UCI Masters World Championships

In my mind, Nationals was going to be a freezing mess and UCI Masters Worlds was going to be warm with maybe a little mud. Turns out that was basically backwards. An Arctic storm chased us east on Wednesday and Travis and I made our way from KC.

We headed out to pre-ride on Thursday at noon and got in two laps just as snowflakes started to fall. To say that it was muddy would be an understatement. It was like the MO State Championship race, but the mud was even deeper in some parts. A big section of the course is built on a really big berm leading up to the Start/Finish area and this had foot holes that were over 8" deep so even if you could ride it you would have to navigate these. It turned out to be a solid 2-3 minutes of running. The rest of the course had deep, power-sucking mud as well. If the tempuratures had stayed above freezing, I think it would have been really fun.

However, the storm kept pushing in. Little flurries, strong 20-40mph winds and temps in the 20's turned the rutted course into a giant ice bowl. The promoters wisely removed some of the running sections, and moved a little of the course tape to provide lines that weren't completely rutted from tape to tape. Travis had his qualifying heat at 9AM. He rode great and was able to stay on his bike longer than most, allowing him to ride into a 1st row call up for his finals race.

My race was at 1pm. It was about 25 degrees at the start. I was the 10th person called up and on the start was about the 5th person to hit the grass. Then it got a bit chaotic. I got grabbed by a rut and thrown off my line into some really slow ruts. I kept everything upright but lost about 10 spots. I regained composure and started to wind back through people.

I managed to ride the rest of the lap clean, but the mental focus required on this terrain is completely different than i've ever had to do before. The flats were some of the hardest spots because those were the most unchanged from the day before and had ruts covering the entire course in some sections. You had to constantly be focusing on not dropping yout wheel into the ruts and getting sucked the wrong way.

Our race ended up being 5 laps. I rode the next 3 laps very consistantly and managed not to have an serious wrecks. I moved past several people into 8th. However, on the last lap I was taking a line on the left hand side on a descent and got put right into the tape which grabbed my bars and over I went. I lost about 4-5 spots, cut my hand pretty good, and broke my front shifter/brake lever. So I hobbled back to the pits, got my pit bike and finished up in 12th.

Not a great way to end the season, but my body and mind are in good shape and am looking forward to riding some base miles for road season. I'm happy to have learned so much about cross this year and feel like i've been able to race at a very high level all season. As Tilford said, if you aren't good in all conditions, then you aren't a very good cross racer (my paraphrase). I'm still working on being able to handle the winter aspect of CX and these last two races have certainly been good in that respect. Thanks for reading.

Jingle Cross Weekend

Jingle Cross was pretty awesome this year. I haven't been able to make many big races this season but Jingle CX was an easy choice. Janelle's family was in town for Thanksgiving, but they were willing to come up to the race as well.

Friday Course:

Friday was a perfect night for cross. The wind had died down and it was about 50 degrees out. The main obstacle of the night was the long run-up

Podium Insight Photo

Running up Mt Krumpit on Friday night

I didn't get a very good start as some guys started to drift into me on the gravel section less than 100m into the race. I stopped pedalling for a second and was immediately in last place. From there I just tried to get by people as best I could. The run was actually going pretty well for me which gained me a spot or two for the first couple of laps. About halfway through I rode up to a group of 5-6 guys, hung out for a lap then ran past them all on the hill. I ended up in no-man's land for the rest of the race, which put me in 21st overall. It turns out the guy ahead of me was a junior, so he got removed from the USAC results.

Saturday course:

This was a real CX day. Raining all day, windy, and a very muddy course. We went up the hill the way we rode down the night before, but it was only half-way rid-able for me before enough mud accumulated that I would have to run the rest of the way. There were two other sections that were rid-able the night before, but were now faster to run. Even the descent was faster to run down. This was pretty fun and made for some good highlights.

Saturday start

Up Mt. Krumpit

The first lap on Saturday down Mt. Krumpit

The second lap down

Somewhere in the middle of the race. Sorry to whoever I hit with my wheel, that almost knocked me over though!

Fun in the mud

The other run-up by the bleachers.

