Random stuff and MTB racing...

As you can tell by the by the picture above, I have a new frame and fork. When I was pondering what color of new steed, I was thinking about an all black model which has a very cool "stealth" look to it, but decided on this color scheme instead, mostly because I have two black carbon bikes and didn't want another.

I got it put together the other day and of course the weather is going to be CRAP for the foreseeable future and when it does clear up the roads will be shit again because of the impending snowpocalypse...thanks Mutha Nature...HO!!!

Moving on...Tomorrow is supposed to be the 1st MTB race of the season...as of right now I haven't decided if I'm going...that's gonna be a game day decision. The great determining factor will be how much freakin snow is on the ground and how F'D up the roads are...I'm not too concerned with the course conditions as I will be racing my CX machine...which should be an advantage...maybe...

Winter in the middle of the country can go away ANYTIME NOW!!!

E

2013 race number 2...

There's not much to write about this one. I will say this, I'm getting tired of putting on every stitch of winter gear I own to ride or race!!! This past Thursday and Friday was a freakin TEASE!! I'll take it though! I was thinking going into this race that I would be going a little better, and as I have thought about yesterday I think I am, again, the results don't show it...oh well...I don't need to be flying right now...C'mon CX!!

Anyway, the field was decent sized, about 25ish in the masters race. At the whistle we take off and the pace goes up for about a 1/4 of a lap and settles down. On the 2nd lap I decide to go to the front and drive, making sure to ride in the gutter when it would make the field suffer. After about a lap and change of being on the front the field got itchy and we were racing...the next few laps had me nearly blind, my legs feeling like LEAD and close to coming unhitched from the field, fortunately the pace relaxed and life was good. I guess the pace was sufficient enough to shuck part of the field...I never looked back to see this damage but I do know we lapped a few small groups.

Moving on, the middle of the race was "normal". After the last prime was contested a small group of 3 riders decided to give it a go to the line. Initially the gap was manageable and I was thinking about going across because it was looking like a winning move, according to my gut, but I decided to watch and wait...in this wait and see period 2 different teammates of 2 guys up the road managed to get the field slowed long enough for the gap to become unassailable....LAME!! As I have said before, listen to your gut...IT'S ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!!!

With 3 to go I decided to give the finale a go, I had a good position about 10th or so which I maintained. Coming to the last turn the pace was high, we make the last turn and it's on. I'm following a wheel and when I get enough speed up and come out of the draft, I was greeted by a NASTY head wind and had to tuck back in til I got a little closer, this pretty much sealed my fate for an inside the top 10 finish...I'm not sure where I ended up, but probably about where I started my sprint....11th or 12th...maybe.

Oh well, that's racing and you can't be great every race.

E

It's officially on...

This past Saturday kicked off the 2013 racing season for me. So I headed out to the Spring Fling at Clinton lake in Lawrence to see what sort of fitness I had.

As I look back on the race, it went pretty good, I finished 11th out of 24. It wasn't a really hard race but not an easy one either. I tried to go with a move early on in the race, but the group was not having it. The early move had me suffering pretty good once we got reeled in but I managed to get recovered, so life was good again. I tried to go with another small move at about 5 laps to go and again it was shut down. Between those 2 efforts it was a "normal" crit...if there is such a thing.

After that the race settled down for the last 4 laps. I was in a decent position on the left side of the group about 6 back going into the last lap and maintained it fairly well until the backside. The right side swarmed up and across and I was pinned against the snow and surrounded so I had to wait until the last turn to gun it. I managed to pick off about 4 or 5 riders and was about a half a bike length from a top 10.

I felt pretty good on Saturday, waaaaaaaay better than this time last year!!!! I felt a little short on the top end but overall, I'm happy with how I felt. A better finish would've been nice, but a little tactical error on my part...stupid early season race brain!! Anyway...hmmm...Oh yeah, it's still winter and there's A LOT of racing ahead, so no worries!!

E