The Ginger Viking gets Cx'd

Anyone remember Saint Motel? They had a catchy song call "My type" back in 2014. And if you raced cross in 2014 then you might remember one of the greatest CX teams ever. Team Noosa was the power house due of Meredith Miller and Allen Krughoff. And that same song was used in their promo video for Noosa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nogYaMmDpEw

I got to meet both these awesome racers at a SRAM ambassador event when they were in town with a who's who of other SRAM sponsored racers ( remember the classic CX! Videos, CX1 built Miller's deck.

I stayed friendly with both of them as they raced, always making a point to go say hi and catch up with them. Always welcoming they both represented the best of what CX was about.

The team lasted only a couple of seasons, but the mark left on the sport will be felt for ages.

Good times

Noosa Pro Cyclocross Training Montage Archived video produced by Kelly Magelky/Filament Productions.For more cyclocross content, visit: http://Allen.Bike.

Happy that my mechanic dance card is starting to fill up for Kings CX. Should be a good time as always.

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Race Recap: Bloomington Cross

Location: Karst Park, Bloomington.

Conditions: Cool, dewy morning with temps clinging to the 80's
Grass was mown, but bumpy classic mole hills.

The course: A all new course this year, with only the start and where the Pits were located as carry over from years past. Very long course compared to years past making for very long laps.

Features: Well the sand was back in play, and it had barriers at the beginning and end of what was a sand horseshoe. The sand was very ridable but not much of a feature, but in the horseshoe configuration plus the barriers it made for an interesting feature after all.
There was also an Off camber section near the end of the lap that felt tacked on. It had you entering into a segment that 180'd up the off camber, you came a cross, then did a little chicane up and down the camber into another "run up" 180 back down into a longer drag. It was a lot going on in a short section and compared to the rest of the course it felt out of place and tacked on to make it "really hard" . Based on where it was at, they could break it up and use it for the beginning and end of the lap vs doing it all at the same time.. It hard to explain but the bottom line is that for a long flowing course to put all your technical features in one spot is not as fun.

The rest of the course: I was skeptical at first as the older Course layout was a very popular and very much a personal favorite, so going and messing with it was not something I was keen for. But for a first cut at a new course, it was very enjoyable. It had good flow and I think with a few adjustments you could make it very interesting as a course. Again that tacked on Off Camber seemed out of place. And there was a very long back and forth section that seemed to extend the length of the lap. So that could have been trimmed a bit. But overall I really had a good time. So kudo and keep thinking of how to improve.

The take way was that it has a feel of the old course on how you could relate to the up and down flow of the course. You felt it in the bike even if the tape was not going where you remember it going in years past.

My race: Pretty sure I was DFL.. I rode technically well and felt I was working to a good tactical plan, till that plan was shaken up… I felt it was not worth gear damage and backed off a bit, they were going to pull me but I talked them into letting me go back out if I tried to go faster. Hey it pays to be nice and polite. So I did another lap and finished up my day.

My take away was that I did not give up or stop racing, I just did not want to race with the wrong emotions. I was a bit frustrated as I felt I could have done what I wanted to out there. But that is racing. Sometimes you have to reset goals, and I changed my goals and stayed moving forward.

Next week Brookside, not sure what to think about it, but like every race I will do what I can with what I have.

Racer Recap:

Race: OVCX Season Opener Redkite + K&G Beach Party

Location: Buck Creek Dayton OH or near there…

Weather: Cool in the morning, breeze off the beach with the temps getting warm in the later races.

The race: This is the third year I have done the Beach party, it found love as a Cap City race and then was pulled into the OVCX in 2018? It takes place on the beach of the Buck Creek Lake and has the honor of the most sand in an OVCX race since Eva Bandman. Not to mention that the partking lot is about 30 feet above the beach so you have to work your way down and back up the hill to get to the sand. A very unique race course and a s**t load of fun.

