The Heckle Report
- Thread starter The Heckler
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- beard cyclocross recap
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Goes to show you different perceptions.. When I saw that pic, I thought of a National Geographic guy whispering... "And here we see Homo Sapien cyclocrossersaurus in his natural element, lifting his leg and marking his territory..."
Does look a tad emaciated now that you called attention to it
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
I think last years level of 'race weight' was achieved by quitting sugar and snacking for 5 months after a huge dental bill.
Consult_Ant
Member
I've some catching up to do...
You're my hero Matt!
You're my hero Matt!
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
UH OH.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
NBX UCI 1 Warwick, RI - 2016
What a weekend.
It all starts Friday morning 5:56AM. This morning is unique because instead of dressing up business casual I thrown on the tights and do my openers first thing. I meant to grad a banana but spaced in my rush and ended up on the road empty stomach. Worst ride EVER, could barely pedal tempo.
GET HOME, SHOWER, CHANGE, EAT - Car is packed for the weekend, OFF TO WORK. We had our company holiday party after which is why I wanted to get openers out of the way. Left from there at 6:00PM.
Got up to Zach's in Fall River MA around 10:15 chilled with him and another buddy, hit the hay and woke up around 8:30. Breakfast was a fat bowl of oatmeal with a hearty scoop of PB and a drizzle of Hershey syrup, YUMMMM! New killer combo!
40 minute drive to Goddard State Park with a stop to grab a turkey sandwich at stop and shop. Arrive around 10:40 and meet Clio in the lot. Out on course right around 11 for half a lap and catch Alex staging for the woman's 3 and give her a cheer.
NUMBER PICK UP! YO! I'm staged 19th - 3rd row, what a day!
At noon I get a couple good laps in. Course is very similar to how I remember it - all the roots, dirt corners a couple good high speed up down feats and the longest section of sand in american cyclocross. This year they also added a high speed asphault dismount into stone stairs which have a long landing and short rise per step.
The wonderful @seanrunnette agreed to help pit for Clio which I can't thank him enough for. This freed up a little time for me since I could get more course inspection in as opposed to dropping a pit bike. I catch the first lap and home girl is riding strong and moving up. Sick.
I decided to try out the Madness Mad Alchemy Embro and run bare legged. I get the B-Bike situated on the trainer and start a proper warm up. Just then I look up and see that my buddy Dan has just arrived! Dan is of the inner college friend circle. We chat and he agrees to dump my pit bike for me, RAD.
STAGING!!!! I'm going to give myself an A- for the day as far as planning goes. I'm super happy with nutrition & hydration leading up to the race, had some good course inspection, seshed a couple corners, great warm up. Had I gotten there 10 minutes earlier and made a full lap at 11 I'd give myself an A for the day.
3rd row is such a beautiful thing. I'm not as intimidated by my competition anymore. I'm still a ways away from those UCI points guys but I'm more comfortable racing around them. Also, dealing with the demolition derby that is the scrub zone is much less of a draining task when I face that.
I line up behind Adam Myerson on the left railing which puts me outside for a wide open 180 right, inside on a shallow left and outside shallow right then inside 90 into the woods. The course was WIDE and I was going to take advantage of the outside.
I look around and notice I'm the only person without leg coverage and 1 of 2 people with ear coverage in the first 3 rows. Hmmm...
I nail my pedal and jump forward with Adam, he moves up the left and I keep in proximity. Tons of space on the outside and end up on Al Donahue's wheel. I stay left in the woods and miss all of the roots. Al's wheel is a good wheel. Someone chops me and lets Al open a gap a few minutes in and that was the end of that.
I'm feeling decent cornering but still not hanging as tight as I need to be. ugh.
I spend some time around Tim W, Sam O'Keef, Nick Lando and Gerald Adsavage and know that's where I need to be but they all slowly ride away. Guys around me are making mistakes and I'm there to pounce every time it happens.
27th - not a bad result but man, I really want more then that. Lap times are relatively consistent reflecting a no mistake clean race. I need to get cleaner turning in loose shit. I'm wasting time and energy every turn.
11:39 (prologue)
7:54
7:54
8:00
8:04
8:00
8:08
8:00
What a weekend.
It all starts Friday morning 5:56AM. This morning is unique because instead of dressing up business casual I thrown on the tights and do my openers first thing. I meant to grad a banana but spaced in my rush and ended up on the road empty stomach. Worst ride EVER, could barely pedal tempo.
GET HOME, SHOWER, CHANGE, EAT - Car is packed for the weekend, OFF TO WORK. We had our company holiday party after which is why I wanted to get openers out of the way. Left from there at 6:00PM.
