Sarah Robles showed somebody she could do it
photo by NBCOlympics.com
As for the cycling, it was really great racing all the way around. You could not ask for a better road race course in my opinion. It had flat sections, crosswinds, cobbles, climbs and tricky descents. I like seeing tough courses for such big events. A course that takes out the top riders in the world with fatigue and single-person crashes is, in my opinion, one fit for the Olympics or a World Championship. I like to see those riders challenged just like I enjoy being challenged in big events myself. The crashes show how hard they were pushing for a medal. The crash by Annemiek van Vleuten was a scary one as she was motionless on the ground after crashing into a curb while leading the Women's Road Race on the final descent. The Time Trial was also very exciting with Fabian Cancellara taking gold in his final season and American Krisitn Armstrong winning her third straight gold medal.
Kristin Armstrong gave everything. She even had a nose bleed during the race.
Photo by CyclingTips.com
BMX is always exciting and this year we were treated to an American victory in the Men's event with Connor Fields taking home gold. On the track, there were several world and Olympic records broken. The British men's team pursuit was ridiculous to watch. They are machines! There was also a crazy crash in the women's Keirin where Dutch rider Laurine Van Riessen rode the vertical wall along the top of the track to avoid the accident. It was awesome skills displayed in the heat of the moment. The picture below is amazing. There is video of it posted here. It's not the first time a wall ride has been used on the track, but it's still awesome every time I see it happen. I think I could get into track racing. I'm not a sprinter, but the intensity of the races looks very fun. Sometimes I do get bored with riding 50 minutes in a pack in a crit. waiting to race out the last five laps. Why not just hammer five laps?! I wish we had a track near middle Tennessee. I would for sure give it a try.
Wall ride by Laurine Van Riessen
The mountain bike course was disappointing as usual for a World Cup-level event, but at least it was better than London. I absolutely hate how our sport has become shaped by the desire to get more spectators. Courses are shortened for more watching opportunities and for TV coverage. I am all about getting more people involved in the sport, but watching people ride around open fields is not what I feel the general public is interested in. I believe old school mounntain bike courses made for better racing. Good racing will bring in the spectators. We should not be trying to manufacture excitement. It's already there. It is common now to see man-made obstacles added to courses. Rio had many rock gardens, but most of them were put together in such a way that it required very little skill to navigate them. They were more like rock ramps. These are the best riders in the world, give them a section that requires them to pick a line and be creative with the line choices. Bike technology keeps getting better yet our courses still favor a hardtail.
With all that being said, the riders did a great job of putting on a show on such a boring course. I have always been a Jenny Rissveds fan as she has some great skills. I was glad to see her win gold. I also like Nino Schurter so it was cool to see him finally get a gold medal. It was the only title Nino was missing. I was disappointed for Peter Sagan. The guy started near the back and was up to the top five after the start loop! He was clearly on good form, but had a flat front tire at the end of lap 1 that ended his hopes of a medal. I don't think he would have beat Nino, but I would loved to have seen what he could do without that flat tire. Same for Marco Fontana. He looked to be on good form, but he too flatted at the end of the first lap.
Jenny Rissveds leading Jolanda Neff
Photo by Rio2016.com
Some other things I found interesting about the Olympics were all the protests. I understand the frustration of the people in Brazil who are not being paid by their government. It sounds like Brazil was not in a financial position to be spending the crazy amount of money required to host the Olympic Games. But the protests should be directed toward the government, not the athletes. The athletes are trying to bring the world together, the only time we are even remotely close together every four year span. It was sad to see people trying to extinguish the Olympic flame and jumping the fence at the end of the Women's marathon to try to knock down the runners so they could be on TV for their protest. It happened several times in the closing miles of the race. Luckily, none of the athletes were really affected by the idiots. I am fine with protesting, but do it with some class and sensibility. Those two attributes seem to be missing in the world these days. I just don't understand how knocking down a runner from Namibia really does anything to effect the Brazilian government.
As for my racing, after the weekend of training I was out on Wednesday night for my last race prep before the Tennessee Mountain Bike State Championship coming on the weekend. I've lost track of what round we are on at the Music City Crits Series now after all the rain changes and make-up dates, but I believe this was Race #9. Rain was again a threat, but it only sprinkled on us during the race. I felt good early in the race which was held on the original course with the two 180-degree turns, but I was sitting too far back. I wanted to get in some efforts tonight, but nothing too difficult, so I stayed at the back to keep myself from being tempted to go with any moves off the front. The pace was very high the first 10 minutes and I found myself behind several big gaps, the last of which I could not close.
