Grote Prijs

Racing CX at night is about as much fun as you can have with your lycra on! I really have not found the time to get up to some of the regional races, so this was a first for me and it was a blast.. Had the temperature been colder I might be singing a different tune, but it was perfect.

The course was pretty much the same as last year; Fast!! As mentioned in previous posts I do prefer a bit more climbing in CX courses, but this was fun none-the-less..

Lined up with the 3/4's thinking it was going to be a small field after looking at the Boxing Day X results, but this was not the case. 26 people lined up which surprised me a little bit.

The combination of being a shorter 30min race, relatively flat with quite a bit of pavement and gravel I knew it was going to be hard to keep up with the roadies on this one. The start was on the pavement and I hit the grass about mid pack where the lead group took off with about 6 or 8 in the group. I told SC before the race I was just going to hold his wheel and have him pull me the whole race, but that did not work out for me. Too bad too, he won the race.. Good job dude, you better be careful or were going to see your mug all over bagger....

Anyway, I was not feeling too bad considering I have not raced in about a month, I started picking off folks who had fallen off the lead group. Most of the race I ended up like most of my mountain bike races, too slow to be in the lead group, but fast enough to be ahead of the slower traffic. So I find myself in no-mans land riding by myself.

After a couple of laps I did get some company, Roger and Mark came by battling for 1st and 2nd in the Singlespeed race. Considering they started after us the thought of them catching me and leaving me behind did not settle well with me so I made sure I hung out with them for the rest of the race. The three of us did about 3 or 4 laps together when Mark finally faded a bit. I am sure having his front end slide out every lap did not help his cause very much.

Last lap Roger took off, I had a 3/4 guy just a little too close for comfort so I headed off to catch him. Got on his wheel and cruised in to finish 8 out of 26. RESULTS HERE

I did notice that a couple of laps into it KBrocket was not that far behind.. I am not kidding you fellas, if your not careful she will be beating you soon, she is getting better every month... She already beat half of you last night!!

After the race I stuck around for a little and watched the Open dudes... You know, most of the time when you watch people race that are faster than you. You can't really tell just by watching from sidelines. Dude, no joke Tilford was flying out there, it was quite a display..

I did get a (rather poor quality) video of Tilford and another guy going over the barriers which was impressive. The guy that came in 2nd, he was flying over those things...

Making it look easy... And fast...

Tilford

Looks like Ethos had another great showing with TDonn and JPB. Good job fellas!

If you want pics, go to Mark Breeding's FB

Merry Christmas!

I hope Santa brought you all the bikes/parts/tools/sealant/lube/jackets/booties/gloves/helmets you desperately need!! And in Carbon Fiber!!! Your going to be so much faster next year now that your bike weighs 600 grams less... I Know!!

And I hope your doing a better job of resisting the sugar cookies than I am.... Weight has skyrocketed!!!

Bike Forum Post, huh...

Saw this little gem over on Zeke's site, who got it from Surley... I don't and have never worked in a shop, but been around enough to find it funny.

Some answers to just about any bike forum post I’ve ever read

Thursday, June 16, 2011

posted by Skip Bernet

If you think your bike looks good, it does.

If you like the way your bike rides, it’s an awesome bike.

You don’t need to spend a million dollars to have a great bike, but if you do spend a million dollars and know what you want you’ll probably also have a great bike.

Yes, you can tour on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can race on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can commute on your bike – whatever it is.

26” wheels or 29” or 650b or 700c or 24” or 20” or whatever – yes, that wheel size is rad and you’ll probably get where you’re going.

Disc brakes, cantis, v-brakes, and road calipers all do a great job of stopping a bike when they’re working and adjusted.

No paint job makes everyone happy.

Yes, you can put a rack on that. Get some p-clamps if there are no mounts.

Steel is a great material for making bike frames - so is aluminum, carbon fiber, and titanium.

You can have your saddle at whatever angle makes you happy.

Your handlebars can be lower than your saddle, even with your saddle, or higher than your saddle. Whichever way you like it is right.

Being shuttled up a downhill run does not make you a weak person, nor does choosing not to fly off of a 10 foot drop.

Bike frames made overseas can be super cool. Bike frames made in the USA can be super cool.

Hey, tattooed and pierced long shorts wearin flat brim hat red bull drinkin white Oakley sportin rad person on your full suspension big hit bike – nice work out there.

Hey, little round glasses pocket protector collared shirt skid lid rear view mirror sandal wearing schwalbe marathon running pletscher two-leg kickstand tourist – good job.

Hey, shaved leg skinny as hell super duper tan line hear rate monitor checking power tap train in the basement all winter super loud lycra kit million dollar wheels racer – keep it up.

The more you ride your bike, the less your ass will hurt.

The following short answers are good answers, but not the only ones for the question asked – 29”, Brooks, lugged, disc brake, steel, Campagnolo, helmet, custom, Rohloff, NJS, carbon, 31.8, clipless, porteur.

No bike does everything perfectly. In fact, no bike does anything until someone gets on it to ride.

Sometimes, recumbent bikes are ok.

Your bikeshop is not trying to screw you. They’re trying to stay open.

Buying things off of the internet is great, except when it sucks.

Some people know more about bikes than you do. Other people know less.

Maybe the person you waved at while you were out riding didn’t see you wave at them.

It sucks to be harassed by assholes in cars while you’re on a bike. It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes.

Did you build that yourself? Awesome. Did you buy that? Cool.

Wheelies are the best trick ever invented. That’s just a fact.

