MUD, MUD AND MORE MUD

I've raced cross in it all...

Dry conditions, ice, snow, frozen ruts and mud.

Now... not all mud is created equally.  Not to a cross racer.

So, let me break down the different mud types:

There's the...


Soupy Mud - Which is equal parts water and mud... which does a lot of splattering but doesn't really amount to a lot of build up.  Soupy mud can be very deep in sections and this may be the best place to ride... if the alternative is one of the muddy section described below.  One of the more annoying aspects of soupy mud is, it rooster tails up your butt... leaving a muddy wet streak, that gets larger and wetter as the race goes on.   This results in the wet diaper effect... UGH!

Goose Shit Mud - That's the really greasy mud.  Not super thick, but it can be very challenging to steer in... particularly in corners.  Have you ever stepped in goose shit.  You slid everywhere in it!  And it sticks on the bottom of your shoe... it also sticks on your bike and drive train... requiring frequent bike changes.  When you get to the goose shit stage... it tends to be everywhere.  On riders, bikes, dogs, spectators, children... everywhere.

Peanut Butter Mud -  This is what, for the most part... they raced in today.  It's thick, usually a few inches deep... but thick enough and firm enough to create a rut effect, causing the wheel to jerk around involuntarily... but it is still ride-able.  It does however take more energy and is harder to control the bike than soupy mud and goose shit mud. 

Sucking Mud -  Is the worse level of mud a racer can face.  Sucking mud is thick, deep and slightly wetter than Peanut Butter... but much deeper.  In many cases, with sucking mud, you are better off energy wise... running vs. riding.   Other than being off your bike and running, the other draw back in running in sucking mud is the real possibility of having your shoe sucked off your foot!  

This is what happens during a day of racing in Peanut Butter Mud...

Power wash over drive!

 

 

Uhh... is something over heating????

 

 

 Bikes in the Que to be washed

 

 

Oops, this one first!!

 

 

Muddy U Turn during the 1st lap

 

 

Without a spare bike in the pit... this is what you tried to raced on!

 

 

 

Racing in the mud isn't as straight forward as you may think... it depends on what type of mud it is. 

 

Today, anyone without a spare bike and a pit crew were effectively out of the race.  They didn't stand a chance.  The weight difference alone, in the mud build up, would add 10lb to the bike within 1/2 a lap.

 

Tonight the temps will drop to the single digits... so guess what???

 

Yup... tomorrow, the course will change again!

 

Until then...

 

 

Peanut out 

The Hearts of a Lions

Today I was a spectator, stood in the damp fog along with a tons of other spectators... watching racers and I saw some amazing things...  But there's only one thing I want to write about today because that moment, brought me to tears. 

Ellen Noble won her first National Championship today... she won it on one of the hardest courses, with some of the toughest conditions imaginable. Add to that... the loss of her dad, less than 9 months ago and I don't know how anyone, regardless of age... but someone so young... can be so poised, centered and focused to have the ability to train, race and win, at the level of the National Championships.    

Both Ellen and Sandy (her mom)... came back to Madison, not only for Ellen but I would imagine for other reasons... 

What I witnessed was a young woman showing the strength of a thousand today.  She raced with the heart of a lion...

I was standing at the finish line with Sandy.  Her eyes were closed... she couldn't bear to watch, we weren't 100% sure who would cross first.  But I could hear her whisper softly, "Dear God, please let her win... she deserves this and it's been such a hard year." 

When Ellen rolled across the line... both mother and daughter were in tears... for a million different reasons.   

I broke down and cried with them...

HEARTS OF LIONS... They both have HEARTS OF LIONS!!

No one deserved that win more that Ellen Noble.  For a million reasons.  She beat an obstacle that none of us had to face.... a broken heart.

Congratulations Ellen....  You and your mom were my hero's today!!


Peanut out. 

WARNING: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!

Remember when we were kids, we would watch something on TV...

They are called reality shows todays but back then, they were just dumb asses... doing dumb ass things, like jumping off a garage on a pogo stick with a metal pie plate attached to their head with duct tape... and somehow thinking it's going to work out well.  From the couch we saw the ugly results coming a mile away... a splat, a surprised look on dumb asses face, a tacoed pie plate (while still duct taped to said head) and then.... lots of crying.

