UTCX# 8 - I Am Not a State Champion

This year's Utah State Championship race was held on the Mount Ogden Golf course. Most of us were expecting a pretty easy affair mellow climbs over small grassy hills. This is not what we got. I don't normally whine (at least I think I don't and if you think I do please keep your comments to yourself I don't want to hear them and I won't believe them anyway), but I'm going to do some whining to start off today's blog; deal with it.

To start things off, somewhere during my warm-up half of my pedal broke off. I was still able to clip in, but things were pretty loose and I didn't know how long the rest would stay together. I pointed this out to Josh as we were getting to the start line. He happened to have an extra pair of pedals so we rushed to his truck, threw them and on and got back to the line with a minute to spare. Thanks Josh! I've been fighting a cold all week and read a couple of weeks ago that medical science has proven that a cold doesn't affect athletic performance, that is crap. I haven't felt this tired, sluggish and lacking in strength since my first 'cross race 2 years ago. I warmed up on the trainer and felt ok. Then I hit the course and, climbing the enormous hill with extreme difficulty. I didn't realize how big and long it was until later when I was taking pictures and realized what seemed pretty flat in the race and warm-up was not flat at all. It starts with some single-track that's not too bad. Then a semi-tricky steep muddy 3 foot section up to the paved cart path. The path then climbed, and climbed, then climbed some more, up to a 120 degree turn up a fairly steep grassy hill. It was during this first climb of the first lap that I honestly wondered if I could finish the race. I had absolutely nothing in the tank, my legs hurt and had no strength. I literally used my easiest gear on every hill, no matter how small or easy, and still struggled at an unbelievably slow pace.

Up to this point I kept feeling like my rear wheel was a bit wonky. It seemed to hit my brake pads now and then and feel a bit wobbly here and there. I hadn't noticed anything when I put the wheel on or glued the tire on earlier that week. It was at the top of this first grassy hill that I finally stopped to see what, if anything, was the problem. I grabbed the wheel and quickly realized that the bearings in my hubs were loose. Just as I realized the problem, and with the other half of the pack now passing me, some guy said "looks like your cones are loose dude." Yeah, no kidding. I loosened the quick release and hand tightened the hub as much as I could then cranked down the quick release to see if that would hold. Amazingly it did the trick. I have the honest that for a moment this seemed like a problem that was heaven sent, here is the mechanical I needed to honorably bow out of the race. But I had too much pride now so I got back on it and started pedaling. It had now been a couple of minutes, enough time for me to be the absolute last person in the pack. In fact, the pack was nowhere to be seen. I started pedaling by myself still wondering if I made the right choice to keep racing. After a couple of minutes I caught up to Wes riding his mountain bike. Wes had told me earlier that he wasn't racing two races today, he was riding one and racing one. So I decided to just follow along with Wes and just ride for a while instead of race, besides it was nice to have a friendly face to ride with for a while.

I had heard the announcers telling the riders coming through that they had 3 laps to go. When Wes and I rode through they told us 2 laps. Either they made a mistake, or as Wes said, "They're probably just accounting for us getting lapped soon." After a while I found a little more energy and left Wes behind and started cruising a bit. I was starting to feel a little better, maybe catching my 2nd wind. I came down a hill with a turn near the bottom. This particular corner was kind of tricky. It had a couple of smaller hills, forcing you to either take your chances with a tight, and probably slick inside route, the more obvious middle line placed you on the steep side of a small hill in the middle of the corner, or you could take it really wide and avoid most of the problems. I was running a pretty low tire pressure, really low actually since we were riding on bumpy grass it seemed the best choice, so I was feeling pretty confident in my traction and took the corner a little faster than before. My rear wheel slid right out from under me sending me and the bike sliding down the hill, much to the delight of the spectators watching there. My bike and I were no worse for wear so I got back on and started riding. The rest of the lap went fairly well, mostly downhill from here so I was able to get some speed and recover a bit.

I forgot to mention(here's another excuse) that my rear derailleur wasn't working correctly. It seemed to work just fine in the warm-up but as soon as the race started and we hit the first hill I nearly dropped my chain into my spokes, I caught in time and pedaled backwards to get it back on the cassette. From there on out, every time I shifted into my larges(easiest) cog in the back I either dropped the chain into the spokes or I felt it start to go that direction and quickly shifted. As I mentioned before, I used that gear a lot, every hill. So, every time a slight incline appeared I had to gingerly shift to that gear and look to make sure everything was secure and inline. Not being able to confidently shift really takes its toll. You can't just shift and climb up a hill. I had to look to see where I was on the cassette, pedal softly while shifting, making sure everything went where it was supposed to then I could put some pressure on the pedals; what a pain.

Just as I was about to finish lap 3 I hear the announcers say the leaders were coming through for their final (4th) lap. I could either let up and get passed, thus ending the torture or keep pedaling and do a final lap for no other reason than personal honor. I chose the latter and kept riding. I ended up passing a couple more riders, one of which had his bike upside-down fixing his wheel. I managed a 36th out of 42 riders. The worst showing I've had since my first race 2 1/2 years ago. So much for improving. Quite frankly the only reason I care is because the physical exhaustion hurt so much, I really couldn't care less about what place I finished.

This Saturday is Clammy Cross www.clammycross.blogspot.com I won't be attending, but you should.

UTCX #7 - Back to Draper, Back to Puking.

The weather in Northern Utah has been fantastic this week. A warm high pressure system has kept the winds and cold at bay. The race today was fairly warm around 55F. Though the high pressure system is moving so it was pretty windy at times; enough that it felt like I was always riding against the wind. I don't typically fare well on the course in Draper, either a mechanical slows me down or the darn hill that we're forced to ride at the start as well as an extra time to finish kills my legs and lungs (and spirit). I managed to get in a great warm-up on the trainer to start and pre-rode the course. Everything was exactly the same as the previous few races there so no surprises, except a little sand on a downhill, but an outside line avoiding most of the sand became apparent so the sand didn't seem to slow down many of the riders.

I got to the start line early so I could have a first row start. We got the go ahead and sprinted up the hill; I wasn't about to repeat the mistake I made last time by getting stuck behind everyone. My teammates Josh and Ryan had the same idea. We flew up the hill with the leaders then, almost on cue, all three of us blew up and slowed way down, swallowed up by a dozen other racers just as we crested the hill. Luckily a downhill section wasn't too far away so we pushed on. The recovery was nice, but not nearly long enough. Through the horse corral, which thankfully had been soaked and packed down, then up the steep climb. I got to the single-track without too much exhaustion and was happy to be near other riders going about my same speed, not slowed down like last time.

