Around the world and back

Yeah, not really. But I did go to the Masters Worlds Championships and made it back. A race I was nervous about right up until the whistle blew & then it was another race.

We started of heading down to Louisville, KY on Wednesday because you have to check in and pick up your number the day before you start racing. As well, the course was supposed to be open for a while on Wednesday for pre-riding. Well, in our usual style we didn't make it down in time to pre-ride the course but that was OK as it had rained all day and was a huge mud pit.

Thursday I push my lovely wife into getting to the track hours earlier than needed to get to the qualifying race. That gave me time to watch how other guys were getting around the track, walk the track, and prep for the race. By a stroke of luck we parked two cars down from Jared, CJ and crew from Crossniacs. Nice, good to meet the folks. As for how guys were getting around the track it was just trying to stay upright and get through the mud. It was as much survival as anything else.

When it was time for my race I didn't survive so well. Off the back a bit from the start but not too bad, until chain got stuck between the chain rings in the sand pit. Jump off, watch guys go by as I fix. No problem, I'm thinking. I've got a pit bike ready. I catch the last couple of guys, pass them on the run-up/flyover and head to the pits. Come out with B bike and catch up again. Get past these two guys after a bit of work, then fall in a corner. Get up, chase back on, work to get around them and then fall again. Even more spectacularly. Ugh. Get up, run up the hill, try to run down the hill (no way I was going to chance wrecking again!) and promptly fall. Get up again, try to get going and headed down the steeper hill I fall. AGAIN. By this time I'm laughing because it's better than curling up like a fetus and bawling my eyes out. Get to the pavement and I'm pulled. One of my worst laps of my life. It was like I hadn't ridden in mud before. Oh yeah, temps dropped like 20 degrees between the time we got to the track and the end of my race, which made trying to wash bikes with partially functioning pressure washers a chore. But they did have pressure washers. Can't argue with that. And I made it to the final championship round. Can't argue that, either.

The next day we washed out the clothes - we literally scrapped off 5 lbs. of mud off of my kit before tossing them in the wash. Went out to get better shoes as I saw the benefit on the muddy hillside of having shoes that allowed toe spikes. Ran in to the fabulous Rudy and Julie Lewis-Sroka at On Your Left Cycles. Good folks & good folks at the shop but didn't have what I was looking for. They directed us to Clarksville Schwinn who did have what we were looking for and offered us a great deal. Nice people, treated us great. We also had dinner with the only other Central-Ohioan racing that weekend, Doug Carraway. Good dinner, great company. We didn't race on Friday but the temps had dropped considerably overnight so that those racing had to deal with frozen ruts in the mud we made the day before. One broken wheel that I saw, one broken bone I heard of in those treacherous conditions. Yow.

Saturday was race day. Temps had warmed up some to above freezing. Which meant course conditions were a layer of mud on top of frozen ruts. That was real tricky because with the mud you could slide a bit, get caught in a rut and BOOM right on your butt. Or head. Lots of guys were hitting the deck. My beautiful bride Catie is my pitting for me and I'm thinking I'm going to need her for at least one bike change as muddy as everyone was getting.

Before my race I has seen the parts of the course where a flat-ish patch began to develop. Keep it in mind, new MO is to survive this race more than hammer. Then the whistle blows and we're off. I'm off the back at the start until everyone is trying to stay on the one foot wide path and it all jams up. I can make time up and pass guys if I can "float" over the ruts. Doesn't always work but does well enough at the start. Having a good race, back and forth with Mark Fasczewski. Everyone bobbles but half way through lap two and I catch a rut that sends me right into a course stake that promptly nails me in the jewels as I go ass over teakettle. Oh geez, that hurt. Took me a good minute to recover. Which means Mark got past me and got some distance. When I feel good enough I get on the bike and go go go. At the end of the lap I'm drawing pretty close and I think when we get on to the pavement I'm going to jump. Yeah, well, we got pulled at that lap - Mark, Devon Alvarez and myself. One more lap, I could have gotten by those two is what I'm thinking. Of course, one more lap and I could have bit the dust harder, too. C'est la vie, that's racing. Mark stayed up when I didn't so he's 53rd in the World and I'm 54th.

Afterwards I'm getting changed into not-so-muddy clothes and Beautiful Bride/Pit Crew offers to start washing my bikes. While she's standing in line for the pressure washers I wander off to cheer on my Crossniacs teammates. Then I walk the course cheering for Doug Carraway. Oblivious about the bikes. My wonderful wife takes care of both bikes while wondering where in the hell I went to. Yes, I left her holding the bag... er, bikes.  I owe her big time.

