DCCX is the biggest race (in numbers) of the Super 8. I've done it every year since its inception. This year it was fast and flowing, but hard with seemingly no recovery.
Loren was out of the town since Friday so it was just us boys. On Saturday we went up and pre-rode the course. I was horrible for several laps but finally dialed my tire pressure and lines. Liam was running the steep off camber U-Turns but I convinced him to ride it to show him he could. Jake was going so fast that I had a hard time following (Jake said "did you do any hot laps?" and I said "yeah that one just following you" Jake responds "I wasn't going that hard" -- yeah, great, damn kids)
this morning we were running a bit late, but already had our numbers from Saturday so we were ok. Dan Klausen was just in front of us and we threw up the Coppi tent next to my car in the parking lot, which was nice.
Dan & Liam early
Liam before his race
It was a big group of 10-14 and Liam got a decent start, but someone crashed in front of him on the back side of the course which made him lose some spots. He came into the U-Turns looking good
But his front wheel slid out so he had to run (video by Jake's iphone). The Second lap (they only did 2) was ok. Liam was battling with Marc Klien's son and another boy from NCVC, but they were on mountain bikes so he was faster in some sections but they were good on the turns. Here he gets the ride the U-Turns on the second lap
He ended up 16th out of 30, so not as good as the past few weeks, but not horrible.
My race started well, perhaps too well, with me slotting into 5th or so in the prologue, but it was all backwards from there as I leaked power at an alarming rate. I got passed by 2 guys in national champion jerseys (both who started 1 minute behind me) Paul Curly, a living legend, and Fred Wittwer another legend. I ended up 19th. Yuck. We won't speak of it again.
Liam and I had some BBQ while the other races were on the course
Then it was time for Jake's race at 2pm. After missing Hyattsville with his injury he slipped to the 2nd row for the grid. It was fast and chaotic. I told him he had to get to the first turn by the pits in the top 5 or he'd get stuck.
Here they come off the pavement:
Ok, he wasn't bad. But then they came back around to the stair about 1 minute later and he'd slipped back to 16th. Not good
By the time they came off the backside of the course, Jake had moved up and was using the road hill to make time. But still was battling traffic at the U-Turns; a group of 5 was off the front already
By the time they came back around jake was in 7th. He came up the road hill with 3 guys on his wheel, and he just rode away from them.
At that point he was in pursuit mode. He had ridden laps 2 & 3 significantly faster than the leaders simply to get to where he was but the lead group of 5 was still ahead of him by maybe 15 seconds (I don't remember when he moved into 6th, but I think it was on the 3rd lap.
With 2.5 laps to go Jake caught up to Jay Dove (who won at Seneca last week) and they were 3rd and 4th (someone had dropped out of the lead group).
Jake and Jay went back and forth
I thought that Jake had the advantage on the climbs
With about 1 and a quarter laps to go Jake took John on the hill and gapped him in the soft grass leading into the U-Turn hill He was in 3rd and closing on 2nd (and I was going nuts; I was furiously live-tweeting and sending text messages to Loren who was driving home from NY)
Coming into the pits on the last lap, Jake was closing on the guy in 2nd.
At the right turn around the tree just past the pits, the guy in 2nd went down. He got back up but jake passed him on a little rise going toward the stairs. He was in 2nd with 1/2 a lap to go. No more video but by the U-Turns (which were immediately before the pavement finish) Jake had closed on Justin Matajasic who was in 1st and had won Rocktown last Sunday. Jake finished 2nd just 7 seconds behind 1st. Incredible. What a ride. If he had a better start and didn't have to spend so much energy catching he could have won (or if it was 1 lap longer). Jake was kinda plegmy afterward
Sinking in just after the race
Going hard is phlegmy work
Podium Boy is Back!
It was a beautiful two days. A big crowd. It was a great party. And what a huge result for Jake. A win has to be coming soon.
this poor guy caught his bike on a tree branch
Fall colors over the Armed Forces Retirement Home Cemetery
Saturday Team Thompson & Sons (me, Jake & Liam) went to a new race held at Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg, just 30 minutes north of here. So an easy drive. Part of the Sportif Cup series we would do the Liam/Me/Jake schedule again. On some level this schedule is tough. I need to be warming up while Liam is racing and Jake needs to be while I'm racing. In warm up I found the course difficult to figure out. It really turned a lot (and remember I like turns). It was almost hard to keep track because it turned back on itself. Jake came by me at speed in warm up and I couldn't even keep up.
