Spontaneity

If any of you have laboured through reading this blog over the last year you'll have noted that It's pretty biased towards cyclocross. Not sorry for that, it is the best sport around, especially in any of the cycling disciplines. Which brings me to something else I noted at cross practice last night. Spontaneity. CX Practice started pretty much as usual, heart rate out the top of my head on the first lap of the pretty hilly course, trying to keep up with the faster guys, letting out air in the tires, running barriers, general asphyxiating fun! After about four laps I noticed a group forming near the barriers, people just chatting not really wanting to go as hard as we were. Demonstarting dismounting and remounting to new comers, doing crazy stuff like trying to dismount and remount on the right side of the bike. Over the course of conversation, people started riding as slow as possible around in tight overlapping circles, track standing when your path was blocked by another rider seeing who could stand the longest. Good hearted fun and laughter. We must of looked really strange to other people in the park ( if you are a cyclist of any stripe you are used to that though). Eventually, Mike Seek our unofficial leader and one of the Wise Micheals, started riding around light poles that formed a triangle and people started to follow. Spontaneity happened, and everyone followed suit riding around like crazy meeting in the middle heading toward the next light pole, whipping left an right to avoid colliding with each. Faster and faster we rode, all right hand turns, and the like a square dance everyone turned a rode in the opposite direction. Soon we were just riding in one big loop around two of the poles, and jumping the barrier at the third point of the triangle. Racing each other to the turn, cutting each other off, and laughing the whole way. This went on until the sun was setting. That's the longest I can remember staying on Wednesday nights. It was spontaneous! Imagine trying to do something like that on a road ride, and I know it's a different animal, but cross is so open to creativity and freedom of movement and such a social thing. You actually get to know the people that show up each week. Sometimes when I'm riding the road a lot I feel like I'm in a coloring book and can't go outside the lines. Thank goodness it's only three weeks till cross season starts, where the lines are constantly moving.

Running Behind

Well, this past Wednesday was the first of the 4 Cyclocross training races hosted by Ned Dowling and the folks at Biowheels of Asheville. The race was held at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, NC. I have to say, I was very nervous on the way over the mountains as to how things would turn out but also happy and exited that it is the beginning of cross season. On the way over I questioned my fitness level, I'm fit, but not in race condition and was even wondering if I should race the 30:00 "A" race.

Upon arrival and seeing the course set up with lots and lots of turns and a ride/run up, self said to self "you gotta go 45" then you'll have a benchmark. Even though this was only a training race I still got the jitters lining up with about 20 other riders. All but a handful that were Pro's and CX3's. Mike and I took our rightful place in the back with a few girls. Girls that looked like they could beat us. The start was pretty fast and we all got gnarled up in a big wad at the first narrowing of the course. Why is everyone pulling away from us? next thing I new I was even behind the girls. As things usually go for me after a few laps, things settled down, and people started coming back to me as I pushed to catch them. Realizing that this is a training race and not wanting to burn matches I'll need later in the year, I went hard but not to hard. I eased of and let the people go that I was gaining on. I did however get into an impromptu competition with one of the ladies. I caught her and passed her, and a few laps later, as I was getting lapped for the second time and moving over as a courtesy to the faster riders the girl on the MTB went passed me. Now racing, even a training race, is more fun if you have someone to compete with. I certainly can't compete with pro 1/2 guys and most of the CX 3's, but it was fun to push a little harder and swap places with someone on the course.

The course was the perfect training venue, all the elements that you need to master were a part of the course. Hills, ride/runup, lots of tight turns, sweeping turns, a long flat, a transition from grass to pavement, pavement to gravel, and of course two sets of barriers. Anyone who is a beginner needs to do the next race on September 24th. Far better to hone skills at Wednesday Night Cross than at an actual race.

All in all I didn't do to bad:

1. made the 45:00 (back hurt toward the end)
2. felt good the whole time
3. rode the ride/run up each time (dabbed once at the top)
4. didn't get beat by the girls
5. wasn't last
6. and, Dwight Wyatt didn't lap me.(close but no banana)

I can tell that I'm definitely behind where I was last year, but maybe I'll be in better shape toward the middle of the season when things really get tough. It sure is good to get a race in and back on the CX bike.

PS: go here read my bud Dwight's blog. He did a much better job of descriping the experience (especially the snot), plus there's pics!

