Short Track Thanks

The success of the short track races was a collaborative effort of many folks. I guess we pretty much figured out that if you try and build something special, people will come and if you deliver a good product at a reasonable price, they will come back again and again. I reference Rich Pierce and the 3OG's, OGRE, because they were an important part of the history of these events.

John Muscleman and Stlbiking, way ahead of his time in the social media thing, taking the reins over from Touring Cyclist as far as the reporting of bike racing in St. Louis, transforming how we communicate from a newspaper to online forum. This was a hook for me when I first started riding bikes in 1998 and instrumental in my growth as a cyclist.

John Merli and his creation of Dogfish. What you might not know is that I followed John's lead on how he developed the brand Dogfish and used the same type of storytelling for my own brand development. Dogfish today is one of my favorite brands with that special authenticity displayed each day by the owner of the business. John Merli designed the first Pfoodman logo, by the way. I still have stickers.

Rich Pierce is just a good christian man with a passion for competition and organizing events. He did events until he dropped, or his wife said enough. He was what kept the mountain bike culture alive at a time when our numbers were dropping low due to the road scene emerging with Lance gaining multiple titles. Rich plowed forward each year promoting events with parter in crime Dave Ploch.

Our little micro culture likely seems insignificant to outsiders. Why wouldn't it. There are other micro cultures to subscribe to. Most folks think we are nuts riding around in the woods, spending all this money on equipment, talking trash. Just this morning my wife indicated that I should probably act my age, and not stay up so late partying (last night was the end of a long season).

She is probably right. It has been a good season and things need to get back in order. These things really take it out of you and fatigue steps in. I am looking forward to a little less exposure in the weeks coming.

Thanks to Intern Dave, Greg, Jeff, Mike Bobolack, Sr. and Jr., Jo from the Alpine Shop, Laura Baugh, Matt Grottoff, Sally and Matt Struckman, Thrasher, Bigshark bikes, all the racers who attended. We had a blast didn't we? See you next year.