What not to wear

Social media has been all fired up after the weekend on the massive cold front that blasted the entire continent and sent cyclocross racers digging to the bottom of their gear bags in search of rarely used deep cold weather gear. We were all nervous about the conditions going into the weekend. From what I can make of it the racers in Bend and Minnesota had the worst of it with temperatures hovering around the zero degree marker.

I figured I should summarize what went down and share some hard earned experiences that we can all put in our data banks and note books for future review.

Embrocation: To use or not to use? We had a great dialogue with Adam Myerson and John Verheul about the proper use and effects of using embrocation. It boiled down to this. If it's cold and dry, don't use embro, wear thermal fabrics. Although the embro gives you the effect of being warm, it actually brings blood to the surface of the skin and can effectively cool you down. Wet conditions are another story. In the wet the lofty thermal fabric will become soggy with cold water and cool you down. In these cases you'll want to use embro and leave the leg warmers off so the cold water runs off your legs.

I tested it out Saturday in the 12 degree dry conditions at the Iowa Championships and I was very comfortable the entire race without using any embro. I did still use the Donkey Label Recovery Oil which is a non-warming oil that I used for a pre-race massage.

I was really happy with what I wore. For the conditions it was pretty much perfect. Like I said, dry, 12ish degrees, light wind.

Photo: Suzie Green Goebel

Head: I used a Giro winter helmet liner in my Bontager Velocis helmet paired with a Capo Thermal Roubaix Skull Cap. My Spy Screw glasses and a Bontrager Neck Gaitor.

Hands: Castelli CW 3.0 gloves. Unfortunately these are discontinued but they make a CW 3.1 now, not sure how similar it is.

Feet: Under my Bontrager RXL shoes I ran a pair of Capo Euro 200 Wool socks with toe warmers on top of my toes with a second pair of Donkey Label Merino Wool socks on top of that. Not only did the toe warmers provide a little extra warmth but they also covered the vents in my shoes and kept the wind out.

Body: A good long sleeve thermal skinsuit is a must and Capo Custom makes the best one I've ever used. It's so comfy I want to wear them as pajamas but that's another post. Underneath that I used Capo's Torino 3D Thermal baselayer next to skin with their Torino 3D Sub-Zero baselayer on top of that. For the legs I used the Capo Lombardia DWR leg warmers.

I will say I have hand issues. The first three laps were miserable, but by the 4th I'd built up enough core temperature that my hands were mostly warm. Some minor frost bite a few years back has pretty much permanently made my index and middle fingers numb all the time in cold weather.

All in all though, what I wore wasn't bulky and like I said I was comfortable all day. Not to hot, not to cold, just right.

Jingle Cross Rock

Photo: Roxanne King

Photo: Emily Hoesly

Photo: Kenny Wehn

Nebraska CX Championships

Cincy3 CX Festival

Oakley Night Cap

It's been a long time

Hey look it's 'cross season.

So much has been going on I haven't found much time to write or report. This will be quick and dirty and I still don't feel much like writing so lets make this a pictorial essay.

Trek CXC Cup

Providence Cyclocross Festival

Omaha CX Weekend

Garden Leave

I guess you could say I finally hit a wall. After CX Worlds I was on a high. With so much time between the USGP finals in Bend and Nationals, and then even more time between Nationals and Worlds, I came out of the CX season mentally refreshed. Then there is always the fact that when you're winning you always feel better. So when we got back from Louisville I pretty much just started cranking out the base miles testing out power based training. That turned into power based intervals leading into the opening round of the Psycowpath MTB series at Swanson.

Then winter decided to stick around. Six days off the bike left me not even closely prepared to race the Twin Bing Classic. I still poured everything I had into the race for teammate Lucas Marshall and we were rewarded with a 'best we could have done' 2nd place finish. Then winter decided to stick around. Six more days off the bike.

Finally I said screw it and I literally went on gardening leave, building some veggie boxes in the back yard and just doing house stuff.

When is CX season again? The timing was just about perfect. Two solid weeks off the bike and the stage is now set to begin the long slow ramp up to CX season v4.0. Fourteen weeks of base, 8 weeks of specialization and boom, it's CX season.

