Look at Me All Certified and Stuff

Well, I just finished the incredibly burdensome Collegiate Level C Race Director exam and I passed!

Boom. Certified.

I guess this means I'm officially qualified to be planning this whole crit thing.

So It Was Kind of Windy Out There

On Saturday Tim (on his fixie), Danny, and I took our cyclocross bikes out for a nice, although super cold, ride on the roads south of town. We didn't really end up needing the cross bikes as the roads were great and more or less clear of snow. Following this successful ride Tim organized another one for Sunday, but this time on road bikes since we expected the roads to be in great condition again.

Holy cow were we in for a surprise.

GPS route of Sunday's ride

The forecast was calling for some wind, but we weren't expecting it to be quite that windy! We encountered a wicked west-southwest wind that was unrelenting. According to the Weather Channel the average wind speed was 24 mph with gusts up to 33 mph. This made the first half of our ride a brutal slog through crazy winds. Oh, and it wasn't exactly warm with highs in the upper 20's.

We had a pretty good sized group to help fight the wind, but that could only help so much when facing a 30+ mph cross/headwind. We fought back against the wind the best we could and ended up averaging a blistering (/sarcasm) 14.8 mph  over the first 26 miles. It's pretty safe to say that that's probably the hardest any of us have ever worked to go less than 15 mph. To make things worse, the wind had thrown the snow back onto the road and created some pretty sizeable drifts. No one went down, but they commanded some extra care. Clay managed to snap a picture of the snow flying over the road, but it really doesn't do it justice.

Fighting the wind

Eventually we finished our death march and it was time to turn into the tailwind. After much rejoicing and a quick gas station stop we set off back towards Ann Arbor, this time with the wind at our back. And oh how glorious it was. At times we were gliding along at around 25 mph without putting much effort at all in. I noted to Tim that "This must be what it feels like to be Tony Martin all the time."

Eventually we were back to Ann Arbor Saline Rd and all that separated us from home (warmth and food) was the climb up Wagner. On paper it's not a terrible climb by any means, but its position at the end of a hard ride makes it a tough little bugger. And to make things worse, my shifter cables had gotten covered in snow from the road, froze, and became quite dysfunctional. Since they were frozen they couldn't really let out much cable tension, so I got to climb Wagner on tired legs in the big ring. Fun.

Overall it ended up being a fun, yet tough, ride. I've definitely never ridden in winds quite that extreme, especially combined with the snow. It was also great to get out there with a bunch of guys from the team. Just over a month until Lindsey Wilson!

2013 Cyclocross Season Wrap Up

With the road season over it was time to mount my new steed and embark on another discipline of cycling. Over the summer I plopped down some cash to get myself a cyclocross bike. A cyclocross bike is more or less a road bike modified to handle riding off road, including features like knobby tires, different gearing ratios, and either disc or cantilever brakes.  Mine's a Fuji Cross 1.3 and I dubbed her Crossmaster General.

Crossmaster General on her maiden voyage.

First up were a few practice races put on by AAVC and their friends at Two Wheel Tango. Appropriately named CXPreX, these practice races were my first taste of cyclocross.  These races were hard and the first one ended with me getting DFL in the A's race. I learned some things and did better in the next one, but I was still left feeling relatively apprehensive going into my first real cross race at Ithaca. I would be racing in the Cat 4 field, just as I did on the road.

Ithaca Grand Prix of Cyclocross - September 7
The first cross race of the season was finally upon us. The field was quite large with 50+ riders between the old and young guys divisions, so they ended up doing call ups based on who registered first. I registered fairly late, but was able to snag a spot that wasn't too far back in the field. The whistle blew and we were underway. Being the first race of the year, I got to see some pretty spectacular crashes in the first few laps. Highlights were a guy in the front failing to bunny hop some small barriers and another going full endo into the sand pit. The leaders quickly left me in the dust and my race became a fight against the riders coming up from behind (and survival.) The race ended in a cheeky little sprint for 15th, which I ended up winning. I finished in the top 1/2 of the field in my first cross race, so I was somewhat satisfied.

