Gobble Gobble

Quick update before the busy holiday weekend comes. We're making the pilgrimage up to Green Bay tonight to gather with my family before coming back to Madison Friday. Then I'll hop in the cute green bug with Mo and we'll make our way to Iowa for Jingle Cross. It will be a bit hectic but all in all should be a fun few days.

Last weekend was the Angell Park Cross race which has always been a favorite of mine. JP always does a great job with the course and the spectators are always out in full force. This year's edition included a section on the dirt track, some fun swoopy hills, a long hill run up, and of course the beer pavilion. I've been trying to work on my starts a bit so I went to the front right away. After a lap it was just Sam and I and we took turns on the front. About 15 minutes into the race my chain was bouncing all over the place, changing gears on me and otherwise being annoying. I wasn't sure what was happening but I was nervous about getting my pit bike so I decided to just deal with it. I couldn't get into my big ring without things seizing up so I just tried to stick with a gear and hope for the best. Sam and I were pretty evenly matched and it was kind of fun to ride with her. Here we are on the run up.

Thanks Jon for the photo!

The last lap I tried to push the pace and get a gap on her but it was not my day. She sprinted past me on the track and kept the small gap to the finish. Considering my bicycle woes I was happy to finish second. I felt good on the bike and am feeling more comfortable with the handling. Maybe I am slowly but surely becoming a somewhat proficient technical rider? We'll see how the rest of the season goes :)

So after the race I check out my chain and see it is off the pulley on my rear derailleur and is in between the cage and the wheel. Not good! I get it back on, jump into the men's 30+ race and after one lap it is back off again. So I decide I've had enough cross racing for one day. Dave checked it out later that night and luckily we think/hope it's fixed and there was just some gunk in there that caused the wheel to be off center. We'll see how it does this weekend in Iowa!

I'm super excited to race at Jingle Cross. The event is UCI this year and the Meehans always do a great job putting on this race. It will hands down be the fiercest competition I've faced this year with lots of talented riders coming out in hopes of grabbing some UCI points and maybe some $$. I'm hoping I can be on my A game! Team Kenda Tire will have at least 4 riders in the Elite race and several more in masters womens race. It will be fun to see so many of my teammates! Should be a great weekend!

But first some down time with my family and some "carbo-loading"