Double crossed...

Saturday:

First up for the double UCI cyclocross weekend was Granogue. The DCCoD have an in with the Dupont's, and put on one hell of a cool race on their grounds just outside of Wilmington, DE. I raced the "B" race at noon, with a huge field of 120 or so racers. We were called up in order of registration, putting me around the 7th or 8th row. It was like one big slip and slide, but I rode a smooth race with only one crash. There were 2 runup sections which is where I seem to lose the most time.

Apparently they shortened up our race, removing a section that included some barriers. I don't think anyone was sorry about that. I finished up 48th out at 120'ish, I felt ok with that considering the conditions and my weak running.

After my race, I got to pit for Yozell and that was a pretty interesting view of a race. With a much mud there, he was pitting every 1/2 lap. He was running 3 bikes, so that helped keep things running smoothly. Bill Elliston helped get me started, and there was a few guys Mike knew that were helping as well. Mike finished 2nd place, amond a pack of very talented pack of racers.

Sunday:

Day 2 of the weekend, Wissahickon. This race isn't actually held at Wissahickon in Philly, but just outside Pottstown in Ludwigs Corner at a horse show area. The conditions were looking better than yesterday, as least I thought so. It was windier than Saturday, with minimal rain yet still pretty muddy.

I got a better starting position, around 4th or 5th row but on the outside in the gravel. I probably should've tried getting more towards the middle of the road. There was a crash right behind me that took down quite a few riders, and apparently one guy got trampled a bit - with a few broken ribs and a collarbone.

There were probably another almost 120 guys in this race, I finished 42nd. Its crazy how many people show up to these races, both to race and spectate. The vibe at a cross race is COMPLETELY different than a mtn bike race.

I'm not sure why I'm lifting the bike so high over the barriers, and I really need to work on technique for run-ups and barriers. Watching Yozell fly over the barriers is crazy. He has it timed perfectly, I feel like I have to jump over them - whereas he just strides over them.

Epic conditions...

Last night was the 2nd FSX of the year. It was true cross conditions - 30's and rainy, with a very large turn-out for Sausage Night. It was decided in order to prevent hypothermia between the races, we would only do one 33 minute plus a lap race format.

The shortcut involved downing 1/2 a raw hot dog before leaving on the shortcut loop. I took the shortcut loop every lap, remaining in the top 5 or 6 the whole race. I was riding behind flask most of the race, but lost contact after a slip & slide after the fence area near the barriers. I kept trying to get back onto the group but was about 10-15 seconds back for the remainder.

Thanks to SMC and Robi for sponsoring this night, and the after party at Robi & Susan's house. What a sausage fest it was back at their house, with hot dogs, white sausages, potatoes and lots of beer.

Looks like more epic cross conditions to follow for the weekend. I just finished getting all the grass/mud off my bike only to do it all over again on Saturday @ Granogue, and Wissahickon on Sunday. This will probably be my first and only double race weekend for the year, as I'm still on vacation. See you all out there in the mud!

-matt

Two in a row...

Today's weather proved to be challenging, looking for a break in the rain to get out for a few hours. The radar showed nothing and the hourly forecast looked good from 11 - 4, however it was raining most of the time.

I had to make a parts run to SMC for a preload cap for some XT cranks for my Niner One9 singlespeed project. I also had to return a headset removal tool that I borrowed to strip the Jet9 for the recall process. I kitted up with knee warmers, a hat, and a vest which I quickly removed even though it was still raining.

I felt surprisingly fresh on the bike, after yesterday's cross race. It seems that wouldn't last all that long. I got to SMC with about 10 minutes before closing, enjoyed a quick latte and an Emmaus Bakery donut, (very tasty). I grabbed my part and headed to Yozell's to pick up a tool to fix the lousy water bottle cage bolts on my Cannondale 29'er.

A quick bottle refill and I was off, starting to feel the previous days effort and the almost 30 miles of riding. It was a mostly uneventful ride home with what seemed like every road went uphill. There was an interesting thing that happened, I was riding up the road and there was a kid maybe 12 or 13 years old walking a fairly large black lab. I didn't feel like being chased, and wasn't sure if I should announce myself and be chased or just try to sneak by safely undetected. I chose the latter option, so I shifted into the big ring before approaching the dog & kid. As I passed them the dog tried to chase and must have had the leash wrapped around the kid, and down he went on the slippery road. I probably looked funny, but sucked for the kid (and I did feel kinda bad) but I'm sure it was the smarter choice for me having not to be chased on a slick wet road.

