State

This past sunday took us out to Hermann MO again for ye old state championship race. It featured the usual sprawling course, with numerous dismounts, a "no fun sandpit" and those stairs. I usually like the courses that we have for the Hermann night race but not the ones for the state race. This one was a lot better than last year for sure. It was a bummer to have yet again another non rideable sandpit. I don't even like riding sand, but it's kinda fun when you're not in contention. Also, just because how cold my feet got the stairs actually weren't fun. Usually I can crush it up the stairs, but with clunky stone feet it's kinda hard. Anyways, I rolled up to this race feeling pretty optimistic, I felt real good last week at bellefontane, and I had felt good all week. Cousin Dan came up to me and and seemed to be bummed when he told me it was a "road riders course". Maybe yesterday is all I have to say. The ground thawed out, and somehow that park holds water for weeks, cause it was the single slickest race I have ever done. It was worse than the quad cities crit this year where guys were crashing at every corner. In the warmup lap, I couldn't believe it. It was like a joke or something. It was a bit of a bummer because I'm pretty sure that if the course had been dry I could have killed it. Anyways, I started 3rd row, and somehow got up to maybe top ten on the long pavement stretch. I was stuck behind a few fast starters who I knew weren't going to be able to hang up there, and that I needed to get around. As I tried to make my way through the pack fodder, I saw Dan, MJ, Alex Edwards and two guys I didn't know slowly pulling away. They held me at about 10-15 seconds for the first lap, then hitting the pavement again I put it in the 48x12 and hammered. After two laps of that had caught back up to the main group. I fell off a bit again, and then coming through starting, I think, our fourth lap, I caught MJ and one of the other dudes I didnt know (DIDK), and told Matt to hop on my wheel. I ripped it down the pavement and pulled back 10 or so seconds on dan, and we were a trio on the front. We stayed together until the hill where dan tried to ride it, and I was running behind him. He bobbled and I stopped, allowing him to keep going and trying not to screw Matt, who was also riding the hill. Dan got a little gap on us here, and then, through the next two corners which were the slickest two on the course, my bike kind of slid out, and I ended up kind of running past it or something weird. It took me a while to really get going agian. A few went by me, and I found myself in 5th. Behind Matt and Dan out front, and then Alex and a DIDK. They stayed about 20 seconds in front of me for the rest of the race. I got about 8 seconds off of Alex who had fallen off of DIDK on the last lap, but 4th and 5th isnt a huge difference. Neither is on the podium. It was a bit of a bummer of a race. I knew I had good legs, but the unusual slickness of the race put me out of comission I guess. It kinda sucks that state is in conditions we havent had all year, cold and muddy, but that's bike racing. Keaton and I hung around the 1/2 race for a bit, but it was truly depressing. 9 guys riding around in the cold is pretty boring. I guess I kind of feel like I did after snake alley this year. Where I went in with a lot of anticipation and got crashed out on the line, and I knew I should have been top 3. Here I went in with a lot of hopes and fell short just due to a few little things. Again, had the course been dry I'm pretty sure things would have been a lot different. I can only speculate though, and that doesn't really do anything. I was however really impressed by MJ. Before the race he told me he was going in to just have a good time and enjoy the race, I told him "with that attitude, you'll probably have a good race". I had a feeling he was going to ride well. It was a good Mesa day though, with a few jerseys and a handful of podiums. Probably the best team spread all day. Tomorrow at 6am(uggh) we leave for Portland, and then will drive to Bend from there. The weather out there right now is a joke. It is, as of 10:35am on Tuesday, 9 degrees and has been snowing all week. It's a little stoopid. Didn't they take Nats away from KC partially because the temps sucked so bad? oh well. I think our race is being broadcasted live here on saturday. I'm racing thursday in the B 10-29 race, which is a non national championship race that is kind of a course preview race, and a race for people who arent elites and arent in an age category. In that race I'd really like a top ten. Saturday is the U23 race, which is really really really fast. The top guys are serious hitters, who put in top 10's in the big elite fields. In that race a top 20 would make me really happy. I really don't want to get lapped, and I dont think that should be a huuuge problem. I got lapped the last two years, but the first year was my first year and I was in over my head, and last year I was sick. We'll see. I really have no clue what it will be like. I'm pretty nervous and excited.


edit: this is what trebon says it looks like as of yesterday in bend.

this photo...

...is scary. wiggo looks a little emaciated.

Through watching these videos I have become a big fan of Heinrich Haussler. The video on San Remo is awesome. He was so close to winning. It was cool that Cav won, but seeing this video almost makes Hausslers second even more beautiful, yet painful at the same time. Once again those videos are really well done. Makes me want to race the classics.

