Cyclesmart CX Camp

So I traveled to Ridgeway, SC located just outside of Columbia last weekend. Yes, cross camp in the SC in the middle of August. I'm not sure what I was thinking but it actually wasn't nearly as hot as it could have been. I had just meet BC, at the shop, and asked me if I wanted to drive down with him. I thought it would be fun to get to know a new friend and talk cross on the way down so I said "Absolutely-YES!". So we went down early Saturday morning, registered, and proceeded to kit up. We all gathered up in a picnic area and waited to hear what the weekend was going to entail. Adam was introduced and then we all introduced ourselves to the rest of the group. Attendees were everyone from newbies who just bought a cx bike to 3rd place finishers in CX Nationals. Needless to say a huge variety of backgrounds and skill levels. I'm not going to talk about what I learned, because I think you should go pay your own $300 and learn from Adam, It's well worth the money!

I was blown away by the 30+ people who sacrificed their weekend with family, friends, and rest to drive down to Columbia, SC to ride a bike 6 hours a day in the close to 100 degree heat. You see I thought I was the only that crazy! But as it turns out I'm not! The cross season is still 2 months away but don't tell a cross racer that. We typically start thinking CX a couple weeks after our last race. It's our fix, our addiction, it's our.......religion. It was awesome spending the weekend with other like minded people like me. See you all at the races!

Sunday FUNDAY

With the dog days of summer here the team decided to hit some local trials for some fun riding, good food, and talk a little team business. So we all headed to the US National White Water Center. I wasn't so sure it was going to happen. Luckily the weather man was wrong and the trails stayed open. We all had a great time riding some great trails and having fun on the trail. Sorry about the pictures the Squatches were riding faster than my camera would allow to take a clear picture.

Jon craving up some berms

Rodeny riding single and rigid

I told you they were fast - the big blur is Jack

Layla having fun!

Jonny Nails wheeeeeeely dropping

 

Sasquatch Freight Train

Everyone had such a good time- we gotta do this more often!

Way to go Ty

Ty Gibbs places 2nd in the North Carolina Criterium Championships

Race to the river

Our new kits arrived from Starlight apparel just as the mountain bike season started- with both of those things happening at the same time meant for the perfect storm. Jon and I headed down to meet with the rest of the crew in Columbia, SC for the Maxxis Southern Classic "Race to the River". When we got there we found our other teammates, Bob, Layla, Rod, and Jack. It was awesome to see everyone in their kits. And we came home with 2 podium's. Jon came in second and Layla grabbed the 3rd spot in the Women's Cat1 race. Awesome job!

Jon and Slippery Sasquatch Team friend Corbitt

Layla and Jack taking 3rd

6 Hours of Warrior Creek Results

AWESOME Job Layla!

Layla takes 3rd place in the Women's solo

 

Riding Dirty

First race of 2014 is in the books. I'm a big fan of the Winter Short Track Series. It's local (20 min from the house), they have a free kids race that Brock get's pumped up for, the atmosphere is great, always fun to see all my cycling peeps, and I get to show up to blow up. We got a shit ton of rain Friday and Saturday, but luckily the Short Track course is built to withstand the winter weather here in North Cack-A-Lack.

I got to the race early and cheered on some friends in other races. The bikes and people were looking pretty muddy. As it turned out the course was in a lot better shape then I thought it would be, but the top half was pretty sloppy. Rideable, but a little slick in places.

So I throw a Stinger Waffle down my neck, get to pumping some Hilltop Hoods in my ears, and start warming up. I'm racing in the single speed class this year, and in usual fashion I show up late to the start line. I wasn't gonna win this thing anyway, but I get sick of starting from the back row.

The gun goes off and I actually got a great start. I weave and bob in and around people and find myself about mid pack as we go into the woods. I'm pretty happy at this point, because I always suck getting off the start line. Only problem is that now I need to keep up with the group. The mud isn't bad, but it is just enough to get your attention. I push way harder than I wanted to just to stay in my spot in the train. As we head up the first hill, a gap develops between me and the 8 or so guys in front of me. I try to close it, but my legs and lungs politely say "no bueno señor". About this time I get to the "rock garden", which really isn't a rock garden, but it is full of a lot of hecklers. To bad for me, as I glance up, I see some familiar faces. Sure enough, the word is out and I'm spotted. Let the heckling commence.

photo cred: Street Ghost/Kevin Thompson

I also noticed a lot of beers in hands when I glanced up. This was bad as my legs are in anarchy at this point and they see the beer and start screaming at me for tacos and beer. Now I say to myself, why the hell am I thinking of tacos and beer on the first lap of this race. I actually start picturing sitting on the deck of El Torito in Santa Barbara, looking at the pacific ocean sipping Tecate and eating chips….WTF?!?

