Indian Lakes

I'll let others write up race reports, as I'm still a little bitter about the assholes spectators who changed the course for the 4B's...but I did want to give a quick shout out to Debbie for swooping in and taking first place! Notice, I wasn't the only one who thought she deserved congrats. Also, an A+ for Austin, who rode a potentially-sabotaged, 20-PSI front tire the whole race and still got top 5! ... And did anyone else see Lance out there?!? I know Jim didn't, cause he was in front of him the whole time:

Hecklers Video

Check out this great video by Paul Mechna. Keep your peepers peeled at the end for our very own Alex Tweedie scoring a cash handup on an off-camber uphill! ... And Jim, I think your chain is supposed to go around your chainring, not crank arm.

Northbrook

Race #7 in the Chicago Cross Cup series brought us to the land of Northbrook. I was a bit hesitant going into this race given all the restrictions (don't ride on the grass, watch out for the shitzu, etc). That said the course was well thought out and quite fun, despite the non existent handling skills of yours truly. Our man Alex decided it was a good idea to not only ride out to Northbrook but mix it up with the Master's 30+ and then throw down in the 4A's.

Alex Tweedie, doing it man style! Gregor and Chris finished strong at 20 and 23rd in the 4A's.

The 4B's were as expected packed to the gills and full of first lap craziness. Luckily we have both 4B killers Austin and Dave who scored major placings for our little start up team finishing 1 and 2. Nice job boys, nice job! After another not so great start I managed to eek out a 22nd placing which given the wheel wash outs on the back side of the course and my 'minor' sand trap mishap on the last lap wasn't too terrible. Thankfully there was enough wide open area for me to make up some placings on folks. Both Jim and Moshe again threw down and came out looking good although the best line of the day comes from Moshe; during warm up and on a mountain bike I hear "I have gears!!!". It should be noted that Moshe has been out there all season with one gear and still killing it.

I have to give a shout out to Brian Conant of BCS coaching for taking me on and teaching me the ways of the cross force.

Matt

Northbrook Preview?

Well since the sled hill is out this year, will we see what Ryan Trebon saw in Portland last year instead...? Bubbles!?!

Muddddy Mayhem (the double-dose of d's is for double the mud)

Finally real 'cross conditions have arrived, and we survived.... And we had the most fun of the season! Bicycle Heaven created a super-tough course in St. Charles, complete with mud, $20 handups, more mud, rock gardens, several off-camber ascents/descents, Halloween costumes, and then three rivers of more mud - two you crossed over, one you went upstream.

To start the day off, Alex very narrowly missed scoring our team some points in the Masters 30+ category - not an easy feat!! Next week he surely will, and those points should count double (Jim: write a letter to USAC; make that happen). In the 4A's, we had two point-scoring top-30's, including Gregor's 14th (a 4A personal record, I believe)! I noticed in doing he passed last week's 4B's winner, Spidermonkey Jake Teitelbaum. So if I'm doing my math right, that makes you better than all the B's!

With no clouds in the sky, the sun starting to set and the course at its nastiest, the "main event" 4B's began. Unfortunately this group had the most costumed riders (and for some reason a few women racing in the men's category), so Moshe, Matt and Jim got screwed at the start line as these folks got called up in front of them. Waiting for a good start position didn't really pay off this time. But by the time four laps and 30+ minutes had transpired, all five RVBRers had passed plenty, securing 90 points for the team and popping the cherry on Jim's one-day-old Supernova.

(Thanks to Chris for the pictures. I know we had at least 3 or 4 cameras out there, so everyone else please share when you get yours up. (That's what she said.))

RVBR Ain't Just for CX!!

The RVBR boys from RVB rode 21 spectacular miles this morning at Kettle Moraine State Forest. Falling leaves (and hidden trails), forests, meadows, sand, mud, a 12-year-old with a gun - you name it, Wisconsin blessed us with it today. We scored this sweet view after climbing over 400 feet to the top. (If you find that impressive, you've been in the midwest way too long.) In 2010, expect to see RVBR not just on the cross circuit, but on the road, on the trails, and on the track.

Do They Know Something About Cyclocross in Turkey?

On vacation in Turkey this week, so no racing for me. But a great experience nonetheless. On the way we found this popular candy. My wife said, "You need a whole box of these, they explain your obsession with cyclocross!" Nuff said.

