Weekly Collegiate Update: March 23, 2016

The promised upgrades to the 2016 Road Rankings have been completed. We are now showing the Top 100 Men and Women and showing week-to-week changes in both ranking position and points.

Some riders will not be listed in the "right" place on the rankings because they do not have the minimum 5 criteriums and 5 road races. Once those results have been added to the system, the rider's rank will automatically be adjusted. Also recall that the scoring races must be within the last 12 months. So, as races drift out of this window, more recent results form the basis of the ranking points and position.

In the case that USAC doesn't provide a point value, we double-check the results that have been uploaded to the USAC system. If a rider does not have the requisite races, he or she is assigned the maximum value for that discipline (RR, Crit).

Some interesting stats:

For the men, Marian University has the most riders on the list with 11. Here is the Top 10 schools on the list:

1. Marian University: 11
2. Milligan College: 5
3. Virginia Polytechnic University: 5
4. Midwestern State University: 4
5. Furman University: 4
6. University of Colorado Boulder: 4
7. Appalachian State University: 3
8. University of Wisconsin-Madison: 3
9. University of California-Davis: 3
10. University of California-Berkeley: 3

Marian also tops the women's list, with 9 riders making the Top 100.

1. Marian University: 9
2. Milligan College: 7
3. University of Colorado Boulder: 5
4. Stanford University: 5
5. University of California-San Diego: 5
6. Lindenwood University: 5
7. Columbia University-NYC: 4
8. Fort Lewis College: 4
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 3
10. US Naval Academy: 3

The full rankings can be found here:  http://winklercycling.com/collegiate-rankings.html

Weekly Collegiate Update: March 16, 2016

Sam Anderson-Moxley leads the pack at the Spring 2015 UC Berkeley Criterium. Photo courtesy of UCSC cycling club.

The road season is now underway for most conferences. USAC is posting conference recaps on their News Archive (click on "collegiate" on sort by column, actually a filter).

CU Boulder will be racing this weekend in Golden, Colorado. The Oredigger Classic includes a Hill Climb Time Trial and a Criterium hosted by the Colorado School of Mines.

Below are the Top 10 Teams by number of USAC Licensees as of Tuesday March 15, 2016. In total, there are 2,332 active collegiate licensees.

1. University of Colorado Boulder:  57
2. Marian University:  54
3. Stanford University:  52
4. Fort Lewis College:  46
5. University of California-Davis:  44
6. Indiana University-Bloomington:  41
7. University of Arizona:  39
8. Lindenwood University:  34
9. University of California-San Diego:  33
10. Virginia Polytechnic University:  32

The 2016 Individual Road Rankings have been updated as well! This week's update includes the ability to see each riders' separate points and rank in the Road Race and Criterium disciplines (by rolling over the place and point "buttons"). 

Starting next week I will be highlighting movement on the list. Arrows will be included to indicate shifts in both "rank" and "rank points", as applicable.

Running Late...

Busy couple of weeks. Last weekend, we buzzed back to KC for a good friend's wedding. Didn't bring a bike but ended up getting 4 days of riding in on a 4 day trip! Did 2 days on Giant Anthem 29er at Landahl. I'm sold, get me a 29er. Did a road ride with a bunch of the ol' peeps and the did Boss Cross #2 on the way to the airport.


The race was just like I remember, good stuff. It was missing the key technical feature from years past, but had two sand pits to make up for it. It was a big Open field, almost 30. Heavy hitters included Joe Schmalz, Mark Savery and Andrew Coe. I started from the front and hit the first sandpit, about 300m from the start, fairly well placed. The bunch was following a rut on the right behind Schmalz. I ended following Savery to the left and we scooted right by everyone but Schmalz. In the second pit, another 500m later, I got by Schmalz and on to Savery's wheel. He took it hard to the barriers and bunny-hopped them. I expected this and didn't panic to close down the gap he created. Things settled in over the rest of the lap and heading to the barriers the second time it was Savery about 5 secs ahead of Joe and another 5-10 back to me. Then Savery botched the bunny-hop the second time through. This was to be the defining event of his race. He ended up having to run to the pit from the barriers. It wasn't too far away, but enough to take him off the front of the race.

From there, Joe lead it for the rest of the day. I hung close at about 12-17 seconds the rest of the race. I might have been able to close it down on my own bike. My borrowed bike was just different enough, and then for the last 3-4 laps it wouldn't shift into the big ring. I'm not saying it was the difference, but I definitely wasted some seconds trying to get it to shift. Not to mention the annoyance factor of the chain rubbing on the front derailleur the second half of the race.

So, that was basically it. Joe was first, I came in for second about 15 seconds later. Savery chased up to third, but could never make any ground on me. After hovering about 25-30sec back for most of the race, he sat up on the last lap and drifted further back.

