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Hard, hard race… soggy ground and mud which was okay. Two big hills… not so fun. I decided to dress up as Shaggy for the race… a period wig, some brown pants, and a green shirt from Goodwill.

We had 9 at the start of the CX1/2 race. I didn’t get a great start, but soon was up in 4th place where I stayed for the first 3 of the long laps. Matt ended up passing me as a I took a bike change (unassisted in a fast part of the course, so not so good). The new bike was clean, but that probably changed about 100 yards later. I mostly wanted that 36 tooth little ring (39 tooth on my “A” bike). I passed him back, but soon made a few mistakes and then got hung up on saddle a few times (damn pants!). He built a pretty good gap on me and earned another lap (they stopped me at 5 laps). 5th place. My pants probably had a pound or two of mud on them. Not the best thing to race cross in… but it was worth it… Tomorrow is another race, might double up depending on conditions (I will not if there is a bunch of climbing).

Here are a couple of photos that Scott Somershoe shot on Saturday….

Much warmer weather and a generally firmer course was on the menu for Sunday. The organizers pretty much ran the same course with a few twists to mix it up.

Again I lined up 4th row in a 10 row (or more) race. My start was okay, I probably lost a few spots running down the road (never my strength). By the time we went into the first mud, I was doing okay…a tangle of bikes and I was on foot suddenly running through the sloppy ditch and around a few very ridable bends. As I ran, I could hear the chain flopping around, but had not choice but to continue on. As the course straightened up to the barriers, I remounted and hoped…. nope. I up-shifted it up on the rings (made all sorts of bad, bad sounds) as probably 20-25 racers blew by. So much for a good start.

My race was then all about re-passing all of those what passed and trying to make a race out of it. Like yesterday, it ended up being that I came upon and passed a lot of familiar faces (from TBRA), but couldn’t catch the rest. For the most part, I rode a pretty clean race… in my haste to get a gap over a group that I had just past I slid out one of the 180 degree turns and had to repass most of the group that was right behind… In the end, I was 33rd. Same as yesterday. Basically rode back to my starting seed (34th seed yesterday, 33th today). The results were disappointing somewhat, but I got some good racing in. Most TBRA races in the West/Center of the state are 10 racers max (Tri-cties are just too far to even consider).

One of the cool things about this weekend is running into Tom. He (and the Delaware crew) pretty much taught me how to do this crazy sport called cyclocross. And he taught me how to bring all sorts of things to a race… I have never regretted taking too many things (wheels, tools, etc.)–you never can tell what might come up. It was a bit of culture shock after 2001 to come to Tennessee to find that cyclocross races were barely existent. That has changed quite a bit in the last several years, but the numbers of racers (both road and cx) are no where near mid-Atlantic.

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Andrea upgraded overnight and raced the elite race (it is good that she already had a UCI license for the road…she needed it for today). Of the ~33 or so that started, she fought up from her back row start and ended up in 20th (only ~20 seconds off from 18th as well).

Unfortunately, the good camera didn’t make the trip (fully charged it remained next the computer desk…oops.) I took a couple with the iPhone, but they are pretty poor… here they are:

Next week is Cross the Way #3/#4. McEwen CX festival #1/#2 after that. And then Outdoors Inc on Mud Island. Might do Lock 4 – 6hr the day before…. crazy?

Lined up with something like 100 category 2 and 3 racers this morning. I was seeded 32nd (reg order) and after the call-ups I was in the 4th row. The course was pretty wide open for the first section, but the first turn off the pavement had me jammed up and the first tight turn around the tree was even worse… Pretty much the first lap was riding, trying to pass when I could, and avoiding guys going down in front of me… What fun!

The course on an old golf course, so it goes on and off of paved cart paths and into / out of old bunkers (sand). There were old a few muddy areas, but they were surprisingly wet considering the dry conditions. One of the mud sections was a result of the power washers in the pit.

It actually did turn out to be an enjoyable race, albeit it a hard one. At this point, I haven’t seen the results (probably 40th?), I’ll find that out when Andrea and I go back to watch the elite women and men’s races.

Andrea raced the women’s CX3/4 race immediately before my race. The race had Jrs 17/18 and Masters Women 1/2/3 in the waves ahead. Despite the masters starting 30 seconds in front, she beat all the women in the race to win the 3/4 race. She talked to an official and got her upgrade… She will be racing against the big dogs tomorrow (CX Pro/1/2)!

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Update… I ended up 33rd out of ~105 starters (99 finishers). It was a little better than I thought I did, but not as good as I wanted to do…

The finale of Cyclocrunk was last night. Unlike the first two, the course dried up and we wound our way around a rutted course (more or less reverse course from last week). On the preride and neutral lap, the ruts were pretty annoying, but they smoothed right out with traffic and at speed.

Got a pretty good start, pretty much in 3rd place early in the 1st lap. Russ was way out ahead and I caught up with Hart. We ended up battling all night where he would get to the pedals quicker after barriers/sand running and I would reel him back.

