—I am in unfamiliar and potentially humiliating territory. But I made my pledge to do the 1/2/3 race after winning the 3/4 series and I’m sticking to that pledge, even if it means looking sillier than a Canadian teen in a NWA hoodie.
But so far this season, the big race hasn’t been the debacle I was afraid of. I’ve even managed to score a point—in a sprint no less. I’ve never been dropped and I can hold my own during the race. You could even say I’ve been an active participant in the races on Tuesdays. And that’s saying quite a lot considering that my main goals for the race series were: "survive" and "appear tougher than a Ontarian who’s never shaved".
It was with this sort of confidence that I made my way to Tuesday’s race. I again carpooled with Mihael, my life coach, and on the drive to FBF we worked ourselves into a state of motivation by discussing tidiness and the pros and cons of having a monkey live in your house (I took the anti-monkey position, my biggest "con"—feces above eye level). Once at the race, I warmed up with Mihael and then sought out my teammates to formulate our plan for the evening.
Looking about, we noticed that some of the regular participants of the race were missing. Augusto of Mengoni was gone, as were the Burrowes Brothers, so that eliminated some potential race animators. There were five of us BHes: myself, Phil, Andrew, Eric and Michael; and this roll call led us to a rather obvious conclusion—we were one of the stronger teams present—and as such, we should attack and see what happened. We lined up for the race and shoved off.
The first half of the race was a succession of attacks, chases and counters so numerous that I couldn’t hope to recount them all here. These accelerations did serve to wear out the race a bit though, and about halfway through the race, teammate Phil got into a promising move with Matt S of Rapha, Adam A of Foundation and Jose C of JV racing. They began working to increase their gap, while we BHes in the back stayed away from the front and jumped to cover anything that looked dangerous. After about a lap, it became obvious that Mengoni was content to have four non-contenders for the overall series up the road—as chasing would only increase the odds that anyone threatening the absent Augusto’s series lead would gain on him. This was absolutely fine with us, as it allowed Phil to do what he does best, exert himself until he talks with an English accent.
This situation lasted for about five laps. The break kept a steady gap of about a straightaway, and we covered anything that popped off the front. As the laps flipped away on Charlie I’s board, the break looked like a winner—all that was left was to sort out the remaining points. Bolstered by my recent success at Harlem, I nominated myself to be the team sprinter, of course I could have done a better job of notifying the team of this, as teammate Eric thought that I was leading him out.
Normally to be successful in a sprint, I need a 3/4 to 1/2 mile leadout (seriously). I need the race strung out for as long as possible, as this allows me to stay near the front while those caught behind get fatigued, and it allows me to sprint from a smaller group—which keeps me from getting bounced about and jumped by stronger sprinters. Luckily, this is the way the sprint played out, the bunch was lined out from turn two until turn four, and when we hit turn four, I went up the inside and took off with a tailwind behind me. Danny L of Die Hard had craftily gone up the left side and got the jump on me, and we dragged it out to the finish. He beat me and shockingly, no one else came around me. I placed sixth, second in the field sprint. Phil ended up a fantastic fourth on the night after towing around some, let’s say less than alive wood on the course. Eric lead himself out for eighth. A very good night for the BHes.
As a caveat, I should note here that the sprint for fifth and the sprint for first at FBF are two entirely different things, and there were probably a lot of people in the race who were tired from racing at Harlem, or weren’t interested in a minor placing. So many guys may not have contested the sprint as they normally would. I liken this situation to coming upon a five dollar bill floating in a public toilet. The fellow who has a wallet full of twenties isn’t going to stick his hand in the water and pull that bill out, but the guy who carries his possessions around in a handkerchief tied to a stick will dive headfirst into that bowl and pluck that money out like he’s bobbing for apples. And last night, my sixth place made me the happy hobo with a toilet fiver in his teeth.
and perceptive hobo analogy
is a race report. nice. thanks for the laugh
Yo , dont go forcing bieber to ” have to choke a bitch “, he is straight up gangsta !
Does 6th place pay out at FBF?
Points but no cash, cash goes five deep.
Sounds like BH did a great job of picking up non-podium placings!
Thanks!
Kind of embarrassing to say that you are were the strongest team in the race, “blocked” for the break, did all the work in said break, and managed to get last out of the break. Good thing you have no race director to answer to.
Love the weekly read but the lack of love to our Canadian friends and then specifically calling out the great province of Ontario has to stop.
Seriously, a race director for a team riding in FBF “training race?” That’s like having a pitching coach for kiddie t-ball.
