PICX 2 Race Report

Cool course yesterday in Alton for PICX race number 2. Hilly and fast was the flavor of the day. The park was  awesome, wide open with lots of facilities.

When I arrived it looked like the turnout was great, big fields in the early races. I hear it was the best turn out ever for these races.

The Open/ Masters 40+ was not a reflection of turnout on the day, the turnout was light but that did not diminish the quality of racing.

These guys pushed the pace right from the start.

Josh, Devin and Casey top three

I did al I could to stay on the wheel of Josh and this group but eventually fell off riding solo the rest of the day fending off Rock and Aaron who were working hard to chase me down.

Trying to chase them down

Thanks to Mike D for taking these pics

I ended up 4th overall and took the win in the the 40+ cat.

Next up Boss Cross!

Gateway Cross Cup (Race Report)

Took the day off work for the big Gateway Cross Cup in St Louis last night. Everything was set up super nice, course was great and all was in place for an awesome event.

Team 360 was there and adopted me for the day  letting me keep my bike and other gear under their tent. These guys are super friendly and have a passion for cross.

Team 360 Set Up

I got things started in the 40/50 race at 2:20. Staging by bib number slotted me in the front row as the 40+ guys lined up first then 50+.

20 of us 40+ guys barreled down the paved start line into a left hand sweeper that started with gravel then transitioned to grass. I thought the gravel was going to be a dicey section but we all slowed enough to get through OK.

Start finish stretch

A good group of us pulled away early on forming  the lead pack which included Sam Moore, Brendon Jenks, Tom Price, Stephen Songer and Andy Lucas. As the 5 lap 40 min  race motored on  it came down to Tom, Sam and I on the final lap. We hit the last turn onto the pavement toward the finish line Tom, Sam then I. The three of us went into an all out sprint to the line, I overtook Sam and started to close the gap on Tom but ran out of runway, Tom took the win by less than a bike length, me 2nd followed by Sam.  Tom is 50 so that gave me the overall win in the 40+ group.

That was a really fun race having such a big group stick together like and the sprint was off the hook fun.

Medal and some cash for my effort

I had about 3 hours before my next race, Mens Open at 6:40. Cool thing about the start time is that we would get some racing under the lights.I hung out trying to stay off my feet for the most part and enjoyed the company of fellow racers like JJ and Ira who are always upbeat and jazzed about cross. 

Staging for the Men Open race came quick and to the line we went. Again I was on the front row which I was thankful for, this was a big race with 65 guys and that first turn could easally turn into a crash and more road rash.

I got a great clip in and took the hole shot which allowed me to dictate the pace into the first turn. After the gravel turn I kept on the gas trying to string things out then see who would join me.

This 8 lap 60 min race went by fast. There were more on site now watching and I could hear "Go Yielding" several times each lap. Super movtivatiional when you've got folks out there rooting you on.

After a few laps things started taking shape with Taylor Carrington, Andrew Coe and Mark Savery pulling away creating the top three and I believe Craig Etheridge stuck in the middle followed by me Chris Harre, Brett Heuring and Matt Tillinghast forming a 4 man chase group. I did not have the legs to push the pace at all and was feeling good that I was able to hang on.  So that was my goal, push hard to hold the wheel infront of me and try to not let go. Surprise of the night was Casey Saunders who bridged up to us, attacked and kept going! Nice.

4 man chase group up the fly over

One lap to go we dropped Matt, Brett pushed the pace to pull clear of  Chris, and I lost the wheel of Chris crossing the line in 8th place. That was a tough race full of big efforts against some strong dudes.

Well done to all you guys in both races who made this one heck of a race day, this is what cross is all about!

Full results here.

Dogfish Cross in Hermann Race Report

What a weekend!  The build up to cyclocross is one of my favorite times of the year. September nears and I know Dogfish Cross in Hermann is close, I always have high hopes for a great event. 

This year did not disappoint. Riders from all over the place came to Hermann to test their cross skills and fitness.  I truly enjoy putting this race on. I have a deep seeded passion  for cyclocross; this is my way of sharing that and giving something to cross to help it grow. 

There are so many folks to thank for their efforts this weekend, it's a huge team effort that requires a ton of work and man power. One big piece of the puzzle is my wife, totally supportive of bike racing and the two events we put on.

Dawndi and I at registration

New this year were the masters categories, 30,40 and 50+,  good turn out which I think will grow as the event continues and word gets out about this option.  My goal for the weekend was the 40+ Source Endurance Leaders Jersey. So lined up with 14 other 40+ guys and off we went for day one.

Start of Saturday 40+ Race

Barriers

Sat 40+ race first lap up the stairs

Took an early and held on to it for 1st place. Shea Bergman  put on a heck of a charge for most of the race. He made it a race from start to finish pushing to close the gap which kept me on the gas the entire time. One mishap, bad corner or slide out would have erased the 15-20  second lead I had on him. The race was a blast.

