Syllamo's Revenge 2013

Greetings!! Once again I headed south for a race in Mountain View, Arkansas known as Syllamos Revenge. This is a race that will test you as a mountain biker. The course will eat you alive if you show up unprepared or unaware of what you will find on the trail. Rocks and roots of all shapes and sizes and when wet, like it was this year, will show no you mercy. Leave your light tires at home kids!

I decided to race single speed this year for pretty much everything mountain bike because A: It's fun and B: should make me stronger for cx this coming fall. Win win!!

300 + lined up for the start. I spun my 32/19 gearing like crazy trying not loose spots before we get to the 1 mile climb that starts the race. The climb always spreads things out quick and I was able to get to the top of the climb with only 20 or 30 in front of me.

Now into the woods I quickly realized it was wetter than I had originally thought it was going to be. The rocks and roots were unbelievably slick. Several riders go down around me over the next few hundred yards. Because of this, things spread out really quick. I sat in my position for about 10 minutes before decided to starting moving up. I still wasn't feeling warmed up yet and wanted to go hard to get the stiffness out of my legs. By mile 5 I felt like I was starting to move and felt pretty good. As we approached one of the first super technical descents there were 3 guys in front of me. Since I was not sure if they were going to ride it I gave them 10 extra feet in front of me in case they slammed there brakes on at the last second. The first 2 guys drop in with out any issues. The 3rd guy, directly in front of me, his front tire slid out and he went off the trail grabbing a tree branch. I slid past him while he was still hanging from the tree branch. I noticed the 2 guys in front of me had dismounted for the next technical drop and they were now running with their bikes. Thinking I am a better bike rider than them I decided to ride this section too. Which I did, all the way to the scene of the crash...

I am not really sure what happend. What I do know is I crashed and it sucked. Got up and got moving quickly checking my bike over for damage and made sure I hadn't lost anything out of my jersey pockets. All seemed ok. The crash it self didn't really cost me any time. But the next hour I rode very timid, tight, and much slower over the technical sections. The wind was out of the sails...

After a while I seemed to be rolling pretty good again. I kept the calories going in and made sure to finish off each bottle before grabbing new ones at the check points to make sure my calorie intake was where it needed to be. I went back and forth with a couple of guys during the last couple hours of the race and was actually straight up sprinting with another SS rider on the final loop for about 5 miles trying to get him to crack. He won that race though as I had burnt my last few matches.

I crossed the line in 5 hours 28 minutes for 8th in SS and 23rd overall. Not a bad result but I know I can do better.



Up next is the Lumberjack 100 in northern Michigan. Then the ICC 9 hour the very next weekend.

I still need to do a write up for Cedarcross and Greensfelder too. Where is the humor in this post? If you get shot in the stomach, drink stans.

2013 Hermann Gravel Challenge

The Tour of Hermann had a new flavor this year. All gravel(except for the road sections).... This is a new event over two days that covers roughly 100 miles of gravel roads each day, with each day broken into loops starting and finishing at the Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, Mo. Lots of grave, and challenging it was...

Saturday's stage is broken down into 3 loops with each being slightly over 30 miles. About 75 riders started the day as we rolled out for loop 1. The first section of gravel was a 5 mile section of the Katy trail. We were not going all that fast but a front group had already started to form with around 20 riders by the time we got to the end of the Katy trail section. Next was a short road climb followed by the first gravel road. We never really slowed down but never really sped up either. Just a tempo ride, but you had to mash up the climbs because you would spin the rear tire if you stood up. Nearing the end of loop 1, the group had slowly dissolved to about 8 riders. John Jones, Myself, and all the celebrity cyclists from Columbia, Mo. We finished out the loop in about 1 hour 45 minutes. We took a quick break to refill bottles to head out for loop 2.

