TBRA has finally posted up the results from Knoxiecross #1 and #2. I'm 5th in CX3 and 4th in Single Speed. 6 races left in the season, I'll only be at two of them.
Gray days in Nashville. Snow yesterday, flurries today. Planning some riding this week, though, it's hard to say how much of that will actually happen.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tired Legs
Coming out of this weekend I was feeling a little haggard. Tuesday I headed out for some hill work in Percy Warner and felt like crap. It literally felt like I had the brakes on. Barely made it up a few of the hills. Today, headed to Lock 4, trying to beat the thaw. Got in one lap then the sun hit it and the ride was over. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 17 degrees when I'm planning to ride. We'll see if I actually get out there. Not looking good right now, but Monday's my next chance to ride, so...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Knoxiecross #2 (more mud)
Up early. 5:40am to be semi-precise. Realized once I got up it was about 20 minutes further to the rendezvous point than I thought it was when I went to bed. Bagged the shower and the yoga, instead focusing on the essentials: Pack Bag, Feed Face, Make Coffee, Don't Forget Anything. In the car right on schedule, arrived on schedule only to find that my ride, Nate, was going to be a few minutes late. No matter, still had half a french press to finish off with a little NPR.
Fast forward to Knoxville. 38 degrees (that's cold to me) but no longer raining. Same course as yesterday only backward with one small re-route. The rain had continued through much of the afternoon on Saturday and the climb-turned-run-up had become a terrifying decent complete with 8 inch deep ruts, hub-deep mud holes and mystery sink-holes. The entire course was still soaked and muddy and a creek had appeared on the lower section (we crossed it three times a lap), the descent had become a long, brutal climb... basically it was classic cross...
First race, first corner, off the front with the David Worth, same as yesterday.
We joked a little bit after the second corner that it all seemed a little familiar (since we "accidentally" dropped the entire pack after the first 2 minutes in Saturdays race) 
but the jokes stopped as soon as we hit the barriers and he started on the attack. I was able to stick close but after the crazy decent I realized my rear tire was going flat. Rode it within running distance of the pits, ran to the pits and with Nate's help changed wheels (thank god for pit wheels) then realized we'd installed it wrong, undid it, re-tightened it (rear wheel on the SS is bolt on... not designed for high-speed changes) and got back on after losing 6 or 7 places. 
I started reeling riders in, first a solo, then a pack of three, then another solo and I could see third place. With two laps to go I passed third coming through the finish line and kept charging, trying to make contact with the leader (who was long gone). 2nd place.
Fifteen minutes later the C race started with the Single Speed starting 30 seconds behind the CX4's. There were 27 of them and almost immediately Jeremy and I started working our way through them. The decent came up pretty quick and we were in the thick of the 4's. Jeremy was obviously trying to put some riders between us and I really had to let it hang out to stay with him, clipping a rider in the process. I actually hit him pretty hard and it's a miracle we both stayed up. Jeremy and I quickly got some space out in front of the 4's and started the cat and mouse game. Up the long grassy climb I realized that he was pushing a 42x18 and my 39x18 was making life a lot easier. He was forced to really yard on the bike to keep it moving while I could ride right behind him by just standing up and gently rolling the pedals over. I developed a plan to just sit behind him, let him do the work, then attack on the long climb on the last lap, hoping I'd have saved enough in my legs to hold him off.
Then Jeremy went down. He got a little loose on an off-camber corner and fell, allowing me to take the lead. I kept it mellow, not wanting to attack then, hoping to make him work to catch me, thinking I could attack when he made contact on the climb. He caught me before the sketchy decent but by the bottom of the hill I had a gap. At the bottom of the decent the course starts a long slog up the hill. It's broken up by a couple of short, straight descents, but it starts with a false flat climb through think grass and mud. I stood up and turned the pedals over smoothly trying to give the illusion that I was pushing hard and attacking. It must have worked because
my gap started growing. Up another climb, looked back, more space. By the time I hit the long climb I he was moving backward and I'd sort of saved a little bit for that part of the course so I kept at it. Crossed the line around 20 seconds up on the next finisher. Finally a Single Speed win, after most of my season. I probably have to re-cable my entire bike after all the muddy racing. At least I don't have deraileur cables...
