Official Website of Carl Buchanan

No biking, just running

2009-11-04T06:29:00.004-06:00

Yesterday afternoon's plans included a 90 minute spin through the trails of Cedar Falls but, I called that one off on the grounds of the skies getting ready to open up with water so back home after a whopping 3.5 miles it was. Not a huge deal. I ended up getting in a nice run a few hours later. There's something about running right after it finishes raining that is pretty refreshing. It was dark, quiet, the sidewalk was almost entirely empty, and there were very few cars out and about. Quite peaceful actually.

Well, hopefully today will be a little better since there is no rain in the forcast. I just have to hope that my Mom is home after I get off of work so that I have someone to hang out with Rhea for a while. Rhea really likes to hang out over there and my Mom likes to spoil her so it works out for all of us really.

One other thing. When I went to my parents' yesterday to pick Rhea back up, I snuck into the basement where Blue keeps all of his bicycle things and "borrowed" a set of wheels. You see, I needed another set of Michelin Mud2 tires and he has a set, although they are mounted on a set of wheels, that are not being used. I just figured it was easier to swap wheels than tires, right?They do have a Shimano freehub but, I also found a Campy freehub on his desk so I still need to do that little swap there. Hmmmm, freehub swap instead of a tire swap......that's doable. I have used the front wheel in a couple of races this year and i really like how the bike handles with the deep section wheel on front so I will have to see how the ride changes with both wheels mounted up. I could not resist putting them on just to see how they will look together on the X6. I might just have to run them for the remainder of the season, assuming they feel right of course. :)

J-Pow's Office

2009-11-03T09:15:00.005-06:00

There are some sweet carbon fiber cyclocross frames out on the market, like the Ridley X-Fire that I rode last season, and their performance is awesome. I loved how my Ridley smoothed out even the roughest courses. Cannondale however, opts to stick with aluminum for their cyclocross frames and I have no complaints about how it handles the rough sections either. Still a nice smooth ride. Cyclingnews has Jeremy Powers Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale cross bike on feature right now so be sure to check it out. Large set of photos by James Huang for all of the closeups too so give them a peek.

Photo by James Huang

Race Report - Spooky Cross 2009

2009-11-02T07:41:00.004-06:00

Saturday, 31 October

With the large amounts of rain that Iowa has received over the last 1.5 weeks, it was fully expected to have a wet, sloppy race on Saturday. Especially the sections that were surrounding the corn fields in the first half of the course. A short series of switchbacks through the mud and 6 inches or so of water was followed up by a slight uphill section that had the consistency of clay and did not want to let go of the tires as we rode over it. The it was into the woods for some flatter, fast sections with a touch of puddles here and there, a couple of rolling hills, and the course concluded with a barrier-forced runup followed immediately by a steep but rideable uphill section, and then some headwind action to the start/finish line. The course was about 1.75 miles in length and, in my opinion, setup pretty well for recovery after some of the tougher sections.

The Cat. 3 race started at Noon with the temperatures hovering in the high-40F range and the sun shining. The start was clean and I was sitting pretty well in the front three spots after the front straight and into the left-hander to the grass and wet switchbacks. The first couple of laps were fairly uneventful aside from a few of riders coming by me here and there while I finally settled into my pace riding with Andy Cornelison from the All9Yards Team. We were matching each other pretty well throughout the entire course with Andy getting the jump on me in the flat sections and me getting back on the uphills. A couple of laps into the race and we passed by mt teammate Rich Wince who looked to have dropped a chain but, was getting it back on. After we went by him I pretty much just sat on Andy's wheel hoping that Rich would catch back up and hopefully I could lend a hand since he was sitting 2nd overall in the series points classification. The laps continued to tick by for Andy and I, pretty much uneventfully, with Andy spending the majority of the time on front.

Into the grass. Photo by Molly Wince
Rich was gaining pretty well on us as we began our final lap and halfway through that lap he came by us like a rocket. He looked like a man on a mission so I just stayed in my spot hoping that I might be able to get around Andy in the final straight. We were neck-and-neck coming up the final climb and through the final few turns before the headwind. I was able to get a short gap on him as we got into the wind but, Andy took a better line through the final turn carrying a lot more corner speed than I was and beat me to the line which gave me 7th spot overall. I'm sti;; happy with that one though. Overall, the course was a tough one for me with the steep hill towards the end of the lap. That'll get me almost every time.

Finishing up a lap. Photo by Judy Buchanan

Sunday, 1 November

Day 2 had us at a new location that had some really nice features.The start/finish area was located in the middle of an Old West looking town at Living History Farms in Urbandale, IA. It made for a pretty good back drop for the racers and a great vantage point for the fans. The start straight was uphill through the "town" and into the grass before a series of switchbacks and a couple of turns before bombing down a hill, crossing a gravel road, and into a runup. Back on the bike at the top, up another hill, and then through a couple more rolling hills before a set of barriers and then a longer flat section before getting back to the start/finish line with a lap distance of around 2 miles.

The start was, to the say the least, near-perfect. I had the holeshot going onto turn one with Steve Robinson and Ryan French (both All9Yards) right with me. They both came around me as we rode into the grass and I hopped on Steve's wheel. I was content sitting right there as long as he would let me do so as well. Ryan started to pull a small gap as we began the downhill section of the course and Louis Dewild (ZOOM Performance) jumped after him. We were stringing out quite nicely and cruising along well when I started getting a vibration from my rear wheel which felt like a bent rim forced me to stop and take a look. I could see where the wheel was touching the brake pad and gave it a whack with the palm of my hand. It looked to be okay and so I remounted and gave chase after losing a couple of spots. I finished the first lap still feeling fine and the bike seemed to be okay so I flew right past the wheel pit and continued on for lap two. Shortly after cresting the hill and getting back to the switchbacks I had the rear wheel noise come back. I glanced down to see that my rear tire was actually coming off of the rim. Sweet!! I continued on as carefully as I could as the rear slowly lost air pressure and by the time I arrived at the barriers it was getting too low to ride so I through my bike on my shoulder and ran the last 1/2 mile of the course. Looks like that week of running the beach in Florida was paying off. :) Needless to say, I was in last place by this point although I was able to give the many spectators along the start/finish line a look into my technique of shouldering the bike and running. A wheel change and into full chase mode with 5 laps to go. Everything from that point flowed really well and I was able to pick up a few riders here and there and get myself into 10th spot. Unfortunately, I did get lapped by race winner Ryan French on the final lap but, all things considered, I felt that I rode a strong race.

Getting a jog in on lap 2. Photo by Julie Goodman
Thanks to Tony Nichols, JJ Bailey and all of those that helped them make this race weekend happen. Two great venues amde for some awesome racing.

Congratulations go out to Steve Robinson (All9Yards) for taking the series championship for the Cat. 3s and to my teammate Rich Wince for taking 2nd overall. They both had some great races and were very consistent competitiors throughout the series.

Race Report - Psyclofest 2009

2009-10-27T06:13:00.008-06:00

The course at this year's Psylcofest was similar to last year's event in many ways but, the folks at DICE also threw in a few changes to make the course different while also adding some character. A couple of sweeping turns coming off of a nice downhill section kept the speeds up in the beginning and a steep, muddy runup later became a walkup even for the best racers in attendance. The wet weather from the week made the majority of the course somewhere between muddy and damp with a few short, dry sections here and there.

After a weeks vacation in Florida, which meant that I was off the bike for eight days, I was not feeling "at one" with my bike when I started warming up at Psyclofest in Bettendorf, IA this past Sunday. I put in a couple of warmup laps as well as a little bit of time on the road to get the legs spinning again and then made my way to the start line for the Open class race which was again suffering from low but fast attendance. The Masters classes all look to be doing quite well with more riders however.

