Jingle CX Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

all photos by maurio

It was cold and windy and my body was pretty fried from 2 days of hard racing. Not my best day out there.....

All in all, Kevin and I got lucky to have no broken parts. Mike Wakeley was our saving grace in the pits and Fri and Sat we sure had him working. The Eriksen is awesome!!!!! Raced it all 3 days and when I was on the Rock Lobster I couldn't wait to come in for a bike change..

Jingle CX Saturday

all photos from maurio

Sunny skies made for a beautiful day. Had some brake issues that made me lose a few spots.

Jingle CX Friday Night Lights

picture by maurio

Got my first UCI point. Guess I can run through mud.

Mens Wisconsin State Championship Race

photo by djonnymac

My goal was to finish behind Tristan. After him, it's really the rest of us. Had a great start behind him and Travis Brown and Kyle Jacobsen. I rode really strong but my bike handling skills left alot to be desired. First half of the course was dry and bumpy, back of the course was a hill, downhill and some off camber in wet grass and mud.The barrier was uphill and felt pretty high so remount was tricky. The race did not go how I wanted to but I think I learned a little bit about tire selection in mixed conditions for next time.
photo by offonst
I pre rode twice, once with Challenge Fango 34 in front and Grifo 32 in rear, then the next ride Grifo 32 x 32. I should have used the former but I thought the more aggressive tread would slow me down uphill. My cornering in this section was slow and I lost my front wheel 4-5 times. On the uphill barrier run up, lost my pedal engagement a couple of times with the mud. Every time I lost contact with Tim I was able to catch him but I made too many mistakes to place ahead of him. Either way, he was great competition for me this year and I enjoyed the racing.

In thinking about tire selection, the Grifo is really dry condition only tire. I have the Fango 34s but the rolling resistance is surprisingly pretty good, the difference is with a 34 I can run pressure 1-2 psi lower, it absorbs bumpy stuff in corners and on the mud sections and off camber the diamond tread holds the line more. I should have used that tire but I know for next time.

I am thinking next year 34s with the XS file treads, 34 Fangos and then 32 Dugast Rhyno for my tire quiver. On the mountain bike I tend to favor low knob tire with round casing either in 2.0 -2.2 and find the low pressure and contact patch allows me to rail corners better. Should be the same for cross.

Looks like conditions at Jingle will favor Fango in 34. Usually mixed conditions or maybe it will be outright wet the first 2 days.

Hales Corners CX-WI State Championships

photo by jeffkao

We had some great weather this weekend for racing. Hales Corners is a great course. It has everything, sand, climbing, bumpy terrain, pavement, downhills, slick off camber turns, open stretches and a great set of spectators!

As we got off the line Sam got the hole shot followed by Meghan then me. I decided that there was enough straight away to make my way to the front so I got out of the saddle and sprinted to get the first left turn. I then led the first lap and halfway through the second lap when Sam came around to take a pull. As for the all of the races when Sam takes a pull she drops us and of course this happened but I had a gap on Meghan that grew and got smaller throughout the race. This was the order we came in at the end. Sam, me, Meghan. Since I don't have the WI house address on my licence, Meghan got the silver and Katy got bronze. I still got the nice $100 bill for 2nd though! I then hung out with the Pegasus crew and ate some tasty soup from their new sponsor. Kevin put in a great performance and took 3rd. (his report to come)

My First Ever Wisco Win- Polska CX

photo by Ron

Gibbs Lake

photos by djonnymac

One of the best settings in the WCA series. I was excited to see some of my Chicago brethren make the trip for more cross racing, Scott McLaughlin, Wayne Simon and Tom Boundy from Verdigris and I also ran into a couple of guys from the Iron Horse team.

I wish we had the camera. Scenic route through trees with used trail, fast off camber downhills and some power sections thrown in. An ideal setting for me. There were 3 barriers at the end of the lap through the finish, 1 barrier by the "beach" which was a 4 foot drop trench by the swap. The rest was double track, some single track and grass and the ground was super hard except for a few corners through the pine trees at the start finish. I think we did 9 laps.

So I was looking forward to seeing what I could in favorable course conditions against some the areas best riders with 4 weeks to go to Nationals. The field was not very deep, but lining up next Tristan and Scott, it was going to be fast. My goal today was to stay with Scott. I use him as mark since we're close in age, have the same goals with age group national jerseys, and have raced in contact with each other before, though this year I am not even close. With the exceptional year he is having, I felt that if I could pace with him, I would have a really strong shot at stars and stripes in the masters race in Bend.