Of course I'll still be racing here and there. There's the "must do" races, Platte River Battle Royale, Ponca's Revenge...I'll probably try and do the Big Ring Ranch Enduro as it'll fit nicely into the base mile routine. Not a lot of criteriums to hit though but whatever, I'm not really into traveling a whole hell of a lot.

I will have some exciting announcements coming up soon and I know I've said it before but I'm going to really try and make an effort to keep the blog content fresh. I've been kind of bummed on the general devolution of social media. It seems the written word is being left behind. We started with Blogs, then devolved to 140 character Tweets and now we don't even bother with words at all we just post pictures on Instagram. Then again, since a picture is worth a thousand words maybe that means we've come full circle and we're back at blogs. Hmmm, who knows, regardless, I should probably write more.

So, time to say goodbye to my single race road and mtb seasons, hello cyclocross. But then like I've always said, everything is just prep for cyclocross anyway, right?

Where'd you ride?

Super cool Strava Multiple Ride Mapper. Here's what I recorded last year.

Louisville Day 5 part II

Wow, I can't believe it's been a week. It still hasn't sunk in. And I don't know if it fully will until I zip up the jersey and roll to the start line next September. To say the last week has been a whirlwind would be an understatement, more like a class five hurricane.

The build up to a stand alone race like the World Championships was this year is a torturous path. Last year we had the benefit of racing the week following the National Championships. You knew your level, having just tested it, but this year we had three agonizing weeks between the two. I tried to stay focused, doing workouts indoors and out as the weather called for. Knowing my stiffest competition would come from Boulder, I watched their weather as closely as I did my own and Louisville's. Were they getting the upper hand?

There are basically two types of racers, those driven by an insatiable desire to win, and those that are driven by self doubt, ever wondering if they're good enough. As you've probably figured out by now, I'm the later.  Constantly worried if I'm doing enough, doing the right thing, not falling behind. Each ride seemed like a study in over-analysis.

But you can only do what you can and as departure day grew closer, I was quietly confident that I'd done everything I could had. The plans were laid, it was just a matter of following through.

Race day came quickly, Anne, Rafal and Megan flew in the night before and arriving late, they graciously took a cab from the airport and let Tom and I sleep in the adjacent hotel room. Race morning was an easy, calm affair. It felt just like being at a USGP with our start time slated for 1:30. I knew exactly how to prepare. Two hours before the start I decided to test the course. I'd made the decision the night before to start the race on my Challenge Fango's. Hoping that the icy conditions would hold and the low profile knobs would slide through the ruts. All the while though having two pairs of Limus' in the pits just in case. My pre-ride laps were crazy. Within a lap and a half my wheels would barely spin. The mud was freezing to everything. I left a muddy mess of a bike for Tom and Rafal to clean before my start as I jumped in the van to get into my race kit. To add to the motivation, the fine gents at Capo had overnighted me a pair of prototype full-zip warm-up tights. If that won't energize you a bit, I don't know what will.

By the time I exited the van, my bike was almost spotless. I hopped on the trainer and finished my warm-up. Like clockwork, 20 minutes before the start it was off the trainer, and time to roll to the start. Guys were cued up, ready for call-ups.

Webber...Webber...? I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. Was Pete really going to miss his number one call-up for the World Championships? Dwight...Dwight...? And Brandon too? The UCI officials gave each of them one last call until finally it was my turn. First guy into the box. Pete would eventually roll up to the front row, but Brandon didn't make it in time and slotted in behind Pete on the second row. As I looked around, inspecting tires, sure enough, everyone else was on mud tires. No worries, I was the only guy that chose that route last year too and it worked beautifully.

At the whistle it was chaos. So many guys started insanely fast. I quickly found myself in what felt like 10th. I steadily went about picking guys off, taking the lines that I wanted. By pit one I was sitting at least 5th. Then the tires kicked in. On the first rutted section, I floated through and across the ruts at will, gliding into the top three as others got flicked as their aggressive knobs caught the edges of the ruts.

The tables would soon be turned though as we reached the very heavy tractor pull section. I could feel my tires slipping instead of propelling me forward and I began to lose ground on the leaders. Mike Yozell dropped his chain but the Spanish Champion Marco Prieto passed me. Still 3rd. Into pit 2 for my first bike. I was keeping Webber and Prieto in sight but they were riding hard. Through pit 1 and Webber took another bike. At first I thought there would be no way of keeping him close if he was getting a clean bike every half lap. How were his pit guys getting the bike clean in such a short amount of time?

