St. Patricks Day's Baddest: Introducing La Noche Miami Criterium

I was sitting back at the breakfast table this morning with my usual cup of joe. I was thinking back and relishing my days spent in Florida a couple weeks prior. I thought about South Beach and all the fun I had while visiting. I could easily say Miami, in general, wouldn't be the city I'd chose to define who I am as a person. But for some reason, I'm drawn like a magnet to the fine city every time I'm in the area. I think it's the fact that it South Beach goes against everything that typically makes me comfortable that gives me such a thrill while I'm there. The people-watching there is some of the best on earth, for sure! In the city's attempt to define it's style by allowing all that is superficial and pretentious to reign supreme, it kind of funny how actually reduces humanity to it's most primitive form. Life in South Beach boils down to a contest of the fabulous; hunters and the hunted, the survival of the fittest... literally.

Going back to my coffee table daydream. I started wondering if there were any races through any downtown areas of Miami. I thought the city would make an excellent backdrop for a criterium. I had no clue my Google search would yield such an interesting results. I found a race, billing one of the grittiest races on two wheels I've ever heard publicly pitched.

However, just a short jaunt from the glitz and glimmer of Ocean Blvd,  crossing over the Julia Tuttle Causeway will drop you into the Wynwood Art District of Miami. This is where vanity fades and irony takes over. It seems wherever there's art these days, a fixie loving hipster community won't be too far from it. It was in this neighborhood of the city that I would learn of a different brand of contest.

On March 17th, in conjunction with the Miami Bike Film Festival, La Noche Miami Criterium will consist of two races, one geared, one fixed (alleycat style) contest on a 4/5 mile four cornered flat and fast road course. As I read on, it only got better. Both of these contests will be held after dark. Needless to say, neither of the races are sanctioned. I so badly want to be there to see this play out in real-time. I hope to hell those putting the race on make sure the course stays well sealed off from outside traffic.

I know this race is a bit unconventional, but I think this is what I dig about it most. I love the attempt to combine a couple of cycling cliques that typically would not run side-by-side to have a clean and simple good time. Well.., maybe not so much "clean", you couldn't pay me enough to participate in the fixed gear race, OUCH! I've always thought organized amateur road and track cycling could benefit with closer ties to its urban dwelling underground fixed gear cousins. If anything, they could earn a greater appreciation for a vegan diet, PBR, and some badass Indie Rock.

 Coincidentally, the race runs immediately parallel to I-95, the nation's most dangerous stretch of highway! The  potential perils of this race could only be rivaled by that of an action movie set. I guess that plays perfectly into it's partnership with the Bike Film Fest. I wouldn't be surprised if this event becomes a documentary in next year's fest. I couldn't think of a better way to spend St. Patrick's Day. It's too bad my time down there is over for the year or I'd be there for sure! You can bet I'll keep my eyes peeled on YouTube on the days following. I'll be hoping to catch a few moments from the contest. Best of luck to the brave souls competing. This one could get interesting!

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Dropped the ball...

Been a while since my last entry. I have to admit, I was rather swept up by the last couple of weeks down in Florida. Since my return the weekend prior to Valentine's Day, I've just been reacclimating myself to remaining portion of the cold Chicagoland winter. It was a hell of a trip. After a week or so of great dock fishing, I circumnavigated the central to southern portion of Florida. I departed Tampa to drop off some friends that came for a brief visit in Orlando. There wasn't much to see there. I drove down to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up another friend that flew in from Chicago. I stayed a night in Ft. Lauderdale, taking in the nightlife in the Las Olas portion of town. From there it was down to Miami Beach for a day to enjoy the beach and the always entertaining Ocean Blvd / South Beach area. We then worked our way down through the keys taking in some of the best weather I've ever experience down there this time of year.

Camping in Key West was so relaxing. Met some really interesting transplants and natives. They pointed us in the direction of some really great hidden locals bars and restaurants. Didn't have a chance to cover them all, but I'll be sure to hit them next time. After a few days we trucked back North to Miami Beach for one more night. I dropped my buddy off in Ft. Lauderdale, took one more stroll down Ft. Lauderdale Beach and then it was off across Alligator Alley (only spotted one. It was chilly) and back up to Tampa. I packed the remainder of my gear at my sister's house and pointed north to make Nashville the first day. I missed a bad winter storm that hit the southern region the day before. It was smooth sailing back home with great tunes and plenty of sunshine. It's always becomes a drag when I hit southern Indiana. That's when things pretty much start to look like Illinois....BLAH!

So here I am, once again. I'm riding out the last 5-6 weeks of crap weather in IL (mostly on my trainer). I'm sure anyone who religiously follows my blog have been waiting with bated breath for an entry since my last..... all 3 of you. I missed a lot of big things going on, so here's a poor attempt at catching up....

