Made the trip to Louisville with Mr. Ramsey at O dark thirty on Sat for round 1 and 2 of the USGP of cyclocross.

Had a nice representation of 7 hills... Geoff,Jeni, Robin(team mascot),Mark and Linda,and Gumby(who is now addicted)

Over 80 riders in the C race,and 25+ in the ladies 3/4 race.and 35 in the masters race.

Geoff had a good race with a mid pack finish and Dan and Gumby a little farther back then Mark a little further back and Jeni finished mid pack against a big group of Cat 3 women.

I felt good warming up for my race,then 15 min to call up I realized I couldn't clip in on my right pedal so after looking realized the spring had broken......F%^& so rode to the pits to see if anyone could help there happened to be someone from crank brothers who told me to go to their tent and I could get some help,so I busted my butt to get there only to find no one home(he was racing in the race that was going on).
So I had no other choice than to race 1 legged(since I couldn't clip in)
I started on the front row but since i wasn't confident I just faded back so I could get a feel for riding with 1 foot clipped in.
I wound up 15th which was better than I thought.

On Sunday I felt real good about having a top 10,after my race on sat the guy at crank brothers rebuilt my pedal..so it was good to go.Another front row start, this time I was able to be aggressive and get to the front 7 or 8 which made me feel good after about 3/4 th's of a lap I started getting dropped,then a nice group(6 or 7 ) caught me including Dan Lach from Zephyr,I was able to ride with that group for awhile then it splintered but was able to keep Dan and a couple other riders with in a few seconds,I couldn't get back on.
I wound up racing with a rider from Columbus who is a UPS driver(I've raced him in the Cap City races I've done) there where parts of the course where he was faster but other parts I was then on the last lap at the little run up he bobbled and I was able to get around him and actually increased the gap at the finish.

USPS-4
UPS-4
After turning myself inside out to hold onto the front group,then back to Dan's group I was disappointed with another 15th place...but OH Well it was more fun than I had all year on the bike...WOOHOO!!!!

THANKS Geoff

I ordered new tires on Monday and got them on Thursday and they were very noticeable I could out corner a lot of the guys but just didn't have the legs on the acceleration out of the corners

This Sunday is The GunClub race just a mile from the bike trail and Ward corner in Miamiville comeout and cheer us on,bring the kids. there should be a kids race

Also checkout on bike action here

http://cowbell.cxmagazine.com/video/video/show?id=1198434%3AVideo%3A14933

USGP of Cyclocross in Louisville

MCD

Don't forget MCD had a good day, too.

Cap City part 2

Nice job to Jeni and Susan for their podiums Dan had a nice race in the C's but got beat at the line by some 20 something kid(I told him after the race he should have rode the guy into the weeds but Dans too nice of a guy for that)Geoff and Mark and Mike Mcd had solid races along with Gumby who had a flat on the last lap..gave him my spare and off he went finishing up strong.
I wasn't sure about how my race would go after having my ass beat last weekend...even though as bad as i felt I found out when I got home that I had bent my front wheel so much that it would not roll a 1/2 a revolution before it stopped...DOH!!!! so I felt a little better after finding that out.
I had a good race they were killing it at the front but i settled into a nice rhythm and wound up racing Scott from Columbus who also is a ups driver so there's xtra motivation to beat him..he beat me 2 weeks a go at the last Cap city race then i returned the favor in Middletown and he came back at Harbin ,I followed him around the last 3 or 4 laps then on the twisty descent back toward the finish I got up beside him and as he described it I stuffed him in the corner at least he stayed upright:) and i was able to hold him off,then the icing on the cake was finding out i won WOOHOO!!!!!!

