Well, instead of getting a ride in on Fri or Sat, we waited 'till today to break out the bikes and hit the road. Timed it almost perfectly in that we were 2 miles from the car when it began to snow hard. We're talking white out too.
A quick meal at the Winking Lizard and coffee at Starbucks was just the ticket for warming up!
Everyone have a safe, wonderful, and Happy Holidays!
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Boughton Farms mudfest!
Racing at Boughton Farms always brings variety. The final two races last year were case in point. The first race on 11/26/06 had beautiful weather with a high of 64*. While the following week the course was muddy with some snow, and the temp was freezing causing lots of problems with derailleurs. Sunday's weather was in the low 40's with a bitter wind. While it wasn't raining for the race, there was mud-a-plenty from the rain earlier.
The 'B' race lined up on the lane leading to the first long field crossing. The lane and path through the field was somewhat narrow, and we were lined up several rows deep (with me being toward the back). After the start, I was right on John Bodell's wheel and as we picked up speed I encouraged him to push it as the group started to string out. Once we made the right hand turn into the field, I was able to start getting around people. I pushed it hard for the first 500ft or so and then I started to settle in just a little. As 1 or 2 people came around me toward the end of the 1000ft field crossing, I knew I had to get back on the gas and keep pushing.
After the 90* right at the end of the field, I could see that gaps were starting to form up ahead with one large group still at the front. I really picked it up here to get back on the lead pack. As we made a right-left-right jog down and up a small rise, I picked off some more people. I yelled to Rick that we've got to catch on that group as I came up on him.
A quick left led us onto the grass which would take us all the way back to the woods. I think I passed Rick at this point and maybe another rider or two. Turning right through the woods, I'm not sure if the lead group had shed some riders, but I came up on a few riders. Exiting the woods and hitting a short rise we started jockeying for position. A couple of riders got off the front including Ed Delgros and I think I passed Julie at this point.
The right turn around the field to lead back toward the farm took us up a long muddy incline that just seemed to sap every ounce of energy in order to get passed it. Over the top I was able to downshift and get some speed going. Going through the first quick section of single track, we headed back near the S/F and then made another right around the corner of the field to take us back to the woods.
The lane we were riding down was muddy, but it had some packed soil beneath the mud. The real factor in this section, however, was the headwind which was probably 15mph. I can't remember if I had someone in front of me at this point, or if I was on my own.
Wrapping through the woods and then heading back toward the farm took us though some quick rises and 3 quick sections of singletrack. I made good time through these, even though they were rutted with mud and had tight turns. I was pushing pretty good because I knew I had chasers and I could see Ed Delgros up ahead, but with a pretty good gap.
Through the first set of barriers and out up a grassy lane there was a 180* switchback across a quick rise and then leading slightly down to a really muddy right hand turn. We then wrapped left around the oil well, over a 2nd set of barriers, through some more sloppy mud and up a small incline to cross the start/finish line. Hopefully you can tell by my description that the lap was long and painful. Only 3 more to go! Ugh.
Crossing the field for the 2nd time, I finally managed to close the gap to Ed. I wanted to stay on his wheel at this point because he usually finishes ahead of me and through the long grass stretch back to the woods there was a headwind which was blocked a little by the trees. I also didn't want to push the pace against him and have him chase me, because he was racing Master's and I wanted to give Rick a better chance of catching him/us.
I had to fight hard up the muddy incline to stay with Ed, who had gapped me just a bit by the time we got over the crest. I could have passed him on the downhill, but I still wanted to hang on his wheel for the reasons mentioned before. When we hit the single track, Ed slid out and fell. There was no way I could pass him at this point because it was too narrow. He recovered quickly and we continued. Going back toward the woods, I was RIGHT on Ed's wheel through the wind. I really had to work not to bump his wheel, I was so close.
Going turning out of the woods I could see that Rick was back there, but I wasn't gaining any ground. Through the first technical section of single track, Ed went down again. Again it was too narrow here to get by and I hoped that Rick was getting closer. As we came to a lapped 'C' rider in another section of singletrack, I yelled up to warn him we were approaching as it would be tight. Just as we were passing the junior who had pulled off on the left, Ed washed out and fell to the right. I made a quick decision to split between the junior and Ed's bike before he had a chance to get up, and it worked well.
