Xmas eve riding..

VeganRob, Matt Miller and I headed for a long road ride from his place in Nazareth towards Raubsville to pick up Jay DeJesus. We paralleled the Delaware on the PA and NJ side for awhile. Only one near abduction incident for Matteo and a van (and a big time bonk), one near crash into a pothole with no hands for me, a bunch of time pulling the group for Robbie, and an uneventful day for Jay.

I nearly bonked at the end of the 4.5 hours rolling back into Nazareth 82 miles later, kind of a fast pace for a winter ride?? Time to start building that endurance for next year, I've got two 4.5 hour rides under my belt so far this winter. I know - child's play for some of you out there.

Oh Swaitek was gonna post, before he found out Jay was coming as he didn't want to make Rob jealous of all the Matt's on the ride.

Merry Christmas!

Winter time..

Well winter is finally here, we've been really lucky this so far with some really warm days in November and December. This past Sunday a bunch of us rode Jim Thorpe in about 2-3 inches of fresh snow. It was VeganRob's dogs (Dakota) birthday ride, where last year at Salisbury there were about 25 people - this year only 7 of us for the snowy thorpe ride.

I made it out twice on lunch this week, with Monday's ride being a bit of failure on gear choice. I probably could've used some ear coverage and some shoe covers. It was in the high 30's, so my feet, and ears were quite cold - gotta remember all the gear choices for the different conditions.

Belgium Night at FSX is fast approaching, along with a 40th birthday party for the Flahute of Flanders. It seems a lot of people are already sick for Friday, it's gonna be one of those nights.

Home sweet home..

This year's edition of Thanksgiving Leftover Afternoon FSX took place yesterday. And unlike the previous events of this season, FSX returned home to it's truely cool location. Unlike the "new formerly coolest cross race ever" location, this course as those who've raced the old course will tell you is more of a mountain bike'ish course.


The family vibe continued this year with the kid's race starting out the day, followed by the standard 20 min + 1 lap, race for people who don't race, team race, goat field miss & out, and an individual time trial.

It was a fun-filled day of racing in unseasonably mild November temps, with a bunch of socialzing thrown in. It was great to see everyone out there, old and new fsx'rs. Thanks to the Strickland's for opening their doors to us yet again! Now its back to the new venue for the remainder of the season.

Next up Irish Night, Belgium Night and Merry Crossmas, oh and 24 hours of FSX is supposed to be a go. See ya all there.

Double crossed...

Saturday:

First up for the double UCI cyclocross weekend was Granogue. The DCCoD have an in with the Dupont's, and put on one hell of a cool race on their grounds just outside of Wilmington, DE. I raced the "B" race at noon, with a huge field of 120 or so racers. We were called up in order of registration, putting me around the 7th or 8th row. It was like one big slip and slide, but I rode a smooth race with only one crash. There were 2 runup sections which is where I seem to lose the most time.

Apparently they shortened up our race, removing a section that included some barriers. I don't think anyone was sorry about that. I finished up 48th out at 120'ish, I felt ok with that considering the conditions and my weak running.

After my race, I got to pit for Yozell and that was a pretty interesting view of a race. With a much mud there, he was pitting every 1/2 lap. He was running 3 bikes, so that helped keep things running smoothly. Bill Elliston helped get me started, and there was a few guys Mike knew that were helping as well. Mike finished 2nd place, amond a pack of very talented pack of racers.

Sunday:

Day 2 of the weekend, Wissahickon. This race isn't actually held at Wissahickon in Philly, but just outside Pottstown in Ludwigs Corner at a horse show area. The conditions were looking better than yesterday, as least I thought so. It was windier than Saturday, with minimal rain yet still pretty muddy.

I got a better starting position, around 4th or 5th row but on the outside in the gravel. I probably should've tried getting more towards the middle of the road. There was a crash right behind me that took down quite a few riders, and apparently one guy got trampled a bit - with a few broken ribs and a collarbone.

There were probably another almost 120 guys in this race, I finished 42nd. Its crazy how many people show up to these races, both to race and spectate. The vibe at a cross race is COMPLETELY different than a mtn bike race.

I'm not sure why I'm lifting the bike so high over the barriers, and I really need to work on technique for run-ups and barriers. Watching Yozell fly over the barriers is crazy. He has it timed perfectly, I feel like I have to jump over them - whereas he just strides over them.

Epic conditions...

Last night was the 2nd FSX of the year. It was true cross conditions - 30's and rainy, with a very large turn-out for Sausage Night. It was decided in order to prevent hypothermia between the races, we would only do one 33 minute plus a lap race format.

The shortcut involved downing 1/2 a raw hot dog before leaving on the shortcut loop. I took the shortcut loop every lap, remaining in the top 5 or 6 the whole race. I was riding behind flask most of the race, but lost contact after a slip & slide after the fence area near the barriers. I kept trying to get back onto the group but was about 10-15 seconds back for the remainder.

