Hoss of Cross 1&2

the pro 123 race

the snuggie

the beer

The Farm

A brief report on the Hoss of Cross races this weekend.  1. the weather was great 2. they had a keg of yazoo beer on hand, free for the taking 3. the course was tough, but at the same time fast as shit 4. Snuggie for a prize.  That seems to be enough to constitute a good cross race and it was.  The race took place on paces cog farm which is about an hour west of Nashville, not terribly convenient for E. TN, but might be worth the drive to race and camp out on the grounds.  Rumor has it that a 6 hour mtb race is going to take place on the farm in March.  Mike Pace has built about 15 miles of trail on 475 acres and wants to get some folks out there to ride it.  The racing this weekend was good, some took it serious, some were having fun, beer feeds included.  The fields were not large but still remained competitive.  I came out 3rd on Saturday and 5th on Sunday in the Cat 3's. Overall the venue is great for racing and every year the race is growing, next year should be even better.

       

Hill Of Truth 12 Hour

Over the past weekend TVB Race engaged in a twelve hour mountain bike mud race. I know its been raining a ton this year and everyone has done a mud race or two but this one really got the tops. By the end of the race the trails were covered in a thick layer of mud the consistency of baby poop. Everyone's fist laps were run in the team kits but after that no one could bring themselves to reinstall a cold, mud chamois after drying off and warming back up.



TVB Race entered three teams: Joey and SheBeasts in rec, Worm Burners in Sport, and TVB Race/Tomato Head in Open. Joey and SheBeasts roster included, well, Joey, Alix, Eleanor, and Kaitlyn. They took first place in their category winning with a solid two lap lead. Worm Burners finished second in Sport with great lap times. In Open TVB Race took 2nd after battling the first place team all day. We had the lead for several laps after the 1st place team had a mechanical. However, we were not able to keep them off our tails and ended up with a second place finish. Fun was had by all and the photos show the mayhem.

The Ocho

TVB Race had a good weekend at The Ocho. This eight hour race was great. Weather was cold and windy. Drew and I ran a duo team which proved to be very difficult. Every lap was at super race pace and then you get to sit and cool all the way down while the other person is out racing. We finished 8 laps in about 7:20 and that was good enough to win it. Despite the cold it was fun, as mountain biking is, and solo competitors Matt and Micah did really well. The photo is from the Le Mans start.

Beat the Freak #3

For some reason it was colder and windier south of Nashville than it was in Nashville. When I got out of the car in Fayetteville the cold of cyclocross season seemed to have arrived early. The only difference from muddy race #1 was the cold and that the rain wasn't coming down, but the ground had definitely held on to it. Not as many folks showed up as the first race, but the racing was still competitive. I hung tight in the front with 2 other guys for the first couple of laps, then we spread out with me in the latter position. Looking back it was apparent that the rest of the field had spread out as well. When the last lap came around I was still in 3rd and was too far back to even think about catching 1 and 2.

Chris Cross Leavenworth, KS

its cold in Kansas already, don't even know why I wanted to race up there, but because I was in the area I decided to check it out. Whatever negative someone says about Kansas does not particularly apply to cross races. Plenty of folks showed up to the Chris Cross race on Sunday and the hosting was great. The race took place on the St. Mary's college campus in Leavenworth Kansas which allowed the use of the gymnasium for check in and bathroom facilities. There was a nice spread of food and warm drinks as well. The course was a rolling 2 mile loop with 2 barrier sets and a couple of huge very steep off camber turns to make things interesting. For some reason it seemed the whole thing was uphill. The end stretch consisted of 700 yards of old brick pavers that made for a smoother ride than some of the grass, but kept things relatively uncomfortable for the entirety of the loop. 50 people entered in the cat 4 and shortly after the start the field broke up with about 6 guys in the front and me chasing them about 30 yards back. The gap was never closed and because of someone's mechanical I ended up in 6th place at the end of the race. All in all a decent race. Some documentation below: