CX Nats: Day 2 - Time Trials, Old Folks and Single Speed

First Championship race of 2010 CX Nats

Day 2 of CX Nats brings the old folks (I mean that affectionately, as I am very near to racing on this day) starting bright and early in the morning and terminates with the Single Speed races. New to this year is also the time trials, which the Cincinnati area Lionhearts juniors raced today.

The old guys races started bright and early at 9am and saw a course drastically different than yesterday's snow fest. Almost no snow was left on the course, however the meltdown created pools of water large enough to rival the Great Lakes. If you pedal in these dang things you risk your toe being bitten off by an angry lake Trout or Salmon migrating up river.

The old guy races are always entertaining. They all take it seriously, but in a different way than the young guns.  Rather than risk a broken hip, they will cede a position to remain ambulatory the next day. Seeing as my bones are nearing this same spot in life, I deeply respect this point of view and hope for the same consideration when I am racing these races.

The US Bobsled team would be afraid...

With the increasing excitement associated with cyclocross in America, field sizes have grown exponentially in recent years. USA Cycling adopted a new strategy to place riders in the staging area - a TT to determine who the fast riders were. These "fast" riders would be placed up front and the slower riders in the back of the staging area. The issue became the fact that they TT course and the main championship course are not so similar. After 3-180 degree turns and an off-camber ice skate 180 into a boulder the size of Grant's Tomb, the TT course progressed to a 100 meter downhill bobsled run. At 10:30 in the morning when the Lionheart 13-14 year old boys heading into the TT course, the entire downhill slide was ice - and not just any ice. It was that ice that has been sitting underneath the snow that you keep driving over in your driveway and takes a  sledgehammer to bust off the driveway - lightly seasoned with a fresh rain of course.

Assuming you can get to the bottom without slip sliding into the sage brush, you go through a couple short power sections and then find yourself face to face with the monster. This monster is a run-up that would make Texas proud. (according to the internet everything is big in Texas)  The run-up scales approximately 80 vertical feet and is completely unrideable. You might be able to try riding it, but when we walked the course there was 6"+ of snow on it. For the first time ever I was trying to determine how to attach crampons to cycling shoes for the kids to make it up this monster.

The Best Runup EVER

Honestly, when I walked the course I was out of breath walking slowly up the hill. I may be past my peak, but I am not that far out of shape....yet. This was a serious hill that was going to challenge even the most experienced rider and not just kids. Assuming you still have any air in your lungs, you now have only about 300 meters to sprint to the finish. In short the time trial course was really hard and very difficult to do well on.

So, let's get back to racing.

The best race of the day was easily the Women 40-44. Two fabulous racers (Wendy Williams and Gina Hall) battled the entire day back and forth with a sprint finish down the final straight won by Wendy Williams. Hats off to these women for a great race on a hard course.

Wendy Williams battling Gina Hall

Adam Craig attempts to revive the Daisy Duke look

The most entertaining race went to the Single Speed. When you see a single speed race you are bound to see costumes and get-ups that make you wonder. Today there were a few notables. First place in the race and in the entertainment factor went to Adam Craig who won the single speed National Championship while sporting Daisy Dukes, a solid white BMX helmet and a Rabobank jersey. I didn't get a picture  of him standing on the podium receiving his medal, but I can only imagine what the brass at USA Cycling thinks of this look.

An honorable mention goes to the guy pictured below with the solid disc and the front Spinergy. After considering the possibilities I am certain that he confused the race for the TT and showed up with his SS TT bike. While weight on a single speed bike is often not the primary consideration, those wheels have to be in the 2300-2500g range. Even a non-weight weenie has to look at those and ask "why?" A search is out for this guy's friends to determine whether they even considered giving him any assistance on the approach. This looks a lot like letting your friend leave to a fancy dinner without warning him about his awful hat hair and spinach in his teeth.

Tomorrow will bring the juniors races in the morning and more Masters fun in the afternoon. After I get done coaching the kids in the morning, we will have several roving reporters with cameras wandering about looking for the best of CX Nats.

Cyclocross Nationals 2010: B Races-aka Course Preview

Organizers chop ice off the start grid at 2010 US CX Nationals

(The following was written by Corey Green, our reporter for 2010 CX Nationals in Bend.  After reading this the only advice I have to those racing is to wrap yourself in Saran wrap, wear your water-wings and affix an ice axe to your handlebars.  Since this was written our other reporter Gregg Shanefelt of Zephyr Wheel Sports finished 9th in the Men's Open Non Championship race.  Results link click here.  Enjoy!)


