Not if, but when

The comment "you spend more time crashing that bike than on it" was made to me at work this morning. Sure, I've crashed my bike a couple of times this month, but the only reaction I had was "he just doesn't get it".

I don't want to crash my bike. I've broken a shifter and a helmet this month, it kind of hurts to lift my shoulder right now and a few weeks ago I grew a water balloon on my knee. But we know, at least the ones who get it, that it's all worth it. The good races, events, trips, weekends all make it worth it. This doesn't even mean you have to win, or get a decent result. When you have a good one, you know it's good.

To be super cliche and quote Fight Club, "One minute was enough, Tyler said, a person had to work hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort.  A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection" (this reference is blatantly stolen from sipclipandgo.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/cyclocross-is-fight-club-with-bikes/). This year has been super up and down. I've had a lot of bad weekends, but those good races, the ones that you work hard for, the ones that are worth the effort keep you going.

I started my cyclo-cross season a few weeks ago in Asheville. After a good weekend in Anderson, I was expecting a good 'cross open. This isn't what I got. I wasn't stoked on the course, and the "grass crit" tires weren't stoked on the off-camber, dewy turns. I ate it hard going into the long single track section of the course and wound up all sorts of tangled up in my bike. My foot was stuck in my front wheel, my bars slipped almost all the way down and I as sprawled across the entire trail holding up traffic. The screwy bars affected both my handling and my brakes. It was this crash that banged my knee up, and added a scar to the collection. A few minutes later, trying to make up lost ground, I hit the ground again, on an off camber turn. I took my pit bike in hopes of getting some handling back, but I dropped the chain coming out of a corner, and basically called it a day.

 SON OF A...

Two weeks later, though, it was a completely different story. The second 'cross race of the season was at Carrier Park in Asheville. I've raced here lots, and had decent results. It was chilly outside, and super rainy. My gear was better: I had mud tires glued up and ready to go and I had silly buttons on my skinsuit. It was the makings of a great day.

I wasn't in a great position when the start whistle blew, but I was top five going into the first real section of the course- the double sand pit. By the end of the first lap, I was clear into the top three. Somewhere in the middle of the second lap, I realized that my right shifter stopped doing its job. I couldn't get into a bigger cog, but it took a couple of shifters to smaller cogs before I realized this. Not having the ability to spin an easier gear through the thick mud and sand or being able to really crank out of turns cost me some speed, and a few positions. I was able to keep using the conditions to my advantage though, and drove through the parts that really suited me. It wasn't an easy trip and it wasn't quite the result I wanted, but 7th place in my second 'cross race made everything feel pretty good.

This is really my best look

This past weekend was a mixed bag. It's hard to go into a long gravel road race expecting any sort of result when you don't fancy yourself as a roadie or an endurance racer. Really it was a way for me to try to have a really wacky/fun experience plus get some hard miles... I did most of that.

It really was fun, it just hurt. A lot. Like a hell of a lot. I flatted out of the main group 13 miles into the 65 mile race on Saturday. Then maybe halfway through I crashed. Hard. I hit a muddy pothole wrong and went over the bars, landing on my face a tweeking my right shoulder. Starting Sunday was a feat in and of itself, finishing with any sort of speed was out of the question completely. 

The weekend was a success for a different reason though. I got to race/ride with Steve Noiret for the first time in years, and I got to race with two KindHuman teammates. Adam was happy to debut his Sprinbok steel cyclo-cross bike, and rode it to second in the 32 mile one day race. Temporary teammate/bro Myles Lietzke won our race on Saturday, finished third on Sunday and won the overall. I was super stoked for them, despite barely being able to move.

Even though stairs are my mortal enemy right now and I doubt I broke the top-ten overall, I'm happy with this weekend. You can't always measure success in results, or costs in damages. I came out of this weekend knowing I can get up and keep pushing forward. I got to hangout with great dudes. And most importantly, I verified that I am a 'cross racer through and through. Moster importantly, I don't have to do another 140 miler gravel stage race this year. Ow.

Three-peat

So, I guess this is it. The new season is officially underway. What that meant for me over the past week was laying all sorts of rubber on I-26 driving from Columbia to Charleston on Tuesday, and then from Columbia to Greenville/Anderson over the weekend. This was basically the week-long summary of the past few weeks of my life: setting up temporary camp on the north and south ends of 26 and bouncing home just to recharge for a few days.

Tuesday Night Worlds: Charleston, SC 8/27/13

I think Myles Lietzke and I have known each other basically as long as I've been racing bikes. When I found out that he was organizing weeknight crits in North Charleston in August and September, I knew I had to make it to at least one. Plus, I'll pretty much take any excuse to go to the low country.

It was a pretty sweet, short, kinda technical course with what was basically a u-turn at the top of the hill on the front stretch. The course took it's toll on some of the dudes that lined up with my teammate Adam Abramowicz and I, with crashes thinning out the field pretty quickly. 

