Black Matt Francis

Cyclocross 2011

2011-10-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Try as I might, it seems unlikely that I will acheive the levels of fitness I had last year. They weren't spectacular, but I won a race and help my own in the top ten of the A's for most of the season. This year, as much as I would like my racing to look like this, going fast and such, it will most likely look like this. The important thing here is that I remember to have as much fun on my bike as possible becasue I need to set a good example for this guy,
for whom I am now dedicating more energy than I ever did racing a bike. I thinks it's going to be a great fall, despite the inevitablly immense suffering I will experience when I line up to race. It's all for fun though, so as long as I keep my eye on that prize, I'm golden. On the plus side, I am lucky enough to be rolling on some rockstar treads, whatever my results may be. Stay tuned as I look to find out if commuting three days a week and a race on Sunday with a couple blocks of two hours of sleep a night is enough to make it physically bearable while racing. Time will tell...

2011 Gateway Cup Photos

2011-09-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

Beautiful weekend for racing in St. Louis.
THF Realty Gateway Cup 2011">2011 Gateway Cup photos.

2011 Thus Far

2011-06-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I written anything on this blog. Perhaps a lack of motivation to talk about myself, consumption by other factors in life or a waning interest in blogs in general, whatever the reason, it hasn't happened. This may or may not change, but I have decided to post a few things in the coming weeks and perhaps get back into the swing of things. Whichever direction it goes, here is a quick rundown of what 2011 has looked like for the few people who may still be aware of this blog's existence.

The year started with a change in profession for me. This was a huge deal as I had been working in shops and service for the last decade and had been managing the service department at Mesa for nearly six years. I had allowed my job to become a significant part of my persona and the departure was difficult in many ways. My new role as a personal trainer has been going welll and will afford me the time neeeded to tend to the other, and most significant, pending change in my life, the birth of my first child in mid August. He has been steadlily cooking since late November and Lizz and I can't wait to meet him. He is already action packed in utero and if he keeps it up after birth, I'm sure it will be a whirlwind with him in the mix. I expect this to significantly alter my life, but in a truly positive way. I look at all the other friends of mine that have children and I feel both lucky and inspired. 10 weeks and counting...

Sadly, I also lost my oldest and best friend about two months ago to pneumonia. This was an extremely challenging event and remains so, months after the fact. It is appalling to me that someone can die of what seems to be a basic respiratory infection with access to western medicine. There is not a day that passes that I don't think of him or the fact that I will not get to see him again. I intend to write a thorough and more fitting tribute soon, but it has been very hard to do so up until now. I sincerely wish he had had the opportunity to meet my son. The last time we talked, he spoke of his excitement over getting to be the "cool uncle" and I know he meant it. There is no one who I have as long of a history with and it pains me to have that history cut so short...

With such large scale life changes in play, it seems almost trivial to talk of cycling and bike racing. However, it has happened. I have two new teams this year. I have been riding with the 708 team on the road and have finally linked up with Team Seagal for my off road exploits. Both are solid groups of people and I have enjoyed the time I've had with all of them so far. The racing had been going reasonably well. Some mixed results, crashes and a shared win with a great friend and teammate have all added up to an interesting season. I haven't really worried about training, just doing what seems like fun at the time. So far this has meant marathon MTB races, some criteriums and relay MTB racing. This has lead to reasonable fitness, but I hope to bump it up a bit before the dirt crits in July. Either way, I am enjoying my time on two wheels as much as possible.

Lastly, I have realized an ongoing goal by having some written work and photography published on various cycling websites. I hope to have this continue moving forward. For now, you can read my write up of the NRC Tour de Grove on VeloNews here, see some photos I took on cyclingnews here, read my probike review with photos on cxmagazine.com here and subscribe to my ongoing column on examiner.com here.

So here I am at the halfway point of 2011. So much has happened and so much is still to come. I am lucky to be surrounded by some many good people and to have a new one to help shape in the coming months. Monumental changes are afoot and I can't wait for what's on the horizon.

Here is my favorite race photo of the year and possibly all time.

Superprestige Middelkerke 2011

2011-02-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

Superprestige Hoogstraten 2011

2011-02-08T06:16:00.001-08:00

GVA Trofee Lille 2011

2011-02-06T12:51:00.001-08:00

2011 Cyclocross World Championships

2011-02-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

Pont-Chateau World Cup 2011

2011-01-18T07:53:00.001-08:00

Belgian National Championships 2011

2011-01-15T19:38:00.001-08:00

GVA Trofee GP Sven Nys 2011

2011-01-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

GVA Trofee Loenhout Azencross 2010

2011-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

Superprestige Diegem 2010

2011-01-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

Zolder World Cup 2010

2010-12-27T07:44:00.001-08:00

Kalthout World Cup 2010

2010-12-26T14:41:00.000-08:00

Scheldecross 2010

2010-12-22T12:08:00.001-08:00

Druivencross Overijse 2010

2010-12-22T12:06:00.001-08:00

GVA Trofee GP Roumoer 2010

2010-12-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

2010 Cyclocross National Championships

2010-12-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

Last year as I sat in front of my computer watching the elite national championships unfold in Bend, Oregon, I thought to myself "I really want to go to that next year". After a stopover in Columbia this September for lunch with our good friends the Millers, the discussion of feasibility began and, after some good results in Hermann for Dan and I, the appeal grew and grew. I never thought it would actually happen until Lizz gifted me plane tickets for my birthday, thus confirming that the trip which had lingered in my mind for the better part of a year was now a reality. As the oddity of the 2010 season pressed on, Bend sat on the horizon as an incentive to keep pushing through the ups and downs with the promise that if nothing else, a truly memorable experience awaited.

After a lengthy day of travel topped off with a harrowing drive over Mt. Hood, Lizz, Dan, Maggie and I made our way to our modest housing and tried to get as much rest as possible for the seeding time trial the next day. After getting our bikes for the weekend squared away from the kind folks at the Specialized demo trailer (thanks Richard and Rita!), we waited anxiously for our six-ish minutes of pain to determine which row we would start on for the following day. The time trial was reasonably uneventful. A lack of familiarity with both the course and the equipment meant that I was unwilling to take too many risks on the thawing and icy course. Maximum effort with minimal risk was delivered and slotted me right in the middle of the field. With only fifteen or twenty seconds keeping me out of the top 17, I felt satisfied. Dan finished about ten spots ahead of me and we were both set for a fifth and fourth row start, respectively. After the time trial, a preride showcased a truly wonderful and legitimate cross course that had turned into a soupy swamp from the week's snowmelt. The remainder of the day was spent with rest at the forefront. An amazing meal at Jackson's Corner in town and a single sampling of delicious Oregon IPA rounded out the evening.

The next morning we woke to intermittent rain and heavy, wet snow. My apprehension was high as I watched the seemingly unending precipitation. If nothing else, there was little chance of the mud thickening so I felt good about the course conditions if not the atmospheric conditions. By the time we rode to the course, the sun had made a brief appearance for the U23 race but it quickly retreated behind a black cloud as we warmed up on the trainer stage.

The details of the race aren't that important but it went a little like this. I missed my pedal at the start but didn't really mind as we sprinted down the pavement, spraying each other with slush from our wheels onto the grease bog that made up the course. I managed to avoid the multitude of crashes in the opening swamp and stayed steady through the six inch deep lakes by the pits. Grinding through the thick bog thereafter was draining but the following off camber hillside 180 was a great time and put a smile on my face every lap. This led into some greasy twists and turns through the woods and was followed by another extended drag strip of deep mud before a few soupy 180's and a short, grunt run up. A few more grunts and turns and lakes took us across the road and into a soaking wet bowl of zoiza by the Deschutes brewery for the barriers, flyover and stairs. This section was particularly painful and sapped me every lap. I felt good on the first two laps, riding close to or with Dan but had a bit of stomach turning pain on the third lap before finally finding my rhythm again for the last two rounds. I battled it out with small groups of people, eventually finishing 41st overall out of eighty people. Not spectacular numbers wise, but I was right in the middle and on the lead lap. Results aside, I can honestly say I have never had so much fun on a cross bike before. It was like being a kid again playing in the mud for an hour. In reality, the fun is why I do this in the first place and it's refreshingly to have such a memorable reminder after a season of taking things a bit too seriously.

Throughout the race, there was an unending wall of noise and support from every part of the course, delivered from both the fans and the drum corps lining the brewery. As I drilled myself with the knowledge that it was the last cross effort of the year, it was truly inspirational to hear such support from old and new friends in the pits, complete strangers and most importantly of all, from my wife and Maggie who managed to cover an impressive amount of real estate as the race went on. Lizz's tireless support of my somewhat frivolous passion throughout these years has been one of the prime enabling factors and has given me the drive and motivation to finish many a races and make whatever personal improvements I can in between. I can honestly say that I couldn't do it without her and I likely do not express near enough gratitude for her contributions.

