The short version of my race day in pictures

The really short, short version: Survival. it was all about survival.


There was ice on everything, even the grass sticking out of the snow had ice on it! I love this pic.


There were two sets of super-slippery muddy stairs like this. The mud at the bottom of this one was like quicksand, each time it tried to suck my left shoe right off my foot! I don't know how people like this woman found the energy to shoulder their bikes up this, I sure didn't! (this is not me in the pic) This is one of many types of mud we experienced on Friday.


This is another type of mud found on the course. Wet, goopy mud. This is the last race of the day, a master's men's race.


And here the mud had turned into giant puddles! Splat! This is the same master's men's race at the end of the day.

I don't seem to have a photo of the mud that looked like rutted muddy mud but was really rutted frozen mud. That is probably good because the person in the photo would probably be lying on the ground after being bucked off their bike.

The shoes I raced in. I decided to wear my Lake winter shoes instead of my regular Sidis for various reasons, including cold, mud, and ankle support running and pushing in the treacherous frozen mud ruts. (My front wheel bumped against them alot as it flopped around in the mud, which affected my handling, so they might not have been the best choice from that standpoint.) They kept my feet dry in the puddles. I almost lost one before the stairs!!

The shoes I spectated in later that day. The tops are clean only because my pants covered them. The first few inches of the pants are covered in mud, as well. My toes froze even with toe warmers, so I switched to warmer shoes the rest of the weekend.

Time to hit the Road

It's been a fun weekend. The crazy conditions, constantly changing hour by hour, made for some challenging racing and some very interesting spectating. I don't have nearly as many photos as I had planned, mainly due to the cold, but I will get them up when I get home. It was really nice to have so many people from home to hang with throughout the weekend.

Yesterday made for an exciting day of racing! Congrats to Marko Lalonde for his stellar win in the early morning (frozen!) singlespeed race! Travis Brown, always a strong contender, got second. In the men's elite race, the intense battle between Johnson and Page ended in Johnson taking the win, with Wells in third. In the women's race Katie Compton won, of course, but Rachel Lloyd kept things interesting in her battle for second. Congrats to our area collegiate racers Devon Haskell (4th overall, and possibly 1st in her division. I am told they may have put U of C in the wrong division), Mike Sherer, and others, who did very well in the collegiate events.

It was fun to watch so many of our Il/WI racers in the elite races. I am not going to list them all now, I need to hit the road.

At breakfast this morning I heard that people were teasing last year's elite champ Ryan T. by calling him Ryan Tre-Boo-Hoo, because he gets so upset when he doesn't win. He crashed out of the elite race yesterday when someone hit him head-on when they broke the tape going the other direction and crossed over into his lane. Nasty crash. Someone at breakfast said they thought he broke his elbow. He looked like he was in one piece at the after-party, so I doubt that is true.

Thanks to Julie, Ben, Chris and Kim for treating me to my Birthday dinner on Friday night when we went out with a big group from WI and IL! That was really nice of you guys! We had a great table - dinner was lots of fun.

I hope everyone made it back safely! I hope Julie made it on time to her brother's graduation, as well.

Multiple Personalities

Greetings from Cross Nationals! We have a "moody" course this weekend. What you get one hour might be very different two hours later! Each race has had it's own unique conditions not quite like the one before of after it, as far as I can tell. Frozen, then semi-frozen, then muddy, then downright sloppy complete with small ponds...yesterday was kinda crazy. My race was a churned up rutted mud pit interspersed with frozen skinny-tire-sized ruts, with puddles in the low spots. The mud got worse and worse as thee day went on, with the 45-49 men running through huge puddles in a few places. In some spots the whole course looked like a big, goopy puddle. Steve Tilford ran away with that event, he was way off the front the whole race.

The Wisconsin juniors all did really well, and the WI/IL women all survived, with most doing well Friday. On Thursday alot of IL/WI folks did well in the B races, too. I wasn't in good shape for this race, but I survived. Which I guess is all I should expect having driven all night to get there. It was kind of all a blur. I hope to write more later if I get a chance.