Mud collecting apparatus

Did I ultimately do as well as I hoped the week before? Yes but seeing how things unfolded I could have done better. More things to work on. Was it a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Yeah I suppose you could say that. And I owe my wife one heck of a dinner.

The crew that put on the Masters Worlds did one heck of a job. Each day after racing they were working on the course, trying to make it safer and better for the racers. Check in went easily enough. Podium presentation at Fourth Street Live on Saturday night was a great idea, showcasing to the rest of Louisville what sort of event was going on in their town. Results were almost immediate. I think they are ready for the Elite World Championship next year.

"You're barking mad, that's what!"

That's what I hear from some folks. Well, not so much here in the United States. It's usually put a bit more crass here in the U.S. If I had friends in Dublin or Glasgow I imagine that is what they'd say. I have a great imagination. But I digress... (Digressing is one of my better talents).

It's what I hear when I tell people I race cyclocross. Yep, bicycles. In the mud and/or snow if that is what nature provides. And I enjoy it. Well, afterwards I think "Wow, that was pretty cool". During the race itself I'm often thinking "Holy Mother of Cows what the hell was I thinking to go out in this stinkin' muck in temperatures that would make a polar bear find a sleeping bag and a camp fire?!?!?!"

I've heard a similar phrase when people have seen my tattoo. Not many have, so today's the big unveiling.

I know, I don't look like the tattoo-type. For the most part I would agree with you. But as you may have guessed, there's a reason for it. It started out as a joke with my wife (because previously I told her I never had a need to get a tattoo) and she called my bluff. Oh crap, I had to own up. After several months of watching his work I approached the fantastic Any Johnson at Cap City Tattoo. I wanted to come  up with something to not only in the memory of James, but something to encompass our other sons as well. Between Andy, my bride Catie and myself we came up with what you see above. The falling feather is to symbolize James of course but to me the rest of the feathers are family and friends - all the people that keep me aloft, so to speak. Every one just as important as the others.

More madness? Guess what? After several months of Craig and I kidding each other about how cool of an adventure the mountain bike race of the Great Divide would be, I opened my mouth (OK, let my fingers fly) on Loving The Bike's review of Ride the Divide and guess what - I won a copy of Ride the Divide and backed myself into racing the Great Divide in 2013. Doh! Now this one is really bonkers. How do I transform myself from a field service guy who gets to put in 60 miles a week if all goes well to someone who can ride 100+ miles a day, up and down the spine of the Rocky Mountains & hauling all of my own gear? Doing that for a couple of days would be barking mad. Making the entire 2,745 mile trek is... unfathomable.

Of course the question is "Can I really do this?" The answer is, I just don't know. The Tour Divide is not just a hard race. It's more that just a big challenge. The Tour Divide is a brutal race if the truth be known. I have to be able to take about a month or so off of work. I need to have enough money together for me to use during the trip as well as for my family to live off of while I'm off playing masochistic bike monkey. I need to be up to living in a tent or bivy sack for most of that trip. I need to physically be up to the challenge. And I need to be able to cope with the day after day of solitude. Well, I'm sure Craig will be with me at the start but after a few days he's going to want to take off and I'll be holding him back so I'll tell him to take off and not wait for me and after the fourth time saying it he's going to take off and... See, I told you digression was one of my talents.

Yes it would be an amazing accomplishment. Yes the scenery would be indescribable. Yes I'm crazy. But am I crazy enough to really, honestly do this? Well, let's get through this 'cross race season and go from there, eh?

Thanks for reading.

Tally 'em up, here's what we've got

OK, so we had this race-thing on Sunday that you may or may not have heard about. Grown men & women wearing spandex, riding bikes on difficult courses (designed that way!) in very cold temperatures. Sounds like great fun when we put it like that I'm sure. And perhaps you may or may not have heard that we're raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project by doing this, ahem, activity. Which means we should tell you how it all shakes out, right?

The set-up: Dec. 5th Cap City Cross held a race at Smith Farms in Columbus, Ohio. This course had a little bit of everything - long straight fast sections, gravel paths, twisty tight technical turns, a couple of steep climbs and barriers. Yeah! This is cyclocross! Of course we had barriers. The "triple threat" as we came back from the first half of the course & the hay bale barriers toward the end of the lap. Not a lot of pavement but what was available was utilized. The course we better suited for those who had their fitness and had speed. While we didn't get much snow accumulation it was still coming down at times. Cold, too. I don't think it got about 28 degrees F.

