Catching up

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. I am behind in everything. Work, bikes, riding, the house, etc.

A quick recap of Sterling and Palmer before the PDX report.

Sterling

I got my head on right for this race. I started hard, rode in the top 10/15 for the first few laps and faded as my lack of riding and lack of fitness caught up with me. But it gave me great hope for next year. It was fun going that fast for 20 minutes or so. I did what I could to hang on for a top 30, and 29th is where I landed.

Palmer

Super fun course, as it always was all those years in the past. A few of us racked our brains trying to remember the last race there. I was pretty tired from the day before and started pretty conservatively. I got into a groove and started going by a few people. On the last run up I just tagged onto the back wheel of the guy who won the 4 race the day before in Sterling. I gave him a little run for his money but he had some good tactics to keep me behind him at the line. I didn't feel like going straight into the cone at the line, so I backed off. No need to get hurt over 6th place. 7th was fine with me.

I am working on some photos from PDX. All I can say is it was fun, muddy, and well worth the trip out. Portland is an amazing cycling city. Some of the things they have done there to incorporate cycling and bicycles into the daily culture simply blew me away. New Holland? Yeah, I'll take some shit for that one, I'm sure of that.

Preview pictures from last Sundays course after it rained a few inches the night before.

I'm ready

Warning. Sappy ramblings ahead. Mostly for me as therapy.

Lot's of thought over the past couple of days. Hey, I know I'm not making my living at this. But I have always been a competitive person. Primarily competitive with myself.

A timeline

First three races of season

No expectations. Rode as hard as I possibly could. Left it all out on the course. Didn't care if I crashed. Didn't care if I blew apart. Things were good.

Gloucester

Quote from yours truly - "Everything from here is icing on the cake"

What a dumb thing to think or say 5 weeks into the season. I was basically setting myself up for accepting lower results.

Middle of season

Complacency began to set in. I started having expectations. High expectations for 3/4 races and low expectations for 2/3 races. Began looking around more than forward in the races. Became conservative in the first laps. Interestingly, Southington stands out as a race I dug really deep in. I rode as hard as I could for the full 60 minutes. It was a 1/2/3 race. I had no expectations. Just gave it my all. See a pattern developing here?

Trenton

What a learning experience. For the first 5 minutes of each race, I didn't want to risk anything. If someone wanted the line and was prepared to push me for it, I backed off. After there was some sorting out, I started riding and running hard. Hard enough that the top 20 was in reach both days after coming from the mid 40s. The legs were good, but I didn't give them a remote chance of showing it.

Conclusion

So what does all of this mean? What the hell are you getting at zank?

Occam's Razor approach. Take out as many variables as possible. I think it boils down to this.
Good legs + Good mind = Good results
Good legs + Bad mind = Less than Good results

Big surprise, right? Sure, hindsight is 20/20. But it's tought to figure out what's going on at the time.

I'm ready to have some fun again this weekend. A couple of days ago, I thought I peaked at Amesbury. The truth is I think my legs are better now than they were then. My brain just needed a taper. Insert cone head joke here_________________

Happy Thanksgiving to all! And to all a good night.

The legs are there. Same can't be said for the head.

The racing at the USGP in Trenton, NJ was an absolute blast. Lived with Matt, Kenny and Kerry for the two nights. Hung tight with Josh, Sarah, Chris, Brant, Ryan, PVB, Cary, Jeremy and all of the other New Englanders who traveled down. Finally got to do a race that had some slippery mud on the surface. Actually got two really good numbers in the random sort (25 and 36 on the grid Saturday and Sunday, respectively). But, I'm falling back into my old routine. Passive manners have never won a bike race. I am getting spooked by the starts again. Today was silly. Going into the sandpit (about 7 minutes into the lap) on the first lap, someone yelled 46 to me. 46. WTF? How did I get there? Simply put, I let people by. I don't know where my head was at, but it wasn't in Mercer park. The 46 woke me up. By the end of the second lap, I had moved up to 23rd and was closing fast on the top 20. And then I started falling down. I crashed three time on the 3rd lap. I lost a few spots, but hung onto 27th. Why didn't I ride harder at the start? Beats the hell out of me. Yesterday was a similar story. After a very passive start, I was 38th going into the 2nd lap. By lap 6, I moved up to 20th, was with my teammate Josh and felt really good for the final lap. But I sucked my chain up coming out of the sandpit with half a lap to go and lost 8 places. 30 seconds was 8 places. That's racing folks.

