WhirlyBird Cross Recap

Report by Ellis Kim

I arrived at the venue around 10.30am. But i still had to find my bike and clothing which traveled from Philadelphia whereas I traveled from New York City. After a few minutes, we were reunited, and after a few minutes in the visiting team's locker room, I stepped outside to find out that I missed that small window between races to pre-ride. Oh well, looks like i'll get in one lap before my race. After some road riding with old and new friends, I got my lap in, but unfortunately it wasn't at race pace. This may have proved signficant, but not in a good way. Despite my relatively good starting position, 3rd or 4th row (I can't recall) due to my early pre-reg, I lost at least a dozen spots from the start. Maybe I'm not aggressive enough, maybe it was the wedding the night before. Also, i gave a few taps of my presta valves before the gun to drop a little air from my ~40psi tires. This would prove especially significant. At the apex of the first tight, semi-off camber, my rear wheel slides. To say the least, I was having trouble holding lines all race, even more than usual!! This led to me racing very conservative through turns and the loose stuff, so for about 85% of the race, I feathered more speed going into turns more than most while also taking VERY wide lines. Fortunately, i only went down twice!! Ryan passed me relatively early on, but he went down a few times too. Next time we should make sure to work together better since I think our strengths may compliment each other well (his sarcasm with my deadpan humor, unbeatable!). Also, beyond the two sets of barriers, there was no need for running, so no chance for me to work my bread-and-butter :( Anyway, my race ended up being sloppy/slow through the turns, with strong accelerations on the straights. Unfortunately, there were a lot more turns than straights on this course.
After finishing, and moping, I went for a cooldown ride on the road. As I began inflating my tires, it turned out that my rear was at, if not below 30PSI!! I prefer to race on 40psi! A young rider from my alma mater claimed that 30 PSI is what he uses, but then again, he's 135 lbs whereas I'm 190...
Next up, Hill Billy Hustle!

Ryan's Charm City Dirt Stache

As Chad said in a previous post, I got a pretty wicked dirt stache at Charm City thanks to a 77th place starting position and super dry conditions. Photographic evidence thanks to Bill Schieken of In the Crosshairs.

Race Report for Charm City Cross

Report by Chad Bartlett

Day 1:

This being my first cross race, I didn't exactly know what to expect. I made my 1st mistake early by showing up to the start area with less than a minute before the start so I had the pleasure of starting in the last row of the group. Considering my starting position, I was happy with the prologue. I was able to work my way past about 1/5 of the field by pushing it on the sprint up the pavement and staying upright through the chaos in the first few corners. For the 1st lap, the field was pretty grouped together so I had to pick my time to pass but was generally able to pass 4-5 people at a time on straight aways and pick off people in some select corners just by braking late and accelerating hard. The second lap was more of the same but the field had stretched out a little more so passing became a little easier. By the 3rd lap I had almost made my way into the top 30 and finally had some room to take the good lines through the corners. By this time I was basically only passing riders in select areas of the course. The sand, the fast but bumpy area in the field turning behind the backstop, the stairs, the straightaway leading up to the really off camber corner by the road, and tarmac section on the finishing straight were all areas I could pick off riders. By the 4th lap I had moved close to the top 20. I maintained a strong pace but tried to keep something in the tank for the last lap. I passed a few more riders and by the time I started the final lap I was right at 20th position. I continued trying to move up and picked off a handful of other riders. I put a big effort in leading up to the stairs to close a gap to 2 riders and pass them. I was now in 16th position and those two riders were right on my wheel for the 2nd half of the last lap. As we came out of the grass and onto the tarmac, I really pushed it hard up the hill to try to put a little separation between us so they couldn't draft on the straight away. I was successful but I had my only mechanical problem as we turned on the the finishing straight. My front derailleur struggled to shift into the big chainring and as we approached the finish line the two other riders caught my wheel and slingshot themselves around me as I finished in 18th place out of a field of 107 riders. I was happy with my first cross race and felt like I learned a lot in those 40 minutes.