It was fun to be back in KC and see everyone. I guess it had been at least 9 months! Time flies when you're having fun...

Next weekend (this weekend) is off and then I'll race Saturday/Sunday at the USGP in Ft. Collins. Looks like some stiff 45+ competition will be there, might be a Nationals preview...

Rhett's Run in the Mud

Sunday I headed out to Columbia to ride the Marathon event in Cosmo Park. I rode this race last year under very different conditions. Even though it rained most of the morning before the race last year the trail was not muddy at all. Not so Sunday!

I rode the ol' hardtail, mainly because I was too lazy to do the the equipment changes I needed to do to run the tubed setup on the Genius. I think I would have been a bit faster had I done so. I haven't ridden the hardtail for a long time and I have gotten pretty used to the position and suspension on the Genius. Also I went down one time because I clipped my bars on a tree, this wouldn't have happened on the Scott as the bars are a few centimeters narrower. Oh well, lesson learned.

As for the race, I got through without any major issues. On the last couple laps the rear brake was making an awful racket and was dragging pretty badly. After I cleaned the bike, I could see some pieces were not where they are supposed to be. But, other than that, the gears were working and the air stayed in the tires.

The Marathon group was pretty small. Zach Brace and Zdenek were there and a few others I didn't know. I took the holeshot uncontested and tried to put the hammer down. I need the highend work so I was ready to sacrifice optimal pacing. I had a gap pretty quickly and just tried to keep the gas on. Unfortunately, towards the end of the lap I misinterpreted the course markings and did an extra bit of singletrack instead of gravel road. I probably added 30 secs to a minute on this little detour. After that the laps ticked off without incident, and I got in 7 laps when it was all said and done.

The course conditions changed throughout the race. The first lap offered the most traction, mainly because the trail hadn't been churned up yet. After the first lap, the uphills became considerably more slick although the rest of the trail held steady. The mud bog along the powerline got worse with each lap and required a ton of brute power to churn through. About halfway through my race it started to rain and the conditions changed again. The traction on the hills improved, but I think the course got slower as a larger percentage of the trail had a layer of mud that sapped speed.

For me tire selection was the key. The Maxxis Medusas were nothing short of magic. I am definitely going to try to find something equivalent for the muddiest CX races. If I had something like this at the muddy St. Mary's race I would have been considerably faster through some key sections.

For some other perspectives: Aaron Elwell, Dave Breslin, & Jon Schottler.

Krug Park, Saint Joseph

Saturday was the Robidoux Roundup in Krug Park. It was part of the United Dirt Federation series and I raced the XC race. This is a little on the short side compared to what I normally do, in fact, it was the first XC race I've ever done.

Aaron Elwell was there, so I knew who I'd be chasing. It started with a long, paved uphill stretch to string out the field before the singletrack. Otherwise, the entire 7+ miles was tight singletrack. The course was mostly packed dirt without much in the way of rocks or roots. What it was missing in trail obstacles, it made up for in tight turns and steep ups and downs. There was very little trail that would allow you to get into a pedaling rhythm. It was basically all hard accelerations and decelerations. My lower back definitely felt the effort.



Travis led us up the first half of the paved starting hill. I took over for a short stretch and then Aaron powered it up over the top. He went into the singletrack first and immediately started to develop a gap. I was second in with a Nebraska rider hot on my heels. He was not liking that Aaron was riding away and jumped around me. Tom Price was briefly on my wheel, but ended up puncturing and retiring. The Nebraska rider (Ryan Feagon) was unable to close the gap to Aaron and actually started to slow. After 5 or 10 minutes I passed him back and tried to keep Aaron close. Aaron was running about 15-20 seconds in front of me until he stopped with some shifting problems. He sorted it quickly and was more or less on my wheel as we came through at the end of the first lap (of 3). He quickly started to ride away again and developed a 40 second gap over the second lap. The last lap was a little better for me and Aaron only stretched his lead out another 7 seconds. So I finished 47 seconds down on Aaron for the overall and was the first 40-49.

The XC effort is much higher than I am used to from doing the endurance races. I need the work though and I am glad I raced it. Chasing Aaron made sure I worked hard, but I probably wasn't aggressive enough trying to hold his wheel. I may not have been able to stay with him, but I need to work on not being so quick to settle into my own rhythm.

The summer is full of XC races so I'll probably be taking my lumps in them until the endurance stuff ramps back up in August.

On the road, Luke had a good ride at Joe Martin finishing 34th in the overall of the Men 1/2 race. We rode well and improved from day-to-day. Good stuff, especially since he's only a junior!

Smithville Cyclocross Festival

This was the first race that wasn't a dry course, but we just missed the rain by a few hours or we would have had a completely soggy affair. Too bad!