Suddenly, I get bumped by someone "on my left". I slap myself in the face and keep digging. I jump on Ritchie's wheel as he goes by me and hang on past the start line and back into the woods. This is when I notice the "problem". Is it a mechanical? A flat? No. The "problem" is that I haven't redlined my heart rate like this in a long time. I'm in decent shape, but I just haven't done much (any) high intensity. I start getting a cramp in my side. It gets so bad, that I have to back off and slow way down. Four or maybe five guys go past. I spend the next two laps trying to recover. The mud has made it necessary to pedal on the downhill section, where I'm usually recovering and not having to pedal. Mud is slow like that and likes to give you that gluey feeling on your tires. Just ask Gerry. In the pic below, I'm sure he is winning a 100 mile race somewhere…….

G. Pflug, photo AE Landes

The stitch in my side finally gives up and I actually start turning some good laps. I felt like I was getting stronger lap after lap, but it was to late. The best I could do now was go the same speed as the 4 or 5 that got by me earlier and my "problem" knocked me out of my goal of finishing in the top 10. I've got another chance in 2 weeks though. Big props to the "hecklers" in the woods at the rock garden. I looked forward to what you were gonna come up every time I went by. You even had me laughing at 185 bpm.

                                             photo cred: Street Ghost/Kevin Thompson

Welcome to our new sponsor - American Classic

Just heard some great news - American Classic has decided to sponsor the team. So hopefully soon the team will be sporting some new hoops. We have all been surfing their site looking at some awesome wheel sets. On our list are the Race wheels, Wide lightings, Hurricane's for Cyclocross and road training. Check them out here.

                                      

Race Report - Winter Short Track Race #1

It was the first time the team was going to be racing all together. That is until Dread caught the flu- get well soon buddy. He should be back by Race #2. The vibe wasn't as electric as last year but there was a Panthers Playoff game (we lost) and the Rumble in the Concrete Jungle as well that day, so the mountain bikers were split on 2 competing events. It had rained all day on Saturday- The course was very muddy. The short track is made for the wet winter but it was too much! Still a good time was had by all. Check out some the photos from Race #1.

Kevin takes the whole shot (on a single speed cx bike) and enters the woods first!



Jon railing a berm

Kevin Looking strong late in the race - Finishing 18th in Sport 40+ class.

Mike navigating the mud - Finished 7th.

Jonny Nails hammering through the ROCKS! Finished 14th in Single Speed Race.



Race Report- North Carolina Grand Prix

It's been said a picture is worth a thousand words, by my calculations this post is over 5,000!




nasty off-camber section- just before "The Wall"



sticky peanut butter MUDD



my rear brake



my shoes after the race



the mud was worse than it looks

I wanted 1 day of racing in epic conditions this season - I'm pretty sure I got it. It was a good experience but I hope I never face that again. It was so bad I couldn't get my buckle to release from my shoe- I had to get in the shower with 1 shoe and my muddy bibs. The water finally loosed the mud's grip on my buckle. Dear Hotel maid, I'm really sorry the bath tub was full of mud & grass. I felt so bad I had to leave her a tip before I left.


I'm still having nightmares about that mud. Oh yeah, these guys were there too!



Robert Marion doing NC Proud!



Anthony Clark



Tim Johnson



Mr. Adam Myerson



Jeremy "JPOW" Powers

Race Report - Southern Pines (aka The Liter box)

I wanted to do both days at Southern Pines, so I decided to make it a family outing as well. Since my race was at 10am and it's a 2 1/2 hour drive, we had to get up pretty early. I wanted to do both days it is pretty flat and not a lot of climbing. Yes, all that was true, but the SAND! Some of which I smuggled back with me as a souvenir inside my bottom bracket, chain, shoes and body crevasses. Life's a beach..... sometimes...... so is Cyclocross!

Day 1-
I took a easy spin around the course just to get a feel for the turns and obstacles. I took another lap with more speed, checking out different lines, and to see if places were ride-able. Although the course was flat, it was tough.  It wasn't an exciting day of racing for me.  Yeah, I passed a few racers and I raced pretty well but nothing worthy of writing a race report. The only thing exciting about this race was when the sprinklers came on mid-race. For the excitement see Day 2. That being said, watch this video of a portion of the course-by far the most difficult part.



link to video

You can also see "The Shelf" at the top of the run up. Some of my fellow height challenged competitors had to kneel on the top step to get up to the top.