The race started off with Tim Pacholski from Vel Trocadero getting a great start and pulling through with about 1/2 lap. James Lalonde picked up the pace halfway through and spent the next lap pulling all of us. The pace was manageable and I was waiting for Tristan to get bored and shoot off the front. Tim also tends to do that as well.

The next lap, I decided to pull through and I went off the front pretty hard since I wanted to open the race so I would have a clean shot through the rideable log sections. I was afraid with a pack in follow, someone would make a mistake and I would get caught up. After I cleaned that section, Scott and Tristan went right ahead of me and I sat on with James behind me.

The next section of course was super fast downhill followed by left hand turn and then we had 1 barrier before riding near the swamp that sat about 4 feet lower than the ground that required a run and remount back on the course. I slipped on the exit and fell, and James went into me and I felt like an ass. I brought us both back up to Scott and Tristan.

Lap 3, right when we come through the start, Tristan opens it up and puts an easy 40 feet ahead of us. It was really impressive. James passed me and went on Scott's wheel with me behind him, but I was riding the corners slower and I was starting to feel the lactic acid in my legs.

Next lap, James gets a gap on Scott, just enough for him to get ahead. I am probably sitting about 10 seconds behind Scott. He started to open a gap on me and I had no response.

With 5 laps to go, it pretty much stayed that way. I saw Tristan and James lapping through down by the swamp trading pulls and I was trying to chase Scott like he was the metal man on a Computrainer ride. Through the race, I can see him ahead and I would get close through the open sections then through the logs but I was bombing the downhill so much faster than I was. After hitting the 3 barriers in front of the course, he had alot of power through the start finish section.

With 2 laps to go, I went as hard as I could and felt like I was closing a little bit on a 20 second gap but it really put the knife in me. Last lap I had nothing left and he made sure he put me away with a much faster lap. It went Tristan, James, Scott then me for 4th and I did not get a chance to see the final race results for the other spots.

It's getting into that time of year where people are starting to peak. I could ride with James last year and most of this year, but the last few weeks it's really coming together for him. As far as Scott, he has alot of power and strong technical skills. With the way he his riding right now, I think he can win his masters national race.

I am pretty happy with how things turned out today. I was able to push the race a bit and rode my ass off trying to catch Scott. My fitness feels better than it ever has at any point I have ever raced and it's a month away from Nationals. I have to thank Brian Conant again for his guidance in coaching. Before it was riding so hard that I wanted to go tell him to F7ck himself during the workout then to getting a point where I want more and he's backing me off. On top of it, time management and flexibility with business travel has been a huge plus.

Holly took second today and was able to hold Megan off. Pretty impressive performance again. I am going to have to find a way to get her to get coached for next year and build on a break through year.

Team Polska Kletsch Park

photo by ron(squeezing into Holly's jersery)

Photos above by djonnymac

photo by mtbgirl

We keep forgetting the camera but I should be able to find some flickr and cell phone pics. It was a good day, Holly took 1st and I got 4th.

Kletsch Park is one of the better courses with some singletrack sections that make cornering at speed on a cross bike a blast. There's something about riding offroad on something that resembles a road bike, kind of like taking a production car and modifying it race offroad courses in WRC rally competition. The Polska Team always puts on a great show and let their enthusiasm known on top of the hill run up with beer dousing, ass slaps, cowbells and yelling Davai! Davai! and screaming in Polish every time through.

The hill run up is a real bitch and it resembles Mt. Krumpet at Jingle Cross. After the hill run up, you have to ride downhill on a steep section, offcamber before coming around and climbing the other side of it.

The payout was $600 for the Mens, $220 to the winner so I was not surprised to see Tristan there. They did call ups for WCA points, which was new. I got a good start and ended up behind James Lalonde and Tristan and it seemed like a mellower pace 1st lap to feel things out a little bit. Despite good position, I really struggle with these damn hills in comparison to the faster racers in the area. Though I have improved, I am still a couple of steps behind. After a couple of laps, I fell back to 4th with Tim Pacholski getting ahead of me. I was able to stay with him for a couple of laps and lost some time on the hill run up. With 4 laps to go, my front tire washed out on the offcamber downhill seciton after the run up. He had a pretty nice gap on my the entire race. I felt like I could close some but just could not hang with him uphill. I was hoping for a better result but I am stoked as my fitness seems to be improving.

With Planet Bike womens team in New Jersey, the race was up for grabs in the Elite field. Holly battled it out with Megan and got the win, her first Wisconsin race ever. She really drilled the race and held nice gap. She's getting stronger as the season progresses. Given the payouts Polska set up, 1st place was $170 which which was really cool. When I assumed it was the hill run up that got her the gap, I was corrected it was actually all the open riding sections where she felt she was making time. Awesome.

