Boss Cross 3 and KC Fun

Pretty fun weekend here in KC. Spent Saturday morning hanging out with the family and got a few things done around the house. Rolled out of the house just in time to arrive at the Riverside race venue and get a few laps in as a warm up. Got signed up and soon it was race time. I was terrible off the start but after a lap I ended up in 2nd place with Joe all ready pulling away. I knew Andrew was back there somewhere and no doubt he was charging to the front of the race. At that point I tried to run a steady pace and hold a gap over the chasers but sure enough Andrew was slowly catching me a little every lap. With 3 laps to go Andrew caught me and I planned to just ride with him to the end of the race but I bobbled on the barriers and gave him a gap. That was pretty much it, race over. Joe wan, Andrew 2nd, me third. Pretty happy with the race and how I rode. I had the Quark Power meter on my bike so it should be interesting to see what the data looks like.

 

After the race we headed down to the Plaza for the Water Fire Festival. Hours of dancers, music, and singing, and tons of FIRE! Pretty fun evening for the whole family.

 

Should be an interesting week for training. I have Cyclocross Specific Intervals on my workout schedule for the first time this year. I guess its time to get serious.

Flatwater Cyclocross Weekend

So many choices of where to race last weekend, in fact, too many choices. There were races in Lincoln NE, Tulsa OK, Des Moines IA, or Kansas City. Looking at results from the races it appears that there were so many competing races that it diluted the fields at all the races. Not a good thing for the promoters.

My choice was to head to Lincoln Ne. Mathgeek had to study for a exam so needed to get the boys out of the house for the weekend. Whenever I travel out of town to race with the boys I've found it tough to focus on the races. Going into the weekend I was fighting a cold and since I had the boys I decided to do the masters race. It worked out pretty well. I could race before the kids got bored of being at the races and there wern't too many people out there early so I could keep track of what they were up to.

I have to say that I allways enjoy the the Pioneers Park venue and nothing beats coming back home to race. Seems like the weekend flies by and I never get a chance to see all the people that I want to see. Thanks to the Burke's for giving us a place to hang out and to John Lefler and the crew for putting on the race.

Jay running the barriers. 3rd on day 1

Curly was our photographer all weekend. I still have to figure out how to put some video on here.

Podium for the Masters Race. Won both days as Paul and Randall battled all weekend to fill out the podium.

Curly shot this picture, not too bad for a 10yr old!

Day 1 Open Podium

Nate the bunnyhopper in action

 

Fun weekend. Got to race, hang out with the boys, and see some friends. Only thing that would of made it better was it Mathgeek was there with us. Next time.

SmartWool USGP Ft. Collins

Last weekend was the Smartwool USGP of Cyclocross in Ft. Collins. Joe and I drove out and met up with Nebraska crew on Friday afternoon. After a quick lunch we headed out to set up the TREK Camp and pre ride the course. Overall the course design was same as last year and it was just as bumpy and dry as it was then. There was some rain in the forecast but not much so we were thinking it was going to stay dry. Little did we know the the rain was on the way.

It rained some Friday evening and a bit more overnight. In the morning the course looked awesome. The rain had turned the dry moon dust into a tacky, solid course. I rode the course a few times between races and then rode the trainer before my race. During that time on the trainer the rain started again and only stopped just before my race. I rode over to the start area and not too much later we were in the grid getting ready to start. I looked over and saw Mark yelling something about tires. The race started and I soon found out what  Mark was saying. Going into the 2nd turn I found out that the rain had turned the course to a slimey, slippery mess. Not knowing that conditions had changed the first thing I did was crash. Wrong tires at the wrong pressure moved me from 3rd place to somewhere in the 20's. Here is where smart, experienced teammates come in handy. After the crash my bike was messed up from getting run over by half the field so I went into the pit for a bike change. Mark had changed my wheels to ones with Challenge Limus mud tires. Perfect tires and the right pressure and now I could ride. It was a battle but in the end I got up to 5th.My teammate Mark Legg continues to dominate the 45+ race and won again.

After my race I worked the pit for the 35+ race where Mark was 3rd and Matt was 18th.Then helped Mark Legg pit for Katie Compton's win. After that Joe was in the Elite Mens race. Whew, it got to be a long day!