Over and over for most of the 8 lap race. We came into the final barriers together but he was always quciker up the hill and on the bike again on every lap. That included the final lap. So I rolled in 3rd (and got a hell of a workout in).

After the race, a good portion of the crew headed out to Young Avenue Deli for some beer (and some food). I think it has been since last year since I have had PBR in a can. Russ and Andrea were crowned King and Queen of Cyclocrunk. No prizes for 2nd place….

Louisville / Derby City Cup is this weekend. The Cat 2/3 races have about 90 or so preregistered.

Another day, a very different day had me behind from the start… As forecast, the course dried up (for the most part) and turned into a 100% power course. The choice to triple up on Saturday definitely caused me some issues…

M35+

Got down to the race venue and got set up. Didn’t really warm up. That and my dead legs meant I gave up a good 30 second gap to the leader on the first lap. I got the hole shot, but lost some time in the hairpins at the start. Didn’t handle them well (then or really all day). It didn’t get any better. The ground was a bit soggy and I just couldn’t turn over the cranks like I needed to. 2nd place it would be. At the end, I was ~50 seconds off the lead.

CX1/2

Newly upgraded, I wasn’t expecting much (and especially after the thrashing my legs took in the masters race). Jeremy and Kevin were the only fresh legs in the bunch. Will doubled up after his first (and only) CX3 race immediately before. By the 2nd lap, we were a trio (Jeremy, Will, and I). Maybe on the 3rd lap, Jeremy launched and got a pretty good gap… by the next lap he came back to us.

On lap 6 or so, I snagged some barrier tape and it got all up in my bars. They sort of sat up a little as I ran the tape out of my bike… pushing hard to catch them by the barriers. I was probably 5-10 feet off the group by the road section, when Will jumped and Jeremy went with… it was the last time I would ride with either of them. A little bit later, Jeremy attacked again and left Will. So then it was TT mode for each of us. By the end of our 12 lap, 60 minute race, we were about 30 seconds apart from each other.

A tough end to a good weekend. You probably won’t see me trying to double up like that as a rule. It is too tough to not lay it all out in the first race (or nearly so). Doing that made me back off a little in the first (although not much) and left me whipped for the second. Derby Cup up in Louisville, KY next weekend. CX2/3 race both days.

Andrea and I got up early and headed east again (~3hr 50 min drive) to Fayetteville, Tennessee for the 2nd weekend of Beat the Freak. My plan was double up both days (CX3 & SS on Saturday, then M35+ & CX3 on Sunday). By the time we got to the race, I decided to triple up because we got there in plenty of time to warmup for the master’s race (which was the 2nd of the day).

Masters 35+

Lined up with 10 in the combined master’s field. The course was pretty flat, but the soggy ground and mud made the course interesting. Bert Hull jumped hard at the start and I was caught in a bit of traffic around the first turn… once out by the lake, the course openned up and I passed a bunch and quickly was up at the front. I just kept the pressure on and rode the front of the race for the remaining 6 laps of the course. A few laps from the end, I cornered too hard and went down dropping my chain. I got up and continued on and took the win.

My next race was only a 15 minutes after the first, so I hosed my bike off and ate a few gels to get ready. A few minutes before the start, I stopped and inspected my tires (roll test). The front one was fine, but the rear tire easily pulled off the rim. Not wanting to repeat BTF#2 result (M35+ win, rolled a tubular in the CX3), I switched the suspect tire to my “B” bike (Ridley CrossBow) and put it’s rear wheel on the “A” bike (Ridley X-Fire). Both wheelsets are tubular, so I wasn’t giving up much (muddy conditions meant I was running 25# front, 27# rear).

Here is my rear wheel after easily removing the tire back at the hotel. I think the base tape is so saturated with dirt that it is unglue-able. I plan to reglue with a new tire (so much for my tire recycling idea… These tires were previously taped on the rims for several years when I bought them as a set. The rear one came unglued at BTF#2 in the CX3 race.)

CX3 race

After getting a wheelset that I could trust setup, I lined up against eight CX3’s… My plan was to get the win that I hadn’t had in a while (Hoss of Cross last year was my last “W”). A little tired from the first race, I didn’t get into the first corner that fast, so I had to repeat my surge through the S/F line, got up to the lead group (we were 3). Through the first lap or so, I tried to surge a few times to whittle it down and wasn’t that successful in breaking free. It was probably on the 2nd lap (3rd?) that I surged going into a muddy section that I knew I was handling better and got my gap. Like the other race, I just kept a consistent pace and rode it out to the end (without going down this time!). With about 2 laps to go, I decided this should be my last CX3 race (I put in for my upgrade to CX2 at the end of race, so I will be racing CX1/2 tomorrow).

Andrea raced as the lone Women CX1/2/3 with us in the CX3 race. She won her race (of course), but placed 3rd in the overall only ~15 seconds off 2nd place. Where are all the women?

