Jingle All The Way...

After a well timed weekend 'off' after L'ville it was time to load it up again for Jingle Cross '11 in Iowa City, IA (my second year racing it). Dale decided to make his rookie appearance so I had my travel partner. It's pretty much expected that JC will include cold wet conditions and last year didn't disappoint, but I was cooked at the end of the three days of full gas. With State 'Cross next Sunday I was trying to figure out if I wanted to go all out all three days or hit it Friday and Saturday and pretty much take Sunday as a workout and not a race trying to save some steam, but it's hard to line it up and not compete...

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Friday morning I swung by Dale's and we headed north. Got in to Iowa City around 1pm, ditched some stuff at the hotel, then off to the race venue. Absolutely perfect conditions as the ground was tacky and the temps in the low 50's - awesome. Pre-rode and found a fairly non-power course with the 'run up' Mt. Krumpit as the main focus of each lap. Hit the MWI compound for a super sweet set up with full wall'ed tents on the start grid/line with heaters, chili, hot drinks, Mrs H's cupcakes, trainers, and whatever else needed to prep before and after a race.

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Dale killed it in the Cat 4's getting 5th.

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I entered the Masters 35+ race for all three days; knowing that this is a smoking fast group I had no expectation of finishing places, I just wanted to race clean and see how it goes. 2nd row start was nullified after missing a pedal at the start and dropping quick. After a lap I was feeling decent and moving forward steadily. After two I was sitting in 10th with 9th not too far up on me, but a handful of guys not far behind. At the top of Krumpit with 1 1/2 laps to go I dropped a chain (usually not a big deal with a regular set up, but with my Paul's catcher it is a pain to get it back going). I immediately settled my mind and started working on it never looking up; but I knew several spots disappeared. Got back in the groove and by the end I caught one and finished 12th; good start to the weekend.

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The below is a great video from Keith Walberg (visual extraordinaire) of Friday night's pro action

Jingle Cross '11 Friday night cyclocross from Keith Walberg on Vimeo.

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Cleaned up, headed back to the venue, and caught the pro's; amazing how fast and technical savvy!

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Day two, Saturday, was started with waking up to rain everywhere; soaked all night. Decided to skip the pre-ride and simply warmed up in the MWI tent. Ran my Vittoria tubies around 28psi on a course that was total slippage (and the temps were upper 40's).

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Lined up and actually got a good start then things went south... I felt like a rookie going thru every corner for pretty much the entire course, every lap. The feature of the day was the long ride up the slippery Krumpit and then the slip-n-slide down the zig zag the other side. I tried to ride the descent the first lap and messed up my leg pretty bad as I ended up on my back more times than I'd like to admit. From then on it was running down only. By the end of the 45 minutes I was 16th (of 6o some odd riders). I wasn't physically spent as I never felt like I was racing and more like riding around.

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Cleaned up and watched Dale race the 3's; he raced well. Watched the pro's then off to the hotel for the evening. Got hooked on Pawn Stars (never saw it before time in the hotel) and am looking forward to upcoming episodes.

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Sunday morning came way too soon. No rain, but not dry outside with the temps mid 30's with the windchill in the mid 20's - cold! Had to put the MWI kits back in the bag and go with the Big Shark thermal fleece skinsuit as it was just that cold. Dale jumped in the 55+ race at 10:20am and bagged 6th place. As evidence of his bike, the course mud was different than the day before as it thickened and grasping to every part of the bikes. I took a walk about to view the technicals spots of the course and opted to skip the pre-ride again. The feature of the day was the 'run up' Krumpit (much like Friday) with a short riding climb afterwards before a much more humane descent down (all rideable). Not a great start but immediately was 'driving' much better than the day before. Mike H let me use his FMB Gripo setup and with 27psi they were spot on. Moved up pretty well during the race, but dropped some time on the second and third laps when I stopped on the flyover to pull out as much crap/mud from my drive train as I could get. It was amazing how much I picked up every lap. **Note to self: pit bike in 2012 is a must** By the end I finished 12th (a couple people had me at 11, but they must have been wrong), but the better news was my bike was still operable and I didn't feel like I dug too deep (maybe leaving some legs for next week's State race).

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Quick clean up and Dale and I were south bound (in a warm car with the heater blowing) taking in the last bit of a great weekend.

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Spent today cleaning up the bike, clothes, and gear; amazingly everything is in good shape and working smooth.

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Saturday is Boss Cross #4 and the day after is State Champs (at the same place BC3 was held - BMX track). Looking like I will skip the BC4 and save the legs for Sunday, but I'll make that choice on Thursday. Hard to pass up a race knowing it's the last weekend of the season for me. So far I've raced better the 2nd day after racing a day before so we'll see.

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On a side note: Sunday afternoon Deb and I are hooking a flight to Florida to catch a cruise boat to the Bahama's for a week. That was the thought that kept me warm at Jingle Cross the past couple days...