Sunday dawned cool and sunny but it would soon warm up into a beautiful day. The USGP crew had made some changes to the course that were pretty fun. The mud was gone and the course was fast. From my warm up rides on the course I knew that I had some really good lines on the downhill and I was fast. I also knew that I was going to pay for my efforts the day before on the climbs. It was going to be critical to get a good start and hit the downhill section first so I was focused on a good start. Unfortunately I decided to test the theory that says 2 objects can not occupy the same spot at the same time. I was flying around the outside of the first left had sweeper and in prime position to take the lead in the tight right hand turn that follows. The only problem with my plan was that the lead rider saw me coming and chopped me into the wood poles on the inside of the turn. Naturally I lost that battle and down I went. The end result was just about the same as Saturdays race. Not quite as far back in the field and it only took a lap to bet back to the front of the race. At this point I was in 3rd right on the 2nd place riders wheel........until we started climbing. 2nd place just rode away and I knew it was going to be a battle to get a good finish. Flying down the downhills and crawling up the climbs allowed me to hold my position for most of the race but by the end I was fighting for 5th place with 2 other riders. It was close but  I managed to hang onto 5th while my teammate Mark won again.

The 35+ race was super exciting as Mark took the hole shot and built a good lead. As the race progressed his lead began to shrink and on the last lap it was down to 7 seconds. He won and Matt was 12th, in fact the TREK Cyclocross Collective had 4 riders in the top 16! Pretty happy the mud was gone as there were 2 of us working the pit for 4 riders. Next up was Katie and she again won with a substantial margin. The elite Mens race was was fun to watch while working for the 3 Trek riders in the race. Joe was out there having a blast on the downhill and just having fun.

I do love coming to Ft.Collins as the vibe is great and seeing our transplanted Nebraska/Kansas buddies is fun. So now I'm home and I guess I brought home a cold with me. Bummer but I'll get over it.

Mark has the leaders jersey in the 35 + race.

J Pow crushing the Elite field

LVB had a great weekend at the races. He led most of Saturdays race and ended up 5th. Then he rode hard for 2nd on Sunday. All while putting up with a house full of TREK guys. Thanks for putting us up!

Here's the TREK compound. Pretty fun being parked beside the big TREK tent.

 

Next up, heading for Lincoln to (hopefully) race. Have to see if I can shake this cold before then.

360 Cup

What a crazy time its been since Gateway Cross Cup. The shop was super busy, and I was just fried from all the travel. Just like last year Mathgeek had the end of quarter starting that Friday so I was a single dad for the for the next week. I was all set to head up to Boss Cross but in the end it was best that I skipped the race. The following week the shop was super busy and my training sucked. Going into the 360 cup weekend I was a little worried about my fitness but I was really more interested in how JoBro was going to do in his first cross race of the year. Big changes for him this year. He grew a ton since last season so a new bike was in order. New shoes since his feet are now bigger than mine, and a switch from Shimano to SRAM. He got on his bike and didn't know how to shift it. To say I was a little distracted with him racing would be an understatement but I really didn't mind.

The crew from 360 Racing did a great job with their race. Quick, easy registration, a great course, and the one and only John Lefler announcing. Pro all the way. I did the 40+/50+ race since I had family in town for the weekend and oddly enough it went well. I'm still working through a gearing change from last year and I think I finally have it figured out. I ended up winning and felt pretty good in the process so that's a good sign for this weeks USGP races.

After my race JoBro went and even after a number of crashes he finished 3rd in his race. He had a great time and is ready to race again.

Helmets on for safety! Hats off to Steve and Andy for finishing 2nd and 3rd after working all day putting on the race.

Kind of wondered what Katie was riding since we have 2 of her bikes in KC.

The Nebraska boys continue to pick up podium spots.

 

JoBro in action. I still can't get over how big he looks on the bike. Shouldn't surprise me, he can wear my clothes now. Jup, that's my kit hes racing in.

Jobro is wondering how long it's going to take for him to get as fast as Christopher.

 

Just about time to head out for Ft. Collins for round 3-4 of the USGP of Cyclocross. Hoping for some mud to equalize to altitude advantage the Colorado boys have.

USGP 1-2, Gateway Cup Cross

I'm pretty late getting this race report out. It's been kind of hectic ever since the build up for the first USGP started. Left KC on Thursday, drove to Madison on Friday, raced sat/sun and drove to Omaha Sunday night. Got back in the car early Monday morning and drove back to KC. Wednesday morning it was time to get back into the car and headed to St. Louis for the Gateway Cross Cup. Since it was such a late finish to the Elite race we opted to stay the night and drive back in the morning. With all the travel and trying to get some work done at the shop I was just a bit fried by this weekend.

