Not much to say about this one.  Epic “el-nino” induced muddy conditions.  Wet mud, sticky mud, wet sand, pavement.  FUN!  Rode the bell lap on a flat tubular.  Good coverage of the weekend’s racing on CXmagazine.com.

Fun season.  I learned a ton and as Joe says “knowing is half the battle”.

ChrisM

Tex-Mex Syndicate

While I can’t quite compete with Jared’s reports and pictures from Belgium, I’m still racing here in the DS.  If you read my last post, you will notice that I had been sick for awhile.   So, I didn’t do the race weekend up in Tennesee, but I did do the Sunday race here in Georgia.  The local shop and an interested land owner are doing a small mini-series during the month of January.  Not a big turn out, but at least it is a start to keep cross going in Georgia during the month of January.

So, even though I wasn’t feeling too great I drove up on Sunday.  We had a lot of rain for a day or so before and a chance of rain on Sunday, but at least it had warmed up a bit.  The course was pretty cool.  It was really muddy in parts, but still rideable.  It also had a short run-up that seemed like a marathon.  The run-up was on the dam on the low side of the pond.  The dirt was already pretty soft, but the rain made it like quicksand.  Every step up, you would sink back down about half a step.  There was a decent paved section as well as some dismounts, including a double dismount over some big logs.  i.e.  You hit the logs going out and then again coming back in.

We only had about 13 guys in CX4, but a couple of them are fast.  I got a good start and had the hole shot.  Then I hit the first muddy section before the Dam(n) run-up.  I hit it on the right side and by the time I regained control I had skidded all the way across to the left side of the course.  I caused a pileup, but everyone was cool about it since we all were slipping and sliding through that section.  I managed to stay in the lead the first lap, then 2 guys made a jump.  I was stuck a few seconds back with another guy.  We stayed together awhile and then he made a move and I just couldn’t follow.  But luckly, one of the original leaders droped off the pace.  I think he had a mechanical due to the mud.  So, that left the top 3 all riding alone.  We stayed that way.  I managed to hold off 4th place and finished 3rd.  Not bad considering my cough and my lack of breathing ability.  But I paid the price on Monday as the bug seemed to take hold of my chest, stomach and head again.  The doctor gave me a new antibiotic and made me stay out of work for 2 days.  I was laid out at home.  Not sure if I will be able to race this weekend, but it looks like less rain so I’m hoping to be able to give it a go.  I’m just happy to still be riding cross.  I have to say that I really feel like I am improving my mud skills.  That can only help in the long run.

Also, we finally got the camera and the computer to work together, so check back soon for a few pictures from the UCI race and the bama race that I have been trying to get posted.  Talk to ya’ll later.

DS

Check out my blog till I can update this site.

once the belgium-boys return finishing posting about their little race over seas, we’re going to update this site.

We could use your thoughts/ideas/etc…

so what are you looking for in this site that is missing, hard to find, lame, cool, blah-blah…

Talk to us.. What should this site become?

FPA

OK.  So the title is a little overkill…but you have to understand that here in the DS, a little snow or ice goes a loooonngg way.  Of course the media jumps on board and gives it a name like a hurricane or something.  After my races in Columbia, I was really looking forward to the races this past weekend in Chattanooga.  I had been doing the intervals suggested by Bryan and felt some improvement.  But one of the kids got sick, then the next one, then me, then my wife.  The kids were starting to show symptoms before we left Nashville.  We all ended up with sinus infections of varying degrees.  My son got a lot in his chest as well and that is where mine seem settled too.  So, I was just hoping that the doctor would give me something that would knock it out so I could still race in CrossaNooga.  Then came the reports of Winter Storm 2010.   

At first the conservative media downplayed the whole event.  Then the liberal media called it all a conspiracy.  Then they all said no real accumulation.  But it did arrive.  It started Thursday right after lunch and by the time the Tide had washed over the Longhorns, the roads were covered with ice/snow.  Down here, it is not “fiscally responsible” to have enough equipment and manpower to actually handle this type of storm.  It doesn’t happen enough to warrant the expenditure.  So, if we get a little bit, it just about closes everything down.  They do have some equipment and by Friday afternoon, many of the “Main” roads were drivable.  But the local streets and roads were still a mess. 