Loop 2 was much of the same. Tempo riding and more natural breaks. This loop was very hard. The road was very soft with no lines formed what so ever. I learned that this is what a gravel road looked like right after it was graded - energy zapping. There were lots of punchy climbs too which were not helping me. 20 miles into this loop Dan Miller (Team Columbia(Walts)) got a flat tire so we all took a short break and waited. In that time, Team Chamois Butter came riding by. After Dan got his bike rolling again it turned into a bit of a chase. On a long soft false flat, I came un-glued from the group and found my self riding alone. I eased up to eat the remaining food I had on me and finished out the loop alone.

As I was getting ready to start loop 3 by myself, Brett Heuring came riding up as he was riding solo too as a result of 4 flat tires. I waited for him to refill so we could ride the 3rd loop together. We started, and finished with a less than spectacular sprint finish to the top of the Stone Hill Winery climb. We spent most of loop 3 talking about anything and everything, and changing flat tires. It was a pretty good way to end the day with a total time of 7 hours 21 minutes for all 3 loops.

Day 2. 100 more miles with 2, 50 mile loops.

The first loop on day 2 started with an 18 mile section of Katy trail. Day 2 also started with a much higher pace. After just a couple miles the front group was 10 or so riders. I peaked over my shoulder behind me and there was no one in site. To bad my legs were not responding to the effort at all. I dropped off the back of the group, only to latch back on.. twice. The 3rd time I dropped off, that was it. Feeling like shit it turned into another solo JRA mission. It wasn't long before a group caught up to me. I rode with them for a bit but eventually found myself riding alone again. I was able to spin along at my own pace and consume a lot of calories. I started to feel good again and found myself riding pretty fast on a few sections.

Not long before the end of loop 1, a couple of Big Tree riders found there way up to me. We had pretty much made our way back into town but not before one of the other guys was taken out by a car pulling onto highway 94(passed us on our left, then turned right(in front of us) on to 94 cutting us off). Thank the headwind we were only going about 13 mph. It was a kid driver, he stopped, the two talked for a minute, they shook hands... No harm was done.

We finished the loop and I was done. 150 miles of gravel roads in Hermann was all my legs had - 11-ish hours of riding total. And when arriving back in Hermann, I found that all the other front group riders had also called it quits after loop 1 on day 2.

Awesome weekend. Lots more coming up.

Pics are giant. Sorry, Blogger seems to have changed its format and I have not yet figured out how to resize in this new format.


Day 1 Loop 1.
Photo: Dennis Fickinger.


Day 1 Loop 1.
Photo: Dennis Fickinger


Day 1 Loop 1. Low water crossing.
Photo: Dennis Fickinger


Day 1 Loop 1. Barn
Photo: Dennis Fickinger


Day 1 Loop 1. Old rail road bridge.
Photo: Dennis Fickinger


Day 1 Loop 1. Low water crossing
Photo: Dennis Fickinger

2013 is finally starting to roll

It has been a while since this has been updated. Back to mid December I think(without double checking) since last update.. Anyway the winter was super slow minus going to the Cyclocross World Championships in Louisville in February. That alone made my winter...

Here is a short video of that.

2013 UCI World Cyclocross Championships from Gizmo Pictures on Vimeo.

I took a fare amount of time off as I had a big season last year. During the early and middle parts of the season last year I was mostly focused on long rides with low to medium intensity in the 3 to 7 hour range while preparing for the Leadville 100. I built a lot of fitness but missed a bunch of races that I don't usually miss. This was good and bad in my mind. Fitness vs fun but way more fit...

Ultimatly fitness won over and I had an amazing season all around. I have to thank Zach Brace with Phasetraining for that. He was a huge part of last year and I could not have done it with out him.

Moving on...

I have not ridden all that much this year. Maybe 800 miles in total...? Maybe.... I have sure felt that (lack) at the Tuesday crits this year. Everyone seems to have mega fitness while I am stuck at the back struggling just to stay on. Frozen burrito's anyone..? Yes please. Food and excersize has been at a pretty low level of priority for me this year. My new job working from home has made this "laziness" easier. But fear not.... I am ready to GTF out of the house and make shit happen...

