I'm Not A Runner

What a sweet ass race... I've been waiting for that shit since all you crazy nutty cylocross racers have been trying to talk me into doing it. All the talk about just how fucking great this cyclocross racing is. Ya, your right. I said it, I love the shit. This weekend race was made for me, kinda...

You see one thing I lack horribly in when it comes to cyclocross is running. Especially when it comes to running up steep long hills. I ride a bike, I don't run. Although after this weekend, I learned that it's something I'll be loading into my arsenal next season, hell maybe even a little this season coming into OUR state championship.

They started us with the Open class at the Destad KS State Championship Race. I coulda gave a shit less about this race, I'm not from KS, I can't win State, and I missed last weeks race taking me out of the overall running. I wanted to have fun, I wanted to race in MUD! I got both...

I had a pretty awesome start, I had an even better first couple of laps. I was stoked when I ran up the hill hearing Cameron shout out "Dude your like top 5!" Who would of guessed a couple of single speeders could toss it up with the open guys. Only in a race like yesterdays...

Songer rode strong, but I felt stronger. I could have done alot of things differently, but I did what I did, and came up short of the win. I was riding behind Songer comfortably, more comfortable than ever before. I even led a bit, but wanted to keep it low key till the last few laps to go. That worked until he put a gap on me. I closed it alright, that's right, I'm not that big of a bitch. But then I layed it out sideways on one of the corners. Totally washed the front end of the bike out like I had just hit a patch of ice. Wallowed in the mud like a fucking pig, but quickly got back on it. At this time he had 30 seconds on me and we had two laps to go.

I worked and worked, but with each of the three running sections I lost power. My legs felt like cement. I was toast... Last lap was a blur, my only regret was that I didn't lay it down harder. I could tell Songer was pushing it and my legs just didn't have it. Turns out he had a bad last lap and won by only 10 seconds. Oh well, I was happy, I had a fucking blast, and I got to toss it up with the Open guys like a pro, with one gear...

If you missed it, I'm truely sorry, you missed the best race of the year. I did everything wrong coming into the race just to see how much it would matter... Didn't seem to matter much. But for our State I'll probably refrain from eating all you can eat crablegs the night before, downing a bottle of wine, and otherwise partaking in illegal activity that would likely be frowned upon by our great governing clusterfuck that is know as USCF.

Good times, man good times...

Quote of the race that made my day, "You have spikes on those tires?" Brian Jensen as I slice a downhill right corner passing him. Yup, spikes and fucking tire chains...

Lake Cycling

If you're not buying Lake Cycling shoes, you need to be... I swear, I've never experienced customer service like theirs, EVER! I just got off the phone with Chris, I had a few issues with a couple pair of their shoes, and as always he was spot on with his service.

I bought a pair of their top end 401's a year back, and competly destroyed them at Ouchita this year. I talked with Chris, and he informed me they had an issue with said shoe, which I why I was able to buy it at the discount price. No biggie, he said send them here, and I'll fix them up. Not only did he fix them up, but he sent me a replacement pair of 235's to ride while I was without the 401's. That's a $200 pair of shoes for free, just so he knew that I had something to wear in the meantime.

Oh by the way, when you call their number, it rings a few times, and a real person picks up. Eat that shit big 3.

So fast forward to today. My 401's had a broken dial from eating shit at the Swope XC race. I've been bullshiting about calling, but finally called today. He hooked me up with the BOA e-mail and told me what to do to get a new dial system sent to me, for free. Also my 235s have had an issue with the rear sole cup coming loose. The stichting broke a few months ago, and finally broke loose. Again, no biggie said Chris, send me a picture, take them to your local shoe smith, and I'll re-imburse you for the cost.

Holy shit, I mean how much better can you get? Well let me tell you... My buckles came a little loose and flop around a bit. I don't give a shit, they still work, but they click clack sometimes. I'm not picky, especially with a free pair of shoes. While I was talking to him about the new pimptastic 235's coming out, he told me they went to straps because they're trying to get away from buckles. I told him my deal and he said he was shipping out the new and improved buckle system as we spoke.

