I Just Can’t Catch A Break!

Cyclocross season has been a lot of fun this year, but I just can’t catch a break. The Smithville course had a lot of turns, a lot a straight-aways and it really tested your fitness. Chris designed an epic course! I lined up with the Master’s Cat4 35+ and got a great start, solidly sitting in 3rd around the first bend off of the pavement starting straight. I was feeling good and had a lot of motivation, and then it all ended on about the 3rd sharp corner. I heard and felt a thud and my rear wheel would not move. I had rolled my tubular tire off the rim. I shouldered the bike and started to run the 1 mile back to the wheel pit to get my spare bike. Bill Anderson hollered at me to roll the tire back on the rim and ride to the wheel pit. I had not even thought about that with all that adrenalin pumping through me. So I stopped and managed to roll the tire back on the rim. In the meantime, the entire field had passed me and opened an enormous gap. Bill reminded me to take it easy through the corners and hammer it on the straight-aways. So, that’s what I did. I could never really develop a rhythm on the first lap and it seemed really slow, but I managed to reel in a few people before getting to the wheel pit to switch bikes. Then it was game on. I can’t remember a time that I have ever ridden so hard. I just kept pushing as hard as I could, eventually blowing up and having to ease up a bit. I ended up bringing back 10 people and finishing 14th out of 24 starters. My results really don’t reflect how hard I rode today, but believe me; I made up a ton of ground to get to 14th. I would have to say that this was one of my best performances to date.

I have been having a lot of bad luck this year; broken skewer, dropped chains, bad starting positions and now a rolled tubular tire. Chris called to give me a hard time and asked if I wanted him to look my bikes over. It’s frustrating, but I am really close to having everything dialed in. The broken skewer was do to a poor Taiwanian design, the K-Edge chain catcher will take care of the dropped chains, I am trying to make sure I get to the starting line early enough to line up in a decent position and the rolled tubular tire was the result of using an old can of glue. Hopefully after I re-glue the tires with fresh glue, I will be set. Stay tuned……….

Lynskey Pro Cross Review

Thought it was time to post a review of my new Lynskey Pro Cross. Lynskey is a name that some people may not be familiar with, but the Lynskey family founded Litespeed Titanium Bicycles in 1986. They sold Litespeed in 1999 and in 2006, formed the company that bears their name, Lynskey Performance Designs. These are the folks that are solely responsible for my titanium obsession. I remember the first time I laid eyes on the Litespeed Ultimate in 1998. To me that was the coolest looking frame of that era with its curved seat tube, bladed down tube and curved seat stays. I was hooked! I was able to scrape together enough money to get one, but when it was time to pull the trigger, the dealer I went to happened to also have a Vortex in my size on hand and when I picked it up, I couldn’t believe how light it was. That started me down the weight weenie path. I ended up getting the Vortex and I have had nothing but titanium road bikes ever since. So, when it came time to get a new cyclocross bike, I called up the people that started it all for me, Lynskey.

Enough about my history with titanium, let’s get on with the review. As soon as I pulled the frame out of the box, I knew this thing was going to be special. The welds, the tube shapes and the weight were everything I expected from Lynskey. With my build kit of Campagnolo Record 10-speed, Zipp 404 Tubular CX wheels, Crank Brothers 3TI Eggbeaters and a full compliment of Ritchey WCS parts along with the fact that I replaced every steel bolt on the bike with a titanium one; the bike came in at 16.4 pounds. So far, so good!

I didn’t even get a chance to do a test ride the bike before taking it out to race it at the Chris Cross Cyclocross Challenge. I knew from the looks of the massive bi-axial ovalized down tube that this thing was going to be stiff. What really surprised me was how smooth it was. From the get go, I was awed by the comfort of the Lynskey's ride. The frame seemed to absorb everything the course threw at it. I honestly don’t know if it was the Ritchey WCS fork, the Zipp 404 wheels or the Lynskey frame, but the vibrations that hit the wheels were absorbed and never made it as far as my body. The almost complete absence of flex in the top tube and down tube is proof of the superior knowledge that Lynskey possesses when designing and tuning a titanium frame. There's no twist or give in the frame and that enables you to concentrate all your power to the pedals and that power is mainlined right to the rear wheel. So, this bike is comfortable, yet stiff and you might think that compromises the handling performance, but you’d be wrong. The bike handles awesome when you dive into corners. It never once got sketchy on me and I found myself hammering through the corners with my only concern being that I did a good glue job on my tubulars and they weren’t going to roll off the rim. Wow, I am impressed.

Now, if I can only get the engine whipped into shape, I have the tools to get the job done.

