Friday, December 16, 2011
The Greatest Cycling Coaching Company EVER!
And, I need to link to the image for our race team blog. Which you can check out here: http://veloworksspokes.wordpress.com/
Monday, December 05, 2011
3 more Race Reports
The editors here at Team Landall are doing a pretty terrible job of actually updating and writing race reports. They're going to blame it on fatherhood.
Schooley Mill CX | Maryland | 11.13.2011
This was a pretty cool race. Upon pre-riding the course I thought it was nothing but turn, turn, turn, turn, turn and wasn't going to suit me very well, but during the race I felt like there was a lot of actual pedaling which I generally like. I started really close to the back because of my late registration. I was number 68 or something. The start went up a hill and wasn't very fast, which didn't actually lead to much opportunity to pass. I rode the first lap pretty aggressively to pick my way through the field. I continually passed guys the entire race and then on the last lap made contact with one of the better placed riders in the series. He was on a different bike than he started so me must have had a mechanical. Instead of trying to ride by him I decided to follow him to see how he cornered, since I assumed he was better at that than I am. This strategy also let a guy I had previously passed catch back on and we had a group of three in the last half of the last lap. We all came onto the pavement pretty much together and he opened it up right away. I ended up winning the uphill sprint for 12th. This was the first race I felt like I pedaled hard and sprinted out of corners for the entire 45 minutes. I was really pleased with 12th, especially considering my starting position. This also meant I'd score some series points and get a better starting position at my next Super8 race.
Bloomer Park CX | Rochester, MI | 11.20.2011
We went to Michigan for Thanksgiving and luckily there was a race in their CX series going on in the same park where Jill used to play softball as a kid. We invited all of her friends she grew up with and I couldn't believe it, but they actually came out to watch. It was awesome having a cheering section and was definitely motivating to keep the gas on.
The race had a really weird mulch pile feature. There was a dip in the middle instead of just being one pile. That dip got really rutted out and going into it on the first lap I stacked it pretty good. I was able to get my bike and get the chain back on while running out of the mulch pile, jump back on and start the chase. I lost probably 3-4 spots there.
It didn't take too long and I had moved my way up to 2nd. I chased as hard as I could but couldn't bring the guy in first back. He was their series leader and ended up beating me by about 30 seconds and I beat the guy in 3rd by about 45 seconds. Except for the mulch pile it was a really fun course and I even got heckled by strangers at the top of one of the hills. That was pretty cool too.
Capital CX | Reston, VA | 12.4.2011
I was really stoked to start on the 3rd row for once but I did not have a very good race. At least not physically. Not sure what was going on but I felt completely gassed after the first lap and just never quite felt like I was riding fast through the hard pedaling sections that I normally do pretty well through. I ended up sprinting for 11th, won the sprint, but the judges recorded me as 12th. Upon not seeing a camera I decided not to file and official protest, but probably should have. I just wasn't sure how I'd prove that I beat the guy other than saying, "I know I won that sprint." Oh well.
My favorite part of the day wasn't the insane drop-in with snow fencing to catch riders gone astray. It was the guy who on the 3rd or 4th lap chose to cut the course after the tape had been broken by someone else and rode straight into a giant hole filled with leaves. Karma will do that to you.
That may be the end of my 2011 CX season. There's a race in Luray this weekend but it's a 2 hour drive and with the baby that is sort of a logistical concern. Jill has been so great about letting me race this year, and really so quickly after Hudson was born. He was only 3 weeks old when I raced Kinder Kross. I realize how lucky I am to have such a supportive wife. She's always on the side of the course yelling words of encouragement and telling me where I'm at in the field. It's really awesome. The racing side of me definitely wants to race Luray. I've managed to eek out 6 upgrade pts and there's a decent chance I could get the remaining 4 I need for my 2 upgrade. The husband in me thinks I should probably count my blessings and not push it by asking my wife and baby to sit in the car for a 2 hour drive while I race for 45 minutes and turn around and drive 2 hours home.
