kirtland pump station

welp the season is over...This was my second year racing at Kirtland park, and I love this course. I think it's a perfect course for a single speed. There is really only one section were racers can gear up, otherwise it's turns, technical climbs, switchbacks, and two 'day of reckoning style' stair cases that frame the course on the east and west sides. Just like last year the stairs and a technical dismount-180-around-a-tree-on-a-hillside-switchback are what saved the race for me, ....well at least made it so I was able to hang with the fast guys. I never like the first lap of the race, they're crowded, no one's willing to give an inch and people take unnecessary risks. Fortunately for me one of those unnecessary risks was racers trying to ride this 180 around the tree thats on a hillside switchback. Every time I ran this kooky section I either passed a racer or made up a great deal of time on someone who passed me. Otherwise I spent most of the race passing and then getting passed by a Stark Velo racer, I think his name was David. Finally in the 7th lap after the first stair run he blew by me in the flat, and I thought damn thats it, I'm gassed and there is no way I can catch him. But low and behold on next and final lap he tried to ride the dirt path parallel to the second section of stairs, where he stuttered, faltered and failed. Earlier in the race I caught him here but he immediately blew by me on the remount. This time around I had caught up right behind him and ran those old concrete stairs as hard as I possibly could, stairmaster, and hoped for a smooth remount as I was passing him. Success! and then went wide open, full throttle, pedal to the metal, as fast as my stumpy legs could spin through the spiral of death on the baseball diamond and home into tenth place. and then on to Happy Dog for some grub.

I'm bummed the season's over and very excited for next year.

graph

So here's a quick chart I made of my six race season. It progresses chronologically from left to right across the x axis. The y axis is place ratio, which is my attempt to control for the varying field size between races, its just my finishing place divided into the total racers. I don't know what is this is the best way to represent the data, or how I can properly weight each race, as a last place ratio would be 1 but a first place ratio would be asymptotic and possibly not accurately representative. A 5th in a field of 44 would have a much larger ratio than 5th in a field of 63.

The CRC Solon and Chagrin river races were raced with a 7 speed index system on 27inch wheel and riser bars ( using my normal Centurion frame). All other races were with my normal single speed setup.

What does this tell me ?
I was physically unprepared for the season. I most certainly need to dedicate more time to getting race ready. This year I didn't start riding (outside of commuting to work, school and playing bike polo) until mid June, and even then it was inconsistent and lacked interval and heart rate training completely

Also being psychologically prepared, going into the Kirtland park race knowing I can easily finish top ten made a world of difference.

Heart rate training. Just before the chagrin river race I started keeping track of my heart rate when I was exercising. I believe that that over the course of the following four weeks was one of the biggest contributors to the vast difference between my early season and late season races.

Needless to say there is plenty of room for improvement between now and next year.

happy dog

I'm no food critic, but I feel the need to give this place some props.
If you're in Cleveland and on the near west side 58th and Detroit to be specific, I would suggest swinging by the Happy Dog. At first $5 for a hot dog ( or vegan sausage) seemed a bit steep, but that $5 includes any or all of 50 gourmet toppings. Vodka sauerkraut, chorizo chili, fresh tomato slices, kimchi, peanut butter, bourbon baked beans just to name a few. All alongside an awesome atmosphere. A little over a year, maybe two years ago the Happy Dog restructured themselves changing up their menu with the help the owner of Momocho, and few other things such as getting some great local band s to play there and starting events like a pinball league. Since then I've made a monthly sometimes tri-monthly trek westward to dine on delicious dogs, tater tots and a brew from a seemingly endless selection. Its also a great low key place to watch a browns, cavs or tribe game.
note
happy dog has fast become a local cycling scene favorite. After yesterday's (11-21) cyclocross race I went there with the 'rents and my g/f only to run into a few other racers there, and then learned later on in the day (well after we had left) that 40 some had stopped there after the awards ceremony.

pre last race '10

Last race of the season is coming up on Sunday. Apt timing too as I have far too much catching up to do with my grad school classes. (not that I'm really behind, I'm much more dedicate to being a good student than a good cyclocross racer) Browns are playing away this weekend so I'm gonna try to get as many people as possible to tailgate the race. At the very least give my friends a visual to put with my most likely boring stories that i tell them. If there is one thing that I learned this year its that I didn't dedicate enough time training and getting in shape before the season. Its always easier to put something off or substitute it with something easier, or call it quits early on a work out, but in the end I end up cursing myself for those shortcuts. I don't desire to be the fastest racer out there, just to have good competitive races, and those don't happen without investment. I know it sounds corny

also still following the j-pow behind the barriers, I think they're great. my g/f thinks it's just bike dorks with a bored cameraman.

