2010 USGP of Cyclocross

Posted by joel on October 12, 2010

This year for the [ Planet Bike Cup ] (2010 USGP of Cyclocross), I attempted to upgrade to a Cat III. I put in my request with USA Cycling and was granted the upgrade! Although I had little experience in years past and had only done a cumulative two competitive races in cyclocross the previous year, had I stayed in Cat IV, I would have felt like I was sand bagging.

My intent was to place in the top half, but my prep leading up to the race was less than stellar. The day before the race I spent significant time eating, drinking, and being merry – including watching the Badgers destroy Austin Peau; this definitely affected my performance. The morning of race day I didn’t have my normal prep time as I normally would since my routine was somewhat skewed.

The opening gun saw numerous riders pass me, which ended up being the trend through much of the race. For whatever reason, I had no legs, no lungs, and didn’t feel my normal self. Sufficed to say my results ended up being less than stellar and I barely squeaked in staying with the lead lap. My net result for the day was 62^nd / 85: a sub-par performance.

Thanks goes out to Boyd for his picture taking skills!

Filed Under: Badgers, Cyclo Cross - Comments: Be the First to Comment

Labor Day Weekend

Posted by joel on September 8, 2009

Over Labor Day weekend I spent a good amount of time in Madison. Seth and I had some brother bonding: Saturday morning we rode 57 miles including most of the Madison Iron-man  loop followed by going to Regent St. for some afternoon Badger festivities. Initially, we (Seth, Travis and I) had tickets but decided that we were having too much fun and sold the tickets. At which point we had more beer money which ended up providing good times at The Big 10, Red Shed, and pizza at Ians (MM!!).

We followed up the Badger festivities with a trip over to Milwaukee on Sunday morning to watch the Crew play the Giants of San Fransisco. After watching through the 8th we both decided it was best to boogie and listen to the remainder of the game in the car so we could get a second ride in. We got back to Madison right around 5pm which gave us enough time to get in a 37 miler which included the Observatory climb – good hangover medicine btw. Coincidentally, about the time we got back we heard on the radio that Prince hit a walk-off home run for the Crew to avoid the sweep with a 3-2 victory!

I ended up driving home after Seth and I grabbed supper at Noodles & Co. and rolled in to Wausau about 11:30. I slept in until roughly 6:30 when Gavin and Abby decided to get up – got both changed and fed. Once that was out of the way I proceeded to clean out the entire lower level of the house as we’re getting the hard-wood floors refinished Wednesday and Thursday this week. Thanks to Luke and Chad for helping clear out the big stuff!

I got work taken care of today for both myself and MIV – now I’m planning to get some R&R in Door County with Beth, Seth, and Brittney. Should be a peaceful and relaxing time. Thanks to Kenny and Darlene for watching the three kids in our absence!

Filed Under: Badgers, Brewers, Family, Road Biking - Comments: Be the First to Comment



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