2014 Road Plan - Instagram

So what's my big goal for the 2014 road season?  To take at least 1 picture on every ride.  I'm not planning on any road racing this year but will be riding as much as possible to get ready and fit for cross season in the fall.  I decided that what I wanted to do this year is to take at least 1 pic on every ride and post it to instagram.  Over the years I've said countless times, "oh that would make a great pic."  Well this year it will.

I am posting most rides to strava, which will sync with instagram which is pretty cool.  I was worried for a bit because the for the first couple of rides the pics were all roadkill.  But i'm fortunately finding enough other good stuff.  

I think it'd be cool if more and more strava users would make use of this feature.

2014 Cyclocross Worlds - Elite Men

2014 Cyclorcross Worlds - U23 Men

This race included one of my favorite moments of the whole world championships and unfortunately i didn't catch it on camera.  As i made my way to the large open flat section of the course, Wout Van Aert was well on his way to winning solo.  As he was about to lap an Australian rider, the Aussie jumped off his bike, raised it over his head, and cheered Van Aert as he rode by.  The crowd loved that one.

2014 Cyclocross World - Elite Women

Finally getting my videos up.  Here's the Elite Women.

CX Worlds Trip - Day 1: Belguim

So the trip began with a little worry that my flight wouldn't get out because of the snow in Chicago but those worries proved unfounded and i was on my way on an overnight flight to Dusseldorf, Germany.  We actually got there ahead of schedule and by 10am i was in my rental car headed for Oudenaard.  I had planned ahead to have an offline mapping system on my iPad and iPhone but i went ahead and got a navigation system with the car and I am really glad I did.  The thing actually was easy to use and worked extremely well. There was never any guess work.  Made the drive super easy.  During the 3.5hr drive it was fun seeing road signs for towns that I knew of from different races i've watched on tv but never been to.

I stopped around Antwerpen at a Mcdonalds and grabbed a bite and continued on.  I arrived in Oudenaard, at The Chainstay, around 1:30pm.  I met Gregg and got stuff moved into my room.  I talked with Gregg a bit and asked what was the best way to get to the Koppenberg and with a map in hand, headed out the door.

I drove over to the base of the Koppenberg and the immediate impression was wow, it don't look that steep on tv.  As I drove slowly to the top while taking pictures, i saw that there was a car ahead, with people also taking pictures out the window.  Once at the top we both pulled over and got out.  Hearing that they spoke english I asked where they were from.  "Chicago," they said.  They were 2 guys that flew in the same morning and were going to the Cx championships and drove down from The Netherlands to see the Koppenberg.  I didn't know them but do know the team they race for in Chicago.  Small world.

I spent some time on the Koppenberg.  I walked all the way down to the bottom and then back up, taking pictures the whole time.  I spent a little time trying to figure out exactly where the course for the Koppenbergcross turns off the road and into the field and also where it crosses again further up.

After the walk up I got back in my car and drove a little loop to the road that's just a bit southwest that the Koppenbergcross course also goes on and drove down that back to the bottom of the Koppenburg and took a few more pics.  

My next destination was the Patterburg and Oude Kwaremont.  I headed in the general direction and started to notice that there were signs posted at every intersection of routes for different rides or races.  There were signs for the Ronde van Vlaanderen course, which i assume was last years route.  There were signs also for a Eddy Mercx route.  I found the Patterburg and Oude Kwaremont and drove up those and took pictures at the top of the Patterburg.  The Kwaremont is by far the worst cobbles of all 3 climbs with big ridges and dips in the road as well as the cobbles being much more diverse and rough than the other 2 climbs.

After exploring those 2 climbs it was time to head back to Oudenaard to check out the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen museum in town.  I decided i'd try to follow the Ronde signs back to town to do the route.  That actually proved to be quite fun.  The road is in most places nothing more than the width of a bike path and the ditches you see on tv along the side of the road are DEEP.  Racing on those would be insane and I will have much more an appreciation for what it would be like to be clawing for a position before the base of those climbs.  I shot a video of me driving those roads to the base and up to the top of the Koppenberg.  

Back in town i went to the Ronde museum which was pretty cool.  It isn't huge but they have quite a nice collection of bikes, jerseys, and other equipment from the history of the race.  They also have a little room that recaps the previous race.  In it they had a video playing as well as posters of significant moments of last years race.  Apparently Sagan's butt pinching incident was something they thought worth preserving because it is one of the posters that they put up.  They also had Fabian's jersey there with the numbers still attached.  The thing looks like it's about the right size for my 9 year old.

After the museum I walked to the main square, took a couple of pics, found a frites shop and got a sandwich and headed back to the Chainstay.  That night they were doing a pizza night for all who were staying there.  They made pizzas that looked and smelled amazing and also looked pretty healthy.  I was too full to eat but enjoyed hanging out with everyone at the table.

The Chainstay is a house run by Gregg Germer and his wife Holly.  He was a pro racer in Belguim from 2004 - 2008 who stayed in Belgium when he retired.  They have 4 rooms on the second floor where you can stay and have a common kitchen and dining room / family room area.  There is also a bike garage area setup  with trainers and a workbench for all your bike needs.  There were 3 people staying while I was there.  There was a guy from New Jersey who had just arrived about a week before.  He had signed on with a Belguim team and they had their team presentation the week before so he had to be there for that.  He's staying the whole season.