Which is better, riding long miles, or hanging out under a bridge doing tricks? Yes.

Yes, you can break your collar bone riding a bike like that.

Stopping at stop signs is probably a good idea.

Driving with your bikes on top of your car to get to a dirt trail isn’t ideal, but for most people it’s necessary.

If your bike has couplers, or if you have a spendy bike case, or if you pay a shop to pack your bike, or if you have a folding bike, shipping a bike is still a pain in the ass for everyone involved.

That dent in your frame is probably ok, but maybe it’s not. You should get it looked at.

Touch up paint always looks like shit. Often it looks worse than the scratch.

A pristine bike free of dirt, scratches, and wear marks makes me sort of sad.

A bike that’s been chained to the same tree for three years caked with rust and missing parts makes me sad too.

Bikes purchased at Wal-mart, Target, Costco, or K-mart are generally not the best bang for your buck.

Toe overlap is not the end of the world, unless you crash and die – then it is.

Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.

Yes, you can buy a bike without riding it first. It would be nice to ride it first, but it’s not a deal breaker not to.

Ownership of a truing stand does not a wheel builder make.

32 spokes, 48 spokes, 24 spokes, three spokes? Sure.

Single speed bikes are rad. Bikes with derailleurs and cassettes are sexy. Belt drive internal gear bikes work great too.

Columbus, TruTemper, Reynolds, Ishiwata, or no brand? I’d ride it.

Tubeless tires are pretty cool. So are tubes.

The moral of RAGBRAI is that families and drunken boobs can have fun on the same route, just maybe at different times of day.

Riding by yourself kicks ass. You might also try riding with a group.

Really fast people are frustrating, but they make you faster. When you get faster, you might frustrate someone else.

Stopping can be as much fun as riding.

Lots of people worked their asses off to build whatever you’re riding on. You should thank them.

Ice and Bikes Don't Mix

Very well anyway...

Went out on my usual early morning ride and it was a little slippery out there.... Hit the deck twice before I decided to head home before I slip and slide into oncoming traffic..

I was not able to get my scheduled hard ride in because of it... I guess there are uses for trainers after all... I just can't bring myself to do it man.. I loath those things! Just sitting spinning in the basement, I get bored at the site of it...

Cold I can handle, Ice, not so much... Bummed about my last two rides now.. At least the scenery was beautiful.. The pictures do not do it justice...

 Only three Cross races left (I think) of the season. I am going to try and hit up two of them.

 Boxing day Cross is out for me... December 26th

Grote Prijs - December 28th

Cross off The Old Year - December 31st

Then, that's it for racing til spring.. Unless I can get away to the Pirate's little CXC Party! We shall see......

Owe Crap, its Cookie Season!

Its that time of year!!! Muuussst resist da cooookies!!!!!

Man! This bad boy assortment is just sitting at home, good thing I am at work all day today.. Cross has got me rather lean right now, so you KNOW I am OCD'ing these... Once I get started I will eat these things till I get sick...

On another note, man this season is bout done... Got two more cross races on the radar and that's it for the year... Time to refocus on my true love; That dirty, dirty, singletrack...

Which brings us to the offseason... Jan, Feb, Mach... Obviously, some of the intensity in the training will be reduced and longer rides will be incorporated...The only decision that really needs to be made is whether to take any time off or not, and if I do, how much?

Any suggestions? What works for you?
****Disclaimer; if your not a stupid fast dude, I will take all advice with some skepticism...

MO State CX Mudfest!

Was so excited to race on Sunday! This being my second year of racing cross, I have never raced in "cross" conditions before... Last year Vet Cross was getting nasty but I raced too early for it to get slippery...
And fun it was!! Well, until last night taking two bikes apart to get all the grass out of my hubs/derailleur/crank, etc... The power-washer could only clean so much...

I arrived in time to get a proper warm up for the 3/4 race, but since I am susceptible to peer pressure, Roger convinced me to double up the SS and then turn around and the 3/4s right after... So got my numbers and had just enough time to pin them on before the race started... I arrived last, about a min before we took off... Owe well, not the first time nor the last probably....

We are off and I see Roger take off like a rocket ship... Yah, I will see you later dude... For some reason, I did not quite have the fuel to the fire that day... Basically both races I rode well within myself, did not really dig to deep on either one for some reason...

Anyway, conditions were crazy muddy... I held on within range for about a couple of laps before fading, then it started to get kind of ridiculous. After two laps the mud (sticky as peanut butter) started building up so much you were basically riding with the breaks on. You know, it wasn't riding your bike that was the hard part, its picking up a 50 pound bike over the barriers and the log that was a bitch. From there I just put it back in cruise control for the rest of the race with the 3/4's up in 15min after the race... My homies Roger and Jesse killed it this race with a 1st and 3rd! Roger is flippen killing it at cross, pretty impressive and Jesse is always strong, killing it without even training... Jerks for sure!!!!
Owe ya, I ended up a mediocre 7th... My first SS race in a while and you know what? My 1X9 has turned me into a spinning little beeoch, I can't hammer the 36/16 like before and I am getting schooled.... Owe well... This is all to keep me in shape for MTB anyway...

3/4's up next, switched bikes, got on the Crux with my disk breaks...Was dying to see how this rig was going to work in the mud...

Started in the back, again... Took off and immediately noticed a difference between my two bikes... The Crux was awesome...
The tire clearance you get (disk breaks) without the canti breaks is unparalleled. The mud buildup was simply not there.. I also felt more comfortable spinning (I know! pathetic)..

