Bike Racing

Andrea

Outdoors, Inc Cyclocross Championship

I was hoping to have a great race report for you all to read, but yesterday’s race was not really deserving.

I was really stoked when I saw that some other 1/2/3 women had signed up for the race. One of them- Kat Williams- was borrowing my Surly Crosscheck. I learned later that when she was warming up, she’d ridden part of a lap of the course then gone back to the car to ask how she was supposed to shift (it’s a singlespeed).

When the race started, I took the holeshot. For the first and part of the second lap, I swapped leads with Heather Ladd from Little Rock (the last time I raced Heather was at the Ouachita Challenge- we were leapfrogging each other on the first part of the race when I had to stop and pee. She ended up beating me by a little less than a minute.) Then, over a bumpy, rooty section, I dropped my chain. Damned single ring…

So, I stopped and put my chain back on, then started chasing. The top-end power I needed for chasing was not there. Eventually, Kat caught up to me and passed me (she caught Heather as well and ended up winning- considering she’d never ridden a singlespeed, and the bike weight was likely equal to a quarter of her body weight, it was a monumental case of “it’s not about the bike”). I hung out in 3rd place, hoping that none of the cat 4 women would catch up to me. Heather was never more than about 20 seconds ahead of me, I just couldn’t get the power out to close the gap.

A couple of photos that Ryan took before he went to warm up for his race…

I know that cyclocross intensity has not been the focus of my training. I went for a 3 hour endurance ride in the rain on Saturday. That’s generally been my training lately. I guess this is relevant to my previous post. It’s a sacrifice I’ve made in pursuit of a more important goal.

Losing still sucks ass, though.

In other news- we just got a new kitty from a local rescue group! He’s super sweet, has already gained 20 grams (we weighed him on the kitchen/bike parts scale), and he’s quite fearless.

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Andrea

In the pursuit of more bike bling…

Back before Cyclocrunk, I decided that the 40cm FSA Compact bars were too narrow. Actually, I’d decided that they were too narrow about a year before that, but I didn’t work at a shop then, so I was being cheap and just dealing with them. I swapped the 40s out for a pair of **Edge 42s I had laying around on the spare parts shelf. I liked the width, but the shape was pretty lame (ignore the dirty hoods):

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So a couple of weeks ago, I ordered some “wet white” FSA compacts in 42cm.

This morning, while waiting for it to warm up outside, I swapped the bars over with the intention of re-wrapping them with some pretty blue Fizik tape that I’d had around the house for a while. Once I’d perfected the bar angle and position of the shifters, I broke out said tape, only to find that it wanted to crack and split when I pulled it tight…

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I sent an email with photos to Fizik’s warranty department, and they wrote me back this morning letting me know that they would immediately send some new tape to me (yay for customer service!) Hopefully it gets here by next weekend so I can be ready for the Outdoors, Inc Midsouth Championship race, because as of right now, this is how it stands (Mr Clean Magic Eraser for the hoods, BTW):

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**The story of the Edge bars is slightly mosr interesting than the bars themselves. The summer after my post-Metro nervous breakdown (go back & search March/April 2009 posts if you don’t know what I’m talking about), I raced the Oxford Crit Series on a composite team with Debbie Milne. The 2nd day, she was off the front and won a prime (matching Edge bars and stem) while I baby-sat the other women back in the field. After the race, she gave me the bars.

Andrea

Tweed Ride, etc.

Last night we celebrated Memphis’s 2nd foray into cycling culture past the comfort zone of spandex, asphalt, and/or singletrack. In other cities, tweed rides are a big deal- lots of people show up, the dress is fantastic, and the bikes are unique (just check out photos that pop up on a Google Image search). Last night, about 15 very dapper and dashingly dressed individuals showed up at Peddler Bikes for the leisurely ride to Celtic Crossing.

Odd, I thought… because the first Tweed Ride back in March seemed much less publicized and much more attended. More on that in a minute.

The ride and the company were great, of course. I managed to win “best dressed,” the prize for which was a shiny new Brooks saddle. If I can scare up a seatpost with more setback than my Thompson (not too hard- the Thompson is pretty mild), then it’s going on the One9.

Speaking of bikes, the decision has been made (thanks for all the input!). I will get an Air9 carbon sometime in the next couple of months. It will be mine… oh yes, it will be mine. I love Niner too much to mess around on them with other bikes.

So, back to the low turnout of the Tweed Ride…Â Last night was also the showing of the 2010 Race Across the Sky documentary (about the Leadville 100 mountain bike race). I am reasonably sure that it took away from the attendance of said ride. What I’m about to say might upset a lot more people than that time I dropped an F-bomb or posted a gangsta rap song.

