Sunday, January 31, 2010

Copperas Cove

Sorry for the late post, I'm playing catch up after completely burning out...but more about that later.

Road season kicked off the week after the State Cyclocross championships. No rest for the weary..... The week was a whirlwind of preperation. Glued the Vittoria Open Corsa's (my favorite race tyre) on the still dirty cyclocross rims since my carbon wheels are currently under remodel. Cleaned and tuned up the road bike. Packed up all the roadie gear. And met up with 3 of JPB's strongest Masters riders for the drive up. There was probably close to 50 years of racing experience in the vehicle with me. One of the greatest benefits of this team is the mentorship of the riders, both as racers and as truly good men.

It's always a little unnerving being in the pack during the first race of the season. Getting comfortable being in the middle of 50-80 racers of unknown fitness and bike handling takes a race or two. This race also begin my season as a Cat 3 roadie. Jonathan, Mike H., Jesse, and Alec all joined me for the initiation to the 2010 season in the 3/4 race. The field was about 70-80 strong on a rolling course that started with 7 miles out, followed by a 36 mile loop, and then 7 miles back into town. We started out and TBI and RBM put their teams off the front and each rolled a rider off in a slow attack. With their numbers up front they could make it very hard to organize a chase so I used some newly acquired cyclocross to duck around the pack while passing some sidestreets and jumped up to the two breakaway riders. The field didn't like this move and quickly worked to bring us back and the two other breakaway riders sat up. I kept the pace and soon found myself riding away from the field. After cresting a roller and seeing a decent gap, I accelerated and tried to make this break useful for the team. After about 5 miles of rolling solo a rider bridged and much to my delight it was Jonathan who is riding extremely strong. Jonathan proceeded to drag me around the course for another 20 miles as we fought headwinds most of the time. At the halfway point my legs decided this was more than enough after being used to short cross races and quit. I said goodbye to Jonathan and was slowly drawn back in by the field. I sat in the field for another 8 miles, long enough to see 2 other riders bridge to Jonathan and make the eventual top 3, and then cramped up and watched the field disappear. The last 17 miles were incredibly dull and painful but made somewhat easier after hearing that the break I started eventually led to a 3rd place finish for Jonathan. I hope that my legs will come around to road racing soon.....

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

State Champ 3/4 Video

Here is a short video of the 3/4 race on Sunday to give you an idea of the course conditions. Over the 30 minutes I went all out during the race I averaged a whopping 10 mph.

Lone Star Cyclocross from Matt Haughey on Vimeo.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Mud in my Teeth

Racing cyclocross in Texas usually means hard fast courses with off-camber sections, sand, and barriers but rarely much if any mud. If there is mud it's usually because the race is run into a creek bed and the mud is usually contained in a small part of the course. For the finale this year, the Texas Cyclocross State Championships, it was an exception to that rule. The course was between Austin and Manor at a Travis County park and Mother Nature dumped 2-3 inches of rain on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was the age-based state championships which I passed on since my age category contains 3 of the top 5 riders in the state and Sunday was the category state championships. When I arrived Sunday not only was 50% of the course wet, it was thick mud that had been chewed up from the racing on Saturday. I arrived early to get a preview of the course. I went pretty low on the tire pressure but after the first preview lap I let even more air out of the tires. After one more lap it was apparent it was going to be a brutal course and I went back to the car to pin-up and wash down the bike.

The course started with a long sprint on the road into a 90 degree left that dropped you into the course. Another hard left followed that started a slight decent down towards the pond. About 50 feet before you reached the pond the mud started and grew progessively deeper as you approached the water. Right before the edge of the pond it was a hard right and the course followed the edge of the pond through the thick mud before a hairpin back through the mud to a pair of barriers. After slopping over the barriers it was a left turn and slight climb back out of the mud. The course wound up through relatively dry ground before putting you on a long stretch of paved path. This was the only spot you could recover on the course. After the path it was a muddy off-camber right followed by a left, then another right and then a 2 foot dip down that crossed the path near the pond. The path at this point was covered in mud and water and was extremely slick. The course then went through a dip that had about 2 inches of muddy water in it making it impossible to see what rut or dip you went into and then back out of the water into the mud along the bank of the pond. The course then crossed the path again to a rise with a muddy off-camber left. The transition from the path to the mud had a lip that would catch your rear wheel if you weren't careful with the angle you approached the transition. After another series of turns it was a long slog through the mud that led to a slight climb. The climb would have normally been very ridable but the mud was so thick and chewed up it had to be run up. Another short stint on the paved path led to another muddy run-up and then into a down and back sandpit that had standing water in it. The course then wound back across the paved path a couple more times with treacherous muddy transitions up onto and off the path. After going through the finish the course wound back through some more muddy turns to where the start dropped us on the course.