The course: The course felt… well simplified compared to the first two years. Not sure why, but they took out a large chunk of the beach and sand section, as well as some of the early hill side off camber. It did not make it any easier, but did change some of the feel of it and made the laps a lot shorter and thus meant you had to do more of them.

How my day went: Well I did this race the day after Melting Mann, and so my legs were not all that keen on doing all that extra climbing. But I gave it the college try and did what I could. Laps times were on a decaying scale with the hottest as the first and went as down hilll from there. All pun intended. I could do some of the climbs well but my recovery was slow and I was getting gassed and a bit over heated and needed some help from the team to splash water on me. But sine I am running the Cat 3 40+ wave along with the Straight cat 3 and the u19 I was got lapped and often, I finished the day DFL and accepted that This was going to be my life until I get either faster or cat down… I am sure I might get faster, but life in the 4 may be a thing for next season.
Overall I was happy with my mechanics of how I raced and I raced technically well, just lacked the legs to move me. I am sure if I was a little bit more fit, it would have been a bit more fun as I would have had the speed to carry me through some features smoother. And I wish I had a bit more skill for a couple features where hopping would have speed up my efforts vs slowing down like a noob and inching through. But it is the season opener, so it is a knocking off the rust kinda thing.

Notes: I have to be honest, I really did not train for cx this season for various reasons and have struggled with getting excited to race. There is nothing driving me to want to race, and that is something I am working on. The main reason I get out of bed to race is to see all the good people I have met over the years racing that I enjoy catching up. And it seems every race there is another person who talks me into making it out to see them.. This week was Kari Hudson who wanted me to come out and heckler her and I felt she deserved the heckling so out I went. It was also all the Cat 5s that you run into that this was their first race and they are all trying to unpack what they just experienced. To listen to them talk about their first race reminds me of what I felt in my first races all those years back.. Sure I am grumpy and don't want to do it but every race there are people that love seeing you out there and that drives you. I do it for the fans of Shamrock. They want to be heckled by the Shamrocks, the tent is a part of the sport and it is fun to get out there with all the people.. Now if I can get the racing thing under control this might be a good season.

Race Recap: Melting Mann gravel

Race: September 17th 2021 Melting Mann Dirt road race 24,35,62 mile options I did the 62 mile option.
This was a rescheduled event, it is normally in March.

More information: https://www.meltingmann.com/details

Weather: Start of race was cool with a light wind for the first half, end of the race was low 80's perfect racing weather.

The event: Michigan is where the spirt of gravel is safe and sound. I have done about three races that make up the series (https://www.michigangravelraceseries.com/) and they are all very well run, have great vibes and offer a lot of value for money. Think OVCX of gravel racing.
There was a large racer space with music food and beer. They have plenty of volunteers at all the major corners which are also very well marked. This is race where the community comes and helps make it happen. These races are how gravel should be. But I am just one voice.

Course conditions: Road with gravel ( hard packed and loose) Fast with some areas of fluffy gravel/ sand. Sandy areas were in corners and low lying areas of rollers. All very typical for Michigan gravel

I was told in March it is much deeper and loose sand and makes climbs /descents much harder and sketchy.

The race: in its 8th year this was I think the 2nd race with longer options, in original form the 24 mile race was the only option. With all the elevation and course layout I can see why in March 24 was the distance it’s a hard effort. They added a 35 and 62 mile option for 2019? , both these legs share some of the same route with the 60 miler taking a distance adding lollipops

The60 miler.
The 60 mile loop starts at 9am with the other two going off at 10, and they all merge together at a common point near the 30 mile marker. It is an interesting event when they races merge.