Don't get me wrong. I had a blast. Those MAC guys are swell in my book. A few quirky things happened in the races that don't typically happen up here. But they are great hosts and a lot of fun to hang out with. And the course goes down in the top 5 of my favorite course of all time. One particular Devens course and the old UMass course are my favorite courses that are now defunct. And Warwick, RI is my favorite course that is still an active race. But this one was a lot of fun. Some hard false flats, lots of cool off-camber corners, an 80 meter sand pit, a cool fly-over. All good stuff.

Anyone know a good shrink?

See you at Sterling. Maybe Tom Turkey will have some advice for me.

Quick report

More later. I am running out the door for NH and ME travels this week. Quick thoughts.

Two awesome races. Finally some biting cold temps. Some sweet slick-as-snot mud at Putney.
The Hup women are riding out of their minds.
Jimbo, Matisonic and Jay looked awesome flying the Hup flag for the men.
Great to see Bob T getting some great results again after his battle with Lyme.
GeWilli makes fantastic cookies.
The Waterboy and his son Sean get stronger every freakin' week.
Brant had a storming ride at Putney.
Cort is now making quick work of the Bs. That didn't take long. Sandbagger :-)
I have to re-glue Josh's other wheel for him. There must have been a glue shortage in ME when these were originally done.
Don't underestimate an expert mtb racer's tactics in a 4-up sprint.
Don't make a tactical blunder going into a 4-up sprint and expect anything better than 4th in said sprint.
Chris B has a big motor.

Socially Challenged

OK, two things I have witnessed in my work travels this week. Both guarenteed to make your life as someone trying to sell something harder. Sales 101 here people. Don't do either of these things if you want to keep the attention of your customer for more than 5 seconds.

1. When you are sitting in a room with a customer, please turn your freakin' cell phone off. Yes...OFF. Not vibrate. Do you really think that having the damn thing bounce up and down on the table in vibrate mode is any less annoying than having the ringer go off? And beyond that, if you are dumb enough to keep it in vibrate mode, don't just stare at it when it goes off. Freakin' push the button to ignore the call or email. For crying out loud. What message are you trying to send to the customer? Because they are certainly thinking to themselves "wow, she must have some other stuff going on that is way more important than me."

2. Take the dumb bluetooth thing out of your ear when you walk into a meeting. Nothing says "I'm waiting for someone more important to talk to to call me" more than leaving that ridiculous thing in your ear. Not to mention that you look simply foolish with that blue thing flashing every 5 seconds.

Now, both items can be translated to real life. I have been known to be a prick, but only when you are violating a rule of common sense and being socially inept. Don't start a conversation with me with one of those damn bluetooth things in your ear. I will (and have) ask you (tell you) to take it out. Or if you're constantly checking your phone while we are mid-conversation because I'm not important enough to talk to with your full attention, don't be surprised if I walk away.

Honestly, what happened to common courtesy? Give people your full and undivided attention when you are with them. And if you don't, don't be surprised when they tell you to flip off and walk away. You may think the other person is the a-hole, but you are the one who is socially challenged.

Dog days of cross?

Lots of long-faced race reports from the weekend. What's up? Come on fellow racers. We just turned the half way point. There are still at least* 10 more New Belgium races left on the schedule. I can understand. Going into Agawam and Sucker Brook, people were psyched because cross was finally here. Then, New Belgium Worlds in Gloucester kept people full of piss and vinegar. But the intesity is hard to keep up with. And expectations grow. And we are all a "you're only as good as your last result" type of crowd. And the races are getting harder on the legs. And there is less daylight to ride/train in. Hey, that's cross. These are the things we look forward to from January until August. So turn that frown upside-down. You will be a better person and bike racer for it. Stay focused. Work really hard on your recovery after races. Be efficient with your riding time. Make it count or simply rest. No time for junk miles now. Consider this weekend. Two of the longest running and hghly touted New Belgium races of the year at Plymouth and Putney. Race on the courses where legends were made and souls were crushed. Then we are treated to either our "local" GP down in Trenton or the choice between 3 great races up here. Then Sterling, which is quickly becoming a classic thanks to the design and organization talents of one Tom Stevens. The return of the Palmer race! Another grass roots weekend to work off the left-over turkey (or tofurkey) sandwiches. And the culmination of season at the final Verge weekend. Make it hard! Combine the two beach sections at Warwick! We aren't sissies!

