Turkey Day

Well not quite Turkey day but a couple of days later. Some of the guys from TSB got together to work off some of the thanksgiving fatness at Addison Oaks. I really love the trails out there, and it seems like every time I go there is a new section. I guess I just dont go there enough. It was fun hanging out with everyone and putting a few laps in. This year it seems we havent really done anything like this so it was cool and hopefully we can do this more often. I think the last group ride I did was back before the PLRA race, so it has been a while.
Thanks Todd for taking the pictures.





























After the ride and a few refreshments in the parking lot we headed over to Sagebrush Cantina. John and Drew had the super burrito. Since I dont have a lock on the series standings I decided to go for something a little less super, but just as good.





























Next up states!!

Bloomer CX

I was feeling good going into the race. Maybe I was feeling too good. I didnt have any of my usual pre-race jitters for some reason. This was a big race for me, I was hoping to do quite well even though my training is building towards states like everyone else. I got a good spot on the line but a lousy start. For some reason I couldnt get clipped into the pedals. So I was going backwards more than I was going forward right off the start. I manged get on the wheel of a group of 3 guys and that is where I stayed for the rest of the race. I got stuck behind some lap traffic on the last lap at a few really bad times and I crossed the line in 7th place. Not really what I was expecting, but what can you do.
John did good again in the B race. My family came out to cheer me on also, which was nice. Jason and Lee stopped by an cheered us on so that was cool as well.

Stony Creek Cross

Stony is one of my favorite places to ride. I usually put in well over 1000 miles riding there each year. But the stony cross race, well that is not always one of my favorites because running on the beach. But this year they switched things up a bit.
I went out for a mtb ride on saturday and figured I would swing by the beach and see if the course was set up at all. It wasnt but Joe & Matt were figuring out how to lay it out. I talked to them for a bit and learned that the course direction was going to be backwards from the last couple of years. I liked the set up this year, the start was a bit hairy, but the beach was much better. Overall I thought it was a hard course. Riding the sand, then running and then back on the bike and riding some more sand was kind of tough, once you got off the beach there was a muddy section and then up the hill or slope I guess. They did a great job twisting the course around and making something out of nothing.

As far the race goes, I was hurting. Not sure if it was left over fatigue from Iceman, or the course, or the combination of all of that and 5 weeks of racing everyweekend, or whatever it has been. I started out on the front row, and right from the start I couldnt hang with the guys that I knew would be at the top after the 30 minutes were up. So I tried to maintain as much as I could over the guys behind me and was almost able to reel in 3rd on the last lap. I was lazy and didnt try hard enough so I finished in fourth place.

Chad and boys made the long drive down to do the SS race. It was cool hanging out with him and John. It has been pretty light this year as far as turn out goes from guys on the team.

This week is Bloomer. IT is hard to believe that there are only two races left.

Global Warming?

62 degrees after I got back to timber ridge on saturday after the Iceman. Lots of people complain, well that is in general, but a lot of people complain about the weather being too warm for the Iceman. But riding in the warm and then hanging out at the campsite all afternoon when it is warm out is much nicer than the cold. I`ll take the snow in the cross races at least they are only a 1/2 hour.
So going into this race I really didnt know what to expect. I have been training a ton, but I have only done one longer ride in the last few months and that was only about 22 miles. Friday a few of us from the team met up at timber ridge and rode out about 5 miles on the trail. My legs were feeling pretty tight but I really didnt get a chance to warm up the legs at all. So I just took it easy and spun the hills and let everyone else ride at their own pace while I rode at my own.
It seemed for the race everything went smooth with all the extra people. I liked the start in downtown Kalkaska it seemed less crowded than starting at the school.
My wave had like 140 riders in it, and really was too many. On the trail it was a constant struggle to pass people. I dont know how many times I had to go around people and into the brush on the side of the trail. I am happy I didnt break any spokes or anything. I had a bit of a problem with my hamstring cramping up on one of the last hills, but I rode them all but the very last wood chip hill right after the single track section. I decided I would try to run it because there were quite a few people walking up it and I just opened up a gap on a guy in the single track and thought I could get up it faster that way. I did pass a guy in my age group so that was good. All in all I am happy with my results. 2:18: something or other. My goal was 2:15 so I was pretty close to that.
After the race we had the grill going and some chilli cooking at the TSB campsite. That was a really good way to go. We had a ton of room and a lot of people stopped by which was really cool. That is one of the best things about the Iceman, hanging out with all my friends one last time for the year. People can say what they want about it, but I am looking forward to next years already.

Racing Vets Park

Vets park, to sum it up: pain. Lots of pain. But that is part of the allure of the course and the race. It offers the most climbing it seems of any of the races in the series and a lot technical off camber sections.
Day 1, I got 3rd place. That was my best finish ever in a cross race. I had 4th once at the KTR UCI race a few years back, but that was awarded after the race when they decided to break the catergories up by age group. I had a good start and got myself into a position that I wanted to be in. The leaders rode away on the first lap so I sat in with the second group. The last lap I decided it was time to go so I attacked into the wind. I got around a couple of the guys, then on this off camber down hill the guy in front of me wiped out. Hopefully he is ok, but I didnt see him back on sunday though. That put me in third place and I held it for the rest of the lap.
Day 2, was another 3rd place. I really didnt know what to expect. My legs were sore, but the course seemed easier. I got out for my warm up lap, and felt really tired. I got back to the car and checked my blood sugar, and it was 41! No wonder the course felt so hard. Because of that I didnt get much of a warm up in before the race. At the start of the race I was sitting in second for about 1/2 the first lap, until we hit the big ride up. Then a 3 or 4 guys went around me and opened up a decent sized gap. I spent the next lap or two working my way back up to 3rd and 4th place. I finally made contact before the big hill and sat on for a bit. Before we hit the big hill I moved into 4th place, and rode there for most of the rest of the lap. We werent really going as fast as I would of liked so I was debating when I should go. On the start of the last lap I decided it was a good time to put in an attack. It worked and I opened up a decent sized gap. I was worried about being able to hold it up the big hill since that is where I got passed on the first lap, but it held all the way to the end.
I guess all the training hours are paying off finally. It felt good to get on the podium after all these years.

It was just myself and John racing both days. John continued on his streak both days with a fifth and a thrid place finish.