The week leading up had some quality workouts and bike driving, but Wednesday's intervals with Ira had me cooked and hoping I would recover before the weekend; which I did, but I was sweating it.
Friday I took a new 'cross virgin (T Jay) out for some basic handling, dismounting, and mounting skills as he was itching to race his first 'cross event after watching the rest of us have so much fun at it. He picked up his Specialized Crux on Thursday, we dialed it in and fit him that evening, covered some basics on Friday, and Saturday morning he was in the truck with Dale and I heading to KC. Fun adding to the sickness and it's pretty nice in a 9,000 person town to have six guys who consistently ride 'cross bike and five of them who race. Per capita I have to believe Bolivar is the 'cross capital of MO - ha!
So Saturday morning Dale, T Jay, and I (Ira drove up separately) loaded up the bike and headed to north KC. Got to the venue in time to watch JY finish 2nd in the Masters and to catch how they were riding some of the course.
A quick walk thru and a couple lap ride found it had a mix of a little bit of everything and was typical of a KC course (need to be able to drive a bike and have fitness). Bit bumpy in places, but with the dryness of late it was expected.
Dale and T Jay raced the Cat 4 Masters event and placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. Both had a ball.
Ira and I lined up in the Cat 3 field and before you know it I was off the front with Kyle Skinner (Bicycle Shack, or something like that). I led the first lap and then he took over for a couple. I put in a couple of attacks and he did they same and the result was neither could drop the other so 1/2 way thru we briefly chatted and took turns riding laps. On the last lap Kyle put in a well timed dig as we were passing a lapped rider (who apparently wanted to race us - sigh) and the lapped guy dove in front of my on a tight corner and blew me off of Kyle's wheel with two turns to go and I never could reach him and finished 2nd. Oh well, it was a solid effort by both of us and he deserved the win. BC races the Cat 3 field with the Open so we race and hour like the big boys, but when after 3 laps they flashed 8 to go I knew it was going to be a long day and it turns out we raced for 1:13 minutes.
Ira finished 7th after rolling a tubular in the final lap after being in 5th - bummer!
Picking up the awards (a little cash) Joe and Jeremy gave us some humorous crap about racing up as apparently we finished minutes ahead of 3rd place. Speaking of cash payouts: I'm of the opinion that two classes should get paid cash for placing: Men's Open and Women's Open, the rest should get some swag or a little something, but cash in the lower categories only entices guys like me to stay a 3 and collect. Example (and I told Joe this): Skinner got $60 for the win in Cat 3 and that's the same amount 2nd in the Open gets; I got $50 for 2nd and I believe that's the same as 3rd in Open... keep the cash for the Open guys and don't bait baggers (not saying that Kyle or I was, but the enticement is there).
Sunday Ira and my son Jake jumped in for the drive to KC for BC #2. I debated what to open and after a quick chat with Jeremy and Joe I moved up to the Open race. Smaller field than the day before, but still quality guys. The course was ran backwards and one technical section was removed which made for a much faster race. I felt good and at the end of the hour finished 8th (of 17 starters). I think this shows I need to race Open (and throw in some Masters) from here on out. I'll never see the front of these races, but don't imagine I'll see the tail end of them too often either...
Ira had a tough day and finished 7th again.
Two great days of racing in somewhat warm temps, but nothing too bad. Looking forward to some events in the near future in the 50's for sure. My fitness appears pretty good and my 'punch' and 'snap' is still coming along nicely. Bike driving is at an all time high as the mtb'ing all spring and early summer along with our routine driving sessions during the week have me confident on most anything a course can throw at me, but I will admit the sand started feeling really long the last part of day 2...
Picked up my new MWI custom Giro Aeon helmet and that is the lightest lid I've ever seen. The MWI graphics are spot on sweetness; Mike H knocked it out again.
It was nice having Jake there as he had never been to a cx event and it was his first time watching his old man suffer like a dog (usually it's me watching him). Fun day with the boy and hopefully it will happen more often. Speaking of Jake, the kid is putting in miles in preparation for the Bass Pro marathon and this past Saturday he nabbed a solo 22+ mile run (yeah, I think he's ready...). It's nice seeing him do this for HIM and running for the love of running.
Next week is racing in KC on Sunday at Cross Out Cancer.
Good racing on a tough course, how about that sand, short legs don't like that much running :)
ReplyDeletePayout.... Agree but also think Masters can get payouts without the risk of bagging, KC Cup and BLD are doing so this year which I think is great, and I will be adding payouts to Hermann Masters next year 40 and 50+.
See you at CX out Cancer Sunday? Racing M1/2/3 this time around.
I can see that opinion to some degree, but if your fast enough to want to have change put in your pocket then line it up in the Open and have it pay deeper. The best riders should be in the Open and I honestly don't understand why guys like Songer, Lucas, and Hejduk (and others; these guys just come to mind quickly) never poke their heads out of the masters fields, but to each their own and as long as I am having fun racing bikes let others do as they do to have their fun also...
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