Now you may ask why I've had so many problems with my shoes. Understand that on a normal year, I would go through 2-3 pair of Specialized shoes. While I never really tested Specialized shoes warranty, I don't care. They fell apart like junk, while as the Lake shoes just have little issues here and there. Not completly falling apart issues like I had with Specialized. I ride hard, I'm hard on my shit. If a pair of shoes last me a year I'm utterly amazed. The 235's look like brand new after 6 months of constant abuse. A little work on the heal and I'm good. The 401's after the repair still are holding strong also.

Lake is the shit in my book and I hope they can be the shit for you too. Check out their website at www.lakecycling.com.

And here's a pic of the new 235. Oh ya baby, RASTAFARIAN! I'm checking a pair come March, these are just to sweet to pass up.

Boss Cross 3 - Ups and Downs

Wow that one awesome, painful race...

Cameron smoked us in the SS class. I had a good gap at one time on Songer, he came back, and beat me at the very last minute of the last lap. Almost...

I borrowed Kevin's Tricross to race the 3/4s. Couldn't muster the strength for the SS in two races. Probably the hardest race of my life, there were times where all I wanted to do was collapse and die. Started out horrible, towards the back, but found my groove and started picking off riders left and right. A few laps in I found myself behind Mark Cole. Put it down on the techinical section to get a gap. Slowly built it up and then went to maintaining it.

Could't catch Travis, he was riding well and I didn't have shit for snap. I came around and saw 5 laps to go and almost passed out. The last half of the race was a blur, pound it on the hills and sappy sections and hold on for the rest. Managed to take 4th though, which I was happy about.

Won 20 bucks in that race, and a Giro hoodie for a 3rd in the SS class. Another good day of training.

Yesterday we woke up early, popped the first top of a bottle of wine at 10 and finished the third bottle around 5. Good day of relaxing and enjoying the weather. This time change has me all messed up.

Wanna ride tommorow night? Legs get snapped at the Tuesday Night Training Races... Meet at the west side of Berkley Riverfront Park, just below the Grand St. viaduct.

Smithville Pain Fest!

I'll give it to him, Songer is one strong son of a bitch. Not to say his mother is a bitch, just a figure of speech. Any dude who can race a master's race solidly, and then come kick some ass in the SS class has my respect. I've beaten him once, only because he had mechanical issues. I've been able to hold on to him a little in every race, even leading him in some. This race I would only be able to hold on for 3 or so laps before he dropped me like a shit from the rear.

I think I needed a 21... The 42x20 has been golden, except for these last two races. I think last weekends race was just some bad decisions from the few nights before, but I know this race coming in I was fresh. The bike worked flawlessly as always, but that fuck you hill took it's toll. Not to mention the sand.

Chris Locke started out like a bat out of hell, almost taking out the lead back in the first turn. Slow your roll bud, you're much better off holding a wheel for the first lap, not trying to run us all into the ground. Songer took a gap, I finally passed Chris on the barriers and made it to Songer. He later dropped me, 3rd and 4th looked strong but dropped off at seperate times during the race, and I took 2nd, again, to Songer.

My back sucked it up, not sure what that's been about. To the Chiro, then lotsa core and back work. It's Songer in first for the overall with me in second. I need to win the next two races...

Thanks to the crew for putting on a bad ass race, it a blast as always with this cross shit.

Travis raced his best looking race yet taking second to Mark Cole. Who I assume is catting up next weekend? I would sure hope so, he's more than ready. Cam raced the open on his fixed mtb, crazy fucker. I held on the last part of the race just making sure I met him at the same crossing every lap to ensure I wasn't losing time. Was sastisfied with that...

Can you say blown up? I rode that wall thou damnit, and made it my bitch almost ever time except for once or twice...