We're going to head to Janesville tomorrow. I've heard alot of good things about this course but have never raced there. It should be flatter and have regular trail type of use as opposed to grass which are conditions that tend to suit me. Legs have been feeling really good the last 3 weeks, so with the course conditions I am excited for this one.

Too Tight

photo by djonn

I definitely ate too much candy on Halloween and the days that followed. This isn't really a smile, it is actually a grimace because my skin suit was just too damn tight!

Estabrook Park

Yesterday's course felt like a hill repeat workout on a back yard versus a bike race. Estabrook is much better course in park venue with small single track section with a log, hill run up that was rideable with a bunny hop. There were also 4 barriers before the circle of death spiral, aka the Chicago Cross Cup swirl. There were 2 barrier sections also in the back of the course to slow things down on a straightaway before twisting and turning through some rooted sections between trees. I've always liked this course and have done pretty well, winning the masters race last year. These are the type of courses that I generally do well with.

I got off the line in 4th position, behind James Lelond and Chad Hartley form Gear Grinder. After lap 1, James flatted and pitted his bike. I went to the front and tried to go hard with Chad and Kyle on my wheel. I spent the first 2 laps in front trying to surge to see if I could drop either one of them but it did not seem to work, so I wanted to back off a little bit. James finally caught on and I ended up trading pulls with him the entire race. We would gap chad through the corners and then attack to open things up, but this guy is strong in the flat open areas, he would get right on. Through the rideable log section, James kind of slipped and I lost my momentum riding up so ran it. He had a gap, attacked by I followed but I noticed we lost Chad. I went to the front again after sitting in with James and this guy still finds a way to get on our wheel. Finally on the last 2 laps, we lose him but are holding about 7 seconds and we each work the front. James lost it on the back course barriers, but I had a hard time attacking and opening a gap through the sections with all the corners so he caught on. By now Chad is far enough behind where I thought I could leave it to sprint between James and I but with 2 laps to go people are yelling at me that he is still in contact and able to make time on the open course sections. So, I did not want to let up and we made sure we kept the gap. Final lap, James attacks the open section before the log hill run up and has about a 3 second gap. I wanted to stay on his wheel until the straightaway finish, but after riding the log hill he attacks again and this time I could not respond.

I rode a strong race for 2nd. Spent alot of time in front, did not make any mistakes and felt like I had good power throughout. There was really nothing else I could have done tactically or effort wise. So I have to hand it to James, 1 mechanical and 1 barrier miss yet he still rides in front the whole race while trading the work effort and had enough gas left to throw down a massive attack at the end. It can be very hard to get back into a race mentally but he kept bringing it on and I always enjoy racing with him.

Also, I have to give Holly some credit for her 4th place finish. Kristin Wentworth dismantles every race with Sam, an up and coming pro road rider and Katie Antonneau who gets top 5 finish in Toronto. It's fun to watch these girls race, they're so fast. She's also been battling it out with Meghan Korol, top 5 WORS elite racer. Holly was about 5 seconds behind Katie for the first 5 or so laps before she lost contact, but her riding and bike handling is way ahead of where she was the last 2 years.

Next week...Kletsch Park for some crazy Team Polska cyclocross and Gibbs Lake.

Whitewater

The course was all climbing, no straightaway, no flat sections for 10 laps. Sprint uphill, ride down, bumpy corner, then turn. 1 barrier section uphill on slow grass section. Not my kind of course and nothing interesting about it. But, it's better than the Trash dash venue they used to have. Either way, it was a bike race and 1 hour of hard effort hitting hills is good training. Holly and I each got 4th.

MASTERS WOMEN!!!!

If you are a masters woman and are heading to Bend for Nats this year, there is a party Thursday night just for us! Here is the info.....spread the word.....
http://www.crosscrusade.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2633 or http://cxingbarriers09.blogspot.com/

Hope to see all you ladies there!~holly

St. Charles

Brian Conant told me before the race it was an epic cross course. I usually do not like this course since it's so open and full of head wind but I have to admit he was right, these were the type of conditions you love to watch as a spectator. Every section either was mud or standing water and the barriers were placed strategically in the worst sections were you were either climbing through standing water or riding so fast into a corner, it was impossible to time your braking before the barrier.



We left Wisconsin and got to the course in time for 40+ and it was a real shit show. I left the Fango tire said up at home since Washington Park was dry and every course this year was optimal for file treads. I thought it might dry for my race but wondered how Holly would do in the mud with the Grifos. It didn't matter...she went right off the front and I was impressed with how smooth everything looked with her riding.



