Tech Cross - Day 1

I haven't been riding...well at all really for the last three weeks. So I knew the Saturdays race wasn't going to go well, for that I have only myself to blame; I decided to race anyways. I drove up to Blacksburg, VA Friday evening arriving late and getting to bed as soon as I got there. Saturday morning I awoke early for for my 11AM race. Breakfast included cereal and an apple before I began loading up my gear. I headed out to Kentland Farms, a historic site near Blacksburg that was hosting the races for the weekend.

I arrived around 10 with an hour before my first race, so I quickly registered and started getting ready so I could get in a decent warm-up. My parents made the trip down for the weekend which was awesome because even though I saw them in August at the beach it felt like June since I saw them.

After pinning my number on I went for a quick warm-up before heading to the line. The course was going to be hellacious, so I was glad that I had a couple hour break before the SS race. I got to the line and waited around a few minutes before the official, Ben Warren, a Tech student asked me if "I was racing Masters?" With a confused look I took a quick scope of the field and realized I had in face lined up with the masters, but how did I make this mistake?

The culprit...Mr. Andy Reagan! He decided to post the Tech cross race on the VT Cycling page, but didn't change the file when the race schedule was changed, so those of us NOT using BikeReg.com didn't know. Grrr to you Mr. Andy Reagan, GRRRR. It may be changed now, but somehow or other I got the times confused and it's just fun blaming him.

So with 3 hours to kill we went and grabbed a quick lunch at Quiznos before heading back out to Kentland Farms. Some more waiting and it was time to get ready...again! This time I had the right start and after another warm-up I headed to line...again! So the race got off at a little after 2PM and the collegiate C field right after, missing those days! I looked good for about the first half of a lap, then it was over. Not riding, racing for the previous 4 weekends had done its toll. About two laps in I considered stopping knowing I had 2 or possibly three more times up the massive hill. I finished. Miserably but not DFL.

My dad was kind enough to take some photos of my suckness...Thanks DAD!

Stressed and rushing getting ready for my first race...that well wasn't really "MY" race.

Line up at the line for the first time that day.

Okay...got it...this time I had it right.

Gorgeous place for a race.

Again...not a better setting for cross anywhere.

I decided not to include any of my suck face photos but then just couldn't resist, how can I look this bad when I'm only racing 4's?


So needless to say when I finished my race which was 45 minutes, my longest cross race to date. I decided not to race the SS race 15 minutes later. I got some grief for it from Justin, but I just didn't have it in me physically or mentally.

The one positive of the race however was that I used my TriCross for the whole race, which meant I had an entire race worth of data, I can't really determine much from it but...its dater (pun intended). Somehow it got split during the race though and I forgot to merge it as I brought it in, anyways:





Sunday...well I did get up early but there was no way I was racing, instead Michelle and I just hung out for most of the day after a phenomenal breakfast at Gillies with the Rents!

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Virginia Tech Cross - Weekend Preview + Updates

This weekend will be kind of a "Homecoming" for me. I've been back to Tech for the past 4 weekends but going back for a home race is different. I'd really have an advantage if we were racing the same course as in the past, but this year is different. All of the emails I've been reading have said there's a monster of a hill that will most definitely be a run up. If you're anywhere near the area you should def. make it to the race as Blacksburg is gorgeous this time of year and more spectators always make things better. Race flyer HERE or register HERE.

Be forewarned however that flurries have been predicted for Saturday!


Last years Tech Cross weekend featured Saturday's "Race Under the Lights" with Christmas lights guiding some of the course. Unfortunately this year won't have any of that, but it'll be great racing at home with other Blacksburg locals and having my parents there to see me race. I do have a confession, I haven't been on my bike since last Sunday which is definitely not going to help my case, either way I'm looking forward to it.

In other news I had a package waiting for me when I got home with a bunch of Defeet stuff. I was bummed that they separated my order into two which meant I didn't get my HiViz Gloves.

A bunch of much needed Defeet gear including HiViz arm-warmers and shoe covers for my commute.

