short video of Halloween Cross at Washington Park
it's just everything we got, blasted together
enjoy!
http://vimeo.com/31330828
it's just everything we got, blasted together
enjoy!
http://vimeo.com/31330828
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sun Prairie CX
dblomme
Grabbed a few photos of some friends, teammates and coworkers this weekend at the incredibly fun roller coaster CX race in Sun Prairie.
Thanks for putting the race together, Paul Roltgen!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Beer, Bronchitis, and...Bikes?
The last month and a half has been a rough patch for me fitting in any time on the bike. It started out with a late August/early September trip to Eurobike. A bike show in Germany? Sounds fun enough. And it was, but there was work to be done and I did not bring a bike with me. Long days of work followed by poor eating habits for a week straight. Don't get me wrong, I love German food. And German beer. It's just a the best training menu...
Back to the States with a short week before I headed down to Lake Geneva for the WORS race. I was using the race to get ready for the Chequamegon 40. I was able to finally resolve a brake issue I was having, which was caused by a silly move on my behalf during a cleaning session. However, this mistake had kept me busy trying to fix it in the garage...instead of on the bike prior to the Eurobike trip. So after two weeks of pretty much zero riding, I was able to squeeze in a couple of rides before heading to Lake Geneva.
The Lake Geneva race went as I should have expected. I was lacking any sort of real power, which kept me a little further back on the climbs from the start, as well as each time through the climbing section on the first part of the course. The good thing was that during my time off the bike, I hadn't forgotten how to ride singletrack. And there was a lot of singletrack in the second half (or more) of the race. Was able to finish up 5th in my age and 18th overall in Comp class. Not bad, but not the 1st in my age and 3rd overall from a month earlier at Cam-rock.
It would have to do as warm up for the Chequamegon 40. Only fit in a trainer ride and a day-before warm up ride with TMTmates (and boathouse roommates) Jarred Cassady and Todd Heal. The race started out fairly well on the road, but shortly into the off-road sections, I was not able to really start passing people as I thought I should. TMTmates Sanjay Ganju and Doug Bailey came by me and there wasn't much I could do to go with them. I just tried to keep the tempo high without going into the red. Made it to OO in just over an hour, but started to cramp around the lakes. I was able to hold off any complete lock-up in the legs and finish in 2:36. Not what I had wanted, but not bad for my first 40.
Plenty of beers post race. And there was more beer on tap for the next two weekends. I made it up to LaCrosse Oktoberfest and then to Doug Bailey's wedding (congrats Doug!). Mix in almost a week straight of rain between the two. Just as the weather was turning nice at Doug's wedding, I came down with what I thought was a cold or the flue. It kept me home from work on Monday and Tuesday, I struggled through the rest of the week and finally on Friday I went in to the doctor. Bronchitis. And antibiotics. Missing out on the best weather of the fall. Oh well, at least I'm on the road to recovery. The time at home this weekend did at least give me the chance to build up the new 'cross steed. Looking forward to putting it (and my fitness) to the test soon.
Back to the States with a short week before I headed down to Lake Geneva for the WORS race. I was using the race to get ready for the Chequamegon 40. I was able to finally resolve a brake issue I was having, which was caused by a silly move on my behalf during a cleaning session. However, this mistake had kept me busy trying to fix it in the garage...instead of on the bike prior to the Eurobike trip. So after two weeks of pretty much zero riding, I was able to squeeze in a couple of rides before heading to Lake Geneva.
The Lake Geneva race went as I should have expected. I was lacking any sort of real power, which kept me a little further back on the climbs from the start, as well as each time through the climbing section on the first part of the course. The good thing was that during my time off the bike, I hadn't forgotten how to ride singletrack. And there was a lot of singletrack in the second half (or more) of the race. Was able to finish up 5th in my age and 18th overall in Comp class. Not bad, but not the 1st in my age and 3rd overall from a month earlier at Cam-rock.
It would have to do as warm up for the Chequamegon 40. Only fit in a trainer ride and a day-before warm up ride with TMTmates (and boathouse roommates) Jarred Cassady and Todd Heal. The race started out fairly well on the road, but shortly into the off-road sections, I was not able to really start passing people as I thought I should. TMTmates Sanjay Ganju and Doug Bailey came by me and there wasn't much I could do to go with them. I just tried to keep the tempo high without going into the red. Made it to OO in just over an hour, but started to cramp around the lakes. I was able to hold off any complete lock-up in the legs and finish in 2:36. Not what I had wanted, but not bad for my first 40.
Plenty of beers post race. And there was more beer on tap for the next two weekends. I made it up to LaCrosse Oktoberfest and then to Doug Bailey's wedding (congrats Doug!). Mix in almost a week straight of rain between the two. Just as the weather was turning nice at Doug's wedding, I came down with what I thought was a cold or the flue. It kept me home from work on Monday and Tuesday, I struggled through the rest of the week and finally on Friday I went in to the doctor. Bronchitis. And antibiotics. Missing out on the best weather of the fall. Oh well, at least I'm on the road to recovery. The time at home this weekend did at least give me the chance to build up the new 'cross steed. Looking forward to putting it (and my fitness) to the test soon.
