DeStad Series rankings are out. I'm leading the 35+ master's with two races to go. Last years series winner Jason Gaikowski(the maker of the ScottyD CX action figures as seen no where) is sitting in second. Proving that consistency is what you need to win a season long series. With two more races left he has a pretty good chance of taking the overall again if I don't show up to either race. But thanks to the Rent a Racer program I might just make one appearance perhaps even two.
The 45+ Master's is turning into a real horse race with The Arctic Hard Man Dan Hansen leading over the ever present Steve Songer by just 1 point. Showing once again you have to be consistent to take the overall. I'm looking forward to see how this one plays out. Songer has the horsepower, but Hansen has the consistency week in & week out.
Kyle has a way with words "Scott Dunsmuir of Springfield has taken the Masters field by storm, collecting 3 wins in the last 3 races." Almost embarrasses me a little, almost.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
For Sale/Rent: 1 Used Master's CX Racer
One high mileage slightly damaged Master's CX Racer. There is still a lot of life left in this racer. Times are tough & I just want to race. Small payouts & race expenses are getting higher. Help a racer out & support the cause. What do you get in return you ask? Not much really. I'll race myself into the ground that much is guaranteed. Think of it as a money tree I don't have to strip bare. Or like supporting orphan kids, or NPR. You've got money & I want it. Click on the Donate button, pay for an entry fee or a tank of gas. Driving to KC solo every week is adding up. I figure it will take $1500 to finish out the rest of the season. Any leftover funds will be donated to kids bike charities. I'm not greedy, just needy. You can't buy gas with a can of Heed.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Feeling better
After leaving work early & wailing in agony I'm feeling better. Scroll down to read my version of the happenings.
Smithville Day 2
Wasn't feeling so great warming up on Sunday. Wind had picked up again. My left quad was still a bit sore for some reason. I didn't give myself much of a chance of repeating the W from Saturday. Dan Hansen got the hole shot(nice guy who drives 4000 miles from the Arctic just to race in KC & he has the coolest jersey in the peloton). I took over in the roller section with the plan of slowing it down a little. I figured I'd be marked so why not make an easy tempo. I rolled around for the rest of the first lap setting tempo. At the start of the second lap Hejduk rolled through & I figured it was game time. Pace started picking up. Third lap Songer came through & upped the tempo again. We hit the pavement @ the wheel pit & I punched it really hard. My shadow grabbed on with his shadow Andy Lucas. This worried me since we'd opened a gap on Hejduk & I knew I had to go hard to stay away from him. I figured Songer & Lucas would wait till I tired then bum rush me to the line. Luckily I had descent legs & was able to shake Lucas. Songer held tough. I thought I might be able to talk him into helping if I dropped him & let him come back but decided I'd just stay on the front. Coming into the finish a gentleman's agreement was being made. I was offering & so was Steve. Thing was neither of us could hear the other over the wind. So a pseudo sprint ensued. It didn't take me long to figure out Steve wasn't sprinting so I got W# 2. That was a first back to back's.
Me & my 360 Shadow from all weekend
Steep run up from hell. Thought I'd hurt my left quad here on Saturday.
Kick ass roller section. My favorite part of the course. Had a sweet switch back section before it.
I can sprint when sufficiently motivated. Granted Songer wasn't sprinting so it was a little one sided. Heat of the moment & all.
Who's that turd on the top step ride for? Team fine coming for not wearing appropriate podium atire.
Think I ate some bad Taco Hell in Clinton on the way home so will update both days after I go blow some chunks
Me & my 360 Shadow from all weekend
Steep run up from hell. Thought I'd hurt my left quad here on Saturday.
Kick ass roller section. My favorite part of the course. Had a sweet switch back section before it.
I can sprint when sufficiently motivated. Granted Songer wasn't sprinting so it was a little one sided. Heat of the moment & all.
Who's that turd on the top step ride for? Team fine coming for not wearing appropriate podium atire.
