A box came for me on Friday. Inside was this:
Raleigh is letting me demo this bike for my race season.
Here is what went down.
I went out to King’s to do some CX practice last week. After a couple of laps around the course, I was doing some intervals. One minute on, one minute off, at full effort. Suddenly, on #3, I snapped my chain. I didn’t crash, luckily, and at first I thought I had just dropped the chain. Then I realized the chain was just hanging there. In half.
I walked back to the car, totally bummed out. It felt kinna like someone yanked the needle out of my arm mid-fix. I called Dominic, who never answers his fucking phone, texted with Dirty Biker for a few, and drove home, pissed.
Dominic surveyed the damage when I got home. Not only did I snap the chain, but I cracked my derailleur, and the hanger was broken. I thought I’d be racing on a SS the rest of the season, which was fine with me.
Instead, I was given this amazing opportunity to race on a Proper Cyclocross bike.
Cincinnati view from Mt. Echo in P-hill
It’s so bad ass, I cried.
I can’t even begin to tell you how utterly grateful I am for all the gifts in my life. It’s fucking awesome.
HUGE THANKS to Raleigh for hooking me up.
HUGE THANKS to DrunkCyclist.com for letting me be a part of this family.
September 18th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
You do realize that you must win now ??
September 18th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
Sooooo purty.
September 18th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Raleigh makes good shit! As strong as the Big 3! I had a Raleigh Team made of Columbus Airplane tubing…brilliant bike!
September 18th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Great looking bike! Be gentle on this one with all that power!
September 18th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Man, that kicks ass, Judi! Congratulations!
September 18th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
super rad raleigh!
September 18th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Seems like a lot of hate goin’ Dominic’s way lately, based on the tonality of your posts.
Whateva, just an observation.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
If anybody deserves that bike, you do. Go ride it your way, no strings attached.
September 19th, 2011 at 4:25 am
Have fun and go fast I think that you are going to love it..
September 19th, 2011 at 5:55 am
They have had a good cross bike for at least three years now. I worked in a shop that sold raleigh and trek and i can tell you that raleigh bikes were better specked for the money , especially in the low and mid range..and the wheel quality was wayyyy better. Raleigh is a strong company with good sales reps, and a corporate culture that is way less mercenary than treks. They let bike shops be bike shops..
September 19th, 2011 at 6:02 am
sweet ride…looking forward to more stories from the season
September 19th, 2011 at 6:12 am
Get some! (Congrats on the new ride.)
September 19th, 2011 at 6:13 am
So fuckin’ stoked!
September 19th, 2011 at 6:42 am
I need a proper CX bike. Im thinking I’ll just make my BLT a singlespeed CX for winter, and see how it goes. But I need a proper CX bike.
Maybe I should just charge it to my Discover.
Wait… no one takes Discover… DAMNIT !
September 19th, 2011 at 7:03 am
@derp – anyone who knows me and dominic, knows the love we share. maybe it doesn’t come through in my posts all the time, but what we have is something few people are fortunate enough to experience in their lifetime.
September 19th, 2011 at 9:40 am
Kick some major ass on that saawet ride!
September 19th, 2011 at 10:19 am
Ride hard and win big, Judi!
September 19th, 2011 at 10:27 am
Suh-weet.
September 19th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Fuck observations.
That’s just an observation.
jerks.
Kill shit wif dat big Raleigh stik, Judi.
September 19th, 2011 at 11:08 am
I’ve sold Raleigh and owned Raleigh. Nice bikes.
Kill it, sweetness.
September 19th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Awesome.
But… (don’t mean to piss on your parade.)
You have a flat.
September 19th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
umm, no i don’t. it must be a shadow. i rode the bike after i took that picture. and im sitting here looking at it now, and it doesn’t have a flat.
September 19th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
@ big johnny: any way we can talk off line?
September 19th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Karma workin’ its thing
September 19th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Judy, I apologize. Like I said, it was just an observation and is probably my interpretation of your tonality as being a hard ass. Which you are. So go kick some more ass this ‘cross season!
September 19th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Very nice, now ride the fuck outta it!
September 19th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
@derp, no worries. dominic is a big old man-girl. it’s pretty obvious who wears the pants in this family. hell, he cried at our wedding, not me, if that tells you anything…thanks again. the pressure is def on to do better this season, with a proper race bike.
September 19th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Ride that thing in the wind Judi!
September 21st, 2011 at 1:00 pm
As the kids say, “SICK!”