The rest of the laps seemed to tick off very slowly; 5 in all. In the middle of the last lap I had to suddenly pull over and throw up. I've thrown up before after a race, but never during. It wasn't pleasant, and was probably the loudest I've ever thrown up; seriously just yelling as it came up. I got done and felt much better so I got back on it, but not before 10 other riders blew past me; crap. Just as I was heading down the last bit of singletrack before the final climb I saw Josh on the side of the trail trying to inflate his rear tire. Josh has even worse luck on this course than I do. I finished the race without incident and took a seat.

When I checked the results I came in 32 of 40, not very good, but if you figure I lost 10 places from throwing up and Josh says the top 10 are all sandbaggers I really finished in 12th place. If you round down I made top 10. There it is, with the puking handicap I managed a top 10 finish! If only the scoring judges saw it that way.

I didn't get any photos of the crime scene where I violently crashed and ripped a hole in my tubular tire last time, so here for your enjoyment are some photos and captions.

Here is from the bottom of the hill looking up. Notice the rider showing the proper line down the trail and not the out of control direction I ended up taking (I later found out that a loose brake cable was at least partially to blame for this mishap, hard to controls speed when your brakes aren't working). Click on the pictures to enlarge better read the captions.

And now a shot from the top, to demonstrate the view I had as I blazed through the weeds, rocks and stumps to my final landing place.

UTCX #5 - Halloween Cross

The Wheeler Farm Halloween weekend race seems to be a favorite around here. The combination of a great course and people racing in crazy costumes makes for a really fun time. The Wheeler Farm course is always fun because it combines a good amount of everything. Lots of wide, paved and dirt sections for passing and getting some speed, off camber sections, steep hills, and even a little single-track thrown in. I was riding around doing my warm up, mostly easy pedaling, but with a few hard sprints thrown in to wake up the legs, when I took a corner going pretty fast and felt my rear wheel break loose and get kind of wonky. I looked down at my wheel wondering if I'd broken a spoke or something when I noticed that part of my tire was now off the rim. My first rolled tubular. Luckily this happened during warm-up and not during the race. I had anticipated needing a different tire tread for this race anyway; we'd had some rain the day before. I went to the car and grabbed my other wheel and was in business.

I noticed a little too late that everyone had already started lining up at the start so I got a bad start position with about 40 people ahead of me. I made up a few places on the road, but as soon as we hit the single-track everything backed up pretty bad. A few people hopped off their bikes to run alongside the rest of us, but it was futile, any places they made up were lost when they tried to remount in traffic and got passed again. We hit a couple more traffic jams before the group was sufficiently strung out. I noticed a few of the roadies off the side of the trail in the trees, I assume they went off trail through some of the fast corners.

Over the summer some work had been done on the property. This added a few changes into the mix. The normal paved road that winds through the property is now a hard-packed dirt surface (I'd love to see it when it gets muddy). The major change is a large quantity of sand has been dumped along the river bed in what used to be my favorite "pick up some speed as you fly though the trees" section. Now, it's a "100 feet of deep sand to suck up any energy you have at that moment" section. During my pre-ride I wasn't able to ride through the sand and expected to have to run that section each lap. Luckily during the race I managed to go though without anyone getting in my way and could ride the whole thing. Immediately after the sand was a steep climb out of the river bottom and up to a bridge, then right back town to some a twisty section through the trees and more sand before a double barrier section. Amazingly, this 300 feet of the course was even more exhausting than it sounds. Right after the last barrier it was a 180 turn onto the dirt road. I was always expecting to be able to pick up some speed and ride fast now that I had a decent surface on which to ride; I was wrong. My heart rate and legs were

always so ripped after riding the sand and steep hill that I just didn't have anything left once I got to the road. After talking with some friends it seems I wasn't the only one with that problem.

The rest of the course was relatively easy. Lots of wide fast sections, easy single-track and some sidewalks. There was one really tight corner on the side of hill that we usually ride up; I found out riding down and taking the turn is a little trickier. I always managed to stay upright, but had to watch the speed pretty well to make sure I didn't crash or head way off course.

Some days when you head out on your bike your legs feel great, lots of power and speed, and you feel like you can ride forever. Other days, it's the opposite. Legs are sluggish, your lungs burn and either you can't get your heart rate up or it pops too high too fast and you're left wheezing and slow. I knew as soon as the race started that this wasn't going to be a good day. My legs never felt great and I just didn't have that drive to chase down anyone that passed me. The high point of the race was snagging a $20 in the cash zone, just about paying for my race fee for the day. My Clammy Chamois teammate Josh McCarrel seemed to be doing about as well as I was. I caught up with him with a half lap to go. I was pooped so I just rode on his wheel to the finish, pondering briefly about sprinting past him for 28th place, but quickly changed my mind.

After some time to digest this race, even though the course got a lot harder, I actually like it that much more. It was very fun and very challenging and that's what keeps me interested in racing 'cross.

UTCX #4 - This is getting hard

Do you know what happens when you do a race after not training for a month?

Answer: you dothe hardest race of you can remember and only end up in 30th place.

Note: none of these photos are me, just photos I took of the other races.

This is probably the best planned race that I've ridden. I warmed up on my trainer, making sure to get in some hard sprints to open up the legs. I stopped with enough time to hit the loo and get to the start line to have a first row start. I was ready to go in my new Team Clammy Chamois jersey. We were told to go and everyone went... right around me. Not sure what happened, but it was some combination of being in the wrong gear and an inability to get clipped into my pedal. My front row start turned into an instant 20th place. No problem, roll with the punches. Things got a bit squirrely through the first turn as the pack got funned through a 180 degree turn. After that I settled into a good pace, fast but something I could maintain. We wound through the course, which was being run in the opposite direction as last time. I felt good as we came through the triple set of barriers, the first two right in a row, then you had to turn a tight corner and finish with the last; I didn't like this section as it always seemed rather cumbersome and nothing seemed fast enough. As we headed toward the horse race track I was sure to grab a wheel and run a pace line with 4 other guys. It was nice to have a small amount of recovery time. I managed to race about half the time, keeping people at bay.

Riders would try to pass, but I'd put on the gas and keep them back. That is, until Clammy Chamois captain Josh McCarrel slapped my butt as he flew past me. I wasn't about to let that attack go unpunished so I jumped on the pedals, got past the rider in front of me and barely managed to get behind Josh just before the race track. I maintained the connection for about a lap, then started getting attacked from behind, first one, then another until another Clammy Chamois teammate, Ryan Coburn, came by. I had enough so I pushed through the pain for the next 3 laps and kept close to him. I'd like to personally thank Ryan for towing me around the course for 15 minutes.

