John Bryan OVCX Cap City Ohio State Championships

Pretty much one word can sum up my ride today, SUCK. I had planned out my entire cross season for the state champs and well, I choked on this one. In reality, I probably put too much pressure on myself for this one race. I was checking out who was registered for the race, checking out results on crossresults.com for people I didn't really know, etc. I gotta take it as it comes and I just had a bad day. Nothing I can really do about that. Enough with the bitching and here's the story.

The day started off on the wrong foot. My iPhone alarm didn't go off and I woke up at 7:20. I was suppose to pick up Daniel at 7:30! I scrambled and loaded my bikes, filled my Stanley bottle with luke-warm coffee, grabbed some food and nuked up some oatmeal. Luckily Dan just lives down the street and I picked him up and we were on the road by around 7:45. Being a beginner cross racer, he's only got one bike and a bag of clothes instead of me having way too much stuff.

We made good time and arrived at John Bryan State Park around 9:45. Plenty of time for Dan to register and warm up. I decided to lounge around and set up camp. In the mean while, my friend Zach rolled in and we chatted and such.

A bit of a summary while I waited to race. Glen and Kyle won the Tandem division with 3 total contestants. 6 crazy dudes doing a cross race on a tandem. Kyle's gonna wear out that state champ jersey. Robert Sroka took the holeshot and never looked back in his win in his junior division. I don't think he did so bad in the Cat3's either. A battle between Chewning and Markstein in the Cat3's for Ohio. Markstein suffered an unfortunate dropped chain that dropped him to second. Rodkey won the overall (no surprise there.)

And Dan Brown. He started in the very back and made his way to 4th place. 3rd place in the state! And with FLAT PEDALS!!! Flat pedals and back row start!. Lets get him on some clipless pedals and see what he can do.

Now my race. With the combination of a good overall position and being the first to register for the race, I had number 8, good for front row start. Last week I missed my pedal and shot straight out the back but this time, I was able to clip in and be around top 10 going into the grass. Unfortunately, I forgot to start my Garmin so I missed all the data for the road start section. I maintained my position for the first few turns of technical stuff then I crossed wheels, I tried to recover and popped out of my pedals. (Pedals are being sent back for warranty tomorrow.) That one bobble cost me 10 spots. At this point, I was panicing in my head and tried to gain back/maintain spots. But that really didn't work and I just kept bleeding positions.

I got settled in with Kyle, Andy, Moy and Nevitt and rod with them for a while. Chris attacked and got a hold of Hubble and they were gone. A few laps later, Garth came flying by with Moy in tow. I thought Kyle would get on their wheel but he was on the verge of blowing up. I missed that train and just rode it out till the end. Nate and Andy ended up passing me in the closing laps but at that point I really didn't care. My legs hurt, my back hurt and I was ready to go home. This course was all about power with a little bit of bike handling skills. I came out with a lot of bike handling skills with no legs today and it really showed.

On a lighter note, TJ did a great job with this race. The course was great and things went without a hitch. Gatch did a fine job announcing.

Anyway after cooling off a bit, its just a race. There are many more races to come and there is no reason to be too disappointed. I'm only 23 (24 cross age) so I have many years ahead to get stronger and faster. I have to tell myself this time to time when I get beat by other fast young (and older) guys.

A few more races left in the season. Next week I'll probably go do the Cap City race and then head down to Louisville for the OVCX  final. Week after that, its National Championships in Bend, which I'm not going unless someone is willing to foot the bill. I could travel to the north atlantic to do Ice Weasels or Beer Cross, but I'll stay at home and maybe try to whip up an informal Athens Cyclocross Championships to pad my ego. Then its the Cap City Final on the 19th and I'll probably go do the first NE Ohio Winter series race on the 20th. Then in 2010, I'll kick it off with the 2nd Winter race, Southern Cross on Jan 9th and Cross-a-nooga the 10th. I think that should be enough racing.

263 miles on the car
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2009 Holiday Wishlist

It's that time again! Its holiday shopping season! I know that the holiday's are for giving, but how are you to give if you don't know what they want. To make the ever hard decision what to get your favorite bike racer, I've simplified it for you.

The car:
My Matrix is sweet, gets good mileage, good size interior, pretty much maintenance free. It's prefect for 2 guys going cross racing or 3 road/crit racing. However, the tiny 4 banger doesn't have much umph on the highway and its a little cramped when you have lots of guys in there. Something bigger like a newer Matrix or Venza. Or a turbo/supercharger kit so I can cruise the highways better.