So for Runkel's sake. Would ya smile? Stop being tired or sick or bruised or bleeding or whatever. It's cross season. The greatest time of the year.

*stay tuned. RFLCS is trying to put something together.

Hard weekend

Instead of the standard blow by blow, I wanted to do something a bit different this week. Kind of an overall account of Chainbiter and Cycle-Smart. Frankly, it is because I had two pretty boring races. They both went like this. Started slow. Got faster in the middle. Felt great for the last two laps. I wish they were both two laps longer.

At first I was a bit disappointed with my results (24th on Saturday and 35th on Sunday). But looking back, I am very pleased. I think both of the races were harder and more selective than Gloucester. The courses, Chainbiter in particular, were much heavier on the legs and I think bike-handling skills counted more. And I think the competition is pretty fierce in our group. Everyone is pretty tight. On a sharp day, when you have those hard accelerations in your legs, you can get top 20. On a duller day, when you lose 5 extra seconds a lap, you are back in the 30s or 40s. It's relentless. I love it.

More later. I am headed to Syracuse for work this week. I will be on my trainer in the hotel room pissing off the people below me.

Congrats to all on their fine finishes this weekend. It's been awesome seeing our band of merry bike racers get bigger every week. I don't know what Rebecca and I will do next year when we show up to the cross races and not know a soul. My voice won't be as roughed up on Mondays from all of the yelling. Who will we share cake with?

Get this monkey off my back

My last go in the Bs at Framington. And I remember suffering like a dog.

11/12/05
Chainbiter
Place Time Bib Name Team
85 pulled 202 Mike ZANCONATO HUP United

Much junk in the trunk

Today, I was supposed to do one of my favorite workouts. One hour at tempo with a 10 second sprint every 3rd minute. I usually have a lot of fun with this one, because it's fast and I am constantly trying to get the peak watts number up higher on each succesive sprint. I felt tight and labored even during my warm up. I gave it a go, but 15 minutes in I was fighting to keep the watts over 200. The target was 225-240. And the sprints were barely breaking 900 watts. I am usually at 1050-1100. Canton chewed me up pretty good I guess. I backed off, enjoyed the crisp autumn air and took in the sunset. Not a bad day on the bike. But really...is there ever a bad day on the bike? Think REALLY hard before you answer that one. Barring crashes and accidents, I would take a horrendous day on the bike over lots of other things...

Just past the half way point

Damn. This season is going by fast. Time flies when you are having fun. Surprisingly light attendance this weekend. I didn't see many familiar names in the Kentucky results. Where were you guys??!!!

We just past the half way point this weekend and I past the half way point for my cat 2 upgrade. There are 6 awesome weeks of racing left before Nationals.

Dayville was a good warm up for Canton. Lots of rain, 60% singletrack and very small fields. There was one moronically placed set of hurdles that claimed the season of one of our good pals. They put a set of hurdles in a covered bridge with a downhill dirt road approach. Hey, I'm all for a challenging course, but not dangerous. With the rain, you couldn't see in there. Matt Simpson (Feltslave) took a nasty crash into the barriers and was left with a concussion, a broken nose and 7 stitches. We wish him well on a quick recovery. We probably should have spoke up before hand. But nobody wants to be the one to do it. Next time, I'll be the one.

Canton is becoming a monument on the New Belgium calendar. A race to show at. Lots of hard riding, fast corners, the famous Boston Cross mini-hurdles, and much wind on your nose. Polar opposites, with on exception. Awesome people all around.