To Hell with the LT100 hype.

There, I said it.

I’ll preface this by saying yes, it is a hard race. If you’ve finished this race, you’ve done a great thing that a lot of other humans view as “impossible.” By no means am I calling it easy or saying what you’ve done isn’t a great accomplishment …but NO 100 mile race is easy.

The media has hyped this race sooooo much that people are viewing it as the end-all, be-all endurance race of a lifetime. Newsflash, people- there are other 100s out there that are harder. You wouldn’t know about those, though, because they don’t have their own movie, and L*nce has never entered them. In fact, I’d venture to say that without a film crew that are both very capable bike handlers/hikers and in excellent physical condition, a large portion of races more difficult than the LT100 couldn’t have their own movie because you couldn’t get physically get to most of the trails that make up the race course. I recently realized that most people (even some very accomplished riders) don’t know that the LT100 easily lends itself to filming because most of it is on jeep roads (except for that couple of miles of singletrack between Pipeline and Twin Lakes). The altitude is a factor, as are the 1500 people that show up to race (many of them accomplished pros), but the course itself is generally run-of-the-mill when compared to other 100 mile courses.

I’m not going to blow smoke here- I will likely race in the LT100 some day… it’s a 100 mile race, and I like racing 100s. And yes, being the vain and self-centered person I am, I will probably then go to that year’s showing of Race Across the Sky in hopes of seeing myself on the silver screen. But I encourage any of you reading- if you are wanting to set a lifelong goal of finishing a 100 mile MTB race, then do a little searching. There are others out there that are more, less, or equally challenging. Read. Look for past race reports. Look at photos and course maps. Think for yourself and don’t just go with the one that’s on the front page of the magazines.

If you’re an LT100 finisher and this makes you mad, then please refer back to the above preface to my rant. You’ve accomplished something great, and I’m not trying to take that away from you. But now that you’ve done that, how about branching out?

Andrea

Decisions, decisions…

I’m going to be getting a new MTB this winter. Ever since I saw the first photos of the Air9 Carbon, I’ve wanted one. Not only is it dead freaking sexy, but also the frame is compatible with gears or SS because the BB shell is sized to accept various inserts from EBB to BB30.

There’s a problem, though- Outdoors, Inc. does not sell Niner Bikes.

Don’t get me wrong- I can find a place to buy my precious A9C, but the thing is, I can get something like the Scott Scale 29 RC for a good bit less through the Outdoors employee purchase program. Other than a 15mm thru-axle/fox fork, it comes prettymuch kitted out how I would build the A9C if I were to do such a thing as ride one of those crazy geared bikes. The problem is those pesky gears- the Scott isn’t really made to be a SS frame. I know there are conversion options (I’d probably try something like the White Eccentric ENO hub), but I’m still hesitant.

The Air 9 Carbon is just dead freaking sexy…

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I haven’t computed the exact cost of each one, but I know for sure the Scott would be a smaller hit to the pocket book- even if I had to build up a separate SS rear wheel. I’m having a hard time selling myself on that idea, though, because I have LOVED my Niners, and the A9C has been my dream bike for more than a hot minute.

What does The Brickhouse Readership think?

Edit to add: Of course, I’d love it if Outdoors would sell Niner. However, there is already a shop in town that sells Niners, so they aren’t really looking to add another dealer in the same area.

Andrea

Spookycross #1 and 2

There’s not much I can say about Spookycross seeing as no other 1/2/3 women showed up. Day 1, I raced in the A race as scheduled and ended up in the back of the pack with mostly older masters men. Day 2, race officials allowed me to race in the B race, where I duked it out with some cat 4 men.

Side note: Dear USA Cycling- Please allow non-USAC-licensed athletes to compete as cat 3s. It works for Cross Country Mountain Bike racing (unlicensed individuals may compete as a cat 2 or 3 without prior race history), so how about extending that over to cyclocross (allow unlicensed individuals to compete as 4s or 3s)? Having guys dubbed “the best triathletes in Memphis” racing in the cat 4 race is just dumb. They shouldn’t have to purchase a license and go through the upgrade process just to compete in one or two CX races per year without looking like sandbaggers. /Rant

And when I say duked it out, I mean it- Miles Cooley and I tried to break each other. I could gap him on the singletrack section, but he’d catch back on and try to pass on the “power” sections. We leapfrogged for most of the race until he dropped off. About that time, I passed a guy that decided he wanted to stay on my wheel. In the final stretch of the last lap (a dismount into the Shelby Farms Amphitheater followed by a runup on the stairs on the other side), he attempted to pass me up the stairs just before the finish line. Too bad my bike was in his way, or he might have beaten me. All’s fair in love and cyclocross…

