Frisco Double

Here are my tips for ensuring a "successful" weekend of back to back racing:

1) Despite the fact that it's your anniversary weekend, convince your significant other that what you really have in mind for her is standing outside on 2 very brisk Autumn days while said husband drags his carcass around in circles whilst simultaneously drooling on himself ( from nose and mouth! )

2) Bring hyper-vigilant dog with to ensure that you lack a proper amount of sleep both nights prior to racing. I recommend a terrier mix with bat-like hearing that will alert you to the fact that someone is walking past your room at who know what hour of the night.

3) Make sure you have some minor-crisis during the race to raise the excitement level, because we all know how boring cyclocross can be at times.

4) Drain the battery on the camera and leave the charger at home so no photographic documentation will ever exist

By following the above tips to the letter we had, for sure had an excellent weekend in the high country. Huge props to the fine folks who put on Frisco Cross. The courses were AMAZING and it was nice to participate in an extremely well run event. Registration people were super friendly and thankful to to take my money (vs. some others who view us racers and our cash as a major inconvenience on their weekend morning..no names ) Results were posted immediately following the race. Brats and beers were readily available.

Saturdays course was techy, favoring bike handling skills slightly over fitness. The start was a long straight dragstrip paved incline that dumped us onto a very fast, very loose, woodchippy descent. Without sufficient points status from a late start this season I tried to get up as close as I could to those with a call-up. I had a decent start and was immediately and pleasantly surprised by how good I felt for so little racing and the fact that we were at about 10,000 feet of elevation. The course came off the woodchips and segued into some very sharp, very loose turns, some in dusty loose, dirt, some on pea gravel. I witnessed heaps of crashes and front-end washouts due to the conditions. This race was super fun for me due to some battles with fellow riders, I would gap a group in the technical sections, they would come back strong on the road climb, we were going back and forth like this for about 3 laps, at the 3 to go marker my rear derailleur ingested a stick, I heard that sickening sound of the rear derailleur about to wind itself into the cogset so I immediately back-pedaled which thankfully spat out the stick however my hanger and derailleur were twisted enough to make me think twice about putting out large amounts of power. The cogs were sitting at 15-20 degrees off center, I still could shift but had to be super careful about not sending the cage into the spokes of the wheel. I managed to roll through in 18th place out of about 60 riders. Thanks to the guys at Mafia racing who loaned me a stand and tools to fix my bike post race.

Although Day 2 had a chance of precip, it was not to be for us morning racers. The day was bright and sunny although clouds were moving in fast and the wind had picked up something wicked. Sundays course favored the fit. There was a long, steep,very loose run-up on the backside and still maintained a few of the woodchip descents from Saturday. I had a horrible start. We charged up the pavement again but this time, dove off to the right into a huge pile of woodchips with one or two good lines. Immediately a massive plume of fine dust went up and all lines were obliterated. As soon as we were strung out I felt way too spent to start picking off riders. I was just sitting in trying to compose myself. A few laps in, I started feeling better and would pick my spots to start passing fellow riders. On lap 3 I came around a corner and witnessed what looked to be a handful of riders gathering themselves and leaving the scene of what I assumed was a crash. There was a long piece of tape across the course and I managed to ride myself right into it, It wrapped itself into my front brake, but I was able to easily reach down and give it a good yank. I freed most of it and continued on until I looked down to see the majority of the tape wrapped around my front hub and fork blade. Didn't seem to be impeding progress and I didn't feel like losing time and places so I left it. At one to go, I bridged a gap up to 2 other riders with the clever intention of having them pull me through the long flat section directly into a fierce headwind. I was so smitten with myself and my plan and as soon as we hit the section they both just rode me off their wheel...bummer. I did manage to improve upon the previous day and finished in the 15th spot. Turned out that the piece of course tape that I pulled from my wheel was about 5 feet long!

Great weekend, spectacular scenery, a nice night out with my lovely wife (if you're looking for a fine dining experience in Summit County, go here), good times hanging with my cross family, always good to see to see Matty O, Keller, Pete Webber ( caught up on Maine getaways ), Rich and Brian from Frites and Mayo who said they would return for Sundays race but a no show (Roller Derby get the best of you guys ?)

Thanks for reading, next on the horizon is Boulder #2 at Interlocken
Shotty