Everyone's favorite race promoter, Myles, threw out a prime on the first lap. Adam had a few choice words for him (before even clipping in), but I decided that winning a pair of socks would be a good way to get warmed up for the rest of the race. After missing the prime by about two places, I decided to sit in and try to figure out that damn first turn. After about half of the race I finally found out how to ride it without losing teeth on the road or sprinting out of the corner. 

With three or four laps to go I followed a move that was already up the road. As soon as I caught the lone rider he quit pedaling and I was on my own off the front of the race. I felt decent enough, but I kept looking over my shoulder waiting for the field to catch me. Secretly, I was hoping they would so I wouldn't have to ride my brains out anymore. When they did finally bring me back, I knew I didn't have anything left and just spun in by myself. This was probably the safest bet as there was a crash at the back of the group on the last lap. I appreciate my skin and want to keep it on my own body.

The evening was punctuated by beers and dinner at Madra Rua in North Charleston. It was awesome getting to wind down from an evening race with some of my best friends, and combining my cycling buds with my, well, not cycling buds was pretty awesome. I'm sure I was a great host since I think I'd dropped my brain halfway through the race.

Celebrate Anderson Day One 8/31/13

Despite racing on Tuesday, this was really my first serious race in preparation for the 2013-2014 'cross season. This course was... bizarre. Five mile neutral roll out to the actual course, the back stretch was basically rolling uphill all the way to ANOTHER U-TURN, then rolling downhill to ANOTHER U-TURN for five laps. They were throwing out primes like pretend dollar bills in a rap video, which I didn't expect at what was advertised as a circuit race. The wide open and non-selective nature of the course meant that no one was getting away. So my day was basically over. 

Another prime early in the race meant that I was going to test my legs again. I think I came across fourth or fifth, but omnium points were only going to the top three. The downhill finish meant that I was at a serious disadvantage today and I learned that when I lost this prime. 

I was kind of hoping that I could capitalize on the bottom u-turn and accelerate hard going into the hill on the backstretch, but the straight away was so long that everyone could see any attempted break and it was easy to organize and bring an escapee back to the group. 

The only break of the day was reeled in on the last lap, and I put in a dig at the top of the hill to try to escape going into the first turn. I was brought back pretty quickly and then sat on the front of the group coming down the hill just waiting for everyone to come around. I knew I wasn't big enough physically and didn't have a big enough kick to have any success in the sprint so I decided that coming home safely and alone was the best idea. 

I wasn't upset with rolling in at the back of the group. I'm not really racing for results anyway, and if this is all about fitness then I'm pretty sure I won at training. 

Celebrate Anderson Day Two 9/1/13

Today's course was way, way cooler. Seven laps totaling 19 miles on a twisty, rolling course around the Anderson Civic Center. It was basically a paved 'cross course. I was pleased

I left at a reasonable time, but because the parking lot was ostensibly in the middle of the race and the helpful police guiding us to the lot didn't exactly direct us effectively (there was no reason to send us to the mall, I imagine the Anderson mall sucks and it was in the opposite direction from where we needed to be), I didn't have a lot of time to get ready. When I was warming up with Adam today, something was missing. I think I overworked myself on Saturday and I was lagging behind today. I was hoping that I would be able to ride into the race, but it just didn't happen. 

I wasn't really cornering super effectively today and I think I spent a lot of energy working to stay on the back of the pack. At one point I rolled to the front of the race and decided to put in a soft attack. I managed to get a small gap and had a group of about six riding with me. We tried to get everyone to work together and maybe try to stay away but I didn't have enough left to work and the group never gelled enough to hold our gap.   

I sat in the main pack for a little while longer and with two laps to go Chad Andrews rang the bell for a $25 gamblers' prime. I'm both a bike racer and in college so basically I'm one step above a pill addict and $25 is a ton of money. I struck a deal with a rider I met the day before and went to the front of the group about 2/3 through the lap. Coming out of the second to last corner I stood and hammered. There was a junior on my wheel, but no one else followed and we had a healthy split. Hitting the home stretch in front of the Civic Center I still had my gap but I was ready for the junior to come around. He never did and I made back a little bit of my registration fee. Going up the hill after the first turn I pulled off to let the junior do some work but my legs weren't taking anymore calls. I was blown the hell up and my pedals just didn't turn anymore. The whole group blew by my and I rolled home nice and softly.

So, again no result. I didn't feel great but I'm pretty happy with my ability to push through my leg-block and make a little bit of money. I was able to basically work for 45 minutes, and that's all I really need for 'cross anyway, I guess... right?

Spent a few nights on couch cushions on the floor, hung out with solid dudes I only get to see at bike races, ate ALL OF THE FREE FOOD and made a little bit of my money back. I'm not tearing the cycling world apart, but I'm pleased with my fitness right now. I still think that 'cross season is going to be solid, but I guess we'll find that out this weekend in Asheville.