I was able to get a fairly decent start and was in the first couple of spots through the first section of swampy grass and on to the pavement. The group went singlefile as we went back into the grass, through the double barriers, and into a nice, fast section of downhill followed by some sweeping turns and then into an uphill section. A group of four formed at this uphill and broke free of me as my legs yelled at me. I kept telling myself that I needed to stay with that group but my mind and body did not seem to want to work with each other and I was off the back at the top of the hill. One of the other riders came off that same group towards the end of the lap and I was able to catch him for a while before we arrived at the walk up and I lost touch again. Another rider came by me shortly after and put me in sixth spot in the Open class....yes, I was going backwards. By the end of the 3rd lap my mind was asking my body what was going on and my body just could not get going. The I was caught by one of the Masters riders and wa able to hop on their wheel for a while. That helped me get going again and I was able to start making up ground on 5th place with 4th place not too far ahead of him. I eventually made it up to the 5th place rider on about the 7th lap and as we neared the walkup I saw one of the race leaders standing at the bottom of the hill. That put me in a battle for 4th place with three laps to go. A little bobble on the walkup helped me to lose a few seconds to 4th place and so the final lap was full on chase mode and I passed that rider with around half of a lap to go. Unfortunately for me, "the wall" of a walkup slowed me down enough that he was able to get back around me in the final turn before the finish and that put me back in 5th.

That's racing for you. I really can't complain about my race since I know I really was not ready for it physically or mentally. The Psyclofest course last year kicked my butt pretty bad and I guess you could say that the memories of that one were still lingering in my mind. The course itself is great but, it just does not suit me. You'll get that with cyclocross racing.

The next races on the schedule are this Saturday and Sunday with Spooky Cross in Urbandale, IA. Unfortunately, the rules state that racers must participate in six of the eight Central Iowa Series races to be eligible and with these two races being the last ones of the series, I'll only have five races assuming I do them both; I missed three races while I was in Florida. Kind of takes the motivation out of it I guess. Oh well. I should be sitting in third overall for the Quad Cities Series so that will definitely be my main focus now before Jingle Cross Rock at the end of November.

Race Report - Vande Cross '09

2009-10-12T06:23:00.007-05:00

The DICE Cycling four race series got started this past weekend with the first race being Old Towne Vande Cross held at Stephen's Park in Moline, IL. I opted for the Open Class race for a couple of reasons. First off, the races last for 15 minutes longer than the Cat.3/4 race and since the Open race starts 90 minutes after the 3/4 race, I can sleep in a little more before the 2.5 hour drive. As was usual during the 2008 season, the course that was presented by DICE was awesome. It had a nice balance of fast descents, fast turns, tight turns, uphills, a steep runup, and it even had a pile of sand that was hard enough that it doubled as a 10' tabletop jump for those that were so inclined to catch some air...more on that later. While out for the warmup before the race started at 1:30pm, I saw around 25 riders on course with quite a few of the fast guys in attendance. I full expected a tough 60 minutes to be at hand. You may understand my surprise when I toed the line with three other riders as well. That's right, four people doing the Open Class race including Brian Eppen (ICCC), Nate Kullbom (Atlas), Kevin McConnell (Geoff's), and myself. Lined up behind us were close to thirty Master's class racers. Wow. No pressure here. Me against three very fast racers, one of whom had just finished battling in the 3/4 race to get his 2nd place finish. This was going to be interesting at the least.

My goal for this race, considering the company that i was with of course, was to hold for as long as possible. Well, Eppen and Kullbom both had great starts and I was running third wheel from the pavement start area to the grass and holding on. It wasn't until the barriers that the two of them were able to get a small gap but, I was able to close that back and continue to hang on. Kevin came around me on the runup and I stayed on his wheel for the remainder of the first lap. We worked with each other pretty well for the first four laps exchanging positions while trying to keep the gap to the other two at a minimum. On the fourth lap, while going over the single barrier for the runup, I clipped my foot on the top of the barrier and ended up on the ground. I was able to get right back up and scramble to the top with the only problem being that my right shifter was a little cock-eyed. A quick hit with the hand and it was straight again so now I had to try to chase Kevin back down. I was able to catch him right about the time that I would have pulled through for my pull but, I was in need of a little recharge so I stayed behind him. When we came to the section with the aforementioned table top jump, Kevin launched himself about 6' into the air....it was actually quite graceful as his landing was super smooth and he did not miss a beat. Glad that I was able to witness that and now I know what everyone was cheering about on the previous laps as we had passed over that section.

Kevin started to get away from me a bit after that and was able to get a lead of around 20-25 seconds at one point around lap 7. On the next lap I saw that I was beginning to make up a couple of seconds, not much but enough to motivate me to try to pull him back in the closing laps. As I was finishing up my ninth lap, race leader Brian Eppen came by me and I hopped on his wheel for a little "motor" pacing around part of the course. That helped me cut a few more seconds out of the gap between Kevin and myself and I also noticed that Kevin seemed to be slowing down a bit. My guess was that his efforts in the Cat.3/4 race were starting to get back at him and I should be able to catch back on. With around 1.5 laps to go I was able to catch and pass Kevin to get back to 3rd spot and now it was quite the effort to maintain that pace so that 1) Kevin could not come back around me late in the last lap and, 2) I did not want to be caught by Nate. I had enough left that I was able to do both of those and still felt pretty good physically in doing so.

Consequently, I was able to finish on the podium although it was only four people in the Open Class....again, WTF? Pretty much used that one as a training/learning race and I am pretty happy with how my body was able to handle it all so I am definitely happy with it. There are still three races left in the series so those of you that missed this one, you missed a great course, can hopefully find the time to make it for the rest. Their next race, which will also be my next race, will be on the 25th of October at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf, IA. Check the schedule here.

Kevin and I working early in the race. Good thing for me that he raced two races on Sunday.

Mud Light

2009-10-06T06:27:00.006-05:00

Saturday's Dirty Wooden Shoe had a few spots of mud but, nothing crazy. Here is the X6 with a light coating which makes for pretty easy cleaning.

Wednesday was a touch of singletrack, on the Scalpel this time, although the trails were just a bit on the slick side in the low spaces and some of the tighter turns. That was followed up by some tempo riding on Thursday along the paved trails.

This Sunday is the opening round of the four race series of 'Cross racing put on by DICE Cycling in Bettendorf, IA. I raced this series last season as well and had a great time so all four are on my schedule again for 2009. Sunday's race is held in Moline, IL and is a sweet one so be sure to check the flyer and come out for the race if you can.

Race Report - Dirty Wooden Shoe

2009-10-05T07:00:00.006-05:00

First off let me explain one little detail about Pella, IA where Saturday's 'Cross, the 1st Annual Dirty Wooden Shoe, was held. Pella was founded in 1847 by Dutch Separatist's hence it has a very Dutch feel to it with the architecture, landscaping, and overall ambiance of the area. If you would like a little more information on this quaint little village, click here.

As for the racing part of the day, it went a little different from last week's races in Des Moines. Physically I felt way better this week than I did last week since I spent the vast majority of the week resting aside from an easy spin on Tuesday and the group MTB ride on Wednesday. Mentally I was also more into the race on Saturday. Scoring 9th and 11th place finishes in the Cat. 3 races last week pretty much took the wind out of my sails as far as the series points were concerned so I was able to relax and get focus on me just having a good race. We arrived at the venue about 45 minutes before the scheduled start, which would normally drive me crazy , and I was surprisingly relaxed. I made my way to registration, signed in for the Cat. 3 race and noted some of the other string riders in attendance such as Adam Price (ICCC), Steve Robinson (All9Yards), and my teammate Rich Wince. Sure would be sweet if Rich and I could get off the front together was the thought that went through my head. I pulled my bike off the roof of the truck, got dressed, and made my way to the course for a spotting lap and a couple of warmup laps.

