Bloomer CX Race

What a huge turnout today for the Bloomer race. The C class had 38 racers! Last year there was only 29. It is good to see the events getting bigger each year. There were a quite a few mountain bikers that did their first cross race today also. The weather has been very uncross like also, which probably gets more people out to race.

The course was similar to last year, but they added in the short steep uphill on the side of the velodrome, and moved one of the sets of barriers around. It seemed like a combination of the last 2 years races.

Lots of pavement and lots of long straight sections. They mixed in a little bit of trail riding as well, similar to last years course.

This was the biggest week for my workout routine doing the hardest workouts to date. I was feeling pretty good coming into the race, and fairly well rested. I was expecting to do decent, I placed 6th here last year on a similar course. But nothing really went my way right from the start of race. I lined up in the front row, after getting a good warm up in, and was feeling pretty good. The whistle blew, and we were off. It got tight really fast, I was leaning on the guy next to me and then got pinched out and had to drop back. I sat in the pack as we hit the first grassy section, I could see my teammates, John and Todd in front of me a ways so I was working to try and regain contact with them. I was able to get on John`s wheel, but Todd was leading the pack out. Now this was Todd`s second ever cross race, and he got a great hole shot off the line that put him up in first. Myself and John worked most of the race together, we kind of stayed in our group and didnt make up much ground on anyone. Some guys would come around, but it seemed like when they did, it usually ended up in a crash. Speaking of crashes, the downhill on the side of the velodrome was the cause of many of them. This picture was from the B race, but it looked the same in the C race.

Basically we worked together for all the 4 laps changing places with a couple guys and never really could get any separation. We were faster in the more technical parts of the course, they were faster in the flat sprint parts. Finally on the last lap just before the velodrome we decided it was time to get around a couple of guys. This worked really good, John jumped and I followed, we were able to open up a bit of a gap. We hit the trails, and I took a turn hot and ended up getting caught up in the sand it forced me into the woods. Time I got up and going again the guy we just attacked rode past me. I caught Lloyd on the sprint to the line but I couldnt close the gap back up to John. So 4 laps of pain and 20th place. Not really the result that I was looking for. My times were consistent with last year, so that tells me that the field was pretty deep today. I was sloppy though, going over the barriers, and just in general. I didnt feel like i was riding to all my ability.
Oh yeah that Todd guy, he got 4th place in the race. The first TSB racer to place in one of these races. I am still looking for my first one. Maybe lower huron, I always seem todo good there and it is one of my favorite courses.

Next week is stony creek. Get ready to run on the beach, looks like it is going to be 80 that day so maybe I will run a little closer to the water.

KTR RACE Video

Thanks Mike

mashersmeida.com

KTR Double Cross Weekend

Wow did the stars ever come out for the races this weekend. As my teammate John said "these are probably the most famous people ever in Davisburg, Mi".
Jonathan Page
















Adam Myerson
















These were just a few of the many pro riders that raced this weekend at the KTR Double cross.
This was the first time I have ever seen professional racers, race. All I can say is wow!! Right from the start of the race the pace was just amazing.


I must say I probably had the most fun I have ever had a race this last weekend, and it really makes me wish that cross was bigger in Michigan. It was just such a great atmosphere, this is what bike racing should be all about. Mountain bike races, even big ones like Iceman dont have the same kind of vibe going on as this race did.

So how did I do?
Well the course was pretty challenging the first day, a lot of off camber sections, one little run up, and we even got to spend a little bit of time in the woods. The off camber sections proved to be difficult for a quite a few people in my race, and caused a lot of chaos. The second the course was a little easier I thought.
I got a good start, I was sitting in second through most of the first lap. This is not a spot I find myself in all that often and wasnt really sure what was going on. I felt good, but was that because it was a slow pace or was I just having a good day? Well I found out that the pace was slow when a few riders came around us. I was able to stay with the lead group for a while, but slowly a few more made it around. I got tangled a few times in different crashes or had to take a bad line to avoid a crash. I never crashed, but it was enough to let a few more people around each time. The last lap I passed 3 guys all near the end and rode in for a 9th place finish. Not bad at all for me.
Sunday the results werent quite so good. I was cooked. I got a good start again, John and myself riding up near the front of the lead group. But by the end of the first lap I knew I wasnt going to be able to keep that pace up for the entire race. I let john go around, and I just settled in. It was a long race, it hurt really bad. But, even with all the pain and people passing me, it was a blast. I rolled across the line in 24th place, happy that the pain was over, but wishing for more.