Then a couple miles down the road you hit the races namesake, Mann Road where most of the hardest climbs and most elevation is found

The profile: The first 30 miles covers 1500 of the 3500ft of climbing and is the fast segment of the day. The final 30 has the balance of climbing with 2500ft. Two really separate races based on elevation and condition. The first half is just a transfer to get you to the real work. The whole race is very much a collection of rollers, some big, some small, some spaced out some really close to each other. And then corners. IF you look at the course map there are a lot of corners which at first I thought was not going to be fun, but again with all the course workers you have clear air to make fact corner transition and it keeps the race moving. I only had to stop for traffic once and a train once. So corners become part of the race as if you can transition them fast you can make time.

My day: I had a good start and found a group to hang with, First 30 miles I was averaging 17 MPH and was working the rollers very well. We had a short delay when there was a train going by, but I only had to wait about a minute vs the rest of the racers that were held for about 8 min. After that we merged with the 35mile racers an the leaders were starting to roll through at speed. And then the 24miler joined in… we made the transition onto Mann road and just before the climbing got heady the 60miler were routed off and we did another 20 I think. This is where I lost my group and my legs. The last 30 was a struggle bus and I went to a 14 mph average for the last 30. I started cramping and realized I needed to alter my thoughts on gravel races and length.. I was a firm baker that gravel races were proper at metric and imperial century levels. I now realize that climbing should be factored into that and I should have done the 35 miler route and I would have been done much earlier, had more in the tank to climb and may have had a more successful race.
But this was my race so I regrouped and tried to get done in 4 hours. A solid time really.

End of the day 4:00:19 was the final time and I was happy with that. It was a great race and I suggest you go check out Michigan Gravel.

MGRS The Michigan Gravel Race Series presented by CINNAIRE TITLE SERVICES is a points series composed of 17 uniquely different gravel centric events. Riders may choose to challenge themselves in thethe Q+M SHORT COURSE seriesthe MICHIGAN BICYCLE LAW LONG COURSE seriesor the BEARCLAW BICYCLE CO. ULTRA...

Well better late than never I guess, but Brett Conway is expecting me to do a write up of one of the first CX races in the region for the 2021 season… so here goes.

Whose promoting: The LionHearts, the orange black kids club of Cinci. One would have to say one of the more successful junior programs here in the region with many kids over the years placing well in Cyclocross.

Is this an OVCX race?. Nope, it’s a bake sale fund raiser for the program. It seems to be held on or near the Labor day weekend and is historically the preseason race where everyone gets out there to test and tune gear, show off new kit and catch up with those friends we have not seen in since last season.

Where is it: Kings Wood Park AKA Kings: In one man's option King's, as a venue is the best patch of grass for CX in the region. No other course has more named features that can and have been configured into a plethora of combination over the years. And when they feared that the connection road was going to kill CX in the part, it actually make it better, giving access to the back half of the park and allowing two unique plots of grass for racing. After the road went in, the south side became the short course for the Lion hearts races. It gave people many of the classic kings features and off camber as well as the run up and the barriers under the trees. And with the road work it created some new features that added to the character. New is the covered are for the farmers market that lends itself to a stage are for the races and full time bathrooms.

To some people Kings was one leg of the Cinci weekend but to me it was and is a destination much like Wrigley or the Indianapolis Motor speed way. You feel the history of the sport in the region when you step foot on the grass. Yeah I am sappy about it and I do not even live in that area, but yet it draws me in. And the preseason race at Kings has always kick started my desire to do yet another season. Kings brings me back.

A return to racing?: For some there was Indy Cx last year that scratched that itch, but for this guy the last time I raced a CX bike was Carter in 2019 at the season closer. And I really enjoyed not racing last year. After many years on the road every weekend, plus my side hustle as a mechanic for various juniors and pro riders having weekends to not do anything was well earned. But I have to admit, the desire is still not back to full tilt. I have to admit I was not all that keen to get up early and drive 2 hours to race, but once I walked on the course… and saw the tape, I started to feel that tickle.

Old habits die hard: While I thought I was leaving late.. I was leaving late to my old time table and still was on course early for a 1:30 race time… by 4 hours. And with no tent to set up its time to go say hi!
First stop is and always was to the announcers booth. Normally Scot and Julie would get on course about the same time I would and checking in with them help set the tone for how the day may go.