Couple of key features about the course in Pella. The course was pretty well layed out in my opinion and had a lot of technical features that would definitely make this one geared more towards the racers with a MTB background. There were really tight turns and switchbacks around trees, picnic tables, water fountains, and other park furniture. There was also a long off-camber section as well as a short one-barrier runup, three short, steep uphill sections with one of those having a double barrier at the top which was a little unorthodox but, it definitely added some character. There were a couple sections of small mud pits, one of which had running water throughout much of the race and the other which was not very wet but, still muddy. There was also what has become a traditional part of 'Cross racing in Iowa this season...the sand box. Pella's was longer than the others and it followed a 180 degree right-hander so line choice was critical. A very short section of pavement for the start/finish section and that was a lap. My sighting lap gave me a bit of confidence for having a good race with all of the tight turns although I was slipping just a bit in the turns. During my three laps of sighting and pre-ride I think that I stopped to release a touch of air three times before I was able to get the corner sliding and uphill slips to stop. With the air pressure feeling just right I made my way to the start line. During the other two races last week, the Cat. 3 race shared the course with both of the Masters' classes although the Cat. 3 racers took off first. In Pella, the referee decided to run them all together since each of the classes did not have many guys to start with. Totally fine with me.

The start went really well and I was able to get into turn one in around 6th wheel with two Cat. 3 riders ahead of me. I held on to Chad Vandelune's (All9Yards Masters class) as he put down some power to move himself up to second wheel and pulling me to third wheel on course. Chad was taking some strong pulls on the short straighaways and was getting a 1-2 second gap on me although I was able to pull it back through the technical, twisty sections. Steve Robinson (All9Yards) was sitting on the front when he had a flat tire that brought him back and Chad eventually pulled away from me on one of the straights which left me riding alone on course. I had a couple of Cat. 3 racers close behind me including teammate Rich Wince and Daniel Galles(Colorbiotics). We started to lap riders on the 3rd lap after around 14 minutes of racing. I did what I could to get around these riders as fast as I could and keep the pace up in hopes of maintaining my distance from Daniel Galles. On about the fifth lap, I was passed by another Master's rider, Todd Gillihan (Team Skin) and followed him for a very short distance before I told myself to relax and ride my race. I told myself this because I was following Todd's lines which were just a little different from mine through the technical sections and it was throwing off my timing so I backed off. Shortly after that Paul Deninger caught up to me and I started following his lines which were much closer to mine and was able to relax a bit before he had an unfortunate flat tire.

With about four laps to go, I was all alone again and finding lapped riders so I started to focus a bit on the Cat. 3 racers behind me to make sure that I was keeping my distance. I saw that Daniel Galles had made up a couple of seconds on me as I crossed the start/finish line with two laps to go so I stepped up my efforts just a touch and about halfway through that lap I had gotten a couple of seconds back and Daniel looked a little tired. I still had plenty in me so I stepped it up another notch and kept it up for the rest of that lap. Starting the final lap I put everything I had left into it and was able to stay away from the remaining Cat. 3 chasers as well cut down the gap on one of the Master's racers. I was definitely happy to still have the power left in my legs to step it up at the end, I must be doing something right.

That was my first Cat. 3 CX win and hopefully not the last. Rich was able to hold on to 3rd in the Cat. 3s as well which put two Rassy's on the box, which is always a good thing. Now, to tie the opening of this report back to the finish? The 1st place trophy was also a unique one that displays the Dutch heritage of the area, and of course we all know that CX is HUGE in Holland, so I have to say that receiving a wooden shoe for a trophy is sweet. Trophies unique to an event are always cool in my book.

Congrats go out to Cam Kirkpatrick for his 3rd place finish in the Cat. 1/2/3 race and Jason Plunkett for a strong ride to 3rd place in the Cat. 4 race. Way to ride guys!!

Full race results here.

I'd like to say thanks to everyone involved with making The Dirty Wooden Shoe happen this year. I thought the venue and the course were both pretty nice and look forward to returning in 2010. Thanks to my wife, Amy, for the bottle handups and time checks which helped me stay focused. Special thanks also goes out to our new lucky charm, J.Fry. First 'Cross race that he attended and our friend Steve Bullerman (Bike Tech) takes 2nd in the Master's to go with my 1st in the 3s....Thanks Lucky.

Trying hard not to trip over the barrier

Rich "out for a cruise" as he put it

Bullerman on the start/finish straight

The Dirty Wooden Shoe trophy for 1st place....very cool.

Bliss

2009-10-01T06:42:00.004-05:00

Yesterday afternoon's ride was one of those that made me think back....way back.... to when I rode bicycles just to ride. You might remember those times. Back when there was no computer on the bike since the distance traveled didn't really mean anything. There was no real time limit other than to be home in time for supper. There were no training blocks, interval sessions, heart rate monitors or coaches, to rate your fitness. All there was, was the ride. Plain and simple. Well, that was last night's ride.

I was getting the SystemSix all ready to go for a tempo ride and interval session by getting the tires aired up, spare tube and tools strapped onto the saddle, and then started to put my shoes on when I saw the clock reading 17:55...that's 5 minutes until 6pm in the afternoon by the way. :) That's when I remembered that the weekly MTB ride would be leaving from Bike Tech in 20 minutes. All of a sudden I had no desire to go out and do any tempo riding or intervals at all. I didn't want any structure either. I just wanted to go have some fun. So a slight shift in gear meant a shoe swap, move some things from the SystemSix to the X6, put a waterbottle in my back pocket, and off I went to find the fat tire ride.

When I arrived at Bike Tech a few minutes later there was one thing that jumped into my head right away. More people are showing up for the group MTB rides than were for the group road rides for much of this year. Some faces were the same as the ones at the MTB ride a few weeks ago but, there were also some different ones. Friends that I have not seen in quite a while. Friends that I see all the time. People from all walks of life, all age groups, all together to have a good time. Totally cool.

We rode a few miles of paved trail to get to the singletrack and then it full speed ahead, carving through the singletrack as the sun was setting over the horizon. Right around the halfway point a few riders started to turn on lights as the daylight was slowly getting less and less through the trees. Interestingly enough, the speeds were not decreasing all that much since everyone seemed to know the trails well enough to keep the pace up. The only noise that I could hear was that of the leaves crunching under the tires as we carved through the turns and sped through the now darkness. Eventually we ended up back to where I started my afternoon ride and I peeled off from the group and headed for home...smiling. That was one of the best rides this year and I hope that they keep happening like that. Good times.

Another observation from the ride was that the 'Cross bike can handle the singletrack just fine in the daylight but, once the light is almost gone it gets a little sketchy at times. Unseen rocks and roots raise the potential for damage on the narrower CX tires. That means that I will be making a call today to get the final part that I need to get my Scalpel back together after having the Lefty rebuilt. It's time for me to get back to the fat tire riding as well.

Group of nine heading down the paved trail in search of some dirt fun.

The group stopped at the top of a hill so that everyone could have a run at one of the jumps on the trail...I opted to keep the 'Cross bike with two wheels on the ground.

Race Report - Capital City Cross

2009-09-29T08:04:00.009-05:00

The opening weekend of cyclocross racing in Iowa finally arrived this past weekend and although the weather was not necessarily "Cross weather" it was still a fun time at the two venues in Des Moines. Each of the two courses offered up some challenges in the form of runups, barriers, tight turns, sand, off-camber turns and many others although, both courses were also very much different.