... and after the video tape came this warning!

Warning:  DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!

 

In a nut shell, that about summed up yesterdays races.

 

From the spectators point of view, they may have looked pretty reasonable and maybe even easy... with the leaders walking away with many of the races.

 

But let me tell you, from the racers point of view... it was a war zone out there.

 

I kid you not! 

 

Now... don't misunderstand me... a war zone isn't all bad.  It does have some redeeming qualities.  

 

Like the adrenaline rush of the near death experience as you are rocketing down a icy, rutted path that you know will serve as a cheese grater... when, not if but when, your wheel decides to turn sideways and tosses you over the handlebars like a rag doll at about 40 mph.

 

Your heightened sensory receptor (whatevers) have kicked in... because you don't want to die and the species survival thing is taking over... That's kinda cool.  Because you realize you are in way over your head and you aren't sure how the hell you're going to get out of this mess... so you just keep pedaling and hope like hell things sort themselves out and you just don't break something you'll regret later.  That part isn't so cool.   

 

The hammering of your heart rate at 40% above lactic threshold is thrilling... because you've never experience this before and you wonder how long this will last before you head explodes...   So this is what the true adrenaline rush is all about!!!? 

It got colder than we expected the night before and by the time we arrived on course it was only 16 degrees...  everything was a block of ice and where there was standing water on the course the day before... was now black ice. 

Michele and I took 2 laps around the course and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how not to kill ourselves on the course.  It wasn't a matter of not crashing... there was going to be plenty of that.  The trick was making sure you didn't hurt yourself or damage your equipment.  On a flat course, that's a little easier than a course with huge elevation changes, like this one. 
 
Answer to question #1... we were running the hill for the first few races! It was a sheet of ice and only 1 out of 15 riders were successfully riding the hill.  The odds didn't pay off to try to ride it only to slip out and crash.

Tom D. and I were first up in the batters boxes as far as racers were concerned.  He took off to race, I headed out to warm up. 

Tom had a great race, and finished 11th! What an awesome day for Tom!!

The strategy for my race was pretty simple.  Take the lead before the big climb... get to the top and then punch it on the false flat.  Take calculated risked whenever possible and whenever the elevation goes up... so does my effort, not to mention freaking HR.  

The plan worked beautifully... what spectators didn't see were the 3 huge crashes I took on the back side of the course that cost me huge time and in the last lap, could have cost me the race.

Here's what happened...

My lead was yo yooing around the 30 second range and at one point crept up to close to a minute but on a course this sketchy... a lead of that size is of little comfort, particulary when you have someone who is steadily grinding behind you and not showing signs of giving up.  The riding on my ass had just age graded up into my field, I had not raced against her in the past... and she wanted to hang my hide on her wall

In taking the bell lap, I hit the long run at full tilt, punched it hard on the false flat and then railed the decent before the stair run up... remounted on the top of the rutted decent and that's when it happened...

I was about half way down the hill... just hit full speed when my front wheel caught a rut and launched me over the bars and my bike cart wheeled into the tape!  A spectator who initially was cheering my descending skills, was now owwing an awwing my aerial acrobatic .

 After scrambling to my feet, I had to then untangle my bike from the tape (to make it a bit more challenging, it was wrapped around both my seat post and handle bars)... While I'm trying to figure out this little puzzle, a silent prayer is running through my head, hoping I hadn't wrecked a wheel or bent the derailleur...  I was on the far side of the course... about a mile from the pit...  my 30 second lead was now down to about 15 seconds and I'm trying to tell myself not to completely freak out... because I have half a lap between me and a National title and at the moment, my head is the only thing that can control if I win or lose it!

I managed to get the bike untangled... got myself settled down and focused on clean lines.  You didn't need to win by a lot... you just need to cross the line first. 

It may have looked like a easy race from the side lines.  It may have looked like a done deal from the start... It may have even appeared like a walk away from the first lap.  But it felt like anything BUT... from "this" riders point of view.

The course should have had a warning sticker on it!

Michele (my new Teammate) had a simply spectacular race! 

