12 hour solo @ 9-Mile
Rider: Bill Connell
Class: 12 Hour Solo Man
Fastest lap: 1:21:28
Laps completed: 6
Total Elevation Gain: 3480 ft
Total Distance Travelled: 85.2 miles
the start line
This was my first mountain bike race in about 10 years (I’d done the 24 hours of Afton twice on teams in the late ’90s). As it turns out, our neighbor in the pit area was doing the 24-hour duo team with a friend as his first race ever, of any kind. If you’re going to tilt at windmills, might as well pick a big target.
This is going to be a long one… those interested can click (more…)
CX 2007 #2 - Lake Rebecca
16th place for C1, 19/66 in the race, i think 72 racers started.
The lesson learned at Lake Rebecca for me this year was ‘don’t take the small stuff for granted’. In particular, that *#&#(* log barrier. It was easily rideable, but ruled at the start line that the C racers must dismount for it. I understand that *some* C racers maybe shouldn’t have ridden it, but i think we should have had the option.
Anyway, so it was a tiny barrier, not even a big step over it, shouldn’t have been a big deal. On the first lap, i spun my cranks back and dropped the chain. I recovered practically on the fly, losing only 2-3 spots and getting a “nice recovery” from someone as they went by. Great! On the second lap, my left cleat didn’t come off the pedal fast enough, and i somehow got myself tangled up in the bike and ran for about 20 feet that way before going bum over teakettle, scraping up both legs, cutting my knee and hitting my ankle on something really really hard. After that, i was much more careful over that damn log.
Other than that, it was way too hot, but friend Benita helped with invaluable water handups. I have no idea how i placed, but was pretty happy with how i moved up through the pack after a start near the back (late warm-up lap). No other crashes, though it was a near thing at the end. I was really tired and eased off on the last long straightaway until 2 (two!) guys passed me with 100′ to go. I stood up and hammered and caught them both, though the second guy and i leaned on each other a bit (more like me muscling my way past, from his perspective) and i got a little out of shape right before the line but held it up ok. I think i got him by about 1/2 a wheel, but i didn’t get his name or race number to confirm. A gratifying finish to an otherwise tough race.
Here’s a link to a nice photo of me in action (looking fast for a change) from SkinnySki.com, whose photographers take shots at events around here year ’round.
Fellow teammate Lee finished in 2nd place for the women in her first ‘cross race ever!
CX 2007 #1 - Porkchop Challenge, St. Cloud
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.
CX06 #6, Basset Creek/State Championships
C race, 8/65 overall, 7th C1 - 2nd best finish of the season
Malte WON! first place in the C race. He led the field from the 2nd lap on (out of 5 (6?) laps total). He’s the Cyclocross rider of the year, and now state champion for the C race. Excellent season for him!
30° and breezy, a really cold day. I wore my usual (for this season) longsleeve wool shirt, wool jersey, lightweight longjohns and the Gopher shorts + wool socks and warm gloves. I hit the start ok, probably top 15 or so heading up the hill, but ran out of steam a little by the first barriers. It was the cold, it really took me about 2 laps to warm up properly (despite a preview lap and some general riding around), then made good progress after that.
This course was tougher than last year, with more hairpin turns than last year (that seems to be a popular course design feature this season), but the C racers didn’t have to do the creek crossing (A & B did), so we missed out on a little slop and one natural barrier there. It did feature the usual loose gravel and the Very Long staircase runup that i always at least part-walked, but i generally regained any lost places pretty quickly after that. There were two semi-sketchy descents - I hit a 30mph max speed, probably on the big downhill out of the woods. It’s a rough course, especially through the grassy stretches and lots of washboard on the road, though the washboard really smoothed out during the race. That’s one thing the B & A races had a bit easier. Had my first dropped chain of the year, on lap 2, at the double barrier. Luckily, i was able to get it back on the ring and back on the bike without losing a place - it probably too 5 seconds, but seemed like a solid minute.
