Photo Op

One of the duties of being Top Sporter is that sometimes you are required to participate in photo shoots. It is one of the more glamorous roles because you get to clean yourself up as if you're going to the prom...or racing in France.


For this, Top Sporters make sure that they're 1. Clean shaven from head to toe 2. Bikes are flawlessly clean 3. Shoes are polished 4. Legs are baby oiled up 5. Smelling fresh with expensive cologne 6. Hair is slicked back with too much product 7. Wearing their bling bling


It is incredibly important to have the director of the shoot instruct the Sporters and Top Sporters alike how to pose in the pictures. This coaching is necessary because we are bike racers, not talented actors. Note: Because the video is being taken for the official Virginia Tech Commercial, to be aired at all home football games on the JumboTron for the next 5 years, hand gestures and the like must cleverly be used.


VeloNews Magazine cover shot

Top Supporter

Top Sporter - 1. one who competes in the highest level in sport 2. professional sportsman who lives, eats, and trains with the intention of being the best 3. Most elite pro cyclists in Le Belge. 4. Tom Boonen

Top Supporter - 1. one who supports the highest level in sport 2. sportsman who gets stuck in the trunk 3. an academic who has the mind of an encyclopedia for games like celebrity, moviebomb, and the name game but guesses Yuri Gagarin for every round 4. old school cyclist who uses bubble wrap as insulation under a skinsuit 5. Tim C

I don't think I'm any of these, but if I had to choose, I'd probably want to be the latter. Why? Because as a top supporter, you have a way better chance of winning. The point of playing games in the van on the way to races is not to pass the time or share brainpower among your teammates; it is to divide and conquer your enemies and humiliate them with subjects such as Pikachu, Martin Scorcese, and Steven Hawking.

Did I mention the cool factor that top supporters face when getting trapped in a trunk and not having a means of getting out? Immediately the top supporter-signal is flashed into the sky and other fellow top supporters rush to the aid of the entrapped top supporter. Top supporters support other top supporters; it is the unspoken rule.

I did some sporting of my own this weekend. Racing at William & Mary there was some time trialing (12.5 miles) and some road racing action (67.5 miles). The team did well both days. The goal for me was a sub-30 min and top 15 placing in the tt; this was met with a 29:35 time and a 12th place. I don't have specific goals like this normally for time trials, however due to last years unacceptable 2nd to last finish, I had to make this a point to improve on. Booya. The team went 3rd, 6th, 7th, 12th...pretty solid. The road race was equally enjoyable with my man JZ getting into the break 1 mile in and staying away with 2 other compadres till the bell lap. Lots of work was done for him and other teammates as well. The impossibility of trying to get away, as VT has become the #1 marked team, has been taken to a whole new level. I think our best rider was 5th. All in all a fun filled weekend complete with birthday cakes, new tt rigs, and poppin' bubble wrap. Time to drag a comb across my head...



out,

-E