Manion's Cross 2 wrap

I didn't race yesterday b/c I was busy conducting this circus. The second edition of Manion's wasn't as hilly as the first- so I guess that makes it the second most hilly cross race in the midwest. But forget the climbing, it was the wind that was the biggest factor. 30mph gusts had a lot of racers riding in packs.
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I hope everyone enjoyed the course and had a good time. Thanks to everyone who came out and volunteered their time and energy to make this a great event. SC said it best, "It take's a lot of folks to put on a cross race, and while it's a lot of work, it's absolutely worth it". Props to Chris Locke of Cowtown for the course markings, Tallgrass Brewing for the suds, John Williams of Pot Pie fame for the good eats, the entire Colavita Cross Crew (!), and of course, Jody at Manion's for letting us play all over his hillside once again.
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See more great photos like the one above HERE.

Manion's Cross 2 Update

I spent the day out at Manion's finalizing the course. Notable changes:
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But before that... I have to tell you something... Manion's- as you know- is a military auction house. As such, the good folks of Manion's have access to explosive devices that you and I do not. I'm not making any promises, but we could have some serious percussive power for our starting gun...
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And now the changes:
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1. Racers will still stage SANS BIKE in the barn and start by running east out of the barn. You can see that now there is a "S" curve to navigate instead of a straight stretch. This fixes a lot of conflicts we had with the LeMans start... and it's gonna be damn fun! After exiting the end of the "S", racers will grab their bike in the open area and proceed- with haste- onto course.
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2. Notice the stretch after the final gravel crossing before heading back to the barn. We straightened this out in preparation for the finish. That's an uphill finish, friends. Prepare, commit, engage, and succeed.
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3. Barriers are flopped to the backside of the course.
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D. Not a change, but just a reminder- our DJ is The Best. He plays your favorite songs and the greatest music you've never heard but touches you deep inside. Our DJ likes to touch.
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Remember to bring your canned food Cranksgiving donation (5 cans gets you a call-up) b/c you're going to want to have first choice of where to place your bike and you're going to want to be on that front line at the start.
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And finally... Just to let y'all know, I was listening to alot of Ween when I designed the course.

Manion's Cross 2 preview

As you can see from the course map, a lot more of the racing will be done up on the flatter part of the hilltop. There will still be a nice painful climb- but only one this time! We'll go through the barn again and we've added a unique Manion's style LeMans start we're calling the "LeManion's" start.
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Course will be approximately 1.6 miles and it will be run easterly through the barn. The "stitches" section is downhill and most of the climbing occurs after you leave the pond and head towards the pit area. Notice the pit is double-sided and it's located next to the parking area- no toting bikes and wheels halfway around the course!
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Bring 5 canned goods to donate to the Cranksgiving effort if you want a call-up! See all the latest info at the official Manion's Cross blog.

DeStad Cup

Get up, come on get down with the SICKNESS!

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DeStad 2010 was awesome. Weather couldn't have been better... well, if I had my way it would've been colder and sleetier, but for the general populous-racers and spectators- it was close to perfect.

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Course was brilliant with long power stretches divided by periodic tech secitons- corners, steeps, and whatnot.

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I signed up for the the SS and the Open races. Won the SS by a pretty good margin and then immidiatley realized I went waaay too deep for no reason considering I was lining up again, with the uber-fast guys, in about 20 minutes. C'est la vie. It just felt so good to go full-on Kev's Mom in the SS and even though I knew I was out there by myself I just wanted to go faster, faster, FASTER!! I paid for it in the Open. I died a thousand deaths, but that's good for me in a German masochistic "whip me Master" sort of way.

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What a beautiful day.

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Adam continues to get stronger- finished 7th-I think. Jake scored a podium! And Andy got back on the podium in the 2/3 race. Casey did well in his first race as a Team member. Nice showing, TCPC.

DeStad Cup preview

DeStad is going to be fun!
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Worked on the course at St. Mary's today. It was very wet from all the rain and the ground was quite squishy. But Chris had two blowers out there plus the gang raked the entire course, so it should be dry by tomorrow. Actually, it should really hook up well with all the moisture in the ground now- maybe just a few wet spots. A few wet spots are always good.
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I rode a couple of laps after we staked it out and it seemed long. That could've been due to the soft ground and long grass (Chris says they'll mow it early tomorrow morn), but I'm thinking 7+ minute laps for the Open race- and I'm not referring to myself, I mean for the fast guys. But, counteracting the soft ground is that the course is pretty wide open and fast. With the exception of a few tight corners and a couple of steep run-ups, its just fast and flowing. It's going to be a race for the fast/strong and not so much for the technical rider... to my dismay. Of course all this could change depending on the changing conditions tomorrow.
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A course is a different-colored horse after a couple hundred passes have been laid on it.
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Regardless of all this, I can say without hesitation, it'll be fun. I've said it before: It's hard to go wrong at St. Mary's.