Once past Ed, I hit it hard to drop him. Past the barriers and switchback, I could see that I had a pretty good gap, but it wasn't what I wanted it to be. Rick was still a ways back from Ed and there was another rider who was gaining on us from behind. Past the S/F, I worked hard through the field, but my reserves were getting a little low. To borrow a line from Ray's blog, I at this point hit a small pothole sized 'puddle and somehow fell right over going in a straight line.' It was seriously like I was JRA and all of a sudden my handlebars were plowing through the mud! I got up with the bike and was a little shaken, but I knew I was losing/lost precious time. I didn't look back at all, but started running with the bike, built my speed, and remounted from the right just before the end of the field.
Through the grass back to the woods and then around the corner of the field, the ascent again took its toll on me. I had caught glimpses of my chasers and could hear them on my wheel up the gradual climb. When the first rider passed I said 'good job', but I didn't recognize the kit. The 2nd chaser, Ed, also came around me, but he didn't push it in the descent and let a gap form between us and the other rider.
I was content to stay on Ed's wheel as it had worked OK for me. He went through the quick section of single track OK and I stayed right on him through the long windy section. In the woods he had a little problem on a wrap around left turn heading up a hill. I had the outside line and with him stalling on the inside, I gassed hard in order to shake him. I could see that I was gapping him and at the same time pulling that much closer to the rider in front of me.
Through the first set of barriers and at the switchback, Donny was eagerly cheering me on and yelling 'Get Julie'. Then it clicked, that it was Julie Lewis in front of me. Passing the S/F, I was thankful when they announced one lap to go! But, I had my work cut out for me, since Julie is a strong rider.
I slowly decreased the gap to Julie all the way back to through the woods, where she still had a couple hundred feet on me. I could also see that she was gaining on another rider, who ran up the long rise instead of riding it. Maybe I could catch both of them! This thought was very short lived as I struggled to make it past the muddy rise for the final time. Julie seemed to have doubled her gap by the time I made it over the peak.
Out of the singletrack, Sadie was yelling for me to go get Julie. I knew it would be hard with the windy lane coming up, but I'd give it my best shot. If I could have only gotten to Julie's wheel before the straight... I grunted it out and slowly the gap was decreasing. Coming out of the woods, it was back down to a couple hundred feet.
I could see Julie running one section of single track ahead, and knew I could make up ground to her. I kept good lines although I was unclipping my right foot a lot, which would cause my calf to really cramp up. Through the last section of single track, I hit the 'center of a bump and slid off' as Ray refers. But I slid off to the left and into the trees! I managed to stay upright and cut back to my right to the parallel trail. More time lost.
Onto the grass, I could see Julie all the way up at the first set of barriers heaving her bike over them. I gave chase and wasn't making up ground quickly on her, but time was quickly running out. Julie looked slow through the 2nd set of barriers and I knew I could make up time there, but the finish was only 100 yards from there.
I took the barriers and remounted as quick as I could. I then stood on the pedals and hit it as hard as I could, dropping gears as I went. It seemed to take forever to get to Julie and to the finish line, but when I looked down my wheel was a meer 6 inches in front of hers. The finish wasn't really well marked, as original start line in the mud was pretty much gone.
I rode through the finish and didn't stop for 50 feet or so. I didn't know for sure that I'd gotten Julie until I visited the scorers table a while later to warm up in the greenhouse. They had me down for 9th place (again!). This makes the 4th out of 5 races where I've finished 9th, which is a great improvement for me over last year.
Congrat's to everyone a great races. Drew Bercaw scored his first win in the 'B' race series after a strong race. Sadie Deckard continued to dominate the 'C' Women's race. She missed riding her singlespeed and forgot to shift from her 50t front ring to her 34t ring for the whole race. Rick Adams grabbed another 2nd place in the 'B' Masters. John Ehrlinger and Dave Steiner both had great results in the 'A' Masters and 'A' race respectively.
Results have been posted on Team Lake Effect's website.
The 'B' race lined up on the lane leading to the first long field crossing. The lane and path through the field was somewhat narrow, and we were lined up several rows deep (with me being toward the back). After the start, I was right on John Bodell's wheel and as we picked up speed I encouraged him to push it as the group started to string out. Once we made the right hand turn into the field, I was able to start getting around people. I pushed it hard for the first 500ft or so and then I started to settle in just a little. As 1 or 2 people came around me toward the end of the 1000ft field crossing, I knew I had to get back on the gas and keep pushing.
