2009 Chicago Cross Cup #9 - Woodstock 4B's

All i can say is that it was very nice to be back racing again. I had been feeling good the last few days and i was feeling like i could have a good day but i knew my form was down after missing a couple weeks while nursing the knee. While i have no ill effects from the knee, while riding the course i knew that this would be a hard one for me. It was a fun, fast course but the short, steep uphills killed me. For whatever reason it felt like i just couldn't go uphill very well. After riding around the course during the 4A race i worked my way back to the start. As i came down a hill at the bottom there was some tall grass and it turned out that although you couldn't see it, there was a ton of water in the grass. I found the only real mud in the whole park and it wasn't even part of the course. I showed up at the start line with shoes and shins covered in mud.

For the start i wanted to be on the right side cause as you went around the baseball diamonds there was a muddy section on the left. As we started i was where i wanted to be but was getting bogged down i ended up on the left side. Luckily when we hit that patch, there was a solid section on the left so it ended up not being an issue. As we enter the woods for the first time i'm in the top 10 or so. I knew i wanted to stay right on this hill cause of the rocks and uneven dirt on the left. Well i was too far over cause i look down and right in front of my wheel is huge root. I slammed on my breaks (sorry Shawn) and of course ended up loosing a couple spots there but i'm still in the front group.

We exit the woods ride the paved path for a bit and then make the turn back into the woods for the fast descent. As we come back out of the woods up the dirt hill for no reason that i saw the rider in front of me slammed on his brakes. (what goes around comes around i guess) I almost came to a complete stop and lost 3 or 4 more spots. By the time we crested the hill there was a gap to the front group and that's the last time i saw them.

After going thru the toilet bowl and over the barriers on the back it seemed like the rest of the race i was on my own. A group of 3 or 4 caught and passed me and then a group of a couple of guys on mtb's passed me. After that i held my own until the last lap.

"Bacon Alley" was where the crowd was and they made this hill really hard by placing a barrier in the middle of it. This was brutal. By the time i would dismount i would almost come to a complete stop and then you had to run up the rest of the hill. No riding this one. Because it was hard and because i wanted to finish as best as i could i wasn't in the mood to take a handup. It was still a blast and the atmosphere was incredible but i wasn't taking anything.

On the last lap i had been passed by a rider before bacon alley but as i came over the top he had dropped his chain and so i was able to get past him. Then as we hit the last downhill sections i was able to pass another rider who had a dropped chain and then was able to hold him off at the line for 21st.

One of my favorite moments was as i was on the downhill section before the start finish line there was a spectator yelling at me as I went by. He actually noticed the uniqueness of my bike. It's an old Cannondale sm500 mtb frame with cross tires on it. As i'm flying by i hear this guy yell something like, "go cannondale!...what is that?!...26"?!..." Cracked me up.

Here's some videos...

2009 Kneegate

This past Wednesday I met Tim at the Deer Grove Forest Preserve for a lunch ride. I had never been there but heard it was a great place so we got suited up and headed out. About half way into the ride i see a couple sections of puddles ahead and i decided to have some fun and ride thru them. I know that was stupid but what can i say. I get thru the first section ok but the last puddle i hit ends up being a deeper hole than i imagined. Before i know it i'm flying over the bars and flying superman style. My right knee makes impact first and then my left side.

The first thing i remember is thinking that this "trail" was not very soft. it was more like a road underneath some dirt and leaves. I stand up, look down at my knee and blood is flowing from a nice hole in my brand new pearl izumi knee warmers. I do the waddle in circles that you see whenever a rider gets up from a crash and quickly determin that i can put weight on the knee and other than the blood it seems to be ok.

I then notice that not only is the knee bleeding it is also bulging out of the hole in my knee warmer. Tim and i get back on our bikes and start heading back. I'm able to pedal ok and we ride the 25min or so back to our cars. I'm riding gingerly and although there's no internal pain in the knee i now have a softball size lump on top of the knee.


After getting back to work and getting cleaned up, i was hoping the swelling would go down and the knee would stop bleeding but it didn't. I drove myself to the Acute Care Center by my house and got it x-rayed. Thank God nothing was torn or broken. In fact i have almost no pain at all. The Nurse Practitioner was bending, pulling, and twisting my knee and i had no pain or restricted movement. The funny moment was having her call another doctor in basically saying, "you gotta see this."

I ended up walking out of there with a full leg immobilizer walking around like c3po. I was told to wear the brace thru this weekend and i should be fine unless the swelling doesn't go down.

I wore the brace until yesterday. I couldn't take it anymore. walking around like C3PO was messing with my lower back and hips. Now i'm just waiting for the stifness to go away. I'm hoping i can be riding by tuesday. we'll see.

2009 Bartlett Sunrise Park Cross

This race would be different for me. I knew from the warmup lap it would not be a good day for me. Running over the barriers felt more like walking. I had no snap in my legs. I again had my top 20 or so for the holeshot and passed a couple guys on the first half lap but then that was it. I started getting passed by people and switched into survival mode for myself. I ended up finishing 30th.

