Day two of CX weekend,Sacto #3

I like this course, flat technical and the grass is real tight and FAST! Funny how one can get all stoaked for a douple dip specially when the start time is 1PM. Saturday night Got all my equipment ready to go in the Garage.

6 am: Sunday Morning, Man it's gloomy out there, the house is warm, coffee is good,Jammies are snuggly and I just got CXM issue #7! Man do I really want to brake this Folgers moment? Na I'm enjoying this quiet morning. Ummmm Oatmeal.

8:30 Guess I'll shower and do some stuff around the house. Dang it, I did house chores all last week, why should I waste this hall pass, I"m going racing!

9:30 All packed up headed for Sacto, ATM Get some Money, Coffee, Danish and I'm good.

9:42 Almost get pushed off the freeway by some doush-bag in a Suburban, GIDAFINGA-BUMPASS'S!

11:00 Arrive at Disco Park Sacto,Humm Not as big of turnout as last year, Probably because no NCNCA series this year. Fill out Reg, Talk to Cody Kaiser about his Euro season. He's glad to be back in Cali for some, ahem warm weather. I guess so compared to Belgium.

11:15 Start pre-race ritual,Preride course, Humm not a techy as last year, Guess it's the Tufo Flexus for today. Warm-up, What to do about pressure? 35/38 psi or 30/34 psi. bumpy, but fast, 30-34 it is.

12:50 Callup/line up

1:00 Staged rollout 35+ get a 60sec start,Nice. 1:01 Old Farts GO!!!!!!

1:01:12 Moving up through pack got the inside line, WTF! Flat on Ass in turn one, The front let go and hard. CRAP! should have used 35/38, DAMN!

1:01:20 Back on Feet, Chain back on. Going hard but watch it in the corners, watching the field move away with every turn, don't want to go down again.

1:05 Wheel pit, change wheel. Wheel on, GO red dog, go blue dog, go green dog,GO!

1:06~ 1:35 Catching riders in my field, 1,2,3,~10

1:39 2 laps to go, Crap I can't do this anymore,

1:40 I am soooo tired, How long can this go on,been working in a coalmine going down,down.

1:45 Rider #380 Your done! THANK GAWD!

All Said and done I still had a great workout, made some new friends. I chased the whole freaking race, caught a good 10 or so racers, but the real race was well ahead. Would have been nice to be in the mix but that's how CX is Gotta be ready and full on racing from the gun.
Next up Turkey dinner and some good ol mileage to burn off the T-day sins.

Later

CX weekend!

LARPD#6

Got a 10th today shoulda woulda coulda done better. Low turnout today 20 or so in the 45+ B's, guess a lot of folks went to the Cow palace and from what I heard it sounded like the place to be for the atmos.

The course was shorter,faster and in the reverse direction which on paper sounded really cool until you went through the forest. WAY bumpy! guess all the dishing out of the bumps from the previous 5 races in the other direction makes for sharper bumps when headed the other direct. I got to the front of the line up and made it with the top 5 in the holeshot. I was leading out for a part of it but should have stayed hidden and ended up blown out getting through the forest.

Not too bad as once I detached from the lead 4 or 5 I had a decent lead on the field, however today I decided today was the day that I need to go single chainring set-up.

Everytime I got over the barriers and wanted to make a shift from the small to the large chaingring it was a hit or miss event. I kept loosing time every time I tried to change ring gear. ARGH!

I ordered the single ring conversion kit from Crossworld and will be making the conversion over the T-day Holidays.

NEXT!