After the 90* right at the end of the field, I could see that gaps were starting to form up ahead with one large group still at the front. I really picked it up here to get back on the lead pack. As we made a right-left-right jog down and up a small rise, I picked off some more people. I yelled to Rick that we've got to catch on that group as I came up on him.
A quick left led us onto the grass which would take us all the way back to the woods. I think I passed Rick at this point and maybe another rider or two. Turning right through the woods, I'm not sure if the lead group had shed some riders, but I came up on a few riders. Exiting the woods and hitting a short rise we started jockeying for position. A couple of riders got off the front including Ed Delgros and I think I passed Julie at this point.
The right turn around the field to lead back toward the farm took us up a long muddy incline that just seemed to sap every ounce of energy in order to get passed it. Over the top I was able to downshift and get some speed going. Going through the first quick section of single track, we headed back near the S/F and then made another right around the corner of the field to take us back to the woods.
The lane we were riding down was muddy, but it had some packed soil beneath the mud. The real factor in this section, however, was the headwind which was probably 15mph. I can't remember if I had someone in front of me at this point, or if I was on my own.
Wrapping through the woods and then heading back toward the farm took us though some quick rises and 3 quick sections of singletrack. I made good time through these, even though they were rutted with mud and had tight turns. I was pushing pretty good because I knew I had chasers and I could see Ed Delgros up ahead, but with a pretty good gap.
Through the first set of barriers and out up a grassy lane there was a 180* switchback across a quick rise and then leading slightly down to a really muddy right hand turn. We then wrapped left around the oil well, over a 2nd set of barriers, through some more sloppy mud and up a small incline to cross the start/finish line. Hopefully you can tell by my description that the lap was long and painful. Only 3 more to go! Ugh.
Crossing the field for the 2nd time, I finally managed to close the gap to Ed. I wanted to stay on his wheel at this point because he usually finishes ahead of me and through the long grass stretch back to the woods there was a headwind which was blocked a little by the trees. I also didn't want to push the pace against him and have him chase me, because he was racing Master's and I wanted to give Rick a better chance of catching him/us.
I had to fight hard up the muddy incline to stay with Ed, who had gapped me just a bit by the time we got over the crest. I could have passed him on the downhill, but I still wanted to hang on his wheel for the reasons mentioned before. When we hit the single track, Ed slid out and fell. There was no way I could pass him at this point because it was too narrow. He recovered quickly and we continued. Going back toward the woods, I was RIGHT on Ed's wheel through the wind. I really had to work not to bump his wheel, I was so close.
Going turning out of the woods I could see that Rick was back there, but I wasn't gaining any ground. Through the first technical section of single track, Ed went down again. Again it was too narrow here to get by and I hoped that Rick was getting closer. As we came to a lapped 'C' rider in another section of singletrack, I yelled up to warn him we were approaching as it would be tight. Just as we were passing the junior who had pulled off on the left, Ed washed out and fell to the right. I made a quick decision to split between the junior and Ed's bike before he had a chance to get up, and it worked well.
Once past Ed, I hit it hard to drop him. Past the barriers and switchback, I could see that I had a pretty good gap, but it wasn't what I wanted it to be. Rick was still a ways back from Ed and there was another rider who was gaining on us from behind. Past the S/F, I worked hard through the field, but my reserves were getting a little low. To borrow a line from Ray's blog, I at this point hit a small pothole sized 'puddle and somehow fell right over going in a straight line.' It was seriously like I was JRA and all of a sudden my handlebars were plowing through the mud! I got up with the bike and was a little shaken, but I knew I was losing/lost precious time. I didn't look back at all, but started running with the bike, built my speed, and remounted from the right just before the end of the field.
Through the grass back to the woods and then around the corner of the field, the ascent again took its toll on me. I had caught glimpses of my chasers and could hear them on my wheel up the gradual climb. When the first rider passed I said 'good job', but I didn't recognize the kit. The 2nd chaser, Ed, also came around me, but he didn't push it in the descent and let a gap form between us and the other rider.