With that, the 2010 cross season is in the books. It certainly had its ups and downs for me and an overall odd tone persisted throughout. However, I couldn't imagine a better way to close it out. My enthusiasm for the sport is higher than it's been in years and this weekend cemented it as my most loved of all forms of competitive cycling. The trip wouldn't have been possible without the equipment support from Richard and Rita with the Specialized demo program, I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the help all weekend as they juggled the needs of pros and amateurs alike. Lastly, being able to share the experience with great friends and my amazing wife was the icing on the cake and made the whole thing much more than a simple bike race. Who knows what the future holds for forthcoming seasons, but to end 2010 on such a high is truly magical and reminds me of how lucky I am to have everything that I have in my life. Until next time...

Igorre World Cup 2010

2010-12-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

Superprestige Gieten 2010

2010-12-02T12:48:00.001-08:00

Spanish Lake

2010-12-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

It's hard to really recount the race from this past weekend at Spanish Lake. It rained a lot the week before, but given fact that the ground has been concrete for the last three months, there was little chance that the course would qualify as muddy. Instead, it was simply the energy sponge I remember so well from last year. Additionally, the course featured primarily long soft drags that would require immense power, something I seem to be lacking at the moment.

I had a bad start and managed to get behind some people who nearly came to a stop on the course's initial chicane, allowing a small gap to those up front with energy to burn. With the nature of the course there was no chance for me to wind it up and get back on the wheel. Instead, a slow painful grind for 60 minutes began where I found myself passing some people, but mostly going backwards from those in front as the gaps opened more and more. I botched a remount on the second lap, slid out somewhere in the middle of the race and mostly felt deep in the red the whole time. Overall, it was a disappointment given the fact that I know that I had some good fitness just two weeks prior and that it would be the last race before flying to Bend. I recognize that there are good days and bad days, but two bad days for the last two Bubba races of the season was certainly less than ideal. Hopefully some rest will bring things around a bit, but I plan to simply enjoy the experience that lies ahead and soak up everything about cross that I love in the process.

Looking back, there are some things I could have done differently throughout the season, but I can feel satisfied overall with some standout rides on a personal level despite some occasional bad luck and bad legs mixed in. This season felt even stranger than last with the rush to pack up and leave each race accelerated even more so with the 3pm start time. Adding in the fact that all of my teammates either never showed up or didn't seem to care made for an emotional non-starter. No banter at the shop the day after the race or shared enthusiasm leading up to each event definitely made it all seem like I was perpetually waiting for it to get started. Regardless, this season saw a marked improvement for me (last two weeks notwithstanding) and I've managed to solidify some quality friendships along the way. It's probably time to accept the fact that 2008 will likely not repeat itself and to just take each year for what it is.

I've decided to take a week off and not travel, with the hopes that some rest will bring back some legs for Bend in two weeks. Whatever happens there, it promises to be a great time in a new place with some very good friends. I won't be going to the MO state race for the first time since I started racing cross (thanks KC) so I just have to hope that the enjoyment that awaits in the northwest will provide the positivity to carry me through to next year. In the end, it's only bike racing and there are surely many more important things in life. I aim to take all of those in and milk everything I can out of the chances that I am given.

Major congratulations to my good friend Dan Miller on his dominating season and overall win in the Bubba Cup. It's truly deserved and it makes me very happy that it went to such a quality individual. Thanks to anyone who reads and let's all close out 2010 in whatever manner brings the most satisfaction. Cheers.

Koksijde World Cup 2010

2010-11-28T07:42:00.001-08:00

Mt. Pleasant

2010-11-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

There's not much to say about this last weekend's torture fest on a vertical hillside in Augusta. I felt horrible and knew directly off the line that it was going to be a bad day. Absolutely redlined from start to finish and going backwards the whole time. After three laps, I knew the only thing I could hope for would be a finish and the only reason that happened was a lack of desire to quit in front of the many people screaming at me from the patio. However, I can honestly say that I've never felt worse on a bike or wanted to quit a race more. But I didn't, so I guess that's something. Luckily my buddy Dan made everyone look silly again and now has the overall lead in the points. It couldn't happen to a better guy and I hope he holds it through next week's Bubba finale. As for myself, I'm hoping this was a fluke and that I can refind my fitness for the remaining three races of the season. I hope we don't race at Mt. Pleasant next year...

Superprestige Asper-Gavere 2010

2010-11-22T09:02:00.001-08:00

GVA Hasselt 2010

2010-11-22T08:46:00.001-08:00

Concordia Seminary and Suson Park double header

2010-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

This past weekend provided the opportunity to double up and get a couple of races in to try and regain the rhythm for the remainder of the season. WIth Saturday's race a block from the shop, I managed to convince the powers that be that rolling down the street to pummel myself was a good way to spend the last three hours of my workday. And a pummeling it was.

The race started well, I was where I wanted to be. The sweeping left off the start toward the barriers had me in the top six, but I gracefully kicked my pedal backward while running the barriers to derail my chain, a skill I picked up in the sandpit at Louisville.
Somehow, I recovered relatively quickly from that blunder and dangled from the back of the leaders for a few laps before a couple of major impacts to my tires led me to believe I had both pinch flatted my rear tire and cracked the shop demo wheels. Luckily, I had done neither, but the excessively low pressure coupled with the tall knobs of the Rhinos had me riding with minimal confidence through the corners and all the rough terrain, which was plentiful. While the course layout was spectacular, the absence of rain over the last few months has led to bone dry ground that serves as a jackhammer to those of us that try to ride 32c tires across it. No matter, the course was a great deal of fun and I fought a last half of the race battle with Paul Quindry and Kurt Fletcher until I hit the wall on the last lap and hung on for 8th.
Lessons learned from the race: 1. Airing tubulars up in the morning to your desired pressure doesn't mean they will have the same psi come 3 o'clock start. 2.It is important to preride reasonably fast in order to feel this phenomena 3. No matter how cool one might feel with Zipps and Dugast Rhinos, they aren't necessarily the right tool for every job.

With these factors in mind, I got to Suson Park extra early on Sunday for a proper course inspection to help with equipment selection. After a few laps, I settled on box section wheels to cope with the jarring potholes and prepared to see what I had left after the previous day.
I followed a few bad wheels early on allowing unwanted gaps to form and after some attacking and counter attacking from our chase group, found myself in a group of three with Bob Arnold and Stroot fighting it out for sixth place. We traded pulls well and headed into the second last lap with me leading down the fast hill. Despite telling myself every lap to be conservative through the corner at the bottom of the hill, I threw common sense out the window and hit the corner, and immediately after, the ground, very hard and had to baby my bike around the course to the pits. I lost my group in this moment of foolishness and had a few others pass as well before lap's end. I finished the race on the single speed in 10th. I was a bit frustrated afterwards, but remained calm and satisfied with both how I raced and another top ten finish. Regardless, another rock star course was there for my enjoyment and plenty of good friends provided support throughout the race.

Race result aside, subsequent days have reiterated to me that bike racing is a trivial part of life and there are far more important considerations than how one places in a riding around in grass contest. Positive thoughts to those with legitimate issues and losses, I can't imagine the strength you guys manage to find. You know who you are.

Next weekend is being help at Mt Pleasant winery, home of the most life sucking course I've done. Hopefully, the fine fellows who set these things up can figure out a way to provide marginally less torture, but even if they don't, it promises to be another week of CX good times.

Thanks to Mike Dawson and Dennis Fickinger for photos.

Superprestige Hamme-Zogge 2010

2010-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

CX 2010- The story so far

2010-11-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

For the two or three of you that read this blog, you may have noticed that race updates have been all but absent this season. For one reason or another, the desire is simply not there. Between two jobs, school and a bicycle tech column over at Examiner.com, I have had little energy to relate my weekly exploits in the pain cave on this blog. However, with a month to go in CX season, I figured I might give a brief synopsis of what has happened so far and hopefully get some motivation to recount each successive race from here on out. While I have no doubt that the exploits of a middling midwest A racer are of little interest to anyone other than the middling A racer in question, I might as well lay it out there for anyone who might want to read it.

The season started great with a win in the Hermann night race. I felt amazing and everything together for what I feel was my best race ever. The training I had done beforehand was consistent and targeted and yielded positive results. I was very enthusiastic for the season ahead after a lack of mountain bike racing over the summer. Game on.

After a two week break, I got a bit sidetracked by the Burning at the Bluff where my single speed team with Dave and Christopher fought a yo-yo'ing battle with Team Seagal and GORC to ultimately take home the coveted belt buckle and my first win in the event which has brought me so much pain in years past. It was an incredibly satisfying team effort and I feel lucky to get to wear my trophy each day thereafter.

