Howard County Double Cross Weekend

So I'm gonna keep this one short as I'm beat. I probably pushed myself harder on this weekend of racing than I have any other point the season - and I have two solid (for me anyways) to show for it. And best of all I felt great doing it the entire time.

Day one was a fast open course, but with enough corners thrown in to keep you honest. My warm up went really well and and felt that I had a good read on the course and that I had just the right tire pressure for the conditions. Once the race got started I started picking off other racers and bridging up to the next group in front of me. There was really one one technical uphill off-camber section but I selected the right tires and had no problem getting grip on the side of the hill. Fifty some minutes later I came in 29th by myself.

Day two was not quite as open and had some really cool single track thrown in. This certainly added another element to the race as there was no passing possible in these sections, so if you wanted to move up it had to be before hitting the woods. It took both a strong and tactical rider to do well at this course. My warm up was pretty much a repeat of the day before. I wasn't sure how my legs would feel after Saturday's effort but I actually felt really good. Again, my cornering was really good and I was able to make up a lot time on much faster riders simply because I was pushing the bike harder through the corners and willing to take some more risks. Altogether it netted me 33rd - another solid result to be proud of in the million man B's.

I'm really happy with the way I'm feeling right now. It's nice to feel like I have an extra gear to go to. I could tell in October I just didn't have it, but after this weekend I can tell it's coming back (just in time for PDX/Bend). It's also nice to see that the practice I've been putting into my cornering is really starting to show. Though racing in the B's with some of these fast cats has also pushed me to become a better rider as well.

To say I'm disappointed with the way the season has gone thus far wouldn't be true. However I didn't expect to be finishing mid-field like I am doing. But it has certainly been a learning experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. It has certainly helped to make me a better 'cross racer and that's something that will serve me quite well in the future!

It's hard to believe that the State championship race is on Saturday and Nats is only three weeks away. The season has just flown by! I've been privileged to go to awesome races but more importantly meet some even MORE awesome people! It's been a wild ride - one that I look forward to continuing well into the future!

Best!
Captain Crunch

P.S. Big shout out to Joe Mallis for providing awesome photographs of the weekend! See his whole sets by clicking on the link!

Countdown to Stumptown

With no racing on my schedule this weekend I decided to get in some extra training and CX skills practice over at a local park on the mtb trails. I won't face anything like what I was riding today on any CX course so if I could ride this stuff without dabbing I'd be golden come the last races of the year.

I also used the time to finish tying up some loose ends regarding my Nationals trip. Earlier in the week I scored an huge discount and on car rental and got upgraded to a better car at the same time. Epic WIN. I also put my name down to volunteer while at Nationals as well. I'll be helping out in registration on Friday and be acting as a course marshall Thursday-Saturday as well. I'll be rocking my Richie Sachs/RGM Watches sweatshirt and ATMO hat so be sure to say hi. And if you are going to Nats, please be sure to volunteer to help out (there's free food, beer, and coffee for those that do). Contact Gina Miller at gina@freshairsports.com or click here for the Google Doc sheet and put down your name.

As it stands I have 6 official races left this season and 2 just for fun races. Next weekend takes me to Howard County MD for the Howard County CX2X weekend. Then states on Nov. 27. Five days later I'm on the big steel bird in the sky on my way to Portland for the USGP weekend and then onto Nationals the following Wednesday. All told I'll be gone two weeks.

While in Portland I will practically be living in the local Stumptown Coffee Co. cafe. If you haven't heard they have some of the best coffee in the history of ever! No lie, I'm planning on bringing about 10lbs back east with me. I'll be giving some of it away so if you're really nice to me.... :-) I also promised C-dale/CX World rider Jeremy Powers I would bring cupcakes to the USGP (what bike racer doesn't love cupcakes) so I'll be searching for a good cupcake place. If you know one leave it the comment section below. If you don't know who Jpows is, click on the link. He's one of the nicest and funniest pro CXer's you'll ever meet.

Now you can't have CX without beer. In Bend there will be plenty of awesome microbrews to go around. The town even has a "Ale Trail" that leads to the local breweries. The nats course is being held on the grounds of the Deschute Brewery, purveyor of fine food and even finer beer! Check them out here. The special events taking place in Bend in conjunction with Nats are too many to list to so click here and see what's up.

Wow, this post kinda got away from me! Thanks for sticking with me through the season. It's been a great one thus far and I can tell next year is shaping up to be even better!

