'Tis the Season to be 'Crossy

Racing road since march has started to take its toll on me. after 6 months of silly cat 4 crashes, watching people sprint for 30th place, and not eating bacon, I'm ready to take a break from skinny tire racing for a few months. I know I'm not the only one. It seems like Green mountain sucked the life out of most road racers (myself included) and now everyone wants to relax, drink a few beers, and enjoy the fall.

By "enjoy the fall", of course, i mean take a zipcar to New England every weekend, ride a cross bike in circles until you can't see straight, get covered in mud and blood, drink belgian beer, and ring cowbells.

After the green mountain fiasco (that's going to need it's own entry), i didn't even want to look at my road bike. what better time to take out the 'cross bike, bring it over to cadence, buy some new parts, and have it ready to go for the upcoming season? call it cat 4 retail therapy.



I wanted to give some new canti's a try, since my avid shorty 4's did as good a job at slowing me down as Britney Spears did at parenting. Jed @ cadence recommended the new TRP Eurox's; they're traditional canti's that look like Empella Frogs legs. I slapped on some green swiss stop pads, and I've been really happy with how they stop and control speed. That being said, they were squealin' like pigs when i first got them mounted. Traditional Canti's are a pain to toe in correctly...

the guys at Cadence also wanted me to try out the new teflon-coated cables. they're super slick and really reduce friction- We'll see how they hold up through the season.

This week marked the start of training for 'cross; We hit up a Dave Jordan coaching session on Wednesday, and then a teammate and I decided to organize a cross "boot camp" Saturday morning. It was either that or crashing in a prospect park field sprint...





Boiko, myself, and two Sid's guys showed up at 6:45 am hit up the riverside park just south of the GWB. at that hour no one is around, and there's a fantastic circuit you can do that emulates a 'cross course really well. Boiko also brought the PVC barriers he made. We did some mounting and dismounting drills, barriers, stair run ups, and a few race pace simulations. we all had a blast and it really pumped us up for what's to come in the next few weeks. It also gave me a chance to hone my wicked barrier jumping technique. (hint- always go for style points)



We'll probably be holding another 'cross boot camp in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. By the way, I'm really pumped at how more people are getting into 'cross.


On Sunday I either had the choice of doing a Time trial in 90 degree heat, or doing a 'cross race in 90 degree heat. either way, win-win right? If i had to equate my TT'ing to a martial art style it would probably be the formidable "flatulent sloth." I've quickly realized that the only reason i do TT's is due to the guilt i feel for having bought a TT bike. that, and the sadist in me likes scaring the public by donning skin suits...

Boiko and i drove over to good ole' Macungie, PA for the 2nd round of the Bear Creek CX race. i had heard from Jed that yesterday's course was SUPER muddy and technical. the mud was peanut butter, and the race organizers had really outdone themselves with this hard, technical course. did i mention it was 90 degrees for some reason? i didn't get the memo.

This course had everything- deep mud traps, super-tight switchbacks, lots of loose gravel, a muddy run up over a huge pipe, and of course barrier that was meanly placed in the middle of a small mud trap. glorious.

I made sure to have a good starting position. when the whistle blew, i clipped in quickly, and stuck with the top 3 right off the front. It's hard, but getting that good initial position is really essential to doing well- especially in a technical course. It's also important to always ride straight through puddles at fulls speed.

photo by Dennis Smith

I stuck with the top 3 for most of the race. I almost forgot how fun and painful it is to go all out for 40 minutes. your body is maxed out- all you can think about is breathing and pedaling. TT's may be an all out effort, but its a linear, progressive effort. the effort put out in a cross race is much more erratic- there's no recovery. If you're catching your breath, you're not going fast enough. there's also that whole running and turning bit. half of a 'cross race is avoiding obstacles. some races almost feel like the temple of doom. Maybe they should start using huge boulders at races to mix it up a bit...

on the final lap, i was going head to head with one guy for 4th position. we went back and forth- and i had a good feeling that i could beat him. after the final barrier jump i was ahead, and wanted to keep the speed up. there was a small mud trap right before we hit the asphalt. i went through it too fast and ended up making out with the asphalt. Score!

i somehow managed to bend one of the front brake arms below the rim of the wheel- if effectively jammed the front wheel, so i started running. After about 30 seconds of running, i was able to rip the brake back out and i rode to the finish. I still finished 8th and was pretty happy with that.