The following week was spent recovering from the physical destruction of a cumulative 65 mile of rolling Ozark singletrack and no real workouts to speak of, just rolling around trying to get the legs ready for the opening Bubba weekend double header. With the A race night starts at 10pm, I opted for the singlespeed race on Saturday, again with Dave and Christopher. We drilled the pace early on and eventually got a group of three clear with Dave, Anthony Dust and myself. It felt as if we were going extremely fast and everything felt good, even if Dave's pulls were putting the screws to me. Things were going well and I was planning an attack toward the end of the last lap when I rolled my rear tire in a corner and had to settle for third. The following day, I had a rough start but was clawing my way toward the chase group when I rolled another tire when remounting. As it was my birthday and I had rolled a tire the night before, I got a bit upset and walked off. Some good friends put a spare on my bike and after some pouting, I rolled around and finished. Closer inspection of the two rolled tires showed a strange sight of paper thin glue hovering over the rim, but not connected to the tire or rim bed. I don't know the cause, but since it was the first time this had ever happened to me or any of the wheels I glued, I'll put it down to a fluke. Lessons in composure learned, it was time to step up to the big time in Louisville.

Louisville went reasonably well, I rode the hardest course I have ever done and moved up 88 spots on day one and 87 spots on day two. I felt like I had great legs on day two and had a much better start than the first day, but a series of mishaps set me back. No one likes an excuse saturated bike racer, so I will say that I had a blast and it was a weekend to remember racing and helping the CalGiant team in the pits.

The last race I did before our annual shop mountain bike trip was a night race at Creve Couer. I decided to race the A's despite the late start and prepared well with lots of preride and a good, solid warm up. I felt strong and smooth throughout the race and had a nice battle with Scott to eventually take 7th, my first top ten in a local A race. The beach section was great and the course had flow all over the place. I still need to find a little something extra to stay with the leaders the whole race, but I know I'm not far off and feel positive and motivated to get there. This season feels much better than last and with a trip to Bend for Nationals on the way, I am putting my head down to do the best I can, plentiful obligations aside.

So there it is, maybe there will be more blow by blow recaps after this, maybe not. Either way, that is the story so far. Pictures to follow, depending on motivation levels. Thanks for reading.

Jaarmarktcross Niel 2010

2010-11-12T06:29:00.000-08:00

This was a mudbath for the ages. Enjoy.

Cyclocross Super Trophy Ronse 2010

2010-11-09T10:13:00.001-08:00

GVA Trofee Koppenbergcross 2010

2010-11-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

I rode the runup at the Louisville USGP

2010-10-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Starting 127th dpesn't make for spectacular placing, no matter how far you move up. Thus, one must look for the minor victories. Here's mine.

Pilzn World Cup 2010

2010-10-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

2010 Aigle World Cup

2010-10-21T16:08:00.001-07:00

2010 Superprestige #1 Ruddervoorde

2010-10-11T07:49:00.001-07:00

2010 GVA Trophy Namur

2010-10-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hermann Night Cross

2010-09-21T06:42:00.001-07:00

The cyclocross season is underway (sort of) here in Missouri and this past weekend kicked it off with arguably the best race all year, Hermann night cross. The plan for this year's event was a two day affair with the traditional night race Saturday night and a day race the following Sunday. I had started my cross preparation a few weeks earlier than last year to avoid the physical agony I experienced in 2009 and to satiate my legs that have been under raced all year. I showed up not knowing how it would go, but had felt pretty good at cross practice the preceding Tuesday so I was ready to have a good time.

We lined up for a pavement drag race, somewhat uncommon around here, with close to thirty cat 3's. The siren blared as we took off down the road and into a stretch of carving chicanes before a 180 that led to a few long grassy drags before the infamous stair climb. I started reasonably well, around 8th wheel heading into the grass. A few bobbles by some riders in front of me put me into the top six and I started to reassess my goal of a top ten into a top five. After the stair climb and sand pit, I worked my way to fifth and eventually fought my way around to fourth. I was hanging on to Scooter, waiting for the other shoe to drop and my legs to give in, but I continued to feel good. As a gap opened a bit to second wheel, I pulled through and closed it before setting off in pursuit of Schilling, who had gapped the field, through the start finish of the third lap. We climbed the stairs together and I thought it best to take my own line through the sand which put me in front. There were numerous twists and turns after the sand which I could take a clean line through, eventually providing me with a reasonable gap at lap's end. I was a little skeptical about being in front for the remaining five laps, but I felt better than I had in years and just decided to go for it and see where it ended up. I buried myself on the long straightaways to keep the gap in place, confident that the twisting second half would play to my advantage. The gap grew throughout the rest of the race and I took my first win since 2008. It was all a bit surreal as it happened and I felt as if in a bit of a trance. The course flowed perfectly and I was having an immensely good time on the cross bike again. The support from friends was amazing and I don't think I've enjoyed a race so much in quite a while.

Unfortunately, some torrential storms and subsequent flash floods cancelled day two and ruined the park in the process. It's a shame as the Hermann races are top notch and neither the promoter or those camping deserved that kind of end to the weekend. Hopefully, repairs can be made and we'll be back opening our 2011 account at the same venue.

As for me, I am more excited to race this season than I have been in a long time. Much as I complained about it at the time, I think a lack of MTB season is going to work out well. I am making plans to go to Louisville USGP and Nationals and I have upgraded my license to a Category 2. It feels exceptional to have worked hard enough to have earned that and I really can't wait to see where the season takes me. Here it comes...

Single Speed Midwest World of All Time and Beyond

2010-08-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

Success! I completed a mountain bike race for the first time since March! Actually the last two weekends have provided some positive good time competition, one of them went well (and was fun) and the other one was just fun. Let's start with the one that went well.

The New Belgium Urban Assault Ride rolled through town for the second successive year to increased participation and searing heat. Christopher and I had been plotting our domination for 12 full months after he and Margo rocked last year's co-ed class and Lizz and I placed fifth in the same category. We had a strategy, the taper was applied and the pre-race nutrition of fermented juniper and fizzy quinine water was guzzled by the gallon (thanks Dave and Casey!) We showed up bleary eyed but ready for the start, having scored a perfect D+ on our super secret front row earning quiz. The LeMans start was furious and before we knew it, we were knocking down bowling pins at REI, completing brain bending puzzles at Mesa, staddling each other sweatily at Big Shark and drilling paceline style down Delmar for stair sprints up the City Museum. The mayhem ended with a swim at the Holiday Inn and saw us crossing the inflatable obstacled finish line in a dominating display of Urban superiority. The Ranger flowed freely and there was much rejoicing of a lifetime dream finally realized. Lizz and Margo took third in the women's category and we all had something to celebrate. Maybe a little too much, but that Ranger is super tasty.

Fast forward to the following weekend and the Midwest Single Speed Championship. Race summary- I got to my bike quick, did a graceful remount directly onto my top tube (probably need to work that out before cross), rode in fourth for a lap, then fifth, then began crashing a lot. I stopped for a beer after lap 2 and chatted with Dan and Christopher before deciding to finish lap 3 to say I had avoided another DNF. I had a blast and don't care at all where I placed, which was probably poorly considering all the face time I gave the ground and various trees. Maybe I should have ridden Blue Steel a bit more before racing through some tight and twisties, cause it surprisingly rode nothing like my Epic. Go figure. Again, the beer flowed afterward although I kept it in check with a two hour drive ahead of me. DB removed the failures from his new big wheeler (what is the world coming to?), put on a funny outfit, smoke showed everyone else and had many beers after. Riding bikes for fun is fun and I'm glad to see that sentiment shared by good friends. Lets keep this action rolling and remember why we do this in the first place as the months of skinsuits and embrocation come a callin'.

Fizzle

2010-08-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

So, the 2010 mountain bike season is largely over and it seems as if I didn't really participate after all. It's a bit strange, as I had put a good amount of effort into my preparation for it over the winter and spring. However, race after race, something occurred to lead to a string of unrealized expectations. I think I had some good fitness in May and was excited to build it into a solid season, but it never got going. Certainly not the biggest deal, but a bit disconcerting mentally. Here's a quick rundown of planned races and the results.

-St Joe. I did the marathon class for training. It was mid March and the race was a total mud pit or "wet but not muddy" depending on interpretation. I did three laps many minutes faster than 2008 and thought that it made for a good training ride. I was placed fifth. Good start, I thought at the time.
-White Lightning XC. Waves of torrential storms led me and my road tripping companions to decide to bag the potential for another weekend of mud bogging.
-Rhett's Run. Five inches of rain in the week before the race led to the worst conditions I have ever ridden in. I was in fifth when I flatted and realized I had left my CO2 inflator on my geared bike. DNF,
-MFXC Non-Race. Had a blast, felt great and won. This bodes well for all the races I'm about to do, I thought.
-Lost Valley Luau. Race promotion made participation impossible. DNS
-Brommelsieck. Flatted in the first five minutes hanging on the back of the lead group. Lost five minutes immediately, chased through the sport field and blew on the fourth lap. DNF
-Sac River. Lack of racing led me to feel that 8 hours in the car was not time well spent after not completing a race in three months.
-Show Me State Games. Rainout, cancelled.
-Spanish Lake. Promoter bailed and told no one. Cancelled.
-Dirt Crit Final. Mysterious cancellation.

