Bubba #7 @ Creve Coeur

Aside from not sleeping after the race the night before, I did about every PRO thing I could think of to recover. Post race ride, mega recovery drinks and pasta dinner, nice hot bath, good spin in the morning, some stretching and more fueling. I got a good warm up in and was looking shiny and enjoying the balmy 50 degree weather.

Ankney went hard at the start and we got a little wiggle room but I wasn't able to hold on for long. Nate came by at the end of the first lap and never looked back. I was got caught by Dr Mark, Richard Richard and Scotty O and was a little worried that I was going to keep going backwards but the legs came around. A little ways in Dr mark was up in front and I was chasing Richard and Scott. I caught them and put a pretty good gap on them when I rolled right through. Then I managed to get up to Dr Mark, attacked him got away slowly.

I don't really remember specifics but somehow I found myself riding 3/4 with Josh. He was feeling it from the day before and nice enough to ride with me. I know we weren't going slow because we were putting a mega gap on the chase groups and closing in on Ankney a little bit. With about 3 laps to go Josh dropped it down a couple gears coming around the second 180 as you entered the field and put the screws to me a little bit. I was able to hang on and for some reason he decided to play nice from then on. Towards the end of that lap I lost my front wheel coming around one of the bumpy turns and was pretty pissed at myself for blowing it. Josh must have been enjoying the company because he waited for me to hustle back up to his wheel but I knew that it was a gesture that I couldn't repay by seeing what I had on the last lap which was a little dissapointing for me.

THE GIFT.

On the last lap he kept telling me to attack him and go for it but i just couldn't do it since he waited when I crashed. As we were nearing the finishing straight he said something about taking it again "because the people everyone will go crazy." He tricked me when we hit the pavement and kicked it for a couple pedal strokes and then just sat up and let me ride though. Thanks man. Whether it was for 3 rd or 4 th place it was nice to have a good race.

I got in a couple of full rest days and then went out for a SOLID ride yesterday. I'm thinking that the timing might be right. The form is good and I'm as light as I've been all year. I feel like I have a little snap again. Hopefully I'm right.

Bubba # 6- Bubba in the Dark

It's been a tough week transitioning into my new place. Here's basicaly what happened.

It was really cold. Some really fast guys showed up. I wasn't having the best day. I got shelled from the front group right away, to the next group, then the next and then dangling off the back sitting in the 10th place spot. It was one of those races that felt really long. I looked at the lap cards at what felt like the 55 minute point only to see 6 laps to go. It sucked and I was suffering. With about 4 to go I noticed Nageltronic and his teammate closing in on me. The got pretty close with two to go and I was happy to open it up a little bit on the last lap.

10th place but they scored someone who was lapped wrong and I missed my goal of finishing in the money.

Bubba CX # 5 at Suson Park

Part One:

Total suckfest. My foot slipped off the pedal at the start and I found myself pulling a Josh Johnson from the back row. That shit sucks when you don't have power like AmerenUE. Somehow I worked my way up to the front group and lucky enough to witness RP working up the crowd. It was all downhill for awhile and I was finding myself slipping backwards for the first 3/4 of the race. Things weren't good. I imagine I was probably as far back as 15th or so at some point. For some reason I kept going, even though the stress and lack of sleep from last week had me in the gutter and all I wanted to do was quit.

Part Two:

I was tired of being ridiculed on the line for having a cage and bottle so I went without one for this race and all I was thinking about was a nice cool sip of water. I actually rode up next to Chris Ploch and begged him for a sip and he was nice enough to give me one which didn't help for long. Good thing I hadn't asked a roadie, thanks Chris. With about 4 laps to go I found myself passing a few people and closing down some gaps. This song started going through my head and I was finding a little bit of a groove. I just started listening to these guys and can't say I know any of the words but the tune was ringing in my head.



Part Three:

I couldn't take the uncomfortable feeling of my mouth being totally dry anymore. With 3 to go I came by The Team Seagal Crew who was bringing the party as usual and grabbed a beer. The beer and the response was a straight frickin' nitrous boost and I decided it was time to start racing. Josh, Nate and Flying RP were the front group, Nageltronic 5000 was dangling behind them in solo land and the race within the race was a group containing Richard Richard, Fletcher, Jay, CP and another guy I didn't know. I closed in on Richard and rode with him for a half a lap and then moved on up, aided by another beer. I came up on Mike Weiss and asked him how many laps were left and he replied "two to go, go catch those guys!" I laughed and told him there was no way.

