Nats Day 2 45s Pics

The first turn.
Photo ©: Kurt Jambretz http:///www.actionimages.cc


I find it's usually easier to start at the front and work your way back than vice-versa. There was nothing easy about today.


A nice sponsor photo on an international cycling media outlet...
Photo ©: Kurt Jambretz http:///www.actionimages.cc


The trusty steed and motor.

Nats Day 2 45s

We return to the parcourse an hour before my race. I need to recheck my tire pressure and pump up my spares so I'm off to neutral support. Erik gets a pit pass. We decide on a pit area. Eriks heads to the warmup tent, and I scope out the first quarter lap. The course has again completely changed complexion. What was frozen ruts before is now a dark-brown mess the consistency of natural peanut butter. To make matters trickier, the frozen grooves around the course are now submerged in the goo. I pick out my lines for this quarter lap and return to the warm-up tent. The opt for another layer on my top as the wind is still biting. I get a nice warmup and then proceed to staging. I get there just in time to be called up--unbelievably, I am on the second row. The first row has at least a couple of ex-champs: Steve Tilford and Gunnar Shogren. I line up on the outside position as that seemed to open up in my last race. I see that noone else has shoe covers, and I ditch mine to SoCal Crosser, Jeff Herring. Most everyone has leg coverings, but a couple in the first row opt for Belgian Knee Warmers. It seems like it is taking forever for everyone to get staged. We get the two minute warning. We get the one minute warning. The thirty second warning and the gun. The race blasts off and we are rolling up the start hill. I'm well positioned. We hit the first right and muddy bank--I'd say I was around seventh, and then gun it. I make a huge surge on the outside line I scoped out earlier and I immediately pass into third. Holy S!@$#. I'm chasing Steve Tilford and another rider. We make it up the first sloggy uphill and up to the first pit entry as I hold third. Tilford is hammering. There's another slippery bog to pass through and a couple of riders get past me. I continue to carefully navigate the course, and more riders fly by in the muddiest parts of the course. I'm having problems gaining traction--it feels like I'm just spinning. I continue to hold my position as best as I can without crashing. A couple of riders eat it and I repass. We hit a sloggy uphill and more riders blast past. This first lap is taking forever. I make it around the first lap around 15th and feel a bit gassed. I again pick my lines to make sure I don't lose time to a crash and try to control my breathing. It takes a couple of laps for me to regain composure while I'm getting nipped by a couple of riders every lap. In the mean time I'm using the pit the best as I can. Erik did a fantastic job of cleaning and getting the bike ready. I changed bikes on at least 3 laps (could've been twice in one lap--I was too delirious to recall), and I could immediately tell the difference in the weight and handling. The last couple of laps I felt better through the sloggy parts, and was able to enter those sections with more speed. I get the bell lap and I'm feeling spent. I getting cramps in places I didn't know I had muscles. I've had to run several sections every lap, my frozen feet are barely clearing the barriers, stairs, and even the mud. I bang bars with another racer for most of that last lap and end up taking him. The finish hill was so long and hard but hearing my SoCal Cross buddies cheering me on gave me that extra motivation. I finished totally knackered, and glad it was over. I ended up 26th. My goal was a top 20, and although I missed out on that, I feel very satisfied overall, but even more motivated for next year.