My results did really not reflect the better ride with another mediocre finnish in 10th.. I could basically ride about all the course on this bike. Well the deep mud behind the bmx track was a little more difficult and I only made it like 3 times... But made it however...

I did see a bunch of DNF's with derailleur problems.. One dude told me he DNF'd by choice because he did not want anything to happen to is derailleur? Uh, dumbfounded look on my face I am sure...Anyway, perhaps next race I will dig deep for a decent position, but you know, I had fun and I forget about that sometimes...

I left early to get my little man, but saw TDonn pulled out 2nd in the open... Nice dude!!!

Also, I do have to note that the infamous Burnsey (Pirate) made a cameo appearance!!!! Great to see you out there!! Dude, I don't know what happened to all the beer hand-ups? This whole season they have been missing... We need Team Seagal over here more I guess.....

Pretty sure Ethos Racing got some State Championship Jerseys in there! I lost track of everyone out there.... Damn I want one of those so bad...... One of these days....

RESULTS

PIC's  -   More PIC's   &   More PIC's

Till next time.... On another note, MTB race schedules are starting to be put together! Exciting!!

Mudfest

Report from Sunday coming soon...

Before

After

Vet Cross

Huge thank you to Roger Harrison to put a climbing course together... I was feeling rather discouraged after getting my arse handed to me out at the flats of Boulevard Cup...

Once I grabbed one of my wife's old coats (there was a discount for donating a coat) I took off to Leavenworth and found myself in the middle of rural Kansas,  my Google navigator could not pick up the address for some reason..

Once I finally made it there to a less than usual attendance I went out to check the course... This was one hilly SOB! A big grin on the inside instantly grew (read my last race report, you will understand).. This was going to hurt!

As I was getting ready I noticed only like 5 open racers were racing, our race had only 15 or so...
Some of the usual faces and some new ones...

After last weekend I decided against my strict fly til you die philosophy. When you have some endurance to fly for more than a lap it worked out pretty well. But when you don't have the endurance, apparently that philosophy does not pan out...

The start took us on a long paved section and I decided to keep my heart rate under 175, for once... I settled in about 8 or so back by the time we took a hard right onto the grass... Once we took another hard right to head up a slight incline I noticed I was climbing a bit better than these fellas... Sooooooo, 2 min after the start my game plan went right out the window! Lets try and go fast! Relatively speaking that is...

Passed a couple of dudes and settled in about 5th heading into the hilly part of the course...Once we got there the entire group started to spread out a bit... **Spoiler alert** Bob C. and Chamois Butt'r (don't know who he was) took off the lead and held it to the end.. Anyway, now that's out of the way..

The real racing was about 4 or 5 of us trading spots chasing.. The race was only 30 min, 5 laps.... The first two laps held a decent group of us together, about 5 or 6... After the second lap me and two other dudes were in a battle for 3rd.. Each lap I would out climb them on the hills, then they would hit the pavement and get a gap on me.. Go figure...

Down to one lap to go I am sitting 5th and 3rd and 4th took off once again on the pavement, I dug just deep enough to keep them within reach once we hit the grass... Got on 4th dudes wheel in the first grass section and on to the hills... I attacked on the first climb and dropped one of them. I had to keep digging to close the gap on the 3 dude... We hit the last climb and I was thinking of passing but decided, well, that would be stupid,  I did not want to pull him to the finish... That and my legs were on fire....

Hit the top of the hill on his wheel and stuck to it no matter how bad it hurt.... All be damned were going to have a little sprint finish... I tried the inside and he closed it off, took the outside and ended up out sprinting for 3rd by a wheels length... Damn that was fun!

Last time I was in Leavenworth I was out sprinted for 3rd, feels a little better on this end of it...

Just by my nature I want to pick apart the race and wonder how I would have ended up if my usual nemisises were there. The hell with it, that last lap was bad ass closing the gap on those two dudes, I will take it....

RESULTS

PICS

Thanks Roger for putting on a mans race!!!!!

Boulevard Cup of Broken Dreams

Flat power cross venues absolutely destroy me! What can I say, I actually had ambitions in the 3/4's of top 5, would have settled for top 10... Well, a (kinda)sprint finish for a whopping 20th was not exactly how it all was going to go down in my mind... Hell, I even told SC (who is racing damn good by the way) before the race that he was not getting by me today... Let me tell you, the saying that you have to race to get in race shape is absolutely spot on...

As I was getting my arse handed to me, at least it was a hell of a good event.....

Felt pretty good to start with, the race was very flat, which I knew would not suit me very well, but I have not raced in a couple weeks and felt fresh.. The field was deeeep, like racing cat 4 again... 45 total riders.. I lined up way early, like 15 min and was still second row!

We were off and I got in about 5th wheel off the pavement. We hit a small switchback and bam, number 2 dude hit the deck and we were left waiting.... I got around that mess sooner than some others and was sitting 3 going through the rest of the first lap...

First lap done and I had done the flyin part, now it was time to get on with the dyin... Went from 3 to 6 just like that...6th to 8th, again just like that... Dude this SUCKS!!

Looking back on it, I think it would be reasonable to think I could have held on for a little, placed anywhere between the 8-13 range...

Could have is the key word there! Coming through the barriers on lap 3 or 4 I took a nose dive. Flat on my face, I am diving into home plate, my bike is catapulted in the air... Holy crap, I have never done that before... Well, thank goodness that the barriers where right next to the beer tent and some bleachers so that everyone watching could witness me in all my glory...

