The most fun that’s been had at the seminary in some time…

Sorry Seminarians.  Being a seminary drop-out, I know good things can happen on the campus, but few things as fun as a proper cyclocross.  Fortunately Off The Front Racing put on a proper cyclocross.  It was my favorite course of the year thus far (including Sunrise Park in Chicago).  The course featured diverse surfaces (dirt, mud, grass, pavement, wood-chips, leaves, roots) with plenty of fun transitions.  It also had four “dismount suggestions”: 2 stair sections, a double barrier, and a log (on an uphill sector).

The plan for the weekend was to double up on Saturday as I had commitments on Sunday.  I got a late start leaving the house (but with family!) and I got registered for the B’s and A’s.  I snuck in a little pre-riding (without disrupting racers) so I knew some of the trouble I was in!  Got a poor starting spot and didn’t move up really until the barriers on the first lap.  I was really proud of my barrier work this weekend.  I’ve been working on barriers and I think it’s finally starting to pay off.  I received two compliments from my peers (“Were you a hurdler in H.S.?”), so I think this isn’t just perception – I regularly passed guys there.  I’m not going to say what/how I’ve trained this as I had to work to get it!  

Jumping the barrier.  Photo Credit: Ragfield.

 

After a lap or two I had moved up into the top ten and saw Peat (Have Fun), Matt (Big Shark), Peter (Big Shark), Patrick (OTF), and Rich (Dogfish) with a nice gap.  I had Mark (Big Shark) on my 6 and I wasn’t interested in getting beaten by him (again).  So I just worked to keep the pressure on, making things hard for Mark.

Mark was my shadow for several laps.  He's beaten me too much this year, so I had to hurt myself to get up the trail!  Photo Credit: Ragfield.

I soon caught up to Matt and worked with him for a bit which gave me some rest in the windy sections.  Patrick was in difficulty so we soon overtook him.  Unfortunately Peat, Rich, and Peter had a comfy 20 seconds on Matt and I, so I had my work cut out for me.  I attacked Matt through the barriers and kept the pressure on for a bit.  Fortunately, it worked and Peat was my next target.  He remained elusive, and it’s no surprise – he is an excellent bike handler and that course sure rewarded those skills!

Rich and Peter duked it out for the finish with Rich winning in a sprint at the line.  Congrats to Rich, I think that’s his first win.  That’s just what he needed in the Bubba Series Points Competition.  Can he catch Matt?  Will Peter win out to win it?  It will be fun to watch that unfold in the next month!

Thanks to my friend Rob "Ragfield" for shooting the race.  It's too bad he didn't get to race (cause he's not just fast with the camera), next time!

‘A’ Race

Grabbed a gel, swapped jerseys, downed some water and hoped in the grid for the “A” race.  I got a little argy-bargy with Scott (Ritte van Vlaanderen/Seagal) (all in good fun), and worked my way up in the field a bit.  The CX racing has finally paid off with my lower back strengthening up so that it didn’t “die” on me till 30+ minutes into the second race (it’s the little victories).  Anyway, Carl (Green Street Realty) was riding smooth and fast so I just tried to hang on to his wheel.  I could see the big dogs (Kurt (708), Johnson + Schottler (Big Shark), Sam (Canyon), and others) up the trail a bit, but I kept telling myself the good words of DoubleJ (MWI): “Remember, this thing is an hour long!”  After recovering on Carl’s wheel I think I attacked him and Stu (OTF).  Carl was complaining about his ribs (recovering from a crash/fracture?), but until then he didn’t look like an injured racer!

Up and over.  Photo Credit: Dennis Fickinger.

About this time my back started killing me and I began bleeding spots to better racers.  There was some dueling with Dennis (Dogfish) but I let Rock (The Hub) go by uncontested.  I got a second wind to finish strong and was pleased with my results: 4^th and 11^th on the day!  Plus the course was just a blast to ride.  On some courses the technical features just suck.  The whole time you’re thinking: “this is stupid, this feature is just annoying”.  But the course was challenging and fun.  It seemed to have everything (you want in a veldrijden) including that je ne sais quoi, flow.

