Berryman Epic

Well the Berryman Epic was fricking sweet. This may be a good recap post because I do remember quite a few details of this race..so if you're not interested in the long story here's the short:

57 miles...5 hours 43 minutes...1 broken water bottle cage...1 flat tire...53rd place overall...7th place in 20-29 age grouping...1st overall finisher under the age of 25. It was a good day :)

So my 29r is out of commission right now due to dropout issues...this was a huge blessing as it turned out. SC let me borrow his Mad Max bike fully geared with baby wheels. I used every single stretch of gearing in this race, from granny-granny to big ring/smallest cog.


A bike with full suspension and gears may be in my future...

So this race is 57 miles, 46+ of which is singletrack, the other 9ish miles are on fire/gravel roads. The race begins with a pretty easily graded gravel climb to the first part of single track...I hammered this section going in not too far behind the leaders. The road skills acquired this year helped big time here...lots of sketchy riding on sandy/loose gravel and lots of drafting wheels to keep up.

So I get to the first checkpoint where we have to get colored zip ties. I had no idea this was also the first aid station so I grabbed a zip tie and blew through, didn't refill bottles or grab any food..it was ok though, weather was mid-70s, kind of cloudy still and a decent breeze. I found out about 3 miles later from a guy that the zip tie area was the aid station and we had like another 12-13 miles to go to station 2/the bag drop. I settled into a good rhythm here with Doug Long and Brian Duff on either side of me...that old man Pappy sure can pick some clean lines!!! I broke the water bottle cage probably about 20 miles in so had to stop for like 10 seconds to stuff it into my jersey and put the phone bag in another pocket. Caught back up with them by the aid station and I stopped in, grabbed a gatorade out of my bag, chugged like 3/4 of it, refilled the one empty bttle of water and topped what was probably 1/8 of a bottle of perpetum with heed...still no soild food, I totally spaced it until a couple more miles in....oh well, just stay up and going...I couldn't believe the position I was in and how good I was feeling still, then of course, psssssssss....stan's spraying out of the tread of the rear tire...that's right, the TREAD of a rear Geax TNT Saguro tire. fuck!!!! Thanfully pappy long had thrown me a tube before the race so I had a spare. Denny Albertson passed me about a minute in trying to change it and asked if I was ok...I was so flustered I just kind of mumbled something and he went on...about another minute later Lyle Reidy came by and asked if I needed anything and I told him if he had a CO2 it would make my like a helluva lot better at the time...he graciously jumped off his bike and popped a cartridge into the tube for me and took off. HUGE UPS to Lyle for the help...It saved me some good time for sure, even though I had already lost a good 5 minutes by the time I got the wheel set back in and going again...and of course I had aout 15-20 psi in the rear tube so I took it super easy so not to pinch flat...probably lost another 10-15 minutes rolling easy on the 10ish miles of single track and 4ish miles of nasty roads before getting back to the bag drop/checkpoint 4 (checkpoint 3 was at the the far turn around of the singletrack-->gravel transition). There I grabbed a pump, refilled both my bottles again with heed grabbed 1/3 of a banana and tok off again.

The final part of the singletrack is on the Brazil Creek part of the Ozark Trail. The only reason I remember this section is because it was nasty...after 40+ miles already hitting some of these rock gardens and roots and killer climbs was taking a toll. I got through though and make the final stretch of 6-7 miles of gravel back to the Bass' River Resort. Big ringed the road the whole way back and felt amazing suprisingly...like I could go another few hours easily. Came in and was handed a beer from the tap not 2 minutes after crossing the line...sweetness.

got a t-shirt, socks, $75 pair of interchangable sunglasses, drop bag, BBQ and beer for the race entry (which was free, thanks Tripp!) Damn good race, aid stations were best I've seen anywhere ever, no lie...and I didn't use them haha.

So yea, I had fun, seems like I should have told a few more detail things but whatever...I should be doing homework instead of this anyway :)

peace and riding!!!