Singlespeed

After my race, I had about an hour and a half to convert my tubular wheelset to single-speed (spacer kit) and put them on my S/S conversion Cannondale. Unfortunately, the bottom dropped out in terms of temperature (low 40’s) and the wind picked up. Stopping after racing for an hour and then restarting took some will power.

Just like Andrea, I won my race by starting… but with no other S/S (or Jrs) in attendance, I was racing all alone on course. By this point, I wanted to see how my project bike would do in a race situation (and compare it to the race course I had already raced geared 14 laps). I ended up just doing 3 laps since it was the last race and everyone probably wanted to pack it up (cold, windy, etc.). I was pleased that I ran similar lap times with my 39×18 gearing to my geared laps (I probably was in 39×17, 39×19 most of the day anyway).

Official times:

• M35+: 37:35 (7 laps) [-1:23 to next] 11.4 mph
• CX3: 38:38 (7 laps?) [-1:38 to next] 11.1 mph
• Singlespeed: 17:02 (3 laps) 11.0 mph

It was a good day. It is not often that you can win 3 races in a day…. Even though one was by default, it is still 3 races.

Tomorrow promises to be faster as the ground continues to dry out. I plan to race Masters 35+ and then CX1/2. I probably will skip the S/S race so we can get back to Memphis earlier.

Thinking that the rain had finally rained itself out after what has been a very wet fall, is a bad bad idea. The 2nd installment of Cyclocrunk went off after a day of solid rain and continued rain during the race. This meant two things… The grass would be really, really soggy meaning a hard ride all the way around the course. Slippery conditions around the corners as the turf got torn up (or was already eroded) would also dictate how the race would play out.

The course started out into a barrier and down a hill towards a slippery 180 turn onto pavement. With 40+ starters of all abilities, the start was going to be interesting. Got to my bike quicker (than race #1) and mounted it before realizing that the first barrier was only 50-60 feet down the course (I knew that but in the heat of the moment I forgot it somehow)… I was probably the only one riding to the first barrier, but it worked out okay. Botched the remount in traffic and came down the hill probably in 10th place (not good). Forunately, the course is generally open enough in places so that by 2nd set of planks, I was up in the first several places. By the end of the first lap, I was chasing down Russ out ahead. It took about 2 laps or so to reel him in, but I managed to do it.

We rode neck and neck for a while, I got ahead for a while by a 50 feet or so at one point… but we were back racing it out with 3 laps to go or so. I made the mistake of trying to ride up the slippery embankment and broke traction and fell back… And he was gone. I had used up too matches chasing back gaps caused by my small mistakes all race, so I couldn’t pull him back. By this time, we were lapping lots of people and I pretty much lost him in the crowd… (I was a very dark night with the cloud cover overhead). So I finished in 2nd. Movin’ on up…

The conditions were so soggy and the 3-4″ deep water in parts meant I that I rode my “B”-bike, my Ridley CrossBow. It is a solid bike, but is 2# or so heavier (combination of frame and wheelset). I really am looking forward to racing my X-Fire with the SRM, but not so much so that I would be willing to risk immersion… It should stay dry, but nothing is certain and it is an expensive piece of kit to put under water.

The biggest thing that I got out of last night (other than a good workout), is that I can hang as a CX2. I hope to get the result(s) that I want at the Beat the Freak #3/#4 this weekend and then I will put in my upgrade. The following weekend is Louisville, but that is CX2-3 anyway.

I had some issues with SRM (installation as it turned out) and therefore had it off my road bike with plans to send it off….

I had just gotten this crankset back as a warranty replacement with fresh batteries back in August. I opened it up to take a look… 3.65V on the battery (3.5V rating), no problems there. I was looking for a loose wire on the reed switch as another possible problem, nothing there. Once I put it back together, it seemed to be reacting just fine when hitting it with a magnet… so, I decided that it wasn’t the SRM itself (and therefore didn’t need to sent it off to Colorado..).

What I did do, was move my 46T ring off my SRAM Red crank on my X-Fire and install the SRM on my cross bike. I should be riding this bike almost exclusively for the next 5 weeks, so why not?

I had to reverse the 46t chain ring because it needed to have recessed spots for the chain ring bolts on the inside (130 BCD for large ring, 110 BCD for small ring, both are attached from the inside). It is not perfect, but it does shift and may have to do until I can get the chainring modified for this installation.

It even matches…. It worked flawlessly on my first ride earlier tonight. Cyclocrunk #2 is tomorrow night… I am interested to see how that file looks.

Unfortunately, my speen* front derailleur adapter didn’t fare so well on it first ride… the little tab on the front derailleur that the adapter relies on broke off clean, meaning that I had to recable/revert to bottom pull via the pulley.

The part/screw didn’t break off, just the small tab on the Force front derailleur that the Umlecker pulls on to operate the derailleur arm.

Andrea has trained Turbo to stand up…. she is pretty stable, but ends up waving her paws in the air… photos don’t quite do it justice, but I try anyway…

Indy is much more stable sitting up… so much so, that it is almost boring….