Even though I was another racer on another team, I also had a dotted line to many of the sub systems that ran the OVCX. Announcers, registration, USA cycling officials etc. I felt it was always good to say hi and get to know the people working just as hard as you are to put on the show as you are to take part in it. And when you are always pushing the limits it helps to have the officials and promoters as friends. :)

After a long hug from Scott and a catch up I roamed around and just took in all the fist bumps and hugs of all these great people I have not seen for 1-2 years. I am not going to attempt to list them all, you know who you are…. It really warmed the heart. In some cases people would think that I forgot who they were and reintroduce themselves. But like your third grade teacher that still remembers you so many years later, I remembered many of these old friends. Maybe not right first time on the name, but shake my mental tree and the memories do fall out eventually.

I was able to hole up at the Aether Tent a place I spent many many races under in the past so it was a home away from home.

The motions: I have to admit, it was very strange not to be identified by sight at registration, not that I am famous, but when you see the same people every weekend you are bound to learn their name. But like many other things in life, people have moved around and moved on. OVCX has some new faces and that is good for the continued growth. The same thing happened every fall when the college kids at the local pizza place go back to school and I have to train the new batch of kids. I was at a loss as I forgot what wave I was in and it took a while to figure out where I was put in the box… hey we all get rusty.

As for getting ready to race, I had to dust off the process, remembering when waves are for preride and when I want to eat and pin up and all that fun stuff. To be honest I was utter tire fire of preparation. But that is what the preseason is for, to shake all this off.

The race itself. Toeing up to the line, I have to say the masters wave will be fun, there are so many of the legendary racers coming out to play that even though I will be dead last in the wave, it should be fun getting there . I got lapped by many old friends that I used to at least stay on lead lap with. But this season is all about having fun. And there is no better art than heckling with in the race.

Fitness wise I am utter s**t. I had nothing and it was 45 minutes of hell, but I offset that with 6 hand ups at the hand of Team Hungry… I could not mount any type of attacks and all that but I did not care. I really had fun even if I was slow. Full disclosure I am struggling with motivation and such and have not really been all keen on "training". My miles are down and I am far from how fit I was back in June, and even that fitness was not my best. But when you go from 2x a day going to the gym, riding to work the volume of effort I was no longer doing was bound to catch up with me. But on the flip side I am going to ease back into the season and just see how much I want to do and have fun with it.

Season predictions: I am going to drink more, be less serious and work less. Talk in the team is with less races you may see more of the classic Shamrock antics with the return of the average racer primes and way more beer hand ups. So hid the kids, it may be randy.

So more a collection of random thoughts and not much of a recap, but we are all trying to find our feet again. I look forward to the season even thought I do not feel competitive, but the social aspect is cathartic and that is what I really love. We all are dealing with challenges in life as well as cycling so to be back together and feed off that positive energy will be good for all of us.

Next up will be Red Kite. I should be a back of hammers as I will be doing a gravel race the day before and since I have no fitness to really do a back to back race weekend just yet, maybe it will be a good race to train event.

See you on course kids.

One man's thoughts on Racing The spirt of grass roots is the minimal level of regulation will allow the greatest amount of “fun” and enjoyment. But that can only be maintained when the number of participants are small and are there because they are all of like mind. A community.
The second the race grows and you bring in outside racers who don’t have anything vested in the event's DnA you have the challenge to the unwritten rules. And with each challenge, rules are established thus making the unwritten rules… written. Growth comes pains.
In regards to the whole Gravel unwritten rule debate. Prior to this particular case things were copacetic amongst most racers, they were mainly solo entries and I know that many women tagged up with faster groups of riders (male racers who do not benefit or suffer for towing along a women rider) but it was all at opportunity and not coordinated. Once “teams” with common colors arrived that dynamic changed. It went from women using men to their at vantage as they were not racing the same race class, it was teams using men to push their women rider to the front with an unfair advantage.

