Congrats on the tri result, guys. That's impressive.
I was doing the Crit state championships in Bloomington today... good event, field of 50+, 40 minutes + 3 for my field. I started on the front row, missed clipping in at the start and fell about halfway back. Spent 25 minutes moving up to 15th or so. Got a couple opportunities to move up to the front; I wanted to be 4th or 5th wheel on the last lap to have a good shot at the sprint - it was a technical course that really didn't afford many opportunities for passing until the front stretch and the stretch from turns 1-2. I was on the front with 1 to go, fell back to third wheel, and got passed by two trains of riders moving up both sides of our line. This left me about 10th or so as we went single file through turns 3-6. Held my own on the sprint, but not much I could do with it coming from that far back. I finished 15th, well placed in the lead group. A decent result, but not quite what I was looking for.
Oh well... it was better than last year and I felt good. Reporting through the good & bad. I'm still contemplating my race options for next weekend - not sure what I'll do just yet.
Keep riding strong,
Kaleb
7.19.2009
4.15.2009
2.02.2009
Life of a Cross Racer
Transition…a key to Cyclo-Cross racing. Have you ever watch the pros race cross? Poetry in motion! The smoothness of their dismount and the equally elegant remount is an awesome sight. Most racers have the same fitness. It is the transitions throughout the race that create the separation from the frontrunners and the rest of the pack. Often there will be a select group that slightly pulls away each barrier section. These are the individuals who have mastered the transition.
Life is full of transitions. We move from career to career, home to home and life stages constantly in our lives. Sometimes we get to choose when and where, sometimes the choice is made for us. It seems like that for the past 6 years I have been in a constant series of transitions. Jobs, careers and children, all transitions I have faced. Actually, this Cross Race, my life, started on an early spring night in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was there at the gate of Camp O’Malley locking it for the last time as the Director. I was transitioning to a new camp and new position in Indiana. A position I was sure was the direction God had intended. A direction and choice that I was sure God would bless. I was also moving rapidly to another transition…fatherhood. Jack would be in my arms in less than 3 months, Peter a mere 15 months later. So that night as I locked the gate, tears were in my eyes; tears of joy, fear and sadness. As I locked that gate I was sure I was heading to the destination God had chosen for me. A destination I was sure would provide me and the family with everything we would need at the same time fulfill God’s work in my life. In less than 14 months I was in transition again, this time not totally by my choice. Where was I going, how would I do? God, am I doing the right thing? These were all questions I faced and couldn’t answer.
Do you ever struggle with that question? “God, am I doing the right thing?” I do…
I so desperately want to serve my King. I worry about my job, is it what He called me to do? Am I making good use of my time? Which parts of my flesh are contaminating my choices? All these are struggles in my life. It isn’t my past choices that haunt me, it is my future decisions. Yet, I know I can’t stop. I must push forward, struggle on. I know that sometimes this means I will suffer, I will hurt. Yet, this doesn’t bother me either. I am not scared of the work, only of letting my Savior down.
It is in these darkest of moments, when I feel the lowliest, that the Spirit comforts me and reminds me that I am doing what He called me to do, I am following. Never did Jesus say…”Follow me to here or there” He simply said “Follow me”.
He simply said “Follow me”.
So transitions are a key to our walk with Christ. We must be prepared to move from one stage of life to another, make the best of what we have and keep pursuing our goal,
To run the good race.
To…simply follow Christ!
Life is full of transitions. We move from career to career, home to home and life stages constantly in our lives. Sometimes we get to choose when and where, sometimes the choice is made for us. It seems like that for the past 6 years I have been in a constant series of transitions. Jobs, careers and children, all transitions I have faced. Actually, this Cross Race, my life, started on an early spring night in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was there at the gate of Camp O’Malley locking it for the last time as the Director. I was transitioning to a new camp and new position in Indiana. A position I was sure was the direction God had intended. A direction and choice that I was sure God would bless. I was also moving rapidly to another transition…fatherhood. Jack would be in my arms in less than 3 months, Peter a mere 15 months later. So that night as I locked the gate, tears were in my eyes; tears of joy, fear and sadness. As I locked that gate I was sure I was heading to the destination God had chosen for me. A destination I was sure would provide me and the family with everything we would need at the same time fulfill God’s work in my life. In less than 14 months I was in transition again, this time not totally by my choice. Where was I going, how would I do? God, am I doing the right thing? These were all questions I faced and couldn’t answer.
Do you ever struggle with that question? “God, am I doing the right thing?” I do…
I so desperately want to serve my King. I worry about my job, is it what He called me to do? Am I making good use of my time? Which parts of my flesh are contaminating my choices? All these are struggles in my life. It isn’t my past choices that haunt me, it is my future decisions. Yet, I know I can’t stop. I must push forward, struggle on. I know that sometimes this means I will suffer, I will hurt. Yet, this doesn’t bother me either. I am not scared of the work, only of letting my Savior down.
It is in these darkest of moments, when I feel the lowliest, that the Spirit comforts me and reminds me that I am doing what He called me to do, I am following. Never did Jesus say…”Follow me to here or there” He simply said “Follow me”.
He simply said “Follow me”.
So transitions are a key to our walk with Christ. We must be prepared to move from one stage of life to another, make the best of what we have and keep pursuing our goal,
To run the good race.
To…simply follow Christ!
12.10.2008
BROOKSIDE CYCLO-CROSS REPORT
Hoosier Hardmen Endure Arctic Conditions
- Zipp OVCX Tour Finals in Indianapolis by John G.
December 8, 2008Sub-freezing temperatures greeted the participants who braved the elements to contest the final Zipp Ohio Valley Cyclocross Tour event at Brookside Park in Indianapolis. Although the ground was snow covered in spots, icy in others with air temperatures hovering around 20°F, the racing action was anything but frigid. Brookside Park, host to summertime criterium races for more than 30 years, proved a tough opponent for those on 'cross bikes who had to navigate almost-frozen mud, icy pavement, and the infamous stair climb section.
As you can read in John G.’s race report at CYCLOCROSSWORLD.com, Sunday’s race was challenging. Yes the cold and icy conditions were very formidable; however, my greatest foe was my own stupidity! I arrived at Brookside with 90 minutes to recon the course and warm up just as I had planned. I was only racing two races this year. In my mind I had decided the first race in November would be a test/ practice race for Brookside. Well November’s race turned out to be a short lesson. A puncture in the early part of the race left me sidelined. So there was an increased sense of pressure in my mind to at least finish the Brookside race. Added to this pressure was the fact that two other BGI South Employees would be racing in my category.
Enough of this, back to my stupidity, everything was going as planned. I picked up my race number, went back to the car to get ready for my warm up run. I decided to run the course to help me warm up and to learn the course before I try it on the bike. I left my car and found my way down to the start/ finish area and started my run. About one quarter the way into the course I cautiously reached for my car keys in the back of my cycling jacket…my hand found nothing. I stopped in my tracks as my mind slowly wrapped it’s self around the fact that I just locked my keys and all my gear in my car! I ran back praying that I left a door unlocked. When I reached my car it was as I feared, everything was locked tight. I weighed the risk of calling my beautiful bride and kindly ask her to gather our brood of children in the van and race to the park and unlock my doors in the next 45 minutes. My kind wife said sure and got to the race with 2 minutes to spare. One of my co-workers at the shop set my bike up as I changed into my riding gear.
As the race to get ready in time was finishing, my real race was starting. I started in the back and we were off. Again my main goal was to finish. I had switched to a new tubeless tire system for this race. It allowed me to run lower PSI in my tires and hopefully give me better control. It worked great. The course was frozen and last year’s ruts were still quite real and ready to grab your tires and pull you out of bounds. As we entered the 1st off camber/ technical section I quickly found out that my tire selection was allowing me to navigate much better than those around me. I was able to quickly pass and distance myself from the back third of the field. The rest of the race was pure time trial mode. I was lacking in some power and fitness, however I was quite surprised at my technical skills. I was able to claw my way up to 14th out of 35 in my category. The race started 3 categories together for a total of 70 riders (I guess I placed between 19-25 for the total race). I was pleased. Best of all, I was the best placed BGI South Employee!
Props out to Nick for braving the cold and helping IC3 run the 9 and under race. We only had 4 enter, but the little guys enjoyed it.
- Zipp OVCX Tour Finals in Indianapolis by John G.
December 8, 2008Sub-freezing temperatures greeted the participants who braved the elements to contest the final Zipp Ohio Valley Cyclocross Tour event at Brookside Park in Indianapolis. Although the ground was snow covered in spots, icy in others with air temperatures hovering around 20°F, the racing action was anything but frigid. Brookside Park, host to summertime criterium races for more than 30 years, proved a tough opponent for those on 'cross bikes who had to navigate almost-frozen mud, icy pavement, and the infamous stair climb section.
As you can read in John G.’s race report at CYCLOCROSSWORLD.com, Sunday’s race was challenging. Yes the cold and icy conditions were very formidable; however, my greatest foe was my own stupidity! I arrived at Brookside with 90 minutes to recon the course and warm up just as I had planned. I was only racing two races this year. In my mind I had decided the first race in November would be a test/ practice race for Brookside. Well November’s race turned out to be a short lesson. A puncture in the early part of the race left me sidelined. So there was an increased sense of pressure in my mind to at least finish the Brookside race. Added to this pressure was the fact that two other BGI South Employees would be racing in my category.
Enough of this, back to my stupidity, everything was going as planned. I picked up my race number, went back to the car to get ready for my warm up run. I decided to run the course to help me warm up and to learn the course before I try it on the bike. I left my car and found my way down to the start/ finish area and started my run. About one quarter the way into the course I cautiously reached for my car keys in the back of my cycling jacket…my hand found nothing. I stopped in my tracks as my mind slowly wrapped it’s self around the fact that I just locked my keys and all my gear in my car! I ran back praying that I left a door unlocked. When I reached my car it was as I feared, everything was locked tight. I weighed the risk of calling my beautiful bride and kindly ask her to gather our brood of children in the van and race to the park and unlock my doors in the next 45 minutes. My kind wife said sure and got to the race with 2 minutes to spare. One of my co-workers at the shop set my bike up as I changed into my riding gear.
As the race to get ready in time was finishing, my real race was starting. I started in the back and we were off. Again my main goal was to finish. I had switched to a new tubeless tire system for this race. It allowed me to run lower PSI in my tires and hopefully give me better control. It worked great. The course was frozen and last year’s ruts were still quite real and ready to grab your tires and pull you out of bounds. As we entered the 1st off camber/ technical section I quickly found out that my tire selection was allowing me to navigate much better than those around me. I was able to quickly pass and distance myself from the back third of the field. The rest of the race was pure time trial mode. I was lacking in some power and fitness, however I was quite surprised at my technical skills. I was able to claw my way up to 14th out of 35 in my category. The race started 3 categories together for a total of 70 riders (I guess I placed between 19-25 for the total race). I was pleased. Best of all, I was the best placed BGI South Employee!
Props out to Nick for braving the cold and helping IC3 run the 9 and under race. We only had 4 enter, but the little guys enjoyed it.
11.23.2008
11.16.2008
Fun in the Cold
You might have missed this in Velonews, but on Sunday, November 9th a once great cyclist, winner of countless road, mountain and cyclo-cross races made his comeback complete by competing in the Ohio Valley Cyclo-Cross race in Dayton, Oh.
The cold air only added the tension as I was called to my start grid. As I looked around, I started to remember the feeling of competition. My legs were twitching much like a cat as it readies to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. The ring of the gun vibrated off each of the 75 riders. I shot for the hole and made through the first 100 meters that included five 90 degree turns and one set of three barriers to be crossed without going down in a tangled mess of legs and gears. As I remounted after the first of two sand pit runs, I was in a strong 20th position. I was in perfect position to really flounder and lose 20 more spots, and so I did just that. I started falling back so fast, I swore I heard spectators calling me McCain.
Reality was setting in hard. What was I doing? I am a middle-aged man whose legs haven’t seen any type of hard training for several years. I was suffering like Governor Palin in a Katie Couric interview. I too had no life line. Then there was a sliver of hope, a small thorn made its way into my rear wheel and saved me the better part of the whole race. Yes, 1 ½ laps into the race and I flatted out! No worries, I will be back racing on December 7 at the Brookside Park Cyclo-Cross race in Indianapolis.
My two boys enjoyed the kid’s race as you can see from the pictures. I encourage you all to help with the race at Brookside Park .
The cold air only added the tension as I was called to my start grid. As I looked around, I started to remember the feeling of competition. My legs were twitching much like a cat as it readies to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. The ring of the gun vibrated off each of the 75 riders. I shot for the hole and made through the first 100 meters that included five 90 degree turns and one set of three barriers to be crossed without going down in a tangled mess of legs and gears. As I remounted after the first of two sand pit runs, I was in a strong 20th position. I was in perfect position to really flounder and lose 20 more spots, and so I did just that. I started falling back so fast, I swore I heard spectators calling me McCain.
Reality was setting in hard. What was I doing? I am a middle-aged man whose legs haven’t seen any type of hard training for several years. I was suffering like Governor Palin in a Katie Couric interview. I too had no life line. Then there was a sliver of hope, a small thorn made its way into my rear wheel and saved me the better part of the whole race. Yes, 1 ½ laps into the race and I flatted out! No worries, I will be back racing on December 7 at the Brookside Park Cyclo-Cross race in Indianapolis.
My two boys enjoyed the kid’s race as you can see from the pictures. I encourage you all to help with the race at Brookside Park .
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