Think I ate some bad Taco Hell in Clinton on the way home so will update both days after I go blow some chunks
Smithville Day 1
Money grows on trees in Smithville. Managed to snag $8(mostly by stopping & emptying the tree right before the finish, sorry Songer)
Interesting dynamic laid itself at my feet before the start of the race. Winkler was in Louville @ the USGP. Hejduk wasn't going to race. That left a big opening to take a healthy lead in the DeStad Series 35+. That was enough motivation to drill it from the word go. Actually got the hole shot. First one in awhile(granted I usually don't want the hole shot). I wanted to lead into the technical sections to try & string it out early. It was windy so I figured everyone would sit in & draft. To keep them honost I attacked a lot. Eventually I whittled it down to me & Steve Songer. He's in the 45+ group but it doesn't feel right having a 360 guy beat you so I kept attacking him. I'd go, he'd claw back. I'd get a big shit eating grin because damn this is racing & racing is fun!(hurts like hell though) I did this several times till I finally broke the rubber band. I managed to get a big enough gap to risk running to the money after the run up & give it my own version of defoliating. Picked it clean. Managed to roll across the line arms in the air with my bounty. Songer rolled across the line with the international sign of your number one (all in good fun).
Exploring the Pain Cave
Base Camp for the weekend.
Feel like crap this AM so will edit the report later
Interesting dynamic laid itself at my feet before the start of the race. Winkler was in Louville @ the USGP. Hejduk wasn't going to race. That left a big opening to take a healthy lead in the DeStad Series 35+. That was enough motivation to drill it from the word go. Actually got the hole shot. First one in awhile(granted I usually don't want the hole shot). I wanted to lead into the technical sections to try & string it out early. It was windy so I figured everyone would sit in & draft. To keep them honost I attacked a lot. Eventually I whittled it down to me & Steve Songer. He's in the 45+ group but it doesn't feel right having a 360 guy beat you so I kept attacking him. I'd go, he'd claw back. I'd get a big shit eating grin because damn this is racing & racing is fun!(hurts like hell though) I did this several times till I finally broke the rubber band. I managed to get a big enough gap to risk running to the money after the run up & give it my own version of defoliating. Picked it clean. Managed to roll across the line arms in the air with my bounty. Songer rolled across the line with the international sign of your number one (all in good fun).
Exploring the Pain Cave
Base Camp for the weekend.
Feel like crap this AM so will edit the report later
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
CX Series Standings
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Just my luck
I win a race & I don't get picture proof of it. 14 million people & no one got a pic of my seldom used victory salute? I've searched every KC blog I can find & I've come up empty handed. Oh well if you see one link it to me or send it to me. I'd appreciate it.
A good way to waste time @ work or on the trainer.
A good way to waste time @ work or on the trainer.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Series 60 Wknd
Saturday & Sunday were stops 2 & 3 of the Series 60 CX Series. Saturday was the Capitol Cup in Topeka. Sunday was the ever popular Boulevard Cup @ Wynadotte Park, former home of CX nationals.
Saturday I got up bright & early for the 4 hour drive up to Topeka. The temps are finally getting closer to normal Cross weather with a slight chill in the air. The course was very similar to last years except with the addition of another run up of the "Mound of Misery". They also made the smart move of cutting out about 2 miles of the course. Last year you got what seemed like 4 miles away from the pits. This year with shorter laps you never felt like you were going on a tour of Topeka. Warming up the grass still had a heavy dew on it & braking was a serious issue. I had intended to run the file treads but started second guessing it. I threw them on & took a lap & decided with the right tire pressure they would be fine. Turns out they worked better than the motor did.
It only took 1/2 a lap after the whistle went off for me to realize my legs weren't there. I guess I had dug myself a bigger hole last week than I had thought & the fatigue was heavy. Winkler & Hejduk basically rode/ran away from me. No real attacks just steady hard tempo & it was all I could do to float around in 3rd for the remainder of the race. Third was a bit of a disappointment since I had won here last year. All the fatigue in the legs made it an easy decision to scratch myself from the 1/2 race & go into hang out/fan mode. Just walking around after the race my legs were dead. I was tired enough I probably should have caught a nap in the sun. Very strange.