We got to Dayville in time to see Dan and Tony finish strong in the cat 4 race and then we watched GeWilli kick some butt in his Masters race, eventually earning a nice 4th place. Nice rides, guys! The Women's 3/4 race looked like a Hup cross clinic. The good doctor focused hard to earn 2nd, Sarah came in just after Rebecca in 3rd and Kerry looked super-strong despite not having a warm up and a bit of a frantic pre-race preparation. Our race got underway with 10 guys on the line. I knew that Ronnie, Josh, Colin and Matt would be the guys to watch. I grabbed the hole shot and led up into the sandpit and through the first bits of singletrack. Josh pulled through for a brief moment before losing his front wheel. I don’t recall seeing him again. Ronnie pulled through into the run up and then I took over again after the start/finish for the start of lap 2. I controlled the pace for lap 2, feeling the effects of not riding since last Sunday. Colin came through on me in the sandpit of lap 3, got a gap and pegged it. That was the last time I saw him. Ronnie and I shared the work for the next 3 laps, but I botched the remount and little downhill after the run-up coming into the bell lap. He got a gap and I rode hard to close it down. I just made contact going into the sandpit, but he rode away from me. Ronnie has a big motor. I conserved on the last lap and tried to ride smart to hold onto me 3rd place.

Canton was a great show. It was a little odd that the cat 4 race had over 90 guys and the 2/3 race only had 50. Did a lot of the 3s do the ¾ masters race? I got there in time to see Tom N have a sterling ride in the cat 4 race, right up until a flat on the last lap. He was rockin’ in 5th. That fella is consistent. Nicely done, Tom! Mattison showed some good legs with a strong finish and Tony did well in what I think was his first double weekend. The ¾ women’s field was very large at around 30 I think. Smiles (Dianna) showed everyone her killer remount skills. It’s nice to have a great teacher for a new hubby. Sarah rocked for another top 10 and Kerry looked really good after a better warm up for a top 15 I think.

I thought I won the first race of the day getting to the front row. Then they put the IBC and NAV teams on the front. Oh well. Second row ain’t bad I guess. It was a pretty stacked field. But we missed Yash, who was on the sidelines with injury, and Scott, who was probably hung over from a wedding the night before. Yash was there cheering like a mad man. He’s the best.

The gun goes off and it’s a mad dash to the field. I got a bit swarmed and entered the field pretty far back. I think Josh was on my wheel and he said he was in the 40s. I took every opportunity I could to move up on the first two laps, but there was a lot of soft pedaling going on due to traffic. I eventually worked my way up to a good sized group that contained Kenny, James and a few other familiar faces. Colin M integrated with the group at the same time and then proceeded to shred it with a good attack going up the start/finish hill with now 3 to go. That was just what I needed to get me going. Kenny was right there and we latched on. I kept seeing Myette on some of the switchbacks. He did a storming ride for 4th. He got pipped at the post though by one of the NAV guys I think. Back to where I left off. Poor James had a bit of a fumble in the low hurdles and his derailleur got sucked into his wheel. Total bummer. And then Kenny got a flat. Again, total freakin’ bummer. I got caught behind James a bit as he was suffering his mechanical, so there was a gap to Colin and NEBC Scott. It took some work, but I caught on going into the hurdles by the pit. We got 2 to go and it looked like our group of 3 might work well together to catch Thom Parsons just up the road. But Scott crashed going into the run up and I wedged my front wheel between his down tube and front wheel. Thankfully, we both had the calmness to get things untangled quickly, but Colin was up the road never to be seen again. I buried myself on the last lap trying to catch him and I could feel Josh starting to come up on me as well. That youngster is getting fast. I had a feeling that after he got the mechanical gremlins off his back, he would be a force. But, there was’t enough real estate left for either of us to accomplish our goal. I had to settle for 8th just 3 seconds behind Colin and Josh was just behind me. I was very happy considering the last time I did a B race at Canton a couple of years back I was 42nd and thought I had a great day.

Next weekend is the huge Chainbiter/Cycle-Smart Verge weekend. I am already feeling pumped for it. The goal is to improve on the 30th place I had at Gloucester. The stretch goal is still that one Verge point I want so badly.

Send some good wishes to Yash today. He is going under the knife tomorrow. And also to Matt, who is recovering from his crash on Saturday. Heal quickly, fellas!