Waterford Hills Cyclocross - Day One - September 21
Back to my summer stomping grounds. This weekend of cross racing was held in the same venue as the Wednesday night race series that I frequented in the summer. It made for a fun course, but day one of the weekend ended with some disappointment. For whatever reason I was just not feeling it this day and matters were made worse by my back randomly getting tight during the race (a problem that hadn't happened before and hasn't happened since). It wasn't all bad though as I managed to snag my first ever beer handup that propelled me through my last few laps. I ended up finishing 13th of 25 racers. It was also nice to see Danny take home his first of many crushing victories.

Mounting a bike at speed is an interesting task
Photo by Zack Benet

Waterford Hills Cyclocross - Day Two - September 22
A new day brought a new race. They flipped the course around from the first day and changed a few little sections to add a little new flavor. These changes, along with the course getting more smoothed out by riders, made for a much faster race than the previous day. This suited me a lot better, and the results showed. After all was said and done I managed to grab my first top 10 finish of the year as I crossed the line 8th of 28.

Barriers. #Cyclocross
Photo by Zack Benet

Lower Huron Cyclocross - October 6

After a top 10 at Waterford Day 2 I was feeling pretty good going into the race at Lower Huron Metropark. Rain was in the forecast and the course was pretty slick, which of course made it that much more fun. I made an effort to get a good place on the start line and really put a lot into getting to the first corner in a good position. I managed to hit the first corner in the top 3 and stay there for much of the first lap. The leaders opened up a little gap on the 2nd lap, but I was still top 10 and feeling good. That was, until I crashed when my tires slid out in a corner. I didn't have time to brace myself (which was probably good for my wrists and collarbone) so I plopped right down onto the ground. In the process of falling I managed to hit my shin on my top tube pretty hard. I got back up and into the race after straightening my shifters, but I had a sharp pain in my shin every pedal stroke and eventually decided to call it a day after about another 1/3 of a lap. Everything ended up being fine, but alas I had my first DNF of the CX season.

The start line at Lower Huron. This would be the happiest I was all day.
Photo by Harvey Elliott

Lansing CX Fest - October 12

The Lansing CX Fest would be my only departure from the Tailwinds Racing series during the fall. I was home visiting my parents for the weekend and Lansing was just a quick drive away, so I figured I'd get some racing in. The course was laid out on an old abandoned golf course, which was kind of neat. However, the star feature of the course was a very nasty run up that took us right up the side of a sledding hill. This thing would be the bane of my existence every single lap. I was excited for the race and ended up taking the holeshot. This was my biggest mistake of the day. I went out way too hard and ended up running out of steam just 1 lap into what would be a 4 lap race. After the first lap I was in survival mode and hoping to get passed by as few riders as possible. The field here was small, but really strong as most of the top guys came out to race. I ended up finishing 8th of 12, which was somewhat disappointing, but given the top heavy nature of the field I wasn't too upset. 

Mad Anthony - October 19

Probably the most unique race on the schedule was Mad Anthony held at historic Fort Wayne in Detroit. The race takes part inside an old fort and included a tunnel and plenty of steep run ups and descents. Just an overall really cool setting for a race. And it was rainy/muddy, which made it even better. This ended up being a pretty solid race for me. The field was pretty big with 40 guys battling it out. I managed to get myself right to the front of the race on the first lap by running rather than trying to ride the steepest hill on the course. From here it was a battle of going fast, yet staying upright. When it was all said and done I managed to pull away from the pack I was with on the last lap and cross the line in a respectable 10th place. 

On the start line at Mad Anthony
Photo by Bob Bruce

Veterans Memorial Park Cyclocross - November 10

A race right in Ann Arbor! Sleeping in! Free bratwursts, Zingerman's, and beer! Beer handups that I was too far in the red to take! This race had it all. As I mentioned, this race took place just a few miles from my apartment at one of Ann Arbor's parks. The course here featured a couple of sizeable climbs, some technical bits, as well as some power sections. The climby bits really hurt, but I was able to put my mountain bike skills to use in the technical sections to make up for lost time. This ended up being a very solid finish as I crossed the line in 6th of 29 racers. 