Most of the local KCCX crew was off in Louisville kicking a$$, so for this race it was only me and new team member Shadd Smith. Our main competition was Shad Schreiner and Andrew Coe. I started in the second row so I was figuring on having to do some early work to move through the field. With the curvy chicanes at the start and the beach section about halfway into the lap, I was hoping I wouldn't fall back from the leaders too far. I think I was sitting 6th-8th coming off the pavement, right behind Cameron on his fixie(!). Shadd & Shad led off the start and got a small gap. Meanwhile, I started to move up through the field and was towing Andrew Coe with me. I think on the second lap I had moved up to the point where only Shadd & Shad were in front of me and I had gapped Andrew a little bit. Shadd had moved a little in front of Shad, maybe 10-15 secs, and I was gradually reeling in Shad. I caught him on the 2nd or 3rd lap and then made a few digs on the uphills to try to gap him and move up to Shadd. My first effort on the grassy hill after the beach was not strong enough to dislodge him, but my second effort on the paved uphill got me a small gap to start to build on. Over the next lap I gradually closed in on Shadd, then in the turn after the paved hill he went down. I was a few seconds back and was able to see the whole thing. It was a pretty hard crash. I rode by and he was not able to get going right away because of equipment issues. I kept a steady pace to see what would happen next. I figured he'd be up, ride with Shad for a bit, and then launch an attack and come back up to the front. This didn't happen, he was with Shad for bit but then faded back. Talking afterwards, he said that the crash rang his bell pretty good and he couldn't really get going afterwards. Bummer. Over the last 5 or 6 laps I gradually stretched out the gap to Shad and was able to finish first. I didn't see Andrew after the first lap, as it turns out he had an even worse day than Shadd: pulled out of a pedal at the start, banging his knee; rolled a tubular; and flatted a clincher. Tough day!

GEAR:
I ran the new MAXXIS Mud Wrestler clinchers at standard pressures: F30/R35. I had good traction everywhere on the course and everything felt good. I had no issues with the tires folding over in the corners like I did with the Michelins. If you are riding clinchers, this is a good choice for the wetter and muddier courses. Run the Raze when its dry.

COURSE:
Definitely a fun course. The two primary features were a wet sandy beach section ending with a steep ride/run-up and a steep off-camber grassy hill ride/run-up. I rode both of these features pretty solidly throughout the race. I was able to ride the grassy hill every time, a couple of times pretty fast. I also managed to ride up-and-out of the beach each time except for the first and last laps.

The second defining characteristic of the course was the section immediately following the beach. It started with a soggy gradual uphill stretch followed by a series of 180 degree turns zig-zagging up a more gentle hillside. This section was a lung-burner.

'til next week!

Sunday 18 Oct - Boulevard Cross - CX Race #9

Some days you have it, some you don't. Today was a don't. I was able to keep the pedals turning, but just didn't have any snap or lightness. On top of that I didn't seem to be handling the bike all that well. This picture sums up my race...dangling off the group, it is where I spent most of the day.

The Course:

It was a mix of elements, power sections broken up by off-camber and/or elevation changing corners. Basically the same course as last year. Everything was dry, except the keg, and the sun was out. A nice day!

The Race:

The start was a fast downwind, downhill paved section into a highspeed sweeping downhill left turn through the grass. I got a decent start sitting 4 or 5 back. Bill hit it hard on the start but things stayed together for most of the first lap. On the second lap a small group developed with Shadd, Chris, Joe and myself. Of course, there is no reason for Shadd to hit the front with this state of affairs, so it was Joe who rode at the front for a lap or two. Adam and Andrew Coe were dangling off the back of this group and they were able to join us when the pace eased briefly.

It was pretty clear that the best play was for Joe to ride away from this group. When he went, the elastic in the group stretched. And then snapped. Adam and I were dislodged. For the rest of the race, Joe pulled away from the group of Shadd, Andrew and Chris. I was yo-yoing 5-15 seconds behind them and Adam was a little farther back. Unfortunately, Chris went down on the last lap and couldn't contest for 2nd. Things shuffled at the end and Shadd was 2nd, Andrew 3rd, Me 4th and Chris 5th. Everyone at the front was riding strong and making a race of it, at least for 2nd.

I think we need some more teams in these races!

I've got a little break in the cyclocross action as I'll be doing the Berryman Epic next weekend. The rest of the team is headed for Louisville for the Derby Cup. Best of luck to all and hopefully we'll see Joe and Chris on the podium!

Capital Cross - Topeka, Kansas

Back to Hummer Sports Park: thick, power-sapping zoysia and the double run-up on the Mound of Mercy.

The course was a little different then past years because of a cross country meet in the big field on the north end of the park. The result was fewer hi-speed straightaways and more thick grass.

