12/8 Bubba #10 @ Vlasis. State Championship, Masters, 1st.

 I didn't choke. 

 The last few weeks I stuck to the plan, reduced volume, was getting rested, sleeping well and going hard during the workouts. It was a legit taper/peak period. After mountain biking all year my technical riding was significantly better than last and I was far more efficient. I made an effort to walk, stretch and eat well so that I didn't drop weight due to anxiety the weeks leading up to the race, unlike the year before. Friends were asking me about the race and my response was that I genuinely only wanted to race a race that was to my highest capability and walk away from it knowing I did my best, which is something I had not been able to do the previous two years.

 I did not think I could beat Devin if he decided to show up, which I figured he would. I  assumed that his technical ability would have improved since last year and that even a technical course at Vlasis wouldn't shift enough in my favor. One thing I did not want  was an *asterisk* result and as the race approached wasn't seeing any of the stronger competitors from StL or KC that don't usually race in StL, or StL guys that could pop into the masters race that don't usually do it. I was over confident in 2022 and lost a race I should have won because I choked, and since Anthony wanted to win the overall series and the trip to AZ, there was that asterisk as *first MO rider for the winner.  I figured Devin would race twice as he likely assumed it was a sure thing and it was unlikely he would podium in the A race,  but saw he registered for the A race and didn't appear to be doubling up. Anthony was headed to Chicago and it looked like the KC guys weren't coming. As much as I wanted to win, I wanted it to be validated and did not want an out of state rider in front of me on the results. Had I not been challenged by someone like Devin, the result would not have had the same weight.

Devin showed up and registered the morning of. I can't say it didn't rattle me since I wasn't expecting him, so I committed to going all in, instead of the slightly more defensive approach I was considering. The course wasn't too technical but it had a significant amount of climbing and I thought he would be able to separate himself in the fields and on the climbs because it was a lot of power. I didn't pick up on it as much in warm ups but there were 3 distinct recovery sections that separated the very hard sections, which is always a good thing for me. Extended flat power was not and this course was either very fast leading into tech sections, or climbing with difficult off camber and switchbacks.  The weather was perfect, I was feeling good (even though I had been up since 3 am) and there was a good mix of anxiety and ritualistic calm. Harre and Morgan were in the 50 plus so I had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

 I went hard from the gun, fishtailed like a mofo through the first corner and took off. I was riding frenetically, as usual, and  there was a gap immediately.  My breathing was rhythmic, borderline asthmatic sounding, which is always a good sign when I can get into that rhythm. I was charging and not looking back. I don't think Devin ever made it onto my wheel and was amazed at the gap I opened up in a short period of time. Looking at the numbers, my NP for lap one was 317 and 273 avg for the race. It was decisive and  I had 8 seconds on Devin before we hit the sand on the first lap. The first lap was about 5:38.

Harre caught me on the second lap in the field and it went from frenetic to steady. It felt like he was riding a slower pace than I wanted and it was the slowest lap of the race at around 5:53, but the next lap was slightly faster at 545 and the gap to Devin kept growing. By mid race I had over 30 seconds. Harre kept pacing me. Synchronized cyclocross.  After going all out for the first few laps and the legs locking up with lactate, I was able to utilize the recovery sections and they opened and  was overcome with that slowed down feeling was the one that comes when you're flying and seeing everything perfectly, more common to me on a mtb or skiing, and it was awesome. I would get gapped but somehow manage to catch back on and hang on to the pace he was setting.  There were a few dabs and I ran  return section of sand on the second lap, but it was a very clean race and we were fucking flossing the decent to the sand pit, rooster tailing out of the sand. 

With 2 to go I had over a minute gap to Devin, was still with Harre and realizing things were going well, but trying to concentrate on remaining focused. I expected Chris to drop me at that point but he didn't and we were cruising. As it turns out, the last 4 laps were almost identical power, speed and time. He is the master of pacing. When we hit the return section of sand on the last lap I dabbed, Chris kept going and that was that. There was absolutely no way I would have even tried to attack him anyway (technically we're teammates now).   I celebrated for the first time all season. It was utter joy. I felt total validation in the victory, largely due to facing off with one of my biggest competitors when it mattered and succeeding as well as riding with a guy who finished 2cd at Nationals last year after a last row start and I view as on another level. I finished over a minute and a half in front of Devin.  There is no doubt in my mind that had we been racing head to head it would have been different, but riding with Chris was also a huge accomplishment.

I haven't really done this for any other races but am curious.

Lap              NP/AVG             Speed

5:38             317/303               11.7

5:53             279/255               11.2 (ran sand)

5:45             272/244               11.4

5:49             266/240               11.2

5:49             252/236               11.2

5:49             265/241               11.2

5:49             267/240               11.2

The backstory/2024 season wrap up journal. 

I've always chased State Championships. Regardless of the significance, it is an easy goal to put on the calendar and work towards. I've won a few cross country mountain biking jerseys, a SS MTB jersey, a road jersey and a cyclocross jersey. The CX jersey was in 2007 as a Cat III, my first year racing CX. Unfortunately, it was the ice storm CX in Hermann and didn't fell totally validated given the field size, even though I finished 3rd behind Josh and Nate, it lit the fuse and I made it a goal for the next year. I had an amazing season racing mountain bikes with some huge wins on the regional level and a podium at Nationals, but never won a CX race and ended up 5th at the State Championships in Hermann, the one year that both the KC and STL guys squared off. In 2009 I won a MTB State Championship in a hot field but the rest of the season was a little bit of a reset after racing so much the year before and I had just met my future wife, so I also had a shift in priorities. I came into CX season more rested and didn't win a race all season but had a great ride at States and ended up 3rd behind Josh and Shottler, both of whom were dominant at the time. I got married in 2010, didn't race much over the summer due to my wedding, my best friends wedding and my honeymoon in the end of September really didn't race much CX, then I stopped riding bikes for 10 + years. 

In 2021 my nephew came to visit and do some Bubba races in October. I watched one race and knew I needed to get back into it. My daughter was now 9, my wife and I weren't working weird schedules like we did to avoid using day care and I bought a bike on a Tuesday, rode once or twice and raced twice that next weekend. I did 4 more C/B races and then lined up for the masters States race and finished 7/12. The goal for the jersey was set for 2022 and, even though the only race I won all year when Anthony was out of town, I finished 2cd to him every race and given that he was not a MO rider knew I had a good shot. The weekend before I raced who I assumed would be my biggest competitor, Jason Douglas from KC, and put close to 2 mins into him. All signals were looking good but on race day I completely choked and could not perform at a level close to where I had been. It was all mental/stress/anxiety related and just took too much of a toll. Anthony raced to win the points overall and trip to AZ, Jason won the jersey in a close race and I ended up with a *asterisk* second MO rider. I was pretty much devastated but it was motivating because I could taste how close it had been.