Day 2:

After my poor starting position on Day 1, I made sure I arrived at the start area with plenty of time to be called up. On Day 2, I was number 355, so I still was not at the front of the group, but I was in better position than the day before. On the start, I sprinted past some people but mainly focused on getting into a good position on the right side of the road to set up the my passes in the first few corners. This prologue was a bit more chaotic than Day 1. A lot more rubbing wheels and people crashing around me. I think my crit racing experience helped me avoid some of the chaos and stay upright. As we made our way through the prologue, I found myself about 30-40 positions from the front in a dense group of people. I picked off riders one at a time through the corners by just picking my line, staying in a small gear, and punching it a little coming out of the corners. Twice in the 1st half of the 1st lap, one rider tried passing me by braking extremely late into a corner. Both times it ended with him on the ground and me riding around him smiling. A few corners later one of his teammates tried the same move, with the same results. This time I got around him as he was crashing but he took out a few people behind me. I quickly realized that my plan for passing was superior to that rider's plan. His unsuccessful move did help in creating a small break in the pack which took away any pressure from behind me, making it easier for me to move forward. So, thanks guy. I continued moving forward through the 1st and 2nd lap. Just as I entered the big turn around the tree approaching the stairs on the 2nd lap, I was passed by someone who was going into the corner way too hot. He went through the ribbon and soaring off the course cursing. I chuckled to myself because he was surprisingly wearing the same kit as the previous guy. By the middle of the 3rd lap, I knew I was getting closer to the front because there were large gaps between small groups of riders. I decided to push it hard to catch a group, sit on them and recover for a few seconds and then pass and push it hard up to the next group. This plan worked and I made my way into the top 10 by the end of the 3rd lap. At this point the leaders were pretty well spread out and I just had to settle into my pace and try to catch them without blowing up before the last lap. At the beginning of the final lap, I caught the 5th place rider and waited for my opportunity to pass. I finally got it when we got into the open field and the straight away before the stairs. I put in a hard effort to pass him, and managed to stay ahead of him up the stairs and through the technical part after the stairs. He passed me back as we climbed up towards the large barriers and I had nothing left to try to pass him again. I finished in 6th place. Ryan told me he was horribly disappointed in me for not making the podium. I told him he is a jerk and I didn't tell him about his dirt-stash (photo proof to come) which looked terrible.

Overall it was a good weekend and I learned a lot. I was happy with my races and I managed to stay upright the entire time. Maybe that means I wasn't pushing it hard enough but I like to think that it means I raced smart. I can't wait for Ed Sander this weekend to try to improve again.

Matt and Chad Bartlett host the first ever KindHuman Sports Cross Camp!

Here's a nice little letter from Matt:

Thanks to everyone who came out to the first official Kindhuman CX Training Camp. I think it was pretty much a success. We had about 10 people stop by throughout the weekend, I had a great time, and I learned even some stuff. Based on some feedback that I've heard, I think everyone else felt the same way.

Saturday was sunny and beautiful with super-dry conditions. Greg brought a surprise guest lecturer (from Race Pace Bikes in Ellicott City), who led a really good session in cornering/bike handling. We also picked apart portions of the course, did plenty of hot laps, did some leisurely laps, and test-rode other people's bikes.

Sunday was fairly similar, but with rain all day, conditions got pretty slick. We worked on barriers, dismounts, and remounts, and had some more sessions on cornering, handling, and line-picking. Of course, there were plenty more fast laps to be done.

Mixed in with the riding portion of the camp: watching a few world cup CX races, watching the Vuelta, fireside chats, eating, drinking, merry-making, and some sleeping.

I took some pictures, but I haven't really gone through them yet. Hopefully some of them are good.

To those who couldn't make it, don't worry, we'll try to host some more camps down the road. In the meantime, the course is just sitting there waiting to be ridden some more. Just let me or Chad know if you want to come ride it.

-Matt

Matt races Greg in the Amish Country?

