Utah Cyclocross Race #10 (or how I puked my guts out)

I'm a little late in getting this report up, as the Utah Cyclocross Race # 10 was a couple of weeks ago. When it came around and I was ready for it. I was back for some redemption in at the Equestrian Park in Draper UT. Last time I was here was the last race of the season in 2008 and I flatted out after the first lap. I took a few laps around and got warmed up.

Josh and I managed to get near the front of the line-up so we didn't have that huge delay waiting for everyone to get going. It turns out it didn't matter much because I was quickly passed on the long uphill paved section that starts and ends the race. I stayed around mid-pack through the first little bit, got bogged down when Josh's wheel washed out in the sandy corral we rode through. The race organizers really wanted to make us work for this one. Normally in a race through sand the course will go strait through so you can do your best to carry speed and power through. Not in this race. We had about 5 cones to go around and if you tried to go to fast down you went. So, through each lap I just spun up a high cadence and made my way through as best I could. Except for that first lap I think I only bungled one corner through the rest of the race. Right after the energy sucking sandy corral was a fairly steep uphill. It was rideable, but I didn't have more than a gear or two in reserve and I wasn't exactly fast up it. Thankfully there was a fast, paved, downhill section next. Across a flat gravely section then you drop into some singletrack. I learned on the warm-up lap to be careful because just as you round the first corner there was ice lying in wait to take down those that were not paying attention. I managed to keep some pretty good speed while staying upright through that section. After a brief bit of gravel road there was a mellow singletrack uphill with more ice. Once you made it through the ice there is a pretty steep run-up with barriers. I noticed that one side of the barriers was about 2ft tall and the other more like 12"-18", I stuck with the shorter side.

At this point in the course I always had a little sigh of relief, most of the work was done for the lap with most of the course on a pretty fun downhill stretch. At one point there is a large rock that had been used by mountain bikers as a jump, I very nearly took advantage of the fun on each lap, but I knew that if I did I'd probably get a pinch flat and be out for the rest of the race. There was a quick running barrier section in a baseball field then down the steep drop to the paved road where we began.

It wasn't until after the race that I fully understood the pain and exhaustion I felt each time I rode this climb. The road is such that as you get to the top of the climb it just doesn't get any easier and the relief I so desperately needed wasn't there. The burning lungs and legs didn't stop and I almost seemed to go backwards. After my race as I was cheering on the next group of racers I looked at that road and realized that what looked flat in the race, wasn't flat at all, it was one of the dreaded power sucking false flats that gets in your head and makes you want to die.

I managed to start passing a few people on the last lap, but there was one guy I just couldn't shake, Aaron. I grew to know his name very well during that last lap because everywhere, and I mean everywhere, the course went there were people cheering for him. Oh how I hated that Aaron and his supportive friends and family. I decided to get away from the taunting cheers for Aaron and put on the gas, what little I had left. I slowly moved away from him as I made an effort to really put it down in the hard sections, hoping he'd back off. I dropped down to that dreaded last climb, intent on putting some distance between Aaron and I. I rode as hard as I could, which wasn't much at this point. About halfway up I realized that he was a ways back and wouldn't catch me, even still the finish line and announcers were coming up and I didn't want to soft-pedal through the line so I kept up the effort and managed a 29th place finish.

I stopped to chat with a few guys just past the finish line then made my way to the truck where I emptied the contents of my stomach in the parking lot. I hadn't realized that I had worked so hard, but as Josh pointed out, at least I knew I gave it my all. Since I couldn't race the last race of the year the next weekend I was happy that I put in everything I had to finish out the season. One last, for fun, race Jan. 2 and Cyclocross will be a sad and distant memory until next October. I'm hoping to convince team Clammy Chamois to do the Cult 'Cross race in the spring: http://cultcross2008.blogspot.com/

It Had To Happen

DNF, the three letters that no-racer wants to see or utter. Utah Cyclocross race # 8, and my first race in Heber, ended a little quicker than I anticipated. Problems from the very start. First, in trying to get my rear tire inflated I found that I had put in a tube with a very short valve stem, after hunting around for a pump that would work I eventually borrowed a valve extender from perennial 'crosser and beardsmith Bob Walker, who was nice enough to let me borrow the valve extender 3 more times and offered use of any of his tools. Nice guy! I finally got the tire inflated and set out to pre-ride the course. It's both a fun course and irritating course. There are some fun, fast sections with opportunities for those with great cornering skills, and some slooowww grass sections. Although the run-up was kind of steep I thought it was kind of fun, especially the fast 180 degree downhill at the top.

After a single warm-up lap my rear tire was totally flat. Head for the car, get the spare tire, also with sealant, installed and pumped up. One more warm-up lap and found the rear tire was low, found the goathead, re-inflated the tire and headed to the start line. I was in the back of the pack, I hate starting at the back. I checked the pressure on my rear tire to find it quite low again, but ride-able. I knew with the number of thorns out there that I wasn't going to hold enough pressure to last the entire race, so I decided to just go as fast as I could for as long as I could and not hold anything back. The race started and I took off flying past about half the group, made it through the slight bottleneck at the first turn and made up some more time. I was having a lot of fun, all the while I could feel my tire losing more air and getting more squirmy in the corners. I started to baby it a bit, not wanting to pull the tire off the rim.