I committed myself to a legit training plan, trained way more over the winter after ski practice, and was seeing huge gains. I was fit when the season rolled around and Devin Glenn showed up as a fresh 40 year old masters racer and was capable of laying down far more power than I could, but technical courses and his ride hard all the time methodology were level setting to some extent. I finished 2cd to him 5 times and won 4 times going into States. If the track at Sylvan was a more technical one I thought my chances were decent, which it wasn't, and once again, I choked. I had a good start and went completely backwards for two laps before righting the ship to some extent and finishing 30 seconds or so behind Devin. There was a strong KC rider so there was the *asterisk* of 2cd MO rider again, but the reality was I wasn't competitive at all and got smoked. I took it hard and lost a lot of motivation. 

Over the winter we were skiing a lot and I started a TV room project in the basement and rode little to none for over 2 months. I wasn't really processing it at the time, but realized how much it impacted me when seeing numbers relative to the same time the year before and started working hard in March. By the time States rolled around the previous two seasons I was feeling a little cooked so my plan was to start racing CX a little later and shift all the training back a few weeks and work on the timing. I rode a lot of gravel from March-June and was getting a little bored with it and it hit me one day that I needed something different and talked my wife into letting me get a mtb. I bought the bike a day or two before going on vacation. I had ridden a lot up to our annual trip to Key West in mid June and it was going to be a long 10 days off, so I brought running shoes. I didn't run a ton on the trip but when I did I ran pretty hard. I didn't realize it at the time but it was basically a mini rest-peak period. We got back, I finished 4th in my first Cat 1  mountain bike race since 2010 two weeks later and won a hard, hot race with solid competition a week or so after that. The rest of the summer I raced XC as much as possible, did long mtb rides to work on the technical skills and a few short track races. It was so refreshing to have a new outlet and I was having more fun than ever racing. There was very little anxiety, which was weird and I was doing pretty well. 

I did some structured training over the summer as well, but mainly was in maintenance phase since I was racing so much which I continued through the third week in September because I couldn't pass up the One Eyed Dog (2 lapper) and a return to one of my most hallowed racing tracks at Council Bluff. I took another 7 days off to go back east and visit my family and fish. Even though I snuck in a few runs it was pretty bad timing to take that much off the bike, but the silver lining was it would be pushing the season back and sticking to the plan. 

I was feeling the CX program kicked in and training through races in a way I never had before. I wasn't seeing numbers close to the previous year in racing, and without Devin  or Anthony in attendance, I was winning and not being tested. My rest week was before Faust so I hoped to see improvement to the data. Unfortunately, Anthony showed up on day one. It was a total slog, I was ultra flat physically after a full five days without intensity and I literally flatted mid race to further the suffering. I finished 3rd but it was extremely hard. The next day Anthony didn't show up, I went from the gun and put down a top 3 performance compared to the last 3 years, solo from the gun. The only motivation was personal. The rest of the races were wins but I didn't come close to that performance and without the weekly testing from Devin or Anthony was feeling that I was at probably 90% of where I was the year before. The last race, Snowy St Vincent, Anthony and I had another great race and although I ultimately lost, I had the legs to close down a big gap mid race, attacked and put time into him at a critical point on the second to last lap but blew it when I couldn't clip in for the whole last lap. It was refreshing and fun and I was more confident but still totally uncertain and not confident I could ride at a level to win the jersey if any of the top guys showed up... to the top.

12/1 Bubba #9 @ Snowy St Vincent, Masters, 2cd/last place.

 

I fucking love cyclocross. I fucking love snow. I put a "Snow Stick"  Amelia made in the yard to measure it every time there is chance of snow. Been that way since I can remember. Cyclocross is suck ass conditions that separate the men from the boys. It's also like being a kid again.  Pretty much anywhere that good cyclocross racers come from the riders show up when the conditions are bad, because that's what it's all about. Not in St. Louis. Yesterday a handful of die hard men and women from our dwindling CX scene showed up, raced hard, shared frustration but ultimately, relished in stories. I fucking lost a race of two I was leading on the last lap becuase I couldn't clip back in and it was the happiest reaction I've had to a race in years. Glad you stayed home? Sell your CX bike and fuck off. You're all dead to me. Kidding, but not really. I don't know what the line in the sand is for Mike numbers wise, but if he pulls the plug or even just pre-emtpively cancels the races due to weather it'll be the suck. 

Last week was a real taper week. I did my openers in the snow / ice and could no longer shift by the end. I was feeling saucy as fuck. I was racing at a +10 which I think is the highest I ever have for a CX race and using it as a test run for the State race next weekend, and while the weather definitely through a wrench into the numbers thing for comparison sake, I'll take that over a dry, dusty and bumpy course any day.

We lined up on a barely ridden track with about 4" of snow and a 20 degree windchill. I dressed completely different then I have for a cold race and my hands never had issues. I sweat a ton and felt pretty warm at one point, but it was better than the alternative. It only has taken me 20-ish years of racing to figure that out. 

Anthony and I lined up. Mano y Mano, with a handful of SS guys in front of us. They let us off at 1 minute intervals, so it was spread out. My plan was to ride defensively and try to plan an attack. 3 laps in I was unable to clip back in for quite some time and Anthony opened a sizeable gap, I would guess close to 30 seconds. I wasn't optimistic but it was nice to be able to say fuck it and put in the effort and not think too much. I uncorked my fastest lap of the day and was back on his wheel, surprising him a bit. On the penultimate lap Anthony made a mistake in the single track section and I took off and was able to open a decent gap immediately. I had to unclip before the start finish, not even dab, just unclip and could not get back in. I fucked with it out of frustration and then tried to ride it back in, which didn't work either. I made it to the end of the first pavement section before he caught me, and that was that. The gap opened quickly. I was never able to clip back in. I had good legs and the timing was perfect, but sometimes the best laid plans still fail. If I ever have another snow race I will 100% put on a pair of old eggbeaters I have. It would have made a huge difference. It was a great race.

Looking forward to one more race, hoping I can have the legs I know I am capable of having and then looking forward to drinking heavily through the holidays. 

11/24 Bubba #8 @ Spanish Lake, Masters, 1st.

 Last week of training for 2024. Recovery is getting longer and my plan is to try a real taper with far less and  fewer impacting workouts/ volume and see what happens. Don't think I've ever really done this intentionally as I've always raced well with a high training load, but the sceince does not align with my perception. My thoughts at the moment are I'm getting tired and think my second peak was probably late August, am not sure mtb as much as I did in relation to riding gravel all summer was as good for my CX fitness and, now that I'm not going to be skiing in the winter, think getting a good base in will really help next season. So far, I really don't think I reached a level of fitness close to what I had last November. Might be age, might be preparation or I might just be a pussy. Fun to think about nevertheless.

