Solon Cross

This weekend was Solon Cross Race hosted by CRC. Kevin Kimmich did a great job setting this course up. It consisted of many tight corners and a crazy maze to get everyone caught up in. The start was hectic. We all had to run from the start line about 50 yards out to our bikes, grab them and take off for the maze. I was lucky and ended up around 2nd after the start, so I wasn't caught up in all the carnage leading into the maze. I felt good throughout the whole race. My legs started to feel a little tired in the middle with about 5 or 6 laps to go, but I felt like I got a second wind and ended up finishing 8th overall. It was a great race because the whole time, Brent Evans, Eric Lesko, and I were battling it out. It came down to the last corner before a set of barriers and I took the corner too fast and unfortunately washed out. I had no bad feelings about it at all though. I was just happy with the way I felt and the great race we had. Next weekend is Snakebite's Cross race in Elyria. Should be fun and another great weekend.

Later

UCI3 weekend

Last weekend was UCI3 Cincinnati Cross weekend. Friday's race was very hard. The course was very hilly, bumpy and very dusty. I did not really feel myself that day and finished around 29th overall. I really did not have a feel at all for the course. I could not get myself into a good rhythm. But every course is not going to suit you. Saturday's race was at Sunset Park and it is one of my favorite cross courses. There was a lot of tight corners, wide open sections for passing and two sandpit areas. I was feeling very good during the race until I washed out around a corner and the guy behind me ran into my bike. His front wheel ended up pushing my rear derailleur out of whack and caused my chain to jam in between my rear cog and my back wheel. It also forced my chain to wrap around my crank arm a couple times. So at this point, a few racers were passing me and my bike was unable to move forward. In one last attempt, I simply pushed my bike backwards causing my chain to slack and I was able to fix the problem. I still felt strong throughout the race and finished well, despite my mechanical. Sunday's race was at Harbin Park, and this course is another course I love. I had a great start in this race and felt the best during this race than the previous two. I picked myself up to almost top 1o with three or four laps to go and I was telling myself to keep it up. Next thing I know, I am flying down a hill and shooting up an uphill when suddenly I hit a big root and seconds later, I get a flat. I ran the rest of the way to get to the pits and take the front pit wheel. Later that lap, my Dad flatted as well and unfortunately, it was a front flat. But what was really horrible is I had the spare front wheel from my flat, and my Dad was in 3rd place in the Masters 45+ race and he had to withdraw because there was no spare front wheel. I had no idea what was going on during the race. I finished way back because of all the running I had to do and all the racers passing me. Despite the bad luck all weekend, I had a great time with everyone. It was a fun weekend and TLE had a great showing in each race. I believe we left a great mark on the competition with the great results everyone pulled off.

Later.

Weekend ahead

UCI Cincinnati this weekend! I'm really looking forward to all the racing and seeing a couple friends from Pa, who I will be racing against. It should be fun and hopefully I will have good legs for all three days...Knock on wood. Updates will be posted.

Applefest 3.2

Yesterday was the Applefest 5k in Franklin, Pa. Actually the race should be called the Applefest 3.2 mile run becuase it mapped a little bit longer than a 5k. The day before the race, we all drove up to Doug's cabin for the night. When we arrived at the cabin, we cruised down to downtown Franklin to walk around the Applefest and to get some grub. We ate at a very good Italian restaurant, which had a mile long line to get in.

The next day was the 5k. We arrived at the race venue around 8:00 and the race was supposed to take off at 10:00. It was freezing. Winter hats, gloves, tights, long sleeve shirts, etc. was being worn by a lot of people. While we were waiting for the race to start, our warm-up consisted of a couple intense games of ping pong in the Franklin YMCA, which was where packet pick up was located at. After a couple games of ping pong we started our real warm ups. While we were warming up on the course, I said this is going to be fast. I was going for a mid to low 17 minute time.