Crossin' on the Creeper

I'm really happy with my cross bike. It has to be the most versatile bike I have. It can be ridden on paved roads, gravel roads, dirt roads, mtb trails, and of course raced in a cross race. A few years ago I rode my Bianchi on the Virginia Creeper Trail and was so happy with it on that kind of terrain that I never road the MTB on it again (sold it a few months ago). Ever since riding on the Creeper I wanted to ride the entire trail from Abingdon to White top and back, which is 66.8 miles. If you ride on the road a lot that doesn't sound that impressive, but riding on the surface of a former rail road bed requires a lot more effort than a smoothly paved road.

We were supposed to start riding at nine from Abingdon, but I got to Jeff's late, and then he forgot some of his stuff, so by the time we got there it was 9:40. Mike was taking a look at Jonell "AC" Johnson's chain when he realized the one link had completely separated from the outside of the chain, so rather than send her back home we shortened the chain and finally got underway around 10:00 AM. There was a lot of traffic on the trail, good looking runners who must have been kin, they all had "Shorter" on their shirts. After weaving through all the runners we rolled pretty fast at around 15 to 16 mph. The trail was beautiful, a corridor of trees and then open fields. When we arrived at Alvarado I looked up the road and thought I saw a dog crossing the trail when someone else saw and yelled bear! It was huge, about as tall as my saddle is from the ground. Probably around three hundred pounds. I joined in the chorus of "bear, bear, bear!" as people back in the parking lot we had just past began walking toward where we were. The bear ran across the road and up hill, stopped, turned and looked at us for about 20 seconds and then wondered off in to the bushes. Fortunately, it must have been a male since there were no cubs around. I'd have been hauling ass in the other direction if there had been.

After about an hour we rolled into Damascus and took "AC" over to Adventure Damascus to get her chain replaced. We talked the whole to time to Dave, another South African American. He seemed pretty surprised when I asked him if he was from South Africa, and seemed happy that some one in his adopted country new of his home country. Once the chain was fixed we started out of Damascus and up to White Top, which is a steady grade that runs for almost 17 miles getting steeper the more you near White Top. I've never seen so many herds of unhelmeted riders of the larger persuasion, putting along in a coast as we actually climbed faster than they descended. Got a lot of strange looks as we passed on road bikes at a fast pace. Many people gave the thumbs up. I think we were the only people on the whole trail going up hill? Climbing at the pace we were, on the rough surface, and knobby tires, hunger made it's way into the situation and I new if we didn't stop and eat on the way back I was going to bonk. Never get this way on a road ride. No one else objected to the idea.

After a very fast descent from White Top, slowed intermittently by the herds, we stopped at Taylor's Valley and ate at the Creeper Trail Cafe. That place has to be a gold mine since every time I've been there the place is packed. Had an awesome hamburger and french fries, really hit the spot, lots of annoying music playing though. On the trail again Jeff and I were "attacking" each other as he puts, but that was short lived as the awesome hamburger tried to come up. Racing each other put us ahead of everyone, so I made the obligatory stop at Mojoe's coffee shop while everyone caught up. Nothing like a good cup off coffee in the middle of a 70 mile ride. There should be coffee stands on the side of the road on every route we ride..... I digress. On the way out of Damascus I noticed the only Rail on the whole trail. We were riding pretty fast at about 20mph when I dodged it. Billy hit it and blew a tire for the second time on the day. "AC" decided to ride on ahead while Billy repaired his tire. Repairs completed, we started off to catch "AC." The flat tires, and the urge to just be done with it must have taken hold of Billy. We started off at reasonable pace off 20mph when Billy came around like he had a bee up his shorts and accelerated up to 24mph! 24mph on a pea gravel surface, with knobby tires? I never thought I would be riding on the Creeper trail in a pace line at 24mph. After about a mile he finally swung off and we slowed to a reasonable 21, since that was as fast as I could go. We caught Jonell pretty quickly. The last eight miles were about as hard as anything I've ever done and with three miles to go Billy took off again and I went too. We were of the same mind " I'm ready to get this done". It rained for a few miles but just as we got back to Abingdon the bright sun returned.

This was a great ride, something different and great training. I rode 73 miles and averaged 15mph. The combination of the distance, terrain, and pace, kicked my butt. I felt like a had done a road ride with multiple mountain climbs. Can't wait to do it again, may even ride slow enough to enjoy the scenery.