The Open field was missing some of the usual suspects, but there was still a good turnout. KCCX was down a few soldiers as well. Chris W., Adam M., Tom P. and I carried the flag for the day. Chris and I got off the line well--1st and 2nd when we left the pavement. I started to let a gap develop so Chris could slip away but Bill Stolte wasn't fooled. He popped around me right away and kept Chris in check. After a couple of minutes I surged to keep everyone in chase mode. I think this might have split things up. Somewhere on the 2nd lap a small gap developed behind the lead 3 (Chris, Andrew Coe, and I) creating a long line of "achtervolgers" a few seconds back.

Chris and I started to stick it to Andrew by alternating attacks. He covered a couple and then went to the front, probably hoping to control things a little. I think I surged after the barriers on the third lap and finally got a gap to stick. I was out alone for a couple of laps while Chris sat on Andrew. I think the gap grew to 20-30 secs before Chris jumped Andrew and got a gap. I sat up and we joined forces with 3 laps to go. Sorry about that Andrew, but I'm sure you'll get to return the favor one day!

We motored the last laps and had a solid gap by the finish. We didn't contest the finish and I crossed first. Cool, more on tap (CX, and Boulevard too!) for tomorrow at Wyandotte County Park!

See ya there...

KCCX sweep @ Chris 'Cross

Today was our first cool temps race of the year taking place at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. It was in the low 40's, cloudy and some moderate east winds for our 4th local race of the season. The Cowtown boys set up a challenging course, a little different from last year with a lot of sweeping corners and plenty of elevation change. The bumpiness of the turf at St. Mary's is always a factor, too.

It was a solid field with all the usual suspects, plus a couple friends from up north in Nebraska. This race featured primes on the first and second laps making sure we'd have a fast start. Not so good when you don't get clipped in quickly. I wasted a front row position by blowing the start and found myself sitting around 10th. At the front Joe and Shadd Smith had a gap on Chris and Tom Price, who in turn had a small gap on the main group.

I started to pick my way through the field along with Brian Jensen. By the start of the 2nd lap Brian and I were siting in 4th and 5th closing in on Chris and Shadd. Joe had kept the pressure on and was by himself out in front of Shadd & Chris. This group of four formed up along with Andrew Coe early in the 2nd lap. Somewhere later on that lap Shadd and Andrew faded back. On the 3rd or 4th lap Chris launched an attack and rode away to about 10 seconds. I sat on Brian for a lap or so and then pushed ahead on my own.

Over the next lap or so I closed in on Chris while Joe eased up at the front and the three of us grouped up. We rode out the last 3 laps together with Joe doing most of the pace setting. We cruised in comfortably together without any real pressure from behind. Its nice when a team can run a race like this, you better enjoy it while you can because it doesn't happen too often.

Who's the Boss? Mr. Joe Schmalz is the cross boss!

Joe took back-to-back wins this weekend. He's on good form and hopefully can continue to build on it for the USGPs, Nationals and Worlds.

For my part, I was 2nd Saturday and 3rd on Sunday. Needless to say, for me it was a good weekend, hopefully one of many this season. I had good power and acceptable technique, with the exception of one turn on Sunday. I was a little surprised to find myself up with the heavy hitters of the local scene. I guess my form is coming around and I had fresher legs than normal having not doubled-up with the Masters race.

Both days the field was stacked and at times I was able to separate myself from a host of strong riders: Steve Tilford, Brian Jensen, Josh Johnson, Shadd Smith, Shad Schreiner, Cameron Chambers and others. While the overall weekend was positive, I still made a few errors and have some weaknesses to work on. My start on Sunday was poor, and it kept me out of the action until I could make my way to the front. I made some tactical errors on Sunday in addition to the obvious technical error of laying it down when I was riding in second position. Time to work on the acceleration for the starts and adopt a little more aggressive attitude.

I am happy with my current equipment setup: the Scott Addict CX is awesome and the Challenge Grifo XS Dry Conditions Clinchers rode really well. I think they'd be perfect if I could run a few lbs less pressure. I don't know if the clinchers can go any lower, if not, I may have to step up to the tubular version.

As a team, KCCX/Verge put in a solid showing both days. Chris put in a good ride on Sunday riding up front for the bulk of the race covering Steve and Josh while Joe rode away. Hopefully the team continues to ride strong and make for some competitive local races. On that note, thanks to Josh Johnson and Jon Schottler for heading west and making things even more interesting than usual.

Luke had a solid weekend and is making improvements from week-to-week. Both days he rode the junior race relatively easy for warm-up and to dial in the course and then did the 1/2/3 event. We're going to tweak his position a little and see if that doesn't help his power and handling.

That's all for now.