Check this out!  She decides at the proverbial last minute (a week ago)... to race Nationals.   Then she signs up for what is without a doubt the hardest women's Master field out there... and races is the absolute toughest conditions on a miserably hard course... and guess what she does????

SHE COMES IN 6TH!!!!   1 spot out of podium... and the only reason she wasn't on the podium is because she slid out in a particularly treacherous corner, approaching the pavement heading to the finish line.

She's clearly disappointed for missing out on a podium finish... and I'm disappointed for her as well... but with that said...

Michele had a really, really... not sun shine being blown up the butt... knock em dead race!!! And she was racing against women who have been focused on this race all freaking year.  This was their #1 goal.  Most of them would have been thrilled for a top 10 finish... and Michele just rolled to the line an thrashed them, walking home with 6th place in her pocket.

If that's what we get for a last minute decision... I wanna see what happens when she really plans on Nationals, next year :)!


By 2:00 PM rather than course conditions improving, they actually got worse.  The course was melting and a thin layer of water was now sitting on the ice making corners impossible for traction. 

Paul Curley... who is arguably one of the best bike handlers around, was covered in mud from hitting the deck so many times... before the end of the first lap.

Paul was the defending National Champion and I could see that he wasn't going to go down without a fight.  That's exactly how I would have done it.  The more you crash, the bigger the riskes you have to take to try to get back to the front... but then you run bigger risks of crashes... but as a Champion... it's the all or nothing mentality.  You either race to win... or go down in flames.  Sadly... Paul didn't win yesterday, but it wasn't for lack of trying. 

I will say this about Paul...  given the opportunity to follow and study a line from anyone.  Paul is the guy I want to continue to learn from.  He is the absolute master at picking, analyzing and riding lines.  I have learned so much from him.  He has a ton of jersey's to prove it... not getting it this year doesn't take any of that away from him.  He's still a CHAMP in a very big way.

Tom won't admit it... but he had a really good race.  He lined up hoping for a top 10... but the course gods had other plans and really recked havoc on the results...  so guys who should have been in the top 5 were back in the teens (like Al Blanchard and Paul Curley) and as a result... Tom finished in the top 25.  I think Tom does get the award for accumulated the most grub on his body though... it seems that he body surfed (on his back)... with his bike still attached to his feet)... a long down hill on the back side of the course, and actually passed riders trying to ride it. 

John had an awesome race... he and Paul were keeping each other company in the war zone and John was holding his own despite a close encounter with a wooden stake.  Shortly after Johns race, I saw him standing around and found that he was waiting on Derek, who was racing... so I bought him a cup of hot chocolate.  The poor guy was trying to convince Michele and me, he was fine... because he had a layer "on top of his wet skin suit"... but we knew better.  His shaking hands and blue lips, told us other wise...

Derek... Now... he's the MAN!  After doing 2 races the prior day... he turned around and nailed down a 11th place finish!  Wow... I don't know how he turned around and did that all over again...  

Nice job to all!!   
 

It was way harder than it looked! And... as the day went on... it only got harder.  

 

 

Paul's one of the best bike handlers I know... he had a tough day on the ice

 

  

 

Hey!  Is there a vaccine for that???

 

 



 



Family photo... but this is NOT our Child!!

 

 

 

 

 

Tom bubble wrapping his body in an attempt to stay dry... it looked like a flake jacket!

 

 

We had a bunch of "no show's for the awards ceremony"... what gives!!!? 

 

 

 

Julie was so excited... she hopped on the podium and forgot to get her Jersey!!  God love her!

 

 

So... Now, I'm officially a spectator!

 

I am going to hang out and watch the pros race and then we'll start to head back on Monday. 

 

The first part of our racing job is finished... now we can rest a bit!!

 

Thanks for all the really great emails, texts and face books comments.  You guys are all awesome!!! 

 

Racing isn't any fun without friends.. it would be lonely and hollow... so thanks so much for your love, friendship, support and for believing in us!

 

One last thank you to Tom.. His coaching and strategy in large part is how I got #7... so thank you so much Tom.  That's why you are the COACH!

 

Until later,

 

Peanut out 

 

 

Wake Up & Let The Racing Begin!

Today was the kick off of the first day of Nationals with non Championship racing conducted for the majority of the day and the final 2 races of the day, beginning the formal Championship racing schedule.

