Fast bumpy flat course today with 2 dismounts. After a rest week I thought I may have something in the tank to give today….and I did for the 1st 25mins. I got a good start, put in a couple moves and was sitting top 10. I got into a couple great fast groups and sat on and felt comfortable. But after about 25mins one guy pulled through and attacked and I popped off the back and was stuck riding solo for a couple laps, then I was caught by little guy and we rolled for a lap and then we got caught by a group of about 6 with 1 lap to go….I was cooked at this point and frustrated with myself for not being able to hold on to the race early. We got lapped with 1/4 of a lap to go and I sat up and just rolled in. 15th overall and 9th in 35+. I put a riser stem on this week so I could get back into my favorite position on a cross bike..in the drops. The stem looks dorky, but it allows me to ride in the drops the whole race. CJ had a great race again and won the 35s. The guy is rocking this year.

Wah

Sometimes I think about myself and wonder if you can survive me. 

WAH even praised me, and said I was huge. 

FPA cursed me…. 3 times.

HEF went cx-eyed during the pre-ride course set-up recon.

I think I might be the best course MN has ever seen.

My Vortex of Death will make your head spin.

My Zig-Zag Diamond Playground will cause faint whimpers of “Mommy, this hurts.”

I know my Heart Break Hill will make you wish you were a spectator, but also give you your max. HR for the year.

I wonder if anyone will dare race me single speed?

I have long power sections, I have technical areas, I have tough run-ups.

Should I become an UCI event?

My heated warming hut will save the faint of heart, and serve as a great place to buy some food and hot beverages.

I can’t believe that I will only charge $20 for licenced riders, $5 for Juniors, and nothing for Fridley kids, to race on my premium grass, vast fields, and awesome park…. all to benefit the Fridley Middle School Physical Education program.

Am I crazy? 

Sincerly,

Fridley Fall Back 2009

Stolen from Frank Rowe

Will crushes hill of DOOOOOOOM. Jim  stays home. Jesse and Brian do pretty okay-ish. Guy wrestles with inner demons.

We had our first really cold day here, and it stayed overcast for most of the morning.

For some reason the course at Rainier, Oregon is a relative favorite among Cross Crusaders. Maybe because it’s kind of a fast course? Bumpy? There’s certainly plenty of variety- asphalt, rutted field, single track in the trees, off-camber stretches, a nice fast off-camber sweeper and a high-speed section of running trail that allowed use of the big ring.

A favorite with spectators was a long grinding hill that topped out at a paved section leading to the finish. A gauntlet of screaming and bell-ringing guided the way to the top. Will pretty much pwned this on his blingle-speed. (Seriously– that thing has more colored and anodized bits of bling-blong than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s like 1992 all over again and I’m freakin’  in a purple-ano haze.)  The climb began almost immediately after a 90-deg turn so there wasn’t much opportunity to get a good run at it. The loose dirt and gravel did not reward standing on the pedals, as a few in the beginner class found out when they spun out and keeled over still clipped in.

Results:

Will place at 100 out of 120 finishers in the Cat C with 5 not finishing.

Jesse was 148 out of 161 in Cat C Masters, with 6 not finishing.

Brian was 96 out of 100 in Cat B Masters, with 7 not finishing. (I think I need to stop pedaling backwards.)

Will has all the photos. Will– where are the photos??

Meanwhile here’s a few from Shane Young of Oregonvelo.com, (with thanks to Orenco Chiropractic for making the photos available for free!)

Jesse Lopez

Will Cortez

Brian (Too Fast For The Camera) Johnson

First, it is great to be a new Crossniacs member in the MN posse. The awesome new kit just rocks plus all the good advice to HTFU etc.

I am slogging along in the mid C’s but have improved quite a bit since my first CX race last year. My first race at Orono was sweet and I finished with my best placement ever. I loved the course and built up a great rhythm early on and just let my new tires do their work. Gravel, grass, pavement, sand-pit, double barriers, and a hill climb – like a CX playground.

Wirth, as mentioned in the pervious post, was a little more frustrating. I liked the course when I pre-rode it but the race quickly became a farce once you placed 114 riders at the start and told them to GO all at the same time. It didn’t help that they were planing on cutting lapped riders for “safety.” This made my mid-pack starting position and the long wait for the elevator traffic jam stair climb all the more frustrating. The traffic continued through the rest of the course for about 3-4 laps then started to let up, but unhappily for me it was too much time wasted and I was lapped 50 yards from the line. Damn.

But enough complaining, just go faster next time! And work on those re-mounts.

-Chris

Wirth was Ghetto.  You would think with all the Ridley pro riders they could have come up with something better than that.  Riding through a fresh cut timber mine field was super sketchy.  Flying down a Single track nuclear fast decent was not cool.  I was burying my breaks so much that one time that they flipped under my rims and I went straight into the woods.  After which I had had enough and mailed it in, not that I was going forward much but that mishap kind of shook me.  I finished but I was sort of like, “what a Ghetto course.”  Or, maybe it would have been more fun on a MTB bike.  The Stairway to Hell sucked it was all I could do to keep from going crazy.  Bumping into people and being bumped into was not that much fun.

CJ had a great race and I am happy he did so well.  Keep it going bro.  Wish I could have stayed up there with you. Maybe next time. I don’t know though CeeG,  you are going “great guns” right now, I have my doubts if I will be able to keep up.  Good on ya for using a coach.

See you all Sunday.

Pmoney

Saturday: Corcoran Mud pit. I was really looking forward to racing Saturday. Got all ready, didn’t get a call up (just the winners of the last few races) and started in the front row anyway as it was an open muddy field. Left foot clipped in, mashed down and the right foot slipped out of the eggbeater (shin peeler).

 I managed to take off a peel of shin skin about 4 inches long and hit my shin hard enough to make it go numb (for a moment). I thought it better to stop, clean up and try again on Sunday. I drove home using the cruse, shooting pains up my leg. Scrubbed it clean and iced packs for an hour.

Sunday: Wirth. I was thinking this would be a good race for a sore leg as it wouldn’t have any run ups, didn’t last year!

Not this year…. I managed to collide with two other races on a remount at the top of the stair run and fell onto my left eggbeater…. Finished in 3^rd place.