Carpentersville

So Ben said that this coming weekend is the midpoint of the cross season, this is kinda scary, but its kinda good too. Before, i go there i should start with this past weekend. this past weekend, was the chicross cup race in carpentersville. If you read 2 entries ago you already know i didnt go to any other races this weekend. so this one race, was my only cycling focus this weekend.

With my single speed races coming up (jingle cross and nationals), i have been trying my darnest to race single speed, when i can. (this coming weekend isn't one of those weekends) so single speed it was. After recounting, my front ring, i realized my front ring is smaller than i thought. so all my gearing calculations have been off buy about 3-4 inches. that is HUGE!!! basically i have been running a gear too small, and not understanding why i couldn't put power down. well i fixed that problem, and finally started running a better gear. the gear of choice this weekend was about a 61, instead of the 57 i have been running. (that is inches the tire will travel per full revolution of the pedals.)

the race itself wasn't to bad, a crash at the beginning. i was not involved, just caught behind it, sometimes that could can be worse. I didn't pass many people, but i did get a few. The single speed was a good idea, it made me push myself more than i probably would have before. the only place the single speed was a bad idea was the sandpit. I wasn't not able to down shift, so it was harder to than it would have been to get thought. out of the 4 laps we did, i was able to ride it the second lap, but it took too much out of me.

the sand pit is always where something weird happened. for the first time, all year, i got past while off the bike. on the last lap, while running thought the sand pit, i got past by someone who was also running it. I was shocked, and almost let him get away i was SOO shocked. But i hung on his wheeling, wanting revenge. I wanted to take my revenge on the run up after the barriers. As we approached the barriers i saw him look back, so i acted like i was going outside, but upon my dismount i took the inside line. I dismounted 3 steps behind him, but was half a step behind at the top of the run up. At the last second he noticed and cut me off and took the line i wanted. It was his line, he was technically ahead of me. With a straightaway, turn, and the finishing straightaway, i didn't have much time left. With no room on the first straightaway, i wanted until after the turn to start a sprint. I, on my single speed, still had enough to pass him and win the sprint for 43.

it was a fun race, and after the 40 minute race i did last weekened, a 30 minute race was nice. I can't image doing 1 hour races, maybe in 2 or 3 years. THAT bring me to this coming weekend. with plans for next year looking the way they are, i might not be able to travel a lot. so this weekend i am going louisville to race the CAT 4 GP of louisville. it should be fun.

everyone trips

7am-alarm goes off
me- damn i dont want to go to work today
me-hits snooze
me-why o why do i have to go to work today
cell phone alarms goes off
me- wait, its not friday its... SATURDAY!!!
me-hits snooze on cell phone alarm
me-wait if its the weekend than i need to get go to my cross race, which means i can't sleep in
(long pause)
me-screw this, AM sleeping in

so no race for me, first time since the cross season has started. all it means is i have no saved 2 tanks worth of gas, and 20 bucks for entry fee.

maybe now i can afford louisville... the debate goes on.

Heroes and Friends

So I have been really slacking on blog entry’s, 7 cross races into the season and this is maybe the second entry. This season so far I have proven I am not in cross shape. This is several different types of shape, and I am not referring to square or round. The shapes I am referring to is shapes like, mountain, track, road, crit, and cross. Each discipline requires different types of fitness, and abilities. Cross requires a 30-60 minute all out effort. You can not slow, you can not be weak, you must be near or at your redline for the either race. Do not forget that at the end of the time, you must be able to push yourself beyond your redline and sprint all out until you either finish or blow up and lick your wounds as you cross the finish line.

While I have licked my wounds, I have also finished with some strength left; this post is not about that. This post is about some changes in my thinking.

Some heroes come and go from your life, but if you’re lucky enough you can call some heroes your friends. Recently I was able to travel away to a 3 day race out of state. On this trip I realized my heroes have changed the older I am getting. I have been around cycling enough to run into several pros. Most pros will say hi when you talk to them, but few are willing to hold a conversation with you. Cyclocross is the one exception to this rule. This year I have been able to talk to many pros, not limited to, Tim Johnson, Todd and Troy Well, Jeremy Powers, and Katie Compton.

This past Sunday, while sitting on the hill watching the Men’s UCI race, I looked and saw Katie Compton, the 2007 US Women’s Cyclocross National Champion. She was sitting there watching the race, just like everyone else. If you didn’t know any better you wouldn’t know she just raced and won by over a minute. As she sat there, she interacted with everyone on the hill like a normal person. I also saw Jeremy Powers when he arrived take a picture, with his iphone, of his cone. This was not just any cone, but a cone that reserved his parking place at the race. It was very cool, and he was amazing to talk to.

But the one major thing I noticed is how my personal heroes have changed, and I never noticed. I can now call someone I know, someone who I spend the weekend with, someone whose house I have been in, someone whose phone number I have in my cell phone, one of my heroes. This person is super friendly, honest, and someone I believe I can truly call a friend. At times I think he is rather hard on himself. But to me he is pure pro. He does not act like one, he has no attitude, and he is not a pre-madonna. He is a normal guy, trying to live the dream. But he isn’t a normal guy, he is a pro. He is unbelievable strong, and smart. I wish I had the power he had, the loving wife who supports him and helps him out as much as she can. He is my hero, he is a pro, and most importantly I call him my friend.