The 2 Championship races were the men's and women's single speed races. 

For those of you who don't know what a single speed bike is... it's a bike with only 1 gear. 

Yup... you don't have a choice, you are stuck with that one gear....  UP the hills, DOwn the hills... and on the flats.  So.... what ever freaking gear you put on your bike (and  from what I understand... you pick your poison... aka you install the 1 gear/size on your bike before the race) and hope you are happy with it or better put... can live with it.

Personally... I think these guys and gals need their tiny little pin heads examined!!!!  Because Cyclocross is hard enough!!! 

During half of my race... out of the 18 gears I have, I'm looking for extra gears that I don't have!!!

And these gluttons for punishment, intentionally take all their gears off their bike, except 1!!!!  My guess is, this group also saves a ton of money on dental care by opting out of Novocaine... they just tell their Dentist...

"Hey... don't need that crap, just drill without it... I race single speed... can't hurt worse than that!".

So... huge kudos to these folks.  Especially on this super slick, hilly course.

 

Here's the leader of the womens race.. out in front and climbing the hill... with her one tiny gear!

 

 

 

Leaders of the men's single speed race in lap 1

 

 

Most of the field had to run the hill... it was just too slippery to ride

 

 

After a bunch of looking around, kicking at the snow... sniffing the mud and sticking our fingers in the wind we've arrived at the following conclusions regarding tomorrow's course conditions based on the time each of us race...

 

We have no freaking clue what it's going to be like!

 

Just kidding...  Here's what we think

 

Tom Doucett - His race is at 9:30... we think it will be frozen mud and ruts and a little snow on the big climb.

 

Peanut (aka yours truly)  -  I race at 10:30... It will still be frozen but the ground will begin to thaw and it will start to get greasy...  with a firm base underneath, lots of sliding.

 

Michele Satrowsky (our newest Blue Steel teammate) - races at 11:30... will have the same conditions but the course may begin to get a little wetter.

 

Tom and Paul -  race at 2:00... we expect a mud track on top of frozen ground... so lots of slipping and sliding and splattering, with cold puddles forming all over the course.

 

There is a prediction for rain... but the current forecast says it will hold off until later in the day... so we may all dodge the rain drops for the most part.    

 

So... that's our best guess... don't hold me to it... I don't get paid for this crap!

 

     

Here are Tom and Paul praying to the cycling Gods for a good race...  I prefer to pray in the privacy of my room. 

 

 

So.... we are about as ready as we can be...

 

We will head out early and do a few easy laps at around 8:30 am to look over the course one last time and then the course will be closed for racing. 

 

Then we will be off in our own little worlds, getting ready for our races and once we're finished... doing pit support for those racing afterwards.

 

Keep your fingers crossed!  You will know how we do before I have a chance to tell all of you... but I'll fill you in on all the details as soon as I can.

 

I would like to thank all of you for reading the blogs, sending your likes on facebook and your nice notes.  I am passing them along to Tom and Paul.. they appreciate your support as much as I do.

 

Until later,

 

 

Peanut out!   

 

 



COURSE CHECK OUT... THE FIRST LOOK

When you've been doing this long enough...

 

Like back when cavemen and dinosaurs roamed the earth, you learn a few things...

 

#1.  If you are looking at the course before 1500+ stampeding racers get a chance to ride all over it... IT WILL CHANGE.

 

#2.  If you are looking at the course 3 days before your race and all those stampeding racers will pre-ride the course a bazillion times...  IT WILL CHANGE.

 

#3.  If you're in Madison WI and they are predicting a thaw and then the possibility of rain... IT WILL MOST CERTAINLY CHANGE.

 

So, why do a course check out at all... you may ask???

Well first of all...

 

CAUSE IT'S FREAKING THERE!!!!

 

But more importantly, even though the conditions of the course are changing... riding the course over and over again tattoos the various lines into your memory banks.  So when you're too tired to think... the auto pilot can kick in and you know which direction to steer the bike.

 

That may sound a little far fetched... but a course has a million different tiny variations that you can choose to ride.  Knowing how they change under various conditions and riding the same course several times, slowly burns those variations into your sub-conscious. 