Saturday - McRae park

Capital Cross held both races at this park in 2008 but, for 2009 only Saturday's race was at McRae. The course was very similar to the one in 2008 with some tweaking but the overall feel was similar. It started out with a very short straight away followed by a 180 degree left turn and a slight incline to head into the barriers. The barriers were at the base of a fairly steep runup that, as I remembered from 2008, was going to kick my butt. Once to the top it was back onto the bike, a very short downhill followed by another slight incline before getting to the switchback section which included three switchbacks with about 80' of straightaway between each one and then onto the pavement for a stretch. Off the pavement and then into a sandbox for around 40' of 10" deep sand which was rideable as long as you kept your speed up and stayed loose on the bars. Out of the sand and into a 180 degree left turn and then a quick decent back to the bottom of the hill before making another 180 degree left onto the pavement and starting back up. Right turn into the grass, finish the climb to the top, right-hander back to the start/finish area for a lap that totalled around one mile.

The Cat. 3 race was combined with the Masters 35+ and the Masters 45+ groups and would be the first race of the day. I think that there were 13 starters in the Cat. 3 group and I was feeling pretty good so I had fairly high hopes of this opening round. As usual, the group started at breakneck speeds and we were quickly into the runup and the group started to split with a group of four getting a couple of seconds away. I was in a second group of four with Lane Anderson and Matt Gumm, both of All9Yards, and Chad Bishop from Harper's. I told myself to get settled in with this group and play it as we go. The first couple of laps went really well with our group staying together and keeping the lead group close. Then, as we finished the fast decent and made the 180 degree left turn onto the pavement, both Bishop and myself dropped our chains. I fumbled this one bad and was ready to throw in the towel when my glove became caught in between my chain and sprocket. Gloves came off, the chain went back on, and I reentered the race after being passed by pretty much everyone on course. The next lap went pretty slow as I relaxed and just pedaled around before I caught glimpse of a rider in frnt of me and decide to give chase. I started getting back into my groove and made a couple of spots back to finish the race in 9th. Not quite what I was expecting but, what can you do? There were a couple more races before the Cat. 1/2/3 race which would give me a 3 hour break and so I decided to make a few adjustments and use the Open race as a training block.

First off, I found the problem for the dropped chain and fixed that one. Secondly, I borrowed Blue's front HED carbon wheel to test it out on course a bit. Since I had never used 700c carbon wheels before, I figured that it was as good a time as any. So I took a couple of warmup laps to get things dialed in a little bit and ran all of the things that I read about deep section carbon rims through my head. One of the big details that I have read about them is their ability to cut throught the mud easier. Well, the course was dry so that one never came into play. The increased lateral stiffnes however, was very noticable through the tight turns. My bike tracked so well that it was like as if it was a totally different bike. For the record, I have nothing against the Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels that I normally run. Carbon is good yet again.

For the race I started from the back row since my legs were already throttled and I really did not want to get in the way of those who were still fresh with 15 riders taking to the start line. No bike problems throughout the 60 minutes + 2 laps race to speak of, thankfully. I was actually feeling really good and was able to claw my up to around 9th place I think before Oakley Rob put down the smack and dropped me on the paved uphill section. The guys been off the bike for two weeks and he is still fast. I came around the start/finish area later in the race and saw that there were 5 laps left and I was really feeling it. The last five times of the runup were more of a walkup for me but, the corners, sand, and decent were all really good. The 70 minute equipment test was a success in terms of learning a few new things about carbon wheels, I'll need to get a set of those for myself. Oh yeah, I finished 11th by the way. Not so good.

Sunday - Witmer Park

Sunday's race was held at Witmer Park in Des Moines and although it did not have the steep runup that Saturday's course had, Witmer Park had it's own challenges. The double barriers were at the base of a much shorter runup although the short downhill before them was going to increase dismount speeds a bit. The earlier start time (10:30A.M.) meant that the grass was still a bit damp and so I was not too surprised to see someone hit the deck during a dismount in warmups. He seemed to be okay and I made a mental note to stay off the brakes and suck it up into the barriers. The sand pit was a little different from Saturday's and I was only able to get through it once under pedal power. All other laps were done by running. Overall the course was much closer to my style although, my legs weren't in it so it would be a bit of a gamble to improve my results. Especially since our field had some more fresh riders in it with a start list of 19 racers. I was able to get myself off the line right around 10th spot and I have to admit that it took everything out of me to stay there. I was passed by a few riders here and there, brough a few of them back along with some others that had fast starts. Mechanically, the race went really well with no bike problems. I was able to hold on for 11th spot overall...not exactly what I had in mind for opening weekend. I opted out of the second race because my legs were trashed and I really just wanted to get home, which was a two hour drive in the car. We actually made it home at about the same time I would have been getting done with race 2. Kind of happy that I missed it.

Oh well, need to get the mind and body back in the groove for this Saturday's race in Pella. Another new venue to the Iowa 'Cross scene. Hopefully it will be another good one.

Now, about those carbon wheels....

Opening Weekend

2009-09-28T05:25:00.000-05:00

The first weekend of 'Cross racing in Iowa is officially in the books. I'll try to get reports and photos up later because right now my body is fried and I have to be at work at 6AM today. Saturday and Sunday's courses both rocked in their own ways and although Saturday's course did not really suit me, I did two races anyways and am now paying for it with heavy legs.

US 'Cross

2009-09-24T06:30:00.003-05:00

The 'Cross racing in the US continued on last night from Las Vegas, NV with Cross Vegas. It was being hailed as a pretty big race and looking through the start sheet confirmed that one. Pretty much every big name that you can think of in the North American racing scene plus a few of those that race in Europe promised a good race. Now, even though I was not there in person, Jake at CX Magazine did a pretty good job of keeping the "viewers" up to the minute with what was going on during the race. It was definitely enough to keep my interests piqued as the race went on and riders were attacking to get a gap or chasing the break.

Results were:

1. Jamey Driscoll
2. Chris Jones
3. Jonathan Page
4. Jeremy Powers
5. Erwin Vervecken
6. Ryan Trebon
7. Todd Wells
8. Christian Heule
9. Barry Wicks
10. Ben Berden

The Pros are a Go

2009-09-21T06:58:00.003-05:00

All good things come to an end, or so they say, and I hope that this one is just temporary. I've been able to leave my car in the garage for the last 3+ weeks as I have been able to ride the bicycle to work with the perfect weather and nothing else going on. Today though, I have some things that I need to take care of at Bike Tech during the lunch hour so to work by car it was. It took less than one mile to remind me what one of the biggest downfalls to driving in the early morning is too. Everyone seems to be in such a hurry as they drive 10+ miles per hour over the speed limit and probably getting angry at me for actually driving the speed limit. It really is too bad that everyone can't find a way to relax a little bit more.

The Cyclocross season is officially underway in the USA with a couple of big races this past weekend as well as some more biggies coming up this week. Star Crossed in Seattle saw wet conditions for the Elite races and Swiss rider Christian Heule pull off a victory against a strong mostly American and Canadian field with Page and Powers taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the Women's Elite race, British racer Helen Wyman took the win over Sue Butler and Alison Dunlap. The Euros are looking pretty strong. The Rad Racing GP in Lakewood, Washington saw dry conditions and a slightly different finishing order with Jonathon Page able to take the win over Heule and Jamey Driscoll rounding out the top three. The Women's race saw Sue Butler put in a spectaculor ride to take the win over Alison Dunlap and Kari Studley. In European news from the weekend, Neils Albert won in convincing style at the GP Neerpelt over Zdenek Stybar and Klaas Vantornout. That's two race wins in a row for Albert, the rest of the field might want to keep him in their sights.