A good scrap is in store

Tomorrow will be fun. 7 or 8 of us will fight tooth and nail for the title of Dayville Adventure Sports Cross Cup cat 3/4 champion. The easy call would be a Ronnie, or a Colin, or a Josh, or a Kenny to win. But there are some other scrappers in the mix. Oscar could surprise, Feltslave could destroy souls and Matt could put someone's heart in the blender. I see this one getting personal. Much attacking. Much name calling. Much bumping. Much down and dirty, take no prisoners, spit in your opponent's eye racing.

Whatever the result, one of us will be able to stand tall at Canton the next day as the DAS Cross Cup cat 3/4 champion. If I win, I am going to have a special skinsuit made.

ups and downs

Two great CT races this weekend presented a couple of opportunities to prepare for Canton next week. Two great courses. Mansfield is always a blast and I encourage everyone to consider it for next year. They had HUGE payouts (as in money) for most fields. A really hard course. Free food. Good tunes. The most under-rated race on the circuit. Southington was also a great race. I really like this course too. Very few sections to rest. Three sand features. Lots of good turns. Just a blast.

Also got to do some carpooling with Myette and Kenny this weekend. And I was psyched that the bride was able to come down and spectate on Sunday, even though she just finished an overnight shift and slept for only a couple of hours. It's so much more fun to drive with someone than drive alone. I get enough of driving alone for work. We had Matt's kids, Charlie and Cory, on Saturday and they are so much fun to have around. So darn cute! We also got to have Hup teammates Josh and Sarah stay with us Friday night. We ate burritos, watched Spinal Tap, and laughed about the generation gap. I think we figured out that I did my first cross race when Josh was 4. Time moves on.

Mansfield Cat 3/4
No comment. Well OK, small comment. Flatted in the first corner. Watched everyone ride away. Got to the pit and changed front wheels and then checked on Matt who was stopped on the side of the course. We rode the rest for training. Hands on the tops. Go hard when you want. Saw Oscar J off in the distance on the last lap. Decided to catch him. Led him out for the sprint. Good fun and a good training ride. 18th out of 32 starters.

Southington Cat 1/2/3
60 minutes. I haven't done a long one like this yet. The first three laps were a blur. There were some fast A racers in the group and they got an immediate gap. There was a group forming just ahead of me. Looked to be about 7 riders strong. It included Rosey, Kenny, and Sean C from Bethel. Super fast, super nice guy that Sean fella. They didn't show lap cards until going into our 4th lap. 6 to go (total of 9). Funny thing happened at that moment. That group shattered. I think some of the guys were just a little demoralized by the lap count. So, while I never caught that group ahead, I went by some of the splinters. I think I gained 3 spots on that lap. All that remained from that group ahead of me were Rosey, Cav, Kenny and one other fella I didn't know. They popped Kenny with 2 to go and I caught him. We stayed together for a bit, but I wanted to dish out a little revenge for Gloucester and charged up one of the harder pedalling sections. That's how it all settled out for the last two laps. Cav ended up getting the better of Rosey, the other guy finished between me and Rosey and Kenny was just behind me. End result was 14th out of 32 starters. I was pleased that I felt good going the extra 15 minutes.

From here on out, all of the races are 2/3 races except for the 3/4 races at Brockton, Plymouth and Putney. So my cat 2 upgrade points chase may be over for the most part. But it will be awesome battling in those fields. Next up is a fun race on Saturday and one of the best races of the season at Canton. Hey, thanks for reading!

Welcome to the get spanked session

Looking at the pre-reg list for Sunday's combined A/B race at Southington, it looks like an A race plus me and Josh. Ouch. It's a smaller field so far, but all of the dudes are freakin' fast. It will be a good taste of racing with some of those guys. And it's a really fun course, so it ought to be a blast.

A little clarification

I don't think the message that I wanted to send came across in my last post.

For the record:

I love hurdles. Bring 'em on. Just be creative about where you put them. One set in the middle of a 300 meter grass straightaway does very little to change the face of the race. But the set at Sucker Brook was well placed in my opinion. They hurt pretty good coming off that little rise.

I love getting on and off my bike. I have worked hard over the years to become somewhat decent at it.