As I shamefully get up and get on my bike I have to get off again and get my chain back on track. At this point like 5-8 dudes go by me which is completely demoralizing.. Once I get going again the official wind was completely out of the sails... I was well out of where I wanted to be...

Well, instead of being completely discouraged, I decided that I might as well have some fun with this. My only goal from this moment forward was to ride the run up... There was one off camber/routey/hilly technical section that I wish there was more of. On it there was a steep down, 180 turn and then run up that was kind of rideable, but not really.. It certainly was not quicker to ride it, but I really did not care at this point..
Next lap made it to the top and had to put a foot down... Next lap, found myself sideways halfway up.. Next lap, foot down again, but I think I have it... Told my 2 supporters that next lap I am climbing it... Next lap, got it! Last lap, even better... Hells to the yes! I might have sucked a racing today, but I rode that damn run up a couple times...

There was only one other "technical" section of the race. A small sand pit... I like the ones you can ride through, not those 50 yard sand volleyball courts they sometimes run you through... Some folks were having one hell of a time getting though this. I did not think it was that difficult as long as you don't have a dude in front of you bailing off his bike...

When I say that some dudes were having a tough time with this section, this morning I have seen the proof.. Instant Classics!!!!!

Basically I found I have more than enough technical skills for cross, its the damn engine I need to work on..

But hey, I may have sucked a big one today, but Boulevard was there to make everything okay...

"Ahh, beer, the cause and solution to all life's problems" ~ Homer

RESULTS HERE...

Laid back weekend... For me anyway...

While everyone else was out racing either MTB at BTE or CX at Epic/Shawnee Radcross, I took the weekend off...

When heading out for a ride on Saturday, originally I was going to head out to the cross course and do some training but decided to just ride for fun instead... Wow, what a concept!

I get so determined to get faster to be competitive that I sometimes forget why I first started this whole thing anyway... I still remember riding Corby North (pretty flat trail) and having to stop to catch my breath multiple times... Little did I know at the time that getting the dirt in your blood changes your life!

Took off and decided to ride some of the trails... Still on my cross bike though, because its new and I just have to ride it..

Its kind of fun to hit some of the trails that you originally cut your teeth on... Its nice to ride some of the sections you remember having a tough time with on your first mountain bike and now riding the same trail on your cross bike and doing it easily...

Scenery is definitely better than riding around in a field!!!

Accidently ran over this big dudes tail...  They say that snakes are more afraid of us than we are of them. Well if that is the case this dude should have died from shock! I hate snakes....

So, battery charged, might do some more of this in the future, but I need to get back to racing... I love the focus, the competition....

Race Reports from Last Weekend:

Berryman Epic


G Wiz (The Kid)

SS Pirate (Burnsey)

Jesse (Manamal)

Tilford

Schottler

Radcross:

SC (Congrats dude!)


Might be some more CX reports but I have to go back to work.... See you cross fools on Sunday!

Joules Cross, Day 2...

Saturday I took a beating, was chewed up and spit out for my worst performance in years... I haven't been over top 10 in 2 years... Just as well, only logical thing is to come out and suffer some more against dudes with fresh legs...Awesome!

I would not say the legs were sore, but I could tell that I had done something the day before... Lined up in the front row next to SC and like 35 other Colavita dudes... Whistle blew, like usual take off in front and instantly knew today was not going to be my day. Legs are dead from the day before. But, I love racing so who really gives a crap, lets go....

The course was completely different than the day before, less hills, less technical (I thought anyway).. Had some twists and turns, some rough spots (only time I felt at home) and a climb to finish your lap up...

Group stayed together pretty well for the first lap, I did get to witness a nice wreck again. And again I was just slow enough to stay out of it myself. I did get to see a nice endo over the handlebars on this one. Don't think I have seen that at a CX race before.....

After a lap the leaders were getting away, I had settled in behind mid-pac ish. Got to pick off a few dudes and chased down another... I caught him pretty quick, 1/2 lap or so and he stuck to my wheel for the next two laps...

Down to two laps to go and my genius plan was to attack on the last climb leading into the final lap, gap him, keep on the gas so he would get out of my draft and push it to the end... So here we come up to the climb to Finnish the lap, I dropped down to a big boy gear, got out of the saddle and gave it hell....

In your head envision Cancellera at Flanders....... Got that imagery in your mind now?

Yah, Uhhh,  it was nothing like that... I attacked, hammered up the hill, pushed over the top and kept pushing until I cleared the top of the hill and then some..... Out of breath, legs burning, I look back......

SOB!!!! I pulled him right on up with me! Hell, he is closer now than at the bottom of the hill!!!

And there he went, leaving me to recover from my effort..... I tried to catch his weel, but had to settle for keeping him close for the final lap. I wanted to give another good push up the same spot, but I was out of gas, out of time, game over...Man that was fun though!!

Ended up 10th... Better than the day before, but not to my satisfaction... Anther day, another climb awaits!

RESULTS DAY 2

Joules Cross 1

Well, I was so excited to do my first double day Cross Racing... I have never been able to find the time to hit up both Saturday and Sunday races... Come to find out, it was apparent that I have not ever done that kind of quantity of racing before. I wish I could say quality, I would say only one of the three fell under that category.

Made it down to Lawrence on Saturday and doubled up the singlespeed race and the 3/4's. I knew this was going to be pretty tough after pre riding the course and it was pretty opposite of my strengths (man I love Manions)... I need hilly and technical, this was straight up power course... Thought to myself, "dude, the roadies are going to be tough to beat out here"... And you know what, I was right.....

