a midway bikelog

Finished 24/64 in the C1 race. Hot day, painful race.

Ow. I mean oof. I mean, they don’t call it the pain locker for nothin’. The first race of the year always hurts and always makes me with i’d started running for a month before so my lungs don’t explode after the first 10 minutes. Not that that feeling changes as the season goes on, it’s just a matter of re-acclimating. What we have here is a failure to condition.

I went to the race with my friend Ted, who is racing his first season of cyclocross in many years, and doing it singlespeed. Cyndi came along too, and it was the first CX race she’d watched. We arrived plenty early to register and pre-ride the course, and i was all set to go when i realized that i didn’t have my helmet with me. After a few frantic minutes, i was able to borrow one from Dag (actually from a racer with him who’s name i’ve forgotten, but many many thanks to both!!) and got around for a couple of warmup laps.

The first 1/3 or so of the course winds through some trees in a fairly open grassy area, very flat, pretty easy riding. I later realized that i was really meant as a recovery for the short but tough hills in the last 1/3 of the course that left me gasping for air across the start/finish line.

The rest of the course had a double barrier at the bottom of a moderate runup and turn downhill, then a flat open double barrier on the back stretch (which i’m sure the Bs and As hit quite fast, i was slow), then through some wood chips and a couple of hairpin turns and a gentle climb. Back at the top, there was a big curve back around to the hill, a fast descent and fun giant berm turn, then another double barrier and the short steep climb to the finish.

I ran up the hills the first lap because of traffic but otherwise mostly rode them, even though it was slow going. My heart rate was definitely the limiting factor moreso than my legs, so grinding up the hills was a good strategy. No problems with the bike, just a little rubbing on the chainstop in the big cog, but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff to prevent another drop.

I don’t think i’d do much different in the race other than set up a water handup. It was a pretty warm day (80s F) for cyclocross, and hard to keep maxed out when i’m hot and dry.

Good race photos at http://skinnyski.com/, including this not too bad one of me.

I’m taking next weekend off for Fiona’s birthday, then racing the following week at Lake Rebecca. That race is usually my first of the year, so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes this year having one race down and (hopefully) a little training between now and then. I really like that course.

The background story.

I didn’t know Mark Loesch, but he was just a couple of years older than i am, also had a wife and kids, and was an avid cyclist. His was a senseless murder of someone who was simply out for a bike ride, apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. In short, it could have been me, and it could have been many people i know who love to ride their bike in lots of places at all hours of the day and night.

I didn’t see the story about the memorial ride until too late, i spent my evening on Boom Island doing some cyclocross practice. Much credit to Paul Schoening, the Boom Island training series organizer, for dedicating tonight’s session to Mark and sending money from the training fees to the Loesch family.

I hope a huge crowd of cyclists showed up for the ride. The Twin Cities cycling community is strong and tight, and none of us like the recent string of violence against bicycle riders. My deepest sympathies to Mark Loesch’s family and friends. Let’s all be careful out there, and kind to each other.

I just got back from the most fun weekend i’ve had mountain biking in the woods ever. I hadn’t heard of Gnome Fest until my friend Ted clued me in earlier this summer, so i missed the first 3 years of this extravaganza, but i doubt i’ll miss many more. It’s a weekend of camping and mountain biking and beer in 9 Mile Forest near Wausau, Wisconsin, and it’s a hella fun time.

We arrived at 11 pm after a late start and getting lost in town from construction detours. Luckily, the kegs donated from Central Water’s brewery were still going, and we had a fun time meeting a few people and getting settled in.

Saturday was pretty open in the morning. I think a women’s ride went out, otherwise it was just small groups of people here and there. Ted and i went out to check out the trails since i hadn’t been there before, and it had been about 3 years since his last trip (to the 24 hours of 9 mile). The trails are amazing; twisty singletrack, no big hills, but lots of whoop-de-whoops and lots of rocky sections. Technical, but fun to ride fast too. The park is set up with 16 different loops of singletrack with various fireroads and doubletrack paths connecting them together. It’s mostly well-marked, but it’s a big area, and it’s easy to spend a couple of hours exploring and getting lost without seeing the same thing twice.

After lunch, we got signed in and got our maps for the Dirt Alleycat race. This was a blast. We had 2 hours to collect 7 stickers and hit the corresponding 7 checkpoints to do the tasks at each one. Despite a 1/2 hour lost trying to find the orange stickers, we (and everyone else) collected all 7 checkpoints within the 2 hour limit. I got 2 time bonuses; one for beating Ted in a kid bike mini cyclocross race, and another for drinking a vinegar shot. After the race was prizes and schwag. We didn’t win anything for the race, but i did get a nice new bike pump in the drawing.

Then came the potluck. The potluck part was both beer and food, and you can see that people were generous with both:

Ok, this is the beer pile, but there was lots of good food too – a chili contest, and a homebrew beer contest. Both had great entries. After dinner, i tried my hand at bike polo and got totally hooked. Here’s a shot from one of the other people there, i’m in the white shirt, having just crashed again:

I think half of the bruises i got were from bike polo. I can’t wait to play it again.

After dark (and a few more beers), the Gnomebike death race began. It’s a race on 12″-wheeled kid gnome bikes, in a figure 8 course, so there was plenty of crashing. Oh yeah, and we were racing in our underwear. I lost in the first round, Ted made it to the 2nd round. A couple of guys raced totally naked, including one guy who did quite a victory dance involving the traffic cones making up the course. No pictures of that, sorry :-)

Sunday morning started nice early on, and i got a few good pictures of some of the trails before the rain started. It drizzled for a couple of hours, but it was enough to make us just pack up and head out rather than get in a morning ride. We were tired and happy and ready to sign up for next year’s edition as soon as we can. Thanks much to the Black Bike Ribbon crew for such a fun time!

Lots more pictures here.

I got this fantastic surprise in the mail from my Dad the other day:

It’s most of a Victor portable oxy-acetylene torch set – we didn’t think the USPS would take the tanks, so i’ll find a set here. I don’t know much about it, but it should be perfect for the small projects i’m planning to build. First up will be tracking down some scrap steel to practice with, then on to a bike rack or two, then maybe bigger things. Oh yes, there are plans afoot…

If you’re in the neighborhood, stop on by to talk bike hackery.