RECAP 1 Grafton cross and WORS #12

This is going to be the first super update to bring myself current in my recent endeavors. Let's start with the weekend of the last WORS race of the season.

The day before the last WORS race of the season I decided to get a nice little warm up in by doing the cross race in Grafton. The course looked pretty good with one really steep climb towards the end of the lap. An important side note is the fact that I was doing my first race on my new custom SISU ti cross frame I finally got in but 2 days earlier. I managed to throw the bike together just in time for the race to test it out. The start of the race proved to be more trouble than I would have liked getting myself pushed to the outside of the first corner and almost in the back of the field before I could ever really get going. My work was cut out for me at this point so I did what needed to be done... start working my way back to the front. The field by and large stayed together for the first 3 laps, just really strung out. I was making up ground and picking off guys one by one as the time ticked by. The rather large hill I mentioned earlier was a deciding factor in the race and would prove to be my undoing soon enough. The first lap up the hill I could hear my rear derailleur trying to bobble between gears as I hammered up the hill with the large group. The same thing happened on lap 2 so I did my best to keep it smooth and steady. Lap 3 seemed as if the problem had gone away which eased my worries that I had something wrong with my last minute build of the bike. Lap 4 was go time and I was finally starting to feel good after a crappy start. I was closing in on Kip and decided to push the steep hill a little harder to try to make up some ground. Coming into the bottom of the hill full speed ahead and right out of the saddle left me on the rivet. No more than a quarter of the way up the hill the bobbling sound was back and worse than ever! I tried to keep it smooth and steady again until the feeling of no pressure on the pedals and the sound of defeat echoed through my mind and body. Game over, broken chain! I was pretty bummed to be done so quick but things got a little better after someone handed me a beer from the heckling section of the hill. Oh well hopefully this was a good enough warm up for the big race the next day.

It wasn't enough time racing to give a thorough assessment of the new frame but enough to know I was definitely pleased. Snappy response and great handling qualities not to mention a nicely damped ride from the full titanium frame and carbon fork to eat up the bumps. Definitely the best cross bike I have ever owned!

The next day was the last WORS race of the season on my local trails here in Sheboygan. The quarry and Evergreen Park is where it all started for me 8 years earlier almost to the day! I did my first ever bike race in the citizen class during the Wigwam Ultimax Challenge. Needless to say I have managed to learn the trails for the race inside and out. After a poor race the day before and honestly a poor WORS season all together, this was my last chance. I felt it was my time to shine and finally put the doubt out of my head on being able to race for a win in the comp class. If there was any course to do it on this was the one; home field advantage if you will.

The start was crazy as usual and left me chasing hard after the guy in front of me missed his pedal. By the hole shot across the parking lot I had worked my way into the top 15 and close to the top 10 by the first section of single track. Someone manged to stack it up in the first single track allowing me to pass a couple guys and into the top 10 where I belonged. I did a little count in the switchbacks and found myself in 7th place, sweet! I kept the gas on and managed to pass a guy or two in the next 3 laps and closing in on Brian Schwaller. Local spectators were giving me time splits to Brian and I was definitely closing the gap. By the end of lap 3 I had caught him as he was pulling out of the race on the equalizer. We later joked about how he was in 5th and decided to pull out of the race haha. Lap 4 was crucial, no mistakes to be made! The pain of cramps was starting to set in so it was damage control time while keeping the gas on as much as possible. I was running out of people in front of me in my wave and knew it was my race to take if I could hold off all the people behind me. It wasn't until 2 miles to go in the race that I caught the guy in 4th and layed down what I hoped to be a serious attack to distance myself from him in the closing miles. As soon as I knew I had dropped the guy in 4th I found another guy from my wave was breathing down my neck. Full tilt from the equalizer until the bride overpass proved to do little to shake the dude. There was less than 3oo meters from the bridge to the finish line so it was now or never. One last attack across the grass and into the little section of single track before the finish was just enough to hold him off! In my mind I knew I did pretty well and was in the top 5 in my wave but totally unaware of 4th overall in the race.

I honestly didn't know I was in 4th overall until I had changed and came back to look at the results board. Staring at the results board a little blankly and double checking what I was reading until it clicked, yes indeed I was 4th overall in the race. By best finish in a WORS comp race and by and large my best result of the season to date was the perfect ending to a WORS mountain bike season!

Podium time

This is a real brief post before calling it a night. I finally put it all together today like I knew I could and finished today's WORS comp race 2nd in age and 4th overall 2.5 minutes down on the all famous W! This is the best result this season and my best comp finish ever. Not the greatest quality pic but it was a camera phone last second.

I'll do a formal write up hopefully tomorrow to let you know how it all went down. Peace out!

USGP Madison

The first cross of the season is always a little bit of a shock to the system, especially when you haven't done it for the last 8+ months and it's part of the UPGP national series. I knew it was going to be hard and I soon found I was going into it with the wrong mental mindset so Saturdays race was a little rough but I survived. Jeremy Powers the race winner from Saturdays race was turning blistering lap times of 5 minutes flat on the 1.7 mile course leaving my race to be cut short when he lapped me. Only having to drive 2 hours and have so many friends and family there to support my cause made it worth the pain and suffering. I'm convinced their cheers helped me drag my carcase around the course and remind me what cross is really all about.

