I feel the feeling I forgot

My 2009 CX season is in the books and I am very pleased to have ended an otherwise rocky season on a high note. I only had a few clean races to shine, thanks to 3 straight races with substantial issues, but the few times I didn't have to claw my way out of some hole, I had strong races and proved to myself that I could hang with the big boys, especially when it counts.

Aside from my 2007 Cat III State Championship win, I have never won a CX race. I finished 3rd overall in the A race that year, but due to the lack of competition I don't really consider the 3's jersey a W. Granted, I started CX in the A's and have managed to score a handful of hard earned second place finishes, even nip at Josh's heels a couple times this fall at Creve Coeuer, but after my third season without the W, my motivation to WIN is even stronger. For some off reason I can't break my will to race some mtb races in Aug (when I should be taking a break before starting to work on my CX base) when I have the good feeling of summer legs. The thought of getting a good jump on CX training spirals further into the tailspin when the endurance man of days of old in me can't say no to racing the Burnin and I'm skipping skills practices in late September to squeeze in 4 hr mtb rides. This past season I added the key component of getting sick enough to not be able to get out of bed for a week and the two weeks it took me to feel normal again after that. I'm done with it. After seeing Josh and Shots wheels dangling in front of me for 50 of the 60 minutes yesterday I know I can do it, I just have to make some sacrifices.

So, after a botched summer rest period, endurance race training in September, followed by sickness in mid October, I reevaluated my goals and devoted my season to training for the "Little Big Show." My confidence was pretty good after my initial success at the Creve Couer double header, but for the next three races after that I found myself chasing from the back with bad legs, tired from the increased training load. I stuck to my guns and continued to drop the hammer all week long and dealt with the consequences on the weekends. My plan was to drop one of my hard workouts the week before Bellefontaine in preparation for States, but after a really hard race at Mount Pleasant the weekend before, I rushed back into business as usual and instead of skipping the said workout, I forced it and went well into the red. At Bellefontaine I had another mishap, watched the lead group ride away and could not muster the strength to latch back on which resulted in another less than satisfying placing for me. Last week, before the little big show, I was worked and instead of blasting some key workouts I found myself resting, trying to breath just a little life back into my legs for the weekend. I knew I might not be as sharp, but over rested is better than over trained so I aired on the side of caution.


On to the race P, 1, 2 Race


I was expecting a bigger turnout with more KC guys, Nate and some usual suspects from the Lou; none of whom materialized. Since I was counting on a bigger list of top five caliber racers, my goal was to try to squeeze into the top five. As we lined up I sized up the small field and set my goal to top three, no easy feat when 4 of the 9 starters had won races (myself not included) and 6 of the riders were the top 6 in the Bubba Cup points race.




Jay took off like a rocket with me in tow and things started to spread out, right quick. Shot caught us at some point and kept on going. I can't really recall the details but Shot was off the front and the Grranimal and I were in pursuit with a strong chase group 30 seconds back. Grrman gaped me at some point and I knew it was his wheel or failure come the pavement so I pushed to latch on. He didn't like this too much so he lit the whole matchbook on fire when he hit the pavement and kicked like there were 200 to go, I maintained my spot on his wheel and he didn't like that too much either.



The next lap was more of the same but somewhere along the way I passed Grrman and watched in horror as the JJ express closed in. By the time I hit the pavement it was clear the firepower of Josh, Dr Mark and Jay were too much to mess with so I latched on the back, got towed across the tarmac and went to work.



It gets a little foggy here as I was pushing myself to new limits previously hindered by tired legs and bad confidence, but somehow Josh and I started riding away from the group, little by little and closing in on Shot. I was amazed to find myself dangling anywhere from a bike length to 10 seconds back for the majority of the race. My gap on Dr Mark was growing steadily as the encouragement form all my friends was so intense I found myself sprinting out of all turns, killing myself to maintain contact with the dream (crushers). I think it was with one lap to go that I was within striking distance of Shottler who was (just behind Josh) as we neared the crucial pavement section. It was a now or never situation but there wasn't anything left for me to give as I sprinted after them on the pavement, only to watch them slide away as the gap opened.