Cap City Field Trip Fun

Our cross contingent went on a field trip to Columbus, aka Cap City today, with lots of racing, and top results for our two of our hardest workin' members, Streamers (Jeni) in Woman's C, and Newman (Mike O) in the master's B. If you don't know these two, their enthusiasm and race attitude are a big part of the backbone of our team. We carpooled up to the north, set up our tents and jumped right into our warmup laps. Get well soon to our mate SkiMonkey (Lou), who was on injured reserve with a stomach virus. Pre-race food for we weary travelers, included Twix bars, rice krispie treats, copious amounts of diet coke, a few bananas, some GU, and a fair number of PB&Js, amongst other things.

We raced on a Frisbee golf course, that started in the holler next to the creek, took us through a windy slippery grassy stretch, over a couple of barriers, then a few switchbacks to the first run-up. About 95 percent of the racers ran up the rocky hill (that we named "the Escalator") toting their bikes; however a stalwart few MTB crew (including our man Wrench(Geoff)) rode that sucker all the way up, hard core! See video!!) The course then ascended another 8 or 10 times (I lost count, started making my Christmas list so I didn't have to think about it); to end up at various ridges above the starting area, then down a rocky hill with some big air at the end, then to some grassy switchbacks and a fast downhill. We all looked out for the local ground hog; and McD bumped over the local wildlife's back door a couple times, remarking that his voice was noticeably higher at the finish, LOL. The end of the course was a big rocky downhill you rode to the left, hitting a switchback, then spinning like crazy to come round to the flat, and do it all again.

All our 7 Hills crew ended up w/ top 20 results, with big smiles and more cowbell all around. The Herald (Dan) and Wrench were top ten, Gumby (Scott B), McD (my man), and McK (Mark) finishing top 20 in the Men's Cs. (Twas an open race this week, so all ages were included in the C races.)

Jeni and yours truly were 1st and 3d in the women's Cs. I did my best and blocked at the start. The Kippy philosophy "if you can't be fast, be opportunistic." Ha! Streamers got a good 500 meter run out, and stayed away. Her nearest competition dropped her chain on the the first set of barriers, but then caught up with me on the hill, guess that'll learn me to get in her way again. Ah, well, I guess it helped cause Jeni got 'er done! (Our team dog, Robin, joined us for the podium picture. Too much fun!)

Master's and Men's Open Bs all started together, with Newman taking 1st, and the Herald 4th.

Men's A's also featured Newman and the Herald (his THIRD race of the day, talk about whoo-hoo), racing for more fun, not so much results. The Herald stayed top 20 for this race, as well.

Our new pals Bridget Donovan and her hubby James joined our carpool caravan, with Bridget taking 2d in the Women's A's, and James doing well in the men's Bs, then also racing the men's A's with The Herald.

We headed to Ruby Tuesdays for some burgers and telling some more stories, then were treated to a beautiful sunset on the ride home. A fine field trip all in all; nice organization and good schwag for the prizes.

Louisville Grand Prix of Cyclocross next weekend, fun to race, fun to watch. Contact Jeni and Geoff if you want to crash in their hotel floor space.

Cap City

Geoff was the only rider that I saw to ride this hill,very rutted and rocky......WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dan running the same hill

Cyclocross weekend

Here's some video and photo's from the Middletown and Harbin Park races

USGP 2007

racing 2008

Cap City

Made the trip up to N.E. Columbus with Dan and Mark.
At first I thought the course sucked,due to the long downhill road section into a bit of flat grassy area with a hairpin and a ninety degree turn thrown in then back out on the road( a long uphill slog )then a right turn over a piece of plywood into the beginning of a fast singletrack downhill then out into a mowed meadow then back into some singletrack that would take us back up to the finish.

After riding a few laps I decided it was pretty fun..hitting the singletrack on skinny tires instead of the big mtb tires was a blast.

Mark and Dan did the C race and I did the masters which raced withe B's(Dan also doubled up AGAIN..what a monster).Dan got a great start and was in 2nd through the barriers and stayed there the rest of the race,Mark had a good start was in the middle of the pack but got tangled up in some tape and lost a bunch of spots..not sure where he finished.I had a good race finished 3rd in the masters and finished 6th overall so I was pretty happy.

Here's a few photos and some video of the start