I got through one lap and had to pull off, but it was a fun lap. Went back to the car and grabbed my cowbell. I found a good spot on the run-up where I could both encourage and heckle my teammates. Things were looking good, Pat was in the lead with Clay in 3rd or 4th, and both of them looking strong. Josh, Brad and Kerry came around looking pretty fresh. I heckled the couple of people that pushed their bike around the 2nd barrier on run-up. After a couple of laps I saw Clay come through wondered if I had missed Pat. Moments later I saw Pat heading for the pits, he had a flat rear tire. I watched from the top of the hill as he furiously pumped up his tire, the he kept pumping, and pumping. He couldn't ever get his tire to seal up so he was out. On the 2nd to last lap, Clay came around in 2nd and took 1st at the top of the run-up. He was looking pretty determined. I guess the 1st place and 3rd place both had mechanicals so he took advantage and put it to them. He came through the finish line with a 5 or 10 second gap on 2nd place. AWESOME! Team Clammy Chamois has a state camp.

I'm not sure where the rest of the team ended up, since I didn't finish I didn't bother looking at the results. Everyone had fun and Josh cooked up some killer brats to enjoy. Kerry brought out the generator and hot chocolate maker to keep us warm as the wind kicked up and it got cold. Though there wasn't any mud, and I only raced one lap, it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Thoughts of Cyclocross Make Me Happy...and tired

This just in...I'm tired. I haven't been in bed before 11 pm once in the last two weeks. Additionally I haven't touched my bike since I parked it in the basement after the last 'cross race two weeks ago. I'm looking forward to the race on Saturday, but I know I'm going to hate myself somewhere around lap 3, when my legs decide they're done and the pain in my back decides it's time to crank it up to 11. I'm determined to hit the sack early, after I enjoy The Office tonight. Hopefully a decent night's sleep tonight and tomorrow will help the situation.

The weather is supposed to be cold, with some possible snow. We'll see. I'd love some mud, which the 'cross races have been fairly devoid of so far this year. Even still, thinking about racing makes me tired. Team Clammy Chamois needs to make it's presence known with some decent results from the middle and bottom of the team so I'm going to pull out all the stops and go for a top 30 placing.

Utah Cyclocross Race #7 and Introducing Team Clammy Chamois

I was reminded by the blog of my new team captain Josh, that I hadn't yet mentioned that I've joined team Clammy Chamois. One may wonder why someone would join a team named "Clammy Chamois." I think it's the perfect name for a cyclocross team. 'Cross is sort of a non-conformist, rebel sport. Clearly, with a name like Clammy Chamois we're embracing the non-conformist side of the sport and it makes people, like the triathletes at SBR, grimace and say "ewww" when they hear the name. We are a non-shop or sponsor affiliated team. We just want to race, grill up some brats and shoot the breeze. Currently we're 13th of 25 teams in the Utah Cyclocross Series, thanks mostly to Clay and Pat, but Josh, Kerry, Brad and myself do a decent enough job of adding in some finisher points to make a strong finish. We've got one other team member, Riley, whom I have not yet met. So far things are great. It means we all have a group to hang out with after the race and tell stories about the various racers that either plagued us or pushed us to ride just a little bit faster. We're all over the board with results. Clay and Pat continually finish in the top 10, usually the top 5 or 6. Josh and myself are around mid pack or so. Kerry pulls up the rear, though I'm pretty sure that's because he's masochistic and rides a singlespeed. I don't think I could even finish the race on a singlespeed. The team aspect has made racing cyclocross that much funner. I even found out that Josh, like myself, is a fan of Irish and Scottish punk; Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphy's, Real McKenzies, etc.

Last year 4 of my 6 races were at Wheeler Farm, with the other 2 in Draper. Race #6, my 4th race of the year was at the Weber fairgrounds, that makes 3 of 4 races in the same place. There are aspects of Weber that make it fun. There aren't any tough hills and you can really rail through the corners with tons of traction. The downer is that it's totally non-technical and I just don't have the fitness to keep up with a lot of guys on all of the flat sections. It was a fairly un-eventful race. I learned that I could hop the single log barrier instead of dismounting. To clarify, I can hop the log the first couple of laps, the last 2 or 3 I have just enough energy to get my front wheel over and un-weigh the rear wheel enough to get it to roll over the log. Either way it saves me from that lung searing run between the logs.

I was doing ok, keeping within a couple spots of Josh for most of the race when I dropped my chain shifting to the big ring on a section of sidewalk. I lost about 4 spots and never could get back up to where I was. I think I managed to make up 2 of those spots but just didn't have enough left in the tank to pull out much in the end. No one was around me at the finish so no spectacular sprint this week, though I did feel pretty close to puking after I came to a stop.

Next race, after a week off is at the Heber Fairgrounds, my first time racing there. We'll see how it goes.