I would guess that I finished about 30 seconds back from Josh and had a pretty good gap over Dr Mark, over a minute. I'm really pleased with the way I raced, even if I know I'm capable of more once I get the timing down. Two years ago I was struggling to stay on the same lap as Josh, last year I found myself chasing pretty far off the pace in the bigger races or slightly better if he was being generous and this year I feel as though I was competing with him in a race he was trying to win.




"And I stared straight into the future
Tell me what do you see?
That this time is gonna be different "

As I sit here pretty beat up and tired after the first Sunday this season I decided to party it up a little bit and while I did miss the post race camaraderie at the pub, recovering and getting back to business is much more rewarding to me than struggling to get through Mondays and being less than good on Tuesdays. Having said that, it's party season for me now and there's so much to celebrate. Mesa made multiple podium appearances yesterday and it is pretty awesome to see that in just three years our CX team has really taken some shape. Matt James had what I consider to be his best result ever with a hard earned 2cd place in the 3's race to a flying Dan Miller. Christopher Connolly won the SS race, Matt Fickinger won the 4's race, Kevin Bonney won the Jr race, Rico George won his masters race (and made it look easy) and our new team member, Chris Roettiger, came in 2cd in the women's open (no more plugs for you until you get my picture on the team website!!!). SOLID RACING!



Thanks to everyone for all the cold PBR handups and rule breaking tea and crumpet parties I was able to have behind Buddys back! Really though, thanks to everyone out there yelling and ringing them bells every race. It makes the pain cave a much brighter place!

The noose is hanging, at least you won't die wondering

For the last three races in a row I have felt like Tom Brady with a deficit, late in the fourth quarter, looking deep for Randy Moss. I don't like racing like a would be hero and definitely am not strong enough to be one in our blossoming CX scene. Mistakes equal failure. Aside from the three big guns at the front, there has been a fairly constant shuffle in the top five that makes for some fast and furious racing.

I was feeling pretty good on Saturday after leaving out one workout last week to get some rest in leading up to the little big show. I, like everyone else there, had probably enjoyed a little too much holiday cheer over the course of the week, but nevertheless, I was feeling confident and liked the course. The Grranimal and I joked at his drunken cycling escapades earlier in the week, but not so funny was his concerns for his noggin and sore shoulder. Pre-race he took a little dive over the bars and clearly was a little shaken up.

The race got underway and knew I had the good feeling. I was sitting in the wings of the lead group with relative ease and being patient to let things pan out. Since it was a straightforward track, the group was about 8 deep and the gaps didn't open up too fast on the chasers, but with some boggy slow sections, greasy corners and ride ups, hanging on meant riding smooth. I slid out around a corner and slipped to the back of the pack but stayed on and kept my focus.

There were three sections of the course that were fast enough and had enough wind to make being in the group crucial, for me anyways. Going into the second lap people started to get a little bit froggy and the attacks started up. I found myself covering some early attacks and then on the front as we were racing for corners. I slipped back in the group and was happy to let Dr. Mark resume the pace making as I was really marking Nate and Shot. Unfortunately, on the technical backside of the course I slipped on the root and went from front to back of the group and latched back onto Grranimals, wheel coming down the pavement at the 180 by the lake. I saw his foot come un-clipped and then his bike went sideways as I plowed over him and thought I heard the crack of carbon. I was upright but he was clearly dazed and not getting up so I grabbed his bike and offered some kind words of encouragement. Precious seconds, which felt like an eternity, ticked by before he came to and told me not to wait.

Riding in defensive mode again I chased the lead group and watched the gap grow when my wheel would hit the wind. The openess of the course allowed me to keep pretty good track of the gaps which stayed fairly consistent to the chase group, but Shot and Nate were Audi 5000, G. Following a couple laps of rage inspired riding I started to fade and Nagy was creeping up from behind. I caught up to Dan Miller and had him and Nageltronic keeping me in check for the next few laps until I saw the 5 to go card and kicked in the turbo. Wish I could ride like that all race, but somehow my head won't let me.

With two to go I came up on Martin who was going backwards after a really strong start and started to close on Yielding who also had a great start but just got passed by Jay. Jay had been maintaining his gap on me most of the race but it was starting to shrink and I was thinking about points and placing.

With one to go I was closing in on Jeff and maybe 15 seconds back from Jay. I caught Jeff at the barriers and Jay was just ahead, but he had some fight left in him and wasn't about to let me close that down. I rolled across the line in 5th again.