Best!
Captain Crunch

Last weekend took me to Elkton MD for round 9 of the MAC series for the Fair Hill Cross race. Let me start by saying this could be one of my favorite courses ever. It had the right mix of all the elements that make up a great CX course. I loved the little table top thrown in at the bottom of the one descent. And there was a perfect mix of sections where you could catch your breath and sections where you were working crazy hard (that blasted section after the barriers and the finish straight). Overall I give the course design 10 out of 10! Well done guys!

I was fortunate to have one of the days where the bike and me were totally dialed in and working as one (compared to day 2 of the Rockville Cross where I couldn't seem to do anything right). The ol' gray matter responsible for picking the right line through the corners was on its A game and I was having a blast the entire race.

I was locked in an epic battle with the guy in front of me. I had been chasing for two laps and going into the last lap I was down on him by about 15 seconds, so I put the hammer down and caught him at the log/run-up. However he proved much to powerful - I barely held his wheel after the barriers and knew I probably couldn't out-sprint him. By the time we were half way up the finish I sat up and conceded the spot (it's not the first time he's beaten me - he's my top Nemeses on crossresults) and came home in 28th.

I gotta give a big thanks to TLD (Deb Sachs) and Pookums (Matt Kraus of the RS team) for giving me some much needed encouragement. I was starting to get a little discouraged with my results after making the jump the "B" races. Both of the them told me just to enjoy the racing and simply just learn as much as I could. This couldn't have come at a better time.

I was getting myself so worked up before races that I was losing focus. At both Beacon and Fair Hill I went into the race without putting any pressure on myself. They've probably been the my best two races all year. I've showed up at the start lines relaxed and that feeling carried over throughout the entire race translating to relaxed, smooth riding. Because of this new found relaxation I haven't been afraid to really push the bike and explore the limits of what I can do with it. Every race I can feel my technical skills growing and growing. It's a great cycle and one I hope continues through to next year.

It's hard to believe the end of the season is almost over. Only 5 more weeks left until the National Champs in Bend! It usually a good sign when going into the last lap I feel like I could do another lap. It happened two weeks at Beacon as well so I can tell I'm getting ready to peak again (the last two seasons it has happened around the end of Nov.) just in time for the PA state championship and the "B" race in Bend.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading and following along so far this season!

Captain Crunch

P.S. I also need to thank @joemull (Joe Mulligan) and @hithro (Ben Kiel) for being big supporters and cheering me on during my races. Those cheers go a long way in helping ease the pain of 45 minute red line effort! You guys rule ATMO!

Beacon Cross race report

It's that time of the week again. Race report time. Last weekend took me to south Jersey for the Beacon cross and its infamous beach run and "amphitheater of pain" run-up. The course was not technical at all - in fact I ran too little pressure in my tires and probably could have picked up some more speed with an extra 5psi or so. The winner averaged almost 16mph - flippin' fast for a 'cross race.

I got a good call-up at the grid by way of my early bikereg.com placing. However it was short lived when I was caught up in the first big crash. I got tossed off the bike through the tape while my bike lay in the middle of the course. Getting back to it proved to be like trying to get across route 95 at 5pm without getting hit. Didn't lose to many spots and so began the chase.

Two things beacon is known for is its UCI limit 80m beach run (more like a jog) and the "amphitheater of pain" run-up. The run-up is a brutally hard two story tall through the park amphitheater. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Being a strong runner this provided me with a great place to make up some time on my rivals.

The race flew by without much incident after my initial crash. The last time through the amphitheater (which was only a short distance from the finish) I saw a guy at the top as I was about half way up. Even though I didn't think I could catch him decided to sprint all out on the 200m uphill finish straight. Thinking he was alone, he didn't start his sprint until 100m were left. By this point I was going all out. Throwing our bikes at the line I beat him by about a 1/4 of a wheel length (I wish I could see the finish line photo) - 10m less I don't have enough road and 10m more and I'm out of gas.

Overall I finished 41st out of about 75 guys. While not the same results last year I'm staying consistently in the top half of the field and learning a ton each week. This coming Saturday takes me to Fair Hill MD for round 9 of the MAC series. Then it's a well deserved weekend off before starting the last third of the season including States, the Portland USGP, and Nationals in Bend OR.

Thanks for reading
Captain Crunch