Got up to Zach's in Fall River MA around 10:15 chilled with him and another buddy, hit the hay and woke up around 8:30. Breakfast was a fat bowl of oatmeal with a hearty scoop of PB and a drizzle of Hershey syrup, YUMMMM! New killer combo!
40 minute drive to Goddard State Park with a stop to grab a turkey sandwich at stop and shop. Arrive around 10:40 and meet Clio in the lot. Out on course right around 11 for half a lap and catch Alex staging for the woman's 3 and give her a cheer.
NUMBER PICK UP! YO! I'm staged 19th - 3rd row, what a day!
At noon I get a couple good laps in. Course is very similar to how I remember it - all the roots, dirt corners a couple good high speed up down feats and the longest section of sand in american cyclocross. This year they also added a high speed asphault dismount into stone stairs which have a long landing and short rise per step.
The wonderful @seanrunnette agreed to help pit for Clio which I can't thank him enough for. This freed up a little time for me since I could get more course inspection in as opposed to dropping a pit bike. I catch the first lap and home girl is riding strong and moving up. Sick.
I decided to try out the Madness Mad Alchemy Embro and run bare legged. I get the B-Bike situated on the trainer and start a proper warm up. Just then I look up and see that my buddy Dan has just arrived! Dan is of the inner college friend circle. We chat and he agrees to dump my pit bike for me, RAD.
STAGING!!!! I'm going to give myself an A- for the day as far as planning goes. I'm super happy with nutrition & hydration leading up to the race, had some good course inspection, seshed a couple corners, great warm up. Had I gotten there 10 minutes earlier and made a full lap at 11 I'd give myself an A for the day.
3rd row is such a beautiful thing. I'm not as intimidated by my competition anymore. I'm still a ways away from those UCI points guys but I'm more comfortable racing around them. Also, dealing with the demolition derby that is the scrub zone is much less of a draining task when I face that.
I line up behind Adam Myerson on the left railing which puts me outside for a wide open 180 right, inside on a shallow left and outside shallow right then inside 90 into the woods. The course was WIDE and I was going to take advantage of the outside.
I look around and notice I'm the only person without leg coverage and 1 of 2 people with ear coverage in the first 3 rows. Hmmm...
I nail my pedal and jump forward with Adam, he moves up the left and I keep in proximity. Tons of space on the outside and end up on Al Donahue's wheel. I stay left in the woods and miss all of the roots. Al's wheel is a good wheel. Someone chops me and lets Al open a gap a few minutes in and that was the end of that.
I'm feeling decent cornering but still not hanging as tight as I need to be. ugh.
I spend some time around Tim W, Sam O'Keef, Nick Lando and Gerald Adsavage and know that's where I need to be but they all slowly ride away. Guys around me are making mistakes and I'm there to pounce every time it happens.
27th - not a bad result but man, I really want more then that. Lap times are relatively consistent reflecting a no mistake clean race. I need to get cleaner turning in loose shit. I'm wasting time and energy every turn.
11:39 (prologue)
7:54
7:54
8:00
8:04
8:00
8:08
8:00
Liked for oatmeal with a hearty scoop of PB and a drizzle of Hershey syrup and lap times.
Love reading the progression over the course of the season.
Love reading the progression over the course of the season.
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
forget the kids man... I'm thinking about that shit for me!Second this... This will be good to get the kiddos eating more oatmeal.
hotsauce
Well-Known Member
Good race Matt. Some of those corners in the loose sand/dirt mix were much tougher than they looked. Miss the A line and you were bogged down in the soft stuff. Hanging with the big guns is no easy feat, those guys mean business up there.
I know cyclists in general are pro-embro but I think it is worth a hard look. A recent VeloNews podcast was dedicated to training in the cold and pretty well debunked embro. @seanrunnette made fun of me for wearing too much kit all weekend but warm legs are fast legs. But as always, to each their own.
I got da fix for that - it's called 6MR - let's do it
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
NBX UCI SUNDAY
Cookie cutter morning to Saturday except I got there that 15 minutes earlier AND THEN PROCEEDED TO LOCK MY KEYS IN MY CAR WITH MY A BIKE IN THE BACK, MY SHOES, HELMET, PHONE AND THULE KEYS.
Rad.
Things like this don't get me worked up. I made a mistake, and I was going to get it fixed, life would go on. I got on Zach's phone and found a locksmith 2.1 miles away. 20 minutes and $60 later I was in my car and the day continued as though the debacle never even happened.
Even with car-pocalypse I managed to get on course for a half lap at 11. They removed the beach run on day 2 replacing it with about 20 feet of sand witch was mostly ridable. I don't know if anyone managed to get pver the kick at the end, I never managed to get close to riding out so committed to the run come race time. I watched the first lap of the Woman's 3 race and gave Alex a couple cheers.
