Estabrook CX

After a poor start in my last few races, at Estabrook I finally got off the line well and did a little pushing for position. About a minute in I was in a great spot, like 4th wheel, and Maciej was behind me. I let a little gap form into a corner so I wouldn't have to brake as hard and Maciej jumped around (he doesn't like any gaps forming). Everything was going well until halfway through the lap and we got into the pinwheel of death.

There were no brakes in the pinwheel until we got to the crux of it, suddenly Chris slams on his brakes, Maciej slides into him, and I slide into Maciej..

To stay up, I crushed a stake with my foot like a giant and somehow, on the other side of me, I came into Maciej's wheel in the perfect way to make it catastrophically fail. It bent up like a dna helicase. He has trying to ride it still and stuck a foot or something into my front wheel, causing my bike to rear up and me to slam my danger zone into my headset. Behind me, Andy was like "Whoaa!" as my rear wheel was in his face. (This all took place in about 5 seconds in the crux of the pinwheel of death)

Andy went around me and I started going again as I yelled at Maciej to grab my wheel out of the pit. I kept yelling but he just stood there catatonic. I needed to get onto Andy's wheel since the front 4 had created a sweet gap on the rest of the field at this point. I never closed the gap on Andy since he dropped the hammer to catch the lead and I was nursing a sore stomach from having my danger zone pushed through my back.

I then spent a lot of time in the wind by myself. Two mwi guys passed me fast. Then the eventually winner of the race passed me and I couldn't hold his wheel. Then another guy passed me and I held his wheel for a bit  but eventually failed. At the same time I was passing guys from the p,1,2 field. But I pretty much moved backwards in my own race for 2 laps. Then a group of 4 guys were working together to get me. I wasn't going to let that happen.

In the last 2 laps I started to catch Chris who apparently exploded, but once I got within about 8 seconds he started to push it again. As I ran up the hill with one to go someone yelled "slow down, the leaders are coming". My will was relatively crushed by then and I didn't see much gain in doing another lap, so I did slow down and let 1st and 2nd place of the p,1,2 race pass me just before the finish line. Thus allowing me to skip the last lap.

It was a hard fought 9th place. Not exactly the placing I would like for that kind of effort, but that's racing. When I got back to my car I thought I had the wrong one because a bunch of my friends got together and filled the back of it with diapers. Thankfully, they weren't used because that would be a much different surprise! So even though it wasn't a great race for me, it was still a great time to hang out with friends and that is why I do this in the first place.

Next Saturday is my last race this year. Time to leave everything I have on the course.

Washington Park Cx

Yay! After a two week hiatus I was back racing cx again this weekend. Two weeks ago the race in the Milwaukee area was cancelled due to storms coming and a concerned parks department. Last week was a secret mountain bike race of which I had to pull out of after a lap and a half because my still healing broken pinky didn't like climbing on a single speed or being slammed into a tree. But this week I was back suffering on the cx bike.

The Washington Park costume race course doesn't change much from year to year and I don't think it should. It is one of the best courses for going all out and hitting your limits and then mixing in technical stuff to catch your breath. Match that up with all the rain we have gotten recently, a sunny day, and a bunch of nuts riding in costumes, and you have a recipe for a great time.

I wavered heavily on what to dress up as this year but landed on something simple yet creepy. With a week old mustache, some Just for Men--Black, a pair of cheap aviators, I was "Undercover Marc." I couldn't wear the aviators all day because they were giving me a headache but the the picture below gives you the idea.

photo courtesy of Kate

It was so creepy that when grabbing dinner with friends after the race people had a hard time looking me in the face!

I had a weak start again, but it wasn't horrible. I made up a lot of spots in the first quarter mile. For the first half of the race I was moving up and going back and forth with a few guys. One guy passed me and after a lap I couldn't hold his wheel. That was frustrating, and it looks like he placed pretty well in the end. 

Eventually Jake caught up to me and for a couple of laps we road together. 

photo courtesy of Kate

At one point, we were working through some lapped traffic and he got a little gap on me but I started to close it down again. That is when my leg cramped a little and decided to stay straight when I needed to bend it to go over the first uphill barrier. My foot caught the barrier and I hit the ground hard. Real hard. I got up and starting going again but with a lap and a half left, my aspirations of catching Jake were over.

At the same time, I think I gave some hope to the guys behind me, so I still did my best to lay down some power for the rest of the race. In the end I was 9th. Not a great placing again, but top ten in a pretty deep field. I have two, maybe three, more races to see if I can get back up to top five. I think I can.

Cross the Domes

Wait, how am I taking a picture of myself while racing? Well, I am not. That is my friend Ryan. He and his wife came to town this weekend to visit and so he took part in his first cx race. Luckily, we are pretty much the same height so he could use one of my bikes and borrow a thermal skinsuit. I have to say it was a little weird seeing a guy out on the course who looked a lot like me.

