Self-Flagellation

We’re heading into the first of two consecutive weekends without cyclocross races in the Wisconsin Cycling Association series. The WCA doesn’t schedule against the UCI races in our part of the world. Jingle Cross kicks off tomorrow and a lot of Wisconsin racers will be there. By car, Jingle Cross is only 3 hours from Madison and 4 hours from Milwaukee. An even bigger contingent of Wisconsin racers will be at the Trek Cup in Waterloo next weekend.

My cyclocross season began last Sunday in Milwaukee, but I still have ambitions in the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series. This Saturday I will compete in the 3-hour category of the WEMS race at Silver Lake Park in Kenosha County. Next Saturday I will practice at Greenbush in preparation for the WEMS Championships there on October 7. I will be in Waterloo on Sunday, September 24, to watch the UCI World Cup cyclocross races. I’m still a fan, after all, even if the amateur races at Jingle Cross and the Trek Cup don’t tempt me to participate.

But I really don’t want to go 20 days between my own cyclocross races, so this Sunday I will be in Rantoul IL for Patriot CX in the Heart of Illinois series. And I’m pretty sure I will enter both the open Cat 3 race (10:05 a.m.) and the Masters 40+ race (11:55 a.m.) for a total of 90 minutes of competition. With a high temperature near 90° and almost no shade on the course, Patriot CX should be brutal. I’m counting on that. I expect to go into Sunday with a little fatigue from Saturday’s WEMS race and to come out of it totally whipped. Then, with proper recovery and 2 good weeks of training to close out September, I should be stronger when the WCA season resumes.

2017 Humboldt Park Cyclocross

The old, now grass-covered track at neighboring Bay View High School proved an appropriate place to warm up!

This was a super fun weekend of bike racing! I really enjoyed myself yesterday in the WEMS race at New Fane, and today I had an absolute blast in my cyclocross season debut at Humboldt Park in Milwaukee. I’m in a new subcategory this year and if today’s race was any indication of what is to come, then I expect this to be a great season.

I didn’t win today—I didn’t even make the podium. I finished 7th of 9 in the Masters 35+ Cat 3 race. But that’s OK. I wouldn’t have been competitive in my old race, Masters 50+ Cat 1/2/3. I haven’t lost anything. Today’s race played out exactly as I thought it would. In my own subcategory I always had someone to chase and someone to elude, and I caught the last few guys in the singlespeed and Elite Cat 3 waves that started before me. I got lapped by Cat 1 singlespeed strongman Carlos Casali (Intelligentsia Coffee) near the end of the race and even that was OK because I hung with him for a little while, testing myself. In the end, that’s all I want: people to race with and against … and a little success against racers close to my own ability. That’s not Casali, who won both singlespeed races this weekend and the Masters 35+ Cat 1/2/3 race earlier today. Mark Schultz (Heavy Pedal Velo Club) was today’s winner in Masters 35+ Cat 3. I was sorry to miss Saturday’s WCA series opener, Cross-Shooshko, where Dan Hendricks (unattached) was the Masters 35+ Cat 3 winner. It will be a few weeks before some kind of pecking order emerges and I know who my new rivals are.

Today’s race was dry, warm, and something of a track meet: there were few technical elements to the Humboldt Park course and I enjoyed staying on the gas. We’ll see if my enthusiasm dips when I come up against a twisty course with lots of slick, off-camber turns!

2017 Northern Kettles Fall Epic

The WEMS race at New Fane is one of my “A” races each season. New Fane is the closest mountain bike race course to my home, I practice there frequently, and I have a history of modest success at the Northern Kettles Fall Epic. Today I added to that history, placing 9th out of 30 in the men’s 3-hour open division. I knew in advance that today’s race would feature several very strong riders who missed it last year when I placed 4th, so my goal was to secure a Top 10 finish.

I was outside of the Top 10 for the first half of the race, but I didn’t panic. I remembered that in 2016 I finished Lap 1 in 11th place but moved steadily through the field as the race progressed. Today I finished Lap 1 in 14th! I moved up 1 spot on Lap 2, 1 more on Lap 3, and 2 more on Lap 4. That got me into the Top 10. I jumped up to 9th on Lap 5 and then consolidated my position on Lap 6. The fastest guys were able to squeeze 7 laps into the 3-hour time limit. I was the quickest of the 6-lap finishers. I did slow down slightly with each successive lap, but my main rivals fatigued more dramatically.

Team Pedal Moraine had 7 racers in the men’s 3-hour open division. Matt Millin (2nd) and Matt Grady (6th) joined me in the Top 10. Team Extreme’s John Muraski, a 36-year-old Cat 1 from Campbellsport, took the win.

The Next Generation

Wisconsin’s scholastic mountain bike season kicks off this Sunday at Minooka Park in Waukesha. Competition is open to middle school and high school students, and Washington County has its own team with representatives from different schools in our area. There was a big turnout this evening at New Fane for a practice session that included starts and time on the trails. It was great to see these kids out there while I was tuning up for Saturday’s WEMS race. Go, Washington County Trail Sharks!