Mud and guts on 3

Utah Cyclocross Race #5

Check out my write up of Halloween-cross Race # 5 on the the Cyclocross Magazine Forum http://cowbell.cxmagazine.com/forum/topics/race-report-contest-3

Mud and Guts

I didn't race in this week's UTCX race in Heber, I figured my brother's wedding was more important. The other day we received quite a bit of rain and I was thinking about mud and 'cross and those images of cranking up muddy hills and through messy corners came to mind. I realized that in a perfect world of Cyclocross it all comes down to mud and guts. Mud we hope for and guts we work for. I watch the weather report each week to see if the rain gods will bless the Utah Cylocross race with mud that week, so far nothing, but I'm still watching and hoping. Mud just seems to suit the essence of 'cross so well. It's a tough 45-60 minute endurance fest where some of the race you're racing and some of it, at least if you're me, you're trying to make it to the end. Mud just ups the ante. It makes everything that much more difficult, cornering takes more skill, up hills can go from an easy ride to a difficult run. Downhills can go from being a way to get more to speed to just trying to stay upright without going down and taking other riders with you. When you get done your back, face and legs are all covered in mud. Inevitably I have mud spattered teeth, that I only realize when I run my tongue over my gritty teeth to re-moisten my mouth after sucking air for 45 min.

Guts. You have two kinds of guts, one I have the other I do not. I have guts when it comes to taking technical terrain at a high velocity. Either I'm not that scared of crashing or I feel my skills are up to snuff enough that I won't crash. In the heat of the moment I'm not sure which it is, but it doesn't matter. The kind of guts I wish I had are the guts of a champion. The determination to go out and push so hard you're going to puke at any moment because you just have to win. I like to win, I really enjoy winning but when I'm honest with myself, I don't have to win. I mostly enjoy sports because I get to get out and have some fun and competition. This lack of guts plays out mostly in training. In a race I'll give everything I have, that's why I'm there. I'll fight for every last spot I can. Training is a different story. Most of the time if I'm able to convince myself to at least get on the trainer for some intervals I'll get it done. Sometimes that desire is so low that I'll get on the bike, do a half effort, realize it's not in me and I'm done. My wife has the guts of a champion. She will get in a push on every training workout, and she does a lot of workouts. She's like Lance Armstrong if he was a mother of 3 kids and not sponsored by Nike and Trek. I'm working on my guts and I'm hoping for some mud so lets get out there and ride some 'cross. Alright team, Mud and Guts on 3...

Utah Cyclocross Race #2 Done

The heater in my car is on the fritz and with a 1:15 drive ahead of me and a 45f temperature I was less than thrilled. I watched as the temp readout on my dash slowly dropped until it bottomed at 38f...great. I may have been cold but at least I knew the way to the super secret Weber County Fairgrounds race venue this time. I managed to remember my trainer this time too so things were looking ok. I got out, signed my waiver then hopped back in the car to get a little warmer, it was pretty cold and I was signed up for a bike race, sometimes I really question my sanity and this was one of those times.

It was at this point that I realized that I really needed to use the bathroom. I had done a good job of getting hydrated on the drive to Ogden but now I had a VERY full bladder. I hopped on my bike to ride the quarter mile to the nearest bathroom, or at least the only bathroom I knew about. They probably have another bathroom, it's just kept a secret until you happen to stumble upon it. After the short ride to the bathroom my hands and legs were freezing. I was still wearing warm-up pants and my thick gloves, things were not looking good. I got back to my car hopped in to get warm again, decided I just didn't have it in me to get out in the cold on the trainer and opted instead to do some warm-up laps on the course. I started riding and eventually realized that the course was being run in reverse to the week before. No problem, except I still got turned around. Hey UTCX guys, please invest in some more course tape. I manage to get the turns right when I'm with the pack in the beginning of the race when my head is still in the game. By the 4th lap though, my head is as foggy as San Francisco bay, you need to make the course a little more clear. Over the final two laps I managed to lose 5 places from making incorrect turns and doubling back the right way.

I finished my warm up laps and got to the start line. While waiting to start I realized that my front tire had lost a lot of air and was now at around 25 psi. Luckily there are no rocks or roots on this course so there wasn't much chance of getting a pinch flat. The course was even faster than last week with no rain this week and everything being compacted from last weeks races. The extra low air pressure in my front tire really helped hold me in the fast corners, which saved some energy that I didn't have to scrub off with the brakes. People must have realized that it was faster to run between the log barriers because instead of being the only one running this time, about half of the racers carried or pushed their bikes instead of remounting between the barriers. Cold temps and poor course marking aside I'm actually pretty pleased with the race I rode. Normally I'm racing myself the last two laps. Everyone is so strung out around the course that the back half of the pack us just trying to finish the race. This time I managed to chase down four or five people in the last couple laps. I also managed my best finish yet, 25th of 45 finishers. Not much to speak of but I felt pretty good about it and had I managed to ride the course correctly I would have been closer to 20th.

Utah Cyclocross Race #1

Race number one is done. The first race of the year is always interesting. First and foremost you get a quick lesson in "You didn't do enough training." I race the C class, the (s)lowest of the classes so we get a lot of new riders coming from other disciplines, Roadies and Mountain Bikers. All are welcome. Inevitably there are some riders that should really be racing the B or A classes.

I have to say thanks to the Utah Cyclocross organizers for the super secret race venue. They listed the address but failed to mention that you had to take secret roads and drive on the horse race track to get to the venue. As such I had all of 15 minutes to warm up. I was feeling pretty good and loose so I lined up at the front, I usually line up near the rear so as to not get in anyone's way. I looked at the guy next to me, in a pro looking kit. He was riding a Time full carbon, with integrated seat mast bike, complete with carbon wheels and tubular tires. I was this close to telling him that was an awfully nice bike to be racing C's, but I wasn't sure how he'd take the sandbagger insinuation.

