LPP January recap, the one where I finally figure out how to take videos.

So, Hampton Park is in the bag.

Post race drinks, next to the jump track. Special thanks to Eric B. for hosting and letting us ride his jumptrack!

Unlike last year, the conditions for this edition were perfect: hard, fast and with the snow that fell earlier in the day, plenty grippy. The racing was fast and at times intense; Marty got accused of throwing an elbow, but claims that he was just passing on the inside. No fists were thrown, so all ended well. Overwhelmingly people were pleasant and polite and new folks were greeted warmly. Post race, Iain confessed he felt really awkward having to ask the rider in front of him if he had lapped him.

Oh, the burden of being fast...

The best part of that exchange was that the person lied to Iain and said that he had, but in truth hadn't, thus avoiding said lapping for a while longer. Tricky!

After three years, I think I finally have nailed down the way to mark a course well enough that folks who are cross-eyed from effort don't go off course, even at night. Without using tape, that is. This year the feedback was great: people didn't get lost; and the comments could be surmised with the following statement: Not grueling but it had enough surprises to keep you on your toes. 

Especially if you were George, riding a single-speed 29er, as seen below: There were about three guys who came out on regular bikes, and seemed to hold their own.

 

Around 30 folks showed up, many new to the scene, including four ladies (finally)! Of note was Kat W, who along with Sean R. decided that racing was best done in the following format: Do a lap, have a beer, do a lap, have another beer, spectate for a bit, then do a last lap, followed by more beer. Mel, the fastest of the womenfolk, was just excited to be out: she and her husband Andrew have been coming out to races regularly, but with a young child, they don't get out as much as they would like. Unfortunately, the babysitter had to cancel at the last minute. Since Andrew made it out in December, Mel was up. She was all smiles.

The top three were Matt, Iain, and Ted. Rob P would likely have been in there, but had a mechanical. He borrowed  his wife Trish's bike, but didn't regain contact with the front runners, even though they stopped and waited for him. Since the top three all said they would rather be third than try to produce art, I will not give them rankings. Matt tried to persuade me to accept his nose-bonks on the table-top jump as performance art, but since it wasn't really engaging in some larger discourse, I couldn't accept it. And anyways, Ted was doing some nice jumping too...

I will leave you with this one final video. Jakob, the unicyclist showed up again, as he did at Fortune. He loved the course and again, he impressed the hell out of everyone with his speed and skills. Here he is on the jump course, on his way to becoming a fan favourite!

Thanks to everyone for coming out; it looks like I managed to cover my costs again, which is all I ever want. Well, that and some free stuff.

See you all in February.

-Flounder