My first CX race was at Spanish Lake in 2007. Chris Harre beat me but I was hooked. I didn't know anything about CX but had crazy endurance after a season of 6 and 12 hour racing. The last two years have been muddy. This was a big, wide open, fast track. I pre-rode almost two laps and nothing really stuck out. The gravel ride up needed to be taken straight on and there were a few off camber and greasy/acorny turns. Warming up the leaves were thick so I didn't really see that until the race and learned the hard way. 

There were 4 of us but with Brandon and Carter in the SS class, I was looking forward to the overall as well. I got a good jump and a few turns in went down and racked my knee and calf on the greasy 180, but recovered quickly and didn't loose any spots. By lap 2 I caught Brandon and Carter  but made a few more mistakes and lost a few seconds which turned into 5-10. Carter took the lead over Brandon and with 3 to go I caught Brandon and was keeping the same gap on Carter, which I'm sure was him riding conservatively for the next race. I was able to extend my lead pretty quickly over Brandon and rode a clean second half of the race. I finished about a minute in front of him and a few minutes in front of Jon. 

Overall, a strong race. Focus was really good. My left quad was feeling a little locked up but not the normal IT thing, which I think was just from going deep on the intervals on Thursday. Aside from Day 2 at Faust my AVG/NP has been lower than last year. I changed my PM at some point towards the end of last season, but not sure when. My speed and cadence has been relatively high this year, and mountain biking has definitively improved my cornering, but the lower power makes me wonder. 

11/17 Bubba 7 @ Queeny, Masters, 1st.

Originally, I wasn't planning on doing this race. I hate Queeny and thought I could use a weekend off but after a rest week followed by a low volume week I figured the racing stimulus would be good.  Legs were torched after the weekend at Faust and trying to get the numbers into the positive for the last few weeks so took it pretty easy with a few hours on Tuesday and a great interval/skills workout on Thursday.  Did a shorter and more polarized openers ride on Sat, that I liked a lot. 

Course was super hard. Grass was still wet and super long/thick and there were two steep sections. The first was pretty slippery to get up, the second I didn't even try to ride and was amazed to hear that by the end of the day people could ride it, but assuming it dried out a lot. I was assuming this would be a super high powered course but there was enough finesse sections/corners, one really long downhill and one shorter one right after that which leveled out the power. Oddly, I didn't feel like there was much recovery to be had in those spots.  

There were 7 of us, which was nice, and another 6 or 7 in the SS class 15 seconds ahead of us, including Brandon. I took the hole shot and went down on the steep 180 and Jon went past and put in an effort to get away. It took me a bit to catch back up to him and the front runners of the SS class were a good distance. off. 

Once I passed Jon I was able to start opening up gaps and passing the SS class. I was riding pretty well and mistake free after the crash but the run up and subsequent uphill was super taxing. I was motivated to catch Brandon but it seemed like I was only gaining a second or two each lap. I ended up catching him on the last lap and was looking forward to it playing out but got caught up in some lapped traffic before the first steep hill and then again just before the run up. I jumped off early to get around a rider before the run up and went all out to get up it.  He had a few seconds on me when I crested the run up but I was torched and couldn't close it down right away. I sprinted it out on the pavement and probably finished 4 seconds behind him and about 3 minutes in front of Jon. Last lap was the fastest.  Good race. 

11/9 - 11/10 Bubba 5 & 6 @ Faust, Masters. 3rd Day 1, 1st day 2.

 There's a lot I'd like to journal to remember about these two races. First off, coming off a big block of training and only having raced in the negative so far this year, I was expecting day one to be hard and historically have always had a really good day the second day. This year, day one was far worse than expected, and while a flat didn't help, It was a 9.5/10 on the RPE scale for me. Day two was still super hard but my IT bands weren't locked up as bad and it was super hard because, by all metrics, it was my second strongest race in the last 3 seasons and my strongest was Spanish Lake last year, which was more of a gravel race.

Hard interval day last Sat, easy 1.5 hrs Sun, off M/T, easy 1 hr rollers Wed, 1 hr Th with a few sprints, easy 1 hr Friday. 

Day 1-

Rained a lot during the week and race morning. Track was super straight, soft and thick grass. There was one straight slight downhill in the field, but you had to pedal hard through it. The paved section was short and with wet leaves a little sketch, but not as bad as it looked. The 5-ish seconds on the pavement was the only real recovery spot, but day 1 I didn't use it as a chance to recover due to the wet. Pretty much hard pedaling the whole course, power heavy.

 I got a good, long-ish warm up in with some efforts on the rollers and didn't really need to ride anything more than 1 lap to know what the track was like.

There were 4 of us. It's killing me, but that's another story. Anthony, Dave and Jon. Always happy when Anthony shows up since we have a great rivalry. There were 5 or 6 SS guys in front of us with Brandon, who has been having some strong races. I really don't recall too much. Anthony and I got a little gap and rode the first 3 laps together. Dave caught us and attacked. We didn't react. I was suffering and the legs were locked, but I was able to ride wheels. We caught Dave again on lap 4, I think, and Anthony had realized I was faster than him through the barriers and did some blocking, both with his body and then with his bike when I went the opposite way. I was riding faster than him through most corners so I decided to take the outside line and block him as repayment for the barriers after the pines, which worked pretty well because he said something. Not long after that I went down in a corner, he passed and I was gapped by a few seconds behind him and Dave. By the time we got to the barn they had 5 seconds or so and were hitting the gravel when I smoked my front wheel on the concrete. I realized it was leaking pretty quickly and by the time I hit the pavement on the other side of the field it was pretty much flat. I rode it out to about the switchbacks before the barriers and had to run the rest to the pits, changed my wheel and got back on. Anthony had dropped Dave, I was a good 45 seconds back and that was that. Can't say I finished strong but I was able to hold off Jon, for third. Super hard day. 

Day 2

Was able to Stans my wheel, get all dialed in for Sunday, eat well and get my feet up. I went to bed early and got my first legit night of sleep all week after a brutal week at work and too much drinking. My legs were pretty torched in the morning but I was committed to doing my best to right the ship. I was a little bummed the course was pretty much the same as day 1, just with slightly different lines due to ruts, but got a good warm up in and was ready to go. 

There were 3 of us but I knew that Dave was probably feeling confident after the day before, and Sean was there as well. I have had some good races when going from the gun, regardless of the competition, and today I wasn't going to ride conservatively. Kukla and Brandon were in a field of 6 or 7 SS riders, which were the carrots. I took off and went hard. I was catching SS riders before the field in the back and latched on to Kukla, Brandon and one other SS guy. By mid lap two I had passed everyone but Kukla, who had a good gap and I was putting time into Dave who was behind Brandon and the other guy and more slowly I was putting time into them.