The computer:
Macs are hot right now. I've been a life long Mac user but unfortunately, I've been Mac-less for the past year. three options here, 13" MacBook Pro, 27" iMac w/ Intel i7, or Mac Mini

Who doesn't want the hottest group out there? Dura Ace Di2 please... 2 groups please, the B bike's gotta have Di2 too, I mean look at Niels Albert... He's got 6 Di2 bikes!

Tires, tires, tires.
2 pairs of Dugast Typhoons 700x32 or
2 pairs of FMB SSC 700x32

1 pair of Dugast Typhoons 700x34 or
1 pair of FMB SSC 700x34

2 pairs of Dugast Rhino 700x32
1 pair of FMB SSC Sprints 700x32
(Shit that's $1500 of tires!)

Cold hard cash. Bike racing is expensive. Entry fees, gas, hotels, replacement parts, food, it all adds up.

My road shoes are falling apart. I could use some new yellow Mavic Zxellium shoes or Specialized S-Works shoes

A new gear/duffle bag. Traveling every week has worn out my bag and needs to be retired.  Something to carry a weekend's worth of clothes and bike gear.

One of those fancy hitch racks that hold your bike by the tire. I could probably save some gas by moving my bikes from the roof to the back of the car. Those Thule T2's, Saris Thelma's, Saris Cycleon-Pro's look pretty nice. (1 1/4")

OVCX Indianapolis Double Weekend

Another long double weekend, this time in Indianapolis. Two 16th place finishes, twice I was one out of the money.

Saturday's race was at Southeastway Park, about 15-20 minutes southeast of Indy. I drove out in the morning to arrive around 1pm. The course had a few wide open sections, a huge nasty run-up, and half the course was twisty windy stuff. I guess the promoters had to make do with what they had. I actually favor more technical courses since I am able to offset my lower threshold power with my bike handling skills. I'm also pretty good with the punchy stuff, able to sprint multiple times out of corners.

The course was fairly dry except for the turns. There wasn't much mud, but the ground was slick. During the pre-ride, I switched to the Vittoria XM in the front and it seemed to work out well. XM up front and Fango in the rear. I did sacrifice some speed with the XM, but it gave me more corner grip, which was overall faster. Rhinos probably would have been the hot tire to have, but it'll have to wait till next year.

Front row start and a decent start had me up in the front group for a while. It got me settled in a good spot where I just kept the pedals turning hard to maintain a good position. Eventually another rider caught up to me and we were battling it out till the end. I led into the sprint and handily beat him. In pure disappointment, I had ended up 16th. If I had known, I would have rode harder as the 15th place guy was slowly coming back to me. I would have caught him for sure if we had one more lap and we kept going at the same pace.

I packed up and headed over to Chad Birdman's house. I got cleaned up and later on we went out to celebrate his sister's birthday at Benihana, a Japanese Steakhouse. Very, very, very good food. The steak I had pretty much melted in my mouth. It was expensive, but well worth it. I never have a problem paying premium for good things.

Sunday's race wasn't till 3pm so I pretty much had all morning to just chill. I slept in till about 10 and just bummed around, watched TV and played with Chupa (Chad and Whitney's chihuahua). Brookside park was a quick drive so I left at noon. I raced there last year so I was fairly familiar with the course and very little had changed.

I had another front row start but I completely blew that one. I missed my pedal at the start and just shot out the back. The first quarter of the course is not very pack friendly so the farther up front you are, the better. My usual plan of attack is to get a good start, then drift back to where I will finish up. But today, I ended up in the back, suck! Brookside is also a very roadie style course. Lots of straight aways and it definitely helps to either have help and draft, or have lots of horsepower. Unfortunately, I didn't have either (Santa, I just want 30-50 watts FTP this year.)

I found myself battling it out again with the same guy as yesterday, I believe his name is Cory. We were together for the last few laps. We eventually got lapped but I wasn't too disappointed about that. I definitely felt I was stronger than he was but in the end, a mechanical failure put the end to me. My left pedal locked out and I couldn't clip in. I had to stop and fix it and the gap opened up. I tried my hardest to try to get back on but there was not enough room. The real bummer was I could have been 15th and made some gas money.

Next week is the Ohio State championships at John Bryan State park. This is the race I have been training for and hopefully all goes well. Thanks to Chad and Whitney for letting me stay at their house this weekend!