The real story of this race is the race for last. There are guys showing up to race who have barely ridden a bike before this fall but that hasn't stopped them. It's been very inspiring and very cool to watch. you can read more here.

Scroll down to the pics and begin reading.

2009 Carpenter Cross 4b race

I've been ignoring this blog for a while. I've just been busy and updating friends via facebook and twitter. But i will try to play a little catchup here.

On October 18 i entered my first ever official cyclocross race. I've attended the Carpenter Park Cyclocross race the last 2 years and last winter i finally got my hands on a mtb so i've been practicing and learning the techniques of cross and will be entering a couple of races this year.

I lined up with close to 75 other riders. I felt really good on the warmup lap but knowing that i'm on a mtb and having never done a real race before i opted be conservative at the start. I wanted to be up far enough to avoid the logjam in the first turn but didn't want to get in the way of anybody who could actually win this thing.

I ended up in the top 20 into the first turn and was in front of the first crash in the switchbacks that followed. As soon as i could i would pass whoever i could and after about 1/2 a lap i was at the back of a group of 4 or 5.

As we approched the sled hill i was able to pass a couple of them and after the toilet bowl it was Brian Morresey of XXX racing and i. We were together for almost the rest of the race. On the final lap Brian biffed on his remount after the barrier/creek bed combo and i thought that maybe i could drop him but i couldn't. He caught me and soon dropped me. i was gassed and a Pegasus rider caught and passed me as well. I ended up crossing the line in 10th which i was very happy about.

Season Update

Well i've more or less pulled the plug on this season. I actually wouldn't have done that many more races anyway but the form and fitness is just not there to make it worth spending the entrance fees to ride for 45min to an hour. The adjustment to working both Sat. and Sunday and not knowing what races i would actually be able to do made motivation a difficult thing this year. While i was able to get a good deal of riding in I never really got around to doing the high intensity work i should have. What this meant was that i did ok on the non technical race courses but any time there was a real turn that required a good kick coming out of the turn i would lose a couple spots. That would turn into getting gapped and then dropped.

Now that i've pretty much lived a season in this current work schedule i know how to prepare for next year. I can plan on making a better plan for superweek and will try to capitalize on the races that are close to my area that i can get in before or after work.

It occurred to me this year that my work schedule has change almost every year and it seems to take me half the summer to figure out a good training rhythm to the week. Hopefully things should stay consistant for next year and maybe just maybe i'll be a step ahead next year.

While i'm ending my road season i still will be racing once more this year. I'm am going to enter the Carpenter Cross race in october. This will be my first ever cross race so i'm looking forward to that. I have an old mountian bike that i will be riding. If all goes well i will work to have a real cross bike for next year.

RTOTS Stage 5 - Madeira Beach to Fort de Soto Beach and Back

6/23/2009
68.88km
2:15:08

This ride will go down as the ride that I consumed the most ounces of liquid per hour. Temps in Florida were in the mid 90’s during the day and the low’s were 80 – 83. The plan was to ride from Madera Beach down along Gulf Boulevard the over to the island that is de Soto Beach. It was 20 miles out then 20 miles back. We had spent the previous day on de Soto Beach and there’s lot’s of great riding along the beach and the road to the beach. I had packed 2 24oz bottles of Gatorade and thought that would be enough for the 40 mile ride. At the half way point I was more than half way thru my second bottle so with about 15 miles to go I stopped at a 7/11 and bought 2 more 20oz bottles of Gatorade. Those were gone by the time I got back to my van. Once the ride was over I finished off the rest of the 64oz bottle for a total of 104 oz for the ride.

RTOTS Stage 4 - Cancelled

This stage was cancelled due to me not wanting to wake up early. I was on vacation after all.

RTOTS Stage 3 - Hog Pen Gap and Unicoi Gap Loop

Stage 3 - Hog Pen Gap - Unicoi Gap Loop
6/20/09
86.61km
03:34:37
1590m/5217ft climbing






Woke up this morning to thankfully less fog. I was actually able to see some of the beauty around me. This route was the same all the way to Brasstown Bald but instead of climbing it I just kept going. This loop is basically what they call the Scenic Byway loop. It goes by Brasstown Bald and then over Hog Pen Gap down into the town of Helen and then back to Hiawassee over Unicoi Gap.

Brasstown Bald sits right on the county line and as soon as you pass the entrance to Brasstown Bald you cross the county line, and start enjoying the different road surface. Definitely rougher than the other roads but it’s a long straight descent from Brasstown Bald down to Hwy 348. Once on 348 you start climbing back up into the mountains and eventually start the long hard climb up to Hog Pen Gap. This climb was hard. I spent almost all of it in my 27 tooth cog. There’s no 20% stuff like on Brasstown but it’s still long and hard. This climb seems to climb along the side of the mountain and doesn’t have too many switchbacks. Mostly long curvy roads along the side of the mountain. About 500m from the top I noticed one of those road reflectors from the center line had busted and was sitting on the side of the road. I stopped and picked up my official Hog Pen Gap Climb souvenir. The view right at the top isn’t much but just either side of the gap there are turnouts for some beautiful views.