The course was melting quick and as I grabbed my next bike at pit 2 I signaled the guys to switch my bikes to mud tires, I was losing too much ground through the thick mud. It was perfect timing too. Because for the next two laps Tom and Rafal didn't need to worry about cleaning my wheels. It was about this time that Webber and Prieto started to have their issues. I had just passed Prieto when I came up on pit 1 to see Pete turn around and run backwards in the pit. At first I thought he had ridden past his pit guys but it turned out to be much worse. As he hopped on his "clean" bike, he immediately tore his derailleur off. The mishap left him scrambling to find his bike which was already being rushed off to be clean.

At the time, all I knew was I was now leading the World Championships with a clear track in front of me. I pushed as hard as I could. Ten seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, the gaps behind were growing. As I rolled under the finish banner with 30+ seconds in hand I knew all I needed to do was ride clean and the race was mine. One last time through the pits and the deal was done. The last 1/3 of a lap I'll remember for the rest of my life. I couldn't believe this was happening.

The following hours were a blur, Anne running to the finish line, tears in both our eyes, interviews, teammates, fellow racers, anti-doping, and then almost missing the podium because of anti-doping logistics not getting me back to the venue.

There are so many people to thank, that played an integral part in making all this happen I dare not start. But there are a few that must be mentioned. None of this would ever have begun had it not been for my rock, the love of my life Anne. My Mom and Dad who 30 years ago introduced me to cycling, I don't think they were expecting the kind of impact it would have on a child's life.

Without my good buddy Nate Woodman, I'd never even thought of racing cross nationally until he urged me to jump into the fray. Cross has been a lifelong love of mine but he opened my eyes to a much larger community.

Jay Thomas, we sat in a car and talked about the team he wanted to build on a drive to St. Louis. After the first season, Matt Shriver jumped into the mix too and made the program bigger and better. Only with the support from Midwest Cycling and Trek could this of happened.

Tom and I (Rafal! Where are you?)

Lastly, without Tom Price and Rafal Doloto in the pits I could only imagine what would have happened. This championship wouldn't have happened without you, it's as much yours as it is mine.

3 Years

61 Races

1 World Championship

Thanks for the ride my friends.

PARTY TIME! Watching the big boys on Saturday

Louisville Day 5 part I

Watch more video of 2013 Cyclocross World Championships on cyclingdirt.org

Louisville Day 4

Race day, for Tom that is. Morning started off status quo. Breakfast at 6, on the road by 6:30. Arrived at the venue and found a great parking spot and got the tent and walls set up. Amazing how much warmer the tent is when it's closed off and sheltered from the wind.

It had just barely dipped below freezing and the course was beginning to freeze. I'm not sure how to describe the course. Some sections were great others not so much.

The biggest issue was the race left the power washers and the hoses out overnight. They had froze up and by race time they had only one power washer working. It was going to be a big issue for Tom's 70 rider field as the frozen slurry was freezing to everything as it was flung onto the  bike.

While Tom finished his warm-up I got his pit bike and our wash gear to the pit and headed for the start line. The starts have been a bit stressful as we've only got a one minute warning which meant Tom wasn't the only one sprinting at the start. I barely made it to the pit in time to grab Tom's bike and get into position before they passed pit one. Tom was in about 8th place and after he took his first bike at pit 2, that would be the last I'd see of his race. My head was buried for the rest of the day trying to clean the ice mud from the bikes. Steve Tilford had built up a huge lead after the first lap so as I worked on the bikes I'd listen for Steve cheers and knew I had about a minute before Tom. It was rough but I managed to keep Tom's bikes shifting and braking well despite not using the power washers which had a massive line to use. Tom fought his way up the field and finished with a great 5th place finish.

After, we got things cleaned up as best as possible and cruised around the venue at bit, scored a sweet pint glass and coffee cup. Tomorrows the day. I picked up my number and I'm set with #3 call-up. Two better than last year. It's scheduled to freeze hard tonight, 15 degrees or something, and a high of only 25 tomorrow. Tire selection will be critical and I've made my choice. I'll have a 30 minute practice before my race to dial in the pressure.

It's crazy to think that tomorrow will be the end of a journey I started three and a half years ago. But as with all journeys, it's not really the end, it's just the beginning.