I was content to stay on Ed's wheel as it had worked OK for me. He went through the quick section of single track OK and I stayed right on him through the long windy section. In the woods he had a little problem on a wrap around left turn heading up a hill. I had the outside line and with him stalling on the inside, I gassed hard in order to shake him. I could see that I was gapping him and at the same time pulling that much closer to the rider in front of me.
Through the first set of barriers and at the switchback, Donny was eagerly cheering me on and yelling 'Get Julie'. Then it clicked, that it was Julie Lewis in front of me. Passing the S/F, I was thankful when they announced one lap to go! But, I had my work cut out for me, since Julie is a strong rider.
I slowly decreased the gap to Julie all the way back to through the woods, where she still had a couple hundred feet on me. I could also see that she was gaining on another rider, who ran up the long rise instead of riding it. Maybe I could catch both of them! This thought was very short lived as I struggled to make it past the muddy rise for the final time. Julie seemed to have doubled her gap by the time I made it over the peak.
Out of the singletrack, Sadie was yelling for me to go get Julie. I knew it would be hard with the windy lane coming up, but I'd give it my best shot. If I could have only gotten to Julie's wheel before the straight... I grunted it out and slowly the gap was decreasing. Coming out of the woods, it was back down to a couple hundred feet.
I could see Julie running one section of single track ahead, and knew I could make up ground to her. I kept good lines although I was unclipping my right foot a lot, which would cause my calf to really cramp up. Through the last section of single track, I hit the 'center of a bump and slid off' as Ray refers. But I slid off to the left and into the trees! I managed to stay upright and cut back to my right to the parallel trail. More time lost.
Onto the grass, I could see Julie all the way up at the first set of barriers heaving her bike over them. I gave chase and wasn't making up ground quickly on her, but time was quickly running out. Julie looked slow through the 2nd set of barriers and I knew I could make up time there, but the finish was only 100 yards from there.
I took the barriers and remounted as quick as I could. I then stood on the pedals and hit it as hard as I could, dropping gears as I went. It seemed to take forever to get to Julie and to the finish line, but when I looked down my wheel was a meer 6 inches in front of hers. The finish wasn't really well marked, as original start line in the mud was pretty much gone.
I rode through the finish and didn't stop for 50 feet or so. I didn't know for sure that I'd gotten Julie until I visited the scorers table a while later to warm up in the greenhouse. They had me down for 9th place (again!). This makes the 4th out of 5 races where I've finished 9th, which is a great improvement for me over last year.
Congrat's to everyone a great races. Drew Bercaw scored his first win in the 'B' race series after a strong race. Sadie Deckard continued to dominate the 'C' Women's race. She missed riding her singlespeed and forgot to shift from her 50t front ring to her 34t ring for the whole race. Rick Adams grabbed another 2nd place in the 'B' Masters. John Ehrlinger and Dave Steiner both had great results in the 'A' Masters and 'A' race respectively.
Results have been posted on Team Lake Effect's website.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
2007-11-24 BA CX#3 Broadview Hts
This Saturday's CX race was true to tradition for the Fields. Snow started in the evening on Thanksgiving and by Friday morning there were a couple of inches on the ground. Sadie and I wanted to pre-ride the course on Friday; but first a trip to Bike Authority was in order to pick up a new CX bike. Sadie's RedLine track bike wouldn't have the tire clearance to handle the snow, ice, and mud buildup. The last of the '07 bikes are priced to move at BA. Shawn got Sadie setup with a shorter stem and took off the extra brake levers. He also said that Rudy and team were down setting up the course, which would be run in reverse from last week.
Come Saturday, some of the snow had melted, but this had just made more MUD to bog down in. Luckily, reversing the course meant that we would be riding down the sled hill which had been a tough run up last week. The other big difference was the gravel descent which led to a small bridge and up a steady gravel climb on the other side.
The Start/Finish was near the top parking lot and the course lead quickly into the single track at this point. I didn't get a good position at the line, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway as I chose too high of a gear and spun/got bogged down in the mud. Once I got moving, I was able to build good momentum and move from near last place to the top 15 by the first turn. I was able to pick off a couple more people before we got to the single track, but at this point passing wasn't really possible.
