First race of the CX season

I did my first CX race of the season at the Kirkland CX race in Clinton, NY.  The fields were rather small but the course was a lot of fun and i felt pretty good. It was very cool to see a bunch of friends from the CX scene...too many to mention here.  It was a great day.  The bike worked flawlessly.  I had rolled my rear tire earlier in the week, and Jeff at the shop re-glued it and all was good.  Plus i had no problem with the seatpost slipping either.  Tires and tire pressure was spot - on ... about 38 lbs of pressure.  My fitness and skills are improving but i have a ways to go yet.  My buddy Don slipped early in the AM on a warm-up lap and his front chain ring made a nasty gash in his ankle and that unfortunately ended his day.  He was rewarded with 18 stitches.  Our local tribe had a good turn-out, more results to follow...

The new Redline

Here's a picture of the new Redline taken at the Cycle Smart Cyclocross Camp in Northfield, Mass...

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An exemption

As a 'master' age cyclist, i have acquired a lot of stuff over the years.  i need to make room for the new bike, so i have been cleaning out the garage, getting rid of stuff unused for years, and most all that has been tossed  has been non-bicycling related.  As a husband and father of two daughters, way too much stuff accumulates in a house over the years.  So after my youngest daughter moved back home, after accumulating her own amount of stuff being away at school and a year in a condo, even more stuff has bulged the walls of the garage, spare bedroom, and basement.  So, i proclaimed loudly one of those stupid edicts.... one of those proclamations that i didn't think through well enough in advance.  I proclaimed to all family members that if something comes into the house, two like items had to exit ... to the dump, or to the Goodwill bin, or the Salvation Army, or unloaded on eBay, or on freecycle.com. or somewhere else.  This came spilling out of my mouth because my wife was purchasing new shoes or pillows or something practical, and i was just at my limit.  I started to rant about the American way of life is all about consumerism and we buy too much stuff.  My new mantra is reduce, reuse, and recycle.  So, like i said, i clearly did not think this through because two weeks later i brought home my new Redline.  I proudly showed off the rig to all.  My wife agreed that it was quite lovely, and then calmly asked what two bikes are going to be tossed?  Yikes, i am now appealing to the Family board of directors for an exemption to the dumb-ass proclamation that i had made weeks earlier.  The Family board of directors consists of my wife, my two daughters and myself.  I get one vote, everyone else gets two votes.

New Bike!

I just picked up my new bike... i'll have to post some pictures.  I made the leap to tubulars this year after convincing my self that tubulars roll better, grip better, and they look cool. 

I really convinced myself after racing in the rutted frozen icy conditions at the 2007 CX Nationals in Kansas City.  I did OK in that race but i felt i could have done so much better.  It seemed that i had way too much air pressure, had the wrong choice of tires, and i was bouncing around more than going forward.  I felt great physically, i had a good warm-up, and my race preparation was spot-on. My wife Connie was there as my race support, helping with all the details that can become nerve-racking before a big race and she was fabulous.  I was phsyched.  The conditions, i thought would be favorable to me and detremental to others. It was 20 degrees out that day with 20 mph winds, and snowing but i did not mind that at all.  I had practiced, raced, and trained in similar conditions and i used to ride a mountaing bike all winter long so these conditions were not an issue. I had a good start and i really felt i would have a great race. I just could not control the bouncing and weaving of the bike which wanted to go in two different directions at once.  Relax and lean back and pedal, i thought, but that was just too slow, and i could not gain poistions. Next year, i thought.

It was several weeks later that i convinced myself that tubulars just might help. Besides, its always great motivation to get new stuff.  My old Redline was purchased in 1999...wow its old!  Besides, one of my race buddies remarked at the end of the NECCS last year that i absolutely need a spare pit bike.  He reasoned that i train all year, i plunk down a bunch of entry fee cash, i travel, sometimes spring for lodging, and if i have a mechanical in an important race, i should have a pit bike. I agreed.  I would get a new rig and retire the old Redline as my spare...So.... long story a bit shorter... I got a new Redline with very nice Mavic wheels and tubies.