Here is a quick snapshot from Saturdays race. The blur of the picture is how my head felt trying to keep up.

I took my new found perspective after a peep talk or two and applied it to Sundays round two of the course; a mental reset if you will. Between the mental reset and the little bit of rain before the start my race went considerably better on day 2. I was able to make it to 3 laps to go and 15 more minutes into the race compared to the day before. Course conditions were a little greasy to begin with requiring more handling skills to better suite my abilities. The power in the legs felt restored and twice what it was the day before allowing me to actually sprint down the straightaways and keep the gas on through the technical sections unlike 24 hours prior. Positive feedback from people and my improvement on my result are signs of my early season fitness starting to return and providing fuel for the training fire.

Next up for big cross races in the 3 days of UCI races in Cincinnati in 2 weeks!

Lake Geneva and Chequamegon recap

The last 2 race weekends have been a little bit of a roller coaster but nothing I didn't already expect. I'm going to call both weekends a sucess on the road back to my early season fitness and speed. The month of August was lack luster at best in the riding department so the last 2 race weekends probably hurt more than they should have. Wors #10 Lake Geneva was really good for the first 2 laps. Awsome start in the top 15 and moving up into the top 10 and staying there for the first 2 laps left me pretty pumped and knowing I still have some snap. It was the next 2 laps that it fell apart by missing a feed and not eating enough. I was determined to keep it going even though I knew I was pretty dehydrated and feeling an awsome bonk looming. It didn't take but half a lap for both to pretty much hit me all at once and slowed my pace to what felt like a crawl. I can honestly say I have not pushed myself that hard after feeling the bonk coming in a couple years and I'm glad I did. It's good to feel where your limits are and be able to mentally and physically keep pushing. Needless to say I did not finish in the top 15 much less 30 but pushed my way to the finish slow but sure.

Yesterday was the Chequamegon Fat 40 which proved to be another roller coaster of a race. I warmed up Friday afternoon with Tristan and Brian after making the 5 hour trek. My legs felt surprisingly good and only got better as we rode. I'm not sure how to explain how your legs can feel amazing one day and so flat the next. Another awsome start in the top 40 across rosies field only to watch my placing slowly drop as the clock ticked away. The feeling of never being able to get rolling or being able to push it was what happened. I'd be able to ride with a group for a couple minutes and then I'd have no snap to hang on when an acceleration came. The time I posted was actually within my goal range but far from where I wanted to place. All in all I still had fun and managed to finish with a smile. Congrats to Brian for notching another win in his belt for this year and keeping the hopes of a triple crown repeat alive!

Next up is some serious switching of gears. USGP Madison this coming weekend. It's a real shame I'm going to missout on riding this by a matter of days!

Especially considering I have all of these to put on the bike!

starting fresh

I promise I'm not dead. There has been so much going on in the last month it's crazy. There will be lots of news to write about soon with cross season on the horizon! I have cross frames finally ordered and being built. To go with the new frames I found myself a nice Easton Tempest II carbon wheelset with some Dugast Typhoon tires already mounted. There are still a lot of things to be figured out yet but the season is starting to fall into place nicely. Being pre-registered for just about all of the races before the season even starts is a great feeling too. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get some of the new toys in!

Ore to Shore recap

Year number 5 is in the books and goes down as the best year to date. All in all the race went really well. I did have to stop twice to try and fix my non compliant derailleur with no such luck. It gets a little frustrating when you feel really good and want to push a really big gear but cant due to your jazzed derailleur, oh well. I managed to ride almost the entire race with cupcake and the tool shed. We all did our fair share of work at some point and kept our group going strong the whole time. You know your group is going well when your catching other groups and spitting them out within a couple miles. I managed to get myself spit out for awhile but caught back on with 1 to go to beat Russel and prevent the heckling for another year. 48 miles is a good day on a mtb, racing 48 miles in under 3 hours is an even better day. My goal was to finally finish under 3 hours.... mission accomplished at 2:56:20 beating last years time by 12 minutes! I finally got the chance to stick around a little longer on Sunday to ride some of the amazing trails I keep hearing about in the area. Matt from Sisu and a few of my new teammates showed me around and left me wanting more; I can't wait to go back. At the risk of sounding like an add I think Marquette is one of the coolest cities I have ever had the pleasure of frequenting. A cool little college town with good food and plenty of things to do. Amazing and what seems to be never ending trails not to mention the locals are beyond polite. If you ever get a chance check it out! Next on the race calender is the Border Battle this coming weekend.

pre ore to shore

Routine is the name of the game! This is my 5th year doing this race and I like to think I have it figured out finally. Roll out early, pre ride the last 10 or so miles as soon as we get here. This is really important, grab dinner at the pasta shop... So good! Head over to registration to get the number plates and ankle chips. Try not to stay too long talking to everyone we see which is easier said than done. Grab some ice cream and call it a night. If you can follow these few simple tasks you'll be in pretty good shape.

So far I have followed the rountine to the t and am feeling pretty good. The weather is awsome to top things off. Hopefully tomorrow goes as well as today did.