Photos were taken once I got home under blue skies in my driveway. Conditions were a lot different three hours East in Knoxville as evidenced by the photo at the top. For more pictures of the race click here, the opening sequence is of the sketchy descent. Big thanks to the folks at Knoxiecross for putting on a great race and drawing some decent talent. I'm really hopeful that we can field larger classes at all the Tennessee cyclocross races next season. This year was apparently better than last year and I think if we can get the fields bigger and improve the spectator scene we'll really have a good thing going.
Fast forward to Knoxville. 38 degrees (that's cold to me) but no longer raining. Same course as yesterday only backward with one small re-route. The rain had continued through much of the afternoon on Saturday and the climb-turned-run-up had become a terrifying decent complete with 8 inch deep ruts, hub-deep mud holes and mystery sink-holes. The entire course was still soaked and muddy and a creek had appeared on the lower section (we crossed it three times a lap), the descent had become a long, brutal climb... basically it was classic cross...
First race, first corner, off the front with the David Worth, same as yesterday.
We joked a little bit after the second corner that it all seemed a little familiar (since we "accidentally" dropped the entire pack after the first 2 minutes in Saturdays race) 
but the jokes stopped as soon as we hit the barriers and he started on the attack. I was able to stick close but after the crazy decent I realized my rear tire was going flat. Rode it within running distance of the pits, ran to the pits and with Nate's help changed wheels (thank god for pit wheels) then realized we'd installed it wrong, undid it, re-tightened it (rear wheel on the SS is bolt on... not designed for high-speed changes) and got back on after losing 6 or 7 places. 
I started reeling riders in, first a solo, then a pack of three, then another solo and I could see third place. With two laps to go I passed third coming through the finish line and kept charging, trying to make contact with the leader (who was long gone). 2nd place.Fifteen minutes later the C race started with the Single Speed starting 30 seconds behind the CX4's. There were 27 of them and almost immediately Jeremy and I started working our way through them. The decent came up pretty quick and we were in the thick of the 4's. Jeremy was obviously trying to put some riders between us and I really had to let it hang out to stay with him, clipping a rider in the process. I actually hit him pretty hard and it's a miracle we both stayed up. Jeremy and I quickly got some space out in front of the 4's and started the cat and mouse game. Up the long grassy climb I realized that he was pushing a 42x18 and my 39x18 was making life a lot easier. He was forced to really yard on the bike to keep it moving while I could ride right behind him by just standing up and gently rolling the pedals over. I developed a plan to just sit behind him, let him do the work, then attack on the long climb on the last lap, hoping I'd have saved enough in my legs to hold him off.
Then Jeremy went down. He got a little loose on an off-camber corner and fell, allowing me to take the lead. I kept it mellow, not wanting to attack then, hoping to make him work to catch me, thinking I could attack when he made contact on the climb. He caught me before the sketchy decent but by the bottom of the hill I had a gap. At the bottom of the decent the course starts a long slog up the hill. It's broken up by a couple of short, straight descents, but it starts with a false flat climb through think grass and mud. I stood up and turned the pedals over smoothly trying to give the illusion that I was pushing hard and attacking. It must have worked because
my gap started growing. Up another climb, looked back, more space. By the time I hit the long climb I he was moving backward and I'd sort of saved a little bit for that part of the course so I kept at it. Crossed the line around 20 seconds up on the next finisher. Finally a Single Speed win, after most of my season. I probably have to re-cable my entire bike after all the muddy racing. At least I don't have deraileur cables...Photos were taken once I got home under blue skies in my driveway. Conditions were a lot different three hours East in Knoxville as evidenced by the photo at the top. For more pictures of the race click here, the opening sequence is of the sketchy descent. Big thanks to the folks at Knoxiecross for putting on a great race and drawing some decent talent. I'm really hopeful that we can field larger classes at all the Tennessee cyclocross races next season. This year was apparently better than last year and I think if we can get the fields bigger and improve the spectator scene we'll really have a good thing going.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Knoxiecross #1
Complete mudfest in Knoxville today. Raining when I arrived, rained hard through the first four laps. Basically rode through an inch of water/mud the entire race. Got off to a good start, comfortably in second, looked back about halfway through the first lap and couldn't see the third place rider. It was like the pack vanished. The two of us worked together a little bit through two laps then he got away, simple as that. I was in survival mode in those conditions but the two of us stayed well out in front through our 6 laps.
