I saw this great video of the recent Kalmthout World Cup women’s race over at Drunk Cyclist. Katie Compton is ridiculously bad ass. Hopefully she’ll win the world championship this year and wipe that smug Dutch smile of Marianne Vos’ face. (Marianne Vos probably doesn’t have a smug Dutch smile, but what is international competition if not another chance to reassure ourselves that America is the number-one-greatest-of-all-time good guy and everyone else is evil?)

These women are the opposite of Soft Like Kitten in nearly every way. Really the only commonalities I see are the hacking death coughs and tear-filled embraces post race.

Yours truly, looking awesome and feeling the burn.

Robert, the semi-official leader of our unofficial team, asked me to write a recap of the 2010 cyclocross season. Before I jump in, I want to reassure you that I’m not about to go back and recount each and every race. As thrilling as it was for me to race my heart out for a mid-20s or -30s placing in the Cat 4 race all season, I’ll concede that it doesn’t make for the best reading material. I’ll give you a little taste of that sweet, sweet Cat 4 racing, but mostly I’m going to focus on the formation of the bonds and friendship that eventually gave way to this beautiful work of art known as Soft Like Kitten.

Cross kicks off early every year in Seattle. While most folks around the country are still thinking about their final road or mountain races, our season is getting started with the annual Labor Day Championships (not actually a championship of any sort). This year, however, a handful of crossers started really god damn early. Like mid-July early.

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Every good (or bad) cycling team needs a kit.  Here’s ours: