Not too shabby a start position at all....I should be sleeping, but racing late does have an amping effect.

Last year, I spoke with Edwin Bull of Van Dessel well before CrossVegas. He said if I registered, he'd bring a bike my size out to the race. He was already going to InterBike and bringing cx bikes, so it wasn't a big deal. I registered, got the bike, lined up 124th of 125, and finished something like 89th of 90th.

This year, I signed up the moment registration opened. THen called Edwin. Turns out, he chose not to go to InterBike this year. I tried a few folks I know, but it seemed like the best bet was to ask around at the Outdoor Demo. No from Ridley where I have some contacts, no from the Specialized Demo truck where an ex-teammate drives, no from some others. But Redline said yes. Just find them at the race.

When I got my number at 6:40pm for the 9:30pm race, I was pretty stoked. 53. 53 of 116. Like seven guys behind the last starter with UCI points. I haven't drawn that kind of start at a UCI race since Southampton some years ago. This was going to be good. I've got plenty of time to get in a good warmup, acquaint myself with the course and the bike.

But I had to get a bike first. 7pm, Redline was nowhere to be found. I pin on my numbers. I saw an acquaintance who works for cannondale in the crowd, but then lost him. It's now 8pm. Fond teh redline guy. He didn't bring a bike. Dang. I go to the pits to see if Mavic has any spares. Only two, so nothing there. It's 8:40 and it looks like I'm out of luck. I'm walking back to the car when I see James Meyer of Quarq. I've spoken with him several times, he's about my height and it looks like he rode the Wheelers and Dealers race. He has. And he's happy to loan me his bike. It's my size, and a carbon-fiber Cannondale with Zipp wheels and a Quarq powermeter at that. Sweet. Only the bike needs some repairs and seems to ahve 46cm bars, but I'm not picky.

so I jump on the bike, ride back to the car, pull on my skinsuit, ride to the pit where the Mavic guys (east coast crew) take off the water bottle cage, adjust hte saddle, switch pedals, and have to tweak the derailleur hanger. It's so bad they have to pull off the derailler and use the tool. It's 9:15. I ride up and down the pit, adjust the saddle up another cm and ride to the start.

Four minutes of warmup. No cx training since last winter. Did a few dis/mounts on Tuesday to and from the BMX track at Boulder Canyon. rode the Redline and a Fuji on a BMX track. Took a Ridley X-Fire to do some skidding on Monday. It's just bike-riding, right?

GEt the great position. The guys with numbers in the 30s are alongside me. Tehy don't look so fast. The start comes and it feels pretty sane. Clip in fast. Advance a few positions. get bumped a bit but don't give up my spot. hold my position feeling good for the first short grassy lap we do before heading out onto the course. Then, just as we're starting on the course, my body starts telling me I'm done. I lose the position and drop like rock. Still not last though.

Guys are crashing on the first lap and sitting on the grass. Some of the guys with UCI points. I wonder what they're doing quitting, but it's some motivation knowing they can't handle the race.

The course is mostly grass, pretty smooth, the turns aren't challenging, but it saps my strength. I think it saps everyones, they just can take it longer or fake it better. And with the wet grass, it feels really slow. The course was more slippery than in the past, but I wouldn't report it was particularly slick. Control speed going into the turns and everything was fine. The runups are a little slick and I left my spikes at home, but I didn't lose traction. In all cases, I'm able to carry good speed into the barriers, and have the momentum help me with leaping.

Mattie's in the crowd, so I have a fan. Plenty of liquored up NYers and bike guys from my past are yelling. That's all good. I catch a guy because he's turning slower than me. He's from Boulder Cycle Sport, what I thought was a real 'cross team. Feel a bit better. Hit the dismount with more speed than him and get past him, but he has the inside line and it's a 180-degree left hand turn, so he passes me back. NExt run up, I let him lead, figuring I can take him on turns and open up on a rise. I catch him around another 180, and stay behind as we transition to pavement, where he crashes. And I run into him. Stayed upright.

Kept on going. Some in the crowd are holding out cash. I make $2. I skip the beer handups.

It's hurting, but I can't stop. I want to make at least 30 minutes. last year, I think I nearly made 40. And I feel much worse thise year.

I'm pulled at 26 minutes. The UCI official doing the pulling is Pennsylvania's Jim Miller. So far and yet...

Great job. Now imagine how you'll do with your own bike, and a few weekends of cross racing in you!

Nice read, JP. Must be a blast to race in Vegas under all those lights! Was there a good rowdy crowd cheering everyone on?

Sweet JP!

Must be nice to know so many people!

Great report JP. Sounds like fun in spite of all the hurdles you had to jump (pun intended).

Cool! Hopefully we'll find some pics of you again this year in action. Rock on!

The crowd is pretty rowdy by 9:30. They ran two announcers in past years, and it was always, I think Richard Fries and Dave Towle. Fries would stand on teh course and Towle would be on the stage overlooking. If you've done big cx races in the area, you probably know how amped Fries can get. He'd usually stand at the top of the first runup. But they were not present this year. The crowds have gotten bigger and the whole beer handup, cash handout thing has become pretty typical on the slower sections. The back-to-back runups aren't quite deafening, but it's impossible to hear squeaky brakes or someone tripping unles the person is screaming at the same time.

Being that I've been around for a long time racing and bikeworld and going through the trade show, I get some good love from the crowd, Everyone does, along with plenty of hecklers. I usually hear from and later see a few folks I haven't seen in years as well. And that adds to the fun.

And, the desert air leaves my throat parched even when I'm fully hydrated. It must be much worse for the guys who do the whole hour. I needed milk to sooth my throat afterward and need it now.

off I go.

Here's a brief video performance of JP, around 42 seconds into the video: http://www.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/240234-CrossVegas-2011/video/506907-Elite-Mens-Run-Up-Lap-1-CrossVegas-2011

Man...that's a lot of people. One thing that struck me, while watching another series of clips, was how calm and orderly things are at the front of the race...but slip back 20-60 riders and it's just chaos. Think of all the extra energy you have to spend, always fighting for position, jostling and trying not to get knocked off your bike. As if we needed another reason to get and stay at the front.

Wow, very impressive chief, that field was no joke... looks like the Nascar of cycling, complete with Europeans coming in and owning.
I can't believe second wuss place, wuss dismounts with open trail! Wuss.