OVCX Gun Club Cross, Quick Race Report.

Rough day today. Lined up with the Elite men at the OVCX race in Miamiville, OH. Course was 50% roadie, 40% mtb, and 10% xc runner. It was really muddy out there when I road the course on Wed, but most of that had dried and settled in to some seriously sloppy, thick stuff by the start of the race today. I'm still trying to get the mud figured out, after having spent the last ten years riding in sunny Tucson. I think that the time out there has made me forget my mountain biking roots, 'cause right now I am struggling big time cornering in the mud. Either I'm not getting it, or my tires just aren't right, but something need to change soon. My current setup of Bontrager Jones at around 35-38 psi feels like riding on ice in the corners. Might switch to a set of Michelin Muds for the rest of the season...Or just train more...Or do both.

So the race went something like this: Fast start, sliding all over the place, lost position, regained position, lost position again, passed a couple guys, started to feel good, felt bad, slid some more, felt worse, dropped out with 3 to go. Not good. Adios.

Louisville, KY, USGP Weekend Recap

Over the weekend I made the short trip south to Louisville, KY for round 3 & 4 of the United States Grand Prix of Cyclocross. I have dabbled a bit with cross over the years at the local level in Michigan and Arizona, but have never been to a cross event of the size and scale of the USGP. The UCI Cyclocross Festival in Cincinnati a couple weeks back was a good introduction to big-time cross racing, but the USGP series brought the level up a notch.

Almost all of my cyclocross experience has been on a mountain bike, with some success. I experimented with a true cross bike a couple years back, but never really felt comfortable on it. This year I've decided to try it again and picked up a sweet ride from a good friend of mine. The debut ride was at the Masters 35+ race in Cincinnati, and I snapped my chain after crashing on the second lap. Ditto on day 2. Not a good start. Thinking back, I've realized that I have never finished a race on a cross bike, as mechanicals have always came up. Gotta fix that quick.

Bit of a tangent there, so back to the weekend. Bike is working sweet now, I put a new chain on and got in a decent week of training to break it in. Lined up in the last row of the Elite Masters 35+ and figured I'd ease into it and just try to pick guys off as the race went on. Off goes the gun and here we go. Race was brutal, the ground was so soft it felt like you were pedaling in wet cement. I moved up to about the halfway point of the fifty man field, but that was about as far as I would get. Suffered like mad and finished in 27th. I swear my bike must have been ten to fifteen pounds heavier at the end from all the mud caked onto it.

The course had dried out a bit by Sunday, but there were still some big mud holes scattered about. A reroute added a wickedly muddy stair section that came immediately following a nasty, off-camber 180 degree turn. Started back row again, but my strategy today was to hit it hard off the start and try to hold on. Made it up to around 20th, but no further. Ended up finishing 22nd and felt like I had a knife in my lower back on the last two laps. Forgot how hard cross racing can be. Adios.

UCI Harbin Park Pro Men Cyclocross

Footage of the pro men's cross race at Harbin Park in Cincinnati, OH Oct 11, 2009.

UCI Harbin Park Post Race with Powers, Wicks, Wells, and Matter

Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series Race #1

Ohio Riding

Did a cool ride on Tuesday, here is the route:



Adios.

Fun Times on the Mountain

Woke up early today and did the Eclipse team ride on Mt. Lemmon. A big group of around 30 riders started out from Le Buzz at 6:30. Once we hit the climb the pace picked up and after a couple miles there was only a handful of guys left. Riding strong were Scott Blanchard, Richard Bioca, and Ross Lamb. Not to toot my own horn, but I was giving the climb a good go myself. I think three weeks of training, no class, and some nice supplementation with Athlete Octane has started to pay some dividends in my fitness.

Around 4 miles into the climb, Steven from Sweden decided to turn the screw on all of us and proceeded to ride the group off his wheel. I had never seen him before and found out later that he was a former mountain biker working as an engineer for Ventana Medical. All I know is the dude is strong.

I ended up riding to Geology Vista, cruised down the hill, and ran into PT and double D at the base of the climb. Flipped it and rode back to Molino Basin with those guys, which made for a fun day on the mountain. Came home after 4+ hours on the bike and took my sweetheart for some delicious Pulled Pork from El Paso BBQ. Whoever said you can't train on BBQ? Adios.