Catching Up

A lot has happened since last post, almost a month ago. Namely moving from kansas city to La Crosse, WI. We've been in the house for about 3 weeks now and are finally getting settled in. A trip to IKEA to buy some much needed furniture helped with the organization. Yesterday Jane and I put in an 8 hour day of yard work which completely drained me. Then I raced at MTB race in the WORS series today. I was still feeling the effects from yesterday. This is a shot of our house, corner lot on a semi busy street but we love it.


Racing wise, I did the tour de grove weekend in st. louis just before we moved to WI. It was really hot. Saturday I apparently finished pretty much mid pack in the cat 2/3 race. Sunday it was hotter and a bit faster. I wasn't feeling good at all and pulled the plug. It's weather like that, that makes me glad we are in WI. the hottest it's been here has been upper 80's. Usually it hovers in the low 80's. Pretty nice. Road riding has been good too. Tons of country roads with crazy tough climbs all over the place. Low traffic and pretty amazing scenery. I'll have to take some pics from a ride and post. Every tuesday night there is a fairly fast group ride that goes out and hammers it. Lots of fast people around here too, not as fast as KC but enough to put you in your place.

The big thing here is MTB racing. The WORS series is the largest MTB series in the nation. 12 races all over the state. There are huge turnouts. The first weekend I was in town I raced the Subaru Cup which was also a stop on the pro circuit. Easily over 500 racers, which is apparently pretty typical of the series. The races are crazy fast too. I've done 2 races now, the subaru cup and then some race today, both in the cat 2 group. Both races I've only managed to finish mid pack of my age group. To race any road or eventually cyclocross I'll have to travel a bit. Still flying the Colavita/Parisi flag though.

Down and Dirty - Warsaw, MO

Sort of wished I had gone to Tulsa to race, but it would have been a disaster. Didn't ride much the week before and didn't quite have the legs for anything. We did have the plans on meeting my parents in Arkansas for a quick vacation before we move so instead of hitting up Tulsa then AR, I raced some MTB race in warsaw that was pretty much on the way. Rolled in with 1 hour to start and got registered and began to warm up. Never ridden the trails there before so wasn't quite sure what to expect. Lined up with the rest of the cat 2 folks and took off. Settled in 3rd wheel into the singletrack. Early on I felt pretty good and was anxious to get around the 2 in front. Went through a creek crossing and my foot came unclipped and in that mix up got passed by a few riders. Got going pretty quick and made a few passes and tried to pass again only to body check a tree on my right. The tree threw me to the ground and again I lost a few more. Left knee took a bit of a beating on that wreck.

Eventually got around most of the riders and by then there were 2 off the front. Stayed like that for the whole first lap when another rider came up from behind to me. We started the second lap together but my legs were fading fast. He eventually rode away from me and I finished 4th overall in the sport, and 1st in the age group of not many riders. It will be a different game once I get the stock wheels on the MTB switched out. Those things weigh a ton. Volker got me a set of Stans crest 29ers which i'll run tubeless. Should be a lot faster.

Good video

saw this video and had to share it. Makes you want to go out and ride.

2009 CONTINENTAL IN RETROSPECT from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Moving to Wisconsin

So I graduated this past weekend and Jane and I will be headed to La Crosse, WI. Nice city on the Mississippi r. The metro area population is probably close to 100k. Decent bike community from what I've seen/heard/researched. Definitely doesn't have a race scene like KC - that for me is the biggest drawback but a fair compromise when it comes time to get a job and pay some bills down. We're about 2.5 hours from Minneapolis (excellent race and cross scene) and 2.5 from Madison, WI - equally good racing and cyclocross. That just leaves a bit of driving if we plan on racing any - which we will. At least for this season I'll try to salvage some fitness for the summer and concentrate on cyclocross.
Legs are finally coming around a bit. Did tuesday night crit this week and although i didn't do too much, felt comfortable. We'll see what races I do in the next month. Unfortunately I have to be in Rolla this weekend and miss the auburn RR. Although there is racing in nearby Ft. Wood and Newburg there is a conveniently scheduled brunch for Jane and I during the time of the RR. There is a crit on saturday but it is way overpriced at $45 and only paying out 3 spots for cat 3. If you pre-reg it was $35. But $45? Damn ridiculous.