By mid race I had a big gap on the chasers and I would guess Kukla had the same on me, if not more. With 2 to go Dave might have shaved a few seconds off and was pushing hard on the bell lap but I was able to maintain what I would assume was a 30-45 second gap, not really sure. 

This was my strongest CX race with the expectation of Spanish Lake last year ( 271 avg / 292 NP), which was the gravel version . Avg power 269 W / 281 NP , compared to 255 / 269 the day before. More important than the W is the confidence boost from this, because training through all the previous races and seeing lower numbers is never a good thing.

10/27 Bubba 4 @ St. Vincent, Masters, 1st.

 Another big for me week of training, which is funny because that's only about 10 hours these days. It's tough to get the numbers I want when racing on Sunday, but I the racing itself is a huge part of the prep and fun, so fuck it. I got in a 3 hr easy ride in on Saturday and was tired, but not too bad. First one of those in a long time. It was great.

Little washed out on Sunday morning but the legs felt better than last week and I got a decent warm up in before pre-riding. Also, ate a couple Cliff blocks before the warm up and went with the 160 cal Enervit Gel pre race, which definitely helped. The course was huge, used up a lot of area at St Vinnies and was by far my favorite Bubba track that I can remember. Definitely a crossers course. 

There were about 5 SS guys that started 15 seconds in front of us. Brandon was there again so I was motivated to chase him down this week. I got a good jump and was into the sand with a bike length or two. I rode it cleanly and there was more separation. I was really surprised I caught some of the SS guys before the downhill parallel to the paved uphill and was opening gaps on the 40 plus guys, but nothing major. 

After the sand on the second lap I had 5-10 seconds on the 40+ and by the parking lot had caught and passed all the SS guys. I was free and said fuck it and went full throttle. On laps 3 and 4 there was an out of town guy from the 50 plus who had passed all the 40+/SS riders and was closing down the gap to me, maybe to 30 seconds or so. I thought he was in our race so I went hard. Aside from the first lap every lap was faster. I was able to open the gap on Paul, probably to around a minute and Dave was the first 40 plus rider behind him. 

Really happy with this race. I had total focus and felt great. Am really looking forward to how racing feels without this training load. One more big week. 

10/20 Bubba 3 @ Bella Fontaine, Masters, 1st.

 

Wasn't going to race as I am trying to get a few good weeks of training in, but changed my mind and got my cornerstone workout in on Sat and figured I'd take some licks on Sunday. My Hamburg workout is usually less than 150 TSS but I was feeling great and went deep on Sat and it was a 200. Felt pretty good on Saturday afternoon but warming up Sunday I was definitely tired with heavy legs. I only got a 30 min warm up in which should have been longer to loosen up.

There were only five of us and a few I didn't know but my general plan was to sit in a bit if possible and try to make a move with a few laps to go. We started and it was immediately apparent how hard this was going to be. I sat in the first few laps but found I was scrubbing momentum in every turn riding wheels so I went to the front. Lap cards went at 5 which seemed like it was going to be a short race. I opened a few gaps on lap three and was a little surprised when each one was closed down, but sometime shortly after that it stuck and I was able to open things up. I was definitely loosening up a bit and able to go harder. In retrospect, ever lap was faster and my last lap was considerably faster. 

I was dangling 10s behind the leader of the SS race who was aware I was coming and going hard. I continued to close in on him and by the last lap decided I wanted to try to close it down. I caught him with a full head of steam the jog before the tricky pine section but there wasn't room to pass and right when we got into the pines we came upon a lapped rider and there was a little Nascar rubbing as I scrubbed all my speed trying not to crash into them from behind. I came unclipped, dabbed, and wasn't able to clip back in right away and the gap opened up. I made the effort to get back up to him but my legs were torched and gave out and I called it a day. Good racing on the last lap. The first few laps were close to 40 seconds slower than the last lap, which was a scorcher and I'm pretty happy about the effort. 

Going to train through a Vlasis and then get some rest!

10/13 Bubba 2 @ Creve Couer, Masters, 1st.

 

Did a quick practice at Kenrick on Thursday. Probably the least amount of CX prep I've done, ever, before the first race of the season. Kenrick was bumpy AF and I was hurting and wondering how bad Sunday would be. 

Ultra nice weather and the course was pretty much fully laid out by 945, which was great. Got in a good warm up and was ready to roll. After a week of being back on the no booze train and a few good nights of sleep I was wicked fired up. 

Couple new faces on the line. We started 15 seconds behind a large group of  (8?) SS riders including Kukla. I got a good jump on the long uphill paved section only to be passed by Jamey at the top, who dropped into the first turn before me. He took a wide line on the next turn and I went around him. I was happy to pick the clear lines and trying to ride within my limits.

We hit the pavement and I wasn't going to lead out the group so I sat up a bit and Jamey caught me off guard with a massive attack. I was the only one to respond and bridged up to him just before the grass. It was full gas and there was going to be enough of that on a fairly non technical course that I started to worry a bit. Going around the tree after  the sweeping left hander that ended up being almost as fun as riding mtbs, Jamey went down and I went around him. I put a pretty decent gap into him and the chasers right away but he made another huge push on the pavement and probably got to within 5 seconds of me.  After that, I was able to extend my lead by 5 seconds or so every lap to take the lead with really no mistakes and feeling pretty good, aside from some tightness in the back and hips. 

Post race my brother told me I made it to within 23 seconds of Kukla before he extended it to 40 seconds or so for the rest of the race until he started to slow up on the last few laps of so. 

All in all I felt good about the race. Little worried about the lower than average NP but the speed was good and there was a fair amount of coasting so I'm hoping this was more due to efficiency than fitness. We'll see. 

9/14 One Eyed Dog 24, 2cd. Council Bluff retrospective. Talking to myself so I remember.

So much that I'm still mentally and physically unpacking from this race. I can't think of anywhere that I have ridden or raced as much as this loop, yet I was amazed at how little I remembered, including the hilly drive in to the campground. It's bizarre to me. 

Mesa decided to do the Burnin' 12 Hour race here in 2004. I bought a size large base model Specialized Stumpjumper HT the week before the race after not having mountain biked all season and focusing on the road. It was too big and I'm sure the lighting and nutrition were questionable, but I suffered through it and won with 8 laps, I think. I was carrying a compact disc player with a few CD's in my pocket. 

I won again on the same bike, but upgraded in 2005. I had done almost all road racing that year but rode a ton and think I finished with 9 laps. I had my first iPod.

In 2006 I was 4.1% body fat when I had a V02 test done at SIUE in March and pretty much lost all motivation to do anything by midway through the season. I raced on the road but don't remember a ton and sat out the race that year. 