The Boulevard Cup

Thanks to SC for the above picture and the one at the bottom.

There's so much I should write about this race, it was so fun. So much food, so much beer, so many good people. but alas, it has been 3 days and my short term memory burns quickly...but I will feebly attempt.

Big ups to phil for the ride out to the race and to bently for the ride home when I was sauced off the 6! kegs of boulevard beer that there was to be had; of course there was the famous spicy gumbo and penne as well, along with the best assortment of breads and cookies a racer could ask for...super big ups to the Boulevard Brewing Racing Team for making this event happen.

Also, a huge ups to Greg Rupp for the course design...gaddamn man, hella fun but I don't have the roadie fitness to keep up with those dudes on those long straightaways.

So I raced singlespeed again...22 starters this time! fuck...lots of folks from nebraska there. Kent and Britton from my team got 1st and 3rd respectively and I was 12th behind 4 Nebraska guys...cornbaggers. not much to say other than I need better aerobic fitness for 30-45 minute races...I'm redlined for about 10 min, another 10 to recover then a good last 10 to race...need to fix that.

Colavita Corner circa Colavita Creek was in full effect with trombones, digiridoos, hand drums and vibraslaps. We even did the wave multiple times...as you can see, there was plenty of colvita lovin'...


Got confirmation this morning that I am in the Berryman Epic...60 mile MTB race Saturday...I've been out of endurance mode since after KC Cup...we'll see if the legs hold up against the cramps, cooler weather should help :)

peace and riding!!!

boss cx...

Thanks to Joe A for the picture.

Did the Boss Cross #1 race yesterday...I'm gonna keep it short and sweet, list format. lots of homework to catch up on...

I got 6th.
Britton (teammate) won, 2nd thru 5th were 360 racing guys, then me, then another 360 guy.
It's impossible to make moves when there are two guys on another team blocking you the whole race.
Cross is aerobically intense.
Smoking doesn't help.
Drinking does help, or at least it feels like it does after a race.
Mexican food post-race = food destruction.
Sand pits suck.
Hill/barriers run-ups really suck.
Probably not gonna do another real race until BLVD Cup.
KC Cross scene kicks ass.

peace and riding!!!

manion's cyclocross race...

well, wasn't planning on racing since the stiches were still in, but I got out there and saw the course and was the first single speed to register...little did I know that nasty climb would get realy nasty.

So I chilled in Lawrence Friday evening and Saturday before coming home saturday night with some groceries and other fine fresh produce!! whooot whoooott out to the "madam and sir". mmmmmmmm pineapples and cherries ;)

Sunday I arose quite early (5am) to ride out to KCK for our team's cx race. I underestimated how hilly the route was, how long it would take, and how much riding a fixie for that long sucks. I can see lots of 60+ mile gravel fixie rides in my future...new suffering is needed!!! :)

So I get to manions at the crack of dawn, literally, see the course and register. Set up tape and other course materials and we're ready to rock and roll...helped with registration for like 30 min while jimmy jam (james) was raging in the 57 man cat 4 race with a bunch of our team guys. My race was at 1 so I was chillin.

Single speed class was stacked again...fink, hedjuk, tilford, walberg...goddamn fast old men!!! Tilford, Kris (Steve's brother) killed his chain killing it up the climb so I got to hang on for 5th, after getting the hole shot and leading the race for 1.5 laps before getting caught on the hill and dropped like a cashed cigarette. It was brutal climbing that shit on a 34-17...I couldn't imagine doing it on a stiffer ratio.



The run-up and climb really sucked.



big shout out to the team for coming together and getting er done this weekend...we kick ass. slap hands.



Thanks to Jon P and Jake for the pics.

boss cross next weekend...probably race one day, watch the other...may sit the whole weekend out though and just do some long training via riding to/from the cx races, cash is getting tight...who knows?

peace and riding!!!

KC Cup Weekend Recap

Well...had to give myself a little time to reflect on these. It was a long weekend, lots of racing, lots of unexpected stuff. It was good, mostly...