Crazy Cross Barriers

Aaah! My eyes!!! Trip on these! Andrew painted our cross barriers at the First Fridays party at Volker last night. He got the first one done and it's just crazy looking. Andrew says the second one will make your eyes burn- what?! Check out his other work HERE.

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Michaela and I hung out and watched Andrew work, then went down to Cellar Rat for some wine tasting and biscotti. Then we headed down 18th towards Grinders for some pizza but we couldn't get in. So we ended up grabbing a slice at The Art of Pizza. I highly recommend the Garlic Knots- just make sure your date eats some too.

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Boss Cross #3

The third Boss Cross race was at little Barry Platte Park just 4 miles from my home. Andy and Regan were in town from Manhattan so we got up on Saturday morning and cruised over together.
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The best thing about the race Saturday was the Colavita Corner. Wow, the crew was out en force! Racers were either delighted or scared or a little of both as they exited the second sand-run.
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I did the Masters race as a warm up at 11. My legs felt dead for most of that race but started to wake up some near the end. I took it easy for the last 5 laps b/c I wanted to save myself for the SS.
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Britton lined up on the front with the leader's jersey on for the SS race. I started right behind him and when the whistle blew we went into the first corner with a couple other guys at the front. Britton got out front right away and I jumped onto a couple of guys wheels and marked them for a few laps. Britton was moving on, so with about 4-5 laps to go, I jumped the guys in front of me and spent about 2 laps working my way up to Britton. He and I rode together for a bit and on the bell lap, he attacked and proved that he was deserving of the General Lee jersey. I tried to follow him but couldn't pull back the 15 second gap.
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Andy got another win in the 3 race and took over the jersey in that cat. So we now have two Colavitas in leader's jerseys! Andy's race was awesome- he battled 2nd place dude all race until the last lap where Andy put it down and powered away. Truly inspirational. That's why we race!
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Race evaluation: Great course. Good vibe. Toilet situation sucked. Thanks for the beer once again, Boulevard.

Pee-proof pants

Swrve pee-proof pants.
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My GF, Michaela has a pomeranian and by default, I have a pomeranian. A known characteristic of pomeranians is that they have 'excitable urination'. My question is this: If you're breeding dogs, and you're breeding in, or out, certain characteristics, wouldn't you breed out the excitable urnination??? Seriously. Apparantly this is an endearing quality amongst pomeranian owners. So...
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I rode up to Zona Rosa tonight with the intention of using my Dick's Sporting Goods gift certificate but only made it as far as the bar. I was sitting there drinking when my good ol' friend Will from NYC called and said he just landed at KCI. So he came over and we had a drink and dinner and some laughs and then I headed home. Oh, I had a steak cooked Pittsburg Rare- that's basically bloody and cold inside and burnt on the outside- haven't come to a ruling on that just yet...
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Anyway, I rode home and on the way stopped and grabbed a sixer of Lunar and in my own excitement of arriving home and opening said beer and seeing said dog, I forgot about the most prominant pomeranian trait... excitable urination. I encouraged her up on my lap and she jumped up and proceeded to let loose. Only, here's the thing. I was in my Swrve knicks and as she let loose on me- tongue wagging- the pee beaded and cascaded right off me and onto the couch. Couch be damned! These pants are awesome! I jumped up when I realized what was happening and suddenly I realized the miracle that had occured. There was absolutely no pee on me! No pee on me! No pee on me! Sing it with me, "No pee- uh-uh- On me..." It shed right off, I tell you! Incredible.
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So, just one more great thing these pants do. I live in these on the bike in fall-winter-spring. Now I know I can love my dog Sadie in them with no worries. Rad.

