Nose to the Grindstone

Since we last spoke, there hasn't been too much to talk about around these parts. I'd say that's a good thing, and just what I needed after a long season and maybe a little too much talking and not enough action.

I'll quickly recap of what I've been up to since I was in Oregon in December. There was CX Nats and that wasn't anything to write home (or on my blog) about. There was Christmas and unwrapping the Perfect Push-Up, which will cure all my problems in this new decade. Ski trip to Wisconsin with Lauren, Mike and Pam, and the Chartiers. I pursued rad skills on cross country skis and it's safe to say that I have much pursuing to do in that department. New Years was great. Old Style, Doritos, Saunas, Fireworks and kicking snowmen. And now I'm fully back in road bike mode and just a few days away from completing my first training block of 2010.

I don't want to count the number of races I entered last year or do a full on recap, but I do feel like I should say a few words about the season. I guess it was a season of what could have been's. Starting in the spring, things were going great(according to my powermeter...) and then I was mowed down with mono and had some decent days on the bike, but never really felt great all season. Cross was a new leaf and it started out great too, with a whole bunch of UCI pts early in the season, only to be derailed by the broken c-bone. So although I got some of the results that I'm most proud of in my relatively short cycling carear, the season still leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth and a lot of could shoulda woulda's...

That's OK though. It has also left me with a new found motivation and understanding for what kind of dedication it takes to be good bike racer. This year I'm clicking it up a notch all across the board. I've got the training plan set. Got motivation for days. Got the goals in writing. And I've been listening to Rap on Pandora.

Good talk. See ya out there.

Oregon Trail

Half was through my first trip to Oregon, the jury is still out on how I feel about this supposed bike capitol of Amurica. The trip so far has had pretty unusual weather for this area. For the last 3 or 4 days in Portland, the high temps have been below freezing and I don't know if I've seen a cloud since we got here last Friday. Not really sure what I prefer, sub-freezing and dry or kinda cold and wet. Either way, the course conditions were very un-Portland. Virtually no mud all weekend and as a sign of the apocalypse, a bunch of people were actually running file-treads on Sunday of the USGP. Insanity.



The story for my racing continues to be the same since I came back a couple weeks ago. Just no where near the legs that I had before. Saturday was an extraordinary case of no legs and a poor result, "and that's all I have to say about that." I did still have a pretty good time racing with so many fans out to cheer me on. It was also nice to see some familiar faces all the way out here in Oregon. So thanks to all you guys who helped me get through that long day on the bike.





Sunday was a new day and I tried to go out there with a positive mindset, even though I haven't had much success of late. I just keep telling myself that there is just as good of a chance that I'll have good legs like the "old days" as there is that I'll have bad legs again. Well, Sunday was a definite step forward. I didn't get a result to write home about, losing out on a sprint for 19th, but for the first time in a while I felt like I was racing and not just trying to stop a life raft from sinking. Although I feel like I'm still a long way from what I'm capable of, or where I was pre decimated collar bone, I look down the list of people who finished in front of me and I don't really see too many people who I'm embarrassed to finish behind, those were quality fields.



After the GP's we killed some time in Portland with a few cool rides/ coffee shop tours. We met up with THE cyclocross Portlander, Molly Cameron for a little ride around the eastern hills of "PDX". The riding and scenery is pretty amazing, I think it would be an awesome place to do some training in the summer, but as far as winter riding goes... give me Bloomington. We made the trek down here to Bend yesterday with a cool drive through the Cascade range and a trip to Mt. Hood. Bend has a handful of inches of snow and it looks like it's going to lead to come crazy conditions for my race on Sunday. Think KC Nats 07, with more snow and a little colder temps. Can't wait.

The course is open for some pre-riding today at noon, so I'm out of here.

You can find some good course condition previews here:

Podium Insight

Jingle Cross Report

Not much to speak of on the results side of things from Jingle Cross, but the weekend was about as good as it could have been considering I was creepin'.