The 2008 'cross season

The page on my VeloNews calendar has flipped to August and that means its the beginning of cyclocross season... and all thoughts turn to 'cross. Well, it turns out that the cyclocross fever cools a bit from February to July, but the season is never totally purged from the consciousness. My preparation for putting on the 2008 Schenectady Cyclocross Race is well underway. All the permitting with the City municipality and park is done, and i have my USAC race application approved. I need to get going on the promotion stuff... get the web sites updated... the flyer is done... posting on Bikereg will be done very soon.

Some of my far flung cyclocross buddies have been blogging and writing about the upcoming season as well.  My good friend Tim has been gunning for me on the CX course for two years now and he is really serious about kicking my butt this year... he has kicked his training into high gear and recently won a gold medal at the NYS Empire State Games. I know that Tim will be a tough competitor.  Another racer that i have come to know fairly well over the last few years of Masters racing in New England... Richard Sachs, aka Richie, has also started up his newsletter all about 'cross. In it Richie talks of getting ready for 'cross, he's doing mondo miles and a hundred sit-ups a day and talks of shedding 8 more pounds!  I think the man is a 120 lbs dripping wet.  Anyway, if you think the 55+ race category is anything but seriously fast, furious, and uber competitive, then you are mistaken.

I need to get going on my Cyclocross News e-zine.... soon!

A ride with the National Champ

A ride with a National Champion

Last week, a good friend e-mailed the cycling club to invite club members over to his house for an easy ride of 50 to 60 miles. Nothing too strenuous, just a chance to get together to ride with friends and teammates. It sounded good to me. I hadn’t ridden with Tom; the host of the ride, for many months and it would be cool to ride together and to also see his wonderful family, whom I hadn’t seen since last winter when we were at the Cross Nationals in Kansas.

So I packed my old steel road bike and headed out to Tom’s house, meeting up with Barry on the road and we did the caravan thing out to Tom’s. It was a warm, muggy summer day with the air heavy and thick with rain about to drip at any second. It had rained off and on the day before and overnight so the ground and roads were damp, adding to the dampness. We met at Tom’s and suited up. A couple of youngsters were also in our group. One was sporting a US National Road Champion jersey. Very cool. How often do you get to ride side by side with a current National Road Champ?

We road at a fairly brisk warm-up pace for my old bones, but I was able to hang and I road with humility. After all, I was riding with a National Champ! The roads were beautiful rural roads typically found throughout Upstate New York. Lots of rollers, little traffic and just gorgeous scenery. There were nice vistas of the adjacent ridges and valleys and everywhere was dripping green. Rain sprinkled for a couple of minutes but never mounted to much of anything that anyone would even mention. The pace picked up and we were having a blast charging up the rollers and soft pedaling on the down sides to regroup.

Tom cut short his ride to go back home to spend some time riding with the rest of his clan and left Barry and I with the kids. At my age most everyone is a "kid", but these young men were really young… Curtis is in Middle school and Mackenzie had just graduated from High School. Both knew the roads very well and they confidently led us over hill and dale.

I pondered proper etiquette riding with a National Champ. I dared not sprint for Town line signs even though there wasn’t the slightest chance I could win one. When we headed into some headwind, I felt I had to protect the Champ, never let him pull into the wind. I watched his every move and called out when cars were approaching from the back. I pointed out potholes and road kill. The responsibility and the pressure were significant. We stopped at a store to refill our bottles and of course the drinks were on me and Barry. These young guys shouldn’t have to pay for stuff out on a club ride! Does the National Champ have to buy water? Certainly not. If we needed to carry extra bottles or food, we did it for the Champ.

Curtis led us up and down some seasonal roads that offer some mud and gravel… nice! No whining from these young guys about dirt or bumps or stuff that some guys may whine about on a club ride. If the road conditions took a turn for the worse, we simply upped the pace and went harder. The elevation changes were now coming more frequent. On every approach to any hill of any shape or size, the youngsters would slam their front derailleur onto the big ring and they would both hammer up the hill, totally exhausting themselves in the effort. This was how they road. I was more on the steady side (read slow) and would eventually catch up to them. It occurred to me though this was their riding style and it was fun! I also learned that their threshold for pain and suffering was significantly higher than mine (or even most mortals).

We finished the day off covering about 50 miles and worked up quite an appetite. Thanks to Tom and Chris for their generous hospitality and for the fabulous food. I hope this becomes a club tradition.

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