Wheeling CX 2022 - 45+

 Weeeeeeeeeeee-Ling

The Wheeling course has been pretty static over the years.  This was my 5th crack at it and it is the first time I remember it not being muddy and freezing.  There was a little rain earlier in the week but the course wasn't slick at all.  There is an off camber section that has a speed limit when muddy but can be ridden fairly normal in the dry.  There is also a short downhill u-turn that causes problems but was ridable this time.  The temps were low 30's but I only remember 20's and biting winds from the past.  So all in all it was a good day for racing.

The Tower crew this week included Fran, Brad, George, and Mark in the 55+.  In the 45+ I was the only Tower blue although Joe Doyle was next to me in the start grid.

The excitement on the day was George hitting his first podium.  Here he is on the second step of the 55+ 4/5!

Less notable but still exciting was Fran hitting the podium in the 65+ 4/5. (Again?!?!  This is getting old Fran!)

Before retreating to the warmth of my car I nabbed a quick video of the first lap.  In order are Mark (black), Fran, George (red), and Brad.

The 45+ races in the CCC have seen consistent numbers in the high 50's to 60's.  At Wheeling the cold temps whittled it down to 46 racers.  I had a 4th row start.  I had switched to the Donnelly PDX mud tires a couple races ago due to what were expected to be slick conditions.  I still have the all around MXP's mounted on a different set of wheels but choose to ride the PDX's for confidence inspiring grip.  This course is usually slick.  With the unusually grippy course I probably would have been fine with the MXP's.  I tried a higher pressure during pre ride (28/29 psi front/rear) but there were a number of bumpy sections where a lower pressure was needed to smooth it out.  If you can ride smoother and let the tires be your shock absorbers then it is faster.  I brought my gauge with me on the pre ride and dropped it to 26/27 and it was better.  I am not a light rider so going lower might be too low and I could get rim strikes or burp (With tubeless if the bead gets bumped away from the rim and lets a bit of air out that is called burping).  For reference George ran 21/21 but he is much lighter than me (Also running tubulars).

It is important to line up behind someone you know to be a good starter if possible.  In Wisc I don't really know anyone but here in the CCC while I may not know the names I do recognize certain people.  Of course on any given day it is a crap shoot how someone clips in.

Check out the guy in green on the left.  He just goes backwards immediately and I almost hit him.  If I had been behind him I would have lost a number of places.

I had a decent start and had George in my head as well: "Don't go out too hard on the first lap".  It is important to get past as many people as you can when the track is wide but not at the expense of blowing up.  

The course had a longer start section leading into the first half of the course which has a gazillion turns.  With the group largely together on the first lap it was a matter of holding your line and not letting people squeak through holes.  Pre ride is for dialing in the corners but on the first lap you can only go as fast as the rider in front of you in the turny sections.  This half of the course ends with medium sized barriers.  I sat there long and hard before the race and decided that even if I could bunny hop them now in the last lap of the race my brain would be a little fuzzy and it might not end well.  The old adage in cross is don't do something if you can't do it 10 out of 10 times.  So I ran the barriers.  (George has mad skills and jumped them each lap.  As of this writing I haven't heard of any chainring damage :) ).

The On Board view

From Brad's Perspective

I mentioned above that there is a short downill U-turn and this is the place that always gives me trouble.  Thanks to the dryness of the course I was able to ride it each lap.  Without the mud at the bottom the main concern was being in the right gear for when you started back up and don't stall.  In this snippet it doesn't look too steep but getting out of the saddle was needed and tricky to avoid spinning out the back wheel.

Because I had raced the previous day in Wisc I wasn't sure how the legs would be.  In my limited experience of 2 races in a weekend things actually haven't gone that badly.  The 3 times I've done it this season I've actually had good results the second day even if the legs didn't feel that great.  I've have 3 bad races and all came with rest.  Hmmmm.

Having raced the previous day was another reason to listen to George and take it easy on the first lap.  Normally I'd try to pass more people with micro efforts.  This time I took what was offered but didn't make lap one a hero lap.

My lap times did show a bit of fatigue as I went on.  The first lap has a minute of extra time for the start section.  9:12 (Really 8:12), 8:14, 8:26, 8:25, 8:06.  You can see in laps 3 and 4 I was slowing.  But how about that lap 5!!!!!!!  Why you ask?  