Diamond Blackfan Cyclocross Challenge

This is the second year of this race which is held for a great cause: raise funds to fight Diamond Blackfan anemia. Tige Lamb's daughter has this disease and because it is so rare there are very little resources dedicated to curing/treating it.

Just like last year, this race was a "cooker" at 85 degrees. The odd thing was that the temps haven't really been that hot lately. Everyone complained about the heat, myself included. It was uncomfortable for sure, but I suppose it could always be worse!

As usual, I doubled-up with the Masters and Open races. Although this surely has a negative impact on my ride in the Open race, I think its important to get the work in with limited training time during the week. This is even more necessary now that all the local promoters have decided to shorten the Open races to 50 minutes. I object!

The Masters race started off fast with Brendon Jenks bolting from the start line. One of my goals for the race was to start harder than last week so I pushed it up to Brendon's wheel and tried to stay on the gas. I ended up coming around him in the upper field and started to get a little gap. I lost my gap when I shorted a corner thinking it was tighter than it was (it was last year). I ended up going through the tape and had to pop back out and get going again. I didn't get much pre-riding on the course so I guess that's what happens.

I stayed on the gas trying to accelerate hard out of the corners and push the legs. Mark Studnicki moved into second place behind me and settled into a conserve mode (he was also riding the Open race) so my gap stretched out. I continued to ride fairly hard, which I would pay for in the Open race, but I figured there wasn't much use in soft-pedaling around the course. If you want to build up CX fitness you have to race hard.

The Open race was relatively stacked with Josh Johnson & Jon Schottler from Columbia coming over. Pretty much all the local guys came out. Not surprisingly, Steve Tilford lead the fray. I chatted it up with Aaron Elwell at the start, we haven't lined up together at all this year. Scanning the photos of the event, it looks like Aaron did a Ben Raby on the barriers. Hopefully, no permanent damage was done because he's racing the 24hr at Moab in a couple of weeks with Cameron.

My other goal for the day was to get a good start in the Open race. I didn't get this done. Between a relatively bad starting position--third row--and just getting stuck behind a long line of guys, I just didn't get up front quickly. Luckily, I was right behind Josh Johnson and I just followed his wheel up through the group. After a few laps we had moved up fairly well with only a handful of guys in front of us. At this point I thought I had some gas and pushed ahead of Josh and up to Shad Schreiner. I ended moving ahead of Shad too, putting me in 4th. Unfortunately, the wheels came off shortly thereafter and I gradually drifted back to 7th. Despite fading at the end, I am fairly happy with my ride under the circumstances. The legs were pretty decent and I'm sure will improve as I continue to get some more quality CX efforts in them.

The KCCX/Verge boys had a good weekend. Joe Schmalz got it done up in Madison, two podiums in the U23. Smokin'! Locally, Adam Mills, Bill Marshall, Alex Edwards and I all finished in the top 15. Will Gault also came up from Tulsa and doubled-up in the Masters and Open races. The course didn't suit his strengths, but he got in some quality efforts nonetheless. He'll be kickin' some butt when the big races come around!

KCCX/Verge also had a guest appearance by my honey in the Women's beginner race. This was her first bicycle race of any kind and she had to suffer through it with a 26lb mountain bike, a cold, and allergies. Of course, she soldiered through it like a champ. Good work, baby!

Bicycle Shack junior, Luke Lininger rode the Open race, too. He's a relative newcomer to CX and is using the season to set up a breakout road season in 2010. I expect to see him improve week-to-week and start to put the hurt on some guys.

On another note, Doug Stone rocked the Cat 3/4 race, riding solo for the bulk of the race for the win. This was his first CX race of the season and first race as a Cat 3. Awesome start, I'd say!

Saturday = CX, Sunday = XC

Busy birthday weekend:

Saturday: Swope Cross Masters 40+ and 'Cross Under the Lights Open (this is the first time I've ever doubled up in two different cities: KC in the AM, Hermann in the PM)

Sunday was back in Swope for a MTB race

The body is feeling the new little aches and pains from the first time on the cyclocross bike. I haven't done any cx-specific physical or technique work yet so the body is feeling it. It was good fun and thankfully I wasn't so rusty that I embarassed myself. In fact, the barriers, sand and stairs all went reasonably well! Looking forward to polishing up that technique over the next few weeks.

Physically everything was about where I expected it to be. I have two fairly inconsistent fitness goals right now: 6+ hr endurance and cyclocross speed/intensity. After Burning at the Bluff and Berryman Epic I'll be able to focus exclusively on cyclocross fitness. Meantime, maybe someone wants to put on a long cyclocross race, i.e., 180 min + 2 laps?

It was great to get out with the KCCX teammates and get this season started.

The Grinder at Binder!

Saturday morning (too early) Jeremy and I headed to Jefferson City to race the Binder Lake 6 HR. We made a stop at Bob Evans in Columbia for a little breakfast and then arrived at Binder Lake to watch the light rain for the couple of hours before the race.

