A few good friends

Black Friday didn't keep us from riding, but the roads almost did. Matt Jankowiak, Mike Seaman, and I headed out today to put in a few miles. Leaving around noon helped the temps rise just into the low 40's, but the traditional Michigan wind reared its ugly head. On our way out we encountered this, which involved a slight detour through the city.

The rail trail provided a nice break from the wind. Matt has ridden twice this year. Once was a week ago and the other was today. He's starting his base miles REALLY early this year.

We even managed to see an old friend.

Holland's KK race Sunday should be a good time. This weather has been amazing for training but hopefully will give way to the white puffy stuff for some skiing soon!

What are we waiting for?

4b's

Bloomer

When is a win not quite a win? When you go across the line doing this but not knowing Wiz had abandoned early! Hey, a win is a win, but next time maybe I'll know how to cross the line.

Crossing the line in 2nd...I mean 1st...

Sunday was a great day for 'cross in Michigan. Kristie and Kona made the trip to Rochester with me which is always fun. Racing at 1:30 allows for a reasonable wake up time compared with when I was in the B's and leaving at 7:00 to drive to races. Having a personal photographer and cheering section is also nice!

Hats off to Robert and the crew who put together this year's edition of Bloomer! That course was FUN and took a que off of the Icecross in going for a bit more superprestige-esque-ness in course design. Of course Robert could have left out the fun dirt downhill and "singletrack" section that wasn't singletrack, but what fun would that have been? The double pits were well thought out and the course had flow to it - much like a USGP course.

Pack racing was the order of the day for the 35's and 45's. The SS class was scattered throughout.

So at the line we started with seven SS'ers among the Masters 35 group. A flat pavement start is never too fun for anyone with one gear, as you quickly spin out and have to relax while the field takes off away from you. This race was unlike any other SS race I've been in though because we were pretty much one big group of seven or eight through the first two laps. I had a pretty good gear (albeit a bit light at times) for the day but it always left me gapped on the pavement sections. Fortunately the finishing pavement area had a dirt switchback turn, which drastically slowed the group in front of me, allowing a brief moment of contact. After going through the first barriers, however, it was hard maintaining contact while spinning out my gear.

Up in front was a mean group of 35's along with Mike Wissink, Eric Kohler, and Rich Stark, all riding SS. Sitting in fourth to those three didn't seem like a bad place, but with two to go I saw Eric pop off the back of his group, which was now starting to explode. I grabbed a mental gear, which pretty much involves questioning why the heck I decided to buy a bike with one gear anyway, and dug in for a half lap to try and close the gap. When I finally made contact after the barriers by the pit I decided it would be best to try and push the pace because Eric makes me look like I pedal squares on most days. After digging deep to drop him I came out of the velodrome area with a bit of a gap. John Osgood and Curt Potocki were screaming at me and I heard something about Rich getting gapped...sure enough when I looked up I saw the orange gloves popped off the back of his group too.

Drilling it over the barriers for the last time, trying to catch Stark the Shark.

One to go and a gap of eight seconds or so to Rich. He was pushing a 42 x 16 or something insane like that, which made my gear look like a tricycle against his monster truck. Apparently doubling up and racing both in the Elites and SS was too much, as I passed him up the singletrack-ish climb. Figuring Rich isn't the kind of guy to go easy, I buried it for the remainder of the lap, checking over my shoulder every once in a while to make sure I didn't see the orange-gloved man gaining ground.

When I crossed the line I figured I had taken 2nd to the Wiz, but not wanting to screw around with the points series he pulled off before crossing the line. Hence, the red box for me.

I can't ever know what it was like to watch that race, but the group in front provided a great pace for me with one gear. Tactics, positioning, and good old fashioned racing ability played a big part in the 35's and 45's. The Specialized crew did well with Wiz taking the Elites, Princess Seaman popping off a rare sprint victory in the 45's, and Wayne holding on to fifth place in the SS.

