CapCity Cross #3 - Lobdell Reserve, Alexandria, OH

The third race in our local series. A challenging course, with a start into two twists and three barriers, more twists, then a long downhill road section into the grass and back out onto the road. A long fake you out road hill climb and back into the woods on a tight dirt single track and down a hill with a sharp left to fast grass and back into the woods, down into a sandy creek up hill to more dirt single, back onto the grass still climbing to the finish/start.
So, there is the description in a short version, what did I think? well, I thought it was hard, fast and challenging. Lots of guys were bitching it was too much like a mountain bike course and I saw many show up with their frigging 29rs and what not. One guy even raced his powder blue Fisher 29r in my race. It's just not the same racing cross on a mountain bike. s
How did I do? you might ask? 7th place. Not bad considering the course and the damage I did passing a few guys on the last lap, after they laid out their life on the sand just after the crazy little creek section. It was the second time, the one guy, fell over and covered the trail just in front of me and I wasn't going to let it affect my finish, so I took off like a H2 in the woods and high-tailed it around two guys about 2 minutes before the finish. I was happy with my result, fitness and skills. The three barriers in a row were hard, but I managed. Funny part, my wife and brother in law both said I wasn't heeding my own (cross coaching) advice and was dismounting my bike incorrectly, so the funny part, I didn't remember what I was doing or remember dismounting one way or another. It was just a blur of being in that special hurt place we go to in these kind of races. It's weird, getting their, but once I am there, I can just nail it to the wall and stay there.
Props go out to my friend Layne, he beat me this week and had a great ride and looked super solid - his kind of course with not much twisty stuff or too many trees. Props to my team mate and brother in law Tim, who also got 7th in the "C" group - he moved from 22nd place in his first race last week to 7th this week - he's a natural. Props also to my team mate, Mike who left everyone standing at the start line in the "C's" and won again. He then raced our race the "B's" and came out of know where to pass me and almost pass Layne and was moving up pretty well. I managed to pull out some hurt on him on the pavement hill climb in the hardest gear I had to power away from him enough to beat him (I think I am 20+ years older). Tim and Mike are so fast and they don't even know how fast they could be. I don't think Mike will be 'allowed' to do anymore "C" races :) Go Mike and Tim!
::Photos Link here::

Hopefully this weekend and the USGP weekend (Oct 24, 25) I can do it again and again, just much much faster.
This weekend, I'll be doing a double in Middletown and Harbin Park - both UCI races with big big names attending. It should be fun and hurtful all at the same time.

OVCX - Loveland, Ohio Cyclocross Race #1

OVCX Race #1 – Loveland, Ohio – September 14, 2008

My first official cross race of the season, I had a few pre-race goals, I wanted to meet:

1. Get good position on the start line.
2. Work for top 20 into the first turn (nothing too crazy).
3. Work on skills, technique, barriers (dismount-mount).
4. Run lower tire pressure.
5. Ride a steady pace & output.
6. Draft on paved sections.
7. Save energy on the pave’ for grassy hill climb.
8. Ride up the grassy hill climb.
9. Not let Kerry N. beat me.
10. And Finish top 15.

Yes, these seem specific for one little race, but, with no goals, week-to-week, month-to-month, progress stands still, which equals no change. Change is good. Change your thinking – Change your performance.

Jen, Joe H and I loaded up the car Sunday morning with a rash crap, spare cross wheels, the pop up tent, one trainer and Jen’s Cowbells, water, food and chamois butter. We arrived in plenty of time even though Joe’s dash-talking Garmin got us ‘lost’ downtown Loveland and tried to route us onto the bike-path in the middle of town.
We outsmarted the talking box and found the park.

The temperature and wind would be a factor since it was bloody friggin hot and Hurricane IKE was going to be blowing in – so to speak. The humidity was about 90% and the old mercury said 92 degrees. During warm up my HR was up about 5 beats, which meant during the race it would most likely sit about 10 beats higher.

After a good 40 minute warm up, some grass riding, some road, some on the nearby bike path, with a few minutes before noon, time to roll to the start. During warm-up, Joe and I rode by some of Team Hungry and I got a “your going down” from Kerry. Joe thought it was a ballsy, statement, but I knew Kerry was kidding a little bit. I saw some familiar faces that had moved up from the top of the“C’s” from 2007, Chris Sloan, Kerry – his team mate M. Chewning and a few others. No sign of the Darkhorse blokes though. The showing of Columbus Cross racers was thin, very thin. I think we saw about 6 others we recognized from Cow town. Our guess, they blew their chunks the day prior at the first Cap City Race and couldn’t handle a double weekend of racing, gas prices, food prices or they went to Brandon’s wedding party and were too hung-over to go race.

At the start line, fresh racers filled the entire front row, no worries, not my business today to go hard the first lap. I took a good center second row spot. Said and done, I think we had 55 men in the “B” field. It was crazy looking around, seeing all the bikes, gear, and nervous racers ready for the first one of the year. I saw quite a few dudes with new bikes, new wheels, and new parts. Lots of tubies, lots of carbon wheels and more than 20 or so racers with bottles in the backs of their jersey’s. Good thing, Joe and I begged (ahead of time) Jen to hand-up water bottles to us. She had a full gallon of water available and a few pre-filled bottles. I was just hoping, she could manage to hang on to the tent, her table of fresh-for-sale cowbells and hand up water.

We were off – lots of guys struggling to get clipped into their pedals, lots of elbows and asses flying to beat each other to the first turn. I manage to get good position about 18th or so into the first turn, remind myself of my goals for the day and settle in for a 45 min pain drain. Everyone is single file into the second turn and hard switch back, which set us up to a hard sweeping left right before the first set of double barriers. After the barriers, click click – go the gears > we are all off like rockets on one of the fastest sections of the course, into a sweeping left turn then a hard right into the grass and over the sewer grate along the road. Riding on the tops of my bars and relaxing the upper body from the exit of the barriers worked the best. We serpentined along the road, behind the parked cars and headed to the twisty bits in the 8-foot tall pine trees near the entrance to the park. This was a great section, rolling right off of the pave’ onto a sweeping left up around a tree and down to the left, where it was important to go down wide to the right along the tape to hold your speed up the little hill for the sharp left and hard right against the last pine tree. Once getting around the tree, we cranked it back up a few gears down an off camber section and back onto the blacktop and out onto the right side of the road entrance of the park then a hard left up hill and into the wind.
more later....