Halloween Cross
It seems that I have no time to update the blog these days . . . work travel has taken up a lot of time. Last week it was Wausau, Rice Lake and Tomah. This week it has been De Pere. Next week I'm off to a conference in Michigan. I have been trying to keep up with photos and videos from the races. I'm doing okay with the photos but I've got a back log of videos to do. I hope to get at least one done by this weekend though. In addition, I'm working to get a race organized for the 11th. Looks like it should be a go though. JPE is just getting final approvals from the venue which we hopefully will have by the end of the day.
And now FINALLY a race post . . . . Halloween Cross at Washington Park in Milwaukee.
I always enjoy a race where you get to dress up in a costume but Washington Park has never been a good course for me. There are way too many long straight sections which is always my demise. I had pretty low expectations this year since last week's mountain biking wasn't the best thing every for my calf muscle (it was good for my mental outlook though).
Last year I was disappointed in my costume but this year I lucked out at St. Vinny's and found just what I was looking for . . . a beauty pageant dress. My shopping success on Saturday afternoon was clearly foreshadowing of what turned out to be a better than expected race.
The long and short of the race is that I spent the whole race dueling with my teammate Heather who had gapped me at Janesville and held that same gap for the whole race. At Washington Park I took the early lead but she was right there breathing down my neck. It's funny racing your teammates as you know each other and I knew that Heather can climb and time trial like a fiend (she's a tri-girl after all). I also know that she isn't great at cornering. Our race was funny. She would pass me going up the short steep climb after the start/finish. I would pass her either on the downhill, the corner or in the barriers right after the climb. Then I would try to ensure that I got a little gap on the corners so she would have to work hard getting back up to me on the subsequent straight aways. Then I wasn't dismounting for the coffin 2x4 section and I figured that she was. That would mean she would have to work hard through the bandstand area to catch me. I could hear people cheering for her on the run up so I could tell she was close. She would always be back up to me by the long straight sections before the start/finish.
(photo by newlow)
On the last lap I pretty much figured she would beat me as I knew how fast she would do the two long straight aways at the end. It was especially looking bad the last time up the short, steep climb as she got a little bigger gap than the previous laps and I didn't pass her until the remount out of the barriers. Once I was back in front I could tell I was tiring. However, I thought I had a little gap by the time we got to the run up (based on when people cheered for me and then cheered for her). Coming into the last section with corners I just went all out and figured I would either slide out, crash and get beat or I would have some sort of gap that I might be able to hold to the finish.
I did get a gap and when I was half way down the first straight away I could see I had a gap but I couldn't really see where Heather was but I knew she wasn't right on my wheel. About 10 seconds later Dave starts yelling at me to pick it up as she was closing fast. Dave was an awesome motivator as he knows when I am not giving it my all and when a little motivation might get me going. It worked and I picked up the pace and it was a frantic sprint around the little corner into the final straight away. Heather was getting closer and closer but as we approached the line I knew I had it. Yeah, we were killing it out there in our sprint for like 9th or 10th.
I have to say it was a good day for me as I think I've been lapped by Kristin at Washington Park the last couple of years and this year I wasn't. I also got to have some racing excitement with Heather which forced me to ride hard which is good for me. All that and I was looking stylish in my costume (which caught on my saddle each lap on the slow uphill remount after the run up but was fine other than that).
Tonight I'm going to go to cross practice and see how the calf feels. Then there's a Halloween race and party. Tomorrow night is the FORCs end of season party. Friday night I hope to get a cross video done. Then it is the Milwaukee double race weekend. Then Monday I have a 5:30am flight to Detroit. Back on Thursday night. New non-series cross race to promote on the 11th. Work trip to Waukesha on the 12th. YIKES, I'm tired just thinking of it all. Oh yeah, CVC end of year party on the evening of the 12th. All I can say is that at Christmas I'm going to spend the whole holiday napping!
PS - I'm sure that some of you are wondering about my 1987-2007 photo collage. The answer is that Yes I was in a beauty pageant back in the day. My freshman year of college I had a friend who dared me to enter the pageant. I could never turn down a dare so I entered the Miss Richland County pageant much to the horror of the women who organized the event. Once I filled out the entry forms and showed up for the first meeting there was no way I was dropping out as I loved annoying the pageant ladies way too much. I'm sad to say that I did not win or get runner up or miss congeniality or anything. I can now feel vindicated by dressing as a beauty pageant winner for Halloween 20 years later. Too bad I donated my original evening gown to Goodwill.
