Saturday, October 22, 2011

Friday Night Lites Cx

So last Friday after work i ventured up to a local cx race in Wauconda, IL to see how well my form and fitness for cx racing had improved. I was very excited due to the fact that we would be racing at nite under lites and also by using our own lites as well on certain parts of the cx course. I did a pretty decent warm up around the course and on a nice lil gravel road that ran along the course. After warming up i went over to see my friends at SRAM NRS to shoot the shit and check the recommendations on my tire psi. I was pleasantly surprised when i was presented with the offer of racing their Zipp 404 CX wheels...This was just simply an offer i couldn't refuse. At this point i went from regular race mode pumped to super excited to be rolling on premium carbon rims pumped. Having this now in my arsenal i was feeling a little more confident despite knowing i was in for a probable beating....

RACE START...Off we went in a sprint for the first corner trying to grab the holeshot...I came into the corner in 3rd place...I was pretty thrilled, not going to lie. After about 1/4 of a lap and i was in a small selection of about 6 riders as we started to pull away from the rest of the group slowly. The course was wicked fast which made it emulate a criterium instead of a cx race. We had a shortened course for the Friday nite race which was merely a preview to the main event on Saturday. It contained no barriers but only the flyover which was featured in both days of racing...

Now back to the race...After the first lap i was showing my true form and losing ground on the group i was in and the riders behind me were closing in quickly. After being passed by about 3 riders i latched on to one of the guys who had just passed me. We went around the tight corners leading up to the flyover and went over together and completed the next portion of the course which led us under the bridge through tunnel and into an wet off camber section. At the end of that section the course jogged downhill and made a 90 degree left turn. As we were approaching it i was feathering the brakes so i could keep max speed through the slick corner when the worst happened. The guy in front of me who was wearing a Main St Bicycles jersey ate shit in the wet corner and i had no where to go but on my ass with him. Dammit. I knew this was coming. Not to mention i landed on the shoulder i wiped out on at the OUISSSCXC race in DeKalb, IL. Now i was really screwed. I was already losing ground and then i crashed on a previous injury and aggravated it again.

Here we go again...Get up i thought to myself...You have to get back on your bike and keep going...And so i did, but not before getting passed by several people while i was on the ground. I got up soldiered on and chased but with no avail i caught nobody and made up no ground finishing exactly in the same position i was in when i got up off the ground. Briefly after the race finished i packed up my gear, dropped my awesome fast wheels back off with the folks at SRAM and hit the road. When i arrived home i realized that i had somehow lost my cell phone charger when i was changing my clothes on the front seat with the door open...Dammit again....Better luck next time...Maybe tomorrow at the ABD Cycling Cx race in Bartlett, IL. See ya

Haha Vampires

Monday, October 10, 2011

CX ACTION

Here is a shot from yesterdays CX Race and a link to another one...

This photo courtesy of Ed White

And here is a link to an intense action shot on the singletrack climb where i was offered beer on every ascent...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmphotographs/6230910060/in/set-72157627737335963

Here He Comes, Here Come Speed "RAYCER"

This post has been long overdue and now it is time to finally celebrate the birth of my first child.
Raycer Paxton Metz is a miracle in mine and my wifes lives. He was born at 8 lbs 4 oz on September 19th @3:23 pm. He was born with a full head of hair and makes a lot of different looks...Ferrari, Le Tigre, Blue Steel and Magnum as seen below...


Look at all this awesome hair...Rockin out already...



Pretty Legit Huh...So since the conclusion of this pregnancy i have actually been able to ride and train a little bit more.That doesnt make sense i know. Since my road season was a bust i have decided to take a chance at Cyclocross or Cx Racing. I seem to have stumbled into the sport by piecing together a bunch of equipment from my garage and my road bike...Its a bit of a frankenbike...I just competed in my second race yestereday. The first race i did was a 30 min SSCX(Single Speed) Race in DeKalb which ended very abruptly after my chain tensioner failed and i ended up eating shit on the only pavement section on the race.Just my luck. Yesterday was a bit better which was stop #3 in the ChiCrossCup in Chicagos Southside at Dan Ryan Woods. This was my first hour long cx race in several years and i was pretty underwhelmed by my performance or lack there of. My little pet theory is that since i had practically no road season and almost 0 race miles the condition of my legs and lungs are wayyyyyyyyyy behind those of my fellow cx mates in my race. I am really going to focus and dedicate the rest of 2011 to cx and start fresh on the road in '12. I know that i probably have a snowballs chance in hell of cracking the top 10 of a cx race this year but im going to try as hard as possible. Next year after what will hopefully be a long and hard road season im going to really try my hand at cx again. So please stay tuned for what i initially promised...Race Reports....Thanks for stopping by...