I picked up my number which was different from the day before (I washed my kit pinned for no reason) but was pleasantly surprised to find MY CALL UP WAS THE SAME! 19 = 3rd row two days in a row, holy double lotto win.
@seanrunnette already described the course best, and I was happy to read he though the loose corners flowed worse in this direction. These corners totally killed my race and was the only place I would loose wheels beyond being able to fix them. A bike length 4 corners in a row is a lot of bike lengths when you don't have enough pop to out sprint someone already sprinting out of every corner.
I've been bringing the trainer and usually remembering my clincher wheel with file tread which makes warm ups a breeze. A big part of racing is getting the routine dialed. I spent way too long this season getting my head on straight, but I'm finally happy have my routine where I want it. JUST IN TIME FOR UCI TO BE OVER.
I line up 2nd from the left rail next to Colin Reuter (yes Mr. CX-results) and try to haggle my way into the SS field at Ice Weasels. WORKED, rather easily, actually said something about defending my podium which he dug enough. Rad.
GO! I move up the left, open it wide, Colin slots in ahead of me and on the open left following the first 180 I'm convinced I just saw Evan Murphy die after getting tangled up with Jeremy Durrin. I hear Durrin yelling some colorful language but am momentarily fixated on the tumble Evan took.
I scoot through the wreck and get back on the power. I dodged likely a lot of BS being in the front 20 or so through the first woods section.
I moved while also moving up at a lower frequency. I'm racing around Bradford and Matt Sousa most of the race until Matt turns it up and dusts me. They add a different high speed pavement dismount into stone steps which were were RIPPING UP. Lap 4 we came through and I heard someone say "DAMN, that was a fast group!" Always the best to hear a candid speed comment about oneself while racing.
Last lap I got caught by 3 guys who passed me and opened a few second gap which I was unable to close before the finish. I normally sprint to the line no matter who is around me but I was pretty battered after 2 days of that venue and rolled through the line with Zach yelling at me for not standing. Ouch, man.
28th on Day 2.
Super easy drive home but the CX hangover didn't break until Tuesday afternoon at which point I went from "over CX" to "ZOMG I CAN'T WAIT FOR ICE WEASELS! I WISH I WAS RACING SUNDAY, TOO."
I didn't get my gear together Tuesday morning so I had to go home to ride. The forecast was for rain around 4, and the car was reading 42 degrees. I said eff it and hit caught Wonderful Beasts and Where to Find Them in Madison for $6! Movie was fine, not really up to snuff with the rest of the franchise but a reasonable distraction. Then I hit East in Berkeley Heights for sushi only to find out it's no longer half price. Man, it's the end of an era.
I got home from solo date night and just couldn't muster the will to ride the trainer at all, so two rest days. Also, possibly the first time I missed a ride all season? Second. I missed a recovery ride after Gloucester for a conference. Not bad, me thinks.
But yeah, headed up to Warwick again for ICE WEASELS to race SS! The field is pretty giant, and filled past capacity. While much of the field will be "racing" the front end of this field is wicked stacked and is going to be a really tough race. With temperatures likely in the freezing range this should be a great shakedown for SS nats. Good competition, cold weather and a very well featured technical demanding course.
Of 92. 92! IN A SS RACE. Yeah, it's the feature event.
Cookie cutter morning to Saturday except I got there that 15 minutes earlier AND THEN PROCEEDED TO LOCK MY KEYS IN MY CAR WITH MY A BIKE IN THE BACK, MY SHOES, HELMET, PHONE AND THULE KEYS.
Rad.
Things like this don't get me worked up. I made a mistake, and I was going to get it fixed, life would go on. I got on Zach's phone and found a locksmith 2.1 miles away. 20 minutes and $60 later I was in my car and the day continued as though the debacle never even happened.
Even with car-pocalypse I managed to get on course for a half lap at 11. They removed the beach run on day 2 replacing it with about 20 feet of sand witch was mostly ridable. I don't know if anyone managed to get pver the kick at the end, I never managed to get close to riding out so committed to the run come race time. I watched the first lap of the Woman's 3 race and gave Alex a couple cheers.
I picked up my number which was different from the day before (I washed my kit pinned for no reason) but was pleasantly surprised to find MY CALL UP WAS THE SAME! 19 = 3rd row two days in a row, holy double lotto win.
@seanrunnette already described the course best, and I was happy to read he though the loose corners flowed worse in this direction. These corners totally killed my race and was the only place I would loose wheels beyond being able to fix them. A bike length 4 corners in a row is a lot of bike lengths when you don't have enough pop to out sprint someone already sprinting out of every corner.