Today we have snow and about 23 degrees (or lower) for the masters men's races this afternoon. A guy in the elevator said the U23 races were pretty snowy and slippery. My guess is that they had a thin layer of snow on top of frozen mud ruts. I am headed out soon to watch the men's master's races. I hope conditions improve for them.

That's it for now... gotta head out to cheer on the guys!

And then there's KC mud....

Seeing as how it's a couple of days before CX Nats, this would be a good time to revisit the many types of mud. I have a feeling many of us are about to become reacquainted with at least one grade of mud this weekend, if not more. I myself am having the hardest time getting ready - other things keep getting in the way. I am almost tempted to stay home.

Good Luck to everyone who is racing at Nats!

And for those spectating, it's going to be a blast. Bring your cowbells. And maybe your toe warmers...

Hipster Olympics

I just found about this hipster olympics video. Hilarious! Maybe someone should make one about hipster crossers. Anyone game?

IL State CX Champs

Congrats to everyone who tackled the challenging course at Montrose in the IL State Cross Championships today. (I am writing this late Sunday night.)

I woke up, and when I went outside to get the newspapers, everything was coated with a sheet of ice. I had been going back and forth about whether I should race today, having been sick for two weeks, off the bike for three, and not racing the last 4 ChiCrossCup races. I wanted to do it because it is State Champs and kind of my "local" race. I ended up not racing, but had a great day at the races anyway!! What a fun day. It was great seeing so many friends and acquaintances do well. Just great to see them, period. Fun, fun, fun.

No spectator's race report for the blog yet - I spent the evening (besides a visit to the gym for some elliptical) looking at photos to see which ones were good enough to go with the race report that goes out to the websites. The skies were so overcast that the lighting was extremely poor. I was really disappointed in the quality of the pictures - I'm not sure any of mine will end up being published.

Don't drink from hotel glasses...

ever again!
Yeeech!!

Get Ready for ......

Muddddddddddddd!

Cross in the NY Times

Here's a link to an article about cyclocross in the NY Times. The author does a race called Grumpy's in Minnesota.

And, here's an article on what I'm going to call Beat Bikes or BoomBox Bikes, urban bikes with elaborate sound systems attached.

On another note, I have lost my voice after a long day of phone calls yesterday combined with being sick. I have a meeting this afternoon. Anyone have a miracle cure for laryngitis?

My Skin Hurts

Chills. Fever. (is that an oxymoron, to have both at once?) Ache all over. Can't breathe too well. Sore throat. Ears are plugged up.

And above all, my skin hurts.

It seems like I always get sick when I go to Seattle. I think it's a combination of being around a sick toddler and all the mold in the damp air there. And maybe all the germs on the airplane. It's frustrating! At least this time I made it home before I got really sick. Last time I was sick during the visit. I like Seattle, but I hate being sick away from home.

I probably should have gotten one of these last month. And last night I went road riding for 1:40 with lights. I was warm enough, I didn't get chilled. I went slower than usual. But I started feeling really sick as soon as I got back. Before that I had just felt really tired. I wonder if exercising in the cold was the breaking point.

Arrrgh. I have so much stuff I need to do this week. And I didn't get to ride or do the eliptical last week - this week isn't looking so good for workouts now either.....

Deranged Yuppies on their Devil's Wheels

This letter from a reader was in the print edition of the Chicago Tribune last Monday (the 19th) in the "Voice of the People" section on the Editorial page.

Bicycles on Trails

"There have been many letters lately complaining about bicycles on roads and sidewalks, but nobody has mentioned forest preserve trails. I walk on trails occasionally and many times bicycles have come zooming by. Loose gravel and curvy trails are a recipe for disaster. I do not want to pay tax money for forest preserves that I cannot enjoy because they have been taken over by deranged yuppies on their devil's wheels. If bicycles are illegal on sidewalks, then they should be illegal on forest preserve trails."

Gobble, Gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving from Seattle!

And good luck to all at Jingle Cross. Wish I could be there, I'm sure it will be lots of fun.

On Tuesday 3/4 of an hour or so into the flight to Seattle, the captain announces that a piece has fallen off the wing and to be safe, we are turning around and going back to the airport! So we turned around, went back, and eventually got a new plane. (well, it most definitely was NOT new, but it was a different one) Crazy....

