Tractor Pull

Wow, the heat races were like tractor pulls out there.  I don't have any good photos except for my teammate getting the hole-shot in the 40-44 but it was 2 laps of the heaviest riding I have ever done.  I was racing in the last of 3 heats for my age group at the end of the day.  The morning events were 2 hours behind because of course repair from the overnight heavy winds and rain.  The flight in was the roughest I have ever been on.  I was really unsure if we were even going to land without crashing.

Teammate Mark with the hole-shot in 40-44

I did not get the hole-shot but was 3rd into the first corner with the Canadian National Champ and a rider from Denmark.  Russell Stevenson rode from the 3rd row and won by a minute and I ended up 3rd right behind the Dane who was took 3 bike changes.  I stayed on the same bike so I would not have   to clean 2 bikes.  My 3rd should be good enough for a 1st row call up for the Final on Friday.

I did a clothing pre-wash in the yard of the host housing so clean up went pretty well.  The rest of the crew was out running errands so I went with the hosts to a celebratory event for Louisville hosting the elites.  The mayor and others responsible for the race coming were all there so I felt out of place.  They were even doing photos on the red carpet out front.

Out front on red carpet at the event bike shop

Yeah, I hate being a fan boy but how often can you get a photo with Mr. Nys.

Thursday is a break between races so I will probably just ride the trainer for an hour and call it good.  Friday should be completely different with frozen death ruts instead of mud.

Nationals

I have been slacking on the Nationals report only because I was hoping to find some more photos since I, like most, really do not want to read a long detailed race report.

I drove out early on Friday morning in order to get there and get a couple laps on the course.  It was pretty muddy and would definitely be a weekend where a great pit crew would be essential.  I cruised a couple laps and then cleaned up and headed off to Waterloo to tour the Trek HQ and spend the night at the Moran's.  Micah gave me the full tour and it was a pretty cool place to see.  Almost everyone had a bike next to there desk.  I even walked out with a new helmet.

My race was at 2 on Saturday and I would have a front row call up based on my 6th place from the results last year.  I did not have a great start and never really saw the front of the race.  The Challenge Limus was hooking up well but the first 2 laps I was not hitting the lines. It was mostly one track and I overshot some corners and had to run which was costing seconds.  I had teammates/pit masters washing bikes so I was taking a clean bike every 1/2 lap.  Mark, Tom and Jay were fantastic and I could not have had better people in the pit for me. I ended up 11th on the day which was far off the podium and where I thought I could be.

I ended up having to leave and head home on Saturday night so I was unable to see Katie win the Elite women's title but I was at home on the trainer watching the women's race and racing the men front the warmth of my basement.

Three more weeks of training have passed and the season is finally ending this week with the Master's World Championships in Louisville, KY.  I fly out on Tuesday, race the seeding heats on Wednesday and the final is at 2 on Friday.  It looks like the weather should be pretty crappy and cold.

The Elite Championships are on Sat. and Sun. so there will be some beers consumed to celebrate the end of a long season.  The Trek CXC season end party is at the Maker's Mark Lounge on Sunday night so my early Monday flight and workday could be a rough one.

Holidays and resolutions

I have been slacking off on the blog lately but without good reason.  It was a great holiday season with plenty of family time but not as much relaxing as there was still 6 weeks of training left before the final races of the season are over.  Hopefully they will move Nationals back to December next year as most of the working/family cx'ers would like to have the Christmas season off.

Penelope got a new kitchen for Christmas but the most fun part was the box that I got to make a fort out of.  A door and a window and she loved it.  The basement has been a great play area since we have not put furniture down there yet.  She even has her Cozy Coupe down there.

I was hoping to put more of a dent into my collection this year but alas, it is skinsuit season and it will have to wait until February when the racing is done.  I have a bit of work to do come February.  We did drink one of the Rogue VooDoo beers at the New Year party so the photo isn't quite up to date.

My gift to Annie was tickets to Elf at the Ordway so Grandma Linda took Penny and we spent the night in downtown St. Paul.  It really is my favorite of the Twin Cities downtown areas.  We had frites and beers at the Amsterdam and headed to the show.

Last weekend my parents came up at the last minute so Annie and I could go to Chicago the the New Years Resolution CX races that were held at a Hilton Golf Course resort.  I needed to get some racing in before Nationals and it was perfect with the course being out the hotel doors so Annie could come down 10 minutes before the start and take my clothes and head back up to the room after the race.

I raced at 9 am both days in the 30+ masters race. The first day was dry and hard. There was no snow and the ground was frozen but pretty grippy except for a couple corners.  I made the lead group of 3 and then with 3 to go it was 2 of us.  I think he dropped his chain at one point so I put my head down and held it to the line.  My legs were cramping but it was good to get that first effort in my legs.

Day 1, sun out but not for long

The elite race in the afternoon is when the weather moved in.  The snow started coming down like crazy and was making a mess.  I ended up manning the pit for my teammates, Matt and Isaac.  Luckily they were without incident.

After waking up at 2:30 am to a fire alarm, we went outside to see the snow gone and the temp up a bit.  By 3:30 were back in bed for a shortened night.  The start for the 8 am race was going to be slick.  I rode a lap at 7:30 and the melted snow had made a skating rink out of the start road.  They salted and by the time we started it was pretty much melted.  I was a bit tentative at the start hoping that the others would not try to be heros and take us all out on an ice patch.  I was dangling off the lead 3 for the first half of the race because I was being overly cautious on the corners.  They would all sit up on the start/finish straight and with 2 to go I was on them and put down my attack.  One guy came with me and we were alone.  I hit the barriers just before the finish in the lead and knew it was gonna be a sprint.  I put my head down and knowing I am a terrible sprinter, I waited for him to come around but it never happened.  I took the win for a second day in a row.

