Keeping the Flame Lit

After missing a racing weekend due to work and family time rebalance. Oh and can I just say my wife rocked the Denver Marathon. She set a personal best marathon time despite being sick all week. So I missed the Estes Park race so I could support the wife so she could enjoy and recover from her event. We all had a lot of fun.

I hadn’t been on my Ridley (cross bike) in two weeks until I raced the Blue Sky Cup at Xilinx on Saturday. I was pretty nervous going into this race, more so than I have been at previous races. I think winning the Cross at the Rock race messed with my head; I’d won, now I was pressuring myself to do well. The last time I raced Xilinx I did well but crashed twice, this was my rematch. The coarse was a classic Xilinx coarse, the usual west hill, the same obstacles in the woods and some flat open field. The SM35+/4 field was maxed out, fortunately with my win at the first Colorado Cyclocross Cup (CCC) race I was in forth place and had a front row call up. The start didn’t go that well, the race took off but I managed to stay in the top 10. The pain of the effort was certainly high. A few people dropped off the pace but I wasn’t closing any gaps. I really had issues getting thorough all the corners; the lack of time on the bike was slowing me down. In the end I finished in 7th place. I did get the maximum number of Colorado Cross Cup points without getting any upgrade points. A good result and good for the team.

In the past, I’ve done better racing the second day (Sunday) of the weekend, this weekend was the Boulder Racing Series #3 at the Louisville Rec Center and its "Bowl of Death". Somehow I’ve never done this race before so it was a new venue to me. Basically it’s a giant bowl were we raced the bottom, sides, rim, the backside volleyball sand pit, one steep rideable hill and two tough run-ups. The start didn’t go a lot better but I was able to quickly move to the front. I saw my teammate Todd and a Rio Grande rider with a gap. I decided to sit back and make others close the gap, if they did, I could attack. I was in fourth, sitting on my friend Wes's wheel for a couple of laps while Todd was in the lead. Soon a Boulder Cycle Sport rider came by and I jumped on his wheel. We road up to the Rio Grande rider and then I got dropped. The Rio Grande guy and I rode together for the rest of the race, he would open up gaps in the sharp corners and I would bridge back up on the long flat stretches. The Boulder Cycle Sport racer went on to catch Todd and win, I never got ahead of the Rio Grande racer and finished in 4th.

So the weekend was a success. I picked up 3 more upgrade points and a bunch of CCC points. With Todd finishing 4th on Saturday we have a big lead in the team competition and Todd is now 1st and I’m 2nd in the CCC rider competition. Sadly Todd has to upgrade, so we shared some good beer and I’ll look forward to racing with him again soon. Depending on how this coming weekend's races go, I could be joining him next week.
Todd with the Hole Shot with me in tow.

Lap one with me sitting on Wes's wheel

Two big run-ups made the legs tired.


Deepest sand we've had so far.


The weather was great!

Other links about these races
303cycling Saturdays Race, Sundays Race
Mountain Moon Photography

Cool Photos

Beautiful team photo in front of Echo Lake. Very nice

Proof I've been flying, tongue and all!

Freedom!

Look ma, no training wheels! Nate and his buddy Aidan shed their training wheels on the same day. Pretty good for a couple of 3 year olds.

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade?

Well, I stated it earlier this year, one of my goals this year was do have a good enough cyclocross season that I could upgrade. Unlike the road races, if I upgraded at cyclocross at least the race times remain the same so hopefully the training hours aren’t required to increase significantly.

Anyway, upgrade points are assigned on a scale based on your finishing position and the number of racers in the race. Best case for points awards is 1-6 (7, 5 ,4 ,3 ,2 ,1) get upgrade points only if 50 or more racers are present. If there are fewer racers then there are fewer points and fewer places get those points.

According to the American Cycling Association (ACA) the governing body for these races, to upgrade from a category 4 racer (beginner) at least 7 points are required in a 12 month period. If a racer acquires 20 points the ACA automatically upgrades them. What typically happens, at least in the SM4/35+ group, is the racers ride it out until the ACA sends them a letter to let them know it’s time. Who’s to blame them, (the rules are published) the next category up will be fast and you’ll be back of the pack. Sadly, I’ve seen a lot of racers get upgraded only to do a race or two then their gone. Why not enjoy wining now!