I did manage to pick up a place or 2 in the woods and then caught another rider on the gravel climb. Surprisingly, I caught Cameron Jackson right before going between the two baseball fields and down the hill. The rest of the race was jostling back and forth for position between me, Jack Turner, and a rider from Team Awesome. Tony Marut had flatted so we ended up catching him with 2 laps to go, but he wasted no time coming back and overtaking the 3 of us.
The loop from the parking lot around the soccer field and back to the lot was really bogging me down and taking it's toll. When a attack came here leading into the last lap, I didn't respond in time and got gapped. I maintained position from here to the finish and grabbed another 9th place finish.
Pics of the 'A' Race are posted here.
Come Saturday, some of the snow had melted, but this had just made more MUD to bog down in. Luckily, reversing the course meant that we would be riding down the sled hill which had been a tough run up last week. The other big difference was the gravel descent which led to a small bridge and up a steady gravel climb on the other side.
The Start/Finish was near the top parking lot and the course lead quickly into the single track at this point. I didn't get a good position at the line, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway as I chose too high of a gear and spun/got bogged down in the mud. Once I got moving, I was able to build good momentum and move from near last place to the top 15 by the first turn. I was able to pick off a couple more people before we got to the single track, but at this point passing wasn't really possible.
I did manage to pick up a place or 2 in the woods and then caught another rider on the gravel climb. Surprisingly, I caught Cameron Jackson right before going between the two baseball fields and down the hill. The rest of the race was jostling back and forth for position between me, Jack Turner, and a rider from Team Awesome. Tony Marut had flatted so we ended up catching him with 2 laps to go, but he wasted no time coming back and overtaking the 3 of us.
The loop from the parking lot around the soccer field and back to the lot was really bogging me down and taking it's toll. When a attack came here leading into the last lap, I didn't respond in time and got gapped. I maintained position from here to the finish and grabbed another 9th place finish.
Pics of the 'A' Race are posted here.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
What coulda been...
Pics from both the Broadview races in 2005. Right now, it looks like the weather will be good for this Saturday's race.Hopefully Copley's will be good too.
(Although I'm certain it won't be in the 60's like it was last year)
2007-11-18 BA CX#3 Broadview Hts
Sunday's Bike Authority CX race was one of the best course designs I'd ridden on and the best I'd ever finished (9th) at The Fields in Broadview Heights. The weather was perfect for CX; far and above the snow and slop we raced thru in 2005. The innovative Cannondale "C" on the descent provided a great challenge and good amusement for those watching from the far hill.
Having made the mistake of not typing something up right after I raced, I don't remember much. But several other racers have posted their accounts (leave a comment if you have a blog you'd like me to link to):
Rick, John, Ray, Brett, Ernesto, Robert, Bill, Shawn, Julie, and Drew (who has an AWESOME video of the start of the 'B' race)
I on the other hand will give a photographic account of the 'A' race on Flickr.
John before the finish with the Cannondale "C" in the distance.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Getting some miles in
I was able to take Monday off and get 53 quality miles in with Sadie on the towpath. The weather looked a little iffy at first and throughout the day. We got started in the early afternoon, and missed the brief down pour just before unloading the bikes in the parking lot. There were a couple of other quick showers, one of which we stopped for under a bridge, but we pretty much stayed dry all the way to Akron.
The towpath had been extended about 1/4 mile further south and you could see where they are currently working on extending it further (within view of the First Energy building). Turning around, we had a slight tail wind and the towpath is downhill going north. Right before we got back to the car, there was a steady light rain for the last mile or so. Just enough for us to know we were pretty lucky to stay dry as long as we did.
Rick was bummed that we didn't drag him out (he's not a fan of the towpath). But he had his revenge yesterday; see the following link:
http://web.mac.com/blwmiller/iWeb/Brooke%20Miller%27s%20Official%20Cycling%20Site/Blog/CAC0904B-FAFE-4AF8-AF14-EA979F98F1A8.html
The towpath had been extended about 1/4 mile further south and you could see where they are currently working on extending it further (within view of the First Energy building). Turning around, we had a slight tail wind and the towpath is downhill going north. Right before we got back to the car, there was a steady light rain for the last mile or so. Just enough for us to know we were pretty lucky to stay dry as long as we did.