thinking about iowa races memorial day weekend. Tulsa tough, we'll see. The upside to moving to La Crosse is that I can cross country ski in the winter. Also the terrain around the area is pretty good for riding. Lots of bluffs to climb up. One block from where we'll be living is a 2 mile climb that goes up almost 700 feet. The riding seems to be either completely flat or going up or down a coulee, no rollers to speak of. In a 30 mile ride you can climb 2000 feet though.

It will be good to move on and get started working but it definitely sucks to leave all the friends Jane and I have made. Who knows what will happen long term. We could maybe come back one day, and I'll tear up some spring flings and perry dam races.

Bonebender MTB

With the only road racing being in Hermann, MO a 3 hour MTB race in Smithville sounded pretty fun. Options for racing were a 3 hour or 6 hour race. Do as many laps as you can in the time frame. Since Joe A. is mending a bum knee I took the opportunity to steal his MTB from him since I don't have a MTB of my own. If you have to borrow a bike from someone, this is the kind of bike you want. Spooky frame, 1x9 gears with grip shift, nice set of tubeless wheels and tires, SID team fork. The whole package had to weigh around 22 lbs. Thanks Joe. I went into the race thinking I was just going to ride a good pace, stay within myself and have fun. I figured top half would be a good result considering I haven't ridden a MTB in almost 2 years.
LeMans start, got out really slow, near the back. Was pretty much riding single file behind someone the whole first lap it was so congested. Didn't really work too hard the first lap, when I came through the pit I stopped and added some air to a soft rear tire, got a drink and was off. 1 hour 6 minutes. Got out on the second lap with some room to ride and just started hammering it. Caught right back up to the group I was with but eventually made the pass. Was riding really well, went down once and dropped the chain another time. Came through at 2:08. Had lots of room to ride once again and was going good. Legs started to feel a bit heavy. Some cramping came on and dropped the chain again. Came upon a group of guys that included teammate Brad W. who was racing the 6 hour solo race. I had seen him after the first lap when he was about 5 minutes ahead so I knew I was doing good. Rode with them for a bit and by the finish line passed them all. Ended up finishing 4th overall in the 3 hour under 35 category at 3 hours 10 minutes. Was really happy and surprised. Britton was the next fastest a couple minutes ahead of me. First place was really fast and second was only a minute ahead of Britton. Britton did have a bunch of mechanical though. The way I see it, Britton should have had second and I should have had 3rd. Next year.

Overall good day. Legs were in agony after race. 35 miles of singletrack is about the equivalent of 70 on the road, maybe more. Will sleep good tonight.

Humble pie tastes like crap

Bazaar RR. Did this race last year, only in the 4/5 category. Did well. This year in the Cat 3 field. Not so well. The only disclaimers I will make are that it was a combined 1/2/3 field and I just clinical boards the day before. Other than that I'm just not in good racing form yet. I knew that going in and my goal was to not get dropped.
The race is an out and back one way and then out and back the other direction. only 48 miles total. At about mile 14-15 I was blowing up. We started getting into some of the rolling hills and the pace was too quick for me. Off the back I went. I ended up calling it at the end of the first out and back which was mile 32.

Will get some more riding in before auburn RR in 2 weeks.

Riding and stuff

Finally able to get a few good days of riding in. Weather has been good lately, although it has been very windy. Just now putting in some bigger efforts on rides. Did my first spring fling on saturday. It was a good day to ride, that's about all i can say about that day. My goal going into it was to just get a good workout. Wasn't too interested in killing myself or anything like that. Not much pop in the legs at this time, so when riders started launching to bridge a small gap I stayed. Thinking it would come back together I looked around me and realized that wasn't going to happen. Eventually 2 bike shack racers who were off the front, Kent Woerman included, lapped us and they dragged us back to the group.