And now FINALLY a race post . . . . Halloween Cross at Washington Park in Milwaukee.
I always enjoy a race where you get to dress up in a costume but Washington Park has never been a good course for me. There are way too many long straight sections which is always my demise. I had pretty low expectations this year since last week's mountain biking wasn't the best thing every for my calf muscle (it was good for my mental outlook though).
Last year I was disappointed in my costume but this year I lucked out at St. Vinny's and found just what I was looking for . . . a beauty pageant dress. My shopping success on Saturday afternoon was clearly foreshadowing of what turned out to be a better than expected race.
The long and short of the race is that I spent the whole race dueling with my teammate Heather who had gapped me at Janesville and held that same gap for the whole race. At Washington Park I took the early lead but she was right there breathing down my neck. It's funny racing your teammates as you know each other and I knew that Heather can climb and time trial like a fiend (she's a tri-girl after all). I also know that she isn't great at cornering. Our race was funny. She would pass me going up the short steep climb after the start/finish. I would pass her either on the downhill, the corner or in the barriers right after the climb. Then I would try to ensure that I got a little gap on the corners so she would have to work hard getting back up to me on the subsequent straight aways. Then I wasn't dismounting for the coffin 2x4 section and I figured that she was. That would mean she would have to work hard through the bandstand area to catch me. I could hear people cheering for her on the run up so I could tell she was close. She would always be back up to me by the long straight sections before the start/finish.
(photo by newlow)
On the last lap I pretty much figured she would beat me as I knew how fast she would do the two long straight aways at the end. It was especially looking bad the last time up the short, steep climb as she got a little bigger gap than the previous laps and I didn't pass her until the remount out of the barriers. Once I was back in front I could tell I was tiring. However, I thought I had a little gap by the time we got to the run up (based on when people cheered for me and then cheered for her). Coming into the last section with corners I just went all out and figured I would either slide out, crash and get beat or I would have some sort of gap that I might be able to hold to the finish.
I did get a gap and when I was half way down the first straight away I could see I had a gap but I couldn't really see where Heather was but I knew she wasn't right on my wheel. About 10 seconds later Dave starts yelling at me to pick it up as she was closing fast. Dave was an awesome motivator as he knows when I am not giving it my all and when a little motivation might get me going. It worked and I picked up the pace and it was a frantic sprint around the little corner into the final straight away. Heather was getting closer and closer but as we approached the line I knew I had it. Yeah, we were killing it out there in our sprint for like 9th or 10th.
I have to say it was a good day for me as I think I've been lapped by Kristin at Washington Park the last couple of years and this year I wasn't. I also got to have some racing excitement with Heather which forced me to ride hard which is good for me. All that and I was looking stylish in my costume (which caught on my saddle each lap on the slow uphill remount after the run up but was fine other than that).
Tonight I'm going to go to cross practice and see how the calf feels. Then there's a Halloween race and party. Tomorrow night is the FORCs end of season party. Friday night I hope to get a cross video done. Then it is the Milwaukee double race weekend. Then Monday I have a 5:30am flight to Detroit. Back on Thursday night. New non-series cross race to promote on the 11th. Work trip to Waukesha on the 12th. YIKES, I'm tired just thinking of it all. Oh yeah, CVC end of year party on the evening of the 12th. All I can say is that at Christmas I'm going to spend the whole holiday napping!
PS - I'm sure that some of you are wondering about my 1987-2007 photo collage. The answer is that Yes I was in a beauty pageant back in the day. My freshman year of college I had a friend who dared me to enter the pageant. I could never turn down a dare so I entered the Miss Richland County pageant much to the horror of the women who organized the event. Once I filled out the entry forms and showed up for the first meeting there was no way I was dropping out as I loved annoying the pageant ladies way too much. I'm sad to say that I did not win or get runner up or miss congeniality or anything. I can now feel vindicated by dressing as a beauty pageant winner for Halloween 20 years later. Too bad I donated my original evening gown to Goodwill.
posted by MadCross at 4:59 PM
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