When the race started, it was a dead sprint off the line. The typical funny guys of every running race of course took off like a bat outa' hell but quickly blew up about a football field length into the race. I kept up my fast pace throughout the race. I was very happy with my first mile time and second mile time. After the second mile I was in about 6th place and running with two other racers. We had a very fast pace going and we were not slowing up a bit. When the finish line was in sight, one of the two runners already took off and the other runner and I were starting to kick up the pace to a sprint. We were back and forth the whole way to the finish. I was in front of him, he pushed in front of me; we were back and forth about 4 or 5 times. At the end, I lost the sprint and finished 7th overall and 1st in my age group with a time of 18:06. I was happy with the way I felt and the sprint finish at the end. The course was all downhill going out to the turnaround point, and the rest of the way to the finish was mostly uphill. From what I heard from other racers, the finish line was pushed further than last year's finish. So I would say the distance of the race was 3.2 miles. It was very fun and a very competitive race. I felt like I was going to throw up after the sprint finish, but it was worth it. Dad and Doug finished great. Dad finished 19th and Doug 15th; 10 seconds apart. They both won their age groups and the friendly rivalry battle continues between them. The whole morning before the race, Doug and Dad ripped on each other alot. It was great and I'm sure that is was made them extra fast during the race.

Another great time with Doug and this is the last time to visit him and stay at the cabin this year. Too bad the fun had to end so soon, but it was great while it lasted. I'm looking forward to this weekend coming up in Cincinnati. UCI Cinci Cross weekend, and it is going to be another great weekend.

Border War Tri

Saturday was the Border Wars Triathlon hosted by O.N.E. It was a very chilly morning, with the temperature being in the mid 50's. Once I had transition all set up and the race was about to start, I walked down to the water to get a pre-race warm up. The warm up was not a warm up at all. The water was a little bit warmer than the air but once I plunged in and the water soaked through my wetsuit, it was freezing. This was going to be a cold race.

The swim started with a mass start. I felt like I had a good start, but then when I looked up to get a breath, I saw quite a bit of people ahead of me. I was trying to ignore the cold water and dug deep. After the swim, I was in a pretty good position. Once I was in transition, my Dad and Doug came in together and Dad was having trouble unzipping his wetsuit. After I helped him out with his wesuit, I was off on the bike. At this point, I did not feel any coldness anymore. The first of the two laps, wasn't very good. I didn't feel like I was getting power on the straight-a-ways. When I was on my second lap, I started to get a better momentum. I was averaging around 1-1 1/2 mph faster than my first lap. When the bike was over and I was running into transition, only two bikes were in. I knew right off the bat who the two guys ahead of me were and there was no way that I was going to catch them. So I just gave it my all on the run and felt great. I ended up finishing 3rd overall and was very happy with the way I felt for my last triathlon of the season. Doug finished fantastic. He finished 4th overall and 1st in his AG. Dad finished 7th and 1st in his AG. After the race, Dad, Doug and I rode home which was about 24 miles. It was pretty much a straight road all the way home so we took turns pulling hard averaging around 21-22 mph. So when the day was over, I was beat from the race and the ride home. It was a great day though and we all had a great race.

This season has been a blast. I am very happy with my mine and my Dad's results. We both finished 1st in of our AG's in every race and I finished top 5 in every race except for two. Hopefully this cross season is just as good as our Tri season. I am already excited for next year and we are planning on doing a lot of trail running and continuing on hitting the pool this winter for an early season Half Ironman. This weekend is Kent Cross Race and I am already feeling the pain. Thanks for reading.

Later

Little Miss Wendy

Sunday was race #2 of the NEOCX series at Wendy Park. The course was very open with tons of power sections. It was going to be super fast and hard I knew from the beginning. While I was warming up, I felt really good. My legs felt strong, I practiced the barriers a few times to get my dismount and remount down, and I felt good riding the sand. Before the race, the race promoter did call ups and since I placed 5th last week, I was called to the front of the line.

When the race started I was in a pretty good position. I don't want to blow myself up completely at the start but, if you want to stay in contact with the lead guys, it is kinda hard not to go all out in the beginning. As the race went on, I felt completely opposite as I did last week. I was not having fun, I had no legs, and it just wasn't there. I'm not giving any excuses, I just had a bad race. But the weather was great, the course was great and thank you to Spin for putting on a great race. During the race Robert crashed very hard and landed on his head. I went past him one lap and I did not know it was him. I saw someone laying down with people around him but I did not know who it was at the time. After a trip to the hospital, he is all good and ready to tear it up again. Great job to all my teammates who raced and great job BAFF at the Rev3 Half and Full Ironman.

