PsychoCross

At least that's what it looked like when we got there. Sunday was the Michigan State Cyclocross Championships at Waterford Hills. We had been getting snow all week, including quite a bit on Saturday, plus the temperatures weren't supposed to get out of the teens.

I left the house around 7am and drove to Romeo to meet up with Curt. When we were loading my stuff into his car I thought "its not that bad out". Once we got to Waterford I ate my words. Stepping out of the car I realized there must have been something blocking the wind at Curt's place and there was nothing to help us at the race course. It was bitter cold, plus there was easily 6+ inches of snow with drifts much deeper.

I wasn't really sure what to expect. Based on crashes at my last couple races I put some snow/mud specific tires on the bike so I hoped that would make a difference but I didn't really know what to expect. So we got registered, then changed into basically every piece of riding clothes I brought, then headed out to pre-ride the course. At first it was pretty slow going, trudging through some pretty deep snow on the course. Then I look up and here comes Robert (the race promoter) on his 4-wheeler with a plow and he is actually plowing the race course. That's not something I ever expected to see. But it worked great as it was way easier to ride where he plowed. The new tires felt pretty good too.

Before long it was time to line up so we headed to the start. For some reason they decided to start all the men in one big group instead of splitting us into two. I sat on the back and let the faster guys move up front. That ended up making the first lap really slow as it constantly bottlenecked and at times I was almost track standing. As we raced I got more and more comfortable with the tires and pushed their limits. I managed to stay upright the whole race and only had to run one hill, just because the riders in front of me stopped and didn't get out of the way.

Curt and I ended up riding the whole race together. This was only his second race of the year, coming back from a knee injury, but he rode well. I could tell he still had a lot of his technical skills with him as he would pull ahead on me in the tight stuff, but I would pull him back in on the flats. We finished towards the back of the pack, but it was a fun race in the snow.

The rest of the TSB CX crew was out too, including Joe, who hasn't been around much lately. Unfortunately he flatted so he didn't finish, but it was good to see him anyways. John did his usual domination, taking home like a dozen awards on the day (I didn't think you could win that much from one event). Lee was the big surprise of the day, storming the old guy field with his mountain bike and grabbing 2nd place and Ben finished mid pack.

Its weird, racing is over for the year, but I really want to keep cross racing. I question while I do before and during the races, but then after I want to do another one. Time to start training for next year though. I'm hoping to do some more endurance stuff next summer so I better start getting those base miles in.

Crossing It Up

In my last post I mentioned I've been doing some cross racing this fall. So far I've done 4 races this year. Of the first three I felt good and was happy with my results at one and pretty disappointed with my finish at the other two. So going into my 4th race I was really hoping to improve. It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving at Bloomer Park. The weather sucked, really cold (low 20's) with a heavy layer of frost on the ground. That made it a little tough to get moving at first. After a lap of warm up I actually felt pretty good though, other than numb fingers, so I got some warmer gloves on and headed to the start line.

Other than the cold, it was a great morning. John, Ben and Todd were there racing as usual, plus Curt was out racing instead of taking pictures. It was really cool to have him out there riding his bike with us again. He's been sidelined almost all year with a knee injury, so I haven't ridden with him since early spring. That's made the year seem weird since we really got into the sport together and typically ride together quite a bit. Also, we had some great spectators that day too, with Brian (a fellow TSb member), John's dad Rich, Jackie, and her sisters Jill and Amy there to cheer us on.

