USGP Louisville - Day 1

    A week after DGD, it was onto skinny tires in Louisville, KY for the USGP of Cyclocross. The big races are definately my thing. You get to race people you don't normally race, the crowds are huge, and there usually isn't the high school drama that comes with a weekly crit. series. I like to travel so it all works out to the good.

    The USGP straight-up kicked my ass last year. I was burned out and had a terrible weekend of riding around by myself off the back listening to people shout a bunch of crap about how they think they could do better. I did not prepare for this year's event at all. The cross bike had only been off the hook three times prior to being put on the car rack to make the trip north.

    Our weekend started with a late night drive up to Louisville after work on Friday. We rolled into the hotel well after midnight to find an empty reception desk. To make a long story short, we looked for anybody that resembled the host for over an hour. Kaylee finally stumbled on the guy sleeping on a cot in a back room. She beat on the wall to wake him up. When he emerged from his cot cave, we realized why he had not heard us walking around. Dude's eyes were as red as a firetruck. And I believe he may have been burning enough grass to need a firetruck a few hours earlier. He couldn't even hand me my receipt. We were pissed about it, but started to laugh by the time we got to our room. You always get a good story from a road trip. We proceeded to call Mr. Stoner about every 5 minutes until 3am. He never answered, and probably didn't even hear it ringing, but it sure made me laugh to think we were waking him up!

     After a hearty breakfast of blueberry muffins smashed up in Frosted Flakes and waking Mr. Stoner up again so some peeps could check out, it was off to Eva Bandman Park to see the new race course. I passed on the Danish treats as I still had a sugar hangover from DGD.

     The new course was cool. I liked it way better than the old one. Eva Bandman has more elevation change, some woods, and it is sort of techincal. Looking around at the place, I could see a lot of versatility and I think this will be a great place to have the World Championships in 2013. The only problem I saw was parking. The amount of people on hand for the USGP is a mere drop in the bucket compared to what will be there for Worlds. Most people had to park somewhere in the back 40. We were lucky enough to find a space on the shoulder of the road within sight of the park.

Got some crash pics during the 2/3 race. Here's a first-lap endo at the barriers.

    After watching the Cat. 2/3 race and scoping some of the course, it was back to the car for a tire change. Got in a new rear tire from Maxxis and slapped that puppy on just to feel better about flat protection. The course was dusty and traction wouldn't be a big deal on a worn tire, but we had driven too far to risk a flat. You only get one shot in cross. I did a very long warm-up on the road and on the course. My first lap on the course was sketchy to say the least. I felt very out of control and uneasy, especially in the final wooded section that had several steep descents with off-camber corners at the bottom. I told myself to stop being a bitch and just ripped it the second lap. The increased speed made everything feel much smoother and made me more confident.

The Elite Women pass the pits

    I drew a nice starting spot of 36th out of 83 riders. That alone had me pumped for the start. I had no real ambitions except to hang on as long as possible. It was a very short course so I knew I'd get lapped early on. I didn't care if I got dropped like last year, just so long as I didn't have empty legs like that. It's a really bad feeling when you get the empty legs on a day when you're on display to the sponsors. We had a tire check before the start. I had no idea that there was a new UCI rule about max tire width. It's now 33mm.  My tires say 35mm on the side, but thankfully they passed inspection by the slimmest of margins. The guy actually had to hit the template to make it fit, but it did go on and they let me roll up to the line. My spare tires are wider so I know they aren't legal.

    My heart rate was thumping as we were given 15 seconds to go until the gun. I looked down just as the shot rang out to see 142 on my heart rate monitor. How's that for nerves?!! The start was retarded to say the least. It's amazing how 83 riders can build up to 30+mph in just a few meters when they're only inches off each other. Somebody caught a wheel in the first turn and bodies began to fly. I was in a good spot and had time to react. Locking up the brakes for a split second allowed the falling riders to slide across in front of me. I made it through, but lost a lot of positions to riders who took the inside and missed the carnage completely.

    I knew it was dusty, but I never thought we would be riding blind. It was literally like being in the dark. The only thing I could make out was the back of the rider directly in front of me. I just followed him and hoped he didn't hit anything big. You couldn't see the barriers at all. I just jumped when the other guys jumped. Things were still a jumbled mess when we hit the first sand pit. I piled into some fallen riders and ended up going under the camera scaffolding, getting my bike tangled up in the tape. I was pretty much at the very back after I got out of that mess. The first time next to the pits was crazy as you couldn't see the pit lane divider through the dust cloud. Guys were going through the pits because they couldn't see. It was like "What's that red thing up there? Oh damn! It's the SRAM service car!"

The barriers on lap 1. I'm barely visible back there between number 52 and 54.

Feeling the good hurt.

    I hung on the back for a few laps, shuffling positions with the same few riders over and over. I didn't care though. It was so great to be racing someone this year, even if it was for 65th place! The course was good for me in many ways, but the dusty was so deep in the turns that there was really only one line. Deep dust settled on the outside of the turns and had the feel of sand which prevented any passing except on the straightaways.

     My legs were awesome! Definately the best I had felt all season. My max heart rate this year has been 191. I hit that twice for a mere second. Both times came in a sprint finish of a crit. where we went wide-open the last 4 laps and I had a hell of a day (won one of them). In other words, I can't hold  a pace that high for very long at all. This race punched holes in my lungs as I held over 190 for more than 5 minutes and topped out at 192 for 35 seconds! Those are killer numbers for me. Finishing in 61st and getting lapped after 24 minutes was not a bad day at all. That just shows you how f-ing fast these boys are. I was giving it 110% and watching them ride away.

          The final section is what destroyed me every single lap. There were three very short power climbs that came one after the other. I was fine with one of them, but three pushed me over the edge and I had to recover in the next section. By coincidence, I have worked on short power hills the last few weeks with Adam and Keith. It definately made a difference, but I still have a ways to go. I feel fast enough to hang with nearly everyone at the race in each section seperately, but I can't put them all together.

     You couldn't wipe the smile off my face! It was so much fun to get out there and race with the best cross riders in the States. Got to say thanks to all the people that cheered me on. It was good to hear my name yelled. I have never tasted so much dirt. I could feel it sticking to my teeth like sugar. Guess that's what happens when you smile in a dust cloud for 20 minutes.

Feeling a little dirty post-race.

     Thanks go out to Kaylee, Marsha Williams, and Marshall Bassett for the pics. Kaylee gets triple thanks for helping me in the pit. This girl is easy to please. You don't have to buy her dinner to get her to help, just let her keep the pit pass!