Jingle Cross Weekend

Wow what a busy couple weeks it’s been! First the Trek Cup in WI then back up to Iowa City after only 2 days at home. Lots to cover here so it could be a little long.

The excitement was high for Jingle Cross. This trip the whole family was going and we were going to get to watch a World Cup race on Saturday. We left out Wednesday night to break up the long drive a little and ended up staying in Topeka, KS. We got rolling early Thursday and hoped the rain would hold off for us to pre-ride the course. 

We pulled into the Iowa City fairgrounds around 4pm, no rain yet, but it was coming. We all got ready and got in some laps as quick as we could then loaded up just as the skies opened. This was not your average rain storm. The amount of wind had me feeling right at home. We later learned we were in a tornado watch. 

We met up with Jake and Tom Chitwood, got groceries and headed to our cabin for the long weekend. It was about 20 miles out of Iowa City. Other than the drive back and forth, it’s really nice to get out of the city a bit and have a house for everyone to share. We have had a great time hanging out and enjoying each other’s company the last two weeks. Something you don’t really get staying in hotels. 

Friday morning, it was raining. It has rained all night. It was going to be extremely muddy! Elise Donovan, who traveled with us races first. Amazingly her bike survived the race. She did not have a pit bike and the mud was packing on heavy. She got third, first OK podium of the weekend. Ryan and Aubrey were next. They both had awesome races with Ryan taking second and Aubrey winning. Jake had them pit every half lap. The bikes somewhat needed to be swapped, but it was so deep and muddy, it was 15-20sec faster to go through the grassy pit than try to ride the mud next to it. Genius plan there!

 Tom was the next race, and it went bad. I was pitting with Vanessa’s help due to Jake and Paul racing right after Tom. He broke a derailleur first lap. Took his pit bike and I started working. I converted it to a single speed. That didn’t hold well. Then we got a hanger, I bolted it on, replaced the chain and derailleur and got him going. Unfortunately the derailleur was still too damaged and broke another hanger and he was out. For the next race we had Tom, Vanessa, Elise, and myself pitting for Jake and Paul. They shortened the course due to rain, so there was little to no time to get bikes washed between pit 1 and 2. We went as fast as possible and still missed a couple pits. Jake was leading with Paul 4th. The mud caused some drivetrain issues for Jake and he dropped to third. Still good results for both guys. We were all exhausted, but I still had the Elite race to do @9pm so I tried to rest and fuel. The race went well, I had a horrible start, again, but stayed calm and smooth in the mud and just worked my way up. The crowds were amazing! Super loud going up Mt. Krumpit every lap. I was 13th with 1 to go and was able to hold that to the finish. It was a very taxing race with a ton of running. So I was really pleased with the result. 

Saturday we slept in a bit, ate breakfast then all took on the task of cleanup. We had 15 bikes to wash and overhaul the necessary components to make them functional for Sunday. That took about 3 hours, then we had some lunch and went exploring on a recovery spin.

After the spin it was time for everyone to #getinthevan and head to the World Cup! The women’s race was a good battle seeing Americans take two of the top three spots. I hung around the start line for the men’s race. It was very serious and intense. After the one minute call, you could feel the tension. Very cool experience. 

The race was exciting until Wout van Aert decided to end it with his attack up the backside of Mt. Krumpit. Ryan and I bolted to the finish because he really wanted to see the world champ come across the line. The crowd was deafening as he rolled in. I’m glad we both got to witness it. We then headed to the house for dinner and a dance off between Ryry, Paul, and Elise. That was pretty entertaining but we had to shut it down because we had an early morning with Ryan racing @8am.

Sunday morning, no rain yet as predicted. Still muddy but not too bad. Ryans another good race and ended up third. A lot of running in deep mud that he struggled with, but I was proud of his effort.

Aubrey and Elise were racing next. Aub moved to the women’s 1/2 race for Sunday. They both raced well, Aub getting 12th and Elise third again in the cat 3 field.

To get on the road earlier, Paul, Jake and I all race the masters race. They started us in waves based on age so the two of them started behind me. I got to the front on lap 2 and kept it steady for the win. Again lots of running and I am not normally good at that so happy to get the win. Jake took the win in his age group and Paul got 7th.

After the finish I saw a guy with some paperwork headed my way. USADA officer. Jake and I were both escorted off for anti-doping tests. This is quite the process of sealing/unsealing different containers. I, of course, didn’t have much to provide after just sweating it all out for 45 min so I spent more time in there than I wanted to and missed my podium. We got it all handled, loaded up and hit Culvers for a burger and shake before the long drive home.

The past two weekends have been a ton of fun, but I’m glad to be racing in Oklahoma for a couple weeks now and take a break from all the driving. 

Trek CXC Cup

Race weekend 1 is in the books. Looking back on it, it was a big success to start the season and further put Oklahoma on the map in the Cyclocross world. 

We took off from Jake’s at 4:30am Friday with the goal of being in Waterloo, WI by 5 for course pre ride. We made it a little before but opted to go for a road ride due to the course being muddy from afternoon rain. The scenery of the Wisconsin countryside is hard to beat. We did hop on for a couple laps after just to get an idea of the layout.  

We scored an amazing host house about 45 min from the race. A sold home waiting to be closed on so we had it all to ourselves for the weekend. Plenty of room for everyone and a nice kitchen for Chef Paul to whip up some delicious dinners for our two nights there.