Sunday was the Boulevard Cup. This is one of my favorite races if for nothing else that the race prizes are beer. This year the winner of each class got a bottle of 6th Glass. I had thought that the course was going to be last years Nationals course which I wasn't very excited about. That course wasn't a very good one for me even though on paper it should have been. Anyway when I pulled into the parking lot I was pleasantly surprised to see it moved up on onto the hill. They even took the course around the Skate Park. There were a few kids riding the bowls while we were racing. I mounted the file treads again & took a practice lap. I took them to 28 psi & I knew that was the set up for the day. My legs felt a little better warming up than they had on Saturday. Though the course was heavy on grass & wind so I was a little worried about having another bad day. Luckily Winkler was feeling sick so decided not to start Master's. But David White had decided to race Master's instead of the 1/2's. This had me pretty worried since he rode off the front of the 3's races last year & won by a chunk of time. I figure I'd better mark him pretty closely.
At the start Doug Plumer lined up so I knew the long road start was going to be ridiculously fast. Some one must have told him there was a prime for the first to the end of the pavement. He freaking drilled it from the word go. I figured he'd fad but the fast pace always makes the selection happen fast. As usual me versus 5 360 guys. Plumer dropped of the pace fast & Lucas came to the front. I decided to attack early & often in an attempt to be more aggressive & break up the 360 death grip on me. It turns out that I hadn't pre rode the "whole" course. There was a switch back section marked with orange cones laying in orange leaves that I had missed. I attacked right before it & blew straight through it. I instanlty hear all 5 of the 360 guys yelling "SCOTT!" I'm thinking to myself what the hell is there game here. Then I glance back & the gap has gotten way to big, way to fast, & the light bulb turns on. Shit I've gone off the course. So I swing it around in a big loop, get back on course, & start my half lap chase to get back on.
I came damn close to throwing in the towel. Things sorted themselves out & I caught back on. Some big attacks went which I tried to cover. Jenks took a flier which threw me for a loop since I didn't know to cover it or try & pull it back gradually. I decided gradual & he came back after about a 1/2 lap of me sweating bullets thinking I'd let the race go up the course. With 4 to go Hejduk & I got away & I went to the front to set a hard tempo. He looked a little rough around the edges so I made a few efforts to get away. When we hit the road with 3 to go I sprinted like it was the finish & opened up a gap. I put my head down & started cracking the whip. I pretty much flogged myself for the next lap & a half till I saw the gap was comfortable enough to let off a little. That was that, go into don't screw up mode, & roll across the line for the first W of the season.
The win was a big moral booster. After feeling like crap & having to decide not to double up I was having some self doubts about how I had been training, racing, etc. I feel a little better about it now. Hopefully training will go better this week & I'll feel like doubling up @ Smithville this coming weekend, since December is still a long way away.
Saturday I got up bright & early for the 4 hour drive up to Topeka. The temps are finally getting closer to normal Cross weather with a slight chill in the air. The course was very similar to last years except with the addition of another run up of the "Mound of Misery". They also made the smart move of cutting out about 2 miles of the course. Last year you got what seemed like 4 miles away from the pits. This year with shorter laps you never felt like you were going on a tour of Topeka. Warming up the grass still had a heavy dew on it & braking was a serious issue. I had intended to run the file treads but started second guessing it. I threw them on & took a lap & decided with the right tire pressure they would be fine. Turns out they worked better than the motor did.
It only took 1/2 a lap after the whistle went off for me to realize my legs weren't there. I guess I had dug myself a bigger hole last week than I had thought & the fatigue was heavy. Winkler & Hejduk basically rode/ran away from me. No real attacks just steady hard tempo & it was all I could do to float around in 3rd for the remainder of the race. Third was a bit of a disappointment since I had won here last year. All the fatigue in the legs made it an easy decision to scratch myself from the 1/2 race & go into hang out/fan mode. Just walking around after the race my legs were dead. I was tired enough I probably should have caught a nap in the sun. Very strange.
