Joules Cross

As we head into the heart of the cx season, this weekend of racing in Kansas sounded like a good one to try. The course is laid out on private land, with the owner generously giving the local cyclists a place to race both cx and dirt track. They held a series this summer racing around a 300m dirt oval on fixed gear bikes (using cx tires-this isn't a smooth surface), which sounds like a lot of fun. Anyhow, the cx course was an excellent mix of wide open flats, hairpin descents, a board dismount and a in/out spiral. It was beautifully mown, with little need for any additional marking.The first day course was extremely bumpy in spots, especially on a long descent-none of us could find a good line and ended up feeling like we were operating jackhammers. There were about 40 in the entire masters heat, with 16 in my division (50+ masters) Saturday. The standard set of 360 Racing Team masters were there to beat on everyone, including Steve Songer (10th at Planet Bike USGP a few weeks ago in 45+). I knew that if I was not on his wheel after a 1/2 lap, I was racing for second. They started us in waves (30+, 40+ 50+ and 60+). I had a horrible start and was immediately gapped by Songer and David Moore, along with a couple of other riders, so vying for second it was. I worked my way through the group that gapped me, and after 1.5 laps, only David Moore (and, of course, Songer) remained in front of me, and he was riding extremely well. He's been tearing it up this year, and I started to wonder if I would catch him. I noticed that he was struggling on the climbs of the course. After another lap, I could see that I had made up 5 seconds on him, with another 10-15 remaining, so I redoubled my effort and reeled him in. When he saw me go by on the next lap, he tried to stay with me, but I sat in for a bit, then punched it up the first hard uphill and dropped him. Sailed in for 2nd place.

Other local racers fared well. John Rokke finished 2nd in the 3/4 race, Aaron Treadway 6th; Sydney Brown easily beat out the Open Women's field. The one downer was Rich Pearson's crash in the master's 60+ race: he was handily winning it, but slipped on a corner descent and broke a bone in his shoulder. 4-6 weeks of no racing. Ouch. Sheclismo rider Elisabeth Reinkordt from Lincoln did well in the women's 3/4, finishing 5th. Huge women's 3/4 field, rivaling the size of the men's 3/4, which is a great sign of progress.

Competition for the second day was tougher, with Songer and Moore's teammate Andy Lucas (9th at PB USGP 45+) joining in the fun. The course was fun and fast on Sunday, with hairpin descents that were a great technical feature. Much better start, but Songer and Lucas got away as I was stuck behind a rider with quick acceleration but poor handling skills through the turns. I was solidly in 3rd after a lap, with Moore chasing. Songer and Lucas worked out to a 20 second gap ahead of me, which they maintained. I struggled to get any closer, but a headwind on the flat stretches of the course gave the two teammates a big drafting advantage (though they later told me they were trying to drop each other on the rest of the course). Moore gradually fell back to about 20 seconds behind me, and it stayed that way for the rest of the race, with Lucas winning, Songer 2nd, myself 3rd, Moore 4th, and Dan Hansen (also riding for 360, great photo here) rounding out the top five. I was the VV in the middle of a 360 sandwich.

The Nebraska crew duplicated its efforts from yesterday: Sydney won (beating nemesis Catherine Walberg), Rokke finished 3rd in the 3/4, and Elisabeth Reinkordt 7th in the women's 3/4s.

Two podiums, a terrific course, a well-run event (Free State Racing did an outstanding job of promoting the event) and my wife there to cheer me on made for an excellent weekend of racing. Joules Cross is definitely worth the drive to Lawrence.