Yeeeeehawww...

...is't time for the durn ole Stampede Showdown. A rip roarin', cleat scootin', wheel spinnin' time. Kinda like Chuckwagon races, minus three of the horses, the outriders, and the wagon. Oh, and the horse. There is no Stampede equivalent. The closest you can get would be to get two bulls (or sheep if that's your fancy), tie them to two bikes, and watch em drag race across the arena. The winner goes on, and the loser gets served ... on a bun.


Well, we're gonna be a little more urban than that but you get the drift. Think bull riding meets illegal midnight bike courier racing. Think Kevin Bacon does City Slickers. Think Lance Armstrong getting chased down a gravel road in rural Texas by a crazy wingnut, like Dick Chaney. The format will be elmination sprints. Sprint being a relative term for a race about a halk a kilometer in length. You'll be paired up, crowds silent in anticipation, Cindy Williams will drop a handkerchief, and off you'll go down paradise Road againt Bob Falfa ... wait, wait I've gone all 1138* here. Pretty much holds true though, we'll pair ya up, race ya, and see who goes up the ladder, and who goes down. It's elimination action, plain and simple. I will run a winner and loser bracket and you guys will sprint off for places so I hope to get a few runs each in.


The where is the trick. Given that it's Stampede and they took away my original course so that kids can go swimming (have they no heart), I've had to find a nice unused piece of asphalt. Given the nature of Stampede, I thought of using a library parking lot, city employee parking lot, or one of the runways at the airport which they wouldn't shut down for us. Thanks a lot international travellers. Anyway, I literally looked at a dozen potential locations and for one reason or another, they fell short. the solution appears to have been right under our nose, and more specifically, right in the heart of Springbank. I'm talking the paved roads for the housing development right by the finish of the piratical TT. That is to say, the new development on the south side of Lower Springbank Road between Range Road 32 and 31. I forget the classy name they give to these developments, (something like The Estates of Oak Bluff Manor Creek), but It's pretty obvious. Park at Springbank where we ran the TT (Springbank Park for All Seasons) and warm-up on the way down.



I'd love to get racing around 6:45 but I'll need ya signed in before that so alot enough time to get from the parking to the start (about 4km). If construction buggers up the road we'll use Range Road 32 next door. In any case I'll meet you guys at the housing development where you'll recognize me by my mighty steed (Toyota Matrix). I could use at least three volunteers, one as a starter, and two as holders, so we can start all cool and clipped in and the like. This is a new format, so I'm wingin' it here but I think we can pull something off. See ya then. Yahhoooooo.

*1138 is my internet code for an unnecessary Lucas movie reference.