Here’s a link to video of me in the amphitheater from Saturday: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=454211594145

I also have a few nice photos, courtesy of OutCast from MSTA:

Andrea

Cyclocrunk #3

I took the final tuesday of Cyclocrunk off to allow my strained hip adductor to heal for the “payout” race this weekend. The Cyclocrunk series ended with my teammate Casey Malone taking the race win over Bikes Plus owner Karen Malgorski. As a result, Karen and I tied for the series win…

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Not that Casey wouldn’t have raced her heart out otherwise, but if she hadn’t turned herself inside out for the win on the final race night, Karen would have taken sole ownership of the overall award. I thought she deserved some crunkness:

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Later on, at the after party, my one remaining piece of crunk winnings was stolen by Robyn (on the left in the photo below), the manager of the Union Outdoors store (though I’m hoping to get it back today when I go to work).

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Essentially, all of the Cyclocrunk hardware was taken away that night by hot lesbians. Gangsta indeed…

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Andrea

Calamity Janes

Check out CalamityJanes– a site designed by Emily Brock to help women who are interested in the sport of endurance MTB racing. I did a little writeup about how I got started with endurance races, but it will eventually include more information and resources designed to help women who may not be sure how to get started. Put it in your bookmarks and keep checking back!

Andrea

Cyclocrunk #2

After racing in a slightly subdued manner at last week’s Crunk, my instructions for this week were to warm up well, “take the governor off” and see what happens. I decided that in order to get a good warmup, I’d ride from home and utilize the new Greenline that Memphians are going nuts for right now (that’s a whole ‘nother discussion…)

The ride in was good. It took right at an hour, and my legs felt nice when I arrived at Tobey Park. I signed in and decided to get in a couple of laps before the race. Then, something bad happened. Remember the torn hip adductor from last year’s Fools Gold megawreck? It came back at the first barrier. I tried to jog it off, but all to no avail. It was hurting full force. I briefly entertained the thought of not racing, but then noticed some competition showing up. My pride overtook my common sense, and I lined up next to Russ Griffin, who unfortunately seemed to be suffering from a similar ailment.

With the signal to go, I sprinted for my bike and went out full-force. If you want to have a good first lap at Crunk, you have to, lest you get stuck behind the 13 year old with the walmart mountain bike (nothing against those kids… I just don’t want to be behind them). I just hammered as hard as I could and ignored the pain.

Initially, that strategy worked. I was ahead of a group of guys that had beaten me last week, and I was putting time on them. Two laps in, I stacked it into a set of high-speed barriers. I was in traffic, and I was going at a high enough rate of speed that I hit the ground, slid, and jumped up fast enough that I never actually quit moving (I know, because I couldn’t find the speed drop around that time on my Garmin). That hurt. I gritted my teeth and kept the hammer down.

Thanks to Michael Carpenter for the photos…

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Hurtin’ (Matt dubbed this the “Baby-eating Face”)
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Then, with 3 laps to go, Implosion.

In the space of half a lap, I went from hammer to nail. My legs raised the white flag, threw in a towel, then used their last bit of energy to kick the bucket. Russ lapped me (luckily, that ment 2 laps to go), which was expected. Then I started getting passed like I was sitting still. The group I’d been holding off flew by me like I was on concrete tires, as did about 11ty billion other people. People that I had lapped flew by me. It was bad.

Luckily, Jeanie and Karen didn’t catch me. Good thing I had put in a good starting effort- they don’t mess around…

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Looking back, I probably bonked a little. I’d eaten a PB&J after work around 5:00, and nothing since. That, combined with an effort I haven’t been training for AT ALL lately added up to certain leg-death. I’m really happy with the effort up until then. Also, watching some video clips that Chris Irving put together, I realized that my form over the barriers is pretty damn good. Everyone always talks about how smooth Russ is over barriers, and I like to think that my form seems similar (albeit proportionally slower) with the addition of a little more “hop” since I don’t have legs quite as long as his

Srsly?

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As far as the injured adductor goes, it f*cking sucks. I had to skip my usual Wednesday workout, and today won’t be much better- it was going to be some CX drills and lifting, but it’s shaping up to be a light ride this morning in hopes that I can keep healing with no re-injury.

Oh yeah, and speaking of things that Fool’s Gold has eff’d up, I tried to fix my Formula R1’s last night… they’re still $600 paperweights. I’ll post my awesome bleeding/cleaning rig later once I see what Formula has to offer as far as customer service.

Andrea

Cyclocrunk #1

As I mentioned in my last post, Tuesday night was the first of three Cyclocrunk races.