Sunday was the Boulevard Cup. This is one of my favorite races if for nothing else that the race prizes are beer. This year the winner of each class got a bottle of 6th Glass. I had thought that the course was going to be last years Nationals course which I wasn't very excited about. That course wasn't a very good one for me even though on paper it should have been. Anyway when I pulled into the parking lot I was pleasantly surprised to see it moved up on onto the hill. They even took the course around the Skate Park. There were a few kids riding the bowls while we were racing. I mounted the file treads again & took a practice lap. I took them to 28 psi & I knew that was the set up for the day. My legs felt a little better warming up than they had on Saturday. Though the course was heavy on grass & wind so I was a little worried about having another bad day. Luckily Winkler was feeling sick so decided not to start Master's. But David White had decided to race Master's instead of the 1/2's. This had me pretty worried since he rode off the front of the 3's races last year & won by a chunk of time. I figure I'd better mark him pretty closely.
At the start Doug Plumer lined up so I knew the long road start was going to be ridiculously fast. Some one must have told him there was a prime for the first to the end of the pavement. He freaking drilled it from the word go. I figured he'd fad but the fast pace always makes the selection happen fast. As usual me versus 5 360 guys. Plumer dropped of the pace fast & Lucas came to the front. I decided to attack early & often in an attempt to be more aggressive & break up the 360 death grip on me. It turns out that I hadn't pre rode the "whole" course. There was a switch back section marked with orange cones laying in orange leaves that I had missed. I attacked right before it & blew straight through it. I instanlty hear all 5 of the 360 guys yelling "SCOTT!" I'm thinking to myself what the hell is there game here. Then I glance back & the gap has gotten way to big, way to fast, & the light bulb turns on. Shit I've gone off the course. So I swing it around in a big loop, get back on course, & start my half lap chase to get back on.
I came damn close to throwing in the towel. Things sorted themselves out & I caught back on. Some big attacks went which I tried to cover. Jenks took a flier which threw me for a loop since I didn't know to cover it or try & pull it back gradually. I decided gradual & he came back after about a 1/2 lap of me sweating bullets thinking I'd let the race go up the course. With 4 to go Hejduk & I got away & I went to the front to set a hard tempo. He looked a little rough around the edges so I made a few efforts to get away. When we hit the road with 3 to go I sprinted like it was the finish & opened up a gap. I put my head down & started cracking the whip. I pretty much flogged myself for the next lap & a half till I saw the gap was comfortable enough to let off a little. That was that, go into don't screw up mode, & roll across the line for the first W of the season.
The win was a big moral booster. After feeling like crap & having to decide not to double up I was having some self doubts about how I had been training, racing, etc. I feel a little better about it now. Hopefully training will go better this week & I'll feel like doubling up @ Smithville this coming weekend, since December is still a long way away.
Monday, October 13, 2008
50 kph cx?!?
**EDIT: IT JUST DAWNED ON ME I RACED 4X IN 18HRS. NO WONDER I FEEL LIKE CRAP**
Two days, 4 "races". Actually 2 days, 2 races & 2 roll around in pure agony sessions. But who's counting. Saturday I headed to Topeka with John Jones & his youngest son with the pop up camper in tow. CX semi Euro style. I'm pretty sure in a pinch I could have gotten a wind trainer in that bad boy. We dropped it at Clinton Lake park to save driving back to KC. By the look of the campground we weren't the only ones with this idea.
The Grand Prix HPT was CX at night on a car dirt track. My dad would have been in heaven since you could hear the dragsters in the back ground. Master's race went pretty well. Got a good start & hit the down wind run punching the 45x11 for all it was worth trying to hold on at over 50kph(not an exaggeration!). It was a cool course hard to explain if you weren't there. I'll have to try & find some pics that will better describe it. Kyle was in Chicago this wknd so I didn't have any team mates to help me overcome the 360 onslaught. Songer & Hejduk took turns working me over. One would attack, I'd cover. Then another would attack & I'd cover, etc, etc. Was super fun racing but I knew their numbers would get me eventually & Hejduk was able to get a little gap on the final lap & that was all it took. Songer sat up since he had the 45+ won & I rolled in for 2nd. Probably the funnest CX race I've done racing wise.
The 1/2/3's was about what I expected super fast. I figured if I could hook the draft I could get in a few laps of moto pacing before being popped off. I hooked the draft but had a rider crash a couple of guys in front of me in the infield & that was that,gap was opened. Into training survival mode(that what I'm calling the double now). Pick of a guy here & there rolled in for 11th on the lead lap too. Pretty happy with that.
