After my last triathlon this season, the world championships
in Las Vegas I decided to try a new sport; cyclocross. People told me it was tough, cold, muddy,
etc, but I think more than anything this is why it looked like fun to me. I kind of wanted to gain some strength in the
legs for next season to keep up with some the pro triathletes on the bike. Rather than lift weights and spend time on
the trainer why not race? So this is exactly
what I did and man I think I like bike racing almost as much as triathlon. I have since joined a road racing bike team
in my town called Luck Pie / Sonic Boom competing in all cycling
categories. Cross is easy to race all
the time as well its cheap, local, and you get there to register right before
your start. I was going to write
blogs about each cyclocross race, but seeing as I have raced every weekend and sometimes
double weekend races it just did not fit into the schedule. Plus quite frankly
no one cares about each race anyway so I will give a summary of the cross
season and each of my 13 races. But
needless to say I think that this is going to be a yearly affair that I will
pursue every fall.
Triathletes
are considered by most road racing guys as the ones that have no bike handling
skills at all and that cause crashes. I
made it no secret that I was a triathlete stepping into their world. I have had a few podiums, a few crashes, and
gained a lot as far as bike handling skills go.
I think there is more to improve on but all in due time, for now it is
fun just racing each weekend.
Little summary of each race this season -
1.
Boulder Racing CX at Valmont 9/17/11 – 5th
CAT4 - My first race starting in CAT4 since ACA does not give a damn how good
of a triathlete you are. No worries I
kind of needed to start in the back and work my way up. That’s what happened here started dead last
of almost 75 guys, great course 2 stair run-ups each lap. Ended up 5th place, not bad for my
first race 6 days after my last triathlon of the season. I have a lot to learn, 45 mins all out was
damn hard when I am used to a sustained effort of 4 hrs.
2.
Boulder Racing CX at Xilinx 9/24/11– 5th
CAT 4 – This course was a lot different than the first one, lots of turns,
dusty, with a big technical section over a log downhill. Lots of guys crashed on these technical
section but I rode it fairly easy, got a call up to the mid pack at the start
still around 70 guys. 5th
place again, pretty much the same guys beating me too.
3.
Frisco CX at Frisco 10/1/11– 7th CAT4
– Wow what a beautiful place to race held at a bike park in the mountains at
Frisco, the aspens we aglow and the weather was perfect. The family came to this one and we hiked a
little before the race and hit dinner in Breckenridge after the race. The course had a few obstacles setup
throughout, run on 6-7 logs, one lone log, and a run up on loose dirt each
lap. I did some recon before this race
and did two warm up laps each time clearing the lone log bunny hopping. I had a nice call up at this one with the
points I have accumulated so I was close to the lead group the first lap and
made it over log no problem. But the 2nd lap I hit my back wheel hard on the log and went over the bars hard, the crowd cheered, I got up quickly put my chain back on and continued on the race. Ended 7th overall, was a great venue even though racing at almost 10k feet was very tough.
4.
USGP New Belgium Cup Day 1 – 10/08/11 – 69th
CAT4 – This was the “Big” race in CO this season and it did not disappoint
except for the weather, but my race on sat. was nice and dry we started first early in the morning. The course was great here including a
flyover, barriers, stairs, hills, and flat sections. 69th place you say, well I was in
4th on the second lap and on the big downhill section and I hit a ditch hard,
pushed my bars down and the front brake locked up. I managed to not fall but had to stop and
loosen the front brake all the way, still rubbing hard, tried to ride no
luck. Ran to the pits which were close
and a kind sole tried to help but with no pit bike and us being unable to even unhook
the front brake it took over 5 minutes to loosen it enough to ride. I finished the race but went from 4th
to last back to 69th. What
had happened is the actual brake hood had slipped down the bar enough to
tighten the front brake, anyway the hoods and bar are nice and tight now. Day 2 tomorrow.
5.
USGP New Belgium Cup Day 2 – 10/09/11 –5th
CAT4 – After the mechanical on day one which was dry weather, it rained all day
prior and was just finishing up upon our start.
Needless to say this was my first major muddy race, it was a real shit
show. Lots of falls, slides and running,
I managed to take 5th on a messy day, the course seemed to dry out
with each lap and the afternoon races proved to be great. All the major US CX teams were there.
6.
Blue Sky Velo Cup CX – 10/15/11 – 1st
CAT4 – Hey finally took the W. This race
was at the Xilinx campus again but different course layout. The course was dry and it was warm out again,
there were a few barriers each lap and two of them were hoppable at high speed
which was fun. I did not get the hole
shot even though it was uphill and I had a front row callup, but I lead after
lap 1 till the end. I even had a nice
little crash in a technical dirt section, they caught me but I maintained the
lead till the end. It was really nice to
have my two kids and wife there to hand out water and just be there for a
win. With this race I had enough upgrade
points to move to CAT 3, one more race tomorrow then I will upgrade.
7.
Excel Sports Monarch High Cross – 10/16/11 – 15th
CAT4 – The big crash, there was bound to be one this season this was it. This was a race right here is Louisville so I
had to do it, it was to be my last CAT4 race.
I kind of missed my call-up so I started 2nd row in the
middle. The start was on asphalt and it
was a typical sprint from the line, once we got up to maybe 25mph, the guy if
front of me went down hard I ran right into him and over the bars, this caused
a chain reaction that took out most of the group in the middle. I tried to get up and pull my bike away but
it was bent up and tangled in a guys foot.