After a few minutes of waiting around the got the high sign to go, I got a pretty good start and was in 4th, though quickly slipped to 8th. We climbed the slight hill and dropped around the corner where we started the only real hill, which wasn't much of a hill. About half way through the first lap riders came piling past me like I was standing still. I figured I was at about mid-pack by now, par for the course for me. I also realized at that point that I had probably started off a bit too hot because I was breathing really heavily. I was able to make up time on a couple of riders by running between the set of logs that were placed as barriers about 40 yards apart. It was just long enough apart that most riders opted to remount and ride the distance. I found I was faster running it. After the third lap I really wished I had worked on my running at least a little bit this year. Once I remounted my bike and started riding my heart hurt so bad I actually wondered for a moment if I was having a heart attack. It felt as if a breakfast sausage link was jammed right into an aorta. It was at about this point that the first old guy (55+ masters) passed me. They race along with us, but we're not scored with them. I didn't feel too bad, I've seen this guy race and he's pretty fast.

At about 4 laps of 5 I'm really starting to hurt. My back is aching pretty badly and I no longer have to brake for corners because I've barely got any speed. The momentum I did have I certainly didn't want to scrub off with the brakes. My corners started getting really wide and sloppy. Then, a 2nd old guy passed me. I made a brief attempt at catching up with him but he had apparently conserved some energy and I didn't have a chance. As I came through with one lap to go I heard the announcer say that the only girl in the race was right behind me my first though was why is there is a girl in the men's race? My second thought was, I have to at least beat the girl. I don't normally care if I get beat by the fairer sex. I'm pretty sure my wife could take me most of the time.

I got to that hill that didn't seem like much the first couple of laps, at this point it was monumental and nearly killed me. On the ride down the other side I started to feel a little better, a little pep was creeping into my system. I put some time on the girl, and was making up a little on the old guy. I knew I was out of my mind when I watched the old guy go down in a corner full of soft dirt and instead of wondering if he was alright I decided to get past him and at put some distance between us. On a side note, I could tell he was ok, the dirt was soft and it was a slow corner. I blazed through the rest of the lap, blazed may not be accurate but it was faster than I had been going. I ran between the logs, felt my heart nearly explode for the last time and made it through the finish line. I didn't get lapped and I actually beat a few people, though I'm sure those people were probably missing limbs.

I do want to mention that although I gave them some slag at the beginning of this post, the organizers of the Utah Cyclocross Series really do a great job. The venues are always well chosen and we don't have to do entire races on just a big field of grass like they have back east. Registration is run well and people seem to have a great time. Good job guys!

Cyclocross and Interbike

I didn't see and do all things cyclocross at Interbike. I used the opportunity to explore some other cycling disciplines. I rode some time trial bikes, road bikes, cross bikes, mountain bikes, but no unicycles (there were some to sample). Cyclocross Magazine has some great shots and write ups of many of the cyclocross offerings to be had there www.cxmagazine.com. Here are my impressions of the various cyclocross bikes I rode, starting from worst and going to first.

Salsa - Chili Con Crosso: A big disappointment here. I've loved this bike for a year or so and would have bought the frame if I had $900 to spend on a frame and fork. I'm really glad I didn't now. The bike felt really heavy and sluggish. Sadly I don't remember the specs other than I liked the Salsa Bell Lap handlebar. It was wide and the drops were flared which should help when navigating tricky spots while in the drops.

Van Dessel - Gin and Trombones: Not too bad, but nothing really standout on this bike. This is another bike I considered buying at one point. It had good reviews but having the chance at Interbike to ride a lot of bikes back to back really showed the differences. This bike, like all of the others I test rode had TRP Eurox cantilever brakes. I became a big fan of them, but that's not hard considering I hate my Avid Shorty 4 brakes.

Felt- F15X: This was the biggest surprise for me. I've always considered Felt to be a decent brand but nothing to get excited about. This frame was aluminum like the others. This one had been spec'd with SRAM Red. The bike felt light and responsive. It was fun to ride and my only complaint was a fairly severe fork shudder. I'm not sure if this is due to the Easton EC70 carbon fork or if the headset needed to be tightened up a bit. Either way it was distracting and irritating. I would definitely recommend this bike as a good budget buy. Felt has 3 'cross bikes and the frames appear to all be the same, just different builds; wheels, components, etc. Get it with the SRAM Rival build and you'll be looking at about $1500 for a great bike.

Stevens - Carbon Cross: Not sure if this is the actual name of the bike/frame, but most of their literature is in German so it was the best I could come up with. I had read a good review of this bike in Cyclocross Magazine a few months ago but since it was carbon and had fairly road bike like geometry I didn't think it would be a bike I'd like to ride or could afford anyway. I immediately loved this bike. First off I found I liked the new Shimano Ultegra 6700 better than my 6600, who knew a year could make that much difference. I believe the bike had Fulcrum 5 wheels, a decent choice. The TRP Eurox magnesium brakes were great. The Michelin Mud 2 tires did great in the loose stuff. The bike just felt great both on and off road. It struck me as a bike I could easily throw slicks on and use for longer road rides. This bike was so great it converted my triathlon buddy and now he wants to do some 'cross races.