CrossVegas will be in held in Las Vegas this Wednesday night, the 23rd of September and looking at the list of riders that will be in attendance, it should be stellar. Three time World Champion Vervecken, Ben Berden, and now Brom De Groot will be taking on the North Americans in Sin City. I really have never had a desire to go to Vegas in the past but, oh how I wish I was there on Wednesday. Should be a good one. Following that the USGP will start with round 1 in Sun Prarie, Wisconsin this Saturday and Sunday. Besides the list of strong North American riders that will be there, Vervecken has stated that he will be racing as well. It will be a great week for racing 'Cross in the USA.

My season will also be getting underway this weekend with the Capitol City cross races on Saturday and Sunday in Des Moines. I'll be pursuing the upgrade points for Cat. 2.....well, maybe. I might just be in survival mode from race 1 too. :)

More singletrack

2009-09-17T07:02:00.002-05:00

There was an e-mail in my inbox yesterday from Cap'n Bob stating that he would be in town for the group MTB ride that takes place on Wednesday nights at 6:15pm from Bike Tech. Since I did not really have anything going on I decided that I would show up and ride with some of the local fat tire crowd. My Scalpel is currently having some work done and waiting for some parts so the 'Cross bike was called upon for double duty again, I'm kind of digging the skinnier tires on the off-road as you can see.

There were six of us total last night including the Bike Tech crew of Brent, Chris, and John as well as Jeff Klein, Cap'n Bob and myself. As we sat in the shop waiting for Brent, a guy walked in with a couple of fancy DSLR cameras and started chatting with Brent. I eventually inquired as to who this person was as he took pictures of Brent putting on shoes and helmet and was informed that he was from the local paper and was doing a story on the singletrack in the area. Sweet, photo ops. We left the shop and headed for the trails in George Wyth, which have been cleaned up quite well by a group of the locals I should add with many thank yous. I led through the first section of singletrack and was having a blast with the group right on my wheel. It reminded me of when I first started riding nicer bikes back in the mid-90s and how much fun it was to just carve a trail and then wait up for everyone before continuing on for more. After a brief stop we proceeded on for the second section which I also took the lead on. Both of these sections have very little in terms of straight trail and since the area is fairly flat, the trails are pretty fast. I rubbed shoulders with a couple of trees as I railed through turns and could sense that the other five were right with me through it all. As we popped out of the woods from that section, I saw our photo guy and heard the camera going crazy taking pictures as I motored by.

The rest of that lap through GW was spent with each of the others taking some time up front and carving trails. Then we went over to Hartman for more of the same. John and I then hit up the singletrack at GW for one more lap before I headed home. He pretty much dropped me through the long fast sections and I had to work my butt off through the twisties to TRY to pull him back. He's young and fast. If he starts racing XC, everyone better watch out.

The singletrack riding has been quite soothing to me lately, almost a zen-like state has been reached as I ride between the trees in a whisper-quiet manner. Autumn has got to be one of the best times of the year.

A little too close

2009-09-16T06:28:00.002-05:00

It was a pretty uneventful day at work yesterday, as usual, so I was looking forward to getting on my bike for the ride home. My ride was held up briefly for a train which didn't seem to annoy me as much as it did some of the automobile drivers around me. After a brief wait, it was a nice soothing ride to daycare to get Rhea and then continued home. This is the third straight week that I have not had to drive the car to work since the weather has been perfect in the mornings and afternoons. No complaints from me on that one. I have to give some credit to my friend A.Lo. in Michigan, formerly a local, who is constantly speaking of things such as riding to work, driving smaller cars, and reducing his footprint on the Earth. It is one of the small ingredients that make up why riding to work by bicycle is so enjoyable for me. The trails are void of most other users other than a few deer, the occasional squirrel, and some raccoons. Pretty good company at 6:30am if you ask me.

Waiting for the grain train to roll by

I was also able to get out for a little 'Cross practice with some dismount and remount time. That's coming along quite nicely although I need to get my speeds up a bit more while remounting. Some of those Cat. 1/2 guys seem to dismount into the barriers at around 100mph so I have a little ways to go yet. After that I headed over to the local singletrack and made a couple of passes through there. There's even a few sections of nice soft sand that help out with that all important skill of riding fast through the beachfront. A few more miles of carving through the twisties before heading home and I began to think about something else...I think that I am getting more comfortable carving through the local singletrack on the 'Cross bike than I am on a MTB. This is probably due to my 'Cross bike pulling double duty as a MTB for the last month while the MTB is getting some maintenance done. Unfortunately for me, my MTB has probably been ridden less than 400 miles and I have started to toss around the idea of unloading it. I can't say that I really need to but, it does do a lot of sitting. We shall see.

40' of sand....'cross meets singletrack

On a final note I have a short rant from last night's ride. While cruising down the paved trail heading for my top secret 'Cross practice location, I came up behind another trail user on a MTB that was riding no-handed and was wearing headphones. I announced that I was passing on his left and received no reaction....so I yelled again with the same response. I decided to make the pass on the 10' wide trail and right as I am getting beside him, his bike swerves all the way over to the left hand side of the trail and I am off onto the shoulder and working to keep myself off of the large rocks that line the 15' drop to the river. He grabs his bars and moves back to the right side of the trail with a large smile on his face. I yelled for him to take the headphones off and continued on my way thanking myself for paying attention and having mad skills off the pavement. Here I thought that we were battling against drivers that run people off the road and I have to deal with other bicycle riders as well. Wow.

Lil' dirt

2009-09-14T06:22:00.004-05:00

Here are some blurry pictures of some offroad riding via 'Cross bike from yesterday...

Last week's commute was a bit longer than the norm since I recieved a message that my Lefty had returned from Cannondale after a rebuild. So my messenger bag was actually used for more than just carrying my clothes and lunch.

Product Review - Oakley

2009-09-08T11:53:00.007-05:00

2009 represents the second year that I have been back to wearing Oakley Eyewear exclusively and I have no complaints. With new sunglasses now in hand for the upcoming cyclocross season, I have decided to give my thoughts of what I have been wearing for the last year as well as a little insight into what is new in my quiver of eyewear and yes I usually take all of them with me to races just in case anyone wants to try a pair on. I'll need them back though so that I can do my race and/or gain style points at that time.

Oakley Oil Rig The Oil Rig is part of the Lifestyle line of Oakley's Eyewear Department. Previous to these, I had very little time of using anything in the Lifestyle line since I usually just kept wearing whatever glasses I wore while riding my bike when I wasn't riding my bike. I did pick up a pair of GASCANs during the 2007 CX season but, they were confiscated by my wife shortly there after...we're talking within seconds of them coming into my possession here folks. She's quick and besides, they look better on her anyways. Back to the Oil Rigs though. I have been pretty impressed with these so far. Mine are the Polished Black with Warm Grey lens so they already look sweet just sitting on the table. They have a strong design to them which really makes them standout against some of the other designs out there. The Oil Rigs also have a really comfortable fit with a large lens that offers great protection from the bright sun. Standout design, comfortable, and great protection, all of the primary reasons that we wear sunglasses to start with, right?

Oakley Radar My love of Oakley all started with the M Frame back around 1990 or so when I purchased my first of many Oakleys. The Radar, to me, is a greatly evolved version of what those sunglasses once represented. A single lens design that has no distortion through the curvature of the lens and also has interchangeable lenses for whatever conditions that the wearer may encounter. The version that I use has the True Blue frame with a Black Iridium lens for the super sunny days and a ventilated clear lens for rainy or dark conditions. The Radar frames are designed to hold onto the wearers head really well and there is no slippage when they are on. The wrap-around design of the lens also offers lots of protection from the elements such as rain, water from the road, and wind as well. I find them to be pretty comfortable and they are my go to glasses when it is windy or the weather isn't the greatest.

