End and Beginning

Cross season is almost over with only the State Championships to go in January. The whole purpose of racing cross is to have fun and find the love of riding and racing again. Now the road season is on the horizon and it's the moment of truth. Joe's Pro Bikes started their two week training camp on Saturday. I have to work most of the first week but was really looking forward to getting out and mixing up with teammates I haven't seen in a couple of months.

Saturday was a ride in Boerne and there was about 20 guys out which is one of the best showings for any ride recently. My recent trend of forgetting things continued as I forgot my bike pack that has all my tools, air, patch, tube, and other necessities. Fortunately none of it was needed. We rode out to Ranger Creek Rd and then split into teams of four to practice some race tactics. It was a lot of fun racing out Ranger Creek which is almost all uphill going out and then racing back downhill. What was supposed to be a short and fast 2 hour ride turned into a 3 1/2 hours of hard riding.

Sunday was a ride in Fredericksburg. My legs were feeling the effects of Saturday and I was praying for a slow day. It was in the mid to upper 30s at the start but perfectly sunny and beautiful. This ride I forgot food and gloves and was wondering if I was going to be able to ride at all but Phillipe had an extra set of gloves so I made do. We did 3 hours of riding on the county and farm roads that go through the beautiful hill country around Fredericksburg. It warmed up nicely and our group of about 10 had a blast. I found that my love for riding has returned and the camaraderie of cycling is vastly underrated. Below are a few pictures from Fredericksburg. Pardon the mediocre quality but its the best an iPhone can deliver.

Hanging out

Beautiful roads

Not a car anywhere

More stopping

Jimmy taking a "nap"

The View

Houston Weekend - Video

Here is a video of Saturday's Open race.

Houston Weekend - Part 2

Sunday lacked the mud that made Saturday so brutal but it was course with lots of hairpins, a very long straight away, and one slippery run up. The weather was cloudy, in the mid-40s, with drizzle, and 10-15 mph winds. It would be another tough day.

I was second on the sprint behind Brett of Austin Flyers to start but he carried to much speed and over-cooked the first hairpin and I jumped and got another good gap. I carried it till the second lap when I got lazy going over the barriers, caught the bike on the first barriers and went down hard. I grabbed the bike and banged the shifters back into place but my gap was shrinking quickly. I was caught on the run-up by a guy on a mountain bike who turned out to be a Cat 1 on the road and had a motor I couldn't match. I chased for a while but it was futile and just burned me out. Eventually I was caught and passed by one more rider. I tried to bring them back but felt Saturday's effort and couldn't find the burst I needed. I finished 3rd and Jimmy got 6th for what was very successful weekend.

The weekend's adventures were not over though. The rain was getting harder as we headed back to San Antonio. About 40 miles outside of Houston without warning the driver side windshield wiper came loose and flew off the car. The passenger windshield wiper went pretty far to the left so I took up a gangster lean towards the middle of the car and continued torwards Columbus where Jimmy and I planned to stop for lunch. About 5 miles down the road the passenger side windshield wiper suddenly exited the vehicle and I was sans wipers. I carefully got off the highway at the next exit which fortunately contained a small town with a O'Rielly's Autoparts. I purchased and installed a new set up wipers and noticed the trash can outside the store was completely full of wiper blade boxes. There was evidently a windshield wiper black hole in the area.

Houston Weekend - Part 1

Cross racing in Europe involves racing in mud and snow but races in the US are typically "crits on grass". US races are usually on hard, fast course with the occassional sand pit or mud to break up the speed. When I checked the weather and saw it was going to be a wintery weekend I expected it would be a little warmer in Houston but Friday came around and Houston received 3-4 inches of snow.

I drove up to Houston on Saturday morning to meet Jimmy for Cross Houston at Bayou Park. We got to the park and first appearance it looked like a fast course. It turned out to be anything but... It was upper 30s and sunny at the start of the race. The race started by dropping us in the back half of the course into a long straight-away. As the course went under the bridge there was two deep ruts across the course except for the far left. Jimmy and I lined up on the left so as to force the other riders to go through the ruts or fall in behind us. The whistle blew and we went out hard. I took the whole shot. Right after the straight away was a hard right to a very steep climb. I made the choice to run it as opposed to trying to mash my way up and burning myself out. I ran up and had a good gap by the top. Jimmy was a little behind me and had a gap on the strung out field. The course wound around the park before leading to a paved area. It then went through a couple of small, ridable sand traps before coming back to the start/finish. I went through the start/finish onto the front half of the course for the first time while maintaining a decent gap. Right after the start/finish it went into some heavy mud followed by a wet run-up. I rode into the mud, dismounted and struggled up the slippery slope. When I re-mounted the bike it felt like the rear brake was locked and I feared the mud had clogged it up. I struggled to push pedals and Jimmy caught and passed me and I knew the rest of the field couldn't be far behind. Finally something gave way and I was chasing Jimmy. I went into the first corner and hit the brake and there was no rear brake. The rest of the race I rode with only the front brake and was a kamikaze through the turns. The course then dove down into another mud pit that was about 20-25 feet of thick, soupy, ankle deep mud. When you finally slogged through the mud and re-mounted, the grass was so water logged you could barely pedal to the barriers. After hurdling the barriers it was back to the straight away where we started. I caught and passed Jimmy on the second lap and had a lead again. Going down into the mud pit the second time, just as I dismounted the rear tire slipped and I fell flat into the mud. I quickly grabbed the bike and ran while spitting mud out of my mouth. I kept waiting for the field to catch me but it never happened. I had my first ever cross victory. Jimmy was caught on the last lap but was in the perfect position to take the sprint but a bobble in the sand caused him to get third. It was the toughest course I have ever done and the most exhausted I have ever been after a race but it is a great feeling when it comes with a win. Sweet Leaf Tea sponsored the race so the prizes were cases of tea.

Race Start

Running through the mud

Jimmy running through the mud

Jimmy hurdling the barriers

Tea Toddlers