As we neared the finish line it was clear Ryan still had something left, whereas I was just hanging on for dear life. He popped ahead about 30 yards to finish ahead of me. Just as I was getting close to the line another rider came up next to me, I tried again, but failed, and he got past me just as we crossed the line.

I coasted to a stop near my team, dropped my bike, and laid on the ground. I feel like I'm starting to get this cyclocross thing figured out. Perhaps it's not a good idea to quit training just as the season starts. With my legs still hurting I vow to get on the stupid trainer tonight and make myself fast(or at least faster) again.

UTCX #2

I'm doing some writing for CyclingUtah.com now, specifically covering cyclocross and some other thing later. Here is the write-up I did for the website, complete with pictures by Jen. UTCX #2 The race was held at the Weber County Fairgrounds.

The race for me went pretty well. As usual I was a solid mid-pack finisher, which is really my only goal. When I finish a race I'm happy if I've accomplished two things: Finished, placed in the 20's. So my 25th place finish sealed the deal for me. I may have done a little better. After last week I was going to make sure I lined up near the front this time, especially knowing that the course quickly narrows and the back of the pack gets bunched up pretty quickly. I finished my warm-up and had about 10 minutes before the start of the race, plenty of time to do a last minute pit-stop and get to the line. I found the bathrooms and discovered they were locked with a sign indicating to use the bathrooms in another building. I rode around for a minute and found the right building, took care of business and got to the starting area. The C class must be more ambitious this year because with 5 minutes to go everyone was already at the line an I was all the way in the back. Crap.

After being reminded that sandbaggers would be moved to B's next week and they would be watching people who cut the course this week, we were ready to go

Editorial note: There are at least 3 or 4 people that were top 10 all last year in the C class and racing C's again, it's time to move up to the B's and be big boys now. The 1st place finisher this week finished a good 3 minutes before anyone else, move on big feller.

Apparently a few racers cut under the course tape last week in race #1 so they ended up half way up the long finishing climb. Seriously? Cheating in an amateur cycling race? Is there anything stupider?! Congratulations, you placed well in the slowest category of the local cyclocross race. I pros are stupid for cheating and amateurs are even stupider. Just race and have fun okay.

The count went down and we went off. I immediately looked for some holes in the pack and worked my way to mid pack. At the first drop in to the fast grassy corner I nailed the inside line and made up a few more places. I was racing and having fun. Aside from doing a good job of choosing some good lines and getting ahead of most of the slower riders I totally forgot about executing any sort of race strategy. I just pedaled hard and had some fun. Part of the course took us out on a horse race track, with packed sand, making for a relatively fast riding surface. This is the only place I managed to ride smart during the race. I make sure that I got to the race course just behind 2 or 3 other people each lap then tucked in behind them and made good use of the draft. While the guy in front was pedaling hard, I was soft pedaling and getting a bit of a recovery.

As soon as we got back to the main part of the course I drove inside and hit the barrier section with speed and usually got past the guys that had been riding in front of me. I managed to bobble and not get clipped into my pedals once or twice and lost a place or two, but nothing serious.

One thing about this course that always bothers me is the lack of course tape as the course winds back and forth on itself around various logs, dips and gravel sections. Inevitably at least once I end up going the wrong way as I exit a turn and am faced with a series of cones that don't really indicate a clear path. It might seem obvious when their making the course or even pre-riding. But, in the middle of a race when you're exhausted, with your heart pounding in your head and the constant panting that drowns out any other audible sound, it's hard to make a snap decision and remember where the course goes. The race organizers must have figured this out because on the last couple of laps there were people out on the course directing traffic in the right direction.

I ended up on the last lap with 2 other guys who seemed to racing at about the same level as I. I made the decision to pick them off before the end of the lap by getting them on the barriers. That didn't work, they were just as fast. Then I tried to get past on some of the corners, but they stole my lines (I guess they were theirs too so I can't be too bothered). I had been eating up precious energy trying to pass them for the last half of the lap and as we inched toward the finish line they chased each other down and left me in the dust. Oh well, there's always next time. Check out the cyclingutah.com article for photos. I'm skipping next week's race for family vacation time, so my next race will be right back in Ogden.

UTCX #1

I made two mistakes today. I've been looking forward to today since January. Utah Cyclocross race #1 in Draper. The course in at the Draper equestrian park is pretty fun. Most of the course is made up of single-track. There are two sections that are not so much fun. The U shaped loop into the sandy horse corral isn't any fun because you can't push to hard without spinning out your wheels, then as soon as your legs are tired of churning you are faced with a hill would be a run-up if it were any steeper, but it's not so you put it in a low gear and ride. You reach the top just as your legs feel like they are about to stop, at least it's that way in the last couple of laps.

The other area is where I made my mistake number 1. The long paved climb that both starts and ends the race; the race starts at the bottom but finishes at the top. My game plan for the day was to let everyone that was hopped up and raring to go speed up the hill and blow themselves up while I rode at moderate pace and picked them off over the course of the first lap. By the top of the hill I was literally in 2nd to last place, my friend Andrew playing it safe right behind me. The problem is everyone still had enough juice in them to stay in front of me until we hit the single-track. That's where I caught a bunch of people but didn't have any place to pass them. I got past a couple on the first lap and a couple on the 2nd lap, but by then everyone else was so far ahead because of the delay that I didn't have much of a chance to catch up. I slowly passed about a dozen people over the course of the race and had my sights on two guys that I had a good chance of beating before the last lap ended. We were just about to the end of the single-track and I knew if I was going to beat them I'd have to get it done here and maintain my lead on the climb to the finish line. I saw my gap and turned on the gas. I got past them just before the semi-steep, but rutted and loose drop to the road. I was going pretty fast so I jammed on the brakes and had things under control, or so I thought. Before I knew it I careening off the right of the course. I started getting back in control, made it through a couple of sketchy sections, avoiding some small boulders and was almost home free. That's when two more boulders appeared right in front of me. I did my best to keep it together, but before I knew it the world started spinning and I was hitting the ground. The good part of this was the very soft thick grass that padded my fall. The bad part was I hit those rocks really hard and my front tire was dead flat. I was a little out of it so I laid down on the grass for a moment contemplating my DNF when I realized I was only 500 yards from the finish and I had lapped a couple of guys so I was still in it. I got up, shouldered the bike and started the long climb ahead. All of the 12 guys that I had worked so hard to pass made it past me and I was the last one to finish the race. I managed to get across the finish line just as they doing the podium presentation. I raised my arms in triumph and got some good natured applause from the lady at the finish line.