I've been bringing the trainer and usually remembering my clincher wheel with file tread which makes warm ups a breeze. A big part of racing is getting the routine dialed. I spent way too long this season getting my head on straight, but I'm finally happy have my routine where I want it. JUST IN TIME FOR UCI TO BE OVER.
I line up 2nd from the left rail next to Colin Reuter (yes Mr. CX-results) and try to haggle my way into the SS field at Ice Weasels. WORKED, rather easily, actually said something about defending my podium which he dug enough. Rad.
GO! I move up the left, open it wide, Colin slots in ahead of me and on the open left following the first 180 I'm convinced I just saw Evan Murphy die after getting tangled up with Jeremy Durrin. I hear Durrin yelling some colorful language but am momentarily fixated on the tumble Evan took.
I scoot through the wreck and get back on the power. I dodged likely a lot of BS being in the front 20 or so through the first woods section.
I moved while also moving up at a lower frequency. I'm racing around Bradford and Matt Sousa most of the race until Matt turns it up and dusts me. They add a different high speed pavement dismount into stone steps which were were RIPPING UP. Lap 4 we came through and I heard someone say "DAMN, that was a fast group!" Always the best to hear a candid speed comment about oneself while racing.
Last lap I got caught by 3 guys who passed me and opened a few second gap which I was unable to close before the finish. I normally sprint to the line no matter who is around me but I was pretty battered after 2 days of that venue and rolled through the line with Zach yelling at me for not standing. Ouch, man.
28th on Day 2.
Super easy drive home but the CX hangover didn't break until Tuesday afternoon at which point I went from "over CX" to "ZOMG I CAN'T WAIT FOR ICE WEASELS! I WISH I WAS RACING SUNDAY, TOO."
I didn't get my gear together Tuesday morning so I had to go home to ride. The forecast was for rain around 4, and the car was reading 42 degrees. I said eff it and hit caught Wonderful Beasts and Where to Find Them in Madison for $6! Movie was fine, not really up to snuff with the rest of the franchise but a reasonable distraction. Then I hit East in Berkeley Heights for sushi only to find out it's no longer half price. Man, it's the end of an era.
I got home from solo date night and just couldn't muster the will to ride the trainer at all, so two rest days. Also, possibly the first time I missed a ride all season? Second. I missed a recovery ride after Gloucester for a conference. Not bad, me thinks.
But yeah, headed up to Warwick again for ICE WEASELS to race SS! The field is pretty giant, and filled past capacity. While much of the field will be "racing" the front end of this field is wicked stacked and is going to be a really tough race. With temperatures likely in the freezing range this should be a great shakedown for SS nats. Good competition, cold weather and a very well featured technical demanding course.
Of 92. 92! IN A SS RACE. Yeah, it's the feature event.
Holy shit... where do I sign up!? J/k, but that sounds epic. Good luck and have fun broslice. Need pictures of that HOT bike.
The Squirrel
Well-Known Member
I see what you did there.
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Retrospective in both forms of the definition... 
Entertained by the improvement. Well done
One minor observation, not a bad one, probably associated with stepping up and working hard... the usual Heckler antics are not coming through in the writing... Maybe I am confusing the Hecklecation stuffs with this one. I'm hopeful Ice Weasles reinvigorates the shenanigans.
MUCH STOKE TO SEE THE PINK BIKE GETTING MORE ACTION ---- -BBRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH! "SESH THE SQUIRREL"
Entertained by the improvement. Well doneOne minor observation, not a bad one, probably associated with stepping up and working hard... the usual Heckler antics are not coming through in the writing... Maybe I am confusing the Hecklecation stuffs with this one. I'm hopeful Ice Weasles reinvigorates the shenanigans.
MUCH STOKE TO SEE THE PINK BIKE GETTING MORE ACTION ---- -BBRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH! "SESH THE SQUIRREL"
This may be your most pro moment of the season. Lines up third row, keeps the hustle going! Have a great time up there!
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
I'll probably touch more on this during my season recap but an extra 100+ hours on the bike this year has me pretty tired. I have enough energy to train, race and sit with my feet up listening to records. The game has definitely changed this year, or perhaps I'm growing up a little?Retrospective in both forms of the definition...
One minor observation, not a bad one, probably associated with stepping up and working hard... the usual Heckler antics are not coming through in the writing... Maybe I am confusing the Hecklecation stuffs with this one. I'm hopeful Ice Weasles reinvigorates the shenanigans.
MUCH STOKE TO SEE THE PINK BIKE GETTING MORE ACTION ---- -BBRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH! "SESH THE SQUIRREL"
OH MAN, IS THIS THREAD CAPTURING MY TRANSFORMATION FROM DRUNK COLLEGE KID TO BORING ADULT!?
I think it is.