On the line I saw the usual suspects... Kent, Mark and Joe Fox putting his hat in the SS ring... Roger who is always tough on his mtb... Whistle blew and I got my usual good start and took up behind Kents wheel. Plan was to get on his wheel and hang on for dear life... Turns out that is not a very long time... Here comes Joe by me, then Mark, then Roger... 2nd to 5th in 1/2 a lap... Roger and I held the leaders close for a couple of laps till about lap 4 or so when I finally noticed Mark pulling away from us.. Damn, there goes the elusive top 3 I can't seem to get... Played cat and mouse with Roger for a couple more laps till he started to pull away from me, so basically I sat up from that point. Only went fast enough not to get caught for the last lap or two... 5th place... Owe well... Time to get ready for the 3/4's...

So on to the course, Saturday had some twists and turns, a nice little dip-to-hill thingy by the pond.. Yes, that is the technical term for it.. Not very much climbing, and a long straight to hammer out some watts in a headwind...

As the race got closer I noticed my Quad wanting to seize up on me a little... What the hell? This aint a MTB race... I guess we put in a bigger effort in the SS race than I thought...

Got my new rig out and headed to the start.... Running disks and gears...First time ever to run gears in a CX Race... Should get interesting...

Started the 3/4's and immediately lost ground after the starting whistle. Legs are spent and the race just started...Right off the bat on a kinda tricky corner a dudes front wheel got away from him and he hit the deck pretty hard... Took out the two guys behind him. Not me though, the combination of my awesome disk breaks and going slow as hell allowed me to avoid the carnage... Hung out behind the mid pack dudes for a while till they gaped the rest of us remaining.. After about a couple laps I did find the strength to pass a couple of dudes including my bud Roger. Started to feel okay around lap 3 and tried to catch back up to the mid pack group... Was doing well for a lap and was making ground until I hit a wall... Legs were done.... I put it in cruse control for a couple of laps until Roger came by me... Just had to make it interesting, didn't ya!!
Well, it came down to the both of us to sprint to the finish to take a whopping 14th and 15th!!! Yah... Worst finish I have ever had since started racing cross... And the SOB out sprinted me on a effing SS MTB!!!

That stung a little bit... This race was a disaster from the start... Owe well, its too early in the season to take  them all seriously... Right? Well, crap...

Will post about Day 2 later, I have to try and be productive today....

RESULTS HERE(DAY 1)

ROGERS PICTURES HERE

Say hello to my little Svein...

Why is his name Svein you ask? Well my friend; you should be asking yourself why you ask such stupid questions.....

Hello Jerks, I'm Svein and ready to rocks and rolls!

Boss X 2 Results

Field was a little deeper than I thought... Kent and Britton with Colavita are fast dudes man...

Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS WOERMANN Kent Team Colavita/ Parisi Coffee 1
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS KUSIAK Britton Team Colavita/ Parisi Coffee 2
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS GROSS Jesse Ethos Racing 3
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS DOUGLAS Jason Ethos Racing 4
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS OLDEHOEFT Dan Team Colavita/ Parisi Coffee 5
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS WILLIAMS Roger Unattached 6
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS LYLES Andrew Team Colavita/ Parisi Coffee 7
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS ELLIS Michael Team Colavita/ Parisi Coffee 8
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS MICHAEL Tim Epic Cycling Team 9
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS SOTO Hector Renaissance Cycling 10
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS HAMMONTREE Joel 360 Racing 11
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS ROMISCH David GP Velotek 12
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS ANDERSON William 360 Racing 13
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS SHEPERD Zeke Evil 14
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS LEHMAN Kay Ethos Racing 15
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS PECK Jonathan Team Colavita/ Parisi Coffee 16
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS THOMAS Christopher Black Sheep Cycles 17
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS JACKSON Karl My Wife Inc. 999
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS SHOFFNER Brett Unattached 999
Cat1/2/3/4 Male SS MARTIN Randy Big D Cycling 99

FULL RESULTS FOR DAY TWO HERE.....

Sunday Boss Cross....

Headed down with the family to boss cross on Sunday... Only one race (sinlglespeed) for the day for me because we had to go hit up the folks house for my little mans 1 year birthday...(pictured here helping pops replace his bottom bracket)

"Dad, is it the right or left bracket that's counterclockwise?"

Got there and found the usual suspects, Ethos Racing in full effect..

Ran into Jesse and did some quick laps to warm up... The course was pretty good, I did enjoy it... It was basically a really fast course that had a couple of sections to slow you down... There were two long sand runs which kind of sucks the life out of your legs..  And then a left turn that was kind of steep and nothing but roots and loose dirt. This little turn ended up getting the best of me that day...

On the last lap on the pre-ride I headed up this little rooted hill where I hear Psssssssssssssssttttttttt....

Owe, holy crap, pinch flat 10 min before the start... Run my bike back to the car (which I had moved into the parking lot at the race venue, thank god) to find it locked! I have no idea where my wife is and she has the keys.... Once I found her I ran back and fixed it as quick as I could with some CO2's, and headed to the start line where everyone was already lined up including the 20 or more 4's...

Thank goodness Kay was there to move over and kindly let me squeeze in... So I am sitting virtually dead last before the race even started... Had some work to do....

Its a good thing I know most folks start rather slow for whatever reason... Whistle blew and were off. Within a couple of seconds I find a hole and gun it before the leaders get even further away... The course was rather wide so passing was not a problem, got from 15th (or so) to 7th (or so) in the first 100 to 200 yards... 

