All, life brings with it many changes. As most of you know, Peggy is pregnant and we are having a daughter in December. With the big addition to the family, I decided to take an amazing opportunity with Mullen Communications, in Winston-Salem North Carolina. I’ll be helping run their interactive department. They are one of the top ad agencies in the world, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. We have had an amazing time in Colorado and have made some life-long friends here. But, priorities change and life moves on.

Wish us luck on our new adventure…..Crossniacs will now be represented in another state.

The crossniac legacy will continue.

sorry to interupt the fun… But Nate and CJ.. are you more likely to pick up sweatshirts from the Birchwood or from me?

Whats easiest? just let me know.

fpa

The weather can always be an issue when it comes to cross, but typically the complaints are about how cold and wet it is, not how hot and humid.  I think the Twin Cities fell a couple degrees short of a new record high yesterday.  When I checked the weather last night we hit a high of 83 with a dew point of 72.  I guess it could be worse.  We could all be racing in the sleet and snow with our feet frozen to the pedals….we will leave that for next weekend.  Needless to say it was a hot sticky ride and even though it was only 45 minutes of racing taking in fluids each lap was key. 

This is my second time doing the Lake Rebecca CX.  It does fall more towards mtn than true cross, but I enjoy the terrain.  Despite all the rain we have been having I think the course was in better shape this year than it was last year.  A few of the corners were soft, but the traction was good and you could still rail around the outside bank.  I started better than last weekend.  I think I was in the top ten coming out of the first hair pin / s-curve corner.  Thanks to CJ for the motivation at the start.  The first lap was probably the highest tempo of any cross race I have done this year.  I think with so much single track everyone was just pushing to get ahead and away.  With the high humidity it felt like trying to do a workout while in a sauna.  The lead group was whittled down to about 8 after the first lap and I was able to run in about 5 or 6^th.  Things started to settle in to a rhythm and I was doing my part to hang in there when on the third time up the long run up I dropped my chain as I went to remount.  I was able to get it back on quickly, but a gap of about 50 meters opened up between me and the lead group.  I chased hard for about two laps and I could only shut it down to about 20 meters.  I finally had to back down a notch to avoid totally blowing.  That was basically my race.  I did the last few laps in no mans land.  I could see the leaders on the long straights, but couldn’t gain on them and I never really saw anyone behind me, so I just rode it home solo.  Not exactly sure what place I ended up.  Maybe 7^th overall.  After the race I did see a one of the guys that was ahead of me when I dropped my chain and he mentioned that he pulled out, so Andy, you and I may benefit one place.  It sucks to mess things up because of a technical goof, but that is racing.  Another weekend of cross is in the books.  Hopefully I am getting better. 

The ‘other Guy’ (Guy A.)

I’m not sure why people, myself included, ever feel the need to run races that are more than 5 miles long. At one time I was a pretty solid marathoner who was forced to bike because of an injury. After one week of riding the running shoes were hung up and I bought my first bike.That was in Jan 2005. Point being, you would think that a 10 mile run wouldn’t be much trouble.

It was very humid and warm when the little lady and I started the 10 miler. The goal was to help Jen set a PR for that distance. Through about the first 6 miles we were right on target. All of a sudden she starts slowing down and dropping back. We walked through the next water stop and I could see some tears and I was wondering what the hell was up. Long story short she simply twisted her knee on uneven pavement. She gutted it out and we had to do alot of run walking the last 3 miles. Her knee is nice and swollen and I wish she would have just stopped and called someone. Her answer to that was “I’ve never had a DNF and I’m not gonna today”.