I quit racing on the road in 2007 to focus on endurance racing and had a great year. My goal was to do 10 laps at the Burnin'. I did a 12 hour race at Landahl in August where I lapped the field and was able to stop an hour early and did the same thing in September at the Mohican Wilderness 12 hour. I was totally dialed in, My first two laps were 1:06 and change. On the third lap I gashed my tire and when I went to change it found the tube I had been carry all year had had a bent/broken valve and the CO2 cannister I had was empty. That was that. It was a 5 mile walk out and I quit. 

I can't mention 2004-2007 without mentioning Dwyane. Dude was such a beast. Dwayne and his NOS energy drinks.  I would have liked to see how the race would have played out in 2007 with both of us taking the endurance thing seriously and with great fitness/preparation for the showdown.

After the dream crusher that year, I committed to a goal that arose while back home in MA for Thanksgiving. MTB Nats were in Mt Snow, VT that year and I decided I would give it a go after a little too much holiday cheer. I changed my focus to XC racing and planned out my whole season around Nationals, which went well considering the circumstances- I got food poising the Sunday night before a Tuesday flight back east, barely made the plane and went from race weight of 148 lbs to something like 138 leading up to the race. I finished 4th and will forever question the what if, but was super stoked I persevered the way I did and the result is something I am incredibly proud of. There was a major rain storm during the Rim Wrecker race there in March, probably the wettest race I've ever done and I won with Ploch in second.  I decided to do the 6 hr race at the Burnin' and one of my strongest competitors that year, Matt Keeven, was signed up as well. I was expecting a battle but Matt had some issues and I won with 5 laps in 6:09. My future wife came to this race with some friends the post race partying and having the chance to get to know her will always make this year super special.  

March 2009 was the Rim Wrecker snow race. Chris and I battled and he won. The snow melted, things got downright nasty, and it was brutal and comical at the same time. Lots of running.  I tried to repeat the Burnin' 6 hour race and detonated. It's the only race I've quit unrelated to mechanical issues that I can think of.  

The rain in 2008 and the snow in 2009 were pretty outrageous. 

I got married in 2010 and between the bachelors party back in MA, my buddies wedding in CO and our wedding in Aug, I  didn't' really race that much. In August I decided to convert my S-Works HT 29'er to a SS and race the State Championship race at Binder Lake. I rode it once the week of and showed up with a 38x18, if I remember correctly. I won the jersey with Dan Miller and Garrett Steinmetz in attendance, two blazing fast SS guys at the time, still are. I was stoked and Matt James and Christopher Conolly and I decided to do the SS Team, which was 10 days after returning from my honeymoon in Italy for 2 weeks. We shattered the SS  course record and I'm assuming it still stands. We finished 10 laps by 8:45 pm and didn't have to do the 11th due to the lead. This was the hardest of all the Burnin' races for me, basically like doing 4 races in a day... brutal. 

The few races I did in 2010 were the last races I did before selling all my bikes and quitting racing. I did some 5K's but didn't ride at all until resuming cross in November 2021. I started mountain biking again in June of this year. I think the Burnin' had fizzled by 2014 or 2015 without Russ and Adrienne's involvement , not sure. It was a great period in time though.

I thought my mtb season was over as, ironically, I have no interest in racing for more than 2 hrs these days and didn't realize the OED had the two lap option. I saw it on Fakebook the week before and my excitement definitely spiraled out of control. For as many laps (70+ ?!?!?) as I've ridden there I didn't remember much. I watched a full lap on You tube, which jogged my memory to some extent, at least for the placement of the big climbs and rock garden. The weather was looking terrible all week and a rainy or wet race was very likely. I didn't think much of it. I've been running a Racing Ray/Racing Ralph combo since I bought the HT in June and flatted while riding with JR and Miller on Saturday and then again on Tuesday so ordered some new tires which I mounted the night before. After reading the reviews I heard the Vittoria XC races were pretty supple so I figured I'd ride higher pressure. I had a great ride at GF on Tues, took Wed off and ran out of time to ride on Thursday at lunch and lost my window. Friday I did an easy ride assuming that a good warm up and long race would allow me time to settle in by the second lap.

Weather turned a bit for the better after a few days of rain and during a little recon to see how the tires felt and get scope out the first mile or two it didn't seem too bad. Tires felt ok but with 2psi higher in the front and rear over the Schwalbe's, they didn't feel that supple but I was worried about going any lower and flatting or burping after reading about how supple and squirmy they were. This was not the case at all but when I found out my rear lockout had stuck in the on position after the pre-ride,  it made me feel better and assumed that would help. 

We lined up and Wes was talking about a guy named Kater that was racing with us after flatting our shortly into the 50 mile race and how fast he was. Not wanting to wait to find out, I drilled it off the start to get into the woods first, which I did without towing anyone along. Immediately I was losing my front wheel and having trouble cornering, but not too many issues with the wet. Kater and I had a gap right away with me leading. My legs were heavy from the car and extra day off but was pretty sure I'd loosen up after 40 minutes or so.  

15 minutes in or so, before the first climb, Kater came around me which helped with following lines, though I quickly learned that technically I was going to have trouble keeping up. He had a few seconds on me before the climb and set a strong pace but I was able to bridge and latch on. I later learned that he was trying to drop me and realized he wouldn't be able to on the fitness end of things. Aside from dabs and slide outs I found his pace to be slightly slower than what I would have been riding but opted to play the long game, or so I thought, and wait it out. This changed when we hit the rock garden. I had no recollection of the lines or how long it was and he gapped me right away. Surprisingly I was able to close it before the drop in at the end but ended up crashing hard over my bars onto my knee. Air was gushing from somewhere, which fortunately turned out to be the valve on my CO2 and not my tire and my bars were at 45 degrees and my left brake had been pushed all the way to the grip. I forced the bars straight, mostly and set off to chase. 

The next semi major mishap was reentering the woods after the beach. I didn't remember it and was already committed when my front wheel gave out on the wet rocks. Fortunately I didn't crash but was off the bike again running up the hill past the rooted section. 

I hadn't seen Kater at all since the rock garden and was chasing hard when I hit the first footbridge before the boat ramp at an angle at full speed. I didn't think the first one we crossed close to the campground was slick and definitely wasn't expecting to immediately lose my front wheel and slide into the lower rail of the bridge, knock it off with my chest and fall off the bridge. A quick assessment and I found that I was mostly ok. The rail was loose enough and I hit it mostly across my torso, which felt tight and breathing hurt, but the wind hadn't been knocked out of me. 

Back on the bike and chasing. I was finding a little bit of rhythm on my own and kept reminding myself there was a lot of racing left. I managed to stay on the bike and had the benefit of having seen the trail again after 14 years. 