Here is the spot! This might be the time I bobbled, does not look like I have a good line in the pic...

Kept up a pretty good pace for the first lap or two when people started spreading out a bit... After a couple laps I was able to pass Rodger and Dan-O (both of whom I know had some races already in there legs), which put me in 4th behind my homie Jesse... 

I knew before the race that this was a good opportunity for a podium since I had fresh legs and knew I was only racing once, so I could dig a little deeper than I normally would. So I had a hard time catching up to Jesse, it took me a couple laps to do it, but I finally made the gap and got on his wheel... We came to the little technical section where that little hill was that I flatted on earlier and I flippen blew it... The only time in the race where I messed up.... I had to get off the bike and run up the rest of the hill, with Jesse leaving me behind... Kind of demoralizing putting in so much work to have it all taken away in seconds... 

Owe well, now I have a whole different problem, I have Dan-O and Roger still behind me more than willing to take 4th place away from me... 

The last two laps were pretty uneventful.... Jesse was long gone and Dan-O and Roger had got their fill of pain for the day and faded a bit... Finished the race 4th....

Will post results when there up...

It was another great day for racing and it was awesome to be able to have the family out to watch...

I know some of my MTB peeps don't care much for Cross, but I love it... I only have to drive an hour to get to the races and the races are short... When your always pressed for time its a win/win....
***Disclaimer, this does not mean that I don't love MTB racing first! (still have to put that out there)

Owe yah, starting him early!

Well that is it for a little... Don't think I am going to make Cross out Cancer next weekend... But Joules Cross is the next weekend and I think I am going to make both days... That should be interesting....

Manions/1st Cross race of season...

Raced Manions on Saturday which was the first cross race of the season for me... You know what? It hurts just like I remember!! I was coughing all day Sunday....

You know.... I forget each year how seriously some folks take this riding around in the grass.... Multiple bikes, multiple wheelsets (each of which are more expensive than my whole rig), got their trainers out, hell even license plates on their cars for crying out loud.... Ain't nothing a beer and some dirt singletrack could not fix, but anyway.....

I was happy Manions was the first race for me because it is hilly and technical... This levels the playing field a little for us MTB dudes.. I got to hand it to you roadies, your bike handling might be a little lax, but your engines are large....

Just as I remember it!

I was doubling up on the day and hit up the Single Speed race at 3:00, then the 3/4's at 4:00... I have never done a back to back CX double so this was uncharted territory...

Started SS about 2 rows back but after the whistle, I passed everyone and hit the hole shot in first... I always can seem to do well at the start, I think its a combination of MTB race starts and everyone else not used to their eggbeaters...

I actually held on to first for about 1/4 a lap until I started loosing ground, Britton came by and then another Colavita dude (Kent, who won the race).. So back to 3rd real quick.... Couple min later 4th.... End of the first lap 5th.... Damn it!!!

I limited the damage after that, another Colavita dude was creeping up on me but I started taking ground later in the race and thought I was going to catch Rodger on his MTB ahead of me... Heading back in I hear the "final lap bell" where I was told 2 laps to go and 1 lap to go by two different people... HUH???? Owe well, just keep trucking, see what happens.... Finished the race in 5th.... Not great, but felt a hell of a lot better than my first race last year...

SS Results

Gettin it! See the massive dust trail in my wake? Yah, me neither....

Next up a quck nutritious drink and the 3/4's... I paid some extra cash to get a call up for this one, well, because I was smart and knew I would be racing some fresh legs on geared bikes...

So the game plan was to haul ass at the start and hold on the best I could... Started 2 rows back again, and again hit the hole shot in front of the pack (sittin 4th) and again stared to loose spots immediately...

6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, etc... Damn it again!!!!

After a couple laps, I got in a nice routine of riding the hills hard and recovering on the flats/downhills and started to pull back a couple spots and settled in and finished the race 9th....

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, Cross is a blast.... So much that I am working on a little project to get me a geared version of one of these skinny tired bikes...

Had to leave early, but looked like Ethos was killing it in the open class.... TDonn, CRex, JPBrocket and one more I have not met yet.....

Results Day One...

Results Day Two...

Cross.....

Well, with RIM cancelled, I had no choice but to face the inevitable... Time to take the slicks off the cross bike and put on the knobbies....

Big thanks to JPS and BikeSourse, these Specialized Tracer Pro's corner like they are on rails....

So I headed out to the Cross course that the Hippy and company put together and its effen SWEET! Easily one of the best laid out courses I have ever been on... Go Check it out!

Which brings me to this weekend, with RIM cancelled, Its off to Manions Cross. For this I am utterly unprepared... After my first lap out on the course I found out some hard facts.

Most important one being: Putting in 4 hours on the road to gear up for an endurance race does absolutely NOTHING to prepare you for cross!!!

Well, session ended, I felt like fat girl playing dodge ball out there!
Lungs hurt? check! Legs hurt? Check!
I did not get anywhere near my fat tire racing out of me. However, cross is here, can't fight it anymore...

RIM Cancelled

I am so bummed.....

I don't want to start Cross yet... I have yet to get the fat tire racing out of me!!!!!!!

R.I.M.

The road to RIM goes UPHILL!!!

Its a coming up in a couple of weekends... 12 hours of fun, well, painfully fun that is! I really enjoy Crowder State Park, closest thing to Krug around.. The race is one of the best organized around, don't miss it....

Have a couple of good climbs each lap so I thought I would go do some hill climbing on Sunday... Which reinforced how much thinking (or lack thereof) can go into training..