Aside from the fun of getting ride a bunch of different bikes at Interbike was the chance to try out all of the component groups. I was able to use: SRAM Red, Force, and Rival, Shimano Ultegra 6700, Dura-Ace, Dura-ace Di2 (Electronic shifting) on a time trial bike, and Campagnolo Super Record. The Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 shifting was beyond incredible. I would have never thought I could get that much pleasure from shifting. It would even shift up to the big ring while putting some decent power to the pedals, no hesitation, no chain lock up, just quick, precise shifting. SRAM Red was my next favorite, though I suspect I'll go with Force on my next bike. The shifting is just as precise, it's just not quite as light as Red. Plus, the group looks great!

Some non cyclocross tidbits: I rode a Moots titanium 29er hardtail and loved it. It handled corners great and mellowed out a lot of the trail chatter bumps and rocks. I was able to ride a Ellsworth Moment for about 1/2 mile before my companion got a flat and we hiked back out to catch the shuttle truck. It was a great bike, the 6" felt like much more as it swallowed up BIG rocks and bumps. I also rode the Look 985 road bike. I was the first to ride the 58 cm size so they cut the integrated seat mast to fit me. I was cool seeing an expensive road bike made to fit me, even if I was only going to ride it for 30 min. I also rode the Argon E-114 time trial bike with Shimano Di2 push button shifting. I'm still not sure if I loved the bike because of the bike or the component group, either way it was fun. It's amazing how much faster you can go on a TT bike compared to a road bike. It's not as comfortable to ride but it sure is fast.

I heart Interbike

I got a surprise invite to Interbike, the national bike show in Las Vegas, earlier this week. I'll talk about it more a bit later but suffice it to say, I'm suffering from a serious case of bike lust. I managed to get the triathlete that I went with to ride quite a few 'cross bikes and I think I converted him. All I have to say is get your hands on the Stevens carbon 'cross bike. It's awesome! I rode about 4 different 'cross bikes and the Stevens was the only one I really liked. The Felt F15X was pretty good but the Easton EC70X fork had a lot of chatter. All of the bikes I rode had TRP brakes in one form or another on the bikes, the Stevens spec'd the magnesium for some extra bling.

I wish I had taken the time to demo the new Ellsworth Roots cyclocross bike. I found out just a little too late that Andrew Yee, the editor of Cyclocross Magazine, was included on the design of the new bike. He was in good form riding the new bike during the wheelers and dealers race at 'Cross Vegas. Andrew also let me know that the article that I wrote for the magazine on having a successful first race will be in the new issue. So, if you are a subscriber take a look. If you don't subscribe, repent, get a subscription and immerse yourself in cyclocross goodness.

Cyclocross Bikes - Making Me Feel Like a Kid Again

I love riding my cyclocross bike! It sees a lot of road riding with road tires but once I have the 'cross tires on and I'm riding around, whether it's on a trail, in the park or just bombing around the neighborhood I can't seem to wipe the goofy smile from my face. I'm not exactly sure what it is. I ride my bikes a lot and I get close with mountain biking, but I usually push the speed envelope enough that I'm almost as scared as I am having fun. I like the thrill of going fast through the mountains but I know, and have the scars to prove it, that the thrill of speed can end up as the pain of defeat really fast. My wife has just shakes her head now when I show her the bloody wound as the answer to her question of how my ride went.

I think what makes me so happy when I ride my 'cross bike is I feel like a kid again. I grew up in a small farming town and had a choice between fishing for carp and catfish in the slow moving Bear River or riding my freestyle BMX bike around. I saved up my paper route money and bought a blue GT Vertigo freestyle bike. It was the nicest bike in the town and I loved it. All summer my friends and I would roll around town. We'd do sessions at the small dirt jump park we'd built near the river or ride over to the church to use the parking lot for flatland type tricks. We just had a lot of fun goofing off or working on mastering the latest trick. Riding a 'cross bike makes those feelings come back. Just the freedom to ride wherever I want. It's not a heavy or cumbersome bike so I'm not limited to trail riding like my full suspension mountain bike. The larger somewhat knobby tires are much more durable than the road tires I have around so I can hop curbs, ride through parks, do some trail riding, and just go do whatever I want.

I think we've all felt this way about bikes. It's the first real taste of freedom that we got as children. Until then we could walk or run but you couldn't get too far that way and it wasn't fast or very much fun, at least on 5 year old legs. Once you learn to ride that bike, the world opens up, or at least as much as your mom will allow. I still remember finally getting to ride around the block with my friends; I could go fast and jump off of the curbs on my yellow Huffy. This is exactly what bikes were meant for. I still feel that enthusiasm whenever I'm on my cyclocross bike. I feel like I'm not tied down by anything. I'll admit to not following proper cycling protocol. I dart around the road, hop off curbs, blast past the ladies walking in the park, and get odd looks from the mountain bikers when I ride past them on the trails.

Cyclocross is a somewhat old cycling sport, around 100 years old. There is a healthy ongoing discussion about whether or not to allow some modernization. Some of the charm of cyclocross is the antiquated technology used; drop bars, cantilever brakes, narrow tires. The honest truth is that even if some changes were made to allow flat bars, disc brakes and wider tires, 'cross races probably would keep using what they've been using. The historical equipment used has not only been refined but it's lighter and one thing I know cyclocross races don't want is an extra pound of bike to throw up on their shoulder for a steep run-up. When I first started learning about cyclocross I considered these restrictions sort of backward, every other cycling discipline take advantage of new technology. I've since changed my mind. I like that there is, to some degree, a limitation placed on 'cross bikes. Sort of like the various classes of auto racing. There are racing classes that require a car to remain mostly stock. This keeps everyone on the same page and you just accept the challenge to work within the limitations and even have fun with them.