Chris Cross Cyclocross

The Chris Cross Cyclocross race was this past weekend. It was awesome, but I made a bonehead mistake. On the last lap, I was sitting 8th or 9th and decided sit up a bit and let the group I was racing with pull ahead. My plan was to give them a long enough leash to keep them within closing distance. The finishing stretch was a long brick section and I was pretty sure I could out sprint the group I was with. Problem was that I should have never eased up, because I started to get a little tired and had a bad dismount/remount at one of the barrier sections. So, the gap got a little bigger than I wanted. I ended up sprinting past one of the guys and got close to the other 3, but the finish was about 100 yards too short and they got to the line before I could bridge up to them. I ended up in 12th out of 27 starters. I talked to Chris after the race and he said it is not a road race, so you have to keep the pressure on as long as you can and recover when you can. Taking 2 years off from racing has really hurt my racing brain, but I think if I can get my cyclocross racing skills down and learn to suffer a little better, I can finish top 10 every time. I am getting close, but still haven't cracked a top 10 finish. Rich Anderson and Chris Locke did a great job with the course design and it flowed well. Heck, the only places I had to dismount were where the two barrier sections were. I heard a couple of guys grumble about the course being rough, but come on guys it is cyclocross, not road racing. The course was sweet!

I also wanted to mention that I heard someone complain about not getting a payout for winning their class. I have a huge issue with this and I probably won’t make any friends with the comments I am about to make, so I truly apologize if I offend anybody. To start with, people know there is no payout before they signed up. The flyer with all the detail is almost always available a month in advance. If you want to win some money, then quit cherry picking the non-paying categories and race the Men's Open class. In my opinion, if you are such a talented racer that your talents garner a cash payout, then race against your peers. The Men’s Open class is just that; open to CAT1, CAT2, CAT3 and CAT4 racers. These guys like to act like they are pros who deserve to get paid to race. If you are that good, then race with the big boys, you win money in those races. It is not like your racing skills bring in the crowds. I doubt anybody other than friends and family are coming to the events to see you, specifically, race. No offense to anybody and I know it brings in more money to the promoter having more race categories, but I think the Master's Categories are a sandbagger’s paradise. If you are a CAT3, you are a CAT3, no matter what your age is. So, the next time you sign up for a race, look at the flyer and if you want to win some money, then race the class that has the payout. It does not cost anymore. For those of us never will be’s, we are happy just to get the opportunity to race and expect nothing in return. It’s tough work promoting any race and promoters need positive feedback, not complaints, to make their events the best they can be.
On a side note, the Lynskey was awesome! That thing handles like a dream and I was able to rail through the corners. It was stable, yet stiff when I was out of the saddle and pretty darn comfortable off road. I give it 2 enthusiastic thumbs up! Thanks to Mark, Jack and Don over at Lynskey for taking the time to make sure that I got the perfect frame. It was well worth the wait.

Boss Cross #1 & #2

After last weeks mechanical, the cross season really started for me this weekend. The course was at English Landing Park in Parkville. For the race on Saturday, I was able to get a good starting position on the front row. The field was 31 deep. I had a pretty good start and settled in about mid pack do to some sand pits, which I suck at crossing (note to self: LEARN HOW TO RIDE THROUGH THE SAND!!). Seemed like most of the field was riding the sand and every time I approached the sand pit with someone that could ride it, I would end up chasing. The leaders had a decent gap and five of us settled in to race for the “middle of the pack”. After a couple of laps, two of the guys were off the back. I kept the other 2 guys with me and we traded punches for the reminder of the race. On the last lap, me and the SKC(?) guy gapped the other guy and hammered our way down the gravel section leading up to the barriers. I went hard and let him know I had some juice left. He took the corner too fast and went down hard. I asked if he was OK as I went by and he said yes. I was able to keep the other guys gapped and ended up finishing 11th on the day. Not bad for me, especially after taking a couple of years off.

Day 2 brought on a little more sunshine and a reverse of Saturday’s course. I noticed on my practice lap that the course seemed to flow a little better for me today, so I was hoping for a good finish. I got to the starting line late, so I had to line up at the very back. Today’s field was either 38 or 41 deep, so that was not a good thing. I spent the first lap clawing my way from the back of the pack to the middle (do you see a pattern here?). I rode up the group containing Jeremy Haynes and sat in to recover from my effort. As soon as I recovered, I went back to work and opened up a small gap on Jeremy’s group. I eased back a bit to wait for Jeremy, as I knew he would work with me to reel some more racers in. It looked like he was toast (hard to promote a race and race – I know), so I hit the gas and caught up to the next small group. I attacked the guys in this group and they counter-attacked, so I knew this was probably as far as I would get. I lost time every lap, because of that damn sand (note to self: LEARN HOW TO RIDE THROUGH THE SAND!!). On the last lap, there were 3 of us, then 2. We approached the final trip through the sand pit neck and neck, I dismounted and he rode through. That was the race. He opened enough of a gap on me through the sand, that I just didn’t have the gas to close it (note to self: LEARN HOW TO RIDE THROUGH THE SAND!!). I ended up 18th, which in my mind would have been 10th, had I started near the front.

Chris Cross, Race #2 of the Destad series, is next weekend and it is a great venue (no sand).