Slow week, fast year.  Tomorrow it is December, which seems like it came out of nowhere.  The weather is getting colder and the weather people (if you trust them) are forecasting all sorts of slop for this weekend.  Hopefully this means the first time I get to race in slop this year on my cyclocross bike.  Here is hoping.  Then they say it is supposed to get colder next week with highs in the 20's.  Not surprising if we remember that last years Illinois State Championship race had a high temperature of about 15 degrees.  I am excited for these next three races, but when they are done and gone, the break will be welcome.  The plan for CX nationals has changed a little bit.  With Julie's plans for the weekend blended into a traveling snafu, I was left with a 8 1/2 hour drive immediately after racing on my own.  Not being excited about that I explored all my other options, including not going at all and found tagging along with Kevin and Holly is probably my best bet.  After asking them if it was alright I said something like "As of this morning I wasn't even going to go" and Kevin's immediate response was "oh no, you're going!"  Everyone's amazingly strong beliefs in my ability to succeed has been really encouraging.

 

 After the season is over I will be doing all of the year in review posts.  I have a few, one of them being about all the bikes that have gone through my possession.  The sell off of the Vivalo continues, there are a bunch of things left, namely the frame and fork and the wheels, and they are priced to sell, considering all of it is in almost new condition.  Going back to the BMX roots real quick, I would like to make light of an accident Jimmy Le van had and there is a fundraiser to help with the insane medical bill.  Track-o-saurus Rex has a good write up with all the details, donate at Dans Comp.  If you really look, there are a bunch of riders selling their bikes and other shit to help out, by donating all the proceeds. 

 

 

I was afforded the privilege of a sneak peak at some of the new kit that will be out in force around the Midwest in this coming year.  One word, Classy!   Hanging out with Jason this past weekend in Iowa was great.  He has an engine like a Porsche in a rain storm and has some awesome goals set for next year.  He switched teams and is now racing with the Grumpy's/LGR guys in Minneapolis, which is just going to make him an even stronger rider.  Not to mention he is coming off an amazing rookie season.

 

NORBA national calendar in 10 days! 

I have my own thoughts about it, but I also thought this ebay listing was pretty funny.  I have it on flickr too.

 

 

So, funny yes.  True?  Probably.  I think there are two reasons people should not sandbag, or for those who don't know what that means, people who race in a category that they have proven they are much faster than.  The first reason, it is not making you, the sandbagger, any faster.  Racing the same people you are beating over and over again, over the same length of time, is holding you back.  We know you can beat them already, get over yourself.  But, in reality that is your own problem.  The second issue is that sandbaggers are making alot of peoples race experience pretty crappy.  Lapping beginners, who have only raced once or twice before is can not be fun for them.  They come out, enter the beginner race, and then get lapped by three or four guys who should be racing in another group.  I really feel they call it a beginner group for a reason, you use these races to develop your skills and once you know what you are doing you should move on.  The same holds true for the intermediate group.  Upgrade into the "A" group and see what real racing is like.  Now, this is not directed towards any one person or category.  I could probably be safe in saying that every race series has people in the beginner and intermediate category that should upgrade immediately, or hell, upgraded last year.  An then you say, what about the series prizes?  I am in the lead for the series and I need to hold it.  Promoters need to either actively enforce the automatic upgrade at 30 points, only three wins or eliminate series prizes for the lower categories.  Give these prizes to the juniors or have raffles during the day to encourage people to stay for races other than their own.  I mean there was a race this year where one of the juniors who won recieved a water bottle as a prize.  How lame is that.  I know it is a touchy subject, but I think there are a few little things that can be done to make everybody's race day better.  Let us be honest.  If you take away the series prizes for the Mens 4 race, you will still have 80+ guys showing up to race.

 

Chivolvo...What's up! 

Sunday started almost exactly the same as Saturday.  Coffee, breakfast and then pack up the room and get to the course.  It was just a tad bit warmer, the banks were saying 31 degrees, frost all over everything.  The second day seems to be a little more laid back, but that is probably because everyone is still exhausted from the day before.  Dan, Jason, Mike and I all set up shop over in the sand pit to make some noise for the early racers.  In short we were pretty crazy, bringing every tip we have learned from the Milwaukee superfans.  I commandeered the CD player and found the local metal station, and continued to shout things like "ride the tiger" at all the racers.  It was pretty fun and I am pretty hoarse today.  After that I needed to settle down a little and get the nerves under control.  Spent some time in the car warming up the toes and then another fifty trips to the washroom before I was warming up and then lining up.  I did not do too much pre-riding because the course did not change much from day one to day two.