If that’s so, what analogy do you have for a yellow jersey, a green jersey, and a U23 white jersey in a training race?
A race director for Schmalz is like Lucy teaching Charlie Brown how to play football.
Did Phil at least split the $25 for fourth amongst his teammates?
Did you hit White Castle afterward, splurging on the big payout?
with the 5 dollars profit we made we split it on some chewing gum, did you split your winnings with your team mates ?
I was only calling out a specific Canadian, Ontario gave us Bieber.
You need to raise your reading comprehension—Moby Dick is not about a techo artist’s man vegetable—I said were one of the strongest teams there, not THE strongest. And what’s wrong with putting a guy into a break and letting him race it out?
PS – bite me.
herman melville is supposedly moby’s great-great-granduncle or some such
What’s wrong with reshuffling the break? Seems to me that your strategy worked perfectly for Adam. Let him drive it as he is by far the favorite to win out of that break, if he won’t work and it comes back get another one of your guys in the break without him. Like you said, you were one of the strongest teams there. Four of the five people are very capable of being in a break.
A little strange to put your race report out on the internet then get upset over people being critical, no?
Phil is a strong rider and did great to get into the winning break but the team had to know he was racing for 4th given the other guys in the break – though that probably was best course of action.
There was going to be no “reshuffling” if we brought the break back, it would’ve been too late, and teams would’ve set up for the sprint. Mengoni had Pollo, Foundation had Gavin, Stalin was there, as was Godfrey. There’s no way we’d place above fifth in that scenario, so fourth from the break was what we considered our best shot.
And why am I supposed to be cool with a comment that basically calls me and my teammates stupid?
Bite a different part of me.
Hey, you said it.
wow, if i knew how much shit you get for finishing 4th in only your 3rd ever 1,2,3 at floyd i would not have bothered racing.
You think i dont know if two guys keep missing turns and doing short pulls that they are saving it for sprint.
I will happily take 4th and those of you that are critical can move to england , english love to bash anyone’s performance ” build them up to knock them down ” thats the way.
Just look at the english football team, load of fucking rubbish !
Phil, you would’ve been cool with us chasing you down to “reshuffle” things, right? Chasing down a teammate wouldn’t have had any repercussions I’m sure…
why would you chase him down?
Good job Phil!
How else would we “reshuffle”?
taking 4th in that race is a pretty huge frickin’ success where I come from.
If Phil wanted to be chased down by his own team he would move to Mengoni.
Don’t you mean Adler?
great race, great result, great recap. thumbs up.
Adler would try to, Mengoni could actually do it.
Schmalz is the man!
getting shit on nyv means you have arrived
Don’t worry Dan. If you do win the race, you will still get shits from riders on the message board….hehehe…
Schmalz don’t listen to William Ziptie… his pecker is smaller than most and he is just jealous of you. Btw, thanks for always “entertaining” me 😉
4th is a good result there. Unless you’re mengoni or a burrowes or ricky you’re just happy you’re in the winning break. Plus it’s not like there’s a real podium at FBF. So if you can’t win, then in the money is all that matters.
With who Mengoni had on Tues night they couldn’t have pulled back that move if they tried. breach alone can’t do it. They needed Bunde or Sanchez.
Is the FBF race on for tonight or is it CANCELED?
4th is the new killing it.
if i could get 4th in a 123 race there i’d be stoked. that’s a good result.
A break would reshuffle if Phil wasn’t cool with dragging around all the “less than alive wood” that he delivered to the line first. Force the strongest sprinter in the break to do a fair share of work and if they are sitting on and skipping pulls you have two choices.
1. Sit up.
2. Attack.
If you sit up, then your teammates (Eric, Andrew, Micheal, maybe Dan) should be pretty fresh from sitting in and attentive at the front to counter or to go with the counter.
If you attack, then you potentially get away from the sprinter and win.
Is the FBF race on for tonight or is it CANCELED?
Tonight’s race, Thursday, June 23, has been CANCELED.
See here:
http://www.wsunited.org/
Well, that’s what we did back in the pack. Phil decided to go for it.
Phil should’ve gone all pissed off Belgium Kermesse style on his breakaway companions and put ’em in the weeds (or would that be reeds?), where they’d be eaten alive by giant blood sucking mosquitoes. Think of that strategy next time.
15% chance of rain. 75 degrees. Weak cancellation.
4th is 1st in Wales – attaboyo!
Weak Cancellation – You can go race the wind! More power to you!
Seriously canceled too quickly.
It’s all about “trying” it and that’s what BH did.
