KCCX

Thanks to the deep pockets of the Cornell Cycling Club (not to mention the fact that practically no one races in the fall!), Jake and I got to travel to Kansas City for Cyclocross Nationals.

I flew out Tuesday, December 9 to get to KCI airport at night...just in time to get my bike box and catch a shuttle to the Econo Lodge ($42/night!...there's a reason it was that cheap).

Wednesday morning I took a shuttle back to the airport to get my car- a Chevy Aveo. What a piece of crap...I'll take my Subaru. At least my bike box fit in the back seat.


Now armed with transportation, I made my way towards Kansas City



From far away it looks big, like Boston or similar...but it's mostly just sprawl- the combination of Eastern and Western business influence made it a mecca of fast food and strip malls. This is America.

For the next few days I stayed with probably the best host housing you could ever imagine- Todd and Wanda. Peter O and Jeremy found the family last year when they signed up for host housing as part of the volunteer crew. I'm usually skeptical on host housing since I feel like I'm imposing on the family, but it was amazing. Despite our efforts to remain "out of the way" of their daily activities, they went out of their way to be accommodating- they made us great food, washed our clothes, and even took us out to dinner (more on that later). And they're crazy about bikes. Wanda even made us complimentary lockring rings in exchange for us spreading the word about her budding jewelry business- http://soldergal.com/index.html. Sweet.

The first race:

Thursday was the 10-29 B race. I was secretly hoping it was a 19-29 race since it would keep us from getting beaten up by 15 year old phenoms like Jeff Bahnson and various Clif Bar Devo team kids. No chance. There went any chance of the much coveted "B National Champ"/sandbagger title. I lined up next to Jeff in the third row. I figured this would be the last time I would see him. That was fairly accurate.

When I rode the course at 8am it was frosty but frozen ground. If you started to slide, your tires would chatter but you would ultimately remain upright. The course looked to suit me- the lap began with a few flat turns before winding back and forth along a rather long uphill grind. There was a set of "stairs" at the top before a classic down/up on a steep uphill- I think running was faster, but there were riders doing both in all races (Trebon ran, Driscoll rode). Following all this climbing was a fairly long descent with a variety of technical turns, a set of barriers, another stairset, and a few more technical turns before you were dumped back on the start/finish stretch. A really fun course that would favor power riders on dry days and technical riders if the loop got slick.



In accordance with my preview laps, I had my pressure set in the low 40's. Unfortunately I had not factored in the warming of the course- now the frost was water, and it turned the course way slick. It was slippery, greasy mud on top of frozen ground...and every lap became progressively worse. I guess this is the situation where a pit bike would be handy.

I had a fair enough start coming from the third row and encountered more than a fair share of bumping in the hole shot and first few turns. Unfortunately, since it was a B race, a lot of the riders were doing me no favors by jamming up the turns. There was also a major crash on the inside of turn 1 which forced everyone to the outside, transforming the hole shot to a rather significant bottleneck. I could see the 15 year olds getting away at the front. Ah well.

I missed the train off the front, but I eventually worked my way through the masses to get into that small group of people who went out too hard and subsequently got shelled. Eventually I made my way up to probably 7th or 8th position. Unfortunately it was becoming clear that my legs were more than a little stale from not riding since NBX on the Sunday prior. There was a rider just ahead that I just could not catch for the longest time- even on the uphills.

When I finally did make contact I was further humiliated- he was riding a single speed with flat bars! At least it was a nice bike- a Moots Ti frame. For the next 3 laps of the race we would yo-yo quite a bit- I would try to escape on the uphills while he slowly reeled me in on the downhill. I mainly wanted to stay ahead because his tires were pretty damn wide and they were throwing mud everywhere (mainly in my face).

Our cat and mouse ended when I was catching up to a lapped rider- who fell right in front of me on the slickest part of the downhill. I had few options other than ditching, although I tried as best I could. Down I went, and my nemesis went by, never to be seen again. I ended up having to sprint in for 8th place- but I won that minor battle. Not a terrible race, but I know I could have had much better legs. I hoped that Sunday (the collegiate and last race of the season) was my chance for redemption.

As for the teenagers-It turned out that Jeff Bahnson DNF'd, leaving the win for a Clif Bar kid.