Thanks to SMC and Robi for sponsoring this night, and the after party at Robi & Susan's house. What a sausage fest it was back at their house, with hot dogs, white sausages, potatoes and lots of beer.

Looks like more epic cross conditions to follow for the weekend. I just finished getting all the grass/mud off my bike only to do it all over again on Saturday @ Granogue, and Wissahickon on Sunday. This will probably be my first and only double race weekend for the year, as I'm still on vacation. See you all out there in the mud!

-matt

Two in a row...

Today's weather proved to be challenging, looking for a break in the rain to get out for a few hours. The radar showed nothing and the hourly forecast looked good from 11 - 4, however it was raining most of the time.

I had to make a parts run to SMC for a preload cap for some XT cranks for my Niner One9 singlespeed project. I also had to return a headset removal tool that I borrowed to strip the Jet9 for the recall process. I kitted up with knee warmers, a hat, and a vest which I quickly removed even though it was still raining.

I felt surprisingly fresh on the bike, after yesterday's cross race. It seems that wouldn't last all that long. I got to SMC with about 10 minutes before closing, enjoyed a quick latte and an Emmaus Bakery donut, (very tasty). I grabbed my part and headed to Yozell's to pick up a tool to fix the lousy water bottle cage bolts on my Cannondale 29'er.

A quick bottle refill and I was off, starting to feel the previous days effort and the almost 30 miles of riding. It was a mostly uneventful ride home with what seemed like every road went uphill. There was an interesting thing that happened, I was riding up the road and there was a kid maybe 12 or 13 years old walking a fairly large black lab. I didn't feel like being chased, and wasn't sure if I should announce myself and be chased or just try to sneak by safely undetected. I chose the latter option, so I shifted into the big ring before approaching the dog & kid. As I passed them the dog tried to chase and must have had the leash wrapped around the kid, and down he went on the slippery road. I probably looked funny, but sucked for the kid (and I did feel kinda bad) but I'm sure it was the smarter choice for me having not to be chased on a slick wet road.

I hit up some dirt/gravel roads on the way home, and some slick climbs so steep I almost couldn't keep traction. I definitely was pretty cooked by this point, so it was kinda hard to recover from. Well this concludes my weekend off from work, and it was really nice having two days off in a row. Back to work tomorrow, and I hope to be able to figure out my schedule in order to ride FSX, we shall see.

'night.

Cross...

Mandatory monthly update prompted by VeganRob and Bill Strickland. Rob's ready to stop visiting, and Bill only uses me for my links :)

First cross race of my season was today - Whirlybird Cross at ByrnAthyn college near Philly. The weather couldn't be more perfect, 60's partly cloudy with a breeze. I rolled up to the event around 9:30 to get prepared for the 11am "B" race.

I got to cheer on some peeps in the C race, while warming up trying to figure out tire pressures for my recently acquired tubular wheelset. I settled on somewhere around 30'ish on my floor pump gauge, this would prove to be a little high in the front and low in the rear. I kept feeling like the rear tire was flat and rolling a bit too much.

I got to the start line with about 10 minutes to spare, hooked up with Matt Allyn and Ryan of Flanders and Jamie Harris. We were admiring the FU pit bike that Ryan was racing while waiting for call ups. Ryan and Kremer got a callup, leaving the rest of us to fight it out for some prime start line real estate.

Matt Allyn, PropaneJamie, Gunnar, and I all had some pretty good position near the front. I commented on Gunnar getting ready to trackstand until the whistle and crashing the field, well he didn't crash the field by somebody did - Plunkett unfortunately got slowed up in this crash. Apparently someone broke their ankle at the start, and someone else broke their femur on the C race.

I had a decent start probably top 20ish, though losing some places quickly. I chased Matt Allyn most of the race catching up to him in the corners, and getting dropped on the flats - man that dude has some power. I also tried staying with PropaneJamie when he passed me, no such luck there either. Matt had about a 20-30 second gap, which I tried very hard to close put couldn't get anywhere, until he rolled a tubie and grabbed a pit wheel. We rode the last half lap together and he crashed in the gravel, lost his chain and I passed him.

I finished 31st of 60 or so riders, with Matt right behind me - though he was riding REALLY strong and would've probably placed top 20 with no mechanical issues. It was a very fun race, great course, great people and perfect conditions. I stayed to cheer/heckle all my friends, Erica took the W in the elite womens race, X2 killed it in her first elite cross race!

Yozell won the elite mens race (damn that family is fast) Stephan got 2nd just ahead of Bahnson. The elite races were a lot of fun to watch, how fast and smooth these guys are. They seem to gain speed when it comes to the barriers.

I should have some pics to share from Anthony @ Cyclingcaptured.com soon. I hope to get some more cross racin' next weekend at the Hillbilly Hustle.