Maybe I am a loser

After a dedicated offseason and some good progress getting back into shape, I entered a few crits early on. M teammated Hef2, Stevie Wonder, Lance Lacy, Harsh, Kyle, and Dave B all turned in some good perform aces, winning a few races and always dominated the breaks.

As for me, I was a mid pack or tailgunner for most of the races, moving up to the low teens by the last 2 laps. Pisser since I always had energy left at the end of the race, I should have been working harder.

So I bought a boat for some Chesapeake Bay fishing and crabbing, and putting the 225HP engine lower unit on I wrenched my back and it took me out of cycling for a few weeks...which turned into a few months, and still comes and goes if I move the wrong way. SO my cycling season is over, and I haven't been too dedicated to getting back into shape, until this weekend when Nancy asked me for her Birthday gift. She asked me to train and compete in a triathlon with her in mid August, so I guess I have to start running, swimming, and riding again. Just the stimulus I need to get back in the saddle for Cross season.

In other news - my little sis got married again, in Vegas... In a crack alley parking lot wedding chapel that looks good on Internet pictures. It was pretty funny seeing the boarded up windows and hotel rooms by the hour adjacent to the chapel. But it was a fun trip even though I lost 5 bills on Blackjack. I swear the decks were stacked, I played perfect basic strategy and would lose 8 of 10 hands. I'll be back there in 3 weeks, and if they cheat me again, I'm taking hostages (kidding Big Brother, I know you're watching).



Next week I start 3 weeks of work travel, Ft Worth followed by Whidbey Island, then Vegas where I am presenting at an Electronic Warfare conference. I'll miss almost the entire month of July in Annapolis. I'm still getting some sailing in, every Friday night on the West river and random Wednesday and Saturdays with buddies.



Mom's chemo is going on month 12, she's doing really well but it is alot of suffering and weekly travel to Sloan in NY.

other news not worth mentioning
- sold our house in St Louis'
- Awesome ski trip at Mt Baker, WA
- losing more hair

That's my last year's worth of updates. Later
Heff

Late Season Cross Pics

You cant teach an old dog, can you?

Not in my case - at least not this weekend at the Rockburn cross race. With 85 guys on the line again, I need to pre-register more than 2 days before the event if I want better than a 9th row start. I think I was down 45 seconds before the first set of barriers, but I managed to claw my way back to about 12th by the middle of the 2nd lap. The course was an odd mix of traditional, modern, and MTB XC trails. As I crashed hard through the tape, into the stake, I was thinking to myself that I prefer the classic style cross courses. That crash did me in. I laid there in a pile of bones with tape wrapped around my cranks, a broken course stake in my spoke and a painful re-broken thumb.

After I remounted the uphill switchback, I almost ate it again after realizing I had thrown my chain in the crash. Needless to say I lost about 12 guys in that crash, dropping to the mid to late 20s. By the end of the 4th lap, I had lost 5 or 6 more from just plain conservative (read: wus) riding. But I finally got my a little sack the final lap and made up some ground, riding up to a meager 29th, roughly top 1/3rd.

I enjoy the racing out here more so than the Midwest - every cross race had 500+ people here and is an event in and of itself. Great announcing, camaraderie, and venues. It's kind of cool to watch the local legends race also, Gunnar Shogren, Bobby Lea, Jeremy Powers, Tim Johnson, and Laura vanGilder were a few of the names present the past 3 weeks.

I post this from Seattle on business travel, so I have 4 days of hotel exercise bike riding to stay in shape, and it reminded me of the exact point in time this year that my training all but ceased.

That's all for now - time to heal the broken bones and ego.

DCCX - Part 2

It was the nicest morning of the year for a cross race - sunny and 50 at the Armed Forces Retirement home. Awesome course with a little of everything except sand and a runup - two things that I don't mind missing.