Saturday started off with me deciding to double up in my first ever USAC sanctioned cx race. Single Speed and Category 3, also on my SS. Well SS went well, I got 5th.



The singletrack really gave me an advantage, I played it smart and hung for the first 2 laps then attacked and passed a few people until I caught Michael E and passed him for the top-5 in lap 3 of 4. The last lap I just held on and settled in, rode smart and finished 5th barely at the line, almost edging out 4th. Mike ended up 6th.

The 3s race I knew I was going to get smoked, especially considering the effort I had just put in the SS race (which had ended 20 minutes before the 3s race). Well, I got way smoked, off the line, first lap, whole race...I pulled after 5 laps with 3 to go cause Brian Jensen was lapping me so I figured I'd get out of their way and go drink beer. Definitely did good at that.



Thanks to Jon Peck for the photo.

Sunday I was extremely hungover and not feeling too well. We had also recieved about 3/4 of an inch of rain so the rocks and trail surface was nice and slick. So was the road I would find out...

Somehow got myself around and rode to swope in time to enter into the marathon class with 10 other brave souls. I was just hoping for a podium finish again, especially since I was relatively trashed still. I jumped off the line quick as I ever have and caught Roger Williams wheel going up the starting climb..through the grass start/finish and into the first single track I'm still right on Roger...within a couple minutes we are forming a little gap on the guys behind us but they catch us pretty quick once we hit the road section...I slip back to 4th at this time cause some gear heads go flying by me not realizing that there is a little paved incline to muscle up before hitting the turn into the singletrack...I hit the climb hard and scooted back up to Roger's wheel right as we were making the road turn to enter the single track again...bam! next thing I know I'm seeing trees and hearing people yell and bikes are flying past me. People are asking if I'm alright, my adrenaline is spiked big time and I'm confused that I'm no longer on Roger's wheel. Takes me a good 30-45 seconds to compose myself and get back on the bike. I immediately high cadence it and give chase to everyone who had passed me. Now I'm sitting in like 11th. Pass 2 guys on the Hope lodge singletrack section before the gravel road, 1 more on the gravel road, 2 more as soon as I hit phase 1. Here I ride for a few minutes before seeing the next guys ahead of me near the jawbreaker area. Pass 3 guys through that cause they're walking and pass the finla 2 right after cherry bomb cause they are walking wudchuk run. The rocks were uber slippery but I had the tech skills to handle it. Riding smart and staying upright was key. By the time I hit the phase 3 part of the loop, I had gapped 3rd already by 5+ minutes but was already down 8 minutes to Roger. So I just kept telling myself to ride smart and stay up...Only went OTB one time the rest of the day, and that was because I was being too cautious haha. So I finished 2nd! fuck yea suckas!



Not all was rainbows and buttholes though. I had suffered a pretty good gash going down the first lap on the road.



So I ended up at Truman Medical Center for 6 hours. Big ups to Leslie for chilling with me the whole time. 15 stitches and no riding for 10 days (I made it until Tuesday at 6 pm)



Lots o pics, prose and pimping...what a great blog post.

peace and riding!!!

New Bike!

Pake Steel C'muter Frame
IRO Carbon Fork
Truvativ FireX Crankset/Integrated Bottom Bracket
Ritchey Carbon WCS Saddle
Ritchey Comp Seatpost
Ritchey Comp Stem
Ritchey Comp Headset
Salsa Bell Lap Drop Bars
Tektro Oryx Brakes
Alex Rims flip/flop wheelset
All City Stainless Steel 17t track Cog
ACS 17t freewheel
Panaracer Crossfire 32 cc tires
Pink Bark tape

can't wait for some gravel grinding on this bad boy...gets its first cross race tomorrow at swope :) This fixed gear stuff is going to take some getting used to...



Thanks to Britton for the first pic and Adam for the second.

peace and riding!!!

home...