Stairs would be cool. I envy the guys in Portland who have that one course with a couple of sets of stairs.

Bring on the sand. A 300 meter beach section would be sick.

I really like hard courses. The point I was trying to make is I think who shows up on race day is more important to cross racing than the course that is put together by the organizers. I would prefer tough competition over a tough course anyday. And having both would be the best case scenario.

Why does cross have to be "something" except hard?

I hear it all the time. "Cross is this" and "cross is that". Or something along the lines of "it's not cross because it's not fill-in-the-blank". Common forms are below.

It's not cross if there aren't hurdles.
It's not cross unless it's raining.
Cross is all about mud.
It's not cross if there's singeltrack.
Cross shouldn't be a grass crit.
It's not cross if it's 70 degrees.

I'll tell ya one thing. The only thing cross should be is hard. Cross isn't anything in particular. The racers make it a race. Not the course. Not the weather. Not the current UCI regulations. Not the temperature. Gimme a break. Race each other. Not the course.

I don't know why, but the hurdles thing really bugs me. It's a bike race. It's not a get-on-and-off-your-bike race. Throwing random hurdles into a field is rather unimaginative and rarely changes the face of the race. Obstacles should be there to break the rythm of the race and force changes.

What's the point of all this? As usual, I don't have much of a point. It just makes me giggle when I overhear a rider in their second season of racing cross telling someone else what cross "should be" or "isn't". The only thing it should be is hard. Now go race your bike.

Gloucester delivers...

Awesome friends. Perfect weather. First-class promotion, organization and officiating. A super-fast course. What more could one hope for? New Belgium Worlds delivered on all of the hype with two spectacular days of the hardest racing so far this year. And to be honest, I'm glad it wasn't a GP this year. Less hype and more down-home-tooth-and-nail-racing. I think racers in every category had some large tales of rubbin' elbows and tradin' paint. And the pain caves? Deeper than ever. Forget the pitch forks and shovels. We're talking blasting out entire new caverns and veins into the cave. OK, enough of the that. Let's talk racing.

First, just a quick overview of the course. It was similar to years past, but with a few tweaks. The start/finish road is a long drag race up a hill that feels like Alpe D'Huez 7 laps in but something you wouldn't even notice out on a road ride. The start is at the bottom and the finish is at the top. So, drag race up the road, funnel into grass, but still 3 or 4 wide. Down a hill, 180 left back up, hard right traverse, hard right back down the hill into some sweeping right turns and out onto the cinder seawall road. Super fast on the seawall, up a little bit of broken pavement and then a hard, loose right back onto the grass. A quick right and up a short sandy steep hill into two left turns and thne back onto the grass for some more sweeping rights. Then, into the chicane and run up. I really liked the way they set this up this year. Up the hill, hard right 180 and down, hard left 180 and up into two planks. There were many different approaches on how to get over these fast and smooth. I focused more on the fast part than the smooth. It was just hard and there was no way to look like you knew what you were doing. So just freakin' do it, right? At the top of the run, you went down to the backside of the course. This section featured some long hard ridin' sections with some 180s and lots of wind. Then a sand pit that was easily rideable by the time our race hit it. Then another long straight section into another cool chicane and ride up and zip zag down. Then out onto the baseball field, hard right into the finish straight and another drag race into the finish. Most of the spectators were hanging out at the two chicanes and the start/finish hill. It was exactly where you needed to dig deep. Lap times were in the 6-7 minute range.

The good doctor had a couple of fantastic days in the 3/4 womens races. It was the fastest groups of ladies we have seen yet. I am going to try to get her to write something up, but she finished 24th out of the 47 finishers on day one and 21st out of 39 finishers on day two.

Day 1. Wake up the legs.