Aubrey was first up both days so we got an early start to get out there and get her and her bikes ready. Saturday she was racing Jr Girls 15-16. She rode really well getting the win and working up to top 15 in the boys field that started 30sec ahead of the girls. Next race up would be Jake and I in the UCI C2 Elite race. One of the the most stacked fields I’ve been in. The entire front row was Belgian as many Europeans are here for the upcoming World Cup races. It started and stayed very fast. I stayed within my litmits and managed to stay lead lap(my main goal in this field) and scored a decent 24th with Jake just ahead in 22nd. Paul was the race after us in the Masters 35+. He had a really good race as well getting second. 

Day 2 we moved Aubrey to the U19 race to give her a little stronger competition. We are still feeling out where she belongs in the Jr fields at these bigger events. Another great start and she locked into a battle for the lead. Into the second lap she got gapped a little and couldn’t close it back. Still a strong ride to finish second. 

I opted out of the Elite race and planned on doing the Masters 35+ in order to get a chance to race potential competitors for nationals in January. Jake did about half of the Elite as planned just go open up a bit. We both then lined up in the Masters. I got an early lead due to a jam up running up one of the hills and tried to pull away. I felt really good this day, legs were good and I was flowing good on the course. Just kept on the gas the whole race and got the win. One of those nearly perfect days on the bike. 

So began the all-nighter to get back home and get to work Monday. These are always super difficult but that’s just the way it goes. Ryry did have a little surprise when I walked in the @5:45am that made me still smile in my zombie-like state.

I think it was him feeling bad about saying I wasn’t wicky on his Instagram account. 

So kits washed, bikes cleaned, and we leave again Wednesday evening to go to Iowa City for Jingle Cross. The whole family is going this time and we get to watch the World Cup on Saturday. From the preview we got from world champ Wout van Aert in WI, it’s going to be amazing to see. 

CX practice races

It’s that time of year, days are starting to shorten, temps are dropping somewhat, and weeknight CX practice races are starting! Cross practice is, and has been, my favorite weeknight ride/event of all. Crits are fun, dirt crits are as well, but nowhere close to cross practice in my eyes. 

My friend Josh Jewell introduced me to this years ago riding with just a handful of guys at a duck pond in Norman on my Frankenbike. I converted a 26″ mtb frame in a 700c cross machine with disc brakes (way ahead of the times!). I did a few, but no racing as I was focused on MTB more at that time.

The next year I got my first cross bike and started attending practice in OKC at the Will Rogers Park event out on by Chris DuRoy. Much bigger course with a lot more people. It was the most fun I had on my bike. Could not wait to get there every week! 

Fast forward to now, and I find it kind of funny that I am now the one hosting the event. Cross seems to come and go for a lot of people, but someone has to keep it alive and growing so if I’m one of those people, I’ll gladly take that on. A few years have passed since that duck pond practice, but I’m just as excited as ever about this day of the week! Also that my kids will be joining the fun now rather than handing up bottles haha!

Team Camp and TNCX

I had a very rare 3 days in a row off work this past Labor Day weekend. Exciting stuff! Although, I spent all 3 very busy with two trips to Tulsa and riding most of the the time.

Sunday was up early and off to Chisolm Trail Park (site of Ruts n Guts UCI race) in Broken Arrow, OK. for Day 1 of the SPCX team camp. My daughter, Aubrey and I are both on the team, along with Ben Watkins, Pauls Bonds, and Jake Lasley. We made it a family trip up so my son Ryan could join in and get some knowledge and experience. 

We started out with a short ride to Jake’s secret run up spot. It was a monster. A massive wall with a path beaten up and down it. Didn’t seem like it was going to be much fun, but if the National Champ does it, let’s do it!

We rode back grabbed some snacks, took some photos, then ran through the rest of the day’s drills that Jake and my coach Mark TeRuki had planned out. Jake and Tom Chitwood made up a nice lunch to finish off the day, the we headed back to OKC

Day 2 was another early morning. We were riding in OKC, but I needed to get out to Will Rogers Park to set up our course for the day. After a short warm up ride to loosen up, everyone was pretty sore and tired from day 1, we got going. Start practice, off-camber drills, and finished up with a relay race. Another hard day on the bike and we were all pretty beat. The main thing we all took away was the whole team is flying right now, and that’s a great sign heading into race season!

I spent Tuesday catching up on some bike stuff, and resting up some from the weekend. Jake sent me home with a pile of Specialized Roval wheels and Challenge Tubulars to glue so Ryan and I got those mounted up to stretch. I got the race van loaded, picked up the kids from school, Vanessa from work and off to Tulsa we went again for the first TNCX, their weeknight CX practice. I’ve never been and wanted to go get in a practice race with Jake to ready myself for the intensity of our upcoming races. The kids both raced as well and they were looking great out there! Jake and i went at each other pretty hard for about 30 min, then I backed off. It was pretty warm and it was making the effort even harder. He backed off as well not wanting to ride alone. We kept it steady until about 5 laps to go and he hit it again. I was able to hang on which is a victory with him. Intensity simulation: ACCOMPLISHED! Now time to start tapering it down some to get rested for Trek CXC Cup in about a week and half.