So there it is. Who cares really? There are certainly worse things in life and I had a great time riding my bike for fun the entire time. I had a number of great rides throughout the year, including possibly the most beautiful ride of my life in Reno. Good times to be sure. I was successful in finishing the Midwest SIngle Speed Championship today aboard my new steed, Blue Steel, but that report will come after I have managed to find the pictures of me yardsaling on the interwebs tomorrow. Fun times, the only real reason to ride a bike anyway.

So, cross starts in three weeks and I think I might get to do a full season of that. The CX rig is getting a makeover and there is some potentially exciting stuff on the horizon, including a return to part time studies at Meremac. Life is pretty sweet and I don't need an number on my bike to prove it.

2010 MTB season

2010-07-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Despite talk of things getting going and motivation and whatnot, a series of rainouts, Saturday races and ill timed flats have led to the most sparse season of racing in years. Cross is now on the horizon, but with any luck, I'll get to do this a few more times before the skinny knobbies come out to play...

Lately

2010-06-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

I have not been terribly dilligent in my updates this year. Not a lot of racing so far and a mind blowing level of business at work have left me with only the moptivation to ride and little to record the details for the few readers that I may have. Regardless, May began the slow movement towards a MTB season and as such, I will share what has been going on lately.

May started with a trip to my favorite race, Rhett's Run in Columbia, MO. Typically a phenomenal course with flowing singletrack, steep grunts and some quality features, the course is mmy most loved of the year. This year, however, five inches of rain had descended on Missouri in the preceding weeks, making for the worst conditions I have ever put a knobby into. Talk of the course "draining well" and being "all rock" were quite obvious ploys to drum up attendance for an event that should have certainly been cancelled. I decided not to give Plastic Fantastic a raping on the day and rode the El Mariachi. In SS mode, it was the perfect bike and had me in 5th place for half the race. I even had a good start with the 34-22, something I truly was not expecting. Unfortunately, a lapse in concentration led me to leave my CO2 cannister on the Epic, meaning that when I flatted, I had no way of inflating the tube I remembered. Game over. I shouldn't have gone, it was a truly wasted day and the trail will take a long time to recover from the forced submission it received that day. I will never again listen to reports of amazing trail conditions when common sense dictates otherwise. I allowed my overwhelming desire to race to cloud my judgement, lesson learned.

The following week, Team Seagal hosted a non-race on the Middle fork section of the Ozark trail. Many discount the non-race for its lack of USAcycling points, entry fees and prize money, but any event that requires a group of riders to try and ride a course faster than one another for a trophy is a race in my book and so I went hoping to see where I'm at at this point. We had a lemans start and I got into the woods about sixth or so. My plan for the day was to stay steady, not go too deep at any point and turn the pedals as smoothly as possible for the 36.5 miles of riding in store for me. As we snaked through the beautiful and perfect Ozark singletrack, more and more riders gapped off the back of the line until I found myself alone in pursuit of second and third about 7 miles in. I passed second place at about mile 8 and slowly reeled first place a short while later. I didn't want to make any efforts to pass or attack and stayed about 5-10 seconds off the wheels for a few miles. I knew there was a major gravel climb toward the end of the course and I planned to try something there if we were still together. I also noted that the rider was relying on bottles and I had a 100oz bladder so I knew he would have to stop at some point, where I would not. He stopped at the first water station at mile 16.5 and I pressed on, trying to put some space between us on the first gravel road. Back onto the singletrack, I had a gap and tried to stay steady for the remaining 20 miles. I was loving every minute of the trail and the bike was performing flawlessly, never making me get out of the 42. A steep, muddy climb 3/4 of the way through the second set of singletrack made me go deeper than I wanted and I knew I would pay for that effort. After a brief trip through an overgrown brush tunnel, I was back on gravel for the next 10 miles. An impromptu sprint competition with a snarling Jack Russell burned another match and I knew it was time to keep it steady with fuel coming in for the major climb ahead. I foolishly thought the climb was near the end of the course and as I cramped my way up a mile long wall of leg breaking gravel, I told myself it was almost over. It wasn't. 5 more miles of grinding false flat gravel put me back onto the final 3 miles of singletrack. I had a gap, but I had no idea how much despite at least one hundred looks over my shoulder on the gravel. Every muscle in my legs were cramping and I had to stop for a second to get it together. Chastising myself for weakness, I got back on and plugged away trying to keep the pedals going and yelling at myself not to lose it in the last 2 miles. When I crossed the line in first at 3:24:09, I was absolutely shattered.
Less than a minute later, second place rolled across the line. Despite the non-sanctioned nature of the race, I was extremely proud of my efforts and felt very satisfied with the day. I won the coolest trophy I have ever received and won the most amazing course I have ever raced in Missouri. An amazing day all around and well earned PBR's at the finish were a welcome refreshment.

Now into to June, I am ready to get the ball rolling for real. This year's schedule is peppered with Saturday races, meaning I won't get to do another MTB race until the thee 20th. Unfortunately, I am promoting said race, so it's hard to have any real expectations, but the races come thick and fast afterwards so there is much to be excited about. Hopefully, the fitness stays around or improves and I can have a satisfying run at some XC events before CX starts up in the fall. It seems like it has taken forever, but the ball appears to finally be rolling.

2010 Epic Marathon- Plastic Fantastic

2010-05-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hermann and Kentucky

2010-04-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

A number of factors have conspired to derail my planned start to the 2010 racing season. First among them being a profound lack of self confidence leading me to skip the Hermann road race in favor of more mountain bike training and the second being the first wave of thunderstorms to eliminate racing at Kentucky Lake. Maybe I'll race in May, or not... at least there's the Tuesday nights. I could make a whole season out of that, but it might be a bit redundant. Sigh....

Amstel Gold 2010

2010-04-23T08:25:00.001-07:00

Ghent Wevelgem 2010

2010-04-02T17:04:00.001-07:00

2010 E3 Prijs

2010-03-30T09:45:00.001-07:00

St. Joe

2010-03-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

So it seems as if mountain bike season got started over the past weekend down at St. Joe state park in Farmington, MO. I've taken a bit more measured approach to this year's preparation and had no plans of pinning a number on until mid to late April. However, the itch has been prevalent and I decided that an early season endurance race might serve me well in the coming months. With this in mind and a message board report that the trail was "wet with virtually no mud", I decided to go for it. Waking to temperatures in the mid forties and a light drizzle, it's safe to say I would have probably stayed inside had it not been for the racing.

The racing was really an excuse for a long-ish training ride with decent intensity. I got into the woods in fifth place and would stay there for the duration of the race. I kept the leaders close for the first half of the race, but had resolved to stay within myself and not push too deep. As I plowed and surfed through the slimy mud bog, I kept steady and completed the three laps I had resolved would be my limit for the day. I tried very hard to go slow enough on the third lap to avoid a fourth, but I finished three laps in 2:38, meaning I would need to complete a fourth. I decided to bag it, cold and tired. I had shaved fifteen minutes off my 2008 time and had remained consistent throughout the race, with none of the physical implosions of the preceding two years. Positive steps, to be sure.

There are signs of life in the legs these days and the volume has been steadily increasing through the last few weeks. As I look to the true start of my season in a few weeks, I am encouraged that things are moving in the right direction, despite the slow start to the year. I plan on starting things off with the Hermann road race and moving into XC mode with the White Lightning race at the Canal Loop in Kentucky. A fresh new piece of dirt worthy plastic (photos pending) has me fired up for trail time and I can't for the season to be in full swing. Here's to a positive and productive 2010...

GVA Trofee Oostmalle 2010

2010-02-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

The final major race of 2009/2010

Superprestige Vorselaar 2010

2010-02-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

This is by far one of the best races I have ever seen.

Superprestige Zonhoven 2010

2010-02-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

Krawatencross 2010 GVA Lille

2010-02-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

2010 World Championships

2010-02-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

U23 World Championships 2010

2010-01-30T12:00:00.001-08:00

Hoogerheide World Cup 2010

2010-01-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

Roubaix World Cup 2010

2010-01-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Looking Back and Looking Forward

2010-01-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

I have a habit of refusing to appreciate the moment that I am currently residing in, instead choosing to romanticize the past and its perceived perfection or looking to the future as some sort of promise for satisfaction. It is a personal habit that I am currently working on, but any type of personality shift takes time to settle in. Regardless of my need to live in the moment, I have decided to put up a short post looking back at my 2009 (in cycling terms at least) and establishing what I want to get out of 2010, a year which may be my last shot at focused competition.

2009 was a good year for me as far as cycling was concerned. Not great necessarily, but solid enough for me to feel that I have made some progress and as long as I develop a touch more focus, should continue to progress in the coming season. I only started racing seriously in 2006, took 2007 casually and then decided I wanted to get fast in 2008, so I have to keep some perspective when lining up next to those who have been at the front of Expert and A races for years. 2008 was about getting my feet wet in the Expert class and 2009 was about progress and closing the gap to the front of the race. Both goals were accomplished, but it is difficult to remain objective when there is still nearly ten minutes to first at the end of the race. I aim to halve that in 2010 and hope that the schedule and program I established this week will help to make that a reality.

