Fun Times in Delafield - NOT!!

I think nearly everything about this day was meant to test me - one surprise after the next. I was awake at 3:30am, suffering from insomnia and wishing I could sleep just a little......bit....longer. But noooooo. Steve was kind enough to travel with me to Delafield, WI today for a 'cross race at Lapham Peak State Park about 20ish miles west of Milwaukee. Imagine my surprise when we were informed by the very nice park ranger that we had to pay $14 just to get into the park. Sheesh. I reluctantly coughed up the cash and we parked. Yet another fine suprise when I went to register - start times had been changed (moved later) so I ended up having to sit around, kill time and let the pre-race anxiety build.

The weather was rather warm (in the 80s) and conditions on the course were dusty but fast. While doing pre-race course inspection some poor guy bit it hard in front of me and I inevitably followed him down into the weeds. Nice. I got Jones'd. Another fine bruise for my growing collection. I have to say that I've never had the occasion to do a 'cross race on a mountain bike course before today. Again, nice. It was 2 miles of grass with a narrow dirt trench in the middle that snaked around the park. I couldn't decide whether to ride on the grass or in the trench as it had a way of grabbing the front tire and dragging you down to meet the earth if you twitched an inch to the left or right. There were three sets of 2 barriers and for some reason the race organizer/course designer felt the need to put the barriers at the tops of hills. No momentum, no speed, slow barrier crossings. Not terribly fun at all.

Everything started well enough. We stood around at the start line for a good 20 minutes (as the warm-up disappeared) before finally being released for 45min of fantastic fun. Kenda was represented by Kristin, Monique, Susan and myself. I think there were about 10 women on the line. I got the hole shot off the line and basically blew up about halfway through the lap, watching as 3 or 4 riders passed me. That was humiliating. I definitely went out much too hard and payed the price. After about the third of 6 laps I was able to establish some sort of rhythym, started taking the trench route, quit riding on the grass and actually pass a few people. At the bitter end of things I was able to scratch my way to 3rd place, approximately 40 seconds off the lead, according to Steve who was providing time splits (which I really had no desire to hear). Congrats to my teammates - Kristin won and Mo and Susan weren't far behind me. Way to go, ladies!

Not a very good day but I suppose it could have been worse. Thanks to Steve for accompanying me on this epic day. Thanks to Greg, Michael and Thomas for taking time to swing by and say hello. Up next is a lovely office park criterium in the 'burbs and then another trip down to Cincinnati for two days of UCI 'cross racing. I have a bit of work to do before then....

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.

A Change of Pace: Directeur Sportif...

The past training week has been super easy as I am transitioning to cyclocross for the remainder of the year after a long spring and summer of skinny tires. This was a welcome dead weekend on the race schedule for me so I volunteered to drive the support vehicle for the MetLife men's team entered in the ABR 4-Man Team Time Trial "World" Championship. The team was a quartet of a bad-ass masters - Mike Jones, Josh Mallan, Paul Swinand and "Time Trial" Ted Westerheide. All of them are extremely strong, hard-working, talented athletes who had a legitimate shot at defending the 30+ Masters title. I was happy to do whatever I could to help them. My only demand was hot, black coffee to awaken me at that ridiculous hour - and they delivered!

The guys start time was 9:15am which necessitated an early (5:15am!) departure to allow adequate travel and warm-up time (since, in their own words, they're old and need extra time to get warm). The course was 60K long with a fair amount of turns on primarily flat roads. There were a few small grades on occasion but nothing difficult. It appeared that while the corn was still up, there wasn't much shelter to be had. The wind was definitely going to be a factor on an otherwise perfect day for racing - temp in the mid 70s, nothing but sunny skies.

We rolled in, parked, registered and I went to work making sure that numbers were pinned, extra wheels were in the car, tires were up to pressure, bottles were filled and all the guys had everything they needed before start time. They'd worked together in the previous weeks to figure out the best rider order to use on race day and spent time practicing exchanges and doing some rotating paceline work - team time trialing is a difficult thing to do so this type of work is essential in helping to be more comfortable on race day.

They rolled off the start and up to speed quite smoothly and were a solid working unit for the majority of the first half of the TT - everyone rotating through, working at the front and passing a lot of earlier starting teams along the way. Things were going great until a minor mishap occurred at about 30K coming out of a left hand turn that had a bit of debris. Josh and Paul got through the turn fine but Mike appeared to have adjusted his line which unfortunately caused a slight crossing of wheels that sent Ted sliding to the pavement. By the time I pulled off to the side of the road to help, Ted was already back up, getting on his bike and hauling ass to get back up to the guys who had eased up a bit to wait. Once they were all together it didn't take long to ease back into their rotation and get up to speed. I wasn't watching the clock while this all happened but I have to think that they probably lost somewhere between 30sec and 1min when Ted went down. I was just happy that he was okay (only a little road rash) and that no one else had gone down with him.

Author's Note: We decided on the ride home that from now on "getting jonesed" will officially be how we'll refer to getting wrecked on the bike. Sorry Mike - had to include that...

It was clear from my vantage point that they started to really kick things into high gear as they entered the final 7-8mi or so. In fact they'd cranked it up so much that Paul took one last pull at the front at about 4mi out and sat up - he'd done all he could to help the team today. That was totally okay because timing was taken from the rear wheel of the 3rd rider to cross the finish line. Mike, Ted and Josh hammered all-out the rest of the way and posted a time that held up for the remainder of the day, giving them the 30+ title and overall 4th fastest time on the day. They averaged close to 27mph!

Aside from the outrageously long wait we had to endure for results to be posted and medals distributed, it turned out to be a most excellent day. 4th fastest time on the day? Pretty darn good for a bunch of guys who do this stuff for fun. I was happy to spend my Sunday helping them and appreciate the opportunity to be part of it.

Up next: A trip to Kentucky and the first cross race of the season....

State Time Trial Champion!

Labor Day weekend wasn't entirely restful - I did the state time trial (TT) championship on Saturday in Harvard, IL. I think there were about a dozen women total in all categories so I can't say the attendance was all that good but I had a good enough race to set the new women's course record and take the state title.

Up next is the last night of track racing, a low-key weekend with no racing then a trip to Kentucky for a cyclocross clinic and a race before heading home to start the Chicago Cross Cup series. I didn't race 'cross last season because of some elbow tendonitis but I'm good to go this year and am hoping to represent at Elite and Masters Nationals in December.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my godchild Elise!!