So, back to the race. They blow the whistle and off we go. As usual, I can see John shoot off the front with the holeshot. I was hanging about mid-pack, actually feeling pretty good. Then we hit the open grassy area just before the first set of barriers, and as I'm rounding a 90 degree corner my front tires washes out on the frosty grass. I went down really hard onto the frozen ground, skidded and rolled over, slamming my bike into the ground. A couple guys paused to ask if I was okay, and I popped up pretty quickly. It didn't make sense to jump back on the bike yet so I grabbed it and just ran to the first set of barriers. By this point everyone in 39 and under caught me and the 40 and over guys were passing me too. As I crossed the barriers Curt passed me and I thought I could jump on and ride with him for a bit. As soon as I jumped on the bike though something felt wrong. I quickly realized the my handlebars had spun on the steer tube and were off center about 15 degrees. Off the bike again, I tried to straighten them with no luck, so I jumped back on and rode with crooked handlebars. It took a little bit but eventually I got used to it. By this point I was quite a ways back so I started trying to bridge up to some of the other riders. I would make some progress, but then fall back again, over and over. Basically every off camber area or tight turn would make me nervous after the early crash so I know I was riding really conservatively.

I ended up coming in second to last in my class, my worst finish of the year. Actually I think its my worst finish ever in cyclocross. Plus the crash added insult to injury, it knocked my new front wheel out of true and made me really sore for the next couple days. The rest of the team did really well though. John won the C race with a sprint finish against Jason from RBS.

Now on to the state championship race at Waterford Hills. Remember above when I said the weather sucked at Bloomer? Well, it was actually really nice. This is going to really suck. If we're lucky it will get out of the teens, and we're supposed to have a couple inches of snow. I did get some new tires, Michelin Mud 2's so hopefully that helps, though I suspect that it has more to do with the operator than with the equipment.

Here's the link to all the pictures Jill took at the race: http://picasaweb.google.com/JandJSchneider/BloomerCX2008

Bike Races and International Travel

That's pretty much what I've done since my last post. I had wanted to update this more often, but it just never seems to make the priority list with everything going on. Since my last post I've competed in a couple cross races and the Iceman. Cross has been fun as more of the team has been getting involved. Tomorrow is the Bloomer cross race. I'm looking forward to that one, other than the fact that it will be about 25 or 30 degrees when we race. Should be a good turnout though.

Iceman is one of my favorite events of the year and this year it didn't disappoint. For the second year in a row we rented a large vacation home up in Traverse City instead of hotel rooms or a condo. It works great because we can have more people stay with us and have plenty of room to entertain. Also for the second year in a row the rental agency switched our rental last minute. This year's switch worked out much better than last though. The place we ended up in was absolutely gorgeous, about a 1.5 million dollar home on Long Lake about 10 minutes out of downtown Traverse City. The race went really well too. I managed to take 5 minutes off my 2007 time, finishing in 2:11. Almost everyone from Team Sandbag did really well too, including John and Brad who were both sub-2 hours.

Last night I got home from my second trip to the UK in less than a month. I enjoy the travel and especially working with our rep over there. Just over a month ago I went to Edinburgh, Scotland for an orthopedic foot and ankle conference we were hosting. Because of my flight schedule I ended up with a free day there. I was excited to get to see the city, but the weather didn't cooperate. It was raining on and off and stronger winds than I have ever experienced. So strong that they closed down the castle to tours.

My last trip was to Liverpool, England, the home of the Beatles. I flew into Manchester via Chicago Ohare airport. If you've ever been to Ohare you will know what I mean when I say, what a massive airport. I arrive Monday afternoon and check a monitor for my flight to Manchester. Its leaving from gate M16 so a quick scan of the signs and I should be on my way. Hmm, there are signs for terminals 1, 2, 3, and 5, plus A through just about L but no mention of M. I asked a airport security woman "Is there a terminal M?". She responded like it was a silly question, "yes, terminal 5." My bad, I guess I should have just known that M is always in 5. Everything went well and I made it safely to Manchester. Once there I took about a 10 minute walk to the train station and hoped on a train to Liverpool. The public transportation there is amazing compared to here in the states. Its funny though that the locals complain about it and feel its very limited.