Superbowl - I had to leave the Key West bar that I wound up in to watch the game. I've never been so gutted by a game in my entire life. Just didn't feel up to watching the Green 'n' Gold since it had only been two weeks since they sent my beloved Bears packing. Have I matured that much (doubtful) or has the humor in commercials really been reduced to the lowest common denominator within a viewing audience? Kinda sad, but it sure beats the dot com ads of the mid nineties. GOOD GOD, those were boring and most of the companies promoted proved to have the staying power of Justin Bieber.

Egypt- YEAH, Facebook liberated one of the world's most ancient civilizations! Leave it to Americans to finally abstain (kinda) from involvement in a major world event, but find a way to justify it's success with a product of U.S. origin. Not trying to be ignorant about the significance of social networking/media in situations like this, but I think the key ingredient is America (gov't) finally starting to see the value of keeping their guns at home. If you think about it, this has really made George Bush look like even more of an ass. Passively feeding the fire of a foreign civil uprising with open and distant verbal support; it's a good template for the future. I prefer implosions over explosions. Good to see Obama starting to earn that Nobel Peace Prize.

Grammy's- Hey, to their credit, they try....kinda. I blame myself for always stumbling upon the event for several hours on end. I always hope that they're going to turn a corner. But always; pop product of the moment, catchy "country" ballad, young pop product of the moment, acknowledgment of those they've snubbed over the years they had their head in their asses and missed a moment, movement, or scene that has in one way or another shaped our nation/world culture. And then there's always the comeback story that everyone seems to always be a sucker for...

Notes from the event:

- I would love to someday arrive to a Catholic Mass in the same fashion that Lady Gaga did. But I'd pop out of the egg dressed as a Rabbi.

- It was good to see Arcade Fire handed the award for Album of the Year. After the conclusion of the show, it left many around the country asking "Who are these guys and I wonder if they sell their CD in Starbucks?"
- Bob Dylan has reinvented himself once again. This time into Tom Waits.
- Mick Jager looks like he's still got some good years left in him...even though he followed up the musical deaths of note over the last year. Is that like the Sports Illustrated cover curse?
- I had no idea Tim Tebow was the lead-man in Mumford & Sons. 
- Can someone ask Will Smith to stop reproducing? He's worse than a Georgian toddler beauty pageant mom. Sometimes parents just don't understand. 
- Lady Antebellums' "Need You Now" should be used on a late night burrito commercial for Taco Bell. Think about it. 

Lance Armstrong Retires...again - Austin's pride and joy better watch out. One more retirement and he'll start to be mentioned in the same breathe as Cher and Garth Brooks. Love what he's done for the sport and for the money he's raised for notable causes. But I'm sorry, with all those at the top of the cycling world falling into conviction and/or speculation of doping, I have to admit that his star has dimmed a bit for me.

IL state Taxes raised by 66%- After being handed some relief from the Federal Government, IL just couldn't wait but a week or two to snatch it all back and stuff it in their kitty. Census number report 200,000 people have left Chicago in the last decade. However, road construction just seems to increase year after year. I like the more pavement per capita approach; better make much of it a bike lane. Bike lanes are green (that's still popular in political agendas, right?) and a bike is all a poverty to middle-class person is going to be able to afford pretty soon. Great time of the year to implement the increase as well. A perfect time for people to look at their lives in the bleak winter months and ask themselves "Why the hell do I live here?!" Note: There are ten states in nation that have NO state income tax. Several of them are warmer!

Rahm 'n' oodles - After Rahm Emanuel's brief period of being removed from the Chicago mayoral ballot, it was great to see his name return after review by the state's Supreme Court. It's not that I'm a huge fan of Rahm, but if a polls are indicating a candidate to have a majority of the vote, I really don't care where they're from. The voice of the people is what is most important. Also, the man left the City of Chicago to serve a temporary and greater purpose for his country. It was shameful to see the insiders of Chicago politics yet again flexing their muscle to try to strong-arm their agenda by way of loophole. I'd like to see politicians try to pull the same on a recent war veteran. It wouldn't happen. But the one thing I'm not fond of regarding Rahm's campaign is the shameless running of commercials with verbal endorsement by Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton. How can  any local government candidate compete with that in a predominantly Democratic city? That's just playing dirty pool. Also, kinda funny how William Daley (brother of Richard M. Daley - current mayor of Chicago for all outsiders or Chicagoans sleeping under a rock for the past 22 years) lands Rahm's abandoned post without much scrutiny.  Funny how things unravel when two parties are in a situation to scratch one another's backs. I'm sure the final decision for the post came down to resume and track record.

Sorry to make this entry sound like an Andy Rooney rant, I'll work on the positivity in the following days. I have plenty of good things in the works and look forward everyday to the improvement of the weather. I think I'm going to hit the Lake Front trail to ride some base miles. I'm getting emails about spring training criteriums. This is making me feel warmer already. I've been spending more time on foot, hoofing it on some cross training runs. I've left the running shoes at home for the past couple years. It's going to be nice to crank out some 5-10K's this year. Maybe even a half marathon; I'm sure a suggestion to do a full will come from someone. Hopefully I'll have the strength to resist. My knees hurt just thinking about it!