Rediscovering what we already knew

After Zach's last two race's (DNF) we decided to take a week off and regroup. We went for a mountain bike ride at Lebanon Hills, one of our favorite places to play. We decided to get back to what we do best...racing single speed Vassagos.

Saturday was the cross race at the Blaine Velodrome, Zach started out in a large crowd of 67. He got caught in traffic and started in the middle of the pack and worked his way up to finish 16th overall and 2nd in 15-18. With not having a great race he was happy to be back on track again.

Sunday we were at it again, this time at the Lake Rebbecca cross race. It was cold at race time (28) but Zach was feeling good after Saturday's successful race and was ready to go. Zach lined up with 54 other racers. The course had a long straightaway after the start and then they disappeared into the woods not to be seen again until the last 30 yards before the start- finish line. So I didn't see much of the race. Every Lap Zach was moving up, 1st lap:15th, 2nd lap: 11th, 3rd lap:8th, and finished 5th overall for the day! Best overall finish of the year. And back on the Vassago where we should have been all along.

It was a great finish to the MCF cross season. Ths strong finish in the last two races helped earn Zach the title of "Cyclocross Rider of the Year" in juniors 15-18.
There are still two big races left this season, The Minnesota state championship and Nationals in December.

Long weekend of short races

Saturday was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, temps in the low 60's. A perfect day for racing. the start of Zach's race was about a 100 yard dash on asphalt to 90 degree left turn followed shortly by another 90 degree left turn.
Well, about 2 seconds after Anita ( my lovely wife and Zach's mom) snapped this picture then things went bad in a hurry. The course was poorly marked and the first two guys went right and the next two went left and then the rest at the front stopped and the rest behind did not. There was a large pile up with Zach ending up on the bottom. Everyone got up except for Zach and one other poor guy. Zach's knee was banged up, his bars were bent way back, and his rear wheel was taco'd beyond repair. One of those big guys behind him must have landed on it.
Oh well, tomorrow's another day.
Today, Zach got up and said his knee felt much better and wanted to go to the Green Acres cross race. So after hastily repairing the damage from Saturday, we were off to the races again. Sunday's weather was the polar opposite of Saturday, 36 degrees, 25mph winds, and snow showers! Great cross weather! Zach got a great start and was in 3rd at top of a big climb after the start.

He kept the pressure on and was holding that position down the long decent. It was looking good.

The racers disappeared over the hill for the second lap and I waited for them to reappear for the descent. 3 racers, no Zach. 10 racers, no Zach. 65 racers, no Zach. Finally, here comes Zach carrying his bike down the hill, race over. When approaching a barrier on top and braking hard the brake shoe slipped off the new rim and locked up the wheel sending him over the bars and into the barrier, knee first. Yea, same knee as yesterday. No serious damage, but very disappointed, two DNF's in two days. That is the way it goes sometimes. Next week, will be onward and upward.

MCF round 4

Round#4 of the Minnesota Cycling Federation cyclocross series found us back in Hudson. The course was very smooth and flat, with lots of turns. Zach got caught in traffic and was in the middle of the pack (54 riders) at the start. He went to work picking off riders one by one until the finish where he ended up 13th overall and took 1st in juniors 15-18.
Zach gives it all at the sprint for the finish.

Cross race #3

Zach got a great start and setting at about 5th For the first 3 laps. The field was very large, 103 racers. After the 3rd lap he started to fade, after being sick all week and not riding.
He still managed a respectable 23rd and 2nd in his age group (15-18) Good job Zach!

Cross race #2 of the season

Today was Zach's second cyclocross race of the season, and first cross race on the Vassago Optimus Ti. It rained hard all morning before the race and half of the race was in a swampy area next to the St.Croix River. Needless to say it was very, very muddy. Zach was hoping to do well since this was our home town race. He got a great start which put him in good position before entering the woods.

The sloppy conditions suited Zach's skills, the only real hard part for him was a 50 yard
run up across a very wet, sandy beach.

He finished 13th out of 67 and 2nd in the 15-18 age class. He was pretty happy and quite muddy afterwards.

Biggest race weekend of the year

Friday night, we headed up to St Cloud MN, for the final MNSCS race of the year. This was a huge race for Zach because he was setting 3rd overall in the points for the year. If he could take first in this race, he could take first overall for the year by a mere 5 points (905 to 900). He and his main competitor both knew what was at stake before race time. Needless to say Zach was a little on edge. We setup my Vassago Optimus TI for him to race, we got it down to only 19.3 pounds.....Sweeeet!



When the gun went off, Zach got the hole shot. He pushed the pace hard the whole race and never let up.
He, not only took first in his age class, but also first overall for the whole race!
I moved up to sport for Saturday's race. I took 5th in my age class and 35th out of 95.
Sunday was the first cyclocross race of the season which was also at St Cloud. Zach got 2nd in 15-18 and 16th overall out of 67 racers.

We would like say a big THANK YOU to Vassago Cycles for their support, and we could not have done it without them.

Chequamegom Fat Tire Festival

Last Friday after work we headed up north to stay with our friends Dan, Angie, and Tim at their cabin near Seely WI. Which was only ten miles from the start of the big race. Zach and I were entered in the Short and Fat which is the sixteen miles XC race. We entered the Short and Fat instead of the 40 mile because you have to be at least 18 to enter, and neither one of us is 18. We arrived early to get a good starting position for me, because it is first come first serve. With 846 people lining up for a mass start you don't want to be at the back. Zach was awarded a preferred start position at the front of the field by virtue of his race results from the previous year.
The gun went off at 10:00am and the crashing started about fifteen seconds later. Luckily we narrowly avoided the two big pile ups that happened a head of us. the rest of the race went very well for both of us. Zach ended up finishing at 1:00:27 in 42nd place overall and 8th in his age class. I finished 4 minutes back in 76th place overall and 9th in my age class.
Zach at the finish.