Quick Recap from Carpentersville

The course at Carpentersville was rough - literally. It kind of felt like riding cobbles. But the weather was great (50's and partly sunny), so the race fun. (We all know 'cross weather will be here soon enough, so I welcome as many warm, sunny races as possible.) The course featured a waterless creek crossing, a 180 through a sand pit, and lots of turns.

Alex started off the day fighting off the big dogs for 45 minutes in the Masters 30+ race. His time on the course early in the day no doubt helped all of us with race tips. In the 4A's Chris, Chris and Mike all scored points! In the 4B's, Austin took a podium spot in 3rd!!! I was at the back end of the lead group with the B's in 6th place, and we were all clocked finishing around 2 minutes faster than the A's group! (And this was a short race, ~25 minutes.)

After all is said and done, out of 75 point-scoring teams, RVBR ranks tied at 11th! Pretty phenomenal for a new team with a bunch of new riders!

Some Tips and Hints

No doubt there are some team members riding at the front of the bus....they can pretty much skip over this post. But for those of us who are trying to move off the back bench where the bad students sit to at least the middle of the bus....there are some useful tips and hints that I have found personally helpful. Of course, you have to absorb all of this with a certain grain of salt because I am definitely still a middle of the bus wannabe! But if you will indulge me for a moment, here are a few odds and ends.

Want to see a first class dismount/remount video? I have looked at plenty, looking for that secret sauce. This is the best video I found out there:

http://kissena.info/more.php?id=245_0_1_0_M

Check out how smooth and professional this looks. If only that were me....but I hope that practice makes perfect.

Then there is the search for elusive power, so necessary at the start, for getting up those hills and for passing the pesky opponents from other cycling teams! I've been doing a bit of reading and here are some links to some writeups that are helpful.

This is a general article that addresses training during the season:

http://cxmagazine.com/training-for-cyclocross-part-2

I was struck by how much recovery time is scheduled. Don't know about you but I am a bit OCD and have a tendency to crank away every day. Wrong!

If you are looking for a compact but good new book, I'd look at Chris Carmichael's Time Crunched Cyclist. You will find some practical and sensible training schedules. You should substitute"openers" or some other lighter workout on Saturday, then substitute the Sunday intervals with a race and presto!

Here is an "opener" that a friend gave me:

5 min warmup, 8 min tempo, 2 min recovery, 3 min tempo, 4 min recovery, 4 min tempo, 4 min recovery, 1 min power interval (max effort), 2 min recovery, 1 min power interval, 5-10 min recovery. And you're ready for the race the next day!

Finally, if you are looking for some intervals to do, here is a good collection of them. They're on the Cycle Ops site, which is a good read and has tons of solid training tips:

http://www.saris.com/newsletter/SarisSource/February09/February%202009%20-%20Power%20Workout.pdf

That's the sum of my knowledge for now. If you find some good things out there, post them on the blog.

Hopkins Park....Slippery When Wet!

Hopkins Park was the third CX race this season and my sixth ever. It started out cold and it was no use warming up. I did a partial recon lap, at least enough to recognize that the runup was pretty challenging and that the off camber downhill was likely to lead to some sideways sliding down the hill. This was readily apparent because the two guys in front of me on the practice lap promptly slid off the hill. I did not, but mainly because I stopped to try to scope the line out. 
I started the race with my teeth chattering, I obviously did not really have exactly the right clothing on and I had shed my jacket, figuring that I would roast in it as the race went on. Good news is that the sun started to come out a little as the whistle blew for the start. I wasn't in too bad shape by the time I reached the runup but I was breathing hard at the top. I slowly slid backward through the field with a slide on the off-camber hill putting me solidly in the caboose. By this point I was mainly interested in surviving, staying ahead of a guy who was still behind me and trying to catch a guy from South Chicago Wheelmen who was tantalizingly close. Didn't catch him but I worked up a great sweat and some serious leg pain giving it a try.
Bottom line: need more power and less weight. Got to ditch the double ring up front for a 42 single ring. Could use a bike upgrade next season, but in the meanwhile, technique getting better but still needs work. More power intervals needed....:)

When You Look Good....You Feel Good.....