Cyclocross Season 2016: From Beginning to End

I've been a bit preoccupied with work and bike-related adventures since Gravel Worlds, so I'm writing a post that will summarize all of my 2016 cyclocross season. I'm writing on a rest day, and it came at a convenient time. I woke up this morning and the weather indicated it was 10 degrees with a wind chill of -12. The screenshot below indicates it has apparently gotten 2 degrees warmer, but apparently it still feels like -12. It's a great day to stay inside! Unfortunately, this type of weather is expected for the foreseeable future, so I suspect I'll get some quality time on my trainer. Having said that, I've done a pretty good job of riding in the cold, windy conditions that Iowa is known for. For example, yesterday I took the fat bike out for a gravel adventure. My Garmin indicated it ranged from 18 to 20 degrees, and winds were pretty steady at around 25mph. It was plenty cold, but I handled it pretty well. It is all about figuring out how to dress properly, and I've gotten so much better at that! For the record, it is all about keeping the core and neck warm for me, and then everything else follows. I suspect I'll be a pro at dressing for the cold by the end of this Iowa winter!

Let's get to some cyclocross info. In addition to some local events in the Iowa City and Des Moines areas, my eastern Iowa location made it pretty convenient to attend some notable events this year. The first of these was Trek CXC Cup at the Trek Headquarters in Waterloo, WI. This was a really cool event that I will definitely try to attend in future years. I'll admit that it was more technical than typically suits me, but still quite fun. I got there on Friday to preride the weekend's course, and what a great decision that was! There were some quite technical sections that I really appreciated seeing in advance of racing on them, with a notable one being a quite steep drop right next to the Trek building. I saw numerous people (including myself) approach the drop and then stop to watch others take it first. It didn't help that it was also very greasy from some rain in the days leading up to the event. After determining that my limited handling skills could overcome the terrain, I also finally rode the drop. I was very happy that I had replaced my mechanical disk brakes with a set of TRP Hylex hydros! All went well, and the weekend of races went well, too. I got some solid finishes in the SS races, including a 5th and a 7th. Lesson learned: always preride the course if at all possible! This was also fun since there were a lot of international pros racing since they were in the US for the World Cup races in Las Vegas and Iowa City.

The next big event I did was Jingle Cross, which was the second World Cup event the US hosted this year. This was extremely convenient for me since it was right in my back yard! The rainy conditions that made Trek CXC Cup pretty greasy in areas also graced this event with their presence. It was mostly dry, but some areas were complete mud bogs that required racers to run. I again prerode this course the day before my race, and I was again happy I did. This course had some technical features, mostly related to Mt. Krumpit, that made preriding a great idea. I again did SS since I love the huge SS fields at large events, and I had comparable results to the Trek CXC Cup weekend with 6th and 5th place finishes. Not ideal since I want to be fighting for the podium in these races, but also pretty respectable since we are talking about fields of 30-50 people. Day 1 was quite muddy in many areas and a bit less technical as a result. I'm pretty sure they cut some areas of the course off since they were probably nearly impassable. For example...

The course was significantly muddy on day 1.

In between amateur race days was the World Cup event that saw just about every active big name international cyclocross racer come to Iowa City (aside from Mathieu van der Poel, who got a relatively late start to his season due to injury). Michelle and I attended to watch the pros do their thing, and it was impressive to say the least! Their all-around cycling abilities are just unbelievable, and watching them do their thing sure made me feel slow! Wout van Aert crushed it and won quite comfortably on this day to make it 2 for 2 with World Cup wins in the US. Note: he also won the race he did on day 2 of Trek CXC Cup.

Day 2 of Jingle Cross was much more dry aside from a few areas - one of which required racers to dismount and run for about 50 yards through mud that went above the ankle. This day also incorporated the infamous Mt. Krumpit, which is entirely unridable on a SS. Frankly, it is nearly unridable on a geared bike since they added small barriers at the bottom of it. This day again tested my technical abilities a bit more than most courses, and my performance suffered a bit as a result. Nonetheless, I was content enough with again being near the top 5 in a big field. What really made me suffer on this day was the large amount of running. This was quite early in the season, and the minimal running I had done all year as I focused on endurance events really caught up with me!

Running up Mt. Krumpit.

Feeling like I was moving in slow motion!

The Mt. Krumpit descent.

I also attended a couple of Chicago Cross Cup events during the season. This is a huge series that is really well done, so I'm glad I made it. The first event was in suburb of Chicago called Carpentersville. Conditions were pretty muddy, and I pegged a 7th place finish in a field of 60 riders. I also did the open race as a training exercise, and I finished somewhere near the middle of the group. I went to another ChiCrossCup event in Mt. Pleasant, IL called Melas CX, and again finished 6th. This was actually quite the feat since my 11th place callup was lost due to clerical errors at registration. I tried to respectfully argue my case with the USAC officials, but they said I was out of luck and I had to start near 50th. I started this race about as aggressively as possible, and somehow made up a ton of positions quite quickly. Finally, I went back to the headquarters of Trek in Waterloo, WI to finish my season at the Wisconsin State CX Championships. I again finished 6th on a day when I just felt completely tapped out. The long year of a lot of time on the  bike had caught up to me, and this is where I decided to pull the plug on my season. 

Fighting for position early in the Carpentersville SS race.

This gives a sense of the large SS fields at ChiCrossCup races.

What's next? I'll wrap up the next few weeks of the year fighting the cold temperatures in Iowa with some endurance rides just to stay active until the new year. There is a chance I could surpass the 10,000 mile mark for the year, so we'll see how that goes. I would have to do a good bit of riding during that time to make it happen, so we'll see how that goes. I'll then take a break for a good week or so in order to let my body recover from a pretty big year of riding. Then my offseason training program will begin, and I'll be back teaching my spring classes at the U of Iowa.

This year was often a challenge as I was forced to try to plan my own workouts for a good part of the time. My coach had moved abroad and took a hiatus from coaching in order to deal with his move halfway around the globe. I know a lot of people deal with their own workouts, but I just don't know how good at it I am in order to maximize potential. The good news is that it appears I'll again be working with coach starting in 2017, so I have high hopes for the year. At this point it appears the winter/spring will be focused on building a solid base by focusing on endurance events. This will all culminate at the DK200 in early June. At that point, I'll likely take a new direction than I've done in recent years. I love racing cross, so I intend to start focusing on that in June rather than late August as I've done in years past. This will involve XC MTB events at the very least, which I need to improve my technical abilities. I don't know what it means for Gravel Worlds, but I suspect it means I might not be involved this year unless I do the shorter version just to get out there. I really want to improve my outcomes in cyclocross during 2017-2018, so all my eggs will be in that basket! Until next time - stay warm!