I don't know exactly when I noticed it but somewhere on the 4th lap 2 guys were closing in on me.  Both were faster on lap 4 than me by 7 and 8 seconds and were getting close.  I do remember Fran yelling near the end of the lap "C'mon Case.  Got someone on your tail!"

Different things motivate people.  I was now motivated by 3 things.  The guys behind me, the last lap, and the Tower crew cheering me on (Fear of disappointing Fran is a real thing).  A little adrenaline was kicking in and the mental acuity was getting razor sharp.  The corners are where you can lose tenths of seconds or even worse.  Focusing in on the corners to make sure I took the best line at the best speed (without crashing) was critical.  Making sure that I got every pedal stroke available was key too.  Time is lost when you coast 5 meters longer than the other guy.  Pedal if the course allows you to pedal.

BG Photography

On the back side of the course there is a long gradual rise.  Before the rise I was about 7-8 seconds ahead of the pair.  By the top it was down to 6 seconds.  There was a quick downhill and it was back up to 8 (Heavy things go downhill faster I guess?).  I'm getting all of these times from watching the video and wasn't actually counting on the course.  I knew they were close and I knew I had blown 2 last lap leads this year.  My focus was on the corners and trying to remember which ones were sharp and which were easy.  Where did I need to downshift and which could I keep my gearing.

I was almost at the final section which was a hundred meters of straight grass with a right turn and 30 meters to the line.  This time I can hear a duet of Fran and Brad yelling "Gotta guy behind ya!"  I switched to the drops and as soon as I crossed a paved path got out of the saddle and put what I had left into the pedals.  Fran said that as soon as the guy behind me saw me jump he let up.  Nothing left in the tank for him either.  I dared to look back and and saw he wasn't on my tail (I then looked over my left shoulder to just make sure) and pulled across the line 4 seconds ahead of the first guy and 8 in front of the second.

I finished 29th/46 which from a percentile perspective isn't that great.  But 29th in general is fairly good.  I was the 5th Cat 4 out of 14.  And I like to think that the 10-20 guys who didn't show up at all are the weak ones who would have filled out the lower placings.  :)

My average HR was 164 with a Max of 176.  The last lap however was an average of 169.  

There is one more CCC race which is in 3 weeks (Regional Championships).  Region Riot is in 2 weeks and we might hit that up too in Crown Point.  

Here is a short video of my Fan Boys:

https://youtu.be/ovtJMu9ZlIc

Here is the full race video:

https://youtu.be/NX4CLwPmnYY

CamRock n Roll CX 2022 - 50+ Cat 4/5

 North of the border once again.  Things worked out well this weekend.  Jerilynn was out of town and my Madison friend actually was in town.  So I drove up Friday night and we watched the Spartans choke away a game on an aircraft carrier and the Badgers pulling one out at the Brewers stadium.

The CamRock n Roll race is in Cambridge WI, southeast of Madison by about half an hour.  So the drive in the morning was much nicer than the 2 hours I've done earlier in the season.

I found a couple of fairly old videos of the course and it was to my liking.  Essentially a hiking path through the woods with some u-turns thrown in by the picnic area to make it more crossy.  It looked like more of a power course which last year would have been right up my alley.  This year I am lacking some power.  But at least it wasn't super technical which is where my real failings lie.

The temps finally became more fall like.  Actually, one of the reasons I made the drive was to get used to the temps for the CCC race the next day.  Low 30's for each race.  It takes me a while to get used to temp changes.  I like to ease in.  CamRock is in a wooded park which really helped with the wind which as cyclists we know is what really makes things cold.  

My race was the 50+ Cat 4/5.  We had 40 racers which is about par for a Wisc race.  The cold doesn't deter them cheddar heads.  I had another front row start which set me up for a good result.  

I lined up in between the top two callups.  I looked after the race the the top guy has over 50 upgrade points - it's pretty ridiculous that he is still in the 4/5 race.  He's actually still a 5!  

Our race starts about a minute behind the 35+ Cat 4/5 group so there are usually some stragglers we need to navigate through which can at times be tactical (See the Lion Cross recap).  I had a good start and was third wheel at the hole shot.  George has been advising me to not go out too hot and save something for the rest of the race.  We took a right turn off of the pavement and onto the grass.  There was one actual hill on the course and it was right as we hit the grass.  It wasn't too steep but took about 20 seconds to get up with a slight kicker at the end.  Then, to be mean they put a set of barriers at the top.  It's not like they needed to slow us down.  There was a Trek tent at the top where people gathered so I think it turned into a heckle hill.