Tuesday I had a chance to walk around Liverpool for a while. What a great city. It has a large portion of downtown closed to traffic. The streets are all pedestrian only and lined with shops, cafes, and pubs. Seems like it would be a great place to spend a few days in. The conference I was there for went well, and before I knew it, I was sitting on a plane again. I was bummed that on neither trip was I able to stop in London to visit my cousins Dave and Allison. They've been living there for 2 years now. Jackie and I were able to spend over a week with them last fall and I stopped in for a visit last March on a trip over. Hopefully I'll get back over there soon. Now I'm back home and should be for a bit too. Next trip isn't until January, unless something pops up.

My blog sucks!

That's pretty much what everyone has been telling me, so I figured I should do one of two things, actually make a post or just delete the whole thing. Since so many faithful followers of me would be crushed if I deleted it, here we go.

My last post was 5 months ago. Pathetic, huh? So I'm not going to do the catch up post, because I don't feel like typing all night. There's still a lot going on to talk about though.

Jackie and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a long weekend up north. We stayed in St Ignace (just on the UP side of the Mackinaw Bridge) and did day trips to Tahquamenon Falls, Mackinaw Island, Pictured Rocks and the Soo Locks. Our hotel was right on Lake Huron, over looking Mackinaw Island. Every night they would have a campfire down by the beach. One night while down there we started talking to an older couple who were the only other people there. They asked why we were up there and when I said for our 3rd anniversary they both started laughing. Turns out they were there celebrating their 53rd. Big deal, so we're a few years off. Gives us something to strive for.

Other than Iceman, and a few other races, the mountain bike season is basically over. But cyclocross is in full swing. A few of my teammates are really into cross so I joined them for a race at Stoney Creek just over a week ago. One word describes cross, brutal. The race is only 1/2 hour long, but you're going full out the whole time. If you stop and coast to take a break you will end up with too much ground to make up in 30 minutes. Ben, John and our newest Todd on Team Sandbag all raced as well. Curt was there taking pictures as he's still having knee problems. It's tough on Curt too, as he is really passionate about cross and is basically the one that got everyone involved in it from our team.

The rest of the team did really well. Todd took 2nd (in his first race ever), John got 4th and Ben got 7th. I think I was actually in last place in our class for a little bit, but on our second lap of three I became determined to not place last. One by one I picked off some guys from our class and some from the over 40 class that had passed me earlier. I ended up 23rd out of 28 racers. Not the best finish, but better than laying on the couch I suppose. The races are painful and I spend much of it thinking to myself "why the hell am I doing this?". But once its over I start thinking about the next one. Crazy, huh?

Speaking of the next one, I'll give it a go again this weekend. Then I'm off to Scotland for work next week. Iceman is just around the corner, so I need to get a few more good workouts in. Stay tuned, maybe I'll post up about it, hopefully in less than 5 months.

My First Century

I've been a bad blogger lately. No posts in almost two months. Its amazing how easy it is to get out of the habit. Well, I had a fun day yesterday that I figured would be worth writing about. I completed my first century on a bike (100 miles). It was at the 12 hours of Addison Oaks. Its an endurance race that runs for either 6 or 12 hours and can be done individually, or as two or four person teams. The race is all trails, and fairly tight singletrack at that, but its one of my favorite trails around.

I was a little intimidated by this initially. I really had no idea if I would be able to ride for that long, but I wanted to try. Plus it would be a good training exercise for the Lumberjack 100 race I have coming up in June. That race is 100 miles and I figure is going to take me a solid 10 hours to complete. My initial plan with the Addison race yesterday was to just do the 6 hour race. Both Jackie and my friend Lee had been encouraging me to do the full 12 as training. I'm so glad I listened to them. While the whole race was really tough, the worst part was pretty much miles 40 through about 65 or so. I struggled the most there and that's right where I would have finished a 6 hour race. Later in the race I seemed to get a bit of a second wind and stuff stopped hurting as much.

