In the last few weeks Hup "W" United has done the deed.

Crack Kullaway: 1st, Star Crossed, Master B
Scott Rosenthal: 1st, Gloucester #1, Cat 4
ZD: 1st, Gresham, OR., Cat 3

Lots of images are out there, but none capture the W better than this one.

LA B-boy stopped in last night and damn it was good seeing him. Crack'swell and I rode bike doooooooowntown Le Croc and had a nice Seattlemexican meal with Bernie. Among the topics of discussion:

B's new deep dish digs
The power and the pain Rich H brings
Men in pink and green
BG's new top secret testing facility in LA

And the list goes on. Exactly two weeks before Star Crossed. Should have the new wheels by then. After talking to BG and TB, and seeing this pic, there is no going back.

It's only been 10 hours since the first race on the East Coast went down and who cares if Slate's gurl dropped the trophy at center court....who won Northfield....that's what we're asking! CX #1 happened in the PNW and Hup United went silver.

In addition to bike riding, 'tis the season for great music. Saw Hem and Ollabelle tonight. As the photos say...Britta Phillips...look out for Ms. Ollabelle. Damn! And while Not California is a great tune, Hem better figure out the difference between SoCal and NoCal before their show tomorrow night at the Great American Music Hall in SF....tomatoes.

PVB....coming out. Yash K....on his way. CM....Check. Gonna be a great fall.

Ok, who's in? Hup United HQ has made the transition to the other side of the US, and now it's time to bring Hup United together for one good go. Yes, there is a bad-ass UCI weekend in Vermont, but who is coming out for Star Crossed? We're talking Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer tent, DJ's, and cool enough weather for the Long-Sleeved Skinny's. Word. Besides, when will you be able to race cross at 7 pm again?

Also, can all you East Coasters with the DL on the race 411 let the West know when things like Gloucester reg opens up?

Well, it seemed about time to start giving racing a go. Started my first training crit of the year last night. About 80+ field in the 6 pm race at Seward Park and damn was it an eye-opener. Pace was decent, riders were smooth, and man do I have some work to do. Hung in all 25 laps and cramped up wicked bad on the final lap. Raced with the new SRM and maxed the watts at 983. Saw TH at the end and just needed to ride home. On the way back, nearly out of gas, I ran into none other than Ann G. on the road in full Kona kit. Super, super, nice...and wicked chatty. AG ended up half-wheeling me all the way back to the bridge, and dropped me like a sucker! Coulda been worse.

Who's ready for Cross? PVB, check. 10th on GC at Fitchburg. Man that kid is going to fly this season. Get ready...the initials are P.V.B.....you've heard it hear first.

Out.

What's new with the H-U-P? Glad you asked. Selman just took delivery of his new TWO-NINER and the word is W-I-C-K....E-D. JS will line up and rock the Creampuff 100 June 25th. Big man CM is going to be at Mt. Snow along side with old school PVB on the Spooky.

It's not to early to start talking about cross, right? Who's coming out for Star Crossed 2006 under the lights?

Things are good in the neighborhood. Just coasted down Fremont Ave from B's (45th) to the studio (36th) for a late nite fit with E. (Not even one pedal stroke; who needs a chain?) While at the studio, D was pulling some hot Banshee action that even RV would love.

Last weekend D, B, and I went to Vancouver*eh* and raced the North Shore Rippah. Wicked. Check out the North Shore action here. (See if you can find the hup shoe covers) We finished 5th and I chased 'Dre up the climb with my seatpost jacked to the sky like a good XC boy.

In case you didn't know, Dieter rules.

PDX Hup'ster James S. is livin' large in Roubaix hanging with Team Disco and riding cobbles as we type. Here's what JS had to say about the parcourse:

Cobbles were epic yesterday!!!

We left just after 9 and got to Troisville about 11am (got the gps neverlost finally working – we forgot our maps back home, a rush job) and found the route and hit the first section (#27 ) after about only 1K of smooth road to warm up... Ouch. Then it was on. Finding smooth bits, stopped at the third section to see a big concrete war bunker, the Phonak team caught us just after, then joe flatted, we did a few more sections and the Disco boys rolled up, rode with them a bit and I chatted with George, Joe stopped and tightened his now loose cleats, we did a few more sections, tried to find a road back but after :30 failed minutes we just doubled back - adding two more sections we hadn't done, (#19 and 20) I then flatted, and at this point we're about 3:30 into the ride and Joe, the current runner training for a 50K run, is bonky a bit after a few more sections and we finally find an open patiserie/market and maul 4 apple crisps, 4 bunny chews and 2 tiny cokes... Recharged we hit the last 4 sections only I flat again on the rear (had only a 12g cartridge) and joe gives me his wheel to continue and (hopefully) bring the car back - note to self - have 3 tubes and 3 cartridges EACH (another rush job) - and 25mm tires - which I had (I knew the teams rode 25’s from RTP/Postal) but Joe decided to go with just 23s, 2mm makes a difference amazingly enough...

