I just shaved at least 5 min off my race day prep time...

After working at my beloved place of work for over 20 friggin yrs I got to choose a gift. Most were actually quite nice. One that caught my eye; a Krups programmable 12 cup coffee maker. I had a programmable before but like an idjuct I broke the carafe and since it was a POS, I opted just to go out and buy a new one. Never got around to it. So, thanks to 20+ yrs of servitude I gets a new coffee maker (yes, kids, some of us stay at a job THAT LONG). Oh. And don't be giving me any shit about how I should be brewing my joe in a french press. They are a PITA and there's not many things better in this life than waking up to a hot pot of freshly brewed coffee.....

I just noticed...

That in every picture in every cross race I've ever done I look like I'm dying. Check it out. (Thx to fatguyracer-from Rockburn) Maybe it's because I am??

Sometimes you're the windshield...

Sometimes you're the bug. Arrgghh. I got a good start to the day, got going at a good time, nice ride to the Rockburn race. Made the same wrong turn as I did last yr but it was no biggie; had to use "the facilities" anyway.
Get there, EARLY enough to see the C race go off and was able to give Mike G a shout out. Turns out he finished 13th-he's getting much better. Get warmed up and head down to the start. They changed a lot on this course from last yr. The prologue went rt instead of left and up a short climb. Since I pre-reged kind of late I had a sucky start position. As the whistle blew, I went out. Passed quite a few on the climb and was holding my own thru thew twisties. Saw Thor bite it and get back on. Followed him for a while. The sand pit, tho rideable this yr, was best off run; I would make gains in it and at the barriers. I just didn't have any real power in my legs tho to hammer on the flats and descents; guess maybe it was not riding for 2 days prior and me getting a cold or something? Who knows. Nunzio passed me then I kept him in my sites. There were about 4 of us in close distance. Weren't passing alot but we weren't getting passed, either. I passed him with about 1/2 lap to go as well as another guy. Thought I had them but they got me again in the more technical sections. Something, I hope, I'll get better with in time. Figured I get them in the open areas. No. Legs just weren't there.
As a positive sign, I'm actually passing guys on the climbs now instad of getting passed, even when my legs don't feel great. I wound up 42nd out of 69. About what I expected. Just didn't have it that day.
Now it's 2 weeneds off. Time to go out hard for 2 of them and finish strong with the 2 2 race weekends coming up.

Finally!

Beautiful, warm, fall morning. Head down to DC for DCCX. Didn't forget anything. :-) Get my usual 15 min warmup but thanks to Steve (Lithuania fro RBR), who took my pit bike to the pit, I had time to pre-ride parts of the course. It was in great shape. Some soft parts, but no sloppy mud.
Lined up abunch of rows back, probably 5?. The whistle blows and we're off. Up the start paved section and into some tight paths. I'm holding my place pretty well; dropped a bunch of guys up the pavement (losing 10 lbs is a realy good thing) . Up, down, over some bumps and up to a left hand turn up hill from the finish line. I decided to take an inside line and almost pulled it off except someone decided to do the same thing and took me out. I lose about 20 spots. Game is ON now. I recover and go blasting over the 2 hugeass logs (new this yr) and down the hill, over the cobbles, into some twists and off camber stuf, past the pit, and hammer out the out n back. I catch a pack and instead of sucking wheels, I pass them. Drop them. Fly over the grass that they added from last yr and into the trees and turn section. Keep passing guys; my tubies are really hooking up well. I continue to opass guys up the paved section that was the start. I start woirking with a guy from Artemus and we keep taking turns pulling. We keep catching and passing guys. This continues thru the next to last lap where I biff on the up hill barriers. Back up and within 3/4 lap oir so I had him back in my sights. Last lap I let it all on the line. Finally I catch him on the start stretch as we head towards the finish. Knock off a couple before the finish strecth. I see 2 or 3 guys in front of me and pass all of them at the line. I had no idea where I placed but that had to be my best race evar. Some good eats, shooting the shit with Thor and Mike, and head home. Turns out, I was 32nd out of 71, 7th out of 16(afaik) in the 45+! Not bad for 2 biffs. My 1st top 1/2 finish ever. 6 places behind Thor. I can't wait for next week at Rockburn!

The gods are conspiring against me...