 

See...  Some peanuts do have brains...  they may be tiny brains, but they are rattling around in the shell somewhere.

 

 



  

So, with that long winded preamble...

 

The course is 99% the same as last year with one tiny change. 

 

The change shoots us across a section of pavement before making a turn after a decent... rather than forcing us to make the turn on the pavement.  There were a ton of crashes on the pavement last year, due to wet muddy tires and the change in course was a good call.  Other than that... we are racing the same course. 

 

I liked the course last year... still like it this year.  

 

The course at the moment is for the most part, covered with hard packed snow.  It is slippery in spots but totally ride-able.

 

The big climb is covered in snow... but a strip of mud is starting to seep through and by Thursday I believe it could be covered in mud and if it gets cold enough to freeze at night, the million dollar question will be, when the pitch gets steep...can we ride it or will we have to run it?  

 

The big descents are for the most part covered in snow as well and those will most certainly be some variation of a mud or ice/mud slalom. 

 

Tomorrow morning, we will hop onto the course again before racing starts 9:30, to check out the course and get in our "pre-race work outs".  Then we'll stick around, watch some of the races and also watch to see what the course does after a bunch of racers tear around the course a few hundred times. 

 

No matter how you slice it... it's gonna be a wild few days of racing!!!

 

On a bit of a separate note... I promised to share a little bit about my roommates Tom and Paul.

 

Before we headed out for our course check out.. I poked my head in Paul's room... and was amazed at how tidy this guy is!!!

 

 

 Paul the Monk's Room 

 

 

Then there's Tom's room...

 

 

 

 

Tom... there are things called hangers!

 

 

 

And to be fair

 

 

 

Here's the Peanut's room with the infamous exploding bags!

 

Now... I am discovering a few things about Paul.  Aside from being super neat...  This guy wastes "no time"!  Not one second.

     

Here's his trip plan to Madison...

 

 

 

 

Here's the Peanut's trips plan to Madison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So... guess who's not going to caravan together on the way home???? :)

 

That's it for tonight...

 

More tomorrow after the pre-ride and watching some races!

 

Peanut out! 

 

 

 

 

 

       





Day 2 On the Road to Madison and OUR ARRIVAL

I gotta say... 

We haven't even started racing and it's already an adventure!!!  Brother... it's gonna be a crazy week!!!

So, let me bring you up to speed!

Peanut here...

For those of you who don't know how the hell I got this silly nickname... it started last year back at Nationals....

Oh.... forget  how I got the name!!!!   My nickname is Peanut and that's, THAT!


My Teammate and constant traveling and racing companion in absensia...  That would be Flea...

In other words,  She is not with me at the moment... and Bigpit... her husband and the 2nd member of what has become my posse, he's also MIA!!!! 

Can you tell I'm not happy that they aren't here!!!

So that leaves me.. Peanut... just Peanut... alone, racing alone.

Well, not really, I'll have lots of company, but it's gonna feel wierd.       

Okay...  I must move on...

My bunk mates for the week will be Tom Stevens and Paul Curley.  I have known them both for years, traveled with Tom (my coach) overseas and all over the country, so we know each others habits well. 

I've never roomed with Paul, that should be fun... there are a million urban legends about the guy and I plan on finding out if a few are true...   Like, does he really sleep with that tiny little mirror???

Kay... Here's a quick recap of the past 24 hours

It's 4:00 pm and less than 1 hour ago I was bouncing along in the shotgun seat of the van while Tom tried to keep the van on all 4 wheels.

Tom drives like he races a bike.  The van whipping all over the road while he wiggles in his seat and flaps his long arms around... normally reaching for food or something else well out of reach.    Despite his enormous wing span... from the drivers seat, it is never safe to turn around while rocketing down the highway at 75 mph and try to locate doritos!!!

I have been taught not to alarm the driver... so as calmly as I can.... I'm screaming at the top of my lungs.... WTF!! LET ME GET THAT!!

Tom just hammers the brakes and says " no I got it'!  Ignoring the fact that we almost slammed into a 14 ton truck, hauling cargo with skulls and cross bones plastered all over it!!!

The weather today is mild for Wisconsin, a far cry from the blowing slush we drove for hours in last night.