Because I had lapped a few people and finished a lap ahead of them I managed to get 35th of 39 even though I walked across the finish line. Although I was hurting during the race, I was pretty happy with how I was riding. I figure I could have finished around 20- 25th if I hadn't gotten stuck in the beginning of the race...and of course stayed upright through the end. Josh tells me we should have our new Clammy Chamois jerseys before the race next week, so we'll look official and certainly have a number of people clamouring to be a part of team Clammy Chamois.

p.s To Coop and anyone else who cares to see visual evidence of my cyclocross exploits, I fully intended on taking pictures this week and even had my camera, but I didn't have a rideable bike to ride around on to get to the photo opps. You'll have to wait until next week when Jen and the kids will be around to snap a few.

The Lungs They Are A Burnin'

The final race of the 4 race mini-series was tonight. We got a lot of rain during the day and I was hoping for some sort of epic mud-sucking, wheel spinning, leg churning muck fest. It didn't happen. A few hours of sun dried out the course enough that they moisture caused the course to be nice and tacky. This made it very fast and cut out the throat coating dust that has plagued me the last two raced. Word must have gotten around about these races because a lot of the fast guys that race the Utah Cyclocross Series decided to show up. I was mildly concerned that the B class would get packed with fast B-packers from UTCX. Either I've gotten faster or they were still getting their 'cross legs under them; I didn't get lapped by anyone but the top 3 A racers.

The race started out awesome, I was in front going into the first turn, blazing fast and feeling good. Knowing that I don't do too well when I go out to hard I let one or two guys get in front of me just before the run-up. Next we headed down the fast, rock filled, hill. I feathered the brakes, dumping a little speed, to keep from duplicating last week's pinch flat disaster. I found a good line through the rocks and got onto single-track carrying a good amount of speed. The tacky dirt held my tires as I zipped around corners in the drops. I came through the ditch and found Jen and the girls cheering for me as I headed up and around the main building before we dropped onto the only paved section of the course.

I was going fast and putting some distance between me and the guy behind me. Just as I slowed to enter the turn that dumps us back onto single-track I remembered to take the outside line to avoid the large mud puddle on the inside line that I normally take. Through the barriers I was still feeling good and having a great race.

Lap two put a stake in me. As I headed to the run-up, to where Jen and the kids had moved, I dumped gears so I'd be ready to pedal at the top of the hill and my derailleur started making horrible grinding sounds. I looked down to see it flopping around and though the worst; broken derailleur, figures. I stopped, checked it out, found everything working well and headed up the run-up. I had lost a couple places with that little mishap, but I was determined to get them back. The extra running and effort put in didn't go well and the two that got past put too much distance between us. I finally got back in a groove when I got to the barriers. I bungled the re-mount and "hurt" myself in a private way. I took a good 5 minutes to recover while I soft-pedaled around the course. Finally feeling good I put some power back on the pedals around a corner and nicked a rock with my pedal. I managed to stay upright but had some trouble getting my foot clipped back in to the pedal. This lap was a disaster. I made it through to the tricky gravel section ending with the big log used as a barrier; almost lost it with too much speed.

The rest of the race went alright. I held my place until the last lap when the one guy I had been working to hold off finally got past me. I busted my butt to reel him in. I thought for a minute I'd get it done through the final section of single-track, where I had the edge on him but my lungs were burning(I'm getting over a chest cold) and I just couldn't catch up to him. He kept about 40 feet on me as we got to the finish line.

I fully intended to have pictures for this one. Even brought Jen, my personal photographer, but we both forgot the camera battery in the charger at home. I had fun. Jen and the kids had fun, ringing the cowbell and cheering all the racers up the run-up. I won an ipod shuffle in the raffle thus getting more than my entry fees back. I really enjoyed the Euclid mini cyclocross series and hope they do it again next year.

DNF - Gettin' It Out Of The Way Early

I headed up to Heber with my buddy Andrew for the 2nd installment of the Euclid Wed. pre-season cyclocross series. I pre-rode the course and found the lower pressure in my front tire was helping me stick the corners really well; I dropped the psi to around 30 in the front and 32 in the rear. During my pre-ride I was behind a guy on the new Stevens Carbon Cross bike and he had an Ipod with a speaker playing rap or punk(I couldn't hear it really well) in his jersey pocket. I can appreciate a guy that races with is own soundtrack.

Race time came and I lined up next to my friend Kyle, who had downgraded from the A class to the Bs. I made sure to give Kyle a hard time about his downgrade and threatened a severe mocking if he won. The go sign was up and we were off. I hadn't paid attention to where I lined up at the start and realized after we headed out that I was on the far outside so about 6 people got ahead of me by the first turn. Up the run-up down the hill and through the fast first section. This first section has really become my favorite part of the course. You can carry some good speed through the corners and have a lot of fun. There are a few short steep ups and downs to keep things interesting then you're through to the next part.

After I settled in to 5th place I was maintaining my lead on the 6th and having a great time. My heart rate was pegged and I was panting, but I was maintaining it and feeling ok. I had gotten comfortable with all the loose corners, maintaining speed and letting my rear wheel drift out a bit to scrub off speed as necessary. This helped me keep from losing momentum through each corner.

About 30 minutes into the race I was done; pinch flat! I manage to get a flat and DNF at least once each season. You may be wondering, "but Ryan I thought you had tubulars, how on Earth did you get a pinch flat?" I'll explain this mathematically:

(30 psi x 30 mph) + large rock = pinch flat

I had come down that rocky hill going pretty fast. Hit the rocky flat section at what I now consider a somewhat reckless pace; I wasn't really in control. Then I heard a big PING and almost immediately my front wheel started washing out. I brought the bike to a stop and confirmed that I had in fact flattened the tire. Amazingly my discount tubular wheels came through the abuse with flying colors, no dents, dings, and still totally strait and true.

I took the walk of shame back to the car, racked the bike, and cheered on my friends. A bit of a bummer, but it was still a fun night. Now I get the pleasure of tearing the tire off the rim and gluing a new one on.

The Dream is Alive

As anyone that reads my blog, or Facebook posts, can attest, cyclocross season can not come soon enough. So I was utterly ecstatic when I found out that there would be a four race, Wed. night cyclocross series in September. I planned on using the four races as training races, keeping with my current training regimen of weight training and periodically riding my bike. In all seriousness, I'd ride my bike a lot more, but life has gotten pretty busy and I can't find the time. I could/should ride the trainer but I haven't been able to mentally get behind that idea quite yet.