Race director was running late so I had to bag the SS race so I could make the Titans playoff game. Such a close game, so sad. When you turn the ball over twice in the red zone, you're going to have a tough time winning. Simple as that. Tomorrow back to Knoxville for two races this time. Weather will be better, albeit a little colder. The mud will still probably be there but I won't mind. That's what the Single Speed is for.
Incidentally, for the first time since my first race I felt like my gear was a little tall. There was quite a bit of elevation gain and the tall grass coupled with the water and mud produced a lot of drag. Problem is as soon as I go with a smaller gear I'll probably just regret it so I think I'll just work on building up the quads and try to avoid the endless trap that is changing gears for different courses.
I was in too much of a rush to grab any pictures, but I'll tell you I spent about 20 minutes "pre-washing" all my riding gear in the shower before it went into the washing machine, if that gives any indication of the condition my bike and I were in. Lots of mud.
Race director was running late so I had to bag the SS race so I could make the Titans playoff game. Such a close game, so sad. When you turn the ball over twice in the red zone, you're going to have a tough time winning. Simple as that. Tomorrow back to Knoxville for two races this time. Weather will be better, albeit a little colder. The mud will still probably be there but I won't mind. That's what the Single Speed is for.
Incidentally, for the first time since my first race I felt like my gear was a little tall. There was quite a bit of elevation gain and the tall grass coupled with the water and mud produced a lot of drag. Problem is as soon as I go with a smaller gear I'll probably just regret it so I think I'll just work on building up the quads and try to avoid the endless trap that is changing gears for different courses.
I was in too much of a rush to grab any pictures, but I'll tell you I spent about 20 minutes "pre-washing" all my riding gear in the shower before it went into the washing machine, if that gives any indication of the condition my bike and I were in. Lots of mud.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Wheel
Built a wheel this evening. It's been at least 8 years since I've laced one up myself, but it's damn true and almost perfectly round. I probably don't need a new wheelset, there's technically nothing wrong with the wheelset that came on my bike (except that it's made of cheap components and was probably laced by a machine) but I'm working on them anyway. I just got to thinking the other day how nice the handbuilt wheels I used to ride were. I traded an original set of Mavic Crossmax for a handlaced set of XTR hubs laced to Mavic 517's with double butted DT spokes when I went to college. The XTR's were worth a lot less, but they rode so much better. When I tacoed the rear wheel, I laced it to a ceramic 217 and that was without a doubt the best wheel I have ever ridden.
Back to my story. So I was riding these crappy stock wheels the other day and they were creaking and the rear axle was warped and I decided it was time I re-acquainted myself with the art of wheel building. Surly track hubs, Mavic Open Sport rims (I'll use the Pros next time) Double butted black DT Spokes and stainless nipples. Linseed oil instead of spoke prep (we'll see how that works out) and about two hours of work (would have been less but I made a big mistake, which is why I started with the front instead of the rear) and I've got a hand-built wheel. I'll do the rear on Wednesday night, give them a ride Thursday morning and find out if they're worthy to race on. The old wheels will be pit wheels until I build some tubular wheels next fall, then I'll put them on a fixie conversion.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Columbia #2
Couldn't do it back to back. Came pretty close, maybe if I'd used my head a little more instead of just my legs things would have come out differently, but instead, I pulled the train, then they dropped me off at the station.
Start, first lap we were a pack of four, Edward Krieg (2nd place yesterday) Jeremy Nagoshiner, Tanner Hall (upgraded to CX3 for the occasion) and myself. I was at the back of the train, where I wanted to be, through most of the first lap. Near the end of the course there was a ravine/ditch that most riders were running through, but I found a way in pre-ride to jump over the entire thing. First time through, I came in a few bike lengths back from Jeremy in 3rd and jumped right next to him and immediately he dropped his chain on the remount (never happens to the single speeders!) and was off the back (see video). The lead group is now three, with Edward the only guy with gears leading.
