Amateur Cross - OKGPCX - 27th October 2019

Another week another cross race in the Tulsa area.

This week we ventured to Chandler Park in North West Tulsa. The park sits on top of a hill but fortunately the course was mostly flat. 

We had a significant amount of rain on Thursday and Friday. This for me is always a worry with regards to riding off road, as the ground here has lots of clay in it, so it doesn't drain well and as it starts to dry out it gets super tacky.

The course

The course was around 1 mile in length. The start was not part of the main course, we started on a paved section with a 90 degree left turn into a hill where we cut out a section of course on the first lap. 

From the finish line we headed into a 180 degree left hand turn and back slightly up hill to a 180 degree right which was squared off. There was then bumpy down hill section into a left and slightly uphill section. We then did some weaving in and around an open area before a drop down then climb back up. Next was the first wooded section with more twists and turns before we hit a little singletrack section then it was out across a long power sapping straight, through a chicane and ditch and into some more woods. We twisted and turned in the woods then popped out onto a paved section of trail before a short climb into an off camber section of the course before a big mud section and onto the finish straight.

Fiona's race 

Fiona was the only girl present in her age group and got to start with the boys in the Junior 9-14 age group. She got a good start but was at the back of that group by the first turn. 

Due to the drying nature of the course the juniors got the short end of the course, the mud was as tacky as it would get all day. 

The mud Fiona was dealing with. 

Fiona plugged away at the course but was having to walk a couple of sections, due to mud build up. 

Cheering her on whilst she rode the course. 

Maybe next year we will get her on a cross bike which should cut through the mud a little better. 

She completed one lap and was pulled, it had taken her 18min. 

Finish line and exhausted

On the plus side though, she did make the top step of the podium and at this race she actually won money. 

Podium :)

My Race

Once the call up's were out of the way, I was on the second row we were off. The charge down the course to the first corner was as frantic as ever and I hung back a little to avoid any pileups. We crossed up and over the little hillock and joined the main course, through the mud holes and across the finish line it was all pretty frantic for the first part of the lap as people jostled for position. I was sitting around 15th place I think but the guys on the front hadn't dropped us yet, that soon changed though. 

I got behind a guy and we rolled around the course, the guy wasn't going as quickly as I wanted to so I put a little effort in and passed him. Over the course of the next nine laps to the finish I proceeded to pick my way through the field ahead of me. My legs felt good throughout the race and I found the course fun to ride, it wasn't technical and there was no dismount to deal with. It was a lot easier than what Fiona had to race on that is for sure. 

In the end I was out sprinted and ended up in 8th place, which I am totally stoked with. 

Seth beating me into 8th Place

Unfortunately I can't make the next race but I am looking forward to the final round of the series in Stillwater. Hopefully my legs feel as good as today and I can get another top 10 position. 

Also Amanda filmed most of my race, here it is.

The Strava

Rock the Mohawk- OKGPCX - 20th October 2019

This weeks exciting cross race was held in Mohawk park in Tulsa. Read all about last weeks race here. 

The course

I really enjoyed the course, it reminded me of the courses I used to race in Alaska at Kincaid park.  We started partway around the course so I will do the course description from the finish line. 

From the finish line we had a couple of 180 degree turns then a run up with railway sleepers to force the run up. Next it was into a 90 degree right and then a 180 degree left onto an off camber section with sweeping turns onto a straight paved section (this was where we started). After the straight we turned back through some fast turns under some big trees. Next was a 180 degree turn into an off camber section with a few more 90 degree turns for good measure.
Following this there was a short flat section with some more 90 and 180degree turns into a short climb with a 180 degree turn before dropping into a sand pit. A few more sweeping turns, into another 180 turn, then onto a bridge and we hit some singletrack before heading into more tight turns up and down a small incline then it was through a couple of small ditches before a few more tight turns under trees and around to the finish line. 

Fiona's Race

Fiona didn't have a good day, I think that she overheated but she could also be fighting a bug of some sort. She wasn't feeling great before the race and toughed out one lap then called it a day. It was so sad to see how upset she was at the end. I'm just proud she started. 