Holland should be fun, and another chance to ride with gears this year. With states around the corner I can only wonder what the weather is going to bring in the coming two weeks. One thing is for sure, it is getting to that time of year when people are either getting faster or slower and not much in between. Next year's plans are already being set with new and revised goals to finally make the jump to the big boy's club.

?

I can't imagine this ever happening...

Stoney

This morning's drive to Stoney seemed longer than usual. I packed both bikes...my Tricross and Tricross SS, and didn't exactly know which I would be racing today. I decided to get to the park before the B's so I could get a few laps in on the SS. After a less than stellar warm-up I decided to bag racing in the elites and have fun with one gear for a change. Definitely one of my better decisions when it comes to racing this fall, as I had a great time finally RACING against people and not just riding around at or above FTP for an hour +. It was a nice change riding with people that I have never raced with before. Some were faster than I expected, and others were a bit slower.

Anyway, the race started off well with a good placement in the top ten-ish. Going into the sand I decided to run more on the first lap than ride, which was a good decision. My gearing was just a bit high though with the wet grass that followed the sand so I felt like I was S - L - O - W there. My only consolation was that everyone else was suffering just as much, which was good.

I managed to stick close to Eric but by the end of the first lap I was dislodged and in a group of 35's. The rest of the race was more fun than I've had in a while, learning how to keep momentum and get on top of gears during times when it is easier to roll. Anyway, six laps later I rolled across the line in 2nd place amongst the SS'ers. 2 + min down on Eric and 1 min in front of Wayne. It was a fun, cool, windy day for 'cross and I'm looking forward to lining it up at Bloomer!

Icecros Video

What a fun race...for those of you that missed, take a look at Michigan's best super-prestige impression:

Icecross

So this weekend featured some amazing weather for the first full weekend in November. Kristie and I decided to head north on Friday. A few weeks ago I decided I would sell my Iceman entry and I'm glad I did. Saturday morning I woke up and was not in the mood to fight 4500 other racers in Kalkaska. A few of the 'cross crew did fight it out, with Osgood snagging 9th, Mike Seaman 16th, Weinert and Stang winning, and Wiz managing a top 15. Huge props to Jake the Snake for a hard fought 7th place. If I'm correct he hasn't touched his mtb since last year's Iceman.

As for me, I managed a nice ride in the rolling hills around Boyne, East Jordan, and Boyne Mountain. It was so warm I ended up removing my knee warmers and wishing I hadn't worn such a warm LS jersey. What a great day for a ride...

So this morning Kristie and I headed to Timber Ridge to partake in the first Icecross race. Rumors were abound with who would or wouldn't be racing today, with a few big name pros dropped in there. Turnout was on the small side, at least in the A's, with only seven racers taking to the line. Temps were in the 60's at the start making it feel like a nice September day, not an Icecross after all.

I managed to hole shot but overcooked the first turn, leading everyone a tad wide and having fun in the sand by the tape. The first lap was pretty fast and the techincal, super-prestige racecourse was a blast. Going into the second lap I was second by a few meters to the eventual winner. The gap was a bit too much and I ended up being overtaken by Derek Prechtel and a Wolverine on a 29'er. There I sat in fourth place with a monster gap to fifth and a small gap up to the group of three in front.

It is ironic in a way that before the race Mike and I were talking about how hard it can be to close small gaps when you're already on the rivet. What seems like a small 5 second gap is an eternity on a course as fast as Icecross. After 51 minutes I rolled across the line in fourth, taking a nice hand up of a local Oatmeal beverage on the last lap... FINALLY I felt like I could push on the pedals. Average speed on the day was just over 16 mph.

Also, Osgood managed to squeeze out a fourth place in a pretty competitive B-field. Good to see Jamie Rytlewski making the jump up to the B's in his first season of 'cross. Jake's sweet steel Pinarallo was at the park but was left on the rack after a KILLER effort on Saturday!

Not quite...