Liam and Dustin Goodwin got lined up and started well.
I got a few more videos and then had to hop on my trainer.
Here's a photo that Jay Westcot got of Liam:
Notice me taking video by the side
But then while I was on my trainer Liam came over while the race was still going. he had crashed and hit his head. He said that his head hurt going over the bumps. he was crying, more out of being upset about not finishing I think. he was clearly ok so I wasn't worried about a concussion or anything. But my legs weren't opening up. They were sore. They had been sore at practice on Wednesday and then on Thursday I had to fly to/from New York.
I lined up in the 3/4 Masters. With points from last week I was in the 2nd row next to Pete Lindeman. I got a decent start, and was in the top 10 but I was laboring to hold the group. I lost contact at some point. The only highlight of this race was I rode the sand the last 3 laps, and by doing that I dropped Al Greene who was tight on my wheel. Otherwise, it was just bad. I finished 16th overall and I think 3rd in the 45+. Blah.
A few photos that Jay Westcot took:
I rode this in later laps
Then we got Jake lined up. He scrumed into the 4th row, but then 10 seconds into the start at the end of the sprint, tragedy. the idiots around him bunch up and stop at the slightest little kink in the course. He is stopped, then someone hits him from behind and his chain is off. he's off his bike and putting his chain back on, literally last and 15 seconds behind the back of the field. I yelled for him to go and do like Joe Dombroski (i.e. chase from behind). Jake set off at speed. He was flying and quickly made his way through half the field.
chasing more
With 3 laps to go or so he had made his way into the top 20-15. Here he's with a group (Tanner Brown had been leading but 2 crashes took him backward)
In the meantime, his teammate Andy Fleming was in his first race of the year in the 15-18 race that started behind the Men's 3/4
Jake stayed with the same group with 1/2 lap to go
He finished 16th, which is really pretty good given the start. He was upset, understandably. I tried to make him understand that he had gone much faster than anyone in that 2 lap effort to move WAY back up. Afterward we did a little interview practice while he was cooling down on the trainer, for when he's on www.cyclingdirt.com
SUNDAY
Today, Jake & I made the trip down to Harrisonburg, Va
for the Rocktown CX.
It's always a beautiful drive out through the mountains; these iphone photos from the car don't do it justice:
I was 4th there
last year in the 45+ 1/2/3. It’s basically a climb up a hill then a
slalom down, although this year it seemed even a little tighter.
My legs
felt sore still, until the gun went off. I was in about 5th
off the pavement and onto the hill, I just stood up and just went by everyone,
I was 1st up the hill and figured “ok”, and I held that for the
first few minutes until Ron Heubner decided it was time to go bye-bye and shot
by me. I let Jon Hicks slip by and then Scott Stahl, so I slotted into 4th.
I was there for a lap or so, then Scott crashed coming into the barriers and I
was in 3rd. I was going back and forth with a guy from
Tri-Power, a Richmond team (he won the 45+ VACX series last year I think, his name now escapes me [post edit -- Bill Gilmer is his name, sorry I couldn't remember that last night]), but I
was faster up the hill. Scott Stahl came back by and then so did
Scott Paisley from Charlottesville when the tripower guy was slow over the
barriers in front of me. Then I slid out in some leaves and
crashed. I lost a few spots and had to regroup. With 2 laps to go I
was catching up to 2 guys in front of me and figured I’d get them (or much closer) on the climb
in the last lap, but as I came through the finishing pavement the officials are out stopping us. I was like
“I’m in the top 10!” they had stopped everyone in the 45+ who was 4th
and higher. Just stupid. We weren’t lapped, we weren’t going to get
caught by the 35+ leaders, and we were in the top 10! If I’d know I had
only one more lap to go when I saw 2 laps to go, I would have blown it all out to catch
them. Anyway, I was 7th. Not as good as last year, but
it was a strong field and the crash took me out of the top 5.
Jake got warmed up and lined up in the 2nd row of the Men's Category 3/4 race.