Chris Cross is round 2 of the DeStad series. I've always liked this course since its kind of mountain bikie. Chris Locke changed it up this year to make it more crossie(yes it's my blog & I can make up new words if I like). The changes suited me pretty well. Lots of technical stuff, with some power section, not a lot of high speed stuff. Master's race was once again me versus the 360 boys & Jeff Winkler(he'd broke his saddle in the master's race the night before or he would have been a big factor there). Hejduk was attacking, & attacking, & attacking. Really putting the screws to me. With 3 to go Jeff saw Hejduk head drop just a little & attacked pretty hard. The 360 guys looked at me & I looked back knowing I didn't have enough to bridge. First was up the road now it was time to fight for second. I made a few vain attempts to get away. Then Songer dropped his chain & I was able to get around & Hejduk got stuck. This opened up a pretty big gap. But I would have felt bad taking 2nd because David got caught behind someone's mechanical, especially since Songer was racing in a different class. So I sat up & waited for David to catch back on. He drilled me in the sprint but he did the vast majority of the work & deserved 2nd more than I did anyway, 3rd for me.
I thought long & hard in the 15 minutes I had between races about either not starting the 1/2's or dropping out 30 minutes in. Then I remembered you had to finish to score series points. So I put my big girl panties on & toed the line for the 4th race in two days. It basically sucked, lots of pain. I managed to stay with David White for awhile till my rear tire decided to mysteriously let exactly half its air out & I had to pit for a wheel change. It did this Saturday night as well in the 1/2 race. I thought it was my imagination but checked it later & it had 15psi in it & never lost anymore. I guess the valve stem needs to be resealed. Kind of aggravating but I finished the race 16th which amazingly wasn't last. I was very tired & not too much worse for wear. Except for a few of the mandatory mystery CX bruises. I had a lot of people cheering for me which made the pain a little easier. I guess people enjoy a masochist flogging himself.
Ira from Bolivar who comes out on Wednesday for CX practice showed up Sunday for his first ever CX race. He laid open his knee pretty good but finished his race then turned around after bandaging it up & raced again for the double. John asked him what he thought of cross & he said,laid open knee & all, he was hooked. Like I've always said CX is legal crack.
This weekend made me question my little doubling up experiment. It's not too bad if you race just one day but hard as hell to do it two days in a row. Now I just have to decide if the the means justify the ends. I don't have a problem not getting any results in the 1/2's, but the Master's races are getting harder & harder. We're cranking out lap times pretty close to what the leaders are doing in the 1/2's, except for just 40 minutes(which is what I'll race at Nationals). Its going to be a debate I'm going to have with myself for awhile I guess. I got some good training advice from Jeff on how to train for the double(he's doing it as well). So will have to tweak my weekly preparations just a little & see what that does.
Today its a rest day with Mia helping me wash the bike & Amber breaking out the massage table to try & fix my back.
Two days, 4 "races". Actually 2 days, 2 races & 2 roll around in pure agony sessions. But who's counting. Saturday I headed to Topeka with John Jones & his youngest son with the pop up camper in tow. CX semi Euro style. I'm pretty sure in a pinch I could have gotten a wind trainer in that bad boy. We dropped it at Clinton Lake park to save driving back to KC. By the look of the campground we weren't the only ones with this idea.
The Grand Prix HPT was CX at night on a car dirt track. My dad would have been in heaven since you could hear the dragsters in the back ground. Master's race went pretty well. Got a good start & hit the down wind run punching the 45x11 for all it was worth trying to hold on at over 50kph(not an exaggeration!). It was a cool course hard to explain if you weren't there. I'll have to try & find some pics that will better describe it. Kyle was in Chicago this wknd so I didn't have any team mates to help me overcome the 360 onslaught. Songer & Hejduk took turns working me over. One would attack, I'd cover. Then another would attack & I'd cover, etc, etc. Was super fun racing but I knew their numbers would get me eventually & Hejduk was able to get a little gap on the final lap & that was all it took. Songer sat up since he had the 45+ won & I rolled in for 2nd. Probably the funnest CX race I've done racing wise.