Went back to lawrence this weekend...spent more time there than I was planning, got zero homework done, drank free state beer, rode home trail. it was good.

did 2 very fast laps at the river trails saturday, followed up by some white-blue-skills park loving at clinton sunday. river is super burmed out and a couple new jumps are in.

clinton needs some major loving sustainability wise, but everything was dry so it was ripping fun anyway. The skills park was definitely fun, getting to do just a few small drops and dirt jumps at the end of a good technical ride was very very fun. get out before it gets wet again.

I highly recommend making a long day trip of it...clinton in the morning, free state brewery for lunch then a lap or two at the river before going home..doesn't get much better than that :) (well it does but you know what I mean...)

Probably ride tomorrow a little and short track thursday before racing all weekend at the KC Cup. Cross race I think I've settled on the SS class so I can heckle the 1/2/3 guys and still haven't decided what class to do sunday...marathon, 19-29 sport, or straight up singlespeed again...probably depends on how the legs feel and how much beer i consume during/after cross saturday.

then sept 26 is colavita's cross race. we're gonna have the best one all year, guarenteed, or at least another race will not be better than ours. it's on a farm and goes through a barn, free food and beer. pasta, olive oil, and coffee. I'd say our sponsors kick ass.

hopefully the new pake cross bike will be here by midweek so I can build it before saturday..otherwise I'll be on a borrowed masi...thinking about running fixed, maybe not this first race though, but definitely a few times upcoming this cx season...

peace and riding!!!

Cruise the Blues in Photos

Well...I did end up getting fastest lap again...by over two minutes :) Hopefully another plaque will come in the mail soon! Notice the vaired riding landscapes. big ups to mike burke for the photos...









peace and riding!!!

anti-r5-ness

I've never offically done an usac sanctioned cyclocross event.

And I just applied for an upgrade and was approved to cat 3, all this afternoon.

suck on that sandbaggers.

peace and riding!!!

ps--2 posts in one day!!! amazing.

looking ahead...

not often I get 2 posts up in a week...especailly during school. but I figured I'd do a little writing since I'm on a little class break.

Looking back, I accomplished my two big goals for the MTB season...riding well at Rapture in Misery (3rd place) and winning Cruise the Blues with my brother. I had made these 2 goals last september after the KC Cup and I am happy to say accomplished them.

Of course I must attribute a lot of this to losing 31 lbs so far this year. In March I weighed 195 and was quite blubbery. This weekend I was 164. I feel lots better, look lots better and generally am probably better off for it. Last winter was really bad when I look back...not much riding, lots of available food, and generally lot of laying around the house and being lazy. I could blame people who were living with me at the time, but the more I reflect it was my personal choices that led to the ridiculous weight gain (this was not the first time I had realized this as well...I hit 204 after reconstructive knee sugery my senior year of high school) So here's a little preaching...

Take responsiblity for yourself and your actions. If you don't like something, work to change it. If you don't succeed at first, work harder and/or try again! Get involved with things you are passionate about and love to do.

I make much better food decisions (its amazing what cutting out just a little beer and ice cream will do along with having a fresh instead of processed foods). I commute everyday again (maybe because I no longer have a gf who has a car). Keeping lbs off is pretty easy when I'm riding 10+ miles a day just to get around. I have gotten highly involved in trail building at swope, because I like to do it number one and number two, I want more trail to ride. I also feel like I can pop off 40-50 miles+ a day and be good to go again the next day. My fitness is good and my emotions are in check. Overall life is good right now :)

KC Cup is in a few weeks. Cross season! and the last local MTB race. I put in my upgrade today for cross so hopefully I'll be a three next week :) Looking forward to local cross season...can you say trombones and cowbells?

Thinking about the berryman epic...will probably make my final decision this weekend...your thoughts are appreciated.

And Really want to make slaughter pen jam. 5 races over 3 days in Bentonville, first weekend of November. anyone want to go???

Next big goal: The Trans-sylvania Mountain Bike Epic Stage Race.

peace and riding!!!