Gravel Grovel Weather Update II

Quick race morning weather update...it is raining. It has been raining since yesterday. The early week forecast I posted about earlier is out the window. A massive weather system is romping through the Midwest and it has been raining since early Friday morning. Nothing heavy, but a constant steady light rain. As of now, Norman, Indiana (near the race start) has received about four tenths of an inch. The radar picture this morning doesn't look too bad: 

Norman is currently in a large dry patch right below Bloomington.  However, I'm wondering if the stuff out west will fill in. Even if it does not, this promises to be the most challenging GG yet. The wet roads, combined with slick trails and leaves will be difficult. Combs Road itself is going to be nothing short of epic. Not a word I toss around often, but it will be a beast. 

Looking at the forecast (seriously, I'm watching the news as I type this), the rain may be dissipating as the day goes on, although it is too late for the course to dry out at all.  

Like I said, it will be a difficult day. We'll see how this plays out. 

Gravel Grovel 2015 Weather Watch

A week from today my 5th Gravel Grovel will be in the books. As with last year, I am taking advantage of the mountain bike open category. Fat tires are just better on gravel. 

So, being a week a out provides a bit more certainty on the all important weather front. Thus far, no snow on any of my past GG's. In fact, most years have been fairly mild, although the course itself has been wet from earlier precipitation. So, looking ahead to next weekend, here is what we're facing right now: 

I'm mostly liking the forecast and can certainly live with the race day forecast. What is not so good is the rain on Friday. The trail sections of the course will be muddy, the gravel squishy and splashy, and Combs Road will be full of monster puddles that threaten to swallow your bike whole. Might be a good idea to go with the Lake 303 boots and a fender. And maybe water wings. 

Cyclocross Race Report Catch Up!

So this year hasn't been great with blogging...as you can tell since my last post was about a mountain bike race in August. Since that time I have been engrossed in cyclocross racing! That bastard hybrid of mountain biking and road biking which seems to be constantly growing in popularity. Despite my claimed attitude that I'm just doing these for fun, I end up caring quite a bit about where I finish. And so far, this season has been a blast.

So, lets do a quick overview of the races I forgot (or neglected) to write about!

OVCX Bloomingcross, September 20, 2015

First race of the year on a dry and dusty course. I was riding my Cannondale CAADX which I had won as part of the IndyCross series last year. Bike performed well, although my finish was less than ideal. A mid pack call up, combined with a huge OVCX field resulted in a difficult and chaotic start. I took the outside line on the initial start loop, which after two turns deposited me right into a large patch of brush and tree branches hanging over the right side of the course. With no where to go, I lowered my head and plowed through but lost a lot of speed and more places. I was at the back of the pack and spent the next 45 minutes trying to pick people off. 

Exiting the sand pit at Bloomingcross. I didn't have to run at all, but not sure that
was the faster route. The guy remounting his bike above actually entered the sand on my wheel.
Photo:  Kent Baumgardt

Aaron was racing as well and had left me in the dust, although I almost caught the Matthews Mountain Bike Team's captain Jon, although he stayed just out of my reach. Ended up 53/90 place and had this cool photo taken of me.

IndyCross Race 1, Brookside Park, October 3, 2015

The IndyCross series kicked off at the venerable Brookside Park in downtown Indianapolis. Instead of racing in the same area as the OVCX race is usually held, the course was set up on the north side of the park, and was characterized by long sections of steep off camber riding and tight down hill and uphill 180 degree turns mixed in.  Light rain the day before had left the course somewhat damp, but not muddy. In fact, a large section of the course was in a grove of trees and was completely dry.

To mix things up, I raced on my hardtail mountain bike. Why? Because I have more fun riding my mountain bike and frankly, I think I'm better when I ride it. Of course I got heckled, but it was all in good fun (except for the "You Suck" one...that was uncalled for I thought). TO make the Orbea more cross friendly, I mounted a Specialized Fast Trak 2.0 (measures around 1.9) on the front, and bought a Specialized Renegade 1.8 for the rear. Both were set up tubeless.

Front row call up and getting a quick clip in resulted in me out front just before hitting grass. I paused to look around to see where everyone else was and was promptly passed by several riders. 