Not quite the kind of day you dream of today at Vet's...a bad combination of the flu going around my school plus an overall lack of rest makes for a long three laps. 8:01, 8:37, 9:17...I can do the math as well as anybody. That doesn't equal a good day. Here are a few pics of those that did manage a good race or two.

Good luck for those of you who will chance it tomorrow...

USGP Louisville

So Mike Seaman and I headed out Friday afternoon with the car packed on rain soaked roads. The rain stayed with us all the way through Ft. Wayne, but word from Louisville was that it had stopped a few hours earlier. When we finally arrived at the hotel we found the Michigan crew hanging out in the hotel bar.

Saturday's race started off with just a few drops of rain in the air. The course was already chewed up and the races before mine made sure the track was ridden from tape to tape. It is funny to listen to first timers at an event like this comment on how much the course gets torn up. When one category features as many racers as we'll get at a full day of racing in MI, the courses take a beating.

I had a great starting spot which landed me next to John Osgood on the front row. Sure enough though, in typical fashion, five racers were given a starting spot in row ZERO (that's right, in FRONT of the grid...) based on OVCX points. You're telling me they forgot to do that when assigning numbers? Whatever, I'm sure they'll fix it for Sunday (they didn't). Anyway, fortunately all five of them lined up on the opposite side of the starting grid which gave me a clear lane for the hole shot. BANG and I was off, finding a gap in front of 107 racers like nobody's business.

Into the first few turns the course was slippy and I was happy to be out front. Shortly after the start (400m-ish) we hit the first set of planks. I chose a line on the left which proved to be a bit slower in the run to the barriers. Two guys passed on the right. We're off our bikes, flying over the barriers, when I hear the distinctive sound of someone having difficulty with the planks. Out of the corner of my eye I see the guy in fourth place start to lose it just as I'm setting my bike back down for a remount. Then it happened - RAD RACING dude caught his balance by placing his foot THROUGH my rear wheel, instantly toasting it.

I've wrecked wheels before and know when it is time to figure a quick fix versus just starting to run. This was the latter situation, so I took off with the bike on my shoulder. Heading into the pits I had to be in last place, but the Wiz was there with my new Tricross Singlespeed. Fortunately the Sram guys put a wheel in for me and I was able to change again later on, but the damage had been done. 3rd to 107th in an instant, but that is 'cross. I ended up catching half of the field ending up 50th. Not a great day...

Sunday I was hoping for a better race overall. I had a spare set of clinchers with me but the wind and sun had significantly dried things out from Saturday. I decided to swap my green Michelin Mud for Osgood's Challenge Griffo clincher. It's funny how sometimes decisions get made that you never think will come back to haunt you, but this was one of them. Had I just stayed with the Muds who knows what would have happened...

So the start was similar to Saturday's. One main difference was that I hadn't exactly pre-ridden the course, so the first few turns were blind to me. Whoops. Anyway, Osgood and I stacked the right side of the starting row in awesome position, and the promoters left the OVCX guys back in the pack (no row ZERO this time). The whistle blew and it took me a second to get on top of my gear, but once I did I opened a gap instantly on the field. Going into the first barrier set I was all alone - nobody to step on my wheel. I ended up getting caught by the eventual winner about 3/4 of the way in that lap and finished the lap in 2nd place. That effort was good and bad - it got me out of trouble but required a bit of settling in. After the HR normalized I found myself in 7th with two to go. Ok just keep rolling...keep rolling.

Going into the Green Monster (which blows the Flying Rhinover out of the water...) you didn't have to brake whatsoever. No different on this lap, and I hit it with enough speed to carry me up the first four steps. I set my bike down on the top and once again felt that horrible feeling of my bike stopping in its tracks. PANIC MODE. What happened? I must have popped the wheel out of the drops. NO. I wrecked the rim?? NO. Then I saw it, a bulging tire jammed in my brakes bad enough that I couldn't free it. I stood on top of the Green Monster for what felt like an hour (but was probably closer to 5 seconds). Screw it, start running. Down the Monster, through the start, over the barriers, through the sand, and finally to the pits. When it was all said and done, once again I dropped from being in contention to DFL. I think I ended up 76th on the day.

