Cape Crankfest

I hadn't done the Cape race on the new course yet, so I was determined to make it down there for this years event. Karen chose to go to the Single Speed Championships in Jeff City, so Casey and I headed down to Cape to get our race on.

It was hot, hot, hot out there!

After a short pre-ride I now understood why people called this course "tight" and "twisty" - wow! I've never been on such a course, much less raced on it. To me, it's one of those that when you're just riding at a casual pace it doesn't seem too hard. But when riding at a race pace, it's a killer! You're always either turning or climbing - very demanding.

I made sure I got Casey ready to go before my race started. Her race started 90 minutes after mine so I was nervous she'd miss the announcement and her start. But, the girl pulled it off and raced very well bringing home 1st place and some hardware. I can't wait for her to race JR next year.

My race went pretty well. I was sitting in 4th/5th place for the majority of the race. On lap 7 I was in 4th and couldn't resist the beach party w/pool in the middle of the course so I pulled over to take the plunge. This was a little refreshing, but the brown warm water wasn't as nice as I'd hoped. It also caused me to start cramping up. The guy behind me passed me and apparently dropped the hammer. Good for him, he saw the opportunity and took it. I saw glimpses of him the next few laps. I even passed him while he was in transition on the 2nd last lap, but then my chain dropped between my cassette and wheel and it took me a few minutes to get it back out. So he went back by me. But once I got back on the bike I finished strong and was glad to be done after 10 laps.

I finished 5th overall on the day. That guy that passed me while fixing my chain got 3rd. So, makes you wonder? But he was looking strong, maybe too strong for me to hold off?!

Rapture In Misery 2010

The 2010 Rapture In Misery came and went very differently than it did in 2009 for Karen and I both. In 2009 we were training hard for the event, didn’t know what to expect not having done it before but wanted to do well. So when Mother Nature brought the downpour, both Karen and I stayed consistent and fought through it when others bailed. Thanks to that persistence we both wound up on the podium. For the 2010 event we both had it as an “A” race for ourselves but for many reasons our training wasn’t where we wanted it to be and we’d had our family vacation the week before race week.

But we both had so much fun in 2009 that there was no way we were going to miss it this year. We drove out late Fri night and stayed in Chillicothe about 25 minutes from race HQ. There were bad storms Fri night all around the area, but word from HQ was that they were spared. We got up Sat AM and got to HQ with plenty of time to setup our pit area. Thanks to Mitch and Greg for bringing our canopy down early on Friday and getting it setup for us. That really helped!

The race started at noon with a short run of about 100 yards to our bikes. As with most starts for long races like this I chose to sit back and let the team guys and rookies sprint it out. As usual, this strategy puts me entering the singletrack with a large pack of people and thus pretty slow. But it’s a long race and there’s no need to unnecessarily jack up the heart rate so early.

I knew I was probably going to hard in the first two laps especially in the 100 degree heat and I paid for it big time on lap 3. I started to feeling sick to my stomach and chills. Even though I’d drank my entire camelback and 2+ water bottles. Towards the end of lap 3 I knew my race was over already. I chose to sit out for 90 minutes, get some food and try to cool down. I put ice on the back of my neck and sat in the shade while I tried to eat. This really seemed to help.

I chose to suit up again and go back out. I did lap 4 and felt good. Then half-way through lap 5 it all came crashing down again with the same sick feelings. So I sat back down and called it a day. But it was all good as I was still having a good time. Jim Davis was done with his race. The Segal boys (Grothoff and Hoffmeier) were coming and going doing their tag-team. Plus, I was helping Karen, Mitch, and Greg whenever necessary.

To my surprise Karen wound up pulling out of her race a little later. That girl never quits! But the heat and our overall lack of preparation played a role for her demise too.

The cool thing was that STL folks were again dominating the 12-hour podium: Zadenek, Busken, Mitch, Greg, Adam, and Wendy all stood on the podium either in their age group or overall. In the 12-hour team category the Segal boys brought home 3rd place. Plus Christine Ford won the womens 6-hour. Great job to all of these folks!!

If you’ve never done RIM, make sure you put it on your calendar for 2011. Doug Long and the Heartland crew put on a great race and it’s an awesome venue with great amenities for a race like this.