Friday/Saturday:

When I wasn't working on my take-home final for turbulent fluids, I spent time at the course, watching a super muddy day on Friday, where the 17-18 Junior race turned out to be a great battle. I rode the course about 7 times during the open course time, falling a ton of times as I tried to ride the outrageously slick turns faster and faster. Even putting a foot down didn't work because your foot couldn't get enough purchase to keep you upright. As the day progressed the wind and ample riding served to dry out the course and make it a slow, tacky mud for the remainder of the day (and the next couple). If it stayed like that for Sunday, it would definitely work in my favor.

I later read that Katie Compton recommended only limited pre-riding since the course was "very heavy on your legs". Good to know, since my legs were destroyed from Thursday and Friday. I hoped some good rest on Saturday would have me in form for Sunday.

I also hoped a (un)healthy dose of bbq'd pork would give me ample protein to fuel my muscles. On Friday night, Todd and Wanda took us out to Oklahoma Joe's- a classic Kansas City BBQ place inside a gas station. I got the ribs (and a strawberry soda).

(Ok, I split this with Todd since it's about 3 feet long and a foot wide)

Sunday- Collegiate CX Nationals:

Sunday started out at 65 degrees. Then, in probably 10 seconds, the temperature dropped 30 degrees when a cold wind blew in. In the course of an hour, it dropped 40 degrees down to probably 25! I still lined up without leg warmers and no embrocation- eventual winner Will Dugan also went bare-legged (no word on embro). Northeast solidarity.

I had a second row start, which was great. No front row pressure, like Verge. This was my chance to nail the start and hopefully ride into a top 15. Not knowing the competition I figured that sounded about right. Unfortunately I didn't nail the start, and I ended up in the middle of the field, as usual. If I learn anything from this season- I need to work on starts.

I definitely had better legs today, and was passing a ton of riders on the uphill. The downhills were nice and tacky and you could really nail all the turns. Pretty large ruts and berms built up over the last couple of days so it was pretty non-technical- check out the photos of the pros for a good look at the ruts.

Over the first few laps, I moved my way up to 14th place. Todd and Wanda kept me constantly updated on my progress as I picked off riders on each subsequent trip uphill. I was surrounded by a ton of Fort Lewis and Lees-Mcrae riders- as it turned out I was the highest placed ECCC rider except for Dugan. With 1.5 laps to go, I had a small group of 3-4 riders ahead- prime for the uphill taking. Could I possibly go top 10 at D1 collegiate nationals?!?

Then it all came crashing down. Literally.

As I was railing through a right turn halfway down the hill I was squarely planted in the rut...unfortunately I was going a tad fast to stay in said rut. I popped out and went down in a heap. Dammit. My chain was off. So I fixed that. Then I went to ride and noted that my front wheel was not moving at all. Then I saw that my tire wasn't on my rim anymore!!! I rolled my first tubular...what a momentous occaision.

I was decidedly in "oh shit" mode and delayed my run to the pits being in a bit of shock. I was more focused on the riders ahead that were getting ahead- and the riders behind that were blowing by me. Then I realized I wasn't terribly far from the pits...so I ran.

While running I managed to unhook my brake and front skewer in anticipation of the wheel change- super pro. I also vainly tried to keep with the riders through the slower turns and almost fell. I finally ran into the pits with enough desperation to eventually get attention from the SRAM guy, who kind of fell asleep. He grabbed a 404 with a 55psi mud2 (it was HARD) and I was on my way again, trying to regain my positions. I suspect I lost a minute...but that was a significant minute with such tight placing.

Unfortunately my legs enjoyed the "rest" a little too much...they were pretty unwilling to get moving again for the remaining lap. Also, I can personally attest that a mud2 at 55psi does not turn as well as a Grifo at 30psi (you heard it here first). If I had another lap after, maybe I could have salvaged some positions, but there was just no going anymore. I rolled in for 22nd place. I can't say I'm disappointed since I was racing well prior to that point, but I CAN say that I'm pissed that my tire couldn't stay on for ONE MORE FUCKING LAP!

I guess I have 10 months to perfect my tubular gluing- best watch out next year!

I can't wait.