Surveying Silver Lake Park

In 2013 I foolishly entered a mountain bike race on trails I had never seen before, and I paid for my mistake with a broken collarbone. It was Treadfest in Lake Geneva, the WORS season finale, and I didn’t attend the pre-ride because I had a cyclocross race that day. Thanks to the broken collarbone, that cyclocross race was my only cyclocross race that season. I was fit and motivated, but I had to wait another year for the results and the category upgrade I know would have come to me in 2013 if not for the injury.

Early this year I pre-registered for the Quicksilver Classic, a new race in the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series (WEMS). The race is scheduled for Saturday, September 16, at Silver Lake Park in Kenosha County. All spring and summer I looked for an opportunity to check out those trails, but other priorities prevailed: I pre-rode for all 6 of my Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) races, I have been to New Fane 10 times in anticipation of next Saturday’s WEMS race, I have been to Greenbush twice in anticipation of the WEMS Championships on October 7. What can I tell you? It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for such a busy race calendar, and the busiest part of my season lies ahead. Today was a rare Sunday without obligations, a perfect time to hit Silver Lake Park … and probably my only opportunity before the race there.

Silver Lake Park has a great trail system. Most of the trails are loops unto themselves, and you might just keep going in circles on one you really like. But the loops also link to other trails and you could ride for an hour or so without covering the same ground twice. Silver Lake rates its loops by rider ability. The easy stuff is really easy—your only danger there is over-cooking corners because they are the only thing trying to slow you down—and the most advanced stuff is manageable for a rider of modest ability. But there are a couple of “gotcha” spots: obstacles that seem to be placed in your way out of malice. I’m glad I saw them today; I’m not sure everyone will see them at race speed.

I concentrated on singletrack today, but there are plenty of gravel park roads, ski trails and other open areas where the WEMS course might run. Today’s exploration wasn’t the best possible pre-ride because I don’t know which sections will be utilized. I’m hoping for the inclusion of those park roads, as they offer some tough climbing on a course that otherwise has only a gentle roll.

Tomorrow afternoon I will spend a couple of hours on the road bike. On Tuesday evening I will host another cyclocross practice at Royal Oaks Park in West Bend. On Wednesday or Friday I will see New Fane one last time before Saturday’s race. My cyclocross season will begin next Sunday, September 10, at Humboldt Park in Milwaukee.

The 2018 WORS Schedule

Works For Me

I have had a Gary Fisher, two Giants, a Raleigh, a Trek, a Diamondback, and a BMC since I declared myself a cyclist. Brand loyalty goes only so far with me and it doesn’t extend to bike manufacturers. All of those bikes were/are good bikes—maybe even great in a couple of cases—but they weren’t unique. They weren’t the only bikes of their kind or so superior to the alternatives that nothing else would suffice.

The same is true for clothing: Bontrager, Canari, Louis Garneau, Pearl Izumi, Performance Bike, Voler … all good. Helmets? I’ve had Bell, Giro, and now Bontrager. They all met the same ANSI/Snell standards for safety. I’ve had 3 pairs of cycling shoes—Pearl Izumi, Diadora, and Shimano—and they all still work fine.

In a sport that engenders passionate and often irrational loyalty to brands or to products whose differences are almost imperceptible, I’m not usually very picky. But I want to mention 3 products that work particularly well for me. They might not work as well for you, but at least consider them if you have similar needs.

There’s probably nothing I recommend more enthusiastically than Continental Gatorskin tires. Hyper-critical reviews will tell you that Gatorskins aren’t especially light (they were never meant to be) and that their rolling resistance compares unfavorably to similar products and that their anti-puncture technology has been superseded by new science. Whatever. They just work. I ride a lot of miles and Gatorskins last and last. They’re an excellent value and they give me a lot of peace of mind on the road. With other tires I expect to get flats, but not with these. Heavy and slow? They got me through 100 miles of Race The Lake at an average speed of 23.5 mph, so again: whatever.

Next on the list: Nuun. I used to be a Gatorade guy and there’s a lot to like about Gatorade. It’s readily available, cheap, and tasty. But it’s also high in sugar and therefore high in calories. I don’t need that; I need hydration. Nuun replaces electrolytes just like Gatorade, but without the belly bloat. It’s also clean and easy to transport: each serving comes in a tablet that dissolves in water. No more messy powder.

Finally, there’s A&D ointment. Yes, the diaper rash stuff. I have found no better chamois creme. Pennies on the dollar when compared to the boutique cremes, generic A&D is available at any drugstore/Target/Walmart. And because it’s just lanolin and petrolatum (Vaseline), you can also use it on cracked hands, chapped lips, rough feet, etc.

That’s what works for me. What works for you?

Future Perfect Indicative

Nino Schurter begins the celebration of a perfect season as he rounds the final turn at Val di Sole.

Call it a character flaw: I am rarely moved to sympathy and still less often to empathy. But today I am genuinely happy for the success of others.

