Cross Nats 2010

So you think I would be more excited then I am to write this post. Truth is I'm not really that motivated. It's been an amazing season capped by a 6th place at nationals. I was firmly in fourth place closing in on 3rd when I had a ill-timed mechanical at the flyover that involved the wheel pulling out of the dropout. By the time I fixed the problem I had fallen to eighth place. With only 1 lap left to go I managed to fight my way back up to sixth place missing out on the podium by just 45 seconds.

Overall it was an amazing trip. I drank some amazing coffee thanks to Stumptown Coffee roasters in PDX. Coffee will never be the same after drinking a cup of their brew. I also got to hang out with some amazing new friends and got to see some amazing scenery. The couple I was staying with invited me back in July to race the Cascade Classic road stage race. Free room and board and an airport pickup is sweet music to a poor bike racers ears! Check out all my photos here!

So as hard as it seems to believe I'm already making plans for the 2011 season. As I just said I'm going to throw in a few strategic road races to help me develop the top end power needed for cross. Most of the cat 4 road races around here are only 30 miles in length and last about 1.5 hours. This makes them perfect for cyclocross training. While I'm not planning on doing too much upgrading to the road bike this season - save for new chain, cables, and tires - the CX bike is getting a full makeover courtesy of Sram's Apex lineup and a variety of FSA goodies. With the planned upgrades I'm hoping to get the bike down from 20lbs to 19lbs. I'll post the full build specs once I hammer them down.

Thanks goes out to everyone who followed my blog and twitter feed this year. The support from you guys goes a long way ATMO! I'm already hitting the base miles to be prepared for my first road race that is just 3 months away at the beginning of April. Also on schedule is still one more CX race - the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship race out in Emmaus PA. Then it's just long slow base miles after that.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

P.S. That picture at the top is hotel room bike cleaning 101 :-). I totally destroyed the tub in my room. Don't look at me like that - you would do the same thing :-)

USGP Portland

Yeah - that is Jpows (Jeremy Powers) and Timmy J (Tim Johnson). More on that photo in a minute.

Finally - after racing all season I finally got some mud to race in. It only took travelling 3000 miles to Portland OR but it was a blast. It had been raining all week in Portland but cleared up on Friday. Come Saturday morning the course was still plenty muddy. The USGP folks did a great job laying out an awesome course. On the backside of the course was an awesome section of a motocross course whoops.

Somehow I got a third row call up on Saturday. After my usual slow start on the first lap I slowly began picking guys off. I was feeling great and really moving up fast and by the middle of the second to last lap I was running around 25th. Coming out of the MX section I shifted to an easier gear to get through the mud and the chain jammed up into the spokes. Fortunately the derailleur didn't shear off ala Trebon style but I still had to stop and dislodge it. By the time I was done I had dropped to the mid 40s. I managed to make back a couple of spots and finish 38th. Oh well - that's cross.

Also on Saturday - as promised - I dropped off cupcakes from Saint Cupcake Deluxe to the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld crew. These guys are some of the biggest supporters of north American cyclocross. The green trailer is a familiar sight all over the country. Jeremy Powers and Tim Johnson are some of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Tim is the defending national champ and Jpows took the USGP overall title by winning on both days.

Today (Sunday) was much faster. The wind really dried up the course overnight. To make it a little more challenging the course was changed to add around 15 extra corners. Again I got a third row call up and had my usual start. I had a really clean race with no issues. One of the highlights was running into one of my east coast crossresults.com victims. Matt Hennessy of C3-20/20 cycling is a class act. I've loved doing battle with him at several races and this one was no different. After 40 minutes I came home in 34th place.

Both days I managed to meet a goal I have for each race. I try to not finish lower then my call up. Saturday I was called up 38th and finished there and today I was called up 34th and finished there. If I can work on not losing so many spots on the start I really think I can do well in the B's next season.

Tomorrow I transfer to Bend for the National Championships for what I thought was my last official race. But Ray Ignosh is putting on a Mid-Atlantic championship race on Jan 14th so it's one more race after I come home. So far this trip has been amazing. Moving on to Bend and the ensuing party there is going to be awesome.

Thanks for reading!
Joel

PA State Championships

Since most of my time after the state race was consumed with packing for the USGP/Nationals trip, this race report is coming a little late in the week. I'm actually writing this in the Salt Lake City Intl airport.

It was awesome seeing some of my nemeses and victims as well. Big shout outs to Ryan Dudek and Ellis Kim of Toms Shoes as well as Lancaster local Gale Hess. You three (among others as well) proved to be formidable foes this year. I consider it an honor to have raced and battled with you this year and look forward to seeing you again at the Nittany Cross in Sept 2011!

Overall I think I rode my best race tactically all season. With three laps to go I had a group of 4 guys behind me. Right near the end of the lap at the bottom of the hill I put in a huge attack and shed all but one. We traded blows through most of the next lap and by the start of the last lap he had gotten around me and built a small gap. I was beating him every time through the barriers and decided to really come in hot to try and make up the space between us.

That didn't end so well. I planted my foot but it didn't go anywhere. I went flying over the bars but was able to hop up instantly and grab my bike and with the help from the adrenaline managed to close the gap anyway. He was much stronger on the hill at the end and beat me anyway. 14th overall. I was very happy with my race as I felt it was strong tactically. Next up for me is the Portland round of the USGP series. I'm hoping to get some mud that us east coast crossers have been missing all year.

That's it. I'm keeping it short tonight.

Captain Crunch