When I hit the first climb I was amazed to see Kater making the first left hander and timed him to be about 40 seconds ahead. Motivated, I chased hard knowing he didn't see me but did not see him again until I turned right to start the second climb. He was a good distance ahead but still hadn't seen me and I put in the effort. I didn't remember how much of a climb we had after the false flat and was prepared to attack but caught him just as we crested and it would have been fruitless to make a move there, so latched onto his wheel and recovered. Turns out I had closed over a minute gap.

Once again I found Kater's pace to be a little slower than what I would have been riding but second guessed myself and believed he was cat and mousing me. This really blew any chance I had at controlling the race before the rock garden and I can't say it cost me the race, but it kept me from making it a race. 

We hit the rock garden and Kater very effortlessly rode away from me. I was blown out just trying to get through it and he gapped me by a good 10 seconds by the time I hit the grass. That was the race. I never recovered from it and while it occurred to me that I might catch him on the last climb, a few more times off the bike for me meant him extending the lead back out to 45 seconds or so and that was that. 

My key takeaways after my last XC race of the season are this-

 I don't think I've ever been able to push myself and as motivated to race all out as I am now. Assuming it's a maturity thing, or possibly that I'm not chronically overtrained anymore. Not positive, but I'm really happy that I stay engaged and don't give up, no matter the circumstances. 

Equipment changes should never be made that can't be fine tuned prior to race day. Ever. New tires do not ride the same as tires that have been ridden a few times, I don't care what you tell me.

Over rested and flat outweighs trying to ride the knifes edge of fitness on race day, even for dirt crits.

 

8/29 STL Dirt Crits #8, 2cd.

 Seemed like sort of a best of the rest race without the Big Shark Geezer Trio in attendance, but turned out to be a pretty fast race by any standard. A little bit of rain tacked up the track nicely since I was dialing in the new bike there on Tuesday and even though the heat index was still 100, it felt much less imposing than the 110 on Tuesday. It was a smaller field and I was lined up early to be on the front row. Good start and into the woods behind Bowen. Everything was moving really slowly, similar to last week but last week I was in damage control mode the whole race so it was a bit more frantic. I remember the really good hockey games where everything just slows down so much feels like a video game your good at. I think all the time I've spent on the mtb in the last few months and the new bike have helped dramatically. 

After the StL start we settled in and I was able to recover on Bowens wheel for a bit. I want to say there was a group of about 10 of us that separated. Bowen pulled off after the first lap and I was happy to have clean line of sight and get warmed up. After a lap or two on the front James jumped hard and I covered. Lots of power was drained. He pulled off and I was back in the front. Maybe midway through the race we were down to a group of 5, but I didn't ever really look back.  I think Bowen might have taken another half a lap as well as Devon, but otherwise I was either 1 or 2 wheel the whole race. 

With 3 to go I was expecting fireworks but instead of leading it out remained patient and stayed on the front setting a consistent pace and not burning too many matches out of the corners. No moves were made. With 2 to go we were down to 4 of us and I did more of the same. I was really expecting a strong surge of a few guys but it never came. On the last lap I went all in to prevent anyone from coming around me, riding on the rivet. When we hit the last grass opening on the backside I made the move and shut Bowen down and was able to hold it all the way through the wide section before the drop in. We came on a lapped rider on the short hill before the finishing straight who went left before going back to the right to let us pass and it got a little dicey. Shock locked, out of the saddle spring from there on. Bowen came around me and clipped my bar hard but we both stayed up. Last lap was the fastest of the race by almost 10 seconds.  Same finishing time but he got me by a bike length.

43:43 was the fastest time for the CCW races on the new course this year. I thought for sure it was a slower race and was happy to have some validation that I can hang at the front of one of these. The new bike is just sick. At race pace, the 47 degree head angle floats far less than at lower speeds and I don't think there could be a better bike for me. Really happy to be mountain bike racing again!!! 

8/22 STL Dirt Crits #7, 6th place.

 Weather was perfect; dry and cool. Easy on the lungs. Big race. Aside from Brody, I can't think of anyone who has won one of these recently that wasn't there and knew warming up it was going to be a flamethrower of a race. The track was hard and super fast. I made the major mistake of lining up late and ended up in the second row, which was a major mistake. The guy in front of me couldn't clip in and I hit the woods somewhere 15-20 back. John Rines was behind me but was far more assertive passing and moved up quicky. I tried not to overact and slowly moved up to 8th or 9th. There was quite a bit of carnage going on and at one point Tom and I were hauling the mail through the straight and he went sideways were it dropped back in to the right. Fortunately, I made it around him, not over him and moved on. For the middle section of the race I was in no man's land but keeping roughly the same distance to the lead group. With maybe 4 to go James and Ian must have had a mishap and I passed James and latched onto Ian. We went back and forth for the last 3 laps and when we came though on what I thought was the bell lap I heard "OK A racers, you can do one more lap" which I took as we were doing an extra lap, not the last lap. Ian jumped me in the grass on the far end of the course and I was content ride his wheel and feeling good. When we hit the start finish straight I  sat on his wheel in what I thought was going to be the last lap, no effort to sprint and relatively relaxes, only to pass through the start finish and realize it was over. Rookie mistake. A little bummed I missed out on fighting for the last podium spot, but it's my fault! Great race, happy with what I was able to do. 

8/11 UFD Indian Camp Creek, 5th

 Big field with a lot of fast dudes. Didn't know what to expect since this was a super power heavy course with little climbing and after pre-riding it didn't feel like it suited me all that much. I was feeling pretty relaxed and rested, which was odd given the field, and my game plan to be in the front-ish going into the woods which were super tight and nowhere to pass until the first field section. I got a good jump so kept going and led it out, knowing I'd lose spots in the field and could set the pace without anyone coming around me. 

 I think I was sitting in 7th after the field and was not really able to respond the way I needed to. I maintained contact with Devon, Jimmy, Harre and Brody going into lap 2. Harre went down and Devon and I moved up staying in contact with Brody and Jimmy. 

By lap 3 Tom caught us and I wasn't able to hang with him after a wash out before the field on the back of the course. I couldn't catch him but he was dangling in front of me. Don't remember exactly.

Coming through into the last lap I passed Brody, could not see Harre behind me and had Jimmy and Tom within 10 seconds or so. I caught Devon before the start/finish and then he stopped for a bottle and I passed. Going into the first field section Jimmy was about 5 seconds in front of me with Tom another 5 ahead. I assumed Jimmy was bogging down but he had crashed and Tom passed him. They pulled away in the field and gapped me quickly. Exiting the field I couldn't see Harre, Brody or Devon. Pretty uneventful until the stretch between the field in the back and road crossing to the bottom when I came up on a Grenada rider who refused to let me pass. This went on for some time until I went from asking nicely to telling him to move. In retrospect and after seeing the lap times, this made a pretty big difference. Fortunately, I never was caught by Brody or Harre but lost a lot of time waiting. 