Anywho, my dad decided to come out to the races with me and it turned out to be almost necessary to have someone working the pits for you, so that was nice. Plus it was some quality time with him away from work. He learned the ropes of pitting pretty quickly and seemed to be enjoying it. The only problem was that he was tied to the pits all race and couldn't do his usual sprinting around the course yelling for me like you may have witnessed before.



So about the racing. Friday I ripped my rear derailleur off a long way from a spare bike and so I DNF'd.


Saturday we spent all morning at Lowes and the local bike shop Geoff's Bike and Ski, trying to get my other bike working again. Long story, but with some handy mechanic work, we got it up and "functioning" with a whopping 30 minutes to spare. Yeah that's right, I got to the race 30 min before the start. Never done that in a cross race before. So I got kitted, guessed on a tire pressure and tried to guess what would be around each corner for the first lap. It didn't really matter in the end because I went pretty slow and was a non-factor in the race.



Sunday we took our sweet time in the hotel and ate a nice breakfast and rolled to the course plenty early, but non of that really mattered because I had shit for legs again. Not really sure why, but it was more than an inconvenience all weekend. It was quite apparent that was was going nowhere fast and really wanted to save myself the embarrassment and drop out, but I really needed the workout anyway, so I kept trying and kept going backwards. I do want to give a huge thank you to Brian and all the guys from Geoff's Bike and Ski for getting a massive cheering block together for me on Sunday. After all that time we spent together working on my bike on Saturday, we became pals and so Brian told his pals that he and I were now pals and before I knew it I had an embarrassingly large gallery running with me and following my slow ass all over that course, causing a scene and slapping my but on the regular. It was pretty crazy that I went to Iowa knowing no one other than a few of my competitors and my dad, and by Sunday had a mob of about 30 people yelling for me. Thanks a lot guys! You made a pretty miserable day on the bike a whole lot better!

Next update will be coming from Portland. See ya out there!

Jingle Cross Roomate Anyone?

Alright, now that my plans for Jingle Cross have changed about 7 times, it looks like I will be heading up to the races solo. I'm really hoping to not have to cover all of these espenses by myself, so is there anyone out there with some floor space in their hotel or someone who is also looking to split hotle costs?

Leave a comment on here or email me at knapprd@gmail if you've got any leads!

NCGP Day 2

Day 1


Day 2

As great as the weather was on Saturday, it was equally nasty for Sunday's race. Low 40's and raining. Pretty crossy weather, but it was miserable for every second before the race and every second after the race was over. However, while the racing was going on, it really wasn't terrible.


Things were going pretty much the same as day 1 about half of a lap into the race. I was camped out on the back of the leaders, hoping to follow them around for a while. Well we hit a long pavement section and I tried to shift down into my 11t cog on my cassette and instead over-shifted it and got the chain wedged between the cassette and the frame, so I couldn't pedal. Really the only way to solve this problem is get off and take the wheel out. I wasn't too terribly far from the pits where I had a back up bike waiting, so I decided I'd just run and get my other bike. After running for about 20 seconds I realized that I needed this bike because it was the only one with mud tires on it. So I stopped and took the wheel out and got the chain fixed. By that time I was literally in last place.



I thought about dropping out because I was so frustrated, but decided I needed the workout either way, so I put my head down and tried to see how far up I could get. With about 3 laps to go I made it up to a small group racing for 5th place, which was a lot better than I thought I could do. I tried to recover in that group, but my legs were pretty crispy. Then the chain got jammed again trying to shift down into the 11t on the same section of road the very next lap. I guess I'm an idiot for trying that again. I jumped off and fixed it, then just avoided the bottom of the cassette for the rest of the race.

Now back in 13th place or so, I tried to claw my way back up to the group I was with, but was out of gas. I managed to make it back to 10th place and snag 1 whopping UCI point on the day. I wasn't really pleased with the end result, but the sensations were good and I felt like I could actually race my bike, where as Saturday I felt like I was just riding around getting in the way. Hopefully my racing legs will continue to migrate towards me this weekend in Iowa and hopefully they'll be fully within my grasp for Oregon after that.

