Stony Creek.... Yep, revisiting this one again. Love, Hate, Love. Well, it was love this time - and perfect timing. This was the close of the Tailwind USAC Mountain Bike XC series, and the realization that cyclocross is just around the corner. I have not done well at this race for the 2-3 years, and the last time I got a podium was in sport class. But my training has been ramping up and I have been starting to feel really strong. So could this year be different?
As this is the last race of the series, and being at Stony Creek, I knew that most if not all the fast guys would be out. And they were. There were at least 14 on the line for Expert Men 30-39. This was good and bad for me. If I could nail a podium in this class today that would be awesome! And I had a good shot at securing 4th place overall in the series. But there were about 3 other guys that could also take 4th overall if they had good races. So here we go...
On the whistle, I could not get my right foot to clip in. So this pushed me back to around 9th place. As we approached the single track, I could see the lead group slip away. The main reason was that Simon Bailey was holding up about 6 of us, and we could not get by. (I don't normally call people out, but come on. When people call out to let them by, let them by! If you know your bike handling skills are not as good as others in the class, get the hell out of the way!) OK, sorry about that. So once I got past that issue, I opened it up a bit and started to catch the tail end of the lead group. I was able to do this by powering through the flats. I was able to close down all the gaps, and then all of a sudden found myself sitting in 4th-5th place, and making ground. The only person I could not shake was Todd Freidinger who had an awesome race! I would blow out Todd on the flats, and he would pick his way back up to me in the single track. It stayed this way for the entire race, which made the racing aspect more enjoyable. At the end of 2nd lap, Jeff Poirier caught me. I was a little concerned and thought "Here goes my race again". But by the start of the 3rd lap, I was climbing myself away from him again, and could no longer see him. I kept putting out the same effort and sticking to the same plan. Steady in the single track, and turning myself inside out on the flats!!! Next, I caught Brian Harris at the end of the 3rd lap, and he rode with me through about half of the lap, and I was able to drop him on a climb. Then it was Todd and myself for the final lap. Starting to feel some cramps forming in my quads, I just rode smart. In the middle of the roller coaster I had a little brain fart and washed out my front tire and went down hard. Todd just missed riding over me and pulled away. I tried to get on my bike as fast as I could to limit the loss, but I have a horrible cramp shoot up my left hamstring. It very painful, but I was able to ride it out. Todd, pulled farther and farther ahead. I made it to the last double track climb and spun up it as gingerly as possible to avoid any cramps. At the top I took a look back to see if I was starting to lose time and let Jeff claw his way back. SHIT! There he was at the bottom of the climb. I popped it up into my big ring one last time and TT'ed as hard as I could to the end. I sprinted to the top of the last sled hill with no full blown cramps and made one last push to the finish. Jeff came in 9 seconds later. I never made contact again with Todd, but I did get a hard earned 4th place, but I did not keep 4th overall in the series.
It has been a strange and slow season for me up until the last 3-4 races. But my fitness is starting to click, and my confidence is starting to soar. It really couldn't happen at a better time. I think I love Stony again....
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Rain for Ruby...Really?
For what ever reason, this race never even gets a break when it comes to rain. Maybe the course is on top of an ancient Indian burial ground. Who really knows, but the sky let loose once again the day before to make this an iffy race to do for most. Luckily, Todd Powers and many other members of our great team (Team Sandbag) put in many hours of trail work to once again beat mother nature to the punch and make sure the trail was immaculate for any conditions! She was slick in spots, but totally race ready!
I have not been feeling the Ruby vibe this year. And really was not looking forward to the race at all, other than hanging out with the team. And when it rained it made it even worse. There really isn't much to talk about other than just about everyone on the team taking full advantage of the home course advantage by nailing most of the podium spots on the day. Most notable was Todd taking 4th on a flawless race, and letting folks in the state know that when it comes to technical old school single track, there ain't too many better than Todd. Mark Z nailed another W, and well on his way to being a competitive sport rider. Drew L, finished 4th but not before an untimely flat took his 1st place away. Hats off to Randy Lange for getting up on his own power after a severe crash on the "wash out". He ended up taking a trip by ambulance, but was thumbs up and smiles all the way. And to the rest of the team. It was great to come together, and let the mountain bike world know what we and the sport are all about having fun!!