So... things are going well...

Aside from almost tearing down a toll gate (totally my bad)...  Who puts a drop down gate in a high speed EZpass and has a green light over head... it's like a tease!!?   I never saw the gate and only saw the green light... it was Tom yelling that got me to slam on the brakes....  

It was a totally close call... and required a smoking lock up... and a load shift of immense proportions and an amazing swear combination (that's Tom's interesting combination of swear words when under high levels of stress).  Kinda makes up for his driving foo phaasss.... 

A narrow miss with food poisoning.... That's totally Tom's fault. 

I wasn't aware the proper  protocol prior to accepting food from Tom was to watch him sniff it first and then wait15 seconds to see if he tosses it out the window!  That's exactly what he did with his stuffed grape leaves, after he said "want one"... wagged a single grape leaf 1 inch from my face from a fork (as I'm driving)... and I say "sure", pop it into my mouth and proceed to focus on the traffic. 

Next thing I see out of the corner of my eye, is Tom sniffing his grape leaves and then rolling down the window and tossing a few out the window.  I ask him what's the deal?.. and he informs me that "stuff is growing on them"!   That's when I asked the fated question.   "Hey, when did you buy them?".   Answer... "a little over a week ago."

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!?"  I yelled....  toss those damned things out, the last thing we need to do in come down with food poisoning!

He did see some wisdom in my logic and tossed the balance of the grape leaves....  I luckily, felt fine for the balance of the day.    

And staying in a hotel that doubled as a demolition zone (again... my bad).... Note to self:  When in Cleveland, it seems that it is necessary to inquire if the entire first floor is under renovation and covered in plastic sheeting when calling for room reservations.  Seems this information is not volunteered over the phone... they feel the free breakfast is the compelling reason you are staying there!!  

So... other than that, so far, it's been a relatively uneventful trip :) 

I will get some pictures loaded in the next day or so... for your entertainment pleasure...

Tomorrow, course check out!!

Peanut out.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM... ROAD TO NATS

Before I get into it.... 

I want to take a moment to reflect on the Blue Steel Cross Team.  

What a awesome group of people... It truly has been my privilege to race with this talented group of athletes.

During the course of the season, we were very fortunate to add to our talent pool... with additions to both our men's and women's teams.

Collectively, we ended the season with in excess of 33 podium finishes... many of which I was not responsible for.   What an incredible accomplishment!

The reason I wanted to point out that most of the podium finishes were not my doing was simply because, one would expect that I should be carrying the team... since I'm wearing the World Jersey... right????  

Wrong!!!!

That wasn't the case.   Nope...  My teammates actually carried me!!!  The vast majority of those podium finishes were from the efforts of my teammates!!!  I was but a small contributor to what turned out to be a very dominating Blue Steel Cross Team. 

The fastest women on our team this year, from a very  humble and classy racer...Karen Tripp...  she simply tore it up this year!

And with regards to the men, I have to say that Andy Gould and Eric Carlson, consistently ranked in the top 3 in their fields... gathering several podium finishes under their collective skin suits.

Below is a not so aligned list of the podium places.  

So... Congrats to everyone, for a great season of racing.  You all did really, really well!!! 

2012 Season highlights:

Name         Place      race

Cathy R      3            Regional Champs

Andy G      3           Regional champs

Ronni V     1           Regional champs

Leah C      2           Regiona champs

Cathy R     3          Regional champs single speed

Karen  T    3          Baystate

Cathy R      3              Shedd park

Cathy R         1            Velo cross

Andy G          3             Velo cross

Ronni V          3            Velo cross

Eric C             1            Paradise

Karen T         2            Cycle smart

Kathy S          3            cycle smart

Cathy R         3            Orchard cross

Andy G          2             orchard cross

Ronni V         1             orchard cross

Sarah C         2             canton

Kathy S         1            downeast

Karen  T        2            downeast

Cathy R         3               minuteman

Eric   C             3                   minuteman

Karen            2              Providence

Kathy S         3                  Providence

Karen            1                  Providence day 1

Kathy S         2                gloucester

Karen T        3                 gloucester

Karen           1                gloucester

Kathy            3              gloucester

Eric C            1              White park

Karen            3              green mt

Karen             2             green mt

Eric c              2             bob cross

Kathy S          3             bob cross

Total 33 Podiums for cx!