One of Veteran's Park's turns.
Photo by Patrick Barron

Bloomer Park Cyclocross - Day One - November 23

Next up on the schedule was a weekend of racing at Lake Ori.....no, Bloomer Park. The weekend was originally supposed to take place at Lake Orion High School, but a scheduling conflict with a football game left the Tailwinds crew scrambling. They threw together an awesome course in super limited notice at Bloomer Park and everything was good to go. Its too bad they couldn't fix the weather too as the race ended up being super cold. It wasn't that bad once you got racing, but standing around watching the rest of the races made for a chilly day.  The course suited me well as it had some extensive single track sections. I do more cx bike singletrack riding than your average bear, so I was really glad to see that. However, there was also a climb up a sledding hill that killed me every lap. The course also got really muddy in spots due to some snow and thawing ground. I ended up grabbing my second consecutive 6th place finish, this time out of 20 racers.

One of the many muddy turns at Bloomer
Photo by Harvey Elliott

Bloomer Park Cyclocross - Day 2 - November 24

We were back at it for day 2 at Bloomer. The Tailwinds crew changed up the course a bit by adding in some more switchback turns and such. Unfortunately that darn sledding hill was still on the course, but fortunately on this day the ground was much more frozen which actually led to some more traction. The frozen ground made for some faster racing. For the first time all year I still had the leader in my sights going into the last lap. I couldn't catch him, but I did manage to hang with a group that was fighting for 4th. I came out of the last turn and onto the pavement in 6th, but I was able to put the roadie sprinter in me to use to come around both of the guys ahead of me before the line. For the first time all year I was standing on the podium (well technically next to it since I got 4th) and even got a little medal for my efforts. It was great to finally break through onto the podium, and even better to be doing it in the last race before the state championships. 

I survived the corner, but the guy in front of me wasn't so lucky.
Photo by Harvey Elliott

Addison Oaks State Championship - December 8

Well, it all came down to this: the State Championships. Jerseys were on the line as everyone made their way out to Addison Oaks to get their race on. This would be another course that would suit me pretty well as it was really flat. I didn't really have much hope that I'd be winning a state championship, but on the start line the official announced that they'd also be crowning a champion of the 19-29 age group. A quick survey of the riders that usually beat me found that they were all over 30. There were a few young guns like me in the field, but my chances of taking home a state champs jersey went from nearly 0 to quite plausible. I wasn't going to settle for just beating the under 30 crowd though as there was still a race against my usual foes to be had. As the race started we went out quite hard. I grabbed 2nd wheel going into the first corner and held on for dear life through the first lap. Eventually my legs and lungs started putting up a fight and the leaders had a few seconds on me midway through the second lap, but I still had them within reach. Slowly they pulled away from me, but the race wasn't over since I still had to stay in front of anyone in my age group. I finally crossed the finish line quite sure that I was the top 19-29 rider, but I couldn't be sure until they made the announcement. The time finally came and sure enough I had done it! It was a good day for the University of Michigan crew as my teammates Danny and Phil also grabbed champs jerseys in their races.

Frozen lake in the background; it was cold
Photo by Bob Bruce

State Champ!
Photo courtesy of Tailwind Racing

When the season started I never thought that it would finish with me standing on top of a state championship podium. Those first few CXPreX races were really rough and had me questioning whether or not I'd even be able to compete in cyclocross. Luckily I stuck with it and the season got more and more fun as the races went on. I'm definitely glad I picked up this new discipline of cycling and I'm really looking forward to next season!

All in all 2013 was all I could have hoped for and more on the bike. It had its ups and downs, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. Definitely looking forward to getting back out there and pinning a number on again. The countdown has begun to the first race of the year at Lindsey Wilson!

A season of numbers and medals (plus a few old mtb ones, but shhhh)

New GoPro - Giving it a Test Run

So the holidays brought me a little surprise in the form of a GoPro camera. After patiently waiting for the UPS man to deliver me a memory card and K-Edge handlebar mount, it was finally time to give it a test run. 

