So it's no secret that Joules Cross in Lawrence, KS has never been a favorite of mine and in fact all week I was looking for an excuse not to go. KBARCX (or whatever they call it) points were on the line along with the KS State Champs (on Sunday) and neither of those had impact on me, but it was a chance to race local (slightly under three hour drive one way) and Deb was game for joining me for the weekend; how could I pass that up.
After taking the prior weekend off from racing and knocking out tons of family time I was looking forward to toeing the line again. The week had heavy solid training and for some reason Tuesday night I just couldn't sleep (no biggie), but the monster jumped on me when me and a couple other dads grabbed the boys from school early Thursday morning and drove to Des Moines, IA to catch a 7pm Golden State vs Denver Nuggets game. Steph Curry and crew are Ian and I's favs so how could we pass this up. Got there super early and got on the floor after the game and the boys loaded up on autographs and photos. It was a blast, but then reality set in at 5am when we pulled back into Bolivar and work was 2 hours away. I say all this because Saturday morning I was looking for a bed way more than I was a start line.
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| Klay Thompson after the game with the boys - great evening |
Saturday morning and after a good warm up it was go time. Temps were cool, but not cold and the course was pretty non-technical with one 10 meter section of mud between a quick descent and a short punchy climb. It was going to be fast. 20 guys in just the 40+ field and no telling how many more in the 50+ and 60+; cool to see good numbers finally. No pre-reg for me so to the second row I go... Whistle blows and so do I; three attempts (see second pic below) and I cannot get clipped in. Dead last and the front going away. Took about a lap to catch up to the leaders and when I did I was feeling pretty good so I moved straight through them to get a gap. It held to the end and I took the win with my teammate Rick Mosley taking second.
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Good group of guys on Saturday (and Sunday) and I especially enjoy Eric
Burch as that knucklehead always has me laughing before and after the race |
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Missed my pedal three times and actually laughed out loud a bit
at my position once I got clipped in (yep, that's me DFL looking for a pedal)... |
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| One muddy section on the course, which made it fun |
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| Rick and I on the podium; not sure where the 3rd placed guy was |
Cleaned up and spent a great day goofing about Lawrence (mostly on Mass Ave) with Deb. Stayed up way too late before hitting the hay.
Sunday morning I was beat tired and I mean in a serious bad way. Got over to the course late and with little warm up it was time to race. The course changed directions which made for longer climbing and that's not what I wanted to see.
Second row start again and I only goofed my pedal once before getting it going. Took me about 1/8 lap to catch the leaders. Bill Marshall was in the race (wasn't there Saturday) and was pushing the pace early on. Made a little move in the muddy lower section of the course only to have it fall apart as I blew a steep run (I tried to ride) up and couldn't unclip watching several places go by. Got back going an had a lot of work to do as Rick had opened a gap on Bill and they were both far ahead of me. Pressed the pace too much on a couple of turns in pursuit and crashed twice before I settled into a good rhythm catching and gapping Bill on my way to Rick. Not quite half way into the race I see Rick just ahead of me jump off his rig and start messing with it. As I pass he says his shifter is broke; no pit bike meant the end of his race. That stunk for several reasons: 1) he is a Kansas guy and the race was their Championships, 2) he was chasing the KBARCX points and would have been in the lead if he had finished and now with two races to go he is pretty much done, and 3) he was on a really good ride on Sunday. Now in the lead and Bill breathing down my neck I kept the gas on to take the win with not much to spare.
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| Bill pushing the pace over the barriers early on |
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| Teammate Rick Mosley was on a good day until a mechanical took him out |
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| Yep, its a hay field... |
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| Colorful fall day |
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Bill, myself, and Doug Stone made the podium
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With Joules done and 17 races completed I find myself mid-way through the 'cross season with the biggies on the horizon (Cincy3, Jingle, Ruts, and Nationals). Looked over the schedule and I roughly have 17 races to go. Time to breath deep and get to work... or so I thought.
Woke up late Sunday night (early Monday morning) with a hurting belly and all the fun that goes with it. Thought it might be food poisoning, but once the fever set in I dismissed that idea. Now it's mid-Wednesday and I am still in discomfort (no longer painful) and super weak from losing quite a bit of weight (that I don't have to spare). Was planning to race Sunday at Gateway Cross (Saturday I have a wedding to attend), but now I am scrapping that in order to full recover and get going again. The following weekend is Cincy3 and I am looking forward to this as I've never been.
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