When I got out of the car at the cross race I was amazed at how sore I was from the run. I think all the run, then walk, then run, then walk, etc.., was not to cool at all. I rolled up to the start line a little late and wound up in the 3rd row kinda beside and behind guy. When Matt Anderson said go I got a pretty good start but I couldn’t do my normal whole shot sprint and about 10 people passed me on the way to the 1st corner. The 1st lap was a nightmare. I went of course cause I went to fast on one of the down hill sweeping corners and on the 2nd run up I jumped on my bike, started riding and rode right into the a dude infront of me who was spinning out in the mud. I think by the time I crossed the start/finish line on lap 1 I was in about 30th or so. Going down the gravel rode it looked like the whole field was infront of me. After that I just rode as hard as could making up positions slowly but surely. The legs were literally aching and cramps were setting in pretty f-ing hard on the last 2 laps. I have no idea where I ended up and when I crossed the line I pulled over and had to sit down right away cause my calves were so cramped from sprinting down that long assed road. As for the sprint, I have a double on the front so I was big ringing it at the finish and I had the 2 guys with beat and they knew it. About 100 yards from the finish line they are waving at us to slow up that there are riders down. They just kept drilling it and were forced to swerve around people and what not making a bad situation worse. Kinda dumb stuff when you consider we were probably dueling for about 20th place. This morning I’m really alot sorer than I thought I was gonna be. Thank God it’s raining out and I have the day off.

I think next week I might give the A race a try. Who knows? Andy, Guy, and P-money were all awesome today. Rock on everyone!

cj

Cat 3s

35+ open

35 4s

This was it. The last pinning of a # in the state of Colorado.

When I woke up this morning the crust was thick and the ibuprofen/2nd race in 2 day hang-over was just like I remembered back in the keg-a-thon college days. A team of 4 drinking a keg…the good old days – i forget what the winner got, but I do remember a lot of beer puking and passed out people.

The snow held off for a cool crisp start. I did a few laps on the course and it didn’t suit me. They took out the pavement power climb that gave me an advantage yesterday and added in some technical stuff…a little more mountain-bikey then I like, but cross is cross and the Frisco crew put together another great race.

I got the 3rd call-up for Best Cyclocross Rider, which is always a confidence booster and a good send-off. The front line was stacked with the best of the best 35+ open cross riders in the country. National champs, USGP winners, etc. The Colorado cross scene is the who’s who of the best riders in the country. If you can crack the top 10 in Colorado, you are going to do damage anywhere in the USA. The official called go and the crust didn’t come off for the hole-shot and I settled in around 10th or so and knew the body would eventually respond. The dry dust was flying and it was hard to see the 1st lap. We hit a technical ride/run-up, dealer’s choice. I chose to run it because I was 50/50 in warm-ups and my transitions are smooth so I knew it wouldn’t make a difference. From here was a super loose off-camber with a ditch in the middle downhill (pile-driver coming in a couple laps) to a loose sandy section back to twisty turny single track to a tripple to a quadruple to the pavement. Lap 3 I started to move up and feel good and picked off riders here and there. I hit the run-up and could see a group in front of me that I knew I could catch.. I let the wheels run on the off-camber downhill and bam.. I flipped over the bars landed on my head and shoulder and all I saw was black for a few seconds. I’ve crashed a ton of times, but never this hard going from 20+ to zero landing on my head. I stood up in complete oblivion and was certain something had to be broken….my head and shoulder hurt, but nothing seemed out of place and I did the only thing I knew…I remounted and got into the drops and charged ahead. I don’t remember much of the next lap, but the cobwebs started to clear and race-mode was back on. I moved up a few spots and was a little skittish in the loose corners. I got into a group with Josh the single-speed king and Jeff. I just kept pouring on the attacks and could see Greg up the road. 1 to go and I went to the front and gave it everything I had. Single Josh sat on my wheel cause only 1 gear wasn’t going to do much on the fast flat and pavement section. He rode smart and nipped me at the line…. we ran out of road and never caught Greg’s group. I rolled in 8th. Not bad for getting pile-drived.

I stuck around for the rest of the races of the day to soak in the wonderous Colorado cross scene and the Towlisms of Dave Towle on the mike. He is truely a classy dude. He encouraged me lap after lap and told the crowd that this was my last race a number of times. A bunch of people that I have never really met came up to me and wished me luck. Thanks Dave. I’ll see ya down the road.

So..a forced break is in full-effect with the move and the damaged body. The knee was enough of a pain, but now with a pounding head and sore shoulder, I’m a mess.

Jared

Here in the Twin Cities, we’re having a repeat of August. Yesterday was sunny, 87, humid (as in dewpoints in the upper 60s), and breezy. Today was supposed to be cooler with a good chance of storms, starting right about the time the races were to begin. 7:00 am brought clear skies, high-humidity, and quickly warming temps. Not exactly cross weather.