The second guy was Luke Gray, a cyclocross racer from Great Britian who had wrapped up his season and would be leaving soon.  Also staying was a woman named Michelle Geoghegan from Ireland who is preparing for the 2014 road season.

Since this was a very full day I decided to go to bed at 8pm.  That was a mistake because I was up at 10pm and couldn't fall back asleep for a few hours.  It didn't help that it was raining constantly the whole night and while that would make for a great race conditions at Hoogerheide, I didn't bring the right clothing for standing in the pouring rain for hours.  Finally I fell back asleep and that was the end of day 1.

Fun seeing signs for cities I've heard of but never been to.

Selfie on the Koppenberg!

Chapel that's at the top of Oude Kwaremont

Top of the Patterburg

Route signs all over the area

Painting along the Flanders route.

Film center in the Flanders museum.  Cool use of jerseys for the benches.

Tom Boonen's jersey.

The famous podium shot.

Fabian's jersey from last year.

2014 Cyclocross Worlds - Junior Men video

Well I'm finally back home now.  Here's a video of stuff i shot with my little camera and iphone during the Juniors race.  I will make a video for each race.  Hopefully it captures what it was like to be there.  Eventually i post a whole writeup about the experience.

Yep that happened!

Worlds was amazing. I'm now in Germany on a work trip and so busy I've barely had time to look through my photos and videos. I've got tons of stories to share but it'll be a week or so before I'll be able to sit down and write. 

Hoogerheide 2014

In just under 48 hours from now I will be on a plane headed for Dusseldorf, Germany to begin 10 days in Europe. It's a work trip, where I'll end up in Leipzig, Germany for a Leadership Conference that I'll be mixing sound for but the the first three days will be cyclocross heaven as I will be in attendance at the Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands. 

The World Championships have always sort of lined up with this trip that I go on every 4 years but this is the first time that the timing was perfect and so I'm jumping at the chance. I basically have 2 1/2 days in cycling heaven so I'm going to make the most of it. Here's the plan. 

I arrive Friday morning in Dusseldorf, Germany where I will pick up a rental car and drive to Oudenaard, Belgium. Since my final destination is Leipzing, Germany, it is cost prohibitive to rent a car in one country and return it in another so that is why I'm flying to Dusseldorf. 

In Oudenaard I'll be staying at a place called The Chainstay. http://www.thechainstay.com/ I originally found this place doing web searches about Oudenaard and found it to be a great source of information. The more I read the more I wanted to stay there so I asked and they said yes. See their site for more info but it's basically a place to stay for an extended amount of time and race in Belgium. The idea once I arrive is to drive around a bit and see the Koppenburg and other climbs, then go to the Tour of Flanders Centre in Oudenaard. http://www.crvv.be/en/295-home

Saturday will be the 1 1/2 hr drive up to Hoogerheide to watch the jr's and the Women's races and hopefully see Katie F'n Compton win Gold for the U.S.  Sunday will be a return trip to Hoogerheide to see the U23 and the Elite Men. Then as soon as the race is over I'll hightail it out of there and begin the 6 1/2hr drive to Leipzig, Germany. 

I will try to post pics and stories every day. Gonna be quite an adventure. I'm bringing a P5 jacket to wear so be on the lookout for that on the webstream. 

Finally a bit of irony. Last year with Worlds in Louisville, I was planning to go but instead I had the privilege of taking a trip to S. Africa. I found myself in a Johannesburg hotel room trying to watch the Worlds on the UCI YouTube channel. Now I'll actually be in Europe watching it in person. Too cool. 

Screen capture of my Tripit map. 

Can't believe only 3 days left. 

XC-Ski at Beaver Creek Reserve

I was up in Eau Claire, WI over New Years and got a ski in on New Years Eve with my brother in law. It was about -2 our but it turned out to be not so bad. 

We got tons of snow at home now so hopefully I'll get at ton of skiing in. Temps are really going to drop again so I'll get to try some sub zero skiing again. 

2013 IL State Cyclocross Championship 40+ (full race)

I'll post a report later but this was one special day on the bike.

2013 Psimet Norge Cross (Cat 30+) video

Borrowed a gopro for some fun.  If i get to it i'll do an actual report but for now there's the video.

Enjoy.

Video of the Cat 4 start at Melas Park Basin

Indian Lakes Resort Saturday 40+

For the second straight year at Indian Lakes i found myself running to the pit within a couple minutes of the start.  This time it was the result of being forced to take a bad line out of one of the sand traps and while it was obvious it was a steeper exit i still misjudged it and endoed over the bars and got run into from behind.  Somehow my rear wheel got dislodged from the dropouts and i couldn't get it back in so I found myself running.

Fortunately this time the pit was closer and i had a pit bike but still i was just about dead last before i got back on the course.  On the approach to the pit the second time of the first lap neutral support was there standing with my bike, rear wheel all ready to go so I swapped back to my main bike.  I spent a couple of laps trying to make up as many places as I could.  Wind was a huge factor so drafting on the stretches heading south was a must.