Today was B race day, which is more commonly know as "preview the course at race speeds with other crazy people day". The B races are the only races at CX Nats that a Cat 4 CX racer can enter, so the field has a wide range of skills. Today I saw guys on mountain bikes and guys wearing pants!?!  So, you can't enter this race too serious or you will be at risk of actually thinking you accomplished something by beating the guy out there in his jeans and hiking boots just looking for a fun ride.


The race is really good for taking laps at race speed and testing multiple lines through the elements. Where can I pass? Where will the dollar bills hand ups be? How close are the port-o-johns to the finish line? Can I ride this run up, or should I remember that superman has a cape but I do not? By taking this approach you can learn a lot about this course and help your race later in the week.



Cyclocross Magazine's National Championship Course Preview - 12/8/10 4pm from cyclocross magazine on Vimeo.


CX Magazine posted this preview, which was taken today about mid-afternoon after the four B races had finished their circuit of the course. Prepare yourselves as what you see might frighten you - and I will say that the earlier in the day you raced, the harder it was to ride. At 8am during previews there was still 6+" of snow on about 50-60% of the course.


The start is one of the best starts anywhere (photo above of organizers chopping ice.) Long, smooth, beautiful blacktop. The kind of blacktop that makes a roadie wet his pants a little bit when he is riding over.  Oop!  That roadie would not be excited about the 180 in snow at the end of the start though. The start was pretty controlled today, but the outside line is a horrible line on this start. Of course a 180 degree turn in much at 20+ mph isn't exactly a joyride either.

After the 180 comes a long segment of straight. When you look at this course on a map you might think to yourself "there is where I will pass people. I have a lot of straight line power, I am superman!" But then again, you don't have a cape and this section isn't as easy as the map suggests. The ground here is soft and squishy. As you might see from the cameraman he is being fussy about picking his lines through this section. This is most likely because he wants to save his rims. Below the appearance of plain mud and ground is rock - ugly rock with sharp edges - a pumice type rock. Hit one of these wrong and it will pierce the most protected tire.


There is then a sweeping right turn (complete with all mud) that leads into a lake. Well, it wasn't a full on lake when we raced in the morning, but from the looks of the video we may need to put boat oars in the kid's back pockets. Coaches will also be required to train in CPR and complete a life guard test to supervise this section of the course. When we rode this at noon today it was about 8" deep and frigid (yes, snow runoff). That water would spray up on your legs en masse and instantly freeze your feet. The best part? You are less than 2 minutes unto your race.


After freezing your feet into popsicles you turn a few relatively easy sweeping corners and head into a nice long straightaway. This straight is one of the few times you are not fighting your bike to stay under you and gives a chance to go fast! At the end of that long straight section you hit a cambered, BMX style turn that, if dry, would be super fun to rail and propel your momentum back the other way. Only problem is the snow and mud make it nearly unrideable. Even the cameraman of this video got into it and gave up. As you are trying to ride it your rear wheel is falling away from and you either power-drift it all the away, or you hit a stake, stop your momentum, and run through the corner.


After butchering that corner you head back along a long straight and through some nice sweeping turns. These are entirely passable and in some cases you can ride them like a real cyclocross racer. Another long straight and you are back to the fun sections, or at least that is the way they explained it to me. Now we get to do the drop-in/run-up combos. Remember back in Junior High School when you were play football and your coach made you run in place, drop to the ground and get right back up? and you just kept doing them? Yeah, that it what these felt like.


The first drop in is pretty simple and easy. Smooth, good ground, no real need for being in a certain line or speed. But, the run up following is killer. I tried to ride it one lap just to see if I could do it and failed miserably (see pic). (Editor note: you look like you need an ice axe)  The run up is quite steep and with ice and snow you can't get the speed necessary. After scaling Mt. Bendverest, you got to remount in another lake at the top - if your feet had warmed any after lake #1, they weren't warm anymore.


After surfing through the lake over a slow downhill you got to another run up which is again, unrideable. I tried and failed. You sense the correct pattern here. The problem with this run up is it never learned the meaning of "smooth". This run up may have been part of the WW2 attack on Normandy with the bomb craters that line it on each side as you try to scale it. Another quick remount and you are on to the next dropin/runup.


The next dropin has a major case of schizo. One line is smooth and straight and makes you feel all warm inside when you get to the bottom. The other line could have also been involved in the Attack on Normandy with bomb craters in all the wrong places. I took this line once, and only once, and had a near "oh shit" moment, riding a front wheel wheelie stand for a couple seconds until the body weight could be placed back over the bike. The runup partner here is an easy ride and can be cleared pretty quickly if not trying to pursue it with 10 of your new-found friends.