Louisville Day 3

Qualifying day for me. The fun started early as we awoke to super rainy conditions. Again we wanted to get to the venue early to secure a good non-Expo parking spot. Our prime spot was stolen by a car that had been parked and left overnight so we had to go down the line a little further. Found a good spot but as we tried to pull in it was soft and the van got stuck. It was good enough for the day so Tom and I decided to worry about that later.

We were however lucky enough to hit a lull in the storm and got our tent set up and tied down rain free. The course was destroyed from heavy rains and high winds overnight. The tornado sirens even sounded on the Kentucky side of the Ohio but we had nothing in Indiana.

Finally at about eight o'clock we got word that all races would be delayed by two hours. I was kind of irritated that the decision wasn't handed down sooner as I'd gone light on breakfast expecting a 10:30 start but now wasn't going until 1:00. With the van stuck we couldn't go anywhere either. So Tom kitted up and did his workout on the trainer while I chilled out in the back of the van.

We eventually got to watch the 45+ guys go at it in their heat, I know Don Myrah won one of the heats, not sure on the other. At 11:00 I kitted up hoping to get a solid hour of warm up time on the trainer. With our heat races only being two laps you had to be ready to go from the whistle.

Baselayer, skinsuit, embro, go. It was wet, muddy but relatively warm. I was supposed to have a number four call up but one of the guys missed his call and I got the lane I wanted. At the whistle I got the holeshot and went about dousing the entire field as we hit the grass (aka. lake).

I found myself on the wrong side of the course immediately and was quickly passed by Mike Yozell and a super hard charging Brian Hludzinski. They started to put some time into me straight away and I was worried that I might be on a bad day. But as we worked our way into the course I started to close back up, even more so as we got into the few technical spots.

I was blown away by how heavy the course was riding. We were all pedaling sooo hard but going so slow. Just look at my Strava to see what I'm talking about. By the time we got through pit 2 I'd closed the gap to Brian and passed him through the barriers. A minute later I was on the run-up side by side with Mike. The three of us joined up through the end of the first lap and I decided I better try to distance myself to guarantee an either 1st or 2nd place finish for a front row start in the final. I squeezed by Mike and focused on finding a fast line that apparently didn't exist. I finally opened up a 5 second gap on Mike through the second technical section and felt a bit more at ease as Brian was even further back. I almost eased up too much as I had to put in one last little dig before the finish where Mike and Brian came through just one second behind.

I owe a ton of thanks to Tom Price for one, being in the pit, and two, cleaning up my bike after the race. His final is tomorrow so it's all hands on deck for his 9:45 start time. Gold-Silver-Bronze is on the line, time to go to work.

Louisville Day 2

After opting out of the soggy grass field that is the expo/team area, Tom and I got an early start and got a prime position just off a nice abandoned hardpacked rail line. The course opened at 9am for pre-rides and Tom and I were ready to go.

The course was heavier than I expected but pretty rideable. The fun started when midway through our pre-ride some of the Belgian U-23 riders showed up. Right away I notice one of the riders was Michael Vanthournhout. I had some fun following them as we yo-yo'd back and fourth for a couple laps. Eventually the UCI officials caught wind of them on the course and promptly removed them. It was interesting to see how they picked their lines and drove their bikes.

After a good hour on the course I got cleaned up and ready to pit for Tom in his seeding race. Heat number one saw Gunnar Shogren just edge out Steve Tilford. Tom had a good ride with no problems (bike wise) and finished 3rd in heat number two. Good enough for a front row call up for the final.

Tomorrow will be pretty interesting as the forecast is for two inches of rain and high winds overnight with temps in the 50's. The rain should make the track a little faster as today it was goopie like wet concrete. After tomorrow though the temps will start to drop and end up around freezy for both Tom and mines finals.

Getting pretty pumped, this is going to be fun.

Louisville Day 1

Had an interesting day in Louisville. Tom and I got an early start and rolled into Champions Park a little before noon. We started off on the wrong foot getting the Sprinter stuck in the mud. Nothing a few wood chips couldn't take care of thanks to the city of Louisville parks department.

We got our next shock when we found out that USAC had no information regarding our team parking. After some phone calls we started to get things worked out and were told we had to wait until the following morning to set up. Not a good option considering the time coincided with our only time to practice.

