December 12, 2009
December 08, 2009
Houston CX
The Houston crew put together two of the best TXBRA courses of the year thus far. Both courses featured most everything you could want in a cross course including some nice run ups, some thing we haven't seen much of this year in Texas. Friday's snow in Houston helped add that little extra to Saturday's course and a steady mist/sprinkle on Sunday did not disappoint. Both days Bryan jumped out front from the gun and as expected rode unchallenged at the front. I managed to pull down two solid second place rides. I felt better than I had in weeks and the courses and conditions added a little extra touch of motivation... Thanks to the Mad Duck crew for letting me sneak away from work to get in some racing, to Mitch for putting me up for the weekend and to Momenta Training for keeping my training on track.
Photos courtesy of Chris Vandivere @ Karmabiker.com
November 29, 2009
Dallas Cross
Cross was back in Dallas this weekend. Saturday was a super tight and twisty course. It lent an advantage to the riders with big power. I had zero power. None. Nothing. Nada. Mixing stress and training does not work. Not even a little. After crawling through the weeks workouts I knew I was in for it on Saturday. The whistle blew and I began my slide backwards through the pack on about the second lap. I killed myself a hundred times and could not do anything put slide backwards. That was that.
Sunday was a bit of an anomaly. Mud, Cyclo-cross and Texas. One of these does not belong. Though every once in a while we do get to have all three at the same time. Sunday was one of those rare times. The clouds threatened rain all morning, but none came down. Then about the time we lined up the cross gods opened the sky. It ranged from sprinkles to down pours the whole hour. It was absolutely perfect. I got a good jump off the line only to put my face in the dirt within the first few hundred meters. By the time i righted myself, got going and beat my shifter back into position the front runners were long gone. The rain picked up and I matched its pace. The harder it rained the harder I pushed. I was made up ground quickly coming through the middle of the pack. I was then facing a substantial gap to fourth and fifth who were riding together. I was making slow, but noticeable progress. As I made it up to the wheel of Jeff in fifth, Austin bobbled on and off camber section in fourth. We hopped onto Austin's wheel and soon pulled away from Jeff. Coming through the finish we got the four laps to go card. For the last four laps Austin and I tested and attacked each other. On the final uphill I made a gap stick and rode it to the line. I would have loved to not had to work my way back up to the front due to my rookie crash, but what can you do. It was a really fun race. May be even funner since I had to make up a lot of ground to get into the top five.
I also have to mention that my little brother was killing it this weekend in his second and third cross races that he has ever done. He pulled down a second on Saturday in the 4's and a second on Sunday in the 3/4's against a big field with some solid riders! He is an animal. And all this was done on a borrowed bike and with borrowed shoes. Awesome.
November 23, 2009
Great ride yesterday with Cody and Mario. Sunny skies and a great route complete with a few miles of dirt roads.
November 17, 2009
catching up
This post is going back a couple weeks to the Fort Worth Cross weekend. Saturday was a fun course and there was a good turn out for the Mens Open race. We had most of the regulars along with Fawley and Dalheim on hand to turn it up a notch. Bryan rode off the front from the start to build an ever growing lead through out the hour. I rode with Andrew for roughly the first half of the race before his steady pace was too much for me. I dropped back and rode solo in third for a while trying to maintain my lead over a pair of riders behind me working together to get to my wheel. They got me with a couple to go and i was toasted. Sat on the back of the pair for a bit, watched one ride away and got mixed up in some last turn drama with the other. Ended up 5th.
Sunday was a wide open course, really fast and dry with some long straights and about a 500-600 meter road finish. Fawley went off the front from the gun once again. A couple laps later and our group of four had rode up to Bryan. He hopped in and we started taking pulls. Within a lap or so the group was down to four. Fawley, Dalheim, Austin Stewart and myself. Minute after minute went by and we stayed together rolling at a high pace. For the first half of the race i was just waiting to get popped out of the back, but the legs were feeling good and I was riding steady and comfortably. There was an attempt or two from each of the group to get off the front and test the other three, but the open course did not put the odds into the hand of the solo rider. We stuck together until around a quarter of the way through the final lap. Bryan launched a nasty attack out of the sand section and strung the rest of us out. I was already in the red when he made the move and i had nothing to respond with. Austin Stewart rolled through in 3rd, Andrew in 2nd, Fawley got the win and I was 4th. The gap to 5th was around 3 minutes. It was a relief to have a solid race after dealing with a couple weeks of poor luck and being sick.
This week i have a much needed rest week before starting the next training block. The TXBRA Dallas Cross weekend is next up just after Thanksgiving and the following weekend is the Houston Cross weekend.
