After an action packed morning of taking boats out of the water, packing for home, cleaning the car and taking short cuts we arrived at the venue with minutes to spare before the Cat4 race was to begin.  Registration for Sunday took place on Saturday so there was one less thing for me to worry about and more time for start line heckling.  The Cat4 field was big and it was full of friends which made for an excellent time.  As that race finished up, I made my way to the car to prep for my race.  One hour and one pre-ride lap later I was standing on the start line right where I wanted to start from.  Casey was back, but so were some other heavy hitters.  Maciej from Team Polska, Carlos from Alterra Coffee.  The day before I thought that Casey had posted a faster time than I did on the off road lap.  10 minutes before the start Dan rolled by and asks if I saw the result changes from Saturday.  I hadn't and he told me that I beat Casey, almost by 30 seconds.  This changed my start strategy totally.  Before I had planned on sitting in and letting the work get shared by a lead group.  Now the plan had changed, I wanted to try to string them out from the get go.  I knew my legs can handle a constant fast pace, and my hot lap being faster than Caseys' hot lap meant I might be able to make them pop early.  *Note to the xXx guy who said this was going to be a different race than Jackson Park and that I would not be able to just jump off the front.  I stopped taking advice from people when the strategies I have chosen for myself seem to work better than what you think will be good for me.*  Line up, Casey to the left, Carlos, Maciej and most everyone else to my right.  The official goes over the rules of the game and it gets quiet.  30 seconds. 15 seconds.  *ding ding ding

 

 

 

I took the wholeshot.  A small uphill straight away took us into a easy right turn up some more hill to the first set of barriers.  Over them with the grace I have been practicing, and run up the rest of the hill to the remount on the backside, which always seemed faster than remounting and riding.  Down a couple twisty switchbacks brought us past the pit / feed area and across the finish line.  I pushed the pace kind of sketchy through the next wider areas and turns, trying to keep the couple guys behind me from passing.  Another set of barriers that were no problem and out into the wind.  The back section of the course was almost straight as an arrow, except for this bush whacked G turn through the weeds, that defiantly killed the straight away rhythm.  The end of the straight away brought the end of the headwind, but put us very close to the next crux of the course.  Down an easy little incline and around a smooth turn brought us to the foot of a slightly washed out hill that had two barriers just at the top.  I attacked the hill with everything I had, out of the saddle, off the bike and over the last barriers of the lap.  Around the corner and down a screaming hill to a tight right 180.  A short effortless climb around a mound put us at the top of another hill, where at the bottom we had to make a hairpin turn.  This was what I practiced most in warm up and felt I knew exactly how hard I could push the bike. 

 

I had a bike length or two on the two guys behind me as I went through the turn.  Exiting the turn I stood up to pound the pedals and I fell over.  What happened in only a few seconds, was I had pulled my wheel out of the dropouts, slamming it into the chainstay.  Not knowing what happened my continued pedal rotation dropped my chain and I fell over.  Casey did not have time to react and ran right into me.  After we got untangled I had to deal with my bike.  First fix the wheel, back on the bike no chain.  Fix the chain and back on the bike.  The chain fell off so fix the chain again and back on the bike.  Realize the bars are not straight, so off the bike, fix the bars and finally get going.  Talk about destroyed rhythm and loosing ground.  I went from first to twenty first.

 