He got a decent start, in the top 10 of the road (that guy in front in the video shot off the front and never looked back -- upgrade time maybe)
Jake was moving forward even within the first few minutes. here they are coming through the tight wooded turns coming down the hill
After the first lap he was 6th. And after the 3rd lap was in 4th, but was doing battle with a guy from a Richmond team (the guy in red ahead of him on this run up, who he ultimately passed on the hill).
I stopped to talk with Joe Dombroski who was going to pop in to the Elite race. We watched the elite race a bit. Joe was clearly being conservative. You don't want to tell the folks at Sky Pro Cycling that you've hurt yourself bunny hoping a barrier in a local cyclocross race.
Pro Tour....swoon
With 4 laps to go, Jake dispatched that guy on the climb up the hill, and was chasing the guy from Rocktown Cycles who was in 3rd (Jonas something). Jake got very close to him going up the hill but the guy was a mountain bike racer and extended his gap in the turns. In fact, Jonas made a big effort and was getting closer to 2nd. In the end, Jake had a solid lead over 5th and finished 4th.
They only did a podium 3 deep so no photo, but I thought it was a good ride for him. Hopefully it gives him a little boost. His starts need to improve so that he's not fighting through the crowd to get to the leaders.
I was on the fence about Rocktown but I'm glad we went. It was fun and a nice change of pace.
This will be quick because I've got many other things to do.
On Saturday, Jake, Liam & I went to Psychocross which is part of the SportifCup series. It's a great course, but very hard with some steep climbs and tough off camber sections.
First up was Liam's race. It was a decent sized group of 10-14 kids (around 15 I think). Not some of the really strong older boys, but some. I didn't get to see a lot because I was warming up for my race, but Liam had a good start and I guess rode the whole course well. He ended up 9th, which was a very good result for him. Moving up from near last to being in the middle of things. Plus he had a good time.
Based on scheduling, I did the 3/4 Masters (because it fit between Liam and jake’s race and because they send the elite 45+ at the same time as the elite 35+ and it sucks being on the course with Dave Weaver and Paul Rades and those other Cat 1s). Because I didn’t do the BCA CX, I started at the back. Crossresults.com predicted I’d get 2nd, but not from the back. I lined up on the edge of the grid and I shot from the 5th row to the 2-3rd row by the end of the pavement (elite masters skills). It’s a very hard course with a brutal run up and a lot of technical off-cambers and elevation change. I burned several matches to pass people in the first lap to get out of the crowd. But the efforts on the first lap led to me having a bit of a let down mid-race but then I rallied a bit for the last 2 laps (or at least I was pushing myself hard enough to where I was breathing really hard the whole time). I was dueling with Gus Grisom a little but he couldn’t keep his bike under him and I left him behind. I handled my bike pretty well I thought. I ended up 9th overall, but I just went through the results on USAC and I won the 45+ sub-category, which they break out for a sub-series. I know Pete Lindeman won the 3/4 45+ subgroup at BCA but wasn’t there Saturday. Not sure who else has points but I may be tied for the lead of the series or at least close. So, in short, this was my first ever cyclocross race "win" (although it didn't feel like a win at the time). [[Insert picture of me in my office holding my arms over my head]]
Jake had a very hard day at PsychoCross. Immediately he was saying he didn't think it was a good course for him. But I reminded him he got 12th last year in the Cat 3/4 race, so he would do fine. But his mind was not on point, I think. During my race I saw him standing by the course in his casual shirt and I had to yell at him that his race was next and to get ready. Then he wasn't at staging early enough and ended up at the back, taking his casual shirt off and fiddling with his helmet as the officials gave the 30 second warning. So he got a terrible start in traffic. Now, by the 2nd lap he had worked his way into the top 10 because he's really fast (and if he had started in the top 2 rows he would have been with the leaders), but then he started making faces at me when I tried to yell encouragement (mind not in the race). He says he wasn't feeling great, which I'm sure is true after going full gas for the first 2 laps to move from last to top 10. So after he snapped at me even though I literally hadn't said anything, I left him alone and was off riding to cool down my legs. When I got back he was coming through the finishing stretch, clearly not going hard. He pulled over after the finish line even though there was 1 lap to go. He had crashed hard bunny hopping a log. He landed on his left shoulder, the same one that hit the pole at nationals. On the way home it became clear that his ribs also hurt. So I took him to the ER. I was pretty sure nothing was broken, he wasn't in that kind of pain, but I figured get checked and ok'd to race Sunday.