In the local Utah Cyclocross Series you can ride whatever you want, standard 'cross bike, a unicycle, a full suspension mountain bike, whatever. Although there are no limitations I still see most people riding 'cross bikes with standard equipment. Again, I don't know if that's based on a 'cross bike with narrow tires actually being faster than a mountain bike on our single-track heavy courses, or if it's tied to what 'cross should be, but that's what most people seem to like about the sport. You'll see a lot of mountain bikes in the C-class division, a few in the B's but none in the A class. So either they're fully committed to 'cross culture or they know what is indeed the fastest bike to ride. Either way I'm going to stick with my 'cross bike the way it is, even if it does squeal like a school girl every time I tug the brakes.

25 days, 19 hours and five minutes...

I looked forward to the cyclocross season last year but it didn't eat at me like this year. Maybe it's because I have my own 'cross rig to ride this year, maybe it's because I feel like I have a tad more fitness this year, but it probably has to do with DNFing my last real race of 2008. The race was at the equestrian center in Draper UT, the site of my first race that year, where I was lapped right at the line and had to stop, though as I mentioned before it was a bit of a relief to cut my race short one lap. Cut to that last race, or at least the last one that counted before the snow-covered just-for-fun race, I was feeling good, I was riding well. I was actually passing people on downhill and uphill sections. Then just as I was about to start lap 2 I realized my rear tire was flat. I didn't have a spare wheel and there really isn't time to patch a tire in a 40 minute race so I walked up the hill put my bike down and cheered on the rest of the racers.

I'm determined not to DNF this time around, I haven't worked out as much as I should have but still feel pretty good about things. I plan on getting whooped in the first race when the first time 'crossers show up from their full season of mountain or road cycling and realize after one race that they should probably upgrade and race the B's instead of us lowly C classers.

When you're coming up on the start of a new race season you start to plan things out. The things that need to be replaced, the new parts you need to buy, mentally going through the races to get yourself psyched up for it. Apparently the gents that run the Utah Cyclocross series are busier than I am, have other things on their mind or haven't finalized details because they have the dates for the races but no venues listed. It's going to drive me mad! No disrespect intended, they're not under any obligation to list any details, but it would sure help out my mental state. After an exhaustive research I've determined the tires I want to buy, anyone not familiar with cycling, and especially cyclocross has no idea the great amount of time spent in determining the right tires to buy. Panaracer Cinder-X 35 tires are my choice for this year. This means exactly nothing to my wife or anyone else I know but it's one area I know I'll have dialed in for the season.

The thing about both cyclocross and Utah is you never know what the weather is going to throw at you. It's probably because cyclocross season is in the Fall and anyone who's spent a couple of years in Utah knows you could have a drought in October or you could have a blizzard. I spent my that my fair share of childhood Halloweens with a coat over my plastic Darth Vader costume. There were also those year when it seemed downright balmy as I walked around collecting candy and getting scowled at by people who thought 15 too old to be trick-or-treating. What this means for race day preparation is I have to make sure all of my clothing options are available to grab Saturday morning: wool socks, thermal base layer, tights, shorts, gloves, cycling socks, short sleeve jersey, rain gear, skull hat, wool hat, etc. It can be maddening.

In case it hasn't become apparent in previous posts, I, and most of my fellow 'crossers, actually hope for bad weather. The crappier the weather, the better it is for cyclocross. If you have a dry fast course you can usually just hand the first place prize to a roadie. You can make your way through the course without much in the way of bike handling skills and it comes down to pure fitness, which I have none of. When mother nature decides to deliver a nice rain storm it turns into anyone's race. Muddy corners can take down the best of them, I know they sure tried

last year. Rocks and roots get slippery, hills get twice as hard to run up and brakes, tires and derailleurs get all gunked up with

mud. It's beautiful. Belgium is the home of cyclocross, I don't know why. I also don't know why Hungary loves water polo, it's like watching a very foggy soccer match in which you can't see anything that's going on. Every country seems to have it's own favorite sport. What I'm getting at is, from my understanding, Belgium has a lot of rain and it just seems like cyclocross races should be muddy and tricky with even the pros ending up on their faces now and then.

Looks like we're down to 25 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes, and the Utah Cyclocross guys still haven't posted the venues for the season...

Why You Should Try Cyclocross

The thing about hobbies is everyone thinks theirs is the best, but they don't necessarily want everyone to do it too. Some people like their hobby to be exclusionary, for them to be special in the eyes of their friends and acquaintances. Cyclocross is not one of those hobbies. I don't know anyone that races cyclocross that doesn't want everyone to join in. The more the merrier. It's not just a race, it's more like a bike festival. Everyone is out with their cowbells, friends, kids, dogs, what-have-you, and this happens every weekend for 3 months. Even if the weather is bad and everyone gets covered in mud, you just know that the racing is going to be that much more epic. How great is that!

There are a lot of options out there for amateur athletes who still want to have fun and recreate past high school and college: triathlons, masters swim meets, 5k's, marathons, softball and soccer leagues, road races, mountain bike raced, crits, etc. In every one of these there are 3 basic groups of people that participate.