I finished up the last 25-30 miles with my friend Todd, who was doing the 12 solo as well and is also going to be racing Lumberjack. It was great to have someone to ride those final laps with. We did end up calling it a day at about 10 1/2 hours since we were over 100 miles. Part of me wanted to get out for another lap or two, but the other part really enjoyed changing into dry, warm clothes and relaxing. Today I feel pretty good surprisingly. I'm a little sore in spots, but feel better than I had thought I would. It probably wouldn't feel good to get on a bike seat right now though.

Ti 29er

Woohoo, its finally here. My new frame arrived today and it turned out awesome. I had Scott Quiring build me a custom titanium 29er hardtail. Here it is.

I'm still waiting on a few components before I can finish it so it will be a couple weeks before I can ride it. Here's what I have planned for it.

-White Brothers Magic 29 fork

-Industry Nine wheels laced to Stans Arch rims

-Thomson seatpost and stem

-Race Face Deus riser bar

-Truvativ Noir crankset

-SRAM X9 shifters and derailuers

-Avid BB7 disc brakes

-Maxxis Ignitor tires

I am really happy with the finish on it. Instead of paint he left it raw Ti and bead blasted the logo and flame etchings into it. It looks really cool and will be really durable as well. Now I would really like to take it up to BFB, borrow a workstand and start building it. Unfortunately duty calls though. I am off to Amsterdam Thursday for a couple days, followed by a couple days in Edinburgh, then a stop in London. It will be a busy trip, but should be fun. Plus I get to see my cousins Dave and Allison, who live in England. And as a bonus my other cousins Steve, Maria and their two boys Danielle and Matthew will be there as well.

Visiting the Sunshine State

It's been a while since I posted anything here. This is a really busy time of the year for me. In the past month I have been to Baltimore, Long Beach and San Francisco for work, plus I am heading for Europe in just a few days.

Jackie and I did get to enjoy some time away that wasn't work related for me though. The end of February we flew down to Florida to visit my parents, who are down there for a month. Normally they only go for a couple weeks, but my dad has officially retired so they can stay as long as they like. Congratulations Dad!

We flew down to Tampa on a Wednesday evening and my parents picked us up and drove us over to Anna Maria Island, where they are staying. It is an intercoastal island just south of Tampa. We had just over three days there to relax and enjoy the great weather.

The first day it was a bit cool, high 50's, but just coming from Michigan it still felt great. We visited one of my dad's favorite place, Myakka State Park, which is inland a ways form Sarasota. Its a beautiful area with lots of tropical forests and a large lake. We were able to take a boat ride on the lake a see around a dozen large alligators sunning themselves. Then we went for a short hike back into the woods to a canopy walk where you can actually climb onto a swinging bridge around the tree tops and onto a platform well above the tree tops.

The second day Dad and I found a bike shop so I could rent a bike. I was able to get a really nice Specialized Allez for a day and a half. After this long cold winter it felt great to get out and ride in shorts and short sleeves. After my ride we went to the Desoto National Monument, which turned out to be fairly interesting. It was where the Spanish explorer supposedly landed in the 1500's to explore the new world. They had a demonstration of weapons and armor from the time period and I was able to try on some chain mail. I can't imagine doing much of anything in that, expecially fighting.

The next morning I got an early start and rode the length of Anna Maria Island, Long Boat Key and Lido Key, which are all connected with short bridges. All together it got in about 40 miles. What beautiful riding, with the gulf on my side and cool ocean breezes. After that we had a pretty relaxing day, visiting an art show in town and spending some time on the beach. I did brave the ocean, but only up to my waist. It needed to be about 5 degrees warmer. It was still nice though.

That evening we were all treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Check out the pictures in this album link, though they don't do it justice. Sunday morning we got up early so my parents could drive us back to the airport. Back to Michigan for more snow and cold. At least it was in the 40's when we got home. A lot better than some of the other weather lately.

Thanks Mom and Dad for having us down. We had a great time and it was a really nice, relaxing break.