During his race it was in the low 40's and by the time my race came around it seemed like the temps had dropped even further. Oddly enough I got a call up to the front row for the start, but so did a bunch of other guys. I was in the dead middle and because so many guys were trying to be in the front row, the bars of the guys on both sides of me were jammed up next to mine. I had no idea how I was going to start with people that close.

When the whistle blew I let the guys on both sides of me shoot forward and then I started. It was a bad start. I went from top 8 to 20 something by the time we hit the grass. In the first 1/4 mile I worked hard to get back up near the front. I got close. I must of gotten back up to 11th but I couldn't close the gap to the next group. For a full lap I just hung in limbo, trying to get up to them. Then a guy passed me quick and I didn't react fast enough and he bridged the gap (he also kept moving up).

I had an okay race. I never gave up and tried to track down Angry Andy who was just in front of me but every time I was about to close the gap he would give a little surge too. It isn't the placement I wanted, but the competition is great in the 35+ 1,2,3's this year. What did go great was riding my new bike that Ryan and I finished building Thursday. Check it out here. It rides wonderfully. (the pics don't show that silver Thomson stem is now on the bike) Also, enjoy these videos of the race that Ryan shot.

This is from the 2nd or 3rd lap. Only watch the first 12 seconds. The rest is Ryan trying to get more footage.

This comes from around lap 3 or 4 of 7. I thought the course was awesome, super rough in spots, but the layout was cool. This video has content the full time.

Sunday USGP

I really had to work around my work schedule to get out to the USGP this year. So in order to make it happen I needed to race the 2,3's on Sunday morning at 9:30am. That meant getting up early to drive the 1.5 hours but the course was so much fun last year that I was willing to do so.

The conditions were cool--in the low 40's--and sunny. I didn't get a chance to see most of the course before the race so my first lap was rather exploratory. Unlike last year where I started in the 80's this year I was 27th and in the 3rd row. A pretty good spot to be.

I had a good start. Nice and fast but under control and moved up about 5-10 stops in the first 2 turns. Then things slowed down quite a bit in a tech section and there was lots of bumping and pushing going on. Everything was going pretty well. Some guys shot in front of me and then I pulled them back. By the time we got to the run-up the positions were switching much less.

After the the run-up there was a steep downhill turn that I attempted to go through with no brakes. Which was fine until my front tire broke loose from the ground and I slid out. I landed hard and the guy behind me rammed into my back. He asked if I was okay. My reply was, "Yeah, but I broke my pinky."

I've broken it before, which is probably why it stayed straight as I went to the ground, so I knew it was broken. But I could still grip the bike so I kept going. Upon remounting my bike I discovered that my right shifter was turned in about 35 degrees. Amazingly though, everything shifted fine still.

I was clearly going slower now because I couldn't really steer the bike at top performance on either side. But I was staying in it. I raced two more laps until as I was running up the run-up and a guy yells at me "What, are you warming up?" I looked at him inquisitively. He yells back "Where is your number?"

I felt my back. Sure enough, my number was gone. It must have torn free when I went down. No number means they weren't counting my laps. So I stopped riding. Oh well.

This picture isn't a good angle. The shifter was turned much more than this looks.

After the trip to the med tent. It took two tries to pull the joint and bone back into place. I really should have taken a picture of it beforehand, but my phone was in the opposite direction of the med tent and after seeing my pinky, Paul advised that I go get it checked right away.

It is never a good sign when you have a tire track on your back!

I'm sure this post is full of typos, but give me a break, I have a broken pinky and two fingers taped together. I have a week off of racing coming anyway, so I should be good to go by my next race. I don't see it slowing me down all that much.

Thanks for reading!

Lake Geneva Cx

I knew Sunday would be long a day. Getting up at 5:55am to be in Brookfield in order to give the message at 3 services usually crushes me by itself on a Sunday, but I wanted to try and get out to the cx race that afternoon even if I would be beat to start. I got to the venue in time to ride the course once between races. It was a great course with transitions all over; sand, grass, gravel. mud, dirt, pavement, a run up, a flyover, and a nice long uphill section.

Photo courtesy of Kate

Figuring out the pressure was a guessing game, especially only getting one look at the course. I ended up a little too low and was squiblly in the transitions.

At the start Maciej did exactly what I thought he would do and what he said he wasn't going to do, he shot off like a bullet. Angry Andy got in front of him. I hopped on 3rd wheel and stayed there until Jeff made a strong move and shot to the front. From there the chase began. It wasn't long and we passed Angry.

