Bartlett Chicrosscup # 5

I definitely have my pre-race routine down now. Go to bed early the night before buzzing on at least 22 oz of fancy beer, wake up at 7 am but stay in bed until at least 7:45 then hurry to the race. And of course at Bartlett I forgot to pack something that I will not be forgetting for the rest of the season, my trainer.

The first lap was rough on me. A bigger than usual field had me passing through traffic left and right for a while. Although I felt good that I was moving up in the back of the field my legs were not responding as they usually do. After the first two laps I was settled in with the usuals as the legs started coming around. Having failed at a proper pre-race warmup, the initial laps had finally gotten my legs in a good fighting mood. The course had some tricky sections. The fast slightly downhill hill triple barriers hurt me every lap. I just could not carry a whole lot of momentum. Being a shorter guy I was unable to keep a good stride through all of them and would lose speed. The little climb up the hill though was fun. I managed to throw down hard a couple of times here and make up distance.

The soft slightly muddy section before entering the woods was fun too. I managed to hit some good lines and was able to power through pretty easily. When other riders would hit this section they would usually slow down. I would take a little dig in as the legs were gettin better each lap. Halfway through the race I was leading a group of racers which included Jason. Just in front of me within eyesight were Al and Zach.

Anxious to catch up to them and maybe drop any chasers I started riding hard and taking corners tight. On the return portion through the woods I hit a the last turn in the woodchips wrong and went down. I slid out and it took me longer than I would have liked to get up and running again. Of course 4 riders passed me at that point.

After the crash it was damage control to the end. I was able to move up a little but I could see that some of the riders that had passed me were riding away. Of course once I was settled in I started to get my trademark "last two laps of the race second wind". With Kirby of xXx and Kevin hot on my tail I dug deep to catch up to Patrick of team Tati in the second to last lap. I passed him and had my aim set on his teammate Daniel.

It always feels good to have a lot in the tank and use it up. My legs were not responding as well anymore. I was riding his wheel pretty close in the the last lap but I did not feel strong enough to pass or attack him. We were still pretty close on "heckle hill" but as I ran it he rode it faster than me. This had me hurrying to chase him so that I could be on his wheel for the final sprint. I managed to catch up to him right before the finishing straight. I gave it all I had in the final sprint but my legs felt like bricks. Daniel beat be by about a foots length at the finish line.

I had ridden really hard to make up for my mistakes and was pretty much out of matches for the sprint. At first I felt kind of crappy about my race. But in retrospect, if I had had a proper warmup I know that I could've been right on Zach's wheel at the end. Still looking forward to a top 30 this year. Half way through the season some of my goals have been met. Beating Chris fair and square, and gettin Al and Zach are the race goals for St. Charles. Can't wait to hurt some legs this sunday...

Bike Handling=C

Fitness=C+

Race Tactics=C

Carpentersville Chicross # 4

Well I'll tell you what my problem is, I am not aggressive enough in the starts. Lining up on the third row on sunday I clipped in pretty quickly but once the pack started going at it I got too timid and gave many places up.

The start was fast and pretty furious. I was able to move okay through the initial cluster fuck corners that are typical of the first laps. Not having felt too awesome that morning I could feel it a little in that first lap as my teammates in front of me started to gap me. I settled in with my group as Dave, Chris and Al rode off into the distance.

My group consisted of Paolo of xXx, whom Ive finished behind many times before. David of Flatlandia, who I seem to catch later in the race as he fades from doing more than 1 race in a day. And Martin and James of Pony shop, both who have finished very close to me in the last races. Feeling a little better as the laps counted down I really enjoyed the course.

The fast paved section allowed me to put some hurt down on every lap, or suck some wheel whatever was most convenient. The course was fast enough that I didnt feel like I was over shooting any turns and I handled my bike fairly well that day. Running the sandpit hurt but for some reason when I made the 180 turn I would get a second wind and sprint. The pump section was good and bad. It seemed like if I wasnt making up distance on a rider I was losing it, but I really liked the fairly straight grass section after the pump section that turned its way into the paved section. It was on this part that I was able to put down some serious digs and pass guys or make up time. I was able to crank it hard and take the turns super-clean.

One thing that I am really good at is capitalizing on the mistakes of others. Twice in this race rider's bike handling mishaps allowed me to pass them. If I see somebody crash or take a turn too hot I am right there ready to pass them. Eventually my legs and clicked and with some good luck I was able to make up 3 spots in the last two laps. These werent easy passes though. I layed down some hard efforts and kept looking back to make sure that I was keeping my spots. My results and places might not be the best but I am fighting hard for each place. I am not riding easy or lazy. I feel a little better each race and cant wait to bring my climbing legs to Bartlett. My report card for Carpentersville Chicross # 4

Fitness=B+

Bike Handling=B

Race Tactics=C

Dan Ryan Woods Chicross # 3

The third race of the Chicrosscup was in the Dan Ryan woods on the south side. A brand new course for this year served up some serious pain. The course was primarily flat with a moderate climb and a pretty painful runup. From the aerial picture of the course I felt confident coming into the race. Good signs of high fitness from dekalb and a relatively non-technical looking race had my hopes pretty high.

The start was a relatively long straightaway that turned left then twisted its way to the runup. My start this time was a little bit more aggressive even though my positioning was a bit off. At the runup I regretted having missed all those running workouts, this was definitely not an easy part of the race for me. I moved hard and fast trying to move up as the field stretched out. Coming down from the hill I ran through the tricky slippery off-camber switchback. I would not ride it the whole race, but I'm pretty sure that I was taking it just as fast as the guys riding it.