I recorded the whole ride, but riding solo is pretty uninteresting to watch so I just grabbed the video of the ascent up Sunset and the descent down Newport. It was a little wet out there, so as the ride went on more and more dirt and water collected on the lens. And a firmware update right before I left ended up changing my settings so it didn't record in full HD, but I'm still really happy with the way it turned out. Should be a lot of fun for singletrack/cx/crit practices/taking on the road for away races.

2013 Road Season Wrap Up

So as the season went along I kind of fell away from updating my blog here. With the 2014 season quickly approaching, and a new camera and GoPro being added to my arsenal, I've decided that I want to get this thing rolling again. In doing so I wanted to provide a brief wrap up of my first road season. Brevity is the goal here, so the race recaps won't be nearly as detailed as previous ones.

Waterford Hills Wednesday Night Race Series - May 8

This would be my first of many trips over to Waterford to race on the Waterford Hills Road Racing track. This little series is pretty neat as the races take part on an auto racing track. As a Cat 4 I took part in the B races here which consisted of an hour around the track. I ended up taking 5th as the race came down to a final bunch sprint at the end. I kicked way too late and wasn't able to catch the leaders. 

Das Tour de Frankenmuth - May 25

A road race in and around the Bavarian themed city of Frankenmuth. The topography was pretty darn flat during our race of 3 laps around a ~16 mile course. The race was pretty uneventful with the guys at the front keeping a pace high enough to discourage any big attacks. Eventually a guy got away in a solo break, but the field caught him a few miles from the finish. I ended up getting boxed in with around a mile to go, so I was only able to finish in 15th. 

Waterford Hills Wednesday Night Race Series - June 5

Back at it for another night of racing at Waterford. This race went a bit better as I was more comfortable with the format of racing on the track. Again it came down to a bunch sprint and I grabbed 2nd. Plus I got paid $55 for my efforts, which was my first time ever winning cash for a bike race.

Le Tour de Mont Pleasant Road Race - June 8

The course suited me quite well as it was pancake flat, but sadly I never got to see the finish line. I ended up flatting 25 miles in and had to wait on the side of the road for the broom wagon to come pick me up and take me back to the finish line since I didn't have a set of spare wheels in the follow car. Even if I did have wheels, I probably wouldn't have been able to get back up to the group as they were laying down an average pace just shy of 25 mph. From what I've heard the final sprint was somewhat of a disaster, so maybe its for the best that I flatted out.

Le Tour de Mont Pleasant Crit - June 9

My first Cat 4 crit. Ouch. The pace was high and I got shuffled to the back after getting to the line a bit late. It quickly became a struggle just to hang on as I had to sprint out of every corner to compensate for the accordion effect going through the field as we averaged 25.5 mph. I blew up on the last lap and ended up just mailing it in and crossing the line way back in 26th. Overall a really disappointing weekend.

A photo my cousin snapped while waiting to line up.

Cherry Roubaix Time Trial - June 14

My first individual time trial! This weekend of racing would take place up in Traverse City, MI. I didn't really know what to expect (besides pain), but it ended up being a highly enjoyable experience and I'll definitely do more TT's in the future. It was a bit intimidating rolling up and seeing everyone decked out in full TT gear from head to toe with TT helmets, skinsuits, shoe covers, and of course TT bikes. My expectations weren't very high since long efforts aren't my strong suit and the course featured 2 pretty good climbs, which are even less of a strong point for me. I ended up crossing the line with an average speed just shy of 23 mph and a 10th place finish. It was fun though!

Cherry Roubaix Crit - June 15

Well, it was bound to happen at some point. My first crash. I was doing a decent job keeping myself positioned in the field, but all of that went down the drain in one corner. I was trying to take the corner quickly to carry as much momentum as possible, but that sure came back to bite me. Strava says I was doing right around 24 mph when my tires went out from under me and I slid across the road. I ended up destroying a pair of bibs and my rear derailleur in the process. Luckily I had packed 2 pair of bibs and there was a bike shop within riding distance so I was able to get my bike fixed up and ready for the road race on Sunday. 