They did call-ups at the start based on Texas Cup Premier points which I was third, (my teammate Jimmy was first and Brett Kinsey second) and I was called up to the left front spot which was the perfect line for the whole shot. The race started and after an initial rough start I laid down the sprint and got a good gap and the whole shot. I went hard onto the course and but apparently went too hard as I completely slid out through the first corner. I collected myself, got up, and thought I had rolled off my rear tire but everything was fine on the bike. I jumped back on and took off down towards the pond into the mud in about 8th spot. Right before you reached the water it was a hard right in the mud and then it went along the mud before a hairpin that led back through the mud to a pair of barriers. Most of the contenders had a short gap with Cody Davis and Brett Kinsey leading out front. I moved up two spots by the barriers and caught Rolando Roman by the paved path and we were 5th and 6th. As we headed torwards the 2 foot dip I saw Jimmy go down hard on the slick path crossing after the dip. He was still laying on the ground as Rolando and I passed him. We caught the leaders including Cody and Brett as we went to the off-camber left and Rolando attacked right before the first run-up and I tried to ride it, got stuck and had to dismount. Rolando got a gap with Cody, Brett, and I chasing in that order. I passed Brett right after the sand pit and then pushed passed Cody in the first turn after the finish. I hammered through the slippery parts here and managed to dislodge Brett but not Cody. I chased Rolando with Cody on my wheel for the next two laps but Rolando was too strong and rode away from us. Heading torwards the finish before the bell lap I slowed and tried to coax Cody around. He took bait and passed and I sat on his wheel and tried to rest before what I figured would be a sprint at the finish. I followed his wheel around the course through the paved path and then back along the pond. As we entered the tricky off-camber turn/transition with the lip, Cody caught his rear wheel on the lip and went down. I couldn't avoid him, road over his back wheel and went down as well. I was able to get up faster but wasn't able to remount due to all the mud. I ran through the run-up, remounted and took a quick peek to see a small gap but Cody chasing hard. Amazingly we still had enough of a gap that the fourth place finisher still wasn't a threat. I hammered to the second run-up and flew up it thanks to my newly purchased Sidi toe-spikes. I remounted and hammered through the sand pit. After getting through the sand pit I realized I had a big enough gap as long as I managed to stay upright through the next couple of trick path/mud transitions to the finish. I almost lost it on the last transition into the mud running right up against the tape but managed to hold on and take second with a good gap. While second didn't get me the State Champion jersey I had hoped for it did get me a nice silver medal and enough points to overtake both Jimmy and Brett in the points to win the Cat 4 Pemier Cup title for 2009.

Thus ends the 2009 Cyclocross season and the 2010 road race season starts right on it's heels. I feel renewed with a wonderful confidence and looseness going into the road season. None of the pressure from last year's road season exist and the ability to just go race and have fun is liberating. That's what cross does for you and why I love it so much.....

Below are some of the photos my Dad took. Thanks for coming out and supporting me in the cold!!!

With Cody (left) and Brett (center) on the first lap near the sand pit


On the 2nd run-up


Chasing Rolando with Cody Davis mid way through the race


Trying to loose Cody Davis after the sand pit on the last lap


Making the last push for the finish line, that face tells you how hard that race was....

1st and 3rd in the Cat 4 Premier Cup (Cat 3 here we come)

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Digital Velo Artwork

Here is a link to some great digital artwork of the two wheel variety.


Enjoy.....

I...am...SPARTUCUS!!!!

TT bikes are made for speed. To maximize the speed the geomatry and riders position maximize aerodynamics and power but minimize handling. On twisty courses even the best riders in the world have trouble with curves on a TT bike.

Spartucus laughs at a TT bikes poor handling. See below....


To follow-up on the video, this was the last stage of a 9 stage race, a 38.5K (23.9 mile) TT.

Spartucus did it in 45:59, a whopping 1:27 faster then second place averaging 50.2 Kph (31.19 mph) on a curvy course.

To put it in perspective, 2nd through 21st all finished within 1:27 of each other.


Friday, January 8, 2010

Mother Nature Throws Down

It was 25 degrees when I rode into work this morning. I have to give respect to everyone that lives in colder parts of the country or in Europe and races/trains in this weather on a regular basis. It wasn't to bad at first but after about 20 minutes even two pairs of socks and Gore covers couldn't keep my feet warm. Other then my feet I was warm and comfy. The other concern was my bike. The hubs and chain seemed to be threatening to freeze and didn't feel like they were shifting or rolling as well as normal. It made me wonder if the grease used on them had water in it and it was starting to freeze. This was also a little disconcerting. But I made it to work and feel like I won a wrestling match with Mother Nature.

It was fun to challenge myself and do the commute but I'm happy to ride the trainer this weekend. I don't think I have the fortitude to do 2-3 hours in this cold.

Posted from my iPhone

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Real Cross Action

If you want to see real "pro" action, European Cyclocross Videos has it.

In the past couple of days I've been cleaning out filing cabinets and running replays of the World Cup on the TV from this website and it has been awesome.

It's amazing to see the best in the world battle it out.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy Holidays = Food and New Toys

Happy belated holidays!!

Christmas is my favorite holiday and involves massive quantities of food. I'm sure there were a couple of 6000+ calorie days in there. Thankfully I took two weeks off of work and already have 5 50+ mile rides with the team which is 4 more than I have done in the past 3 months. If the weather holds there should be 2 more before I'm back to the normal routine.

The racing schedule is also starting to take shape for the new year. CycloX State Championships are in 2 weeks and the road race season starts the week after. I feel stronger going into this year so maybe I can get over the hurdle in road races and bring the road results up to the TT results.

Finally, a follow-up on a recent toy and a new toy added to the box.

First, the product review follow-up. A couple of months ago I mentioned the Oakley Jawbones that I added to the toy box. After a couple of months of use I have to say they have exceeded my expectations. The optical quality of Oakley's has always been fantastic but where the Jawbones have really exceeded is in the wet and cold conditions this winter. The vented lenses combined with the hydrophobic coating kept the lenses clear even when riding hard in freezing conditions. I haven't had any issues with the lenses fogging up which has happened with other glasses. These have definitely been a great addition to the toy box and if another pair comes along at a good price I wouldn't hesitate at picking them up.

The newest toy is the Nomad Portable Washer. Brett Kinsey had one of these out at several cross races and it worked beautifully. It is a portable power washer that runs off the power outlet in your car. It has a 3 gallon reservoir, a 20 foot hose, and is easy to carry with you. It comes a little late in the cross season but I'm looking forward to trying it out for both race clean-up as well as bike maintenance. Additional follow-up after this toy has seen some action.