October 15, 2006

Grumpy's Cycling/LGR

I recently made the difficult decision to leave the Velo Bella team and join a new team for 2007. It's truly been an honor to be involved with such an unique, all-female team these past few years. When I put on the Velo Bella kit for the first time a few years back, I had no idea how supportive everyone would be of a team that wears a pink and blue kit with a Schwin Slick Chik (with a flowered basket), a very feminine looking woman, a black cat, and an "Ooh La La" on it. Velo Bella has done great things for women cyclists both locally and nationally, and I'll definitely miss the "go Bella!" cheers I get from perfect strangers no matter where I'm racing. Thank you Bellas, Fellas, and Friends!

For 2007, I'm joining a brand new team here in the Twin Cities...Grumpy's Cycling/LGR. I'm really excited about having another team mixing it up in the local cycling scene and I'm especially excited to have yet another women's team representing in the women's fields.

I've had a lot of questions about Grumpy's Cycling/LGR, and while I don't have answers to all of them just yet, I can at least give them a shot:

  • Who's sponsoring your team? Well, I guess the most obvious sponsor is Grumpy's Bar. Moose and Sadie's coffee shop is also on board, amongst others that I'm not sure I'm supposed to mention just yet.
  • How many people are on your team? I'm not actually sure. I'd guess about 10-15 at this time, but you'd have to bug (dis)pencer or Super Rookie for a more accurate answer.
  • Are there other women on the team? Yep. One of them is Gilby.
  • From what I've heard, this new team is all trackies and/or bike messengers. That's not really a question, but it's true that pretty much everyone on the team races at the track, but I think everyone also races on the road. And yeah, there are some messengers...I'm not sure how many are actually practicing messengers these days, but they definitely have some messenger history.
  • I've heard that messengers are all tattooed and don't shower. Again, that's not really a question, but I know that a lot of my new teammates do in fact have tattoos. As far as not showering, I don't know the answer to that - but I hope that's true, because it could motivate me to ride fast enough to be at the front of group rides so that I'm not downwind. So I could be fast next year.
  • What does "LGR" stand for? Little Guy Racing.
  • Why Little Guy Racing? It's better than Team Awesome (in my opinion anyway, Super Rookie probably disagrees).
  • Yeah, but where does "Little Guy" come from? Um, I'm actually not sure where he's from. I actually don't know the Little Guy very well, but I'll be sure to get the details on a group ride soon...I wonder who his favorite NASCAR driver is?
  • Little Guy's an actual person? Oh yeah, he's a legend at the track, and he's got some of the coolest kits around...you can't miss him. I'm actually not sure if he'll be wearing the same kits as the rest of us next year...it might be against everything he stands for.
  • What's the deal with everyone on Grumpy's Cycling being NASCAR fans? Being a NASCAR fan is a prerequisite for being a team member...it was on the application I had to fill out. I think it said "Who is your favorite NASCAR driver and why?". More importantly, there was another question that said "Who is your least favorite NASCAR driver?", and I'm fairly certain if you answered the #19 or #48 that you won't be on Grumpy's Cycling/LGR next year (unless maybe you're the Little Guy).
  • So are you getting a tattoo? Probably. Since I'm not a messenger and have never actually ridden a fixed gear outside of the track, I might struggle to fit in, so a tattoo would definitely help me bond with my new team. I'm leaning towards a team motto...maybe something like "Little Guy Racing - where nobody dis's a rookie".
  • What's up with the talking monkey? Nothing says "Grumpy's Cycling/Little Guy Racing" like a talking monkey.
  • So is your pink Peacock Groove track bike going to clash with your new kit? No, I think our new pink, teal, peach, and bright green colored kits will match just fine (I think those are Little Guy's favorite colors, so the kit colors really do make sense).
  • Did the Donimator really offer his Hummer as the Grumpy's Cycling/LGR team car? Wow, I haven't heard about this offer. I suppose it's possible...what with the high gas prices and such...maybe he's looking for car-poolers.
I'll try to answer more questions about Grumpy's Cycling/LGR in later posts after I have some more accurate answers to all of the questions I've been getting.

I'm looking forward to '07!

Strats

9 comments:

Skibby said...

sorry the Hummer is for LSC, but you can dream...

Tuffy said...

Nicely done.

StevenCX said...

Definitely have to let Little Guy design the kits!

Strats said...

From my mom (who works in a Dermatology department):

Do yourself a favor and skip the tattoo. With your medical luck, skin cancer would be close behind! If you need more information on this, let me know and I will send you a brochure if I can get my hands on one.

Pete said...

Tatoo? Here's my suggestion there NASCAR fan:

Although it's before your time, get a portrate of Dale Earnhardt (wearing his gargoials and firesuit) along with a #3 with a halo and angel wings and below it should read: "In loving memory" or "Always in our hearts". You can then have that same thing airbrushed on the back of that black monte carlo ss you've had your eye on. Make sure there is enough room for the Calvin pissing on #24 and #48, "No Fear", and "I'm not speeding, I'm qualifying" bumper stickers.

(dis)pencer said...

i don't get it tim.
the 17 is the carhartt car now...

so maybe your the tool.

Strats said...

Skibby, are you sure you didn't miss the Donimator in the Grumpy's Cycling/LGR Power Rankings? Look what happened when Tuffy denied defecting...

Anonymous said...

Yeah I gotta say that the Little Guy's got everyone beat as far as kits go. Incredible execution as well.

I'm psyched to see the new team debut! I also just gotta say thanks to Strats for all your work with the Bellas over the past years. Women's cycling in MN has you to thank (at least in part, a large part) for where it's at. Did that last sentence make sense?

Skibby said...

When are you going to make the difficult decision to update your blog?