My Race

I was not expecting much from this race, I have had a few heavy days of training on Thursday, Friday then on Saturday I rode the G3 race 3 (read about it here). I did manage to get a preride of the course in and I'm glad I did, at least knowing there was a singletrack section helped. They did the call ups for the riders with the most points so far in the series and we filled in the space after this. Then we were off. I was not trying for the wholeshot (who am I kidding I don't have the legs for that). But come the end of the first straight I was somewhere near the back. 

I spy pink socks

I think I am in 19th here

We hit the off camber section where someone ahead of me (Cody I think) hit the deck. We all managed to get past him ok and soon enough we were into the sand section. I had tried and failed to ride this in practice but thinking what a shit show it was likely to be in lap one I wasn't to worried about riding it. Coming into the sand I saw an opening, I chanced my luck at riding it and passed around 3 people, I was now feeling pretty good about riding the sand.

I was pushing pretty hard to stay ahead of the guys behind me and lost the wheel of the guy in front of me, oh well. Next was the singletrack section and as we left that I had lost the guys behind me but still not caught the guys in front. I was then passed by Cody, I guess don't leave any opening as people will take that gap. I chased hard but didn't want to go to deep to early. 

Chasing always chasing
this is the start of lap 2 I think

I chased hard and caught back up to people just after we went up the steps for the first time. I did almost hit the deck though going up the steps. 

Feeling good

Oh no miss step

Lets hope this works

Sometimes you get lucky

On lap two I was getting into my stride and passed a couple of people, I passed a couple more on lap three. When I passed Sheridan, I'd forgotten that there was a hole on the course on the side I was going to pass him on, fortunately I was able to bunnyhop it. My race seemed to go pretty well after this.

Sure my dismount technique is still terrible. 

Hand order Nick! 

but I at least still use my tongue to balance. 

Tongue balance is key!

I was able to ride the sand on all but the last two attempts and I loved the corners. I ended up in 12th place which is way better than I was expecting. I think on less tired legs I could have made the top 10. I will say that I was fortunate that Seth hit the deck on the last lap as I was unsure I was going to be able to catch him. 

It is horns up for Oklahoma isn't it?

Horns Up for Oklahoma right?

Go me 12th place

The Strava

G3 Race 3 - Guthrie to "Luther" and back

It's G3R3 report time, catch up on race two here and race one here

This weeks race seemed to come around really quickly, I have been slowly ramping up my training for Landrun double, mileage tracking can be found here. This means I have had a pretty heavy tail end of the week for me.

Thursday was running intervals followed by two hours of zone 2 on the bike. Friday was an "Easy" long run though it didn't feel that way.

As we lined up at the start of the race I wasn't sure how my legs were going to respond. I was excited to try and ride with John Lynn who was down from Colorado to see his son. We rolled together through the neutral roll out then the pace increased and that was the last I saw of John :)

John is in that front group... Bye John :) 

My legs were feeling pretty good though and I settled into a tempo ride. Fortunately for me Jeremy Black was there with me and we rolled out a good pace. With a couple of ladies (Heather and Rhonda) and one other guy.

Love riding with Jeremy :)

Allowing others to lead :)

After a few miles in we caught up with a group whom had turned the wrong way? I have no idea to be honest but there were four guys and they pulled away from Jeremy and I along with the other three riders. I chose to maintain my pace rather than go into the red so early in the race. Then I had to stop to pee, Jeremy choose to stop and adjust layers and we rolled on together after being passed by multiple people.

The roads were great though, as we were flying down one of the many inclines we came to a corner, as we rounded the corner the road became really soft. There were a group of riders stopped aiding another rider. I later found out that it was a teammate Aaron who had gone down in the sand and unfortunately broken (smashed) his collar bone. I hope you recover quickly Aaron.

We continued cruising around and before we knew it we were at the aid station at the vineyard. We stopped to get some water, not that I really needed it. Then we were off riding through a loop of the vineyard before hitting the roads again.

Well I have never done this

Fun with friends

As we headed north there was very little wind and we were once again riding great. The roads were pretty and the company fun. Before to long we were crossing a walk section on the a bridge. I once again needed to pee, WTF body? I had hardly drunk anythink. Oh well Jeremy, soft pedalled and I caught up with him removing vegetation from his derailleur.  We continued on and then on one of the hills we caught up with Jackie Chastine. She had had an off earlier in the course and seemed frustrated and a little dazed. We rode with her for a few miles before she told us to go on.