Smithville CX

photo by ROGER

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Did the SS and the Open race at Smithville today. The course was awesome. Very similar to last year but with a few extra turns thrown in that made it slightly more technical. The beach was far more easier to ride this year b/c the sand was a little wet and it packed up nice. Some ruts formed but it was still fast and the bank up from the wet area was way hard and fast. Cross Guru thought he made the run-up unridable this year, but he's going to have to try harder if he wants to keep me from pedaling up it- bwaaah-haa-ha...
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I was excited to start the SS race on my new White Ind./Sun wheelset. Britton and I both got a good start and went into the first turns with the front riders. He and I rode with two other riders for a lap and a half or so and then he shot off the front coming out of the lake. I got onto Hammontree's wheel and stuck there for awhile to see if Britton would ride away with it. He dangled for awhile and then started to pull away a little, so I went around Hammontree and Britton and I finished out the race together in front. We got 1-2. It was my first win in awhile.
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In the Open race, I got stuck behind 3 pile-ups within the first minute of racing. It was over before it started for me. I finally got through the bottleneck of the first few turns and started cruising but I was either trying to go way too fast and overcooking everything or Vittoria Evo's suck compared to Michelin Muds. I was all over the course and couldn't hold a line with the Vittorias so on the second lap I pitted and traded my geared bike for my SS with the Michelins and finished out the race on it. I was having more fun on it anyway. I managed to catch and pass a few fellows but more importantly, I had a blast on the awesome Smithville course.
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Teammate Andy won the 2/3 race so he and I mixed our 6-pack winnings of Weston Brewing Festival Ale and Wheat. I'm enjoying one of each now.

It's A L I V E ! ! !

The SS is up and running again on a new set of wheels. White Ind. ENO and H2 hubs laced to Sun rims. White Ind. is so awesome. I told Britton what I wanted and he had the stuff from W.I. in hand 4 days later! I also splurged and got a W.I. trials freewheel. It's got great engagement with 72 points but what I like the best is that it's perfectly round! I can tension my chain just right and there are no tight or loose spots- beautiful.
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I'm running 39-18 at Smithville this weekend. Rain is in the forecast and I'm hoping and praying that it gets sloppy. I'm really not in good race condition and sloppy conditions would help me a lot by slowing the fast guys down. Then it becomes a bike handling game.
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Rumor: Manion's Cross II! Actually this isn't even a rumor anymore. There will be a second Manion's Cross coming in November. I went out and started scoping out a new course tonight. There may even be a double barn-burner. And pavement. More info. coming soon...

Eat or Race?

Money's tight. Had to drive down to Wichita to complete my duties as president of the Kansas Association of Mappers and to pass the torch to the next pres. Spent money I didn't want to and now I'm on an all-time tight budget. So, I used my race money for tomorrow to buy food tonight. 20 bucks got me all this stuff at Dollar Tree:
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I'm riding over to the BLVD Cup tomorrow to support my team and hang at the Colavita Corner. I'll get back to racing soon, but I'll have to pick my battles carefully. For now, it'll be nice to get out on the bike and enjoy watching some racing after a week spent on the road in a suit.

Blue Bomber

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This is what I'll be kickin around on this winter. This was my first real high-performance road bike. Dave at The Pathfinder in Manhattan, KS gave me a great deal on it after it'd been sitting in the shop waiting for a home for a couple of years. That was in 1995. It's been dressed up many different ways since then and it's been across the state of Iowa more times than I have. It was the first bike I took on Ragbrai. Together with a borrowed red Specialized Allez, my friend Corey and I rode every mile as The Blue Bomber and The Red Rocket, respectively. The Turd Rocket and the KYBO Blaster came later... but those are different stories.
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I can already feel the good this thing is doing me after just a few rides. It's great to be back on a SS again. I'm using a geared hub wheel on the back with a QR but as long as I keep it clamped down tight and don't wag too much when I stand up, it stays put. Most the rest of the stuff is "junker" parts but somehow they seem to work together well on the ol' junker Paramount.

Swayze

Damn, that was hard.
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I'm tired all over... even my nipples are tired.
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Stopped at CVS for a 6 pack on the way home and saw they had BLVD 12s on sale so I grabbed one of those instead. Kind of a crooked ride home with that in one hand. I thought it might straighten me out but it didn't... so now I'm just going to get bent.
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Waiting for my Colavita pasta with oil,basal, rosemary, parmesean to get done... One more Pale Ale.
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Oh, good turnout tonight for the race. If you missed it you'll want to be there next week. Good crowd, nails-down racing, and a special surprise...
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RIP Pat