I made a pass and went over the barriers in 2nd position.  The Upgrade Points guy had a gap and slowly just increased it.  According to Strava my hill segment times were 18, 23, 23, and 22 seconds.  Not too bad for consistency.

Because this course was heavily in the woods there were a ton of roots on the course.  Most were marked with paint and we were able to avoid most of the big ones.   But, there were plenty of little ones that you needed to roll over which sapped the speed.  

The eventual 2nd place rider passed me about 4 minutes in.  I thought I was doing ok but then over the course of the 4 laps 7 others passed me.  I ended up 10th out of 40.  Top 10 (and top 25%) is nothing to sneeze at but I had wanted more.

There were a couple fun features on the course.  There were 2 logs to bunny hop (smaller than the telephone poles from previous races).  In this GIF I hit the second log on the way down and was close to going down myself.

And a bumpy downhill with a slight turn at the end.  The hay bale in front of the tree at the bottom instills confidence.

In cyclocross the idea is to do a negative split.  If you paid attention to Ganna's Hour Record recently you'll know what I'm talking about.  Basically, you want to get faster lap times as you progress.  At least the last lap should be your fastest. The idea is that you've dialed in all the turns and are motivated to finish strong. I had 7:46, 8:07, 8:20, and 8:16.  So, while my last lap was faster that the 3rd lap it was still slow.  And based on the first lap time I did go out too fast and just couldn't hold it.  Average HR was 164 with a max of 173.  It was a pretty steady line so I was happier with how the heart was pumping.

I liked the course.  Not overly technical and not wet so it wasn't slippery either.  Enough short ups and down to keep it interesting.

Here is the link to the full race video:  https://youtu.be/nrQjweuQ2Mg

Groundhog CX 2022 - 45+

 The movie Groundhog Day was filmed in Woodstock, IL which is where we raced on Sunday and thus the name of the race.  This year it was also the Illinois State Championships.

The Tower crew was a little light as Iceman was on Saturday (among other things). That meant I was alone in the 45+ while Fran, George and Mark were in the 55+.

The temps were in the mid to high 40's so in theory not too bad, but the wind was 15-20 mph which made it chilly.  

The wonderful thing about cyclocross is that you are going so hard so consistently that once you get going the cold doesn't usually factor in.  In fact this is the second race where I've shed my arm warmers in the middle (I didn't forget them this time).

The hard part about cyclocross (besides the racing) is that you tend to freeze at the start until you do get moving.  It also plays with your mind as to how warm to dress.  Like I said I ditched the arm warmers.  Probably didn't need the knee warmers either but they didn't seem to bother me.  I also went with a windproof base layer which I think was ok but probably overkill for the second half of the race.

The highlight of the day for certain was Fran bringing home 2 medals.  Way to go Fran!!!

I had a good week leading up to the race.  A few good shake out rides.  On Saturday I did some good openers > I got a new warranty wheel from Reynolds and needed to test that out also as well as some new PDX (mud) tires... Kudos to Reynolds.  I found the crack, submitted the claim, and sent the wheel back with an RMA# all on Monday.  Got the new wheel on Friday! <

But then came Sunday.  Temps were fine but that wind...  I just couldn't get warm and I didn't do a proper warmup and stayed in the heated car longer than I should have.  A few short sprints to get the engine more than ice cold and we were off.

The start of a CX race is always congested and there is an off camber right off the bat.  2 u-turns where I decided it was better to run than ride.  I didn't really make up any ground but I didn't lose any until it was time to remount where 3-5 guys passed me up.  I should have tried to remount earlier but it was a slight uphill and I was worried about getting up to speed.

After the first lap I was pretty much on my own just chugging along at a slow pace.  I couldn't generate any power and after searching deeply for any excuses I decided it was the lack of warmup.  My heart rate climbed steadily throughout the race where usually it is pinned from the beginning and then stays there.  To their credit and my demise both Fran and George had faster lap times than me.  None of us fell which is a great thing.  I was consistent at least.

The last lap there were 2 racers in front of me acting as a carrot and that lap I actually shaved 30 seconds off of my time.  In the woods section there are two climbs and I went deeper to make up space.  Finally at the end of the second climb the first guy had nothing left and I got past him.  The second guy was just out of reach and I didn't have the power needed to close it.  He finished 7 seconds in front of me.  

I finished 41st/57.  My worst performance of the year although honestly my technical skills weren't too bad.  Maybe they were and I was just going so slow it didn't matter.

