Cyclocross Season Update

Cyclocross season is in full swing now, and it has been several races since I've updated this thing.  Since Hermann I've done several races.  The first of these was Manions, which is essentially on a big hillside by the Missouri River. During the first day it was rainy and very muddy.  I was doing pretty well in the open race and handling the mud surprisingly well, but then my rear derailleur snapped off and my race was over.  I had my singlespeed in the pit, but the awful tires I had on it at the time were not worth the trouble of trying to finish the race. Thus, I had a rare DNF, which I really hate to do. Below is a photo of one of the several muddy areas that people were running that day.

I left the race and got my bike fixed so I could race the next day.  It dried up very well and turned out to be a packed in, tacky mud that was perfect to race on.  I felt pretty good and ended up finishing 8th out of the 24 that started.  I was pretty content with a finish in the top 1/3 and also content that I was able to finish ahead of some people that I couldn't get ahead of last year.  As can be seen in the photo below, Mr. Stitches was utilized in the course this year.  A select few rode it, but not me.

Next up was the 360 Cup in Lawrence, KS.  This is typically a pretty fast course with technical sections worked in that always seems more hilly than it appears.  The first day didn't go so great.  First, my legs weren't quite there, but that is something that I can usually deal with.  The problem I had was tire pressure.  I wasn't quite used to my FMB tubulars, and I don't think I had enough pressure in them.  As a result, I ended up having my bike slide out from under me on multiple turns, and one of these caused my chain to fall off.  I eventually grabbed my singlespeed out of the pit and finished the race in 11th out of 18 starters, but it was slightly disappointing.  The second day went better since I added pressure to my tires and didn't slide out in turns, but I still wasn't super excited about my result.  10th out of 19 starters isn't terrible, but I always like to be in the top half.

Cross Out Cancer was the next race I did at Shawnee Mission Park.  I've only done it for two years, but I think it is safe to assume that it will be a windy and fairly bumpy race in the future.  The field wasn't as stacked as I expected, and I ended up finishing 4th out of 11 people.  It is a very good result, but I take it with a grain of salt since several people weren't there that probably would have given me a run for my money.

Finally, this past weekend was Gateway Cross Cup in St. Louis.  I did this event two years ago and loved it, so when I knew I had to be in St. Louis anyway I thought it to be quite convenient that this event was going on.  We had limited space in the car and time constraints, so I did the singlespeed races.  The first day was a brutally terrible start for me and on the first lap I was as far back as 10th out of the 23 starters.  I finally found my legs for the most part and was able to climb up to 3rd to finish on the podium.  Craig Etheridge crushed it and won, while Peat Henry came in second.  Here is me chasing early on.

Here is the day 1 podium with two of the craziest guys I could imagine!

Day 2 was a smaller field and Etheridge was not present at the start, so the winner of the race wasn't known before it even started.  A group of 4 of us pulled away pretty quickly, and it ended up being just Peat and I for the last half of the race or so.  We took turns trying to crack each other, but stayed together until the final lap.  It was here that he decided to put his crazy bike handling skills to use and start destroying me on the technical areas, and I wasn't able to match him in the tight turns.  As a result, he opened up a small gap and I finished 3 seconds behind him.  Another podium finish is always good, but I definitely need to keep working on my handling.  Here is the day 2 podium...

... and me getting some love from the podium girl.