Overall I was super happy with the way I raced. There's no way I could have won that and Jimmy and Tom defintely out powered me, which I would have expected. Happy to be able to hold off Harre and Brody. 

Overall, I believe that maybe second to one of the Landahl races in 2008, this was the biggest MO mtb race I've been to, which is awesome. So many (fast!!) kids and a really well done event. Great to be a part of it!

8/4 UFD Thrill at Matson Hill, DNF.

 Originally planned I wasn't going to race thinking that taking nearly a full rest week with two nights of partying at Phish on Tues and Wed wasn't the best idea but after doing a few laps there couldn't resist. It was going to be a hard, hot race and I thought it suited me. 

Took Mon-Wed completely off and did a little too much partying. Felt pretty good and rode a few hours on Thurs after work and then another easy hour on Friday. Sat morning I did another few hours with a few efforts and then the tired hit me and I was couch locked all afternoon watching the Olympic Road Race. Sun morning was still pretty tired but got a good warm up in and was psyched there were some fast dudes there. 

Not sure how I feel about the downhill start but I took the hole shot and my plan was to try to hit the top of the climb first so I wouldn't get gapped on the downhill. I had things pretty strung out right away but it wasn't until near the top of the climb that any gaps opened up and then Jimmy, Tom and Will latched on for the downhill. Things were far different at race pace and when we took the drop at the bottom I was amazed and  how fast we went over it. Could have been bad news.

After the descent I realized I had lost my nutrition bottle, which was somewhat of a problem, but I had a bottle with water and extra gels so wasn't too worried. 

On the climb up to the lot I was able to gap both Tom and Jimmy and will was gone. I think I probably had 5-10 seconds on them which I lost on the descent. The three of us were riding the bottoms/tech sections more or less together when I nailed something with my rear wheel sometime around the bottom. Immediately I thought I had broken my rim but it was just a big burp which I tried to keep riding thinking I might be able to get to the start finish and use a pump which would save me time. The tire kept losing pressure and I was forced to stop and try to CO2 it. First time using this since I bought the MTB and it blew a rubber seal or something and all the air came out at once. Tried to ride a bit more and the tire came unseated. Jog/walked to the finish, tried to reseat to see if I could catch a few people but no such luck. Game over. 

7/21 UFD Show Me State Games @ Rock Bridge, 2cd Overall (1st age group - that's the way they scored it)

Another good race. Took it pretty easy all week since I wasn't feeling recovered from the race in the heat on Sunday and skipped my big workout and Dirt Crits. Definitley felt a little flat or tired, not sure which. I'm guessing just tired from a stressful week and a long hr plus warm up because I wanted to pre-ride the course.  I'm glad I did becuase I remembered 0% from the last time I raced there in 07. Far more technical and challenging than I was expecting, which I liked.

Bob was talking about letting following Josh around for a lap but I had zero fucks to be given to that idea and had a great start and was first in the woods. Overcooked a few things here and there but mainly kept it together. The young kid with long hair that reminded me of a 90's hair band came around me about 5 mins in, which was fine by me. He got a little gap on one of the downhills but I was able to recover, probably moreso since I was able to ride his wheel through the flats, which were a blast. He dabbed after the creek and I went around him.

I was riding a good pace up the climb which was apparently hard enough to drop everyone but Marc, which I didn't realize until we hit the gravel road. We had a pretty gone line of sight through the big field and couldn't see anyone chasing, which I was super suprised by. 

I think Marc passed me on the climb to the start finish and put a pretty good gap into me right away. I had no idea who he was our what to expect and just kept pushing. I bogged down a little on lap two but lap one was so fast we had a pretty good cushion. Lap 1 was 35:18. Nutrition was good, legs were pretty good and I was riding well. I didn't see anyone at all on lap 2 which was my slowest at 37:01. 

Lap 3 was more of the same but I was able to push pretty hard and motivated to finish strong, which I did. Lap 3 was 36:53.

Really happy with the way I raced and the result. What a fantastic course. Definitely worth the trip. Planning on trying to get a big workout in this week and some long mountain bike rides next weekend and taking a rest week after that. Seems like a lot of racing in a short period of time and need a little reset. 

7/15 UFD St. Joe, Cat 1, 1st!!! $500

 

After pre-riding the weekend before and seeing the humidity and heat in the forecast I knew it was going to be a long, hot race, which it was. I saw the names of some of the heavy hitters pre-registered and set goals, with landing a step on the podium being the most lofty. I'm almost 48 years old, I train about a third the volume that I used to and, while I love racing and training, enjoy the racing/life balance that I have now, which is basically training to be competitive at local masters races. 

I did a huge workout on Wednesday night and basically avoided any intensity and too much heat exposure leading up to the race. I felt a little flat but knew if I could maintain contact on the first big climb without blowing up it was going to be more of a race of attrition than a drag race. I was mostly right, but it turned out to be back and forth up until midway through the 3rd lap which was some fun and fast racing with nearly everyone making mistakes and suffering from the 102 heat index.

I was the first into the woods and was totally surprised that I wasn't just leading the group out on the pavement and only to be jumped going into the woods. I dialed it back a little before the start of the climb and paced myself which Brody, Aaron, Eli and Bourisaw came around me. This is about what I was expecting and my goal was to stay in contact with Bourisaw and Aaron. Surprisingly, we had a gap on everyone else already. At some point in the first section I went around Bourisaw and was riding 4th wheel. Again, we opened up a gap on him immediately. I got gapped on the downhill by the youngsters but was able to get back onto Elis wheel through the bottoms. He went down in front of me and I made it around him, or more accurately, by running over his bike. 

Both Brody and Aaron started to bog down a little after the last climb up to the pavement and passed Aaron who was undergeared on the SS. Once we hit the double track Brody either hesitated or was recovering and I went around him. I thought I had heard that there was cash for the fastest lap and was really surprised he let it happen, pretty much uncontested. 

I came through the start finish in the lead and noticed all the bottles from my hand up table were on the ground. I stopped, grabbed a bottle and put another on the table for the next lap. Brody and Aaron were already exiting the field by the time I got back on, but I chased and somehow caught them before we hit the dirt again.  Not too long after Aaron let me pass and I was riding Brody's wheel. He was bogging down to the point I thought he might be waiting for Eli to catch up so I said fuck it and went for it. Pretty much no response. I had daylight almost immediately. That was about 2 miles into lap 2. The rest of the lap was pretty uneventful and I was feeling good and pressing on. 