Bloomer is up next. It was a fun course last year, and I am looking forward to it.

Cross Season Kick Off

Finally the season started, I have been waiting since December for it to start back up. This race was a new one this year and turned out be a cool race. I was told the park had all the hills in the entire county, so it was a natural place to host a cross race. This was also my first race on the new bike. I did the practice race with the hopes of shaking all the bugs out the bike last week.

The course featured 2 sets of barriers and one run up these big steps, I think they were seats for the amphitheater. A few of them were pretty big steps!

The course ran us up a sled hill with a set barriers and then on a s-turn there was another set.

The course worked out to be about 1.5 miles.

It was cold at the start of the race, low 40`s maybe, upper 30`s probably. With a little bit of confusion finding the start line we got all lined up. And then the whistle blew and the pain started. The first lap I settled into 4th place, until the downhill after the sled hill run up. Then the 3 guys in front of me all crashed and I found myself alone in the lead. This didnt last long, I hit the flat section of the course and they were able to close the gap on me. I guess it helped that they crashed on a downhill and able to get up quickly. So the lead group reformed and I was back in fourth place. The race was only 3 laps. The second lap nothing much happened. The start of the thrid lap I started to hear this loud squealing from the back wheel and the bike was not rolling good. I pulled over and the back wheel was hardly turning because the brake was all clogged up with mud and grass. Time I got it cleaned out the 5th place guy passed me and the 6th place guy caught up to me. The thrid lap I worked on catching back up to the guy in fourth place which I couldnt quite do. I gave it a hard sprint at the end but no luck.

I must say I felt pretty good in the race. I should of had at least 4th place and maybe could of done a little better.

Looking forward to the UCI race this weekend and start of the series. Just need to figure out to tweak in the brakes to get a little more mud clearance.

CX Seson Kickoff

This is the first weekend of the cross season. The first race I will be doing is the Ithaca Grand Prix of cyclocross. This is a new event and I am looking forward to the race. Being that it is the first race of the year it is going to hurt. I know this, and every year I look forward to this pain. I forget how much it is going to hurt, but I will be quickly reminded once on the bike.
I have been following a training plan for the last week. I wish I would of started it sooner, but that is alright it was too hectic the last month as it was. Now I can just focus on cross and not have to try to fit in the mountain bike training.
I am hoping to do decent at this race. Doing a practice race this week with the flying rhinos really helped I think. Tomorrow is the clinic, maybe I will be able to learn how to mount my bike like a real cross racer. That is my goal at least.

Insulin Pump

I got my new minimed insulin pump about 2 weeks ago. I also the got the real time sensor system. So far I must say that I am very impressed with the sensor. I was able to get 9 days out of the sensor. I probably could of got more, but it seemed to be getting a little bit inaccurate and I wanted to see what the site looked like. The FDA only approves it for 3 days. But at $35 each, I want to be able to stretch it out as much as possible. The sensor\transmitter is comfortable to wear, and I had no problems with it what so ever.

Here is the graph from yesterday.


Not the best day but I mostly stayed within my target range.
Using the sensor while I was riding also worked out quite well. It was pretty accurate but I think a lot of that has to do how stable I was able to keep my blood sugar throughout the rides.

I miss not having it on already. It is really is nice to see what your BS is doing throughout the day or how certain foods affect it. Notice the ice cream I ate on the right side of the graph.

So far I feel that the system is totally worth the money. Hopefully the insurance companies will start covering the supplies. I will put it on next week again, I am bit nervous yet about riding hard with it on until I figure what type of tape works best.