Dan Action

Moving out December 14, 2007

    Well, last weekend marked, for me, the last weekend of ‘cross racing in New England.  I’m not going to Nationals either, the logistics are just to much for me right now.  I’ve moved out of my closet space in Providence and have now unpacked my meager belongings into Nathalie’s apartment down here in Gainesville.

Last weekend was a fantastic end to it all, not tomention the races were just a bit down the road from me, leaving me with more than ample time in the morning to get ready.

Steadman’s CX:  Ever since the race in Wrentham I have been hindered with dizzy spells.  Every sharp turn of my head or refocusing my sight throws off my equilibrium.  Some days are better than others, but the Saturday of the Steadman’s race it was really effecting me.  I went to the race not too sure if I would actually make the lineup but I changed and managed to get a lap and a half in before my race went off.  I lined up figuring that if I started feeling really woozy I would bag it mid-race.

The course was well plotted and the weather left it muddy and super fun to ride.  I definitely did not feel on form, but had a blast riding the race anyway, I fell pretty early in a really muddy corner, but then cosed down a few sizable gaps to the three riders in front of me, so at the end of the day I knew I worked hard and had fun.  My head even felt a little better.  I got second in the RI state championships. There were three of us in that category and Adam Sullivan flatted out, leaving me and Amos Brumble who took the gold.  I went home and got some sleep and even a little bit of acupuncture from a good friend before heading out to the open-house party at the Hub.

The party was great; I kind of used it as a way to say goodbye to a lot of people I knew I would not see in the days to come before I left. I got a chance to talk with Mr. McCormack, of the Mark variety about setting goals and working towards them. This was a talk I kind of needed to have.  I’ve been self-coached ever since I got on a bike and started racing. It can be hard to feel like the way you’re doing things is optimally productive sometimes.  It is also sometimes hard to see yourself progressing too. It was refreshing and re-assuring to talk to Mark about that kind of stuff, and given his authority on the subject, feels like I was able to cement some things down in my head and make me work for it.  I think I left the party a little before midnight, but it felt like it was two in the morning; that’s the sign of a good party. Thanks everybody!

NBX Grand Prix.:

Ok, how awesome is it having the two most fun ‘cross courses back to back? All pre-race worries about both races being at the same venue would end up like another Gloucester were assuaged by NBX’s stellar course design.  The two days were dynamically different.  NBX’s race ran much like it has in the past, and I have to say I am a total fan of that course. It’s beautiful.

Again, I did not feel on form, but a bit better than I had felt the day before. I definitely felt strong in the enthusiasm department.  Off the line I had a bit of trouble with a foot and a pedal, but once that was cleared up, I found a couple of holes in the field and filled them. I got into a great working group of five and we were hammering along good. As Adam Sullivan pulled off, I went a bit on the attack, throwing down a pretty hard lap, but it didn’t wear anyone in the group down it seemed, so I went to the back and let Alex Whitmore and Pete Ruijono take turns at the front.  Disaster struck when I was going into the horseshoe down-and-up section pretty hot and over lapped wheels with a slightly more cautious Mr. Sullivan and found myself tumbling downhill int a hay-bale.  I felt like a turtle on it’s back trying to unclip and get back up. When I finally did, the group had put twenty or thirty seconds on me.  I rode hard and managed to hold that gap right about there, but was waning a bit towards the last lap. I was just laughing and smiling at folks along the course and just being a ham in general, finishing 25th.  Oh well, I had fun with it.

Good luck to everyone going to Nationals.  Thanks to all the folks at the races for an incredibly exciting ‘cross season.  I will be back in the Northeast soon enough, and before you know it the Cyclocross season will be starting up.  I already can’t wait.

But baby, it’s cold outside. December 3, 2007

Well, it’s drawing near; the end of my perennial stay here in New England. I have bought my ticket back to Florida and am preparing what little belongings I have for my trip. The boxes get fewer each time i move. I am pretty sure I can get everything I have been living with in my little closet inside the boxes of the bikes I am shipping and a few essentials in a carry-on bag for the flight.

