I was chatting with Paulo yesterday morning and he said to drop by the house to hang out. Unfortunately I ended up working all day, so I missed them. I did hook up with them before the awards dinner however, and Fleck hooked us up big-time with VIP bracelets as jonnyo’s entourage. Jordan was laughing at Paulo, telling him that I was a “more legitimate VIP” because I have a “real job”. We got our own buffet setup so the line was really nice and short, the tables had real cutlery on them and the bar was open. Nice.
We ended up at a pretty heavy table: Scott & Allison Curry, Rappstar and his girlfriend, Jill Savege (who is smokin’ fast in her own right), Jonnyo & his gal Amy?, Andrei Yastrebov, Paulo and me. We had a lot of fast people dropping by to chat/congratulate Jonny, Jordan and Andrei. And to talk to Jill. And Allison. And Scott. Not so much Paulo. ;-p I ran into Doug from Speed Theory, who had a great day @ 10:4x. I saw him on the run course and he was looking strong.
Paulo was impressed at the speed at which Steve King got all the AG winners up and down the stage, especially because they were all marshaled right around where our table was - making the area pretty warm and stifling. Jonnyo, Paulo and I actually ended up moving tables to make room for them, get some air, and a better view of the stage.
Jonny picked up a tonne of hardware, winning not only 2nd overall, but also a plaque for “Fastest Local” as well as another for “Fastest Canadian”. He showed that last one to Andrei, saying 'ere is one award you can never win… jealous? And of course there’s the Subaru Jacket. Pretty sweet… You have to go Top 8 to get a jacket (or win your AG - is that a new thing?) - so Jordan and Andrei got jackets as well. I’ve never paid that much attention to the AG awards, but I never noticed them getting jackets as well. Weird.
Rappstar scooped a couple of 25th Anniversary wine bottles in addition to his gear (too bad they were all pre-opened, as some tables appeared to have full ones) and was pretty happy because apparently they were sold out everywhere in town. Andrei speaks very good English, and is a pretty funny guy. He was also on the NationalXC Ski team for the Ukraine. He got an open invite to train at the LCHPTI.
After the dinner a fair sized crowd gathered 'round jonnyo for autographs, which he protested - claiming this doesn’t make any sense! The public know what they want, man. Give it to them. Jordan bought a framed picture of himself on the bike, noting (and pointing out to all of us) how “much like Peter” he looked. It’s true - he really does in that shot. Surprisingly, jonny only had the one picture of him on the bike that Jodi found and posted earlier. Not that I imagine he’d have bought one, but still.
After the dinner wrapped up we headed down to the after party, which I’m sad to say took place at the lamest club I’ve ever seen. Had I walked in there under any other circumstances, I’d have turned 'round and walked right out. I guess the upside was that there were plenty of couches, and lots of room for everyone to hang out. Fleck came by, and I left after about an hour.
All in, a very nice way to wrap up an awesome weekend.