Eventually I noticed one guy roll into the finish with his saddle and seatpost in his hands. apparently it had snapped off mid-race and he FINISHED THE RACE WITHOUT A SEATPOST. That man deserves an award. Or at least a massage with a happy ending.

Boiko rolled through the finish- his facial expression was a mix of pain and awe. He'd just done his first 'cross race and got totally shelled. and you know what? He had a blast. And that's just the beginning.



Mud, blood, barriers, Run-ups, Beer Tents, Belgian beer, new jersey diners, and Cowbells are here for the next three months, and I couldn't be happier.

GMSR hurts

VT carbo-loading=maple syrup.

I finally found an internet connection!!! VT is beautiful , but if cell phone coverage is any indicator, people around here still use smoke signals and carrier pigeons to communicate. That, or I'm just a spoiled new yorker who's a slave to technology and won't make it 2 days when the zombie apocalypse happens...

So we're here. We just finished the 2nd stage of the race, which was a circuit race. yesterday was the 6 mile (semi)cannibal Time Trial. It started off with a hill, and then was a mix of flat and undulating rollers. the finish was after a huge dip- a steep downhill followed by a steep uphill- momentum could bring you most of the way up it, but then you had to suffer for the rest of it and finish strong. I made sure to pave myself up the hill and just concentrated on my heart-rate and my breathing. In retrospect, i probably sounded like a coke-head taking a LaMas class. Once i got over the top, i tried to keep the speed between 25-30 mph on the flats, and faster on the dowhills. it was a fun course, and the semi-cannibal rules made it a purer show of athletic ability- it wasn't as much about the super-retarded aero tt bike etc- it was about going fast on your bike. Although certain people decided to still try and squeeze aero advantages out by doing silly things like wearing helmet covers and putting bento boxes on their top tubes (ahem... mike beckerman...) I finished in the middle of the cat 4 field, with my teammates mike and matt coming in 9th and 11th, respectively (i guess the bento box worked...)

Today's stage was pretty brutal as far as circuit races go. first of all, it was LONG for a circuit race- about 68 miles. two laps of a 34 mi course. There was a small KOM in the middle and there was one sprint preem. This race was tough in so many ways. the first lap was pretty much a game of accelerate-for-five-seconds-and-then-slow-down. I hate that game... The roads were also pretty terrible- a few people ccracked new carbon rims. i would probably not take that too well....

we organized really well for the sprint preem. not knowing exactly where the finish was, we decided to take control of the front with about 10 miles to go. 5 of us rotated off the front and kept the pace high. as the sprint came into view, we killed it for matt, who's our best GC contender. He took the sprint! I did the obligatory lead-out-man-fist-pump.

somehow, this course manages to fit short uphills and one extremely long downhill. it was great to spend a few minutes in your top gear, catching your breath after the KOM.

as we approached the finish, we tried to organize again. it proved to be alot tougher. the field had been cut in half by now and the people that were there weren't having it. Matt told me he was on my wheel, and I weaved through to take first position, thinking he was on my wheel. all of a sudden, i hear the usual cat 4 scraping of carbon-on-asphalt. we speed up. I'm in first position killing it with 300 meters to go. I keep killing it till about 50-100 meters are left. i'm waiting for matt to come around me, but it never happens- instead, the field comes around me and i finish 17th. Apparently matt got cut off in the sprint and ended up sprinting in the grass... the perfect leadout wasted! either way, it was a really fun and intense race.

damage control- between the fast pace and about 4 crashes, haalf the field, along with half of my team, got taken out. rob got taken to the hospital with what turned out to be a bruised ligament. However, since he had cracked his helmet open, they decided to immobilize him for an hour. he was about as pissed as a nun in a donkey show...



Tomorrow is the 80 mile road race that takes us up the App gap twice. I think I'll win it.

God, I'm hilarious.

GMSR Bound

I'm sitting in one of those huge, tacky New Jersey Mega-diners. I'm not sure if chicken gyros are carbo-loading, but it'll have to do.

The past few weeks have all been preparation for GMSR: the biggest race of the season. with 4 stages and racing up and down the appalachians, its supposed to be a hard, hilly, and grueling race. Talent from all over the northeast shows up to compete. obviously this race is a great match for my mediocre abilities...

Our whole team is pumped for this- we've got 14 teammates driving up to take part. up until last week, our workouts had been getting more and more intense, and we all got our lactate threshold tests re-done and we've been racing much more aggressively in CRCA races. I've really been enjoying how we've been racing at the CRCA races. using tactics that actually work makes for a much better race experience- as of late, the crca B races have been challenging, fun and rewarding- a few weeks ago we all just started to click. It's great to have teammates who will bury themselves so that another teammate can win. OK, i'm done fanboying my own team...