Sunday

My wife and I are in the process of joining a local church, so we attended a membership “class” so everybody understands what they’re getting into.  Well, the class (while interesting and deserving of several blog posts of its own) ended an hour early.  While driving home I looked at the clock and thought “Could I make it to the race?”  The possibility was completely off the table, but quickly considered with the wife, it was now available.  What fun!  I packed the car and drove a little on the fast side over to Creve Coeur to line up for the A’s.   Let’s just say that when I got out of the car I already had everything but my helmet and number on!

I had enough time to ask Mark Ewers to pin my number and pre-ride the course.  Without a warm-up I knew it would hurt, and the A’s delivered.

The course was a standard Bubba (as I’ve come to know them).  Not much climbing, a little bumpy, dry, but rewarded smooth cornering.  One set of double barriers, and everybody’s favorite: a healthy dose of wind.

Dwayne G. (Dogfish) won the B’s outright, so he lined up for the A race.  I knew how he was feeling: nice and primed but probably wondering what he had in the tank for the last 20 minutes.  I made some early passes.  The odd one was going around “Butthead” (Big Shark).  Soon enough though, on a straight-away I tried to hold his wheel up to the top 5-6.  Blowed up.  Turns out he joined his teammate Schottler and they went 1-2.  

Tightening the screws on Dennis through the barriers.  Photo Credit: Creed Monster!

I rode with Rock till he dropped me, then did battle with Dennis and Trent to avoid being last place.  Dwayne started running out of gas towards the end of the race and I did overtake him.  His indomitable good spirits make him the best and worst carrot ever.  “C’mon Mark, you’ve almost caught me!” he cried, grinning ear to ear.  If you’re in “competitor mode” it may grate on you, but if you know Dwayne, he’s just gushing encouragement and loving every minute of the racing fun.  The next man up the trail was Chris (Big Shark) and I was getting closer to him but couldn’t close the gap.  Maybe another lap?  Maybe not.

Big ups to Scott for breaking into the top 5 for the first time.  It was good to see so many of my bike friends, I sure like the StL.  Thanks to my wife, OTF, Big Shark, and the officials for letting me play bikes.  Such a good time.  Also, thanks to Mesa Cycles for loaning me the Fizik tester saddle and gluing my tubulars.  The two have been awesome and make the entire CX experience that much better.

Next up: work trips to AR and maybe my last race of 2011: Bubba CX 11(?)

Faust Park Bubba CX, a Stupid Tax, and No Good Rotten Sandbaggers

The Stupid Tax

Thursday night I was trying to eat healthy, so I cooked some salmon and put it on top of some greens for dinner.  The fish that I ate I thought was about a week old (should be ok, right?)  My wife informed me later when I was nauseous and dizzy that the fish that *I* purchased and *I* opened was probably closer to 3 weeks old.  It didn’t smell bad…

Yes, I paid a stupid tax.  It sucks to be sick due to something so foolish/preventable.  My main suggestion to any of you considering eating old fish – don’t.  

The entire episode is quite ironic because of the intensity of my desire to avoid processed/industrial foods, especially “fast food.”  And here I go eating old fish and getting sick.  Fortunately only I ate it and the kids and wife had something else.  Whew.  Also, the whole episode only took 24 hours to run its course.  

Bubba CX Faust Park Saturday

Saturday evening Faust Park hosted the next round of the Bubba series.  This was the coldest race yet, probably in the 40’s.  The course was the least technical CX course this year (out of 4) for me with only 4 or 5 technical turns per lap.  Pre-riding the course, the grass seemed way too long and everything seemed super bumpy.  My only thought was: my back is going to be cooked after 1 lap!  Fortunately several fields went over the course and packed the grass down enough that by the B race, it wasn’t so bad.

I bailed on the costume stuff – I just didn’t have the energy after the fishy stupid tax I paid Thursday/Friday.  So I lined up in the second row of the B race and had a great start.  An Off the Front racer (dressed as Buddy – bravo) won the hole shot and was really digging.  I got into third wheel behind Rich and sat tight for a few minutes as OtF blew up…so that’s what I look like normally!  I took the front about halfway through the lap and soon found myself with Rich and Pete (on a single speed!) with a little gap.  Realizing that the race was not 3 laps, I let someone else pull for a bit.  Pete and I kept it quick as Rich started to fade.  At this point Matt (dressed as a woman) began reeling us in.  Soon it was three again and that’s more or less how it would stay to the finish.  There were some attacks, counters, and bad lines taken but whenever one of us appeared done, they’d fight to get back on terms.