Running the barriers at Brookside
Photo: Brett Conaway

I settled into a position just outside the top ten and handled all of the off camber sections safely, albeit a bit slowly. I made up ground in the trees and on the paved straightaway and ended up 10/60. Not too shabby.

OVCX Brookside Park, October 11, 2015.

OVCX came to Brookside the next weekend and I made the great choice to double up on races. Now that my racing age is 35 thanks to the strange cross rules, I could race in the Cat 4 35+/Cat 5 wave at the start of the day, and the Cat 4/Cat 3 35+ wave at noon.

I again went with the mountain bike because it is FUN! I was running late and arrived about 20 minutes before race time. I knew I was a bit behind, but promptly got yelled at by a USA Cycling Official. I mean really yelled at. I had been somewhat perplexed by the language on the website regarding arrival time and how that played with my preregistration. I read the 45 minute time period as applying to day of registrants. Apparently this was my mistake and I asked the official to not raise his voice and that there was no need to yell. The shocked looks on the faces of others waiting to check in confirmed that I wasn't just imagining this.

I assumed that I had lost my second row call up (not really assumed as much as this was part of what was being yelled at me) but to my surprise the call up was still good. I got a good start and maintained a great pace throughout the race. Being at the front of the pack I avoided the inevitable pile ups that ensued at several off camber turns and the Orbea served me well for the remainder of the race. I figured I was somewhere near the top three for Cat 4 35+ and spotted who I thought was the rider directly ahead of me. I pushed hard to catch him and was closing the gap, but the 30 minutes ended too soon. I got 2 in my age group and 7/68 overall. First place for the 35+ old guys was only 6 seconds ahead. Third place was Paul, a fellow Matthews rider who was 11 seconds behind me and charging hard. Considering he had a back of the pack call up, he may have caught me if there had been one more lap.

The Cat 4 open race wasn't as productive. A middle of the pack start resulted in being caught up in much chaos upon encountering the off camber turns referenced above. Bodies flying everywhere, course tape being torn asunder and getting tangled in drive trains, etc. Pretty standard chaos for a Cat 4 race. Add in the dicey stair case run up and things got pretty exciting.


Brookside Cross Run Up from Edward Fujawa on Vimeo.

See me there in the middle? Running hard I was. Anyway, I  picked a few people off here and there and ultimately came in 45/102 overall and 14th in Cat 4. Some improvement from Bloomingcross so that was nice....and that ended a particularly tiresome day of racing.

IndyCross Race 2, Paul Ruster Park (Indiana State Championship)

Paul Ruster is a new venue for me, although rumor was it had seen races in the distant pass. The course was fun with a a bit of everything, including a trail section and multiple climbs up a sledding hill....which didn't seem too high or steep until you were trying to climb it. The weather was beautiful and the course was completely dry. 

I had high hopes for the race, but a bevy of riders  in their late teens and 20 somethings showed up and managed to knock my 35 year old racing age self down a few notches. I got a decent start but gave away a few places in the first turn and was fighting to catch up. 

The photo which almost makes me look pro. Thanks
to Mike Almert and Action Images Indy for the great photo. 
(http://www.actionimagesindy.com/)

The barriers were in an awkward spot. Just after a right hand turn which had a large bump out on the outside which encouraged you to take the corner wide. I did this, but still came into the barrier at an angle which caused me to hit my rear tire as I dismounted. I did this twice, looked ridiculous both times, and lost places. Go me. 

Climbing up the sledding hill and getting low over the stem.
Damn you short chainstays, damn you.

On the plus side, I rocked the trail sections, while other literally flew into the underbrush. I managed to keep things together and squeaked into the top 10 with a 9/50. The state champ was a guy who I have beat in several past races....so hearts to him for bringing his A game, or darts to me  for not bringing any game.  

Climbing the other side of the hill. 

The great news is that several awesome photos courtesy of Chris Jones (https://www.facebook.com/cjonesphoto) and Mike Almert (see caption above). The fantastic photo at the top of this posting is Chris's work. That photo is near the top of the sledding hill just after a tight turn and descent...right into a 90 degree turn to the finish line. Yeah, not much of a sprint. The pics above this are also examples of his fine work, while the earlier "pro" photo and the one below are Mike's work. 

That will be it for the quick update and overview. There have been two other races this year, but since they are more recent, my recall is a bit better...and they had their own interesting tidbits which warrant their own posts.