A few more hills and a long headwind section and we turned back west.

I was having a blast! 

That lovely red dirt

More straight roads for a change

Cool b road

Always having fun

We were flying and catching and passing people. It was a lot of fun. Then on one of the descents which was particularly rough I heard a rim strike. I thought I had gotten away with it but a few miles on the front tyre was very soft. I waved Jeremy on and added some air. Around 1/2  a mile later is was soft again. I threw a lot more air in and continued on my way. Then I came across Jeremy and Corey who were fixing Corey's tyre. At this point I decided to put a tube in my tyre as it was soft again. I couldn't see any leaks and still had sealant in the tyre so am at a loss as to what is going on with it. Oh well that is to work out for another time. A huge thanks to Jeremy who loaned me a CO2 and inflater as I had failed to pack my CO2 inflator.

Flat fixing club

By now I had a tail wind and was enjoying the last few miles back to the finish, my legs felt fantastic and I'm sure without the flat I could have caught a few more people.

I passed Corey who had gone flat again, he had already called in a ride so refused to take my offer of another inner tube. 

I crossed the finish line and got to have a chat with teammates and friends who had also completed the race. Then I was off home to check on the beautiful Amanda who has unfortunately got Shingles. TLC is the order of the afternoon. 

Tomorrow I get to race CX again!

Results 

I will add later.

The Strava

Foster Cross - OKGPCX - 13th October 2019

I got to race my first Cyclocross race in Oklahoma!!!!! 

A little background

Cyclocross in Alaska was so easy, ok not the racing but the locations and access. It was and still is a seven race series mostly in town.... I didn't realise how lucky I was up there. Throwing back to 2018  in Oklahoma, unfortunately I didn't make any of the 2018 series. Why? Mostly due to not having a USA cycling licence.  But also having to take Fiona with me but not having a network of friends yet to look after her whilst I raced. 

This year I am going to try and get to a couple of the races, CX is about the most fun you can have on a bike, and all in a spectator friendly environment. 

Foster Cross 

This was the second round of the OKGPCX series, it was held in Stroud which is around 60min from where I live. 

The course was a fun one, I have been told by many people in Alaska, some of the courses we rode in Alaska for CX were not really true cross courses as they were more mountain bike courses. I was fine with this to be honest. 

The course today was flat and had some fun albeit short technical sections. The sand section was around a set of swings, it totalled 25' not 1/4 of a mile like Goose lake, or the dune of doom at Jodhpur  :) There was no river crossing and the course was dry and dusty, I'm sure if it had rained it would have been a totally different course. 

The course started off on a road/gravel section on the dam, then it was a slight uphill across the finish line before dropping onto grass and a sandy right hand off camber turn, next was a right around a tree then into the sand pit. We then crossed a ditch before some tighter turns under trees with a couple of roots thrown in for good measure. Through another little ditch then a fast section looping back around a couple of times before a set of barriers at a deeper ditch. Then there were the up and down sections around trees and back towards the lake. One of these turns I dismounted for as it was way easier to run over the roots and up the little incline than riding it. There was one more tight turn before we dropped down onto the dam. The lap was around 1 mile long and took me around 5:40 to complete. 

I race in the Cat 3, there are some really fast people in Cat 3, then there is me :) Some people should probably be Cat 1 looking at the lap times from that race and the Cat 3 race but, it is what it is. 

The munckin's race 

Fiona raced the 9-14 juniors race, she took last place but finished with smile and had a good time I believe. Her warmup was on the play area 

Warmup sure that'll work

As the 13 and 14 year olds tore up the course she just pedalled her way around mostly smiling. 

Lap 1

Lap 2 about 1/2 way around. 

The kid who won, put it lap times similar to mine, yes I'm that slow. 

Check out those lap times

My Race

The kids race finished and then it was my turn. The Cat 3 and 4 race. Due to looking after Fiona I had yet to ride any of the course. We set off at mach 1 and in a blink of an eye we were at the sand pit for the first time. I was pretty sure I could ride it, though on the first lap with so many people I decided to run would be safer, sure enough someone went down. I did mostly ride the sand for the remaining laps even though I am not sure it was faster. 

