Spooky Cross Weekend

Last weekend a Lincoln Industries crew of 4 rolled into DesMoines, Ia for the Spooky Cross cyclocross races. We were all a bit spooked by the amount of rain that fell during the week preceding the race but when we got there we were pleasantly surprised. Conditions were not bad and were improving quickly. The promoters did a great job of providing challenging courses both days.

Saturday Troy, Craig, and I all did the Masters 40+ race. All of us rode well and battled for position all race long.

Results:

Tom 1st

Troy 3rd

Craig 6th

Ryan gave the 3/4 race a shot and was leading when he had a mechanical that put him back in the field. He made a huge effort and passed a bunch of riders to finish 3rd.

In the 1,2,3 race Troy, Ryan, and I all got good start and were racing near the front. Ryan would feel the effort from his prior race and fall off the pace while Troy and I would battle at the front of the race. In the end local legend Brian Eppen would win while I got 2nd. Troy had to race hard the whole race to finish 3rd.

Sunday the promoters changed the course a bit and added more climbing, a little more mud, and there was way more wind.

In the Masters 40+ we again had Troy, Craig, and I. It was a battle with the wind as well as our compeditors, but again we all finished well. Craig's result would have been better but he mechanical issues caused by course tape, cornstalks, soybeans, anything that could fly in the wind.

Results:

Tom 1st

Troy 3rd

Craig 9th

!,2,3 Race, By now I think Troy and I were both getting tired, 4 races in 2 days is taking it's toll but we were determined to tough it out for the final 60 min race. I got off to a good start and led the race for part of the first lap but quickly found that my legs had lost power. Troy and Ryan were both in good position in the top 10 so the race came down to who had more power in the wind or more speed in the woods. It quickly became a game of holding the gaps between riders steady until the end of the race.

Result:

Tom 3rd

Troy 5th

Ryan 6th

Overall it was an awesome weekend of racing and hanging out with teammates. Next weekend we will be spread out at various races in KC, Altoona Ia, and Boulder, Co. Good luck to all and see ya in KC in 2 weeks.

Boulevard Cup, Kansas City

This weekend the Lincoln Industries crew were in action at the Boulevard Cup race in Kansas City. Troy and Craig made the drive down and did a single day race instead of the usual double race weekend. Recent rains and very few turns made the course perfect for riders with lot's of power. The weather was great for cross, 60's, sunny, and a bit of wind.

Troy and I both rode the 1,2,3 race with a number of local legends in attendance. The start was fast and furious with road pro Brian Jensen stringing out the field. I got a good start and was in 5th position for a while but I knew it was about to end. I just didn't have the legs to stay with the leaders and soon decided to ride for training instead of a finish. With both of the kids sick I'm just a bit afraid that I'm going to get it next.


Yea, I'm smiling in this picture. It's kind of fun just to ride around and play. Unfortunately there weren't many places on the course that were much fun but good practice anyway. At least I got to goof off with the crowd.

In the end Troy rode a strong race and ended up 10th, and I was a distant 11th. Not the best of courses for either of us but next weeks another set of races.


If you look way back there you can see Craig at the start of the 3/4 race. That's a whole bunch of guys ahead of him to pass. He battled the whole race and ended up 28th. For a guy in his first full year of cross racing that's a tough category to racing in. My bet is that we will see Craig continue to improve as the season goes on.

Next week: SPOOKY CROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grand Prix HPT / Chris Cross

Topeka/Lawerence
Pretty good & OK that's my weekend. Saturday was pretty good. Rode hard, consistent, not a whole lot of mistakes. Actually had a good start, finally. Ended up 7th & was happy. Interesting course. First of all it was at night, under the lights. Second, it was mostly on a dirt oval race track & its infield. Kind of hard to imagine unless you were there but it ended up being a lot of fun. I guess CX can be a good time if you feel like you're going good."Ok", that was Sunday. Ok start, not great. First lap I noticed my cassette was skipping a bit? Should have pitted right away & switched bikes, didn't. Didn't matter anyway. I ended bobbling a gravel corner & then full on crash a bit later in another gravel corner. Both incidents were not cassette related, but now my rear shifter is jammed w/ grass & its still shifting like crap. Craigio's working the pit, I come in "hot"(sorry man), ghost ride my bike at him, it pile drives into the ground right before him, & I manage an ungraceful remount on my pit bike. Not pretty but it worked, I didn't lose any spots. So I spend the next 7 laps chasing Wilkins, I can't catch him. Lap after lap he's hovering about 15 seconds (guessing) in front of me. Nice ride man! The whole time I'm holding off a KCCX rider about the same gap behind me. 11th, just "ok". Compared to how I felt mentally after the first race 2 weeks ago, I'm feeling/racing better. Its still really early.Credit where credit is due:Wilkins, tough.Woodman, awesome ride. Ended up 6th, in front of a bunch of tough riders.Tom, both days tough as nails! I love it, you're going great! 4th on Saturday, 3rd on Sunday!Traveled ( 2 cars) w/ Craig, Ryan, & Matt T. Good crew, had a lot of fun.Thanks Nancy for putting us up, the oatmeal bars, pasta, & everything else.I said a couple weeks ago something's gotta give w/ this busy CX schedule. Next weekend is going to be Sunday only. Sorry Jeff if you're reading this. I've got to get some stuff done around here. Des Moines for 2 days the following weekend & then Boulder the weekend after that.Later,TK

