Manions Cross... Days 1 and 2

Where to start?

Manions cross was last weekend, the kickoff for the KC cyclo-cross season. I'd say we started off with a bang. The team really stepped up and put on a great party.

Saturday was a chilly and dreary mud fest, which we don't get very often around here, and Sunday was 75 and sunny. And it was f'ing hot in that sun. 

 I raced okay on Saturday. This is my second year as a cat 2 and its hard. Finished 14th out of 17 finishers. Lots of running. I'm not prepared for running. Immediately after finishing I jumped in the car and hauled ass home and them to a wedding in Lawrence.

I was scheduled for early morning volunteer duty Sunday and was up by 7. 

I think the wedding killed me (it was a fun wedding) because by the time my race started I could only muster one lap before exhaustion set it. I was totally spent.

I know I have the makings of a good cross season inside me. I just need to bring it out. Last year we got married in October so I was never fully committed to cross. Now I am and I want to go fast.

Anyway...

How about Garret's performance on Sunday?!?!  People are going to remember that for a long time. The weekend was packed with awesome but his ride may have been tops. 

I can't say enough about the amazing job our team did. Team Colavita / Parisi Coffee gets it done! Of course that would mean nothing if people didn't turn up to race so  local cx community deserves major props for showing up in force. 

I love this town!

Day 2

Putting the cross bike together

It's together. But when I sat on it for the first time it felt awful. Some adjustments need to be made, saddle, bars, what have you, I hope it gets a lot better.

I kind of remember being less than thrilled with the cx bike feel last year so I guess this is about right. Might be time for a change though. 

I had to steal some parts from X's cx bike  to put mine together. It took so long I didn't feel like spending anymore time getting the position right (or taking a picture of the finished product) so I grabbed my road bike and took a spin downtown. 

Planning on attending a cross practice tomorrow, on my cx bike. With a girl! ("Road trip" reference.)

Manions this weekend!

Seat Post

I bought a seat post this evening. For my cross bike. Cross is coming fast so I need to get my bike up and running. 

Went to Volker for the seat post. Felt like forever since I was last there. Nothing has changed. Same faces same vibe same kids (just a bit older), Good stuff. 

After that There was some yard work that needed doing before I could ride. Don't buy a house if you want to get fast. Rent something. That's the key. 

I didn't get around to installing the seat post so rode the single speed for an hour. I'll set up the Cross bike tomorrow in time for cross practice Wednesday. 

I feel totally unprepared for cross but am very motivated to have a good season. 

Gateway Cup Day 4

Wow. What a great weekend. 

Today, for scheduling reasons, I did the 4/5 race instead of the strait up cat 4. I liked my chances at winning. However I noticed a few other familiar faces on the line. Guys who had finished in front if me the previous days were also doing the 4/5.

The course is pretty great. Flat and dynamic, and in the shadow of the Budweiser Brewery. I was digging it. I had a good start but it took 3 laps for my legs to warm up. After that I was always in the top 10. I joined a solo rider for a short lived break (about 1 minute, does that even count as a break?) and then decided to follow wheels to the finish.

This weekend I've discovered that my sprinting skills arn't terrible. Plus today's finish was slightly uphill so that was good. 

My positioning probably should have been better sooner because I had to get creative around the last few turns to have a chance. On the second to last corner I took the inside line and really had to excellerate hard out of it to grab a wheel. I hit the last corner in 5th and finished 5th. The guy who won crushed us. Plus I think he's the same guy who crashed himself out in the first corner of the first lap of the Springfield, mo crit a few weeks ago. I never blogged about that but trust me, it was pretty amusing.  

So that's it. 4 Crits in 4 days. I came in well prepared and had what was easily my best race weekend ever. My racing on a road bike has seen a slow but consistent improvement since I started back in 2009. After this weekend I think I have it in me to be a legit cat 3. 

But I'm sure I can f that up!

Stay tuned.

I have to give a quick shout out to our wonderful friends who let us crash at their place the entire weekend. 3 nights is a lot but they welcomes us with open arms. People can be awesome. 

Gateway Cup day 3

Great race today. My result was just so so. 21st I think. 91 racers. but I was really in the mix. 

The course is a rectangle with a long uphill and a long downhill to the finish. Kind of sketchy but very fun. Two crashes almost took me out but I felt calm all race and paid attention to my surroundings. With two to go I passed where X was spectating and heard her say "perfect!". I was sitting fifth wheel approaching the last lap.

This weekend has been a good learning experience. I've never been this strong at an event this big. Being at the front at the end is Intense.Not getting boxed I'm in a big field is hard. 

I played it pretty well today. As we started the last climb I moved to the right, up next to the curb just behind the front if the group. For a split second I was going to initiate the fireworks but then that young kid from sound pony who I see everywhere this year slid right in front of me. So I waited another few seconds for what felt like the inevitable attack, it came and I responded immediately. That was fun. At the final turn I was maybe 12th. 

Then the long downhill killed me. I gave it everything I had but 145 pounds with compact gearing does not go down hill fast. So about 10 guys passed me. 

And I was just starting to think I was a sprinter. 

X also raced today and did pretty amazing. 13th I think, and her teammate Vanessa Ray won for the second day in a row!

KC in the house!