For day one, they called up the top ten on overall points from last year's Verge series. Some of the guys have moved up to the elites, so that left five call ups. And then they stacked us by order of registration. Due to my lack luster registration skills a few weeks back, that meant a fifth row start spot. The start road bends left and the field tends to hug the bend. So Scott, Kenny and I lined up on the right and went as hard as we could up the right side. I made up some places before going onto the grass. The first two laps were ridiculously fast and everything was a blur. The one thing that I remember distinctly though was I felt pretty blocked up. It was really hard to accelerate and I felt like I was going backwards. Someone said I came through the first lap in 25th or so wiht Kenny, and then I lost contact with him and started to do the slide. It was brutal. At the end of the 3rd lap, we saw 4 to go. I heard a lady say "41st and 42nd" to me and the guy I was with. Something clicked. Anger? Physiology? Determination? No clue. But I started to open up and go harder. I made a couple of spots on lap 4 and went super hard on 5 and 6 and went through some groups and caught Kenny. We were hovering right around 30th, but lost a couple of places to some hard charging guys. Kenny beat me in the sprint for 32nd, so I ended up 33rd. I think I went as hard as I could for 45 minutes, because my hands and arms locked up in a death grip on the drops as I sprinted up the finish hill. I could not open my hands for a minute or two. It was awesome racing with Kenny and we had our own epic battle going on. The speed and depth of the field was incredible. Less than 2 minutes seperated me in 33rd from 2nd place. More importantly, I was just 1 minute out of 15th and the Verge points that I want. About 9 seconds a lap. Within reach? Yup.

Day 2.
My legs felt much better Sunday morning during my warmup. Today, the top 15 from Saturday were called up based on their newly earned Verge points. So that meant another fifth row start for me. But I felt much better going up the right today and made up more spots. Today, Kenny, Rosey and I were sporting the zank blue kits and at one point, the three of us were riding together. I got some nice comments on the blue train after the race. The first couple of laps were crazy fast again. But this time, I heard 20th and 21st when Kenny and I were riding together. We stayed together the whole race, but he was clearly stronger. I could only try to respond to everything he threw at me. I always closed the gap on the sand pit and the two chicanes. But he was turning me inside out on the fast sections. We both started to slow down with 2 or 3 to go and a couple of small groups went through us. We caught PVB with 2 to go and we rode together for the last two laps. Kenny attacked me and Pierre hard on the bell lap, and I was in damage control mode at that point and could not respond. I lost Pierre as well and rolled in for 30th, 2:15 behind the winner. But this time, only 41 seconds out of the top 15.

A few interesting points. On day one, I started slow but opened up and went faster on the last three laps and made up 8 or 9 spots. On day two, I started faster and slowed down on the last three laps and lost 8 or 9 spots. I guess I have to tune my training so that I can start fast and finish fast. Geez, why didn't I think of that before?

I need to learn to corner faster. I felt like I lost ground in every corner. I had a few brilliant turns where I actually went faster than the guys I was with, but I need to do that more often. Am I losing 1/2 to 1 second on every corner? Maybe. That would be enough in itself to get me to the top 15.

Cross is awesome. There are so many amazing people to hang out with at the races it blows my mind. I heard every single cheer. On some laps, I couldn't make out the voice because I was in purgatory, but I really appreciated it all. I was thrilled to see Myette back in the mix after the major scare with his ankle. I am really enjoying getting to know the gang of guys I am racing with in the Bs. Tal I, Colin R, Colin M, Carey F, all super nice guys who can pedal really hard. And being tight with Myette, Kenny, Rosey, Ronnie, PVB, Yash, Jamner, Ziemba, and CTodd helps so much to keep my head in the game and not give in to the pain. GeWilli constantly makes me laugh.And I really apprecaite all of the support and good wishes from everyone who has seen me transition to the Bs this year.

Everything is icing on the cake from here. Myette commented on Friday that if anyone in our little gang could pull a top 30 in our respective races, it was like a win. It felt like that for sure. But I still have some goals for the season. I still want my cat 2 upgrade and I still want a Verge point. Mansfield and Southington will be two good races this weekend to prepare for Canton the following week. And then another big Verge weekend with Farmington and Northampton. Time to sharpen the fitness and the cornering skills.

It's time...

to go. See you all in Gloucester. It's Worlds time. 1287 pre-registered for 2 days of racing. Crazy. We've come a long way, baby.

Calm before the storm

So this weekend was really, really productive. I hated missing the races, but I took a ton off of my plate (not the plate at the dinner table either). It was awesome hearing about so many great rides by many pals. Some great wins by Tom, Justin and Colin. Nice work fellas!!! So many super-positive reports from all over Hup nation. Upgrade points earned, stutter-steps banished, and handling the dreaded "12" lap card with much confidence. I wish I could have seen it all, but be sure that I was cheering for all of you from the confines of my workspace.