Sadly I missed the first of the Sep. races due to scheduling conflicts but I'm making sure the rest of my schedule is clear. The races are held in Midway/Heber, not exactly sure in which city limits the course resides. The races are sponsored by Euclid Outdoors and are held on their property. Makes me jealous for the people that work there, they have a standing 'cross course on which to practice. I'd much rather spend my lunch hour doing interval hot laps on a 'cross course than in a gym listening to some meat-head grunting out one last squat rep.

I got to the venue and found it was a pretty mellow affair, $10 and no number plate needed. I found my good friend Kyle, the owner of the SBR bike shop up the road from my house. He was getting ready to do his first cyclocross race ever and he had a brand-spanking-new bike (Bianchi). I got to chatting with a guy that I usually finish near in the Utah Cyclocross Series (UTCX) and decided I'd just stick on his tail and see how things go.

I decided to race the B category, even though I usually race C's in the UTCX, because I figured the C class here really would be beginners unlike UTCX where the top guys are really fast and should be racing B's. Though the course of the race I found this to be a good decision. After a couple of warm up laps I was waved over by Kyle who was about to pump more air into his tires and asked me what psi I was running, he and I were using the same tubular tires. He had 38 psi and thought he should put more in. I told him to suppress the roadie in him and drop the pressure. In 'cross and mountain biking lower is better (faster). I convinced him to go down to around 30-32.

At 6:30 we lined up at the start line. First were the A's, about 8 or 10 of them lined up and went off at the GO. Next were the B's, I think there were about 10-12 of us. We hit the pedals and shot forward on the gravel stretch of road ahead of us. I was feeling good in 2nd place (and had enough in the tank to take 1st if I wanted to) as we rounded the corner, two wheel sliding through the gravel; it was awesome! I held my place though the short steep run-up but just about dropped the guy behind me. I stepped on the big log that had been placed in front of the run-up and it rolled, I was fine, but he almost dumped it. Sorry dude. After that we hit a very fast rocky downhill section, about 60 yards long. I was really glad I had the tubular tires at this point. If I had clinchers at this psi I would have surely gotten a pinch flat, when I felt my wheel bottom out numerous times.

Next up some fast singletrack through the sage brush, the turns were just shallow enough to carry some speed. A short time later some short turns set me up for a quick drop into and back out of a ditch. Coming out of that section the course routed us around the main building on the property then down the paved drive to the northern dirt section of the course. This is where things got hard. This area probably made up 75% of the course and was full of extremely tight turns and loose dirt. This meant I couldn't carry any speed at all through turns. So it was on the pedals, brake and lose all momentum, then full power back on the pedals. I don't know how many laps we did but by the end I was really feeling the effects of this on again off again power suck. As you got close to the finish line the course heads strait through some gravel toward a fence and tight left hand turn blocked by a large 18" piece of wood. The scrap lumber at this venue was used rather effectively. From here it was 50 yards to the start/finish line.

I was going through the race just fine. I had lost a couple of places and was now in 4th place or so. I was taking some pretty good lines and doing my best to maintain momentum through turns when it became clear that that the guy behind me that I was trying to shake was moving up on me. I thought, "this guy must be following my lines because there's no other way for him to stick with me." A few moments later he passed me, it was then that I saw he was one of the A racers. I didn't feel so bad about getting passed and felt silly for thinking he must have been stealing my lines. Before the race started the promoter told us that all classes would be racing for 45 minutes so when the first A races came through after 40 minutes he'd call for 1 more lap. After innumerable laps and endless suffering I kept waiting for the 1 lap to do call. I came through the Finish area where more people were standing around and mentally begging the promoter to call for one last lap. He said something that I couldn't quite understand, it must have been the panting and heart pounding in my ears that blocked it out. I didn't sound like "one lap to go", but for the next half lap all I could do was go over what he said again and again, "could it have been one more lap?"

I suffered through the next lap and came through the Finish area where I was now sure I was going to be told we were done. He waved me through telling me one more lap, "this guy is trying to kill me." Somehow I always have a little gas left on the last lap to go just a little faster. I think it's a mental thing, knowing that I don't have to save anything else for the race. I finally made it to the finish line proud of the race I'd just ridden. In talking with the promoter I found out that the first A racers had come through the finish line earlier at the 39 minute mark, just shy of 40 so that meant we were all going to do 2 more laps. I think I raced for 55 minutes, 5 - 10 more than usual. I think total lap count was 8, maybe 10-12 miles.

All in all it was a good race. I was covered in dirt and dust and ready to do it again next week. Sorry no pictures. By the time the race ended it was getting dark and my camera phone doesn't shoot well in the dark. I'll get some next week.

Fist Attempt At Gluing Tubular Tires

I knew Jen would be out all day caving with her uncle in Rock Canyon so I decided to go about my virgin entry into the world of gluing tubular tires. You see, years ago (I'd need to check for sure, but my guess is around 100 years ago) the only option for pneumatic tires on a bicycle was a tubular tire. These tires are also called sew-ups, because the tire case and glued on tread are sewn up with the tube inside. No one had come up with the clincher tire and the tire bead, and mating lip on the rim, so gluing tires to the rim was the only option.

The main problem people had with tubular tires were flats. If you got a flat you had to peel off one tire and put on another, much more cumbersome than simply fixing a tube. If you look at old pictures from the Tour De France, and other cycling pictures, you'll see cyclists climbing nasty gravel roads with several tubular tires hung over their shoulders. Today, flats are still a problem, though less so with the advent of sealant.

It just so happens that with modern advances in tire technology tubular tires still offer the best ride, especially in cyclocross where low pressure is king. The pros for tubular tires are lighter tire, less rolling resistance due to the high thread count tire casing that conforms to the ground, and lighter wheels because they don't need the extra material forming the lip for the tire bead. The cons are tire prep and gluing, has to be done a minimum of 24 hours in advance, flats, and cost. Where a quality clincher tire costs ~$50 - $75, a tubular tire costs $100 - $175, or more for ultra premium tires. I managed to stock up on tires when bonktown.com had them on sale for $35.

I started out the day outside, with the kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk, I sat down in a chair with my new tubular wheels, some rags, rubber gloves and mineral spirits. The wheels needed to be cleaned before I could get to gluing. Once the wheels were clean I set up shop in my still unfinished addition where I have our old kitchen table set up. I got my glue, acid brushes (thank you Harbor Freight, 36 for $3.00), and my tires and wheels.