Phil is too proud to sit in and risk the break getting caught. He probably would have pulled the whole break if he could! So what he didn’t win. Most of your weasels couldn’t hold his wheel even if you tried. And Dan-imal is just a smart racer who reads the race well. I am sure the other BH guys contributed a lot before the last break. Easy for you say do this or do that on Wednesday morning. Sounds like BH did survey the field enough to try to do something as a team. That’s a lot more than some other “teams” will ever do.
Phil, the English national side is rubbish though, Cappello or not…:)
http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2011&id=170&info_id=39134
by 2/10ths of a second- wow!! I’d be pissed if I were Amber!
cancelled for the 30% chance of a shower at 6 pm?
FBF cancellations are more about flooding than rain.
It’s going to be a perfect day for racing. If only had I known sooner. Would have made arrangments to go out to Rockleigh. Weak @ss cancellation. HTFU!!!!
WTF?
Rockleigh is cancelled too. Just because there’s no racing tonight doesn’t mean you can’t still ride your bike and/or find something else to do. Get a grip.
????
I approve of 4th and 6th. Good job Phil and Dan.
Schmalz – you really don’t like this kid do you!!!
http://www.gossipcop.com/justin-bieber-attacked-knocked-down-macys-injured-hurt-june-23-2011-barricade/
Dan your analogy of the person with the 20s not bothering to reach for the 5 bill floating in the public toilet reminded me of the Slumdog Millionaire moment when the little dude has to jump into the waste from the outhouse but ultimately triumphantly gets the autograph of the movie star whilst covered in shit. Not that I think you are shit or covered in shit for that matter or anything like that but something about your triumphant joy and the public toilet reminded me of that for some reason!
Daniel Workman
–
A senior business and finance writer who also translates insurance and international trade documents into French.
Why Wheat and Corn are Top US Exports to Libya – Indigoprime (Flickr)
Recent political unrest in Libya has consumers around the world nervous about oil and gas prices.
This is understandable. The price of oil surpassed US$100 per barrel on February 23, ending the day at $98.10.
If Libyan ruler Maommar Gadhafi continues to use force to remain in power, the risk of major oil companies in Libya shutting down their operations is real. According to Reuters,australian ugg boots uk, some producers like Royal Dutch Shell have already started withdrawing expatriate staff from Libya.
Don’t be fooled by Libya’s relatively small population of 6.5 million. The North African nation sandwiched between Egypt and Tunisia posted a huge trade surplus of $1.45-billion the United States during 2010. That represents a 15.9% improvement over Libya’s $1.25 billion competitive advantage one year earlier.
Libya’s trade advantage over the United States comes down to one word: oil.
Top US Imports from Libya
Libyan exports to the United States rose 10.3% to $2.1 billion for 2010. Libyan crude oil accounted for over three-quarters of total exports. Including other leading petroleum products, oil-related imports generated about 93% of Libyan shipments to America.
Crude oil … US$1.6 billion (up 16.6%, 77.6% of total)Non-light petroleum oil … $308.4 million (down 10.5%, 14.6% of total)Ethylene and other liquefied gases … $92.3 million (up 42.3%, 4.4% of total)Urea … $29.9 million (up 128.4%,ugg australia uk, 1.4% of total)Light petroleum oil … $19.2 million (down 48.2%, 0.9% of total)Anhydrous ammonia … $7 million (up 29.8%,ugg boots sale clearance, 0.3% of total)Aromatic hydrocarbons … $6.2 million (up from nil, 0.3% of total)Petroleum gases (not natural gas) … $6.17 million (up 90.6%, 0.3% of total)Aeronautical navigation devices … $17,000 (up from nil,uggs clearance, insignificant)Substances used in food or drinks … $6,000 (up from nil, insignificant).
Sales of light petroleum oil were cut in half in 2010, while the non-light oil had a less-severe 10.5% decline.
Still,ugg boots uk, Libya was able to significantly grow its sales of crude oil to America by a respectable 16.6% for the year. Libyan exports of petroleum gases and liquefied gases were up by 90.6% and 42.3% respectively.
Top US Exports to Libya
U.S. exports to Libya were $665.4 million in 2010 – roughly the same as the $666.1 million one year earlier. Automobiles,ugg outlet store, machinery and agricultural food items represent bestselling American products shipped to Libya.
