First CX race

My first Mens Open race was Saturday at Swope Park and it was a hot one. The 2pm start made for some warm temperatures. I barely made the start time and the 12 elite riders took off. We started on the uphill road and I went into the twisty part of the course 3rd from last. I started picking people off one by one. When I caught up to 4th place 1st was long gone and second was about 20 seconds ahead. I eventually passed the 4th place guy and settled in for 3rd place. Not a bad way to start off the cross season, it was hot and I should have had a full water bottle. I'm getting married this Saturday and will be gone on our honeymoon til Oct. 3rd. I'm gonna lose so much fitness.

MTB Tour of KC

After a couple weeks vacation my fitness took a big hit. I found myself struggling to keep up at the Tuesday night B crit and continued struggling for the next 2 weeks. I haven't raced any other races lately so I decided to ride the MTB Tour of KC events. Special thanks to Brett S for putting on the grassroots style events, no entry fees racing for bragging rights. Originally the six events were whittled down to 3 after the localized heavy rains. I lost the first event, the off road time trial, on my home turf, Shawnee Mission Park by 5 seconds to JP. The next event was the XC Crit on Thursday night at Swope Park, 4 laps long laps was the set up and I rode off the front halfway through the first lap. I was struggling to keep up my pace and Doug Stone caught me at the start of the third lap. He passed me on the last lap and I couldn't keep up, he won by about 5 seconds. Second place twice, bummer but still leading the points. The last event was Saturday at the Smithville Spiderfest for ERTA. JP and I battled, he eventually went down hard after hitting a log in a turn. I pulled out the W but JP was riding really strong. I took the overall points and was crowned the King of the MTB tour of KC.

Check out the results and stay up to date on MTB KC

The next couple weeks I will be working on my top-end fitness getting ready for Cyclocross, I have a long way to go.

Recovery

I'm sad to miss the Sunflower State Games and the Croc Rock race but I'm getting in some much need rest and relaxation before the kick up in intensity for cyclocross season. Just got back from Lake Miltona, MN with Katie's family and heading to Pennsylvania for my families vacation. 2 weeks off the bike should be just what I need before cross practices start.

MTB Nationals

JP, Karen and myself headed out to Colorado on the 9th of July to prepare for nationals. We had a hooked up place to stay in Evergreen after a night in Denver with JP's friend, Matt Henry and a night in Keystone with my buddy Chris Proctor. JP and Karen went to Aspen on Sunday the 11th to race Blast the Mass while I hung out in Keystone, not feeling good enough to race at altitude yet. We got in some good rides in Keystone, tons of singletrack and good elevation. We arrived in Evergeen and met up with Ashley, fellow SKCer and her boyfriend Jeff. She hooked us up with a place to stay for the week, her parents house was amazing! It backed up to a creek and National Forest and had miles of singletrack within a few minutes drive. We took it easy all week riding on our own pre race schedules. The race was in Granby, CO which we test rode on my birthday the 14th. The course was hard and high up. It starts at 8500 ft and literally climbs straight up the mountain then starts some singletrack. All in all a ~40 min of climbing and 20 min of descending per lap. I did a lap in an hour for the preride, all good but not a race situation. Now its race day, we got there early and did our warm ups. The start was rowdy with spectators lining the hill climb, the whistle blows and my age group(25-29) takes off. I felt good and decided to push it and keep up with the Colorado dudes, which was all good until we made it to the top of the first big hill and I was on the verge of blowing up. I kept going, keeping my 5th place spot but was really hurting. We came out of the singletrack onto a fire road at about 25 minutes and that was it, I was done. I tried to slow down and breath but I was past the point of no return, oxygen debt. I had to stop riding and lay down on the side of the trail to try and regain my breath and motor skills. After a few minutes I tried to ride again but to no avail, I literally couldn't peddle my bike and had to lay down for almost 30 minutes before I could ride again. I had pushed myself entirely too hard at too high of elevation. If I could have calmed down and ridden at my own pace I would have been golden, but I blew my self up. Anybody riding behind me before I stopped could probably see a mushroom cloud coming out of the top of my head as I fumbled down the trail imploding as I went. It was a good learning experience and a new threshold of pain. Now I know to pace myself at altitude because you can't get your breath or legs back as fast as you can in the flatlands. I am back to Kansas and really feeling the back-from-altitude blues, heavy legs and humid air makes for tougher feeling rides. I will miss Kansas State Championships and Croc Rock for vacations over the next two weekends but can't wait for cyclocross season!

July 4th Weekend

Had a good 4th of July weekend, no racing but got in some good riding down in Arkansas and spent some time with the future family. Saturday, Travis Donn and I rode at Lake Leatherwood outside Eureka Springs, AR for a couple hours. Nice trails there and had a rattlesnake run-in that thankfully ended with no body getting bitten. Sunday we floated the Kings river with a group of friends and just relaxed. Monday I got to ride Slaughter Pen in Bentonville, AR with one of Katies friends Matt. Another awesome set of trails, literally right next to downtown Bentonville. We got in a couple hours with only 1 flat, alot of sharp little rocks there. I leave this Friday for CO and will be there for a week getting a couple races in, ending with nationals July 17th and 18th.

2010 Subaru Cup

This was my first big race and what a great venue to have it. 1000 feet of climbing per lap at Mt. Morris, Wi and some fine singletrack meant good time ahead. The mass start had me worried though, 105 racers all fighting for position with no call-ups means alot of elbows and a few crashes for sure. The 17-18 Age Group Cat 1 riders got called up first then the rest of the field had to fight our way to the line. I pulled up to the starting gate about mid-pack and that was with some fanagaling. So about 10th row somewhere between 50 and 60 racers back, I started. The race funnels into an area about 3 feet wide in the first 100 yards which I ended up running through, back on the bike and climbing I made some headway and started racing. The first and second laps went fine, picking people off left and right. Starting the third lap I hear top 20 so I put the throttle down and go, passing 2 more riders. Coming into the 4th lap I realized I pushed it too hard too early and was running out of gas. I was passed by 2 guys the last lap in my age group, knocking me off the podium and into 7th place in my age group and 20th overall. It was good race and nice learning experience as well. I qualified for Nationals as well as fellow SKC Racers JP Brocket and Karen Brocket. Karen took a win in her age group and JP was 10th. 22 hours in the car and 1.5 on the bike, not a good ratio but a lot of fun.