Berryman Epic and Smithville Cross

Berryman is a short story. A bunch of guys rode away from me on the starting climb. I started to reel people back over the next 10-15 miles. Then I shifted my rear derraileur into to the wheel and my race was done. I had to walk 4-5 miles to the next checkpoint to get a ride back to the Start. Thanks Trudi! I didn't hang out, but just started driving home planning to ride Smithville on Sunday.

Things went a little better Sunday at Sailboat Cove! I psyched myself up to ride hard for the whole 50 minutes, especially with having the MTB race cut short. Off the start I didn't get into to my pedal right away and lost the hole shot. I slotted in 3rd behind Travis who got the hole shot, and another rider I didn't recognize. I was going for the hole because that first turn off the pavement into the grass is always a little sketchy. On the start line, Britton predicted trouble and he was right.

The rider in front of me lost his front wheel right as we left the pavement and basically blocked up the best line. Out of caution, I had given him a little space entering the corner and as a result I was able to squeeze around him on the outside. I don't think anyone else got through clean. Travis had a little gap on me and I set about to closing it up. He held the lead through the roller coaster turns after the start and then the second set of turns by the parking lot. Once we got on the bike trail heading to the beach I put down the power and was able to pass for the lead before we got back on the grass.

The next interesting section was the beach. This year the sand was basically packed down and the exit was a pretty easy ride up. I gassed it hard from there and made sure I was accelerating hard out of every corner. Over the course of the first lap I had built up an 18 sec lead over Travis with Brian Jensen at 25sec (mostly due to the first corner crash). Somewhere on the second lap the lead had grown to 25sec and 32sec. Brian overtook Travis on the 3rd or 4th lap. Somewhere close to halfway I think I was told the gap was over a minute. We were doing 10 laps and the finish seemed pretty far away when I saw 5 laps to go.

Basically, I just tried to continue to give it my all on the straight sections and be smooth and fast in the corners. I started to get into lapped traffic pretty quick, I think around half way. Everyone was great and let me by without much delay. I especially have to thank Tyler Henson who took the slow line on the beach (caught on film even!) to let me hit the exit with a clear run, muchas gracias!

Unlike Saturday, I had no equipment issues. I rode which Challenge clinchers--Fango up front and Grifo XS in the rear--and they worked great. I had the pressure just right and I didn't have any issues.

I got another time check on the penultimate lap, and it was 2:05. I managed to stretch it out to 2:15 as I hit the last lap. This is great because it means I stayed on the gas and the power didn't fade too much late in the race. I don't know what our lap times were but I suspect we raced close to 55min.



As usual the Smithville course was awesome with the classic elements from years past, as well as some new elements. On the whole I think this year's course was an improvement over last year.

Last, but not least, a big thanks to Chris Locke and all the other people and sponsors who made this race happen.

Tulsa & Boulevard Cup

A full weekend of CX, two days in Tulsa and one in KC.

Friday: Ruts 'n' Guts
Friday night was a dusty, bumpy, dark affair. I started out fairly well sitting pretty good in the first few riders. The main "barrier" on this course was constructed by stealing flat rocks from a nearby rock wall and piling them across the course. It was a single barrier so all the riders at the front were hopping it. Let's just say I don't bunny hop well and I don't practice it. Somehow I got over the wall the first lap and unfortunately convinced myself I should continue to hop it. Second time through...game over, express elevator to Hell going down, total endo. In the process I managed to take out Shadd and almost Andrew too. Needless to say, that kind of jacked things up for the rest of the race. I nursed a crushed carbon wheel through the rest of the race and tried to make the best of it. I was able to continue at a fair pace but struggled seeing in some of the darker parts of the course. Guess i need some prescription Oakleys. I rode most of the race trailing a small group with no one behind me. Finished up 8th, probably 30 seconds or so behind the group going for 2nd-6th. Brian Fawley took the win solo. Shadd rallied from me crashing him and beat all the chasers for 2nd. Teammate Bill Marshall finished in the money at 16th.

Saturday: New Cross on the Block
This was a totally different race than Friday. It was completely wide open grass and gravel. There were a couple of relatively short uphill sections and one steep run-up. For me the feature was the temperature--85+ degrees. I don't dig the heat. At least they allowed water handups on the uphill, small favors. The field was about half the size, but the top 8 from Friday were there, minus Shadd.