Once you have cleared the dropin/runup version of Candyland you have a couple longer straight sections to gain some speed and feel good about yourself - and lake #3. Once you go through lake #3 your feet won't ever be warm again until after your race and you have been standing in the shower living through that painful feeling of regaining warmth.

The Best CX Nationals Bike Trailer EVER

Crossing over the street you hit some really nice grass. Deschutes Brewery has very nicely groomed grass on their side of the course. It is well kept and thick and feels like velcro on your tires - the kind of sticky that makes you feel all warm and cozy inside. This is a section very reminiscent of the cross back in Ohio.


At the end of the grass is a great runup. It is a runup that is deceptive and fair. A lot of times you can ride it and really make time up it. If you get off the right line or can't get speed with people around you, it really becomes a run up and this segment becomes very hard to do fast. You see the remount at the top is off camber. Last year when the ground was frozen your rear tire would be sliding down the course while you were trying to remount. If you did a flying remount your weight would shove the tire further down the hill.


Once you ride you white knuckle the descent back to ground level and hit a freshly paved road section for the final stretch before the start finish. This final stretch includes two difficult elements - the flyover and the steps.

Inside the Best CX Nationals Bike Trailer EVER

The flyover (pictured above) really isn't hard and over the week it will (should) get easier. However, today there was six inches of snow in this section, making it difficult to carry enough speed to get over the flyover with any efficiency. The last section of pine board seemed impossibly difficult.


Descend the flyover and head through a few more lakes and onto the final challenge of the course - the steps. These steps are just wrong. They look great and make for a great spectacle racing, but their size makes them impossible to get the right step on. They are too short to take one at a time with any speed, and just a touch too small to take two at a time without making your heart rate spike. You do them like Tiny Tim one time and like crazed lunatics on the stair master the next time. Either way your heart is through the roof before the finish line, making a sprint to the finish very hard.


That is the course that your National Champions will be determined on this week. The conditions combined with the course will make for difficult racing and the winner will certainly earn their prize. Now that you have the settings I will be on the lookout for more oddballs and oddities this week.

The Road To CX Nat's 2010: A Trip In FB Status Updates

It's a big truck-stop sized can of beef jerky or 2267.52 Miles from Cincinnati's Fountain Square to Bend, OR. Our correspondents Corey, Gregg and John have made the drive.  Non-freaking-stop!  Today is packet pick-up day at Cyclocross Nationals. Tomorrow our boys will tow the line for the time trial to determine starting position. As it appeared on Facebook, here's their trip in status updates:

The Packing Has Begun (photo inside of bike trailer)


(Sunday 6:02pm)
And off we go 6:02pm start (from last OVCX race Sunday in Indianapolis)


Corey pulled out with the e-brake on and then popped the hood rather than releasing the brake. Oops.

(Sunday 10:52pm)
Gonna see a lot of this tonight.


5 Hour Report: Gilson, IL - 245 miles. Avg Dist per hour: 49 miles.


Corey was at Kum & Go with Gregg


Confucious say: "To go fast, you must first go slow." Confucious had to have been pulling a trailer.

Over the Missouri River and into Omaha, NE. Looking for one of those trucks selling steaks.


(Monday 6:49am)
I swear the same convenience store clerk is working the last three stations we have stopped at through Iowa and Nebraska.


Gregg: "There's no snow in Nebraska." Corey: The wind blew all the snow to Iowa.


(Monday 9:06am)
15 Hour Report: I-80 Giltner, NE population 399. 853 Miles covered so far.


19 Hours in the car and the conversation and concern starts to turn to diet and the potential crop dusting impact.


Wyoming - Home of tough men, cold temps, wind and snow. Actually it's 48 degrees and sunny. Sensing a fraud.

(Monday 7:04pm)
Sixty miles until we cross the Continental Divide. 24 Hours and 1208 miles.


Corey: was at Applebees Neighborhood Bar & Grill in Rock Springs, WY

Gregg recieves quick education on the origination of Rocky Mountain Oysters, aka "Cowboy Caviar" or "Montana Tendergroins."

(Monday 10:12pm)
What Halfway looks like. Heading into the final night of the drive. 28 hours...1363 miles...162 gallons of gas.


Our CX Nat's Reporters are in Wyoming. What song should be stuck in their heads?


(Tuesday 1:08am)
"That was a courtesy! I did a pants shake and everything!"


Warning: Applebees's Cowboy Burger causes intense snoring.

3am, Twin Falls, ID = "Paradise?"

Everything he touches turns to broken. Gregg has now broken multiple devices owned by others.