The general race setup was nice, with a couple of tents set up at the top of the hill, music playing, and some good food; chili, coffee and beer. The only real gripe (and it was aggravating at the time) is that nobody knew when they were giving out medals. The officials did a great job of getting the results posted, and since a couple of people said they would be awarding medals as soon as the results were official, we hung out for a while. Well, 45 minutes after the results were official, no medals, and i couldn’t get an answer on it, so we bailed, freezing our tails off. Happily, Benita stayed a bit longer and picked up Malte’s medal, which was incredibly nice. I just wish the race announcer or somebody would tell people when awards were happening. It’s just not cool to have people hanging out in the cold with no information, bad for the racers, bad for spectators who are with the racers.
Anyway, by way of end-of-the-year CX wrapup, i was very happy with my race season this year. My barriers were better, but i need to practice high speed remounts. My fitness was better than last year, and i felt strong through the end of almost every race (minor bonk on the last lap at Powderhorn) - if anything, i could have pushed harder than i did.
I LOVE racing on the Surly. After the first (maybe second?) race, i switched it to a single chainring 8-speed setup as i’d originally planned. That worked out great. I had only one dropped chain all year (today), but i do want to try singlespeed racing next year. If anything, i noticed that i rarely shift to more than 3 different gears during a race, and then pretty much only the lowest 3 cogs. Singlespeeding would probably mean some runups where i’m riding up now, but i do need to get some running miles in for next year, and it would mean a lighter bike and no chain drops.
I had fun! Can’t wait until next year.
CX06 #5, Anoka
C race, 5/43 overall, 3rd C1 (!) Best CX finish ever.
After a cold spell, it warmed up nicely today, just in time for a perfect race day. Despite an early start, we managed to lose enough time changing and waiting on the portapotty to miss pre-riding the course.
As it turned out, the course was mostly flat, some singletrack but nothing too technical. Two places had loose sand, one was about a 50-foot sandpit after a barrier, for a short run. Overall, a flat open course with good stretches for recovery and speed - 24.6mph max today. This was more one for the roadies.
I started toward the front, and after the first 1/4 lap was at the tail end of the lead group, around 12th. This let me get a good look at the course ahead, and i was feeling pretty strong off the start. I had a pretty solid next couple of laps, passing a couple of people on each lap and keeping a pretty steady pace. By lap 4, i found myself mostly alone, about 150 yards behind the small lead group and maybe 60 yards ahead of the next pack behind me. I hit it hard the last 1.5 laps and was able to catch the very end of the lead group at the finish line, just passing an unfortuate guy who lost a seat during the race.
Malte had a strong start, and was running 2nd when he suffered a broken chain on the first lap at the short & rideable runup. The chain was only about 4 months old, but he apparently went in to it with too big a gear. When the chain broke he went down and got a bad scrape on the back of his knee. He ran the rest of the lap and the pit support put it back together for him, so he finished riding, but a lap down. Probably 2nd or 3rd in his group.
(Update: Malte went to the Northfield CX race the next day and finished 2nd!)
CX06 #4, Nature Valley, Como Park
C race 19/60
Beautiful day, 55° and sunny. Long, twisty course, some nice singletrack, a spiral staircase-like runup, rough in the grass, one fairly steep rideup. Nothing too technical, but not too flat and fast either. If anything, not many long stretches to recover, but overall a nice course.
I finished 19th, Malte was 4th overall, first C3. I was a little tired today, definitely a little dehydrated, but a reasonably good pace through the race. Caught up with Jeff Lisle on lap 4, then he repassed me for lap 5, and i hung with him til the finish, each of us passing two in the last lap.
Fun race overall, hope they have there again.
CX06 #3, Mill City, Powderhorn Park
C rae, 25/74, 16th C1 (after most of the SS category)
Cold, blustry day, high of maybe 40°F, but with a cold wind. Malte and I rode to the race from home, a nice way to warm up, but flippin’ cold too. I should have brought more clothes to wear after the race, too cold to hang out for the results (below) and schwag raffle.