>>>Side bar - I've always thought that as the laps keep counting that I get more dialed in and take corners better.  I'm starting to think that perhaps it is just that I am going slower so it is easier to take the turns<<<

Below is the video of the first lap.  After that there isn't much to see (the damn GoPro shut down again but at least I got 26 minutes this time).

Next week is Wheeling.  25 Degrees at race time.  Sigh.

Video of the first lap:

https://youtu.be/fuOZKVDTkV8

PS:  Make sure you check there is TP in the porta-john first.

Campton CX 2022

What's the phrase?  Fool me once shame on you.  Fool me twice then shame on me.

We will get back to that.

Campton is the annual Halloween race.  Many people dress up either a tiny bit or just all out.  I just stuck to my Tower kit as did the other Tower racers.

In my race we had myself, Bryan and Joe.  Both Bryan and Joe have continued to improve their placing each week.  Tony is working out some back issues and is sidelined for a bit.

The 55+ race had George, Fran, Bob, Brad and Mark.

Having a good start to the race can make or break your race.  At Campton I just got lucky.  I missed my pedal with my right foot and then accidentally unclipped with my left foot.  So I was just sitting there on my saddle not attached to the bike.  While that doesn't sound lucky it may have kept me out of the carnage.  A front row guy snapped his chain and took down/blocked a ton of people on the right side.  Joe and I were near the left and avoided it all.  I think there was a second faller too right after that but heck it could have just been part of the same crash.  That being said I was in a decent position.

The course after the star this year took us up a gravel path which then took us up a grass rise.  So, we were going up just enough to take the mickey out of our legs.  It wasn't steep but it just kept going.  It was important to not blow up and just keep your pace.   

Besides the normal barriers this year they added logs (telephone poles??).  The logs were right after a short drop so you could get some speed into them.  Just like last week at Sunrise it was a difference maker if you could bunny hop them.  On the first lap, when we were more congested, I think I passed 3 people.  On each of the 4 laps I think I passed someone.

Following the logs and barriers there were some off camber u-turns.  Not as sharp as last week so I was able to manage them without getting off the bike and without falling.  A number of people hit the ground trying to keep up the speed.  I usually fall here every year but took it nice and slow which is faster than falling (imagine that).

Earlier in the week there was some rain but the course was pretty dry on Sunday.  A tall grass prairie section with innumerable turns was very ridable.  I only made one mistake where I overcooked a corner on the 3rd lap.  A guy was on my tail and I felt the pressure to keep up the speed and forgot the exit angle of the turn.  Luckily, I was able to almost keep riding through the grass to get back on the course.  A couple of one-footed pushes did the trick.  I apologized to the guy but he said he overcooked it too.  

There are a couple of short woods sections at the park and the question each year is whether we will go up the section with railroad ties or down.  Much easier (and more fun) to go down.  This year was a Down year.  

Brad Green Photography

For me this year it all came down to the last lap.  As I slowly made my way up the hill for the last time I was passed by a big Cat 2 guy.  But as we approached the logs I think he decided to have a picnic as he dismounted.  I hopped the logs and got past him.  My goal now was to keep him behind me.  To my surprise he didn't try and pass me after we left the pinwheel section and transitioned to the tall grass.  Right after we entered the tall grass he slipped and crashed in a corner.  That was the 5 seconds I needed.  So I put a little more power down and made sure to keep upright.  After the woods sections there were a few long straights and then the line.  I put as much power down as I could without blowing up.  In the middle of the second straight I peeked back and he wasn't in site.

Let's return to the first line of this post.

Shame on me!

I saw a couple kids handing up twizzlers and grabbed for one (I couldn't feel it in my glove so accidentally dropped it).

Then Fran told to to finish it off.  The big guy still wasn't in site.

Then this happened...

BG Photography

Unlike last week where I lost by a couple inches this time I think it was a full half a bike (if not more).  Kenny was on the microphone and was nice enough to say he thought I was able to hold him off.  I didn't.  (Kenny is in the brown vest on the right up above).

Nothing angers you more than being stupid.  I was pretty angry after this race.  Let's not forget this was a race for 25th place and relatively meaningless.  But we race for a reason.  We are competitive.

Maybe one day I will learn my lesson.  Last year when I won my sprint at Nationals I came from behind.  Someone needs to teach me how to win from the front.

I finished 26th out of 59.  Again in the top half of the field which is a big deal for me.  Out of the 24 Cat 4 racers I was 5th.  Not too bad.