So, I end up blasting back, a little over 5 hours riding - almost 6 with punctures, pedal issue and food stop... We think about 130K, about 30.7K in cobble for me: 7 sections out, 8 return. Joe, 7 out, 6 return, about 5K less. And who says no climbing?, we did over 3000 feet of rolling vert.

We wanted to do another set in the middle today, Arenburg to Cysong, and double back again ... But ended up sleeping hard and late, 9, and chatted with the teams a bit this morning, then rolled into town and the first 25K out and back of the race route from Compeigne here –so an excuse to come back for sure. I really really loved the cobbles – being a mt biker and riding ‘cross really helped me over Joe big time I think (he said it was 10X worse than he expected, not smooth like the ones in A’dam) - you just have to go fast and roll, stay loose... As you may know. But some sections were bone shakers for sure, can’t image wet. Ouch. "

At said breakfast, I met Dude #1, Darin, a friend of Phil's. He and his gurl run The Dude Shop in downtown Kitchener, just outside of Cambridge, ONT. Once you've been Duded, you'll never be the same.

Phil and Jennifer: Thank you so much for your hospitality last night!

GENT--Official documentation arrived from Flanders this evening in preparation for the World Championships this weekend and the final start list is as follows:
Zac Daab (B)
Pierre Vanden Borre (B)
Yash Katsumi (B)
Mike Zanconato (B)
Mike Pederson (B)
Art Trapotsis (B)
Scott Rosenthal (B)
Chris Milliman(B)
Michael Salvatore(Ita)
Jim Airgood (NH)
Kerry Combs (B)
Mako Saito (B)

Man….are you ready? Come on….I mean ready. This weekend is undoubtedly the biggest cross weekend in the US as Crank Bro’s part 2 visits Gloucester, MA and serves as a nice backdrop for the officially unofficial New England Worlds. (© Dave Connery). If you are new to racing Gloucester, consider the following good points/bad points:

Good:
*Euro dudes in do-rags.
*No stupid Northwest lumberjack tough-guy course layouts
*100+ fields
*Richard Fries as Dicky R.
Bad:
*Texas Roadhouse J-holes in the B race. (If you are reading this Mr. Texas Roadhouse, please consider this an official Un-invitation to this years’ Worlds.) Love, all B racers
*The fact that you have to go back to SoCal and race in the dust.

Here’s a little jem to get you all psyched for Gstar this weekend. Yes, it’s sideways; no, there is not sound. But this clip is the funnest thing you’ll see today. Make sure to check out the homeboys on the left of the barriers laughing.
7.21 MB MOV, here.

Yup…it’s true: There is now an official Hup United message board. You must register first, and then you’re in. The forum can be found here.

Here’s the deal: Start positions for Natz for all non-elite races will be based on your registration. REGISTER NOW! Trust us. Registration takes place at Bike Reg

Enuf's, Enuf: The season is on. Rosenthal struck first with a top 5 in the C class at the Wompy cross race. Word from the cell was that there was lots of lapping going down. ZD did not defend the Wompy B title; our money was on Papa Johs in the Elite race.

In other news from the west, it took 17 years for IT to finally happen: Selman was doored. Stiches, check. Teeth, check. Insurance, check please. All the best to JS; please send him any helpful information here james.selman@wk.com

Finally, Bern-hard just stopped by on a PNW swing and Kid Kullaway says he is more fit than ever. (His eye is on Natz) Too bad B has to race in sunny SoCal all season; Providence will be a rude awakening at -17 before windchill come Nationals. Go see Bernard and 50 foot wave play music in your town. Schedule here.

Admittedly, the tradition and culture of randonnee riding is not something that gets Hup United all hot and bothered. However, thanks to Ray, we hooked up with a Dirt Randonnee in Western mAss and, well, it was fun! 100km and 4300 ft of climbing later, we had finished our first Canadian Century of the summah. Will will go back next year? Absolutely.