Day 2-
We arrived early.  It was very foggy; it had rained the night before and the grass was wet. On pre-ride the small mud puddle at the bottom of the hill had turned into a 20' long gauntlet of slick mud. Somehow they also found more sand for the second day and re-routed the course to include more drivetrain killing sand. I finished 1 lap and wanted to switch tires to my Clement PDX but realized I forgot to bring a tire lever. I bailed on switching tires and decided to continue with warming up. On the warm up I could hear the sand grinding the inside of the bottom bracket. That's NOT good!



Foggy and damp start to day 2- greenway to the finish line.

The whistle blew and we all sprinted down the straightway then slammed on the brakes for everyone to file 2x into a narrow paved greenway. Into the woods then out onto a paved downhill section and into the mud. While most guys took the inside line, I followed my friend, Bob, on the outside which was a little straighter and much dryer. Mind you, this mud is directly after a fast paved downhill, so you are going through this mud with some speed.  Mud was thrown everywhere-on the bike, legs, shoes and fellow racers. The course then turned to grass with sandy corners. Then another fast downhill with a really fun 90 degree right hard banked turn with a slight uphill-no brakes needed on that turn! The turn put you on top of a dam of a small pond, then more SAND.  Actually, an uphill section of sand that was maybe 1/4 mile of soft sugar sand which stuck like glue to the mud from before. Then the crux of the course was a 1/2 pipe of soft sand which provided the crowd with many stopped front wheels and resulting face plants. Once past the sand the course set up pretty well for me - a ride-able steep hill followed by a grassy flat field and a paved track to the finish.

The first few laps everyone got sorted out into their positions. Going into the race I wanted to stay on Bob's wheel, or least have him in sight as long as possible. Bob has always finished a few spots in front of me. On the last lap things were pretty much as they had started until the sand run-up. On the run-up my legs were burning.  The sand was so soft-- as I took a step my foot would sink into the deep sand.  I was exhausted and my legs said "We aren't running up this!" so I relented and walked up the sandy incline-2 guys ran pass me. We followed each other down the drop-in and up the small sandy hill to a hard right hand turn. The crowd was going wild- ringing cowbells, yelling and heckling us.  With the 2 racers right in front me, I jumped on the gas and passed one before a narrow section of single track. Then I passed the second guy who was on a mountain bike. I gunned it as we approached the steep ride up. I had to take the outside line because of the big roots on the inside. Once I got to the top I made a hard right turn.  Just as I got my bike straighten out, the guy on the mountain bike rode up next to me, apparently taking the more direct line up the hill. We were neck and neck on the flat grass, pedaling side by side on the back side on the course. As we approached a 180 degree corner, I got out in front, took the corner and poured on the power after the corner to drop him.




You can see the 2 guys in front me that I'm getting ready to pass. Knuckles & Elbows!

Next up is a group of 3 riders, one of which was my friend Bob. I'm in no man's land all by myself. We went through the volley ball court (as if there wasn't enough sand on the course) and passed another guy that was sitting up and spinning- he was fried! I passed him and went through the barriers and noticed Bob and another racer on the Greenway heading towards the finishline.  I took the turn onto the greenway and closed the gap on the mountain biker. I blew by him.  I wanted to put enough distance between us to dissuade him from trying to catch me but before I knew it I was closing in on Bob. I was happy where I was but I just kept peddling. I thought it was going to come down to a sprint at the finish but I passed Bob as the track straighten out. I finished, EXHAUSTED! The course was set up very well for me- A Fast flat finish! I finished 39th out of 59- my best finish to date. I'm beginning to think that racing every weekend is finally paying off. I feel like I'm getting faster, and bike handling is getting better. I'm able to trust my tires more in the corners.  I was able to make it through some tough sections of sand. Overall I'm very pleased with the weekend of racing.


Me with Bob in my sights - 100 yds from the finish.

All that being said, I doubt I will be back to play in this sandbox (see liter box). Once we got back I immediately had to disassemble the bike and spent the next 2 days cleaning the drive train of grit to get ready for the "Fight under the Lights" race on Tuesday night.


My crank after the 2nd race. I'm pretty sure sand isn't supposed to be inside the bottom bracket.