I was 5th in the cat 3 field at CXMeur on Saturday.  I floated between 3rd and 6th for much of first part the race.  About 2/3 of the way through I flatted and got a quick wheel change.  I didn't lose any places during the change, but 3, 4 and 5 were out of sight.  A lap later one of the guys in the 3, 4, 5 group flatted and had some difficulty getting a new wheel.  I passed him and he never came back.  5th it would be.  (I've been 5th a few times this year, which is better than last year when I was constantly 6th.  Marginal improvements.)  

Chapeau!

Hey gang, could someone remind me who pitted for Laura Van Gilder at HPCX?

Because, LVG, gave me $20 to give to YOU!

Nelson

All. Still planning to be up at Anthony Wayne Sunday. Likely first light. I'll be there all day, anyone who wants to check out layout pre ride and help design should show up!

Bikes, boots, warm clothes and basic implements of destruction welcome.

See below

Myles said:

All. Still planning to be up at Anthony Wayne Sunday. Likely first light. I'll be there all day, anyone who wants to check out layout pre ride and help design should show up! Bikes, boots, warm clothes and basic implements of destruction welcome.

I want to go and help but I have a race on Sunday lets do it on Saturday!

Marc, I helped LVG at HPCX

CXMeur- Was super fun, slippery and muddy! Definitely my cup of tea. But I will miss Horseshoe Scramble. I road the course twice before my race and debated if I should go with Limus clinchers or using my Grifo tubulars. Stokes recommended I go with the Limus, so I did. Good thing I listened to him cus I would have been sliding all over the place, Thanks Stokes. 

I started front row with Todd and a few other riders that have been kicking my butt this season. I wasn't able to clip in at the hole shot so I ended up losing some spots at the beginning of the race. The course started with a few flat muddy turns and power sections, barriers, a sweet fast drop followed by a 180 turn into a muddy single step incline that everyone had to dismount and climb. The only person to ride it was Neil Bezdek in the cat 1/2/3 field. A lot off camber muddy turns and muddy climbs that I was able to handle nicely compared to other riders I was next to which helped me move up. I eventually settled in top 10 right behind David Hall from 5th Floor and we worked together to move up. 

After crossing the finish line going into lap 3 I got a flat, luckily SNS Pit was right there, I switched bikes and asked Eric to throw on a wheel for me. I got back onto the course without losing a spot and got back onto Hall's wheel. Coming back to the pit I dropped off my SBC Crux off and grabbed my Giant TCX with a neutral wheel. I finished lap 3 and started lap 4 when I got another flat at the same spot as before, WTF! I did my ol' switch-a-roo with my bikes and asked Eric for another neutral wheel and again didn't lose any spots. I came back again to the pit, switched bikes and continued on behind Hall. 

Hall and I kept switching positions and eventually caught up to the rider in 6th place. At the last lap I fumbled on a off camber spot and almost lost the 2 riders. A few turns later I was able to catch up to them and then pass them on a climb and kept a gap till the finish. I finished 6th out of 19 finishers compared to crossresults prediction of 18th place. So far best result this season with only a 00:02:31 minute difference between me and first. 

I later went to go see what caused the flat. It was a piece of metal, maybe a broken off street sign, sticking out. I told the USAC official and Eric and they hammered it flat. Most likely this was them same spot Sanassian and Todd got their flats.

Overall great course with a bit of everything, but shame on them for not checking for sharp pointy objects that ruined my tires. As always thanks to the KCC cheering squad, Harry, Jim, Stokes, Gwynna and everyone else for yelling at me to keep pushing.

Awesome result Nelson!

Sweet, Nelson, congrats!

Great report, and a great result! Three flats in two races is not a coincidence.

Two flats in the same spot?!?

mperlberg said:

BTW guys, the race director for Kutztown responded to my feedback with a pretty lengthy response. With his permission, I'll post here. 

The basic summary is that he wants to create a Euro-style course and has heard lots of feedback about his course, some of it rather contradictory. The one thing he's heard loud and clear is course width, which will go from 11 to 14 feet. 

more updates to come.

Just hopped on over to their FB page, and I cannot fathom the money and effort with the heavy machinery used to create a pump-track for the cross race. I'm really looking forward to hearing how this all turns out. Maybe it will be double awesome-sauce. Or maybe it will be just "meh?" #scratchingmyhead

Any strong opinions either way for this weekend – Newtown or Mill Creek?

jesselash said:

Any strong opinions either way for this weekend – Newtown or Mill Creek?

I did Newtown last year and got the win in the cat 4/5 race. It was fun. it had this long steady climb which a lot of people suffered in. And a nice stretch of pavement on the start/ finish line. There was also a lot of snow which added to the struggle but I doubt you'll have any snow this weekend. In some sections of the race they didn't even put down tape so it was kind of hard to follow the course the first few laps.

I'll be doing Mill Creek this weekend in hopes to get more points in the NJBA series. I got space in my car for 2 people and 2 bikes

See you there Nelson....I just re-glued my tire.......fingers crossed!

Cross posted request:

So Myles is heading up to the Supercross venue this weekend to dream up wicked fun for us all. I was hoping one of you with a GoPro or similar camera might be available to go up and join him and film some of the fun. As you know, racers often look online for course "recon" information when deciding whether to go to a race and while I will be posting/highlighting last year's footage, I think it would be cool if we got some "preview" material as well.

Anyway, not the end of the world, if no GoPro owners can't join him, but if you are looking for a little cross practice, with probably the team's best crossers (help us all, if Myles could ever find time to train), this might be a good opportunity to kill two birds...you know?

a couple iPhone shots from Fair Hill

Todd and I had pretty respectable races in the 2/3/4 race. We were pretty much on each others wheels for 75% of the race. I had a strong last few laps to push into the top 10.

Fair hill was a great course. Really really fun. Will definitely do it again.

I need some race clinchers (oxymoron, I know) for my first cx race evaaaar next weekend.  Does anyone have some they can lend for a day?  It's SSCX in NJ https://www.bikereg.com/25976

@Brendan
You can borrow both my Clement MXPs (all condition) and my PDXs (mud).
Right now there's a 60% chance of rain forecast for next Sunday

What happened to hotlist this week?

Nelson Martins said:

What happened to hotlist this week?

Life and intervals. Will do my best to get one out next week. Will combine the past two weekends of race action to rank the hottness.

heading up to anthony wayne for course recon tomorrow.  Should be there by 10am until... late.
Feel free to bring implements of destruction!

myles

Re the Bob response:

You can have a course with lots of turns, and still have good flow, and opportunities for passing.

Ok, so I just reg'd for Supercross.......looking for volunteers to wave flags, light flares, shoot at me with water cannons - whatever it takes to keep me from riding off the course two years in a row.....not looking to embarrass myself again, unless I do so in a far more distasteful manner.......