I hit up some dirt/gravel roads on the way home, and some slick climbs so steep I almost couldn't keep traction. I definitely was pretty cooked by this point, so it was kinda hard to recover from. Well this concludes my weekend off from work, and it was really nice having two days off in a row. Back to work tomorrow, and I hope to be able to figure out my schedule in order to ride FSX, we shall see.

'night.

Cross...

Mandatory monthly update prompted by VeganRob and Bill Strickland. Rob's ready to stop visiting, and Bill only uses me for my links :)

First cross race of my season was today - Whirlybird Cross at ByrnAthyn college near Philly. The weather couldn't be more perfect, 60's partly cloudy with a breeze. I rolled up to the event around 9:30 to get prepared for the 11am "B" race.

I got to cheer on some peeps in the C race, while warming up trying to figure out tire pressures for my recently acquired tubular wheelset. I settled on somewhere around 30'ish on my floor pump gauge, this would prove to be a little high in the front and low in the rear. I kept feeling like the rear tire was flat and rolling a bit too much.

I got to the start line with about 10 minutes to spare, hooked up with Matt Allyn and Ryan of Flanders and Jamie Harris. We were admiring the FU pit bike that Ryan was racing while waiting for call ups. Ryan and Kremer got a callup, leaving the rest of us to fight it out for some prime start line real estate.

Matt Allyn, PropaneJamie, Gunnar, and I all had some pretty good position near the front. I commented on Gunnar getting ready to trackstand until the whistle and crashing the field, well he didn't crash the field by somebody did - Plunkett unfortunately got slowed up in this crash. Apparently someone broke their ankle at the start, and someone else broke their femur on the C race.

I had a decent start probably top 20ish, though losing some places quickly. I chased Matt Allyn most of the race catching up to him in the corners, and getting dropped on the flats - man that dude has some power. I also tried staying with PropaneJamie when he passed me, no such luck there either. Matt had about a 20-30 second gap, which I tried very hard to close put couldn't get anywhere, until he rolled a tubie and grabbed a pit wheel. We rode the last half lap together and he crashed in the gravel, lost his chain and I passed him.

I finished 31st of 60 or so riders, with Matt right behind me - though he was riding REALLY strong and would've probably placed top 20 with no mechanical issues. It was a very fun race, great course, great people and perfect conditions. I stayed to cheer/heckle all my friends, Erica took the W in the elite womens race, X2 killed it in her first elite cross race!

Yozell won the elite mens race (damn that family is fast) Stephan got 2nd just ahead of Bahnson. The elite races were a lot of fun to watch, how fast and smooth these guys are. They seem to gain speed when it comes to the barriers.

I should have some pics to share from Anthony @ Cyclingcaptured.com soon. I hope to get some more cross racin' next weekend at the Hillbilly Hustle.

Bear Creek and running...

Running?? Monday night after work I got this crazy thought to take Jane (our Shepherd / Rottweiler mix) for a run around the development. One lap is .5 mile, I did 2 with her with the second won a little slower as she was lagging behind. I dropped her off back at the house and went out for another 2 laps, 1 lap all running and another run / walk lap. Roughly 20 minutes of running - and I'm pretty sore.

Tuesday night I met up with VeganRob for some laps of the race course at Bear Creek. Trail conditions were great, with only a little mud on the trails. There were a few other riders out there which was good to see, also a group of trail runners were out there. We did two laps before running outta light, the xc race is 3 laps - so my upcoming plans are to try to bust out 3-4 laps at least a few times before the race.

Tonight, another run on tap. Jane came along again, and was able to hang for 3 laps this time. I'm trying to not only build my running endurance, but hers too. Another 2 miles and 20 minutes. I feel like 10 minute miles are pretty slow - and I'm still sore! I may try a parkway or trail run soon too, just to see what the difference is between trail / street.