The pseudo pro: This is the guy(or gal) who just knows they could go pro if they had the time or money or got noticed. They spend every waking minute training or planning their diet to maximize their chances of winning the upcoming race or game. They get really upset if things don't work out, their bike gets a flat, someone crashes and blocks them on the trail, a teammate commits a fatal error, whatever. This guy then flies into a rage because his world has just crashed into tiny pieces and he can't be the one to win the amateur competition that day.

The weekend warrior: This gal/guy is fairly balanced. They train during the week, eat reasonably well and look forward to the race or game, but their week isn't ruined if something derails their training or they lose the game. They're competitive but do it as much for the fun as the they do for the competitive push they get.

The fun guy: This person might run a couple of times before a 5k, just to make sure he doesn't completely die, but also stays up late the night before eating burritos and watching the "Back To The Future" marathon on tv. He just wants to have fun with his friends.

Cyclocross has all of these, except the really fast guys don't seem to get all hopped up when something crappy happens, everyone seems happy to help everyone else. I've had a number of great get-to-know-you conversations waiting at the start line. Cyclocross is the fastest growing segment of cycling for a reason, it's just plain fun. People are friendly and it gives you something to look forward to after the Summer ends. This might be an odd outlook on a sport often referred to "An hour long sufferfest" or "The most painful hour in cycling," but it's true. I am addicted to it.

Every week I experience the same pattern. I wake up Monday thinking about the race on Saturday, get in some intervals on the trainer in my basement while watching a video, usually a comedy to keep my mind off the monotony that accompanies riding a bike that goes nowhere in the basement. Same sort of thing through Thursday. Friday comes and I'm really starting to get psyched for the race. I make sure I get some carbs, get the bike all ready, check the weather report and get the appropriate clothes together. Saturday comes and I can hardly contain

myself. I get to the race venue, register, warm up, get on the line with a big grin on my face. The race starts, I enjoy taking the downhill stuff fast, keep the pace on the climbs, then about half-way through when my lungs and legs are burning and my back is killing me I start to wonder why in the world I looked forward to this. I'm not enjoying myself, my fingers are freezing and I've over filled the terry cloth part of my glove with snot. I somehow make it past that one kid that races with the adults, "At least I passed the kid," I think. I make a last hard push to the line to come in 39th place out of 52 riders. I'm done and an hour later I can't wait to race the next Saturday. Maybe I'm sadistic, I don't think so because I genuinely dislike pain. So what is it? It might be the camaraderie, it might be the experience of pushing myself, it might be the smell of embrocation, maybe it's the muddy grins from the racers that just finished their race. Whatever it is, I love it!

Cyclocross huh?

“…cyclocross huh, Utah has enough things to do, you don't have to make things up.” This is what my brother-in-law said when I told him about cyclocross. You see, my wife and I are pretty active people and can be pretty random in what we do and say. My wife had been a bobsled pilot for America Samoa at one point and we tend to choose interesting paths to walk, so it may appear to some people that we’re somewhat strange in the careers and activities we choose to do.

After I had convinced my brother-in-law that I had not created some new, overly-difficult, sport, but had actually joined up with a sport that had a 100 year history, he seemed somewhat interested. He’s not really one to question someone’s choices as he spent a few years of his life following the Grateful Dead and Phish around the country. I get odd looks in the Fall and Winter whenever someone asks me what I’m doing that weekend and I tell them I’m riding in a bike race. I get an even stranger look when I have to explain to them exactly what cyclocross is.

I’m not exactly sure what made me want to start racing cyclocross or even how I first learned about it. I’m a curious person by nature, Google and I are best friends because anything I think of or hear about I check on Google and catalogue in my brain. I’ve been mountain biking for a number of years and a few years ago I realized I kept reading references to cyclocross and I always assumed it was some type of mountain bike race, probably because I read about it on MTB websites or magazines. At some point I realized that I should probably find out what this “cyclocross” was since I kept reading references to it and didn’t want to be left in the dark. What I read amazed me. This sounded like the oddest sport in the world. At first I thought it sounded pretty stupid. For one thing it was done on what appeared to be modified road bikes. I’m an admitted adrenaline junky so endurance sports don’t really interest me.

Road cycling just looked tedious and boring. Riding a road bike off road seemed like using the wrong tool for the job, like using a hack saw to cut down a tree, yeah you can do it, but there are much better ways to get the job done. But, being the curious person I was I kept reading and learning. I watched some YouTube videos and

looked at some pictures and before I knew it I was greatly intrigued. There happened to be one more race left in the Utah Cyclocross series that year and so I informed my wife that I’d be driving to Ogden to watch the race that Saturday. Being a triathlete and a cyclist she thought it sounded fun so she sent me on my way. I got to the race course which was covered by 6 inches of fresh snow and proceeded to watch a group of guys gut it out for 45 minutes through snow that quickly turned to thick mud. When they got done they all had a thick coat of mud on their faces. This cyclocross stuff looked really hard but I knew I just had to try it the next year.

Several years later and my wife, I’m sure, gets sick of hearing me talk nonstop about ‘cross. Luckily for me, we have a compromise, of sorts, worked out. She gets most of the rest of the year for her sports. Most of Winter is spent snowshoeing and triathlon base training, Spring is triathlon base training and races, and Summer is Triathlon races. Fall is all mine… at least for now, until she learns how awesome cyclocross is and wants to do it herself.