BASP#2 Race Report

Cat: Mstrs 45+B
Team mates: None
Place:30th (35:42)
Granted the BASP races are a bit more expensive that other races but Boy do they put on a show and it is truly worth the extra $5 reg few for such a well orchestrated event.
The Race: Man this was a hard mans race! The whole course was more or less held at the top of the knoll amongst the eucalyptus and loamy ground. Overall the course had a mixture or dirt, loam, Asphalt, sand and grass. I had to ask myself is it possible to go up hill more than downhill on a closed course.
The Start was from asphalt up the hill and transitioned onto the dirt. Not a hugely heated start but there was a real bad crash with a few riders going down with chains and frames a flying. Once past that crash I was making my way up the side of the group and trying to gain Position. On this course it’s really hard to do as a good portion was more or less single track give the lines were either on a beaten path or through a bunch of soft stuff, sticks and duff. The run up section was rid-able if you could find a clear line most cases you were stuck behind a train of bodies all grabbing for the same section of narrow real-estate. But at one point just before the top you had to dismount. Once up top you either had to hit it or take a moment to recover for the upcoming Sand pit. Once through the pit it was on to the softest grass covered soil I’ve ever been on, I couldn’t wait to get through it so I could hit asphalt and downhill section to try and gain some ground through the technical section. I wish I could recall more of the race as I was in oxygen debt and just trying to survive and it was a blur of passing bodies of both gaining and loosing positions.

The last lap I was being gained on by Jeff Sobul from Kaiser who I had passed when he dropped a chain through the barriers and had a few riders up front of me by maybe 5 secs. I figured, ya I’m not even close to the podium but at least I’m not dead last and I want to make sure of that. In cross racing it’s all about finishing Strong!
We are just getting through the Sandpit and it’s time to leave it all out there.
I put more pressure on the peddles and gain some ground. We get on to the asphalt and I figure I brought all 195lbs of me might as well use in on the gravity section and push harder. I get with in striking distance of a 35+ I need to pass to get to the 2 more 45+ guys. I hit it at the bottom of the next up hill get by the 35’r and just keep going to the top and get the two 45+’rs.

No time to let them figure out what happened and I just keep going. Now on to the last up hill , I just want this sufferfest over with! I get up on to the Finish area totally blown up, DONE!

Ugh..... Can I throw-up now?

You’d think guys hitting 45+ would slowdown, I think they just get faster and become real hard asses, WHOOF! Man that was the hardest CX race I think I’ve ever done for a 30th place, but after looking at the results of the 45+A race our times weren’t too far off at least for the lapped riders.

45+B winner (34:58)
45+A winner (38:14) I’ll have to assume they put a lap on us in the B’s.

I may just have to up my game and enter with the A’s to see just how hard an “A” race really is.
Cheers
Jim

Exercizing the Gear Gremlins LARPD#2

Well by the title I'm sure you can tell how this one came out.

LARPD #2
Teammate: Ron Rel

This time I lined up just behind ol'CX buddy Greg Phipps at the front, Good to see Greg back out there after some phsiology issues got addressed. YA Greg!
The start was typical hurley burley CX start and I was in full gallup headin towards the first turn in about 10 or so for the whole field. I could See Rel got the holeshot, GO RON! around the corner and into the chips, If you can believe it a big guy like me got railed headin across the woodchips but I quickly got back on course after breathing in a woodchip be it a few spots down.

Slight course change from last week, less little Red Riding Hood through the trees, less winding around the grass and an addition of another set of barriers.....YUM! Nice barrier placement as well, the placement forced riders to run up a small bump before remounting. I like this. Oh ya and it rained that morning, not really muddy but at leastthe dust was down.
So onto the grass and MAN is this a power suck! However I am liking how the tubulars arerolling across the grass and bumpy stuff. Last weeks problem with the cut tire was a faulty air gauge I was running probably 15psi not good going across rocks! This time with a good gauge I'm running 40psi. Also I'm race testing a new technique for repairing the Tufo's, a glued in rubber plug. It's holding flawlessly and saved me about $120 for a new Tufo.

