Cyclocross results, stories, adventures (and lies) go here

[christian]

It's Tonya. We're tight.

[gavingould]

hoping the Exergy thing doesn't kill USGP this season...

not that i'll be racing in the series (too slow) but we need that development here in the US!

first race of the season was last Sunday here in Chicago... we kick off the season with a relay, switch riders every lap. two person teams, women can race in their age group or category...
masters 40+
masters 30+
cat4
juniors
women (open)
1/2/3
coed!

my 4th season doing cross, i'm a back-of-the-pack cat3 that just doesn't seem to get any faster.

anyway, did the co-ed. car got totaled 2 weeks ago and still waiting on the settlement from the insurance of driver who rear-ended me, so that means i was riding to the race. 15 miles from the northwest side of Chicago to the deep south-east along the lakefront. in the rain. and the Chicago Triathlon was running as i headed down. and then it started raining.

compact course, lots of twisty-turny, no elevation change really. lots of freshly mowed loose grass that's now wet. my tires on the day? file treads. actually they ran pretty well at a proper pressure, i kept it upright... maybe that means i wasn't pushing hard enough. we finished a respectable mid-pack.

[Bruce K]

SUpposedly tomorrow is decision day for the USGP.

Exergy has screwed them pretty badly with unpaid stuff from last year as well as this year's pre-season stuff unpaid.

It will stink if the series goes away as we need a national cyclocross series. Most pro teams/racers will just rearrange their planes to maximize their opportunities for UCI points. It will hurt some of the UCI 2 races when there is a 1 available and it will hurt more local events when there are 1's or 2's available.

If this happen cyclocross will carry on and eventually find a new national series but it will take a bit of work.

BK

[mtb_frk]

I am pretty excited about this.

http://www.eastoncycling.com/en-us/ec90-xd

My bike isn't set up for disc and I have like 4 or 5 wheelsets that would need to be rebuilt but maybe someday.

I currently have a alpha q fork. Does anyone know if they still sell the glue in compression plug? I am thinking about cutting my fork down quite a bit and I think the stem will clamp below the plug if I don't replace it. Or I suppose I could use the Easton plug?

[Fixed]

I found this , in my neck of the woods I bet it is a little different than most of the north east races
Cheers

[mtb_frk]

The USGP is back on. Trek came through as the title sponsor.

[Bruce K]

Good for Trek

The USGP (or a similar national series) is very important for the continued growth and expanding visibility of cross

BK

[Bruce K]

Very HOT cross race today. I could feel myself baking every time we got out into this big open field.

Interesting course. The first third was this long, grinding climb with switchbacks and a log stair 3/4 to the top. This was followed by a corkscrew that spiraled down to its center, made a hairpin turn, and then spiraled back out again to the rim where it led out onto a series of very long, very fast straightaways. All in all the lap was over 2 miles long and took about 7 minutes for the fast Masters to complete.

I rode decently today (for me), managing to outdistance a couple of guys. The new bike handled much better with higher tire pressures but now I think they were too high as grip suffered in a couple of corners. Next race I will back off a couple of pounds in both front and rear.

I ended up passing on the single speed race as my Zanconato SS didn't have enough gear for me to climb the hill comfortably and to gear my Cannondale for the hill and zip tie it would have left me with no top end at all. I am not a runner so.......

Next race is Suckerbrook in two weeks (I think).

BK

[Fixed]

Bruce we need pictures even though you did paint a nice verbal picture .
Congrauations on the first race of the season can't wait to hear about more
Thanks
Cheers

[Bruce K]

I am waiting for photos from friends. Not sure what they took but I know they were doing the iPhone thing.

BK

[Bruce K]

Here's a video of the first lap from the Masters 45+ field at yesterday's Roll in the Hay with BOB:



Give a pretty good idea how intense cross can be

Enjoy

BK

[Fixed]

Thanks Bruce ,that felt I like was in the race with bob ,he seems really smooth going over the barriers ,looks like a great time
Cheers

[Bruce K]

Actually Fixed, I don't know the guys name who posted the video. The organizing club was BOB.

Glad you enjoyed it

BK

[Gummee]

First cross race of the season. Went 'just OK.'

Started at the back of a 125-man field so I knew I wasn't going to be racing for the win. The goal becomes 'pass as many people as you can.' I got up to appx 50th. I heard that only 90 finished tho.

I managed to pick off a few guys/lap till the end.

The 'Continental Mud' aka Grifo 2 tire I had on the back was a little 'slidey' but it broke free predictably and not for very long so I'll give it a conditional thumbs up as a back tire. IDK that I'd run it as a front tire tho.

Pressures were appx 26/28 ft/rr. Bout right for a grassy course like this. Maybe a titch (like 0.5 psi) more would be a little better, but overall, I liked the pressure.

Coupla sizeable crashes that first lap. Guys getting tangled up with each other. That first lap was basically a parade for me and the guys around me. Most of the second lap was too for that matter. Then the 3rd lap opened up and there were gaps to shut down and guys to pass.

Next up: Apple Cross. BIG run-up. :eek1 Last year it was MUH-DEE! We'll see what this year brings.

Jeremy Powers showed up and he and Jared Nieders put on a 'cross clinic.' Those two pretty far out in front of everyone by the beginning of the first 'big' lap. Powers put in a dig after the 'beer tent' and gapped Nieders by a bit. That gap kept getting bigger thru the last lap. Nieders hung on for 2nd. Haymarket would have gotten all 3 podium spots if Powers hadn't shown up. As it was, they got 2nd thru 4th.

GREAT day for cross. Hope y'all had as good a day to race in as we did here in the DC area.

M

M

[JayBay]

Hey Bruce - I did the BOB race too. Fun stuff. It was my first ever cross race. I threw together a write up for my regular riding crew and posted it here, if anyone's interested.

http://home.comcast.net/~jason.howes...ay_Cross_Race/