Next week is the Border Wars Triathlon in Geneva State Park. It will be the last triathlon of the season and I am really looking forward to it. Good luck to everyone who is racing this weekend. Later!!

Weekend racing.

Saturday was the Miller Paul Marut 5k run and the first cyclocross race of the season hosted at Camp Manatoc. We decided to just help out at the M&M 5k and save our legs for the cross race and the mountain bike race the next day. There was around 225 racers all together for the M&M 5k race, which was great minus the weather. It was cold, raining and very windy, which proabably scared most people away. Down in Peninsula, the weather was completely different. It was sunny, warmer and the wind wasn't as bad as at home. The cross races started later in the day with the C race going off at 2:15, the B's going off at 3 and the A race going off at 4:05 becuase of the mountain bike festival taking place. The course was half power sections, half single track with lots of roots and holes. It looked very fast and it had a double sand pit and a good ol' set of barriers right after. I was thinking to myself actually that I was going to get a flat or a mechanical because it's always my luck that the first couple races of the cross season, I have that happen during the race. I was just there to of course race and give it my all, but most importantly to have fun; which I have been doing all year so far.

The A race had about 30 people in it including a pro mountain biker from Jamis Bicycles. The start was blazing fast. I was about mid pack when we all took off but managed to squeeze through a couple of racers to get up front more. A couple of laps into the race, I was feeling pretty good. There were a couple racers, including some of my teammates that were on their way to the pit area becuase of all the roots and holes causing flat tires and mechanicals. At the end of the race, I managed to finish 5th overall and had a great battle the whole race with Scott and Brent. It was fun and great job guys. Dad finished great as well. He looked great throughout the whole race and finished 17th in a very stacked field. Thankfully there were no mechanicals for myself or my Dad today. We were really hoping that the next day's race was going to be just as good.

The next day was the Big Valley Mountain Bike Race. Lots of racers and a lot of spectators as well. Dad and I raced the the Sport race which is about equal to a cat 2/3 road race. Our races took off at around 1:30 because of the race announcer was loving to hear himself talk. The order of the waves for the race was Expert race, 30-39 Sport, 19-29 Sport, 30-39, 40-49, 50+, and 18 and under. Each wave was seperated by two minutes. I raced in the 19-29 group and came very close to getting the hole shot in the start. In a little over a mile into the race, we already caught up to the 30-39 group. It was mad chaos through the single track at this time. There were a lot of frustrating guys and a lot of sticks and leaves crunching from people passing the person infront of them who would not move over to let anyone through. Once the chaos settled down a little bit, a couple guys flew past me through an open field and I tried to keep with them but it didn't happen. They were there and gone. So at this point I found myself in third and this is where I was really trying to keep it at. After the first lap, I was feeling very good. Everything was working awesome. My legs were responding, my bike was working great, and I had alot of fuel in me to get me through another lap. About the middle of the second lap, I rode up to a huge hill that consisted of lots of roots. I did not attempt to ride this becuase I did not want to waste time. As I was running my bike up the hill, my right quad started to cramp big time. I looked down at it and could see my muscle knotting up. As I was trying to make my way up, another 19-29 racer past me. He rode up the whole hill and must have taken that perfect line to do so. Trying to ignore the cramp, I jumped up back on my bike and started to spin to loosen up my cramp. A couple minutes after the hill, I caught back up to the other racer that past me and worked with him for a little while. When my legs felt a lot better, I told him that I was coming through and from there I felt like I had a second wind. I felt great for the rest of the race and finished 3rd overall in the 19-29 Sport group. Dad raced another great race as well finishing 8th in the 40-49 Sport. We both loved this race because it was fast, the race was competative, and most importantly, it was fun. This whole weekend was fun and everyone from the team did an awesome job. Next week is Wendy Park Cross and hopefully it will be just as good as this weekend.

Later