Cyclocross...Dirty, Broken, Angry Things

I haven't posted for a while - not a whole lot going on lately. Things have been in a sort of holding pattern as road season ends and 'cross season begins. Last weekend I attended a FANTASTIC 'cross clinic in Burlington, KY and spent time in Cincinnati, visiting my ultra-cool teammate Melissa. I learned a ton of technical 'cross stuff from my coach (he's amazing) and from Dan Tille - who's coaching business hosted the event.

I was totally stoked to be racing the first event of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup this morning - my legs were feeling great and I was totally ready to go hard and fast. I missed 'cross season last year with elbow tendonitis so I'm really looking forward to putting my road fitness and 'cross-specific skills to work in prep for a season of UCI races, Masters and Elite Nationals. The Chicago series is not a focus for me but I will do some of the races when I'm not racing elsewhere. Kenda was well represented with myself, Kris Over, Corie Berrigan, Monique Karlen and Susan Uphill on the line - all really strong athletes. The field was (I think) in the neighborhood of 15 for category 1/2/3. Imelda was representing in the cat 4 race.

The course this morning was pretty straight-forward and very fast. There was a fair amount of open grass with a few technical areas, a short run-up and a couple of barriers but not much in the line of difficult stuff (like sand and mud - ick). The race started off well enough - I got the lead from the gun and actually caught the 40+ men's field within the first couple of minutes. I wanted to work through as many of the guys as possible and try to open up a gap early. Things were looking pretty good until I hit a deep divot (where it came from I do not know) and the head of my seatpost snapped down. I finished the lap with my saddle tipped forward and ended up pulling off, knowing full well that another bump would surely break it in two and possibly hurt me. This was a tremendously diasppointing chain of events mostly because I was feeling good and ready to have a fantastic race. A trip to the Pony Shop is definitely in order!

Speaking of the Pony Shop, owner Lou Kuhn beat the snot out of the 30+ field this morning - soloing away early and putting on a clinic. Way to go Lou!! Now, if only I could have a second bike in the pit the way Lou does..... Also representing in the 40+ field was Josh Mallan who had a strong finish. Word from the Edens traffic snafu is that Mike Jones (who opted for a nice, paved criterium course in Kenosha....Hey Mike! Harden the f#@* up!!) finished 2nd in the 40+ and 5th in the 30+ categories today, taking 2nd overall in the Tour of IL/WI point series. Nice work guys!

Thanks to Mom and Dad and Steve for coming out - sorry I couldn't show you what I can really do. Thanks to Paul, Mike and Mary for being present and ever-supportive. Hello to Karlen and Troy who rode down from Evanston on the tandem. I'm going to work my butt off at 'cross practice this week in prep for another race in Wisconsin next weekend.