Kevin cracks me up, I can see it running through his head, "I will squash this pussy barrier, and prove once and forall my manly might!"

Get ready for Boss Cross 3 this weekend, it Halloween and I'm sure many shanagans will be going down. Now to figure out my costume...

Boulavard Cup

Tank 7, the shit... My legs, not so much. Boulavard Cup was a C race for me, so I'm still happy at my lackluster performance. Friday night and Saturday spelled disaster with a giant blowup with Jamie led to a bunch of unwanted stress, but that's life. That's women...

I felt decent warming up but once the pre-lap hit, I noticed tight legs. The first lap went well with Cam and I putting in a nice gap. I slowly started to fade from there. Went down on lap 3 or 4 and lost some time. Songer eventually passed me on the three step barrier, I went too wide and ended up outside of the tape. Had to do another quick dismount to get back on course and he saw it. He put in a surge, I couldn't answer.

Felt like quiting many times during the race. I couldn't stay one top of my gear, and my back was killing me which is unusual. I saw 4th starting to make ground so I decided to use some strategy. I sat up on lap 5 for the last half and let him catch up. I knew 5th was out of it, so it would be me and him for 3rd. He put in an instant gap on the pavement, probably 10 or so seconds. I quickly caught him on the first hill and noticed he was feeling it too. I managed to cut him on a corner and took back over 3rd and never looked back.

Caught a second wind, and managed to extend my gap leading into the last lap. Took a beer hand up and cruised in for 3rd. Pretty happy given my weak performance. Got to see what I was really made of, and it will prove to pay off hugely in my future performances.

The race was awesome, the food was amazing, the beer was flowing, and the crowd was awesome. Something about people screaming your name makes you dig deep.

This pic pretty much sums it up for me. Huge congrats to Travis, he put in a nice race even though they wouldn't allow him to race 3's. Cam tore up the SS division on his Fixie, proving he still is and always will be a beast on a bike. Jamie, Kevin, and Jessie also were in attendance, all looking stonger than ever. Good job guys!

Chris Cross EARLY!

Holy shit, someone inform the slackass police to remove my name, I actually have a race report that's not a week old. I haven't reported any good music lately either, so here's one... Company of Thieves, a female led alternative group out of Chicago. I'm not usually one to fall in love with a female led vocal band, not to sound gay or anything, but there's been few that truely grab my musical likings. Genevieve does tho, and Oscar Wilde, acoustic or not, is a great song to start with. Ordinary Riches is the only CD I've run across on Itunes, and it's a pretty damn good one.

So back to what ya came for, the report on what exactly went down this weekend. Let me start by making fun of those who didn't have the balls to come out and race in the colder than normal bulllshit Missouri weather. YOU FUCKED UP! Ha ha, really, you might have missed one of the most kick ass course to date. Then again I'm new to this cyclocross shit, but I heard from others that the course was well loved. Nice off cambered climbs, plenty of elevation, some sweet cobblestones, and enough bumps to weed out the tough from the weak.

I lined the SS class, as we waited to launch just 30 seconds after the 1/2/3's. I managed to find the front line, a postition I always try to grab. I find that as long as I can stay in the front, I can do well. We started on an uphill and I had one of the best starts of my life, with an instant clip in followed by an explosion of pedals to take the holeshot easily. I let Stephen Songer take the led though, because I have also learned that as long as you can hold to this dude, your going to be in the top two. He's been dominating the SS class, but each week I find myself holding his wheel longer and longer. Behind us chasing were Theodore Flemming and Chris Locke. Two more guys I knew I had to look out for.

Songer and I put in a gap early, but it wasn't as big as usualy. He led the first lap, I lead the second, and then he took back over on the third. We had a decent gap built up to this point, and that's when shit luck hit Songer. Coming into the tennis court section he dropped his chain, and I was forced to take the lead. I don't mind this postition but I haven't been in it enough for cross to feel comfortable. This was only about 20 minutes into the 50 minute race and I was a little uncertain how to keep my pace as to not fizzle out and lose my lead.

