Okay, the cyclo-x stage race is over. I didn’t talk to any elite guys that didn’t say that they weren’t flat and tired yesterday racing day 3 at Jingle Cross. As I sort of predicted yesterday, Tim Johnson and Cannondale team mate, Jamie Driscoll, schooled everyone, finishing 1 & 2, in the C1 race after they sat out the race on Saturday. Saturday’s race was pretty grueling and energy intensive with all the uphill (and downhill) running. Todd finished 3rd, which was awesome. He’s done racing cross this season now.
Sunday’s race went back up the run up that we did on Friday, but yesterday it was way more muddy and much worse traction. I always ran on the right side, where there seemed to be some new grass after they moved the ribbon over some, but I guess the leaders all ran on the left, which was shorter. I can’t believe that could have been faster, but what do I know.
I got a shitty call up again, but didn’t really care. There were only 30 guys and the best I could officially finish was 16th. I got a pretty good start and was somewhere around 10th or so early. After the run up, which wasn’t quite half a lap into it, I was toast. I faded some and a few guys passed me here and there. Pretty soon I was out of the top 2o. Eventually, though, I started feeling a little better and got going some. I got up to 17th place with a couple laps to go, but 15th and 16th were riding together, going for the last UCI point. I decided that wasn’t in my best interest, so throttled it back and cruised in, watching Kevin Fish, KCCX, take the sprint and get his point.
My drive train was so jacked up the last lap, it was making an awful racket. On the finishing stretch of pavement, about 200 meters out, my SRAM chain snapped. That is two chains this year. One SRAM and one Shimano. I think I figured the Shimano problem out, using the wrong pin. I thought all 10 speed pins were interchangeable, but I guess not. The SRAM chain is from a couple years ago and it was bad to start with. I’ve maybe ridden the chain less than 10 times, it is on a spare bike, so wear wasn’t an issue. I think they had a batch of bad chains and I got a bunch of them. I should have thrown them away. Anyway, I coasted for a bit and then skated the rest of the way to the line. It really didn’t matter hardly at all.
So, for the whole weekend, I only finished 3 places total, after 3 days, off the best finish I could. I found out it is much harder finishing in an exact position than I’d anticipated. Mainly because of people switching positions, mechanicals, and guys riding together, it is hard to keep track of where everyone is. I hate it. It takes the motivation out of the race for me.
Joseph Schmaltz finished 13th, so he got, what, maybe 3 or 4 UCI points, enough to get him called up at all UCI races the rest of the season and at U23 Nationals, which is a big deal. Good job!
I changed onto my spare bike early and rode it the remainder of the race. I had a Specialized Terra on the back and a Challenge Limus on the front of my start bike. On my spare bike, which I hardly ever ride, I had a Michelin Mud 2 clincher in the rear and a Dugast Rhino in the front. Those tires worked so much better that I’d rather ride a clogged up heavy bike than switch back. I’m not sure if it was because the tread on the Specialized and Challenge tires were clogging up with mud or what, but it was night and day. It was super, greasy slick on most of the open field riding, so traction was pretty important for your confidence. If only my FMB tires with the Michelin tread would come, I’d be set.
I never fell yesterday, but fell so many times the day before, it would still be a large number for the weekend. I can’t believe that my legs don’t hurt from all the running, what’s up with that? I haven’t really ran any all season. Maybe it was all that Motrin I ate for me knee?
We loaded up quickly and got on the road super fast. Fast enough to stop in Des Moines and have a sit down meal at the Rock Bottom Brewery. That was nice for a change. We got home around midnight, which isn’t so bad. I have no idea how I’m going to feel the next few days. The conditions of this cross were brutal. The rain, plus it being pretty cold yesterday made it difficult. It is only supposed to be in the 40’s most of the week, so it’s that time of the year.