The cross roads is when a grass roots events is trying to hold it's identify by a thread while dealing with the pubescent growth and popularity. Some may call this lining up the ski's toward the shark tank.

That is where gravel is today. Racers are like locus, they go where they can win and get glory with minimal investment and they will push the rules and boundaries to get it, even if it ruins a sport in the end. This is the life, this is the way.

The next time you and your buds create something cool ride route wise… keep it to yourself, it will stay fun that way.

Race Recap: Coast to Coast 100 2021 edition.

Going into the 3rd edition of the Coast to Coast 100 I was not sure what to expect. With my 3rd showing, I was first and for most feeling lucky in that the move of race day to Sunday ( to address Covid Protocol at that time and then opened up) was a blessing more than anything.

Word was coming in that the DNF rate of the 210 was closing in on 40% and bikes were just not surviving the combo of rain and sand. So with the forecast improving every day up to the race, the idea of racing strong was still on the table.

But there were still concerns. I was coming off the Lumber Jack 100 just 6 days prior and my knee was still a bit sore and it was not till about Thursday that I felt I could pull off another Hundo. I was also was having doubts on my fitness. I already fell short of my time goals at Lumber Jack, but wrote those off to weather and other things. The C2C was one of my favorite races and not doing well at it was not going to fly. But I had to be positive and let the race happen.

The day started with a slightly overcast view of the lake and a pretty stout wind out of the South West. The start was good and I was up front-ish trying to stay close to the lead pack and hope I could ride their wheel for the first 30 miles. The first 30 miles are open road and a good segment to make time and gain momentum into the first sand section. But things started to unravel early. The roads had massive wash boarding and that made good lines hard to find and hard to follow the wheels in front of you as people were moving around. And then 10 miles in, the guy next to me just had his rear wheel lock up ( stick?) his front wheel smacked the wheel in front of him and then he went down hard taking out a couple guys next to him. I just missed going down as well but it caused me to break focus and missed as a surge happened in the pack. I spent the next 5 miles trying to bridge back up but I just was not able to connect. Worried that I would sabotage the next 80-90 miles I refocused connected with Johnny and some other stragglers and did our best to keep moving forward. Looking at my splits between 2019 and 2021 I was only a minute down at 20 miles in and 5 minutes down at 30 miles in. Not bad as the next 20 miles where the course can eat you up and spit you out.

30-50 miles: I lost another 12 min during this section of the course. Some of it was due to the conditions but I think I was pacing with a group that was doing well, but was slower than what I could have maintained. This is something I have learned over time that sometimes staying with a group feels warm and safe but if you are not careful they could be slowing you down and putting some effort in to bridge to the next group is worth the effort. But from a technical assessment I rode better than I have ever in the loose wet stuff. I was able to let the bike float and kept pedaling vs panicking when the bike got loose and losing momentum. The hind sight makes me feel like I was running at 8/10th. But overall I felt good with how I was riding in packs and when it was my turn to pull. As far as the bike was feeling, perfect. The WTB Raddlers were perfect for these conditions and I never felt like the bike was at edge traction wise. Rolling wise they felt fast all the time. Could not have been happier. Comfort wise the Zipp Xlpr bar was perfect. I know there are other wide or flared bars out there, but this is the first one I have tried and unless someone convinces me otherwise… the best one for me.

50-63mile and the SAG.
Coming out of mile 50 I was now 17 minutes behind my best. But based on the conditions and how things were going I was OK with that as long as I kept moving forward catching, using and ejecting riders.