Soooo, this climb is not that hard, just long enough to get you thinking..............

"Crap, this is much harder than when I was riding it  back in Feb/March for my 'spring training'. How can that be, I am in better shape? Well am I? Maybe its the extra 10lbs I am carrying? Well, that's not all fat, so maybe its not? Maybe I am just not used to climbing anymore? On the other hand I am running a bigger gear on my SS cross bike, so maybe I am going faster, but it just feels harder? Yah maybe, but my MPH does not look that impressive? Wish there was someone else riding with me so I can gauge a little whether I am getting faster or not.... Man, I am training well, why would I not be getting faster? Maybe I am over-training and need to ease up a little? They say train smarter not harder... Man this hills kinda sucks, but so do intervals. CX season is here and I have only done one interval session so far... Man should I be doing more for cross? Well, nevermind that, RIM is two weeks away, worry about that later...Wonder if I could make it to Berryman? Well, if not, I could just switch back to cross after RIM? Hell, cross, I need to get this back wheel tuned up by someone who knows what their doing, feels like I am riding with my breaks on.... (Then start back at the top and re read until you hit the top of the hill)


So there you have it, insight into the mind of a dude who loves to race bikes.... Kinda a nut job I know...
Now all I need is a heart rate monitor and a power meter, and you can find me in an insane asylum in front of a computer analyzing data to gain and extra 25 watts!!!

Tall Oaks Challenge n other babble

Last Sunday Hoppe and I headed down to Jeff City to do the Tall Oaks Challenge 6 hour race, Duo Stylee....
Left Joetown early, way before sun up, drives like this kind of suck, but if you want some dirt lovin racing action, its what you have to do...

Now before I get into the racing part, let me introduce you to the "JDoug's categories of racers".... I am kind of a mental case so bare with me...

First you have the ridiculously fast... 

• Guys that either have their pro card or could get it if they wanted. 
• Best seen lapping you making XC racing seem effortless. 
• While laping you, you can't even hold their wheel for longer than 15 seconds.
• Their race reports actually tell of stories of racing against each other trying to take overall positions in Cat 1. (see wanna-be-fast for opposite)
• Usually lean as crap and know sheet about bikes, nutrition, etc...

Then you have stupid fast....

• These folks were either once ridiculously fast and don't train anymore, or upcoming wanna-be-fast dudes that started eating right, training right or quit drinking so much beer. (not necessarily in that order or actually may still be drinking beer)
• They can actually hold the wheel of the ridiculously fast folks for a half of a lap or so. (impressive!)
• After racing they will be seen actually taking in nutrition, BEFORE post race IPA's (also impressive!)
• Some of these folks would be ridiculously fast, but they are kicking every ones asses in the open field/Cat 1 on their singlespeeds.
• Usually lean and also know sheet about bikes, nutrtion, etc...

Which brings us to wanna-be-really fast...

• Folks (myself included) that aspire to be stupid fast and even ridiculously fast, but aren't for one reason or another.
• Can be found riding alone in XC races in no-mans land; Which is faster than the "just fast dudes", but slower than the "stupid fast dudes" and waaaay slower than the "ridiculously fast dudes". 
• Race reports are boring since after the start, they have been riding alone the rest of the race.
• After racing they will be taking in post race IPA's BEFORE post race nutrition.
• Know enough about bikes to be dangerous and enough about nutrition to give themselves diarrhea (or the "endurance race Cha, cha, chas" as I like to refer to them) during endurance races because they ingested to much liquid cab mix...(*See RIM race report 2010)

For time reasons I am going to skip the just fast dudes which are mainly comprised of Cat 2 racers that have bumped up to Cat 1 (or need to) or Cat 1 guys that don't train for crap but are just naturally gifted with superior genetics.

There is one last Category I want to touch a bit on is the Free Spirited XC Racer (FSR)... 

• My favorite type of racer, I wish sometimes I could be more like this dude. 
• Does not appear to be burdened with the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as the rest of us.
• Can almost universally be found on a steel framed singlespeed and 25% of the time will have a mustache of some sort.
• Knows a ton about bikes and can weld a bike together with some spare parts from a junk yard and some pvc pipe. 
• IPA's ARE NUTRITION!
• *Disclaimer, FSR's are NEVER slow! Don't let his laid back persona fool you, he will whoop your ass if you let him, and on a bike that at first glance you would not buy at a garage sale. (until you look past the spray painted Kona frame to see Cris King Hubs and Ceramic Bottom Bracket).

So on to the race:
Ethos Racing was out in full affect with duo squads of:  TDonn and G (ridiculously fast), JPB and Jesse (Stupid fast), Myself and Hoppe (wana-be-really fast), Jamie & Sara (wana-be-really fast & girl stupid fast)
Then solo folks of: Burnsy (my favorite FSR!), Cole (Stupid Fast), KarenB (Stupid Fast) and Kay (borderline, stupid fast/ridiculously fast)

This is the first time I have been on this trail system and it was worth the drive. This turned out to be one hell of a fun race. Minus the fact that there were an ass ton of stupid fast and ridiculously fast guys there... Dude, it was crazy!

I took off first as I "thought" I was faster than my partner Hoppe. Once into the trail system, it was pretty narrow had tons of turns, which made it difficult to pass slower riders. Especially when they are not tired.
Got stuck behind a train of 4-5 for the last half of the lap and tried the best I could to pass as many as I could during the open sections to hand off the lap to Hoppe.. Hoppe went down a couple of times in the loose stuff but did pretty damn well...