I'm pumped to take 6 days off and hang out in vermont- i've got it all planned out. my VT weekend will consist of the following:

1) eating pancakes and maple syrup
2) racing GMSR
3) eating more pancakes and maple syrup

it goes without saying, but I'm obviously not racing GMSR to win. I'm going to try and make some moves in the circuit race and the Crit, but i have no idea how that's going to play out given how deep the fields will be. So why take part in a race you don't think you can win?

'cause it's going to be fun as hell.

It might come off as defeatist, but i'm not going up to GMSR to win. I'm going to ride my ass off, and any results that come as a result of that are going to be all the sweeter, but taking a race like GMSR too seriously results in less fun for me. I'm not a pro, have no plans to even try and be one, and i'm paying to play this game. If you're not having fun you're doing it wrong.


That being said, I'm still planning on racing as hard as I can. I'd like to top 25 in the GC and podium in the circuit race and crit (barring any crashes in the crit, cuz we all know how much i love crashing in crits...)

in order to fully take advantage of stage 1's new cannibal rules, I've been training on a smaller bike just to fuly take advantage of a more aero position without breaking the cannibal rules...



Good luck to everyone this weekend- the weather's going to be beautiful, and the climbs are gonna be brutal.

I wonder if i can use maple syrup instead of gels...

One of these things is not like the other...

(photo by Claudette Lajam)

I like to think of last week as the Epic weekend of humiliation! It's not everyday that you get the chance to since up for TWO things that are going to make you look bad.

Saturday was the Silvermine TT up in Tuxedo Park, NY. Being the TT specialist that I'm known to be, I squeezed into my skinsuit and drove up to Silvermine with Chad to show people like Mike Beckerman and Patrick Littlefield who's the boss. I was obviously pretty successful in showing them who's the cock of the walk in these here parts... is the sarcasm oozing through your monitor yet?

I've been getting more and more comfortable on my TT bike lately- the new bar extensions i got made a big difference. Next up I need to buy a saddle that doesn't ravage my Dingleberry wonderland (thanks schmalz). The fizik arione is a great saddle for regular road riding, but sitting on the pointy, unpadded Tip like one is prone to doing is a bit painful... I guess i should buy one of those tri-geek saddles...

Self depreciation aside, The Silvermine TT was put together really well by the Westwood guys. The course was varied and challenging, with rollers all over the place. obviously a rolling time trial (or any tt for that matter) isn't my strong suit, but I guess that's why i do it. You're bound to get better if you keep trying... OR if you keep buying more expensive aero equipment...

As a tangent- the promoters of the Green Mountain Stage Race have decided to make this year's 1st Stage a Cannibal TT. you can only use equipment that's legal for road race use; no aerobars, Snazzy helmets, or nutjob TT bikes allowed. a pair of deep dish carbon wheels is as far as you're allowed to go. They cite the reasons for doing this as "leveling the playing field" and "encouraging carpooling."

To be honest, I think its great. my opinion might be skewed, but to me TT's are all about removing variables, and riding as fast as you possibly can. TT equipment can be financially prohibitive for some people, and it also gives a certain advantage to those who can afford it- but that's not my point (and I'm not being a class warrior here). I think the competition is much more satisfying when a person's body is what determines the winner- not the stuff he buys. I think Kierin Track racing in Japan has that sort of idea- they all have to use the same kind of bikes, equipment etc- the real winner is not determined by the bike, but the man.

I also think a cannibal TT is going to result in different people winning it. Some people are great time trialists not because they put out insane numbers, but because they're aero as shit and modulate their efforts well. It'll be interesting to see who's at the top of the GC after stage one of GMSR. Then again, I don't think it'll do me that much good going cannibal, considering i got passed by a Westwood guy racing Cannibal @ Silvermine while i was as aero as I'll ever be...

Sunday's CRCA Race was more fun and more pain. The B field had the option of Racing with the C's (sandbagging) or Racing with the A's (sucking). Even though racing with the C's would have increased the chances of Shoving Bacon in my mouth, I decided to race with the A's and see what it was all about. It was a ton of fun Racing with Bandits and Empire guys in the field. At one point in the race I was reminded of the old Sesame Street book cover:


except it was more like this:

(photo by claudette Lajam)

or maybe this...