At 12 minutes, I was off the back and struggling to get to a chase group. I suffered like a dog, yo-yoing off the back of the chase group for 10 minutes before finally getting back to them and pulling through a few times. The peloton let a break go and then slowed down. After chasing for almost 15 minutes, we got back on. My stomach hurt the rest of the race despite it being much cooler on this night. I just had a bad day and could do nothing more than hang on the back. I got dropped at two laps to go and ended up about 1/2 a lap behind at the finish in 24th place. After looking at my numbers, I could clearly see I am tired. The focus now became to get as much rest as possible for Sunday's State Championship and hope for the best.
The Lock 4 weekend included a short track race Saturday afternoon. I had no intentions of doing a race the day before the State Championships so I rested at home. It rained most of Friday night and Saturday, making for a muddy short track. It was a good one to miss. The grass field at Lock 4 just turns into a bog with that much rain. I thought the trail would be okay on Sunday, but then we got a lot more rain on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. In total, 3.5 inches fell in the three day period. I was still planning to do the race, but just as I was about to leave the house, I read that they were going to shorten the course to a 1.5-mile loop, made up of the already-destroyed short track course along with two short loops on the trail. The reason for this was to save the trails as they were too muddy to ride. I was already not happy that we were racing on a shorter XC course to "be like a World Cup" so this change made me even less interested. I know the two trail loops used for the race handle water better than the rest of the loop, but if it's too muddy for the trail then it's too muddy for the trail. I don't really understand why you would want to do so many more laps on one section versus spreading out the use to the whole loop. The change killed my interest and I decided to stay home. They only raced 12 miles for the Pro/Cat. 1 championship, hardly worth destroying your bike for.
Scenes from some recent evening road rides
Shannon and I rode the tandem for the first time since the CRAM ride back in May instead of doing the Lock 4 race. It was fun to get back on it and riding with her. I need to be pushing that heavy tandem around more often. Missing Lock 4 allowed me to rest more and it may have actually helped me get ready for the end of the season. I felt much, much better at Music City Crits Race #10 the following Wednesday night. I not only stayed up front, but I went off the front several times in the last third of the race. I gambled at two laps to go by following a move that was attempting to bridge to a group that was just off the front. I had hoped to ride wheels across to the group, then go on my own on the final lap, but it didn't work out that way. My attack companions decided to sit up before we caught the break and I was forced to make a split-second decision. Go on my own and maybe make it across, or slow down and ride the wheels which would definitely not get me across the gap. I decided to go for it, but I didn't make it across to the group and was caught just before one lap to go on the kidney bean course. I had given my all at this point and dropped through the pack like a rock, finishing just on the back in 25th. The gamble didn't pay off, but there may come a day when it does. I was just happy to be there and able to go off the front after the way my last few crit races have gone.
My original plan for the last weekend of August was to do the River Gorge Omnium in Chattanooga. With my crit. speed lacking and me wanting to ride my mountain bike, I decided to go to Indianapolis, IN for the DINO Series finale instead. I have only raced one DINO Series race, which was earlier this year at North Vernon. I liked the race and it had some good competition so I wanted to do another one. This race was held at Southwestway Park, which is just two miles from where Cousin Sarah lives, so we had a free place to stay. It worked out well as it made for a cheaper trip and we got to see Sarah for the first time in about a year.
Rain was again a problem. Indy got several rounds of storms at the end of the week and one big shower Saturday around lunch time. We decided to stay home and ride the road instead. It had rained at home too so mountain biking was not an option anywhere. They ended up cancelling all pre-riding at Southwestway and instead worked on trail drainage. All their work paid off as the trail was great on Sunday! Dina went with us and we were both surprised to find fairly dry trails on Sunday morning. We didn't get to ride the whole course, but I liked what I saw The first mile was dry. It had a nice climb on an open powerline, followed by a fun descent back to the start area with many big berms and jumps. You then did a second loop on the south side of the park, this one starting along the edge of the hillside above the river. Then you looped back in the river bottom on a flatter trail before climbing back up to the start area. The third and final loop took you back to the river bottom where there was some mud, then along a flat levy before the final climb on some technical singletrack. It was then tight, twisting trail back to the finish. The cloverleaf design of the course made for great spectating. It was a short loop at just 5.75 miles.