As for my race. I got the 4th place finishers medal since there were only 4 in the class. But on a positive note. This gives me a legitimate chance for top 3 overall if I have a good race at Stony. I was cranking out 26 min laps even in slick conditions. All 4 of my laps were within less than 1 min of each other. And for the first time in like 3 years, I did not cramp at this race!!!!!
So this is good news with the real season approaching fast!
I have not been feeling the Ruby vibe this year. And really was not looking forward to the race at all, other than hanging out with the team. And when it rained it made it even worse. There really isn't much to talk about other than just about everyone on the team taking full advantage of the home course advantage by nailing most of the podium spots on the day. Most notable was Todd taking 4th on a flawless race, and letting folks in the state know that when it comes to technical old school single track, there ain't too many better than Todd. Mark Z nailed another W, and well on his way to being a competitive sport rider. Drew L, finished 4th but not before an untimely flat took his 1st place away. Hats off to Randy Lange for getting up on his own power after a severe crash on the "wash out". He ended up taking a trip by ambulance, but was thumbs up and smiles all the way. And to the rest of the team. It was great to come together, and let the mountain bike world know what we and the sport are all about having fun!!
As for my race. I got the 4th place finishers medal since there were only 4 in the class. But on a positive note. This gives me a legitimate chance for top 3 overall if I have a good race at Stony. I was cranking out 26 min laps even in slick conditions. All 4 of my laps were within less than 1 min of each other. And for the first time in like 3 years, I did not cramp at this race!!!!!
So this is good news with the real season approaching fast!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Something in the Air...
So far for August, it has been surprising wet, a few of the mornings have been crisp, clean smelling, and with dew all over everything. I can't help but think about cyclocross! And with many of the local and national series registrations going live, and race calendars being finalized, you would be a fool not to recognize that the 2011 CX season is upon us!!!! With less than a month away before the first race of the season here in Michigan, its time to plan, time to train, and time to get excited for cyclocross.
There will be lots of opportunity to race CX this year in Michigan, as over 5 separate series have popped up. So that means there is at least one race every weekend from Sept 11th - Dec 18th! And with the National level races moving their traditional calenders to go deeper into the year to align with Nationals taking place in January now, it will be easier for me to race and experience some of the other local races and series to see what they are all about. For the first time, I will be jumping into a Kisscross race or 2. Finally get to take part in the most unique CX race in the country with Mad Anthony CX. And I will dabble in some sure to be fun Mid Michigan cyclocross action! So without much more chatter, here is my proposed CX schedule for 2011. See you at the races!
9/11 Kisscross Plaster Creek Park, Grand Rapids
9/17 Tailwind Double Cross #1, Waterford
9/18 Tailwind Double Cross #2, Waterford
9/24 USGP Madison, WI
9/25 USGP Madison, WI
10/1 Tailwind (Night race), Munson
*** 10/9 SVSU Red Zone CX, Saginaw (***tentative family/time/money)
10/16 tailwind Linden park, Linden
10/22 mad Anthony CX, Detroit
10/29 Tailwind Vet's Park #1, Ann Arbor
10/30 Tailwind Vet's Park #2, Ann Arbor
11/5 ICEMAN
11/12 USGP Louisville, KY
11/13 USGP Louisville, KY
*** 11/19 Stomach of Anger, Lansing (*** tentative family/time/money)
11/20 Tailwind Bloomer Park, Rochester
*** 11/27 Kiss Cross Holland Municipal Stadium, Holland (***tentative family/time/money)
12/5 Tailwind Springfield Oaks, Davisburg
12/11 Big Bad Wolf CX, Midland
12/18 Tailwind Stony Creek, Shelby twp. (Waiting for confirmation on date)
I'm still on the fence for the new UCI races in Chicago New Years Eve and New Years Day. And As more info comes available, I will decide on what to do for CX Nationals in Madison, WI in January and throwing my name in the hat for CX Masters World in Louisville! More to come later in the season...