Rick was bummed that we didn't drag him out (he's not a fan of the towpath). But he had his revenge yesterday; see the following link:
http://web.mac.com/blwmiller/iWeb/Brooke%20Miller%27s%20Official%20Cycling%20Site/Blog/CAC0904B-FAFE-4AF8-AF14-EA979F98F1A8.html
Saturday, November 10, 2007
SPIN - Cross your Heart and hope to DIE
Today's cyclocross race was put on by Spin in Willoughby, OH. I got conned by Mehul into doing the A race since only 2 other people had signed up at the time and they were paying out 10 deep. The final field ended up being about 20 guys. Had I raced the B race, I probably would have had a pretty good chance at placing, since there were only about 5 guys who weren't racing masters.
The race turned out to be a bust for me, since I flatted less than 1/4 mile into the 2nd lap of the 1.8 mile course. The spot where I flatted also claimed Paul Martin on the first lap and Brett Davis around the 4th or 5th lap. It was a dip perpendicular to the course which had gotten muddy and rutted up as the day went on. I had run the spot on the first lap, but tried riding it on lap 2. When my wheel went into the mud, I felt a solid bump and heard hissing. I thought I had pinch flatted at first. I was running a Tufo Elite LPS tubular clincher on the front at about 38 psi. I really didn't think I had hit hard enough to pinch flat, and it turned out that I hadn't. Upon checking the tire there was a 1/2 inch long cut which was at about a 45* angle to the tread. Chalk up another $60 tire tragedy this year.
There were 2 bright sides to flatting though: I avoided the utter PAIN of doing what turned out to be about an hour and 15 minute race for some people, and I was able to take some decent pics of the A race. Pics are posted HERE Needless to say, when Rick saw that I wasn't racing he wasn't too pleased. I had talked him into doing the A race...
I'll give a short description of the course, but I'm thinking John, Ray, or Rick will go into more detail. The start was on pavement, continued up a wide sidewalk, through the parking lot, and to the spot where I flatted. After the dip, there was a run-up with 4 switch backs taking you up and down the side of a hill. The turns were off camber and the climbs didn't have much traction, so several people were running this part.
Then after shooting down you hit a short steep pop over a roadway and around a off camber turn where you had to avoid going into the reeds. Ride out on the grass and switch back along the edge of a gravel parking lot. A well banked turn and a few more turns snaked you through the parking lots down a paved path and back onto the grass. There was a few tight turns and switch backs along the river and a 3 foot high log dismount, which one guy on a MTB was able to bunny. A uphill switchback and then some more turns taking you into a straight stretch with a double barrier leading to the pit area.
After the pit was a few wrapping turns back and forth around some trees. There was a turn around a ball field and a quick switch back and another hard right turn. At this point you could finally open up in the grass for a few hundred feet. Making a couple of sweeping turns brought you up to a point where you rode a little ways up the hill and then had a really off camber switchback across and then down the hill.
Ride out and turn around a light pole and then ride back to the hill. This time you get to go all the way straight up the hill for about 100 feet. There was a barrier 20 feet up the hill to force you to dismount, not like riding this hill was even possible. There was barely enough traction to run up it, and it was STEEP. At the top, you turned right and then right again to remount and plummet down the hill going at least 20mph. 40-50 feet after the bottom there was a switch back on the edge of a ball diamond which was muddy, rutted, and slick. You had to practically lock your brakes up to be able to slow enough from the descent to make the turn.
After the turn, there was a stretch of grass and then a quick jog up a rise, where the traction was a little sketchy. Ride along the top, cut around a pine tree, go down around the fence, to get to another 'S' turn leading onto another muddy ball diamond. Cross behind home plate and keep your momentum from carrying you into the fence while you turned right. You then got to circle to the left past the fence and ride through a picnic shelter where some cool tunes where playin. At this point you were on the pavement which took you past the wheel pit again and through the start/finish.
I hope I painted a nice visual of the pain that this course dealt to those who got to do a complete race on it today. The pics over at Flickr will show you what I mean. Snakebite had a really good showing today with all of our racers doing the A race and with John E claiming 10th place for the final money spot. Awards took place afterwards at the Willoughby brewing company in true CX fashion. Kudos to Greg and the guys from Spin on putting on a great race!