Nino Schurter, for example. The Swiss mountain biker is the defending World Champion and the Olympic gold medalist from last year’s games in Rio. Today he became the first man to sweep a UCI World Cup season. He won the first 5 races in convincing style, so I was worried for him when he seemed unable to shake France’s Stephane Tempier late in today’s finale at Val di Sole, Italy. (You can watch the replay at RedBull.tv.) In a post-race interview Schurter admitted that he isn’t as fresh as he was earlier this season. He couldn’t simply ride away from Tempier, but his well-timed attack on the final climb gave him the victory by a slim 4 seconds. Schurter’s next goal is to repeat as UCI World Champion on September 9 in Australia. I will be rooting for him. No one deserves it more.

I am far below World Cup level, but today’s Under-23 race at Val di Sole included someone I raced against last weekend. Pete Karinen is a 21-year-old Elite (Pro & Cat 1) racer in the Wisconsin Off-Road Series. The WORS season wrapped up in Lake Geneva today, but it probably was the last thing on Karinen's mind as he raced against riders from 22 other nations over in Italy. Karinen, the only American, placed 80th out of 104 starters. Last weekend he and his Broken Spoke teammate Cole House lapped me on the penultimate lap of the Snow Crown STXC race at the Brown County Reforestation Camp. It was a point of pride for me that I didn’t get lapped by any other Elite guys, and that I held off Cole and Pete for so long!

In a couple of years we might see Karinen running with the big dogs at the Elite level of UCI World Cup cross country. American men are not competitive in that company today. But Americans are among the best downhill racers. On Saturday, California’s Aaron Gwin secured the 2017 UCI World Cup downhill title with a win at Val di Sole.

My weekend was very quiet; no WORS finale for me. Saturday turned into a day for chores and I never found time to get on the bike. Today I did a fast 25 miles on the road, solo, cutting the effort short under threatening rain clouds. I would have liked to get on the mountain bike trails today, but I assumed last night’s rain left them too wet to ride. The WEMS race at New Fane is now less than 2 weeks away, so I plan to ride there at least once in the week to come. I’m strong right now and I expect a good performance at New Fane. Whether I finish high in the standings is another matter, as I know this year’s race will attract several strong riders who missed it last year, when I was 4th out of 26.

2017 Reforestation Ramble

Last weekend produced mixed results and mixed emotions. I went up to Suamico on Saturday afternoon with high hopes. In an otherwise unspectacular WORS campaign, surely the Reforestation Ramble would be good to me. It’s a course with few technical challenges and the site of my only two wins as a bike racer. I took 3rd place last year, my fitness is good … what could go wrong?

Well, I could crash. And I did, but it wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t the reason I finished 7th out of 13 in the Cat 2 (Sport) race for men, 50-54. At the midpoint of the 3-lap race, a younger rider who had started in a later wave caught me and misjudged the space he needed to pass safely. We banged handlebars and went down hard. I lost about 30 seconds in the exchange, but my finishing time of 1:27:54.4 was nowhere close to the 1:23:24.6 of age group winner Mike Owens (Colectivo Coffee). I was 54th of 104 overall. There was something missing today. I just wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

Does the answer lie in my Saturday night shenanigans? Maybe I was too serious in my approach to the unsanctioned short track cross country race on the lighted ski trails of the Brown County Reforestation Camp. It was great fun and my ability to stay on the gas for the duration of the race is a good sign that I’m getting fit for the cyclocross season. (The similarities between STXC and cyclocross didn’t go unnoticed: roughly 1-in-5 of Saturday’s competitors were on cyclocross bikes.) But there was a moment late in the race when I wondered whether I were damaging my chances for a good performance on Sunday. At that point I had already passed the point of no return, though, and those doubts didn’t slow me down.

I will slow down this week. Tomorrow’s cyclocross practice will be my only hard effort. I’m going to hit my mileage goal for the year sometime in the next day or two. I need 27 more miles to reach 3,378 this year and 60,000 lifetime. Next weekend I’ll be back on the mountain bike—just to practice, not to race. There’s nothing for me in the WORS finale at Lake Geneva next Sunday. I might use that day to get more familiar with Greenbush, site of this year’s WEMS Championships in October.

Move-In Day

My son Ryan will move into his dorm room today. He graduated from high school in 2016 with a bunch of Advanced Placement credits, then spent the last calendar year commuting to UW-Washington County and UW-Waukesha, and now begins his junior year at Ripon College. Living on his own will be a big step for him … and a big change for the rest of the family. But Ripon is just an hour away and there will be many chances for us to visit each other.

That’s my old Gary Fisher Wahoo in the photo above. It’s the bike on which my passion for cycling began. It was my only bike from 2003 through 2005. I outgrew it as my abilities increased. Ryan grew into it, and I was happy to hand it down. Today it goes off to college too. Ripon is a small school in a small community. There’s probably no better way for Ryan to get around than by bike. But, who knows? Maybe Ryan will come to love cycling for its own sake, not just for transportation. Despite a tiny enrollment of about 800 students, Ripon does have its own cycling team!