XTerra & New Heights on Concrete

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Last weekend kicked off with rain. Lots of rain. Rain for 5 hours. This is generally an O.K. thing, but when it stops raining only a few hours before an off-road triathlon - this is not an O.K. thing. I was already sleeping out in a tent out at Branched Oak with ear plugs and an eye cover on so there's no skipping on the race due to weather.

Of course it did bring the temps low enough to allow the use of wetsuits, and it wasn't an issue on the run.

Cycling on water saturated trails is a big no no in my book. The first 5 mile section was fine, but as soon as we hit the inner two 5 mile loops, it was no doubt the most muddy conditions I had ever ridden in.

I was sitting 4th, switching leads with two guys from CO. Upon entering the loops, they cut part of the course and I dropped quite a ways back. We were all sliding about and it didn't take long for me to catch them, then lose them, then pass them, then get passed. With the trails as muddy as they were, there was no real descending. I felt like I was climbing the entire time and it was tough work. Must be carrying about an extra 6 pounds of weight in mud on my bike.

As I know others did, I fell countless times, but I would pop right back up. It felt like riding in snow - something I have gotten used to, but it was nice to have the gear options. The Trek Top Fuel once again excelled in a situation and after the first lap, during a lower key part of the course the three of us were rolling together through grass paths. Before reentering the slop trough, we had to slow down and get marked for our lap completion and I sped past the other two at this point.

This would be the last time I see the two until turning around on the run. The second mud lap of the bike was no better, but it felt more comfortable. Lapping the other competitors was a chore, but not as bad as I figured.

transitioned and started running. I was told that I was over 4 minutes behind the leader. Struggling to find a rhythm I took it easy for awhile. By the grace of some littering SOB, I found an unopened water bottle - I think this ended up being a life saver. I kept up a good pace, pushed the hills, and ended up under a minute behind the leader crossing the finish line. I never once saw him, so I had no idea how close I was to him. Oh well.

I have some gripes about how the race was finished up, but I will skip that shit because it's not that important. I will say that entering a race for 75 bucks, and it being a big name like XTerra, you'd expect a little more than nothing for second place. I had fun though, that's what is important and got a good chance to really make myself suffer.

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On Sunday I finally had the opportunity to climb at the Silos. 90 feet of straight vertical. After not climbing for many months, I am really looking forward to getting back into it after switching my concentration during the summer.

James pumping out on a 5.9.

Ketchup

Another race weekend down. Tour of KC was last weekend. Two Crits, one hot weekend. Good times.

A special thanks for the Webb family for putting me up and handing out large dishes of hospitality over the weekend. It made for a cushy ride between races. Heck, the races were pretty cushy too.

Race 1 went down in down town KC (the Kansas one). And the other featured the Overland Park area. The racing was 65+ competitors deep in each and fairly competitive. Four turns in KC and 7 in Overland Park. Without getting deep into details, it was pretty typical me out front way too much, but I was only trying to create breaks. Every time I did. The break consisted of me and some people but as soon as I wasn't pulling, the pace would slack enough that the peloton would catch back up. So...

That gave me enough info.

Last lap. Sprint first hill. Rail corner. Hit second set of hills harder. Push through the flat then turn it all out 200+ before the final turn. Ended up winning by many seconds.

The next day, after other failed attempts to form a break-away. I decided that it'd have to come down to the last lap. Unfortunately, with three laps left, going into turn 6 (the fastest one on the course - maxed out at 33mph) a rider pedaled (the act of your pedal hitting the ground causing your wheels to slide out from under) right beside me. I managed to lock up my brakes and put my foot down to avoid him. At least 2 others riders went down, one of them went to the hospital and sheered his frame through.

This kinda killed my attack idea. It took me almost a full lap to catch up only to hit the same corner again where riders were still sprawled on the ground. We were forced to slow basically causing a full group for the last lap. I managed to kick everyone off pace but one guy that wanted to break with me 6 laps to go but we decided it was gonna kill us to try.

He got me in the sprint, but it was necessary in order to not end the race in a CF of other riders. - It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if that would have went down.

A good couple of races all in all.

XTerra Triathlon this weekend (shooting a wedding immediately after that). Black Squirrel Tri the following weekend. After that? Dakota 5-0? Nebraska Championship Road Race? Sioux Falls Crit? Who knows.


** Images from the Races. Mostly CAT3s and Pro/1/2. Shooting cycling has flustered me into the orbit of desires for long telephoto lenses and faster shutter speeds. My current equipment does not come close to doing what I would like it to. Not to mention trying to pull double duty of racing and 'working.'

I hope this returns me to the world of blog.

A quick catch up on races since last post:

NE State TT Champ yadda yadda - 1st CAT4

TNT Duathlon - 2nd

Omaha Cycling Weekend

TT - 1st CAT4

Crit - 2nd CAT4

Road Race - 2nd CAT4

RAGBRAI - We are all winners at RAGBRAI

CSG Tri - 8th

Tour of KC Twilight Crit - 1st CAT4

Overland Park Crit - 2nd CAT4

Might be forgetting a race in the midst?

Not since June? Really?