I started 2009 with two and a half months of decent base before beginning my season at Lost Valley, a race that I promote, with no intensity to speak of. The drag race down the Hamburg and up the initial climb was a shock to the system, but I hung in and finished ninth. Not spectacular, but good enough to provide some confidence for the season. I then had an extended break from MTB racing due to weather issues and sort of lost focus until May. I was riding plenty, but not really doing anything to improve. I finally rediscovered my motivation after a less than stellar performance at the Rolla Hellbender road race and set about trying to put some energy into the rest of the summer season. I notched up a place every race I did and despite wilting in the heat at St. Joe, knew the legs were on the upswing. A week in Wisconsin at season's mid point provided a solid opportunity to put in some quality saddle time and I came back to town ready to close out the MTB season strong. Rockbridge, Castlewood and Spanish Lake all went well. I felt like I was able to battle with certain members of the Expert class and got the gap under ten minutes by season's end. A couple of fifth place finishes gave me the feeling that I was headed in the right direction. I stopped racing MTB after the first week of August so that I could do some more base in preparation for cross.

During this "base" (basically doing whatever I wanted on a bike), I re-injured my hand and had a hard time riding off road for about month. This kept me from getting accustomed to my cross bike and by the time I hit the Hermann night race, I was flat from a month of non intensity and sloppy with my skills due to limited cross riding. I felt a bit demoralized but resolved to put my head down and get ready for my only goal of the season, a strong ride at state. The next weekend in Carbondale, I placed fifth in the A class which provided me with some retribution despite knowing that factoring in all the people who weren't present would generally leave me just outside the top ten. And so it would prove that week in, week out at the Bubba A series, I was anywhere from 11th to 15th and despite a few good races, was struggling mentally. The first month and a half of the Bubba series was also one of the most stressful periods of my life, but I continued to try and fit the training in around all the chaos. I finally got to put together a few solid, uninterrupted weeks of hard riding toward the end of the season and things clicked for me at the State race with a 2nd place in the threes races. As this race was my only goal of the year, I went out on a high and felt ready to step it up a bit in 2010.

Moving into next year, I have had more time off than previous years, but I don't intend to start racing as early, either. Unfortunately, the MTB calender is a bit more sparse than I'd like, despite the hype of a new and improved series. The return of Saturday races is a blow to us shop employees so I will once again be traveling a bit more in order to race. There is also the likelihood of a few road races and some short tracks, so I am hoping to have enough to stay focused through the year. I plan on shutting the summer season down on August 1 and have an idea about how to better prepare for cross. My sincere hope is that this coming fall will be a bit more serene than last year so I can give cross a proper go. For now, I plan to appreciate the long base miles that make up the next two months, hope to hit trail as much as possible and generally appreciate every moment over the next year. Thanks for reading, those that do, and I hope to see some of you out at the races and on the trail this year.

2010 Dutch National Cyclocross Championships

2010-01-15T07:07:00.001-08:00

2010 Belgian Cyclocross Chamionships

2010-01-11T08:45:00.001-08:00

1988 Worlds

2010-01-05T16:02:00.001-08:00

Teruven 2010

2010-01-04T11:16:00.001-08:00

GP Sven Nys 2010 GVA trophy at Baal

2010-01-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

GVA Loenhout 2009 Azencross

2009-12-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

Zolder 2009

2009-12-29T06:42:00.001-08:00

Diegem 2009

2009-12-29T06:41:00.001-08:00

Kalthout 2009

2009-12-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

Overijse 2009

2009-12-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

GVA Essen 2009

2009-12-16T06:31:00.000-08:00

Igorre 2009

2009-12-09T16:21:00.001-08:00

More from State

2009-12-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

Missouri State CX Championships

2009-12-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

As the season here in Missouri winds down, we once again found ourselves back at the Hermann city park to contest the state cyclocross championships in the hopes of putting an exclamation point on the season and possibly put in the performance that would carry us through the impending darkness of winter and keep the motivation high for the coming season. My season and my feelings about it have been well documented here and although the Bubba series was consistent but not remarkable, I had been targeting Hermann since the day after I won the 4's race last year. I hoped for a good ride and for the efforts I had been putting in over the last few weeks to provide me with some confirmation that I do, in fact, have some decent abilities in my preferred cycling discipline. However, the nature of the past season had led me to resolve to simply have a good time, enjoy the course, and get back to the feelings that have so enamored me with cross in previous years.

It was with this attitude that I lined up against a strong field of twenty some odd category 3's and prepared to leave it all out on the course. The preride had shown a course that was thawing into a greasy skating rink with fantastic flow and a number of truly classic CX features to challenge and intimidate. This would be the real thing. My race strategy was to get towards the front off the line and try to mark wheels as the race wore on and hope that it would pay off with a decent result.

When the whistle sounded, we tore down the long pavement stretch and dumped onto the grass with Scooter taking the hole shot and me taking tenth wheel. A little further back than I wanted but I stayed calm and hoped the technical nature of the course would provide me with opportunities for progress. I moved up a bit through the 180's and the mud bog and successfully rode the hill that others chose to run. This put me into the top five with Alex Edwards pulling up front. Since he had won the 2/3 race at Jingle Cross last week, I was happy to be on the group and was feeling very comfortable up the stairs and through the twisting turns toward the end of the lap.
Going into the second lap, we had a group of six off the front and Dan Miller moved to the head. Since he had been riding so strong all season, I was happy to follow his wheel and try to stay within myself. Onto the second half of the lap, a rider from KC named Travis slotted himself between me and Dan and toward the end of the lap, a bit of a gap had opened to Dan's wheel. Given his remarkable progression and consistency this year, I thought he might ride away from us until Martin passed me on the pavement and told me to grab his wheel. He put in a big pull to get us back up to Dan and shredded the group in the process. I owe Martin some gratitude for the teamwork and it certainly contributed to my result. The SKC was dropped and Alex and Travis were about ten seconds back from our lead trio. I got around Martin on the 180's and got on Dan's wheel. Martin must have crashed somewhere because Dan and I had a gap halfway through the third lap. Surprisingly, I felt very strong and although Dan was clearly the better man, I was holding on and feeling really good.
The course was amazing and as we slid around corners and carved the twisties, I fully remembered the joy and love that cross brings me. The crowd was raging at all sections of the course as we rode wheel to wheel. Going into two laps to go, I assured Dan that I wasn't trying to suck wheel and was happy to be hanging on. He asked me if I had a pull in me on the pavement and I obliged when he said we'd ride this in together. We had a number of great battles last year in the B series and it felt great to be clear together, especially since he has stepped up to a whole new level this year.

Our gap continued to grow into the bell lap and it looked like a sprint finish was possible until I bobbled on the steep hill, giving him the gap that he needed to take home the jersey.
He absolutely deserved it and was by far the strongest in the race. If there's any excuse that I have to offer it's that he was simply stronger. No shame there. For myself, it was wonderful to rediscover both my cross legs and the love of the sport. This year has been tough for me and this was exactly what I needed to bring it all back in line. The support from the fans was amazing and the comments afterwards were truly inspirational. Much gratitude is due my wife who has been a fountain of support in my weekly endeavors and her Matt-centric garb for the day was as comical as it was touching. Mesa had a banner day, standing on 7 podiums and taking three wins, showing that we are by far the most consistent CX squad in town. It was a blast to cheer for the 1/2's after our race was over and bask in some of the festivities that my move to the a class had eliminated this year. A great day all around.
One more race to close out the season next weekend and then I'll take some time off to recharge for next year. I have a few ideas about what to do differently, but time will tell what result those ideas will bring. Thanks to everyone for the support all year and I really look forward to doing it all over again next fall.
Thanks very much to Chris Ludwig and Mike Dawson for these pictures of myself that I spent all day scouring the internet for.

Bubba #9 at Bellefontaine

2009-12-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Hmm, what to think about this season and this race in particular? I was somewhat disappointed with my ride on Sunday despite having reasonably good legs and a truly enjoyable course. Did I go to far in the preceding week? Have the external forces and lack of rest in my life over recent months taken as much of a toll as I think? Did my back going out Friday keep me down? Am I making excuses? Have I improved at all this year? Has everyone else's massive leaps made it hard for me to assess? I don't really know the answer to these questions. I am relatively satisfied that I have remained consistent start to finish. My legs have felt better and better through the season but one variable or another have prevented me from truly realizing my potential, or at least the potential that I like to think I have. I don't really know. I would have liked to have done better Sunday, the legs were there, the back wasn't and I crashed three too many times. Regardless, I finished in a familiar spot (13th), so some consistency was maintained. I really wanted to crack the top ten this year, but that will have to wait ten months. At least I picked up three dollars in primes, so I got that going for me. We'll see if a bit of a taper week will bring out the benefits of the last couple weeks of training. State championships this weekend and then the season closer in Washington. They're both 3's races so I'm hoping for a couple good rides but I'm looking at the rest of this season as a transition to a hopefully new level next year and moving forward. If that level never comes, it's ok, but hopefully I can find the joyous enthusiasm of CX season's past. On to 2010... Congrats to Martin, Dave, Drew and CC on a series of strong rides all season. It's great being teammates with you guys and hopefully we can get that '08 comraderie back for '10.

