roadcx.net

As TBRA cyclocross season marches on into January, there comes some inevitiable choices to be made.  Spend the day on the road driving for 45 minutes of racing…or stay in town and get two long rides in.  I think I may stay away from Columbia this weekend.    Currently, I have moved up into 6th place in the TBRA rankings for CX3 after states, but it would pretty much take me racing both Columbia races and the Chattanooga race for me to move up even to 4th place…

So I will try to get in some long cold rides this weekend and setup more for the upcoming road season…  I will still plan to race back in my old stomping grounds (Chattanooga).

The race results were posted up for the Tenn CX states race today.  As I already knew, I was 4th and 3rd in the state in Category 3.  I was proud of the way I raced the last two weekends…  even if you don’t place highly, a well executed ‘cross race is an addicting thing.  Plus it is only 45 minutes…much easier than 3+ hours especially if it is close to freezing (like it is supposed to be this weekend).

Here are some photo that Keith Nash shot at Columbia #2 (1/7/08) and TN CX states (1/13/08) of me and Cal Hill (also out of Memphis).

Columbia #2 (Columbia, Tenn). CX3 race.

Tenn CX States (Madison, Tenn). CX3 race.

At last, everything sort of came together for cross. The weather turned the course from a nice day at the park to a soggy, slippery muddy slog. I front loaded my weight training this week to get the intensity out of the way by Tuesday. Work had its part as well and forced two days in row off the bike (Thursday & Friday). The race was Sunday, so I hit RB’s on Saturday morning for nice 40 mile ride with two LT 3-minute intervals…

So I was ready.

[CX3 & Women CX123 start line]

I had a normal start and let the craziness happen in front of me for the first 1/2 lap. The course featured a lot of slippery mud and off-camber turns on said mud. After the start, I was a little off the pace at first up the long hill to the first set of muddy rooty turns. Some of the leaders got tangled up sliding out on the root, I was able to close up. I followed it up by sliding out on the following corner and ended up just running up through the barriers. I ended up running the deep mud section to the second forced run up as well. The first time through the sand, my front tire slid out on the wooden border, requiring me to run it. I stayed with that as well since I think, for me, it was faster.

As the race started to spread out I started to get more and more confident through the sections of 2″ deep grassy mud and started to pull people back and keep them behind me. At one point there was about 4 racers strung out behind me applying the pressure…don’t make a mistake… one mistake and we have you… I managed to keep the mistakes to a minimum and somehow limit the damage when I did bobble.

The course was a long 2.1 mile course, so we only did 4 laps. The CX3 field strung out to the point that I couldn’t see those up the road (the eventual winner Michael Biegalski and two others) anymore and was left with Olaf Wasternack breathing down my neck for most of the last couple laps. Every time I made a mistake he would close in and I would have to continue the fight. I rode the last lap pretty much cleanly and was able to keep him behind me for 4th place. Although this is not a great result, I am really happy about how I raced this course which quite honestly worried me on the pre-ride laps. I have not been much of a technician…. that is developing some I guess.

The main thing that I really encourages me about all of this is that my fitness, weight, and mood are better in January than I ever remember (except for 2001 or 2002 maybe). I am still in the base training regime and plan to really start the racing on the road in April. I updated the race calender and then created a version for myself that eliminated races that I knew I would not do. It is a long season, but as long as I keep things to a plan, it will be good one. It is amazing what can happen if you don’t take 2-3 weeks off the bike every couple of months to go overseas. This is it, I am already 32, time to see what I can do.

Andrea came along and took the race photos of me and also managed to capture teammate Susan Williams in her race (Women CX4).

After xmas I found myself with a bag full of random Hersey’s Kisses. I started to unwrap them and put them in a storage container…. I then I had a revelation, why not melt them all together and make a bar… I heated them up on low-heat in the microwave for a few minutes and let it cool…

To eat, I have been cutting slices off of this. I ate a little after my ride this morning and it was good.

Speaking of the ride, the setback seatpost on my Ridley Crossbow (my CX A-bike) has been a very good thing. I think I am getting more power to the pedals on the road the two times I have used it. States is tomorrow, so I will see how that translates to racing off the road.

After a handful of races that consistently saw me feeling like my pedals were too far underneath me (and having trouble finding them after a remount) and also feeling too bunched up, I decided to address it with a setback seat post. Here are the before and after photos… I now have about 2″ more of reach (saddle to handlebar), which is closer to my road position.

…and the bent seatpost… I do see that I need to level the saddle better before I ride it today….

I hope this will save 2-3 seconds a lap…that might make all the difference.  I lose so much time fumbling with the pedals at both the races last weekend.  I naturally put my arch down on the pedal…  I hope this adjustment will get it lined up correct.  States on Sunday!

Thanks to Emma Williams from Chattanooga for taking some photos of me in the Columbia race on Saturday. Her flickr page can be found here.

Here is her series of photos over the course of the CX3 - M35/45+ - W CX1/2/3.

Start

I am hidden behind Cal Hill (Memphis Cross jersey) leading the way in this photo…

After cruising down the road and around a hairpin curve, we hit at set of barriers where I had a lot of trouble clipping in… here is me trying to make up some lost ground.

I am not sure of the sequence of all of these, but here are bunch of barrier shots from the middle of the race. The shouldering set is from the 3rd set of barriers/run up. The other ones are from the high speed 2nd set of barriers.