We rode the first and third loops before the race. I was excited as I felt good and really liked the tightness of the final loop. I was confident I could do well today. We had 12 Pro/Elite riders on the start line for four laps. That's the biggest group I have raced with all season. And it was a stacked field with some fast boys on the start line. I ended up having to start on the second row and found myself 11th going into the singletrack. I am very good at picking the slowest rider to start behind. I was blocked in across the first field and never even had a chance to improve my position.
The start was fast. I did not try to move up quickly, rather just settled in and tried to keep from blowing up on the first lap. It was a hot morning and I was a little afraid of making my stomach hurt like it has at the recent crit races. The slick corners claimed several victims on the first few downhills. That opened up gaps in the line, but also made for some easy passes for me. I moved up to 6th by the end of the lap and only had to sprint past two people along the way. The first time down the hillside along the river was a little scary. We were going really fast and there were a few corners where you could use a parachute if you go over the edge. After lap 1, Andrew Dillman was out front by about 45 seconds over a chase group of four riders. I was about 10 seconds behind those four running in 6th.
Riding a berm on lap 2
photo by Dave Tozer
photo by Dave Tozer
Saw lots of this today
photo by Dave Tozer
The chase group blew apart before I could get there and I found myself still chasing all the way through lap 2. We got into lapped traffic just halfway through lap 2. We were turning laps around 24-26 minutes so it was bound to happen with so many riders on the course. Cat. 2 classes also started in our wave. I had a hard time getting past the Cat. 2 Women in the tight final loop. There just wasn't a lot of room for them to get out of the way. Most of them stopped before getting out of the trail so I lost a lot of time in that last mile, losing 50 seconds this lap as compared to lap 1. I did manage to pick up a position though as the rider I was chasing this lap crashed. I think he was pushing it too hard to try to get away from me through the traffic.
So I was up to 4th now at the halfway mark. I went really hard on lap 3 to try to get across to two riders that were together just 45 seconds ahead. Again, there was heavy traffic. I crashed in the river bottom on the third loop of the course. There was a lot of shallow mud in the corners before the levy. I lost traction in one turn and spun off into the bushes. I put my foot down and still kept sliding. I did about a 270-degree turn and backed off into the bushes. It was probably the closest I have ever been to completing the splits. I was back up quick and didn't lose a spot, but it kept me from passing a big pack of Cat. 2 riders on the levy. I instead had to pick them off one at a time in the tight singletrack.
Starting lap 3
photo by Dave Tozer
photo by Dave Tozer
Despite my struggles with traffic and the fall, I was still just one minute back from 2nd and 3rd. I was running out of steam though. I could tell I didn't have the best legs today. I was strong, but the legs didn't last. One rider nearly blew my helmet down over my face when he came flying by on the first climb on lap 4. The guy came by so fast I thought he had a motor! I was tired, but I was still going fast and he absolutely blew me away on the climb. That dropped me back to 5th and I held that the rest of the lap to the finish. It was a very fun race, but a course that required more power than I expected. I need to work on my strength for these more modern power courses. It was a super fun trail and I will definitely be back in the future. I really liked hitting the biggest jump on the first downhill. I had trouble clearing it when we rode before the race start, but I cleared it every lap in the race. I even threw a big whip with a look-back on lap 3. There was a crowd there so hopefully somebody got a picture.
Finishing at Southwestway
Photo by Dave Tozer
I ended up 7th overall out of all the classes. DINO does payout for overall times. Seventh place is way back, but I still got paid with a really nice check that covered our trip. The DINO races are great. They have good promoters, great payout, good class sizes and, at least in Elite, great depth and competition. This was the toughest group of Pros I raced all season. That's what I need to push me to the next level so I will definitely be coming to more DINO races next season.
Dina raced in the later race. It was super hot by that time, but she was able to throw down and win the Base Women's race. She took the lead on the first powerline climb, then opened up a 45-second gap on the downhill with the jumps and berms. She pulled away the rest of the race, winning by nearly ten minutes! Great job Dina! It was her first XC win. Below are some pictures I took during the second wave races, which included Base, Intro, Junior and Fatbike classes.
Dina climbing to end the second loop of the course
Dina
Base Women 19-29 podium with Dina on top
Below is a short video we shot while at the race.
Video: DINO Southwestway Park
Next up is the Gateway Cup in St. Louis. It'll be my last big road event of the season. I'm hoping for some good form as I have been resting for it, but either way I am going for fun. I have a totally different outlook on crits this year. Whether I finish 4th or 84th, I will be happy with the result as long as I have a good time out there during the race.
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