I follow a bunch of blogs using an E-reader and have been a fan of Fast Boy Cycles for a long time. Ezra is appears (never tasted) to be an amazing cook in addition to his beautiful frame building which is always incredibly photographed! He's posted a few of his recipes and last night I decided to try one, making gnocchi from scratch. I've never had it before so I don't really know what to compare it to but it turned out okay for my first attempt I think.

Boiled russet potatoes riced by being pressed through a flour sifter with a spoon.

Add an egg and some flour to hold them together.

Rolled into half-inch snakes.

Little pillows, not traditional gnocchi with the ridges but like I said I followed Ezra's recipe.

Once they floated to the top they were done and dunked in the ice bath below.

The ice bath puts them in a suspended state that allows them to be cooked or put aside for later.

A finishing touch in the pan with some EVOO and butter.

Voila!

I may have gotten a little aggressive with the wrist flip and lost some of my gnocchi!

On a side note November Bicycles deal on ordering frames ends in just over two weeks (November 19th) . It's a pretty awesome price on a carbon frame, so take a look and get that order in!

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King College Tornado Cross - Tri-Cities Weekend Pt. 2

Sunday was lackadaisical to say the least. Michelle and I woke up early and headed to our favorite breakfast place...well pretty much ever. Their special for the day was a marble pound-cake french toast with blackberry topping, to say it was exquisite is an understatement. Afterward we headed back for a nap, after all 8AM is early and as I mentioned before it was a lackadaisical Sunday morning, after breakfast that is.

Eventually it was time to head south on I-81 towards the Tri-Cities for another exhausting afternoon of racing. While racing is very challenging and tiring, I believe it's the long hours in the car on the road that take it out of me, that in addition to not sleeping in my own bed on a weekend since...??? (not sure the last time).

Bristol, VA & TN is a pretty neat town. I say VA & TN because the road the route my phone took had me drive down state street, appropriately named. It's not the main road in town but it's where most of the historic shops and what looked to be good reastaurant were situated. I took a picture because I thought it was really neat, VA on the left and TN across the street. Not sure how this works but it may mean you can walk across and buy beer on a Sunday evening if you can't in TN???

State Street.

I arrived to a gorgeous campus and weather that was picturesque for a cross race, while not "cross" weather it was beautiful, following suit with the campus. King College is an SEC school that competes in the SECCC (South-Eastern Conference Cycling...something?). During the morning they had their collegiate races but also brought in additional participants in the afternoon for other categories, really making the race worth their time and effort.

King College Campus.

After registering I hopped on my bike and reconed the course. A pretty steep gravel/dirt climb was going to make for an interesting SS race, while two fast descents and a necessary run up on the opposite side of the course were going reek havoc on my legs. I kitted up, doubling up my numbers again and headed out on the course to warm-up. It was especially nice that the Pro/1/2 race only went for 30 minutes, because their were only two participants; this allowed me to warm-up on course and get a feel for it at speed.

Up first was the SS race, their were three of us. The juniors joined us as well making for a combined field of 5. Justin and one of the juniors had just raced the Pro/1/2 race, another junior who I was about to meet in the CX4 race and a master who doubles up on the weekends by racing SS as well. The race was pretty relaxed and wound up being more of an exhibition race than actual competition with conversation frequent, unusual for a cross race. I took second in the SS race, as I expected behind Justin and in front of the masters guy. The junior who I would be racing in 15 minutes decided to take it easy, a wise move since he won the CX4 race right after, another victory to his undefeated season.

After a quick bike change and a Clif Blok I headed toward the start, their were maybe 15 or so us in the race including some of the collegiate guys who raced earlier in the day. The race started quick and I was already cooked, 3 hard races on my legs in a weekend had done its toll and I was simply hanging on. On the first lap I was right top 5 when my shoe got caught in the tape and the events that followed were so comical I couldn't help but laugh at myself. I decided it was necessary to depict the event:

...Enter Paint

I couldn't help but laugh at myself for how this played out.