Once loose I bent everything back in place and started away. Injury wise my right side was torn up, hip,
elbow, ankle, knee, and both shoulders bloody.
I got back on and finished the race which was a nice course, but I was
kind of out of it at this point. I
managed to pull back to 15th place, but had a bent derailleur hanger
so I could not hit all the easy gears without putting it into the spokes. Time to heal now for the next race.
8.
Boulder Racing CX – Interlocken – 10/22/11 – 12th
CAT3 – My first CAT 3 race, I knew it was going to be faster, but somehow I
still expected top 10, no luck. The
course was nice at Interlocken grass start which was nice after my crash, steep
hill run up and sand pit. I started off
strong on this race and faded towards the end, or maybe the CAT3 guys just
don’t fade as much as the CAT 4 ones.
9.
Boulder Cup – 10/30/11 – 29th CAT3 –
Birthday race at Valmont bike park was supposed to go well, but the melting
snow and mud was too much for my derailleur to handle. Valmont bike park is the best place in
Boulder to have a CX race with multiple stairs and sand pits set up. The race went well, I made it near the front
for most of the race and on the last lap through the last large mud pit my rear
derailleur hanger decided to sheer off under load sending it into the spokes
and around the hub. There was nothing I
could do but shoulder the bike and run the last ½ mile. Guy right behind me did the exact same thing,
so we ran together, but he was obviously not a runner so I ran by myself. It was nice to have my Dad, Betsy, and
Christine there to watch this race, I just wish I could have finished without a
mechanical.
10. School
Yard Cross – 11/5/11 – 7th CAT3 – This course looked great, but the
surface made this one a super tough race.
Set in Brighton a little ways away it had a few big climbs, barriers,
and the dirt looked easy to ride on but felt like riding heavy sand the whole
time. CAT3 did not have a huge field
here but most of the guys I had been racing with were there so it was going to
be fast. Another grass/dirt start which
I like now, uphill towards a few barriers.
Just high enough to make you think about hopping them, first lap I
suit-cased over but the rest of the race I hopped without difficultly. I went back and fourth with Craig Daugherty on this
race and in the end he finished a few seconds ahead of me. I enjoyed a free beer after and a good hard
race.
11. CYCLO
X Broomfield – 11/13/11 – 2nd CAT3 – Windy was all this day had to
offer and 2nd place of course, but only 10 guys out that day. Cold and windy was the weather forecast, the
day prior I had done a 3.5 hour ride in the super wind which was not all that
smart for a few reasons. But the
Broomfield race was a good course with a tough run up and a creek/ditch we went
through twice each lap. Only ten CAT3
guys, and I stayed in 4th most of the race, but 2 guys had
mechanicals and I was in 2nd.
I did not know it and I tried for the guy in front of me but he was just
not having it at all, I could not catch
him. I really did not even know the
other two guys had mechanicals and pulled out when we finished, but I will take
it.
12. Jingle
Cross Iowa – 11/26/11 – 8th CAT3 – On our way back home form a huge
road trip from CO > southern IL > Chicago > CO over thanksgiving we
stopped in Iowa for some Midwest CX racing at its finest. 39 degrees and pouring rain was the forecast,
not very nice. Anyway I suited up took a
look at all the mud, watched folks running up and down the huge hill called Mt
Crumpet and decide a practice lap was not in order today. A large CAT3 field of 71 guys started, it was
cold, raining, and muddy. Muddy was an
understatement the Iowa mud was slick, in CO there is more sand to grip into,
not here. Off camber run in shin deep
mud followed by the Mt Crumput run up then run down. I tried to ride each time but only made it a
few hundred feet before crashing and running the rest, falling while running
too. Crowds were all around the run down
to watch and heckle the shit show, it did not disappoint at all. This was a true cross race I just wish there
were more ride-able sections as racing in lower altitude I felt great the
entire time. I made 8th at
the end while my family watched from a heated hanger/barn at the
fairgrounds. Great race support with
showers and all after that made the rest of the drive home through the night
more bearable.
13. CYCLO
X Louisville – 12/03/11 – Another local race, I decided to volunteer at
registration for this race since it was local which gained me a free
entry. The race was held at our
Wednesday morning CX practice grounds so I had home course advantage for
sure. Problem was we had just received
8-10” of snow the night prior. The juniors cut the
course in the morning and CAT3 was in the late afternoon, it started to get
pretty cold at our start and the course of run ups and mud quickly turned to
ice and ice covered bikes. I was running
a SRAM rear derailleur with limited shifting in the back due to a broken Shimano
one that week at practice. (from yet another broken derailleur hanger, that’s 2
broke, and 2 bent so far this season)
You would think they work together, but different pull ratios on the shifters
don’t allow it. I got the easy gears working which was all I needed anyway. It got me though, until
the new one came in the mail. Anyway I made
it through the race, took 6th, and helped with all the cleanup in
the dark.
I was planning on racing a few more races the last two
weekends in cluding the State Championships, but somehow other activities started to get in the way, like skiing,
and training for 2012 triathlon season.
Overall a great first cross season so much fun and I am already looking
forward to next fall, where I will finally not be racing unattached but for the Sonic Boom / Lucky Pie racing team.
And a Snowy bike pic for good measure