Embrocation - The Burn, The Love

No one will dispute that cyclocross is a unique sport. It's a cycling sport that has cyclists riding road bikes off road and if that's not enough you've got to periodically get off your bike to jump over barriers and run up hills that are too steep to ride. Outside of Triathlon, it's the only cycling sport that requires some running.

Another aspect of cyclocross that is relatively unique is embrocation. Sure, it gets used by roadies when the weather turns cold but how long into Fall do they ride anyway? Embrocation is almost celebrated in cyclocross. You're standing at the start line and you smell the pungent smell, spicy, aromatic, and you see the shaved legs glistening in the morning sun. It's great to be alive. The sight and smell of embrocation often has a place in a new racers description of their first races.

Embrocation is usually an oil, though sometimes a lotion, that delivers, among other herbs, capsaicin to the skin. Capsaicin is the chemical in hot peppers that makes them spicy. The same feeling you get on your tongue is now on your legs and it feels great. At least it feels great until you get home for your after race shower and forget to clean it off before the hot water amplifies the heat on your legs to a scorching level.

A lot of cyclists, including mountain bikers, roadies, 'crossers, triathletes, etc, like shaving their legs. Along with providing a real, or perceived, increase in speed and performance they also like that it shows off their well toned legs and makes them feel strong. I am not one of those people. I reluctantly shave my legs several days before the first 'cross race and then each Thursday thereafter so that they're ready for embrocation on Saturday.

Trust me you don't want to shave on Friday night or Saturday morning then rub embrocation into unseen nicks and cuts, owwwww! After shaving, my legs feel exposed, cold and weird. I really only do it so that the embrocation doesn't turn into a big goopy mess, clinging to my leg hairs.

There are a couple of embrocation products I use. For mellow fall rides I use a lotion type that doesn't have much capsaicin and just sort of wakes up my legs. But, for 'cross races in the cold and rain nothing beats the Mad Alchemy - Medium, except maybe the Hot, but the Medium gets so hot just driving in the car I'm scared to try the Hot. I go in the bathroom for the manly ritual of rubbing spicy oil onto my shaved legs about half an hour before I leave for the race. It seems to add an exclamation point to the excitement of the day. Sort of like, the chill in the air on a Fall day at a football game...or a cyclocross race.

I'm often a little worried about how hot my legs get in the car and try to aim the heater vents at my body core instead of my legs, but once I'm in the middle of a cold and rainy, or snowy, race I'm quite happy my legs have their protective, warm, oily coating. Rain, mud, snow, would all start to sap energy from my legs and make me cold otherwise but with the embrocation on it all just beads up and slides off, preparing the way for a solid mid-pack, C class finish.

Fall Is Where It's At

Fall has become my favorite time of year. I used to be a huge fan of summer. It had everything that was good and lacked some of the bad things, namely school. It was three blissful months of fishing on the river, riding my bikes off of dirt jumps with my friends and watching taped episodes of Saturday Night Live, the good years, with Mike Meyers, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and co.

I held to my love of summer idea well into my adult years, then I realized one day that summer didn’t give me much benefit beyond extra daylight, I still had to work all day, so I decided to consider other seasons. I’d always been fond of Spring as it signaled the end of Winter. It's been forever since I had time and money for skiing so Winter gets pretty old by the end of January. Spring, still was too cold, what with the Lion-ish March winds, and all those April showers.

One day, mountain biking on a crisp Fall Saturday morning it hit me, I love Fall. I added it up, cooler temperatures, check, full sports schedule on TV, check, and the overwhelming reason to love Fall is Cyclocross.

At times the thoughts of Cyclocross are so full in my mind that I begin to smell embrocation, then quickly worry that the kids must have gotten into the embrocation. A quick check revealed that they were safe from stinging their eyes with the potent oils of Fall bike racing.

Last year was my first real year for Cyclocross and to make sure I was properly initiated mother nature sent a drizzly rain storm on Saturday morning, making the ‘cross course nice and muddy. I was in love.

I was rather late to the race, didn’t have time to warm up my muscles then quickly wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into. It was cold and rainy, I hadn’t done much training, and I had entered a bike race. You see I’ve never been competitive, in high school I watched my friends compete in sports and the rough and tumble, highly competitive, singing competitions, but except for some church basketball had never really had the competitor fires burning in me. Now here I was, early 30’s and it was so cold I couldn’t bring myself to take my hoody off(a big cycling fashion no no) to freeze in the rain. So I rode down the hill to the start line, put myself in the back of the pack and then proceeded to get left in the dust by the pack of 50 newbie racers. Once I got up the hill (I hate hills) and caught my breath, I started to have some fun. The downhills were great, sliding around in the mud was fun. I didn’t even mind that I was getting passed by girls on the hills. I was quite glad to get lapped at the end of the second to last lap. The thing about cyclocross is, if you get lapped, you’re done. Though it’s a tad demoralizing, if you’re slow enough that you’ve gotten lapped you’re usually happy to be done.

Now here I sit with another cyclocross season about to begin. My heart beats faster with every day we get closer to October. I realize I didn’t come close to doing any of the training I was going to do all year and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than get muddy on my bike. Hopefully I don’t get lapped this year…sandbaggers.