Superprestige Gieten 2009 Sven Nys takes #50

2009-11-30T16:32:00.000-08:00

Koksijde World Cup 2009

2009-11-29T08:34:00.001-08:00

Hamme Zogge Superprestige 2009

2009-11-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

Bubba Cross at Mt. Pleasant Winery

2009-11-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

It was with much anticipation that I looked to this past weekend's race at the Mt. Pleasant winery in beautiful Augusta Missouri. Images of Nationals at Napa floated around my head for the past several weeks and when tales of the course working through the bar emerged, my excitement peaked. At last, we would have a world class event where drunken revelers could shower us with Norton as we wove though tangled vineyards battling it out for the prestige of a win in a historic Germanic community.

Well, the race had most of that but it also had the most punishingly brutal course ever tread upon with knobby 32's. The sadistic bastards who laid out the torture fest made full use of the steep country hillside between the winery and the Missouri River and all of the life sucking mushy ground that it contained. Up and down and up and up and a little down and a BIG up before we wove around on the top to take us through the bar and onto a pavement stretch that offered the only semblance of "recovery" on the whole God forsaken track. I started well, better than usual, and slotted into tenth-ish. The ground was sucking the life out of me and I knew that I needed to stay steady to avoid the potential for physical explosion. I yo yo'ed with the usual suspects that I yo yo with weekly and ended up 15th. This was my lowest placing so far, but I was satisfied to have finished the hardest CX race I've ever done and to have maintained some consistency throughout. I also had a personal victory from riding the run up all but two laps and having the raging crowd that lined it inform me that "not even Breslin did that". That was enjoyable, but one thing he did do was ride away from me so it doesn't really matter. Still, I'll take what I can get. This season has been consistent if unspectacular for me but I still have three weeks left and I hope to inch a little bit higher this coming weekend and hopefully put in a good ride at state in two weeks. It's winding down, but I'm finally hungry.

GVA Trophy Hasselt 2009

2009-11-23T11:40:00.001-08:00

Asper Gavere Superprestige 2009

2009-11-18T05:39:00.001-08:00

Bubba #7 St. Vincent/ Are you there 2008? It's me Matt.

2009-11-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

This season has not been like last season. First of all, I have had no forced period of inactivity at the beginning of the Bubba series, I am now racing the A's and up until yesterday, was faking any motivation for racing. A variety of external stresses and circumstances have left me unrested, unmotivated and somewhat at wit's end with a great deal of things, including racing. Those factors aside, I had underestimated the positive effect that the post race cheering and camaraderie had on my overall CX experience and with the upgrade, the festivities associated with the Sunday ritual have all but vanished. By the time I'm done racing and cooling down, everyone is on their way home. Last year, I had my teammates to cheer for and this year I am struggling to get some Tofurkey on the grill before it's shutdown time. And then there's the suffering, which has been thorough throughout, so much so that I had even considered turning CX season into beer season. But this was all before St. Vincent and what was the most satisfyingly enjoyable course of the season. With the bonus of raucous woodland cheering section audible from the whole course and some legs that almost felt decent, I think I may have finally turned a corner in time for the waning races of our humble local series.

I started poorly, missing a pedal, but the aforementioned malaise led me to decide to sit in for a bit and feel things out. Things were turning over relatively well and though I had poor positioning, the nature of the course allowed me to move up a fair amount about a third of the way through the race. The course had everything from snaking, carving descents to a double sandpit (why didn't I try to ride that?) to a couple of grinding climbs, to a legitimate mud bog through the woods, to a screaming fast pavement descent that transferred onto the course. Perfection. It doesn't really matter how the race unfolded as I'm sure many others have provided in depth analysis, but for me, I had a blast for the first time all year. Not just going through the motions, I felt the fire again and although I finished in my now familiar 12th, I felt some hope for the last few races. I stayed consistent, had some decent battles with various competitors and at no point thought about how nice it would be to quit. Personal victories one and all. I'm hoping this wasn't a one off for me, but I think a real turning point has been reached and just in time. The external factors are still very much in play, but I can now look forward to some release for at least four more weeks and there will be a smile behind the pained grimace for each of them. Here on out, that's the goal. Pix are from Dennis Fickinger, Mike Dawson and Chris Creed.

Nommay 2009

2009-11-13T06:26:00.001-08:00

Hoogstraten Superprestige 2009

2009-11-06T07:45:00.001-08:00

Bubba # 5 and 6 at Creve Couer

2009-11-05T05:50:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we returned to the bottoms at Creve Couer park, the sight of some good times for me last year. With at least a foot of rain in the last week, mud was an inevitability and I was licking my lips in anticipation. Unfortunately, the start time wasn't until 10:30pm, which is generally my bedtime. No matter, it gave me plenty of time to spend some QT with my niece as she strutted her stuff in full ladybug regalia. I myself went with an ET theme, but the mud prevented me from racing in the garb.

The racing was somewhat blase. Having registered late, I got a back row call up which would have been good to know since we have yet to use that practice this year, but at a minimum, it meant I would be redlined immediately. The race started and I tried to work my way up to the middle. Slipping and sliding through corners, the usual suspects were off the front with Josh back to his traditional dominance, a resurgent DB killing it in second and Grrman proving he's no flash in the pan in third. I don't really know what was going on with me but I gapped some people, lapped some people and got caught by some people. Toward the end, I was riding with Drew and Ron until the collection of mud removed Drew's derailer from his bike and Ron set off on his own. I finished 11th. Some might give little credit to attrition, but to me it's as much a part of racing as fitness. A position of convenience for me, to be sure.

Day 2 was similar but the conditions were back to the soul sucking softness that 2009 has been known for. A larger field and again I found myself on the back of the line. I worked up to about 20th on the pavement and tried to use the S turns to move up a bit.I yo yo'ed with a chase of four before gapping them and slowly dragging myself up to TK. Once there, I foolishly decided to contribute to our chase of Ron. I feel like I cut the gap down a good deal but suffered for it in the process. Halfway through the third last lap, my hypoxic state led me to botch riding the barriers I had conquered on the previous lap and with that mistake, TK's wheel was gone. I began to fade through this lap and once onto the second last lap, I completely hit the wall. I actually thought I might throw in the towel with two to go. Having promised myself I wouldn't succumb to weakness, I pressed on in a pitifully small gear. I watched as four people I had a substantial gap on mid race passed me. Conceding that many spots in the dying moments of the race was hard to take, but I can be satisfied with how I rode until that point and I feel like things are starting to come around. It's not really an objective analysis, given that I raced 14 hours prior and had little sleep, but others were not so affected. Regardless, I have acquired the focus necessary to take me through the end of the season and hopefully I can maintain for those last two laps at the next race. Next week is some mountain biking in Asheville and then the home stretch to State begins. Thanks Creed for the pics.

2009 Mesa Team Salsa Chili con Crosso

2009-10-31T09:00:00.001-07:00

This is my bike. One of three custom Mesa paint jobs found at St. Louis area A races.
53 cm Chili con Crosso. Mavic Ksyrium SL tubular wheelset. Ultegra SL shifters with Dura Ace 7800 derailers.

Challenge Fango 34c front tubular. TRP Alloy Euro-X brakes with pad adjust upgrade and Gore sealed cables.

Shimano R700 110BCD cranks with FSA 46/38 gearing
Challenge Grifo 32c Rear tubular. Dura Ace 12-27 cassette

Koppenbergcross 2009

2009-10-27T18:09:00.001-07:00

Bubba Cross at Jefferson Barracks

2009-10-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

The race began with a near track stand start as I struggled off the line and up into the middle of the group. Immediately, I am redlined and riding well below the technical expectations I normally place on myself. By lap two, the suffering is immense as gaps begin to form in our line and I watch as people I rode with last week and last year take of for the lead. I dangle on a chase group for the remainder of the lap as DB pulls the chase along before moving back into the line for some recovery and fresh legs at the front. Into the third lap, he is kind enough to offer some encouragement to "get up here" and I almost do before he finds something extra and leaves us all for dead as he sets off in lone pursuit of the next chase group. I am now on the back of a group of three and we trade pulls and I yo yo on the back before the young Dan seems to crack in front of me letting a gap go to Dennis. I come around for the descent about five seconds off Dennis for the next lap or two. I feel him beginning to fade and I slowly begin to crawl up to the wheel when I catch my rear wheel on one of the stakes I had spent the majority of the race bouncing off of and go down. Bars now at a 45 degree angle to my bike, I decide to quit... then decide to fix it and comically ride with my bars akimbo. I get passed in the pit by several people before remounting and ... deciding to quit... then deciding to keep going.... then deciding to quit... then realizing that I would be quitting in front of my wife which is unacceptable. I bridge up to Drew and Thrasher and ride with them to the run/ride up where I come around Drew and catch Thrasher on the climb just before the descent. I manage a few second gap through the MTB esque downhill coming into two to go. I am truly dying inside at this point and Thrasher keeps getting closer. I rely on the descent to keep the gap in place, nice because I could also recover a bit here and almost resign myself to his catch on the bell lap. He gets to within a few seconds half a lap through and I tell myself at the base of the climb that I can hold him off if only I get to the descent in front. I do. I hold him off for 11th. A thinned out field makes it a less than stellar result but the suffering, both mental and physical, should pay off in the coming weeks. I think. Now is the time to step it up and hopefully move closer to those I rode comfortably with last season. Glad DB's back. Not so sure about the 10:30pm night race next week, but the more racing the better. I think.