Snow....? We have had a bunch of it this year and it seems we only have it just when it seems the time has changed to spring. The weather men(women) of the midwest have the best job on the planet. "It's going to be mild and sunny today with warming temps into the evening hours.. oh.. wait.. wait... looks like its snowing now and you can expect pure shit by the evening rush hour"... WTF?

So my plan for this year is to train hard for Syllamos revenge and the Lumberjack 100. I am hoping to have my best time at Syllamo this year and a sub 8.5 hour ride at Lumberjack. After that, I will turn my attention to CX and start to prepair for what should be my best season of CX ever. I would like to race in the elite race at Gateway Cross Cup which is now a two day weekend race in late Oct. I know I would end up getting pulled from the race, but, I feel I am good enough to at least line up and see what happens....

Now that spring is doing a bad job of trying to project itself, I should be updating this a little more often.

Stay tuned...

MO State CX P/1/2/3

Better late than never I guess... maybe.


This race was 2 weeks ago in Jefferson City, MO. It was a 2 day race with it being just a local race on Saturday and the state champ race on Sunday on the same course.

This will be short...


I didn't care much for the course on Saturday. It was pretty dry and mostly uphill. You would grind uphill for about 6 minutes either by bike or running stairs. Then a short 20 second descent with a couple technical short turns. And repeat.

I think only 8 or 9 lined up for the race. The first two laps were gentlemen's laps. Everyone stayed together pretty much. On the 3rd lap things finally started to string out and I rode the rest of my race alone. My legs felt terrible after not riding the entire week leading up. I finished in 5th and actually made 40 bucks..

So, that was that for Saturday. I stayed with Dan Miller in Columbia in stead of driving all the way back to Alton, having to return the next morning. Dan made a most excellent dinner and I hung with he and his family all night. It rained that night, and I was hoping the course was going to be more technical for Sunday, which it was, but not by much.

The course had a couple corners changed on an offcamber that were slick. But that was it.

Again, only 9 lined up for our race but, there was a little more horsepower. The race started much faster up the first climb with a rider going down on the slick, flat section. It was mostly staying together through the first half lap. Untill the new slick corners.

It looked like half the riders ran it while the other half tried to ride it. Then I got to see Josh Johnson and a Cycle City rider exchange a bunch of elbows down the long straight following the new turns. Josh was passing on the inside but the other guy(who was running no less..) just didn't want to give up and when remounting leaned on Josh with an elbow extended. Take it easy turbo... It was pretty clear Josh did not like this, and leaned right back, a couple times. It was what ever...

The rest of the race went by super slow. There just wasn't much to look forward too each lap. Not that I had a bad time, it just felt slow and I was having a bad weekend. I finished in 6th one spot worse than the day before. Bummer.

Dan Miller's 4 year old daughter asked me after the race why I was going so slow.. so.. that was pretty funny.

That was it for the weekend. Everyday since then it's been looking more and more like that was the last CX race of the season for me. Will see..

Illinois State CX race P/1/2/3

The Illinois state race took us back to Montrose Harbor again. The race site has lots of sand and a fair amount of elevation change. With the unusually warm weather(64f) the course was dry as a bone and very fast, minus the sand sections which in places were deeper than I had ever seen before. Also, lots of people come out to watch and heckle...



My goal was top 15 and if I was feeling good maybe top 10. There were 46 starters for the race and I got a second row call up lining up right in the middle.

I wasn't feeling to great though having come down with a little bit of a sore throat on Friday. I poured beer and red wine all over it during the weekend to get it to go away, but it didn't help much...

Anway, the race starts pretty fast. I was running in the top ten getting to the first section of sand.


Coming through the sand first lap. Photo: Ali Engin

After this sand section the course kind of forces everyone to go single file because of the way the turns were layed out leading up to the next sand section. I had no intentions of trying to ride the deep sand section on the first lap because I knew it would be congested. After running through that section the race was already starting to string out a bit.


First lap after second section of sand, leading up to third section of sand.

By the third lap I was riding in a small group of 4. And now that the race was strung out more I was able to cleanly ride every section of sand. Although, it was really hard and throttled you pretty bad. Not sure that it was faster, but I was at least getting street cred for it.