Cherry Roubaix Road Race - June 16

I had known all along that this race was not going to be a fun one for me due to its hilly course, but all of the road rash from the previous day made it an even worse time. I ended up getting dropped about 2/3 of the way through the first lap and really really wanted to DNF at the end of the first lap, but I figured that I paid for the race and might as well finish it. I spent a long while riding by myself through the scenic Traverse City countryside before getting passed by the Cat 5 field and eventually by some other Cat 4's that had gotten shelled out the back. Eventually the race was finally over and I crossed the line in 39th. 

Waterford Hills Wednesday Night Race Series - June 19

I was a bit hesitant to make the drive over to Waterford since I was all covered in bandages and holding the handlebars was still pretty painful, but boy am I glad I made the trip. I decided to be more active in the race than usual, following breaks and what not, so that was pretty fun. The prime sprint was great as 3 of us finished within a bike length. Sadly I was 3rd in that group, but it ended up helping me strategically as I was able to identify the other sprinters out there. This came in handy for the final sprint as I now knew who's wheels I should be looking for. I kicked hard out of the final corner and was able to hold off everyone else and take the win. This was a massive moral boost coming from the disappointing weekends at Mt Pleasant and Cherry Roubaix.

 

Winner winner chicken dinner.

Waterford Hills Wednesday Night Race Series - July 3

Holy cow it was hot out there. I decided to go with one bottle as a bottle per hour usually works for me, but today it wasn't enough. I won the prime and gave Tim the gas card since he drove and lead me out perfectly, but that's where the successes ended. I started cramping up with 15 minutes to go, but managed to hold it all together going into the final lap. Tim pulled me to the front for the final sprint, but my legs went zub zub. I managed to get about 2 or 3 pedal strokes in before I cramped up hard. I had to sit up and had to settle for 25th.

Milford Criterium - July 28

July was a busy month as I was working my normal job during the day and as a camp counselor at night. This left me without much time to ride and even less for racing. I was finally able to get back out there and racing at the Milford Crit. I more or less just sat in the whole time and got overly complacent. Before I knew it I was sitting on the back of the field. Zack made a huge move on the final lap and pulled me with him right up into the top 10. However, this move proved to be too much as I suddenly got light headed and even let out a dry heave or two. After this I had no desire to push it any further and sat up, crossing the line in an embarrassing 30th. 

And that's it for races I really participated in. I did make one additional trip over to Waterford for the last race of the summer, but flatted on the start line and only ended up riding 0.6 miles. 

Keep an eye out for my 2013 Cyclocross Season Wrap Up, which should be coming soon!

Cone Azalia Road Race

The time had come for my first Cat 4 road race as Cone Azalia, located just outside of Milan, MI.  was finally here. The race, put on by the Ann Arbor Velo Club, is a somewhat unique road race featuring around 4 miles of dirt roads within its 10.1 mile course. As a cat 4 we'd be doing 3 laps around the course in a clockwise direction for a total of right around 30.3 miles. The course was flat, but holy cow was it windy. A Strava gps track and elevation profile (which looks deceiving, but note the scale) of the course can be seen below:

The race started quickly as everyone was trying to be in a good position going into the first section of dirt road. We crossed over the railroad tracks, hit the dirt, and the race was on. The field probably resembled an amoeba rather than a neatly organized peloton as everyone worked to dodge the big potholes that could put an end to your race in an instant. Bottles were flying out of cages and littering the road, which created yet another obstacle to maneuver around. Unfortunately I lost one of my water bottles about 2 miles in, but I didn't exactly have time to stop and pick it up.

Eventually the first dirt road came to an end as we took a right onto Cone road, which was paved. We had a nice tailwind here so we were going properly quick until we reached the next dirt road and said goodbye to the pavement. After some loose dirt, a left turn, and a plethora of potholes we were back on the pavement once again heading north.

At this point I had been working quite hard to stay with the lead group, which was down to around 10-15 riders. I was keeping an eye on my heart rate and noticed that it was around 190 and not going down. My legs echoed this sentiment as they eventually made it clear to my brain that it was break time. I had to let the lead group go and wait to be caught by the next group to come through.