On the last lap they were about 30 seconds up on me. At this point it was Jay, Chris and Fletcher. I started to ride on the rivet and took some chances. It was coming on from somewhere, I think it was from PBR land. Going into the back straight of the course they were about 1/2 way through the field when I entered it. I sprinted.

I caught them about 40 meters before the drop in to the technical section, and fueled by adrenaline and crunk as fuck off two swigs of PBR's I thought I should just keep going and pulled a sketchy move by diving in front of them, pretty much through the trees. I guess I was going ok because I totally expected them to start attacking the shit out of me once we hit the exit straight leading up to the run-up. But no one did. Jay got in front of me right before the run up (THE MOVE) and Fletcher started rubbing bumpers as we were going over it. I jumped onto the pavement and started to kick up onto Jays wheel. I was coming around his rear wheel when we hit the top which was just a little too close to make it and hit the brakes... A 6th place finish that felt like a hard earned second place.



Team Seagal, thanks again for the support. It turned my week around.

Whatever

Another DNF at the Bubba Race at Creve Coeur Park; trying to keep it positive. Super cool course and some real CX weather, minus a little bit of rain. I was feeling pretty good after being sick and getting some miles in my legs after 5 days off the bike completely and really excited about racing. A guy I really look up to send me a email in the middle of the week that boosted my confidence and made me feel good all over, like a sex machine.

Me and some teammates had an embrocation and Vicks vapor rub rub down session in the car before the race, nothing like some team building excercise. Feeling pro as hell I lined up on the front row and came around Dr. Mark to score the coveted hole shot. My legs were there but I backed off a little this week and settled into the back of the lead group... Things were looking great for the first 16 minutes of the race until I literally did a flyover the flyover and only had one foot square on the pedals and had to sit down... Tore the saddle off the rails and upon further inspection when I got home came to find out I tore the bolts right out of the seatpost clamp as well...

Aside from getting the hole shot, the other really good thing that happened was Eddie having a ice cold PBR in my hand seconds after my race ended. I don't know how I am fortunate enough to have such good friends that come through with frosties so fast in times of need. Both Eddie and Metz have been there for me when CX has snapped more than my wrists.

The post race atmosphere was great even though I felt like I was having flashbacks every time someone would crack open a icy cold PBR around the fire; the clean, crisp sound reminding me of seatpost and saddle destruction. At least i can say there is always next week still, though I am running out of weeks at this point so hopefully I can start finishing some races.

One extra day to train this week isn't so bad either... Today is going to be a cold one in the rain.

It was damn windy today.

Had some time to think when churning it over on the RFT. Rode some of the gravel roads up on Chateau Island, up to the Colombia Bottoms Conservation area and around some of the farming roads up there. Good stuff. The wind was brutal though.

I realized that almost half of CX season has already passed and it's bumming me out now that I have lost so much ground. Next season I'm not going to start flat footed and plan on ending the mountain bike season a bit earlier. I knew what I should have been doing this year but convinced myself to half ass it so I could have my cake and eat it too. I can't. Some people might be able to do 20 two hour mountain bike races and go right into CX season, but I can't.

One of my goals for this season was to see how competitive I could be in the points if I was consistent and did all the races. I changed my goals up a bit today. A DNF, missing a weekend due to the flu and the potential of another DNF again this weekend pretty much ruined any chance of accomplishing that goal so I set another one today. Basically, I just to see how well I can get dialed in for the little big show; the State Championships. I know it would take a miracle to win, but I want to see how far up there I can get. We'll see. I like having something to work towards and the timing is right to heat that steel up, pound it into shape, sharpen it up, polish it and bring the blade down on some fools heads.

I didn't feel bad on the bike today. My HR still won't go up at all, but I'm surprised I was able to push like I did for 3.5 hours. I was really excited to start doing some hard training this week, but it's going to have to be put off a bit longer. Start turning some screws. The first couple workouts are never fun but once I start doing them I start feeling fast, which is good. Watching Rocky this week is making me want to train hard and get fast again. While I and II are the most motivational, Rocky IV is on tomorrow night and has some great training scenes in it. We watched most of III tonight, which has some pretty funny parts, but doesn't exactly help you "acquire the fire" as my buddy Dan G would say...

Maybe a Chariots of Fire movie night is in order?