Nats Day 2 AM Prologue

Erik and I donned our cold-weather gear to head to the course and spin out our legs. We stepped outside and I immediately knew I was under-dressed. I ducked back in to put on another layer. Aahhh, much better. The wind is biting but tolerable. We get to the course, and I decide to head to Neutral Support for a wheel true. While we're waiting, the Junior 17-18 race starts. The course looks like a quagmire: brown, sloppy, tons of grooves. But, it's immediately apparent that this is not the case as the junior phenoms pass the pit. Rider after rider hits the deck as their front wheels get caught in the FROZEN ruts. That mud is hard as rock. The course has frozen overnight. We hear from the mechanics that it was so bad this morning the officials took out the barriers for the early junior races for safety concerns. As we watch the juniors, we talk about spare bike strategies. The pit lane is grassy and free of any mud. We check with the pit official to verify what has to occur for someone to enter the pit. I get my wheel trued, Erik gets his Mavic hub adjusted, and then we head to the warm-up. We both get in half an hour of spinning. We switch bikes to see if they are sized close enough for either of us to ride as back ups. Surprisingly enough they are very close, though he'll have to get the feel for my Rotor Q-rings, and I, his SRAM groupo. We ride back to the hotel to eat and rest.

Nats Day 1 The Afterglow

Photos of the aftermath of a cross race.


Post cross race I'm ready for some more.


Wet toes are not happy toes.


My Ritchey Break<\>Away gets a well-deserved bath from an ad hoc mobile bike wash.


Time for laundry.


The front desk asked us not to make a mess with our bikes. They failed to mention making it with our clothes.


Some nice Nats souvenirs.

Nats Day 1 40+ B

About 30 minutes into Erik's race I went to the warmup tent and hopped on a CycleOps trainer provided by one of the event sponsors, Bike Source. I get 15 minutes in and then head back to the car to get ready. My feet were cold earlier, so I put some of the Pre-Sports Hot Balm by SportsBalm that Sam had recommended onto my feet. I let that soak in, don my socks, and we head to the local QT for some coffee. We return to the course, and now I've got to figure out what I'm going to wear now the sun has come out and the course is getting sloppy. On the lower half of my body I have a thermal bottom, a bib tight, then my skinsuit. On top, I have a long-sleeve compression top with arm warmers, then my skinsuit. Earlier I had a vest and jacket, but I decided to ditch the vest and cover my top with my Action Sports team jacket. There's a chance I might get hot, but I'm betting not. I opt for some knit shoe covers. We head back to the warming tent for some more spinning.

I get on the trainer for another 15 minutes of spinning, hop off and let Erik change out my skewer from the trainer, and head to call-up. The officials line us by registration order, and are calling out names and numbers. A local SoCal crosser, Jeff Goble, is a row ahead of me. I get my call sans bike, and the official asks me where by ride is. I joke with him that I'm running the entire course, and he lets me line up. Erik appears out of the tent, I wave him over, and he delivers the goods. I check a couple of things (skewer, brake centering) and I'm ready to roll. I'm 4-5 rows back times 8 riders per row--that puts me around 30-40 back. We get the umpire's briefing about pit entry/exit and get the one minute to go. I check my HRM and start it. She calls out the 30 seconds to go. We get the whistle and we're off. The start makes a slow sweeping right up a slight hill past the finish and then makes a right up a (now) slippery bank. I pass a few riders up the hill and a few more on the bank. Then it's follow the leader on the brown singletrack. Riders are going backward quick. I'm dodging wheels and crashes left and right. About mid-first lap I've made it into the top 10. The course is competely different from this morning: the hard frozen singletrack is now soft, mushy, slick mud, with snow and ice on the edges. We hit a hard right that leads us to a downhill off-camber straight. Halfway down the hill, I start sliding down the camber, and finally I lose it into the tape. I lose 4-5 positions and remount. I make it around the rest of the course, slipping and sliding the whole way to past the finish line where I'm given the 4 to go counter. This is a tune-up race for me, so I put it in maintain mode--don't go too fast, don't make mistakes, check out the course, maintain your position, but don't take any chances to change that position. There's a bit of water on the course and my feet get soaked--and cold. The laps count down, a few riders get by me. I check out their lines, and change a few of mine. With one to go I'm still trading paint with a couple of guys. One gets away, the other passes me and then immediately crashes. I take 16th. The bike is a mess but worked flawlessly. My HR was up where I wanted, but I was feeling a little crampy at the end--I'll fill up with more fluids for tomorrow.