I found the gluing to go along fairly well, though the extremely dry Utah air seemed to suck the moisture out of the glue even before I got it spread out on the cotton tape covering the tire stitches. This resulted in a little thicker coat than I wanted, but it looks like it will be alright. While working on the second coat of glue on the tire I started to have this feeling like I was participating in a rite of passage. That thousands of people had gone before me and done the exact same thing. That the formula of gluing the tires had been refined over the years until it was distilled down to the process in which I was now engaged. I suddenly felt this connection with all of the men(and women) that had gone before me. I was gluing a sew-up tire, something that was both legendary and ordinary all at once.

Later this evening I got to work on the final stages. I had coated my tires with two coats of glue and now had to, somewhat quickly:

put a second coat of glue on the wheel,

put a strip of "Belgian Tape" on the rim over the tacky glue,

put a final coat of glue on the tire,

finally, stretch the tire onto the wheel.

It is on this final step that all romance was lost from the process. Everything went well at first, placing the tire in a basically strait line down the rim, lining up the base tape so it was showing even on both sides of the tire. Then I got to the final third of the tire and it stopped going onto the rim. If you've ever struggled getting a really tight clincher tire onto the rim without tire levers then you've experienced about 25% of the difficulty that I was faced with. Not only did I still have a large amount of the tire still no seated on the rim, but it was also covered in rubber cement that I was supposed to try not to touch or all my work would be for naught. I tried standing on the rim and pulling the tire up and over. I tried holding the tire and wheel against my stomach and pushing the remaining tire up onto the rim, everything I tried failed. I fought with this tire for about 15-20 minutes struggling with all my might. I gave up on trying to save anything, braced the rim on a chair and pushed and pushed, with my now bruised hands, until I had it. I had to quickly get to work straitening the tire out on the rim. With all the pushing, pulling and other ways I man-handled the tire it was really crooked. The glue was setting, or maybe set I'll find out tomorrow, so I got the tire straitened out the best I could and called it good. I used what I had learned to make the second tire go on much quicker. It still wasn't easy but I got it on in 3 minutes instead of 20.

I can look over and see my two wheels leaning against the wall now and I'm glad that no one had to watch fight the mighty battle in which I had been embroiled. I'm glad I took on this new task. I learned something new. I always enjoy learning a new skill, even if it's not pretty or easy the first time through. I don't know if these new tires and wheels will make me any faster, my time may have been better spent doing intervals on the trainer. I don't have a killer competitor instinct that makes me chase down anyone that dares to pass me. I don't expect I'll ever be one of the really fast guys that others admire. I enjoy the technical things I can work on, better equipment, better technique, or even just better lines chosen on the course.

I was going to submit this post to Cyclocross Magazine, but I let it get a bit maudlin and self indulgent. This ended up being more about me than tubular tires. I hope you enjoyed it, I know Hamish did.

Out on the trails - Big Springs

Yesterday I had the itch to get out on the trails on my 'cross bike, just to make sure I can still handle skinny tires on the single-track. I headed up to Big Springs Park in the South Fork shoot off of Provo Canyon. There is a nice, but short, trail near the park that my family uses all the time. We spend a lot of time in Provo Canyon and at least half of that is spent at Big Springs. It's become the go-to area for us. Jen takes the kids up there hiking all the time, the trail is relatively mellow and follows and crosses various streams. It keeps the kids interested and makes it a nice area to go. It's also a great place to go snowshoeing in the winter.

I opted to start off my ride by heading up the dirt road that goes along the East side of the wilderness area. I was quickly made aware that my legs hadn't recovered from the weight

training I did two days before; but I managed to make it up the hill anyway. The trail/road is only 1.5 miles up, so a up and back nets 3 miles. Not a whole lot, so I ended up doing 3 laps going up the road and down the trail. I think the old couple hiking down the road and the family hiking up the trail were starting to wonder what I was doing after I passed them a couple of times.

After riding up the road for about a mile the trees open up into a meadow, this is where I cut back on to the trail to finish the last 1/2 mile up (you can see the trail just to the right of the road, heading off into the meadow). The trail is pretty mellow as it winds up, especially through

meadow. It's basically gravely, narrow double-track. Then the trail gets steeper and starts to get fairly rocky. I was a bit worried about pinch flatting on the rocks, especially on the way back down when I had some speed. I had my tires down around 40 psi to maximize traction. I was happily surprised to find that I can still finesse my way up and down through the rocks without much trouble, or pinch flats.

The single-track back down winds through aspens and pines, over rivers and streams and is really a lot of fun. Not the most technical or taxing as far as mountain biking goes, but plenty

fast for getting the cornering and breaking skills on a cyclocross bike. At one point I was

carrying quite a bit of speed and feeling pretty confident. I rounded a corner and saw a tree and a stream right in front of me, I was sure I was going in after I dodged the tree. I managed to get the bike slowed down just in time and made it onto the bridge. My second time down I noticed a lot of other tire tracks where the trail runs wide; I guess others had come into that corner a little hot too. While I was stopped taking this picture a mountain biker came by and did a double take as he passed by my cyclocross bike; obviously not a part of the cult of 'cross yet.

The fast ride down managed to give my legs, and lungs, enough of a break that I was able to be recovered for the ride back up. I managed to get my legs a bit muddy from cruising through a couple of the springs that spout up along the trail and almost ran over a snake. All in all it was a great way to spend a few hours on a Saturday.

Annual "I can't wait for Cyclocross" Post

This morning there was a definite chill in the air this morning; Fall is on the way. My twitter (yeah I signed up for twitter, but only to see what's going on, not to "tweet" about anything) is full of cyclocross chatter; I follow a bunch of 'cross racers. Some of my facebook friends are posting stuff about 'cross. Everywhere I go there seems to be this feeling of excitement about the forthcoming cyclocross season. To blow my mind even further, the same guys that run the mid-week mountain bike race series are starting a 4 race mini-cross series in September. Check out this awesome gps file of the race course http://connect.garmin.com/player/44997122

To further increase my excitement, this year I have seriously nice (way nicer than my speed and talent justify)cyclocross bike (Stevens Carbon Cross) that I bought last spring with my bike shop discount. I have a set of tubular wheels, aluminum mind you, I haven't managed to get myself to drop $1000 bucks on a set of carbon race wheels. There are a set of tubular tires on those wheels getting stretched and ready to be glued on.