So what do you do when things need a reset. You go ride your bike. First we did a quick course walk. Things look good and the course should be a good one. After we kitted up and headed out. Had a nice ride up the River Road and checked out the Elite venue at Eva Bandman park.

The highlight was crossing paths with not only Neils Albert, who was out motorpacing, but also Kevin Pauwels and Klaas Vantornout. Pretty crazy seeing these guys when you're just out for an easy spin. Surreal.

By the time we returned from our ride there were quite a few cars in the grass field adjacent to the race course. The increased traffic was showing the weakness of parking in the expo/team area. In fact we sat back and watched another Sprinter get stuck no fewer than three times.

At this point, Tom and I made the call to pull the plug on parking in team area and will now just get to the venue early and grab a good parking spot and set up tents each day. Should work out pretty well with just two of us.

After we headed to registration and rolled the dice on our random call-up for our seeding races on Tuesday and Wednesday. It couldn't have played out much better as Tom drew #14 and I #11. Those draws will get each of us on the front row for each of our heat races. Hopefully the odds will be in our favor the rest of week.

Sponsor Week: Trek Bicycles

What can I say about Trek. They've been behind our masters program for two years now and the bikes have performed flawlessly the entire time. Our Cronus CX frames are perfectly balanced in all conditions, allowing us to climb and descend faster than anyone out there. They're brilliant in mud and dry conditions and with details like full length cable housing they work, lap after lap. It's easy to ride your best when you know you're on the fastest bike in the race.

Race Recap: 2013 National CX Championships

What a whirlwind weekend. We blasted up to Madison, WI for the third time this season and for our second National Championships at Badger Prairie. I wasn't expecting much. After spending 9 days off the bike in December, first with a head cold, then with full blown bronchitis. It was killing me sitting on the couch coughing up a lung while I read about my main competition, Pete Webber, racing in Belgium. But I managed to squeeze in two pre-Nationals races in Kansas City, and as the Belgians say,  I was getting good sensations. But still, 9 days of no riding is a lot of time to loose fitness.

We were dealt our first blow of the weekend when Tom pulled (tore) his calf on the staircase during morning pre-rides. He was scheduled to race just three hours later and he could barely put weight on it. The decision was made, racing was not an option. The following day, Friday, was spent in support of Trek CXC super junior Ellen Noble. As she rolled across the line to win her first National Championship we all but had tears in our eyes as she talked about losing her father early in the year and how hard she'd worked to keep going with cycling. It was an amazing thing to be a part of.

Saturday was Masters day and I was first up with a 9:30 start time. Conditions had been changing by the hour for the previous 2 days. Our 40-44 race would be a tractor pull with deep mud throughout the course. I got my front row call-up after scoring a 5th place finish the previous year. Jay was just behind in the second row, we were set to go. At the whistle, I missed my pedal and quickly found myself fighting for 9th or 10th spot. It was short lived however as a knifed my way through the riders in front of me through the first muddy stretch, working my way up to third wheel by the first corner. By the time we'd reached Pit 1 we'd established our front group of five with me sitting 4th wheel. Webber was already pulling away as he set a blistering pace. By the end of lap one I had worked my way past Brandon Dwight and had my sights set on second place ride Mike Yozell. It took me most of the lap to pull him back but my fast lap had begun to pull back Webber as well. As we rolled through the start/finish with two laps to go I'd cut Webber's 20 second lead in half.

That was when things fell apart a bit. I clipped a stake on the steepest part of the climb and made two other bobbles. By the end of the lap, Pete was 30 some seconds clear and all but out of reach. A lap later I would roll across the finish line second best in the nation.

The result was better than expected but frustrating none the less as I felt I had championship winning form before getting sick. Jay would come across the line with a very respectable 21st, while later in the day Matt would finish 22nd in the 35-39 and Lucas 18th in the 30-34. Excellent results for our little state.

All eyes now turn to Louisville and the 2013 Masters World Championships. If form and history are any indication I should have a very serious shot at bringing home a rainbow jersey. Now to put in the final days of hard work to make it pay off.

Full kit always looks better on the podium
l-r, Ward Baker, Yours Truly, Pete Webber, Mike Yozell, Brandon Dwight

Quite a Weekend