The race is settling in I'm catching some of the guys who went out too hard and some are catching me that went out too soft, either way the race is in full swing. I'm now 2 laps in and latched on to a Taleo and unattached riders wheel racing for 9th place sitting in forcing the pace from the back. The unattached eventually falls away and it's me and the Taleo guy for the next half lap. He's beginning to look tired and slowing up a bit. So I figure it's time to take overand make a move. The new barrier section is coming up and a perfect place to take a spot. We get off the bikes over the barriers, up the incline and I hop on the bike just a bit too hard and WHAM! My tire rolls off the rim. SOAB! Luckily the pit is just down the hill and I run the bike over. Unfortunatly the Change didn't go too well, Marianne Bless her heart again was there to help,but I couldn't figure how to get the wheel off. Luckily another Crosser swung over to lend a hand. Turns out the rear Canti and got caught just under the rim causing the wheel not to release.New wheel back on and its out for 2 laps to finish the race. I ended up in 15th even after a not so graceful change on my part. But hey that's what these first few races are for to gauge Fitness (or my lack) and to get the gear sorted out.

Again had a ball, good friends good racing. I'm gonna have to check and see if BBQ's are allowed so we can get some brats and brew going!

Cheers
Jim

Much a'deax about nothing, LARPD#1

Race: Mens 45+ B
Teammates Ron R.& Matt

Always excited for the first race of the season to get started and over with. Us IVCT guys were all lined up and ready to go, Huge turnout for the Mens B's, Me thinkest thar be some Sandbaggin for this first race;)
Pre rode the course to see how the land lays and the course, this race was in a new location across from the usual location at the Rodeo on the grass. Kind of interesting lay-out lots of twisting and turning on a big grass field before it moved over to some dirt trails amungst some scrub trees. I was a bit disappointed in that there was only one sectionof Barriers in the form of logs. then there was a lone log just aroudn the corner. Interesting position for the lone log. It was a choice of either remount just to dismount again or shoulder the bike and run the whole gamut. Seemed like the obvious choice was to run it as the time loss would be less to run. After the wooded area there was a couple of stretches of flat dirt road that if you've got your TT game on, you could make up some time.

So the line up for the race, Always the critical point. Great in theory better if practiced. Me I didn't practice it and should have shoved my way up to the front, Note for next week be agressive and just push my way to the front. They seperated the field into open B's and the ol'fart B's. Fair enough. Whistle goes off and the season is official WAAAAHOOOO! Good start everybody gets off to a safe start. After the first dirt section we are into the Grass I'm about 25 or so back and moving up some side patches. About 3 or 4 turns into the Grass I see Matt stack it up. looks like a little tire washout and he's on the deck. I see Ron Rel just up ahead and the pace is pouring on to get an early dominance. I look across when coming back on the turn Matt went down and he's back on his bike. Good deal!
Still working on some rusty cornering skills I'm loosing a little ground. A quick look at the HRM and WOW 203Bpm. I totally forgotwant a heart buster cx can be. Later I checked my peak and I hit 223! So mystery solved on defective HRM belt, I had replaced last years thinking it was a messed up unit. We're now in the Scrub treed section and headed for the logs.
Over those cleanly and I"m now clear of my bad habit on stomping on my peddle to remount my bike, I'm now officially jumping on to the saddle. For the most part I'm holding my place and not getting passed. I'm pretty happy with that, I see Rel just about 10~15 secs ahead and try to set my target on the Ron-imal. That dude is one tuff cookie, no skirts flapping from under his shorts!
Going past the S/F line and still in decent positionbut those Rocks inbedded in the road are killers. Bike handling skills are good getting through the soft stuff, Note to self go do some work out on Grass, not the medically approved type either!
Going into Lap I think 4, I hit a rock HARD! and cut my tubie. With in about 40' it was flat. Nice thing about Tubulars is that you can ride them flat right to the pit. Unfortunatly the Pit are was about a 1/2 lap into the course. So my race was pretty much over I'm seeing rider after rider go past me,m then finally I see Matt go past and yell to him Flat, good luck!

After a tire change and Bless Mariannes heart she ran from the S/F line to assist and off I went to finish the race. I have no idea where I placed but I do know one thing. I need a new floor pump. What I thought was about 35 Psi was substancially lower as my gauge was off. Oh well thats what these first races are about, get a feel for your fitness or in my case lack, also to dial in the equipment. Much more critical that the gear get ironed out as Cross if a beast on Gear.

The more important question wasn't where I placed but did I have fun? It's Cross of course I had fun!