Sprint to the line
lapped guy to the left, yellow helmet in second place

much colder which also made the podium beer nice and cold

This post comes from the basement of the Moran's, who are wonderful hosts, after my preride at Nationals in Verona, WI.  It is going to be a messy one tomorrow.  Hopefully the temps stay above 32 otherwise it will be a nasty/dangerous race if it freezes up.

USGP Finals

The final round of the USGP in Bend, OR was a few weeks ago and the blog has been on the back burner because of the holidays. 

It was a fun weekend of racing and hanging out in our giant house that Trek rented.  I raced pretty well both days and ended up just off the podium in 4th, both days.  My teammate, Mark, won both days and I had another teammate, Shannon, who was on the podium both days so it was good results for the Trek CXC.  Chris Fisher was 3rd and 2nd and had a great weekend of racing.  I ended up 5th overall in the series for 35+, Fisher was 2nd,CJ was 4th and if Roeser didn't have to miss the finals, MN would have had 4 of the top 5 in the overall.

Now is when it gets tough because there was/is 7 weeks to train for the last 2 races of the year.  Nationals in Jan. and Master's Worlds in Feb.  It will be great to be done in Feb. and then party and drink beer while watching the world's best compete for the rainbow stripes in Louisville. Trek has a big party planned for that Sunday night also so hopefully I will still be able to make my flight that Monday morning.

front row start

trying to stay warm

Mark S., teammate and overall series winner 

the backside of the flyover

Fisher and I w/ 2 to go on Sunday

Thanks to Jason Perry for the photos and to my wife for being so supportive as I travel around acting like some kinda pro bike racer.

Cross and Puzzles

I made it to Bend with only one hitch.  The first time in 2 years I have checked a bag and it did not make it.  It was delivered on Friday but luckily I packed my shoes, helmet and 1 kit in my cary-on so I could ride the course.  Here is a video.  It is a super fun course and I have call up #5.

The Trek CXC house is pretty sweet.  We are living large up the hill about a mile from the course.

After setting up the Trek team tents we rode the course for an hour or so before heading back to the house to wash bikes and shower up.  When the rest of the crew arrived we headed down for the number presentation party and had a beer and picked up #'s.  We cooked up dinner and rested up for the night.

World Cup CX and puzzles last weekend

The gang watched the Euro CX races this morning before heading off to the course and I am hanging out for the morning waiting for bikes that didn't make it on time.

Racing at 1.  Lets do it!

MN CX State Championships

Waiting for my flight to Bend for USGP final so it is a quick recap.

Saturday I had the #2 call up from my 2nd place last year and had an ok start.  I thought with my hard ride the day before I would be opened up but that wasn't the case.  I rode with the lead group of 8 all race but lost it with 2 to go.  Not the finish I hoped for but I am usually better on the 2nd day.  The crowds were awesome and I even picked up 4 $2 bills so I had that going for me which was nice.

Sunday was the 35+ race and even though my motivation in the morning was low, (I almost stayed home) I felt great once the race started.  I ended up with CJ and Fisher the whole race as I chased down all of their attacks.  They played the perfect teammates and had I let one of them go that would have been the end.  I was gapping them through the sand as I was riding it pretty fast so I figured I would attack before the sand and try and hold it. Well, my rut was destroyed by lapped riders and then this happened.  I chased and got within 5 sec. and held on for 3rd.

Now I am waiting for my flight to Redmond.  Sitting at the airport in Seattle on a 3 hour layover.

Bourbon and Horses Day 2

After ascending out of our sleep cave for coffee and breakfast, we piled our stuff into the van and were off to the course for our last day of racing.  We would not be back to the house as myself and Russell would be shuttled straight to the airport after the Elite race.

We made it to the venue in time to sneak in a lap of the newly revised course before the next race went off.  After riding, I was back at the truck to set up the "B" bike on the trainer so I could be all set for my warm up.  I spent about 10 minutes looking around before asking if anyone had seen my other bike.  It was brought back from the pit after yesterdays race and stored in the truck over night.  I checked with the guys in the pit, called a teammate that rode back to the hotel and spoke with the race director and none of them turned up a thing.  My bike was gone, crap, now I was a bit stressed as I warmed up for my race.  Matt was already on the phone lining up a replacement to be shipped out that week and had also set up his bike as my pit bike.  With about 30 minutes til race time, my teammate, Isaac, walks up with my bike and a great story. He was walking the course and sees a guy standing with my bike and quickly takes it from the guy.  The guy looks and says "hey, what are you doing?"  Isaac says "I am taking my teammates bike back, they having been announcing this bike missing for the last 2 hours and you are standing right next to the speakers!"  He says "I just borrowed that this morning!".  Well, it turns out that he had checked out a demo bike from the truck and took the wrong bike. I would have thought the name on the top tube and the $300 Dugast tubulars would have tipped him off that it was not a demo but I guess not.

After the stress of all that business, I had to hit the line for race #2.  I had a pretty good start but not as good as the day before and found myself just off the lead group.  It was really windy and I could never close the gap.  I would get within 5 sec. and then would lose it in the sand as people were running in the only rideable line so I was forced to run.  I ended up 10th but felt like it could have been another top 5 day.  Oh well.

I skipped the elite race and worked the pit and then helped with cleanup so we could get to the airport on time.  We were out fairly quickly and I was on a plane back home from another great weekend with the Trek CXC crew.  I will be back to Louisville for the Master's and Elite World Championships and hopefully my bikes will not go missing.

Thanks to Trek CXC for the great race support this season and to my wife for her encouragement and support to do it.