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
OrrvilleCross #3
This Sunday was cooler, but it was perfect Cross weather. I made it down to OrrvilleCross for the 3rd race of the series. The course was short and fast. Ray has an excellent description of it on his blog.
I managed to get good starting position in the front row on the far left. I had commented to a Stark Velo rider, J. Leaman I think, that I was surprised he wasn't in the big ring for the start (we had about 50-75 yards of pavement). At the start, he took of HARD and got the hole-shot with me right on his wheel. Tony Marut just managed to stay upright in the start, but really came close to losing it for some reason.
I kept a steep pace for about the first 1/4 - 1/3 of the lap, where I let Tony around me into 2nd place. I held 3rd for a bit, but I soon let some more riders around in the long pavement parking lot section.
I was really starting to hurt early into the 2nd lap. I don't think I'd gotten a good enough warm up in. As I was falling back slightly, I looked back and saw Julie and Pat Miranda starting to gain on me.
At this point, I noticed that I was gaining on the Stark Velo rider who had fallen off of the 2 Orrville riders in front of us. I made a move to get up onto his wheel, at which point he sped up and we worked our way up to the Orrville riders. From here it was a shuffle of positions for the next lap or two.
After a while one of the Orrville riders fell off and it was just the 3 of us. We had kept and increased a large gap on the riders behind us. Through the barriers with 3 laps to go, I got a good deal ahead of the other two. This was good, since there was a strong headwind at this point, but I wasn't thinking I could maintain and increase my gap at this point. The SV rider looked like he had caught up to me as we came to the corner to turn out of the head wind. I was going to say something to him about working away from the Orrville guy, but he must have done too much work to get up to me because he fell off hard as I picked it up.
When I saw that I'd started to get a gap, I hit it harder. Starting the 2nd to last lap, I had a substantial gap. I worked to increase/hold it on the 2nd to last lap, but was more concerned about not making any errors or loosing time.
The bell lap came and there was really no one close in front or behind me. More consistent riding had me finishing out in 4th place overall. The course was 1.4 miles and I maintained a solid 13 - 13.5mph pace turning laps at +/- 6:10min per lap.
Results:
http://orrvillecycling.com/OrrvilleCross.php#results
I managed to get good starting position in the front row on the far left. I had commented to a Stark Velo rider, J. Leaman I think, that I was surprised he wasn't in the big ring for the start (we had about 50-75 yards of pavement). At the start, he took of HARD and got the hole-shot with me right on his wheel. Tony Marut just managed to stay upright in the start, but really came close to losing it for some reason.
I kept a steep pace for about the first 1/4 - 1/3 of the lap, where I let Tony around me into 2nd place. I held 3rd for a bit, but I soon let some more riders around in the long pavement parking lot section.
I was really starting to hurt early into the 2nd lap. I don't think I'd gotten a good enough warm up in. As I was falling back slightly, I looked back and saw Julie and Pat Miranda starting to gain on me.
At this point, I noticed that I was gaining on the Stark Velo rider who had fallen off of the 2 Orrville riders in front of us. I made a move to get up onto his wheel, at which point he sped up and we worked our way up to the Orrville riders. From here it was a shuffle of positions for the next lap or two.
After a while one of the Orrville riders fell off and it was just the 3 of us. We had kept and increased a large gap on the riders behind us. Through the barriers with 3 laps to go, I got a good deal ahead of the other two. This was good, since there was a strong headwind at this point, but I wasn't thinking I could maintain and increase my gap at this point. The SV rider looked like he had caught up to me as we came to the corner to turn out of the head wind. I was going to say something to him about working away from the Orrville guy, but he must have done too much work to get up to me because he fell off hard as I picked it up.
When I saw that I'd started to get a gap, I hit it harder. Starting the 2nd to last lap, I had a substantial gap. I worked to increase/hold it on the 2nd to last lap, but was more concerned about not making any errors or loosing time.
The bell lap came and there was really no one close in front or behind me. More consistent riding had me finishing out in 4th place overall. The course was 1.4 miles and I maintained a solid 13 - 13.5mph pace turning laps at +/- 6:10min per lap.
