Wednesday, October 21, 2009

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.




Monday, October 19, 2009

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.

Monday, October 12, 2009

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: