Jingle Cross Day 1- Under the Lights

Last night was my first ever cross race at night under lights and it was awesome! I was pretty pumped and for some reason found myself with a jitter or two before the start. The venue had giant spot lights brought in that did a great job of lighting the course as bright as day where it was shinning. A few spots were hard to see which made for some interesting racing to go along with the slip and slide mud covering the course. As usual Mt. Krumpit was a brutally long and steep run up to keep things interesting.

Telling your body its going to race at 7:30 at night in the dark through the mud and cold is not too easy. It helped to see the carnage from the previous races with countless derailleurs being ripped off and bikes hiding under layers of mud to get the blood flowing and adrenaline pumping. I can't explain it but I absolutely love and live for racing in nasty slick mud! The number of starts was in the 40's and looked to be some respectable competition. I decided to try something different and started a little easier to see if I could hang with a group through the whole race. This proved to work a little better and I was sitting in with a group all the way to the bottom of Mt. Krumpet. Dialing tire pressure was a problem again with sections of hard fast pavement and slow slick mud. After a bike change things were going a lot faster again and I was able to catch back on and pass a couple dudes. All said and done I finished 25th and in the money!

USGP Jersey 3

Getting everything to come together on race day seems to be a problem for me lately. I find myself being able to start pretty well, even when I toe the line with the pros. By no means am I taking the hole shot but I'm finding myself still able to move up within the field for the first half of a lap. This is where putting it all together comes into play and I seem to fall apart for the next 2 laps. Obviously cross is all about running red line and being anaerobic for the majority of the race. My problem seems to be able to continue or closely maintain my position in the race from the end of the first lap for the next 2 or so laps. If I could solve this problem I truly believe I would go from one of the last scored finisher in USGP races to a good 10-15 places higher. Day 1 of racing in Jersey was a lot like last year with inches of peanut butter mud across the entire course. Running for 40% of a lap is no exaggeration, especially after a pile up in the first corner of the race leaving the leaders long gone and the guys in the back doomed to start running. A pre-ride of the course should have been taken but I opted not to for some dumb reason.

If you know anything about cross making the right choice with tires and tire pressure is beyond crucial, it literally can make or break your race. I asked a couple people that took a pre-ride lap or two what they thought and made my decision based upon their information... bad idea. Of the 3 different sets of tires I had to choose from I probably picked the worst one possible. Slipping and sliding my way through an entire lap was the deciding factor in my race and left me OTB quickly. I would like to thank my sponsors for the ability to have 2 identical bikes for situations just like this. I grabbed my B bike from the pits and with no exaggeration was going a couple miles per hour faster just about everywhere on the course! Sections of the course that were unridable the first lap were now ridable with the simple change of a bike with different tires on it. I powered my way around the course for the next couple laps trying to make contact with people only to find them pulling out. The time I lost on the first lap is hard to estimate but I wouldn't be surprised if it was almost a half lap. Trebon was on a mission and that was to relieve me of my duties bringing up the rear with 3 laps to go. Oh well... clean up the bikes and get ready to do it all over again the next day.

Day 2 of racing brought a different course and different style of racing. The course was more technical and dried out to allow for a little faster of riding and lap times. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice so I got a little bit of time on the course and was able to make the right tire choice. The start seemed slower than normal or I just had good legs because I was able to make my way from the 7th row all the way into the top 30 through the first couple corners. Its a shame to be able to have such a good start only to watch it slip through your grasp. As I elaborated on before I can start really well but some how fall apart for the next 2 laps until I'm able to get it going again. Going from the top 30 to the back of the field is a pretty big mental blow but I am not one to quite and did my best to keep it going. Like clock work I started feeling better a lap or 2 later and was able to start picking guys off one by one. If it wasn't for Johnson setting a blistering pace around the course I might have been able to catch and pass a couple more guys. I don't know what my problem is with fading after good starts only to kick it in a couple laps later but I'm determined to figure it out before the end of the season.

USGP Jersey 2

Here are more pics from the trip home and a stop in Cleveland.

Baby Bobcat

Killing time at the Natural History Museum hanging out with the otter.

Monday Night Football action

USGP Jersey 1

I'll post a bunch of pics from the trip to New York first

Ground Zero and the construction of the Freedom Tower

Wall Street Grand Central Station (The picture doesn't do the size of the station justice)

Time Square trying to find Ben Baily and the Cash Cab.

Rockefeller Center and the tree going up.

Amazing pizza at Lombari's in Little Italy

Cool mural in one of the subways

Iceman 2009

The funny thing about this picture is I didn't know they were behind me. I was in the front row on the line just focusing on the start.... apparently they were too haha. The gun sounded and I was off and surprised how slow the group was going for a start. Maybe I've been doing to many cross races with the pros because I felt it just wasn't fast enough to make my head spin and legs scream so I took the whole shot pretty much from the start. My pull was probably for a good mile or so until I decided to let someone else pull a little and sit in and recover. Jesse Bell took over with the pace making and I followed 3rd wheel until right before the first section of dirt. Two guys attacked on both sides and turned up the pace a notch for about 20 more yards. This is where my great start was wasted as the two guys who attacked bumped each other and caused my buddy Matt to crash right in front of me! Needless to say I was pissed and left running down the middle of the trail trying to get my chain back on going from 1st to 100th place after 5 minutes of racing.

The rest of my race was spent trying to make up the lost places. This is where the shoulda coulda woulda took over in my head as I drilled it for the next 20 miles. Somewhere around Williamsburg road I knew I was getting close to the front of the race and could see little groups not far up the trail. I tried with everything I had to bridge the last couple gaps to the groups but found the match book running out of matches. The fuel tank levels were dropping fast and the chase ended with 6 miles to go and turned into salvage mode. My goal of 1:45 was falling by the wayside and as the miles ticked by slower and slower so did the goal. 1st twice or 11th in my age group was the final result. Overall I'm still pretty happy because I knew I felt as good as I have racing in a long time and I was able to almost get back to the front. I may have over done it in the chase by myself and payed the price in the last 6 miles but it was worth the efforts and I would do it exactly the same again. Congrats to Brian for the 3rd place finish and almost the repeat on the 3peat.... Triple Crown!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and enjoying the company of new and old friends. The annual party downtown was crazy as usual including the party bus. Breakfast the next morning was the now tradition of The Omelet Shop, and amazing as always. Iceman is always one of my favorite race weekends of the season and I can't wait until next year.

Quick Iceman update

Just rolled in from the long drive home so I'm gonna make this short for now.

My 4th Iceman Cometh Challenge is in the books. Not quite the result or finish I was hoping for but overall still pretty happy. Finished #1 twice as Russel and myself like to joke about or 11th depending upon how you look at it. Time wise I was about the same as last year with a little longer course. I'll leave you with a couple pictures and do a formal write up soon.

Pre Part Bus action at the finish
Score for the weekend.... Brand new super cheap wheel bags!!!