Team Clammy Chamois will be in effect this year, though without our ringers since they defected through the lure of free bikes and local bike shop fame. It sounds like we're going to make it official with team jerseys this year. I'm looking forward to seeing the design and celebrating the rowdiness and brat filled 'cross racing and spectating that is team Clammy Chamois.

My only goal for this year is to move up a few places from my consistent mid-pack finish and not puke after finishing the race in Draper. Upon further reflection, I realize that those goals are somewhat at odds with each other, but I'm going to stick with them anyway.

To achieve these goals I will:

- Do some interval training (periodically, and only as long as my mental Psyche can handle riding a bike in my basement and without going anywhere)

- Limit my sausage consumption to after the race, this includes not taking the bacon hand-up during the race.

- Keep myself mentally in the race and not spend half of it hoping I get a mechanical or a flat.

It should be an awesome season despite the fact that the first 4 races are at venues that are designed to stamp out any delusion that I may have in thinking I've prepared better for this season that in past years. Draper and that stupid hill, Weber x 2 and Heber Fairgrounds designed for fast roadies that have much better cardio than I ever will.

Bring on the cold and the mud and another awesome cyclocross season. Mud and guts on 3!

Geeking out on 'cross bikes.

Cyclocross Magazine asked me if I wanted to attend a bike industry function at Deer Valley a little while ago. The event titled "Dealer Camp" was held this past weekend to showcase new bikes from major manufacturers, giving bike shops and retailers the chance to look over and demo the new bikes. The event was 2 days, but Jen had her Spudman Triathlon on the 2nd day so I was only able to spend one day up there. It was a ton of fun checking out new bikes. I talked with some other people that were very into cyclocross as well including past National Champion Mark McCormack, and a the designer that actually fabricated the new Blue 'cross bikes. I got a lot of pictures and even a few freebies. Check out my write up and pictures here http://www.cxmagazine.com/new-trends-dealer-camp-2010-deer-valley

First XC Mountain Bike Race

I know this isn't cyclocross related, but we've got at least 3 months until the season starts. I decided to do my first cross country mountain bike race. There is a low-key mid-week race series that alternates between Soldier Hollow and Sundance. This last week's race was at Sundance. As this was my 2nd mountain bike race ever and 1st XC race I decided to sign up in the Beginner A category. After registering I got a little worried that I'd be racing against a bunch of kids. They started each group, starting with the Expert A's, in 30 second increments. There happened to be a few teens and other men in my class so I stuck with it instead of going with the Sport class. Boy am I glad I stayed with the Beginners.

The race started with a longish paved uphill ride, long enough to get people strung out pretty well, without bunching when we reached the single track. I finally made it to the single

track section only to find

it's the same trail I've ridden dozens of times. The only problem is I've always ridden it in the other direction, as a downhill. After riding for what seemed like hours uphill I began to wonder why this category of race is called cross country, that would imply some sort of up and down riding across varied terrain. The only downhill I encountered for the first 40 minutes of the race was a periodic 3 second downhill stretch that wasn't even long enough to drop my hear rate one beat. After the initial couple of miles I gained a couple of spots, but lost a few when my rear tire spun out on a steep section. It was too steep to try to start from so I had to push to the top of that climb and hop back on.

After the final hill it was time to start that blessed downhill. I found that I had now sapped all of my

energy and was not able to hold a line very well through the sweeping corners. I was forced to use my breaks much more than I would have liked. After a bit of downhill the course cut over for one last bit of climbing through some trees. I had a bit of speed coming into one corner cut that was cut in close to the trees. I was really leaning into the corner to maximize the momentum I had before the trail cut uphill when my left shoulder slammed into a tree and I was brought to a sudden and painful halt. A quick check revealed a small cut on my arm and a still functioning shoulder so I got back on the pedals and pushed up the hill. I managed to get some strength back for the last fun downhill stretch. Jen and the kids were cheering for me as I flew past the lift area where the spectators were hanging out on the grass. I have no idea where I placed and I really don't care. As hard as that race was I think I'll go for it again next week in Midway.

Cult 'Cross 2010 - Race Review

I forgot to publish this when it happened back in April. A while back I realized that there was going to be a long wait until cyclocross season opens up on Oct. 3, 2010. That is when I started planning on attending the Cult 'Cross race held in Eagle CO. I talked to a like minded friend and we headed out for a road trip and some racing. My race review and pictures were published on the CX Magazine Website http://www.cxmagazine.com/pov-cult-cross

Springtime Criss-Cross

I generally enjoy the Utah winters, especially now that I have snowshoes to tromp around in the back country. Like most other Utahns I'm rather tired of Winter by the end of January. That makes February a very long and tiresome month; I've long held that February is the worst month of the year. Winter is still here, but its not new, or fun or even pretty anymore. It's old, cold, and the snow is no longer pretty and white, it's gray and brown, filled with mud and sand, the dregs of winter. Along comes March, with it's first hints of Spring. Now, I learned long ago not to succumb to the temptations of March for it's attempts at spring-like weather are more like the song of a siren. You'll be drawn into a sunny 50 degree day only to have a hearty winter storm blow in the next day, covering your springtime plans under slushy snow. Making your dreams and everything else soggy, cold and useless.

Around the end of March, beginning of April, Spring decides to show up and stick around. Of course there is often a snowstorm that sneaks in there but it's usually not too bad. I have a love hate relationship with Spring. I need sunny days, too many cloudy rainy days and my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) kicks in. Utah is nearly the perfect place for me. Utah is the first or second state in terms of most days with sunshine. That all changes in Spring. I like not having to water my lawn, but the clouds and rain can get a bit much.

The other thing about Spring is that it feels like it should be time for cyclocross. I've had about 4 months off now and it seems like it should be time to get back to it. The weather is perfect for 'cross. Cool weather, rain, mud, all the stuff that makes up a good cyclocross race. It just so happens that some like-minded gent in Colorado has the same idea. Next weekend I will be traveling 6 hours to Eagle CO for the Cult 'Cross race. This annual race has been occurring since 2008, though this will be my first time attending. Though this is a race, it's geared more toward having fun, which saves those of us who didn't hit the trainer nearly as much as we should have over the Winter (oooh how I hated that trainer). This will also be the first race for my new bike, hopefully she can take the beating. It's a bit of a drive just for a "fun" race, but I have an itch that needs to be scratched. Hopefully the mountain bike trails will be clear of snow soon and I can get some good riding in until October when the embrocation will flow and I'll hate myself for 45 minutes of lung searing death on a bike.