Side note: It’s Cyclocrunk. It’s also cyclocross. Not cyclecrunk and cyclecross. Get it right.

The basics of Cyclocrunk- people of all ages and abilities (and I do mean ALL abilities) show up at Tobey Field (near the Fairgrounds), pay $7, and race a cyclocross course that includes an inordinate amount of gigantic barriers, in the dark, for 30-45 minutes. At the end of the 3-race series, the promoter takes all of the entry fee money to Young Avenue Deli, opens a bar tab on it, and the participants can have all the cheap beer they want utilizing the bar tab/entry fee money. It’s prettymuch a giant party with a few cyclocross races thrown in.

Oh yeah, and whoever wins the most races gets crowned the King and Queen of Crunk. Russ Griffin and I are the current champs (I’m not going to post any sort of language warning for this photo, because I already told the people who are offended by the “F” word to GTFO)

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Photo/Design credit to Micheal Carpenter @ Switch Creative

The actual race was pretty good for me. Since it was my first cyclocross race of the season, I was a little bit cautious. In previous years, I’ve had issues with spraining my right hip adductor during uber-high-speed dismounts. If you understand kinesiology and muscle physiology (remember, I may be a bike mech now, but I also have a masters in ex phys!), you would understand the musculoskeletal impact of jumping off of a bike at speeds upwards of 15mph. It’s definitely something you should work your way in to in order to avoid over-stress type injuries.

So, I ended up racing at about 85-90% of my “bleeding out of the eyeballs” pace until the final lap, where I kicked it up to 100% OMGWTF pace. I felt good about most of my dismounts/barriers/remounts. I think the 2-step drills are paying off, because I was a lot more comfortable with landing and hopping on as soon as possible following the barriers. Oh yeah, I also beat the handful of other ladies that showed up.W00t!

Next week, I’ve been insructed to “take the governer off.” I’m good with that, because I want to beat a few more of the guys next week. Now, I just have to decide what I’m going to wear. Seems like no matter what kit I put on, people have to comment- this week it was “why are you wearing an Outdoors,Inc. kit?” Um, I work there. I think it’s pretty. WTF am I supposed to say? I’ll probably go M-B just to show that M-B will continue to dominate the Memphis cross scene until the end of time (Russ is an M-B teammate, as are a majority of the top 5 finishers). I also have some old Kenda kit and an old Le Coq Sportif jersey I found at an estate sale. There’s a Twin 6 jersey in my drawer as well, so there’s no telling WHO Andrea will be riding for NEXT WEEK!

Andrea

I need a schedule

I’m trying to figure out my plans for next season, and I’m having a hard time sorting through all of the awesome races that I read about but didn’t partake in last season. I know I’m going to a lot of NUE races (including Lumberjack, which I missed this year), and I know I’m going to spend some time in Colorado again around the time of the Breck 100. I also plan on racing the regional stuff like the Ouachita Challenge (March), and Syllamo’s Revenge (May).

I know I’ve got a few loyal readers out there. Make me your puppet- what course do you want me to tackle? Sponsors- where do you want your products to be put to the test? It’ll probably be singlespeed- Hey, y’all watch this!

EDIT:

So, looking through the comments-
I’m already planning on Southern Cross and Spa City.
Creaky, I’m not quite up for Trans-anything, and unless there’s someone with a lot of disposable income that’s a regular reader who wants to give me the $$ for a trip out of the country, it’s not gonna happen.
Others-
Tour de ‘burg: never really looked into it, but I will
Breck Epic: I REALLY want to do that one, but the funding may be an issue. It’d be awesome to hang out around Breck from the 100 until the Epic.
Ride the Butte looks interesting. Like Tour de ‘burg, I’ll have to check it out
Richard- that’s kind of the point of this post. I want to get ideas. I also like to interact with people who read my blog. I will eventually try a 24 solo… not sure when, though.

I should explain what I’m looking for a little more- I know someone is going to post, DO LEADVILLE!” or “DO X racethat’sreallypopularandyouhavetoregisterayearaheadoftimetogetin.” I appreciate the suggestion, but I am not quite as “in” to those sorts of things as I am slightly less traveled courses that have features that make them unique in a way that scares off the crowds (for example- anyone can “do” the Leadville course- it’s the fact that the BEST riders show up with their A-games that make it a really hard race. The Breck 100 course is hard. Not that you won’t find some awesome competitors there, but Levi and Lance aren’t showing up any time soon). I like attrition. I like courses that scare “normal” people off, and I want to do them singlespeed.

That being said, keep the suggestions coming! I’m not opposed to guerilla/off the radar type races, I just need to know when/where…