There will be lots of opportunity to race CX this year in Michigan, as over 5 separate series have popped up. So that means there is at least one race every weekend from Sept 11th - Dec 18th! And with the National level races moving their traditional calenders to go deeper into the year to align with Nationals taking place in January now, it will be easier for me to race and experience some of the other local races and series to see what they are all about. For the first time, I will be jumping into a Kisscross race or 2. Finally get to take part in the most unique CX race in the country with Mad Anthony CX. And I will dabble in some sure to be fun Mid Michigan cyclocross action! So without much more chatter, here is my proposed CX schedule for 2011. See you at the races!
9/11 Kisscross Plaster Creek Park, Grand Rapids
9/17 Tailwind Double Cross #1, Waterford
9/18 Tailwind Double Cross #2, Waterford
9/24 USGP Madison, WI
9/25 USGP Madison, WI
10/1 Tailwind (Night race), Munson
*** 10/9 SVSU Red Zone CX, Saginaw (***tentative family/time/money)
10/16 tailwind Linden park, Linden
10/22 mad Anthony CX, Detroit
10/29 Tailwind Vet's Park #1, Ann Arbor
10/30 Tailwind Vet's Park #2, Ann Arbor
11/5 ICEMAN
11/12 USGP Louisville, KY
11/13 USGP Louisville, KY
*** 11/19 Stomach of Anger, Lansing (*** tentative family/time/money)
11/20 Tailwind Bloomer Park, Rochester
*** 11/27 Kiss Cross Holland Municipal Stadium, Holland (***tentative family/time/money)
12/5 Tailwind Springfield Oaks, Davisburg
12/11 Big Bad Wolf CX, Midland
12/18 Tailwind Stony Creek, Shelby twp. (Waiting for confirmation on date)
I'm still on the fence for the new UCI races in Chicago New Years Eve and New Years Day. And As more info comes available, I will decide on what to do for CX Nationals in Madison, WI in January and throwing my name in the hat for CX Masters World in Louisville! More to come later in the season...
Sunday, August 7, 2011
...A New Hope!
Sorry for opening with a Star Wars phrase, but I am a bit of Star Wars nerd. However, I finally had some things come together for me in a mountain bike race this year. With CX in the horizon, I have taken my training up a notch. And now I got a little something to build on.
Today was the Big M race USAC XC mountain bike race near Manistee, Mi. It was not originally on my calendar, but a few folks on the team were going to make the trip, and since I have not been on the podium this year I figured I would try to give myself one more chance. The course was in awesome shape and the fast as hell! I was surprised at all the guys that actually made the long trip up to race. All the big names in my class were there minus my good friend Lako.
The whistle blew, and I got a good position. I was able to maintain the pace of the top 5 guys with no issues . Then we started getting to the climbs, and I was hanging on, but slowly started to drift back. I was still in a good position, and then saw Jim Bonnel falling back and fast. I passed him on a climb, and looked up and saw Brain Harris appear to be struggling on the climbs also. I put in an attack and pulled away from Brain. Soon after he was on my wheel again and passed me at the bottom of the long sandy downhill. I figured I would ride his wheel again for as long as I could. By the time we got to the long false flat, I was putting in huge time between us. I looked back and could not see him any longer. I knew I was in at least 5th place at this time and was feeling good. When the last lap started, I knew I had enough gas to make it to the end, but did not want to go too hard and risking cramping. With about 2 miles to go, I saw Brain again. This time he pulled back onto my wheel, and passed me! Knowing there were some bigger climbs just ahead, Brian being a better descender than I, and a chance to get my first podium of the year within grasp, I wasn't going to give it up that easy! I made a huge attack up the next climb in the biggest gear I could manage, and time trailed as hard as I could to the line. The entire time, I was maxed out, and not 100% sure if I dropped Brian or if he was with me. Climb after climb I hammered it. On the last long sandy downhill, I peaked back and saw the team colors of Brian's team. Not knowing if it was him I took every risk I could on the decent. He never passed me. Then into the final sprint, I took the last corner too fast and went down. I was able to remount my bike very fast and sprinted for the line. The Cross Country Cycle rider was not Brian. He came in a minute or so later. I finally nailed my first podium of the year for mountain bike racing. 4th place.