Now I find myself with a decision to make, do I ride it out or pull the trigger? I have a 5th place finish from last year that gave me 2 points (but those expire at the end of October). I got another 2 points for a 5th at the GMSV race. Picked up another 2 this past Saturday for the 5th at Interlocken. With the win (some people get upgraded without a win) at Cross at the river I only got 5 points (less than 50 racers). So, I’m up to 9 for this season and 11 if you count last year. Of coarse I should have another 5 points for a second at alpha cross but the mechanical on the last lap gave those away. So now I’m beginning to believe I could legitimacy be ready to race in a new category.

If I’d had the points before the Colorado CX Cup started I might have upgraded but now I can continue to win points (big points) for the team and upgrade when the letter comes from the ACA. So, I think I’ll get in a few more races with the 4’s then I’ll be back of the pack in a new category.

It’s not sandbagging if it’s allowed by the rules, right? Kind of feels like it is if I was on the flip side of the coin.

Cross at the River

As an opener to the Colorado CX Cup, Cross at the River was held next to the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, CO. I figured the fact that it was the first points race would get people to make the ridiculous 2.5 hour drive from Denver (I do respect that some people drive that far to race in Denver every weekend but ….). Anyway, there wasn’t any were near the numbers as in Boulder the day before. The regulars and guys looking to do well in the CX cup competition were there. I believe we ended up about 43 strong, almost twice as large as last year. The coarse was very similar to last year except we had a nice little breeze/wind. We would be racing down the hill with a tale wind and back up into the wind.

When they were calling people up to the starting line I figured I’d be within the top five but they kept calling names. So I rushed up the judge to see what was going on and he said I wasn’t on the list. I told him who I was and then we notice I had an out of order race number. Apparently the race volunteers put me in a different race category when I registered. The judge recognized my name and let me jump in for the second to last front starting position. I was on the wrong side of the field for the opening right-hander but at least I didn’t have to worry about someone in front of me bobbling the start.

The whistle blew and we were off. Not one of my best starts as a few of the guys quickly jumped off the front. I settled in and tried to keep a good position during that first lap. We were all together until the beginning of the second lap when the guy in front of me started to open a pretty big gap. I had a teammate (Todd) up front so I didn’t want to chase them down until the gap was a little bigger. I let the gap open a little more then bridged up. The front was down to three of us, Todd on the front, a second guy not pulling through and me. I looked back and we had a gap but it appeared they were coming. Without much though I figured if I attacked Todd could sit on this guys wheel and he would have to do some chasing. I rolled the dice on the second lap and went for it.

Cross at the river - 35+ cat 4 Lap 1 from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

At the top of the second lap, we had a tail when and I race down the hill. There were a couple of racers just behind me. Heading back up into the wind I sore they were going to catch me. I was already thinking, when they catch me I’ll pull off the front and try to keep them in the wind. But they never caught up, for whatever reason they couldn’t close the, what seamed like a little gap. For the next two laps I felt like they were breathing down my neck but never closed the gap. After two laps off the front I saw the three more laps to go sign and was worried a “late bloomer” would catch me. I just wanted to get out of sight of that lead chase group so they’d forget about me and start racing each other for second. I kept up the pace as high as I could. Soon it seamed the gap was getting bigger to the racers behind me. I just kept focusing on the obstacles within 3 feet of my wheel, riding them clean, no mistakes. By the last lap no one was behind me, not even warming up! Could I make it? I kept the pressure on and raced to the finish, my first cyclocross win!! I stopped after the finished to see how everyone else finished; I was about 30 seconds ahead of the second and third place finishers. I was so excited!

In the end Todd finished 9th and they guy he was with when I attacked was in 5th or 6th. So it ended up being a great time to attack. I think the wind really helped. You see, going into the wind everyone has about the same wind cross section. The bigger guys that typically have to put out more power then have an advantage over smaller guys that can't put out that power. Raw power and not your power to weight ratio were in play that day. The chasers trying to bridge up to me had to put out more power than me. Fortunately no one with that much more power was there.