Here's what Matt had to say about his Kirkwood Road Race:

"I did the a road race up in Kirkwood, PA today. It was a 7 mile circuit through Amish country with some short-but-punchy hills thrown in. I think Tim Day(???) was there as a new rider for Kindhuman too, but I didn't see him.

Anyway... I hitched a ride up there with Greg, so we had some time to come up with a good race plan. Even though he's riding for AFC now, we figured we'd try to do something together today. We pre-rode the course, and picked a poorly paved, stair-stepper of a hill as our attack spot for the last lap. I thought it might be a bit far from the finish (4 miles?) to make it stick, but it was definitely the best option to put the hurt on the field.

Greg and I were lined up towards the back at the start, but figured things would take a while to develop, so didn't think it would be a big deal. The race started, and within the 2nd mile, there was a crash 2 wheels in front of me. Greg had already moved up, so wasn't involved. I didn't go down, but had to slow to get around. There was apparently an attack at the front of the field right at the same time as the crash, so no one was waiting around to regroup and I had to hammer to close the gap. Caught back up, cruised with the group for another mile or so, and we hit the stair-stepper hill for the first time. Someone up front attacked, and I saw Greg grab his wheel. The people who were getting away looked like they could make something stick, so I figured we had to change our plan to make the move on the 1st lap. I was a little out of position, but leap-frogged my way up to Greg's group. I think I pulled 1 or 2 guys with me, and we had a breakaway of 10-12 riders. We had a 30+ second gap by the end of the 1st lap, so I figured this one was going to stick. It did, but we lost a couple of the weaker guys as the race progressed.

By the start of the last lap, we were down to 7 or 8. Since there were only a handful of riders to break, Greg and I employed our original plan when we hit our chosen climb for the last time. We both gunned it from the bottom, and I think we caught everyone by surprise. No one could follow. Unfortunately, Greg's calves started spasming towards the top. I eased up for a second, hoping Greg could grab my wheel and recover for a couple of minutes, but could see the group rallying behind. I decided to just go solo. With about 4 miles to the finish, I knew the next 10 minutes were going to hurt.

It was a long steady downhill section for the next mile or so, but I couldn't afford to do any recovery. Just kept hammering. As I rolled through the 2nd to last turn (still 3 miles out), I could see Greg and one other dude probably 10 seconds back. Just kept hammering. Greg and that other dude bridged the gap by the time we hit the turn onto the last leg (2 miles out). I was kind of happy that I might be able to get a draft for a little bit, but they burned too much energy bridging to be of any real assistance and the other 4 guys were no more than 10 seconds behind us at this point. Just kept hammering. The last leg of the circuit had 2 short and steep climbs. Greg and I put as much power as we could into the first one, leaving just the 2 of us out front with a little over a mile to go. I finally got a little help from Greg. Just a few seconds on his wheel helped me find some more energy. We clambered up the last climb, but I wasn't seeing straight enough at this point to be able to judge how big of a gap we had. Just kept hammering. Neither of us really remember what happened in the last mile. We were completely cooked, but could finally see the finish. By the time we got there, I had nothing left for a sprint. Greg came around me with 100m to go, but I was borderline blacking out, had vomit in my mouth, and could do nothing to respond. We finished 1st and 2nd with a 17 second gap.

Even though I didn't quite win, I was perfectly happy with my race. The pre-race plan was executed just about perfectly, and I was really happy to be able to make a mostly solo move like that and hold off a hungry chase group.

Really, I just let Greg win because he was my ride home. I'm just that kind of guy." haha Gotta love it.

Nikki chooses SRAM!

One of the original Team TOMS Shoes members and all around badass, Nikki Jaimes was featured during this year's Tour de France as part of a SRAM Commercial Ad Campaign featuring professional riders from different disciplines. Pretty awesome!

"I Chose SRAM": Jaimes & Rubiera from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.

Bartlett, Baby Bartlett

Kits have been shipped, check out Matt and our "newest addition."