Dropping in from the top - Deep sand.


Deep sand section. Legs hurting...

After a couple more laps I was riding alone. The group I was in had fallen apart. Now riding alone I focused on staying smooth and going faster through the corners as I figured out better lines.


Coming out of the last section of sand, on to hard packed sand.


Up hill followed by...


...a couple turns and the only barrier.


Rooty...


So, the last few laps clicked off uneventfully never catching anyone, and never getting caught. 15 seconds to the person in front of me, and about 30 seconds to the rider behind me. I came across the finishing line in 15th place.

I am totally happy with that result. I am certain I can do better but I met my goal even having a sore throat. Plus, these guys were there...


Legit!

The Chicago state race is pretty amazing. Close to 700 racers and even more poeple heckling you... Awesome!! Up next is the Misery state race in Jefferson City. I hear you will need thick skin to attend this race. Looking forward to it..



Probably the best picture that has ever been taking of me racing. Photo: Ali Engin

The last 2 weeks..

Things have been going pretty good for me this year. The last 3 races I have entered have been good. Well, mostly good.

There was a new race at Archview MX track in Washington Park, Il and it was raced on the MX track itself. I sure wasn't going to miss that coming from a BMX and MX background. Our race ended up being on the small side with 12 starters.

After the race started we pretty much stayed together for a lap. After that, Anthony Dust was soon off the front showing he was the strong man of the day. Another lap or so go by and I find myself riding with Brett Heuring. Brett has been, and still is stronger than me on the bike.

By the mid way point of the race I was comfortable with our pace and was now trading pulls with Brett all while realizing Brett may not be riding as hard as he could to not chase down his own team mate who was winning. Setting me up in the process.

At 3 to go Brett's awesome SRAM chain decided to fall off... or something like that. He was able to quickly get it back on but I now had about a 5 or 6 second gap.

Now riding alone in 2nd I just needed to stay smooth and not make any errors. At 1 lap to go Brett had cut the gap in half and the pressure was really on. I rode hard and clean coming away with my best result ever for 2nd in Mens open. Thank you Brett's SRAM chain.


The next day took us to Mt. Pleasant winery in Defiance, Mo. Bubba 8

Coming here to race on Sunday was not going to be good for me. With my legs and lower back already having one race on them for the weekend, and this being the hardest course of the Bubba series, I knew I was going to be in the hurt locker.

Lining up with about 22 racers we were off pretty quickly to start the misery that is Mt. Pleasant. Less than 1/4 of a lap in Scott Ogilvie, who was in front of me, clipped his pedal on the off camber ground causing him to come unclipped and come to a complete stop on the low side of the course. Now standing there another rider trying to pass bumped Scott and he fell over me and my bike. It's just racing, it happens.

After helping him up and getting our bikes un-tangled we were both now in dead last and 20 seconds off the back of the group already. Great.

Knowing that my legs and back were already hurting I told myself to just ride smooth. Don't attack anything and just ride my own pace. Lap after lap I slowly realed other riders in eventually making my way back up to 10th place. So considering my situation I was pretty pleased with that result. That was pretty much it for Mt. Pleasant.


Spanish Lake Park. Bubba 9

Yesterday was interesting. More of a gravel road race with a bit of cx. The start was key. It was important to be at the front to catch the draft of the lead group when hitting the gravel for the first time. A pure fitness course. Something I lack.

After a few laps the core group I was in was Brett Heuring, Casey Saunders, Ron Bridal, Dr. Mark and myself. A few others in the group at times and early on the group was actually two groups split by only a few seconds.

Our pull rotation was ok.. not great. The race was just kind of strange. There times when I would be at my limit, and times when I felt super strong. I believe it was at 3 to go when Brett and Casey, who were the only two in the group with a team mate, were on the front pulling. They both eased up expecting me to come through and take my turn but I didn't. I was pretty well throttled and really did not have it in me.