Next week is the state championships in Woodstock.  

ABD Sunrise Park CX - CCC# 3

 Kryptonite - "often used to describe something likened to kryptonite in causing someone's weakness, failure, etc."

There are plenty of things in cyclocross I'm just not that good at or can't do at all (Jumping tall barriers) but the hill at Sunrise Park is absolutely my kryptonite.  It isn't a big hill like Saturday's in Grafton and getting to the top isn't a big deal, but at the top there is a U turn that goes steep downhill/off camber.  Every year I fall and every year I lose time there.  This year I crashed embarrassingly in warmup twice.  It is a combination of a mental block and a non-clinical panic attack. I just can't let go of my brain and point my front wheel down and to the left.  Bryan Connolly has tried to help me multiple times (He has mad skills) to no avail.

So here we are again.  We have the hill I can't ride down right after a day where I had no power (See the Grafton recap).  

Tower had another great turnout.  In the 45+ Bryan and Tony F. were with me along with Joe Doyle (Not everyone wears a Tower kit but we adopt them nonetheless).  In the 55+ it was George, Fran, Bob, Brad and Mark M.  Even Mitch plunked down his retirement money and was out there.  Later in the Day Bob's son John raced the Cat 4's.  And the new entry to the CX game on the women's side was Fran's daughter Margaret, who, after a pre ride lap with her father, went on to tear it up for a top ten finish > someone get her a Tower jersey for next week's podium! [Oh, yeah.  She hadn't ridden a bike in over a year!!!]

It was a beautiful weekend in the 70's which meant for me at race time (8:55 am) it was a balmy 60 degrees.  That is both good and bad.  It is never fun freezing your fingers off but at the same time overheating when you are going 100% for 40 minutes is a real thing.  The humidity was also low which meant my mouth was dry from the first lap on.  That slowed me down.  Lesson learned is to carry a water bottle when it is warm.

Above GIF shows the first lap of the 55+ race.

In the 45+ race the burning question is how many times did I fall and again I will disappoint and say I didn't fall at all.  The best way for Superman to win is to put that kryptonite in a box.  So I did just that and instead of bothering to try and ride the hill I just ran it each time.  In fact, on the first lap I passed 3 people while running it.  This year they put barriers just before the hill so I was off my bike anyway (I watched too many people crash on the barriers in warm up to try it).  The downside of running is that you run the barriers, run up the hill, run down the hill and then remount.  I was pooped.  It would take me a couple more corners to try and catch my breath.

Right after the start two people bumped and came to a stop right in front of me.  I probably lost up to 10 places because if it.  That's hard for me because I make up spots in the first lap and slowly give them back as the race goes on.  

There was another section where they had 2 telephone poles on the course and you could make up time if you could bunny hop them (one at a time) instead of dismounting them.  I wasn't graceful but I did the bunny hop thing and passed people/gained space.  When you can do that it perks you up a bit.

Courtesy Brad Green Photography

Evidently, a neighbor complained about us tearing up the park on the far side of the course so there was another off camber spot removed which was a bummer (Not for me but in general).  To make up for it (I think) they added loose dirt to a wooded section to make it more slippery.  

Overall, my power was better than Saturday and I just kept it steady.  Halfway through the last lap I noticed 4 racers behind my.  Now my goal was to keep them there and place as best as I could.  The back half of the course has the woods where you can't really pass anyone and coming out there are a number of turns.  So, I made it to the woods first and kept them all in check.  The guy right behind me was a bigger guy so I started to think about the sprint.  The finish is uphill so it isn't easy.  I was in the drops before the last corner and gave it the gas.  

At this point I made 2 mistakes.  The first one is forgivable as I was blinded by fatigue.  I didn't look under my arms as I was sprinting to check where he was.  The second was just plain dumb.  The thing where you just roll your eyes at the tv screen during the Tour etc.  Right as I was about to hit the line I let up.  Literally one pedal stroke away.  Then all of a sudden I see a blur to my left.  I still thought I had won at the time but when the results came out and then were confirmed by the photo finish camera (How cool is it that the CCC has a photo finish camera) I was devastated (mostly by embarrassment).  He beat me by the 40mm depth of my front rim.  Stupid!

I finished 27th out of 67.  Still a good result for me.  Being in the top half of the results is new for me still and a good accomplishment.  I was the 4th placed Cat 4 in the group.  I'll take what I can get.

Thanks for reading!