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Tire Alert Tubular Tire Repair

Everyone hates flats, especially when it is a tubular tire. Even worse when its brand new and only ridden for a few rides. Well that is exactly what happened to me. In my second race, I flatted a brand new Challenge Grifo XS. Stan's was no match for the hole in this tube.

So here comes Ron at Tire Alert. Ron rips apart the tire, takes out the old tube, removes any debris that caused the flat and sews in a brand new tube. After exchanging some emails with Ron, I decided to send my tire to him to get fixed up. I inquired about latex tubes since it is not an option on his website and he told me he is not equipped to install latex tubes. He said that latex tubes require a special cloth liner which he cannot do.

Anyway, I opted for a 48mm long, lightweight, removable core tube. I sent away the tire on a Friday and received the new tube a week from Monday. Pretty good turnaround time. The tire returned with a new tube and new basetape. The basetape used is not as thick as the original Challenge basetape but should be fine. There is also a bigger bulge from the stitching but shouldn't be a problem.

Basetape with one coat of glue

For $25, I got a pretty much brand new tire. Oh yes, the $25 includes return shipping. So if I factor in the initial shipping cost, I got my tire repaired for $30, way cheaper than a new tire.

So if you have a nice tubular that has a bad tube, I highly recommend giving Ron at Tire Alert a call and get your tubular tire repaired.

4.5 stars
Pros: Cheap repair, options on tubes, new basetape, all inclusive price
Cons: No latex tube option

www.tirealert.com

Infirmary Mound

Today's race was pretty close, at Infirmary Mound Park in Granville. A welcome change from being in the car forever. Instead of sleeping in, I left the house earlier than usual since Daniel, my teammate, was racing today. I left the house a little bit before 10, gassed up and on my way. I got to the park around 11:30, plenty of time to mingle, watch and warm up.

One word can sum up the course, fast. The course was very dry and flowed very well, and did I say it was fast. You would rip through corners so fast it felt like a crit. I actually had to use the brakes a few time since I would go into the corners way too hot if I didn't.

I was top 5 in Cap City so I got a front row start. I got a really good start again and the front group put a sizable gap on the rest of the field. After about half a lap, I was jettisoned from the lead group. A few people passed me and by a rough count, I was sitting around 10th place. This was my best start and middle section of the race. Unfortunately, disaster struck. I took a u-turn way too fast and the pavement dropped into grass and I rolled my tire. The tire got jammed into the brake and I couldn't roll it back on. I panicked and just shouldered the bike and started to run. However it was a long way to the pit. I came to my senses and let some air out of the tire and popped the tire back on. But now I had a long downhill on a tire with about 10psi and about to come off. I took the downhill gingerly and made my way to the pit to pick up my spare.

However, the spare bike was not without any problems. I am pretty sure that I put in the same amount of air in the tires but it felt a lot lower. It could be because they are different tires and different manufacturers. It took me a lap or two to really get a hang of it and be able to rail the corners. To make things even worse, a few laps later, my right pedal refused to clip in. I really didn't know if it was the pedal, the cleat, or I busted the shoe. But one thing is for sure, its pretty impossible to ride with a Crank Brother's Candy that doesn't clip in. At that point, I really didn't care anymore. I only had 2 laps to go (I got lapped) so I just rode at a moderate pace and finished up.

I guess my equipment finally caught up to me and gave me some troubles. I have been pretty lucky so far except for blowing up a brand new Grifo XS in my second race (which is coming back retubed.)

This week is a taper week so not much training. I will also have to glue some tires, and I thought I was done. Double weekend in Indy next weekend!

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Promotion Cross

OVCX headed over to Lexington, KY this week for the Promotion Cross. The weather was a huge 180 from what it has been lately. Upper 60's/low 70's and dry. It was also quite different from last year where it was cold and windy.

I left the house at 8:30 in the morning and after the 3:30 drive, I arrived at the course. I was able to get a few warm up laps in and found it quite different that what I have been used to. The course was dry, hard and bumpy, no two wheel drifting through the corners this week.

I began with a front row start and with a really good start on the uphill pavement, I found myself in the top 6-7. I looked back and we had a nice gap to the next group. My glory in the front group was short lived as Mitchell Kersting and Rob Kendall were hitting it hard at the front, one-two in the series standings. I found myself in no-man's land and pretty soon some fast back row starters passed me.

Shortly after, I found myself in a group with Chris Nevitt, Ryan Gamm and one other guy. This was a solid group to be in and hung on for a while. I must have gone way too hard at the start and soon found myself gapped out and and riding by myself.

