To Drill...Or Not To Drill...

Providence day 1 is done and I'm a little bummed I shouldn't be! 21st out of 70 starters isn't bad. I'm bummed with the way it went down. I rode good, got a good start, didn't go down, didn't really make any mistakes and I pushed myself cross-eyed (lost a contact, right one this time), so why be bummed? Because I really think I could have made 18th and not 21st. Wtih a lap and a half to go I caught the guy in front of me, with a lap to go we caught the guy in front of us, with 7/8 of a lap to go another guy catches us, so we're now a group of four. I really thought I could ride away from the group and thats what I proceeded to do, try anyway! I drilled it for the last lap and everytime I looked they were all still right there. So with a quarter lap to go, one guy goes and they all follow, except me I'm cooked from trying to drop the group.
So here's the question. Did I do the right thing and continue to drill it or should I have sat up and played tired and let someone else set the pace? Maybe I could have just let off and the group would have followed my pace. I doubt it, cross never seems to be any thing other than full gas, or is it? See why I'm confused.

Day 1...Can you say rain?

Wow did it pour today! I know I've been saying how I like to race in the rain (and I do), but it can get tedious. All the trying to stay dry while you're warming up and try to get warm after you've raced is kind of like work. The actual racing part is awesome though. You have to stay so focused that it seems like the race flies by. Today went pretty well, I definitely made a few poorly timed blunders, but that's racing. First lap I had ridden up to about 8th place and hit a rut which shot me off course, right off the course and behind the tape. By the time I got off my bike and back over the tape I lost at least 10 places. Then with 2 laps to go, I had just caught and passed a group of 5, as I made my way through the backstop curve... same thing with the rut, only this time I shot right into a stake and the netting. Bye bye 5 guys. I caught that group again but wasn't able to gain any more places back.
So now we're ready for bed. Belly full of Pizza joint food, laundry done, tweets sent, blog posted. Time to get ready for tomorrows nervous stomach and more awesome Gloucester racing.
But there is some bad news. We've told that gorilla man or monkey man as his friends told us has had to move away to pursue a real job in Philly. It's a sad day in cross and he will be missed. Come on young devil, time to step up.

We made it

We're here!! Yee haw. We made it without a hitch thanks to Maggie's navigating skills!? Drove up to Gloucester after we checked in to the hotel to check out the course and get something to eat. The course is quite a bit different from last year and looks quite a bit tougher. Should be really fun in the rain. I heard there's not going to be a sand pit on Day One, which is good (I'm not a fan). Ate at The Gull, one of the local dive joints. The food was actually pretty good, better than I was expecting.
Now we're all sitting here, Maggie, Nikki and I, typing into our computers and chatting, but it's time for me to hit the sack. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Heading to Gloucester

An image like can mean only one thing...Some serious cross racing is about to go down. Maggie and I are heading out to G-ster tomorrow for the weekend. We're picking up our friend Nikki at Logan and then heading to our hotel in Peabody. Nikki works with Christian Vandevelde's father, so she and Maggie got to be friends through the VdV fan club.
Paul and I raced up in VT last weekend. Those were two hard races, but I managed to get some points, so I should get a call up to the second row (for day one at least). I've been racing in the masters 45+ races. So far it feels like the group I belong in. I'm by no means the fastest, but I feel like I'm holding my own and because most of these guys are really fit and they have good riding skills it's forcing me to step up my game. I realized in VT that you can't make mistakes if you want to stay anywhere near the front, plus when you're getting beat by guys your own age you can think "if they can do it I can Too". When the 20 year old kids are kicking your ass you just say "I'm old, leave me alone".
I don't know who knows what, but team Delta is being retired as I've joined up with the Exposition Wheelmen Club both as a member and as a sponsor. We don't have our kits yet so in the mean time I'll continue flying the Delta tricolor.
Anyway, I haven't put anything up here in a while so I thought I'd do that. I'm going to bring a computer to Gloucester and try to post a race update. We'll see.
Check out this picture of Paul Railing a corner at the recent Crossin 4 Canines race. Later!

We Open The Door To The Pain Cave...And Step Inside

Doing double cross races seems like a good idea when you're sitting in front of your computer, looking at Bikereg and feeling tough. But doubles hurt. They leave you feeling wasted, which of course is why they really are a good idea. You pay today for good results tomorrow.

Cliff Kenyon, Paul Novotasky and myself made the trip to Bedford Mass. for Quad Cross. We all decided to do double races, but the only combination that worked, was for us to do back to back 40 minute races. Paul and Cliff lined up for the Masters 35+ with my 45+ group going 30 seconds afer. Paul got a good start and ended up in 12th with Clif apparently taking it a little easy in 21. My race went pretty well and I finished in 12th also. I probably could have made top 10, but the little voice in my head was saying "don't forget, you have another race to do".

So, we finish the first race and quickly get ready for the second. We all had our second race numbers pinned under our first, so a quick tear off and we were ready. As we head to the line I notice Paul lined up on the front row and I'm thinking are you crazy? but that's how he rolls, as you kids say. Cliff lined up behind him with me behind Cliff, and off we went. Paul and Cliff nailed their starts and were gone, my first lap was brutal and I wondered, "what am I doing", but by the third lap it's all one big blur and you just pedal. Paul ended up in 9th, Cliff 19th and me in 24th out of about 50.