 

 

 

The leadout was longer and almost the entire first half of the race was in this flat grass section.  The barriers were in the same place and in the same direction.  The first technical section was a 180 turn up a steep incline that continued to ride up the off camber hill we came down yesterday.  Not as high up the hill or slippery, but it was still a challenge.  At the top it was right back down a pretty steep sweeping turn, nice and fast which lead to the bottom of the run-up (or in the case of the Todd Wells power fest ride up).  It was really steep, right after a 90 degree turn with two logs at the bottom.  How these guys were riding it is beyond me.  So I'll say about 30 or 40 yards to the top and around the corner, but once atop the steep section there was another 100 yards to ride to the top.  It was a place I did really well the first six laps, it is where I almost came to a complete stop on the last lap.  Atop the hill, it was straight back down, super fast into the back field section of the course.  The really rutted corners from the day before were bad because the ruts were going in the wrong direction.  They took out the sand pit, for the UCI races, because the section through the gate was not 3 meters wide, which is a UCI regulation.  So that kind of sucked because I liked it alot.  Otherwise the twists and turns through the barns were the same and the finish straight was super fast.

 

 The line up was the same as the first day, so once again I was in the second row right behind Tristan.  I had a different plan for this race though.  I wanted to see if by throwing down the hammer right from the gun and holding my start position would help my finishing position.  At the gun I had a pretty good start.  I was riding probably close to top ten for a little bit.  I was not allowing anyone around me, and when they did sneak around i made sure no one could hold his wheel.  Over the barriers and into the first little climb in about the same position.  I jockeyed with some riders on the run up and was sitting 11th.  I had surprised myself.  Matter and Marko were right there, I could hear people shouting for them.  In the back field area I lost a couple spots but was still with a pretty big group.  Over the line on the first lap, 13th.  We stayed in the group to the run up which was insane on the second lap, the sound was deafening.  I couldn't help anything but a huge grin on my face  and then I raised my hand, threw up the metal horns and stuck out my tongue as I rounded the corner at the top.  It was so awesome!  Riding with Brian and Marko I secretly knew that it would not be long until I was off the back of the group and so it went somewhere in the back section of the course they dropped me.  It wasn't long before Dewey blew past me out of the last barn.  Riding in no mans land was tough.  The wind was relentless and the open grass sections were either super fast with the wind or super hard against it.  I managed to hold my position over the next couple laps and then got caught by a couple guys and dropped to 16th.  Again by myself I was pushing as another group of three worked hard to close in on me.  I was able to hold them off for a couple laps, pushing it hard up the hill and keeping them off my tail.  With two to go they made their efforts stick and all got by me.  The next person back was way back and working alone also, so I just needed to keep pace over the last lap.  The run up on that last lap was miserable.  Tim was still waiting up top and shouted and gave me a dollar!  He chased me all the way to the top, and was just the encouragement I needed because I was almost stopped trying to walk up that hill.  Yes, walk, there was not any more running up the hill.  Everything at this point was painful, but I was almost done with only the drive in front of me, so I tried to never really let up and gave it everything.  Over the line they were already calling up Tristan onto the podium for his third place finish.

 

 As the season winds down I am making mental notes on how I need to improve.  I have raced cyclocross 14 times this year and not once has there been mud, rain, snow or ice.  Also, the majority of the courses have been powerfests, with a considerable amount of the course being on flat grass out in the open.  And this weekend was no exception.  It seems like my strengths lay on the areas of the course that require confidence, and the long grass straight always are far from that.  I need to work on maintaining the high speed these guys are pulling through the flat open sections of the course.  I need to not rely on cyclocross being technical.  I did really well on the courses that I felt suited me; Virginia, Janesville.  That is where I felt the strongest.  I can defiantly tell I am getting better and faster, but there is still alot of room to improve.  A huge thank you to all the people who cheered for me.  Tim stuck around all day to watch me race as did Jason.  Dan came out and did not even race.  Everyone did awesome as well.  Mike battled it out for 9th on Sunday.  Holly blew her field away for the win and Kevin took third on the second day as well.  Stole the photos from Madcross and here.  It was a nice trip and I am completely wrecked.  I was nothing besides heavenly to return home to family last night.

Iowa and I have a deep dark history that goes back for years.  Last year Trans-Iowa v3 put me in my place.  Years before that an attempt at a self supported Ragbrai kicked my ass.  This time I feel I fared much better.  Friday Dan, Jen, Mike and I left Chicago for our hotel and the trip was easy except that the combination of four people, four bikes and a trunk full of gear meant that the bike rack, after any bump in the road, would skip off the ground.  Not good, but I will fix it somehow.  Checked into the hotel and went to the co-op where I go some coffee that I am fairly excited about from Raven's Brew.  After that, Tim, Dan, Mike, Kevin, Holly and I all went for dinner followed by like 2 hours of awesome water slide action.  I was like a little kid who was staying at the hotel unattended.  What my parents would have called off the hook.  We awoke this morning around 7:30, got coffee had breakfast and made our way over to the venue.  Mike and I took the car, Dan and Jason rode....crazy.  It was chilly, 29 degrees but sunny.  We wanted to get a pre-ride in just to get an idea of what we were up against.