It was also fun to race with hooligans like Kyle Peepo (who ended up winning the race). My legs were a bit tired from the day before, but I sat in, had some fun, did a little work, and didn't get dropped. Kyle and a bunch of Guys broke away early on in the race and it stuck. JK and Wiswell ended up bridging up to the break and stayed away as well. Our team missed getting people in the breaks, so we exercised futility and tried to reel the break back in wayyy to late in the game. It also didn't help that the break had, y'know, Cat 1's and 2's in it... Congrats to Peppo on the win by the way.


Green Mountain is around the corner... I'm super pumped for it. I'm going to devote the next three weeks to both training for it and wondering why in the hell I'm signed up for it. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a one-man shit show on my part, but I can guarantee it's going to be fun anyway (or maybe because of that fact.)

Rollin on DUBS

I wouldn't call myself a "fanboy" of too many things (George Hincapie, Bacon, and Jeff King notwithstanding...), but when a rare opportunity comes to ride with the big boys, you sure as hell take it. Plus, I needed an excuse to take off of work today and make it a three day weekend.

If you don't already know, Sunday is the Harlem Crit. If you're in the city and you race, you should sure as hell be racing it. If you don't race but like to check out cool sporting events, you should sure as hell be watching. This year the race is being promoted by John Eustice and sponsored by Michael Ball and Rock Racing. With people Like Ball involved, it 's sure to be an awesome event that's full of action. and hot podium girls.


Somehow our coach Alex got in touch with John Eustice and got us an opportunity to go for a ride with Fast Freddie, Michael Ball, and the rest of the Rock Racing crew. What better excuse to take a day off???


we all got together at tavern and eventually few of the Rock racing guys rolled up. about 30 teammates and bike racing peers skipped work to go for a ride with these guys, and off we went. The Rock racing guys were really approachable and everyone got a chance to shoot the shit with them. I think the average cat 4 racer dreams of a chance to casually ride with someone like Freddie Rodriguez and nonchalantly engage in generic bike-banter. you want to talk and act like its totally normal and no big deal, but then the minute they ride off, you squeal like a girl and almost pee your pants. you know who you are.



Actually, my teammate and local Tech-dork Michael Beckerman proceeded to query all of the Rock racing teammates on their max wattages. he'll be publishing his findings shortly. I was more concerned about how much bacon each of them manages to get in their diet. (not enough)




After one or two laps a few more characters rolled up. All of a sudden Michael Ball is riding with us, along with a few more rock racers, Ivan Dominguez, and Garcia from Toyota-United. It was a super-ultra-mega-meta-hyper pantheon of awesomeness. the ride started getting a little faster at points, with some of the overzealous CRCA guys (cough, cough, Colin P) wanting to sprint up Harlem hill with Freddy. That was pretty funny to watch, as it was probably the most patronizing sprint I've ever seen anyone perform...



All of the Rock racing guys are super-pumped for this weekend, and rightfully so. As fun as Harlem was last year, this year is going to donkey punch it right out of the park. Crits like the Harlem race are Perfect venues to bring spectators back to cycling, which is what it needs. The average Joe six-pack on the street doesn't know how exciting a bike race can be to watch, and this is the perfect opportunity to show the general public why we do what we do. the Harlem Crit is going to be the Epitome of fast, furious (and probably crash-filled) bike racing. people are going to want face-time on the Jumbo-tron, and the attacks are going to be nonstop. It's going to be one of the hardest 30-minute races of the season. I'm so pumped for it i could pee myself (but i won't).



After four laps, we stopped by tavern and the Photo/autograph/butt kissing session began. The guys were really cool with being swarmed by men in tights, and once we got it out of our system, we said our thank yous and goodbyes. And then like magic, the Rock Racing Escalades Rolled in on 'dubs and whisked them away. too cool.



Love him or hate him, Michael Ball is doing great things for our sport. He's bringing it back into the public spotlight in a way that no one has the balls to. He's also also a master at bringing back the "rock" hand symbol. I miss using the "Rock" symbol, and frankly, the hand symbol i've been using as a substitute has been pissing some of my friends off and messing up family photos...



Sure he's a bit controversial, and challenging the status quo is bound to attract some haters. I think those people should wait until Sunday to cast judgment. It's going to be awesome.



After a fantastic day of riding with pros and not going to work, I was so overcome with joy that I whipped out the hula hoop that i keep with me at all times and put it to good use. It's a good thing I'm prepared for such situations.




See you on Sunday.