Five days remain until Worlds. My biggest goal this week is to stay very cool, relaxed and focused. I had a great 4+ hour ride on Friday that sent me home cracked like never before this year. I had a great over/under workout today and felt really well recovered. The legs feel sharp. I just can't waste any precious energy. I know I have a huge task ahead of me. I will be called up in 40th or so, so finding my way to the front group will make the first two laps super hard. I would rather get to the front group and blow up like you read about to finish 110th than ride conservatively. Maybe I'll watch Rocky III tonight. Hmm, or Rocky II? Tough call.

It's all puppy dogs and rainbows...or something like that

I have this epic training ride planned for today. I am not going to LI this weekend because I need to finish some bikes before New Blegium Worlds next weekend. So today is a monster. I'll be lucky if I can walk later.

Anyway, Josh and Feltslave have both commented on what they think about when they ride. The long, solitary miles gives one much time to think. I think a lot. About my wife, my family, my friends, the world, my job, my co-workers (the other group that doesn't fall under the "friends" tag), frame building, politics, physics, medicine, engineering, effing car, the MCAT, going back to school, physiology, dang she was cute, kids some day, house some day. Oh, and bike racing. Oh oh! Don't forget! A rainbow jersey some day.

Yeah, as dumb as it sounds, I think about a rainbow jersey some day. If you are going to dream, why not dream big? Goals and dreams are different. I know it will never be a white rainbow jersey. But what about a blue rainbow jersey? The place? Mol, Belgium. The event? The Master's World Cyclocross Championships. From what I understand, that course is HARD. Lot's of sand, lot's of heavy pedalling sections, lot's of pain. Lot's of tough old Belgians, Dutchmen, and French dudes just looking to rip the legs off some cheeky American and stuff his heart right into the microwave. Press high for 45 minutes until the damn thing explodes. Eff 'em I say. I'll crush their souls and ride away on a bike made of their bones.

I envision the kit. That beautiful blue rainbow skinsuit. The rainbow has to go all the way arond. No side panels and the bands MUST line up perfectly. How freakin' cool would it be to have the Hup United logo on a rainbow skinsuit? The anti-team team scores big. But what to do with the bottoms? Boonen/Bettini style with the rainbow bands running along the little triangle on the front of the bottoms? Or Cipo style with the bands running horizontally along the bottom of the short panel? A "U" panel with the rainbow bands running along the middle of the panel and around the back across the butt? Would Campagnolo sponsor me if I was Masters World Champion? That would be cool. Ohhhhhh, maybe Francois could make me some sick tubulars with blue sidewalls and rainbow bands. Some crazy cool knee warmers and leg warmers with the rainbow bands would be a must have. I have sketched out every piece of kit in my mind. From the skinsuit, jackets, vests and tights to gloves, shoe covers, caps and leg warmers. one must revere the rainbow and show proper respect with a classy kit. A full kit. Everything must be spotless on the start line. I heard that Sven had a new skinsuit for every race when he was World Champion. It must be tough with white. I wonder if he had lots and lots of jackets made because the mud from his warm ups may not come out perfectly in the wash. You can't have spots on the white rainbow jackets! It will be easier for me to keep the blue rainbow jackets clean.

Hey, dream big. Why not? Your thoughts are free. Spend them with abandon. I'm headed out the door with some tough old Belgian in my sights. I will cross paths with him some day in the future in the sand in Mol. I will get the holeshot. I won't look back. 45 minutes later, I will have that rainbow on my back. Why the hell not? I've already won this race 1000 times over in my head.

And that's what I think about when I ride.

The black cat got lucky this time

That kitty was lucky I wasn't a car or motorcycle. On my way home last night from my ride, a black cat darted out into the road right in front of me. Oh crap. Weight back, lighten the front end. Ba-Thump Ba-Thump. Cat darts away. It felt like a root at Amesbury. Lucky for the kitty I lost twenty pounds. Luckier still I wasn't on a Ducati. Sad for me though. A Ducati would be nice to have.