Oakley Flak Jacket The Flak Jacket uses a two lens design for a more traditional feel in terms of basic sunglasses. However, they are far from traditional when you really take a good look at them. In typical Oakley fashion, they have an incredible fit and they also have interchangeable lenses for a variety of lighting conditions. The model that I have incorporate the XLJ lens shape which offers pretty decent eye coverage as well and are the version White Text with Red Iridium lenses. Of the three pairs of Oakleys that I wore in the last year, these probably received the most use overall. It did not matter if it was on the bike or off the bike, the Flak Jacket XLJ was definitely "the old standby" for me as long as the sun was above the horizon. On the bike there was no interference with my helmet and off the bike they fit well while I was wearing a hat. Both pluses in my book.

Oakley Jawbone Oakley's newest model is one that I have been waiting for since I first saw them last season on the faces of some of the riders in the Pro Peloton. The Jawbone reminds me of the Racing Jackets that I wore for a while in the beginning of the 2008 season in terms of appearance. That's where the similarities end though. The Jawbone features a new way of changing the lenses that is incredibly easy and convenient. The nose pieces doubles as a hinge that looks the lower half of the frame around each lens. When opened the lenses just slide right out and in go the new ones. Very quick and easy. So far the fit seems to be somewhere between the Flak Jackets and the Radars, which is very good. The version I have is the Matte Black with Balck Iridium vented lenses as well Yellow lenses. It's still a bit early to draw a conclusion on these but, I am leaning towards them taking over as my #1 piece of eyewear.

Blogging

2009-09-08T07:02:00.004-05:00

Yes I am aware that my blogging has pretty much SUCKED all year and no I do not have a great excuse for it. Every time I ride my bike my mind wanders through the air and I tell myself about all of the cool things around me that would be cool to put on the blog. The scenery, the cool people, the ride itself, a new route, or my mad skills that keep me alive. That's where it always seems to go to heck for me. It seems that I could be out enjoying anything from the 5 mile commute to work on paved trails and side streets to a 100 mile ride on rural roads or gravel and no matter how cool the ride is, there always has to be some idiot that tries to ruin it for me. I want my blog to be a "happy blog" where ice events and people are mentioned and not the depressing blog that mentions all of the people that live in their own little worlds of hatred & anger and they want everyone else to share in it. Rather than go into the details of how much that is going on around here as of late, I am going to try to pull out the positives.

I was able to get in some good riding over the long weekend with some tempo and sprint intervals on Friday, a gravel grinder on Saturday, and some more tempo riding on Sunday. I opted for the road bike on Friday and headed along the bike trail to Hudson which was void of any other trail users except for J. Fry although, he was going the other direction so he missed out on all of the fun. 15-30 second all out efforts followed by 30-45 seconds to relax and then do it all again. Fun times. Saturday's gravel ride was an early, for me, 8am or so start and went in the direction of the Scout Camp to the North. I only saw two vehicles on the gravel the entire time I was out riding...amazing. It was a fairly relaxed ride with the only real efforts being those of clibing up the hills and even that was pretty calm. On Sunday I was planning for a little more tempo and was also hoping to get in a longer ride to Clarksville and Shell Rock but, within the first ten miles I just didn't feel like I had it in me so I cut my route short to Finchford and Janesville instead. I was feeling quite a bit better by the time I arrived in Janesville and so I was able to put in a few harder efforts around Big Woods Lake when i arrived back in Cedar Falls. All was good.

Full on cyclocross practice for me during the weeks now and hoping to get some longer rides in on the weekends. The first Iowa CX races of the 2009 season are the 26th and 27th of September in Des Moines. I still have one MTB race on my calendar on the 4th of October as well but otherwise it's all about the 'Cross. There is a website that should have all of the CX activities for the state listed in one spot and that can be viewed here at BikeIowa. I have high hopes that it will have all of the information that anyone needs to race'Cross in Iowa or at least has links to where to find it. There are a couple of great guys behind it so it should be a success.

Race Report - East Village Criterium

2009-08-31T19:48:00.004-05:00

It has to be said. The East Village Criterium is destined to become one of the great, must do races on the annual Iowa road calendar. The course layout was sweet with five right-handers and one to the left. It also included a great multi-pitch two block climb opposite a downhill section that sent the Cat.4 men's race into turn 2 at around 35mph. After watching Adam Price (ICCC) and Clark Priebe lap the Cat. 1/2 field I was inspired to try some crazy (for me) moves during the Cat.4 race and hoping that there would be at least one more racer that was willing to give it a go.

We had 33 riders take to the line for the 5pm start time and after a briefing, and subtle suggestion to avoid any crashes from referee Mark Guthart, we were sent on our way for our 45min + 2 lap race around the course. In typical fashion the pace went from zero to 35mph pretty quick with the assistance of the downhill following turn one. It turned out to be a great element to have the downhill right away since it put the pace up quickly and almost eliminated any "getting settled in" feelings that I normally have. The first four laps were fairly uneventful and I inadvertently rolled off the front of the group while going up the hill. I was a little surprised that the pace was slowing down so much on the uphill section and rather than slow way down I just maintained cadence as I rolled into the hill and towards the top. By the time I arrived at the final turn of the lap, I had a short gap and decided to go with it to see if anyone would come across and see if we could get a break formed similar to the Cat.1/2 race. My efforts turned out to be fruitless however I held on for three laps and not a single other rider came across the gap to me so it was back to the group I went. I settled back into the middle of the field and just went around the course with everyone else.

With four laps remaining I decided to give it one more shot figuring that there was no way that I would go without company again. As I came around the final turn of the course on the second lap of that solo flyer, I settled back down right as two riders came by on my left side pulling the group with them which put my right back into the mix again. Two laps alone sapped me and I settled back in again. On the final lap I made a couple of errors going into the left turn to go up the hill and lost a bit more momentum than planned which put me back a few more spots than expected. I was able to get a few of them back on the uphill only to lose them again as another rider started celebrating that his friend was winning the sprint as we came into the last turn. Nothing quite like almost rear-ending someone who's not watching where they are going. Oh well. Lost a couple more spots there and made it to the finish line in 17th spot overall.

I took two primes during my flyers, put the Rassy colors out front for a few laps, and had a good time doing it so all is good.

Thanks to the Rassy's Team, Runk Rock Cycling, DMOS and everyone else involved for putting together an awesome course for a truly great race. I'm already looking forward to the 2010 edition.

Congratulations to Nathan Kullbom for not only winning the Cat.4 race at East Village but, for also taking the Cat.4 Iowa Cup Championship. Way to earn it.

Adam Price and Clark Priebe putting the hammer down in the Cat.1/2 race

Cat.4 Lap 1, turn 1

Off the front

Short climbs

2009-08-24T10:14:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was spent with Amy's family at Backbone State Park about 45 minutes East of home. The park itself is situated in a ravine which offers up some good opportunities for a few climbing miles on the bike so I took the SystemSix with me and got a ride in on Saturday morning. The park was fairly quiet except for a few fishermen and the roads had little traffic on them so I made a couple of laps through the park to get my climbing fix in for the day. The climbs are different from the normal hills around home in that a few of them actually incorporate switchbacks and have more distance to them. Fun for climbing as well as descending....did that too of course. It turned out to be a pretty nice ride and even the ride to the park along the rural roads was good. The locals around Lamont, Dundee, and Strawberry Point, IA all seemed to be more friendly than what I have been experiencing at home lately as well.

When we arrived back home yesterday afternoon, I also hopped on the Internet and got myself registered for the Crit in Des Moines this coming Sunday, the 30th. It's the last race in the Iowa Cup, it is awarding double points for the Iowa Cup, and it's in Des Moines so I suspect that the turnout will be pretty good. The course looks like it could pretty fun as well with one larger hill to break things up. Check out the info here.