On the final lap Brett and Casey took off with Dr. Mark chasing. Ron and myself didn't have much left in the tank and were both dropped by the trio. We gave chase but it was down to the two of us. On the final climb Ron was leading. I came around him in a big gear and attacked opening up a gap that was big enough to secure the spot. I finished in 8th out of about 25 or so.

That last 3 cross races couldn't have been more different from one another. From MX, to hill climbs, to gravel road drafting. I guess that is what keeps CX interesting.

Next week I will be off to Chicago for the Illinois State CX race. Really looking forward to it. Lots of sand!!!


CX on the MX - Run up.


CX on the MX - First lap.


CX on the MX - Brett and I.


Mt. Pleasant. Looking tired riding up hill...


Mt. Pleasant. Looking tired riding up hill...


Spanish lake. Not in the gravel.


Spanish lake. In the weeds..

Photos by Mike Dawson

Another 2 race weekend... Concordia Seminary and Fort Belle Fontain

This past Saturday took us back to the Concordia Seminary venue. This place is always a great race and this year was no different.

The turn out was kind of small for the Mens Open race with 17 lining up. The start was fairly fast but not too crazy. I was pretty far up so I was in a good spot running about 5th after just a few turns.

Dr. Mark, TK, and another Off the Front racer opened up a small gap right away. They were never very far up and it only took about 1.5 laps for me to bring them back. Soon it was just Dr. Mark, TK, and myself riding in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.


Early in the race.
Photo by Mike Dawson


A couple laps go by... TK and Mark trade pulls a couple times exchanging the work load. I on the other hand, was riding at my limit just to stay with them. At 5 laps in, Dr. Mark drops behind me and asked if I was ok or if I could take a pull... At that moment I pretty much blew up. Tk now had a gap, and Mark had to try and bridge that back...


So a couple laps go by... Butthead is gaining on me with Alex in tow. They got very close to me on the back side of the course where two of Alton's finest were cheering us on. Justin W, and Justin H. They were yelling at me telling me to beat the dudes off behind me. You know... get ride of them... ride away from them and kick their ass... But, when two grown ass men, who both have full beards, dark sun glasses, and hat's on, and are in the woods behind an apartment complex yelling "beat them dudes off"... It never comes out right.


Me, with Justin and Justin in the back ground lookin sketchy as hell...
Photo by Mike Dawson


So, eventually, about 100 feet later, Butthead and Alex come by me... laughing...

Now riding in 5th place I did what I could to stay with those two but I couldn't do it. Rode the last couple laps alone and finished in 5th place, the last money spot for 10 bucks. Not bad.


It took me until almost the last lap to figure out I needed to be riding this corner to the inside and off the main groove. So much faster..
Photo by Mike Dawson.

The next day took us to Fort Belle Fontain. But the weather ended up doing a complete 180. Going from warm and sunny, to cold and wet.

The race this day was even smaller than the day before. Only 12 or 13 lined up for the mens open race. Bummer..

Race starts, do some sliding around. A couple people go down pretty quickly on the rain soaked - packed down grass. After a couple quick laps a small group, or in this case, 1/3 of the race had established a small gap over the rest of the field. 4 of us!!


Josh dragging me up the hill early in the race.
Photo by Mike Dawson


It was about the 3rd or 4th lap that Butthead came by and took over the lead, then Ron Bridal, then Scott Ogilvie, then myself all right behind. Going through an off cambered muddy turn Scott goes down in front of me. I did my best to avoid him but ran over his bike with out going down.

I got off and started running trying to close the gap. We were on a slight up hill so loosing my momentum here was about as bad as it gets. Butthead and Ron quickly opened up a gap.

I rode very hard the next couple laps but with the slick conditions I just couldn't do much. The last few laps were uneventful. I rode the rest of the race alone in 3rd and finished in 3rd. My best result ever on the Mens open A race in the Bubba series. Sure it was a small turn out but as I have said before, you can only race who shows up.


Finishing the race in the rain in 3rd. Tons of people stuck around for our race...
Photo by Mike Dawson.

Looks like another double header this coming weekend. But, for the first time in my life, we will be racing CX on a Motocross track. Looking forward to that shit....