I gave chase for a while, but I couldn't close the gap to Maciej. Eventually, Andy H.went around me and I had a hard time following him in the uphill sections. He is riding really well. And that is kind of where it stayed for me the rest of the race. I worked my way through the p,1,2's and created a gap to the guy behind me. 

From now on I am going to act as though every person I see on the course is in my race. I got a little complacent this time and finished with more in the tank. This is cx, that shouldn't happen!

Photo courtesy of Kate

I was sure I finished 4th. The first results had me in 4th, then they posted new results right before the awards and suddenly I was 5th. I asked the guy when he passed me and he didn't seem to remember. I asked the official what happened and she showed me the lap sheet and the guy passing me halfway through the race. I wasn't going to argue about it and let it go. Then I check the official results online today and I am back in 4th. Not sure what happened there.

Sheboygan CX: Bumpity Bump Bump

The WI cyclocross season kicked of on Saturday in Sheboygan. It was fantastic to see everyone together again. The course left a little to be desired as most of it was back to back straightaways and 180 degree turns. It has been a dry summer and the grassy field reflected that in the bumpiest, most jarring, cx course I have ever ridden. The highlight of the course was the 50 meter sand downhill followed by the 50 meter sand uphill.

According the numbers we had about 30 guys start the 35+ 1,2,3, although the results only show a little over 20. Still, it was a good sized field for this earlier in the season. I snuck in at the end of the first row for the start.

I had a good start and was third wheel. Mike H. was on the front pushing what could be called a very leisurely cx pace. About 3 minutes in Joe said he was on my wheel. I reply with cool and start looking for a place to pick up the pace. Before I can do it though, Joe jumps, so I jump, not quite bridging the gap  to him yet. And another guy hops on my wheel.

We get to the sand and this is where it all falls apart for me. I had ridden the sand fine in practice, but I don't know if I was pushing it too hard or what but I drove my front wheel into the sand and ended up laying the bike down and dropping my chain. I had my head down fumbling with my chain, got it back on and then started the chase. I thought I was in third at this point. Joe and the eventual winner of the race had a good gap and I could see them working together. I knew catching them wasn't going to happen by myself in the wind, so I started defending third.

Defense wasn't going so well though. I couldn't unclip into the barriers one time and did a sweet barrel roll over the first one (very entertaining for the crowd). I slipped out in a corner trying to make up time and dropped the chain again (I think I solved that problem now) and then, the next time through the sand I drove my front tire deep again had a sweet endo. The worst part is that my shifters got buried in the sand and after coming out my rear was no longer shifting into harder gears anymore.

I spent almost a full lap trying to work the sand out, but ended up just switching to my big ring and leaving it there. After two and a half laps I started to ride like a person who has done this before, and I finally started to think in the sand and lean back on the bike, then getting through became no problem. I was riding better but my body had taken a beating already and my legs were letting me know about it. Yet, I was still in third, or so I thought.

After the race I found out that I was in fourth. I never saw third pass me, but I did see him for most of the race. He was just up the course from me, but I thought he was in the p,1,2 field as I was making my way into it. I never thought I needed to catch him.

I ended up fourth after having a pretty cruddy first 20 minutes and not knowing that I should have been chasing down a guy in front of me. I'd say that is pretty good start to the season. I definetly got the bug to race all I can again.

A little drag, maybe?

This year I have ridden differently then I have before. I put in a lot of base miles and did very little intensity besides a few endurance mountain bike races and on a Tuesday night ride that no longer exists and has no name. If that ride did exist, I would have made it to about half of them this year.

I also started using power because I got a crazy deal on a Powertap and I already had a Garmin. Training with power has been very helpful, thus far, I think. All of this to hopefully have a great cx season where I can improve every race until our little girl comes along.

By not doing much intensity I feel as though I am unsure of where I am shape-wise. I can ride forever comfortably, but I don't feel like I have any pop yet. Last night, I rode with a bunch of oddly dressed fellows for 40 miles. As we rolled out, I noticed that my rear wheel was a bit squishy, I am guessing it was in the 80psi range. It made for a cushy feel on my 28mm tires. Well, when the bell rang, the intensity picked up and I stopped thinking about my tires and starting thinking about the pain.

I had a hard time pulling through consistently and spent more time than normal sucking the draft. I had to keep reminding myself that these guys are almost done with their race season and mine is just beginning. By the end, I was happy to stay with the group and not get dropped on the hills.

This morning I plugged in the Garmin and checked out the data. From the bell ring to the end (an hour and twenty four minutes) my average power was 308 and the normalized power was 354. I'm a big guy, so my wattage is always skewed a bit higher, but seriously, talk about resistance training! That sort of wattage shouldn't have had me just holding on, I should have been pulling through constantly and pushing the pace.

Maybe my legs are better right now than I thought. The season starts in a week so I'll find out soon!