Bubba Cross at Faust

2009-10-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

I raced and felt pretty ok and finished about where I expected. 12th and 13th on Saturday night and Sunday respectively. Maybe next week I'll be motivated to write more. Hope everyone has fun in Louisville and this rain continues through Saturday. A little slop would be nice. Here are some photos.

Ruddervoorde 2009

2009-10-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

Burning IV

2009-10-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

This year's Burning was a strange one. I set up the course on Friday in the rain and trudged through epic amounts of standing water, but surprisingly little mud, to complete my annual duties. Needless to say, the ride left me less than enthused for the following day's activities. Running back to St. Louis and attending a wedding that put me to bed around 1am also left me with little rest and even less hope of respectable lap times. I woke three and a half hours later to get picked up by Breslin and have never in my life been so tired.

We arrived around 7 am and my plan was to log back to back laps and then take two off before completing my final lap to get it over with early in the day. The first two laps went well and even though I didn't set the world on fire, I felt reasonalbe good and was having fin as the fog burned off to reveal a crisp, clear fall day. I relaxed while Chritopher and Schweiker burned up the trail and finally headed out for a third lap hoping to improve my time. I felt as if I was riding faster, cleaner and pushing bigger gears so I was excited to see what time I had done. Luckily, my sleep deprived state led me to forget my timing chip and thus lose any possibility of finding out my time. Oh well, they added a lap to our score to compensate for my absent mindedness, but both Christopher and I were denied timing due to my oversight.

In the end, we finished sixth in the wicked fast category. Not a bad result and about what I expected. As always, the burning is one of the most fun races and parties of the year and I tried to make the most of it despite my lack of sleep. I finally went to bed around two and due to chronic insomnia, had plenty of time to think about next year and the upcoming cross season. Not sure I'll race here next year, but I'll always come back for the riding and the good times.

Treviso 2009

2009-10-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

There will be no stopping Niels in 09/10

Ronde Van Evergreen

2009-10-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

I returned to Carbondale over the weekend for the fifth edition of the Ronde Van Evergreen, a wonderful cyclocross race held at an old BMX park and the site of my introduction to cyclocross two years ago. After my less than stellar performance at Hermann, I decided that this would be a training race and went in with little to no expectations other than the hope to avoid the dreaded DFL. These expectations were further tempered when my ride arrived twenty minutes late and a deceptive detour sign enroute both conspired to leave me with little to no warmup.

Somehow, we still had a full thirty minutes to prepare upon our arrival and an initial inspection of the course showed it to be soft with a few mud holes, but certainly not the bog that I had hoped for. Additionally, the real estate had been cut inhalf from previous years and the organizers made up for it by mowing some new lines into the old overgrown BMX course. Slow and grinding and painful. Good times were sure to follow.

I lined up on the front row and had a mediocre start, something I need to work on, to slot myself in the top ten. I had decided beforehand that I would be happy with that and hoped to stay steady throughout the race. After the first U turn through the gravel, I heard a loud pop which turned out to be one of Stroots spokes, making for immediately reduced competition, or so I thought. As the lap wound through some unending twisters, I watched the top guys pull away and silently hoped to salvage some dignity from last week.

Coming into lap two, I got onto Martin's wheel and he pulled us around Dennis from Dogfish to get us into 7th and 8th respectively. On the straightaway on the next lap, I came around him with the intention of doing my share of the work and continued to grind away through the soft, but quickly hardening ruts. Throughout the third lap, as the course slowly became more abusive, I worked my way up to the young Williams wheel and sat on him for the rest of the lap. I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere in the next lap, I managed to get a gap on him and put some space between me and Williams and Marty. I was now riding in sixth and hoping to hold onto it, but was a bit demoralized to discover that I was only 25 minutes in when I passed the finish line.

Given my race the preceding week, I wanted to stay steady and get a hard ride in so I kept it ticking over through subsequent laps. At one point I was a handful of seconds off Jay's wheel but either he was able to up the tempo just a bit or I faded enough that he was gone three quarters of the way through the race. At one stage after the steep climb, I saw Yielding in the pits with a rolled tire meaning I was now in the top five and very close to getting my race paid for. I thought I was safe as long as I could maintain and kept grinding away until I saw Stroot coming for me about fifteen to twenty seconds back with four laps to go. Thankfully, my handling made up for his superior strength and I kept the gap steady until I was told one lap to go.
The official seemed confused when he told me one to go, but I was thankful to end the suffering and didn't question. I told myself at every difficult moment that it was the last time I had to do it so I was chagrinned to say the least when I heard that I had to keep going after my "last lap". Pure rage pushed me through the legitimate final lap and I managed to hold Stroot off by a handful of seconds at the end.

So fifth place in my first A race of 2009. I'm definitely satisfied with the result and although I realize that things will change when there's a full roster and fewer mechanicals, I'm satisfied that a week of intensity has brought such a turnaround in results. Hopefully, I'll keep moving up from here and be competitive when the season gets into full swing. Unfortunately, my 08 nemesis Grrman won the race by quite a bit which means I have a lot of work to do. No worries, it's giving me the requesie motivation to make my goals happen. Up next is my first shot at a six hour mountain bike race (with no plans of being competitive) and then a sweet birthday present in the form of a season opening night race. Here we go!

Hermann Night Cross

2009-09-25T08:10:00.001-07:00

And so it begins... Decent but entirely unspectacular start to the 2009 cross season this past weekend in Hermann. I felt pretty redlined from the start with an immediate run up the steep staircase and was riding very sloppy through the first part of the race. I was riding in the top ten and suffering and a few key crashes set me back several positions that I was never able to make up. Luckily, I had ace teammate Zach Brace there to help pace me through a rough patch in the middle third of the race. I started feeling better and more comfortable toward the end and ended up finishing 13th. Not exactly what I was hoping for but serious motivation to get the ball rolling. Hopefully with a renewed committment to intensity after a month of endurance, things will come around. We'll see. For now, my face says it all...

Getting it Done

2009-08-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

Huge congrats are in order for friend and teammate Zach Brace as he rode to the win in the 12 hour solo men's category at this past weekend's Rapture in Misery. Zach's dedication to acheiving his goals has been mighty impressive the last couple years and I for one would not bet against him repeating at this year's Burning at the Bluff.

Spanish Lake

2009-08-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend's race returned to Spanish Lake, home of many a local mountain and cross races over the years. While not neccessarily a trail that anyone would chose to ride for recreation, we seem to have at least one race there every year and with this year calling for temps in the high nineties and heat indicies of over one hundred, it promised to be a long grind inside of an angry blast furnace. Having experienced serious heat induced setbacks this season, I spent all of Saturday and Sunday morning hydrating in the hopes that my St. Joe implosion would not repeat itself.

A preride of the course showed some improvement over years past with new singletrack sections at enough regular intervals to keep it interesting and provide the feel of a legitimate mountain bike race. The gravel jeep tracks remained, but they didn't feel quite so dominant this year.

The race began with a decent start, putting me in fifth through the snaking tightness before the first section of gravel. Once onto the double track, I moved around Jay and Brice while Wes and Hafner came around me. A bit of a reshuffling, but still in fifth for the long grind. Scott used his road skills to set off in pursuit of the lead and we would not see him until the finish. With Ploch already well clear, it was now a four way battle for third. Hafner took off after Scott as Wes, Drew Black and I stuck together for the remainder of the first lap.

Going into the second lap, Drew punched it on the first gravel section and gapped Wes and me in the process. I think we both figured it was a bit early in the race to chase and we figured the brutal heat would eventually take its toll. Wes and I caught Hafner right before the second section of singletrack and passed him when we got onto the next section of gravel. Drew had gained a pretty good gap at this point and I was happy for a teamate to be fighting for the podium.

