GMCX Day 1 and 2

Photo by Starr Walker.

My history with GMCX is not very glorious, mostly due to scheduling conflicts that kept me from racing. But now, I have finally completed BOTH of the days, and despite the elevation that had many a fine cyclocross racer praying for death, it was a beautiful weekend for the bicycle racing.


Day 1


Or rather, "the non-UCI race."

Despite it's lack of inscription, there were still no scrubs.

Due to my inexplicably good Crossresults ranking, I had a decent staging position. The start went directly uphill, which I did not mind. The whistle blows and of course I slide back and try to fight my way back to the front again.

Somewhere on the uphill start, Donny Green was taken out by some sort of large Nerf gun and I heard moans and groans behind me. A lap or two later I felt the cold sting of foam and collapsed in similar place uphill, it was an ambush waiting to happen.

This was found abandoned near the Catamount Center by Williston police soon after the race.

The race sorted itself out and I found myself riding in a group with Reuter, Sweeney, and assortment of Keough's, and a Wayne Bray. Possibly a Phil Wong in there as well.

So naturally, I go to blink and realize I can't see out of my right eye anymore. See, I have this problem with contact lenses falling out of my face. It's not fun.

I wanted to minimize the damage, and when I passed The Schon at the top of the hill I told him to get my glasses out of the car and meet me in the pit. Yes, in my desperation I pitted for glasses.

I lost my group and spent the last four laps chasing, and in my oxygen debt managed to make a few interesting bobbles that did not help the chase effort. I still managed to pick off a couple Canadian's who had been shelled from the main group, and found myself staring at Evan Huff's back wheel getting ever close with only a couple turns left in the race. Oh, wheel teat, lead me to the finish. I closed a decent gap on the flat section, but he opened up a sprint on the finish and kept me at bay for 19th.

Day 2

If day one was any indication, if I could keep my shit together I could pull together a half decent result. I felt like I was handling the climbing much better than most people, and the turns were not significant enough to make a huge difference. I staged third row after my UCI "draw" and everyone seemed to stay upright in the start this time.

After Powers, Bazin, Driscoll and possibly Lindine went off the front, the rest of the race was hanging out for the first few laps, spanning Adam Myerson to Anthony Clark. The guys at the front were waiting for an attack while the guys at the back were attacking each other so they could ride on Joachim Parbo's wheel. Eventually things settled and I was riding in a group with Kevin Sweeney, Anthony Clark, Dan Chabanov and Christian Favata. At the top after the run up, Favata faded out a bit. At some point Ted King blew through our group on the flat section and I told Anthony to chase him ass down. Chabanov slid back a bit before the climb, and as our group of three remained I attacked on an uphill portion and started to put time in Kevin and Anthony.

Yeah, eat my dust Ted King. Before you own everyone. Photo by Starr Walker.

Sometime during this whole exchange, I lost a contact in the other eye, but this time determined not to lose my group said "screw it" and used squinty-vision. I felt less like I was going to crash on the decent and it was cool, though I might have bashed some rocks I could have avoided with more depth perception.

Anyway, coming into the barriers with 2 to go I see an Embrocation kit ahead of me. It turned out to be a demoralized Wayne Bray, which was great because he was AHEAD OF ME! I made an attack but he was able to counter at the top of the hill. With one to go I saw in the corner of my eye a train being driven by Donny Green and got a bit nervous. I worked back up to Wayne, and with one to go he managed to put a second or two into me, and by the final turn he was able to open up a decisive sprint. We kept the chase group at bay and I had a all time high score of 12th place, weeeeee.


Reflection

Even though this race is a metric butt load of miles from Boston, and the course is climby for a CX race, the event promotion is awesome and I still had a great time. Yeah, the course lacks difficult turns, and a few things could be done differently, but if they used all the flat ground for the race there would be no place to park. Also, the lack of a UCI race on Saturday gives scrubs like me a chance to win more money (if done correctly), which I view as a win-win. Plus, there are tons of awesome places to eat in Burlington and plenty of Burlingtonians to make fun of while you are there. Just watch out for wrongboarders.