Then I fell victim to trying to run too low of tire pressure.  I'm still running clinchers and love the challenge Open Tubulars.  I am also trying the latex innertubes and was thinking i could get away with a little lower tire pressure with the latex tube.  I did 35psi on the rear but about lap 3 on the approach to the sand traps a section of the clincher bead came dislodged from the rear tire and I was forced to run the same section to the pit again.  Switched to my pit bike and finished the race on that, trying to catch and pass the same 10 or 15 guys i had chased the first half of the race.

I ended up 36th and actually still had a ton of fun.  The SRAM support was awesome and only today did i realize I ended up with a new skewer on my rear wheel that i need to return.  I felt better than i thought i would given that I was racing on 4 1/2hrs of sleep due to having to work really late the night before.  It was actually a nice little experiment on how to prepare myself during the week for something like this.  I just made sure i got lots of sleep during the week.  If I hadn't had the mechanicals it's hard to say wether I would have felt the same riding further up in the field but all in all it was a good race.  I also really shortened my warmup and race day prep so i could get more sleep and I think that could have contributed to the mechanicals as I didn't have the time to go over the bike as well as I normally do.

Fun in the sun, sand, and snow

Cat 3 Upgrade

Today I got upgraded to Cat 3 for Cyclocross. I could have done this long ago but because of my work schedule (working weekends) staying a 4 left me more options since I could make it to the cat 4 races after work. When I raced cat 4 I would soft pedal the start till we were thru the first turn then I'd go for it. It made for a great training race without being a total sandbagger.

I ended up only doing 1 4's race at Bartlett last year and this year I haven't done any and I think I can make 1 or 2 of the 1,2,3's races if I can get off work a bit early so that's what I will try to do going forward.  If all goes to plan the first 123 race will be at Melas in a couple weeks. 

Griffo and latex.

I used my new Challenge Griffo with a latex inner tube for the first time today. I ran a couple hot laps on my CX course near my house and I have to say it's pretty awesome. It's rained a lot the last day and a half and there was a good frost on the ground as well as tons of leaves. 

In comparison to the Fango and a butyl tube it gripped the off camber stuff really well. There's an incline we ride across and I was able to ride whatever line I wanted which in the past I haven't been able to do. I also did a lap with the pressure 3psi lower than I ever had and it felt amazing. 

I have yet to ever ride a tubular so I can't quite compare but for a clincher this is pretty amazing. I'll have to see if I can borrow a tubular wheel with a griffo to see if I'm even close to the feel of a tubular. 

Little Zonhoven on ride today

Psycho Cross 40+

Teamie Greg during the 30+ race

I went into this race determined to move up as far as i could at the start and then see what happens.  Long story short I found myself in the top 10(i think) for about a lap before I lost power.  Then it was a case of me just trying to hold off anyone I could for the rest of the race.

I ended up finishing 19th which is exactly the same position I got last year and equals my best ever official finish in a masters race. I had 12th at Campton last year before my derailleur exploded 600m from the finish but I digress. So with about half the training time and clogs to 20lbs extra weight I equal my best finish ever with more racers this year than last year. Go figure.

Bar cam vid.  I'm in around 9min. but the first lap is much more interesting.

Hopkins Park 40+: Reason 42* why I love cross

This year has not been a typical year for me as far as racing and training goes.  While i intended to lay off the road season a bit I didn't plan to not do any road racing but that's the way it goes sometimes I guess.  So because of that i've entered the cross season with lower fitness than normal.

Sunday was my first race of the season, the second stop in the Chicago Cross Cup, Hopkins Park in Dekalb, IL.  Even though my fitness is lower than it should be I was pretty confident that i could improve on my finish from last year.  Due to too much air pressure in my tires last year i ended up on the ground about 5 times and finished 56th.  This year all I wanted was to finish higher than that.  The course was amazing.  It features a great combination of straights and corners, pavement and singletrack, and even has a flyover.


So Reason 42* why I love cross is that no matter what your fitness level is, there is still a race for you in cross.  Once the race starts and things settle in you will usually find yourself in a group of riders with similar fitness and ability and you will have a full race of using what fitness you have, the technical skills you have to race those you are with.  I ended up in a group of about 6 or 7 who I traded punches back and forth with the whole race.  You quickly figure out what sections of the course you are good at and what sections your competition is good at.  Then you use tactics to figure out how to maximize your strengths and limit your weaknesses.  So even though we were fighting for 31st place, we still had a blast.  That is reason 42* why I love cross.

Here's a handlebar vid from my race.  I spent the whole race way behind this guy but it lets you see the course if you weren't there.



Next race for me is the 10/19 Psycho Cross in wauconda.

*42 is just a random number i like.  Sorry I don't have 41 other reasons, well i probably do, i just haven't written them down.

Bike is race ready!

Not that you can really tell from the photo but I did the final mod to the bike which was to put the rear brake on the left hand lever. Now it's ready for its first race on Sunday!