Chris Cross

I have to say that Sunday morning came quite early after racing Saturday night in Topeka. I think everybody at the house thought the same thing, it's a long transfer between stages. Left Topeka around 10pm, arrive home in KC around 11pm, eat dinner and get to bed around 1am. Up at 7am Sunday and started making Belgian Waffles for the crew to get ready for Chris Cross. We decided to get there a bit early to check out the course and do some pre-riding. I'm glad we did as this course in notorious for having gravel in the turns. The race starts with a paved section that leads into a quick 180 into the woods. I didn't get the best start but made a bunch of spots up by out braking some guys into the hairpin. I think I was in the top 5 going through the woods and tried to hang onto the Shadd and Joe express. Halfway through the first lap Shadd got a gap and soon after Joe jumped away and tried to catch Shadd. Mark and I chased and were holding the gap close until Shadd noticed that Joe was alone. It wasn't long before the TREK boys were together and it was 2 against 2 with Brian Jensen alone not far behind.


Mark and I worked together for a few laps and here we are rolling through the ditch. After a few laps Mark fell off the pace and I managed to put in a fast lap with about 4 laps to go and put some time on Brian. Disaster struck as I lost the front wheel in a gravel filled turn starting 3 laps to go. After I collected my glasses and straighten my bars I got going but Brian soon caught me. On the last lap I managed to use some MTB skills in the gravel/woods section and get a little gap on Brian. I knew he would make up time on me on the road sections so I was determined to make it stick .
This is where it gets crazy, Shadd has a mechanical issue and is just rolling down the hill. Joe is waiting and all the time I'm catching them. I come past the wheel pit and Smitty's yelling at me that Shadd has a mechanical. I look up the road to see them really close. Shadd did manage to get his bike up and running in plenty of time to roll to 1st place with Joe in 2nd. I was running for my life to stay away from Brian and he got close, but I stayed away for 3rd.
So another cross in the weekend in the books, great courses, well run events. Everybody who ventured down from Nebraska had a great time and plan on coming back for more. As for me, I've got to remember that you can't win races lying on the ground. Then again, if you don't fall once in a while you aren't trying hard enough. I think I'll try for something in the middle.
Ryan, Craig, and Troy battleing it out in the woods. Overall it was a good weekend for the Liincoln Industries crew. Everybody is getting into the groove and breaking in the new bikes.

Grand Prix HPT

I got an early start Saturday and headed out to Topeka for the HPT GP. When I arrived there were SCCA car races going on at the road course but what I was really interested in was the drag strip. My dad drove dragsters for the first 12 or so years of my life so I spent most of my weekends at the track. One of these days I'll get out there for the Nationals. So after a fair amount of time geeking out at the cars going by I decided to get down to the bike racing part of the evening. In the picture you can see the lit dirt track where the course was set up. It's just about race time and Matt and Troy are about ready to go. The course was set up inside the oval dirt track with a little bit outside behind the grandstands. Pretty fun course, long high speed straights with a bumpy, tight infield section. I got a good start and made the front group and after a few laps it ended up as a group of 4 with Bill and Adam going in and out of the group. Most of the race I was fine with the pace except when we hit the 2 back straight sections. Here Bryan and Joe would put the hammer down and I'd get gapped but get back on before we hit this funky off camber turn leading to some stairs out of the race track. This turn would prove to be my down fall as with 3 laps to go I bobbled and lost contact with the group. I was struggling to close the gap when Jeff Winkler fell losing contact with the group as well. Now we were both were chasing but with 1 to go Jeff attacked and got away from me and that's how we finished. The order ended up, Joe, Brian, Jeff, and Me. Not too shabby considering how the week went. We had a few of the Lincoln crew here for the weekend and we all had a pretty good showing Saturday night, Troy 7th, Matt 10th, Ryan 14th.