180 at full speed

Put some wheels on the ol' Paramount and rode it down to Volker for the Monday Recovery Ride. I'd forgotten how much fun that thing is to ride. I used a bunch of spare parts to build it up including the Sugino messenger ring I won at last year's Barnyard CX and an old wheel I've been using on the trainer. It worked OK but a real SS wheel with a bolt on hub would've been better- I threw the chain twice going down to Volker. Got horn-blasted by two successive semi trucks crossing HOA. Then I got cut off from the left by someone pulling onto SW Tfwy and squeezed into a parked car- that's when the second thrown chain happened. I swatted the guy's hood and cursed him and he just stopped (in the middle of SW Tfwy!) and starred at me and let me finish. That was nice of him, I guess. Some days.
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Once I got to Volker, things got better, except Britton wouldn't let me have any malt liquor. I tightened down the skewer to the point of metalurgic compaction, added a rear brake, and we set off for our group ride. A couple of mechanicals later (not mine) and a short ride around midtown landed us at McCoy's for post-ride refreshments.
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Then the ride home... The ride home was incredible. Crisp night air. No wind. Darkness. And me alone on my bike. I negotiated my way through downtown and across the river, then up through Briarcliffe and into Riverside. I hit a stride heading into Northmoor and never stopped pedaling full-gas the rest of the way home. Every light turned for me and every intersection was clear. I was in one of those rare ride states where you don't feel yourself doing anything. No breathing, no work. Just the scenery wooshing by. Beautiful.

Can you hear me knockin'?

Just got back from Vampire Weekend at Starlight. I highly reccomend. Wow. I haven't got a good dose of energy like that since Franz Ferdinand in Larrytown many moons ago. Those boys know what they're doing.

Raced my first Open race today at Boss Cross 1. Finished 21 out of 28. Meh... Didn't get lapped, so that is a minor victory. Winkler was en fuego- that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Britton grabbed the SS leader's jersey which is a nice General Lee lookalike, er motif... well it's a shrine I tell ya! Anyway, awesome jersey and the BK got him some. Good luck hangin' on to it tomorrow.

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Here's some pics of friends:

Patrick Swayze!

Wednesday night throwdown starts in a week.

Bring your B and a half game.

WE NEVER FORGET

Cross practice

We had a fun Team cross practice tonight. Did some 10-20 second sprints around the soccer field at Roanoke with a pretend barrier thrown in. Pretend barriers are sure a lot easier to get over.

After awhile I was having a hard time keeping the malt liquor down. So it goes.

My back feels supreme right now, but it'll tighten up as I sit hear in front of the computer/TV/wall tonight. Perhaps I should just ride all day long... every day... forever...

I just like THIS SONG.

Manion's Cross

Manion's Cross went very well. We had a good turnout and we gave away a ton of Colavita pasta, oil, and balsamic vinegar. Coffee, waffles, Boulevard beer, and In-a-tub tacos too!

Thank you everyone who came out and raced and had a good time. My apologies to those who puked and/or cried. Yes, the course was very hilly and hard. Not a typical cross course, but as they say, variety is the spice of life. Sprinkle a little cayenne pepper on that.

The landowner seemed to be pleased and dumbfounded at the same time. Cross will do that to the unsuspecting, I suppose. There's a good chance we'll be back here again next year. Or possibly sooner...

More info and reports HERE. And at kansascitycross.com

Update #1

Electrochemistry is the new smoke & mirrors is the new ball bearing. Fall for it.
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Mangez une pomme.

** Y a w n **

Hi. I've been sleeping. Had to get up to fix a cup before cross season. Check THIS.

Giro picks

I'm going with an all-Italian podium:
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Filippo Pozzato

Michele Scarponi

Damiano Cunego

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I'm not sold on Wiggins as a true team leader, Vino isn't good for more than a couple of days (without dope), and Evans will head backward during the last week.

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I'm riding Stage 14 to Asolo- the day before the PROs, of course. Monte Grappa can't be that much harder than say... Crooked Rd. out of Parkville, can it???

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Wow, two great American holidays, back to back! First, Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you) and then Cinco de Mayo. Fellow Crackanooner Will and I rode down to El Plaza via Southwest Blvd. yesterday afternoon. Boy Howdy! That joint was jumpin' like a fresh can of Mexican Jumping Beans! We latched onto the Spin Pizza ride and then drank Spin out of Mighty Arrow before heading to Sol for more Mexican madness. A final stop at Harry's was enough to set me up for the ride home. Finally got home at 11:30 after 7 hours on the bike (and in bars). Yeah, I think I'm ready for the Giro.