I still wasn’t feeling great and with it staying below freezing, I decided that it wasn’t worth it to risk the icy roads on Saturday morning.  By Saturday afternoon we could venture out as long as we stayed on the busier roads and were careful.  My soon to be 4 year old son loves Monster Trucks, so Saturday night I took him to see Monster Jam with 65,000 other people.  Quite a show, didn’t get home til after midnight though.

But early Sunday “some ice still on the roads” and “a lack of sleep” were kicked to curb by my desire to race.  So, I headed out early Sunday morning to drive to Chattanooga.  I didn’t have any real great expectations after being off the bike all week and not gettng much sleep.  But I just wanted to go up and give it a go.  It took a little longer than expected since there was still some ice in places, so I only got there about an hour before my race.  I didn’t pre-register because I wasn’t sure if I could make it.  So, I had to do that and then started getting ready.  Not quite as cold as Nashville, but it was still in the low 20′s.  But I hurried and had just enough time to get an almost decent warmup. 

Since I didn’t pre-reg, I had to start at the back of the group.  We only had a little over 30 guys, but the start was a little narrow.  We started up a small hill on a paved road and I manged to move up to about 15th before we left the road the first time.  BTW, got a question for you…Who puts pea gravel down in their play ares?  Booker T. Washington State Park does.  So, instead of sand or woodchips, we had to ride through pea gravel to cross 3 seperate play areas each lap.  Not easy to do.  But other than that the course was pretty cool.  It was fast.  Had to really hit the barriers in full stride or slam on the brakes.  The ground was still pretty frozen, so the off-camber sections were tough.  There seemed to be quite a few true roadies out there.  I would pass them in the technical sections, but then they would motor past me on the flats or the small climbs.  I just couldn’t seem to get my breath to stay with them.  Managed to pass a few and hold my spot the last 2 laps, but I couldn’t really move up.  Just didn’t have the lungs. I had to spint at the end. But I ended up in 11th place.  Not too bad considering my sickness and such. But I would have loved to have a go at this course when I was healthy.  Except for the gravel pits, it was a good course for me.  It had some climbing, but not real steep or very long.  It also had enough technical stuff to hold the roadies down.

I ran my clinchers as low as I dared since the ground was so hard and slippery.  I could feel it bottoming out in some places.  But looking at the tires afterwards and the mud that was left on them, I could tell that I was pushing them pretty good through the turns.  I felt like I handled the conditions well. I really think that I will have to give tubulars a try.  So, it still speaks well for my continuing to improve and feel like I can ride with the leaders.  Not sure about next weekend yet.  Can’t do a Saturday race because we have a birthday party for my son, and the closest race for Sunday is 4+ hours away.  So, I will probably just do the training race here in Georgia.

Talk to you later.

DS

Happy New Year!  We did the 4.5 hour drive up to Nashville last Friday (new year’s day).  Took my family with me for a little get away.  It was nice.  We ate too much home cooking on Friday night at the Loveless Cafe.  It’s a downhome little place where the celebrities and us normal folks can all eat.  My wife saw it on the Food Channel and thought it would be cool.  It was pretty neat.  The food was good.  I wisely skipped dessert though.

Woke up Saturday morning to 15 degrees and snow flurries.  My family decided it was too cold for them, so I dropped them at the mall on my way to race.  The food from the night before caught up with me.  Had to make a pit stop.  By the time I got there, got registered, and changed and got the bike ready I had about 10 mins to get warmed up.  Did I mention it was cold?  Didn’t happen.  So, I hit the starting line woefully unprepared.  Didn’t even get a chance to preride the course.  Luckly (maybe) the start was down a long stretch of paved rode before it turned up into the fields.  I got a decent start, but my HR went through the roof.  There were 3 guys that took off for the lead.  I settled in with a group of 4 behind them and tried to catch my breath.  Then I had a problem.  My rear wheel went haywire.  I had noticed a slight problem before the start and tried to quickly fix it.  Thought it was ok, but not to be.  Had to run a little ways to get to the pit to switch.  I lost a little ground, but I keep on chugging.  I was actually starting to feel a little better.  I managed to pass a couple of guys back, but got stuck in no man’s land by myself.  I ended up in 9th place.  Not too bad really, because there were a couple of really fast guys off the front.  I didn’t do the “B” race since my wheel was shot and my family was waiting at the mall.  I was really hoping for a better result.  I felt like it could have been better.

