You know you are a true XC addict when few aspects of the sport excite you like a skinsuit.
Do you sport a euro-mullet/faux-hawk a la Fabian Weggman or Lado Fumic?
Have you ever seriously considered it?
Have you ever been called a "Leg Shaving Dirt Nazi/Skinny-Tire Tree Hugger" or something like it?
Have you run out of fingers to count the times you've tried to explain WHY you shave your legs?
Maybe you've noticed how sleek a skinsuit looked on the back of your favorite rider. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski. Adam Craig. Jeremiah Bishop.
If you have then maybe you can understand how excited I was when I got my first skinsuit. As soon as I realized what was in the mail that day I took it straight to my room and tried it on. I left it on for while even though I wasn't planning on riding. I called/emailed the friends I knew would appreciate it.
They were excited. Maybe you are getting excited too.
Hopefully you are starting to grasp by now how upsetting it would be if something were to happen to my skinsuit. Like if I were to crash in said skinsuit. In a cyclocross race. Two weeks ago.
As you can probably imagine, my dismay over ruining my skinsuit was almost as strong as my dismay over crashing in general, and 300+ dollars in doctors bills specifically.
I was feeling down. Some might say I was in a "Funk".
But then something happened. Something magical that cheered me up: I got an email from Jon Rourke, fearless leader of the Subaru/Gary Fisher Mountain Bike Team asking me, "short sleeved or long?" Apparently, making the impossible, possible on a daily basis, out on the road for weeks at a time, while playing Den Mother to a trailerfull of athletes from around the world is not enough. Nope. Not only did Jon and pro mechanics Matt and Brett help me with everything from feeds to Stan's when I arrived un-announced at their trailer for the east coast NORBA races, woefully unprepared, Jon ALSO went out of his way to send me one of the team skinsuits that I had coveted all year. And THEN, when I tore it up in a crash he says to me "short sleeved or long?"
There are so many guys like them that work behind the scenes, that you will probably never be aware of until they totally save your ass. Jon Posner (Trek) and John Dawson (SRAM) among others. Y'all are rock stars!
No comments:
Post a Comment