I got up nice and early to get to Wissaghickon on Sunday, one of my favorite races. Still wasn't too early since it's only a hr and 15 minute drive. Got ready, eat breakfast, and left. Without my helmet. I realized this (fortunately) about 5 miles from home, so I drove to the next turnpike exit, headed home, and got the friggin helmet. I get there OK and there's a line at the reg tent. Get thru that and have to hit the john. Big time. Whatever has been working on me this past week performed it's magic. Yea, I know, you didn't need to hear that. I finally get ready 1/2 hr before the race. Do a quick 15 min warmup and head for the start. It was colder so I decided on the fleece skinny. Good move. (Even tho Kerry frtom HUP claimed I need to get tough.) I got a good start pos in the 3rd row (thanks to Thor) and off we went. 80ish riders. Up the asphalt and into the turns, which, at the 1st 180, turned into a cluster-f%ck. 2nd as well. Got thru that without going down, and off I went. Passed a few, got passed, yada yada yada. I didn't feel great running the barriers but felt pretty strong on the roadie sections. I also rode the sand pretty well. The steep left hannd-downhill turn I ran 4 out of the 5 times. People were yelling "ride it, HUP", so as not to disappoint, I did it on the last lap. Absolutely not advantageous to do so. Corey Twyman from Hub racing was following me the last lap and passed me the last set of barriers. I just didn't have the gass or ambition to go after him at that point. I finished 49th out of 74 finishers with 5 or so DNF's. Not as good as I thought but still better than previous yrs. I actually lapped 1 or 2 riders. I'll use the excuse that I was hurried and not feeling 100%. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The inevitable bites me in the ass.

Almost literally. I get to the race and even tho I didn't pre-reg I was able to get thru pretty quickly. The venue? Breast cancer awareness race in Hagerstown MD. I get my stuff out, get on the bike and dressed remarkably early (for me). No rushing around. Nice. Thor stops by and gives me some shit about primping but I let him know I'm about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. For me. Got good and warmed up and actually had time to pre-ride some of the course. Bumpy as shit, but fast and not too difficult. Sweet. I actually get a call up (ok, they went pretty deep), but a decent start position. The bell goes off and we fly down the gravel/paved start into the grass. I pass a few in the corners and short hills and also get passed. Didn't get to ride yesterday so the legs started screaming right before the barriers. I remounted and almost crushed both nuts; worst remount evar. I recover and get into a groove after a lap or so; I was able to fly down the paved /gravel section. I kept trading places with one of Thor's teammates and Nunzio and another rider. Then I dropped my chain. Got it back on and still felt strong. After 4ish laps or so I passed a few lapped riders. Kept gaining ground on the NVCC guy. Until I dropped my chain. Again. Still I felt pretty good and was going strong with 3 laps to go. I hit my remount after the barriers and the seat felt funny but I kept on going. I blasted thru the sand and hit a big pile of it and it threw me towards the tape. Stop and get my bars out of the tape and my m$therf#cking seat fell off; the saddle separated itself from the rails. Would've been REAL fun had it happened while I was on the bike. So. Since I didn't bring the spare bike, I was finished.
As it turns out, lots of people DNF'd, including Thor. Pinch flat. One of the many.
So, next race, it's the tried and true Selle Italia Pro Link. And my spare bike. The Pave saddle is going back to Fizik.

And so it begins...

1st cross race in HUP kit! Charm City. Got what I thought was an early enough start to head down to Bawlmer. Get there, find a decent parking spot and realize it is quiet a distance to the reg area. D'oh. Ride over and it takes longer than usual to sign in. get back to the car, get the bike on the trainer, get dressed and it's like 9:25 or so. Aaaarggghhhh!
Guess I'll leave more time next time...
So I warm up for about 20 min and head over to staging, deciding not to take the pit wheels along. Since I reg'd earlier this yr I got a decent start position. The gun (ok, whistle) went off and away we went. I got into the "tree" without having to stop this yr and that made a HUGE difference. My legs didn't feel great but after about 2 laps I started feeling better. Stomach was upset a bit, too. Still, I ran the sand pit, which was longer and harder this yr, pretty well, as well as the uphill barriers. Getting off and on the bike is starting to get second nature to me so that's good.
I ended up losing a few places last lap but wound up 55th out of 83 (they didn't have the age breakdown yet) so I am fairly happy with that result; MUCH better than last yr.
I'll get back to intervals this week and I won't go to Hershey park the day before and maybe my legs will feel better at Ed Sander. I would like to see a finish this yr where there are more finishing behind me than ahead of me. I think it's possible.
And I want to beat Thor.
Speaking of which, poor bastid rolled his tubie and had no wheels in the pit. From now on I am taking BOTH bikes and my extra rear wheel to the pit. It would suck MUCHO to have to DNF because of a mechanical.
Hopefully Kevin Dillard will have his pics of the race up soon so I can get a pic on here of me in my HUP kit; WC is so last yr....