Either way, I'm really happy with the way this season went and I'm already looking forward to next year when I've had to time work on the limiters. I'm confident I'll get my 2 upgrade and start racing for 60 minutes. It's just a matter of time.
Schooley Mill CX | Maryland | 11.13.2011
This was a pretty cool race. Upon pre-riding the course I thought it was nothing but turn, turn, turn, turn, turn and wasn't going to suit me very well, but during the race I felt like there was a lot of actual pedaling which I generally like. I started really close to the back because of my late registration. I was number 68 or something. The start went up a hill and wasn't very fast, which didn't actually lead to much opportunity to pass. I rode the first lap pretty aggressively to pick my way through the field. I continually passed guys the entire race and then on the last lap made contact with one of the better placed riders in the series. He was on a different bike than he started so me must have had a mechanical. Instead of trying to ride by him I decided to follow him to see how he cornered, since I assumed he was better at that than I am. This strategy also let a guy I had previously passed catch back on and we had a group of three in the last half of the last lap. We all came onto the pavement pretty much together and he opened it up right away. I ended up winning the uphill sprint for 12th. This was the first race I felt like I pedaled hard and sprinted out of corners for the entire 45 minutes. I was really pleased with 12th, especially considering my starting position. This also meant I'd score some series points and get a better starting position at my next Super8 race.
Bloomer Park CX | Rochester, MI | 11.20.2011
We went to Michigan for Thanksgiving and luckily there was a race in their CX series going on in the same park where Jill used to play softball as a kid. We invited all of her friends she grew up with and I couldn't believe it, but they actually came out to watch. It was awesome having a cheering section and was definitely motivating to keep the gas on.
The race had a really weird mulch pile feature. There was a dip in the middle instead of just being one pile. That dip got really rutted out and going into it on the first lap I stacked it pretty good. I was able to get my bike and get the chain back on while running out of the mulch pile, jump back on and start the chase. I lost probably 3-4 spots there.
It didn't take too long and I had moved my way up to 2nd. I chased as hard as I could but couldn't bring the guy in first back. He was their series leader and ended up beating me by about 30 seconds and I beat the guy in 3rd by about 45 seconds. Except for the mulch pile it was a really fun course and I even got heckled by strangers at the top of one of the hills. That was pretty cool too.
Capital CX | Reston, VA | 12.4.2011
I was really stoked to start on the 3rd row for once but I did not have a very good race. At least not physically. Not sure what was going on but I felt completely gassed after the first lap and just never quite felt like I was riding fast through the hard pedaling sections that I normally do pretty well through. I ended up sprinting for 11th, won the sprint, but the judges recorded me as 12th. Upon not seeing a camera I decided not to file and official protest, but probably should have. I just wasn't sure how I'd prove that I beat the guy other than saying, "I know I won that sprint." Oh well.
My favorite part of the day wasn't the insane drop-in with snow fencing to catch riders gone astray. It was the guy who on the 3rd or 4th lap chose to cut the course after the tape had been broken by someone else and rode straight into a giant hole filled with leaves. Karma will do that to you.
That may be the end of my 2011 CX season. There's a race in Luray this weekend but it's a 2 hour drive and with the baby that is sort of a logistical concern. Jill has been so great about letting me race this year, and really so quickly after Hudson was born. He was only 3 weeks old when I raced Kinder Kross. I realize how lucky I am to have such a supportive wife. She's always on the side of the course yelling words of encouragement and telling me where I'm at in the field. It's really awesome. The racing side of me definitely wants to race Luray. I've managed to eek out 6 upgrade pts and there's a decent chance I could get the remaining 4 I need for my 2 upgrade. The husband in me thinks I should probably count my blessings and not push it by asking my wife and baby to sit in the car for a 2 hour drive while I race for 45 minutes and turn around and drive 2 hours home.
Either way, I'm really happy with the way this season went and I'm already looking forward to next year when I've had to time work on the limiters. I'm confident I'll get my 2 upgrade and start racing for 60 minutes. It's just a matter of time.
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