2011 CX Nats cancelled...

Well I guess postponed might be a better word, or delayed. Madison, WI will be the future home of the 2012/2013 CX Nats. So Nationals are moving to January to get lined up for Masters World's coming to Louisville in 2012 & ultimately Worlds/Worlds in 2013. I got one thing to say...Louisville you'll need to figure out the parking scene. Other than that the people, venue, & city of Louisville are pretty sweet.

I'm happy Nationals are returning to the Midwest, having the option to drive is nice. Am I happy about the move to January? On the surface...no, I'm not. Extending the season another month doesn't sit well with me. Another month of training, with possibly a chunk of it indoors due to potential crappy conditions here in the Midwest. Folks from the West Coast, South, & Southeast are saying "bring it on!". Can I pull it off, of course I can. What's the reward? Freakin' Master's Worlds in the U.S.!!!! That's all.
They're saying a resounding number of people participated in a survey & stated that moving Nationals to January is a good idea. I must have have missed that survey or if I participated I can't remember. I'd be curious to see the demographics regarding those who were in favor of the move. Geography, category, whatever...
It might sound like I'm not for the move, I guess I'm not, but the move makes sense because staying motivated from the 2nd week in December (old Nationals time slot) to mid-January would be a really tall order without the change.

In the mean time...I'm going to enjoy the most awesome Fall we had since I don't know when. Unbelievable.

For those of us heading to Fort Collins in two weeks...it appears some wintery weather is on the horizon. Bring it on!

Later,

TK

my old ky home...

Experienced my first flyover last weekend. It was sweet. Steep run-up, about a two bike length remount zone, & then a steep drop-in. Read that Ft.Collins will have one & also heard Jingle Cross is busting one out. This feature can't be cheap, at least if ya build it right...

I'm pretty good at taking sub-par pictures, I got the subject, sort of...
Every once in awhile I get an "ok" shot. It's hard for our crew to grab pix of each other with our events being back to back. Even harder is for us to help each other in the pit. Right now we're on the "hope you don't need a pit bike plan" & if you do just hope you can self-serve it outta the pit with some sort of efficiency...
BTW - these are all camera phone pictures, not bad...

Later,

TK

ky...

in the colonel's country...

little dude had the sweet pile of hedge balls going & you can see his plastic sword laying on the ground behind him...
shhhh....
Later,

TK

Day too...

Hot again. Felt a little better today but so did some others & grabbed 9th. Hardly call it a smooth effort, choppy would be a better description but finished strong. I feel fortunate to be able to make these trips to this national series. Everyone of these stops has a "Nationals" feel to it & the competition is crazy tough. Both days I found myself in battles with foes from all over the U.S. Made a lot of new acquaintances & looking forward to the next stop in Ft. Collins in 3 weeks.

In the 35+...
Mod 3rd!
Matt T 12th!
Woodman 34th after flatting and switching bikes, tough outing but he hung in there

Later,

TK

Luh-ville day one...

Freaking tough. Dust bowl. Hot. 4 times off the bike every lap. Barriers, flyover, sandpit, & a run up. Had to settle with 8th place & dug deep for that. In the 35+, mod 8th, matt t 13th, woodman 17th.

Do it all again tomorrow:)

Later,

TK

b-vard 0h-10...

Went pretty good. Worst start in recent memory but settled in after that. I'll just call the start "practice at getting around people", some that shouldn't have been lined up in front of you in the first place. My own damn fault though, had to get one last bathroom stop in right before the start then botched the remount after the scrum at the first barrier. My goal for the day was just a good hard effort, mission accomplished with an hour plus outing around a a very power oriented course in 80 degree weather.

Me & macaroni entering the sand section, if there was a deciding moment of the race it took place near here. Rockin' the new Capo skinsuit, unzipped a bit to let the gray chesties flow...

I like this shot (photo credits to roger) cuz it kind of looks like I have everything under control entering the sand, but it was here I bobbled with three to go & lost contact with the folks I was just a couple seconds behind.May never have caught them but...
My day ended in 8th place. Marshall & some other dude were my carrot but both rode consistent & I just couldn't get up to them. Good clean riding boys.

Lincoln crew, yeah I know mod lives in Omaha but he lived in LNK for 25 years before that.

Mod & MT had a great rides ending up 4th & 5th, hell yeah! Man! That's a shifty looking bunch...
Later,

TK

i'm sorry...

...but this blog has become stale. Prior to CX there was always pictures from the surrounding countryside featuring various interesting (at least to me) sights I encountered on my gravel adventures. Now...I spend my evenings & some weekends (when were not traveling to race) in local (some secret) locations getting my cross on. Not very exciting stuff to the outside observer.

Is this a promise to juice things up for the reader? Hell no! Not going to make any promises I can't keep.
So what's on the horizon for me & macaroni. Sunday making our way to Wyandotte Co. for the Boulevard Cup. I believe I've been to this race every year since its inception. My dad came with me the first year & I won the B race. He cheered me on each lap from the comfort of the free food zone with a bowl of chili in his hand. Went home with a sweet pint glass trophy & a 12-pack of Boulevard from the raffle. Next Friday I'll be heading to Louisville, KY for rounds 3 & 4 of the USGP of CX battle royale. Looking forward to it.
For those of you in the area (or out of the area) make sure you get on up to Skyview Park In Norfolk next Saturday for the Skyview CX Classic. The EVCC boys & girls are putting on their 2nd annual CX race. Great venue & a great bunch of people. I'm all about positive energy & it is always flowing with these folks. We made it up last year & had a really good time.

Next Sunday is racing here in Lincoln.

Have a good one!

Later,

TK

the vdp sessions...

after 2 weekends away from home, decided to stay close & get some things done...

doesn't mean we didn't ride. 2 days & 2 throw downs...good weekend.

Later,

TK

winger...

omaha & madison dump...

This last weekend saw us racing, sort of locally, up in Omaha. Maybe it was the "over the bars" in the sand during my first warm up lap on Saturday (actually the first 2 minutes on the bike) or maybe it was the "couldn't get the foot unclipped" shoulder first pile drive into the only barrier on the course during the race but Saturday was a tough outing. I fought the course all day but managed a 5th because others had an even worse day. The wood-dog had his day though & had a great ride for the win, nice job man! Sunday - much better affair, felt pretty darn good. 4th for me. Chased 3rd all day (couldn't get there but kept him looking in his rearview) & had to keep the hammer down to keep ahead of those chasing. Sunday was mod's day, nice riding man! It's now Tuesday morning & I'm still beat down.

bike wash, Sun Prairie FD style...
base camp...
pre-pre-ride on Friday...
bonding with the KC boyz on Friday...
Mouray...
wood-dog...
btw-this guy is coming on strong! Nice riding this past weekend buddy...
the run-up, errr ride up for some of the pros...
our observation fort under the camera scaffold at the top of the "run up", we invited Mr. Jenks over as our honored guest...
Later,

TK