WTB: Velociraptor claws

As I looked out the window Saturday morning, I was glad I had swapped the Clement file treads for my Specialized mud tires the night before. This was gonna be fun. And cold. But mostly fun.

After a small detour, we arrived at Fulton Ravine in NW Edmonton with plenty of time to sign on and get dressed for a chilly, snowy Velocicross. Not enough time for a pre-ride, but  I don't think it would have helped anyway. Racing a smaller field than I'd seen a week earlier, it was a fairly sketchy start with a few guys going hard off the front but most of us sitting back.I was hesitant to push the bike too hard given the slick conditions, and it didn't take me long before I was making my first snow angel. I went down another 4 or 5 times in those first two laps. I quickly realized three things: (1) I was running  the wrong tire pressure,  (2) My back tire is worn out and needs replaced, and (3) I need to stop blaming equipment and learn to ride more technically sound. The course itself was awesome and would have been pretty well suited to me had it been dry. But much like last weekend, it wasn't dry. There was one long section I could really open it up, and that's exactly where I took advantage. After settling into a rhythm, it must have worked alright. I was disappointed after my race, but was pleasantly surprised to find out I'd finished 10th, so at least I was in the points. Thanks to Dezz and Domino for keeping me going fast up that hill! (For the record, Domino LOVES the snow. Dezz, not so much).

Sunday I lined up at the start line with a practice lap under my belt. The clothing choice on Saturday was perfect, so nothing changed for Sunday. Again, poor start near the back. But I kept the rubber down all race, and half way through was feeling much more confident of a result than I had 22 hours previously. My last two laps were a good back and forth battle with another rider, and on the last lap we took a little escapade into the forest just before hitting the muddiest hill around. I came out the better of the two, with no dropped chain and just a clogged up cleat. The weather conditions made clipping into my pedals  an issue all weekend, so no surprise  my efforts to clip back in while trying to ride a straight line on a muddy uphill was (to quote TLC) damn unpretty. But when you're battling for position on the last lap, you find a way. I was happy to hold my position to the line for 6th place.

So overall? Yeah, neither performance will end up on a YouTube how to video, but fitness continued to be my ally. Learning what line to ride? Well, that's coming along slowly.  The weekend goal was to steal a few upgrade points... mission accomplished. And I was stoked to get the email today with my upgrade. With that in mind, the goal for the last couple of races of the season has changed. Don't be DFL.

Waffles and Wobbles.

Disclaimer: No waffles were consumed within the timeframe of  this blog post. It's merely a reference to belgian waffles and Belgian cyclocross racers both being the best in their respective categories. I am better at eating belgian waffles than I am at racing cross.

The Dark Knight cyclocross race.  It's one of those races I put on the calendar for next year the day after the race.   It's more about having a good time while trying to avoid serious injury to self or bike than winning.  Well, at least that's MY race plan. We lucked out with some dry and pleasantly warm enough weather, but rain earlier in the day led to fairly slick conditions. The course at Winsport's Canada Olympic Park is already the most technical on the calendar, so throw in some mud and soggy grass along side the flaming jump and narrow pump track and you had an interesting night. As I was kindly informed last year (thanks John Santos), I have pretty good bike handling skills for a triathlete. However, I have mediocre bike handling skills for a 'crosser?. A congested 60-person field means there are gonna be some bumps early on.  After avoiding a crash in the first 250m, I wasn't quite so lucky on lap two with an off-camber spill leading to 12 people passing me as I dealt with a minor mechanical. And that was it for any serious thoughts of a top 10. I moved up a few spots but too many mistakes on technical sections kept me from gaining anymore lost time back.  I did at one time (lap 5 I think) shout at Ed, the race director, that he was trying to kill us with this course design. He shouted back "I hope so. But you're still smiling".  I finished 20/60. An improvement over last years 38th place.

Finishing the night off with a big dose of chaos, I jumped into the Arkham race - shortcuts, beer shots, and costumes and chaos! Nuff said.

After 5 hours of sleep, I was up washing the bike before heading back to Winsport for the Cadence Classic Cross race. Good thing I'm full of youthful exuberance.  A muddy course from all the Saturday racing and some early morning frost made for an even trickier course Sunday. I probably hit the ground more at Cadence than I have in my last two years of racing combined. No serious falls, just some off camber slips and slides, with mucky shorts and some grass stuck in the pedals to prove it. But fortunately I wasn't the only one finding it a tough go. (The sun came out and dried up the course for the later races, but I guess that was payback for us having the best conditions on Saturday night). Again some silly mistakes knocked me back a few spots that I couldn't recover from. End result: 19/50. And a whole lotta fun.

Off season goal? Practice off-camber in wet conditions. And take those aero bars off my cyclocross bike!

Run-ups & Downs of Cross

#CrossisHere Everyone's favourite part of Autumn (or more accurately, September til November). My spoken goal at last year's cyclocross races was not to be last. But my secret goal was to be a mediocre middle of the pack. I know, lofty, right. This year, my road racing season went much better than 2015 and thus I thought to myself "Self, you should have a few better CX results this year".
With that, my season started with consecutive 9th place finishes at the Natural High CX in Okotoks. Previously I hadn't even flirted with a top-10 (that includes my wife...I had no game in 1995 and since we've been together since 1995, I never had to develop game. I'm not sure why she even started dating me. Anyway, I digress...). So I was happy to pull out consecutive top-10 results and the corresponding upgrade points. I could have been more aggressive, but a good start to the season nonetheless.

