CX Season Comes to an End today

That's it, called it an end to the season today for a few reason, mainly due to another round of sickness that I caught over the Christmas holiday. It's going to take a few days to get over this which will impact training and performance for Worlds that is less than two weeks away.

I know many will say "just get well and go have fun at Worlds". I could do that but that's not how I roll. I'm not going to invest in travel, days off work, hotel costs  for just a ride around the park, so I've done what is best for me and called the season done. I need to get rested up then begin training for next year.

2011 has been an awesome season, best one so far. Results were better than expected and the fun factor was off the charts. When you start training as early as I do it does apparently takes its toll on the body and I can only take it so far.

This I will learn from for 2012 which will include calling the season over after State and adding the Madison USGP event to replace Worlds. Really, a trip to Madison in September will be much more enjoyable then a trip to Louisville in Jan. And Dawndi will enjoy it more too.
The next few days I will rest up, clean bikes and get ready for winter training.

2011 CX Results.

Date	Race	Category	Result
12/18/2011	Columbia IL CX	Men 123	5th
12/11/2011	Bubba CX 11	Men 123	3rd
12/4/2011	Mo State CX	Men 123	dnf
12/3/2011	Boss CX 4	Men 123	5th
11/27/2011	Bubba CX 10	Men 123	2
11/13/2011	USGP Derby Cup	35+	18
11/12/2011	USGP Derby Cup	35+	30
11/6/2011	BLVD Cup	40+	1
11/5/2011	360 Cup	40+	1
10/30/2011	Boss CX 3	40+	2
10/23/2011	Bubba CX 3	Men 123	17
10/16/2011	Bubba CX 2	Men 123	5
10/9/2011	Cross Out Cancer	Men 123	6
10/2/2011	Boss Cross 2	40+	2
10/1/2011	Boss Cross 1	40+	2
9/25/2011	PICX Race 2	40+	1
9/21/2011	Gateway Cross	40+	1
9/21/2011	Gateway Cross	Mens Open	8
9/18/2011	Dogfish cross day 2	40+	1
9/17/2011	Dogfish Cross day 1	40+	1
9/11/2011	PICX Race 1	40+	1

Veldrijden CX Race Report

Mark French and his crew in Columbia IL did a nice job hosting a late cross race post State. These late season races are tough to get folks out to race as many have ended their season looking to candy and cookies as Christmas vacations approach.

For others who are still working toward late season goals such as Nationals and Worlds that is not the case, we keep pressing on looking for races between now and early to mid January. Yesterdays race was just OK for me ending up 5th. I did not have the legs I had last weekend feeling flat with a lack of sustained power. I ran my power-tap hoping to glean some good info, which I did, but would have been better to analyze numbers with good legs.

This week I'll continue to train hard then take 3 days off the bike over Christmas followed by Cross of Cold year in KC Saturday Dec 31st.  After that I'll have done all I can as I begin to tapper for Masters Worlds.

Photos by Dan Singer are here

Spanish Lake Bubba CX Race Report

Another Bubba CX series is in the books ending at Spanish Lake this time. I've always like this place both for MTB and CX races. This year the course design had us going in the opposite direction from prior years and the unique use of the park resulted in the best Spanish Lake course I've raced on.

Race started off fast with Dan in the lead. I had a poor clip so I was 5th wheel into the first turn but made my way up to 2nd wheel before heading down the hill.

Going into lap two it was Dan and I  with Josh chasing not far behind followed by a chase group of 4 or 5. The pace on the frist few laps was quick which allowed us to get a sizable gap on the chase group.

As we were about to finish lap 3 Josh attacked on the pavement and that was all she wrote; he dropped us both. Dan did a better job of holding on to the attack and almost held on. The rest of the race was Josh out in front growing his lead followed by Dan loosing ground to Josh and I was loosing ground to Josh and Dan. It was a lonly race for the three of us but we held on for 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Crossing the line in 3rd

Behind us a good race was being contested for 4th place. Dwayne battle it out with Kurt and Chris taking home 4th.

Photos by Mike Dawson

 So if you read my posts on facebook you know that I made a small change to how the end of the season will play out. It came down to a decision between Nationals or Masters Worlds. With the two races over back to back weekends the logistics of trying to travel to both started to set in. Realistically for me trying to to both was not looking like a good idea for several reason.

I landed on Masters Worlds. I picked this one due to weather potential will be better, I raced the course back in November and I'm now familiar with Louisville and the place we will stay.

The rest of the season looks like this.
12/18 - veldrijden CX Columbia IL
12/31 - Cross off Cold Year KC
1/14 - Masters Worlds

Finally, on my way home Sunday night a deer came out of the darkness on my left. I hit the gas trying to avoid it. I heard a small thud near the rear of the car. Being that it was not loud and no other noises followed I decided to wait until I arrived in Hermann to check for damage. I gave the car a scan and not seeing any issues, then I looked to the bikes. Front wheel of one bike was dislodged from the rack, that was the noise I heard. Check the wheel and it was bent and cracked. :(  Stinks but glad it was just a wheel and not the car.