Lake Rebecca is literally a double-track mountain bike loop with some pavement and a gravel stretch thrown in. Pre-ride showed that it was pretty mellow with a few muddy spots, but mostly clean and easy to take at speed. The fun would be the hole shot at about 200 meters–a sharp snakey right, then left followed by a fast downhill to another super sharp right. Double track to a bunny-hop log around to the first barrier run-up. More twisty rooty doubletrack to the pavement to the second barrier run-up/ride-up, to the gravel downhill to the finish. I remember not really liking this course very much two years ago, but what a difference another season of racing cx and a new bike with sweet tubulars can do.

Had an iffy start, but settled in about 20th going into the second sharp turn. Moved up on the two barrier sections and was sitting top 12 by the finish of lap one. Didn’t want to burn my matches too early and end up dehydrated like in St. Cloud, so I didn’t fight too hard to hang on to the lead group, but knew I could get back to top ten. By mid-way, I could see Guy just in front of me and knew I had to be no worse than 9th, but couldn’t quite catch him. With two laps left, I was a ways back from Guy and a ways in front of the next group and I could feel the shivers coming on. A failed hand-up left me thirsty, but at the bell, I had enough of a gap to know I would hold off. Had to work extra hard the last half-lap to stay solo, but came in somewhere around 7th-9th, one slot behind Guy. Moments after I crossed the line, the trio behind me stacked it up hard in a crash that took out a spectator. Happy I was in front of that.

Next week is Boom Island, one of my favorite courses, always full of true cross elements and great for spectators. If you’re in town, come check it out.

Andy

35+

Cat 3

Cat 4

Men Open

If you want the high-res, shoot me an email jaredmroy(at)hotmail.com

This is usually what you look forward to after 40mins of balls to the wall all out cyclocross racing. But today it held a different meaning. I have 1 more race left in Colorado before we move. It was quite fitting that I close out my CO race career racing locally in Frisco with my favorite season, cyclocross. You don’t really know how many friends you have till you leave. At today’s race I just let it soak in. I got there early and stayed till the end of the pro race just to appreciate all that I have right now and all of the amazing people we have met in Colorado. The man the myth the legend – the best bike race announcer of all time, Dave Towle, was announcing and we had a great chat. He said he is going to miss seeing me at the races and that he is very selective on the blogs that he reads, but said that The Wah Report was one of his selections. Thanks bro.. .you make the races fun to watch and the Towlisms are amazing. His support during the race was great…hearing your name lap after lap tends to get the legs moving a little faster and the suffering at bay.

The Frisco guys put together a great course. A good mix of technical off-camber and a short run-up and some great for me pavement. It had a pavement power climb that I knew would serve me well. The gun went off and I got the hole-shot until we rolled in to the 1st barrier run-up and guys started coming by. It usually takes me a lap or 2 to get going so I wasn’t worried. The usual suspects were at the front and the race took shape. I settled into around 10-12 at one point and thought that cracking top 10 was in the cards. But I just kept the hammer down and caught the lead group of about 8 guys. This lasted a couple laps and then Tim must have been throwing down because we split up. I didn’t have the legs to go with the top 3 and they were gone. I worked my way up lap after lap and gave it everything I could on the pavement climb and popped guys here and there. The 10,000ft lungs are an advantage against the front range guys. They couldn’t recover as quit as I could, so I kept the pressure on and when I saw a weakness I took it. 3 or 4 to go I got into the chase group of 4-6th. At this point I had put in a ton of work to get there, so I was happy with a 6th place on the day. But, I found another gear and heard Towle saying “jared is moving up lap after lap”…..coming into the last lap I remembered what the wise one told me last year….. you need to lead the last lap. So I took the lead and somehow cracked a National Marathon Mountain Bike Champion, Jeff Wardell, and it was down to me and Mitch Westall, another strong mtn biker who used to battle with my brother back in the day. 1 lap to go we hit the pavement and I attacked Mitch and opened a gap and put everything I had into the run-up and the pavement climb and felt some breathing room…but just a little. Jeff had caught Mitch and they were closing. I put the head down and gave it all I had to keep them off me…. It worked. I rolled in 4th and was super stoked. The weather was beautiful and the event was awesome.

jared

For those who haven’t seen the Hudson A Race yet. Thanks to Hans Eisenbeis.