Nats Day 1 AM Course Recon

During Heidi's and Erik's race I managed to get some pictures of the course.

For the early races, single file and in the brown was the strategy.



Most singletrack is fun. This was not.


Later this fast barrier section became slow and sloppy with mud.


From here the stairs look innocuous...


...but looks can be deceiving.

Nats Day 1 AM

Today is my tune up race. The course is open for riding this morning from 8-845AM. Erik races at 10. I race at noon. We're up at 645, head downstairs for some breakfast, load up and then roll out. It's 29 degrees and overcast. We get to the course where we plan to pick up our race packets, then head out for some practice laps. Erik heads to reg, picks up his packet and then takes his bike to the SRAM booth for a "quick" tune-up. I drop off my wheels and bike in the pit, and head to registration. After much confusion with the reg folks, I've got my numbers for both races, and I'm ready to roll. Or so I thought. A fellow SoCal Crosser, Heidi, races at 9, and hits me up to pin her numbers to her skinsuit. How can I refuse? I manage to get this done--four numbers, 8 pins each--in what seems forever--15-20 minutes (hey, it's early and cold), then I'm out into the elements to do a lap. I get back to the SRAM booth, and discover Erik and his bike, and the surly SRAM guy haven't seemingly budged. No time to worry about him--I got to get moving. I take off and make it about quarter of a lap before the announcers start requesting riders get off as they are ready to start the first race. I ignore these warnings and continue on my merry way. The course is hard as a rock and slippery. I barrel around a couple of corners and see I guy stopped in the middle of a high-speed sweeper. Hmmm, what's that about? I enter the corner as he's restarting and completely lose it. I'm thinking "This is going to hurt", but because the ground is so slippery, I just keep sliding. I'm back up quickly and finish a lap before a UCI official kindly reminds me to stop. All right, at least I got one lap in--I'm not sure if Erik got out. My tire pressure seems fine, but my hands and feet are cold. I'll work those out later.

Nats Ground Report

I just left the Nats course. I didn't get a chance to ride it as my flight was delayed and it was dark. What I did see was that there is a couple of inches of snow on the ground, a bit of ice on top of that snow, and several places where the snow/ice melted making the sections muddy. No doubt it will re-freeze tonight. At the base of the staircases is a drainage ditch which will make that section very interesting. Just walking on the off-cambers was treacherous--I can't wait to ride it. More tomorrow.

CX Nats Prologue - Denver Airport

So this is what the season has lead to: a chance to bang bars with the best of the nation. Well, the best in the nation that have decided to show up. My philosophy is that half of winning is just showing up. You can't win if you don't play.

This week has been hectic. Monday morning, Debbie's car wouldn't start so she took mine. I worked from home until noon when I could get someone to jump start it. Then I headed to the airport to verify my luggage size, change my flight, arrange accomodations and rental car with my new Nats roommate and fellow SoCal Crosser, Erik Turner. Tuesday I needed to wrap my bars and I headed to Action Sports. Yeah, I can do it, but this is Nationals, and I want it to look professional (thanks, Sammy). Sam hooked me up with some cold-weather Specialized Radiant gloves and heat for my feet. Then it was back to work, spend time with the family Christmas shopping, then home to tighten my bottom bracket, install my HRM computer, switch my pedals, break apart my Ritchey Break<\>Away cross bike, pack, weigh, unpack, check, and re-check. I ended up getting to bed at 12:30am with a wakeup call at 4 to get to the airport by 5. The nice lady at United, Teri, informed me that my flight from Denver to KC was cancelled, so she booked me on a later PM flight, and put me on Standby for the next earlier flight. She even checked my bags for that earlier flight. These United people are good. I went to the United Customer Service in Denver, and they took me off standby and put me on the next earlier flight. The first hiccup of the the trip is resolved. Sweet. There's nothing better than good customer service. And frequent flier status...;)