Podium day one, got the jersey.

Results Day 1

The plan now was to clean up and race again under the lights for the last race of the night. It was a great night for a race, the crowd was loud and ready for a show down.

Night Race!

  
They got one but not with me in it. Rider from my six touched my tire, took me off line into Travis, whom I leaned on for a few seconds until I fell to ground just 50 yards down the pavement start stretch.  I did get up and completed a lap but as I looked over my wounds I started to think my best bet was to stop and clean up so I could compete for the 40+ jersey on Sunday.

Trashed Jersey from Saturday Night

Up the next day feeling good despite some major road rash and a crooked pinky, I was ready to lay it all out there for the repeat. It rained some that night making for a completely different course, it was splashy slippery mud.

First pass through the sand pit

Getting caked with mud

Took the early lead again but this time Michael Gaherty  was the one I mixed it up with. He did take the lead away from me for a a few laps with his power down the long paved section. I was able to get it back through the technical stuff.  With 4 to go and on his wheel I drafted down the pavement section then attacked as we hit the grass. Got the gap I was looking for and kept it to the finish, but not without him reducing the gap here and there as we finished up the remaining 4 laps, it was another great race from start to finish.

Sunday Podium

Results Day 2

That's  what cyclocross is all about!

Photos here by Dan Singer, check out the rest of his awesome work plus others here

Cross Has Started (PICX Race Report)

The crew over in Alton were nice enough to move their first race of the season to Sunday making it easy to schedule this as the first race of the season.

The Men's Open A race and 40+ A raced together, I opted to enter the 40+ as I will take advantage of my age when I can :)

Jay took the lead as we made our way around the short course at a somewhat conservative pace. Then the 2 man Big Shark team of Josh and Jon took over, Jon leaped off the front not to be seen again, follwed by Josh, Devin and me. I soon fell off Josh and Devin now in no mans land.

I kept things under control not wanting to blow up early in the race trying to chase down Josh and Devin, so I plowed away with a solid pace working on smooth lines.

After things got spread out over several laps Brett, who is riding strong, could be seen 15 or sec behind me and Devin 30 sec up ahead looked to be solo now chasing Josh. 

I had two options, try and stay away from Brett, which would boring, or let him catch up and we could duke it out the rest of the way.

I opted with the duke it out option, two are always faster than one anyway and it would give us our best option to catch Devin.

We traded laps pushing the pace and did make up ground on Devin, we made him work for it at least.

On the last lap I attacked Brett on the final uphill section getting a gap large enough to carry me to the finish 4th overall and 1st in the 40+ category.

Brett and I working to catch Devin (Photo by Mike)

Final Results

Whats good for Cyclocross?

I've had this quadrant analysis tool as part of WKO+ for some time now but really have not spent any time trying to figure out what it is or what it means.

What is it?
Quadrant Analysis: A means of analyzing powermeter data files to obtain additional insight into the neuromuscular demands of a race or training session. 

Looking at how it relates to cyclocross was my focus.

First you have to look at what the four quadrants mean. (more can be found here if you want)

Q1: High Force and High Cadence- An example of this would be sprinting.

Q2: High Force and Low Cadence- An example would be steep hill repeats, big gear intervals and a lot of Mt. Biking and cyclocross resides in QII as well.

Q3: Low Force and Low Cadence- An example would be a recovery ride or just an easy ride around town.

Q4 Low Force and High Cadence- An example would be a Criterium or fast pedaling drills.

With the info telling me that Q2 is specific to cyclocross I went back and looked at some cross and mtb training days and races to put that to the test.

Nyes, Wells, and now Johnson spend allot of time on the MTB leading up to the cross season.

Here is the tall oak 6 hour team quandrant report.

36.9% of the time in Q2, seems like they are on to something?


Tall Oak 6 hour Race

Here we have  Saturdays training session, 10 laps on the Dogfish Cross in Hermann race course.

54.9% Q2 - lots of high force low cadence work. Very specific to the demands of cross.

Hermann CX 10 lap training

In June I did the Ballwin CX race. Q2 on that day was 52.6% 

Ballwin CX Race

Now lets look at the MO State Road race,  20.8% Q2.
39.2% of the time was in Q4 ( Low Force and High Cadence)


MO State Road Race

And finally a cross specific mico burts workout, 45,2 % Q2


Cyclocross Specific Workout

So what does all that say? To me it says if you want to get better at cyclocross you need to spend a good portion of your time with High Force and Low Cadence workouts.  And the quadrant analysis tool will validate your efforts.

Just under 6 days till cross starts!

It's about to kick into full gear!