Once the East Village Crit is over, it's officially on to 'Cross season. The group rides are dying off due to lower attendance and lack of light towards the end of tour rides so that will free up a couple of nights for mount/dismount/barrier practice, more sprint intervals, and some climbing intervals. All the fun stuff is coming!! Speaking of 'Cross, the recently acquired Cannondale frameset will be getting Campagnolo 10-speed for this season....no singlespeeding this year.

Time to get the build on

2009-08-20T08:30:00.003-05:00

2006 Cannondale CX frameset arrived today...looks brand spanking new. Purchased from someone who just didn't need it. I have some parts laying around the house but, I will need to acquire a few before it is all said and done as well. It will be built up as a singlespeed or with the Shimano 105 parts I have at home for this season and will probably get the Campagnolo 10 speed treatment next year.

Two-a-day

2009-08-19T06:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon was a perfect day of sunshine and temperatures in the low 80s here. When I picked Rhea up from daycare she stated that she wanted to go for a ride in the Burley and I was not going to argue with that so we headed home and hooked it all up. Before we left the house she said that she needed her jersey and waterbottle so she ran upstairs to get those. We were just going to go for a short spin through the park but, little did I know that it would end up with me talking to myself so soon. I don't even think that we made it two miles before she was sleeping. No big deal I thought so I finished the easy 7.5 mile spin and went back home. Long story short, she feel asleep at 4pm yesterday and did not wake up until 6am this morning....that was one tired kid.

Last night was also the group ride at 6pm although I did not think that I would make it. Amy had to work late so I did not even leave the house until 5:55pm and I took a different route to the edge of town on hopes of meeting the group before they made it out of town. When I arrived at the corner of 12th and Union, I did not see them anywhere so I headed North with a little hope left. Nothing. I figured that I had missed them and so I continued North to do some interval work alone. As I approached the stop sign at 1st Street I could hear some voices behind me and spun around to see 7-8 riders approaching. Sweet, they got a late start afterall. I jumped into the group and away we went.

The pace went up into the 30mph area pretty quick and there were only five of us left. It stayed that way for the entire ride too which worled out really well for me. Just like doing intervals but, logging good miles at the same time. I fell off the group once as we went over Three-Tier Hill but, I was back on in Janesville and helped to keep the pace up all the way back to Waterloo. The final sprint was taken by Doug as I tried to chase him down but, it just didn't happen.

Nice ride of high intensity helped me get my legs back into the groove. My left hamstring was bugging me last weekend and I think that I got that all worked back out finally. Hamstring soreness has got to be one of the worst. All I do is worry about hurting it to the point of having to take a few weeks off and now is not a good time for that.

Dusty

2009-08-18T06:39:00.001-05:00

The gravel roads around here are dry, dusty, and surprisingly smooth right now. Yesterday's ride included 2.5 hours of this.

Race Report - Grinnell Twilight Criterium

2009-08-09T15:20:00.005-05:00

Crits are perfect training for cyclocross season....aside from the weather of course. This year was the first, of hopefully many, criteriums in Grinnell,IA and hosted by Bikes to You. The course itself was fairly flat with less than 10 feet of elevation gain per lap. Most of the turns were pretty wide and most of the course was also newer pavement so I fully expected a fast race from the start line. The temperatures started out in the mid-80sF and there was a strong 20+mph wind out of the South greeting our starting field of 23 riders. There were some strong riders in the field so I was trying to narrow down who to keep my eyes on. I seem to have been struggling a bit as of late with getting some better finishes so I was really hoping to do well in Grinnell. It was not going to be easy but, I felt pretty good at the start.

In standard crit fashion, the pace ramped up pretty quick to get the group strung out and worn out. I made sure to get myself in the top 5-6 spots by the first turn and get comfortable. The first couple of laps went quick and without any surprises. Then Kevin Tempel (Bike Tech) pulled a small gap on the field and settled in. I figured that if I could get a couple of others to go with me, we could get a small group off the front. I caught Kevin fairly quickly but, it did not take long for the rest of the group to catch back up so we both sat back in and waited for the next chance. There were a couple of others that made their way to the front and took some strong pulls as well. In the first 15 minutes of the race, our pace stayed above the 24mph almost the entire time. The lines through the corners seemed to pick up a little speed and smooth out with each lap which also helped to wittle the group down a bit as we started to pass lapped traffic.

At around the 15 minute mark, the announcer of the race called for a prime for the 1st rider to cross the line on the next lap. I was not really interested in going for the prime so I got out of the way a bit on that next lap and prepared to be pulled around for a couple of laps. I settled in at around 6th wheel as the pace picked up with two left-handers to go in the lap and then we railed through the final turn as the guys in front of me poured on the speed to the line. That speed carried over nicely into the next couple of laps and the group was shrinking down to somewhere around 12-15 riders I would guess. Oh and Steve Reynolds (All9Yards) took the sprint for the $20 prime aboard his new Cannondale CAAD9 frame by the way. ;) The next few laps for me were all about maintaining position in the top 5 or so spots as we neared the end of the scheduled 30 minutes plus three laps. There were a few more hard charges from Nathan Kullbom and a rider from Colorbiotics but, nothing was sticking. With three laps to go the pace was staying in the mid-to-high-20s and no one really had a chance to ride off of the front. I was trying to figure out if I really even had a card to play towards the end because my sprint has been pretty sub-par over the last few weeks and I was really hoping to stay in the Top 5 at the finish.

As we crossed the line to start the final lap I pushed up the left side and took the lead into turn one and just kept cranking to keep the pace up for the final kilometer. A few riders came by I stuck myself to Kevin Tempel's rear wheel to catch the draft for the final two turns to the finishline. As we came around that lat tun and the speed started to ramp up quickly, I could see a wheel coming up on my left side. I begged the legs for a little more speed and they were willing to comply which helped me keep that 5th place spot as we crossed the line. Finally!!!!!! I seem to have been struggling to get myself from that top 10ish spot into the top 5 in almost every race this year so to finally get one was definitely a relief.

Congratulations and thanks go out to the crew from Bikes To You and to the City of Grinnell, IA for putting on a sweet afternoon/evening of racing. I would have to say that this venue is right up there as one of my favorites for the season so far and I hope that they are able to continue with it in future seasons.

Weekend Race Report

2009-08-04T07:46:00.009-05:00

Saturday, 1 August - State Road Race Championships in West Branch, IA

I had not been on a bike for almost a full week prior to this 54 mile race through the rolling hills North of West Branch. My legs were feeling okay and my initial plan was to just sit in for the whole race and use it to get some miles in with the group. After about 10 miles or so I started to feeling pretty good so i made my way to the front of the 40+ rider group and started to get into the rotation a little bit. The strong WNW wind was going to wreck havoc on me though and so I had to get back into the group as long as we were moving towards the North. It stayed fairly calm for the first lap of 27 miles with a couple of people taking hard pulls here and there to stretch out the group or a couple of others attacking in an attempt to get a break but, nothing was sticking. As we came through the Finish area after our first lap, teammate Chad Mason launched a solo attack and pulled about an 800 meter gap on the field. My three other teammates and I watched as no one really took any hard pulls and Chad did what he could to stay away for a few miles before the group slowly brought him back. It then remained pretty calm until around mile 50 where i made my way to the front for the final four miles West to the finish line. I had our team's sprinter on my wheel and moved my way to the left side of the lane so that he was the only one that could get into my draft. I then put my head down to string the group as long as I could as I pulled for a few miles at between 21-25 mph. Needless to say, my legs were on fire and no one was coming up to help. I kept it there as long as I could which also allowed only those riders who really had the speed to make their way to the front for the final sprint. It got a little sketchy in the final 200 meters as some wheels were coming together and people were moving about. I ended up getting spit out the back of the field but, our sprinter Tony Muse finished on the top of the podium so mission accomplished.

