Kansas State Championships Dec. 5th

Its been a while since the race, I haven't been riding much just relaxing for a bit and am just now getting back on the bike. I went to Topeka for the state championships and it was cold, about 30 with a good wind. I thought I would weat my lobster gloves to stay extra warm but that proved to be a bad idea. The race started fine, I stayed with the leaders, Andrew Coe, Shadd Smith and Brian Jensen for a lap or two then I started to over heat. At this point I started sweating too much for being that cold out and my head was becoming super hot, I had forgotten to take off my winter riding beanie too. I should have stopped and taken off the layers but then I would have been too cold and sweaty. I labored on through the race pushing myself as hard as I could without blowing up too bad. For the first time all year I was caught by the Cat 3 racers, thats how slow I was going. I caught back up to all but one of the Cat 3s and finished 4th in the Open Race. At the end of the race I wiped my mouth and there was some blood I had coughed up, I think it was the cold and dry air since I hadn't ridden outside much before the race. So I ended up 4th in Kansas, all the guys that beat me are Pro's so I guess its ok. I may race a couple more races but I will be out of town for the Grote Prijs Shawnee which is a cool race and no good for the Series 60 points, I'm leading it now but only by 9 points and even if I won out and miss the Grote Prijs I still can't win the series so I sort of lost motivation to race right now. I'm ready for MTB season to start and will begin base miles when I get back from Texas, I'll be there around a month for work.

Manions Cross II

Manions Cross II was the weekend before Thanksgiving and was a great race. The course was perfect and suited me nicely, a lot of climbing. I started the race in dead last like usual and on the first lap got past about 5 or 6 guys then passed 1 more the second lap and that was it. I finished 5th and only lost to Pros, and beat one. My CX racing is getting better but now that its finally getting cold I will be racing less. I am a wuss when it gets too cold, maybe I need winter bike shoes?

HPT Grand Prix and De Stad Cup

My new teammate Travis and I headed to Topeka on the evening of the 13th, the temps were dropping and the mud was getting stickier. It had rained a couple days before and the mud at the Topeka race track was not clean mud, it was the kind of stick to everything mud that makes racing miserable. The temp was also 39 so it was pretty cold considering it was 65 the day before. To make a long story short, I quit after 3 or 4 laps, I don't remember because I was running most of them with a 40lb mud covered anchor on my shoulder too mad at the mud to figure out that if I rode through the water on the outside of the track it would shed the mud. I also slipped and got my foot stuck in the wooden stairs on one of the run up sections, it was awesome. Travis killed it and rode through the cold and mud to finish 4th and take some cash home.

The next day I decided to race at St. Marys in Leavenworth after cleaning my bike Sunday morning for an hour. I always like the course up there and the Cow Town Guys set up a killer little course this year though I was a little sore from being cold the night before and the legs didn't have any kick, I felt like I would do ok. There was a stacked field and my goal was to finish in the top half of the field of 12. We started on the uphill cobble climb and I went into the grass in 5th or 6th. Travis, Luke L(KCCX Verge) and myself ended up in a "chase group" after Andrew, Jeff W. and Brian Jensen went off the front. Travis and myself put in some good efforts and after a couple laps dropped Luke L. Travis and I were riding well and with 1 to go on the big wall run up Travis fell at the top and I rode the rest of the lap by myself to finish 4th. Travis ended up 5th, not bad for some mountain bikers.

Joules Cross

I took last weekend off to party for Halloween and get in some good training. This weekend came around and Lawrence, KS Joules Cross was the place to be. The Open race had 18-20 starters, big fields and a bunch of roadies made me ready to take a beating. The course was cool, but very roadie friendly, basically a mowed path in a field with a couple turns and barriers. Extremely roadie friendly, oh well I can only try to keep up. I had good motivation, most my family was there as well as my little nephew to watch his first bike race, but all the motivation in the world couldn't help my cramps. Warming up I felt good but I had a bad start again, the 200 yard sprint to start didn't help. I went into the first turn 3rd from last and started the crawl back towards the front. After the first lap I had passed a couple people and was back to about 13th. Another couple laps down and I'm up to 10th with 9th and 8th in my sights. I got past both to 9th place Nick with 4 laps to go, then boom, my calves started cramping up on the dirt run-up. I started going slower and NIck caught back up to me with 3 to go and I was able to keep on his wheel till the last lap where again on the run-up, which we were riding, my calves cramped up again and I had to dismount. Nick made a get away and all I could do was watch him ride away. I finished in 9th place, not bad for a roadie course. Got some leftover Chipotle and a beer from the race promoters then headed into Lawrence for some more food and beers with my family.

Smithville CX

Sunday was the Smithville CX race, Katie came with me and we brought the dogs. Perfect weather, about 65 and slightly cloudy and a great technical course make for some awesome racing. I thought I was racing in the 2/3 catergory race but found out I was in the Open race. The bad part is I didnt realize this till after the Open class started racing, so I started 10 seconds back with the 2/3's. I put the hammer down and started racing hard, better late than never. By the 2nd or 3rd lap I had caught up to the open field and had started passing people. With 5 laps to go I had passed half the open field and caught up to 9th place, one spot out of the money! Katie was giving me updates as I rode by the money tree (literally a tree with dollar bills clothes-pinned onto it of which I grabbed 5 from) and I was determined to make up for my mistake at the start. I passed some more people and with 2 laps to go I had 6th place in my sights. I caught 6th place with about 100 yards to go, passed him on the hill run up and sprinted for the finish. Finally I won a sprint, usually I get owned in finish sprints. I was happy with the result and can feel my CX legs and lungs coming around. (Pic courtesy of Jon Peck)

Cyclocross Weekend

Raced at Capital Cup in Topeka on Saturday, it was hot, 85 at the start. Nice venue and nice people putting it on and hills led to a great time. Only 5 showed up for the open race and B. Stover took the wholeshot with the rest of us in tow. After a couple laps it was Britton K. and myself left at the front. Halfway through he put down a nice effort and I couldn't match it. I thought I'd catch him later but that didn't happen, second place and a cramping back was the result. Sunday was the Boulevard Cup a little bigger Open field with 22 or so at the start. My wife Katie came out to watch and give me some much needed motivation. The race started and my holeshot was good except it was longer than I realized and by the time we hit the dirt I was almost at the back. The first lap I was riding with a little too much urgency, made up some spots then wiped out on a bunch of acorns in a tight turn, back to where I was when we hit the dirt, about 15-16. I rode a little smarter and started picking people off. In the last couple laps I caught the 9th place rider Nick C. and we battled for a bit, I was beat and he was too strong and rode away from me the last lap. So 10th place in the biggest Open field I have ever raced in, I am happy. This time last year I would have gotten lapped. Good job Boulevard, great beer and a nice race course. Here's a pic on the first lap, pre-wreck.

Cross Out Cancer

That will be my last race with tubeless tires on a CX bike. Had a good holeshot then halfway through the first lap going around a turn, burp, my rear tire is no longer on my rim. Guess I will go back to slow tubes. Oh yeah I DNF'd. It was a good cause and a decent venue, I liked the course, but I guess thats the mountain biker in me.