We roll up for the C race (beginners). And - what the He.... I get a call up? Whoa. (For those of you not familiar with the term, typically last race winners or series leaders will get called up to take a place at the front of the pack.) I figured I better show up to race if I'm going to get a call-up. So we take off from the gun and I'm doing great for the first, oh, 30 pedal strokes. Then I start slipping back. Yow. Just one more thing to work on is maintaining speed. The good thing is after the first lap I start slowly working my way up, gradually picking off other riders. I thought we were going for three laps so we come out of the left-hand 180 and I sprint around another racer to the finish line, only to see the "1" card displayed, meaning one more lap. Crud. I had sat up thinking I was done, allowing the guy I passed to get back up to me. He raced pretty smart, staying close but behind me for about 3/4 of the lap, then he gasses it and he gets past me. I make up time on him coming through the hay bale barriers. Back to the left hand 180 and I manage to sprint around him to the finish line to take 5th. My best finish all year, very cool. And a heck of a battle those last couple of laps. I can't wait for the results to get posted so I can learn his name, he's going to be tough.

Jovid did really awesome too. Only his third race ever and he carded a 13th place finish. Outstanding job, Jovid! I wish I was back with him to see how his race progressed. Nonetheless I'm proud of him.

Next up is the B (intermediate) race. No call up and once again, I slip to the back of the pack from the start. Once again, pointing out again that this is an area I really need to work on. Ugh. But As the lap goes on I'm feeling pretty good. Lap 2 and I start getting around a couple of guys. But halfway through that race my legs just fell apart. I started feeling awful. Endurance wise I was OK -- not great but OK. The legs just hurt hurt hurt. Must have used them up on the first race. I honestly thought of just dropping out of the race with 2 laps to go. But I keep using the motto I borrowed from my Marine friends - "Die first, then quit." Yes, I got 6th in my age group. But that's only because the other guys in my age bracket didn't want to be turned to Popsicles. Yes, I got lapped. I stayed in there, tho.

It was a good day for some other racers, too. Some of the guys I've ridden with in the middle of the pack turned in some great finishes. Guess the cold agreed with some people. Good show!

The BIG deal, however, was the fundraising for the Wounded Warrior Project. Cap City Cross did an fantastic job of promoting our fundraiser. Between Cap City Cross and all the contributions from the racers we accumulated $325 in donations! Team Lake Effect came down from the Cleveland area to race with us to support our cause. Wow, that is truly AWESOME. Add that to the other contributions we've received in the past week as a result of the newspaper articles and we are currently standing at $1,235 in donations. That really has me floored. Team Lake Effect, Cap City Cross, racers and everyone who's contributed - you guys rock! You don't know what it means to me, to be racing with such a great group of people. I don't know what else to say. Except that we're not done yet. Please think of contributing to the Wounded Warrior Project at this link: http://WWPProudSupporter.kintera.org/jdkimple

Goodnight for now. Tomorrow, I'll announce the winner of the Photo Caption contest. Drum roll, please....

Shoot out at the Not-So-OK Corral!

Last week we posted the challenge for Halloween -- make a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project and you get to vote on what costume I wear to race my bike in. The grand winner is . . . the 187s! Chief 187 picked me to dress up as a old-west Marshall, perhaps Wyatt Earp. Well, you asked for it:

Photo ccourtesy my lovely bride

The yellow helmet bag is not exactly period-correct, I grant you. Yes I look like I'm about to reach for my six-shooter but alas I had none. I did have the Sheriff star badge but it kept falling off. And you can plainly see all the tired ponies laying about. More photos exist to prove I actually raced the C race in this get-up (swapping the cowboy had for a helmet) that I am working on getting permission to use. Will post them soon.

Too bad we didn't think to get pictures of my lovely bride. She dressed up as "The Devil as played by Josephine in the theatrical production of "Tombstone"." She looked absolutely stunning. My bride also won the prize for "costume with the longest title." Which I didn't think existed outside of the Halloween party in Athens, OH. But this was instead Uncle Steve's in Marysville, OH. Cap City Cross race #3.

