Mid-season break comes to an end

One week 'til the second half of the season. Four races at Chickasaw in January, then four races in Knoxville in February. It's going to be a long slog to the end. I've been doing an unholy amount of lunges and other mind-numbing exercises, spent many hours on the trainer watching Arrested Development/hockey/MNF, and worked on my remounts when I was able. I've worked on starts, cornering, shouldering, suitcasing. I've raced when I was sick, I've drawn blood, and I've given a little, too. I've crashed in practice countless times this season, for the first time ever. I've even used a heart-rate monitor (and pushed 190 bpm). I've cut out fries and limited my beer intake. I ate reasonably at Thanksgiving and Christmas, boy that was difficult. I tried embrocation, even. That stuff works. The only thing I haven't practiced is my victory salute - I'll have to save that for next season.

Results so far:

Mud, Sweat & Gears #1 : 25th
Mud, Sweat & Gears #2 : 20th
USGP Louisville #1 : 58th
USGP Louisville #2 : 64th
Tennessee State Championships : 18th (lapped)
Beat the Freak #3 : 10th
Georgia 'Cross #7 : 42nd

There we have it - only twice have I gotten anywhere near the top half of the field - USGP #1 and Georgia.

So now I've done all I can for the first half of the season. The weather is supposed to be in the 40's next weekend, sunny, and a bit windy - skinsuit weather. I hope the race organizers lay out a slow, twisty, hilly course. If there is mud, I will be pleased. If it is flat and fast, I will be screwed.

On a totally separate note, Santa cobbled together these sweet wellies for me for Christmas:
http://www.piperlime.com/browse/product.do?cid=4016&pid=608871&scid=608871002

Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but Santa knows I have narrow feet. And Santa knows I can rock them.

Holiday Training and Untraining

Happy Holidays!

The last time I raced 'Cross was December 7. It was a pretty good race, I felt really good, considering I was sick. So I've had some time off since then. I've tried to keep up with training, but work has been pretty brutal lately. Between that and the holidays, my plan to get ahead of the competition has fallen to pieces. I went out to our little practice course today, and after two hot laps, I was done. So I need to get back on it. Nothing but grains and vegetables and trainer work for me, 'til after New Year. Eyes on the prize!

I picked up a new handlebar, the Salsa Bell Lap, size 42. I had been riding a Moto Ace in a 44cm, it was way too wide. I really like the bar, the difference in size is really noticeable.

While we're on the topic of equipment, this is what I've been riding this year, with a few component highlights. She comes in just over 18 lbs:




52cm Empella Bonfire SL with Carbonfire fork (the death shimmy fork...)
Ultegra brifters, crank, BB, hubs, derailleur
Avid Shorty 6 brakes (if you have these and think they suck, check into the Salsa brake hanger)
Single-ring setup w/42t chainring
Crank Bros. Eggbeater SL pedals
Bell Lap bars
WCS stem
Terry Zero saddle
Ritchey SpeedMax pro tires mounted to Mavic Open Pro rims
*race wheels - Dura Ace w/Mavic Reflex and Vittoria XG tires

This is the steed I will ride to glorious cyclocross victory one day. Or at least to the top 50%.

Dirty Santa

This has nothing to do with 'Cross, but it does have to do with Karma, and the belief that good things really do come back to you. We had our office Christmas party tonight, and, as always, we did the Dirty Santa gift exchange. I took home what was arguably the best gift ever - a Bedazzler. Yeah, check it out: www.mybedazzler.com

I do believe my office is getting hats for Christmas. And our Dirty Spokes 12-hour team (www.dirtyspokes.com) is getting some sweet team socks. Sweet Sweet Jesse, Jermajesty and Bobby?! will be rocking some Bedazzled socks for sure. It will more than make up for our poor race performance.

Results are in!

I had a pretty good day Sunday. The course in Paudling, Georgia was great. Pretty twisty, a little mud, hilly, with a fair amount of pavement. The temperature was hovering at about freezing, maybe a little below. The course definitely worked to my advantage, with a lot of quick acceleration then quick deceleration. There was never much of a chance to really go all out, which is always good for me. I started the day feeling bad, very congested, but figured with a little bit of cheering, tootin' the big plastic horn, ringing some cowbells, I'd get to feeling better.