QUAD CROSS

My ass, courtesy of Russ Campell.

My first year of cross, Quad was one of my first races. Last year, I couldn't make it, and I was sad.

Reborn in a new venue slightly farther from the highway, I had no idea what to expect, but Newbury Comics had painted barriers orange, so I knew something was up.

Last Sunday was also the unveiling of the new Ride Studio Cafe CX team gear. I'm excited to say that the road team is carrying over into the fall this year.

Staging for the world seems to rely on Crossresults now, and somehow my points warranted a second row start. Most excellent. The whistle went off, and Rob Hult hit a landmine or trampoline or something and exploded about five feet from the start line in front of most of the field, including myself. After de-tangling my bike from the mess, I started pretty deep in the #BRKZ, though it only lasted about 20 seconds. After a minute or two I rode with Josh Friedman to make him feel better, but I needed to pass a lot of people early on to make up for my "start debt."

I'd like to point out that, while a little short, the new course at the Maynard Rod and Gun Club was super fun and took advantage of the terrain very well. The "woods" section played well to my ability to "ride a bike," with the pumping sections and the mini barrier before the small incline.

After passing a few people I finally had a decent gap and rode with Curtis Boivin for a lap or two, but I managed to put time into him in certain sections and once we hit the power section after the barrier / off camber turns I was able to get away.

Weeeeeeee

For the last 5-6 laps I rode alone but could see David Wilcox and Mark McCormack riding together and playing games. I tried to pick up some time but ended up sitting 10-15 seconds behind them for the rest of the race, arriving on the line in 8th place. A very satisfactory result for my first cross race this year. And I almost lapped Ryan Kelly.



On another note, Josh Friedman and I will be doing an introduction to cyclocross clinic this Monday the 19th at 5:30pm at East Rock Park in New Haven, CT, in conjunction with his sponsor The Devil's Gear.

The Last Few Month's

The last few months of silence on Goodenough St. are sadly unintentional. Work, not work, and other distractions have contributed. So much that I began this post in July, and left it alone until today. Why today I had the urge to contribute word vomit, I'm not sure, but in any case let's start chronologically.

Myley Standish Road Race

Or is this Myles Standish?


When he landed at Plymouth he was singing, "Party in the USA."

This guy was impressive, he managed to wage war with all of the Native Americans in the South Shore, and star in "Mean Girls." I think.

I had decent legs for this race -- meaning I had been riding for maybe two weeks after coming back from an injury, and Marblehead did not really prepare me. I constantly found myself drifting from the front to the back, even struggling on the slight incline. As the old saying goes, "all your base are belong to us." Forgetting to remove my 500lb thorn proof tubes prior to the race did not help.

Josh Friedman also attacked every 5 seconds or so.

I still managed to sneak a good finish in the sprint, though.

Fat Tire Classic

I love this race, even if it is not very technical, it's super FAST. I actually had a good start, only to have Kevin Sweeney tell me I was going to fast. I was, but it's cool.

Like all good mountain bike races, nothing interesting happens in the middle, but I did finish under 2 hours in 7th place in the Pro/1, a marked improvement from last year.

Sterling Road Race

A little skittish from my last road race where teeth had been kicked in, I was a riding more conservative and didn't even see the break go. Which didn't stop me from spending a whole lap TTing with either Synjen Maracco or Tim Mitchell at 2 to go, I didn't want to go down without feeling a little tired. In the uphill sprint, I was sandwiched between New Englands favorite freakish power riders, Anthony Clark and Brian Wilichoski.

Wayne Elliot Circuit Race

Ugh. That is all.

Killington Stage Race

I had a pretty solid finish in the GC. Just for future reference, beware of the Canadians and their riding "style."

Nick Mashburn cleaned his bike with pool water. Then we snuck into the nice pool at the host resort.



The next day, I finished the road race by suckling on Dylan McNicholas's wheel-teat as he towed Tim Mitchell up the climb to help preserve his GC standing somewhat.

Exeter Hospital Criterium

Looking back, I think I took a bit of a break from bicycle riding in June. How about that.