Up the climb near the end of the race

I haven't had too many super muddy races in KC - so it was a blast to race in the mud again. My Challenge Limus tires were the perfect rubber for the day keeping me upright throughout the day. I had a good day and ended up 16th.

Sunday course:

Flyover

Sunday it was still muddy, but of the accumulating type. The course featured the run up from Friday, plus a new descent down the hill that was rid-able but challenging. People were losing derailluers all day from the grass and gravel that would get into your drivetrain and completely stop things up. Janelle and Ryan (brother-IL) were my awesome pit crew that provided me with clean bikes every lap, so I just had to focus on getting around without putting myself on the ground. It was a big advantage to get a clean bike since the mud added a couple of pounds to the bike. I was feeling pretty worn down from two days of hard racing, but felt like I rode well despite the fatigue. I ended up riding with Dan Miller from Columbia for the last couple of laps until we got pulled from the race. It seemed like we still had quite a bit of time before the leaders were coming through, so this was a surprise, but they do tend to pull people early in the C1 UCI races. So I ended up 21st again. I'm very content with how the races played out and with my fitness so far this year.

It is hard to believe that Nationals are still over a month away. Time to get really focused for this final stretch.

Jingle Cross - Day 3

The last day of Jingle cross combined most of the hardest parts of Friday and Saturday into one course. Oddly slick sections on both ends of the course, plus a big climb and a big descent right into the side of a barn. I did like the course, but felt held back by my own lack of mad handling skills.

Right off the gun there was another huge wreck. I lined up on the inside for the first time and it was actually much better than I expected. In the cat 2/3 races i've done, the whole field collapses into the inside line, leaving the outside open. Here, people were using all of the course (but ended up crashing to the outside every race - I don't get it)

Friday night, I felt best on the climb up the back of Mt. Krumpit. I passed most of the people that I was with on that climb, so I was hoping that it would work out well for me again. On the first lap it was evident that I would not have the legs to be super aggressive here. After a couple of laps, things started to fall apart. I starting to catch Bill Stolte and feeling ok, but then I crashed hard when some of the course tape blew over and hooked my bars. I was totally not expecting it and last 2 spots to guys that I had past and was gaining ground on.

Then on the big descent I caught a weird line in the sand at the bottom and almost endo'ed over a hay bale. When I finally made it around to the finish line, I got pulled. It was only 36 minutes in. Ouch. This was probably for the best as I was not mentally "in it".

Anyway, still a good experience. Lots of things to work on for next year. Up next are the MO and KS state races.

Don't hit the barn!

Getting mooned on the run up. Apparently, there were $1 bills in there. I didn't notice.

Jingle Cross - Day 2

Same starting position as Friday night - 4th row, on the left. There was another crash on the left just off the pavement that I managed to miss. The main additions to the course were a couple of crossings of a muddy ditch, a rutted section leading into a descent into the barn, and a long muddy run up.

I had to run around before the race to find a new RD hanger for my crux. It turns out that neither the SRAM guys or Specialized guys had anything, so I had to go buy one from a local shop. What is odd is that my bike is new for this season, but the Specialized guys said they didn't have any more because the hanger was an older style. Hmm.

I felt like I had a better race than on Friday, and I didn't get lapped, but I finished further back, in 26th.

Racing in these really fast races magnifies any weakness you have as a rider. I have struggled in the past with my starts, but here you hesitate for a moment someone will jump past. If you bobble anywhere in the first couple laps, you've lost a spot or more. Letting a gap open up to the rider in front of you will be very hard to close.

Jingle Cross - Day 1

First Elite UCI race for me. The start was insane, I started on the 4th row, but after the first turn I got my front wheel taken out. I got back up and my RD hanger was very badly bent, so I pulled it back so it was at least ridable, then hobbled over to the pits.

At this point, I was in dead last. The back side of the course had a good climb and a technical descent. I heard there were lots of crashes and rolled tubulars on the switchbacks down the hill. Some of the ground was frozen and slippery too. I was feeling alright about my line down the hill, so I as able to catch and pass quite a few riders here. Otherwise, I just tried to be efficient and not spend too much energy. I ended up being the last rider to be lapped by Jaime Driscoll. He passed me just prior to the climb on the back of the course.

I ended up in 23rd out of 50+ registered riders, so that was ok. Hopefully today will go better.