I am going back to Gainesville for my last time. The strain that living somewhere between two places within the span of a year is wearing on me, not to mention my budget. That said, I go there this time well equipped with a goal for my training. This season spent racing Elite has shown me just how high the bar is set and I plan to get closer to it still. Nonetheless, past this coming spring I will be finding a place to set my stuff down for a while again. That place will not be Gainesville, but it will also, most assuredly, not be Providence, though I am sure I will be in the Northeast still.

It is here that I want to continue testing myself as far as racing ‘cross goes. Yeah, I want to travel to other parts of the country, and, dare I say it: world, to race and observe, but it is here that my gauges are set. The talent here runs the complete spectrum, and it won’t be a scene I would ever be able to outgrow or out race. Moving to another part of the country like the mid-west or North Carolina where ‘cross is not so developed as it is here would just be a cop-out to me, like going back to racing in the B’s here. I guess there’s always the Northwest, but for an east-coaster like myself, I might have a hard time with it. The hospitality, competition, and camaraderie afforded me throughout my short time racing ‘cross here has been wonderful, to say the least.

With that, let me get onto some racing reports.

Sterling: There is something about racing in Sterling that somehow breeds disaster for me. Earlier in the year at MRC’s road race there, I had my good chances of a win blown by a stack-up at the front, leaving me to chase for four laps or so and pick up whatever places I could. Last year’s cx race there, I was so maxxed out that I had to drop out, the first time that had ever happened to me.

This year I felt OK despite a stressful weekend with or without the race, I was in the top twenty of the, admittedly, ill-attended race when I put down another attack only to have a spoke break. I deflated. Thirty seconds after I dragged my sorry bike off the course, the leaders passed through. I had no wheels in the pit, and even if I did, there wouldn’t have been enough time to save me from getting lapped anyway. It can be pretty hard on a guy when you interject a race into an already full schedule only to have such a disappointing time about it. It felt like some fruitless search or something equally as melodramatic. Oh yeah, it was COLD out. Every part of the course that had thawed out had re-frozen for our race, ruts and all.

Speaking of the aforementioned MRC, I attended their race in Wrentham, MA. Sunday afternoon. It was colder than it was at Sterling, prompting me to not want to show up too early, but I did get there in time to watch Gewilli race and get to chat with Jack Madden, who had a pretty good race himself. I watched the masters race and my trepidations towards racing in weather so cold to hold of me as I saw the ice beard on Gewilli. Fuck that. But there I was on the line, though I refused to drop the scarf I was wearing. I guess they were staging people according to Crossresults.com’s figures, which are a bit lost on me; either way I didn’t hear anything about staging on the line anyway. Off we went; the course is awesome and it was definitely heartening to see a good number of folks sticking around to cheer in the frigid temps, which, I think, speaks a lot of the folks of MRC’s charisma, energy, and ability to procure free beer. I was feeling pretty good, but in the first or second lap, on the singletrack I was behind someone going decidedly slower than the lead group I was shooting up to, increasing a gap to one that I would not be able to close. Then something wierd happened. I must’ve got something in my eye which caused it to start watering profusely, which in turn, somehow despite being saline, froze. That turn of events rendered my right eye useless, and the continued watering made the cold air feel like it was going directly into my brain. I tried not to let up much, but I lost my front wheel in a simple turn due to impaired vision, and the fire went out in me a little. I raced alone for a lap or two, then waited up for Adam Sullivan, who was coming up on me. We rode the rest of the race together, but at the end I thought we could give the crowd a sprint-for-eighth show, but Adam didn’t get the message. I kind of felt a little foolish after crossing the line. Oh, well. I went home a bit hard on myself for not making the top five of this race, which should have been the case, but wasn’t. I think I am on the glasses train after this one, though. Thanks go out to Scott G. for getting me out to the race, and in turn, being the biggest reason I finished the race. The other, was figuring I was going to be cold either way, racing or not, so why not finish the race?