Now it was time to get in a good pace and gut it out to the end. I was hoping to recover a little and be able to push harder but that never came. I got passed by a few people but at about half way, I had found my place. The fast dry course was surprisingly hard on equipment and several people had rolled tires. Mike Kennedy looked like he rolled a tire, Gamm rolled a tire, a Calistoga guy rolled a tire. There were certainly many places on the course where there was hard, fast cornering and I made sure I didn't over cook those corners and risk rolling my tires. Not that I don't have faith in my glue jobs, you just never know what can happen.

I rolled in at 13th, both satisfying and disappointing at the same time. I am slowly improving but have not had my breakout race. I did not feel super hot today and know I can ride harder, but it did not materialize. It could have been the hotter weather and I do seem to ride better when it is colder. It could also have been the spicy foods I ate yesterday. Regardless, I am waiting to break the top 10 in an OVCX race.

Next week is a combined Cap City, OVCX race in Granville. It will be a nice break from driving 400+ miles. I also hope some of my teammates can make it out to race.

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2010 Vittoria XM 320tpi tubular review

Note: I was not paid to do this review, nor did I receive these tires for free for review. I paid with my own money to purchase these tires.

Vittoria is typically not the first name you turn to for cyclocross tires. Most riders will turn to Dugast, FMB, Challenge and Tufo. Vittoria's tread patterns are on par with other offerings but their slick silver/grey rubber and not so supple casings left much to desire.

But that has changed. Vittoria has really stepped up their game this year with the new 320 tpi casing and new black rubber. This is not the first time I have rode Vittoria's new casing. I rode their Corsa Evo CX II during the road season and it was one of the best road tubulars I have ridden. I could only imagine back in the summer what this casing could do for a cyclocross tubular.

The easiest way to tell if a tire is the new 320 tpi casing is by looking at the valve stem. The 48mm red anodized valve stems quickly tell you that its the new casing. I do have mixed feelings about this new valve stem system. The aluminum stem unscrews from the base of the tube. Supposedly, Vittoria is supposed to release longer valve stems to accommodate deeper rims. For the time being, you are to remove the red stem, screw the extender into the tube and screw the red stem into the extender. There are a few downsides to this stem. The valve itself is non-removable. If you break off the nut, then you are screwed. You have to get a new stem and you might have to rip off the tire. Second, since you can't remove the core, how are you to inject stan's if you get a small puncture?

The first thing I noticed when pulling these new tires out of the shipping box is how supple the casing was. No stiff casing that held its shape. The casing is more supple than a standard Challenge tire and from what I have heard, on par with a Dugast. The new rubber is also a highlight. The new rubber is black and very sticky.

After your typical stretch and layers of glue, it was finally time to mount the tires. There really is nothing harder to mount than cyclocross tubulars. Often high end handmade tubulars are hard to get straight. This new XM was as easy as mounting a road tubular. The tires were easy to stretch over on the rim and they went on straight the first time! What? It went on straight the first time? Yup, try that with a Dugast.

I mounted the front as shown above and reversed in the rear for added forward grip. I emailed Vittoria regarding rotating direction and they told me there should be a rotation arrow, which there isn't. Sorry its still a little dirty from this weekend.

It isn't a Vittoria without the 1 foot long tire hot stamp.

Now how does it ride? I had the pleasure of taking it out on two muddy races this past weekend. The first race had about a 1/3 of a lap of mud and the other 2/3 lap ranging from dry to tacky. In a pre-ride, I had both XM's mounted. This tire grips and grips in the mud. You simply can just ride though stuff like it was dry. However once I left the muddy section, I instantly noticed that I was working harder than I should. The lack of a center ridge makes the tire pretty slow on drier ground. I compromised and ran a XM in the rear and Challenge Fango up front.

Sunday's race was a bit muddier. After sliding all over the place with Fango's I threw on the XM's for a test spin. The tires did what they were designed to do and gave me the confidence and grip around the course. I was able to take muddy corners at good speeds, climb up muddy hills and descend with confidence. But once again, on dry sections, I noticed I had to work a little harder. The tread design is more oriented slide through the corners rather than giving absolute cornering grip. Some people may not like this feeling and may be unnerving for beginner riders.