I started a little less effectively and was probably between 10-15 back for the first half of the first lap. Brian Fawley wasted no time getting a gap, and a chase group started to form behind him. Initially, the group was small, 3-4 riders. But, everyone was looking at each other and we were going pretty slow. Several riders came back to the group over the next lap or so. Finally, Andrew Coe applied some pressure and the group started to fracture. Andrew got a small gap and then Johnny Sundt crossed to him. No chase seemed to be developing so I made my own bid to cross the gap. I towed a couple of riders with me, but when they refused to share the work, I upped it again and crossed solo to Andrew.

As I caught him, Andrew said he was hurting and let me by. I built a few seconds gap but then lost it sliding out in a corner. He was back on my wheel for a while but ultimately faded back. He was having cramping issues and had a rough day. From here, Fawley, Sundt, and I were fairly evenly spaced and seemed to be going about the same speed. Things stayed like that the rest of race and I rolled in for 3rd. There was a battle behind, which KCCX came out on the losing side of due to ill-timed punctures. Tom fell from 4th to 6th, and Bill fell from 8th to 10th. Will Gault, teammate living in Tulsa (and our gracious host Friday night) finished 8th on the day.


Anyone got a camel-toe filter for Photoshop, WTF?!

Sunday: Boulevard Cup
After driving home Saturday night, it was catch a few Zzzzs and get up to do it again out at Wyandotte County Park. KCCX/Verge had some fresh soldiers with Shadd and Luke Lininger lining up. It was a strong local field with the addition of the Nebraska crew. The course had some familiar elements from past years as well as some new challenges. On the whole it probably rewarded fitness over technical ability, but of course required both.

Bill set the pace off the start line and I slotted in about five back. Mark Savery from Nebraska set a blistering pace on the first lap and split the group. First Shadd, then me, grabbed Mark's wheel and waited to see how things would develop. Mark started to fade and Shadd took over at the head of the race. After he got a few seconds I punched it up to him and it was just the two of us. Shadd set a fast pace for a most of a lap and our gap started to grow. We settled into a good steady rhythm and watched for a response from behind.

Over the next few laps we slowly grew the gap to the chase. Smooth and steady was the recipe for the remainder and we rolled home with a sizable advantage over Brian Jensen who beat out Mark and Matt from Nebraska for 3rd. Ultimately, Shadd and I crossed the line simultaneously for a tie. Tom didn't finish due to a knee issue and Luke had mechanical issues. Bill gutted it out and finished up in the top 10.

Post-Boulevard, I had Guts 2.0 as something evil took up residence in my intestines. So for dinner, I enjoyed an appetizer of an artichoke followed by Pepto for the main course. As I write this I am impatiently waiting for the pink stuff to do it's thing.

Boss Cross #2

After a good dinner, nice massage from my superwife/soigner Gina, and a good night sleep I was ready for another day of racing at E.H. Young Park. The post-race massage was a first (at least since the old days), might have to make that a regular occurrence! It'll help keep my aging muscles supple and injury-free.

Got there with plenty of time to do some pre-riding of the course changes. I made more than a few runs through the new riverside section with tricky sand. Eventually I figured out how to ride it, but not without a fall and a nice bruise on my shin. Initially, I was dubious of attempting to ride this section, but I eventually changed my mind in favor of riding because of the advantage of being on the bike for the exit up the hill.

The field was just as fast today, but with a little loss of depth. The Tradewind guys opted to do a gravel road ride instead of race. The Columbians (not Escobar's gente, but Butthead's peeps) were back. I figured Josh for a strong ride today after getting a race day in his legs. Jon's back/SI joint seemed like a limiter but you never know.