After limited training asides from racing the speedy guys at Midweek Mayhem, I was pumped for Synergy's Pumphouse and Bici Park Cross races this weekend. I did a clinic with HotSauce (for those not in the know, suffice it to say if you are gonna get some course tips from someone, HotSauce is a pretty legit dude to provide said tips). Saturday morning my big ring decided to act up, so I got the Velofix guys to take a quick look. They dropped it off to me as I stood in the starting line, which meant I was about 6 rows deep and ready to pass a few people. The race was pretty well suited to my style - not too technical with some flowing power sections. I made my way up the line with only one small crash (potholes affect cyclocross racing too) and by the last lap I was up to about 8th spot (I didn't know that until the end). But about 250-300m from the finish line I dropped a chain. Jump off and fix it or shoulder the bike and run. I opted to put it back on, but got passed by a couple of guys. Final result - 11th place. One place out of the points. Last year I'd have been stoked with that placing. This year...not so much. No worries, I had my game plan for Sunday's Bici Park Cross.

And then it started raining. And raining. And raining. By 7:30am on Sunday I stood in Stanley park with Brent and Simon and the Bici crew, and we all agreed the race would have to be cancelled. Cool and wet is perfect cross conditions if you live in Belgium and have dedicated cyclocross courses. In Calgary, however, 200 racers riding in a waterlogged inner-city park will not do much to win you favour with the city parks department for future races. But the calendar still has a lot of racing left to be done. There will be lots of run-ups and even more downs. Which is good....it helps me go faster.

Steep thought

I used to fancy myself as a strong climber, passing my competition on the uphills only to be passed on the downhills again.  It wasn't until I started road racing that I realized  I'm a mediocre climber at best. (And with that reflection, I realized my slow swim likely meant I was way behind the fast triathletes and was actually just passing the slower cyclists that beat me out the water).

Yet going into Tour de Bowness, I thought my best finish would be in the road race.  Going into the hilly 88km race, my game plan was to hold on to the lead pack on both climbs up the biggest hill.  Lap 1, mission complete.  The climb up to the finish on the first lap saw a few guys pass me, but I was still where I wanted to be, firmly mid-pack.  I raced the "out" of lap two well, getting myself in good position just before the turnaround.  But when the lead pack hit the big climb the second time around, my legs couldn't execute.  About halfway up, I started going backwards through the lead pack of about 25-30 fellow Cat fivers. As soon as you lose touch with a group that size, regaining contact is near impossible. As soon as I crested the hill, I dropped into the drops ('cause how else would you get in to the drops?) and focused on catching another wheel. I closed the gap on a few stragglers and we ended up with a group of 6. A couple of us did the brunt of the work to minimize the time loss.  And once we got to the final 4km uphill to the line, my execution was that strategic thing of beauty I've been struggling to find over the last 2 years.  Okay, "18th place" and "beauty" maybe don't go hand-in-hand. But I was happy with the way I rode the last 15km. So there.

C.O.P. hill climb? You can imagine how well that went. 4mins and 54 seconds of wishing this thing was over.  I may have left half a second on the course, but not much more than that. I was spent. At least the cat 5s all got their ride in. The faster guys and girls were rained (lightninged?) out half way through the Cat 4 run. 30th place.

Thus far in life, I had competed in 2 criteriums.  In both I was right up there for the sprint.  Of the second group. After about 20 or 30 other guys had already crossed the finish line.  And so, expectations were low as we lined up for a 20 lap, 27 minute race around the streets of Bowness. But by lap 10, I realized I had a chance of doing alright.  The legs felt strong, the lungs were doing a good job of managing the whole oxygen in-carbon dioxide out thing, and this time I didn't mishear Brent "The Crit Monster" Topilko's advice and managed to execute. I moved up to the top ten on the small climb, positioned myself on the Bownesian pavé and came out of the final turn still in top 10.  I was a bit too far left when the road narrowed, meaning my straight path to the finish was cut off by a racer in front of me. But a quick flick to the right allowed me to accelerate and come around 2 guys at the line to secure 6th place. First upgrade points from a crit.  And yet as I rode my cool down, I was disappointed in missed opportunities. Which is a good thing; satisfaction with 6th won't make me better.

So yeah, I'm not much of a climber.

Slow & steady does NOT win the race

So apparently this has become an annual blog.  You're welcome.

I had a double-header weekend. Saturday was the Bicisport Suffer Like a Dog Time Trial in Dog Pound (where else?). The 16.3km course is a hilly one.  Going into the race having spent minimal time training on the Flying Scotsman and still trying to drop vacation weight (I can assure you it's a half-assed attempt) my sole goal was to beat last year's time on the same course.  Coming in a minute faster than last year didn't translate into a great performance, but it was decent enough.  Getting my first upgrade point of the season was even better. No, that's not a typo. Point is singular.

Heading into today's 83km Stampede Road Race back at the same location, the legs were burning but I was feeling ready to go. After a conversation with JVD yesterday about trying to make something happen in races rather than just sitting in and not really contributing, I had my most combative race of the season.  A small break went on the uphill at the start of lap two but I didn't jump as I thought it would be brought back after going that early. Big mistake.  So with a chasing group of about 10 or 12 guys, we started to pull back a few of the breakaway that fell off the pace.  Unfortunately most of our chase group was content to sit in without doing any work. I've never pulled so much in a race.  A few others started to contribute after my Bici teammate Noah told the group to start working, but it wasn't until one lap to go with the second group down to 9 guys that we started to see more rotation (I think this was as much a result of guys realizing we weren't catching the break and a focus on the sprint for minor placings). As we hit the uphill towards the finish line, I had to fight myself out of a box in and found some open road.  Coming around 3 guys, I managed to get second in our mini-sprint. Having no idea how many had remained in the breakaway, I was happy to see I'd taken 8th.  Another single upgrade point. So it looks like the legs are starting to come back after Europe.  And that JVD guy kinda knows what he's talking about.