(Tuesday 11am)
39 Hour Update: 1891 miles, 205 gallons and only 250 more miles to Bend. Only one more fill up required.

We have reached Oregon, and PST. Now to finish things off and get to Bend.


When in doubt follow the salt truck.


(Editor Note: as of 2:00pm Eastern Time, we have not heard a confirmation of arrival.  Hopefully that salt truck didn't steer them the wrong way.  How clever...a frickin' cliff hanger.)


Update- Text received - "Did you check the air in the spare tire (the trailer spare)?"...flat 195 miles out..." Hopefully our 3 heroes will re-surface soon.


Stay tuned...

West Bound and Down Non-Stop to CX Nationals

"PigPen this here's the Rubber Duck and I'm about to put the Hammerdown!"  The Best Bike Blog Ever has a Bear in the air.  Follow the road to nationals with a Cincinnati spin from correspondent Corey Green.  


As a special and exclusive feature, a group of parents, coaches, and Lionhearts junior cyclocrossers will be making the trip to Bend, OR to partake, participate, and soak in USA Cycling's 2010 Cyclocross nationals.  You're invited to mount up and come along for the ride.  Woot!


Cincinnati to Louisville, Indy to Columbus, you're no stranger to road trips.  But this 4500 mile round trip road trip might be more of a mission.  Can they survive life in a Toyota Sequoia?  Can they survive the Super 8?  Can they survive the cornfields?  It reminds me a bit of a movie.  Convoy?  Naw.  This is serious.  Definitely, Smokey and the Bandit.  The original, not a cash grab sequel either.  Before we get it in gear, meet the cast of characters.


I'm Corey Green, Cyclocross National Correspondent for The Best Bike Blog Ever.  There are three of us heading out to Bend via I-80 in a Toyota Sequoia (shameless sponsor plug).  The journey starts in less than a week and will commence promptly after the Zipp wheels from the OVCX raffle are won by a Lionheart and placed in the trailer.  I have 2250 miles, at 70mph that's plenty of time to glue them while riding shotgun. Conveniently Smokey and the Bandit has three main characters providing us with a perfect parallel.


As you remember, The Bandit set out for Texarkana to purchase Coors for some Georgia wheeler/dealers. This anthem and the first official reference to the phrase "boogity boogity boogity" should help you remember the plot.  



Since The Best Bike Blog Ever's budget was only enough to restore a 1987 Yamaha Jog scooter and not a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am, we won't have a diversionary vehicle. But we will have a Toyota Sequoia with a 5.7L V8 engine pulling a trailer set up for bikes graciously donated for our use by the Team Turner/ProChain Cycling Team. It also means that Bandit, Snowman, and Frog will have to inhabit the same Sequoia for a non-stop 2250 mile trip from Indianapolis to Bend.  (Joe Biker Note: read that twice...it does say non-stop doesn't it?)


Cast:

The Bandit will be played by John Petrov. John is the father to a sort of well known cyclist named Spencer Petrov. For those of you racking your brains, yes, he is one of the 12 year olds riding next to you for about 2 minutes at the beginning of your Cat 4 race. John, like Bandit, has organized the drive to and from the west. Reports also have him as the best looking of the three of us as well as being the ladies man. There will probably be some debate on this as we drive.

Snowman will be yours truly, Corey Green. I have two girls racing in Bend at Nationals, Kenzie will be racing for the second time at Nationals and Madeleine will see the big stage for the first time. I will also be racing in three races out west, mostly for recon of courses to share with the kids. My dog won't be coming, and hopefully I won't start talking like Jerry Reed while I am on this trip.

Frog will be played by Gregg Shanefelt. I can already visualize Gregg arguing with me about not being a female and that Sallie Field looks nothing like him, but Gregg was a last minute acquisition to the trip, which means he plays Frog. However, if Gregg shows up this weekend with feathered hair, his participation might come under review. Gregg will be racing in the Elite race on Sunday, which means...Snowman gets to watch the Elite race at Nationals from the pit lane. 10-4 to that.  Hopefully I will remember to help Gregg if he decides to stop in the pits.


In true Smokey and the Bandit spirit we might or might not be taking orders for Deschutes growlers. We have a trailer, we may as well top it off with something. Hopefully we won't be interviewing anyone for the part of Buford T Justice on the way to or fro.


Look for updates as the trip and the racing week progresses. Last year there were a lot of sights and we didn't even stay for the Elites on Sunday. This year we have the entire last day of events to partake.


Joe Biker Note: Sincere thanks to Corey, Gregg and John.  Access passwords will be changed the day after Nat's!  Seriously, have fun, be safe and be funny!