On the descent back down to Helen I finally started feeling comfortable on the descents and was beginning to really have some fun. Not having much experience with stuff like this you soon figure out what a 35mph corner is versus a 15mph corner and how fast you can go thru each on a bike. Once you turn off of 348 and turn on 17 the traffic increases a little and you begin the climb towards Unicoi Gap. This climb is completely different than Hog Pen. I would say it’s a little easier than Hog Pen but a lot more fun because it’s a lot of switchbacks and more mountain like.

On the way up I saw a bunch of cyclist on their sat. morning group ride flying down the other way. All of them were way skinnier than me. Made me think I probably wouldn’t like living here cause almost every route includes a major climb. That would make the group rides not as fun.

Once over Unicoi you make the descent down more switchbacks and sharp turns. After coming off that climb I started running low on fumes. My 2.5hr plan was turning into a 3.5hr plan and I was getting tired. I just had enough water and got back to our campground just as I was about to bonk. Any longer and I would have been in some trouble.

Here's a video of the descent of Hog Pen Gap. Not mine but it gives you a good idea of the fun.


This video is of a motorcycle ride up and over unicoi gap going north, the way i went.

RTOTS - Stage 2 - Brasstown Bald

Stage 2: Bald Mountain Camping Resort - Brasstown Bald.

57.53km

02:15:24

787m/2582ft of climbing

After the early morning ride in Kentucky and enjoying some fishing and canoeing at our friends house we got back in the van and headed down for the mountain stages of the RTOTS at Brasstown Bald. It was only a 4.5hr drive so we arrived at the Bald Mountain Camping Resort before dark and moved into our Camping Cabin. In the morning I was a bit bummed to wake up to a ton of fog blanketing the valley but it was still rideable although i wished i had my little flasher light, so I headed out around 6:30am. During the ride I got a couple peaks of the sun and a couple views but the top of Brasstown Bald doesn’t seem to clear of the fog until after 10am.

The route begins with what basically is a descent from the campground down into the town of Hiawassee. The campground is on the east side of the mountain and the road up to Brasstown is on the south side. Once I turned on Owl Creek Road I was on the Tour de Georgia course to Brasstown Bald. Here the roads are never flat and on most of the rolling hills leading up to the main climb I found myself in the small chainring and near my 27 but nothing compares to once the climb to Brasstown Bald starts. The real climbing starts about a mile or so from the entrance to Brasstown bald. It’s marked on the road by paint that someone painted that says “Go George” then “Climb Starts Here X”

The pictures don’t do justice but once you near the curve at the top of the picture the grade really goes up and I found myself in the 27 barely moving. Fortunately once you go around the s curve ahead it starts to level out a bit and even goes downhill as you turn onto highway 180. Once on 180 it’s about a mile of a gradual climb as you arrive at the entrance of Brasstown Bald. Immediately the road kicks up and the climb is on.

The climb up Brasstown is about 3 miles long but only 2.5miles to the parking lot. The last ½ mile is closed to cyclists and is for the shuttle bus that you can ride up to the top from the parking lot. There are mile marker signs along the climb so I started my lap timer at the bottom. Now the whole climb is brutal. There is no break and it just keeps going up and up and up. What was worse in my case was that the top was still fogged in so as I got higher there was no beautiful sights to see. Just the road in front of me.

From the start I was in my 27 tooth cog and never left it. The only thing that changed was my cadence. From what I had read the second mile was the worst and that was very true. That’s where the climb kicks up to 20%. I completed the first mile in 9:22, second in 10:50, and the last ½ mile or so in 4:36 for a total time of 24:48 for the 2.5 miles.

When I hit the second mile and the 20% section I almost died. I litereally was zigging and zagging across the road to stay on the bike and almost falling over cause it was one pedal stroke, followed by and awkward pause, followed by another pedal stroke and another awkward pause. At one point I felt like I was doing the vo2max test on the computrainer and about to stop. There was a curve ahead and I told myself if this doesn’t ease up around this turn I don’t know what I’m going to do. Lucky for me it did ease up and I didn’t have to get off or fall off the bike.

I reached the top at about 7:45am and there was not a single car there. Because of the fog I couldn’t even see the end of the parking lot or the tower above me. What is now my biggest regret is that I was a good boy and obeyed the no bicycles beyond this point sign to go all the way to the top. I don’t think there was a soul there and I could have gone all the way. Maybe next time. I went back later in the day with the family and took all the pics except for the self portraits from the ride.

On the way back i took 180 all the way to 17/75 and then back to the camp. All in all a beautiful ride but very hard on the climb.

The video below is of our drive up Brasstown Bald.