Not to mention all the personal achievements and numerous top 10 finishes!

Road- Eric podiumed in Beverly, Andy at the Indoor TT

Mtb- Andy: 3rd at the Burlingame TT, 3rd at Endurorama New Jersey, 1st overall at 12 hours of Bradbury, 2nd at the Millstone Grind marathon distance, 1st at the Camden Enduro, 3rd at the Mt Snow Downhill race.

Karen- 3rd at willowdale

Ronni- 2nd at Pinnacle, 2nd at moody park

George - 3 at harding hill

Jim hall- 3 at harding hill

BTW... Getting on the podium is NO indication of how well you raced!  Some of my best and hardest fought races never resulted in a podium.  But it was still a great effort and a great race.

So... now that the regular season is done anyone who isn't going to Nationals or Worlds are now sitting back, drinking beer... and not even thinking about going out for a training ride... because frankly, it's too damned cold!  

Plus... they are doing what any reasonable person would be doing, they are busy recovering from close to 6 months of racing Cyclocross!!

Not me... Nope, not only do I still have 2 races to race.. these 2 races are what what my entire year has been focused on... HOW CRAZY IS THAT??!!!    


6 days before the National Championships... 29 days before the World Championships.  For me... this is what the entire year of training and racing boils down to... these 2 races.  

Talk about putting all your freaking eggs in a few baskets!!!

 





Yikes... don't drop that egg!!!



If anyone were to ask me at any point in the season, what's my goal? My answer would simply be... "To do as well as I possibly can at the National and World Championships."

Every training ride, every training hour, each of the close to 30 races we've raced in the regular Cross Season has been with these two goals in mind.

With that said... As I have eluded in my earlier comments, this past year of prep and racing hasn't been alone.  It's been with an awesome support system made up of teammates, close friends, family, The Blue Steel Crew, my coach Tom Stevens,  all our Blue Steel customers and all the folks I race with on the weekends.

This incredible group of people have helped me get ready for these 2 important races and without them, it would be damned impossible to get ready.

You have helped me stay mentally tough and made me want to continue to turn the pedals, even, when I didn't think I had the strength to go another second.  So... Thank you.

Someone asked me... which is harder...

Trying to win the jersey when you don't have it?  Or defending it?  

WOW... It's a 2 part answer... because I have been on both sides of that equation.

#1.  It's way easier trying to win the jersey when you don't have it... because you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  

#2.  Defending is harder.  In a sense, you have a target on your back, you "feel" as if you have everything to lose and you don't want to give it up...

BUT... having answered the question... here's what my heart would tell you....

It's such a privilege to wear it... I am happy to bear the weight of trying to defend it... but in reality, the day of the race, it's no longer mine...  There is no Champion until the winner rolls across the line to claim what is rightly theirs...

So we all have to go out and race for the privilege of wearing it... be it for the first time or for another year.  

You can bank on one thing...  I will do everything in my power to do my very, very best... I am not afraid to suffer and I'm not afraid to do what I need to do, so let's keep our fingers crossed that everything goes well and I'll keep you posted on our adventures along the way.

Sadly the Flea (Karen) and Big Pit (Jeff)... won't be joining me on the first leg of the trip (Nationals... in Madison WI)... but they will be blogging from a unknown remote location... Hell knows where they will be at... but I bet my bib shorts it will be a lot warmer that MADISON WI.

They will be joining in on the second leg of the trip to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Louisville KY, that's when the joint blogging with commence.

I am however going to be traveling with Tom my coach in the Blue Steel Van again... God only knows how that's going to turn out... my stomach is already churning in anticipation.  


I've decided I'm not going to tell my insurance company... it's best they not know!




So... with 3 day left before blast off... now's the time for final equipment check out!!

3 bikes and 4 sets of wheels... that should do it!



 











Can't forget my lucky Ice Weasels T-shirt!!!  I will wear this to bed before each Championship race!! 


 

















Colby knows that a trip is on the horizon and is already burying her bones in my bag... she doesn't know she's not going....  



Until later.... 


The Peanut Gallery