North Carolina Grand Prix

I know all 3 of my blog readers have greatly missed them, but long no more, my race reports are back!

So I'm down here in Hendersonville, NC, just a little south of Ashville for my first races since breaking my collarbone 6 weeks ago. Andy and I drove down yesterday to get some time on the course. The drive was pretty scenic and was pretty stress free until we got rerouted because half of a mountain fell on the road about an hour from Ashville. So we had to back-track and take some tiny little roads just to get here right before dark. We hammered out a few laps and then the two of us had a special little evening at a plce called Applebees... you may have heard of it.

Today I choked down my hotel breakfast and headed to the course around 10, which is a bit earlier than usual, but this weekend the UCI races are not the last races of the day and our's started at 1:30. That's going to be great tomorrow though when we have to pack up and drive home. I don't know why more promoters don't do it like this.

To the racing!... I have number 3 for the weekend so I got a nice starting spot/ start, but I knew well before the start that my legs weren't on my side today. During the pre-ride laps I was constantly trying to convince myself my legs felt ok or that they'd be fine. Well I got the start I wanted and hopped on the back of the lead group and let them tow me around the really roadie friendly course. It actually reminds me a lot of CrossVegas. So I was in the lead group of 5 for the first few laps, but I knew that I was comin unglued soon. I popped off and pretty much spent the remainder of the race going backwards. It wasn't a spectacular explosion on my part, but I just really didn't have it in the legs today. I had hoped for more, but I'm not really surprised that my legs weren't great. I tried to train to get myself ready, but doing intervals and racing are pretty different. I ended up 9th on the day, but let 3 dudes pass me in the last 2 laps. I think I should be quite a bit better tomorrow, with that initial shock out of the way. I'd really like to get up into the top 5 tomorrow. It's supposed to rain a lot, so it should be good practice for Oregon in a few weeks.

There were some Cyclingnews reporters there today, so if some photos pop up, I'll throw them up on here.

Recovery Trail

I feel like I start every blog post theses days with "I know it's been a while" or something similar, so I'll spare you guys this time. I just haven't really been leading the most exciting life of late (or ever).

It was quite enjoyable seeing how "the other half" lives with no bike races to occupy my weekends and not much training for a few weeks, I was able to act like a regular-ass dude and have a few beers, or a few more than usual, do some tailgating, sleep in on Saturdays, actually hang out with my girlfriend somewhere other than a bike race on a weekend... and it was fun. With that said though, I've been getting the itch pretty bad recently to pin a number and it looks like thats an itch I'm going to get to scratch next weekend. I'm cleared to go, so I'm going down to North Carolina next weekend for 2 smaller C2 races. I've been training pretty hard the last 2-3 weeks, so I'm hoping I won't embarass myself. As long as I don't break my arm off down there, I plan on hitting Jingle Cross, Portland for the final USGP's and then Bend for Nats. So anyway, that's where bike racing is right now.

While I was off though, I picked up a bit of a drinking problem. Ya see, it's these White Russian things. A friend of mine, turned me on to them and so I decided to pick up the ingredients one night at the store, and it was all downhill from there. Now I'm not saying I have a drinking problem (thats what they all say....) They just taste so good. I don't even care if there is booze in them or not, I'd eat a White Russian Popsicle! So I'm trying to cut back on those things for a while. Moderation.

This weekend is going to be my last racing free weekend until after cross nats, so I'm going to enjoy it and probably even take my cross bike off-road for the first time since I broke the c-bone 5 weeks ago. I didn't need no stinking Dr's to tell me I was better though, I've been giving myself the weekly Bunny-Hop Test. The first test didn't go so well and I almost had to pull over and cry, but they've gotten to the point where I'm back to my old hoppin' skill level with no pain, so I figured that must mean I'm good to go. Luckilly the Doc concurs. The Bunny-Hop Test... it's Science.

Alright, thanks for stopping by.