Well I held it... Took 1st. I felt good, and being able to see how far back Theodore was helped me with my pacing. Songer dropped his chain a bunch more and ended up 6th. This is turning into quite a interesting turn of events with the SS overall classification. Both Songer and I have a 1st and 6th, and both Theodore and Chris have a 2nd and 3rd. That puts their total even at 88 and ours at 84. If I can stay consistant and hold off Songer and those two, I can take the overall. That's going to lead to 3 though races...

Thanks to my old team of Cowtown for putting on quite the event. I really hoped it would have worked out with that team, but I've left to join the ranks of Team Ethos for reasons of we all fit together nicely. Travis did nice with a 6th in a very competitive 3/4 group. I can probably confidently say that there are some definent sandbaggers in that group, Dan O being ommited from that statement. Whoever that guy was who took first obviously looked to be an Open Racer in the wrong class for some points. Guess I won't say much more, but good job Travis non the less. Jamie was also out putting it down in the 4s.


I love that money shot.

BOULAVARD CUP THIS WEEKEND! See you then, or if you'd like you can come test your might Wednesday at the Swayze Memorial Cyclocross Race, I'll be there... Will you?

Boss Cross Late Yes

Damnit man, no matter how hard I try I still slack on the updates. I'm wasting some time so I figured in between watching clips of bad asses like Martin Soderstrom and reading post about how Eatough is making his last big bang this weekend, I present my last weekend recap.

Boss Cross totally kicks ass, those guys put on one hellava weekend. I did awesome, proud of my skillz, and it made paying 160 bucks for a fucking Comfort Inn room worth it. Seriously? Comfort Inn common, I know it was the last room but I didn't even get a reach around. I at least expect some lube with that rape, but alas, I was dry humped.

Saturday I lined the SS race and battled it out with Songer and another 360 racer. Songer took off, I fumbled and wrecked. I battled hard with the other guy but made my pass on the sandy river bottom section. I hopped off, ran, passed, and made it stick. I put it down heavy and put in a gap to take 2nd for the day.

Saturday night was filled with some good food, good brew, and good company over at Trav's house. I only threw back three because I figured I'd like to do somewhat decent on Sunday, so we called it an early night.

Sunday was good. I was in the mix in the SS race, right behind Britton. We caught Songer with 1 and half to go. I fumbled again, they put it down, I lost them, and sat up the rest of the race. Took it easy because I figured I'd try my hand at the Cat 4 race. We started the Cat 4 race 30 minutes later. I felt great, and managed to stay to the front and out of all the carnage that was going down. I did ride shitty the first lap but busted loose on the barriers on lap 2. Put it down hard for the win. I know, I probably cherry picked a bit, but I already had one race in me for the day, I'm new to this shit, and I was on a SS for christ sake. I mean those guys had wheels that cost more than my whole bike. I'm joining the 3/4 ranks next time...

Great weekend, great racing, and great weather. Congrats to Travis for taking 3rd on Saturday in the 3/4's. That was seriously one of the most bad ass finishes I've got the pleasure of watching. Go Ethos!

I got to hit up a couple hours of dirt last night... Binder Lake. Fucking great I tell you. Two weeks my Stumpy has sat in the basement. Ever since the Swope race. It felt great to get back out on the trails, and I was reminded that even though I love this cross shit, mountain biking will always be where my heart remains. I just love ripping singletrack and tackling technical obstacles. Nothing like it...

So no training tonight, hit it hard tommorow night, take it easy Saturday, and race Chris Cross on Sunday. Not a bad plan... I meant to post some pics from this weekend, but I don't have them and even if I did that shit takes time. I'm off to pick up some ribs, some brew, and a can of chaw to post up and watch the gridiron game of MU VS Nebraska tonight. I don't really care that much, but something about sitting on my ass and watching a epic battle in the rain and mud sounds pleasing.