State Cyclocross & Dirty Du

What a great weekend of racing! We DESERVE this weather in Iowa after the frigid winter and flooding we had during spring this year. Two races this weekend, like to hear it, here it go!


Race Report:

State Championships - It's funny that anyone can race in the state championships; can anyone race in nationals down in Kansas City? If I place 30th at nationals can I say I'm the 30th best cat 4/5 cyclocross racer in the nation? If so I may have to compete.


According to others this was not a technical course; however, I had major problems getting around the turns quickly. I need to work on my bike handling skillz. One spin out, rest of the race was smooth. Finished 16th out of 34 I believe, not bad. Next race I'd like to start up w/ the big dogs to see how long I can hang...sucks getting bottlenecked! Favorite part of the race was Brian Eppen dressing up as 80's trailer trash...the best cyclocross racer in Iowa (from what my eyes have seen) having fun w/ the weekend and still riding dirty! A quick mention that I've gone out drinking every single night before a cyclocross race, and I've cramped every race...I'm starting to see a pattern.

Dirty Du-

Dirty du was my first bike race 3 years ago. Out of all the athletic events I've participated in over the years, this was by far the most humbling. I've ridden on the trails a few times since then and am sure I've improved, but I was not out to prove anything Sunday. Another beautiful day! I picked TJ Tollakson, and his gf Ashley Tousely up and headed over to the race. Race was great, challenging, good atmosphere; I wish there were more of these races. Tj, although 1/3 professional bike racer, not so great on the mtb. Almost broke brothers bike, crashed 6 times, went slow, went fast, didn't want to run the last 2 miles but Ashley made me. According to her, we were "jogging," and "running really slow." I was out of breath. Great job to CITA for putting on a wonderful event, congrats on the participation levels.


DMOS training:

Starting winter training for DMOS. A full season of indoor training! This is my opportunity to really work with some great coaches and see what I can be. Rich Wince went from beginner to cat 3 by the end of the year...I'm hoping to follow his footsteps. I'd also like for DMOS to compete w/ the DS 5000 and A9Y team in some cat 4/cat 5 races. I'll be pushing my teammates hard this winter to help form a good team. Rollers are hard, more fun than riding on a trainer though...that'll be my next purchase.