By the time the 'C' race staging began, I was still feeling pretty bad, so I lined up in the second row. I figured maybe 25 racers would line up, and that would put me starting mid-pack. After a couple minutes, there were six rows behind me. What a field! Not wanting to hold up a bunch of guys who were most certainly faster than me, I sheepishly excused myself from the second row and moved to the back. I usually like to start in a mid-pack position, this gives me a chance to test my bunch start skills, without causing too much trouble for anyone else. But this time, I just knew I'd have problems, and the cold air was really starting to get to me.

While I was standing there, waiting for the whistle, I decided I was going to give it a good, hard effort at the start, ride at my limit for a lap or two, then ease up. Maybe this way I could still get a little workout and some more race experience, without making myself more sick. We had a somewhat confusing start, and I barrelled up through the ranks, maybe getting to about 35th before we transitioned to the dirt. We swung up through the trees and snaked our way down to a sweet little run-up with a pair of barriers. I was pretty quick and fluid up the run-up, and quickly discovered it was way faster to run to the top, rather than try to remount and ride it. I lost a few spots as always, as the initial flurry of activity wore off, and settled into a rhythm. At this point, I was really feeling good. Surprisingly good, actually. We came into another little twisty section with a lot of pavement transitions. Great opportunity for pinch flats all through this section. I rode it pretty much in full-gas mode, and for the first couple laps was able to confidently bunny hop onto the pavement. This was followed by a set of stairs (which I took two-at-a-time on every lap!) leading into a short paved climb, back onto the grass, before dropping onto what was arguably the most fun part - the twisty downhill into the ditch crossing leading up to the start/finish line.

I rode with pretty much the same guys for a couple laps, particularly one tall dude in a Russian jersey, then dramatically fell off the pace on the third lap. I started wheezing and hacking, which was exceptionally gross, to the point that I was really self-conscious of it. I was a little afraid that an official would pull me, thinking I was having some kind of respiratory attack, and I really had to ease up. I soft-pedaled for about a half-lap and lost a bunch of places, but then it cleared up. I was a little into the fourth lap when I suddenly felt a lot better, so I gunned it as best I could, picked off a few of the guys who'd passed me earlier, and finished in a sprint. I wasn't really sprinting for anything, I really just did it to show the spectators that even 42nd can go hard for the line...

All in all, it was a great day of racing. For the first time this season, I put a lot of trust in my tubulars and I just stuck it in every turn. I did a lot of stuff right. I picked the right lines, I passed in the right spots, sat in when I needed, went all out when I was able, and my legs felt great. I finished 42 out of 60, and I was a little disappointed when it was over - I feel like I could have moved up a couple more spots if we’d had another lap. I ran 27/30 in the tires, and it was perfect.

Now it's time for a mid-season "break". I've got a lot of training to do to get where I want to be, but I think I can do it. Next race is the Chickasaw Series in January, put on by Columbia Cycling Club. I think this will be the 14th year? This is the series where I get to race against guys I know, and it will be interesting to see what happens. I'm aiming to place in the top half. In the meantime, I'll be practicing remounts, doing a little running, but mainly just working on the trainer and trying to get faster. I'm getting to the point where going "as hard as I can" doesn't hurt as much, but I don't seem to be any faster, so maybe I've reached a training plateau. Time to step it up a notch, maybe.

Not Feeling Good...

After a crazy good Thanksgiving, a busy week at work, and lots of training, here it is: the final race before holiday break. And I'm sick. The plan was to use the first half of the season as "base", train like the dickens through New Year, then get back into the racing stronger than ever. I still think I can do it, and I'm still aiming for a top-half finish, but it will likely not be tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be about limiting loss, which is also good training. I may not win, but I can sure as hell sprint for 21st!!! As cruddy as I feel, I'm looking forward to it. It will be fun to try a new course, a new series, and see how the folks in Georgia do it. I went out today in Peachtree City, and rode the paved trails around there. I found a little church with a couple of railroad ties and a sandy volleyball court perched on a little hill - perfect for run-ups into sand! And perfect going the other way - sand into a downhill remount... actually I'm terrified of the downhill remount, but that's for another post.

Speaking of remounts, I've been practicing them too. Like, a lot. But I can't seem to get rid of the stutter-step. Something about jumping back on the saddle still frightens me, not that I've ever had anything go wrong. I'm good at a slow jog, but anything faster and my self-preservation "put-a-foot-down reflex" kicks in. It's another thing to work on during my mini-break.

I will race tomorrow in Dallas, Georgia, and probably get it handed to me again. But, phlegm and all, I'm still holding out hope. Maybe the course will be a twisty, muddy, slow slog, and work against the roadies. If so, I really believe I have a shot at 50%. Wish me luck!