Sunday, 2 August - Camp Ingawanis XC MTB race in Waverly, IA

This race was one of those that I was not 100% committed to right up until Sunday morning. I had not raced a mountain bike since the 24 Hours of Boone in 2007 and I had not raced a XC MTB race since May of 2005. Add in the less than 90 minutes of singletrack riding in 2009 and it almost makes for a recipe for disaster. I made the short 20 minute drive to the camp alone and thought about if I had any real goals for this race concluding with 'NO'. I was a little worried about my tech skills in the singletrack. Thoughts like "Will that be one of those things that slowly disappears when unused or will it all come back to me?" went through my head. I arrived at the camp pretty early so that I could get a warmup lap in and check myself. Prior to getting on course I went to registration to get signed in. As I was filling that out I came to the part where you put down the class that you race. For a split second I asked myself what I was racing that day. The last USAC license that I had for MTB racing had me listed as Expert (or Cat 1 by the new rankings) and with all of the time away, would it be right to downgrade myself? NO. I signed in for the Expert race and told myself that the results do not really matter and this was just a test of how bad my skills are today. That and I was not about to be labeled a sandbagger if things went well. :)

Back to my car to get suited up and away I went for singletrack bliss. The first couple hundred feet were tight and twisty so braking and acceleration was a big key into getting through there. Most of the course flowed pretty well with a tight section thrown in here and there, a couple of steep but short power climbs, flowing downhills, some rocks, some sand, and a few logs. The course was actually really cool with the Bidwell, Walters, and crew doing a great job of pulling it all together. Things started to get better for me with every turn of the pedals and by the time I finished the short 4.5 mile loop I was feeling pretty good about my tech skills.

As the race itself started, I felt that I had a pretty good start as we went into the singletrack. I was riding with a group of three others and feeling really good so I opted to allow them to pace me around the course for a few laps and see if and when I could make a move later on. The first lap of five scheduled went by really well and I was sitting comfortable. My rhythm came back really quickly and cruising through the trees at speed became easier with each turn. One of the riders in our group attacked about halfway through the second lap and caught up to the 4th place rider who was only a few seconds ahead of our group of now three. They were both still in view so I was not too worried about them getting away anytime soon. I just stayed comfortable where I was and followed the rider in front of me around the course to see where I could make my own move. He was able to pull short 2-3 second gaps on me through the short climbs but I was able to reel him back in on the downhills, flats, and tech sections pretty easy so there was no reason to worry about it. Until I felt a little squishiness from my rear wheel. I had somehow managed to get a slow leak somewhere late in the second lap and started to slide around the corners a bit more than normal. I had to let off in the final 400 meters of that lap and let two guys I was with get away. I changed out the rear as quickly as I could (didn't go so well) and watched as half of the Cat 2 field when flying by. By the time I was done changing my flat I was mentally defeated but, jumped back on course to see what would happen. Third lap story short, I didn't get enough CO2 into my rear tire and I was still sliding around the corners and my rim was bottoming out over the rocks. Not going to happen for me so I threw in the towel. DNF......first one since Trans-Iowa in 2005.....first one in a XC MTB race since 2002 in Red Wing, Minnesota. I hate those letters with a passion.....quitting sucks.

I still mark up the race as a partial success though since my body was feeling good even after the race on Saturday and my tech skills are not as rusty as I though they would be. All in all a good weekend in the racing department for me. Thanks to the IMB for putting on a great event. They work hard out there so that people can show up to race for a few hours and have fun. Hats off to them all.

'09 TdF Recap

2009-07-27T05:58:00.006-05:00

Overall I have to say that the 2009 Tour de France was pretty good. I've been surfing through the road bike forums and it seems to be a little divided concerning this subject for numerous reasons but, a lot of the reasoning for disliking it seems to be coming from newer "fans" of cycling. I'm not trying to put anyone down but, the longer you follow it, the more you appreciate the little things and details that make some things so good.

Some of my favorites of the '09 TdF include:

Team Liquigas. No, they did not have any stage wins but, they did win the King of the Mountains jersey with Franco Pellizotti, they put two riders in the top 10 on the final GC with Vincenzo Nibali in 7th and Roman Kreuziger, Nibali and Kreuziger also finished 2nd and 3rd overall in the Young Riders White Jersey competition, and the team was 5th overall in the Teams competition. It's a young team and they did well so they have the future to look forward to.

Thor Hushovd. He has been a favorite of mine to watch for quite a while and it was great to see him take his second overall Green Points Jersey (it's NOT called the sprinter's jersey). Having won only one stage, Thor finished behind Cavendish consistently ahead of the other sprinters and he even went out on a break on one of the mountain stages to pick up a couple of intermediate sprints which gave him a much needed 12 points. Considering that he only won by ten points, that day was pretty important. I know that some will criticize Thor for complaining about Cavendish and Cavendish losing 13 points on one stage finish but, Cavendish knows better than to keep looking over his shoulder while sprinting to the line and causing him to swerve back and forth therefore creating a potential bad situation at high speed.

Team Columbia-HTC. Cavendish with six stage wins and all in pack finishes. The guy is crazy fast and I love to watch him go. He looks so calm sitting on the back of the train and then just explodes with speed as he crushes the competition. His win in Paris on the final day was absolutely incredible with him having a massive gap over the field. Anyone know his top speed by chance? Wow. Mark Renshaw as a leadout guy definitely helps too because he also has some amazing power and is crazy fast and the whole team has the uncanny knack for chasing down breaks and destroying the field.

George Hincapie. My favorite American racer had yet another good Tour. He was so close to wearing yellow for a day that even I could taste it. That was too bad but, maybe next year. He made it into a couple of breaks and helped the breaks gain big gaps on the field at times. The rest of the guys in the break should learn to listen to him all the way to the final kilometer before they start worrying about the stage win. His guidance could get them there without the peloton catching back up. My favorite moment of his this Tour has got to be the final kilometer of the the final stage in Paris. A trio of Garmin riders was off on the right side of the road and Hincapie brought the Columbia-HTC train around on the left and dropped almost everyone in the peloton. By the time they were going through the final right-hander, all that was left were two Columbia-HTC riders in the likes of Renshaw leading out Cavendish for the win and they ended up with such a gap that they took the top two spots on the day. Impressive. Way to go George!!!

Garmin-Slipstream. They had an amazing Tour. Bradley Wiggins, former track champion, dropped seven kilos and became a pretty decent climber in the last year which helped him secure 4th overall on the final GC. Christian Vandevelde showed how great he truly is by turning himself into a great super domestique after his GC hopes started to fade and he made the necessary sacrifices to help Wiggins keep his 4th place...very cool. Tyler Farrar was unable to get a stage win but, he is close. This guy will be a force to be reckoned with in the seasons to come and watching him and Cavendish fight it out to the line should be pretty good. Watch for the this team to really make an impact in the peloton over the next few seasons.

The Schleck Brothers and Saxo Bank. Andy finished 2nd overall on the GC and his final TT was not terrible to help him keep the high spot. He knows what he needs to do to make it all better as well. Young Riders White Jersey competition winner two years in a row. He will win the Yellow overall in the next few years. Frank finishing 5th overall on the GC is one of the best teammates that Andy could have and he has quite a few good ones. Cancellara and O'Grady did a lot of work to keep the Schlecks high in the GC. Keep the team together and next year might be even better.

The French riders. I always like to see them get into the breaks and take it to the line. Three stage wins this year in great fashion and some impressive riding by a lot of individuals and 10th overall for Christophe Le Mevel and 12th overall for Sandy Casar, both of Francaise de Jeux. I think that they may actually be making a strong comeback.