Someone needs to figure out how to get around the UCI standard payout for prizes at these races. It is so stupid. 1st is double of 2nd, which is nearly double of 3rd. I finished 11th, 13th and 17th and got a total of $225, plus the $1 I got on the hill. I paid $143.10 to enter, so I made $27.63 a day over entry. Pretty pitiful. It’s not like we are racing in Europe where every rider in the race gets paid start money. There is never going to be a full time cyclo-x circuit in the US when it is set up this way. I don’t understand the UCI points and prize schedule anyway. It is a pretty stupid way to try to rank riders on a world basis. Let me tell you, it is much harder collecting UCI points in Europe at the bigger UCI races than here in the US. Mainly because there are so many races here now. It is very good for the few US guys that race internationally, but not good for the US “privateers”, which is 99% of all the guys racing here. I wish someone would recognize this at USAC and try to address it on the behalf of us, the US riders.
I’m not sure what I’m doing the next few weeks. Probably going somewhere warm for a bit to get in some miles before it freezes over here. Okay, better get to cleaning all the equipment and clothing. It’s a full day project.
The best part of the whole weekend. This guy brought me a tea kettle full of boiling hot water and a clean towel after the race yesterday. It felt soooooo good.
Not the prettiest form on Saturday.
Not sure what I'm thinking here.
Prize checks from the three days. Notice the dates?
Results from Sunday. Click twice to enlarge.
Catherine, in her Carhart insulated suit, a little blue, after a sub par weekend performance.
Just in case you have an issue identifying the different Shimano chain pins.
What does a 7900 chain pin look like?
Steve,
USAC/UCI doesn’t want to create a domestic pro scene that could actually support a fertile domestic Pro field.
In order to remain in control of the pro bike racing economy, they keep the racers and organizers poor outside the UCI’s premier events any number of ways. Some examples, strict limits on the number of premier events, USAC taxes on promoters offering a large prize purse, USAC taxes on domestic sponsors offering just above Starbucks barista wages.
It’s not going to get better either. Not with Weisel’s errand boy Johnson running things.
I’ll bet you spent at least $80 on gas to get up there… and if you stayed in a hotel and ate in restaurants, your total loss on the venture might be close to $500. It’s ridiculous to ride a race and try to figure out how badly to lose the race in order to get a chance to race someplace else, it’s a reward for losing and gaming the race and not trying to do your best which seems antithetical to the sport.
Does the rule that prevents you from having UCI points also apply to 45+ , 35+.. from riding in the Master’s World Champs?
Yeah-Anyone with UCI Cyclo-X points can’t ride Master’s Worlds.
While it is great that older riders are riding well it has created some loss man vs. man battles. The UCI example of Masters not having points is dumb.
On the local level that I race and observe (WI, MN, IL) the age group races has made riders pick between there category, age category and whether to go down in age i.e..
An outstanding 55+ can chose to blow away the 55+, or win the 45+ or place in the 35+. But what ever race people pick that is just a lost battle. Unless the fields get too big I would like to see the best riders line up together in the “A” race and then sort out who was old.
Hey Steve,
Your muddy mug is on the Iowa City press-citizen (press-citizen.com) web site with additional photos of Jinglecross this past weekend. Sorry I was not able to attend. I certainly would have supplied you with hot water and towels after the race. Good luck at the Worlds!
John
Steve, the next time you race where UCI points are on the line, you should race to the best of your abilities, see where you would place, then stop just short of the finish line and wait for all the necessary places to come by (pulling a Horner). Maybe it would make a few stand up and notice.
UCI changed the rules and there is a maximum points for C2 and C1 events that you can obtain during a season. So, for the few people like Powers that worries about points, they can’t accumulate them after several wins and they started to rest instead of racing. And that’s why they started to travel more to Europe since they need the world cup points. So everything is balance.
The cost of racing and payouts are getting a bit out of control.. I at times wounder if CX racing in the US is getting a bit watered down with so many different events going on all at once. I want to see the women get payed in both CX and MTB.. And don’t get me started on mud,, Both my race bike and daughter bike got trashed from muddy races this summer..
Good job on what looked like a tough weekend.