Time for new kits! We have 3 designs we are picking from this year, with a special thanks to Becky Welbes & Becky Welbes Design, it will be difficult to pick our favorite.

Sun & sand are two important factors for any day at the beach, but when it comes to cyclocross, the sun part is usually not a factor. No snow this year, just some wonderfully deep sand.

A very big thanks to Ten27 Cycles for putting together another great race. LOVE me some sand, next time, add more.

Also, a very huge, giant, enormous thank you to all the llamas racing their bikes all season long.

Star Wars cookies and blue berry pie were delicious.

This is awesome.

Results of the herd:

Brandon Murphy – Masters 30+ – 26th

John Hunt – Cat 4 – 16th

Katie Tomarelli – Cat 1/2/3 – 11th

Becky Welbes – Cat 1/2/3 – 13th

Katie Maser – Cat 4 – 25th

Jenn Wilson – Cat 4 – 29th

A big fat thanks to all our sponsors!

Title Sponsor:

The Kinky Llama

Sponsors:

Village Cycle Center

SRAM

Trek Bikes

Sidi Cycling Shoes

Giro Sport Design

GORE Bike Wear

Saris Cycling Group

Tifosi Optics

ENZO’s Cycling Products

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LlamaTradingCo

Many other Llamas descended upon Woodstock, Il to flog their legs at the Psi-clocross for Life cyclocross race. I remember doing this race last year and recall it being a very different course than most of the other Cup venues. There weren’t nearly as many switchbacks and hairpins as other races. Lots of long bumpy straights and off camber turns ratcheted up the fun factor as well as a speedy romp through some hilly, wooded single track. Of course, there is also heckle hill, with its hairpin turn / barrier combo at the base of the hill- one of the few mandatory run ups in the Cup series (unless you’re Barry Wicks)!

I was obliged to enter two races today as I took last week off and needed to catch up on my suffer fix. First up was the masters 30. This is always such a great group to race with. It’s an early race, so you get to ride the course fresh. Everyone in this group has lots of experience too and there is a comfort in knowing that everyone knows what they are doing. Courtesy and respect are always forefront without sacrificing the competition. I felt great after warming up on one of our many team Cycle-Ops trainers and after a good slathering of DZ Nuts In Heat embrocation ( felt very warm and pleasant) I was ready for the pain! After a clean, fast start the race spaced out and I found my place amongst 3 or 4 riders as we battled and jockeyed for a few laps. My training must be paying off a bit because I was able to drop the group that I was with and put on a little gap as the others seemed to run out of gas. Fun! The last two laps were particularly difficult thanks to fellow Llamas ,Tony and John Hunt making me laugh hysterically by burying themselves in leaves near the woods and jumping out as I rode by. Awesome! As always 45 min seemed like a blink on the race course and before I knew it I was sprinting across the finish sweaty and loaded down with Twizzler hand-ups. Thank you Katie Isermann! Such a great feeling!

Next up was women’s cat 123 with our team speed demon, Katie Tomarelli! Katie continues to inspire with power as she dominates not only her category, but also her race, which includes cat 2 and 1! Great race, awesome finish and epic season so far for Katie who also helped put KLR in print this past week with her interview in Chicago Athlete.

Also on the course were the single speeders which included our other ss specialist, Brent Knepper. This was a tough course for single speed thanks to hills and bumpy terrain where I found a lot of use for my gears. A big hell yea to Brent for hanging in, making the Llamas proud aaand, turning right around and lining up for the cat 3 race with me!

We had a fun race together! After another smooth start (looks like cat 3 racers are finally getting this down) we headed around the baseball fields and toward the woods. The race stayed a bit more bunched up for the first lap than the masters 30, but I suddenly found myself on Brent’s wheel. A feat that I was quite proud of as Brent is a freaking bike ninja ! We rode together for a lap or so, and when Brent realized that I was behind him he graciously moved aside and gave me a push as he let me pass. Can I just say that I love being on this team! Everyone loves to race and the goal is to have fun and to help or cheer your teammates. Egos are out the door here and I look forward to seeing everyone every week!

The final Llama to punish the course was Gen Wilson in the ladies cat 4 race. Grace personified, Gen rode a powerful race! Unfortunately, we missed giving her a cookie hand up as she came by the Llama tent on her second lap , but it didn’t seem to matter as she came around on her final lap and sprinted the last 100 yards like possessed maniac which fits my motto to a tee. If you’re not finishing first, at least finish strong! Well done Gen!

A huge thank you to the Head Llama and Johnny Hunt for the race support and the cheers. It helps me go faster when I hear my friends cheering and heckling!

Also, thank you Gen, for once again bringing an amazing homemade pie. The recovery calories were delicious and most welcome!

Well, I’m sitting in the e. r . Getting stitches in my hand as I write this, so racing next week might not happen for me, but I’ll be there with a tent and cookies!

And, as usual, a big thanks to all our wonderful sponsors!

Title Sponsor:

The Kinky Llama

Sponsors:

Village Cycle Center

SRAM

Trek Bikes

Sidi Cycling Shoes

Giro Sport Design

GORE Bike Wear

Saris Cycling Group

Tifosi Optics

ENZO’s Cycling Products

We are quite proud to have  Katie as part of our team.  Yay Katie!

Check out the full magazine here.

It’s days like these that I love me some short sleeve Gore-Tex jackets and Gore-Tex shorts. Starting to get chilly, with a dash of rain, but still too warm for a full rain kit? Perfect weather for rain shorts and short sleeve jacket! Keeps my chamois from soaking up rain water, or even worse, Chicago street nastiness. Jacket keeps my core dry, while the short sleeves allow for venting and keep me sweat free. Add some Gore-Tex socks to the ensemble, and I am just about as waterproof as a frogs butt.

When it comes to cx, this stuff works great for pre-rides and warming up in the rain.

Got questions about what to where when? Let me know, and I can point you in the right direction. Or, if you have the means, come to Village Cycle Center’s “Dressing for the Weather” with Gore Bike Wear Thursday, November 15th 6-8pm.

What do you win?

You win:

• One of the t-shirts you designed!
• Kinky Llama Racing stickers!
• Cookies!
• $50!
• The love and thanks of our entire team!

If we select any other entries as additional winners, you will get:

• T-shirt!
• Stickers!
• Cookies!
• $20
• The love and thanks of our entire team!

The t-shirt needs to represent Kinky Llama Racing.

Here is a basic template for designing t-shirts on.

Submit all entries to anthony@kinkyllamaracing.com by Nov 1st 2012. Deadline extended to November 12th 2012!

Rules of the contest.

1. Kinky Llama Racing makes the rules, you don’t like them, don’t enter.
2. Selected winning entries become property of Kinky Llama Racing.
3. The llamas will pick the winner(s).