Coming through the start finish after lap two the tape had blown my bottles off the table again, which I failed to notice until I was exiting the field and had to stop, run across the field to grab one and get back on. Aaron passed me but again I caught up to him before the singletrack. I was gassed. At some point in the next mile or so he let me pass and shortly after that I hit a tree hard with my left shoulder, went down and he took over again. Not sure how long after that I caught him, maybe mile 3 or so, but I passed and ended up putting 3 minutes into him the rest of the race. 

I don't think I've ever celebrated winning a race like that before and it was uncontrollable joy. Why it means so much to me I'm not sure, but I'm super impressed that I can do what I'm doing at this age and there's no doubt this was a hard mans race, which are always more enjoyable to me. 

6/30 UFD Klaus Park, Cat 1, 4th

 My last XC race was in 2010, 14 years ago. The 4 rides I've done in the last week are the only rides I've done in over 10 years. I had some confidence after the dirt crit on Thursday but seriously questioned if I had two hours of race pace fitness. 

I pre-rode a lap easy. The course was really great without anything too technical but had a lot of places that knowing the course would allow you to maintain flow, which I definitely didn't at all.

My plan was to go all out again and fight for it, assuming I would either detonate a little over an hour in or just get smoked. 

I got a great jump on the start and think I could have fought a little harder for the hole shot but knew the two youngsters would be better off and was able to jump into the woods in 3rd. I almost completely went over the front end about 30 seconds into the race, which would have been bad given the speed, and then slid out on a root on the first lap, but aside from that I rode an exceptionally clean race, which is amazing to me.

I blew up on the first gravel climb and lost two spots, one to a guy in cutoff shorts on a SS and one to Devon. I don't know what I was thinking, probably not much because I was totally gassed, but I never once considered that Arnzen was in our race. I also never realized that someone dangling 10-15 seconds in front of me (that I never caught) was someone I was racing because given the nature of the course you were lapping and seeing a lot of people. Total rookie mistake!!!  TK jumped me right before the woods, which turned out to be a huge mistake as well as he had his son and his teammate ahead of us and Tim was content to do tail whips and catch his breath while they rode away. I made a mistake on a root and Bob went around me but as soon as we hit the field I jumped them both and went for it. There was almost immediate separation. 

By the end of lap two I had Devon in front of me and caught and passed him at the start of lap 3. I genuinely thought I was defending 3rd place for the rest of the race and was eyeing Eli, remember that he crashed and I put time into him at the dirt crits a few days before. 

The rest of the race was fairly uneventful. Did well with nutrition and the legs never really said no until 3/4 the way through the last lap. By lap 4 I was hitting the lines and using a lot less power which made a huge difference. 

I came across the line 3 mins behind Brady, a minute behind Eli and 14 seconds behind Arnzen. I was completely floored by my performance and to say I was super happy would be a total understatement. 

6/27 STL Dirt Crits #2, 5th.

 Spring journal catch up. 

Did a major project in the basement and basically took from January through March off the bike with hardly any riding and just a little skiing mixed in. Ramped up some riding, lifting and skiing in March before a trip to Park City where I skied my balls off for 7 days straight. Came back and jumped right into riding without much planning and probably riding too hard, too much. I knew I would have a big break in June going to Key West for 10 days and figured I'd tried to build as much as I could before then and given my training load was around 8 hrs a week, never really thought I could over do it. I was wrong and I started to feel heavy legs all the time and not super motivated. I tried a half assed rest week but it wasn't enough. I actually think the root cause was the heavy lifting, riding and week of skiing just tearing down my muscles to the point of no return. 

Apparently drinking Pina Coladas for 10 days in Key West was the must needed rest my body needed. The week before our trip I had a come to Jesus and realized that as much as I like riding on the Grants trail, doing it  24/7 was getting a little old and I  needed something else, that something being to get back on the mountain bike. I talked to Casey, who was supportive, and then my buddy Mark Stika basically made me an offer I couldn't refuse and I picked up his Epic HT Pro two days before we left. I ordered a bunch of stuff and was just as excited to come home from vacation as I was going, which is saying a lot. We got back late the night before the first dirt crit and there was no way I could make that and hoped I could get comfortable on the bike before #2.

First ride was great but the rear brake blew out completely so it was tough. Got a really good ride in the next day at Greensfelder and was amazed that my fitness wasn't in the gutter and I was riding a mountain bike after a 11+ year hiatus pretty well. I was also amazed that after a few days of hard riding I was still feeling totally refreshed. 

I was super amped and committed to going all out until I blew up at the dirt crit just to see what happened. I got a great start and was feeling amazing, in the front group of about 10; super relaxed riding well and able to close gaps when needed. Then I looked at my watch and realized we had only been racing for 20 mins. That was hard. I pushed on. I worked my way up to 6th or so and the person in front of me let the gap grow a little and I wasn't confident enough to pass and chase it down, which probably wouldn't have lasted too long anyway. 

Don't remember too much, other than I was staying away from the chase group and keeping the leaders at about the same distance. I was able to push all the way through and never felt negative, always motivated.

I finished 5th, my best dirt crit result in the last 3 years and I was stoked. 

12/3 Bubba 10 State Championship @ Sylvan, Masters, 2cd MO Rider, 3rd OA

 

I had pretty high hopes. I did everything right and unlike last year, I don't think my preparation could have been any better. I'm super happy with how my season went as a hole and think it's some of the most consistent racing I've had across a CX season. 

Leading up to this race, literally every metric was pointing towards a peak level effort. I was super stoked to see a field of riders who were all Jersey holders in the last few years and was looking forward to racing against the 3 fastest guys from KC.

Aside from the night before the race I was able to temper my anxiety, sleep pretty well and felt fresh. I wasn't feeling any of the serious work related stress or like I had cooked my goose too much like last year. My goal was to win the overall, even though I knew there would be one super fast KC guy, I thought I had a chance. 

The warm up / course inspection was wasn't ideal as the course wasn't setup at all and wouldn't be until just before race time. My new warm up routine has been a huge improvement and I was trying to modify it the best I could which basically meant about 1.5 laps of course preview in favor of my warm up on the rollers.

I was astonished to find that there were 3 KC guys and 3 STL guys. I don't know why people aren't showing up but it sucks.

I was trying to be somewhat patient off the start and J Doug took the hole shot but once we hit the hill I was feeling really light on the bike, my breathing was good and my legs felt good so I passed him when I could and started riding at my own pace. 

Devin and Patrick passed me on the hill on the second lap and I didn't answer. To be honest, I sat and watched. A gap opened quickly but I was able to stay close until the hill on the 3rd lap. For the next two laps I fell way off the pace, probably 20-30 seconds each lap. I can't explain it. It's all between the ears. Every other lap was almost the same time. 

Think I finished within 30 seconds or so of  Devin, not sure about Patrick. 

....picking this back up in June. Still stings.