I did one lap on the B bike to get a sense of the course. While riding on the Grifo's I realized I had plenty of traction. BTW, thanks to Lou for offering me up his Ryno wheels. Mike from Kenda was kind enough to offer me pit support in light of some of my circumstances earlier this year. It was really cool of him to offer; he says he loves to spectate but he's a real pro managing the Planet Bike guys.



Start went great since I was right behind Brian and had no problem getting to the front. My legs felt a bit tired from the day before but I was not losing ground as a result of that. It was really a combination of candy ass riding, especially through the first set of barriers that was holding me back. I kept losing my front wheel and veering into the tape the first 3 laps. Another downhill section, I went slow and washed out in front of the Cuttin' Crew. Ideal scenario for Scott to ride off. I was able to ride with Mike Hemme for a while which was really cool for a couple of reasons. First, he's doing well right now and starting to show some progress with training. Secondly, there was a alot of wind on that course and it's always nice to pace and work together.



Brian got ahead of us but Mike and I traded pulls. My halfway race surge came on and felt like I could chase him down. I told Mike I was going to hit it hard on the straightaway and to stay on my while but I lost him. I was hoping he would stay with me. I bridged and caught Brian and worked with him for a little while. After trading some pulls with Brian, I pulled through I saw he fell off for 5 seconds so I surged with 2 laps to go and rode all out. By now, I had the lines and the barriers figured out and felt like I was gaining some speed. I was not able to catch Scott but I could see him ahead but wanted to keep riding hard since I know how strong Brian is. So, I took 2nd this race. Mike Hemme took 4th so the 3 of us put in a great day.

I felt like I could have done better riding some sections cleaner but that is part of cyclocross racing, the unexpected circumstances that create game changers that make this style of racing interesting. This was really the first mud race this year. Other than that, I was real happy with the weekend overall, especially with power on the bike. Starting to reach that part of the season; a timed peak where things are starting to come along and feel easier than before and everything feels good and works. This year was a really crappy start with the mechanicals and the UCI performance, but it's starting to come together now.

Washington Park

Washington Park was an awesome course. Alot of speed and hill climb sections with fun cornering in a nice long loop. I loved the twin coffin bunny hop section...no flames to leap through this year. There was only mud at the start through the grass so they started us on top of the hill and made us ride through a 5 foot wide section.

My start was OK and watched Ben Popper go off the front and establish a tempo. It took a lap for things to settle in and thin out and by then Tristian was well up on his own and James Lalonde was making some progress getting on Ben's wheel. I started to pick my way through riders and then I settled in with Kyle and Tim Pacholski for pretty much the entire race. Tim and I traded alot of pulls and Kyle was there every time on his 29er, a great choice for this course. I could tell he was catching up to me on the off camber downhill sections and was able to keep it close on the run up.

There was an offcamber corner before the hill run up that I would always take slowly and I yet still crashed and Tim road off. I have to thank Kyle since he brought me back up to Tim's wheel with a lap to go. I knew it would come down to a sprint and felt I would have better acceleration versus Kyle on his mountain bike but Tim has been riding pretty strong.

On the in your face wind section on the concrete portion of the course, Tim sprinted but it felt like a lead out; no problem staying on his wheel then 20 yards before the turn I winded up my sprint and took 3rd overall.

Alot of fast people here today so I felt good about my result. Alot of hard work into the wind and up and down some hills.

Prime!

At the Halloween CX race Sat., Kevin won this awesome Snuggie for being the first across the line in a costume. It even came with a free night book light(modeled in my pic). There has been a little arguing as to who gets to use it as it is super snuggly!

Halloween CX

photo by sheri

I went as Cruella Deville and Kevin went as a 70's porn star.(although, James looks more like the porn star with that stash) Kevin had to ditch his rockin' pants because he was having a hard time remounting. His mustache wasn't fully in since he had a business meeting Thurs and had to shave, but he did try to muster up a small stubbly one.

I got a good start and stayed behind Kristin, Katie, and Sam for most of the first lap. Somewhere I then lost contact and just rode the rest alone seeing Sam at turns now and then. Running up the hill was hard since my bike had a little extra weight of the dogs.

photo by mountaingoat

photo my madcross

My head also felt pretty heavy and the wig did not help with the sweat and strands of it flying in my face but I had fun being in costume. I passed Katie as she was running with her bike right before the start of the bell lap and was able snag 3rd place.

Expo did a great job with setting up the festivities and I had a blast hanging on the run up with everyone! What a fun day ~holly