So after this happened and most of the field passed me I decided to relax but still race. I Put in a big effort near the start on the paved section and made up three places before the large climb. After a quick single track section I had caught two more riders going into the mud pit. I suppose I leaned it too hard because the next thing I know I was on my ass watching the three riders I had just passed spray mud on me. After this wreck and the one with the tape my chances of a respectable finish were over and my bike wasn't happy about it either. I hit the pit and picked up my SS bike and finished the race on it. It was a learning experience...whether or not I actually learned from it however is still to be determined. Again no power data because I switched bikes 2.74 mi. into the race, I'm going to try again this weekend at Tech Cross.

I guess I wound up 13/19 for the day in the CX4, not bad considering.

SS results

At the end of the day I had two muddy bikes and a swag bag for my second place in SS. It has a bottle, Gu's, and some other misc. stuff that I will eventually find a use for.

The bikes were in desperate need for a cleaning. Good thing I got some chain lube as a prize.

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Mud, Sweat, and Gears (MSG) #5 - Tri-cities Race Weekend Pt. 1

Since CX (cyclocross) is mainly a North-North-Eastern sport in the states, although it's exponentially growing every year, Alabama is far from a thriving scene for the sport and hence my excessive amount of traveling in the past few weeks. While the MABRA races are too far to get to with drives in excess of 12 hours, Tennessee and the Tri-Cities are my next best alternative.

Usually I jet out of work on Fridays around 2 or 3 so I can begin my very long 7 hr. drive north. Unfortunately after breaking my brand new single speed in a mock race last Sunday, I needed to wait until Saturday morning to stop by the bike shop on my way there to have my drive-side crank tapped.

Not knowing what to do with myself Friday I went for a nice easy spin on my road bike. Then a brilliant idea struck me, why don't I throw the PowerTap from my road bike onto my cross bike? I wasn't really interested in the overall data, it was more of a why not type of idea?

So I went at it...all in all the concept was pretty simple.

...take this:

The Donor

...and put it on that

Specialized TriCross - the transplant recipient

...Not so fast!

A chain whip and a big wrench are necessary for removal.

Cassette lock-ring removal tool

Mid-Operation

Eventually I figured out the spacers behind the cassette and made it all work!

Saturday was an early morning, I had planned on being at the bike shop when it opened but a slightly later start than originally planned delayed that idea. Eventually I made it to the bike shop, only 45 minutes late after a stop for breakfast and coffee at Starbucks and had my crank fixed. Super ecstatic about my SS being fixed I headed towards Johnson City for MSG (Mud, Sweat, and Gears) #5.

I had plenty of time to check out the course and shot this section of the course that turned out to be my favorite part, mainly because it was quick and felt really fast.

Cross almost always utilizes a park or school facility as they make for idea venues, Saturday race was no exception with a gorgeous park facility situated along the river. After I signed in I did some recon of the course and stopped to take in the beautiful setting of the race.

Gorgeous setting for the race with the leaves changing in the background.

I somehow missed the 25 series pts. for dressing up memo. Bummer!

Eric from Blacksburg racing team, Rogue's Racing.

The sand pit.

A witch doing barriers...you don't see that everyday!

My lack of clean clothes and short break between races required some creativeness on my part, I wound up pinning my second number to the first so I only had to take 5 pins off before my second race.

Numbers pinned one over another.

On a side note, as I mentioned above most races take place at a local park or sports complex which for some reason unknown to me usually lack doors on the bathrooms??? Well most cyclists would agree that a nature break is necessary before a race door or not. I was very proud of my ingenious method of letting folks know the facilities were in use!

Very clever I thought and if you look at the angle of the shot...Yes.

Seriously anyone know why no doors? (my only guess is to do with unwanted nomad visitors).

Anyways my first race of the day was single speed (SS) which was my first ever race on a SS bike. It was a blast, and seeing that I had changed my gearing from a 36:16 (2.25:1) to a 36:18 (2:1) that morning, I was a bit under-geared but much better off than a 36:16. The race also served as a great warm-up to my CX4 race 15 minutes after the SS race. I stayed where I was for most of the race, finally catching a guy I had been chasing for 2 laps, finishing 5/11. Not too shabby for my first SS race.