As for the races, USGP #1 went pretty well. A fast dry course was similar to last year with a few more turns. Off the start I was up front and early on my teammate Mark Legg took off and was gone. I had a good battle with Jeff Weinert over 2nd place eventually ending up 3rd.

Day 2 didn't go quite so well. Once again Mark took off and was gone but this time there were 5 riders battling for 2nd thru 6th. It was a tactical battle the whole day and I tried to bust up the group a munber of times but in the end I was 6th. Not a bad weekend at all.

45+ podium Day 1

35+ podium

Tim Johnson on a dry, dusty course

Katie Compton hopping the boards

Jeff and I hopping the boards on Day 2

 

Gateway Cross Cup

 

Another early start had Joe and I heading for St. Louis for the Gateway Cross Cup. We arrived and quickly got a prime location for our pit. Teammate Mark Legg arrived and we got ready for our 40+/50+ race. Mark and I both got slow starts but soon we were on the front. Once Mark got to the front he slowly started pulling away from me. In the end Mark finished 1st in the 45+ race and I was 1st in the 50+.

Joe was the real trooper. He got up early to travel with me when I was a early race and he was the last race. I think there was 5 hours between our races. 9th place and some UCI points was the outcome for Joe's first race of the season.

50+ podium

 

Missed out on Boss Cross this weekend for a number of reasons. Kind of a bummer but I think I needed to reset.

Quite a few videos of Gateway Cup

Tour de Lafayette

Tour de Frances Park

The Giro

Tour de Benton Park

Time to move on and get ready for the Source Endurance Cross Clinic, starts tomorrow and goes through Sunday

Gateway Cup, Benton Park

Here we go, here we go, here we go!!!!!!!!!!!

The Benton Park race is one I love to hate. I love it because it's  a great a course for me. It's around 2 miles long and has 10 corners, great for guys like Shadd and I who can really drive a bike. I hate it because I've never had a good race on this course. The course isn't the problem, it's the fact that it's the last race of the weekend and I'm always tired. But after the crash fest at the Giro yesterday I actually had a day off. My Garmin showed that I was in the race for 45 minutes before I got pulled. After the crashes I was just rolling around in a small group, spinning the legs, and waiting to get pulled. In my head I knew the race was over for me and I needed to save myself for Benton Park. That night I knew that I was going to go into the last race more rested than I've ever been. Motivation was even higher because I also knew that this was probably going to be my last race in a Mercy Cycling kit.

The race day started off right when we got a prime parking position for the white whale and Trek trailer. There was no chance of rain so the carbon wheels came out for the first time all weekend and soon we were ready to race. As a team we had 2 guys in the top 10 overall and we really wanted to maintain those positions. Of course winning the race would work as well! At the team meeting before the race we knew that a break would probably determine the winner. Our plan was to make sure we were represented in every break until one got away. If it did come down to a group sprint we would go with the same plan as the past few days and set up a lead out train.

The race begins and the pace is hot, Jelly Belly and Kenda are sending guys up the road left and right trying to spring a break. As the laps go on a lead group slowly starts to pull away, but the group continued to get bigger until the field finally decided to pull them back. Mercy cycling had good representation in the first break and as soon as it got caught another break went. This time there were only 6 riders and Colton was in there for Mercy. The break quickly got a minute gap and Adam and I were on the front of the field slowing the pace. While we were trying to slow things down riders were constantly attacking the field and trying to get away. Eventually another break formed between the first break and the field. This time Nick was in there with 3 other riders and it was time to get to work again.

As we got near to the end of the race we were looking pretty good. A rider in each breakaway and Zach and Shadd for the field sprint. With a few laps to go we started to get our lead out guys together at the front of the field when I saw a Mercy jersey coming back to the field. Nick had put out a huge effort to make the break and with just a few laps remaining he got popped off when the attacks started. With 2 laps to go we were pretty well set up for the lead out  when a rider decided to attack. I jumped on his wheel and the rider quickly became the first rider in the lead out train. As we hit the finish line hill I jumped past the rider and led for the next quarter of a lap. Next Austin was up and led until the half lap to go point where Shadd took over. With Zach on his wheel Shadd led right up until the sprint started. In the sprint Colton was 4th, Zach was 20th, and Shadd was 23rd.  Another great effort from the whole team.

In the final omnium results Zach ended up 6th, Shadd 12th, and Colton 14th. The thing that impressed me the most was how each rider contributed and did their job. We have riders that are better suited for stage races but this weekend the criterium is king so the sprinters rule. It was all in all weekend for our sprinters and 6th overall and best amateur shows we did our job.

What a way to end the road season!