After a short bit two guys caught up to me and we started a rotating paceline after turning right to head eastbound (into the brisk headwind) towards the start/finish line. Shortly after crossing the line we were caught by the group behind us and came together to form a chase group of around 10ish I think.

After turning back onto the dirt Zack went to the front and started splitting the chase group apart. I just couldn't keep up and got discarded out the back with a few others. We would stay in our little group for a while until once again my legs gave up on the section heading north. The crosswind made it hard to draft well and another guy and I got left behind. The two of us worked together, taking turns into the wind as we finished the second lap. After the finish line he started accelerating and I just didn't have it, so I let him go. Time to ride by myself in a race. T'was not fun.

Eventually a group of 4 came up from behind. I grabbed onto their wheels as they passed. We shortly picked up the other guy that I had been riding with previously. After the turn onto the loose dirt we dropped one guy and were left with a group of 5 that would stick together for the rest of the race.

As we were making our way towards the finish line I was kind of hoping that we weren't going to sprint for the finish. The sprint would be for 20th, not exactly prestigious. However, as we hit 1k to go it was pretty obvious that a sprint was about to happen. No one would let the guy pulling off the front as he weaved all over the road trying to get someone to pull through. As the 200m to go sign came I saw two guys start the sprint on my left. I jumped on their wheels and started my sprint. I passed them pretty easily and ended up taking the sprint by a pretty comfortable margin. This locked me into 20th place. Results below:

 

Overall I was content with how the race ended up. Obviously I would have preferred to do better, but beating 50% of the field in my first Cat 4 race isn't too bad. That being said, I definitely have some work to do!

Ann Arbor Spring Training Series 4-28

Another Sunday meant it was time for another installment of the Ann Arbor Velo Club's Spring Training Series. The venue and course was the same as the previous week, but unfortunately the weather was not so cooperative. Rain, and lots of it, was the story of the day. On top of that it was cold, which is not exactly fun weather to race a crit in.

This week I'd be doing the cat 3/4 race followed (kind of) by the cat 1/2/3/4 race. I decided to skip out on the cat 4/5 race that I won the week prior.

The 3/4 race got started with a bang as two guys attacked right at the start of the race. I was staying with them at first, but eventually I had to let them go as my legs weren't ready for that kind of effort quite yet. The miserable weather lead to us not really warming up well enough since we didn't want to be out in the cold rain any longer than we had to.

As I let them go I thought, "Hmm, this is only the first lap. We'll catch them for sure in a few laps." Nope. They were gone and we'd never see them again for the rest of the race. With them gone, the race was now for 3rd.

A new addition for this week's races was some free stuff given to those who won the primes. Giving all of the stuff to the two guys in the break would have been boring, so they decided to make them field primes instead (yay). After a few laps the bell rang, which meant that whoever came across the finish line first on the next lap would win the prime. I decided to sprint for it and ended up getting a free roll of bar tape for my efforts. Winning stuff for racing is great.

After the prime lap the field settled back in as we slogged our way through the rain. About half way through the race I had to take off my sunglasses since they were so covered in water that I could no longer see out of them.

It was a long time until the next prime laps came. Just about as long as possible actually since there were 3 in a row, then the final lap. All of that prime madness allowed 3 more guys to get off the front. So going into the final lap there were 2 guys in the winning break, 3 guys in a "chase" group, and then the field (which I was in.)

As the final lap was ending we wound up for one last sprint to the line. It was kind of anti-climactic since the sprint was for 6th place, but oh well. I won the field sprint, got my 6th place (full results below), and started getting ready for the 1/2/3/4 race.

Well, the 1/2/3/4 race didn't last long for me. My legs were pretty tired and frankly I was about done with riding in circles in the rain. After two laps I was struggling to stay on the back of the pack so I just decided to call it a day. Another hour of hanging on for dear life in the rain didn't sound like fun, so I DNF'd and grabbed a burger courtesy of the AAVC guys. Also, shout-out to Patrick for giving Danny and I a lift home as riding home in the rain would have been a terrible experience.