Jeremy rode a recon lap and reported that the second half of the course was pretty greazy (not greasy). I was a little nervous because I was not running a good tire setup for the mud. I had a Maxxis Crossmark up front, but a Continental Race King in the back and its got some very compact small knobs. I looked around and most other people were running Crossmarks so I figured I'd almost be in the same boat as everyone else.

We chatted it up with Cameron and Travis (Ethos duo team) before the race, including a light-hearted discussion of the merits of my new 6" travel Scott Genius 20. I've been running a hardtail Fuji for the last two years and had pretty much bought into the consensus view that lightweight and short travel was the setup for off-road speed. Not true in my case. I can definitively say I am faster on the Scott. Apparently, my roadie background requires the squishiness that the Scott provides!

Anyway, things got off in the standard way with a nice little jog across the field to the bikes. I was on the bike 4th, Cameron and Chris Ploch were out in front and another unnamed rider was in just front of me. This rider graciously let me by shortly after we started uphill and I pushed myself up close to Cameron and Chris. I was dangling a few seconds behind them for the first 1/3 of the lap and we had separated ourselves from the rest of the field.

At this point we got to the slip-'n'-slide portion of the course and my rear tire was not hooking up real well. I decided to ride conservatively and let them go away from me. I came in about 1 minute behind them at the end of the first 7 mile lap. The second lap was a new story. The course was much drier and I was able to move quickly and smoothly through the sections that were slick the lap before.

Over the course of the next few laps I settled into a rhythm and was turning consistent laps. I didn't really have a good sense of where everyone else was, but I got a couple of time checks and it appeared that I was pulling away from my solo category competition: Mike Best and Dan Miller.

I turned good times for 5 laps and then I hit my weak spot. In these races I tend to start strong, slow down in the middle and then get it back together at the end. Review of the results indicates that it happened here too. Splits for laps 1-5 were within 1 minute, then I slowed a minute on my 6th and another minute on my 7th. At this point, I did some lap-time math and figured I had a chance at 11 laps if I could pick it up for the next 3 laps. I got it back together and ripped some good splits on my 8th, 9th, and 10th laps. I ended up riding laps 9 & 10 just as fast as laps 1 & 2. Cool! So I squeaked in 10 laps at 5:56 and headed out for the 11th. I was pretty tired, but managed to roll at a steady pace and made it home without too much trouble.

This was definitely my strongest ride so far this year. I was only 2-3 minutes behind the Cameron/Travis duo (although they had cramping issues and lost several minutes that they wouldn't normally lose) and about 13-14 minutes behind the first place duo team. If I can build on this race and solve my mid-race slowdown, I'll be psyched.

Jeremy ended up riding 6 laps in about 4 hrs before calling it a day. He was sitting in 11th when he'd had enough. He hasn't had enough time on the MTB this year to get his body accustomed to the punishment.

Thanks to the organizers/promoters for a great race. The trails were awesome and a good time was had!

What's next? Maybe a marathon race in the Psycowpath Series and a couple of CX races (Bearcat and 'Cross Under the Lights).

Rapture in Misery 2009

I've been looking forward to this race for most of the season. I've never ridden out at Crowder, but I've been told the course would suit me. It was a good course, only a couple of technical sections, a few good climbs, and basically no place to rest.

Louis, Gina & I headed up Saturday afternoon with the Airstream in tow. We were one of the first on site and had a good selection of spots to set up camp. We quickly got situated and then set up Jeremy Pych & Luke Lininger's spot next to us. Jeremy showed up around 5pm and we did a pre-ride. We rode it in 54-55 and I figured we'd see sub-45 minute laps during the race.

Things kicked off at noon as usual. The start was a run up a rocky hill to the bikes. Tige Lamb and Cameron Chambers took off in the lead while a second group was spread over about 30 secs. I followed Jon Schottler on the run figuring he was the guy to beat (he had beaten me pretty soundly at the Firecracker 50 six weeks earlier). Across the initial field section, Jon rode up to Jeremy and I hovered about 10 secs behind them. Descending through the "Bone Yard" we both passed Jeremy as he bobbled on one of the rockier sections. Throughout the first lap I kept Jon within 10 seconds and we slowly reeled in a few guys riding within sight. At the end of the first lap, we were a group of 4-5 that came in 3-4 minutes behind Cameron and Tige. 3 of us were solo 6hr riders and Kyle Shour was next about 2 minutes behind us.

