#Crossishere

[Lucas Seibel]

Utah cross has kicked off with some big names and fast riders. I've been racing in the P-Town mid week cross series this year and have really been pushed. 

Race 1 - Rock Canyon Park

The season started a little earlier that I would have liked, but on August 30th I checked my tubulars and was off to the first race of the year. Most Utah cross races are not USAC, so I've been racing with the A flight on my Nature Boy. It's was 93˚ as I begin my warm up on a course with very thick grass, similar to Vegas, as many of the riders in the A flight are preparing to head down there. Before the race I see  the local Pro CX riders Jonathon Page and Jamey Driscoll warming up so I know it's going to be a tough first race of the year. 

My strategy for the race was to see how long I could hold on. The course reminded me Melas Racin' Basin with lots of steep climbs. With not quite the right gear for the course, a 42x18, I rode what I had. I was unzipped within the first last and don't remember when I got lapped the first time, but I was 10 seconds in front of Driscoll as he finished. Almost getting lapped a 2nd time.  A solid 18th of 35. Oh yeah, and everyone except the top 5 were lapped. 

Race 2 - Euclid Timber

 On the Sunday before this race I tried this thing called hiking. You walk up a mountain and then down, doesn't sound hard but I could barley walk on Monday. The course for this second race was the complete opposite of the one. The course featured mountain bike single track, a short loose descent that would have been perfect for a dropper post, loose gravel on the turns through a lumber yard. I had brought my tubeless 38c gravel wheels for the pit and boy was I glad. After a quick pre-lap, that extra volume was going to be nice over the rough and dry course. 

With hot cross weather, about 70, I lined up behind Jonathon Page and Robbie Squire. There are some fast riders here. A few riders on were XC Mountain bike, which really may have been the right tool for a course like this. At the start we took off in a dust cloud and I spun my single speed as fast as I could. I had managed to be the last one on the group of 15 at the front, but it didn't last long. Coming down a descent two thirds through the first lap something happened and my brake lever shifted and slipped down on my bars, my front tire burped and I went down. Everyone in the A flight passed me at this point. I made my way to the pit back at the start/finish, taking the turns as fast as you can with an almost flat front wheel. It was like a NASCAR pit crew as I changed out the front wheel, including a skewer change, and I was back in the race with only a minute down. After 50 minutes of chasing I found myself in 20th of 30 for another solid ride considering I didn't think I'd even be able to ride that morning. 

Race 3 - Rock Canyon Park 

With dark clouds moving over the Salt Lake Valley, I thought we might have some actual CX weather. This time I bought my climbing gear, 42x19, but it wasn't quite enough. A slightly modified course from two weeks before offered long stretches that required all the watts and not a whole lot of sections to recover. 

TenSpeed Hero started sponsoring Sofia Gomez-Villafane this year, the 2015 Women's Collegiate national Champion, who lives in Park City. The week before, she was 2nd overall in the Women's open and Men B flight, so they her race with the As this time.

The clouds darkened as we lined up, but we still hadn't gotten any rain. I didn't get the best starting position and had to make some moves early and may have burned too many matches. Halfway through the first lap the split happened again and I was able stay with them. Finishing the first lap on the tail end of the lead group, but then we hit a small climb and I was dropped. Throughout the race I went back and forth with two riders, but eventually I was done and they opened the gap. The last 3 laps I watched the storm roll in with four or five lightening strikes just off in the distance, but no rain. I thought it was strange they never called the race and we just kept going, but that's what you get without USAC. It was 30 minutes in that I was lapped by the winner, Keegan Swenson, but it wasn't until the last lap that 2nd, 3rd, and 4th got me. Making small improvements. 

I finished in 18th of 30, but am hoping these tough races well have me ready for the Single Speed and Cat 2 races next weekend in Iowa! And Sofia finished19th, 30 seconds being me. She's going to be one to watch. 

We packed up the car and as we pulled out of the park it started to rain.  

 

More race reports to come after next weekend! I'll keep you posted and look forward to hearing about the CCC race where the Sven's showed up. 

Best, 

Lucas

[Paul Halupka]

good shit man! sounds like a hot zone. looking forward to trying the scene out in Nashville this fall. seems way more tame. thanks for sharing!

[Andrew Scheyer]

A) Lucas, that sounds rad as fuck. Glad you're having a good time and pushing it out there. Good luck in the coming races and I can't wait to hear about Jingle CX, especially being a big year for them.

B) Hiking, eh?

Love and miss you all from France. I'll be doing my last major race of the year this coming weekend, which starts and ends about 1km from the desk I'm currently sitting at. Finally earned enough points for a priority start, so I'll be toeing the line with the big boys. But mostly my relationship with bikes has devolved to century rides through the mountains with many stops to eat wild blackberries and figs, so I'm expecting that the rest of the peloton will play along, since the race will pass right through some of my favorite foraging spots. Pee/fruit break, anyone?

--

Andrew F. Scheyer, PhD

perpetual student

Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée

Parc scientifique de Luminy

163 avenue de Luminy

BP13 - 13273 Marseille cedex 09 - France

[Paul Halupka]

Ha good luck Drew! I mean if it's a "besoin naturel" maybe the besoin is also for figues?!

Also I'm not sure if that's a de-volving or an e-volving, sounds pretty effing great. 

--

paul halupka

ha-lup-ka.com