We came through the start finish and Edward got a little gap on the pavement but Tanner and I closed it once we hit grass and the three of us stayed together for the next four laps. I was doing much of the work (by choice, more on that later) with Tanner following me and Edward chilling in 3rd. The pace wasn't blistering but I kept telling myself that there was no freakin' way I was going to pull those guys around the course at 85% all day then just ride away from them for the win. Final lap, all three of us are mellow on the pavement, we hit the grass and Tanner attacks. I'm still thinking win so I chase (more on this later) and Edward finally jumps around me on the final long winding grass climb and closes the gap. He pulled me up to Tanner so we were all three together at the last short downhill coming into two corners and a barrier and the finish. Every lap we'd hit this decent and spin out, so I knew, and had known for laps that if we still had Edward with us at that point, he'd win. Sure enough, he attacked, Tanner countered and spun out his gear and I basically just tried not to puke. That's how we finished, Edward 1st, Tanner 2nd, me 3rd.
So, to clear some things up, I'm not good at tactics. I don't have a lot of experience and I usually win going away, by myself or blow up trying. I knew full well that I was stupid to set the pace and lead with a guy with gears just sitting in, enjoying the ride, but short of stopping and risking an attack, I didn't know what to do. As for chasing Tanner down, I realize, in hindsight, that he's my teamate, and despite the fact that team tactics aren't extremely effective in cross, I should have let him go and forced Edward to chase when Tanner attacked. As it was I spent a third of a lap chasing him and pulling Edward before Edward finally pulled us in. I should have either made a plan with Tanner, or blocked then tagged along as Edward pulled him in, attacking when we made contact. Sorry Tanner. I kinda screwed us both, although, I think Edward probably could have pulled it off on the downhill if he'd stayed in contact regardless of what we did.
Single Speed race only Jeremy Chandler and I were racing. He was doing the Pro race simultaneously (SS and Pro start the same time, he rides his SS until the SS race is over then switches his bike in the pits) so basically I was racing against a guy who was racing against the pros on fresh legs. I let him go. Literally just started pedaling, Time Trialed the course, pushed every bit of everything I had out (like squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out of its tube) hung out with Kevin Freeman and some of the other hardcore stragglers then went home. 3rd and 2nd place, not as impressive when judged against the number of entrants but what are you going to do?
This next weekend will be interesting, gigs and races, then Cross-a-Nooga and I'm done. Back to cross training and base mileage. This blog may get less exciting then, so I'll try to take some freakin' pictures (showed up only about an hour before the race so I didn't have much time to shoot).
The video of the first lap ravine situation shot by Ed Jarimillo (CX4 1st on Saturday, 2nd on Sunday) he sent me another vid but I can only put one on each blog. May include it later this week.
Start, first lap we were a pack of four, Edward Krieg (2nd place yesterday) Jeremy Nagoshiner, Tanner Hall (upgraded to CX3 for the occasion) and myself. I was at the back of the train, where I wanted to be, through most of the first lap. Near the end of the course there was a ravine/ditch that most riders were running through, but I found a way in pre-ride to jump over the entire thing. First time through, I came in a few bike lengths back from Jeremy in 3rd and jumped right next to him and immediately he dropped his chain on the remount (never happens to the single speeders!) and was off the back (see video). The lead group is now three, with Edward the only guy with gears leading.