Nice course, pretty much looped the circumference of the park, lots of up and down the hills, with two sets of stair runups and one steep but rideable hill climb. The first barrier was a little tricky, being right after a realllly fast descent. One killer was the final barrier and runup - it wasn’t so much that it was steep, but it was fairly long. The way the ground slopes on that hill, when you’re on the left side of the bike, you’re slightly downhill from the bike, so you have to go a fair ways up the hill before it’s level enough to jump back on the bike.
I felt pretty good through the race, had a good start in the top 12-15 riders, and kept it pretty steady until fading a bit on the last lap. The race ran 6 laps, and i was done in after about 5 1/2. It was the cold, plus an increasingly tired/sore back (probably from the hill climbing), and the clif shot wore off too. Maybe a second shot and more water would have done it. After 5 laps of passing a few and holding on well, i lost 3 places on the final lap, including one guy who came out of nowhere to sprint by in the last 2 feet. grrrrr… Not that i had anything left to sprint with by then anyway.
There was something going on with the results. I don’t know what the problem was, but it was taking a lonnng time to get results posted. Nothing up by the 2nd lap of the A race, so we headed for home to warm up after 90 minutes of freezing (though the pizza and coffee helped some). There was a little mixup with Malte’s registration. He was put into C1 instead of the usual C3 group. He finished around 5th overall, and would have been the first C3, but because he was put in C1, didn’t win a thing. Because the results were so late, and it was too cold to wait, we couldn’t even see that there had been an error (though i don’t know if it would be changed anyway). It was a fun race otherwise, but this part was a bit of a bummer.
CX 06 #2, Boom Island, Mpls + 2000 miles
C race, 20/55, 18th C1
After a week of rain, snow and highs in the 30s, Sunday was a perfect day of 60°F, clear and dry. In fact, a good stretch of the course was a cloud of dust on the first lap as the pack went through.
We all rode to the race together, i hauled the Burley and Ella rode with Autumn on the trail-a-bike. It was cold when we left around 10:30, but warmed up nicely by the race start at noon. I could feel the sun on the black parts of my shorts even though the air was cool. The girls mostly stayed at the playset, Fiona working the digger, while Autumn got some good photos and footage for the Boom Island CX race video, lots of great shots there, including some with Julee from the Gopher team.
It was a good race for me, probably didn’t hit the start hard enough for a holeshot, but kept a good pace throughout and kept passing people through the last lap. Had a couple of good passes with a nice speed boost from a little ramp on the back straight, and one solid pass when i had a particularly smooth and fast barrier. Happier with the barriers this time, need to work on faster remounts, lost a little momentum in a couple of places. Finished 20/55 for the C race.
Malte passed me 1/2-way through lap 2 and ended up finishing 13th, first of the C3s, good for a new pair of shades. He should be starting farther up the pack too, he tends to hang back even farther than me and spend the whole race getting through traffic. A little more experience should help, he’s definitely fast enough to be placing well.
Finally, this weekend i passed the 2,000 mile mark for my annual cycling miles. Many ride more, many ride less, but i’m happy with it. Over 1600 miles of it is commuting to work and errands, and i’m happy about that.
CX 06 #1: Lake Rebecca
C race, 14/35, 13th C1
First race of the year, and off to a solid mid-pack start. Mid 50s and it started raining mid-race, perfect day for cyclocross. Good race for me, faster than last year, no crashes despite the increasingly we leaves and ruts that broke a rib for one of the later racers. Our german student Malte came back from a thrown chain on lap 1 (when he was 3 places ahead of me) to finish right behind me. I mean like a foot behind me. I sprinted down the final gravel road stretch, with Malte drafting me the whole way. I was afraid he would pass me up at the line, but he didn’t, maybe tired, maybe just being nice :-)
Autumn made an awesome movie of the race, see it here:
lake rebecca cx movie