CX-rays
Indeed he was unbroken but increasingly sore. Whether to race on Sunday would be a day-of call for him.
Sunday was a whole different ball of wax. Cold, light rain, muddy, etc. As an aside, in the theme of "soigneur dad," the logistics for this day were huge. Several other Coppis were able to bring tents, but I had the boys pack the car with everything we owned. Multiple pairs of dry socks, dry clothes, towels, extra wheels, etc. The car was bulging at the seems.
In the Elite 45+ I got a bad start after missing my pedal, but I was still top 10 maybe or around 10th when we went into the technical wooded section. I had pre-rode it 3-4 times and thought I knew the line, but damn if I didn’t crash on a root, tumbling down the hill and losing a couple places (and now my knee is scraped and sore and I have a couple little aches and pains). My mud tire on the front was great but the Griffo on the back was sliding a lot so I was struggling at times, but so was everyone. I got into a 3 man group with Karl Kensinger and Knight Elsberry of NCVC. Karl has been riding really well this year. They were both running the woods, which was faster at times but they lost time remounting. One time in the woods I couldn’t brake and ended up in the fencing, so they ran by, but I got back to them. On the last lap I pushed hard and passed them on the tight turns just before the woods because I felt that if I had a clean shot I could get through the woods a lot faster, and I did. I rode it clean and I came out with a big gap on them and was catching Thori Wolfe and George (who was struggling with some crashes in the mud). I got up to their wheel, but I was too tentative around the baseball diamond that was 100 meters before the final pavement so I got gapped off them. I finished 17th. Not great, not at all, but I’m no mudder probably. Wish I had the Limus mud rear. I still had legs but was too tentative with my fish-tailing rear wheel. It was definitely fun though, so that was good.
Liam had another great day, a bit of a breakthrough I think. Sunday, Liam and Dustin Goodwin (also 11 and very strong) lined up in a big group of 10-14 year old juniors (I think 20-ish boys and another 10 girls). The promoter routed them to avoid the woods, which Liam wanted to do. It was raining when they started and the course was slick after the Cat 4s tore it up. Liam had a great start and was right with Dustin, who is very strong.
They were mid pack and duking it out with some Rock Creek Velo boys and some NCVC kids. Dustin slid out a few times but has a lot of power so made up for it. Liam handled his bike great and kept a steady speed, staying close to Dustin. In the end Dustin was 9th and Liam 10th out of 23 boys, and Liam held off a group of 3 RCV boys who were working together for the last 2 laps to chase him. Here’s some video from the first lap in the technical turns mid lap.
Seriously, this was Liam's big break through weekend, I think. He had a great time and his strength and fitness is improving (even though he still doesn't ride at all during the week). He really handled the mud great. He's the family mudder. The first few races he was near the back but in both races he was mid-pack, which is good for 11 when the boys in the front are at least 1 or 2 years older.
Unfortunately, Jake took a few warm up laps but the pain in his shoulder and ribs was too much for him to give a full effort. Deep breathes hurt his ribs and pulling on the handle bars for leverage hurt his shoulder, ribs, and back. It was his call but we decided best not to risk the rest of the season. So he didn't race. Everyone was crashing at least once and if he had hit that shoulder again, which has probably got some strained ligaments, he would have been in a bad way. Given the pictures of the chaos in the woods in the 3/4 race, crashing was a high likelihood. But a bummer to give up his front row (number 04) starting spot.
Now we have to clean the bikes and get ready for next weekend. The cycle continues.
Doug Graham, photographer extraordinaire and friend of Thompson & Sons Racing LLC, got some great pictures at Winchester that I've snatched off of Facebook. They fill in some interesting gaps in my version of events:
This is me around mid race when I had to work into the wind on the road; I dropped John Rogers & the Sportif Coaching guy after this I think. Turns out I was first Cat 3 in my race, so that's cool.
Jake probably first lap among the crowd, looking quite comfortable.
Jake & Cody Alverez over the barriers early
Jake, also early in the woods.
Jake on the wall in traffic
Jake & Larry Miller climbing the wall
Then Larry uses his bulk to put Jake into the tape (Larry says Jake passed him right back)
This was on the last lap as the guy in green is catching Jake
And this is me having an aneurism telling Jake that he has to go and keep this guy off
That's awesome (someone tell me when my glasses make my hair look like that, please)
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