Today was the Big M race USAC XC mountain bike race near Manistee, Mi. It was not originally on my calendar, but a few folks on the team were going to make the trip, and since I have not been on the podium this year I figured I would try to give myself one more chance. The course was in awesome shape and the fast as hell! I was surprised at all the guys that actually made the long trip up to race. All the big names in my class were there minus my good friend Lako.
The whistle blew, and I got a good position. I was able to maintain the pace of the top 5 guys with no issues . Then we started getting to the climbs, and I was hanging on, but slowly started to drift back. I was still in a good position, and then saw Jim Bonnel falling back and fast. I passed him on a climb, and looked up and saw Brain Harris appear to be struggling on the climbs also. I put in an attack and pulled away from Brain. Soon after he was on my wheel again and passed me at the bottom of the long sandy downhill. I figured I would ride his wheel again for as long as I could. By the time we got to the long false flat, I was putting in huge time between us. I looked back and could not see him any longer. I knew I was in at least 5th place at this time and was feeling good. When the last lap started, I knew I had enough gas to make it to the end, but did not want to go too hard and risking cramping. With about 2 miles to go, I saw Brain again. This time he pulled back onto my wheel, and passed me! Knowing there were some bigger climbs just ahead, Brian being a better descender than I, and a chance to get my first podium of the year within grasp, I wasn't going to give it up that easy! I made a huge attack up the next climb in the biggest gear I could manage, and time trailed as hard as I could to the line. The entire time, I was maxed out, and not 100% sure if I dropped Brian or if he was with me. Climb after climb I hammered it. On the last long sandy downhill, I peaked back and saw the team colors of Brian's team. Not knowing if it was him I took every risk I could on the decent. He never passed me. Then into the final sprint, I took the last corner too fast and went down. I was able to remount my bike very fast and sprinted for the line. The Cross Country Cycle rider was not Brian. He came in a minute or so later. I finally nailed my first podium of the year for mountain bike racing. 4th place.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Love, Hate, Love.... Stony Creek TT
It's Love, Hate, Love again for Stony Creek. I will save you some time reading about why and what if, sticking to my training plan blah, blah, blah. Even I'm getting sick of reading my blog at times. This is how it rolled.
I got 8th in the Expert Men 30-39 with a time of 53:51. And I went out again for the Expert/Elite Single speed race and got 7th. In both races, I had chain suck that forced me off my bike and I cramped in the single speed race at the end causing me to run a hill or 2. Bottom line, times slower than last year. Competition is harder this year.
Big M next...
Congrats to Brad Lako for nailing the double podium. And this was his first race on the single speed too! Way to go!
I got 8th in the Expert Men 30-39 with a time of 53:51. And I went out again for the Expert/Elite Single speed race and got 7th. In both races, I had chain suck that forced me off my bike and I cramped in the single speed race at the end causing me to run a hill or 2. Bottom line, times slower than last year. Competition is harder this year.
Big M next...
Congrats to Brad Lako for nailing the double podium. And this was his first race on the single speed too! Way to go!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Citerium Detroit City
Well first thing is, at least I didn't crash.... But we will cover this in a minute. With my mountain bike season, training, etc. coming to crawl with not much on tap for the next month other than start ramping up for CX, I decided to throw my name in the hat a venture into some road racing. And what better way to do it than to do the First Annual Cirterium Detroit City! What a great place for this style of racing. Located on the twisty block of the Opera House just behind Comerica Park. The course was short but it had plenty of corners and none of them were the same. The one thing that could use some improvement was the many many wheel destroying pot holes located at random. But hey, this is Detroit. Overall, the venue and the style of racing was top notch. You may see me pop in a few more in the future. And I think I will be back for this one for sure if they continue to have it.