So after a flat at St Vincent, a mechanical at Mt Pleasant and a common courtesy at Bellefontaine I feel like I haven't had a clean race in awhile. In all three races I was clearly stronger than my placings. One of my biggest problems is pushing myself the same way I would if I were clinging to someones wheel at the front of the race. Watching Nate and Josh race their bikes leaves much to be desired on a personal level. I need to be more patient, smoother and save the juice for when you need it. How often do you see those guys attacking before the selection is made? I said it last year, but with each year of racing CX I am driven by the challenge of not succeeding the way I have off road. I have learned quite a bit in my last three seasons of racing CX and know what I need to do it 2010.

Next weekend is going to be some hard racing!

Backwards down the number line.

The ten days leading up to yesterday was a big block of racing, training in the rain and holding my breath. When I arrived at the Mount un-Pleasant yesterday I knew it wasn't going to be a good day and was less than excited about the course as there was nowhere to hide.

Twenty-eight of us lined up in the A race and Martin took off like a yellow shoed rocket with me on his wheel. I was getting Kentucky waterfalled in the face the whole time but at least he uses Herbal Essences Lavender, my personal favorite. I find it amusing that every up and coming CX racer in St Louis is rocking a mullet of some sort as they are so 2007. I guess it's a right of passage of some sort, but I thought it died with Lars Boom's soul. My plan was to get a good start, fall back in the top five, ride as conservatively as possible, mark some wheels and not try any funny stuff off the front. My plan B went into effect immediately as I dropped my chain on the first 180 and watched every rider in the field pass as I struggled to get it unjammed and back on. By the time I got situated Dan and Money Shot were halfway across the straight before the crazy ass ride/run up. I was looking at maybe a minute or more on the leaders and plan B had just turned into the Josh Johnson Special Ops plan.

The rest of the race pretty much sucked as I had no motivation, no legs and I thought Buddy had said we were going to be doing about 8 laps, but 3 laps in I saw the 8 lap card and really wanted to quit. Slowly I started to pick people off until I heard someone yell that I had worked my way into the top ten. The noise and people at this race were insane. Instead of just having a couple small groups of spectators on key points of the course there were people handing out the duckets, blowing horns and screaming everywhere I needed them. Truly an awesome feeling that no doubt was aided by the crack high of Mad Dog 20/20 style wine. B racers should upgrade to experience that alone; the spectators not the Mad Dog. Pro as fuck. I picked up three dollars along the way and dropped all three of them. I'll stick to pedaling.

With about 4 to go I had passed Martin and Fletcher and set my sights on Jay. I think I caught him with 3 to go and we yo yo-ed a little bit for the that lap. Someone told me I was in 4th, but I was shutting down mentally. With 2 to go I hit a big spike coming off one of the downhills and Jay put a couple seconds on me. That was the nail in the coffin for me. I didn't have any fight left and rode the bell lap out for 5th place.

After the race I was talking to some Jim (TrailMonster) and he asked me what I thought about the race. I didn't have to think about it before I responded that it was the worst race I have ever done. He said thanks with a evil smile. I hope he and everyone else responsible for that race understands that we are no longer friends. Sorry, but I hate you.

Some sweet Segal love!

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Turning screws early- the feeling was good.

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Scottler with a 30 second gap, maybe 1/2 way into race? Josh over a minute back. Insane effort on his part.

Wish I could Run Like an Antelope.

Well, that went well for a short while and then really bad for a short while and then kinda enjoyable for a short while. Racing for me is always fun/enjoyable but since I was out of contention I just kinda rode around, got a nice beer hand up, missed another beer hand up and got a good workout.

I had a better than expected start and the legs were cooperating a little more than I thought they would after week of rest, long car rides and beer drinking. I tried to wake up my stiff legs by riding hard for 3 hrs on Friday and then doing a hard interval workout on Saturday. At work on Sat they felt like cement blocks and really tight so I rode some more after work to loosen them up which kinda helped but I was worried I over did it.

I had a good start and was mixing it up at the front for the first half of the race. Schottler had a good lead and I caught and passed Grranimal who was having a malfunction, but seemed to be riding really well/smooth otherwise. I didn't have much snap but things were getting better as I raced more. I watched Josh working his way up at a rapid rate which was pretty incredible.