The course was good, just the right amount of slipperyness with lots of corners and not too many crazy obstacles. There was a lot of moaning and groaning on the way home, but a good time was had by all. Don't forget, Crossin' 4 Canines this Saturday in Rocky Hill. I hope to see a good number of my new team mates there.

Final TT results

Hey everybody! Thanks a bunch to everyone who participated this year. We had a great time putting the event on and based on the amount of participation, even when the weather didn't cooperate, you people enjoyed it as well. As of now, we plan on doing it all over again next year. Any feed back you have that can make the series better will be appreciated. The final picnic was a success. I hope nobody got a raw burger. Thanks to everyone for coming and especially those who brought food. See you next year. Keep in touch. Here are the results from the last two races. email me if you want the overall series results.

Jon Tarbox

Results from Week 9, 8/27

Place Name Category Time Speed

1 Ben Carbonetti MR2 14:00.7 26.54

2 David Hildebrand MR3 14:26.0 25.77

3 David Marti MR5 14:47.8 25.14

4 Joseph Nucera MR4 14:56.1 24.91

5 Paul Novotasky MR3 14:58.3 24.86

6 David Head MR4 15:00.4 24.80

7 Steve Abbot MR5 15:10.1 24.53

8 Cliff Kenyon MR3 15:15.4 24.39

9 Sebastian Dunn MR4 15:22.8 24.18

10 Paul Armstrong MR4 15:27.0 24.08

11 Jonathon Reid MR5 15:34.7 23.87

12 Jon Tarbox MR4 15:55.1 23.37

13 Sven Malten MR3 15:56.1 23.35

14 Bill Hurley MR4 16:24.8 22.66

15 Jim Dunphy MR6 16:42.4 22.28

16 Steve Dauphinais MR4 16:44.4 22.23

17 Dean Montgomery MR4 16:56.1 21.97

18 Stacy Head FR3 17:06.0 21.75

19 Bob Ludecke MR6 17:06.0 21.75

20 Robert Winter MR5 17:10.2 21.67

21 Al Tisko MR4 17:29.1 21.28

22 Dan Massucci MR4 17:48.3 20.90

23 Steven Yau MR3 17:55.4 20.76

24 Donna Davis FR4 18:12.2 20.44

25 Kelsea Mullaly FR1 18:12.5 20.44

26 Frank Davis MR5 18:13.6 20.40

27 Katie Mullaly FR1 18:16.9 20.35

28 Laura Mullally FR4 18:22.4 20.25

Results from Sunday August 30:

Place Name Category Time Speed
1 David Hildebrand MR3 14:22.3 25.89
2 Aiden Charles MR2 14:42.6 25.28
3 Bob Hannon MR4 14:58.4 24.86
4 David Marti MR5 15:02.8 24.72
5 Stan Lezon MR3 15:09.5 24.53
6 Dave Hoyle MR2 15:42.4 23.69
7 Paul Novotasky MR3 15:43.8 23.64
8 Cliff Kenyon MR3 15:53.9 23.40
9 Dave Dubos MR3 15:56.2 23.35
10 Lance Jones MR4 16:08.8 23.03
11 Barry O'Grady MR4 16:15.6 22.87
12 Juan DeJesus MR4 16:20.2 22.78
13 Trent Sullivan MR3 16:22.5 22.71
14 Robert Winter MR5 17:00.4 21.88
15 Bruce Taylor MR4 17:13.7 21.59
16 Rob Recalde MR2 17:18.6 21.48
17 Donna Davis FR4 18:04.3 20.59
18 Michael Martin MR1 18:11.9 20.44
19 Bill Hurley MR4 18:19.6 20.29
20 Laura Mullally FR4 18:36.0 20.00
21 Katie Mullaly FR1 19:01.4 19.56
22 Taylor Hildebrand MR1 20:37.7 18.03

Blunt Park Cross Race 8-23-09

Let the fun begin. Blunt Park was the first race of the season and the turn out was good (even though everyone says it's too early for cross). Paul came up to race along with Frank Navone and the Brazilians. Frank, the Boys and I raced the cat 4 race. Before the race I said I was just going to ride around and not go too hard since my shoulder and elbow are still on the mend. What do I do at race time? Line up on the front row. I guess I am racing. Anyway, long story short, I felt good and got 6th out of 52. Frank looked like he was having a little trouble, but finished strong and said he felt pretty good. Ed (not his real name) Got third on his mountain bike and Jesse got 12th, even riding with one foot clipped in (he brought one road shoe and one mountain).
So I had registered to do the cat 3/4 race as well and was feeling OK when start time came around. I decided to start farther back and let the fresh guys have at it. Paul was up there. This race was a little faster and I stayed fairly close to the front for about the first 30 minutes. I kept Paul in sight. But then, my mind decided my body was tired and I slowed way down. For some reason I was thinking there was about 5 laps to go. I got passed by about 5 guys just as I heard the bell ring for the last lap. Paul did pretty well and finished 12th of 63. He was pissed because some kid who had no skills totally clogged the course right in front of him. I'm sure he could have got top 10, but that's cross, the start is everything. I ended up 28th.
The course was greatly improved over last year and was a lot more like a typical cross course. Now if they can get rid of the log crossings, it'll be a really good course.