Race 7 - Northbrook

Beautiful weather! Arm warmers and knee warmers not necessary. Thanks to the Garner Club and Flatlandia for a really fun day. And thanks Northbrook for letting us torture ourselves in your park.

In the 3s race, I started third line so had to fight pretty hard in order to make up a few spots. That was okay though as my objective today was to not go out so hard that I loose control -or whatever. Well, I did hit the dirt once but sprang right back up. I did lose a position, and a position that I just recently gained. On the previous lap, I passed a racer before the first trip through the sand. I may have kept the gap, but who knows. As the race progressed, I got stronger and smarter. I grabbed a fast wheel into the wind and became smooth in the woods and off-camber sections.

Once, going through the pit the second time, I felt the sand suck the strength out of me, so on the next lap I ran it. Probably just as fast, with about two to go. I didn't get close to top ten, but held my own and finished 18th. Much better than the previous two weeks. I raced hard and found myself thinking about skipping the P123 race. Almost puked once. After a drink and some food, a dry jersey and some sitdown time with the dogs, I punched in and lined up for the one-hour paincave tour.

The whistle blew and when I hit the first turn, I was last. I have been having issues with maintaining power for the entire hour (in other words, I have been bonking) so I bolted on the bottle cage and loaded up on the Cliff stuffs. It's not that I don't eat well the day before or that morning, or even after the 3s, it is simply a matter of my body becoming a caloric blast furnace that knows nothing except for the concept of consumption, digestion, and waste. Kind of like a capitalist neo-liberal. Well, I made sure to drink through out the race, and I past racers who crashed or had mechanicals. I passed one or two riders who looked pretty green.


I was lapped by the leaders and thought my race would be over. In the past races, I did not have to finish the last lap once lapped. Well, as I motioned to the officials that I was lapped and done, they informed me that I had one to go! What a heart breaker! Oh well, I took off again and finally finished 20th.



See ya next week.





As usuall, I was lapped by Scott, and then by four of the leaders. YES!! One more lap! As I pulled over for the finish, the officials standing there shook their heads and smirked, " uh uh, one to go. You're not done." I tried to convince them but to no avail. I rode one more lap at tempo, and then called it a day. See at Indian Lake

Race 5 - Bartlett

Photo by Michael Young
3s Race

I went into turn one smooth and found lots of room. I was able to choose a line, get out of the saddle and hammer. On the straight concrete path, nothing stopped me from pedaling as fast as possible, which I did. Rode really fast through the woods and all around the turns until I got the second part of the woods. I was going so fast, and the front wheel was doing its own thing on the slippery woodchips, that I lost control and crashed into the ground. Thump. Once again, like last week, my chain had come off, the jump stop bent, and me unable to fix either for 2-3 minutes. After a few laps, I was close to contacting a few teammates, but then I stuck my foot into my front wheel and endoed. This incident pretty much ended my race, so I then rode the remaining two at high tempo so that I might save some gas for the P123.

P123

After the first turn, I set a goal to stay in contact with the back of the racers. I also brought on board some Gatorade and gel. It is really hard to drink or eat anything during a cross race. You breath so hard that you can't swallow and often end up choking. I also had issues getting my bottle back in the jersey, so I tossed it off to the side. When it came time to put down the gel, I had nothing to wash it down with, so the shot kind of lingered around in the back of my throat. But what I did eat helped. I did not bonk unit 3 laps to go. By the last lap, many riders passed me and I had to go into endurance zone. Thankfully. My last lap was a cool down. This was my best race of the day, and my best P123 race of the year so far.

So far, the season has been more difficult then expected. I am also really, really tired. Looking forward to my restweek, with this Sunday off! Uf dah!

Race 4 - Carpentersville

Great form Newt! What are you doing Pankonin? Besides getting ready to crash?

Tough day in the ol' cross office. North Branch Cycling created a great course and all was well organized. The pump section proved to be the coolest, and I found I was able to get through the four to five humps pretty quickly. On the whistle, I clipped in and hit it as hard as I could. Pretty smooth and we all went through the first few turns with only a few tangles. I dodged the mess and hit the gas. Towards the end of the first lap, we went around a tree wide to avoid its root, and my pedal struck the grass causing me to fish tail my back wheel, into Jeff's front wheel. I looked back to see the damage I caused. Jeff somersaulted while still clipped in! He and his bike tumbled over each other, but he was only down for maybe 15 seconds. He lost no time or positions.

Lap two was crash city for me. While jumping the middle barrier in the triple section, my back wheel caught and knocked my bike off balance, which then knocked me down and off the course. I went flying under the tape as racers went by. My bike was still there chillin', almost balanced on top of the damn barrier! My problems continued as I struggled to get the chain back on the ring. I bent the jump stop and had to muscle it and the chain back in place. It's horrible to hear them race by as you sit there doin' it in the dirt!

And then on the next barrier, my wheel struck again! I just wasn't concentrating. I passed a handful of dudes and then found some good company with Kirby and Luke. We rode pretty well together and finished strong. Time to start thinking about the P123.

Hey, I got a call up because not all ten pros showed up! Just great! Now I can get smoked in proper fashion! I actually felt pretty good, racing behind the pack. Passed quite a few folks until Mike C., Jeff, and I formed our own group. Mike had a great move splitting us over the barriers. Really smooth with no bumping.

But, here we go again. Three laps to go and I'm coming into Crashville, population -me. Went around a turn really hot and the bike went right out from under me. Landed right on my front side. I remember being really still so I wouldn't get run over, then thinking, hey, maybe I'll just stay here in the soft grass.

Nope, gotta get this extra credit done. After this crash, with leaves in my front zippers and in my bars and breaks, I hit the wall. I became cold and hungry and worst of all, weak. I finished 20th and not last. Time for a Chubby Spud and a cold one. See ya'll in Bartlet.