CamRock 55+ A good race for me!
Jim Merrifield
After last weekend's poor showing due in large part to tired legs, I havd vowed to come into future races fresher. So while I put in some good commuting miles, I did not beat the crap out of myself - too badly. I had a busines trip to DC-land and decided it was time to give my running legs a jump start. I have been running a bit but just slow and steady. My jump start was to do ½ mile intervals on the treadmill. That made sure I rested some as it took my bike commute to work the stiffness and soreness out. Anyway, I had been planning on going to Grafton on Saturday but I needed to get some stuff done around the house. I elected to go up to CamRock park instead. Jan wasnted to do a trail run and then I could scope out the course a little. It was a good move - the course was going to be fast, fast and more fast (quite a change from last year) and going thru the fast corners without overbraking was one of the things I worked on.
Come race day, it was another weekend of "not cross" weather - I think it was in the 80s - and the trails were going to be really dusty. I was thinking I might get my beloved to hand me up a bottle but there was no slow section where that would really work. So I tanked up and got on the line with the rest of the geezers. Gordy and Diane were in the field as well as the usual cast - 11 or 12 in all. Off we go and I am as usual the last person in the line and yes, it was REALLY dusty back there. Last year, I would try to keep the folks in sight as long as I could (a lap or so) but now I am pretty comfortably sitting on, thinking "I can do this" and wondering how things are going to play out, wondering what sort of a hand I am holding today. Almost immediately, things start to happen. Someone slid out on a tight corner in the woods and I took the inside line and then put the hammer down to bridge up to the next rider. The battle is joined as folks now behind me try to get back in the game while I am looking for more opportunities to move up. Wait! Did I say move up. Me? Yeah, I am quickly finding that not only are the legs decent, I am also sliding thru the fast corners faster than many of the folks. I see-sawed with Gordy and Diane for a little while (and avoided running over Diane's head when she washed out in the pine needles). Then once I got in front on the fast sections, I was able to roll up to Tom Palmer - sweet! He has been riding well and if I could stay with him, I was doing well. And we battled for the rest of the race particularly on the run-up. It was preceeded by a barricade but not so steep that many were remounting and riding up. I was not so confident of my ability to clip in and go and found that even if someone was able to get in smoothly and go, I was not losing much ground if I ran. And if they blew the remount ...... Tom and I exchanged leads a couple times there. With two laps to go, the lead elite woman caught up to Tom and I and we jockied for position. I was wondering what my best move would be when Tom made a strong move to go to the front and I had to go hard to stay in contact. I figured if I could make a move in the woods before the barricades, it would force Tom to try to pass me in the more technical places. And I am riding fast enough that I thought I might be able to outdistance him in the fast sections. So I took an inside line on an uphill turn and punched it, carrying speed over the uphill, tried to recover on the 180s in the technical section without making a mistake, went hard to the run-up, got a good remount at the top of the run-up, and then tried to take the fast section a wee bit faster. And I had to as there was someone on my wheel but was it Tom? I was sure not gonna turn around. I come to the last turn into the up-hill single track before the road and give it what I have left. Was it going be enough? It was not but it was not Tom out-sprinting me. It is the lead woman (Alyssa?) kicking my sorry ass in the final meters. But I have finished 5th! And in front of a lot of good riders - who may have been a bit tired from the Saturday race - but that is not the story I will tell!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Cross the Domes - 55+
Jim Merrifield
Another gorgeous day in WI - sunny and a little on the cool side. The spirit was psyched but the body had not had enough recovery. My own damn fault, too. It looked like Tuesday would be a great day to ride home - favorable winds and slight chance of rain. And that was true enough at the starting point in Fitchburg and the Janesville destination. In between however, I hit a band of cold, pissin'-down rain. It only lasted for about 20 minutes but it soaked me to the bone. I called my beloved for a rescue and TT'ed to the rendezvous point to stay warm till I got to the car - about 40 minutes worth. Trashed me but good as I had ridden fairly hard on the way in that morning and was planning on a recovery ride on the way home. Needing to loosen up the legs with a nice recovery ride, Thursday looked good - SERIOUS tail wind and low chance of rain. I gotta find out who is making those estimates and have a talkin' with him. The wind prediction was correct but the afternoon weather radar showed bands coming thru. But I thought "no problem" - I will just take off from work as a band passes and surf the winds home ahead of the next band. You guessed it - the trailing band caught up to me - fast! And the winds at the leading edge - yow! At one point, I got blown sideways across the road (fortunately I ride little traveled farm roads). Got myself unclipped and stopped to let it pass - just in time as I got hit with a "gust" that felt like 60+! It almost blew me over while I was straddling the bike. It lasted for what seemed like minutes as I looked to see if there were any trees too close to me. And of course the rains followed shortly thereafter. After a few minutes of riding in the rain, I stopped to put my jacket on - and by the time I got it on, the rain stopped. A few minutes later, I was riding in the sunshine. Took off the jacket and thought NOW I can relax. And did just that, surfing the 25 mph tailwind. Until I realized the NEXT front that just 20 minutes ago was a smudge on the horizon was catching me. FAST. SO the hammer was dropped again but to no avail. 4 miles from home, the rain hit - sideways - but at least there were no microbursts. Once more, put on the jacket and once more the rain pretty much stopped by the time I got it on. And by the time I got home, it was sunny again. Crazy day!
