Congrats Bjorn
My race recap
Product review
Year end recap
Bjorn, Bjorn, Bjorn!
First off a big congrats to Bjorn and his first place in the U23 race today! What a great finish! He really showed his grit out there after a crash that gave Driscoll a little bit of a gap. Bjorn kept his cool and pedaled right back up to him for a spectacular sprint finish. I missed it since I was warming up but got to see a replay on Jay's camera. He was my pick for the win for the U23 and I'm gonna have to go with Page for the Elite race tomorrow.
Masters 30-34
Twas a little cool out there today. Had to sport my Vikings beanie under the my lid to keep my brain from freezing. Before I get ahead of myself here I want to throw out a big thanks to Lalla and his MSU crew Francis and Gary for letting me crash with them this weekend. I really appreciated the hospitality.
AS always I told myself that I was going to race a smart race and not go out too hard. Well, when you're staged in the middle of the field you kinda have to go with the flow of traffic so as not to cause an incident. It didn't take long before I forgot my strategy. I was going to let things string out and then settle into a rhythm that suited me. After we made our way off the tarmac I was feeling really good and noticed that I was technically better than the gents around me. Everyone was playing follow the leader and staying to the inside. I was like the heck with that and cruised around the out side. I was making my way around people pretty easily and felt like a rock star, at least for the first lap. Then a couple guys stalled out in front of me and with no where to go I got tangled up. I was able to get going again and to my surprise continue to pass a few riders. I was maybe in about 20th or so position from my 35th or so at the start.
eventually the cold numbed up my hands and feet so I started to slow up a bit. Just not tough enough I guess. My teammate Aric started at the back of the pack and I guess got held up by the crash at the start. Not sure how bad it was back there but I was excited to keep him behind me as long as I did. Of course if he had started up front I would have never seen him. But hey, I was pretty proud of myself to stay ahead of a rider of his caliber. Eventually he made his way up to me and I was thinking I'll try to stay on his wheel, ya right. Will I did for a little while, most of that lap. But then he was gooooooooone.
But that was ok 'cause I started to see Kent Throlson just up the way and decided to put in another effort and try to bridge up to him. I was just entering the run-up section and he was coming out. I was feeling pretty good and thought I had a chance. Just as I was making my way up the last set of stairs I cramped up. I had to pull over and stretch it out. Oh well, maybe next time.. As I made my way to the start finish they were waving me off the course :( It felt like I was caught in a speed trap and was about to get a ticket. I was just starting to feel good again. But it felt better to be done. I was pretty happy with my race. Especially since it was my 6th cx race of the season and I finished 47th out of 70 riders that took the start. Got the bike washed off/iced up and headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and then back up 35W to the Cities.
thanks again for all the cheering, Mike, Jay, Francis, and all the others out there that I couldn't recognize, it keeps ya going:)
Michelin Mud II cross tyres
On my way out of town for Nat's I realized that the casing on my trusted Hutchinson tyre in the back was blown so I had to stop and pick up a new sneaker. I was going to go to the shop but no one answered the phone so I thought everyone was probably in KC. Well I ended up with the Mud II and to my surprise it worked really well. Hooked up nice on the snowy off cambers and ruts, there were a few. I think they have a little more volume than the Hutchinsons which would have been nice up front with the rough conditions. Good tyre!
Year end recap
What a year. My best so far on a bike. Started off kinda rough in Iowa with that double header back in March. Got caught chatting it up with Tuffy in the back of the pack. I remember Him telling me that we were at the back of the pack so I stood up to see the pack starting to accelerate. So I grabbed the big ring and took off passing a bunch of riders only to cook myself trying to bridge up. Just as I made contact with the group they took off again up the climb. Bye Bye. My day was done. So done in fact that I sucked it up bad in the crit the next day. After that race I got busy with family stuff and didn't make it to any of the RR's. Did an Opus, 15th(or so) at the State Crit, 3rd at Northfield(should have got 1st or 2nd), 1st at Hopkins, 4th at the Campus Crit (should have got 1st), 1st at a Dakota, then 12th at the State RR(should have got 1st). All in all a pretty good year. Ok a great year for me.
Keep your ears tuned to the Bike Throw this week, should be some good stuff. ;)
Good luck Lalla, Francis and everyone else who is racing tomorrow (today), GO PAGE!
Weez out...
*If any of this doesn't make sense (especially the coulda, shoulda, woulda part), notice what time I wrote this. I'm dead tired but my legs are restless and won't let me sleep* :(
My race recap
Product review
Year end recap
Bjorn, Bjorn, Bjorn!