We came through the start finish and Edward got a little gap on the pavement but Tanner and I closed it once we hit grass and the three of us stayed together for the next four laps. I was doing much of the work (by choice, more on that later) with Tanner following me and Edward chilling in 3rd. The pace wasn't blistering but I kept telling myself that there was no freakin' way I was going to pull those guys around the course at 85% all day then just ride away from them for the win. Final lap, all three of us are mellow on the pavement, we hit the grass and Tanner attacks. I'm still thinking win so I chase (more on this later) and Edward finally jumps around me on the final long winding grass climb and closes the gap. He pulled me up to Tanner so we were all three together at the last short downhill coming into two corners and a barrier and the finish. Every lap we'd hit this decent and spin out, so I knew, and had known for laps that if we still had Edward with us at that point, he'd win. Sure enough, he attacked, Tanner countered and spun out his gear and I basically just tried not to puke. That's how we finished, Edward 1st, Tanner 2nd, me 3rd.
So, to clear some things up, I'm not good at tactics. I don't have a lot of experience and I usually win going away, by myself or blow up trying. I knew full well that I was stupid to set the pace and lead with a guy with gears just sitting in, enjoying the ride, but short of stopping and risking an attack, I didn't know what to do. As for chasing Tanner down, I realize, in hindsight, that he's my teamate, and despite the fact that team tactics aren't extremely effective in cross, I should have let him go and forced Edward to chase when Tanner attacked. As it was I spent a third of a lap chasing him and pulling Edward before Edward finally pulled us in. I should have either made a plan with Tanner, or blocked then tagged along as Edward pulled him in, attacking when we made contact. Sorry Tanner. I kinda screwed us both, although, I think Edward probably could have pulled it off on the downhill if he'd stayed in contact regardless of what we did.
Single Speed race only Jeremy Chandler and I were racing. He was doing the Pro race simultaneously (SS and Pro start the same time, he rides his SS until the SS race is over then switches his bike in the pits) so basically I was racing against a guy who was racing against the pros on fresh legs. I let him go. Literally just started pedaling, Time Trialed the course, pushed every bit of everything I had out (like squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out of its tube) hung out with Kevin Freeman and some of the other hardcore stragglers then went home. 3rd and 2nd place, not as impressive when judged against the number of entrants but what are you going to do?
This next weekend will be interesting, gigs and races, then Cross-a-Nooga and I'm done. Back to cross training and base mileage. This blog may get less exciting then, so I'll try to take some freakin' pictures (showed up only about an hour before the race so I didn't have much time to shoot).
The video of the first lap ravine situation shot by Ed Jarimillo (CX4 1st on Saturday, 2nd on Sunday) he sent me another vid but I can only put one on each blog. May include it later this week.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Columbia #1
First CX3 race today in Columbia. Start was long and paved, I spun like crazy to stay near the front, then some really late braking coming off the pavement in the first turn carried me to third, two more passes before the ultra tall barrier (2.5 foot thick tree, mandatory jump) and I was out front on the long greasy singletrack. I kept attacking and apparently the other front runners, knowing I was on a single speed and in my first CX3 race let me go assuming I'd "come back" or fade. Through 3 laps I kept getting further and further ahead, never really sure if I was riding a pace I could maintain for 50 minutes. With three laps to go I was done seeing other riders in my race. One of my goals for next season was to win a CX3 race, so I guess I'll have to set the bar a little higher for myself.
Had maybe 20 minutes to chill before the start of the Single Speed race. Only Four of us. One guy dropped out right away and the other guys were a Pro (Jeremy Chandler, #1 in TN points series for SS and Pro) and Tanner Hall (who's always much faster than me) and since I basically left it all out there on the CX3 race, and they're both much faster than me, I just watched them ride away. They made us do 5 laps, took almost 45 minutes, definitely the hardest Single Speed race as far as time and proximity to an exhausting effort. Camera battery died, wasn't able to take any good pictures, but hopefully someone will email me one and I can post it (note: Big thanks to Ed Jarimillo who got this shot of me finishing and won the CX4 race.)
Extremely surprised I did so well as much eating and drinking as I did over the last 2 weeks. I was 5 lbs overweight on Monday, but I didn't panic and try to mash in a bunch of riding. That always backfires. One moderate workout, a few jumps, lots of rest.
Two more races tomorrow! Friend's having a party tonight, need to go and hang and play some music. It'll be essential for me to get a stool to sit on, drink only water, and leave by 10 or 11pm. Of course, life is short and I like to party. We'll just have to see how well everyone else recovers.
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