The 1/2/3's was about what I expected super fast. I figured if I could hook the draft I could get in a few laps of moto pacing before being popped off. I hooked the draft but had a rider crash a couple of guys in front of me in the infield & that was that,gap was opened. Into training survival mode(that what I'm calling the double now). Pick of a guy here & there rolled in for 11th on the lead lap too. Pretty happy with that.
Chris Cross is round 2 of the DeStad series. I've always liked this course since its kind of mountain bikie. Chris Locke changed it up this year to make it more crossie(yes it's my blog & I can make up new words if I like). The changes suited me pretty well. Lots of technical stuff, with some power section, not a lot of high speed stuff. Master's race was once again me versus the 360 boys & Jeff Winkler(he'd broke his saddle in the master's race the night before or he would have been a big factor there). Hejduk was attacking, & attacking, & attacking. Really putting the screws to me. With 3 to go Jeff saw Hejduk head drop just a little & attacked pretty hard. The 360 guys looked at me & I looked back knowing I didn't have enough to bridge. First was up the road now it was time to fight for second. I made a few vain attempts to get away. Then Songer dropped his chain & I was able to get around & Hejduk got stuck. This opened up a pretty big gap. But I would have felt bad taking 2nd because David got caught behind someone's mechanical, especially since Songer was racing in a different class. So I sat up & waited for David to catch back on. He drilled me in the sprint but he did the vast majority of the work & deserved 2nd more than I did anyway, 3rd for me.
I thought long & hard in the 15 minutes I had between races about either not starting the 1/2's or dropping out 30 minutes in. Then I remembered you had to finish to score series points. So I put my big girl panties on & toed the line for the 4th race in two days. It basically sucked, lots of pain. I managed to stay with David White for awhile till my rear tire decided to mysteriously let exactly half its air out & I had to pit for a wheel change. It did this Saturday night as well in the 1/2 race. I thought it was my imagination but checked it later & it had 15psi in it & never lost anymore. I guess the valve stem needs to be resealed. Kind of aggravating but I finished the race 16th which amazingly wasn't last. I was very tired & not too much worse for wear. Except for a few of the mandatory mystery CX bruises. I had a lot of people cheering for me which made the pain a little easier. I guess people enjoy a masochist flogging himself.
Ira from Bolivar who comes out on Wednesday for CX practice showed up Sunday for his first ever CX race. He laid open his knee pretty good but finished his race then turned around after bandaging it up & raced again for the double. John asked him what he thought of cross & he said,laid open knee & all, he was hooked. Like I've always said CX is legal crack.
This weekend made me question my little doubling up experiment. It's not too bad if you race just one day but hard as hell to do it two days in a row. Now I just have to decide if the the means justify the ends. I don't have a problem not getting any results in the 1/2's, but the Master's races are getting harder & harder. We're cranking out lap times pretty close to what the leaders are doing in the 1/2's, except for just 40 minutes(which is what I'll race at Nationals). Its going to be a debate I'm going to have with myself for awhile I guess. I got some good training advice from Jeff on how to train for the double(he's doing it as well). So will have to tweak my weekly preparations just a little & see what that does.
Today its a rest day with Mia helping me wash the bike & Amber breaking out the massage table to try & fix my back.
Monday, October 06, 2008
More people should listen to me
I said Schumacher was going to test positive. Was too fishy that he won the Tour TT's so convincingly then looked like crap @ the Olympics.
Friday, October 03, 2008
ZOOOOO
Last Saturday when I was at work, Mia's Nanny took her to the zoo. I meant to post them the other day but got sidetracked
So tired at the end of the day passed out eating ice cream.
So tired at the end of the day passed out eating ice cream.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Pinball Wizard
Last night I got the Vidyah from my little boating excursion to the Upper Richland last month. Watch me be a pinball.
Not the line I wanted but it worked...some what. Hard to believe that's Arkansas & its less than 3 hours away. A whole other world.
Not the line I wanted but it worked...some what. Hard to believe that's Arkansas & its less than 3 hours away. A whole other world.
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