September | 2016 | Steve Tilford

I’m not sure what many or most of the big cross races in the US tend to have terrible weather when they occur. The two times they held Nationals in Kansas City, it was bad. The Worlds in Louisville had to be moved up a day because the course was going to be flooded and now the World Cup in Iowa CIty.

It has rained so much here in Eastern Iowa, they are asking for volunteers to help fill sandbags. While driving here from Cable Wisconsin yesterday, there were whole valleys that had completely be underwater the day before. It is amazing. And it hasn’t stopped.

Yesterday it rained maybe an inch or two in less than an hour. It was a typhoon. And it started again in the middle of the night and now it is nearly 9 am and it is still raining. The races start today at 9, so it is going to be a sloppy, mucky mess for many riders.

Then, it is supposed to heat up. The high tomorrow for the World Cup is supposed to be in the upper 80’s. Man, those Euro guys are going to hate that. Not that it will stop them from sweeping the top 15 places.

There is a lot of relief in the course here. Mt Krumpet it is called and there are lots of ways to get up and down the thing. Up it usually involves some running. Down, bravery or your butt. There is so much ribbon on this course it is impossible to tell what course is what. It is supposed to stop raining after noon, so I’m going to wait until the UCI pre-ride at 5 to go out on the course. The race is at 9 pm tonight.

I won Jinglecross the 2nd year they held the event. My friend, Shadd Smith won the first one I believe. Shadd was third the 2nd year, behind me and Jason McCartney. Jason was already a professional road rider and went on to a long European road career. He is leading a gravel road fondo here tomorrow morning.

The course has so much tape and looks so professional. They really did an amazing job transforming the Iowa CIty Fairgrounds into a World Cup. John Meehan is amazing.

Personally, I haven’t really clipped in for any type of cross since I fell at Nationals last January. Of course I’ve ridden the bike a ton, but not a step of running, mounting or dismounting. But, you have to start somewhere. It is going to be a blast. Cross, at night under the lights, with 1000’s of screaming fans is very, very hard to beat.

I’m only hoping that they keep the race flatter tonight, without a crazy amount of running in mud. If that occurs, I will be hobbled for Sunday’s UCI, which is way more important. Either way, I’m not going to survive the 80% rule.

Okay, I need to wonder downtown Iowa CIty some and find some breakfast. It is a fun college town with a lot going on. It still isn’t too late to jump into a car and watch the best riders in the World ride around on grass/mud, late tomorrow afternoon. It is going to be a zoo.

Pretty official.

A break in the weather last night. The course looks awesome under the lights.

This off-camber section is treacherous in the mud.

Current weather.

A podium with Chris Horner and Doug Swanson. I’ve been on the podium a ton of times, but only won once.

Me and Jason McCartney a long time ago.

Okay, pictures probably sum up my race better than too many words. I had low expectations, that I was exceeding, but the bike gods weren’t happy with me for some reason.

I picked a lousy start number and only a few guys had worse. But, no one was really that excited at the back of the field and I rolled up a couple rows to chat with Bjorn Selander since we were lined up so early.

The course was pretty awful. Like very sticky, clogging mud. It had been that way most of the day, but was getting worse as it dried out. Lots of running, even when it was just flat. I wasn’t at all motivated for that. I haven’t ran a step since Jinglecross last year really.

But, I didn’t run that badly. We dismounted about 400 meters into the race and did a 100 meter mud slog and I was alright. I actually passed a couple guys. Then we had to go up Mt. Crumpet, which was a surprise to pretty much the whole back row. It wasn’t marked during the pre-ride, which I didn’t do. I didn’t get into the mud until about 100 meters into the race.

Anyway, I jogged past a few more guys going up the climb and had moved up close to the top 20, start number 58, skipping some numbers, so I’d passed maybe half the field. And I wasn’t gassed, which surprised me.

Anyway, going down the descent, into the sandpit, I was seated pedalling and hit a small bump. I heard my seatpost make a bad noise and realized it broke. It stayed on a 100 meters and then the seat and seatpost fell off into the mud. I was thinking how hard it was going to be to ride in this deep mud off my seat.

I only had a few hundred meters to go to the pit, which was lucky. I got back on my A bike, I’d already switched 1/2 a lap in and was passing guys still. Be just after the barriers, just a bit after the pit, I heard a horrible noise and my rear derailleur was gone. I stood there a second, thinking how far I’d have to run to get back to the pit and realized it would be more than a kilometer.

So, I just walked back to a course crossing and made my way back to the pit. Done.

I don’t know why I had a Easton Carbon post on my bike. Well, that isn’t true. I had no seat on my B bike when I was working on it, so I just pulled the seat and seatpost off an old cross bike to put it in the stand. I meant to put an Eriksen post on, but sort of forgot about it with all the stuff going on. What a mistake.

The derailleur thing was not that unusual. I don’t know how many people I’d seen without derailleurs. Out of the 4 people racing from the Topeka area, 3 of us ripped off rear derailleurs. There are 100’s gone. That isn’t an exaggeration.

Okay, the World Cup is this afternoon. I’ve pieced my bikes back together. I put the Eriksen ti post on that should have been there originally. I had a Di2 rear derailleur plus a wire, which was destroyed. Plus the dropout, which I had. I didn’t have an 11 speed chain for some reason. Man, do you have to carry around a lot of stuff for cyclocross. I’m going over to the venue to hopepully get a chain from Shimano. So, my bikes should be in working order for tomorrow’s C1 race.

There are so many people here. LIke 10’s of thousands. The parking is so far away. It is great. Maybe better than Worlds in Louisville. I think the course is going to dry up some before the races later this afternoon. It should be good to watch. Alright, need to go for a ride.

Here are some of the pictures that described my race last night.