The flat twisty portion was fun. The turns were not too tight and you were able to hit them pretty fast. My kind of cross course. On the hill climb I was able to make up time on riders on almost every lap. After the initial pain of the first two laps I was settled into my group. Riding strong and smooth I would sprint out of every turn. One weakness for me was the set of two barriers near the woods. I was not able to hit them as fast as I could and would lose ground here.
The last two laps I started to feel the fatigue coming on. I had passed teammate Kevin about halfway through the race and was now riding with him behind me. I was also trading places with Jason. I started to get a second wind and tried to gap them but I couldn't shake them. I had barely beat Jason last week at Dekalb so I wanted to make sure that I was coming in front of him at or near the final climb. Having raced Kevin countless times, I knew he wasnt feeling so hot today so I was going to make it a point to beat him too.

Even though I was evenly matched with two riders right on my tail, I knew that I could take them if I made my move early enough. Coming around the final climb on the last lap Jason was leading me, with Kevin right behind me. I had tried several times to pickup the pace but was unable to change the order. On the last climb I noticed that Jason wasnt looking too fast up the climb. That was all I needed to turn on the afterburner. A little kick and I was past Jason with Kevin not too far but not too close either. I still had a very fast off-camber turn to get down the hill. Knowing that they were not going to be too far behind me I took one last dig. I was going to take some risks and hit all the turns as fast and as hard as possible.

And of course on the tricky off-camber which I had ridden ok the whole race I almost bit it. Too much brake had me unclip. I pretty much locked up the rear brake at the bottom of the turn and started to slide out. I was able to catch myself with my unclipped foot but I slid almost 180 degrees. Just enough to see Jason and Kevin pass me. Having lost all my momentum I crawled up to the top. For a split second I thought maybe I could catch them on the final straightaway. But it was not to be, I finished 36 out of 43. Its funny because every position lost or gained is a small battle within the race, and no doubt in my mind that I would've led them out on the finish if I had ridden my bike properly.

So as I step back and realize how much has happened in first three chicross races I have come to several conclusions.

1. Top 3 riders to beat this season, Zach Thomas, Kevin Clark, Jason Alvarado.


2. My technical skills are getting better and better with each race.


3. I have a lot matches to burn, I must not hold back.


4. The training is working, mental state has yet to be dialed in though.


5. My season goal is to get a top 30 and score at least 1 point for the overall series standings.


6. Cheering the 4bs and 4as is actually a little bit more fun than racing.


7. I need to drink more (beer,whiskey?) to help with conclusion number 6.

Dekalb

pic by sandy henry

This picture explains pretty much how my race went at the Dekalb/Hopkins park race. Follow the wheel, carve the turns, SPRINT, follow the wheel, pass, SPRINT, carve the turn...

The race started off with the customary "shit start". Around the first couple of turns where things were starting to settle in I looked back to see exactly how far back I was. Of course I was at the absolute ass end of the field as there was literally no one behind me. This really pissed me off and I rode the next two laps passing and passing hard. Riders who I knew had no business being in front of me were passed and repassed at every opportunity.

The legs felt awesome. On the flat long straight aways I would shift into the big chainring and sprint hard. I would pass riders, then get a little sloppy in a turn and they would pass me again. This went on for the first two laps until those guys started to fade. Starting all the way back in a pack of about fifty halfway through Erica(I think) shouted "40th place!". This gave me the extra incentive to ride even harder. As traffic spaced out I really started hitting a good rythm. My turns started to get cleaner and cleaner. Fully aware that I had matches to burn I started firing them.

The middle of the race was the second wave of attacks/hard digs. I passed my teammate Tim, then some random dudes. Up next was Soupy, a skilled rider who I knew could defeat me in the technical bits. Luckily there were not too many of those so I was able to pass him. Up next was Dave, I could tell that Dave was not riding as well as he could, so I rode his wheel for a little bit to catch my breath and moved on to the next wheel. Checking riders off like a grocery list I started moving into the thirties in field position.

Fully warmed up to this point I had an idea of where I could pass and make up time. My turns were getting cleaner and cleaner each lap. Noting where other riders where hitting their brakes to turn, I would do the opposite and try to hit it hard then mini-sprint out of the corners. Having a bike that is not so light and being under 6 feet in height the barriers felt taller and my bike heavier each lap. I was however getting some really clean remounts. A nice improvement that I noticed was that after clearing the barrier I was only taking one step before jumping back on the bike.

Coming around with two laps to go I had settled in with two other riders. A guy in a kit that said embrocation on it and an Iron Cycles rider. I followed their wheels closely. Other guys had simply faded but these two were always just out of my reach. A slight sense of desperation, anticipation, and some competitive courage fueled the last two laps. The embro' guy and iron cycles rider were not riding too aggressively, at top of the climb up to the baseball field I passed the iron cycles rider who did not seem to eager to fight me for the spot. I could not see anybody in front of the embro rider so he was going to be my man to beat.

My legs felt strong but I was a little apprehensive. I really did not know how much I had in me, even though my body was doing everything that I asked it to do. Staying close to the embro rider I had noticed that he was not taking some of the turns too well. On the tight off camber turn in between two trees(before the barriers on the singletrack) he hit the brakes too hard and slid out. I was able to go around him. I looked back, he was not too quick on his feet so I hit the gas hard. Through the woods and over the barriers I felt a second wind. Ahead of me I saw paolo from XXX. Unfortunately I ran out of course to pass him. I have no doubt in my mind that if I had another lap that I would have passed him and caught up to teammate Chris.

Finally after a long time things clicked at Dekalb. My form is great and my mind was right there along with it. At the Dan Ryan woods I'm going to show up with good legs, good mind, and hopefully a much better knowledge of how much I've got in the tank. My placing might not have been an A+ but my performance sure was.

A+ for effort

B- for execution