Tacchino Cross MABRA #1

I'll keep it short and sweet

I knew it was going to come down to me, Wes and Jared.

Luckily, Wes and I were able to get away 3 laps into the race. We took some turns at the front. With 2 laps to go Wes was doing the majority of the work at the front. Wes is an absolute technician in the turns it took work on my part to stay on his wheel. I knew it was going to come down to the last lap and the muddy log run up. I knew I had the upper hand and had to go into the log run up first. Wes took the high line I went low and accelerated and was able to get in front of him. I took off running and never looked back after I remounted. It's been 3 year since I won a MABRA race. It definitely felt sweet!

I must say Tacchino knows how to throw a party... I mean cyclocross race!!

Fred won 55+
Dave won 35+
Erin won Elite Women

Thursday night I was frantically building my cyclocross in preparation for the First race weekend of the season. The bike I rode for Mountain Cross is in difficulty at the moment.

The drag into the road season tends to be a long one. We get some great group rides in maybe a local crit or two before the real racing begins. Cyclocross on the other hand comes at you as fast as 125 “killer B’s” off the line. As always the first race of the season is Nittany Lions UCI 2. Trying to grab some early season UCI points can pay off big time the rest of the season. This year it’s only getting harder. Not only was Jeremy Powers there, but a handful of European riders decided to make the trek over to U.S. for the early part of the season. Needless to say the field was pretty stacked, 50 riders strong.

I believe I was on the 3^rd line at the start. Thank goodness their starting light was broken. The whistle blew and we were off. I didn’t have the best start, but good enough. I battled my way through the first few corners trying to be the last one to brake. I was proud of myself for not backing down in the corners. In the middle of the lap was a huge 10 yard mud puddle. When the mud hit my face it was like losing your virginity all over again (yes it was over that quick). Towards the end of the first lap we hit the long mud run and I was able to make up another 4 or 5 spots.

Going into the race I knew it was going to be like a 40K time trial. With the peanut butter mud sections and slippery turns it was going to be a long hour of racing.

On the 3^rd lap I worked my way up to Bad Andy with Jared Nieter on my wheel. Wes Schempt was only about 20 seconds up in 8^th place. I kept it positive and kept a steady tempo with the other guys. 2 more laps passed without making up much ground on Wes. With 2 laps to go I figured I had the upper hand with the long mud run right into the last 200 meters to the finish. I took 3^rd position making the other guys do the work. Andy went first into the mud pit followed by Nieter they both took a different line then I was expecting and it threw me off a little. I went the opposite way from them and cut it too hard. I overlapped a course stake and hand to pull my bike back and take off running. It was enough to open up that 10 to 15 yard gap from the other two riders. I know Neiters is a last lap gambler and he took off like a bat out of hell and Andy was able to stay close, but I was unable to close it. Neiters ended up catching Wes for 8^th, Wes was 9^th, Andy held on for 10^th. It was a long last lap knowing I was outside the top 10 and finishing 1 spot out of the UCI points.

I’m taking away the positive…. There were 40 other riders who wish they were in my spot.

Charm City next weekend

If you live within an hour there is no reason to not be there and be a witness to the beauty that is cyclocross

Photos from http://www.pbase.com/dens/nittany_cross_011

Mountain Cross

Mountain Cross Wintergreen, VA
66 miles
gravel and paved roads



Mountain cross this year had its best showing yet. 150 riders were going to tackle the 66 mile loop. Some were there to race other for
fun and some just happy to finish. I was there to ride hard for a
nice gauge of my fitness level before the start of the cyclocross
season just a mere two weeks away.

The ride starts out as one huge group and breaks apart quickly on the
first climb several miles in. On the start of the first climb the
pace was set by Andrea Dvorak one of the top pro women in the U.S. by the
top of the first climb there was a small group of 12 riders. Things
broke apart on the gravel decent. The majority of the riders were on
road bike. I was on a cross bikes and Jeremiah Bishop was on a
cannondale mountain bike with 25mm road tires. Half way down the
descent I was able to put my ALAN cyclocross bike to good use and open
a gap on the rest of the riders. I knew I wasn't going to try and
solo the whole thing, so when we got to road I eased up and a group of
10 riders caught up to me. We rode at a talking pace until we hit the
next climb. A stair stepping gravel climb that goes on for 8 miles
parallel to Crabtree falls. We were joined by several other riders at
the base of the climb. I wanted to go harder so I pushed the pace in
the first fourth of the climb. I was quickly joined by Bishop and Andy
Guptil of Jamis/Sutter homes and now the Miller School and by rider
828 (Rob). The four of us kept a nice steady pace with rider 828 doing a
lot of the work (later I found out he was a world class runner).
About 2/3rds of the way up the climb Guptil yells
out "I think I flatted," and sure enough he did. Bishop said "change it
and I'll wait for you at the feed station" 6 miles up the road. The 3
of us continued on. At one point Bishop looks at me and says, "we
have averaged 296 watts for 1:15:00". Hot damn I have some good legs I
thought to myself. We hit the feed station. I quickly filled up 2
bottles had a small cup of Coke and grabbed 2 gels and told Bishop and
828 I'm heading out I'm sure you'll catch up to me.

I took off on the middle, 3rd of the course. The downhill was definitely
a lot sketchier than last year. I kept the bike upright on the
downhill and started the endless fine gravel climb up the
Blue Ridge parkway which continued climbing for another 3 or 4
miles. I made way up the gravel climb still pushing a solid pace. I
looked back a few times and didn't see anyone behind me. I hit the
Blue Ridge parkway and it started pouring rain. It was a very surreal
moment where weather, body and spirit came together in perfect harmony.
I rode like a man possessed. I could hear Paul Sherwin in my head
commentating. I was flying and thought to myself, shit I may
actually pull this off and ride in solo. I looked back a lot and
still couldn't see anyone behind. I charged into the feed station
took 1 bottle and 3 gels and started towards the finish.