Bubba Finale

This past weekend we had the last Bubba race, which took us back to Bellefontaine Park in noco. The weather was nice all day and then dropped down into more cyclocross like weather with temps holding in the 40's. The course was phenomenal. By far the best Bubba course I have ever raced. It had a good amount of elevation change, good obstacles, the tackyness of the course was perfect and the twists were just right. It was a blast to ride. After starting fast and having a pretty good race last week, I was aiming to do the same this week. I missed a pedal and was only able to slot in 2nd on the holeshot, to Dr. Mark. DB came by me and then Jay before we hit the turny section by the wheelpit. Nate jumped around me and a gap started to open with Mark, DB, Nate and Jay edging away. Jay fell and I closed the gap. Carnage ensued behind me and it was Mark pulling DB, Nate and myself around. On lap two DB went down and it was down to Mark, Nate and I. Nate left us in the dust, and I tried to follow. Schottler came by me in a bad place on the course, and I didn't follow. I rode with Mark for another lap, then Yielding caught us, we dropped mark and then rode together for a lap or two. Mark caught back up to us and we dropped Yielding. After seeing 3 to go Mark and I were together, then going into the downhill u-turn, I completely lost it. I flipped sideways hard and landed smack on the pavement. I layed there for about ten seconds, really hurting, with my bike on top of me. It was cold and I hit hard. I kind of woke up when I saw Yielding coming around the corner, and Jay soon after. I got up, bike was fine, and got back on. I pedaled but it really hurt. My hip was killing me, and I could see that I had road rash on my elbow and knee. It felt like a crash in a crit. I tried to get up the run/ride up but had to put a foot down. I knew I was done pretty soon after that. I couldn't even imagine getting off the bike and running over barriers. I stopped and went to put some warm clothes on. It was disappointing because I was racing really, really well. My legs felt fresh until I went down, and I was feeling confident. For the beginning of the race I felt like I had survived a battle as nearly everyone else behind me was taken out in some fashion, and I could hear them hitting the ground. At least I know I still have some good legs. Thats pretty exciting with State this coming weekend, and Nationals the weekend after. I was pretty sore yesterday, and when I woke up this morning. I saw the chiropractor yesterday and I'm back in line, but he suggested taking today and tomorrow off to heal some more. I'm thinking maybe swimming today and riding again tomorrow. I swam last week and really enjoyed it. I had already been in the pool, helping a friend with her lifeguard certification. I decided to stay and swim instead of riding. Does anyone have any advice for swimming for cycling? I'm thinking use a kickboard. Anyways, I'm racing the cat 3 race this weekend. I only had one top 5 finish in the Bubba series this year, and I'd much rather have a chance to win a jersey, than be fighting for a top ten with the KC guys in town. If cousin Dan decides to do the 3's as well, we could likely end up with an inter family duel for the jersey. Exciting stuff. The only problem is that I waited to register until 3 weeks before, and there were already like 3 rows of people. Where the hell are we? Who preregisters for cross in Missouri? It's cool though that so many people are psyched this year. It's just surprising that 3 weeks before is late. So I'll have to try and get by as many people as possible asap. we'll see.

Mt. Not So Pleasant

The Bubba race this weekend was at Mt. Pleasant winery in Augusta MO. It was ridiculous. The whole course was on the side of a hill with probably a %20+ gradient in some parts. The whole race was either up, down or off camber. The course also featured a brief flat section, interrupted by a ramp that took you through a building that housed a bar, and back out the other side. As much as I didn't like the course, which was by no means a cyclocross course and more of a novelty circus event, it did suit me decently well. I am hesitant to admit that I can climb well, yet when it comes down to a race, I can usually pull something out. I chose to ride my Eastons for the fact that the glue job is one year newer, a point which the ever questioning grbeans should have taken into account, and for the fact that after numerous days of Griffo testing these past few weeks, the Fangos are the superior tire in all circumstances. It gripped amazingly well on the off camber sections. The 27psi I had in the tires allowed them to perfectly conform to the 18 percent grades. I started on the front row and easily took the holeshot. I think I had about 50 feet by the first u-turn. It was kind of a dumb idea, as I hadnt really warmed up at all, but I was up there, and I wanted to give a little test run for nationals, where the start is INSANE. I held first until the very steep run/ride up where I had to run and cousin dan and grman rode past. I had a 39x25 as my smallest gear, which was no deal against this beast. I stayed in 3rd or 4th for a lap or two and then grman dropped off. Over the course of the race a few more dudes went past me and I was in 6th or 7th riding with devin with 2 to go. I tried to shift my right shifter and it was pushing really far in, and not doing anything. I tried a few more times, and the same deal. I reached over with my left hand, and without any struggle, simply pulled the shifter paddle out of my shifter. The whole internal attachment had broken clean off in like 5 different places. So i had a 39x12 for the rest of the race. I had to run a lot. I got passed by 2 or 3 more guys and ended up 9th. Kind of a disappointment but I know I rode well, and my legs finally felt decent. I think the fast start was actually a help. I felt really good up the climbs though, I was making up time on anyone that I was with. I also made $5 in various $1 handups throughout the race. Those dollars make it fun. I can buy lunch this week now.
Today I had one of those totally beautiful St. Louis moments. I was downtown to shoot some photos for a project, I had just turned on Broadway and I was getting some hunger pangs, I had been for a few hours. I saw a Jimmy Johns to my right, debated for a few seconds then cut over a few deserted lanes and turned down whatever street it was on and parked. I walked inside and was greeted by none other than Rob Bell behind the counter. It was great to see him and catch up a bit. It's one of those insane coincidence/small world moments that make STL STL.