I didn't win any prizes for my costume nor for my riding. I did win the "first guy to wipe out" in the C race. To set the scene: All people wearing costumes got a call-up on the starting line (A call-up meaning you get called to come up to the front of the pack). Heading up the front stretch, through the first turn and down the next stretch it's Scooby Do followed by yours truly. YEAH, alright! But it didn't last so long as going into the left hand 180 I grabbed a bit too much rear brake and slid right at the front of the field. A recipe for disaster as we all can imagine. (Lesson #4: Less rear brake. More Cowbell). However most people were able to avoid me and such falls are pretty common place in a cyclocross race so evasive maneuvering is a quickly mastered skill in this line of racing/havoc. I quickly got back up and back in the race. Which meant I pedalled to the point of oxygen deprivation and tried not to cross that line. I didn't pass out so I guess I succeeded.

The course for the most part was very technical; tight, winding back and forth on itself like a really long, really confused snake. Maybe the snake reached oxygen deprivation and fell over. I don't know. There weren't many long stretches that allowed for a lot of speed and most of the long stretches we had were really bumpy. Wonkers, my shoulders have never hurt so bad from a bike race. And then we went down a STEEP drop off into the creek bed, following the creek bed for a good 75 yards or so. Pure vintage 'cross. The mud was more than ankle deep and halted anyone who attempted to ride it, although many tried and many more would ride just up to the muck. I just hopped off the bike prior to the drop off, jumped down and ran. Run, dumb bike rider guy, run! Then climb back up, hop on and pedal like mad to the start/finish line to do it all again! Not a fast course but that probably suited me OK as I haven't worked on holding a fast pace in the straights.

All in all, I held on for another 11th in the C race. And yes, I did indeed race the B race again. My beautiful bride and those who challenged me at the last race to do it showed me that I can indeed handle it and I increased my placing over last race - 7th place in the B (Masters 35+). Not bad considering I wiped out shortly after the start of the race and was DEAD LAST coming out of the first series of S turns. It was a little further in and was just one of those racing things. We were all wadded up trying to get through the S's and my front wheel overlapped a rider ahead of me with nowhere to go. So it goes. I ended up passing some guys who got me in the C race and now I'm beginning to think that the longer nature of the B race might suit me a bit better. Not the fastest off the start but able to maintain the output a bit longer. And hey, we had beer hand-ups! What's not to love?

We did observe but not participate in the Columbus City Championship race. I can't tell you all the details due to some super-secret double probation but it involved a shortened course, the ability to cheat at will and LOTS of Boon's Farm. Yes, *that* Boon's Farm. It was the scariest thing I saw all Halloween.

Next race is at Infirmary Mound in Newark, OH. It's a great place to race, hope it is laid out like last year. Sort of. However it's an OVCX race and the OVCX group brings some serious guys. So I'm expecting a LOT of riders and might get run over. So it goes. But I'm sore, tired & ready to go again.

Hope you are, too. Or at least ready to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project. What's stopping you?

Thanks for reading.

Halloween challenge!

At the last Cap City Cross race, I not only raced in the C category (where a guy who has only raced three races ever in his life should) but I also raced with the B group due to several people taking up my challenge and contributing to the Wounded Warrior Project.  Holy cow, at first I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I thought I was going to just suck wind all day long. But as the race for the Bs went on I realized not only was I going to make it, but I might just pass a few people! Whoah… even after completely wringing myself out for the C race I still had enough left to not just roll over and die in the B group. I was actually getting by a few people. Very few, I’ll grant you that, but I did pass a few people. Certainly that was a boost to the morale.

Which is a long way of saying Thank You. Thanks to the people who took up the challenge and forced my hand to race in a category I didn’t think I was ready for yet. Thanks also for CONTRIBUTING to the Wounded Warrior Project! Thanks to my beautiful bride for knowing that I could do it long before I thought I could. And thanks to the Wounded Warrior Project for giving me the opportunity to race for something bigger than my own ego.

But we are not done with the challenges, oh no! We need new people to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project. And we aim to do that with a new challenge. How, what, when and where, did you ask?

Sunday in not only race day, but it’s Halloween. Which means – yep, you guessed it – time to race in costume. Maybe. What costume should it be, if any at all? I’ll let new contributors to Wounded Warrior Project have their say. So if you make a contribution then also leave a comment below with your costume idea. To the 187s – you made your contribution earlier this week so you get to vote, too. And heck, I may still do both races. Yes, I know, I’ll have an oxygen tank at the finish line and the wheelchair. And *then* I will re-insert my brains.

So what do I get to be for Halloween? Make your contribution HERE and then type in your suggestion BELOW.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for your contributions.

Grog talks about bicycle racing

Some of you may know of Grog. For those who don't, grog is my inner caveman. Or alternate personality. Or part of my sadly delusional failing mind. Take your pick. But now that we are back in town, I thought it best to let Grog talk.