Snopp!!

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Any one syllable word made of any combination of 'snap', 'crack', or 'pop' will give you a good idea of what carbon failure on impact sounds like. And yes, that includes "CRAP!" I was going top speed through heavy rain down the north side of Briarcliff Drive when I caught a chuckhole. Tire held great- the rim seems to have taken the brunt of the impact. That's the (+) I'm taking out of this- that the tire held and I didn't go down.
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Lesson: Remove shades in rain at first drops.

ToHermann Stage Race - Hermann, MO

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Once again, Jeff and his crew rolled out a top-notch Tour of Hermann. And this year, the weather was perfect. I knew I wasn't in the shape I wanted to be in order to compete, but I also knew that wouldn't keep me from having fun anyway.
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Stage 1: ITT, Saturday morning.
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I left the start house at 9:13:30 and finished my 11 miles in a very disappointing 29+ minutes. I knew I wasn't good, but I'd lost nearly 2 minutes on my own time from last year! Sheesh! I started out trying to hold a certain gear but I just couldn't get comfortable and find a rhythm I could sustain. Eventually, I found a good rhythm but it was waaay too slow and I finished a miserable 40th.
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Stage 2: Crit, Saturday afternoon.
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The crit is why I come to race in Hermann. It's just freakin' fantastic. It's a gut-check climb followed by a bomber downhill with a couple of short flats dividing the two. My start was terrible- I ended up at the very back of a 50-some rider field and cat 3's are just too fast to try to make all that ground up. The race started fast and I was hanging on for dear life- gasping and wheezing- for the first few laps. Eventually, I found my legs and started to go around riders on the climb and on the downhill. It was my first crit of the year and I could feel I was too tentative around corners, but I tried to make up any lost time there on the downhill. Nobody was matching my speed going down and I was able to jump positions there and then shed riders for good on the climb. I didn't care what position I was in. I was having a blast pulling myself back up through the field. I was feeling better and better as the race went on and I was sorry to see it end at lap 12. I finished in 22nd over a minute behind the winner, but I think I lost at least that much time or more on the first couple of laps. Just gotta start way stronger next time.
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Stage 3: 60 mile RR, Sunday morning.
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I felt good on Sunday morning. I'd put in a hard effort in the crit but so did a lot of others so I liked my chances for finishing in the field. I didn't have aspirations of winning but I figured I could stay with the pack and see what happened at the end. The first climb was humbling but I felt good at the top and on successive climbs. Unfortunately, I was on the back and was yo-yoing like crazy. It was such a huge field and there was nowhere to move up. After one lap I was nearly vertigo with mental exhaustion from trying to fight for the wheel in front of me, then hit the brakes, then accelerate once again, only to hit the brakes, etc etc etc... so on and so on... I know, it's the name of the game at the back. That's why I hate it back there. I'd rather pull! But I just could NOT move up. Maybe I was more tired than I thought. We hit the big monster climb on the start of the second lap and I shot out the back with about 15 others. Not looking forward to trying to catch back on to the back of a fast-moving packed field, I turned off course and wound back done through the holler and rolled into the Tin Mill Brewery. I wasn't disappointed in my decision- I knew I was in poor shape. Next year I'll finally finish the road race. Baby steps.

Dam Race, Perry KS

Finished eighth today
But that's out of eleven
Good news and Bad news
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Cat 3 faster pace
Lost contact before last lap
Alone to finish
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Good racing today
Had fun following fast guys
Must train harder now
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Warm temps refreshing
Beats the hell out of winter!
Yearning for springtime