Weekend update

Not toomuch new to report from last weekend. The team was pretty much off due to Scott's wedding.

We missed reporting Ryan's win in the 1,2,3 cyclocross race in DesMoines. On top of that he just picked up his new cross bike on Saturday and then won on Sunday. Way to go Ryan!

This weekend: Cross in Topeka under the lights at Heartland Park Saturday night. I love racing at night on the road and this should be even better. Brings back memories of my motocross days. Sunday is Chris Cross in Lawrence, KS. We have Craig, Troy, and myself from the team and Matt from High Gear racing this weekend.

My house is cross central when the races are in the KC area so I better load up on Waffle mix and give the waffle maker a tune-up!

TP

Man I love Cross......

Do you sense the sarcasm? I'm not good at it, but I have a nice bike. So, why not? Usually this time of year I really start to wind down and take it easy. Oh by the way did I mention that I was getting married the weekend following. I woke up the day of the race fully expecting to be getting things done around the house and what ever my lovely wife to be wanted done. I figure she has planned oh about...100% of everything so I should make sure I'm available. I have become manual labor man and honestly I'm ok with that. As I was drinking my coffee she told me that Jen Rhodes was racing and asked if I was going. Here's when you know you have an awesome woman! "Go ahead, we will have plenty of time when you get done." Now I will restate, I'm not good at this stuff. I really have to get myself psyched up for it. 2 hours before the race isn't enough time, but I will take any opportunity to ride my bike I can get.

I finished 24th in the 3/4's, I was happy with that. I wasn't last. I didn't crash, which is a first in cross for me. But maybe that means I wasn't going fast enough? I didn't kill myself when remounting my bike. The last time I dismounted a cross bike was last year so I consider that another victory. All in all I had a good time and I got to ride.

Now I have to focus my energies on the wedding. Oh by the way, our honeymoon is in California and we will be riding our bikes in the Napa wine country. Jealous? You should be;-)

Diamond Blackfan Cross

Ok...here's something I just realized on my 3 hour solo ride home from KC yesterday. I haven't really raced since 2 crits & a TT in July! I did do an 84 mile RR on September 6th. What the hell have I been doing since July? Somebody? I guess I was just doing training rides, I think. Its almost October, again...I can't even remember what I've been up to.Yesterday. CX in Lenexa, KS. 1/2/3 race, 22 starters, I got 14th. It was pushing 90 degrees & my race time was 1 hour & 11 minutes & change. Brutal, epic, tortuous whatever you want to call it. Bad start (something I'm good at, bad starts that is), dropped my chain later on, & I hadn't gone that hard in a long time...a long day. Other than that, I guess it went ok. Preseason, right? It is still only September.Besides the chain drop, on the bright side, my bike handling was ok, not superb, but just ok & my bikes ran great. BTW - the chain came off in an extremely bumpy section, if there was one place on the course where I would expect a derailment it was right where it happened.

Diamond Blackfan Cross

Not too sure how to write this one up. I've got to say that I'm still totally out of sync when it comes to getting prepared to race. All season I've been showing up to races unprepared and today was no exception. Today's problem started with a malfunctioning Air pump that would not work with my wheels. Yea, I knew about it a few days ago but forgot to do anything about it. So I rolled out to race with my tires just a bit low on air pressure. After a crappy start Cam and I were dicing with each other and moving up through the field. Unfortunately I tried my best inside/outside move on Cam and my squishy tires gave out and I slid into him. Once we got tangled up I ended up going over the top of both Cam and his bike. Hard crash........I'm trying to get Cam to answer me that he's ok before I ride off, but I'm starting to freak as I'm getting no answer. Finally he answers and then it's time to clean up my yard sale before get back into the race. So now I'm back in the race and catching people and just as I'm all most at the back of the group the chain falls off. In the space of the next few laps it falls off 6-7 times, hell I lost track. Finally if falls off and somehow gets past the chain keeper without moving it, time to go for a little jog. So I get to the pit, take a nice long drink, and take off on the spare bike. Imagine this... the tires have more pressure and the bike handles much better! Now it's only a few laps more to go so I kept going and manage to catch a few other guys who have blown or crashed. I never did check to see where I finished but it really doesn't matter. Today was a learning experience for sure. The fitness is OK but should get better before the next race in a couple of weeks. I all ready went to the shop to get the parts to fix the chain issues and the pump. A few really cool things from today: Jonas wanted to try out the cross course, very fun to ride with him on the course (it's unfortunate that his bike is 10 pounds heavier than my cross bike) The number of riders in attendance, I knew there were a ton of riders in all the categories and heard they had around 200 riders. A new venue to race. Good course in a park close to home.