Grog like bicycles. He go lots of places on bikes. Grog sometimes go for faraway rides. Grog sometimes ride in circles. Grog gets grumpy if Grog no ride for several days. Grog not know why. Just is.

Grog likes racing cyclocross. Grog think it a good excuse to play in dirt like he 7 years old again. Grog think whoever dream up idea of cyclocross racing must have been really drunk. But Grog like it anyway.

Until Grog get halfway through race. Then Grog think he crazy. Going so fast he can't breathe is no way for Grog to live. Grog get ready to say hell with it all. Grog think he crazy to do this. Grog wonder what he thinking, then Grog remember that Grog don't think.

But Grog keep going. Grog no like to be quitter. Grog think "Die first, THEN quit." Grog finish race and feel tired. Very tired. But good. Grog feel alive.

Grog not know what he can do until Grog try. Grog not do any better unless Grog keep trying. So Grog keep trying.

Grog be back. Maybe you see Grog at next race? It on Halloween. Maybe if Grog get new person to contribute. Grog like that, too.

Grog thank you for reading.

The Frankenbike 50 is nearly upon us!

Sunday is our first event - the Frankenbike 50. I've been wrenching away madly on an old road bike that was going to be for Jovid but instead, he's riding my main steed and I'll the get old Concours. We've been trying to get training time in, too, but... ah well, with a field-service job and family, it doesn't always go the way we'd like. Also, we call the Frankenbike 50 an event rather than a race because while some people will be contesting for a win, for many others it will be an accomplishment just to complete the ride.

Why is that?

From the Cap City Cross website:
Date: Sunday, September 5th 2010
Location: Stoney Creek Rd. Scioto Trails State Park Start area is at the forest office/maintance area.
Time: HIGH NOON (12...)
Cost: We just ask for a small donation of $2-10 to cover map and sign costs.
What is it?
The FrankenBike50 (or FB50) is a bike tour or race depending on who you ask. It's meant to to be a fun test of your overall abilities. It will be about 50% dirt/gravel forest roads, 30% paved road and 20% singletrack. It will have some great climbing, fun downhills and beautiful views of southern Ohio. It will have technical sections, flat boring road sections, long hills, a hike a bike, and it will probably hurt a little.
Where is it?
In and around the Scioto Trails State park and forest. About an hour south of Columbus, Ohio.
Is it a cross race? A mountain bike race? A road race? What the heck?
None of the above really. It's a 'franken bike' ride. It's a little bit cross bike friendly, a little bit mountain bike friendly and a little bit road friendly. Frankenbike/Monster Cross, something like that. Maybe a rigid mountain bike, maybe a cross bike with fatter tires and a lower gear.
Can you ride any of the above bikes?
Heck yeah, there's no rules except don't cheat, play dirty or cut the course.
50?
Yeah, about 50 miles give or take. Expect a long day. We'll have some drinks and checkpoints all around the course. It's going to be epic (at least we hope.)
How's the course?

The course will be kept secret until race day. When you sign up, you'll get a map and a checkpoint card. You'll need to compete all checkpoints in the correct order to finish the ride (and stay on course - we'll have spys no wise stuff!). The course will be marked with signs but not closed so be careful! and bring your climbing gears.
Climbing Gears?
Yeah! Believe it or not there's some great hills in Scioto Trails state forest and we've worked hard to try to find them all. I (andy) can climb them all with no problem in a 32x32. JD likes to ride a 34x32 and Mason is rocking the single speed 39x17. We all agree there's some tough climbing and have all had to dismount on a few sections.
What goes up goes down?
The downhills are great. We have a few on dirt/gravel roads and a few on singletrack. One is pretty technical but most are easily do-able on a cross bike and all are great fun. Most of the trails aren't very technical but sometimes the horses destroy small sections of the trail which makes it VERY bumpy for a few yards. But in general the trails have been smooth and crossbike friendly.
What class should I ride in?
Class? What you thinkin? this is some stinkin road race? No classes. Mass start. One winner, one prize. Do it for the fun, do it for the adventure, not to win some stupid 'class'.


So, as you can see, there's goig to be a great bit of oxygen-deprivation fun to be had. Woo-hoo! We'll be there, but our Wounded Warrior Project jerseys haven't arrived yet so look for the guys off the back (I'll actually be riding as "sweep/first-aid first responder"). Jovid will have the black bike with green wheels and bar tape, mine is the old bike in black with red highlights. 
 
But while we are out there, don't forget why we are doing this. Please donate to the Wounded Warrior Project! Thank you.