Sunday, October 21, 2007

A rough weekend on the bike

Well I have had a weekend to remember this weekend. Saturday was the race at Interlocken, which was where I had my very first cross race last year. I really wanted to do well, because last year it was pretty rough to say the least. There was a very large field this year, probably about 100 or so. I made my way up with Colin and my little bro. The course was almost exactly the same as last year, with a little change. They added a small creek crossing going into a very steep, slippery grassy hill. Lets just say the river was full of disgusting mud, that resembled the smell of dead fish. In addition to that it was just a very difficult course. I felt pretty crappy out of the gate, but still found myself moving up pretty well. I was riding the sand pit almost every lap, and everytime I did so, I ended up passing somebody each time. I felt like crap the whole time, but it was better than last year so all is good. They havn't posted results yet, so I'm not sure how I ended up finishing.
Sunday was a different story, the forecast said a high of 35 with a 90% chance of snow. That was pretty much how it was. The course was up in Evergreen at a elementary school, the course would have been very difficult in nice conditions, but it was snowing, windy, and a bitter 30 degrees. I felt like I got a pretty good warm-up, and actually wasn't feeling that cold considering the conditions. The course today also had a creek crossing that was extremely muddy and deep. During warm-ups I told my teammates that I was gonna hit it right down the middle and hope for the best. That is just what I did, and it didn't end well. As soon as I hit it, I knew I was going down, and I flew over the bars into a nice pad of mud. I got up and recovered quickly and surprisingly kept my position in the group. After that my next three laps went very well. Then all of the sudden I started getting very cold, and felt like I had lost all of my power all at once. I couldn't move up anymore, I just stayed where I was. Kinda frustrating to say the least. What I did get out of today was a good workout, and experience. At least I know that I can hold my own in a race that is in really bad conditions. Big thanks to Corey, Corey's Parents and Jami for cheering me on at the races this weekend. It always helps a bunch. Thanks for reading.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Gunnison CX

Well I finally got some time to update the blog, sorry for the hiatus. Good news from the weekend, I kept the bike upright, no mechanicals and I got a pretty sweet new skin suit as well. The course was on the Western State College Campus, with a lot of grass for a change, lots of turns and 3 barrier run up. Suited a power rider like myself for sure. I stayed with the main group for pretty much the entire race, I got gapped a little with 2 to go and rolled in for 10th place. Its the best result for me in a cross race, and I finally felt like I could put some power down and hold it in a race.

The Run Up
The Finish

I made the trek up there with my little brother,(who is sitting 2nd in BCR points for Juniors now) and the chester dog of course. He was bushed after all of the races on saturday, and so was Eric.
In the hotel
Chester which side of the bed do you want?

So after getting a solid night sleep we all woke up to much colder temperatures, rain and wind. Eric took second in his race after battling with a kid for 30 minutes in the horrible conditions, and finished for a super strong weekend.
My race started a few hours later, same course as the day before, only backwards with the barriers in a different place. Warm-ups were even worse conditions than earlier that morning, but as soon as my race started, the sun came out a little and it was much better. I didn't feel as good as the previous day, but still felt super strong. The course was very muddy from all of the rain, and extremely slick in every corner, which made for pretty slow going. I got gapped about half way through the race and got in a chase group with a kid from the bike source. We kept attacking each other in certain spots, and in the last lap I put on an attack that he couldn't follow and I rolled in for 11th place. Here are some of the pics from Sunday


So, all in all an awesome weekend of racing. I can't wait for Interlocken this weekend, it was my first one last year, and I plan on turning heads this weekend. Thanks for reading.
PS Check out the new songs.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

A weekend in Frisco

Well finally I have some good news to report in this cyclocross season. I kept it upright all weekend, and didn't lose my chain once. I know its hard to believe but it did actually happen. As most everybody knows I had probably the worst crash of my career at the Boulder Research Park. I didn't get a solid week of training due to the injury. But I was able to get out a couple of times during the week, so not a total loss. Eric Moore and I made the trek up to Frisco on saturday morning, with my race time starting at 12:25. Coach Corey came up with a new strategy during the race, using my power near the end, and not run out of gas too early. It went OK during saturday's race, but nothing very spectacular happened that day.

Here is one of the shots during the race.
Here is another, I got the game face on for this one.
So anyway, I wasn't too aggressive during the race on saturday, just tried to keep my overall position and not lose any places, It seemed to work out well, and I felt pretty strong the entire race. I finished somewhere in the bottom half, which has pretty much been the story for me all year.
Sunday's race went much better, I felt strong all around, and moved up the entire race. They changed up the course from the day before and it suited me quite a bit better than the day before. A little bit more flat, with a few of the same sections from the previous days course. With a sandy run-up that some people were riding and others were running, but if you hit it right you could ride it. Another part was super technical and kinda slow, but made it very challenging. Last but not least the 2 sets of 4 barriers right past the start/finish line. I started somewhere in the middle, didn't go for the whole shot, and went to try to pick people off and move up throughout the field. I moved up every lap, picking off people as best I could, while not exerting myself a ton. With two laps to go, I decided to start opening myself up a little. With Dave Towle's help I tried to make my move for better placing. I attacked the small group of people I was with, and only one guy followed. We took turns at the front keeping the pace high for that lap. Then about half way through our last lap, he opened it up and set a pace I couldn't match. Tried to bridge up, but settled for 23rd.
I felt awesome with how I raced today, and it is my best cyclocross finish since I started last fall. I know that my fitness isn't quite there yet, but I feel better every time that I race, and have high hopes for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for all who came out and cheered me on, it makes the racing that much more fun and makes me attempt to go that much faster! Thanks for reading.

P.S. My Boulder Cycle Sport clothing finally came in this week, I'm pumped to finally race in it. I put some new songs on my "Whats on the Pod" section, check them out.