And warming up for the race, I could tell that I just was not perky. At a steady state, I felt OK but when I upped the power - mmmm, not good. Oh well - time to ride smooth (for once, I hope!) and try to be smart (again, for once). I pre-rode most of the course but not the start. And certainly not this interesting little 180 degree turn onto a steep off-camber traverse. As I came into it, tight on the folks ahead, I see one rider slide out and I think a couple others got tangled in that as well (it all happened so fast) so I jump off the bike and ran around the 180 and past one or two of the tangled riders, jump back on for a few seconds into the stair and I am thinking THAT was not SO bad. And I am feeling OK the first lap keeping folks close but just not being smooth enough to make up for my sub-par legs. And get back to that section I ran before and thought "I am not going to even bother trying to ride" and just ran thru again. If I had a chance to practice when I was not seeing double, I would have ridden it - maybe - but off camber stuff can just psyche me out sometimes (sometimes?) and the guy who slipped was a good rider. Besides, one guy is right behind me and a couple just ahead - losing a second or so is not worth the risk of a serious screw-up. And then, it was back to the battle. I had hoped to be battling with Bob Schueler and was coming up pretty good but then the legs said "no mas" and then Don from IS Corp passed me. I told him my legs were hosed and was expecting to just fade but after hanging on him for a half a lap or so, some perkiness returned. Enough to pass him, anyway and not get passed again. And enough to not face plant when I ran thru the deep sand, hitting it was a head of steam. But not enough to grab onto Joe King when he came thru (realizing he was one of the folks tangled in that off camber section on the first lap). So lesson learned. If I am going to have any sort of a respectable showing, it will NOT be because my handling skills make up for my tired legs. No more tired legs at races!
Friday, September 30, 2011
USGP Sun Prairie Saturday
It was a bright and sunny morning! Wait! That can't be right! There is a cross race today. I had looked at the weather forecast and I was expecting cool and light rain - much more like cross season. But who was I to argue? Surely by the time my race started at 10:30, the weather would turn crappy. I had gone up to Sun Prairie the day before to help set up the team tent and ride the course. This course was designed for the big boys so I was a tad nervous, my handling skills being what they are - lousy. And sure enough there were a lot of interesting sections but not SO bad. Anyway, I got to the race a bit early, got myself set up, warmed up and when the course was open got out again and then went to the call-up area, just as the single speed guys were getting called up. Hmmmm - where were the old guys? Already called up, of course. So instead of being in the middle of the pack, I was at the back. But I figured if all went as it did last year, that I would be at the back soon enough anyway. And there were only about 30 folks on the line so it did not make much difference. Wrong! The entire first lap, I was contending with all the folks whose handling skills were worse than mine. What?!? Worse? Hmmm - maybe yesterday's practice helped. And stranger still, I was passing people!. Of course the single speedsters who started 30 seconds behind us started passing me pretty soon but I jumped on each and every one and tried to mirror their lines. Pretty soon I was settling in, powering thru the long flat sections and then trying to hit the lines and trying to chase people down. That did not last as long as I hoped - just a couple laps. Then it was on to something I did not do much at all last year - battling with people who were pretty much my speed and trying to either out-handle or out power. It was quickly apparent that my nemesis would be a big guy from the SRAM Factory Team - very strong but had a tendency to overcook corners and slow way down. I would take a better line thru the corner and let it run a little more on the following descent and open up a lead. Then he would blow my doors off on the long power section. I thought I had him when he went way too wide on a corner and a single speedster and I came thru fast. I followed him thru the corners and then traded pulls in the power sections and I was giving it what I had, hoping to discourage the chase. But he was the fitter and the single speedster was running outta gas. He blew my doors off starting the final lap and all the effort I could muster and the diving (for me, anyway) into the corners were not enough to bring him back. But what fun! Better than TTing thru the woods - which is what my races felt like last year. I finished 19th and if I had started where I should have...... yeah, that's the story! Must be the new bike! Sweet!
From there, it was on to marshaling duties and watching the races for the rest of the day. Greg looked good close to the front of the 45+ race despite a cold. And Eric - well Eric always looks good - he was just a bit further back in the same race. And in the AM, David looked good despite a broken butt. And I was thinking, MAN, I gotta race tomorrow but I had prior commitments. Later, I heard about the mud on Sunday.......
And lest you think I did not suffer, the attachment shows me trying to put one foot in front of the other on the "Strangler" run-up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)