New this year they moved the SAG from mile 50 ish to mile 63 and at the Big M trail head.. The same home as the Lumberjack. This added 13 before rest and that was a mental challenge in terms of feed and water and just energy. The route was the same up to mile 61 ish where it shifted to get you to the Big M trail head. I burned some more of the clock in this section but not all that much. Again I was being conservative, after two times I learned that post SAG if you are alone the wind off the lake can really take it out of you coming into town. But on the flip side I realized I was doing 38 miles post SAG vs 50 and that made the game a bit different mentally.

I rolled into the SAG and the loving care of my lovely wife Kim. Her first time supporting me for a long race like this. But we are very similar when it comes to planning and care and she was like a duck on the water. She had split time to the leaders, made sure I got food and water and filled my bottles and had them back in place without me having to think about it. And with a kiss she sent me on my way.
The Big M single track ate up another 10 minutes as I tried to figure out what the hell I was doing out there. There were some down trees we had to hike over and the other guy I hooked up with more entertained with the trail than racing. Once we hit the road though he got back to work while I was still leaf looking.. We gapped a bit and I ended up chasing his blinker for the rest of the day.

Now there are a bunch of smaller stories I am leaving out, but I have to say there were a couple characters that would show up here and there in the ride. I rode with a couple three guys from Vision Quest out of Chicago. This team had like 20-30 guys out there and they were a hoot to ride with. They would do their time at the front were very supportive and always thanked you for taking a pull. There was also a guy named Chris on a SS that had the best compliment of the day. He told me at the finish, " you looked strong every time you passed me " to which I replied. But why did I have to pass you so much ? We both knew he was SS and had to carry momentum so when he was on, he was on but on the hills I would blow past him. We did pass each other like 4-5 time across the day but he as a good guy to ride with.

So back to the race: coming out of Big M a strange thing happened in the last 32 miles. The wind was still out of the.. every direction it felt like and it started to drizzle/ ran. I was alone chasing the guy who I left sag with ( he would get lost later on and then passed me again which irritated me) But I ended up catching one of the Vision Question riders, Kyle who was also in our group leaving the sag and one of his team mates Ken, who I rode with a lot in the first half who rode like a mad man to bridge back up to the group. So the three of us were working together and making good time, but as some rollers came up Kyle fell off and that left Ken and I yet again.

Realizing the wind was not helping, I told Ken to take shorter pulls so we could get more rest, but after two rotation and a hill I lost Ken on a climb and was alone again and chasing a damn blinking light… He was down the road like a 1/10 of a mile and like a tractor beam I locked in and trying to bridge. Every hill I could see I was out of the saddle downhill hoping to build a good head of steam to make it up the other side and try and get closer… the best I could do was maybe 10 yards but while I did not catch him he was helping me. Remember I said something strange happened. That last 32 miles I rode 4 minutes faster than my 2019 time. And during that race I was in a pack and we were pace lining, and it was not raining and there was not as much wind. I shaved 4 minutes over 32 miles with raw determination to catch one rider. It could have also been that I could see him turning around like he was looking for me, so I made sure he could see I was not going anywhere. We had a good laugh after as I told him that and he told me his radar stopped working so he was checking for cars and was not looking back for chasers. It was motivating enough to push me along and keep fighting.

I finished at 6:31 for the day. But I feel I raced better than the clock showed. Looking at the fact that I was not as slow on the opening 30 ( only a min down) as I thought and that I shaved 4 minutes off the back end tells me that I had all the potential to perform. That last 32 alone showed I could keep my head in the game and keep fighting. I came into the last 3 miles like a wrecking ball, Kim said she was tracking me at 20 miles an hour coming down the final mile. As far as I am concerned this was the best race of my three. I know where I messed up time wise and now that I have seen the new course I can recalibrate my efforts. I am already thinking toward next year.

And as races go it was so fun to ride with so many interesting people who all were collaborative and willing to work to move forward. Sure it was wet and nasty but I did not care. I rode the bike well, the bike did not fight me. I was hydrated and had good nutrition. My SAG transition was fast as precise. Could not ask for anything more… I will be back, and I will do better.