Cross Nats!

This was the first year I got to race two races at Cross Nationals since I'm now really really old in cyclocross age (and soon to be really really old in real age). Even though I look young, and was even announced as "an up and coming junior" in a road race earlier this year... I'm actually now old enough to be a master.

Racing started off Thursday with a time trial??? This was a first in the sport of cyclocross -- a time trial to determine start position in a race. It was fun though -- it's always fun to get out and ride the cross bike and the TT served as a nice little pre-race ride for the real thing. Despite crashing myself on a slick section and getting caught up with traffic, I finished high enough to get a front row start - yay!

I cooled down with a lap of the real course and then watched Wayne race his masters race. He looked strong, but wasn't feeling strong and didn't have the finish he wanted. Sometimes that's the way racing goes and usually you can say -- "oh well, one bad day." But, it is a lot harder when your bad day falls on nationals, which is the race most people gear their season for.

Friday came around and I was hoping for a good day in the masters race. Going into the race, I knew there was strong competition and that holding the top step might be attainable, but getting on any step would be a hard battle.

The gun went BANG and I was off to a good start leading the way into the first lap with a lot of riders right on my tail. By the end of the lap it was down to three of us up front... I went back and forth into 1st and 2nd spot and before I knew it, it was down to just me and Amanda, in what would prove to be a tough battle. . We had a good gap on third, but neither of us wanted 2nd and we were both fighting hard for the win. Coming into the last lap I could no longer feel my hands, my feet, my legs and I was tired... but i had opened a small gap and just kept telling myself to go! I knew I had to minimize mistakes (which is hard for me) and keep the pressure on. Then I got to the barriers the last time around, tripped over the board, and went to the ground... I was devastated on the inside (and had two more bloody knees on the outside - doah!)... I thought I blew it... but scrambled up and was able to get going again fast enough to stay out front. It wasn't until I made it to the final run up though that I thought I really could pull this win off and when I crossed the line first I could only let out a tired smile... i had left it all on the course and it felt really good to win that way.

(awesome photos by Tim Gasperak)

Saturday was Cypress' big day and he fought a tough battle -- which was a blast to watch and even more exciting to see him finish on the podium in 4th as a young guy in the 17-18 class -- way to go Cypress!!!

Sunday's race came around and I was hoping for better luck than last year when I came off being sick, had a couple spills, and ended up running twice to the pit from quite a ways out. I couldn't envision it going any worse. Unfortunately it didn't go much better. I had a good start... stayed calm and relaxed through a thick field and a number of crashes. Came through lap 1 sitting top 10 but my rear wheel was feeling funny. Thought it looked ok and kept going, but it just wasn't feeling right and I decided to pit to my much less preferred B bike (it's hard to pit when you love your A bike). The wheels felt better but I was feeling drained and struggling to hold my position. I lost some spots by the last lap, but was still hanging in the teens among some tough competition. Then I came around a corner and slid out right in front of the pit. I thought this was ideal timing and ran into the pit to change back to my A bike -- happy to be back on the SuperX despite something off with the tire. But as soon as I exited the pit and hopped on the bike, the tire went "PSssssssss" and ALL the air was gone. Ended up the race with a long, long run in the mud... the mud was so thick that i was hoping running wouldn't be much worse than riding. But it was. Way worse. The only upside was that I had a ton of cheers from a HUGE crowd! So, ended on a rough note but that is cyclocross sometimes... ideally, the bad luck would hold off for nationals, but at least I had some luck on 1 of the 2 days.

Overall it was a great weekend and a fun year of cross. Can't send enough thanks out to all the people who helped contribute to a fun season and the stars and stripes!

Hit Crater Lake on the way home with Aspen...

(it was cold and windy)

(and here was our view... I hear it is even better without fog :)

Portland Cross

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind finish to the cross season. I drove up to Portland for the final USGP and then headed to Bend to finish the season with Nationals.

The Portland races were some of the biggest, deepest fields I've seen in women's cross outside of nationals. It is great to see the sport growing and fun to have such a deep field to race with. There was always pressure in front and behind and every little mistake mattered. The Portland USGP was also a super fun atmosphere with crowds of cross enthusiasts, a spectator friendly venue, and even a marching band! We didn't get the rain that Portland is known for, but we still encountered a bit of mud and overall fun course conditions. In addition to great racing, I also had a lot of fun pitting and spectating... getting to watch Cypress tear it up in the juniors race, Wayne pull out a podium in his master's race, and a very exciting finish in the elite men's race.

Here are some pics from the weekend from Chuck, our super host (and photographer)...

After the weekend, the fam and I headed to Bend for one final week full of cyclocross fun.

(saw a cool waterfall on the way to Bend)

Jingle Jingle Jingle

I raced 3 Days of Jingle last weekend with my favorite support crew and my big midwest cycling family! Jingle Cross is always a fun, well-run event... and on top of that, it supports a good cause with proceeds benefitting the local children's hospital.

Jingle also always includes Mt. Krumpit -- a big, steep, muddy hill! Going up Mt Krumpit is a leg killer in a cross race where you repeat everything again and again and again... but for me, going down is the hard part. Steep slippery slopes are not my forte on the bike -- i'm a bit of a wimp and get scared at the prospect of crashing down such climbs. Two years ago, I developed a good strategy of dealing with the slippery slopes... just slid down on my butt!!

(mudslide technique -- also see movie at 2:07)

This maximizes the fun (who doesn't love a mudslide) and minimizes the danger (you can't fall if you are already on your butt). However, the approach is not the speediest way down (although for me it was... when i tried the riding technique, I ended up falling in a ditch over the course fence -- see movie at 0:26). Moreover, this year was just muddy enough to be a bit slick, but not muddy enough for my mud slide technique. So... I tried the "big kid" approach of actually riding my bike. While I managed to make it down on my bike (opposed to my butt), heavy application of the brakes is not helpful in a race for speed!! I still managed a couple of top 10's and overall had fun racing and think I managed to get a tiny better at the slopes by the end.

But my forte is really running up the steep slope. Luckily, day 2 of the 3 day weekend had us running up instead of riding down. This is not so scary!! And I'm a lot better at running up than riding down. After a bad start, I kept moving up throughout the race until I was battling it out for the last podium spot. I took the lead for 3rd in the final lap after my opponent slid out in a corner and then almost lost my spot when I got my bars tangled up in course tape (oh no!)... but ended up hanging on for a podium finish.

All in all, a super fun weekend of racing and nice to see lots of friends back in the midwest. I do miss the midwest some days... but was happy to return to CA where the weather does not require lobster gloves!