CX Season Wrap

There seems to have been a lot of accusations of "sandbagger" flying around this year. I had this term leveled at me in serious fashion even though I did not win one single race this year- a lot of podium spots but no wins. Give me a break. STFU and ride hard. Yeah, there are a few 3's that need to cat up, but like myself, I'm sure they're apprehensive, if not downright scared, to jump into the Open field. I catted up anyway. I'm a 2 now and we'll see what happens next year. Luckily (Ha!), I'm old enough to race the Masters if I so choose. I want to race where I'm challenged. I think the best race is where you're on the brink with a guy in front who you're chasing and a guy behind you wanting to take you out. I just want competition that makes me faster. I'm pushing for a 2/3 race next year.
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Seems I race cross much better after a few beers than without. Not sure how that will translate to road... just kidding.
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Race of the year? For me, it was Barnyard Cross in Manhattan. I scored a first in the SS class and even though the usual suspects weren't there from KC, it's nice to race your hands as you cross the line. Looking forward to next year's race. I'll start a rumor: This might be the KS State Champs race for 2010- I hope so.
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Best venue ever? St. Mary's, Leavenworth. Amazing. The perennial cyclocross playground. I won't miss a race held here. Won the C.4 Championship there last year and the C.3 Gold there this year, so it holds a special place in my heart. I'll take my grandkids there someday...
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I love my Curtlo cross bike more every time I ride it. OX Plat w/ banana stays. Stiff it is not. Don't understand why anyone would want a stiff cross bike. My SS it considerably stiffer and it's so much more of a bear to handle on course.
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I did 3 SS races this year and turned in a win and two 2nd places on my On-One Pompino w/ Origin 8 carbon fork and 39-18 gearing. Funny, After lap one or two on the geared bike, I settle into one or two gears anyway.
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Team Colavita had a big cyclocross contingent this year and that made me very happy. Steve V. was most impressive. His relentlessness and methodical improvement were inspirational. Andy W. scored the C.4 KS State Championship. Brittion slugged it out in the Open class. Joe and Adam were always a threat. Nathan and Eric E. were always there to throw down. And Eric Stull? I think Stull's case was classic Love/Hate with cross. I hope he goes again next year. Jane had some great rides too. We need more girls in cross!
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Looking forward to next year; Masters, Open, SS, whatever... Now begins the long, hot road "training" season.

Epic Cross

Sadly, today's Epic Cross race ends the cross season. I got 2nd behind Songer in the SS again and won some more beer (Hear that, Joe?). It was the sloppiest conditions I've ever ridden in- very fun. This was the most spectator-friendly race I've been to. Due to the tight layout and the pseudo effigy mound running down the center of the field, you could see the entire race easily except for where we disappeared for about 10 seconds behind a snow bank. Mark and Epic staff layed out a nice course. Again no barriers. Is this a Series 60 thing or a heavy snow thing?
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Big THANKS goes to Roger who cleaned off everyone's bike after they raced. You rock, Rog!
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Season wrap-up and thoughts and some parts reviews coming soon...

Grote Prijs - Shawnee KS

Lots of snow and ice. Mark and crew did a nice job clearing the course but there were still a few dangerous ice patches. Hey, it's racing in January! It was a flat and would-be uninteresting course other than the snow and ice, so as it were, it was quite fun and a little too interesting in a few spots.
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I got 2nd in the SS class after riding without sitting down most of the race- not that I would've been seated that much anyway. I crashed halfway through the first lap and when I picked up my bike, the saddle was nosed straight down. I rode around to the finish like that and asked if I could step off the course and grab my tool to fix it. I was asked if it was in the pit- it wasn't- and I was told "no". So, I pounded it with my fist until it was close to where it was and stopped a couple more times throughout the race to perform the same beating ritual.
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With about 6-8 laps to go I saw a rider lying flat on his side right in the middle of the course. It appeared as though he'd suddenly grown tired and decided to nap. I stopped and asked if he was alright- no response. So, I stepped off my bike and hailed him again-nothing. I threw my bike to the side and kneeled down and poked his shoulder as I talked to him and he finally started to move. He sat up and I talked to him a few moments as I went through the progressions learned in Red Cross training. As I sat there, I watched everyone else in my race cruise by, but finally a couple race officials showed up and I was able to jump back in the race. I spent the rest of the race making up positions but I was unable to catch Stephen Songer of 360 who got first.
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Great beer was provided by Boulevard and my 2nd-place prize was a 750 of Seeyoulator doppelbock- nice! Joe A. commented that I'm the Master of winning alcohol. I take great pride in that.
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One more race: Epic Cross on Saturday. It's gonna be Epic, bra'h!

Sounds of cross

Started compiling next year's cross race soundtrack- very important stuff. To me it is. Approaching paramount even... So far:
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Red Snapper
Meat Puppets
Blur
Guns 'N Roses (sorry)
Gogol Bordelo
Talking Heads
Steve Earle
Tito & Tarantula
Muse
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Rage Against the Machine
Scissor Sistors
Eels
Soundgarden
Dandy Warhols
The Hives
The Who
The Spin Doctors (why not?)
Ween
Jethro Tull
ZZ Top
Ministry
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