Better luck next week.
Jim

Warnerville the un-race report

This will be a short one.I came into the race with questionable fitness after being off the bike for an extended period of time fighting off that real nasty cold, My fitness was in the dumps. My plan for the race if you can call it that was to just sit in and get through the race. If it felt like I couldn't do a Damn thing I'd try to help out in the first or so lap then just grenade it.
So looking back I burned three Matches I didn't own.

> One, Thinking that Rich N was motioning to me to bring him to the front. My bad he didn't
want that.

> Two, Thing that the group was going to power around this hill/corner, I didn't want to be too
far back when we hit the dirt. the surge didn't happen

> Three, Just picked some real bad lines through the dirt section. Moved to the middle and
couldn't get back to the shoulder and just burned up fighting the ruts.

About 100 or so feet from the end of the dirt I just blew up and couldn't close the gap and the wind began to rip the meat from my bones like a great white to a sealion. So I figured I needed the mileage and proceeded to ride the course all the while seeing my group just up the road slowing fading away. But one more lap in the 30Mph wind was all I could take, I pulled off to see how my mates would finish off this race.

After the Race I see my buddy Johnny C and asked him how he did. He pretty much had the same day as I only his was rittled with flats and not poor fitness. Since I'm off for a few days I asked him if he's up for some riding on Monday. He informs me he's racing....Monday?
Johnny C: "Ya Jimmy remember last year after Snelling?"
Oh Ya, that meant some self-loathing and punshment training ride. I'm in!

That's it until next time.

Not the only bag of sand! LARPD 11/22/08

LARPD 11/22/08
Race: Men's C
Field: 40ish
Place: 14th
HR: Avg. 177 Peak 228

So no big expectations here today but I was hoping for a better finish than I did. I was feeling bad as I was "Sand-Bagging", apparently I wasn't the only one there doing the same. At least my excuse was that I had to leave early to take my daughter to her first concert.
I set out thinking I had a chance at a Podium, Guess again! So lining up I pulled up to the front thinking that I'd go for the sprint. Then some clown in a "Ritchey kit" pulls up in front of me. I'm thinking that's pretty ballzy, dude if you're that good upgrade, Whatever!
Off goes the whistle and again I can't clip in worth a darn! I loose about 15 spots just from a bad clip in. Looks like I really need to get out and get those darn clip-ins down or I'll spend the rest of the season catching up to where I should be in the field.
At least this time around I stopped hoping the guys in front of me were actually going to try to chase something down instead of the usual hold on tight and try to get home in one piece. So every chance I got I hauled tailto get past some of the back markers and move up as early as possible.
I finally got to the point where moving up had stopped and the racing began. I'm on this guys tail exchanging pulls every so often and taking advantageof the quick long legs and getting past him every so often over the barriers.Couple of times during the race I had noticed a little chain slap and I'm thinking dang must be that big ol'sandpit Shane has us going though gumming up the works, better be mindful.
We're getting to the final lap and some guy is moving up from behind. Not to worry he's about 10 sec's behind and I'm now looking to make the move on my immediate competitor for a 10th spot. I'm thinking I'll take him on the quint barriers.
We're leaving the corral and into the triple before the little grassy bump. I put or is that drop my bike on to the grass whenI drop my chain.....DAMN! Not to worry I'll throw the chain back on and we're in business.
Stupid me I get back on the bike no momentum thinking I'll get up the hill in good shape when the guy coming up from behind passes me, CRAP! Game over he's gone so is Mr. 10th!

I'll stick to the Cat B 45+ at least those guys are honest about their skills. Except for this guy Chris Stastny, When I was leaving that guy had a good minute lead within the first 2 or 3 laps. Time for that guy to upgrade with speed like that.

Which brings me to the whole Categorization thing. Man they really need to start using a system. The whole self placement thing " C's are for those trying Cross for the first time" blah blah blah, at what point does one move up? I find the B's race to be less intense than the C. And then there are some in the B's just annihilate the field......what's up with that?

Humm what next GG park Cross race, More training and save it for the CCCP race this year. I'm drooling at the thought of that race! It's more like the Euro CX races that I invision.

Later