I was sitting in second when I hit the first mud section and heard my wheel bottom out when I realized it was flat. I ran. It hurt. I went from 2cd to 20th pretty quick and wasn't real happy about it but kept pushing on.

I worked my way back up a bit and caught some people. I think I was riding around just outside of the top ten with about 4 to go when I decided that chasing my teammates down wasn't that much fun but 16 oz PBR's were, so I sat up and went into damage control. I definitely didn't have the legs to work my way back into a money/points spot given the week I had and how much the running wrecked my legs.

Miraculously Josh managed to crush Schottlers dreams with an amazing effort that ended his 45 minute lead at the most dream crushing time; on the last lap, and went on for another W.

I'm not so partial to the super fancy tires I have and think I'll switch back to some Griffos or Fangos for the remainder of the season. It's not about the flat I had but the way they handle. They don't seem to have much bite and really float, ironic given the fact that I love that in a MTB tire but you don't have to carve 180's all day on a MTB. Other than that I'm really pleased at how competitive I have been with relatively little work. I'm really optimistic that after this week of balls kitty training and then another decent week after that I should be as good as I' going to get for the little big show. Time will tell.

The Machine: 2010 S-Works Tricross

16 lbs. Those are Zipp 303 CX wheels and Dugast Typhoon CDM's (Coupe Du Mondes).

Thanks JQ!!!

Whiteboy wants to dance!

I haven't slept in two days but am pretty fired up! First off, I want to thank anyone reading this that is out there ringing a bell and calling my name, throwing beer at me or telling me to "go faster you fucking pussy!" To steal a little something from Chariots of Fire, "it puts wind on my heels!"

So Sat night recovery didn't go so hot as road rash and being all jacked up kept me up most of the night. By Sunday morning I was tired but the legs felt good. I overhauled my bike and hoped the course would still be a chocolate mousse mixed with peanut butter and grass mess. Instead I showed up to find a dry pretty fast track with some demanding, very bumpy straights, as well as a bunch of really rutted 180's and a little mud.

I didn't think it was a great course for me but I remained optimistic and took off. I stayed in the top 10 for the first lap and then charged up the left of the muddy section and jumped out in front. I still want to race CX races like I do on the MTB but when people don't get out of sight they chase that much harder. I established a decent gap for a few laps and then started to bog down ad cut my losses and jumped back into a strong lead group with Nate, Josh, Shot, Stothman, and Grman. I was sitting on 4th wheel when Josh and Shot made a little move and couldn't respond until the gap was too big.

Nate, Grman and I rode around for awhile with Josh and shot dangling but Nate was obviously not working with Josh off the front and I had hit a mid race funk. I was repeatedly getting gaped off and struggling to maintain contact. We passed Shot who was walking his bike after the backside barriers which raised the pace just a bit. I think it was on the next lap that Grman had a mishap on the barriers so I sat up and let him tag back on but as soon as he did Nate attacked and I had to respond as Nate and Josh together is game over. Nate was making really good pace and when I would pull the chase of Grman and Jay would close so I tried to bargain with Nate to do the work and promised I wouldn't pull any funny business. Jay ended up working himself back up to us, through us and then out in front of us only to snap his derailleur off. After a really rough season with three good starts that were crushed by race ending mechanicals, I knew that feeling and would have rather gone head to head but Nate and I pushed on.

With about 4 to go I guess I managed to crawl out of the funk and offered to take a pull coming through the start finish and was powering down the back straight when I realized Nate was gone. People started giving me splits of 30 second to Josh who was getting closer and closer. With 2 to go I had him inside 20 seconds and coming through on the last lap people were yelling 12 seconds. I opened it up and go really close on the 180 off the pavement onto the grass after the backside barriers which is apparently when he decided to demoralize me.

Crossing th line in 2cd for the second day in a row with what I consider to be about 85% of what I got as far as fitness goes, makes me pretty damn happy. I have some serious desire to train now and think that I might be able to hit a fitness peak that I left sitting in the tank at the end of last CX season. I'm going to miss racing next weekend as we are heading to Asheville to ride dirt bikes for a week, which should be some more good stimulus and then we'll be coming down the home stretch as people ramp up for States and Nationals.

"Ohhh, what a beautiful buzz, what a beautiful buzz!"