Back on the bike there was only one thing to do.  Catch as many people as possible.  I needed top nine to get any sorely needed upgrade points and I had no idea where I was in terms of placing, but I did know who was sitting at the front.  I caught the first group of five or six guys fairly quickly just after the second set of barriers out in the straight away.  I still didn't have any rhythm and was all over the course.  Taking corners too wide, slowing too much, getting stuck in ruts.  So I thought it might be nice to take a breather into the wind behind them to regain some energy, but they were not riding fast enough.  Out by myself I could see the next group ahead of me, but they took more time to catch.  Almost an entire lap.  As I was coming up on the group, Lyle broke from the front of it.  With Lyle off the front I did not want to sit back and take a breather fearing the group I was in would slow down and Lyle would get away.  So around another four or five guys and I was chasing Lyle down.  I caught him on or just after the last steep climb and barrier section and tried to just keep moving away, but he was able to hold my wheel pretty well.  Coming into what was actually the last set of barriers on the lap, just before the finish line, I thought I could make my move, since I had been sailing over them all day.  Not this lap.  I caught my rear wheel on the first of the two barriers, making a really loud thud, followed by a really loud swearing racer.  It threw me practically sideways and caught me completely off guard.  Now I was pissed.  I knew Lyle was near the front group, but I needed to stop making these mistakes.  If I have ever ridden with fury, this is when it really kicked in.  It all becomes a blur of pounding the pedals, getting a hand up, picking lines through the ruts and getting over the barriers.  Then, they are in sight.  I can see Casey's jersey and I turn on, if that was even possible.  I could tell he was fading and I still had some in me so I pushed.  Without saying much of anything I was around him and making space.  Now I was focused of reeling in the red and white polska jersey leading the race.  I was making a lot of ground on the technical sections, climbs and barriers.  Past the finish line, the count down board said there was one to go and I had the leaders in my sights.  No mistakes, digging deep I went for it.  Pushing it into the wind I was gaining on Carlos and we were both gaining on Maciej.  On the last time up that steep hill climb with the pair of barriers I muscled it past them both.  Maciej on the climb and Carlos in the barriers.  This was it, everything I had put into the race was coming down to the last part of the last lap.  I had the front and choice line down the hill coming into the hairpin that was my demise early in the race.  I shifted up, and took it wide.  Carlos took it just a bit too tight, trying to get around me and out of the corner of my eye I saw him wash out.  That was it, I had it.  I came up over the last set of barriers alone and down across the finish line*.  I had won!  I came back from 20 spots down, I could not believe it.  I think Lyle has said it best with "Talk about "turning the pedals in anger". That type of performance shouldn't be allowed. Congrats to Ben, what a show."  Thanks Lyle.

 

I was angry after the mechanical, not because I was not going to win, but because I was going to loose these dang fangled upgrade points that I so sorely need.  I had thoughts of dropping out on that second lap, but I over came my self pity and replaced it with thoughts of catching not the next guy, but the guy in front of him.  Winning from the gun feels good, but this really feels amazing.  I earned every one of those spots as I worked up from 21st, I have not ever had so much focus on a goal during a race ever.

 

*Turns out that when I finished my last lap they were not expecting me to come through.  Maciej had such a big lead going into the last lap they did not think anyone would catch him.  And when I came though with a single tired arm in the air, I heard them say "No, one more!"  I did not think they were right, but I was not going to stick around to find out.  So without water I went out and put in one more lap than needed as fast as I could after pushing it for an entire lap.  That really hurt and did not make me too happy.  An ill advised run of the mouth and a bunch of apologies later Carlos hooked me up with a beer and Dan and I were sitting in the car.  Turned out my win combined with second place on Saturday earned me the Cat3 Omnium win as well, getting me a fairly nice pair of Bontrager crank arms.  $35 between the two days just about recouped race fees.  In the end though I am defiantly not in this for the glory or the money.  Just for the friends and fun.  Thanks to Twin6 for helping me look my sexiest.  A huge thank you to Dan who drove me both ways, let me sleep at his place and made spot on hand ups every lap.  Thanks to Jamie, Cale and Lyle for the pictures!  Thank you Jay for all the encouraging words!  Everyone else who had a loud mouth or a bell, thank you as well.  I have two weekends off before Whitewater and Janesville on October 20th and 21st.  What shall I do until then?  We'll returning from Virginia not completely broken will be a feat in itself.

I am not a road cyclist, much less a time trial rider. So naturally I had mixed feelings going into the first day of the weekends cyclocross racing. The day was in two parts. The morning started with a 1.18 mile hill climb and the afternoon was a single loop of the horse / mountain bike trails. Early on I had the idea of bringing a road bike, or at least road wheels for the hill. Friday I decided that I did not want to either dismount on concrete or try to ride off the road and through gravel on road tires. So, the climb happened on my cross bike with the Dugasts. There were parts of the hill that were STEEP! Coming up into the parking lot at the top of the hill the legs were finished, but there was still a parking lot to ride through and then up a log and 50 meters to run to the top of the hill. It hurt bad, but that was it, I gave it absolutly everything I had. I posted a pretty good time. Yesterday they said it was 4:52 or something, today it was posted higher at just over five minutes. Then there was a four hour break before the off road lap was to start for me. So, we had lunch, went for coffee and generally just sat around shooting the breeze with different people.