Since I went on a tangent with my categories of racers, I will keep the race report short for the 3 readers I have left. All in all we had a great time at this race and pulled in 9th out of 31 teams. Not bad, not great... We both kept our lap times pretty consistent about the 38 min area, until later in the race when we dropped a min here and there.

I did learn a little trick from my Ethos brother Jesse....
Take in protein between laps and you won't cramp! Thanks man! Years of pain and cramps on virtually every endurance race I do, an NOW I finally find this out...Better late than never I guess... and it worked!

RESULTS HERE

After Swope a couple of weeks before doing the 6 hour solo, this duo action as fun!!! The event was ran very well and it was a great time! Ethos Crew was fast and awesome as always!

Next up RIM and hopefully Berryman! Then on to Cross Season.... I need to drop some weight, I got lazy on my calorie intake!!

Early Morning Riding

About a month ago I came to the realization that squeezing half hour or if I am lucky a complete hour of riding in during (I am self employed, so hold your slacker comments to yourselves) and/or after work was not working.

Basically it was getting me really prepared to do half of a race... I was dying out there past the hour fifteen mark...

Sooooo, time for some improvisation, tweaked riding time to early morning... This sucked as first, but you know, I actually enjoy it now... I also can consistently get longer rides in, all you do is get your arse out of bed and put the lights on and go...

Early rides do have its perks!

On another note, lost a good man this week in Bob Bailey. I knew Bob as a always a riot to be around and he defiantly had a severe case of Cycling OCD! Like the rest of us! My deepest regards to his family and friends...

Finally, its off to race this Sunday... Taking on the Tall Oaks Challenge with CHoppe.. Its going to be fast! I know plenty of heavy hitters attending, mainly my teammates! Going to be fun....

Kids got better skills than I do!

Found this gem over at Hellingham.... This kid is smooth, I have some work to do!!

Spoke Pony Showdown, Done!

Headed down to Swope on Saturday morning for the Spoke Pony Showdown 3/6 with the goal of improving my technical riding. Figured 6 hours of riding all the rocks at Swope park is exactly what I needed, as if you have read this blog, I whine like a little girl after every race that has rock technical sections.

This also was not by first rodeo, so I basically just wanted to put it in cruise control and try to stay in a groove for the long haul. We all started at the bottom of the exit drive, which is a steady paved climb. I don’t mind climbing; actually my results usually improve when the course has a bunch of climbing involved. Rock sections, the exact opposite.

Headed to the singletrack behind Tony S. as we both had the same game plan of staying behind the super fast guys but ahead of the slower traffic. Which really did not amount to much, it got bottlenecked almost immediately after we hit the first rock section. When we hit the section it was mass carnage, guys off the trail left and right, Tony went down right in front of me (decided to take a different line myself, rather quickly), looked like that one hurt a bit.

The rest of the first lap was more of the same; every technical section had riders everywhere. But I tell you what, once the smooth single track hit you, it was fast as hell from that point on. I especially liked the little ramp on one of fast downhillish sections.

After a short refill it was off for the second lap. Riders were a little more spread out by this time which makes going through technical sections a little easier. About the time I thought to myself “you know, riding these rocks are not that hard”, BAM, hit the deck. When I say deck, I mean a effen rocky ravine!!! After getting unclipped, checking to see if the all my body parts were still intact I climbed out and got back on track.

Left a piece of my ear out there! Got to love Swope!

Third lap was pretty uneventful other than I started to feel a little fatigued.  If it weren’t for being behind SC (2nd? nice job dude!) and watching himself go completely sideways and making a right hand turn down another ravine. The lap would have been pretty boring.

I really need to dial in my nutrition for these things because the fourth and fifth laps SUCKED… I suffered like a dog out there…I was suffering so bad on lap five I contemplated just calling it a day. Once I rolled back in I started to feel good again. I guess I am a little behind on my food/fluid intake.

Went out on lap six and (brace yourselves) actually started to have fun through the rock technical sections. I started riding sections that I have never ridden before. I even had a dude behind me tell me that he should be following my lines, which is hilarious to me. All be damned!

Headed through the last technical section and finished up the lap with teammates Travis and Jesse (who both had lapped me I might add, 2^nd time for Travis! SOB’S are fast! ).  Finished the lap with an Ethos train, back-to back-to back, was actually kind of cool.

Last lap went pretty well also, just hammered along. I actually was feeling so good about my new found confidence on the rocks I was trying to put in a 100% clean lap. I failed at that, but it was fun trying..

My legs were feeling surprisingly fresh and It would have been a real pleasant lap if it were not for the bottom of my feet and my hands screaming at me. All my hours training on the road did me a disservice in preparing for bombing rocky downhills.  

All in all, I am satisfied, I accomplished what I wanted, which is to improve my rock riding skills and gain some “endurance” fitness.

As usual, Heartland Boys put on one hell of a race. Well ran, well organized, top notch! Even had a dead hooker section (Don’t ask, you should have been there)..We are lucky to have them in the Midwest.

Before

After!

On another note, Ethos Racing was again well represented! Jspell came down from Joetown, Travis, Jesse, Burnsy and Sarah all killed it like usual! Especially Travis and Jesse, they were unbelievably fast Saturday…G-wiz would have killed it like usual, if it weren’t for throwing himself into another ravine, in spectacular fashion from what I hear…. I am pretty sure he is okay, went on to win the SS Championship on Sunday…

Spoke Pony Results HERE..