This photo is from around the middle of the race after I passed the CKW rider (#8, Lucas) and was being chased again by the Cumberland Transit / Vandy rider (Edward Krei, he ended up catching and passing me unfortunately):

The results are posted up for both races on the TBRA site:

• Columbia #1 (Saturday)
• Columbia #2 (Sunday)

I also ordered my set-back seat post. I stayed with a Thomson since I like the straight one that I am using now and just want to try to move my seat back a little bit to see if I can get to the pedals better. I am pretty consistent on hitting the pedals on the center of my foot. I take that to mean that I expect them to be a few inches more to the front. I am not sure if it the right thing to do, but it makes sense to me…. Tennessee CX states is on Sunday, so I can try it out later this week and Saturday before I need to race it on Sunday.

Today I raced the CX3 race again up at Columbia. This course was a bit different than Saturday and had some mild single-track sections, but was still very fast.

I got off to a better start and rode a good race. After lots of back and forth I ended up into the last barriers with Cal Hill (from Memphis) and a Nashville Cyclist racer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so quick on getting clipped into my pedals (one of my most consistent problems) and was chasing those two the last bit small bit off the course. Right before the finish, the course had a hairpin turn on the grass followed by an uphill sprint. I closed some of the distance, but it ended up Cal 4th, the Nashville Cyclist racer 5th (0.5 second), and me 6th: 3 seconds behind. Two more were behind us in our field.

This weekend featured some great racing and some good fast power courses. I know if I could make some adjustments to get to the pedals quicker (I am thinking I need to get a set back seatpost since I have the seat all the way back already…I moved it 3/4″ back for Sunday and it helped.. ) The CX3 races are crazy competitive and some good fields have been showing up. The winner was in a different class and he put 90 seconds in the next guy. All the rest were spread out by 10 seconds or so. After 45-50 minutes that is pretty good. Some guys get out there and blow up (like about 3-4 that I passed) and some get out there and blow up and then recover… (like Cal).

Looking at the results from Saturday. The included the lap times… It is good to see that my upgrade to CX3 was not in vain. I would have won the CX4 races at a similar pace and it was shorter. When I upgraded, I had a string of last place (albeit in small fields) for the CX3. I think it pretty much had to do with the amount / intensity of the weight training I was doing. In January, I am working around the racing and the type of lifting I am doing is not that taxing (like the 4×10 reps I was doing in Oct/Nov, for example).

My first lap was 6:39 (it is shorter). After that, I ran 7:22, 7:26, 7:34, 7:21, 7:31, and 7:29. That is the type of race I like to run where I stay pretty much the same and don’t fade. The 7:21 was probably when I was chasing down someone in front of me.

These races are giving me some great limited doses of effort and I know that I will be the better for it. Plus it is a lot of fun.

Racing continues next week at States (Nashville, 1/13), Columbia #3/#4 (1/19 & 1/20), and Chattanooga #2 (1/26).

Today, I raced the CX3 race up in Columbia, Tennessee. I decided to treat the race semi-seriously and taper back on the weight training mid-week. I think it made a difference.

I was really happy to see that the Columbia series is less single-tracky than the last year I came up to Columbia (2005). The course was a fast course starting down the asphalt road and then going off the road to the first of three sets of barriers (all twins). I had a good start position and decent start. I was reluctant to really push it on the wet pavement (see Glenview post), so I took it easy on the asphalt. I was still right with the leaders.

My first of a couple little mistakes was a bigger one. I hit the first barriers and totally flubbed getting to the pedals & clipped in (my biggest issue). Right after the barriers was a small little depression that was hard to ride through when not clipped in. I ended up stalling and dismounting, running, and remounting again. In the meantime, everyone (or nearly so) passed me. So I was forced to pass everyone again along the grass section to the 2nd barrier set. Once the race started to shake out, I was riding with a Vanderbilt rider (Edward Krei, a.k.a. Barrett) with Cal Hill and another rider about 10 seconds up ahead. The leader of the race (Michael Biegalski, a CX3) and another M35+ rider were up in front of Cal. We chased and chased and eventually the other rider dropped back from Cal, but we never could catch him. I lost Barrett when he made a mistake through the barrier on the 3rd(?) lap and I didn’t see him for 2 laps. He eventually caught me. By then I had overtaken the other rider and it was the three of us. The Vandy rider and I eventually put the other one behind and continued to chase Cal.

Cal must have found some energy from somewhere when the gap widened again and we forced to ride it out for 3rd/4th ourselves. On the section to the final set of barriers, I got a little behind the Vandy rider and was gapped up the run up. I put it to the big ring down the hill to the finish but I couldn’t chase him down. In the end I was behind Cal (50:55) and the Vandy rider (Edward Krei, 51:13) at 51:22. So I got a 4th place out of the 6 who raced. I feel good about tomorrow. I always do better on the 2nd day….

Today I also sold my 50 cm Redline frame to Emma from Outdoor Chattanooga (my old team). I am glad to see it get some use after I stripped the parts off of it. She rode her race on an old 30# steel rigid mtb. I can’t imagine. She took some photos of our race and she promised to email them. I will post them up when I get them.

I just checking something on the USA cycling site. It is amazing that the results are posted up already! [USA cycling results].

Also here is another Polar curve. Recorded 12 miles @ 14.1 mph average. I was able to get my heart rate up pretty well this race, so I am happy to see that. It will be a good season.

I was up in Kansas city to watch the Elite nationals cyclocross races (after my own racing). I was just around the corner of the expo tent when the defending champ Ryan Trebon was laid out by a racer going off course the other way. Here is the video (plus chance to test out embedding video).

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