I led out of the check-in area into the second lap and glancing back on the grass section it looked like Shottler was no longer in sight behind me. I got into a rhythm and just tried to be smooth. I was worried I was riding a little too hard, but I figured I'd just see where I was at the end of the lap. About halfway through the lap I looked back a saw what looked like someone in blue catching me. I assumed it was Shottler in his GT Dirt Coalition kit. Nope, it was Luke putting in a great lap! He didn't end up catching me, but came in right behind me at about 15 seconds. Good stuff from the 17 yr old in his first MTB race!

On the third lap I started to dial back the pace a little to settle in for the long haul. I was still feeling pretty good though. Laps 4-6 were less comfortable and I started to have to fight for it a little. Gina & Louis were keeping me well fed and hydrated and gave me updates on the time gaps.

I dialed it back up on Lap 7 to see if I could. It looked like I'd have time for an 8th lap unless I hit the wall or had mechanical problems. I turned a decent time dropping 2 minutes from the previous lap and headed out for one more. On the last 3 laps I was having some issues with cramps and twinges in my legs. I've never had leg cramping issues in races, so I'm going to have to figure out what happened. I just took it easy on the climbs and rolled the rest and finished the last lap without too much trouble. 8 laps, 73.6 miles, 6hrs 45mins, a good outing to be sure. Shottler apparently ran into trouble and drifted back, while Kyle Shour kept turning solid laps to finish 2nd overall and 1st in the under-29 category.

Props to the Heartland Crew for putting on a great race. Also, double thanks to Doug Long for rounding up a tarp for me at 12:30am to cover the leak in our Airstream!

See you at The Grinder at Binder in a few weeks.

Queen City & Show-Me State Games

Saturday I went with Jeremy down to Springfield for the Queen City Criteriums. We met up with the Springfield Crew and set up the course. I raced the Masters race at 7:50pm and then the P/1/2/3 race at 9pm. I felt pretty decent in both races, interesting I haven't done a criterium since 1993.

After the race we cleaned up the course and headed off to Brackett's house at about 12:00-12:30am. Finally to bed about 1:00 and then back up at 5:30am to drive up to Columbia for the Show-Me State Games MTB marathon race.

I thought I was feeling okay. At least I didn't seem too tired or lethargic. Au contraire, as soon as we started the race I was redlining. I was struggling to keep up with guys I have put time on in recent races. Not much you can do in such a situation but settle in and hope for things to improve.

Jeremy Bradshaw jumped out to an early lead on the first lap with Nate Means leading Paul Krewet and I. Towards the end of the first lapped I crashed hard when a big root popped one of my hands off the bars and sent me sprawling superman-style. It was an awkward fall and I landed badly on my hand/fingers. I'll be nursing my middle finger for the next couple weeks trying to get some grip strength back before Rapture in Misery. So I slowly collected myself and made sure everything seemed okay. I got underway and gradually started to brush it off.

I got back up to speed and just settled into a rhythm I figured I could hold until the end. If I caught everyone great, if not, well, then not.

I came through the first lap in 3rd, having caught Nate Means close to the end of the lap. Paul Krewet was about 10 seconds ahead of me and Jeremy Bradshaw another 10 in front of him. I caught Paul a couple miles into the 2nd lap and every once and awhile I'd catch a glimpse of Jeremy. When we hit the open fields I could see he was close and not pulling away so I relaxed a little. I figured I didn't need to put the hammer down to catch him immediately, but rather just let him know I was still there and not letting him relax into a comfortable pace.

At the end of lap 2 he was still about 15 seconds ahead. It seemed like I was making up time on the first part of the lap and losing a little on the second part. Probably I was making time on the uphills and losing it on the downhills. Finally I caught him in the open fields on lap 3 and put some pressure on the uphill sections. Through the start/finish I had put 10+ seconds on him and it seemed like he was tiring. I just kept it steady and the gap stretched out from there. Unfortunately I had no chance at making 6 laps, so I just rolled it steady through to the finish. The gap stretched to 1:20 at the end of lap 4 and 5:00 at the end of lap 5.

I was pretty tired by the end. I especially was hurting on the drive home! Basically I can no longer function on 4-5 hrs of sleep. Somehow I rallied and Gina and I went to see The Wailers and Toots & the Maytals at Grinders--we even got the tickets for free! Cool show, it was a good thing we had chairs...

MTB Marathon Nationals

Headed up to Breckenridge, Land o' Thin Air, to put in 50 miles in the mountains against a bunch of locals. This was a tough race, two 25 mile laps with an advertised 5400 ft of climbing per lap. It may not have been that much, but it was substantial.

From the gun I was in trouble with the altitude. I had to back off multiple times because my breathing was getting away from me. I was especially gasping on the upper portions of the course at over 11,000 ft. I settled into the best rhythm I could and just kept turning over the pedals.

I think I was one of the slower descenders out there, at least on the gravel road sections. I seemed to do better on the especially rocky, technical stuff, but on the wider roads guys were passing me all day long.