This was another first for me, and I had a bunch of FUN. At one point Adam Myerson didn't want to pull through as fast, and I may have been pedalling too hard, but then Ryan Kelly attacked and we got to pedal hard at a dumb point together. I was off the front once in a foolish attack to give back to the sponsors a bit, you know?

Attleboro Criterium

I think this race has turns, I'm not sure. In any case, I witnessed the most interesting non-crash I've yet to encounter.

A Farm Team rider was on my outside in a right hand turn and struck a pedal. He instantly fell sideways in the opposite direction, but was still pedalling. His left foot struck the ground and he went bolt upright again, but on the sidewalk. What the fuck.

Also, Ward Solar mentioned he wasn't that fit and still beat me in the sprint, but he does have huge leg things.

Norwell Circuit Race

Not much to report, other than some guy went off the front solo and won and no one was expecting that. I also was in the wind too much at the very end.

Fidelity Investments Gran Prix of Beverly

This race qualifies as "super awesome," and is definitely the first real technical crit I've raced since collegiate in 2007. Corners man, you have to commit. But I didn't so much, so I just sort of sat in the middle breathing hard for most of the race.

Hodges Village Dam MTB State Championships

So, mud, yeah. A lot of it was in my eye's, and this is bad when you wear contacts. I dropped out after two hours with Colin, and my bike was still pretty trashed.

Photo by DoctuhJay

24 Hours of Great Glen

I will just refer you to Colin's reference material on the subject, thanks.

But we were the WINNARS.



Now the cycle-o-cross season is starting, and I am extremely excited. Updates will hopefully follow in turn.

If you care, here are the results.

Marblehead Race Report

This is definitely the first year that the racing season snuck up on me. Usually I go insane from lack of race stimulation, to the point where I end up performing decent in the early season. This year is not going to be like that.

Instead of spending most of the week playing bikes, I've been futzing with things like this:



Ahh, Don Cherry.

The day prior I went to Otis again with Colin and Kevin. Much like when you stuff a bunch of angry cats in a burlap sack, we mercilessly scratched and bit each other (in the riding bikes sense, of course). I still had some legs, but they were not going too fast by the end of the ride.


When I get tired on a MTB, I get crashy. Artists rendering may differ from actual events.

The next day I felt surprisingly okay, despite the pre-race meal I ate.


GO AWAY DOCTORS, BEGONE.

Ride Studio Cafe brought the absolutely lovely Sol Pusto Cafe out, providing tasty pour-overs to weary bike racers.


I'm certainly impressed

The team warmed up a bit on the causeway, as I rode towards the race course I felt amazing. After turning around, we struggled into a nice cold wind. This is a good approximation of the course, too.

The race rolled out, and immediately I could see people going off the front. Thanks guys. The first few laps were faster than I expected, I hung out near the back and just tried to stay on a wheel. I started to feel myself slipping away, and realizing that I had taken a nice injury break in the middle of my "base" training, knew that this was going to take some serious racing focus. Putting in some big digs, and cruising along at 25-30 mph, I knew this was a BIKE RACE.

Coming across the start/finish, I saw the strange movements commonly associated with avoiding a non-upright rider, but managed to avoid the confusion and found myself in the front of a slightly smaller group. Cool, things are looking up!

A small break had come back to the group, and the pace slowed a bit. Finally, I get to relax. However, every lap I was noticing my left eye would water up and get blurry, and my contact lens felt odd. A few well placed blinks alleviated the issue. Except for one time when my vision didn't come back.

Now, you might remember a little race in Northampton where something similar occurred. Let's just say I was unsure of myself after that, being sort of blind. I hung in for a few laps but without depth perception had trouble staying near people, and ended up near the back. It was game over time.

I rode back to the car. While chatting at the cafe, I noticed emergency vehicles going toward the race course. Shortly afterward, one of the race promoters wheels a damaged BMC to the tent. Bad news, team mate Alex Dossin crashed hard.