 

Two words.  Power Fest.  The first section was long and grassy.  The start and lead out was grass and into a wide sweeping right turn which lead into the only set of barriers.  They were perfectly at the end of a long straight right before another sweeping left.  Around the field again and along the base of the hill put you at the run up.  Which was more like a slide down.  It was super steep and at my race time would have thawed out and become a slippery slope.  Atop the run up was a crazy off camber downhill along the side of the hill.  Remount the bike with muddy pedals and hope you are clipped in for the decent.  Back through the field a couple more times before we had to weave in and out of the fair ground buildings.  Through one of the buildings was the "Grinch's lair" which was a fairly shallow sand pit all the way through and then we had to weave though a doorway and up onto a concrete pad and then ride off a ledge.  It was AWESOME.  Not only was it a sandpit, but it was really technical.  More weaving through the buildings and out into another field.  At the back side of the field, the course did this zig zag that had us run over two logs and go up and around these small hills.  The ground leading in and out of the hills became really soft and rutted really badly.  The end of the field led directly into the hill climb.  The hill was long, steep, bumpy and went on forever.  It is one of those things that you had to ride to really understand.  The backside of the hill was half as long but three times as steep.  Bombing down the hill was scary fast!  A quick hairpin after the run out and then a gravel sprinting lane finish straight.

 

We stayed to watch the beginning of the beginners race and cheer on Tim and hand out some dollar preems before we went back to the hotel to get all our business in order.  Fill the bottles, get dressed and back in the car and back to the course.  We got there in time to watch Holly and Kevin finish their Masters races really strong.  Holly took second and Kevin took third.  Then it was time for the 3/4 race.  With almost 100 riders there were parts of the course to be guaranteed mayhem.  The run up put the field at a stand still and we made our way to the sand pit.  I ended up with a cowbell and got super rowdy shouting things I learned from the NYCross guys on the east coast.  It was awesome.  After that I putzed around and fell asleep in the car while I was warming up my toes.  Out of the car, warm up some and after about five trips to the bathroom I was staging.  Having Number 13 put me in the second row and I pulled up behind Tristan.  Todd Wells gave me a high five and I was pumped.  All of you who have been too cool to high five me on the line can suck it.  The rules were read and they fired the gun.

 

 

 

The starts in New England were fast and aggressive, so I was expecting it.  The difference was that in New England I was starting from the back and fighting to make headway.  Now I was starting in the front and fighting to hold position.  This is an entirely different battle.  Elbows, shoulders, whole bodies, bikes, if it could be thrown around it was.  Fighting for the wheel and line is an understatement.  I am getting better at defending my line, but there still is a line where I feel things just get dangerous.  So, I was loosing a little bit of position, but defiantly not falling to the back.  There were three sections of the course where I was going to get people and the first run up I picked up a spot or so.  Down though the field things were still pretty aggressive.  The sand pit was awesome, the field sections were fast, and then the hill climb.  I powered up it at a steady pace and I could tell this was going to be a prime place for me to attack.  Down the back side I went into a corner a little hot and almost got tangled up in the fencing.  Down the hill at literally break neck speeds.  If I had fallen on that hill in any one of the laps it would have been really bad.  Down and across the line, chasing down the next rider.  The lap was long and after the first lap, the card said six to go, which was awesome.  The next couple laps were pretty much the same.  I would gain ground in the technical sections on riders and then solidify the pass on the hill.  I was riding really well and happy with my performance.  At the top of the hill a few laps in, there was an official counting out rider positions and I was 21st, and I had 20th in my sights.  It took about a lap to get in a position to make my move and when I did I made it stick.  I was now chasing 19th and 18th, but was never really able to make contact.  By this time, the muddy rutted part of the course right before the hill climb was getting hard to navigate.  Some of the ruts had become almost axle deep and if you rode them offline in even the slightest they bucked you out of them and tipped you over.

 

There really was not anything amazing about my race today.  There was alot of good stuff that made the day overall pretty incredible.  Holly and Kevin did really well.  Mike took 10th and Jason 15th in the 100 person 3/4 field.  Tristan took 4th, Brian took 8th and Marko took 12th in the Elite race.  I rode really strong and finished within the top twenty at 20th.  There usually is a time during the race where I just want it to be over and hurt really bad.  That point never came today and for the entire race I felt strong.  Tomorrow I need to be much more aggressive about the start and just go completely all out, but beyond that I there are not any disappointments on my end.  I had an incredible cheering section for every angle.  There were people cheering for me that I barely know and that was super encouraging.  I feel like I should have more to say, but I really don't.  It has been a great time and I am really enjoying just hanging out with these guys, where all we have going on is racing.  Thanks to Mike for taking awesome pictures of me.  Thank you to everyone who shouted, it was awesome.