Went by a LBS and the ceramic bearings were toast. Took my daughter to a few little shops while we waited.  Expensive art south of Nashville…. Anyway one of the rings around the axle was completely broken.  Not going to work for awhile.  We had a nice dinner and a little shopping around that night and then I swapped tires to a back-up wheel to get ready for Sunday.  BTW, I still want to try tubulars if anyone has an old set they want to get rid of.  AND, the Michelin Mud tires seems to work better in the mud over frozen ground type of course.

Woke up Sunday to 16 degrees and no snow…But it was windy.  Again too cold for my family, so they stayed at the hotel.  But this gave me a little more time.  I got to the course in better shape ready to ride.  I did several pre-ride laps to get warmed up and noticed to 2 spots where the wind was in you face.  I made a mental note to grab a wheel when we hit those areas.  Felt good when I got to the start.  We went across the field and then had a tough, tight 180 turn before we hit the first barriers.  I got the hole shot, but one guy passed me going into the tight turn.  He hit it a little too hard and we kinda bottled up.  But managed to pull out with 3 of us in the lead.  We traded the lead for the next lap and a half.  Then as we started to hit that same turn on lap #3, I made the mistake of being a little outside the wheel of the same guy before.  As a result I got pushed a little outside as he had to slow to make the turn.  Guess what, there was a hole about the size of my front tire right under the edge of the course tape.  I endod big time.  By the time I got up and going again a couple of guys had caught me and I was about 20-30 seconds down on the 2 leaders.  My adrenaline was pumping and I was mad at myself for letting them get away.  I knew we only had 2 laps so I just went all out in an attempt to catch back up.  I ended up dragging one of the guys with me.  We hit the paved road again and I almost caught up, about 5-10 seconds down.  Then I caught a lucky break.  The 2 leaders saw us right behind them and set up for some reason.  So, now we had 4 guys in the lead with just over a lap to go.  I guess they wanted us to help work the last lap and a half.

I was trying to catch my breath after the effort to catch up.  So, I sat on the fourth wheel for a little while.  Not the best place to be.  One of the 2 original leaders jumped on the far side of the field through a pretty fast section.  So, I had to claw my way up again.  We went through a barrier section and down a dirt road with me and #4 dangling just off the 2 leaders.  We hit the road and it was tough.  It was a couple hundred yards of road into the wind before we hit the grass and last little climb before the finish.  I hit the gas and manged to catch up and pull ahead just as we left the road.  But I didn’t have a lot left for the little switch back climb before the finish.  One of the guys passed me at the bottom of the climb and at the top he had about 4 bike lengths on me.  Then it was a 90 degree turn and a 75 yard sprint to the finish.  At that point I couldn’t catch him, but I did manage to pull away from 3rd. 

So, a 2nd place finish.  Not bad for an old, out of shape guy.  Maybe with Bryan’s suggestions I can finish the season strong with a few more podiums.  Honestly, I was disappointed that I didn’t win, but I was stoked with a strong 2nd.  I rode the whole race with the leaders; did my pulls on the front, suffered when I had to; and managed to survive.  The kid who won is about 15 and can’t weigh much more then about 90 lbs.  So, he climbed that last little hill like it was nothing.  It was all I could do to haul my 190 lbs up it and try to stay with him.  He is a tough up and coming junior.  3rd place was a guy who has beaten me several times this year and he has also had some strong finishes.  I think he placed fairly high at the UCI race in Hendersonville.  So, I felt good about it.   I was able to suffer when I had to and still had enough left to get to the finish.

So, trying to get my wheel fixed and survive the “icebox” conditions we have right now.  Looking forward to Crossanooga #1 and #2 this coming weekend.  Talk to ya’ll later.

DS