As for the race itself, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had to do the Cat 5 race because I don't hold a road licence, or have any road races under my belt for an upgrade. But not a problem. I got to start somewhere. So I put my wheel on the line with 27 other "Cat 5's" (I am curious what the criteria is to be a Cat 5) and we were off. Since the race was going to be under 30 mins, the pace was quick right from the start. It instantly strung out on the first lap. Soon after, it came together for a bit, and then it was a battle to make sure people would hold their line. I got a little frustrated with this, and about 10 mins into the race decided to make a break to open things up a bit. I went hard for about 1 lap and paid for it. I was soon caught, but my plan worked and the pace stayed high from here on out. Another break went off, and this time I was in the field to chase them down. We worked together and got them back. I continued to stay up near the front to avoid any crashes. Everything was fine, until the last 2-3 laps. One rider went down hard on the right side of the course in a tricky section of corners. Luckily I was on the other side, and no one else went down. This did however cause several riders to get nervous and panic for the rest of the race. With 2 laps to go, the pace was getting quicker. I was sitting in the top 10 waiting to make a move if I could. In the final lap, things were strung out again, and others were trying to move to the front. I was in an OK position, but should have been closer to the front. Lesson learned. As I rounded the last corner getting ready to cue up for the sprint. I got boxed out by the guy on the inside of me, and I guess he needed to use his brakes. This pushed me toward the back of the top 10 pack. I shifted into a few more bigger gears but I was on the outside of the road and racers on the inside were already going into their sprint. I stood up and started to give it all I had. I was making ground on some and getting pulled back by others. With about 75 yards to go, There was a spectacular crash just ahead of me with the top 3-5 guys which also took out the race officials standing on the side of the road! WOW! As Soon as I saw this I backed off my sprint to avoid being part of the carnage. I ended up 12th out of 27. Not too bad I guess for a dirty mountain bike/CX racer... In the end, I was surprised that a Cat 5 group would avg. 24.2 mph! really? Are these actually Cat 5 dudes? I guess I really have no reference to go by. But I do know how I will do things different if I line up again for a Crit...
As for the race itself, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had to do the Cat 5 race because I don't hold a road licence, or have any road races under my belt for an upgrade. But not a problem. I got to start somewhere. So I put my wheel on the line with 27 other "Cat 5's" (I am curious what the criteria is to be a Cat 5) and we were off. Since the race was going to be under 30 mins, the pace was quick right from the start. It instantly strung out on the first lap. Soon after, it came together for a bit, and then it was a battle to make sure people would hold their line. I got a little frustrated with this, and about 10 mins into the race decided to make a break to open things up a bit. I went hard for about 1 lap and paid for it. I was soon caught, but my plan worked and the pace stayed high from here on out. Another break went off, and this time I was in the field to chase them down. We worked together and got them back. I continued to stay up near the front to avoid any crashes. Everything was fine, until the last 2-3 laps. One rider went down hard on the right side of the course in a tricky section of corners. Luckily I was on the other side, and no one else went down. This did however cause several riders to get nervous and panic for the rest of the race. With 2 laps to go, the pace was getting quicker. I was sitting in the top 10 waiting to make a move if I could. In the final lap, things were strung out again, and others were trying to move to the front. I was in an OK position, but should have been closer to the front. Lesson learned. As I rounded the last corner getting ready to cue up for the sprint. I got boxed out by the guy on the inside of me, and I guess he needed to use his brakes. This pushed me toward the back of the top 10 pack. I shifted into a few more bigger gears but I was on the outside of the road and racers on the inside were already going into their sprint. I stood up and started to give it all I had. I was making ground on some and getting pulled back by others. With about 75 yards to go, There was a spectacular crash just ahead of me with the top 3-5 guys which also took out the race officials standing on the side of the road! WOW! As Soon as I saw this I backed off my sprint to avoid being part of the carnage. I ended up 12th out of 27. Not too bad I guess for a dirty mountain bike/CX racer... In the end, I was surprised that a Cat 5 group would avg. 24.2 mph! really? Are these actually Cat 5 dudes? I guess I really have no reference to go by. But I do know how I will do things different if I line up again for a Crit...