We got a clean start with Bill taking the holeshot and leading most of the first lap. I went by before the sandy river section so I would have a clean line to attempt to ride it. I got through clean but some chaos erupted behind and I had a 10-15sec gap just like that. I really didn't want to ride the whole 60 minutes by myself, but sometimes you need to take advantage of breaks when they go your way. So I set it on cruise control to see how vigorous the chase from behind would be. At first I thought this would be good because Tom & Bill could sit on the chase and save some juice for later. As it turns out, Tom had mechanical issues as a result of the sand chaos and would spend the day chasing. I think initially Jon was leading the chase, with Josh and Andrew Coe in close proximity. I more or less held the gap through the next few laps while the chase shuffled behind me. From my vantage point it looked like Jon faded back and Josh and Andrew were battling back and forth. About halfway through Josh seemed to be making some headway and was closing the gap. I had been holding back a little figuring I'd need some punch if he caught me. It held steady over the next couple laps though. With 2 laps to go I kicked it up a notch and I gradually stretched it back out to about 25secs at the finish. It was a hard way to win, but I shouldn't complain. Kind of boring race report from my perspective, but I bet Josh, Jon & Andrew's battle was pretty interesting.

(Photo credit to John Peck. He's got some great shots of the sand pit from Sunday on Facebook)

The team rode great as a whole with Tom riding back up to 4th place and Bill finishing 6th. Luke was up there too, we'll have to check the results for his final placing.

Technically, I rode a little better yesterday. I didn't seem to be cornering as well today. It may be that the slight increase in tire pressure meant I had a little less grip and a little less cushion on the bumps. I'll continue trying to dial this in just right. As for the sand by the river, I rode it successfully half to two-thirds of the time. A couple of my fails resulted in awkward dismounts which probably cost me a few secs each time. That's the risk of riding at the edge of your technical skill.

So I held on to the series lead and will hang on to the General Lee Jersey until October 30th. Yeehaw!

A big thanks to Jeremy Haynes and Joe Fox for putting this weekend on. Also to the officials and volunteers, we wouldn't get to play without your hard work...thanks!

Boss Cross #1

So it's been a little quiet on this blog lately. Partly because I haven't really been getting too many races in and partly because there hasn't been much interesting to report. This weekend will change that...

Today was the first Boss Cross race held at the Riverside venue. Honestly, I was a little disappointed because I thought it would be at Parkville. I really like Parkville. At Riverside in 2007 or 2008, I sucked, so I don't quite have a positive view of it. Nonetheless, I was ready to get a good day of racing in. Physically, I didn't feel super before the race, but mentally I was good to go.

The course was fairly similar to the previous time I did it. Maybe technically a little simpler because of the absence of the hill run up and no stairs cut into the section down by the river. The sand was set up differently with us crossing it short ways but the entry was on a turn so no speed.

The field was BIG! Lots of upgrades, I hope those who had their first go in the Open field felt it was worth it! It was a strong field with the Columbia Wrecking Crew in attendance. There was also a full contingent of the Tradewind guys. Steve had problems last week, but I wasn't counting him out for today. The course looked good for Brian Jensen with some decent straightaways and a fairly stiff wind.

My strategy was to let the race develop and not get too involved with pacemaking in the early laps. I figured if I had any cards to play I'd do so in the last couple of laps. No such luck. My plan was foiled when I stacked it up in the sand on the 3rd lap. As a result my rear brake got all messed up and wouldn't disengage. I stopped a couple times trying to get it sorted out. Meanwhile the head of the race was riding away. I'm told I was back at least a minute and back around 20th. Maybe so, whatever it was it wasn't looking good.

I didn't panic and just figured I'd put in a good effort and see how much ground I could make up. I settled into a hard rhythm and started moving from group to group. I knew I had about 5 laps to make up ground so I didn't go Hogg-wild. I just tried to ride error free and push hard on the open sections. It seemed to be working because I was starting to see the two lead groups in front of me on course. Long story short, I ended up catching Brian Jensen near the end of the penultimate lap. He was leading with a 5-10 sec gap over Josh Johnson, Jon Schottler, and Tom Price. On the last lap I was able to get a little gap and hold it to the finish. I guess the moral of this story is don't ever stop riding hard, you never know whether you will ride back into the race. Also, you probably need the race effort anyway, so get to it.

As payback for my efforts, I have the honor of donning the "General Lee" points leader jersey. I'll try to do the Duke boys proud tomorrow!

See ya there....

