Overdue Update

Thought I would update while I had a second. As everyone knows Bloomingcross was a couple of weeks ago and it went very well. The course was fast and no one fell off the bridges. :) I got a front row call up but managed to botch the start and went into the 180 about 6th and could not get clear until towards the end of the first lap. However, by this tim Mitchell Kersting had managed to build a little gap that I would sadly never close. The legs did not feel as good the did in Cinci but I still rode well and rolled in 2nd. Hopefully I can take down one of the remaining OVCX races.

Next was the USGP in Louisville. I was once again doing the 2/3 events before I man up and do the UCI races next year. I did not feel so hot and was truthfully feeling burnt out and unmotivated. It did not help that I had to leave super early to get there in time for my 10 o'clock race. The weather was chilly and the course had super-glue like mud everywhere. It robbed me of my power advantage which I was counting on because I felt flat. However, I was lucky enough to win Day 1 thanks to a call up. Andrew Dillman got 2nd. This kid is a balla!! He is 15 and gave me everything I could handle. If he can stay motivated he is going places. Big props to him. Day 2 I did not get a call up and was starting very far back. The legs felt terrible and I never saw the leader. I got up to 2nd but wrecked trying to get free. I ended up fourth. Guess who won?!...Dillman! Like I said this kid is going places. He rode away from 120 guys. He started near the front but I will never take anything away from him. Good luck to him and I look forward to following his progress. I took it easy this week in preparation for Gun Club cross here in about 14 hrs. Hopefully the legs wake up and I can go for that top podium spot.

Random thought.

Several people have pointed out to me that the proposed Senate Health Care bill will pay for abortions. How they have managed to take a several hundred page document and condense it to one ridiculous point is beyond me. So what, would you rather have the kid raised in foster care because the parent does not want it. You talk about having to pay for this bill, who do you think would have to pay to keep this kid in the foster system? Another thing, it amazes me that more often than not people who are anti-abortion and PRO-LIFE are also pro death penalty. People are awesome. I do not think this country has ever been so polarized and I believe it is because people are being misled by those they elected to represent them; on both sides of the aisle. Just my thoughts.

Have a good one and remember to think for yourself. Don't believe everything you seen on that T.V.

Harbin Park Photo Dump

Thanks to Caitlin for all of the awesome Pictures.:) Also thanks to Jeffrey Jakucyk.

Victory at Last!!

I ventured to Cincy this weekend for the 2nd and 3rd days of the UCI festival with high hopes and expectations. I got there early on Saturday so that I had plenty of time to dial both bikes and to prevent any disasters like the previous week in Louisville. I got plenty of pre riding in and with the long pavement sections, I knew that course would offer plenty of opportunities to rail it and hopefully move up from my back row starting position. Fortunately everyone moved far left in preparation for the right hander onto the grass. I seized the opportunity and moved up the right, chopped some people in the corner and was 8th by the time we got onto the course! Nice! I rode hard and caught the leaders, and decided to leave them early and go it on my own. I had it pretty comfortably and then dropped and chain with 1 1/2 to go. I immediately thought, "NOT AGAIN!" I managed to get it back on and only get passed by second place I quickly caught him and went on to grab the W! Although I did not get to salute because I thought I had another lap, It did not matter. The victory was so sweet and a long time coming. It felt awesome. I was really excited and looking forward to Sunday. I had my sights set on a repeat. I even got some awesome Challenge Grifo clinchers for my efforts.



Day #2 (Harbin Park)

I was excited to start Sundays race but was also nervous, and felt that if I did not win then the weekend would be a disappointment. I am a little hard on myself, but after the dry spell I was hungry for as many victories as possible. I was once again in the back row and grew worried when I saw the guy who got second the day before on the front row. I knew I was going to have to go balls to the wall and get to the front before he had a chance to build too much of a lead. The first couple corners were a clusterf%$k. People were stopping and dismounting and I was literally running over people to get to the front. Luckily there was a very long, false flat up to the finish line and I was able to pass a ton of people to get near the front before the sand. However, Roberson (2nd place from Saturday) had a nice lead on everyone. I was riding myself inside out and almost thought the gap was too big to close. I wrecked on lap 2 in front of Rodkey because I was simply out of control. I needed to compose myself and close the gap. I got to the leader with 3 to go rode with him for a lap, waiting for him to make a mistake. He dropped a chain in the sand and I went for it. I built a comfortable lead and then endo'ed into the sand the last time through and he was on my ass. I went as hard as I could and was free and clear. I won for the second day in a row making it a clean sweep for NUVO in the 2/3 events. I even had time for a sweet salute :). Hopefully pics to come. It was an incredible weekend.
However, it did not end well. Unfortunately both Ryan Knapp and Mike Sherer broke their collarbones in the elite UCI race with Knapp's coming in the final sprint. He got up and walked across the line to finish 11th showing some real courage. I can't wait for you both to get back out there. Heal up fast so you can finish the season as strongly as you started it.

B Bike

So I am officially hooked on this cross thing. I just got a B bike. This will prove helpful if I ever have another emergency mechanical during staging. I am pretty stoked and can officially say I am obsessed with crossin.

My First (official) CX race!

My first race was the 2nd round of the OVCX series. It had a little bit of everything including some awfully bad luck. All was going well until staging started. I grabbed my front brake for one last check and the cable pulled all the way out. Awesome! I panicked a little and headed back to the car for some emergency surgery. Luckily Fred was there to help. I got the brake fixed and headed back to the start line assuming they waited. I was wrong!! The race was on! I ducked under the caution tape just before the start finish line and the chase was on. I was at least 30 seconds down which really sucked. I quickly made up my mind to chase as hard as hell. I wrecked the very first corner and then again going into the first barrier. I guess it was pretty dramatic and I even took out part of the course. This crashing was not getting me any closer to the race. Luckily Adam Rodkey got my attention and told me to get my head back into it. I calmed down and rode as hard as my body would let me. I got some stragglers pretty much immediately and then set my sights on a group of 6 about 20 seconds ahead. I caught them and decided to go right on by and continue chasing after thinking briefly about staying with them and recovering. That seemed like the pussy thing to do with so many people still in front of me.


photos by my awesome Girlfriend Caitlin, let me know and she will be glad to take some shots of you if you would like. She comes to a lot of races with me.

Thanks to Fred, Ben Weaver, and Rodkey for the encouragement. The bad luck sucked hard but it gave me the opportunity to see just how hard I could push myself. It was awesome. I ended up sixth and now know that without a doubt I can compete with the people who are winning these races (aka Ryan Knapp haha).

And lastly big props to Knapp and Fred Rose for winning their races and a big thumbs down to truesport.com for leaving Bikereg.com off of the results. Coincidence? I think not.

The course was sweet and I am quickly falling in love with this 'cross thing. I am looking forward to the rest of the OVCX series.