To wrap up, the new Vittoria XM is a great new tire. The advancements of Vittoria's casing and rubber compound puts them back into the game. I'm sure the other two tires in Vittoria's line with the new casing and rubber will preform just as well in their respective uses. The XM tread design is great, especially when it is muddy. However it is strictly a mud tire. It doesn't do so well when it is dry. Another concern is the treads are rather thin and add in the soft rubber, it may wear quick. I would avoid warming up on the road or trainer with this tire.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Price ~$100

Pros: New 320tpi Supple Casing, new sticky rubber, great tread for mud, new valve design

Cons: Rolls slow in dry conditions limiting use other than mud, thin treads may wear quick, new valve design

Cap City Uncle Steve's, OVCX Gun Club Cross

Photo Frans Tan via Facebook
Another weekend of excellent cross racing. This season has been pretty much a total opposite of last season. Out of the 12 races I have done, 7 have been muddy. This is in sharp contrast to 1 muddy race last year. Heavy rains Saturday morning made the courses nice and muddy.

Saturday was the Cap City race at Uncle Steve's in Marysville. Last year, this race was hot, dry and super bumpy. Many people left with bloody, blistered hands and many people this year brought their mountain bikes to try to tame the untameable property of Uncle Steve's. Well the heavy rains did soften up the ground a little bit but still bumpy in some sections.

During my pre-ride, I swapped between my Fangos and my new Vittoria XM. Half the course was fairly dry and the other half wet and muddy. The Fangos did not give me much forward grip in the rear and was spinning out. So I gave the new XMs a try. They hooked up nicely but I noticed on drier sections the tires rolled slow. So for a good compromise, I ran the Fango up front and XM rear.

I had a great start and was in the front group with Matt Weeks, Garth Prosser, Dan Campbell, and Phil Noble. About the second lap I had come off the the group, Matt took off and Garth, dan and Phil battled it out. Ryan Gamm had made his return to racing and I was towing him around for a while. Later on, Gamm attacked me and never looked back. He eventually caught up to Phil and passed him. At around 45 minutes, I was in no man's land with Phil pretty far up the course (but still in view) and no one behind me. So I decided to slow it down a little to try to save up for Sunday. However, this unknown guy had started to creep up on me. So no biggie, I slowed down a little bit too much so I turned it up a notch. With two to go, he really started charging. I had to really turn it back on to hold him off. So much for saving for the next day. He never caught me and I rolled in for 6th, my season best.

I opted to not return to Athens to simply avoid the mess of Halloween and went over to Isaiah's place. I quickly took a shower and we headed over to Qdoba with his girlfriend for dinner. There was a Krispy Kreme next door and upon leaving, the HOT NOW light had turned on. I said we must go there and we did. I had never eaten a hot out of the fryer donut and I have to say it is simply the best donut. It just melts in your mouth. We returned to his place, watched the World Series and went to bed.

I woke up the next morning sore to the core. Pretty much every muscle in my body hurt. Luckily I didn't race until 3:3o so I had plenty of time to get loose, warm up, etc. I left Columbus just before noon and arrived at the race around 1:30. I quicky pre-rode part of the course right before the Elite Masters went off and found that the course was pretty bad. There were two unrideable muddy hills, one forced dismount and run muddy hill and another hill where you could make it up about half the time. This was a real power course. I opted to ride both XMs today since there was a lot of mud. However I probably could have done what I did on Saturday since the course did dry up a little bit as the race progressed.

I had a second row start and had a pretty good start. I was probably in the top 10 for the first lap. But soon after I just blew up and shot out the back. I settled down a bit and motored on. I felt like quitting several times but kept at it. About half way, I creeped up to the next guy on course. I was able to pass and gap him when the course turned muddy. I looked back later on and he was pretty distant. Then half a lap, one lap later, out of the blue he sprinted past me. But no worries, we were going into the muddy section and I just past him back. Soon after he pulled the pin and withdrew. Unfortunately, he withdrew from the past spot in the money.

I kept going at a good tempo. The course was super hard so you really couldn't ride it easy. Soon I saw Chris and used him as my target and motivation. I would gain a little and then lose a little. Two laps to go, I was getting dangerously close to getting lapped. Not wanting this to happen, I picked it up a little. Luckily I was able to cross the finish about 30 seconds in front of the winner and got to do my bonus lap. I wasn't going to catch Chris so I just rode the course pretty easy to finish it up.

DFL 14th place and in the Money! Made $20. I really felt flat and thought i had a pretty bad day. But however looking at the data, I rode harder than I did on Saturday. How is it that I felt like a rock star on sat and put out less power than when I felt horrible today? Next week is only one race so I guess I will find out if I can really ride harder at an OVCX race fresh. Or maybe it's mental?

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