November 05, 2009
October 19, 2009
September 28, 2009
belated
Two weeks ago I set out for Seattle to line up with some of the best in cyclo-cross and to visit a great friend. The Star Crossed/Rad Racing GP weekend was the UCI opener and the kickoff of the season for many of the big name riders. Having never been to Seattle I was instantly blown away by all of the mountains, water, and greenery everywhere. Some describe the weather this time of the year as 'recruiting weather' because the perfect temps, sunny skies, and beautiful scenery make you want to up and move. Its a perfect setting for anyone who loves the outdoors. Anyway, I got in on Friday with more than enough time to take in the city, as Cory and myself covered most of the downtown area by bike. Saturday was set to be the famous FSA Starcrossed in Redmond, just north of Seattle. With the race not starting til eight that evening we had plenty of time to go see some more tourist attractions. We drove out past Sammamish to check out Snoqualmie Falls. It's a giant waterfall in the foothills of the mountains a bit northeast of Seattle. After we had our fill of tumbling water we headed for Redmond to check out the course and watch some of the races that were going on. The course runs the area outside, as well as the interior of a velodrome in Redmond. The course looked really fun and pretty technical overall. We sat around for a few hours before it was time to warm up. As night fell it was time to get geared up and ready to race. With about 30 minutes to go until the start a little rain started coming down. First a sprinkle and then a little heavier. The rain teased us and let up as the whistle blew and we took off. I started a row from the back with the rest of the pretenders. Within the first couple laps the rain was pouring down and the course was getting really sloppy. Riders were going down left and right. I was rolling pretty good for about the first 30 minutes and steadily making up ground little by little. At about the halfway mark i hit the deck i a muddy corner and came up a bit dazed. It took me a couple laps to get back in the rhythm and i managed to give up quite a few spots. After regaining my composure i started to recoup some of the ground i had given up. I was riding smooth and making fewer and fewer mistakes. Rolling through the last lap i was overtaken by the lead group comprised ofChristian Heule, Jeremy Powers, Jonathan Page, Ryan Trebon. My goal of not getting lapped was in the dirt. Never the less i was happy with my finish in my first UCI event. 43rd on the day of 80+ starters. The tough part was trying to wind down after the race and try to get to bed at a decent hour. My bike was looking rough after all the mud, so it couldn't wait til morning. Im pretty sure that the hotel bath tub is still stopped up with mud and grass from the course. I woke up earlier than i would have liked to, but it did allow me time to own the continental breakfast. Sundays race was a bit south of Seattle, so we checked out, loaded up, and headed for The Rad Racing GP. Sundays course was much more open than the night before. It was a course that required a lot of power and my legs were feeling rough! During the warm up the fatigue and aches in my legs were way too obvious. As if that wasn't enough of a deficit to try to work through, the course had an UCI limit run up of 80 meters. 80 loose, sandy, steep meters known as the Knapp Time Run Up. Little did i know at the start it would be the run up that would allow me another mid pack finish. We got going and I was hurting bad from the first lap on. No power, no recovery, no anything. It was a bad feeling to have in such fast and accomplished company. Lap after lap i struggled to not go backwards. Lap after Lap i cursed racing, bicycles, and what ever else i could think of all while dragging my bike up those 80 meters. The corner just before the run up ensured that you lost all your momentum going into it and that you would in fact have to run every last meter. After a few laps i started noticing riders on the side of the course after or just before the run up. It was taking victims left and right, just as the mud had the night before. Every time i hit the run up I wanted to throw i the towel, but seeing that other guys already had fueled my fire. In the end the result was about the same. I got lapped by Page and Huele on the last lap and finished a very modest 41st. Besides feeling like a beginner after racing some of the best cross racers around i had a great time. The courses were dialed and spectators were out in full force. I had my own cheering section in the form of Cory, who was loud enough to spur other people to start yelling for me. The weather was great both days, giving the racers a sample of both wet and dry conditions.
Sunday afternoon it was time to head to Bremerton, west across the sound from Seattle. I unwound from acouple hard races with a home cooked meal and some fine wine provided by my host. Monday we set out to hike a small summit in the Olympic's. After a good bit of driving we hit the foothills and climbed the park roads for a couple thousand feet. At the base of the hike we were at 2800 ft and would climb to 6500 feet over the course of four miles. Cory set a pace right off the bat that made my legs scream and my heart rate jump way to high to obtain any form of recovery from the weekend's races. The round trip time for the hike was supposed to be 4 hours total. Being competitive as we are, we managed to hit the top in a little under an hour and a half. So much for a rest day. The view from the top was more than worth the pain invested in reaching it. You could see several note worthy peaks in the distance. Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens. Being that it was a clear day you could see the edge of Canada and almost to the Pacific on the western horizon. After a couple of hours taking in the view we started heading down. I thought the hard part was over with the climb behind us. I thought wrong, the decent is bone jarring. The steep trail perpetually beats your knees and hips without rest. I would never want to be a mtn climber. So much work for such a small pay off. The quick pay off and easy thrills make riding hard hobby to pass up. At least in my opinion. Monday after the climb, too tired to cook we polished off a giant pizza and passed out. Tuesday morning it was back to home to Texas. Next time I will stay longer and maybe never leave.
Huge thanks to Cory for hosting, driving, pitting, and cooking for me. It made the trip possible for me. And thanks to MAD DUCK for all the help. My bike was DIALED! Come by the shop and we can set you up on a killer cross bike too. And thanks to MOMENTA TRAINING. Fitness is building.
just say no to proof reading.
September 23, 2009
catching up
starcrossed/rad racing/seattle trip report coming up as soon as i catch up on everything else...
