USGP Louisville

Sunday was a better day, 3rd!

I'm finally getting around to a post on the races. I really have a mixed bag of emotions on how the races went. In reality I should be happy that I got to ride at all as it just wasn't looking good in the days leading up to the race. After 2 weeks of minimal training I attempted the Tulsa weekend only to DNF 2 of the 3 races due to knee pain. After a few visits to my normal doc I got in to see a orthopaedic doc last Monday who drained 90cc of fluid off the knee. It felt much better but I was still off the bike the rest of the week. Now with 3 weeks of minimal riding, much less training, I was heading for the USGP. But before I did that I decided to go ahead and change bike frames and a few components. Never mind that I wouldn't be able to ride the bikes before the race weekend. Lets see.....a jacked up knee, no training, and brand new bikes..........to say that I was a bit nervous before pre-riding the course Friday would of been a bit of an understatement. To add to the pressure I was still in the USGP leaders jersey!

Friday the pre ride went fine but I was a little worried about gearing. The course had some climbing but the biggest problem was the 4 running sections. That was not going to make the knee happy.

Saturday the race came around and I hoped for the best. I got a good start and was leading the first lap but soon it was apparent that I just didn't have the legs I had hoped for. Mentally I was blown from being passed by a number of riders and by the end I really thought that I had just barely managed to stay in the top 20. To my surprise I ended up 9th and still got some points for the series standings. I did lose the leaders jersey but even though the legs were bad the knee really held up pretty well.

Sunday rolled around and as you can see I managed to get on the podium with a 3rd place. I knew Mike was going to spay the champaign and he got us good.

In the race I again got a good start with series leader Mike McShane on my wheel. We got a gap and started pulling away from the chasers in the first few laps. On the 4th lap Mike attacked on one of the climbs and when I went to respond I felt the strain in my knee and that was it. He got a gap and I blew both mentally and physically. With a few laps left to race I tried to get it together and hang onto 2nd but 2 chasers caught me with 2 laps to go. A quick attack got it down to two of us and the race was on. Unfortunately, I bobbled on a climb near the finish and the other rider got away for 2nd.

A bit of a bummer but I'll take 3rd and the points that go with it. The battle for the overall series really got jumbled in the top 5 but I'm now in 2nd with 4 races to go. I'll need lot's of luck to overcome the points gap but you never know what's going to happen.

Brad hitting one of climbs.

Joe said that this course resemble some of the courses that he rode while he was in Europe. I'm sure that's what they were shooting for since the World Championships will be in Louisville in 2013. With the January date I'm sure they won't have to contend with the dust that we had last weekend.

Joe and Cody ripping through one of the sand pits. This one was on a hill and was rideable. It didn't take much to end up on your head and quite a few did. This sand was fun but the other one was just brutal, long, deep, and unridable except for the pro's.

There were 2 climbs like this on the course as well as another shorter, steeper climb. It's a steep as it looks, I ran a 39x26 and it was still tough.

J-pow in the sand. If Sundays winner of the Pro race is that out of shape you know there was carnage in the other races.

Photo's by Lyne of PodiumInsight. She hung out with us a bit and as usual seemed quite amused by the boys in the KCCX crew. You should check out her website, she has a unique perspective on the races and gives you information that you won't find on other sites.

So that was last weekend. Today's visit to the Orthopaedic Surgeon gave me more options on what to do with my knee. Replacement is an option but not a good one. There are some things that can be done to make it last longer. I'll probably get it scoped after cross season to remove stuff floating around in the joint and get a lube job. Fun huh..... might have to start bunny hopping the barriers so I don't have to get off my bike! Of course that might lead to some other type of surgery. Just check out the picture at the top of the blog to see what happens when you miss!