Interlocken – Boulder Racing #2

This was my third time racing this coarse. It’s just a few minutes North of my house so it’s as close to home as a race is going to be. We get a chance to race on one of those rare surfaces in the fall in Colorado, green grass. It would be easy if it was just grass but I swear they must have doubled the watering schedule leading up to the race. The ground was nice and soft and quickly turned to a soft muddy mush making the race a power sucking slog fest. During my warm-up, even the 35 open race looked slow, we were going to be crawling.

I raced Xilinx solely because I knew (as they published on the race flyer) that call-ups for Interlocken would be based on Xilinx results. So I blew myself out cutting though the crowds at Xilinx just so I’d have a good start position and a shot at Interlocken. It paid off in a big way, front row call up! In front of 120 racers! That’s about 30 more racers than the biggest race I’ve been in before. I don’t care how fast you are, you start in the back of that bad boy and you’ll never see the front. If your racing to win, your race would be over the second the whistle blew.

We started right into the “bowl of pain”. A barrier followed by a steep climb with a cut across some off camber mud then a right dropping down into volleyball court sand. We made an immediate u-turn back into the other side of the volleyball sand then back up the muddy hill. Another muddy off camber cut and your out with a short break on some pavement before dropping down for a muddy grass climb up the back side of the course.

A group of four jumped off the front and we let them go. I was pretty sure they’d come back. Two of them came back quick. We bridged up but I couldn’t quite hold the pace and road the majority of the race in 4th hoping the conditions would eventually slow them down. Sadly that didn’t happen. The course was so full of people, racers getting lapped, ladies and 45+ guys warming up. I couldn’t tell what was going on in our race; it was a little out of control. I knew who was in front of me but had no idea what was happening behind, so I set out to make sure no one passed me. I was successful until near the end when one guy came flying by. Sure enough he was in our group and I finished up in 5th. A great result in a boulder race with 120 guys vying for the prize (If your racing for a prize in this group your crazy!)

Check out the video of our first lap thorough the "bowl of pain".

Boulder CX Series #2 - SM35+ cat 4 - Start from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

For more good links, see 303cycling

Next race, the first Colorado CX Cup points race.

Frisco Racing Weekend

This past weekend I spent it up racing in Frisco, CO. This is the third year I've done those races. I stayed up in the mountains making the weekend a total immersion in cyclocross racing. Actually being able to stay at the race instead of racing home to get other needed items completed. Now I'm just behind in all the things I needed to do.

Both races had great turn out. I was a little worried people would skip them since they weren't CO CX Cup points races. Even the fast guys were out to wrap up those final upgrade points before moving into their new categories for the rest of the season. I was hoping to snatch up a few points myself.

I had good results, finishing 9th in the first race despite being surprised at the start. We started on a fairly long hill, too long to sprint anyway. I figured the racers wouldn't kill it on the first run up the hill because they would be blown at the top. I was wrong, the start was way fast and I dropped back a number of places. But sure enough, I caught and passed most of the sprinters on the second trip up the hill.

Here's a video of the start at the top of the hill.

Frisco CX #1 - SM35+ Cat 4 Start from Dale Riley on Vimeo.

The second race I wasn't surprised by the start and I went hard. Mostly I didn't want to get hung up on the first lap in the tricky sections. I was in second and third most of the race. My legs however, were really tired and I started to fade. I had a group of three pass me and I just couldn't latch on. I finished a very respectable 7th.

Here is a video from a guy in my race with a camera on his handle bars. Gives you some idea of the coarse. You can see me up in front at some parts of the movie.


It looks like 4-5 of the guys that finished in front of me will be upgrading before next weekend. So, that should be a good thing in the coming races. We'll see! After thee straight weeks of doubling up races on the weekends, I'm starting to feel tired. We'll see if I can get a little recovery this week before doubling up again next weekend.

"I am no longer Specialized"

Some would say cyclocross is hard on your equipment but in all fairness I have to tell you this happened while riding with my 3 year old in front of the house. I was soft peddling out the garage when suddenly the back wheel was rubbing on the brakes. I thought the quick release had just slipped. Nope, the Specialized hub cracked from a spoke hole on the drive side splitting all the way to the middle of the hub. I don't think I'll be truing this baby back up, she's done! Catastrophically

Really glad I wasn't racing these bad boys at the time.

So now I'm down a set of wheels. I think I'll look from some tubular replacements for cyclocross. I wanted to go that way eventually, this just accelerates things a little.