Lansing CX

Congrats to Scott for winning the Cat 1/2/3's CX race today in Lansing. Awesome job!

And congratulations to the many other friends who had great rides today!

Congrats to Gina on her move to Cat 3 after the race.

And thanks to EVERYONE for the entertainment in the sand pit!
Holly (above) shows us her impressive acrobatic skills! Ouch!! I hope she's not too sore Monday morning.
Almost everyone struggled with the sand pit at some point. It was deep and there were some holes. In order to get up onto the grassy lip at the edge and avoid the sand, you had to make it through the deepest part and past a hole that tripped up many a rider. Eventually the promoters moved the stakes so that you could no longer ride on the skinny little strip of grass at the edge. They also took down that big green post, thinking that the huge cat 4 men's field would hit it! Some people took the "ride through the middle" line, some tried to get to the strip of grass on the side and avoid part of the sand, and some picked the traditional running method.
Ben toeing the fine grassy line between sand and tape.

Cat 3 men duking it out in the pit: John F. got 2nd, Brian D. got 1st, and Chris L. got 3rd. I was amazed at the speed at which the Cat 1/2 and the Cat 3 men rode through the pit. I had been watching the women and juniors race. When the 1/2 men came through on their first lap, I was totally caught off guard by how fast they powered through the sand! Practically a blur.
Kevin sand surfing.
June and Holly battling at the barriers.

More photos here.

Urban Girlz Ride

Claire and Lori had already headed home at this point.




More later.

Iceman Results (and more)

Finally, here is a link to some Iceman Results. And the story can be found here. As of now, Sunday morning, results are not up on the Iceman site yet. And there's a pic of Brian Matter crossing the finish line on the main page, you have to wait for the slideshow to cycle through the various pics. (The pic above came from the Traverse City Record Eagle website.)

Tristan 4th, Jesse 5th, Marko 7th, in the Pros. Ned Overend, now in his 50's and still going strong, got 6th! Sara K-J got 4th (battling back after a bad crash early on), Kelli Emmet was the first woman.

I noticed that Ronsta, Russell, and John Shull won their age groups. Congrats!

Congrats to all the WORS riders who rode their hearts out! I saw lots of familiar names in the results - great job, everyone.

AND, on a sadder note, I hear the underground cross series race yesterday got busted. I am not even going to use its real name here. I am sorry to hear that, I'm sure it was a secret training weapon for some. I hope they can keep it going. (I am not referring to this weekends races in WI)

This being Veteran's Day, thank you to all who have served our country. Your service to our nation is greatly appreciated.

IceMatter

Congrats to Brian IceMatter on winning the Iceman!!!

It's 1 am Saturday and I forgot about the Iceman until a few minutes ago. It's too late to call anyone who is there. So I've been doing a Tour de Blogs trying to find someone who has posted the winner. It took me a while to find one that told me that Brian Matter had won. I'm so glad one of our WORS guys won!! I really want to know if Sara K-J won the women's, but so far I haven't found that out. And I want to know how all the rest of our WORS peeps did!

I went to Brian's blog and felt a jolt of instant recognition from the photo of the "heavy hitters" he posted on Thursday. That's because I was there at the moment that it was taken, in the tent near the finish in 2005. I looked closer, and sure, enough, that's my shoulder, hair and nose at the edge of the photo. Funny. I'm trying not to feel bad about not going this year, but that sure gave me a twinge.

Raggedy Andy joins Ann in Toy Hall of Fame

Raggedy Andy just joined the Toy Hall of Fame, along with the Atari 2600 system and the Kite. Read about it here. Finally Raggedy Ann's brother joins her.

Interestingly enough - the Cardboard Box is in the Toy Hall of Fame, too.

Bicygnals

I just saw a link to a brand of wireless LED turn signals called Bicygnals on CNET. Could be interesting for serious commuters who ride at night, or it could make you look like a spaceship, not sure which?

Good Luck at Iceman

Good Luck to all the WORS peeps going to Iceman this weekend!!

New Cross Technique

I found out about this new dismount technique courtesy of an email from Lou. This technique is so advanced they will not be practicing it at cross practice.