First off a big congrats to Bjorn and his first place in the U23 race today! What a great finish! He really showed his grit out there after a crash that gave Driscoll a little bit of a gap. Bjorn kept his cool and pedaled right back up to him for a spectacular sprint finish. I missed it since I was warming up but got to see a replay on Jay's camera. He was my pick for the win for the U23 and I'm gonna have to go with Page for the Elite race tomorrow.
Masters 30-34
Twas a little cool out there today. Had to sport my Vikings beanie under the my lid to keep my brain from freezing. Before I get ahead of myself here I want to throw out a big thanks to Lalla and his MSU crew Francis and Gary for letting me crash with them this weekend. I really appreciated the hospitality.
AS always I told myself that I was going to race a smart race and not go out too hard. Well, when you're staged in the middle of the field you kinda have to go with the flow of traffic so as not to cause an incident. It didn't take long before I forgot my strategy. I was going to let things string out and then settle into a rhythm that suited me. After we made our way off the tarmac I was feeling really good and noticed that I was technically better than the gents around me. Everyone was playing follow the leader and staying to the inside. I was like the heck with that and cruised around the out side. I was making my way around people pretty easily and felt like a rock star, at least for the first lap. Then a couple guys stalled out in front of me and with no where to go I got tangled up. I was able to get going again and to my surprise continue to pass a few riders. I was maybe in about 20th or so position from my 35th or so at the start.
eventually the cold numbed up my hands and feet so I started to slow up a bit. Just not tough enough I guess. My teammate Aric started at the back of the pack and I guess got held up by the crash at the start. Not sure how bad it was back there but I was excited to keep him behind me as long as I did. Of course if he had started up front I would have never seen him. But hey, I was pretty proud of myself to stay ahead of a rider of his caliber. Eventually he made his way up to me and I was thinking I'll try to stay on his wheel, ya right. Will I did for a little while, most of that lap. But then he was gooooooooone.
But that was ok 'cause I started to see Kent Throlson just up the way and decided to put in another effort and try to bridge up to him. I was just entering the run-up section and he was coming out. I was feeling pretty good and thought I had a chance. Just as I was making my way up the last set of stairs I cramped up. I had to pull over and stretch it out. Oh well, maybe next time.. As I made my way to the start finish they were waving me off the course :( It felt like I was caught in a speed trap and was about to get a ticket. I was just starting to feel good again. But it felt better to be done. I was pretty happy with my race. Especially since it was my 6th cx race of the season and I finished 47th out of 70 riders that took the start. Got the bike washed off/iced up and headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and then back up 35W to the Cities.
thanks again for all the cheering, Mike, Jay, Francis, and all the others out there that I couldn't recognize, it keeps ya going:)
Michelin Mud II cross tyres
On my way out of town for Nat's I realized that the casing on my trusted Hutchinson tyre in the back was blown so I had to stop and pick up a new sneaker. I was going to go to the shop but no one answered the phone so I thought everyone was probably in KC. Well I ended up with the Mud II and to my surprise it worked really well. Hooked up nice on the snowy off cambers and ruts, there were a few. I think they have a little more volume than the Hutchinsons which would have been nice up front with the rough conditions. Good tyre!
Year end recap
What a year. My best so far on a bike. Started off kinda rough in Iowa with that double header back in March. Got caught chatting it up with Tuffy in the back of the pack. I remember Him telling me that we were at the back of the pack so I stood up to see the pack starting to accelerate. So I grabbed the big ring and took off passing a bunch of riders only to cook myself trying to bridge up. Just as I made contact with the group they took off again up the climb. Bye Bye. My day was done. So done in fact that I sucked it up bad in the crit the next day. After that race I got busy with family stuff and didn't make it to any of the RR's. Did an Opus, 15th(or so) at the State Crit, 3rd at Northfield(should have got 1st or 2nd), 1st at Hopkins, 4th at the Campus Crit (should have got 1st), 1st at a Dakota, then 12th at the State RR(should have got 1st). All in all a pretty good year. Ok a great year for me.
Keep your ears tuned to the Bike Throw this week, should be some good stuff. ;)
Good luck Lalla, Francis and everyone else who is racing tomorrow (today), GO PAGE!
Weez out...
*If any of this doesn't make sense (especially the coulda, shoulda, woulda part), notice what time I wrote this. I'm dead tired but my legs are restless and won't let me sleep* :(
1 comment:
Congrats on a good year. Now show em who are the contenders and who are the pretenders in the 3s.
I like the Mud 2s too. I really liked them at Hudson CX, and ended up keeping them on for the entire season. Probably not the fastest rolling tire, but OK. They showed good durability and very little wear too.
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