The only good news is on the last lap, running with my bike on my shoulder, a bunch of guys were screaming that there was money in the mud pit. Of course I stopped and found a dollar - what else was I going to do?? To top it off, a short while later a High Life was held out in front of me, so I couldn't be rude and deny it, right? Ahh...

So what started out bad for me ended up with two good learning experiences and the knowledge that my fitness was indeed coming around (FINALLY). Not coming around enough to go jump in with the lead pack next weekend at Vet's, but coming around in smaller terms. We'll see.

One thing I confirmed this weekend was how FAST Michigan's masters are compared with everyone else. Wiz, Weinert, and Moncel rocked this weekend as did a few of the 45's. It was great to see Curt Potocki and John Osgood hit up their first USGP experience. Mark Caffyn, Mark Dettman, and Mark Wolowick all made the trip as well. Anne Swartz was representing in the elites while Kelly from the Wolverines rocked in the Master's category with two WINS.

One thing is for sure, I can't wait for next year.

Pics 1

Pics (Curt)

Pics (JB)

Racing again...

So after a few weeks of various other commitments I get to race again this coming week at the USGP's. Let's hope my legs remember how to do this thing we call cyclocross...

4:24

Chicago Marathon 2009

So Kristie came home in February this year and said she was going to run the Chicago marathon this year. She has never run this type of distance before, but she did some research and found a training plan that worked very well for her. This weekend was the big event, and most of our families were able to join us in the windy city for the run!

At the start Kristie was one of 46,000 starters in the chilly weather. Temps at the start were somewhere in the low 30's.

Things quickly warmed up into the low 50's. Due to a horrible messaging system from Verizon I missed her TWICE in the first 9 miles. Fortunately, just after mile 16 I was able to join up with her. I took my supercommuter (1998 Trek 930 SS with fenders) and put on about 35 miles in the city yesterday. I was in parts of Chicago that I had NEVER been in before...

Kristie finished in 4:24! I was so happy to see her throughout the day once I finally knew where she was on the course. It was great to see some of our family members out on the course too! Overall it was a huge success and I have never been more proud of Kristie. She set a goal and demolished it - she deserved it since she worked so amazingly hard all summer.

Next up for JB - USGP's in Louisville.

Support science education...

Ok obviously this has nothing to do with bike racing but it does have to do with something very, very important - education. As you've probably heard on the news and know from your personal investment accounts, money isn't exactly growing on trees lately. Consequently, schools are constantly fighting to balance a budget on a price-per-student number that can seemingly change at an instant.

Overall I consider myself and my students to be very fortunate with the supplies and resources we do have available, especially when you look at other schools in the state. Part of me feels guilty even making a proposal like this! However, with your help I can take one more step to make my physics classroom that much better for my students.

Take a few seconds and check out the proposal I have written for a visualizer/document camera. If you have a bit to spare and want a tax break because of it, maybe consider donating to the cause.

VISUALIZE THIS...

If you have any questions please let me know!

Back to racing soon...