buy some stuff...

buy my things please.

St. Vincent Bubba

I woke up this Sunday a bit early, around 8 and watched all of the videos on here to try and get motivated. They motivated me, but more so for the 2010 road season. Really sweet videos though, none the less. I was checking the weather repeatedly, and was hoping for the rain to come around 2 as was said to be a possibility. Like I said before, I don't really think I race well in the rain. It's just a blast. I got to the course and was greeted with numerous "dude, best course evar!", "have you ridden it? sweeeet!". After registering and getting ready, I prerode the course before the b's took off. I was impressed, but a bit let down after all the hype. It was really nice to have a course that wasn't just weaving back and forth through a field. It had some twisty stuff through the trees, a "double" sandpit, some pavement, a strange barrier, some stairs you didnt have to run, some mud, and a few good hills. Thinking back on the course it was pretty fun, but I don't know what I actually liked about it. I had read on the forum that there was a stair runup, which I was psyched about. I really wish they had taped the side of the stairs so we had been forced to run them, or try and ride. I think my favorite section of the whole course was the little S turn right before the downhill on the pavement, and then the following drop back off of the pavement onto the dirt again.
For some reason I didnt think it was going to be a big deal to line up on the front. It was perhaps the most important starting spot Bubba we have had this whole time. Sure Josh can work his way up from the back. He's an exception though. The rest of the top 5 dudes all started front row. There were also a few front row guys who I normally smoke during these races that it took me 2 or 3 laps to catch. Basically, the gaps got big, quick. I was riding alright through the first few laps. I was maybe 3rd to last on the first lap through the upper section of the course, then was able to move up to tenth over the next few laps. Maybe 3 or 4 laps in I was riding with mj trading places back and forth. Looking back on things we probably could have actually ridden together and worked together and had a better race. Instead, I think I panicked as I had been beating him pretty consistently this year, and was seeing that he was going quicker than I was. I threw down a few little surges, and he did as well. We really yo-yo'd back and forth, and hardly ever actually rode together. Although I mentioned how I would have liked the stairs, I think the climb next to them was probably my strongest place on the course. Quite a few laps, I came into that section maybe 10-15 seconds down on someone ahead of me and was easily able to close the gaps midway up the hill. The muddy section was a total pain in the ass. It was so deep and so rutted. What I noticed throughout the race is that as the mud was getting churned around there were large rocks that were coming up to the top of the mud. I felt like my wheels were dying. I ran the mud section all but maybe two times. I just didn't feel like I had the speed to get through it without working my ass off, and I figured it'd also keep my bike from gunking up. I didn't feel like I raced well at all. My mind wasn't in it. I wasn't thinking about the race. Also, I noticed during my race that my legs didnt feel warm. They felt cool the whole time, I could never really get them going. I think a better warmup is needed. The rain finally came yesterday so I'll head to blackburn today and enjoy it in its best state. Hopefully I can get some more hours on the bike this week.

Bellefontane Bubba

Bubba last week was okay. The race was in Bellefontane park up north, it was a pretty big and nice park. The course was really fun during the warmup but I don't know how much I liked It during the race. It was a bit of an energy sucker. Also, it was 80+ degrees and I was dehydrated. Not a really good combo. Anyways, I started pretty well, differently from most of the recent races. I was sitting 3rd for the whole first lap, and watched Bridal and Yielding ride away. After having two races that were 14+ laps long, it seemed a bit early, and I didnt want to blow jumping up to them, or pushing it too early. They stuck it out and Josh was the only one to catch them. I ended up 8th I think. A bit disappointing as I was thinking this might be an easy weekend to score a podium spot. Oh well, I didnt ride a whole lot the week before. I rode my griffos the last two days at blackburn trying to get tire pressure right, assuming this dry spell would continue. But it's supposed to rain tomorrow. I like racing in the rain, but I'm not sure it's a strength of mine. We'll see.