My Stevens Carbon Cyclocross Bike

I had this post written about 6 months ago and just never got around to putting it up on the ol' blog. This post is dedicated to my cyclocross bike. I've referenced it before, but I wanted to document the effort I put into actually building up the the frame I originally purchased into the awesome race machine that it is today. The details contained herein are probably not of any interest to anyone other than me so don't feel bad if you're bored to tears.

I have 6 months of riding the Stevens under my belt and I'm as happy now as the day I first rode it. I know bike geometry is a personal thing, but for me Stevens really nailed it. My Stevens Carbon Cross bike is hands down the best handling bike I've ever ridden.

Firstly the Stevens frame and fork are fantastic. I've never had a hint of fork shudder even under heavy breaking. It rails through corners with the perfect mix of road and 'cross geometry. This frame has been ridden to a number of national and world championship victories.

I added a 46 cm Salsa Bell Lap handle bar, very wide and has slightly flared drops to add to the bike handling when in the drops.

SRAM Rival shifters with Force derailleurs.

TRP Magnesium EuroX brakes; very light and get the job done.

Thompson Elite seatpost that I picked up with the WTB saddle from Kyle at SBR; thanks Kyle.

FSA Gossamer crankset, re-purposed from my motobecane.

Gore Ride-On sealed cables to gunk doesn't clog things up partway through the season.

Vuelta Tubular wheels

Vittoria Cr

oss XG(all around tread) and XN(file tread) tubular tires.

There are minor stories for some of the acquired parts. I had originally planned on using all of

the parts from my old Motobecane, with a few upgrades. I needed a wider handlebar

but after buying it I realized that my old stem was a different size so I had to buy a stem as well. Then I realized that the seatpost was too small and I needed a wider seatpost to fit my frame. I stopped by SBR to see what it would cost to order a new one and Kyle just happened to have the exact seat post that I wanted to order. He no longer needed it as it came from his recently replaced mountain bike and didn't fit his new one. It was topped with a nice WTB saddle that just happened to match my bike well. He cut me a sweet deal for the pair.

I bought some nice brakes, mostly because I had a little extra in my bike building budget and they were nice, light and worked well. So I ordered the TRP EuroX brakes. I was execting the white and red versions but white and gold showed up. I'm not a big GOLD kind of guy, but I went with it, especially after I got the chain I ordered and it was gold too.

I bought a set of GORE Ride-On sealed shifter cables in the spring. When I was at the Dealer Camp event taking photos for Cyclocross Magazine

I spoke with the guys running the GORE booth. I told them how much I liked the shifter cables and the set me up with a set of their new sealed brake cables for free. Along with being sealed to keep the grit and grime out the housing

has been made stiff so there is less give when the brakes are pulled and it gives a better feel for the brakes. I haven't tried them yet, just got them on so we'll see.

Also at the Dealer Camp event I stopped by the Sinclair booth to talk to the Stevens guys. I told them that I liked their bikes so much I bought one. I commented on the fact that they now stock the bikes with a fork mounted cable hanger for the front brake. I told them I'd been looking for one, but they're really hard to find. The guy I was talking with gave me his card and told me to email him. After doing so I had the free new cable hanger in my hand within a week. Those guys rock.

I wanted to go with white bar tape and hood covers to go with my mostly white bike. My Clammy Chamois teammate Josh hooked me up with some awesome Lizard Skins bar tape real cheap. I bought some Hudz aftermarket hood covers to complete the setup.

After using SRAM shifters at Interbike I was ruined on my Shimano Ultegra 6600. I bought the SRAM Rival shifters. Scott from SBR was upgrading to SRAM Red so I picked up his lightly used Force derailleurs heavily discounted.

I've written at length about my Vuelta tubular wheels and Vittoria tubular tires. Needless to say they are light and strong and aside from the Stevens frame, they're my favorite part of the bike.

So there it is, my Stevens Carbon Cyclocross bike.

New Bike

I've said before that riding a cyclocross bike makes you feel like a kid again. It's a fast, fun, go anywhere bike. Well, I totally feel like an overly excited kid right now because I just got my new Stevens carbon Cyclocross frame/fork. This bike is easily the most comfortable, best riding bike I've ever ridden. It's light, stiff in all the right places, and the geometry and size fits me perfectly. The frameset has a world championship and at least one national championship under it's belt. Right now my precious is sitting in a cardboard box in my office. It seems sad to have such a work of art shoved in a box. I was able to get some new SRAM components bought to get this bike from it's current cardboard state to cruising down the road. I was going to go with a full SRAM Force build, but after doing some checking I found there was only a 17 gram difference in weight between Force and Rival shifters. So, with the performance being the same and the only real difference between the two being a magnesium shift paddle on Force and aluminum on Rival, I opted for Rival and saved a few bucks. A friend just replaced the Force derailleurs on his bike with RED so he's selling me those parts cheap. I hope to get around to building the bike in about a week, when the parts get delivered. I'll get some pics up when I get a chance.

End Season Race - Snow 'Cross

I half-heartedly registered for the end of season, counts for nothing, cyclocross race. When Friday, the day before the race rolled around I figured I ought to make sure my bike was still functioning; I hadn't touched it or any other bike in about a month. I found the rear tire completely flat. I pumped it up only to see it immediatly go flat. I didn't want to fix it so I pumped it up again and spun the wheel a bit hoping the sealant in the tube would do the job. I lucked out, the tire stopped going flat, and I just topped it off with a little more air.

This year, just as last year, the race was held at Wheeler Farm. Last year the race course was covered in 6 inches of new slushy snow. It was REALLY hard and I hoped this year, though we had 4 inches of snow, the going would be easier since the temps had stayed below freezing. Wrong! The first part of the course was pretty demoralizing. It should have been the easiest as it was snow on top of a paved road, but the it was impossible to ride in a strait line. You couldn't really pick a line and stick with it because the snow and grooves in the snow would just send you back and forth all over the trail. Every person I passed apologized for not going strait and getting in my way. I just let them know that no one could go strait and we were all fighting the same battle. I managed a pretty good time for the first lap. Though there was a lot of passing then getting stuck and getting passed and back again, still I managed to stay ahead of most people.

I must have been pushing it harder than I thought because toward the end of the first lap I just ran out of gas. I got stuck in some deep snow and just didn't have the energy to even get back on my bike. I stepped to the side and took a breather. Once I got back on my bike I slowed down the pace a bit and managed to make up a few places. I didn't even have the energy to check my watch to see how long we'd been racing, it could have been hours. I had no idea

how many laps we'd be doing and I was afraid we'd have to do 3 like last year. To my relief I saw one lap to go when I came through the start line. I managed to keep a decent pace and ended up 12th out of 18.