Wednesday, December 21, 2011

2011 Cross Season 13 races


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

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