Are you Kidding me?? and Doubling Up is not for Me

Are you kidding me?? And Doubling up is not from me

Check this out. Am I heading to Louisville of Belgium? Stair run-up to a remount followed by a steep ramp descent back to the dirt is going to be a ton of fun. On top of that the pass under will be awesome along with the 6 sandpits. I better put on my hardman helmet and get ready for some serious pain.

Photo from truesport.com

Raced at Carpenters Park in Carpentersville, IL on Sunday. This race was the 2nd stop in the Chicago Cross Cup Series. The guys at North Branch Cycling put on a great event and make the most of the small venue. The course had plenty of dismounts and twists and turns to keep things interesting, and the speakers pumping out the tunes was great addition. After getting registered and changed I headed out for a quick inspection of the course. Very similar to last year, with the exception of relocating the sandpit. Last year it was an easy entry into the sand that allowed for riding through each lap. This year the pit had a foot drop off from the grass, and after watching others warming up I decided to run the sandpit during the race. I don’t think I lost any time with this strategy early in the race, but towards the end it was taking a toll on my legs. The course was also soft and sapped the energy from the legs, definitely a power course. I lined up with 32 or so riders, with some big guns such as Brian Conant, Kevin Klug and Lou Kuhn. I knew these guys were on a different level, but I hoped I could make the most of my first Masters 30+ event. After introductions by Jeff from Main Street Bicycles we were off. Surprisingly I didn’t feel that the pace was unbelievably fast from the start, and I moved into a Top 10 position heading into the first set of barriers. A rider in front of me bobbled at the first barrier and left his bike on the ground while he continued forward. After a slight slow down I was back at it, trying to close the gap to the lead train. Through the up/down turns heading towards the bumpy downhill remount I was behind Kevin Heppner from Killjoy. Over the barriers, followed by a jump over the sandy creek bed (This seemed wider than last year and was difficult to completely clear). Back on the bike through the narrow chicane section. 180 degree turn onto the asphalt. Top guys are starting to create gaps. Off the asphalt at high speed and onto the grass, dismount over the barrier to the stone lined creek crossing jump. Back on the bike and pack on the power (For some reason this was the remount that was killing me. I bobbled several times, either getting my shorts stuck on my saddle or having a hard time getting clipped in. I was also not shifting to an easier gear before the dismount and it was taking too long to get back up to speed). Around the baseball field to the off camber 180 degree turn. Around the Hawthorne tree to the soft rideable creek crossing. As the laps progressed the crossing was getting deeper and deeper. Each time I told myself just point the wheel straight and everything will be a-ok. Through the creek, back on the gas around a sweeping righthand turn to the sandpit. Off the bike and run. The sandpit for the early laps was hardpacked on the right side, which made running easy, but later the pit was deep and rutted. Back on the bike, 180 degree turn to a bumpy section followed by a really short steep uphill dirtectly into a downhill. Power section back to the start/finish. Now I just had to do the same thing about 8 or 9 more times. Unfortunately I started moving back throughout the race. Stupid mistakes led to gaps opening which led to loss of places. In the end I finished 15th.

Two hours later I lined up for the 3’s. Small field of only 15 racers. The temp was much warmer than earlier and I was trying to down as much liquid as possible before the event. Race started and my legs were dead. I got a decent start, but was quickly moving back. After about 4 laps I was done and headed to the officials to let them know I was a DNF. It was good to experiment with the double, but I am definitely better off putting all my energy into one event. These next few week should be fun with lots of great races on the calendar. This is the part of the season where I am hoping for some good results.