"Behind The Barriers" Episode 7 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.

new belg

bad for Todd Wells day at 2 min 50 sec
looks painful on the right leg
guess thats what one gets for showboating

blue sky z 11-14-2010

Returned to racing single speed cross at the Blue Sky (or not) race in Euclid. I like it much better than using a junky hodge podge sis setup. The course was well balanced, switch backs, a spiral of death, some technical mazey turns, mud, a hill run up, some long power sections and lots of off camber stuff. At Blue Sky I reached a few personal firsts

• successfully and repeatedly remounting of the bike by doing the jump and land your bum on the saddle technique, instead of the normal stagger and throw one leg over
• first top 10 finish this season
• first time I raced with 'low' tire pressure around 35 psi I assume, I didn't have any tool to measure
• firs post race puke.. this season

the low tire pressure made all the difference in the world! no joke. Forever I blew off riding low pressure as a fallacy and myth. Was I ever wrong. Go figure the Ritchey Speedmax tires which I have so often cursed worked wonders when properly inflated...

the saddle jump was something I didn't do on every remount but I made it on several. That too makes a world of difference. My typical technique is that if I'm near (within a 1/4 or so of the course) an approaching set of barriers is to just hang back behind the group that I'm trying to catch and then go full tilt into the barriers do a running like a bat out of hell dismount to pass everyone. Adding the saddle jump just made the only thing I'm fast at doing even faster. awesome.

puking sucked but the last time I made top ten in a race I booted it as well.

Even though I hit the deck probably four times throughout the race I felt great never gassed or unable to catch my breath, and passed tons of racers (for once). Only one person passed me after I had wrecked and gotten myself tangled in the tape, subsequently spending the rest of the race trying to unsuccessfully catch him. Needless he finished 14 seconds ahead of me, about the time I spent in the tape. I don't know what the secret was this race. I felt and rode great and it seemed like the majority of the field was just the opposite. I'm gonna call this one luck, I think some of the top B series racers were no shows and everyone else just had a bad start or something ... i dunno

interestingly enough this race I finished 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind the lead and took 9 place in a field of 44, and in the kent stark race I also finished 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind the lead but took 22 out of a field of 44.

a couple of numbers

NEOCX b series
The average age of the top 10 finishers of the CX races that I've participated in this year is 33.95. The time gaps between first and tenth vary between two minutes and just over four minutes, most races tend to be closer to four minutes. With the data available, typically, I finish between 4 and 5 1/2 minutes behind the first place finisher. So, for most races the ensuing 10-15 racers finish within two minutes of the top 10. For the most part approximately 10 racers every two minutes is the range for every race this season give or take about 20 seconds. Two more races left in the season, When I get some time, most likely after the semester, I'll get some real statistics up here, not approximations.

other media

Missed the race this weekend because I had to catch up on some major homework time. Grad school + work = middle of the pack cyclocross. Anyways here's some great cross videos that I've been watching to break the monotony of reading and writing.

Cross Crusade Race #2 Rainier High School from Burk Webb on Vimeo.

these are both from the same race of the Cross Crusade Series out in Oregon. The second video in particular has some great shots along with some Rush tunez. The bridge with the kids going over the barriers is great, sometimes I feel like that. Whoever produced the second video has a lot of great vids on vimeo from this season. There's only one video of the series I race in and it was just a shaky handi cam 30 seconds of a le mans start. This cross crusade series has two videos that people spent time editing and production. ridiculous. redickyouluss

I've also been following the Jeremy Powers web show Behind the Barriers. It's really dorky. reaally dorky.. but still fun, if you're into cross i guess

"Behind The Barriers" Episode 6 from Behind The Barriers on Vimeo.

next week is Euclid then one more race and I'm done

anti hipster legislation

not that any of this really affects me as an inept amateur racer

Fixie Hipsters Need Not Apply
Also Fixed gear bicycles will not be allowed in cyclocross events, all bikes must have a freewheel and two brakes: UR10.18 1M3 Cyclocross bikes – freewheel – Tom Simonson. This makes it clear that all cyclo-cross bikes must have a freewheel. 1M3. Bicycle Types (a).. (b) For road, cyclocross (including single speed classes) and MTB races, only a bicycle with a freewheel and one working brake on each wheel shall be used, except as allowed elsewhere in these rules.”

source: cyclocross magazine

I've only raced one race with against someone on a fixed gear and he whooped me and most of the field. I'm not too keen on the necessity of outlawing fixed gears in cross. Maybe in areas with larger fixter populations a deluge of inexperience poorly controlled fixies have proven a nuisance and safety hazard in the races. I feel that this proposed legislation along with the banning of carbon wheels and tubular tires for kiddies is a bit too prescriptive / "we know whats right for you". Mandating front and rear brakes makes plenty of sense. I would most likely never race on a fixed gear bike, but I fail to see the reasoning behind banning a bike if its fixed gear and has a front and rear brake.

Perhaps the cx magistrates may have taken on the nativist m.o., and fixed gears and expensive wheels for juniors do not constitute or contribute to true cyclocross culture. Deviation from whatever their vision of cyclocross culture dilutes and possibly even compromises the integrity of the sport. In theory then, cross culture was founded by those who rode freewheels and did not spend freely on their children. The success and maintenance of cyclocross demands relying on these foundations.

I find these odd, but not odd enough to contact a representative

not that any of this proposed legislation will hamper (or really concern me whatsoever) my pitiful efforts in cyclocross. also there is a clause at the end of the fixed gear proposal that allows for exceptions except as allowed elsewhere in these rules.