After a quick number change (or un-number-change) I headed back to the start line with a different bike and got a pretty cruddy start position. The race started and I felt okay and quickly secured my position. The race was so much different with a geared bike, not standing where I had been just 15 minutes earlier. I battled with a young guy for most of the race, finally passing him on the last lap as my previous race, but after racing an hour cramped about 500m from the finish over the barriers and locked up. I lost 2 places and finished 10/33. I still wan to move up in my finish standings, I have yet to podium in cyclocross (stayed tuned for pt. 2).

Oh and if you're looking for the power file from my race and all of those BIG WATTS!!! Well there's no data since my head unit was dead, we tried switching Justin's 605 but it didn't pick it up.

I usually don't partake in candy and try my best to avoid Halloween candy but in the spirit of the season...I decided to partake as somewhat of a "reward" for racing hard.

Plus it's Java, so it was more like a coffee then a candy bar right?

...and then partook in some more "rewarding"...SERIOUSLY...what is bike racing without a burrito?

Michelle and I hit up Chipotle which is now in Blacksburg!

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I bought it, then broke it...not the reverse.

Unfortunately I haven't been doing much riding, or much of anything it seems these days, and the last time I did ride I managed to break a brand new bike...more on that later.

This summer I succumbed to corporate America and have since been learning to balance work and riding, its not that I'm working too much (40 hours a week) it's that when I was school I could ride during the day and do my 40 or more hours of "work" during the evening/night. Now that I have this whole job thing I have to go to, it's really messing with my riding especially with day light saving time looming around the corner.

If you really want to hear my excuse it's that during a trip to Florida three weeks ago I got sick and have since been trying to get rid of a nagging cough, but honestly it's a combination of the days getting shorter and my frustration with the sport.

Anyways just a quick update with how my life has been during October through a string of photos of videos.

Ready.....GO!

(Imagine a quick flashing slide show with a sweet whooshing sound!)

I turned 23 on October 2nd...Michelle bought me the Park Tool grilling kit to complete the kitchen.


On October 5th I tried to leave for Orlando...plane broke @ 10PM...got a hotel...5:30 AM flight the next morning.


Managed to get a workout in during in a workout the first day there...did some intervals on a stationary bike...


It was my goal while picking out a rental car to get the most awkward/awesome vehicle available...the bug was taken...drats...instead an HHR!


Michelle arrived...we picked out furniture...


Went to VA Tech 2x for homecoming and for a game last weekend against Duke! (1600 miles in my car)


Gillies began selling their coffee whole bean farmer direct from Honduras...delicious shade grown perfect, my life is now complete and I've had coffee every morning since...


Went to wind rock near Mountain Lake (see Dirty Dancing) and saw an awesome hawk gliding and met my friend Lady Bug.


iPhone4 For the Win...


Made a film called Lady Bug - Starring Lady Bug

and a very long pan of the view from wind rock, hit it a week or two late and some of the leaves were gone from the trees but gorgeous none the less...

So as I mentioned earlier I managed to break a brand new bike, well how you ask? Well a few weeks ago I began the search for a single speed cross bike that would allow me to double up on race days (make that 800 mile round trip a better value). I wanted a race ready bike that I could buy, not have to build up and wait for parts. The Felt Breed fell into what I was looking for in the price range I could "afford." Well the mechanic whole built up the bike must have been hulk because as a mechanic I've never had such trouble removing a pedal, I'll go as far as to say they were seized. I finally broke them free and installed my preferred pedal, Crank Brothers - candy's. During a makeshift race at Tech on Sunday the pedal backed out on throughout the race w/o me noticing and finally on the 4 of 6 laps I stood on what most likely only were 2 or 3 threads holding the pedal in the crank and did a number on the crank.

Even though I broke my bike, you can't have a crappy day at a gorgeous place like Blacksburg!

So technically it's not forever broken just temporarily out of order, none the less I can't ride it. I did however finalize what the rest of my cyclocross season will look like

Oct 30: MSG race #5 - Johnson City, TN - SS and CX4

Oct 31: King College Cross - Bristol, TN - SS and CX4

Nov 6 & 7 - VA Tech Cross - Blacksburg, VA - SS and CX4

Nov 13 - MSG #6 Johnson City, TN - SS and CX 4<>

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