On the last lap each racer wanted a favorable position.  Matt was leading with 3-4 turns to go while I was second wheel.  Into a downhill off-camber turn (my fav on the course), Pete took me on the inside!  We still had a few 180’s left but I got a little gaped and was forced into chasing back to Pete’s wheel through them. 

 

The barriers framed the finish.  Since the finish was downhill from the barriers, I reasoned that whoever got to the barriers first had this thing in the bag.  Coming into the left hand climb I sprinted up and gained the first spot, keeping it clean and fast through the barriers, thus sealing my first cat 3 CX win.

To curb my enthusiasm, I immediately lined up for the 1/2/3 (A) race.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to race the next day and I wanted another race start.  Beginning near the back I finished at the back - second to last.  It was basically a fun workout once the field got away from me.  Sadly, I got lapped by the podium, but I still had a good time fighting off last place.

After the finish Johnny served me up a bowl of chili and gave me a Bud Light (perhaps my first ever – not certain).  It was perfect in that moment.  Though I think about anything would have tasted good after that second race!  (Anything but fish, of course.)

The racing was encouraging as I felt I drove my bike better than previous races and my back didn’t give out in the first race.  Progress is progress!  

Sandbagger Ranting and CX Categories

There has been talk lately of sandbagging in our local series.  It’s pretty off-putting for me as internet ranting usually does not correlate to actually talking with people face(book) to face(book).

For my own part, I don’t think I’m ready to upgrade.  I haven’t met the performance requirement for the 3->2 license move, the road parity rule notwithstanding.  Also, as most of the races are on Sundays it’s quite difficult for me to race the A’s and still make it to church on time.  What’s worse, being called a bagger by whiny people (like myself) or not racing?  I think I’ll chance it with the whiners for the next month.

The nice thing about being a CX cat 3 is the variety.  If I want to race later, I can hop in the 1/2/3’s.  Earlier?  The B’s (3/4s).  Want to get smoked?  Double up on the A+B races or 3’s and 1/2/3’s in Chicago.  It really seems to be the best option right now.  Also, now that I’m officially old according to cyclocross, I can do the 30+ races when offered.  The triple fun day (30+, 3’s, 1/2/3’s) is tempting.  I haven’t done it yet but maybe if I want 3 lackluster results in a single day… I think next year will favor quality over quantity.

Charity

Finally, if you read this (wow!) and you race in the StL, give a thought to my friend and future teammate BJ “The Coach” Keane.  If the guy could go more than 3 laps without breaking a: spoke, chain, saddle, or rolling a tire, why, I think he might win again.  I think he has the Gateway Cross Cup Sandbagger Curse™.  I haven’t told it to his face(book), but he’s such a sandbagger, being a cat 4 CXer and (presumptive) cat 2 road racer.  *cough*

Ironic Self Referential Addendum:  If you missed the irony of the preceding section, I can't help you.  However, I think there is a real chance some of you might in fact "miss it" (hence this note) and this note is, ironically, my attempt to help you.  Wow, that was like The Matrix or something.

But the real irony of this piece is in the decrying of the sandbag whiners.  Sandbag whiners anonymously complain about others without (usually) naming them and insinuate some fault on the accused-baggers part.  Here of course, in this very blog, I have risen above them to call out some fault in the sandbagwhiners under a pseudonym!  This makes me no different, of course except, in writing this I acknowledge that I in fact know better.  Hmm.

This all begs the question: to what end do sandbagwhiners and smarmy bloggers call foul?  As I mentioned earlier, if they truly wanted what was best for the "accused", they would go to them face to face rather than bloviate anonymously.  I must conclude that I (and they) do not really want whats best for the other.  By process of elimination, it's not hard to guess who they are trying to serve with their comments.

Further Irony Which I Importune You to Consider in this David Foster Wallace Mini-Homage*:

After writing all that other crap I realized the name of the park.  Oh the tantalizing narrative possibilities.  

*Please pronounce "homage" like "oma" plus the "g" sound from "entourage." Please.