Results:
http://orrvillecycling.com/OrrvilleCross.php#results
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Fall Challenge
It was rainy, but it wasn't too bad. The downhill was kinda sketchy - my glasses were fogging up a bit on it. I helped a break get away with 2 guys from Summit on the 2nd to last lap. I thought we were caught, so I settled into the field. The 2 guys from Summit stayed out, but one of them ended up crashing. So, it might have been better that I let them go. I worked the front of the field trying to bring them back on the first 1/2 of the last lap. There were a couple of guys from Orrville that did some work, but really no one else wanted to. There was also guy from Summit sitting at the front of the field.
I worked pretty hard at the bottom of the hill on the last lap, but I blew up through the rollers just before the finish. Chris B from SBR got 3rd which is cool. All in all, it was a good time.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
MS150 / 2 = MS75 day two
Woke up early to the cold morning and RAIN. I had been thoroughly impressed with the awesome weather on Saturday; remarking continually that it had rained during day one of the MS150 for the past 2 years.
My grandpa kindly offered to drive us back to Berea, and we quickly accepted, although I continued to keep my hopes up and threw my kit on under my street clothes. At the high school we ran into Murray as he was leaving. He laughingly called us 'wussies' for not riding, and we smiled and shrugged it off. Having brought no rain gear or stuff for the colder temp, we might have been pussies for not riding, but at least we wouldn't be 'wet wussies'.
It's a REALLY GOOD thing that we wimped out. It rained HARD on the way back on the turn pike, and there was even what would have been a significant head wind to boot. We about froze just for the brief time when we unloaded the bikes from the HHR and put the wheels back on so that Rick's hitch rack could hold them. The temp in Berea was a whopping 56 degrees, and we were VERY thankful for not having to ride in it.
My grandpa kindly offered to drive us back to Berea, and we quickly accepted, although I continued to keep my hopes up and threw my kit on under my street clothes. At the high school we ran into Murray as he was leaving. He laughingly called us 'wussies' for not riding, and we smiled and shrugged it off. Having brought no rain gear or stuff for the colder temp, we might have been pussies for not riding, but at least we wouldn't be 'wet wussies'.
It's a REALLY GOOD thing that we wimped out. It rained HARD on the way back on the turn pike, and there was even what would have been a significant head wind to boot. We about froze just for the brief time when we unloaded the bikes from the HHR and put the wheels back on so that Rick's hitch rack could hold them. The temp in Berea was a whopping 56 degrees, and we were VERY thankful for not having to ride in it.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
From SUN to SNOW
Got back from sunny Florida yesterday at 1pm. This was after 24 hours in a car and being up for 30 hours straight, so I was quickly down for a 7 hour 'nap'. The trip to FL was great. Flew down last Weds. and got several quality rides in:
Thrus. 3/29 102 miles
Fri. 3/30 40 miles
Sat. 3/31 38 miles
Sun. 4/1 42 miles
Wed. 4/4 23 miles
Total: 245 miles
If you want to read more, check out: http://inquintessence1.blogspot.com/
I'm being lazy, and not wanting to post more at the moment.
Thrus. 3/29 102 miles
Fri. 3/30 40 miles
Sat. 3/31 38 miles
Sun. 4/1 42 miles
Wed. 4/4 23 miles
Total: 245 miles
If you want to read more, check out: http://inquintessence1.blogspot.com/
I'm being lazy, and not wanting to post more at the moment.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
YTD
I'd been off to a good start this year, especially compared to last. I was lucky enough to get a cyclocross race in mid month. Finished 2nd, but the field was light at only 4. The 100 odd miles I've ridden so far with some running on the side is about triple what I logged all last winter. I'm down 5-6 pounds since the holidays, compared to having put on that much additional weight each month last year.
I've found that Spin class with Liz can be quite a workout, although I should be focusing mostly on the base miles at this point. I've also signed up to run the Cleveland Marathon, well 1/2 of it anyway, with Team in Training. Unfortunately, I've been under the weather for the last week and have been off the bike and trails. I'm feeling a little better today, but will wait 'till tomorrow to hit the trainer again.
I've found that Spin class with Liz can be quite a workout, although I should be focusing mostly on the base miles at this point. I've also signed up to run the Cleveland Marathon, well 1/2 of it anyway, with Team in Training. Unfortunately, I've been under the weather for the last week and have been off the bike and trails. I'm feeling a little better today, but will wait 'till tomorrow to hit the trainer again.
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