USA Cycling CX Ranking Down to 229.96

Last time I posted about this stuff I was at 265.19. Two more races before Nationals to get it lower; I might be able to get it as low as 220 to 223. 

 

I'm staged 20th out of 70 riders right now and with today being the last day before entry fee goes up $20 bucks  we should get a good idea who plans on racing.  My goals for Nationals are to gain experience, race hard and score a  <=15.

Looks like USA cycling changed their minds on only one result per event permit idea. A few weeks back only one of my USGP races counted toward my top three, now they both do. 

 

I think that its the right move. I raised and eyebrow with it the other way because it's hard to get to the bigger races often and most big races are two days; the rider should benefit if both days are good for their points. And as a promoter it would be easy to get around the idea by creating a separate permit for both days. In the end common sense prevailed it seems.

 

New 2012 Results & Ranking System

Event Name	Race	Race Date	Place	Points
Cyclocross
Missouri State Cyclocross Championships	Cat1/2/3/4	12/4/2011	DNF
Boss Cross Cyclocross #4	Cat1/2/3/4	12/3/2011	5	265.53
Bubba Memorial Cylocross Series	Cat 1/2/3	11/27/2011	2	222.65
USGP Cyclocross-Derby City Cup	35-99 Master Cat 1/2/3	11/13/2011	18	219.34
USGP Cyclocross-Derby City Cup	35-99 Master Cat 1/2/3	11/12/2011	30	247.90
Boulevard Cup Cyclocross	Master 40-99 Master	11/6/2011	1	275.54
360 Cup	Master 40-99 Master	11/5/2011	1	273.08
Boss Cross Cyclocross #3	Master 40-99 Master	10/30/2011	2	283.32
Bubba Memorial Cylocross Series	Cat 1/2/3	10/23/2011	17	374.37
Bubba Memorial Cylocross Series	Cat 1/2/3	10/16/2011	5	282.41
Cross Out Cancer	Cat1/2/3	10/9/2011	6	310.53
Boss Cross Cyclocross #1 and #2	Master 40-99 Cat1/2/3/4	10/2/2011	2	274.95
Boss Cross Cyclocross #1 and #2	40-99 Master	10/1/2011	2	284.03
PICX #2	Masters 40+	9/25/2011	1	319.53
Gateway Cross Cup	Cat 1/2/3/4	9/21/2011	8	275.44
Gateway Cross Cup	40-99 Master	9/21/2011	1	277.22
Dogfish Cross Hermann MO	Masters 40+	9/18/2011	1	278.11
Dogfish Cross Hermann MO	Masters 40+	9/17/2011	1	278.11
PICX #1	Masters 40+	9/11/2011	1	381.59
Epic Holiday Cyclocross	Cat 1/2/3/4	1/2/2011	3	288.53
Current Rank Points				229.96

Boss Cross 4 and Mo State Race Report

Boss cross series ended on Saturday, David Hedjuk had a the series wrapped up so I went with the Open race vs. 40+. Sunday was the State Championship, my goal after winning the 40+ jersey last year is a top three in the Open race going forward.

Saturday went well despite the rain, cold and mud. The conditions were not all that bad really, good clean thin mud is what I would call it. Had a blast in these conditions and felt great. Ended up 5th behind JP who rocked it and Josh took the win. Results

After the race on Saturday.

Sunday was different, the mud was thick, stuck to every part of the bike like clay.

Photo Jason Watkins

Jose, now Cat 4 State champ, was in the pit for me ready to give me a clean bike each lap, thanks Man!. Lots of guys had the same, I don't think I've been to a local race where a pit was so active.

Just before the start (Photo: Jason Watkins)

That photo was about as good as it got for me on Sunday. Bottom line I had a bad game. Coming off feeling like I had complete control over my bike on Saturday, I lost all that on Sunday.

It started with hitting a course pole on the first lap along with tangling up in course tape. By the time I got going again I was dead last. Then I enter the slick down hill section next to the BMX track and when down again. Made it to the pit for a new bike and  began to just stink it up around every corner. At this point motivation level went from 10 to 0. Rather than putting my equipment through what would have been a "just finish"  race with the likelihood of destroying a part or two I pulled out and called it a day. Results

So I'll try to shelve this race way back in the memory banks, re-group and focus on the final 6 weeks of the season that concludes with  Nationals and Masters Worlds. I'll re-visit the top 3 goal at State again next year in Jefferson City.

Next up final Bubba CX race of the season
More Jason Watkins Photos