Medium-sized vehicles … US$107.7 million (down 5% from 2009,ugg bailey button, 16.2% of total)Drilling machinery parts … $35.6 million (down 29%, 5.3% of total)Wheat … $24.8 million (up from nil, 3.7% of total)Rice … $19.6 million (up 442.8%, 2.9% of total)Corn oil … $17.3 million (up 54.7%, 2.6% of total)Miscellaneous machinery … $15.7 million (down 11.2%,genuine ugg boots sale uk, 2.4% of total)Corn … $15.4 million (up 102.8%, 2.3% of total)Aircraft including spacecraft and parts … $14.2 million (up 318.5%,ugg uk store, 2.1% of total)Small-sized vehicles … $12.7 million (down 24.5%, 1.9% of total)Gas filtering and purifying machinery … $11.6 million (up 1,295.4%, 1.7% of total).
Sales of U.S. gas filtering equipment,ugg sale, wheat and rice had the fastest percentage increases last year. Led by oil drilling equipment, 4 of the top 10 U.S. exports to Libya posted annual decreases over 2009.
From the top 10 list, U.S. agricultural food exports to Libya including corn oil represent 12.2% of total exports. American automobile exports chalk up another 18.1%.
Compared with the 93% for Libya’s oil-related exports, U.S. exports to Libya are much more diversified.
America appears to be still addicted to Mideast oil including that from Libya. However, this statistics show strong U.S. competitive advantages in essential food supplies as well as land and air transportation vehicles.
To make a meaningful reduction in its trade deficit, the United States must curb or find a replacement for imported Libyan energy while selling more American exports to the small North African country.
America’s success in international trade with Libya must happen regardless of whether Muammar Gaddafi remains as leader.
Sources: This article provides independent insights and calculations based on source data from the U.S. Imports/Exports Dataweb (accessed February 21, 2011). Libya’s population statistics are from the CIA World Factbook (accessed February 24).
ç›¸å…³çš„ä¸»é¢˜æ–‡ç« ï¼š
Kym Irving
–
Content Writer and SEO newbie by day and golf warrior on the weekends!
If you are wondering why the latest buzz is to call an end to the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program,uggs clearance, just talk to any homeowner who has worked with their lender to get a loan modification. Good in theory and in effort on behalf of the government to come to the rescue of struggling homeowners. However,ugg boots sale, the program has been plagued with issues from the first month of its inception. Like typical government assistance programs,uk ugg sale, the mounds of extra paper work weigh heavily on just about everyone involved in this process.
The 50-state investigation into the lending practices and foreclosure processes of many lenders and mortgage servicers has discovered issues with how mortgage servicers have been processing paperwork, leading to the "robo signing" we all became too well aware of. Government officials across the country have voiced their opinions on how best to proceed with dismantling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as overhauling the mortgage servicing industry. Financial experts want to prevent another financial crisis. As the proposal to regulate the mortgage servicing industry comes into focus, the debate of ending government programs flares up as Republicans and Democrats discuss how best to help the struggling homeowner from falling further into turmoil.
As many homeowners have experienced, working with a mortgage servicer has not been easy and to top it off, Bank of America now holds the majority of mortgages in the country. This may have caused more of a headache for homeowners with mortgages. If you are a homeowner who has a loan with Bank of America you probably know how hard it is working with this large lender. It is almost impossible to get the same answer from them when calling one of their many call centers.
One of the most common issues with homeowners on applying for a loan modification is the paperwork involved. Applying for a loan modification is similar to refinancing a home,uggs sale uk, except for the extra forms you may need to provide. The lender performs title searches,ugg boots for sale, appraisals and a review of your income, assets and debt.
Bad loans were given to people who honestly could not afford home ownership and now some of those same people are in serious trouble. After all, many homeowners took out creative financing, such as stated income loans,ugg bailey button, no doc loans,ugg uk online, no income no asset loans and interest only loans. Many Americans are over-extended,ugg boot sale uk, living well beyond their means with credit card debt that they will never be able to pay back,ugg uk store, cars they cannot afford, and mortgage payments that are more than half of what they make. Fannie Mae guidelines state no more than 31 percent of your income should go towards your mortgage. Believe it or not many homeowners are at least paying half of what they earn in mortgage payments and the rest is left to feed the young ones, pay other bills or spend.
Drastic changes need to happen to keep everyone in check, and if it means reeling in the big mortgage servicers and lenders so be it.
The Home Affordable Modification Program has only helped about 500,000 homeowners stay in their homes. Projections and hopes for this program were well into the millions. There have been problems with handling the volume,ugg boots sale, the need for better participation from lenders and investors, and the overall poor implementation of the program to date.
ç›¸å…³çš„ä¸»é¢˜æ–‡ç« ï¼š