I quickly started descending the 8 mile stair step climb from earlier
in the ride (with several people still climbing up it). I knew with
the cross bike advantage I had to take a few risks. At this point I
was amazed my legs were still feeling great. Close to the bottom of
the mountain I could hear what I thought was hurricane Irene trying to
get on my wheel. Nope it was Jeremiah Bishop. Once we got off the
gravel and on the paved roads he rolled up to me. He said he could
just see me leaving the feed station where he ate a krispy kreme donut
and started the descent. He said at the base of the fine gravel climb
to the parkway he was averaging 320 watts to catch me. Makes you feel
good when one of the top mountain bike pro's in the country tells you
he was trying to catch you. We kept a nice zone 3 pace till the final
climb before the finish. My legs weren't cramping yet and I was
thinking about trying to take Bishop down. We hit the base of the
climb I shifted into my 28 and started spinning. Then, disaster
struck. No, not the hurricane, but my rear derailleur went into my rear spokes and completely ripped off.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!

Here I am having the ride of my life and this…. why me?

So I did what I had to do. I took my ROAD shoes off (yes I was wearing my road shoes) and started jogging in my red gamjams.net
socks on the gravel climb. That didn't last long and I started
walking and kept walking and kept walking. I was then caught by 2nd
place, Chris from the Miller School. So I kept walking 3rd, 4th
slowly passed me. I started jogging when the gravel wasn't too big
and walked in the grass on the side when I could. I was determined to
make it to the top. More people passed me. After what seemed like forever
I could see the tree line starting to end. The top was near. About
500 yards , Tony Bilotta came flying down in his car yelling "hop in." I said "I've
gone this far might as well finish." Walked to the top of the climb sat
down and put my shoes back on wrapped my chain around the derailleur
and coasted down the mountain. Luckily for me it was all downhill to
the finish. I scootered it all the way back. I was passed by Andrea
right before the finished.

Bummed definitely. I coasted back to the car sat down drank some
water and just sat for a while.

Later I checked the times. Bishop finished 3:50 I finished 4:13 in
10th. So I lost 23 minutes. I'm taking the positive away from this
ride. I got compliments on how well I was riding by a guy who is
racing in the mountain bike world championships next weekend. Pretty cool.

I am ready for the cyclocross season!

After it was all over I enjoyed a beer with my Mother and Father at the brewery

Results can be found:
http://pre-reg.com/Users/RacerMain.aspx?EventID=622&CatID=12043&RegManFinish=Day01Event02

Nitty Lion UCI 2 9/11/2010

Oh, how quick the cyclocross season came this year.

First race of the season has always been a coin flip for me. I was a little more confident going into this year's first race because I had actually raced on the road this summer and just completed 3 crits in St. Louis the weekend before.

Nitty Lion 2010
UCI 2, MAC series #1
Race Time: 1:30pm
Temp: over 68 degrees
Course: flat, lots of turns, dry, bumpy, 1 dismount
Tires: 32 Grifo's on Rol aluminum wheels, 31 psi in the rear and 30 psi in the front

Things have changed from years past. We were started on a light that turned green. I didn't like that at all. UCI you are no longer able to run 34mm tires. I don't like that either.

Started on the 2nd row. I should to taken more time to scope out the start since it had changed from the year before. The start is really important on this course because of all the tight turns it's really hard to pass people. I had a bad start, missed my pedal and spent most of my fist lap trying to get around riders. By the 2nd lap the lead group of 10 riders was only 30 meters up the road. 3 laps in I was just on the tail end of the lead group. After a heavily rooted section I tried to get around a rider and finally make contact with the lead group. I forgot about a mulch hump that was in the middle of the course. By the time I realized it I was heading full speed straight towards the center of the pile. There was nothing I could do. I launched into the air and landed on my front wheel. Rode my front wheel for a few yards before flipping over the bars and hitting the ground hard. Luckily my calf and forearm took the blunt of the force. I gathered myself and figured it was still early in the race and decided to get back on and see if I could finish. After a lap I started feeling alright. I continued racing, but only managed to pass a few more riders. I finished up 16th place same as last year. I didn't realize it but my rear wheel was rubbing the whole time after the crash. I had great legs too.

I can't wait for this weekend's racing

HOW I GOT STARTED

I distinctly remember one fall afternoon when I was 15 my father coming home from a bike race and telling me, "You gotta try this, it's called cyclocross." By 15 I had already competed in a few mountain and road races here and there. I believe I was the under 12 state road race champion at some point. Most likely the only competitor in my age group. For as long as I can remember my dad has been racing and riding his bike. I was never pressured into riding just always had a bike in the garage waiting for me if I ever decided I wanted to ride. At 15 I was too busy skateboarding, chasing girls and playing soccer for bike riding. Thinking back to that day what stuck out most to me was the look on my dad's face as he explained to me what the heck this cyclocross was. You get to run up steep hills and over logs and barriers all while carrying your bike. The races are short and fast. Next weekend there was a cyclocross race at Piedmont Community College only 30 minutes from my house. Soccer season was over with and I agreed to try it out.

The first rig I ever raced cross on was a mid 1980's Klein Rascal, pink and purple, rigid, mountain bike. Oh was that one sweet ride. Believe it or not the bike is still in the garage. I had to race the beginner category because there was no junior category. I don't remember much about the race other than it being really really hard and the fans cheering me on. To my surprise I finished 2nd. From then on I have considered myself not a roadie or a mountain biker, but a cyclocross racer. Here I am, never missed a season, roughly 180 races over 12 years and I'm still just as hooked as the day I started.