Later, at the Salem Hospital emergency room with RSC Director Sportif Dave Chiu and accompanying band, we found out Alex broke his jaw. Ouch! But he appears to be in good spirits. I'm hoping he has a quick recovery.

Next stop on the bike racing train is Myles Standish, get pumped.

Bikecitement

Not exactly timely, but I'm getting pretty excited about bikes. Racing season is starting again? I'm confused.

I've been working on keeping myself together without hurting my knees more, which meant a lot of swimming and gym work. I've been getting back into the swing and now feel like I can start putting more time in the saddle again.

On the subject of knee's, it turns out my saddle was too low, my foot beds were worn out, and I'm also a mess on the bike because of my weird hip imbalances and non-level pelvis. Let's say I've been doing a lot of step ups lately.

The weather has been looking up lately, it's almost armwarmer season. Last Thursday's ride was quite pleasant.


Leaving town via Newton


At a crossroads


High schoolers beware


If I've learned one thing about riding, it has to be "know your bathrooms."


Glad this is not ice.

Mountain bikes are also wicked fun. I went to Otis AFB with a good crew on Saturday. Turning is very exciting, and as is going so fast you feel like you are on the verge of imminent failure.


Anxiety free dentistry.

Later that night, Ride Studio Cafe did a kick off party for the new club, which is part of the awesome new elite race team I am on.


You can usually find Colin anywhere there are rocks and/or beer.

The next day, RSC hosted the Rapha Rides for Tohoku. The turnout was incredible, and so was the ride.


Artful composition of Dave Chiu's shoulder in stylish RSC Rapha gear.


The cue sheet. Let's just say I stayed with the ride leader.

The route was absolutely amazing, look up Lost Lake Drive in Groton sometime if you do not believe me.

Bike racing is just around the corner. Get excited.

Over Reaching

I've been ambitious in the last month, maybe a bit too much.

Cyclocross burned me out. I took a nice break, and ended it with a week of hacking cough and green mucous. Respiratory illness is dangerous for me, I've had pneumonia three times, as recent as 2008.

I occasionally forget that my body is more fragile than I realize.

Now it is February and I've been inside and outside getting work done on the bike. It's taking its toll. A long ride on Sunday with bouts of knee pain had me running to the ice-packs. After taking it easy for the last couple of days, I set out on a sunny and cold Thursday. After an hour and a half, I was in bad shape.

I limped from Concord to Ride Studio Cafe, where I had a very delightful pour-over. I might not know a lot about fancy coffee, but I know I like it.

To be quite honest, I'm surprised I didn't manage to injure myself sooner, as it happens inevitably every year. Instead of the same old thing, though, I get a new twist. Oh yes, the left problem knee is fine, it's the right one that you will have problems with. Of course.

Ironically, my first knee injury ever happened while cycling. It was summer, I was 16, riding a poorly maintained mountain bike on Cape Cod. Every bike I rode then, I would ride like a BMX bike, because that was all I knew. Naturally, while out of the saddle, the gear slipped and my knee went directly into the handle bar.

After three months of running cross-country, pain free, I started having issues at the beginning of the winter track season. Bruised cartilage in the knee. What?

The point is that these things sneak up on you. Sometimes the pain goes away, but the problem does not. I know I'll be off the bike for a few days and re-evaluating my bike fit. In the spirit of not ending a season before it begins, I'm totally okay with losing some training time in exchange for functional limbs.

Introduction

Goodenough St. is about centralizing my content. Blogs make people feel important like that. For cycling, my team affiliation is changing this year, which makes this blog a matter of convenience.

However, I really just want an excuse to branch out from writing only race reports, so beware. This allows me to make controversial and potentially beat-down worthy comments without directly implicating other people and organizations by association. If the internet had a founding charter, that would likely be in the statement of purpose.

It's also important to remember, I need to get paid. Hopefully I, too, will receive millions of dollars to post pictures of cats.


By Art Yucko, per request of A Bloody Mess, seen on Boing Boing. Whew.

I don't value quantity over quality, so I might have to work on that.

Throw in a bit of self deprecating humor and I believe I have the recipe for success.