Hermann 'Cross Under the Water

The Edge…there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. ~Hunter S. Thompson

I'm sure most everyone has heard about the crazy weekend in Hermann by now. Most of the craziness is well documented elsewhere, so I won't repeat it. I'll just share my view of what will probably be one of the shortest cyclocross race ever.

I was lined up in the second row next to Ethan Froese and Andrew Coe, and behind Nate Rice. Our first start was aborted because we barreled full speed through the start/finish area head on into a van driving on the course. On the restart, I got off the line well enough and down the pavement to the first turn. Things got a little hairy through the turn, but I had a good line and came out something like 4th to 6th behind Jon Schottler, Shadd Smith, and Joe Schmalz.

The first half of the course was open straightaways and the stairs. Things held the same until we hit the second half of the course that was all turns. I think I moved up a spot or two through a little sand pit. Shortly thereafter, Jon fell and this shuffled things up so that Joe, Shadd & I were sitting 1-2-3. By now it had started to rain hard and the corners were super slick. A little further on Joe slid out on a corner, and after the shuffle Tom was leading and I was sitting 2nd.

Tom led through the remainder of the first lap and I accelerated hard once we hit the pavement. The bell was ringing as we came through the start/finish indicating that the officials decided to shorten the race. When we hit the grass again Shadd was on my wheel. At some point before we hit the second half of the course, Jon had made it back to the head of the race and was on my wheel. I made it through a few turns before the pressure from behind made me not get my line quite right and I slid out my front wheel. I managed to get back up and going, but not before I was out of contention. Moving up in the slick corners would have been a tall order. So in the end I just rolled in behind Andrew Coe and Josh Johnson.

I rolled with Challenge Fango Clinchers on Reynolds Attack rims. I would say everything worked great but I really didn't get a chance to get a feel for them and my handling skills are probably a little rusty too.

I wish we were able to race longer (and of course Sunday, too) but that's the way it goes.

Thanks to Jeff Yielding, the town of Hermann, and everyone associated with the race. I'm sure they are wishing things had gone differently too!

Time for Cyclocross!

The season is just about ready to begin! This week has been all about clinics, KCCX is participating in the Source Endurance Clinic at Herman Laird Park in Shawnee on Saturday. It'll be a good opportunity to learn a few things and get your technique on board for 2010-11.

Next weekend (18-19), the racing begins! Either in KC at the KC Cup Cross or in Hermann, Mo for the Hermann Cross races Saturday night and Sunday. I'll be in Hermann.

The long range forecast has a fair amount of rain, with any luck we'll start out with some mud in Hermann.

Mid-Summer Post

Yep, its been a while. I've been riding, but not racing much. Rhett's Run was way back in mid-May. I've been out of town, doing other things, races have been canceled, etc. Haven't even been out on the MTB bike too much with the continual rain and muddy trails.

But I'm looking forward to the endurance MTB races later this summer: RiM & Cruise the Blues in August, Tall Oak and Sac River in September, and Berryman in October. Also, I think I caught a whiff of CX, do you smell it? I'll kick off my CX season with the Hermann 'Cross races in September.

There's a few other interesting races coming up too: the Super-D race at Landahl, Rock Bridge MTB race, and others. We've even got a Dirt Crit series starting up this week ... if the weather cooperates. May not make it this week, but I'd like to get out there and take some turns in the dirt.

See ya out there...

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.

Rhett's Run Prep

The trail is likely to be muddy with over 4" of rain in the preceding week and the forecast is calling for rain throughout the weekend too. Looks like a good race to try out some new treads.

Having ridden Maxxis Crossmarks in minorly muddy conditions last year at the Tall Oak 6hr race, I don't think it'll be the ideal tread for the trail. The Crossmark is a great all-round tread and I have ridden it in wet conditions (Syllamo, Ouachita & Tall Oak), but it can get packed up with mud and traction suffers. For the mud this weekend, I am going to try either the Monorail or the Medusa.

The Medusa is a specialty mud tire, but is not UST. The tread on the Medusa is pretty serious, and probably doesn't roll too fast.







I don't know if conditions will warrant a full-on mud setup, or I should compromise and run the Monorail in the rear. The Monorail has widely spaced knobs and aggressive shoulder knobs; Maxxis says it clears mud well and gets good traction.





Decisions, decisions...

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!