The pace was relentless, I had forgotten how at CX its full gas all the time. I did my best to cheer on my fellow teammates who were ahead of me as we passed by each other at different parts of the course. The grass felt so slow, yes i know it's the same for everyone but I am pretty sure I have less power than many on the course. 

I did have a lot of fun and really enjoyed the technical sections, especially once I had figured out some of the lines. I'm definitely out of practice with dismount/remount and barriers. I am sure that many here from Cat3 up jump the barriers but today that wasn't really an option due to the barriers being at a ditch. 

I finished in 18th place but didn't get lapped. My lap times were fairly consistent, I just ran out of gas on the last lap, especially when I realised I wasn't going to be lapped. I potentially could have caught/stayed ahead of Brandon but he was killing me on the fast sections but I was faster through the technical sections. 

Consistent for me lap times

All in all a fun race, I hope to make a few more of the series as we go through the season.  

Communication with photographers is key whilst racing.
- PC Kris Stephens

The Strava!

G3 Race 2 - Guthrie to Crescent and back

If you haven't had time to check out my blog on G3R1 then head over here

G3 race two took us a little north from Guthrie to Crescent and back to Guthrie. The course contained a few more hills and was around 65miles in length.

My Race 

We started at 8am and rolled as a group for the first 4.5ish miles. This was because there was a one lane section of highway over the Cimarron river which was traffic light controlled. 

Waiting to go

It was a long wait

After we eventually got a green light we cruised a little more pavement then turned into a headwind section on more pavement before we hit the gravel. Not long after hitting the gravel I was dropped.... :) 

Bye bye

Yep not fast enough

So long lead riders

I probably could have worked a little harder to try and keep up with the front group but for once I did the smart thing and let them go. This was a really good decision on my part as it meant I didn't cramp up for the race and had power through the whole race. 

After the front group had gone we formed a nice group on the road and the miles were flying by...

Enjoying the smooth dirt

Sun finally came out

Oh no back to showers

The pace was good probably due to the tail wind really :) and we were working well together. a couple of faster riders passed us not long after this and a couple of the group jumped on their wheels and left our group. Oh well we were still doing great. We were now at the far north of the course where there was a little mud followed by a long section into a headwind on a soft road. 

No walking but it could have been much worse

Woo hoo headwinds

Jeremy and I split the work on this section, I was very thankful to have a teammate and strong rider with me it made a huge difference to my workload. 

Drafting Jeremy

After we turned off this road we were into Crescent and our aid station. We stopped and filled up bottles then headed out of town. There were four of us together at this point. Jeremy and I were doing most of the work into the wind but its all good training right? 

Next up was the hilly section of the course. I actually got to see what climbpro on my Garmin Edge 530 looks like. It is a great tool . 

Climbpro

Real life view when not staring at the screen. :)

We conquered two of the three climbs before hitting the pavement section again, we had caught up with a couple of riders on this part so four became 6 as we rode the headwind paved hill. Jeremy and I once again took turns to pull the group along. 

Oh highway miles :(

Getting a tow from Jeremy. 

After this long section (or so it felt) of highway we hit the dirt again. 

Smiles again on the dirt. 

We then dropped down a closed to vehicles road and crossed a bridge before climbing up on the final climbpro climb of the day. The course was definitely more technical for around a mile. I tried to video it but alas my phone wouldn't start recording. We went in as 6 people and came out as Jeremy and I, mountain bike skills pay off I guess. :) 

Here we go

It got way more fun further on the trail. 

We were now 53miles in and I was loving it. We repeated a little bit of the previous course, stopped at the aid station after the field section and were informed that we were probably top 20. At this news Jeremy and I decided to get going before the people following us caught up. We headed out down the farm track and onto the pavement for a mile before getting back on dirt. At this point, Jackie and Gabriel caught back up to us. We cruised the dirt, crushed the pavement section then enjoyed the last dirt into town. Back to civilisation and obviously we got stopped at the traffic light after the hill. We waited and waited then Jeremy jumped the red whilst the rest of us waited. We finally got a green and finished off the ride. 4hrs 18min and an average speed of 15.1MPH. I'm super happy with that as I felt way better at the end of the ride than I did a the end of  race 1.  

The Strava