RESULTS - 2009 Ithaca GP

C-Men

1. Doug Jacobson

2. Jeff Nixon

3. Ryan McKinnie

4. Matthew Spruit

5. Curt Potocki

6. Marc Dettman

7. Chris Davison

8. Peter Sandretto

9. Greg Johnson

10. David Chapman

11. Mike Doezema

12. Ben Miller

13. Jeff Festian

14. Lee Premp

15. Patrick Drueke

16. Jamie Rytlewski

17. Chad Ielfree

18. Patrick Tomlinson

19. Greg Geisler (-1 lap)

20. Bob Bydra (-1 lap)

DNF Cameron Marshall

B-Women

1. Heather Kubiak

2. Amy Haney

3. Vanessa Stauffer

4. Andrea Davis

Juniors 14 & Under

1. Billy Kroll

2. Nolan Osgood

B-Men

1. Patrick Russell

2. Scott Fabijanski

3. Erik Koehler

4. Jason Boyton

5. Zack Manio

6. Keith Feldt

7. Ray Auger

8. Daniel Geron

9. David Staublin

10. Brian Mitchell

11. Dave Hollis

12. Matt Levasseur

13. Scott Walburn

14. Todd Powers

15. Mike Koetsier

16. Tom McArdle

17. Douglas reed

18. Russ Greenwood

19. John Kowalczyk

20. Doug Gatto

21. Tim Bender

22. Kurt Martin

23. John Osgood

Elite Women

1. Anne Grofvert

2. Kim Thomas

3. Lillian Ruiz

Juniors 15-18

1. Addison Evon

Elite Men

1. Tim Saari

2. Tony Wieczorek

3. Matt Ashley

4. Michael Simonson

5. Brian Hancock

6. Terry Ritter

7. Rob Selle

8. Jimmy McMurray

Masters 35+

1. Andrew Weir

2. Jeff Haney

3. Mike Seaman

4. Clint Vernon

5. Jimmy McMurray

6. Ron Stack

7. Terry Ritter

8. Ken O'Day

9. Keith Reige

10. Craig Rawlings

11. David Chapman

DNF Bob Wydra

Singlespeed

1. Eric Keeler

2. Wayne Cook

3. Patrick Russell

4. John Osgood

5. Aaron Dowling

6. Brad Hranack

7. Russ Greenwood

8. Trae Bott

9. Dave Staublin

10. Mike Ring

11. Frank Kroll

12. Benjamin Tompkins

13. Ben Miller

14. Jeff Festian

15. Ryan McKinnie

PRIMES

Doug Jacobson, Heather Kubick, Billy Kroll, Erik Kohler, Addison Evon, Matt Ashley, Tim Saari, Mike Seaman, Eric Keeler

Ithaca GP!

All set for tomorrow...check out Curt's map of the course!

Hmm...

Ouch.

Ithaca GP

Online Registration closes on SUNDAY at midnight! Save some $ and get yourself online...

D'oh

From Jamie Rytlewski, who did his first 'cross race this weekend at Cannonsburg. Jamie is the one that cleaned the barriers...

Friday night lights

The first ever night cyclocross race in Michigan was a pretty big hit yesterday. I think the masters class alone had 30-something people in it, with even more in the B's. The C-field was ballooned as well. I think the A's had somewhere around 20-30 racers.

Wayne rocked his Tricross SS in the master's class.

This was my first trip for a 'cross race at Cannonsburg. I pre-rode the course between the C's and the B/Master's race to try and learn as much of it as possible. It was a short course and most of it was disguised with bumps or sand-filled holes which sucked the power out. At least at speed these weren't quite so bad, but with the 9:00 start time also came the challenge of racing under the lights.

Mike rolled his front tire in the first 200 m, but he chased all the way from last to third.

Racing under the lights on a bumpy course is like riding a mountain bike on a trail that is covered with water - you never really know what you're riding on. One of the faster corners also had a bit of condensation on the grass, making 2-wheel slides a fun reality.

My new Tricross felt rock solid; I ended up 6th.

The race started pretty well with a lead group of three taking off from the gun. I was in the first chase group but at the end of the first lap put in a dig and ended up in no man's land. Eventually Bill Gallagher and Andy Weir caught up but Andy had some chain issues so he was on and off the pace the whole night. Bill rode his mtb through the sand with more confidence than I and ended up getting a gap that I couldn't close. In lap 9 of 11 Andy caught back up and was able to hold a gap on me, which made me miss out on a top 5 by one spot.

It was a fun night with the Cannonsburg staff grilling and serving up Founders on tap. Kristie made the trip out and took all of the pics here, which was a difficult task between the low light and haze in the air. Next up is Waterford!

HOT

From Kinetic Systems blog.

Win me

Win me HERE!