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Stony Death March 2011
The race that I vow that I will never do again year after year. Bad luck mechanicals. Dehydration. Crazy hot weather. Lack of endurance training. It has all seemed take a toll on me at this race one way or another. So here I am again. Again at what I like to call the Stony Death March. Beginner friendly Stony Creek, turned into one evil event year after year with 50 miles of pain for the experts. And this year was no different. With Temps in the mid 90's and the heat index at 102! Even the bad asses of the sport were getting mowed down one by one with the dreaded DNF. For me it was simple. Rely on all my additional base miles I put in for the year, and grind this thing out. Knowing that there will be a lot of DNFs for mechanicals and cramps, I rolled the dice and hoped for the best.
The plan for the day was to "Just Finish", maintain my hydration and nutrition plan so I wouldn't cramp, and try to keep my lap times as consistent as possible. From the whistle, the lead group went out like a 20 mile XC race. Have fun boys. I decided to go at my own pace and have my own race. My bud Shawn Schaffert had the same plan, and we helped pull and encourage each other on all 5 laps. This was awesome, to have someone there to help with the boredom of the race. We plugged along at a respectable clip, each taking turns. I felt good for the entire race, except for the last 4 miles or so. This is when Shawn was able to ride away from me. Its too bad I let him get away, because for both of our consistent efforts and determination to finish strong, Shawn was rewarded with a 5th place and I came in less than a minute later in 6th. I just can't seem to shake that 6th place curse, as this is my 3rd race in a row looking at the last step on the podium. But overall I had a great race. All my laps were between 45-48 mins. I finished in under 4 hrs with 3:54. And I felt great in the end. This is great news as I am nearing the start of my CX season.
TSB had a full squad representing also, which was great! And out of the 8 racers that showed up, at least half got on the podium! Great job. And special thanks to Trixie for all her hard work handing out bottles, and providing lunch to a bunch of famished stinky bike racers. Your the best!
So before I start training again for CX in less than a month, will my next stop be the Criterium Detroit City next weekend???? Its time to get my power on!
The plan for the day was to "Just Finish", maintain my hydration and nutrition plan so I wouldn't cramp, and try to keep my lap times as consistent as possible. From the whistle, the lead group went out like a 20 mile XC race. Have fun boys. I decided to go at my own pace and have my own race. My bud Shawn Schaffert had the same plan, and we helped pull and encourage each other on all 5 laps. This was awesome, to have someone there to help with the boredom of the race. We plugged along at a respectable clip, each taking turns. I felt good for the entire race, except for the last 4 miles or so. This is when Shawn was able to ride away from me. Its too bad I let him get away, because for both of our consistent efforts and determination to finish strong, Shawn was rewarded with a 5th place and I came in less than a minute later in 6th. I just can't seem to shake that 6th place curse, as this is my 3rd race in a row looking at the last step on the podium. But overall I had a great race. All my laps were between 45-48 mins. I finished in under 4 hrs with 3:54. And I felt great in the end. This is great news as I am nearing the start of my CX season.
TSB had a full squad representing also, which was great! And out of the 8 racers that showed up, at least half got on the podium! Great job. And special thanks to Trixie for all her hard work handing out bottles, and providing lunch to a bunch of famished stinky bike racers. Your the best!
So before I start training again for CX in less than a month, will my next stop be the Criterium Detroit City next weekend???? Its time to get my power on!
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