Thank you Robert and Tailwind!!

Okay, so I don't have worlds of experience in cyclocross racing, but I have done enough races to appreciate a decent course from a bad one. The Ohio state championship course was pretty darned Mickey Mouse. As Tim Saari put it, kind of like a backyard barbecue course. For those in the Toledo area, think Paige/Mark's house course (please don't take offense, just not a 'complete' course).

The start line had no more than 75 meters to the first 180 degree turn and uphill. The distance from the last turn to the finish line was about 30 meters. I did not stay for the finish of the elite race, but I hope there wasn't a sprint finish. It would be pretty dangerous in my opinion, think gravel/pavement in the last turn with metal barriers about 4 meters wide. In between the start and finish were a couple of nice sections interspersed between some fairly silly chicane sections. Add to this the way the starts were set up and you have a fairly poorly run state championship, in my humble opinion. The B, Masters 35, and Masters 45 were all on the course at the same time. The elite women and men were on the course at the same time. It was good for me to have that many people on the course when I was racing just to get a little more used to the jostling and positioning required in the turns, etc.

Now for the race. I had no idea what to expect of the competition in the M45 class since I have never raced cx in Ohio. Mark W. was there from the Flying Rhinos, so I knew at least one other person. We had a nice field, in the 15 person range. I was in the second row at the start and was in the top 5 as we made the first turn. It was a bit messy through the first lap figuring out who was in what group. Near the beginning of the 2nd lap, Mark and I were together and figured out that we were 2/3 with a bit of a gap to the 1st place guy. We had a bit of a gap on the 4th place guy, but not enough to forget about him. In the 4th lap, disaster struck. I came into an off camber turn a little too hot and went down. Although I was back up pretty quick, Mark had gapped me and the 4th place guy came by as I was getting going again. I was not able to get back on their wheel and ended up 4th. As is usually the case in cx, one small screw up can take you out of a spot or two. I felt I was riding okay other than that mistake. The 'sand' pit was actually an old clay tennis court that had been let go from a maintenance perspective. It ended up being no big deal as it was fairly moist and did not provide much of a problem once the path was ridden in.

All in all, a good day racing once again. The weather was nice, the place the race was held was a really interesting old mansion (Bryn Du Mansion) in Granville. It is really unfortunate that the promoter did such a poor job of setting up the course and the registration process was a joke as well. To the point of the trying to charge an extra $10 over the preregistration fee when nothing was said on any of the information prior to the race (near riot situation). Results were posted as handwritten sheets with nothing but bib numbers. Once again, thank you Robert!

What's been Up?

Since my last post I have been to Boulder, raced at Munson and have a new bike.

I took my daughter to Boulder to see the University of Colorado. She has been accepted there and they even were kind enough to throw some scholarship money her way, so we thought we owed them a visit at the very least. We opted for the 'Student for a Day' tour program. We arrived on time for our big adventure - interestingly enough, they charged us $15 each for the privelege of the tour. They did a nice job of presenting the school, tour, presentations, etc. They even broke us into groups - students and parents, for a panel discussion led by a group of students. It was pretty interesting, especially after Erin and I compared notes afterward. Same questions were asked but from the opposite side of the answer. The students that led it were interesting and we learned a lot. It turns out the $15 must have been for the delicious meal we were served in the dorm. Let me just say, dorm food still stinks. We sat by ourselves at a fairly large table. We were joined by 3 Navy ROTC freshmen in their dress blues (in honor of veteran's day). They were friendly and provided some insight into the dorms, etc. that was very helpful and not spun by the marketing folks of the University.

That night we had dinner at Andy Hampsten's house. It was great fun and very helpful to get the town person's perspective of Boulder and the University. The next morning, Andy and I went for a ride. 4300 feet of climbing later, I was one happy camper! He is a great guy and was nice enough to not leave me in his dust.

Yesterday was the Munson Park race of the Tailwind Series. It was cold and windy as usual at Munson. The course was similar to last year with a couple of different twists. I felt reasonably well and hoped for a top ten since Jeff Weinert and Mike Wissink were out of town. I rode pretty solid with a few technical bobbles, but nothing too serious. I rode with Joel B. and Mark W. for the first few laps. Then dropped Joel and rode with Mark. After two more laps, I gapped Mark and rode the rest of the way by myself. I had visions of catching the 6/7 riders, but could not bring the gap down to the point of that being in the realm of possiblities. I was 8th, somewhat satisfied with the ending. The best race of the day was the masters 35. Ron put on a clinic in how to use strategy to win a race. It was great to watch.

Now for the big news, I received delivery on my custom Nobilette frame last Friday. I wanted a bike that I could travel with and have as many options as possible for ride options. I had Mark design it for cx geometry and clearances and S&S couplers for traveling ease. Here it is:


Here is a view of the head tube:

Believe me, photos do not do it justice. The finish was done by Spectrum Powderworks. These guys are amazing.

I hope to have it built up in the next week or so. Looking at a Force group and some set of wheels that I already have. We'll see.

Pondering this whole blog thing. Does anyone really care what I have to say? Does it really matter? Is it just some therapeutic egocentric excercise? Read it now, it may disappear.

It's a Team Thing

Vet's Park is a really fun place for a cx race. It is in Ann Arbor, one of my favorite towns, and it has some interesting elevation changes. And as a bonus - no sand pits!

The plan for the weekend was to race Elite on Saturday and then see how I felt on Sunday to determine whether I raced Elite again or Masters. I went through the registration process and here is my number:



The same number that my team mate Ron drew down in Louisville! We definitely have a good team vibe going this year! If everyone were healthy, it would be even more fun.

I warmed up and thought the course was going to be fun. At the line it was the largest field since Davisburg, I think. At least it felt like a big field. Given my past performances, I was not expecting a whole lot, but I had certain people that I felt I should be able to handle. The first lap was it's usual fire fight - I'm just not that fast. As the race settled in, I figured out who my competition was and began to work on them. At the end of the day I ended up 14th out of 23 starters and was reasonably satisfied with my effort. I seem to do well on the runups, managing to pass people along the way. I had one very near disaster with about 3 laps to go - I heard one of my spikes catch the top of the first barrier on the run up. I managed to keep my balance and get through, providing some near entertainment for the crowd on the hill.

Sunday dawned a bit cooler than Saturday and I was feeling my age, so I opted for the Masters race. It would also provide for some more family time later in the day. This was a small field, I think 7 or 8 in the 45+ crowd and a nice women's field, 10-12 I think. The 35's had a group of around 15-18 and they were starting a minute ahead of us, so there was potential for traffic along the way. The Flying Rhinos were there in force, they had 3 in our group. The start was pretty exciting with me ending up 2nd wheel at the first turn. At the first fast section, I was trying to pass Joe Brown of the Rhinos and we nearly tangled up, fortunately we both can handle our bikes fairly well and nothing bad happened. It set the tone for what was to come. Keith Rigge attacked on the first lap and gapped Joe, Mark and I by a few seconds. I was concerned that I was going to get hammered by the Rhino boys if the chase was on, but decided to let them do the work for a while. On the second lap, i attacked on the run up and that was the end of that. I was in chase mode from there on out. I used the 35's when I could and slowly closed the gap on Keith. Catching him with 2 to go. I rode his wheel while I recovered and then attacked on the run up. Again, that was all I needed to drop him. Using the 35's even more on the last lap and a half. Along the way, I managed to bloody up my right knee without ever going down, some of the passing was a bit tight to say the least.

It was a fun weekend and I felt good about my efforts. When is the real cx weather going to get here?