Despite my training routine of Race Sunday, recover Monday through Saturday - I had a decent showing in the men's B Masters (35+) race. With a 4th row start, I ended up sitting about 20th wheel of the 81 starters for the first 2 laps. There was plenty of opportunity to pass, but the wet grass and off cambers were enough for me to be conservative until the pack thinned out. I saw alot of people suffering early, so I picked up the pace with 2 to go. I was sitting at first wheel of the 2nd group and was doing alot of the work against my better judgement. I thought I would be able to ride the 7 or 8 guys in my group off my wheel since I kept opening gaps on them, but then they would ride back onto me on the paved section.

With 1 to go I was sitting 14th and made my way up to about 9th with a hard attack on the group...I held onto top 10 until the back barriers where I was just plain gassed from effort and the group rode back onto me, and passed me. With all my effort, I tried to keep in position to maybe win the sprint for the second group, but I was useless on the finishing straight and took a 15th. Alot of wasted effort on that last lap - I wish I had one of the chase group guys to trade pulls with but they just sat in and waited until I popped.

It's still my best performance of the year, but I should have had a top 10 today. There were 3 others fellow ABRTers out there, Peter and Andreas missed the start as we rode past them when they were in line for the crapper. I think they jumped under the tape and rode on the back of the group as we approached the transition to the grass, about 100m up the prologue straight. Peter hung behind the chase group the whole race trying to bridge up to us, but with a last row start, it was tough for him to make the early gains. Still, he finished in the low 20s - pretty good for missing the start.

Only 2 more races I can make, next weekend at Patapsco (MABRA) and the Capitol Cross (UCI / MAC). Hopefully I will have a functioning thumb by then - I hat having to ask other dudes to unzip me since I cant grip the zipper...but I can race.

DCCX

Over 400 Preregistered for DC Cross this weekend and 81 pre-registered for for my Masters B race. It's supposed to be wet and cold. Perfect. The only conditions I seem to do well in is the slop.

I actually was ranked in the MAC series for a while, 2 top 25 finishes for a total of 3 points. Woo Hoo. Now my name has disappeared. Maybe I should call the organizers and fight for my 50th ranking in the Master's B category (Cat 2/3/4).

Nah - I'll just use it as an excuse of how "the man was keeping me down this year" and my crappy positions are from getting last row starts since I can't get my proper callup.

Like Clockwork

Fall is my favorite season. Cool temperatures, cross racing, lighter training loads, gaining weight, and inevitibly - getting injured. 2 Years ago I whacked myself in the foot with an ax and was out for 6 weeks. Last year I had a bike crash that resulted in 2 sprained wrists and a pulled peck muscle. This year I crashed in a Cross race and broke my thumb. Like clockwork.

Cross racing here on the East Coast is a spectacle...way different than the grass roots Midwest cross movement. I raced 4 races so far and there were 500 people preregistered at 3 of the races.

My first MAC Series race at CHARM CITY cross was an ok start finishing 24/100 in the B Masters (35+ Cat 2/3/4) on a fast dusty course. Week 2 was the ED SANDER Memorial where I finished 18/100 in the peanut butter mud and a rain soaked course.

Then the Week 3 crash at KELLEY ACRES Cross in the Masters B happened on the slick grass on the 3rd turn of the first lap. We went down like dominos, and racing with the broken thumb made braking difficult for the remaining 38 minutes. Week 4 was a mandatory week of unplanned recovery focing me to miss IRON CROSS in Pensy.

Finally yesterday was a less than perfect race having a last row starting position with 85 starters. I was 45seconds down before the 1st sand pit, and the downhill off camber switchbacks were brutal on the thumb. Right after the start the convergence of 85 riders into a 180 turn caused some pinballing and my rear deraileur got bent and I was ghost shifting the whole race. I limped in at 39th in the Masters B, but I was able to work through the pain.



Next week is DCCX and I plan on doubling up if I can brake effectively. Chip Hoover has been doing well in the B and B Master races, bagging a 3rd and 5th that past two weeks.

Tell me if you feel it....

Nope - I can't feel it yet, are you doing it?



Sorry to whoever this is - I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to comment.