I don't really see myself getting too wrapped up in running, but I figured it was a good way to get a quick workout in. Also, with cross season coming up around the corner, I would like to be more prepared this year than last. I hope to start hitting some intervals / hills in the next few weeks. I think there's a race only 3 or so weeks away.

Time for some sleep, 'night!

-matt

It's been awhile..

Well not a lot's gone on since my last update, since I'm a slacker and don't update. I haven't been really training too much, just riding. I was sick for about a solid month, killing my thoughts of 2,5,10 and the Wilderness 101.

I raced French Creek last Sunday, had a great first lap, a not so great 2nd lap, but finished 3rd outta 5 or 6 guys. I really need to step up some training for a good result at Bear Creek, the last race in the MASS. I may try to hit up another H2H race or 2 after Bear Creek, then it's cross time. I really think I will enjoy the cooler temps in the cross season, the damn heat and humidity is killing me during xc efforts.

Friday, I did a road ride from my house out to Kutztown for coffee and a cookie. I planned on going for 3 or 4 hours, though my plan was cut short by some crazy storms. This was the worst rain I've been out in, including some torrential downpours I've ridden through on the motorcycle a few years ago. The difference is on the motorcycle you have a bit more protective gear on, and on the road bike the rain hurts like crazy.

After SMC happy hour a bunch of us went to Grumpy's BBQ in Whitehall. They have some damn good food, and they had Dogfish Head Ale 60 minute on tap. They also had a blues/rock band playing that really kicked ass. If you have a chance check these guys out - Eddie Bluestone.

Sunday - no racing! Just hit up Lehigh with Mike Melnick for a few hours. I gave him the whole tour, we hit mostly every trail and some forwards and backwards. It was a pretty killer loop, about 19 miles with quite a bit of climbing. Conditions were perfect, after the previous rain fall we had on Friday and Saturday night.

Back to work tomorrow- and thankfully Cash For Clunkers is OVER! It brought in quite a few customers, but most of them were very VERY frugal and its a ton of bullshit paperwork. Now let's see if the government actually pays us, the dealership has about $800k outstanding from the program.

I'm all updated out, maybe I'll post back quicker than my last 2 month old post. Not that any of this is really interesting. Later

-matt

Visit PA MTB Festival...

This weekend was the Visit PA MTB festival weekend. Since I had some time off earlier in the month for a family visit, I was unable to get some extra time off to suffer the 9 hr endurance race with my friends.

I did however get to spend some time at the farm on Friday night for the Night Time Trial. This event is really cool, with the Visit PA team riders starting at 9pm and everyone else going out at 1 minute intervals. I had a chance to pre-ride the course with VeganRob, DanK, Pete, Scott Alden while it was still light (or almost). We finished up at just before 9pm, without lights and it was pretty dark in some of the sections. Our pre-ride data showed 6.37 miles and a kinda easy pace of 48 minutes.

Since I had determined late I was gonna race, I had the 2nd to last start time of 10:38pm. I had heard some times of the fast guys A-ron of 34'ish minutes. I felt really good out on the course, passing about 7 or 8 people that started before me. I finished in 38:23 - 6th place in the solo field, I'm happy with my ride there.

I returned back to the farm on Saturday night to do some partying with everyone, who suffered out there all day. They had great weather for the endurance race, though not as great as the weather in my comfortable office with fast internet :)

Sunday's events were some slow downhill race, kid's race, bike toss, and short track xc. Seems a lot of people didn't stay around for the Sunday festivities. Because of the attendence, Kuhn did just 3 STXC races, with no A, B categories. We started at 12:30 for our 30 minutes on the course. The leaders did 13 laps, and I did 12 laps - ending up in 12th place. The speeds were really fast, 7.5 miles in 30:22.

After cleaning up and sticking around for some raffle drawings- I won a Feedback Sport Alpine digital scale. I hope to get out to either the Lewis Morris Challenge (where I won in Sport last year) or Long Pine Classic (michaux state forest). It might also be time to start getting ready for the W101?? I've been considering this race this year for a few weeks, we'll see how that works out. The 2-5-10 century is coming up and I'm gonna try to get that Monday off of work to do it.

Time for some sleep. Later

-matt