Rolled my two laps pretty steady, but started to run out of gas a little at the end. At the finish I was pretty hammered, my lungs were actually sore from breathing so much. Weird.

Rhett's Run

This was a great weekend! Gina and I took the Airstream out and camped in Huntsdale on the Katy Trail. We rode up to Le Bourgeois for dinner at the Blufftop Bistro and then back by way of Rocheport. Fun stuff.

Sunday morning we got up and drove into Columbia for Rhett's Run. It is surprising how little I've been on the MTB this year. I haven't ridden offroad since Ouachita (April 5) and have ridden a grand total of 4 times in the dirt this year, training and racing! And wouldn't you know it, it rains in Columbia for Rhett's Run!

The rain didn't really matter too much, the trails were slippery and sloppy in a few places but overall not too bad. I rode the Marathon class and figured I'd be dueling Dwayne for the win. I rode Jeremy's Epic, its a tank but the full suspension made for a comfy day.

We got off the line pretty well and quickly had a small group of 4 leading the way: Dwayne, Jason Stiger, myself and another whose name I don't know (maybe Mitch Johnson). We cruised the first lap and then Dwayne took over the pacemaking and stepped it up a notch. Shortly into the second lap Dwayne flatted and it was just Jason and I. I started setting pace after Dwayne's flat and soon found myself alone.

I settled into a rhythm and was feeling pretty solid. Half way through I started running into Sport riders and was really getting held up. Some guys just didn't want to let me by. In fact, some unpredictable riding combined with impatience on my part, lead me to go down awkwardly on my hand. Finally I got through everyone and had some clear trail to get back into a rhythm. I was set to turn 8 laps as I came through at 2:28 to start my 7th. I had no idea where anyone else was and I was just riding my pace. My lap times were 24-25 minutes so I knew I'd get around in time for an 8th lap. But it was not to be. I flatted on the first rocky descent. Shit! Not having any tubes, I doubled back to the start to see if I could borrow a wheel.

Ten minutes later I was back underway. I rode the last lap conservatively, not really knowing whether anyone had passed me. I rode a 25 minute lap and crossed at 3:02. Later I learned that Jason had passed me and finished a minute and change in front of me. Oh well.

Biting off more than you can chew...

Joe Martin Stage Race with the professionals: recommended that you train more than 10 hours/week.

Okay, so I thought I had a chance of sitting in and making it to the finish with the group in the road stages and figured I'd probably get shot out the back in the crit on Sunday. I was almost right. I got dropped on Sunday more or less right out of the gate, but I also didn't quite have the necessary fitness to stay with the group on the hills at the end of the two road stages. So, I rolled in after the group in both, but within the time cuts.

Yup, it was pretty hard and I was pretty blown on Sunday. Even though I got blown out I actually think I'm not too far from being able to ride in the group. I haven't done any training intensity this season and I've hardly done any racing. Both of these things would be necessary to be able to survive this stage race, even as pack fodder.

Belated Ouachita Report

On April 5th, I lined up to do the Ouachita Challenge 60-mile race in Oden, Arkansas. It was a power-packed field with a number of MTB pros and accomplished amateurs.

We rolled out fairly easy on the gravel road section that started the race. We had a pretty tough uphill a few miles in and the pace was hotter than I wanted to go. I settled into a rhythm with a few other riders and we came out at the first aid station about 5 minutes off the pace of the leader, Jeff Kerkove. I hit the road section with Noah Singer and we were told 3 riders were in front of us, but all out of sight. We put down a good effort over the next 14 miles of paved and gravel roads and caught up to Chris Renshaw and Ray Hall just as we hit the Ouachita Trail.

I settled back into my own pace on the climb and the three rode away from me. In retrospect, I may have held back a little too much on the Ouachita Trail. I did manage to catch back up to Noah at the Aid Station #3, although he proceeded to ride away again on Blowout Mtn. I think Blowout Mtn. was probably my weakest section but because I was holding back I was ready to unleash on the Big Brushy climb after Aid Station #4.

As I came through Aid Station #4, Glen told me I was 1.5 minute down on the next rider. I rode hard up Big Brushy and had Chris Renshaw in sight as we exited the singletrack on to the last 8 miles of gravel & paved road. I quickly closed up the gap to Chris and then we worked together for a mile or so. We hit a few small uphills and I was able to put some distance on Chris. I put my head down and put about a minute on him over the next few miles.

I rolled in 3rd place, 5 minutes down on Noah Singer and 10 minutes down on Jeff Kerkove. The race was both easier and harder than last year. I definitely had better fitness than last year, but the longer course and hills in the first 5 miles made the race more difficult. I still have not got my head in the right place to make hard efforts early in races. This is definitely an issue in MTB races, but has also been a problem in some road and CX events.

Various vids are on YouTube.com