The Best of Times - The Worst of Times. The Rockville CX Weekend

This weekend I raced the Rockville cross. It went down only 30 mins. from my place so of course I was going to be supporting my home town race. Promoter Zach Adams did a great job both days of setting up the course and keeping it interesting for the racers. Check out his site here.

Day one started out great. I had a good start (for me anyways) and was picking some great lines through the course. However on the last lap I picked up a thorn and the rear tire was slowly losing air. Fortunately I was able to make it back to the finish without having to pit. The bike and me were really in sync (not quite like Granogue Day 2 but close enough) and we were really working well together. So it was the best of times.

Day 2 didn't start out so well. First I realized that I forgot my wallet and racing license. Not a big deal - I was able to pull my license up on the USAC website. Sunday's course was much technical and I just couldn't figure it out. On top of that the bike seemed to be fighting me all day and we were clearly not working well together. My warm-up/practice laps did not go well so before I even took the line I had resigned myself to staying in the back and just trying to gain some experience. Looking over the wounds from the weekend I discovered that I lost a chainring bolt. Not a regular one, but a single ring chainring bolt for which I now must buy set of 5 and hope they arrive by Friday for Beacon Cross on Saturday. Yes - day 2 was the worst of the times.

But enough negative. As always, the phenomenal Joe Mallis was on the scene on day 1 shooting "flippin' sweet" photos of us (The photo in this post is courtesy of him). Click here for the link to his gallery. I don't know how he does it, but he makes me look like I actually know what I'm doing :-)! Joe is a great photographer and even nicer guy to talk to when I run into him at various races around the Mid-Atlantic region. Chappeau Joe!

It's hard to believe that Beacon Cross means the end of month two of my season and only 5 weeks until I'm on the plane to Portland/Bend for some great pacific northwest racing. Now I just wish we would get some rain here on the east for some real 'cross weather. That's all for now - I got a bike to clean/fix!

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Granogue Cross review

Another weekend of racing has come and come. This one was free of flat tires! The racing was made even better by the fact that the Richard Sachs team was also in attendance for the entire weekend racing in several different categories. Another highlight was breaking bread with the team on Saturday night.

As for my actual racing - 55th the first day and 57th the second day (both days had about 110 starters). Yeah, I know, not that impressive. But considering the top five finishers both days have enough points to move up to the next category (a couple should be moving up to cat 1 next year), it's easy to see that I'm racing with a much better caliber of racer.

I've had to drastically change my goals for this season. This is simply a season of learning at this point. I got some great advice from an elite rider who said if you want to get better, move up to the next cat. and get your butt kicked. That's what's happening right now. Granogue was an awesome learning experience. Sunday was the best of the two days. I really felt like I was picking good lines and my cornering showed some signs of improvement.

All in all it was a great weekend! Bikes were raced, beer was shared, and good times were had by all. Next up on the schedule is the Rockville Bridge Classic weekend on the 23rd and 24th of this month.

Best!
Captain Crunch

October Unprocessed - take the challenge

My sister told me about this thing she was doing. Eating no processed foods for the entire month. I decided being a healthy cyclist this was the responsible thing to do. And with Alberto Contador getting popped for "supposedly" eating tainted beef (probably processed and full of hormones and steroids) eating unprocessed should help me to avoid any unpleasant run-ins with WADA, the UCI, or USA Cycling (yeah like they're really worried about me - a lowly cat. 3). Click here to be redirected to the unprocessed challenge blog.

But seriously. When you really stop to look at what is in some of the stuff we eat and can you sick. My goal by the end of the month is to be a more conscientiousness eater, paying more attention to what is in my food and where it comes from (chances are if it doesn't come with a label it's probably fresh and unprocessed). I hope what I learn in this month I will be able to take into the coming years of my life.

Best!
Captain Crunch