 

The lap is where my lack of time trial stradegy seemed to take a toll. I started strong, but the further I got into the lap the more I would have that dialoge with myself. Am I going fast enough? Should I be pushing it harder? Am I pushing it too hard? There were three sets of barriers spaced through out the lap. One set was on an uphill where the first was on the bottom and the second was at the top. Then there was a sketchy loose downhill turn. I went fast through curve on the downhill and started cruising down the rest of the hill. I totally forgot there was a sharp right at the bottom and went sailing 20 to 30 yards into the tall grass. I made a B-line for the trail praying that there were not any holes or rocks hiding in the grass. And there were not. My confidence shaken I had trouble sticking with the best line in the middle of the path, which was packed hard. The problem was at points it became a deep rut with tall sidewalls that would could catch your tire and flip you down. So riding cautiously outside of the beaten path meant I was riding on the more safe sides of the trail that made it more work. The twisty trail opened up into a long straight stretch allowing me to get my head together and put some power into the pedals. Around a turn put me at the bottom of another steep hill with a pair of barriers right at the top. Power up, remembering the mornings' effort, a clean dismount and over the bearriers with the gusto of a flat course. Back down the hill into a 180 degree corner that gave me every bit of carve that it had. A short stretch before pedaling down a hill and across the finish line. On saturday the time posted was 14:23. When we arrived on Sunday it was 13:53, giving me the third fastest time of the day. It also completely changed my race stradegy for Sundays race.  Took second under Casey Masterson in the Cat3 group on the day.

 

Dan and I stopped at Kettle before returning to the lake house for the very end of the Fall Color Fest. Saw the end of the raffle, had a beer (thanks Kevin) and talked with some people. Back at the lake, Dan and I watched some football, had some burgers and went for a short road ride with some sweet screaming downhills.  Thanks to everyone standing around shouting.  Jeremy snapped the picture.

So, I used to be into the street riding brakeless fixed gear scene.  Not so much anymore, actually at all.  But, things like this are still amazing to me.  Two things if you are not patient enough to watch the whole thing.  He does a wheelie through a red light and avoids the cross traffic.  And he has a way to put his weight off the side of his bike and do things with a style that is pretty unique.  Puts all the tricks I tried to learn to shame.

 

 

This weekend is the season opener for the WCA cross series.  Going up to Whitewater tonight to be at the race course tomorrow early.   Last week there was quite a bit of anxiousness about racing.  This week there is almost none.  Unless something really unfortunate happens, knock on wood, getting my upgrade to Cat2 should be no problem.  Racing with the "B's" this weekend and hopefully getting enough points for an upgrade.  I am back and forth on whether or not I am excited / happy with the time trial omnium format for the weekend.  And on top of that, rumors that the course itself is not going to be cross bike friendly.  I actually have a stradagy for the hill climb.  I put out the idea of using a road bike pretty early on since alot of the climb will be on pavement, but there are other factors.  I will have the Kelly handy for the other parts of the races.  I would rather not ride timidly and be able to bomb the fire roads instead of holding back worrying about skinny tires.  Everything will depend on the preride. There are exactly 12 spots left for the "A" race at nationals.  This means I am going to line up behind 108 other racers, if I were to register right now.  Racing with the likes of Page, Trebon, and Wicks, I don't know if I would have much of a chance of not getting lapped.  I am loosing any desire to go.  That would give me 3 extra vacation days this fall.  We will see.

 

Small news: Practiced again last night with Killjoy, and getting better, concentrating on the actual foot placement before, through and after the barriers.  Thoughts of a "B" bike, which would mean a new "A" bike too.  (Good thing I can not afford either, or both.)  I think I get to hang out with Jeff this weekend, who is a big part of cyclocross to me.  Good luck to the East Coast folks.  And twelve days until a much needed vacation.

 

Yesterday on my ride home while avoiding the one lane wide 2-way street mayhem that is Racine north of Lake St. I caught a glimpse of a Birdgestone XO-1 rolling the opposite way as me.  I turn to shout "Nice bike!" and I get a "You too!" in return.  I like complimenting the bikes that rarely get the shout out.

 

I have to admit, I am a fan.

 

Cyclocross in Wisconsin this weekend along with a weekend at the lake house.  Matter will be racing Sunday.  This means if I race with the "A's" I will get a pretty good indication of where I am going to stack up.  I am pretty excited for the Wisconsin Series.  Double weekends, Washington Park and Holloween, Team Polska's event, tons of friends, great courses. 

 

And a quick good luck to Val, who earned a spot at the Elite Track Nationals next week out in LA at the ADT center.  Val is the ONLY women from Illinois going and I wish her the best of luck!  Have an amazing time riding a facility that most of us only dream of riding.  We know you will do great!