Going into the third lap, I took over from Wes and pulled for the lap. I tried to up the tempo a bit to see if a gap would open, which was likely my undoing. If ever I got a couple seconds, Wes would close it handily and I completed the lap feeling the effects of my effort. Right at that point, one of the 35+ experts passed us and Wes jumped on his wheel. Having pushed a little too hard in the preceding lap, I was unable to follow and had to let the wheel go.

The fourth lap was pure suffering. I just tried to keep it as close to the edge physically as I could, hoping to come around for the last lap. Coming through the start finish to start the final lap, I had Drew in my sights and was hoping to make it up to him before the finish. Throughout the lap I yo yo'ed and dangled at about five seconds, incapable of making the final push to make contact. I was sure I was close to blowing and I was wary of digging any deeper. The heat was weighing on me and I eventually finished fifth, roughly ten seconds off Drew and a minute behind Wes. I'm happy with the result as I kept it together in the heat and did reasonalby well on a course that doesn't suit me. I have a lot of things that I'm personally satisfied with that happened in the race, all of which point to a decent amount of improvement over this season. I have every intention of upping my game next year and hopefully see even more improvement in 2010. For now, it's time for a little rest and then the build up to cross. There may be another MTB race or two before the year's out, but my mind is now focused on cyclocross. It's been a decent ride this MTB season and I hope I can roll the momentum into the fall and into next year. Wish me luck...

Rockbridge and Castlewood

2009-08-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a good couple weeks for dirt racing in Missouri and all the thoughts of early season washout and frustration seem to have dissapated. With two fantastic races at unbelievable courses and another coming this weekend, the ball seems to finally be rolling... even if it is just in time for cross preparations to begin.

Last weekend was the Show Me State games at Rockbridge park in Columbia. I had never ridden this particular venue, but all reports said that it was superior to Rhett's Run, which had thus far been my favorite course. The trail proved to been a ridiculous good time with mile after mile of screaming twisting descents and tight river bottom good times. Save for an extended drag through a field, this was by far the best course yet. My race went well, hanging onto a three man chase behind the leaders for the first lap. I felt good and was reasonably confident of my ability to hang on, but when Scott took a long pull through the field, a gap opened to me and I spent the rest of the lap chasing. After nearly avoiding disaster on a high speed bench cut descent, I opted to settle into my rhythm and try to stay consistent. I have often had the problem of burning myself out on the first lap and I was conscious to try and manage that issue. It worked and i finished with consistent lap times and in fifth for the expert open field. My goal of a top five had been accomplished and I had closed the gap to my competion further.

The following week at Castlewood marked the first time I had raced XC at the park since '05. Despite countless early morning rides at the venue, all the races over the last few years have been on Saturdays while I was wrenching away at the shop. Regardless, I was happy to get a chance to race at Castlewood and anxious to see if the fitness was still on the upswing. The race went well although the seemingly endless climbing was quite brutal in the waning laps. I stuck with my competion for half the race and a moment of weakness on the third climb of Grotpeter saw me lose the wheel. I tried to stay consistent and go as deep as I could without exploding so I would have a bit left for the last lap. After downing the rocket fuel through the start finish, I felt renewed and finished the race strong in sixth place, fourteen seconds back from fifth. I have to feel that improvement has been acheived this year even if my place in the pecking order remained consistent throught the season. I started the year with such a deficit to the top guys that I can only focus on myself and hopefully trimming down the gap to the leaders. I know that I accomplished that and despite some early season hiccups, I can look forward to further improvement next year if I step up my dedication and remain focused. I feel like I belong in the expert class and I am anxious to see how far I can take it.

Next week is Spanish Lake, which is as close to a road race as we get on mountain bike, so I plan on gearing up the El Mariachi and seeing what happens. It's the exact opposite of my type of course, but the racing's been fun lately, so I might as well keep on it. After that, it will probably be a bit of down time and then the long build to my one goal of the season. It's going to be a good last half of '09, I think...

The Most Impressive Road Descent I've Ever Seen

2009-07-21T16:50:00.001-07:00

If ever there was doubt that Fabian Cancellara was one of the all time greats...

Bromont 2008

2009-07-03T07:41:00.001-07:00

Maybe I've already posted this, but who cares, it's ridiculous. Definitely a Breslin kind of day.

Webster Crit 2009

2009-06-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

Next time I have a choice between a road race and a mountain bike "race", I'll pick the mountain bike "race"...

St. Joe

2009-06-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend saw us back at the sight of last year's season opening bog fest, St. Joe state park. Having sucked my will to live the previous year, I was hoping for a bit of redemption on a course that had a lot of potential in the absence of the sponge like conditions from last year. For 2009, we were treated to soaring temperatures and humidity for more of a blast furnace experience than the energy sucking moisture that last year's edition brought. However, I felt I had some decent legs and had been riding well lately, so expectations were higher than normal.

Pirtle showed up for his annual reminder to everyone in town of his impenetrable superiority and as such, the start was ballistic. I missed my pedal for a couple strokes and slotted in around seventh place in line. Once again, the heads of state moved off the front immediately and a chase of four established with Wes pulling Scooter, myself and Drew. A couple miles in, I came around Scooter and sat on Wes. I was feeling really good and comfortable as we slowly broke off on our own as elder statesman John Matthews moved through on his way to a win in the 35+ expert class. After he passed, I moved back behind Wes until a brief split in the trail where I decided to move ahead. I tried to tap a high, but somewhat conservative rhythm up the long exposed pressure cooker climb before taking the descent as fast as possible. At the end of the lap, I had around twenty seconds on Wes and was sitting in fourth place feeling stronger than I ever have in a mountain bike race.

Unfortunately, a mile into my second lap, the oppressive heat brought forth a throbbing, disorientating headache and I began to fall apart. Eventually, after being passed by Wes, I pulled over and stood next to my bike trying to get it togther. I felt horrible and began slowly walking toward the bike path that would take me back to the car and out of the race. Somehow, the thought of actually quitting and having to tell people I quit because the race was too hard got to me and I decided to get back on my bike and try to finish out the lap so I would avoid the dreaded DNF. I still felt like shit but soft pedalled along until about halfway through the lap when I started to come around. I was picking up speed and feeling a bit more human when, as I cornered through some loose rock, I burped a tire. It was about three miles from the finish, so I thought I could ride the 7 psi in and call it a day. I babied the corners and the dips until Christopher caught me and I went down through the next corner. This removed the rest of the air from my tire so I got up, fixed it, got passed by Hafner, remounted and immediately caught a large stick in my rear triangle which catapulted me down a very steep hill. Not my day.

Eventually, I finished seventh. Not exactly what I'd hoped for, but I learned some things and will certainly be better prepared for the heat next time. Hopefully, I can avoid the meltdown and hopefully take advantage of what I think is some pretty decent fitness hanging around somewhere in my body. We'll see what Indiana brings in a couple weeks.

Rhett's Run 2009

2009-06-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since the last time I raced a mountain bike and despite some crits and ill fated attempts at road racing, 2009 has been marked by far less activity than last season. Rhett's Run had been a goal of mine at the start of the year but with a lack of XC races in my legs, I had to reevaluate my expectations. I had been training well the last few weeks, but with no races as a gauge, it was difficult to guess what was to come.

The day started with a few downpours, making the course slippery and shitty for the first wave of racers, some of whom opted to bow out due to the seemingly endless string of mud races this year. By the time we were set to go at 12:30, the course had dried substantially and now offered far more tack than slide. I lined up on the front next to people I knew would be leaving me behind almost immediately. I figured I might as well try to get a good starting position and hope for the best as the race wore on. When the whistle sounded, I made it into the woods in around sixth and was feeling good even though the express train was already slipping off the front.
The first descent was a blast as always but as we made a hard right to begin climbing, I lost my front wheel on a slick water bar and went down, losing two places in the process. I quickly worked around one of the riders who passed to jump on Bierman's wheel. For two laps, I sat on or five feet behind his wheel and was feeling good as he has shredded me in years past. Improvement, I was thinking.

As the race wore one, the older wave of experts started passing us and each one would slot between me and Wes for a while, disrupting my rhythm and establishing a gap between our wheels. Eventually, I rider between us bobbled and chose to run the steep loose climb, forcing me to do the same and allowing Wes some breathing room. The run up redlined me far deeeper than riding it had done the previous lap and I took a couple minutes to recover as Wes slipped away.

I rode the rest of the race by myself, picking off lapped riders from other classes and getting passed by people way faster than myself. All in all I felt good and rode consistently to the finish where I believe I took 8th. Not the podium of the last two years, but with a far deeper field, I have to be satisfied. This year is about closing the gap between myself and the top guys in my class and despite this being only race #2 of the year, I think I might be on the way to doing that. I'm a long way off from the best in the state, but it certainly gives me motivation to see how far I can take this for the forseeable future. Hopefully it will stop raining someday and we can get the season going in full swing. On to St. Joe in a couple weeks and then my first crack at a DINO race on July 5th. Here we go...

Offenburg 2009

2009-06-03T06:29:00.001-07:00

Madrid 2009

2009-05-29T08:44:00.001-07:00