Veterans Cross

What we do in life will echo through eternity. – Maximus

For me, at leat today, that would be a booming D.N.F.

Blech!

The courses at St. Mary’s are always challenging for me. For some reason, I can’t carry speed across the rough terrain. And the course today, despite being a really fun, fast layout, was bone-jarring rough. During warm ups, I played with tire pressure and was able to find a happy medium: smoothed out the bumps a bit without bobbing up the pave hill. I also had a little fun and aired it out over the little hump after the fast downhill. wOOt! wOOt!.

After riding the course a few times, I watched a few laps of the Open race and then set out to warm up. Everything seeemd fine–plenty of zip during sprints and no complaints from the engine room during tempo efforts. I thought I was in for a good race. But…whistle. bang. pop.

I’m not sure what happened today other than I didn’t have any fight in me and a serious headache set in during the second lap. I tried to ride though it, but, as Chris said to me as I walked through the second barrier setrt on the fourth lap,” Sometimes you just gotta say f* it!” And I did. I rode the rest of the lap, and as I cross the line, I notified the officials that I was out. I rolled straight to the car, changed clothes and drove home.

The headache persists…

Boss Cross #3 | Platte Ridge Park

After reading Jeff Winkler’s Kansas City Cross rankings posts, I’ve come to accept that I’m racing square in the middle of the Cat 3 races. Winkler’s system uses data from crossresults.com and is based on an accumulating points system. Interestingly, his results are spot on with how I feel during the races: not fast enough to be at the front but clearly not bringing up the rear, either.

On Saturday, I drove north of Platte City to Platt Ridge Park for the 3rd race in the Boss Cross series. Last year, this race ran in freezing temps and snow covered ground. What a difference a year can make; this year it was sunny, blue skies with temps in the 60’s. Despite the great weather, the ground was still mushy from the recent rain. Not muddy, by any measure, just soft and spongy. That translates to big power. Throw in a few steep hills and you get one tough course.

Only 16 racers lined up for the Cat-3 event with a lot of the big names there. It was great to see fellow BSR racer Luke on the line. I didn’t really want to race against him, but I’ve wanted to see him in action for some time…just not in the same event as me. Nick Cole, from Tradewind Energy, was on the line, too. Tough field!

I scored the hole shot and led the first ½ lap, or so. Then, Nick, Luke, Travis and what seemed like the entire rest of the field pounced and shot past me. I pulled myself together and caught the next wheel up only to realize that these guys were riding on a completely different level. I settled into my own pace and focused on riding my own race. Doug Stone passed me during the 4th lap, and seeing him gave me a little extra motivation–he has been finishing several places ahead of me, so it was reassuring to realize that I had been racing ahead of him. I was able to muster up a little extra kick for the last two laps and passed a few more places. Otherwise, I was never really in this race. The reality of my fitness level set in when I caught a glimpse of Nick smoking up behind me. He finally caught me and lapped me on the last lap. “Don’t let Luke lap me, too,” echoed through my head as I pushed around the last lap. He never caught me but I know he was there! I crossed the line in 10th place, about where I thought I should be racing and in line with Winkler’s math.

Smithville CX

It’s all about the start. If there’s one area of emphasis in cyclocross, it’s the start. Blow the start, blow the race. Cross starts are like free throws…yeah, ok, got it. I went into the race today ready for, wanting, needing a strong start so I could [hopefully] be competitive and [at least] test my fitness against the front of the pack. I’d rather be there and blow up than fight to move up the entire race. So far this year I’ve been vexed by bad starts. At Parkville, it was the sand pit on the first lap. St. Mary’s it was starting on the back row. For Smithville, I made certain to pre-register, which would guarantee a starting call-up. I also added extra start workouts into my training schedule.

I was the 12 rider called to the line, which put me on the 2nd row but in a good spot on the inside line. When the whistle blew, I had an all-star start: clipped in and on the gas. But, the rider in front of me had trouble clipping in; I was on the gas and immediately on the brakes. Despite his troubles, we were still able to roll off at the front of the pack. As we rounded the first corner and cut onto the grass, I was in the top 10…right where I wanted to be! As we came out of the second corner, someone ran square into me. I went flying before I know what happened. Fortunately, I rolled out of traffic, which saved me from getting run over or stopping the pack. When I finally got back to my bike, though, the entire pack had passed. Dead last out of the start…again!

I was able to pass several riders on each lap, and only gave up 1 or 2 places. When it was all over, I had passed 18 riders, moving from 38th to 20th. Not bad, but definitely not the race I wanted. I felt strong all day, picked good lines through the corners, and I was able to ride out of Hammer Beach. But, there’s only so much that can be done from the back of the pack, especially with the quality of racers that showed up today.

Next week…

Qoleum Embrocation Hot

Last year, as prize for a cross race, I won a small tub of Qoleum Hot Emborcation. I thought it was cool, er, um, hot when they handed it to me, but I proceded to toss in it the gear bag, where it’s been ever since.

Today, while trying to decide how to dress for the weather–low 50’s and rain–I came across the tub and decided embrocation would be lots better than soggy knee warmers. I pulled on my shorts and then greased up my legs with a light glaze of Qoleum followed by a topping of baby oil. While the Qoleum smelled a lot like BenGay in the tub the smell didn’t carry over to the legs. The smell and any visible signs disappeared into the skin. In fact, it went unnoticed for most the ride. I had a slight burning sensation on the backs of my knees while I sat waiting for a train. Otherwise, it was perfect. Plenty warm for the conditions and no wet clothes against the skin.

Once I got home it was a different story, though! My legs started burning while I was milling around the kitchen. By the time I finished my recovery drink, the burning was almost too much to bear. I jumped into the shower and almost jumped through the ceiling as soon as the hot water hit my skin. A slight burning sensation was immediately painful burning. I had to turn down the water to an uncomfortably cool temp just to make it tolerable. I scrubbed both legs with body scrub but no change. If anything, it got worse. So, I tried good ole fashion soap and water. Same results. Whatever was on my skin wasn’t coming off.

I showered and then sat around for 30 minutes or so. After about 5 minutes of sitting, the heat came down to a tolerable level. It actually started to feel good, more like what I would expect. It took about an hour for the cool burn to go away altogether.

Despite the troubles washing it off, I would still recommend Qoleum. It’s a great liniment: homeopathic and organic ingredients, no strong smell, effective at keeping muscles and joints warm in cold weather, and apparently very durable. Any suggestions for washing it off would be greatly appreciated! Maybe it’s all in my head, but my muscles seemed to recover faster, too. Bonus!